22 months in the making...

Well, better late than never, right??

July, 2013 was my last blog post. How crazy!? I've just read through the last few posts and reminisced on my life, back when I was young and carefree...those were the days...Well, how to recap the last two years?? Not a tonne has happened, sad, but predictable, reality of my life, but who needs change? Not me.

I finished up teaching my grade 3/4 class at the end of 2013, and started teaching my current class at the beginning of 2014. I am working at a different school, and loving it! I love my kids, my colleagues and just my school in general. I'm teaching a special needs class, which is something I've wanted to do since I was in uni, so it's a huge blessing to have this opportunity.

My sister had a baby girl in October, 2013. This brings my total to 3 nieces, 5 nephews. Not bad. New niece is gorgeous, love her to bits. I flew down to my sister's for my niece's first birthday last year, which was heaps of fun! I'm hoping to be able to visit them again during the June/July school holidays.

I went to America in September of 2013. It was awesome! I got to meet my friend's two boys, and I got to go to her 20 week scan for baby #3 with her...I cried (what a surprise, right?). Baby #3 was a girl and has recently celebrated her first birthday. Everything in America was fantastic. Hanging out with Becky was so, so great...we got to do so much together, and I loved just being with her. One cool thing we did was go to a dinner theatre of Fiddler on the Roof in the cities, loved it! We went kayaking, we walked around her cute home town, we went to an apple orchard (where they had llamas and goats that you could feed), we hung out with her family, we played games and ran around with her boys, we made pickles, we went for bike rides, we went to the gym, I met tonnes of her friends, we went to church, we visited her family (fun to see them again too), we chatted, we prayed together and read the bible together, we laughed...a lot, we cooked and baked...seriously, it was just the most awesome time. I went to NY to visit my cousin too, and to meet her two daughters...it's hilarious to hear their little accents and to hear that they sometimes get confused when their mum (my cousin) 'speaks Australian'. We packed a lot into my weekend in NY, Francesca is so fantastic and cool and wonderful. I just loved seeing her and chatting about anything and everything. Francesca and her husband and the girls were very good tour guides and showed me all around the good touristy spots, as well as taking me to some 'local' places.

My best friend (Amanda) had a baby girl in April of 2013. I got to go to one of her ultrasounds with her, before baby E was born. Cried at that too.

My new school at the beginning of 2014 also prompted a new house. I am now living in a townhouse with an awesome chick, Lou. Lou owns the townhouse, so I'm living with my landlord...kinda weird, kinda convenient too, not gonna lie. Housemate number three moves in next weekend, fun times ahead! My new house situates me in a conveniently central location to all my frequent haunts, very handy.

My new house move, also prompted a new gym move. My last house gave me a 25 minute drive to the gym, my new house gives me a 10 minute drive...crazy fantastic, right? Conveniently, my trainer from my old gym had moved to my new gym, so I continued training with her...we upped our sessions to three times a week and I became used to being sore. All. The. Time. A few months ago, I switched trainers. My new trainer trains from his house, I am loving the switch up in training though. My new trainer is getting me ready to compete in my first ever body sculpting comp. Yep. You didn't misread that. I, who two years ago had never lifted a weight in my life, is now weight/resistance training three times a week, running once or twice a week (by far the least favourite time of my week...and it is the first thing that I am willing to cut if I can't fit everything in), and doing 6 gym classes a week (on three days, two each day). My trainer's wife instructs 4 of those 6 classes, which is pretty fun :) It was through doing her classes and chatting with her in NZ (yep, went there earlier this year with a bunch of ladies from my gym...fun!) that I ended up getting in touch with her husband about switching to him. Worked out well...it pays to have contacts ;) My new gym is great too! Heaps more classes and heaps more space!

Did emojis exist two years ago? I don't know. A lot can happen in two years...the origin of emojis is important to this blog. Ok. Not really. It was more out of my own curiosity that it was mentioned...I guess it was solely mentioned due to my curiosity...I'll investigate that before the next blog. Get excited!

Anyway, enough of the world's longest blog. I need to go to bed. I'll add more exciting tales of the past two years of my life later. Maybe in another two years...

Ciao!

It's Electric in the Air!

Howdy!

So, I just got back from my Thursday pt session. My regular trainer went home sick earlier today :( , so I had a different trainer this time. She was certainly not going to let me slack off during my session! She was hardcore! I definitely 'felt the burn'!

Still no news on being able to do a 'proper' push-up. I did tell my regular trainer (after having to do the 'towel sling' push ups) on Monday that I should just give up the goal of wanting to be able to do them, and think of something else to aim towards. I reckon I could probably aim for being able to do 20 girl push ups in a row. That would be a pretty awesome achievement. Not even kidding.

It turns out that my regular trainer is a Christian (so I found out on Monday). I definitely had my suspicions, but it's pretty stinkin' awesome to have them confirmed :) She is an awesome chick, and I love that she and I belong to The King! We got to have a bit of a chat on Monday, during my session, about our faith, our churches, and what it means to be a part of 'the church'. I am so thankful to have a Christian to hang out with a couple of times a week, even if she is my pt, and she works me hard, and we only get to chat in between my rasping, 'I need more oxygen', breaths.

School is going well. We're doing a bit of a 'space' theme this term. It's been fun so far! I'm learning heaps myself, sad, but true. Athletics carnival next week. My kids are getting super pumped - They're all self-professed 'Usain Bolt caliber' athletes. So it's pretty funny to listen to their conversations with each other about the carnival ;)

Anyway, I need to go home and eat dinner (I'm currently sitting at my desk at school). I'm hungry!

Toodles!

Sweet Dreams

G'day, G'day; and how ya' goin'? (does anyone remember that song? I don't remember who sings it)

Last night I had a dream about a pt session. In my dream, we were nearing the end of the session and my trainer went and got me a mat. I put my towel down on it, and laid down on my tummy, as instructed. My trainer got down on the floor next to me and said that I was going to do a 'proper' push up. I said I'd try my best. Then whaddya know? I did it! I did one and was so proud of myself (and also shocked) that I got up, my trainer got up too and I hugged her and then I did a little jig (seriously) and did a victory lap around the gym. You would've thought I'd just won gold at the Olympics for the way I was carrying on, successfully completing one push up is a pretty amazing achievement for me though, so I felt my celebrations were fitting. Then my trainer made me do 9 more push ups, and I did! I was still shocked! Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come! Then the dream was over. It was very deep and involved :)

I did have a pt session yesterday. It was H-A-R-D! I gave myself a little pep talk while I was getting ready, and told myself that I wasn't going to complain or say 'I can't' when my trainer asked me to do things, or when she added more weights to the machines, etc, etc. I was psyching myself up in the car on the drive in. I got there, spent 10 minutes on the treadmill before my session started, and then met up with my trainer. I reckon I lasted all of 5 minutes before I whinged. Nice work on my part. It was the most physically draining session I've done so far, and I reckon that will be the way for all of them from now on. I'm excited though, cause when I do strength training on my own, I push myself, but not a lot...certainly not as much as my trainer does, she's relentless! So, seeing a pt is good, cause she will push me much further than I would push myself. After my session yesterday, I went to see the gym owner about upping my pt sessions to twice a week. Done. So, from next week, I will be having a pt session each Monday and Thursday. Bring it on!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned in another post, but I am going to America in September! I am SOOOO EXCITED!!! I fly out on the 12th of September, and I get back on the 8th of October. I'm mostly going to be staying with my dear and wonderful friend, Becky, in Minnesota, but I will also get to visit my cousin and her family in New York for a weekend! I can't wait! The last time I saw Becky was in December of 2005, and the last time I saw my cousin was sometime in mid-2004 (I think). Both Becky and my cousin have since had babies, Becky has had 2 boys; and my cousin has had 2 girls...so I am really excited to meet their kids too.

I am counting down the days til this trip! It has been a long time coming! Becky is one of my closest friends, and not having physically seen her since 2005 is a really long time! I am very thankful to Skype, seeing her on there has been fun, and I met both of her boys as newborns via Skype...so that's been really cool, but I can't wait to meet them in real life! It's going to be awesome! This time in 9 weeks and I will be at their house in Minnesota! It seems so unreal, I don't think it'll hit me properly til I'm actually there.

Anyway, I'd best be off. Things to do, people to see. Actually, just 'things to do', I don't have anyone that I need to see today. Have a great Friday!

Fetch the smelling salts!

I'm assuming you've all had the happy event in your life where you have been able to watch Pride and Prejudice. BBC Version all the way! Ah, Mr Darcy....what a guy! I forget the mum's name in the series, but she's a serious drama-queen, and seems to need the aid of her 'smelling salts' to bring her back from the depths. Anyway, I just thought of that line as I was waiting for this page to load, so I think it has some sub conscious connection to how I'm feeling today. On. Death's. Door.

Ok, so that's a slight exaggeration. I am feeling pretty sore though. Darn fitness.

I went to the gym on Sunday, did some weights and other buff stuff. Actually, I used the machines to do the weights, I don't bench press, I think I would accidentally kill myself if I didn't have a spotter. My pt makes me bench press sometimes, by the end of it, she's practically holding the bar for me, and I'm just going through the motions...so doing it 'solo' would almost certainly end in death, or at least some kind of nasty injury. I even have to use one of those giant gym balls to do squats, cause I still haven't worked out how to do them properly. I have to put the gym ball between my back and a wall, and roll down it, to try and teach myself proper formation. Who knew squats could be so hard??

Anyway, gym on Sunday. Gym on Monday (yesterday). Gym today. Today I went to 2 group classes and did some strength training on the gym equipment. I am so hardcore! Hence why my body and its weak muscles are protesting pretty severely this arvo.

Group classes are a major source of embarrassment for me, mostly due to my extreme lack of coordination, so I only go to the classes that my pt runs, cause at least she already knows I'm unco, it's not a shock or anything. If I went to one of the other trainers classes, they might see me attempting to do what everyone else was doing, and wonder how I ever managed to walk up the few stairs to get into the gym, with my clear lack of coordination. Eventually, I will work up the courage to go to a different class/es...I was thinking about going to a 'fitbox' class on Thursday morning, before my pt session. I've still got 2 sleeps to decide. I wonder if they have medics on stand by, just in case one of the participants accidentally punches another participant in the face...you know, just as a hypothetical scenario ;)

Meal plan is going well! A day and a half in...Protein shakes are definitely my favourite times of the day. It feels like you're having a normal milkshake (almost), and I look forward to 10:30am and 8:30pm so much! In fact, I was so excited on my drive home from the gym, knowing that when I got home I would get to have a protein shake, that I gave a little fist pump. True story. Only just over 3 hours til I get to have another one! *virtual fist pump*

So, the moral of the story is that I'm sore, but pretty stoked with my efforts for the day.

I'm off to do some more planning for school. Hope you're all having a splendid day!!

Wow! It's been ages!!

Howdy y'all!

So, I've never said the above in all my life, but in a blog, I can say whatever I like.

Well, it's been a LONG time since I last put up a blog! Life has been crazy!

Here's a recap on the last few months....

I've been teaching like a boss! I've visited my mum a couple of times. I've booked flights to America (going in September...can't wait!). I bought a vacuum cleaner (I know, super-exciting!). I still haven't used the iron I bought a year ago (true story. It's still in its box). My sister announced that she is up the duff (bub is due end of September...YAY!). My beautiful friend and her husband welcomed a baby girl (my honorary niece) into the world on the first of April...I cried when I found out (happy tears). I've watched lots of movies, eaten lots of food, had a few hundred showers, been to church and growth group a couple of hundred times. I saw Carl Barron live (hilarious!) a couple of months back. I joined a gym about a month ago. That's about all I can think of.

So, this gym has inspired me to write another blog today. I went in to inquire about membership prices a bit over a month ago, and walked out with a membership! Turns out it's a great gym though, really friendly staff and a great atmosphere! I meet with a PT once a week, she is awesome, even if she does make me do stuff that I hate (squats!). She makes me laugh, and she is a hard task master! I have next to no upper body strength (I can't even do one proper push-up, and minimal 'girl' ones), so she's working on that with me, and, one day, I hope to be able to do a push up without my PT having to put my towel under me, like a sling, to pull me back up...not even kidding, that's really what she has to do. It's sad.

Well, a couple of weeks ago, the gym announced it would be doing a 12 week challenge. This involves doing strength training 3 times a week, cardio 3 times a week, and having Sundays as a 'rest day'. It also involves a menu, and a shopping list. I signed up. It starts tomorrow! I bought all my groceries tonight, and weighed all the meat portions out for the week (SO MUCH MEAT!). I also bought a bottle of coke and a crunchie at the shops, as a 'farewell sugar' tribute. They were delicious!

I'm excited for the challenge. I'm glad I have another week of school holidays ahead of me, so I can get through a week of the challenge, and then work out how to fit in all the training stuff once school's back. I think the menu plan is definitely going to be a challenge. I am excited for the protein shakes I get to have twice a day, cause the tub I bought is peanut butter and chocolate flavoured, and it tastes almost like a liquid peanut butter cup! Good times.

The end of the challenge will be when I'm in the states. In fact, I think being in the states for 3.5 weeks is going to be a massive challenge! There's so much tastiness in America...how am I ever going to be able to resist!? By then, I would have completed just over 9 weeks of the challenge, so surely I'll have built up enough willpower to get me through...surely...

Anyway, wish me luck compadres! Hopefully I'll be able to keep you in the loop via the blog...in 12 weeks time I'm going to be buff as! I'll probably be able to do hand stand push ups by then...HAHA!

Da, Da, Da, Da...Puppy Power!

The tile of this blog, has absolutely nothing to do with the content to follow. I was just going to put the 'Da, Da, Da, Da' part, cause I was so excited to be writing another blog, and just as I got to the last 'Da', I remembered the 'Puppy Power'. Who else knows where this is from? Frankly, I think 'Scrappy' should never have been invented (was he Scooby's nephew or something?). Scooby had Shaggy, there was no need for another character, puppy-wearing-a-cape or otherwise. I loved watching Scooby Doo as a kid, sometimes it freaked me out, but even then, I pretended that I loved it, cause what kid wants to be seen by their older siblings, freaking out over a kid's cartoon?

Ok, now the title has something to do with the blog ;)

Wow, these blog posts are becoming as rare as hens teeth! One day, when I'm famous, these blog will be locked away in a virtual vault, for the purpose of inspiring future generations...how cool that you get to read them before they get locked away! ;)

A few weeks ago, my friend Susan pointed out that I hadn't written a blog in ages (shout out to my fellow H.P champion!) , so I thought I should write one, before school starts up again, and while I'm on a procrastination roll!

School does start again, on Wednesday in fact. Actually, school started back for me last Thursday, but my class doesn't return until Wednesday, so it's nice to have a few days to get work done, and my room set up and all that.

Over the holidays, my classroom was repainted and had new carpet put in...and the room now looks B-E-A-UTIFUL! This year will be my first year of having the same class, for a full school year! I have the lovely 3/4 class, and I am excited to be able to set up the classroom and decorate it and all that fun stuff. I have a total of 23 kids in my class so far, which is not the 18 I was expecting (yep, 23 is more than 18...what an educational blog!). I have a couple of new kids in both grades, so it'll be fun to get to know some new kids, and to shake up the dynamics of each grade a bit...this could end badly actually...

I also have grand plans for forcing...I mean, 'encouraging' my class to love reading this year. I have emailed my boss with an idea (that Google gave me, thanks Google) for D.E.A.R time. I didn't really use D.E.A.R time last year, mostly I just read aloud to the class a couple of times a week. I think I've mentioned that in an earlier post, about forcing my class to like the books that I liked as a kid (and still like)...turns out that not everyone, the boys in particular, appreciate being read a book about 2 primary school girls, one prim the other a bit of a bogan, who go to a dodgy school, and up being the most unlikely of BFFs. Who knew boys wouldn't enjoy that plot?! It didn't take me long to work it out, and I tried to make it more boy-friendly, but they weren't buying it. Eventually, I gave in, and ended up reading 'Spooky Stories' by Paul Jennings. More of a crowd pleaser? Yes. My favourite book as a kid? No! Oh well, guess you have to compromise on some things...*dreams shattered*

On another note, today I bought an indoor antenna for my tv. We do have an aerial thing in the loungeroom, but it's currently being used by one of the other teachers, for his tv. The other teacher that lives here has used a splitter (not even sure if that's the word I'm after) on the existing aerial thing, and has it running into her room, for her tv. I considered getting a second splitter, and running it into my room, but was worried I might blow up the reception for everyone within a 5km radius. I don't even know if this is possible, but I figured there's only so many tvs that can run from the one rooftop antenna...all the days I spent as a tv specialist (totally a job title) taught me that! Anyway, after deciding I didn't want to blow up the tvs, I looked into alternatives. I read some indoor antenna reviews, and I had high hopes for the particular one that I bought *hopes shattered* I can't get it to pick up any channels. Granted, it is highly likely that I'm using it incorrectly, or that I've missed a step in the procedure, but whatever the case, I've boxed it all up and I intend to return it for a full $24.99 refund. Thank you very much, Mr Dick Smith.

I went to Lismore for the day today. It rained all the way there, and all the way back (and practically the whole time I was in Lismore too). I went down for my beautiful friend's baby shower (Amanda, or 'Mann' as I have been in the habit of calling her for about 6.5 years now...not to be confused with 'man', they sound totally different...trust me!). Anyway, this celebration was meshed with Amanda's husband's 30th, as well as their farewell from Lismore. It was a HUGE celebration! Lots of people will be sad to see them leave Lismore, though, the plan (at the moment) is for the move to be temporary, and they will be back in Lismore by the end of 2013. It was so fun to be able to go down for the day...ah, the beauty of living in another state, and still only being a 2.5 hour drive away :)

Well, it's 11:30pm, and I should get to bed. I am going to try to be more regular with this whole blogging gig...I've probably said that in previous blogs...I will actually try to be this time though, pinky swear (that's pretty much the 'muggle' version of 'the unbreakable vow' in HP. Hard core).

I shall leave you with a joke I heard a few months ago, and think is hilarious!

A grasshopper walks into a bar, and the barman says
"Hey, we've got a drink named after you!"
The grasshopper replies
"You have a drink named Kevin?!"

How great is that! I remembered it on the drive back from Lismore tonight, and I actually laughed out loud at it...perhaps I was delirious with exhaustion? I dunno. Maybe.

PS It's raining HEAPS at my school (I usually only stay at the teacher's residence on weekedays, but I have lots of work to do, hence the weekend visit). I'm supposed to be going into Brissie in the morning, I hope I don't get cut off! I don't want to be stuck out here with half a loaf of bread, 1 apple, a cup of milk and some honey! I'll have to get all 'Bear Grylls' and eat a possum, or a wallaby...either or...

PSS HAPPY 'STRAYA DAY!

Blerg.

Howdy!

So, who loves Tina Fey?? Me! I also love Amy Poehler, those 2 are comic geniuses! 'Baby Mama' is definitely up there in my top 5 favourite movies, and no matter how many times I see it, it still makes me laugh...perhaps even more so than when I first saw it, cause now I laugh in anticipation of all my favourite bits as I watch it :)
Tina Fey is in my radar at the moment though, because last night I just finished watching season 2 of '30 Rock'. That show is 90% hilarious, and 10% unnecessary....one episode in particular in season 2 was unnecessary, but overall, Liz Lemon and the rest of TGS are fantastic! If you've never seen it, youtube showcases bits and pieces of it, and there are many clips dedicated to 'the best of Liz Lemon', go and watch a couple, if your sense of humour is anything like mine, you'll be hooked! :P

What's been happening in your world?

I am just about done with week 5 of term 4, crazy! There are only 10 weeks in the term, and I have a lot of stuff I need to get done over the next 4 (reports are due end of week 9). This term is flying by!

On Tuesday night this week I went into the city with my friend, Sarah, to see 'Potted Potter'.
Potted Potter is a 70 minute live performance, that covers all 7 books. It's a Harry Potter parody, it's performed by 2 guys, and the whole show is mostly done with them changing hats for each character. Hilarious is not even a good enough word for it, my face was still hurting the next day from laughing so hard. It was extremely clever, and massively entertaining....they even got a game of Quidditch going at one point. Potter Potter is on a world tour at the moment, so if you love HP, and the show happens to be coming to your town, or somewhere nearby, I highly recommend it! Definitely worth the money, and the 3 hour round trip from where I live during the week, into the city.

A couple of nights ago I won some stuff for my mum off eBay, and got it for an absolute steal! When mum and dad built their house 30 years ago, they put a swing set in for the 6 kids that they had (at the time, another was to come 5 years later), I was just a baby when the house was being built. Anyway, the swing set that they put in, has lasted 30 years, 7 kids, 7 grandkids, and numerous neighbours and friends that have come to visit over those 30 years. It's had a good run. In September, one of the seats on the 2 person swing snapped at the pole join, and is now hanging precariously by rusted metal...totally meeting safety standards. The other individual swing broke a while ago, the seat snapped and all that's left of that one are the two chains hanging down. Again, totally meeting safety standards. Mum had asked me a while ago to look on eBay to get the seats on both swings replaced, and had decided that she would get my brother to find a replacement pole for the seat on the 2 person swing to be attached to. I was talking to mum over the weekend, and she mentioned the rusted pole of death, and I said I'd check out eBay when I got home. Well, this is where the story gets really exciting. In previous eBay browsings, I discovered that it was going to cost around 100 - 120 buck to get 3 replacement seats, on this partciular eBay search, I found a lady on the Gold Coast, who was selling the exact swing seats (all three of them) that mum needed, and no one had bid on them, the auction was finishing the next day, and it was currently at $25! Not only that, but the rusted pole of death, in fact, the whole 2 person swing was being sold, along with the individual swing seat and chains. I rang mum, super excited. I bet you're all excited right about now, am I right? Who doesn't love a massive paragraph about the history and replacement of someone's swing set?? This is what dreams are made of right here, people. The end of this enthralling story is that I won the auction, I did end up in a bidding war, and had to pay $31 in total, but how awesome is that? I rang mum when the auction ended, we were both way too excited about the outcome, it's 2 swings for the love of Pete, but I am off to the GC after work tomorrow to pick up our prize :)

Wow. That sure was one epic story! I'll allow you to go and get a drink of water after that, before reading the rest of this insane blog!

At school today, my class finally learnt all the moves for their end of year dance. It's only take us 5 weeks to work out what to do for the 2 minutes and 42 seconds of the song. They're doing Rock n Roll dancing, and it's gonna be awesome! We will be doing LOTS of practicing over the next week (presentation night is next Thursday), to fine tune it and such, but I am so proud of them already! I reckon I'll cry on the night...
I accepted the fact years ago that I cry in most situations, happy, sad, and everything in between. It's genetics, and out of my hands. Thanks, Dad.
Mostly, I saw Dad cry when he was happy, like at weddings (both in real life and on tv...seriously), and reading those soppy Christmas, birthday and Father's Day cards, with front covers like 'To my darling father' and 'From your loving daughter'...those cards were a guaranteed tear jerker for him :) In fact, I only ever saw him cry when he was sad, if he was really sad, like at funerals. He was tough, he didn't even shed a tear when he cut his big toe off on the lawn mower...or when he had both of his knees replaced at the same time...well, maybe he did cry from the pain, but I never saw him. To me, he was the toughest, bravest, handiest, smartest man in the world. That's what made seeing him sick so hard. He was a fighter, and he couldn't fight the cancer. He tried, and he said he would, and mum said he would, but he couldn't. People would remind me of how strong he was, I knew he was, everyone knew he was, but the cancer didn't. I watched it suck the life out of him. I watched it change him from the intelligent, independent, hard working, strong, brave man I knew, into a shadow of himself. I hate cancer. I miss him. I miss him every day. I miss his lame jokes, I miss him lecturing me about my car, I miss his singing loudly through the house. You know, when we were in school, to wake us up he used to sing songs as he walked up the hall and knocked on all our doors on his was past. It used to make me bury my head under my pillow, but I love that he did that. He was a good man, a great dad, and a fantastic husband to my mum. I don't think I'll ever stop missing him, and I don't want to either.

Tonight I watched 'The Descendants', which made me cry. A lot. I guess that's what got me into this current funk of thinking about how sucky it is to lose a parent.
Wow. Sorry guys. I didn't mean for this blog to turn into such a downer. I blame George Clooney.

I should go, and sleep or something. Sleep is good :)

Have a super week!

Peace out!