Eish, you know, these Avo’s could all have sideline careers as models!

There’s me, trying to organise (and keep under control) a photo shoot for one of our manuals.

Now, it has to be said that in general, getting newbies (repeat - newbies) to a photo shoot’s like pushing someone up a hill…

BUT - one photo shoot in and it’s fisticuffs for a space in the shoot! (Okay, thats a slight exaggeration, slight).

After half an hour of ‘fresh shots’ for the Avos, the manual shoot could finally begin!

Well, at least I’ve got some willing volunteers who love the camera and make my job easier!

But I can’t really blame them, check them out… (ahhh cute…).

P.S: If you want to book any of them you’ll have to do it through me and I charge a hefty comission!

(And Noms, apologies for making you share the limelight )

So, I’m sitting here wondering how it got to the end of the year so quickly.

I remember many of us thinking (way back in January) that there was another year ahead that was going to take it’s own good time to get us through it… . Well, be careful what you wish for as they say!

Here we are at the beginning of December and most of us planning to take leave in the next few weeks, and I (for one), am dumbstruck by the feeling of “What, only how many days left till I go on leave?!”.

That’s not to say it hasn’t been a full and busy year, it’s been go-go-go since day one and it’s still buzzing!

Hey, at least (most of us…) have been kept out of mischief!

Anyone else wondering how we got here so soon?…

So we’ve been doing some in-house training recently (in our very own special conference room with the breathtaking view, nogal).

It’s such a wonderful opportunity to have our own training guru’s sharing their amazing expertise with us… you just want to soak it all up!

We’ve been covering Personalities at the moment, which has many of us walking around referring to our ‘colours’, like;

“I’m blue, remember, I need more information…” or “I know I’m loud, but I’m y-e-l-l-o-w” (the ‘yellow’ normally being said with much chest puffing and emphasis, if not a grand ‘diva’ gesture…). Okay, I’m being stereotypical, but you gotta have some fun with it!

We’re doing a very interesting thing right now as part of that ongoing training.

I’m calling it the Admiration wall (Wall of admiration? Wall of fuzzy? Okay I’m undecided):

Each Avo has a page dedicated to them, up in the office, where all the other Avos have to write what it is they admire about you and why they like having you around.

Now, it’s possible that this could seem cliche, but I have to tell you that it sure makes you stand back and think.

Having to stand at that page and write something positive about each person, definitely makes you appreciate the people you’re working with - because (and I know I’m bragging a bit here) in this space, it’s not hard to think of the admirable qualities your fellow Avos have.

What’s also interesting is to see what other people have written about each other, and to see that each person is admired and appreciated in a different way by each Avo.

Needless to say the best part is getting to read your own and seeing what you bring to the table.

I think it’s a real eye opener and can’t wait until it’s finished so we can all glow for a while!

(P.S: Mine’s the one with the stars drawn on it, in green, in the top row…)

So these past few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind of flying between work and studies.

I can honestly say that I definitely wasn’t prepared for how hard it was going to be. Most days I felt like I needed to be a twin!

I think it’s the whole “part-time” thing that makes you think you’ll be able to manage. To me part-time now means “all the full time stuff you didn’t have time for condensed into a fraction - about a tenth! - of the time you really needed”…

Don’t get me wrong, finally getting the chance to study something that I knew would be valuable, has been incredibly fulfilling, challenging, exciting, exhilarating and most definitely worth all the late nights (make that early mornings) and hard work.

But - trying to fit it all in has been a juggling game I think I lost on more occasions than I won.

The most important thing I got from this (besides the actual info from the course), is that it’s about the learning you take away. I’ve never been so relaxed before about the mark I might get - because it’s not about whether I get a good mark. It’s not about just passing so I can say I did. It’s about learning and understanding.

And that I got more of than I could ever have asked for.

I’ve got one week left to go until my exam and I must say that I’m already on an adrenaline rush! The sense of accomplishment I have for allowing myself to do something that will always add value is so huge for me.

Thanks for your support Avos.

And people who work and study are officially my new hero’s!

Jules and I were having a discussion this afternoon about flexitime and the benefits and baggage that comes with it.

Sure, flexitime is such an amazing thing to be able to have - being able to drop off kids and make up for it at night etc etc, but there are drawbacks too. How do you define when the work you’ve put in for the day is enough? Having the opportunity to allow for a routine that works for you is great, but can you then define flexitime hours? Is there such a thing as a framework for flexitime?…
Ponder, ponder, ponder… . Would love to hear your opinions on this.

And just before I go - I can’t figure out why every afternoon at sunset, I am practically blinded at my ‘current’ favourite desk (no curtains or blinds to shield my precious eyes!), and still I don’t move to another desk… Go figure!