The Shock of Success!

Isn’t it funny when you get that feeling when you exceed your own expectations? You surprise yourself, you are in shock that you could actually surpass your own measurements of success? No matter how great or small they are perceived to be, this feat should always be celebrated! I am humble, so I will celebrate this with myself (oh yeah and anyone that reads this). Now to you, this may not make much sense. But to me, it feels great! I saw my name today appear on the ReachLocal internal Platform's 'Agency Heartbeat', this is the central hub where all of our online advertising campaigns sit within. This 'Platform' we call 'Campaign Central' stores every single advertising campaign we have running, live and in real time Nationally. And there it was. TWICE Number 4 in Australia for monthly portfolio growth and number 4 in the Australia for quarterly portfolio growth! WOWZAHS. Total shock. To most in the company, this is quite standard, we have many top performers, the usual suspects if you know what I mean whose names are constantly gliding across the screen. But to little old me, this is a win. and it gives me the motivation I need to climb up that ranking as much as my clients CosmeticChoice.com.au wants to climb up that front page of Google, Yahoo and Bing!

So it has been a while since I have written, and I am very angry with myself for being so un-disciplined. I can get myself up and out of bed in the ferocious Winter months at 5.30am to train on a Beach, I can Manage a full-time job with massive demands, I can run a household, a child and a husband, yet I can't spare half an hour to write my blog? Not cool! So I make a commitment right now that I will make an entry once per fortnight.

Last time I wrote, I was finalising my shoot for my TV Presenting showreel and I am pleased to announce that it is nearly finished! Once I got over the weirdness of seeing myself on a television screen, I took a step back and thought, 'Mel, it's not half bad!' To be fair, my final shoot on location, a piece I have done about gambling in elite athletes is excellent (content, delivery), HOWEVER, I look like a total male penguin waddling up Barkly Street. Either that or an obese male trucker. So I have decided to re-shoot that and get some professional advice on how to walk? Because as it would appear, I have not been doing it that long?! Once that is shot and edited I will be hitting the masses and aiming high!

We were gearing up to celebrate Daniel's 365 days of 'sobriety'. How far he has come, how far we have come! I recall the first time I discovered the magnitude of the problem, the financial 'situation'. I was standing in the front yard of Tam and Nath Brown's Adelaide rental in 2008. Afi Yze had come to visit with Jasi and Noah from Melbourne. Tam Brown had put on a feed for us all, Tam Walsh had arrived also to catch up with Afi. Nath and Peter Walsh came home together after finishing up at training for West Adelaide and Daniel was going to be arriving within the hour after training with North Adelaide. I have never told her this and when I get the chance, I will tell her how monumental this moment in my life would become. Tam Walsh is a strong lady, a no bull-shit, what you see is what you get, hard working and loyal friend. She had the guts after years and years of Chinese whispers, footballers 'code of silence' crap to tell me exactly what was going on with my husband. She pulled me aside out to the front garden, we stood in Tam and Nath's driveway and with tears in her eyes, she told me what she knew of Daniel's gambling addiction and how far and extensive it had gotten.

To be honest what happened after that is a bit of a blur. I do recall being physically sick in Tam and Nath's garden and Tam or 'Wuz' as we all affectionately call her, rubbing my back, begging me not to let this effect our friendship. Wuz knew that if it were her in that same situation, a colossal and very scary situation that she would want her friends to tell her as a duty of care. And to this day, I will be forever grateful for that. After this moment I would be faced with another situation similar to this in 2010 but that is an entry for another time.

It was a tough year 2008 as it was, we thought we had a huge network of friends from the Club when Daniel finished, a lot dropped off, a lot never bothered contacting us whilst we were in Adelaide. It was hard, it hurt. We wondered what we did wrong? And for this 'rumour' to be mounting over the years and become common knowledge in the footy community killed us. Daniel found it very hard to adjust to 9-5 work life, he got job's, he lost job's, he suffered from depression, he felt like a failure, he never wanted to return to Melbourne Football Club again. Imagine in your second or third encounter with a new boss, in a business you have been with for over a decade, meets with you after you request a meeting instead of delaying what felt like was going to be inevitable and that person politely informs you that whilst you have been a great servant of the Club, you are no longer required? Daniel describes it as just like being stabbed in the heart and sucker punched all at the same time. All of a sudden a place that was your second home, you no longer feel you are welcome. You are yet another name on a locker and will soon be forgotten. That Club was our family. And we lost our family that day. Or so we thought, it would not be until the beauty of hindsight would prove us wrong later in life. We now have a level of understanding that whilst you are involved in an institution such as an AFL Club for a sustained period of time, it becomes a 'bubble', I often refer to it as that as you would all know!

So Rylee and I decided for Daniel's 365 days we would make the trip to the Central Murray to watch him coach and play for the Mallee Eagles. And to our delight Cam and Jules insisted on bringing Holly and coming on the road trip to be with us. What a wonderful weekend we had. Great company, lot's of reflecting and reminiscing, a down to the wire footy game that saw the Eagles lose by 1 point after fighting back from a 10 goal deficit - wow what heart. I know Daniel was so appreciative that his best mate who is getting over an injury himself and doing his best to get back into the mighty Hawks side before Season's end would make the 4 hour one way trip down. I think it was good for Cam to get away from the big smoke!

We celebrated my 31st birthday, my beautiful Mum's 61st birthday and my Dad's 61st birthday with the family! The usual suspects appeared at my birthday drinks Queen's Birthday weekend and we had an absolute blast! I even managed to sing a song with the one man band which was a rush let me tell you.

We welcomed Jo, Daniel's Mum back from her well overdue and deserved trip to Canada and the USA. She was glowing upon her return and it was such a relief to see her that way after months of worrying about her. Spending time with Peita and Aaron is like being in front of a warm fireplace with your jim jams on and a smooth glass of red wine in your hand. You just feel so relaxed and safe. So I can see why it did Jo the world of good to spend that time with her daughter, the backbone of the family really. Peita is a Psychologist and it's funny, I always want to get deep with her, she was born to listen and always has such a logical and objective perspective on life (I guess that's a common trait of the Psychologist, but Peita truly belongs in that role). She is an extremely thoughtful, deep thinker and you always feel safe to spill your guts to her. I love that about her.

Daniel is coming to terms with the reality of his Stepfather, groomsman in our wedding, trusted confident, Rylee's 'Poppy' and once best mate, entering into a sexual relationship with Karen, Jo's cousin, her blood, (I know it is like an episode of Springer really) whilst she was living on Jo and Phil's 9 acre property, rent free after separating from her husband! When I read that back to myself it just re-affirms how extraordinary that whole scenario is. These two people have clearly demonstrated no remorse, no spine, no accountability. The devastation, awkwardness and strain that this has created to not only the immediate family but the extended family, they will never fully understand whilst they are embroiled in their own selfish and dysfunctional relationship that will only lead to more lies, deceit and one day a cruel end as a leopard never changes it's spots............. Amazing how you begin to see a person, I mean really see a person.........