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!

WOW!

Wow. My last blog post was over 2 months ago!! I'm sorry, world.

I just read my last blog, and it mentioned a few upcoming things, that have all since happened!

My friend in America did have her baby boy, his name is Peter, and I have met him on Skype...he is just gorgeous!

I did plan/host the baby shower for my old housemate. It all went well. We had tonnes of food, way more than we could eat, and I even accidentally left a platter of food at home! Most people at the baby shower guessed that she would have a boy, and she did! On Friday morning, Caleb was born! I got to meet him in person yesterday. He is such a sweet little thing! I think he is the second youngest baby I have ever met (I have a feeling I met my eldest nephew on the day he was born). Caleb was so snuggly and beautiful, I loved holding him. I'm hoping to be able to take some photos of him and his parents next weekend....which will be SO much fun!

Also, my contract at my school got extended til the end of the year! Which is fantastic! I do love my class a lot, and I was getting sad about having to leave them, and now I get to keep teaching them til mid-December! Week 2 of term 4 starts tomorrow. I had typed up a letter for the kids to take home to their parents, to let them know that I would be staying on, before I let the kids have it though, I said that I would read it out for them 'so that they would know what it was about'. I began to read, about how I had been offered a position at the school, but I didn't know at that point who I would be teaching. When I got to the bit about me staying on as the 3/4 teacher, my kids erupted into a big cheer, and a few of them started hugging each other. It was SO sweet I almost started crying! I was hoping that they would be as happy as I was about it :)

I went to visit my mum for a week over the school holidays, which was really nice. I love visiting down there, cause it's so peaceful and quiet...and the stars at her place are really easy to see cause she lives out of town. Mostly, I spent the week hanging out with mum and one of my sisters at the house. It was such a great feeling to not have to get up at 6am every day!

I spent a few days visiting friends in Lismore too, which was lovely. I have some wonderful friends down there that I miss dearly. I love that Brisbane isn't too far away from Lismore...not that I get down there heaps often, but when I do, it's only a 2.5 hour drive.

Anyway, that's a brief overview of my life lately. I am sorry I haven't written a blog in so long, it turns out being a teacher can get busy...I didn't sign up for that! :P I'll try really hard to be more regular with blog posts....

Have a super fabulous week!

So many exciting things!

Today, my class told me they wanted to throw a party for me at the end of the term. Mostly, I think it's just a good excuse for them to get out of doing work for a day...but part of me likes to think it's because they'll miss me. Oh how students and teachers differ ;)

We've been learning about fractions this week. Either I'm not teaching it in a way that they understand, or they really just don't get it yet. I mean, some of them do. Today I was trying to explain that when the denominator is the same, and you are asked to add the fractions, all you have to do is add the numerators, and then leave the denominator as is. Except when your answer has the numerator and the denominator as the same number, then it's a whole. Man. Who knew it would be so hard to explain! We ended up getting out a pizza game, and I think most of them got it by the end...I think! :)

On another note, I have the task of planning my old housemate's baby shower. I have just emailed my sister, asking if her 6 year old daughter can draw a picture of a mother pushing a pram for me, cause I want to put it on the invite. Being my niece, and god daughter, she is awesomely talented, so I'm expecting a pretty sensational, and uber cute drawing. The mum-to-be has picked a date, and I have to figure out the rest!
In my sentimental, over-emotional self, I am so excited to be able to plan it, cause I planned her wedding shower a couple of years ago (when we were still housemates), so it's nice to be able to plan this as well.

Speaking of babies, my dear friend in America is having her baby tomorrow! I can't wait! We already know it's a boy, I'm excited to find out his name though. I'm even more excited for the day when I can meet him on Skype! I love Skype...it's one of the greatest inventions EVER! (to date anyway, I'm sure in a few years there'll be something that out-does Skype).

I found out today that Monday is a public holiday. Brisbane has this show day, called 'Ekka', and we get a holiday for it! I don't think I'm going. I've not been before, but it's insanely over priced, and crowded. I'll go one year, just to say I've been, but I don't think it'll be this year. Anyway, it means I have a 3 day weekend! Which is so perfect, cause I'm going to Lismore this weekend, for the first birthday and dedication of my friend's (Ally and Kelvin) baby.
Ally and I met when I was 17, and she was 20. We were at the same camp, and were put into the same group. Well, we got along like a house on fire! We wrote to each other for a couple of years after the camp, and then kind of lost touch. Then, when I was about 24, and living in Lismore, (I can't remember how old exactly), my housemates went out to a friend's place for dinner. When they got home, they said that they had met someone new, that they thought I would know. When they said it was Ally, I couldn't believe it! Turns out she had been offered a teaching job at a school in Lismore, and she had just moved there. We met up a few days later, and were amazed at the coincidence! I am still so hugely thankful to God for crossing our paths again! I love her so much! She is a huge blessing to me, and a very dear friend.
Isn't that a cool story?
I love Ally and Kelvin's little girl so very much! I can't wait to celebrate her birthday and dedication with them :) And since it's a 3 day weekend, I can spend more time down there! Woot!

Wow. It's late. I should get to bed.

I hope you're all having a sensational week so far!

Howdy!

Wow, it's getting longer and longer between blog posts these days...I must be busy or something...
I don't even know what's happened since my last post.
School is going pretty awesome! I LOVE my class, so much! They are tonnes of fun, and they (most of them) can give out sarcasm as quickly as they receive it :) Tomorrow is the beginning of week 4, which means there are only 6 weeks of my contract left...I was getting all teary at work on Friday arvo cause I was sad that I'm gonna have to leave these guys soon. I'm so over-emotional at the moment. I like to think it's sympathy hormones, cause one of my best friends is mega-preggers, so I'm sharing her crazy, all-over-the-shop hormones with her. That makes sense, right?
In fact, this friend is having her baby (a boy) on Thursday night at 11pm! Well, it will be Thursday morning for her, the 15 hour time difference makes it night time here though. I'm SO excited!!! I got to talk to her on Skype last night, and I got to see her almost-two year old son as well (he's usually asleep when we Skype, so I haven't seen him in ages). So, come Thursday night, I'm going to have 2 honorary nephews! Can't wait!
Last week we had our inter-school athletics carnival. My guys went really well. I have some awesome little runners and high-jumpers in my class (there was shot put, and discus, and long jump too). One of the girls in my class actually won the trophy for receiving the most points individually. I was so proud! (probably not as proud as her mum was, but I reckon I was pretty close!)
I went down to Lismore a few weekends ago for my nephew's 16th birthday! I hated when I was younger and people used to say "I remember when you were knee-high to a grasshopper", or "I remember changing your nappies", and other comments along those lines. When people say it to me now (and it doesn't happen so often these days), I actually kinda like that those people knew me when I was little. How things change, hey?
Anyway, for my nephew's birthday, I morphed into 'one of those people'. I found my hand writing comments in his card about him when he was little...it was like my hand had a mind of its own! I couldn't stop it! I really cannot believe he is 16 now though, he's so old, and tall (taller than me, has been for well over a year now, and I'm not short). He is such a great kid though, and I love him dearly. He's the eldest of my 7 nephews and nieces, and he can learn how to drive now. It's weirding me out. It was so nice to be with him for his birthday though, so I am very thankful that I live close enough to be able to do that.
My class have to do their first assessment tomorrow. On map reading (looking at legends, scales, etc). They have been learning all about maps this past week, so, hopefully, they will ace the test. They also have a test on their 1, 2 and 3 times tables, I will be very interested to see how they go with that.
In other news, I think I've eaten my weight in peanut m and ms these past few weeks. I really need to do some exercise to counteract this sudden increase in fat....I probably won't though. So, if I die from clogged arteries, you'll know why.
I should probably go, I do have lots of work to do. Not that I don't love keeping a blog, just that I also love my job, and I should get crackin' on finishing my plan for this week.

Peace out!

I love meeces to pieces!

Does anyone remember what cartoon that quote is from? In the cartoon, I think he says that he 'hates those meeces to pieces'. I have no idea what it's from...
Man, keeping a blog is hard when you have to work full-time...didn't know how good I had it! Actually, I did, I savoured my last weeks of leisure before my teaching contract, I knew that I wouldn't be getting much sleep for the term. And I'm not.
I have (almost) completed my first week of term 3. Monday was a student free day, and tomorrow (Friday) we're going on an excursion, so it's not been a bad first week. I am still doing my planning for the term, so that has taken up a lot of my time, and it still is. I have to plan for maths, english, science and history, and since I have a composite class, I have to write a plan for both grades, hence doubling my workload. Being a rookie at this whole 'planning' thing does not help my cause either, but I'm getting there. The principal told us today that he wants as much detail as possible on our assessments for the term in the next week or two. I have scheduled assessments, but I have no idea what I'm going to do for them. Ok, I'll stop carrying on. I should just be thankful that I have full-time work, albeit temporary.
You may remember from earlier posts, that I have a mouse friend/s that like to hang out in my room while I'm not here. Well, I mentioned it to the admin at school before the end of last term, and I was informed that it would be dealt with while I was away. It wasn't. Yesterday I was handed a mouse trap, and today I was handed a teeny container or peanut butter for said mouse trap. This is just what I didn't want to happen. I wanted to come back from holidays, in the delusion that the mouse/mice had moved on, and were now living in a big field somewhere, with plenty of food and friends to play with. I didn't want to have a trap set, and for it to go off while I'm in the room. It's too traumatic for me. This particular trap is called a 'revolver' for crying out loud! How dreadful does that sound??

 

Maybe a door shuts gently behind the mouse when it walks in there? Then I would be able to take it and release it somewhere nice. Somehow, I don't think this is the case. It makes a really loud 'snap' sound when it goes off, which is sure to wake me up if it goes off during the night...and if I so much as hear a little mouse scream, I think I'll cry! :(
I think I need to move on.

This morning, as I was pouring my cereal, one of the other teachers that lives here came walking into the kitchen. Not an odd scenario, but usually she doesn't stay at the accommodation on Wednesday nights, so in my mind, when the other teacher left for work this morning, I figured I was in the place alone. So, when she walked down the hall, and I saw her in my peripheral, I jumped and said "Man! You scared the life outta me!". She didn't though. As soon as I said it, I thought 'that's a really odd expression'. If she had 'scared the life outta me', that would mean I would be slumped on the ground, and really, I probably wouldn't have said anything, because if the life has 'gone outta you', past tense, I presume it doesn't hang around for a few seconds so you can get out a final sentence. Know what I mean? I guess expressions like that don't really mean anything though. They're just that. Expressions. So I shouldn't over think them :)
I should leave my computer for a while, and look at something other than the venetian blinds in my room :)
I hope you are all having a spectacular week!

Peace out! (I never say that in real life, but in a blog, I can pretend to be able to pull a farewell such as this off) :P

The Fortnight That Was...

Man, it's been a while!

I have had a busy (kind of) couple of weeks!

School finished for the term on the 22nd of June. We did have our movie/fun day, I even provided snack bags! On the Thursday I went to the video shop to hire some movies for the kids to choose from. I picked 2 movies: 'Hop' and 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs'. I thought they were both winners and thought the kids would be stoked. Little did I know. The next day, 3 of my kids also brought movies for the class to choose from, including my 2, we had a total of 20 movies (or something ridiculous like that). We wrote the names of all of them on the board, and through a few rounds of 'blind voting' they decided on 'Chipwrecked'. Just in case you were wondering, both my movies were voted out by the second round. What a waste of $7. The kids did enjoy 'Chipwrecked', even if they didn't get to finish watching it cause I made them pause it to clean the classroom and sort out their tidy trays. 'Tidy trays' are the little trays in each of their desks where they keep everything from books and worksheets, to dead fruit and rocks. How they managed to avoid sticking their fingers through the semi-rotted fruit each time they opened their tidy tray is a mystery. In fact, I think I might have to think of another name, 'tidy' tray is entirely misleading.

Anyway, once school was finished, and I had tidied up my desk, I headed back to Brissie. On the Saturday, I went to Movieworld with (most of) my small group (Bible study, growth group...whatever you like to call it). I absolutely LOVE theme parks!
When I first moved to Brisbane, I bought a 'world pass' to Dreamworld (and White Water World, but who would visit there over Dreamworld??). I drive past 'the worlds' on my way to and from Lismore, so I would often drop in to Dreamworld on my way past, go on a ride, and then continue my journey. It was the best! Especially if I happened to pass by in the last half hour or so before the park closed, cause I could squeeze in 2 rides then (usually) cause the lines were heaps shorter.
So, 2 of my friends that came to Movieworld the day after school finished were 'not rides people'. In fact, I went to dinner with one of the aforementioned friends a week before we went, and just showing her a picture of one of the rides made her palms clammy. Well, fast forward to a week later and I was so incredibly proud of her, and my other friend too, cause they both went on all the 'scary' rides! What champions! It was a really fun day!
After Movieworld, I headed down to Byron, to meet my friend Amanda for dinner. We had a fantastic dinner! Then we went to watch a band (Amanda knew the drummer) and I sat on the couch, as far away as I could get from the stage, and listened from there. Amanda went to dance for a bit (with a few other friends we knew that had come to watch the band too), and I sat on the couch. I did recross my legs a few times. The rest of the time I spent commenting on how loud the band was. When did I become so old??

For the next few days, I hung out with one of my old Lismore housemates, and her husband, and their 7 week old baby girl. I had not met her before, but I had seen lots of pictures. Talk about a cute baby! She is even cuter in real life! I got lots and lots of cuddles, and we got to have lots of 'chats' too...her little gurgles, goos, and smiles just melted my heart! I caught up with a few other friends too.

Such a sweet little girl! I just love her so much!

Then, I was off to Tamvegas! I made the stupid decision to leave at 10:30pm, not sure what I was thinking! I didn't get to Tamworth til 8:30 the next morning, it's usually a 5.5 hour trip! I had to make lots of stops to sleep cause I was so tired. Learnt my lesson on that one.
I spent just over a week there, it was so nice to relax and just be with my family. One of my sisters lives with my mum, and two of my sisters and my little brother visited while I was there too.
I caught up with my friend Bec while I was there, which was really fun! She came over to watch the end of the state of origin with my sister, nephew and me. Yep. That is definitely why she came over. To watch the state of origin....Anyway, when it was over, we played 'Monopoly Deal' (I won, hands down), and then we slept. In the morning, we went to breakfast at 'The Bell Tower'. I highly recommend that place! I loved it! Heaps of cool antique-y stuff, and the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and baby spinach was amazing!

Now, I am back in Lismore, to get some more school work done, before heading back to Brissie on Wednesday or Thursday (depending on how long it takes me to finish my planning).

I guess I had better get some planning done tonight, so I should stop rambling on here! :)

See ya!

PS Just purchased 'Speak Now (Extended Version)' on iTunes. The love of her music still remains. I wish I was 10 years younger, then this 'love' wouldn't be so misplaced...

Kicks!

Today I introduced two new games to my class. One of them was the following game, called 'Add it', it proved to be a hit, and we played four 3-minute rounds (one minute was far too quick!).

The Play:

1. The teacher announces any number and an addend. For example: 7 and 4.
   
2. The students write and add the two numbers and continue to add the same addend to the new sum until the teacher calls stop at the end of one minute.
   
3. Class stands and a volunteer begins reading problems and answers aloud, slowly.
   
4. As students no longer have the answers, they are seated.
   
5. The student left standing is the winner.
   

I played this game with my class. I got a kick out of winning. Who let me be a teacher?? What kind of teacher loves to beat their kids at games? Probably most teachers, and to be fair to myself, I only made it known to the kids 25% of the time...that makes me a better teacher, right?? :)

One more school day til the holidays. Tomorrow we are having a movie & fun day! This day also includes giving the classroom a really good sort/clean...not that I've told the kids that yet. Lure them in with the promise of movies and fun, and when they arrive, tell them that we're all going to be cleaning the classroom first. Many hands make light work though, so it'll save me having to do it during the holidays. I'll put music on while they clean, it'll be 'fun' cleaning...*cough*...

Anyway, I'm off to the scary showers. If I ever wanted to make a scary movie, I could use the showers for at least one scene. There are only 3 showers in there, but they're in a row, and in a building that noone else is ever in...or so it seems..trust me, they're kinda creepy (I'll have to post a photo sometime). In fact, I could use a lot of my accommodation for scary movie scenes, and don't even get me started on the primary campus where my classroom is! Let's just say I wouldn't want to be there alone at night (I have been, a couple of times, but never for too long).

Have a great last day of the week!

One week in and still alive!

I have officially survived my first week (and a bit) of teaching! WOOHOO!
I love my class, they are beautiful (not that they would appreciate me telling anyone that). I have 18 kids, some are quiet, some are loud, and they are all pretty hilarious :)
The staff at my school are really lovely. They are all really helpful and more than willing to listen to me ask questions about everything from bell times to program writing.
Some highlights of the week:

•  Introducing my class to our class mascot, a very cute stuffed wombat. The kids got to name him, and 'Speedy' is very loved by my kids, despite the initial reaction from a few of the kids about them being 'too old for stuffed toys'. Speedy has won them over with his good looks and charm :)
• Creating 'WomBucks', our own class currency. The kids get WomBucks for good behaviour and can use them to 'buy' things from the prize box. So far, it's working pretty well as a management strategy.
• Witnessing a kids version of 'Days of Our Lives', in my very own classroom! 2 of the girls were fighting over a boy, gold!
• Getting locked out of my accommodation on my first night here and having to sleep in a spare room, and then not being able to have a shower/brush my teeth/etc for work the next day cause all my toiletries were locked in my bedroom!
• Waking up 2 nights in a row to hear a rustling in a shopping back on my shelves. Then, getting home from being away for the weekend to find mouse poo all over my desk, shelves and bed...including my pillow! (that was probably my least favourite highlight).

My accommodation reminds me a lot of a motel, but it does the job. I have my own room, with a built-in wardrobe, a bookcase, a bed and a desk! The way it was described to me, I was expecting something like a prison cell. and I thought it was just going to be a bed in a room, so everything else is a bonus!!
I let the office admin know about the mouse, and she said that they probably wouldn't be able to do anything about it until the holidays. I was fine with that! If they can deal with it, it means I don't have to be the one to set the trap or leave ratsac around...both 'solutions' make me sad, so it's better if I just come back and the mouse has 'gone to live on a farm'.
My kids have chosen the topic of 'mythical creatures' to work on for the rest of the term, so I should go and get some stuff organised for tomorrow. This week is the last week of term, then I have 3 weeks of holidays! Can't wait!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Packing Extravaganza!

The day of departure is upon us! (well, the day before the day of departure, and it's upon me, not so much you guys)...

Tomorrow morning, I shall be rising at 4:00am. Man, just thinking about it makes me tired! I want to be at school by 7:00am, and taking into account that it's a 1.5 hour drive, and that fog likes to hang around the area that I need to drive through, I shall be leaving home around 5:00am, to give myself ample time to get there.
It's lucky that this weekend is a long weekend, and that I've been able to sleep in for 3 days in a row, cause if history is anything to go on, I won't be sleeping much tonight! I have this annoying 'knowing I have to get up early' side effect which makes me so worried about sleeping in, that I wake up numerous times to check the clock. It also takes me ages to get to sleep, I reckon my body is like 'I know you need to get to sleep, but I'm the boss 'round these parts, and I ain't gonna let ya! Take that ya filthy varmint!'. Man, my body can be mean! Anyway, you get my drift.

I have packed up a tonne of stuff, and half of it has been packed into my car. Currently, I have a clothes horse full of washing that I'm trying to get dry, and that's the last of the clothes. I have taken way too many clothes with me, I already know, but I guess not knowing when I'll next be back in Brisbane means that I do need to take enough to cover me for a few weeks (that was an accidental pun, but I'm impressed with it!) :)

Guess what I did yesterday? No guesses? Ok, I'll tell you...I bought an iron! This is my first iron purchase, and I spent a very long time staring at them blankly in BigW, having no idea what a 'good' iron was, and how much 'constant steam' was necessary. I settled for a Philips cause it said something on the box about it being 'the world's most trusted brand' and it's statements like that that make me buy things. I mean, the world trusts it, that's a pretty big group of people. Plus, it was on special, which is another reason behind why I buy things.

This purchase means that I have gone my whole adult life without ironing anything, true story. Actually, not entirely true. I haven't ironed anything since I've been in Brisbane (2 and a bit years so far), but prior to that I just borrowed my house mate's iron, or ironed a tonne of stuff at mum and dad's. I figured though, since I have a proper job now, I should probably care a bit more. I do despise ironing though, so I will continue to avoid it as much as I can...So the saying goes: you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. Am I right? I know I'm not the only person out there who rarely irons.

Anyway, I'd better get back to BigW, there's a few things I forgot to get yesterday which I need before tomorrow.

Hope you're all enjoying the Queen's Birthday! I might get Subway for lunch, in her honour...I'm sure she eats a lot of Subway...

Pre-Job Day!

This morning, I arose at 5:15am. Now, I hear that to people with small children, this is practically considered a sleep-in. However, as I do not have any small children, or any children at all for that matter, anytime before 6-6:30am does not exist in my mind. On weekends, anytime before 9am doesn't exist.

I was off to meet my new class! I had the intention of leaving home at 6:30am. I even wrote '4th June - School visit - leave home @ 6:30am' on my whiteboard, factoring in the likelihood of being so delusional when my alarm went off, that I would probably just wander round in circles for a while without any instructions. All intention was lost, and I didn't leave home til 6:50! Even with the message, I was up too early to function properly. I left in a rush and forgot to take a notebook (that was written on my whiteboard too).

I had another left-in-a-rush moment a couple of months ago; I was doing a volunteer day at a school on the north-side, and I had literally gone almost half the day with my top on inside out, and back to front. I had been to morning tea in the staff room, met the school principal, met about half a dozen other staff members, and no one had said anything. Either they were just pretending not to notice, or my open-flowy-cardigan-thing, that I was wearing over aforementioned top, hid enough of it, so that no one really did notice. I like to think the latter is what happened. Upon realising my wardrobe malfunction, I quickly excused myself to the toilets, all was fixed, and I returned to the PE lesson, as if nothing had happened.

While I was in class today, I had a repeat moment, and I thought I had put my dress on inside out. I hadn't, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised I would have definitely noticed, before I had gotten to school, if I had. I breathed a sigh of relief!

The hour and a half drive to my school was filled with Taylor Swift sing-a-longs, and fog. That's right. Fog. And lots of it! About 40 minutes of the drive consisted of fog, in varying degrees of vision obscurity. I kept thinking of that really bad 'thriller' about a killer fog, in the aptly named movie 'The Fog'. It has Selma Blair in it, and I could just remember the scene where she's in her little radio broadcasting studio, working away, and she's talking with a friend on the phone, and while she's talking to him, the fog kills him, then it surrounds her studio! It's a movie, with an immense and complex plot, and I highly recommend it. It was actually on tv when I was last in Tamworth, and I watched it with my mum, and we pulled it apart, talking about how lame and predictable it was. I had actually hired it on dvd before too, I am ashamed to admit!

Anyway, after driving through the non-killer, but very thick fog, I got to school at 8:10, so I had 20 minutes to spare, which was perfect!

I spent the day with my new class, got to know them a bit and did a bit of work with them. I also met their teacher, who is lovely! She was really helpful, and helped me feel a bit more relaxed about the job. I met some of the other lower-primary staff too, all really lovely too! The head of primary is wonderful! I think I am really going to enjoy working with her, she's pretty hilarious! Really approachable too.

My class is small, just 17 kids, but very varied in terms of abilities. I am looking forward to the challenge of trying to help some of the kids catch up to 'grade level', while also encouraging other students to push further. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm excited! The kids are lovely, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun while I'm with them :)

Anyway, 8 days til I officially start! Monday is a public holiday, so I start on the Tuesday, and the kids have sport all day on Friday! I think a 3-day week will be a good way to ease in a bit to this whole 'teaching' gig :)

Watch this space...

Blue about my jeans

My favourite jeans finally wore through, on my left knee. It must be my favoured knee, as the right knee has a ways to go before it wears through.
In 2003, another pair of jeans I had wore through on both knees within the space of 2 or 3 wears. Back then I must have just fallen forwards and taken the full impact of the fall on my knees. I was so hardcore back then.
I actually cut the legs off those 2003 jeans, and wore them as shorts. After I wore them for about a year, I remembered that it wasn't 1987, and I gave them to Vinnies.
I am genuinely sad about my 2012 jeans. I reckon I've had them for about 4 or 5 years. They are well and truly broken in, and they are so super comfy! We've been through so much together. They were there when I graduated...not that I wore them to my graduation (though I would've if I could've!) but they were hangin' out at my house, awaiting my return from graduation. They moved to Brisbane with me, I probably did wear them on the drive up. They've lived in 7 different houses with me. They were there when I got my job at Life Ed, they've been with my on a few relief teaching days, and they were hanging in my wardrobe when I got the call about my upcoming teaching contract. They have been faithful to the end *sniff*
Ok, so I'm not totally devastated.
I probably won't get rid of them just yet though. I will have to find a replacement pair before they move on. As much as I dislike clothes shopping, jeans are my favourite piece of clothing, so it might* be fun to get a new pair.
Over and out.


*It might be, but it probably won't be. Fitting rooms were never designed to make you feel good about clothes shopping.

Harold!

Harold and I getting ready for our first day back at work!

Week one of being back at Life Education: done and dusted.
Only 2 weeks of Life Ed to go, then I'll be starting my new job!!
This past week has been nice. It's been lovely to be back in an environment I'm so comfortable with, very different to doing relief teaching and being in a different school every other day. I do love relief teaching too though :)
I had a year 7 class for my first lesson this morning, and I only had 11 students there (out of a possible 26). I commented on how small the group was to the kids, and one of the girls responded "Apparently everyone else is too old for Harold" (air quote for 'too old'). It made me laugh :) I then told them that I was 30, and I still loved Harold, to which one of the other girls said "You're 30?? You definitely don't look that old!".
It's safe to say that they were my favourite class for the day :)
Not just cause they complemented me.
OK, mostly cause they complemented me. I'm pretty shallow, I know.
They did up being a really great class as a whole though. Really easy to teach, and a really funny class too. Humour is something I definitely appreciate! :) I was sad when the lesson was over!

On the 4th of June, I'm going into my new school. I'm going to meet my (soon to be) class, and meet their regular teacher and have a chat with her about the coming term. I can't wait to meet my kids! I hope they're funny ;)

Last night I had a dream that I was at the beach with some friends (nobody that I recognised from real life, they were my 'dream friends' though, cause we all go along really well). Anyway, about 6 of us were lying on towels, reading and chatting. When, out of nowhere, a shark launched itself out of the water and onto the beach and bit one of my friends. We were a long way from the shore though, so it launched itself quite a distance, and when it bit my friend, the shark then wriggled backwards into the water, dragging my friend with it. We all watched as the shark ate him. And no one batted an eyelid! Everyone just went back to whatever they were doing before the event. It was like it was expected and normal for something like that to happen. There was no screaming or frantic calling of triple-0. It was really weird. In the dream, I was horrfied, but it was like the messages weren't getting through for me to actually do anything, other than watch. I woke up, heart pounding, and so glad to find it was just a dream!

I had a 'half awake' dream a few nights ago where I was trying to get something out of the middle of this giant ball of wool that I have (for the blanket I never knitted). I don't know exactly what it was I was trying to find, but I was actually semi-awake, and I was out of bed, holding the ball of wool, trying to force my fingers in to get to the middle of it, and I remember doing it. And it made sense at the time. When I got up the next morning, and I saw the ball of wool on the floor, I remembered it all.

How weird are dreams?

Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light

In 2004, I lived in America for a year. To be more specific, I lived in Solomons and Arnold (both in Maryland, on the east coast). Both Solomons and Arnold were amazingly beautiful places, and I was very blessed to be able to live there.
Living there for a while changed my taste buds. Well, it didn't so much change them, but it did add a few flavours to them.
When I was in early high school, Dr Pepper used to be sold in 1.25 litre bottles. I loved the stuff. I'm not sure how long it was being sold before I cottoned on to how good it was, but I was so sad when it stopped being sold in the aforementioned form.
How excited was I, when I moved to America, and it was EVERYWHERE!? The answer is, very excited! Now, I didn't go crazy on the stuff, and I stuck to the original version of it, but I did appreciate it's presence. Just knowing it was so readily available, was comfort enough :)
I developed a definite distaste for root beer. It was either root beer, or hot apple cider. I can't quite remember which. I do remember that whichever one it was, tasted a lot like mouth wash.
I was grossed out by 'Easy Cheese'. It's convenient, I get that. It's not 'cheese' though. It seemed entirely wrong to be eating 'cheese' out of a pressurised can for one...but a 'dairy product' (and I use the term very loosely) that doesn't need to be refrigerated?? That can't be good. It was such a vibrant yellow too....the picture below is not doing any advertising favours for the stuff. I did eat it. Once. I apologised to my body afterwards (I didn't really, but I should've).

See what I mean??

Other things I didn't like in America: bread, these nasty things at McDonalds called 'McGriddles', everything being sold in packages (I found it pretty hard to get decent, fresh, produce), and Pop Tarts (I don't like them anyway, but I especially didn't like all the 'iced' ones in America...you can probably buy a select few in Australia). I could go on, but I won't. I don't wanna ostracise my American friends too much :)
Things that I did LOVE though...Applebee's and Olive Garden. Oh, and IHOP, I only went a couple of times, but it was all kinds of awesome!

I was introduced to Reece's Peanut Butter Cups while I was there. LOVED them! The Blockbuster near my house in Brissie sells them, they're super expensive, so I only get them sometimes. Reece's Pieces, they are also fantastic.
The same block of shops, where the Blockbuster is, has a little convenience store, and they sell Dr Pepper in cans (hooray!). Another great thing they sell is:

Those guys are geniuses! Thankfully, it is also expensive ($12 for a pint I believe), so I don't buy it very often either.
I am so lucky I don't live in America. It's a wonder I haven't stacked on 50 kilos with what American stuff I have found here!
I am looking forward to the day I get to go back and visit though (one of my dearest friends in the world lives in Minnesota)...there are so many flavours of Ben and Jerry's that I am yet to try! Plus, it would be cool to catch up with all my friends over there too :)

Woot!

Hello my faithful blog-readers!

Well, on Friday the 27th of April, I applied for a teaching contract I had seen advertised online. It was at a school an hour and a half away, and it was for a maternity leave position, a 15 week contract with a grade 3/4 class.
I emailed off my application, and a few hours later, received a reply. It told me a little more about the position, and about the school. They informed me that because they were a private school, and because they kept their school fees low, they couldn't pay the successful applicant as much as they would be getting in a government school. To me, this was no problem! The chance to have my own class, for just over one full term, far outweighed the difference in pay. Plus, they had free, onsite teacher accommodation, so that solved my concerns about driving 3 hours each day to and from school.
Then, I received an email back, asking if I would like an interview. I jumped at the chance! (as much as you can via email anyway). The interview was scheduled for 11am on the 1st of May.
On the 30th of April, however, I was rung to do a relief day on the 1st, to which I agreed to. Then I had to figure out what to do! I hadn't had any work thus far in the term, so I didn't want to turn down a day of relief, plus the day was at a school I had already worked quite a few days at last term, and I really liked the school.
So, I rang the school I had the interview at, at 7am, on the day of the interview, as asked if I could reschedule it to the following Friday. They were super nice about it, and it was all set for 11am on the 4th.
The 4th came round, and after barely sleeping the night before (the nerves really got to me!), I left home at 7am, to head out for my interview.
That's right.
I left for a place an hour and a half away, 4 hours before I had to be there. Those darn nerves! I was so worried about getting stuck in traffic (apparently I was expecting 2.5 hours worth), that I left super early!
I stopped at an Officeworks along the way, and printed out some stuff for the interview. I also bought a usb stick. You see, all the things I wanted to print, were in an email I'd sent to myself, so I used the computer at Officeworks, downloaded all I needed onto the usb, and then gave it to the friendly lady at Officeworks witht he instructions 'print everything on there, please'. I then bought a new folder to put all my printing in, ready to hand over to my interviewer. All up, I spent $14 (thereabouts). To someone who lives from fortnight to fortnight, and just forked out enough money to get petrol to the school and back, $14 is a lot. Strange, but true.
Anyway, interview went really well. I wasn't half as nervous once I was actually in it. I cracked tonnes of hilarious, witty jokes (as my jokes always are...). The principal was really nice, and the other two interviewers were just as nice. They gave me the low-down on how my interview went when it was over (which I found really helpful) and they said they'd let me know by the end of the following week.
You know what though? He didn't even ask what was in the folder! $14 wasted! Though, maybe he though 'Wow, she's got a folder. She should get this job". Maybe the other interviewees didn't bring folders. Maybe that's what gave me 'the edge'. Yeah, that's probably it ;)
The following Friday (which was just this past Friday), I received an email, saying that I'd been 'short listed' and that they had one last person to interview on Monday, and let me know by Tuesday.
Today (Tuesday) I spent the entire day, carrying my phone around like a newborn baby. It never left my side, I was so worried about missing a call! I was praying heaps. And I also tried to give myself a reverse pep-talk, telling myself it didn't matter if I didn't get the job, that it was no big deal. I didn't want to feel too dreadful when they told me I didn't get it. But, at around 4:30 this arvo, they rang to let me know I had the job!
I tell ya, my heart just about beat right out of my chest I was so excited! I'm still buzzing, 8.5 hours later!
I cannot wait to start!
It's going to be such a brilliant experience! I am so stoked to have my own class! (if only temporary)
So, the moral of this story...God is SO good! I am so blessed to have this opportunity, and I am thankful to God for it!

Busy Weekend!

Long weekend, you are well and truly over, but I didn't get a call for work today, so I get a 4-day weekend!

The weekend was busy. Busy, but fun!

I did a photography course on Saturday. My sister and her family had bought me a voucher for the course for my birthday. It was at the Botanic Gardens in the city, and it ran from 9am - 3pm. It was run by a photographer called 'Lucas Muro', he does all sorts of photography, he's based on the Sunny Coast, he's originally from Brazil (and thus, has an awesome accent!), he's lovely, funny, and a fantastic teacher! Anyway, the course covered a lot of ground, and we learnt a lot about all the different settings in manual mode, and we got lots of free time throughout the day to put what we were learning into practice. I absolutely LOVED it! I hope that I can do a couple more of his courses in the future, I'm especially keen on the night photography one.

One of the photos from the day :)

Saturday night, I had dinner at a friend's house, with 2 other friends. It was a fun night! After dinner we played Articulate and Scattegories, but very funny games to play.

Sunday morning was church. Which is always challenging and encouraging.

After church, I went to my nephew's 8th birthday party. It was at 'Bricks n Fun' in Capalaba (Lego inspired place), where all the kids got to play games, have Lego building races, eat cake and have free time, building whatever Lego sets they wanted to (I built a 2 storey house with my 5 year old nephew, which was heaps of fun!).
Then we went out for dinner, to Sizzler, for more birthday celebrations! The staff there have gotta have cleaned up an awful lot of vomit in their time, unleashing kids at an all-you-can-eat place, that includes dessert, has gotta have resulted in some 'technicolour yawning'. Thankfully, my nephews and niece have a fairly good gauge on when they've had enough.

Monday, well, that was Labor Day, so a public holiday here. The 3 lovely ladies that I had dinner with Saturday night, and I went to Raby Bay for a picnic. It was such a gorgeous day! We ate, chatted, took lots of photos, and then got coffee before heading home.
Last night, I went to dinner at another friend's house. With 3 other friends. Which was also a fantastic night!

So, I've had a busy weekend, but a really good one.

I love my friends and family so much! I am so thankful to God for them. Amidst all the fun on Saturday, I was feeling pretty sad, so being able to spend the day with family, and being able to talk to my friend about it yesterday, was just what I needed. God is good!

What tomorrow brings!

In approximately 14.5 hours, I have an interview. It's for a 15 week contract on a grade 3/4 class (grade 3/4 just happen to be my favourite grades to teach!). It's at a small private school, about 1.5 hours from my place. If I am successful, the school has a share-house type thing going on for staff, where I could stay during the week, and then head back to Brissie on the weekends if I so desired. The school has a mastery program, where the high school students can opt to take extra classes in things like golf and aviation. The school is quite prestigious.

I am packing it!

I thought I was doing ok, until about half an hour ago, when I started reading more about the school. Now I'm nervous as all get out!

I texted a friend a few days ago, about the interview, saying I was freaking out, and I couldn't remember anything from uni, and she responded: 'Remember, God goes ahead of you'.

True!

I just need to keep reminding myself of this fact tonight, when I am tossing and turning, trying to sleep, and having half-asleep dreams about only having jeans clean, and forgetting to wear shoes to the interview (dreamt that last night).

So good to know that God already knows how I'm going to go in the interview, and He already knows whether I'm going to get the job or not.

The lady I have been in correspondence with is lovely. So I am looking forward to meeting her after all the emails and phone calls we have exchanged, so that's another positive thing about tomorrow ;)

Watch this space, maybe I'll be a grade 3/4 teacher soon...how great would that be!!??

A reunion of co-workers!

As some of you will know, last year I worked for Life Education, Queensland.

The role as 'educator' meant that I was a drug and health education teacher. I would travel around from school to school in a mobile classroom, a class of kids would come into the classroom, and we would watch videos, play games and do activities to reinforce the message of each particular lesson (a different one for each grade).

The big star of the show though, Harold the giraffe. The kids barely notice me when Harold's around. He can bring home a message better than anyone I know, he is funny, charming, friendly, and handsome :)

On Tuesday of last week, my old boss rang me up to see if I would be interested in helping them out. I would be working with Harold again, for 4 weeks, while a new educator was being trained.

I had a few days to think about it, and today my boss rang back and asked what I had decided, and I've decided to do it.

So, come the 22nd of May, Harold and I will be reunited. I'm looking forward to it, I've missed the fun of being part of such a fantastic program.

I went to Life Education when I was in primary school, and I absolutely loved it! If you would like to know more about Life Education, you can check out their website: Life Education, Queensland

This Harold works with my friend, Janet.
I personally think this one's a bit freaky looking. I think it's the eyelashes.
He is still cute though, despite his freakiness.

I admit it!

Since it's 3:50am, and I can't sleep, and my alarm is going off in 2 hours and 10 minutes, I though to myself 'I might write another blog', cause my thinking is so clear at 3:50am...3:52 now. Man, I'm a slow typer.

How many of you blog readers out there learnt to touch type at school? I did not have that luxury. We had 'computers' as a subject at school, but I don't really remember what we did...not touch typing, that's for sure. I am a terrible typer! Hands flailing all over the keyboard, lots of 'backspacing' to repair misspelled words, lots of 'backspacing' to delete all the words I typed after I accidentally hit 'CAPS' and didn't notice cause I can't type and look at the screen at the same time. Man, my life is tough!

I have a confession to make, now that I've released some angst about my lack of typing skills. I feel like I should get this out in the open, before I forget who knows and who doesn't, and we have one of those awkward moments where I'm chatting away like I told you weeks ago, and you're trying really hard to cover up the shock in your facial expression over having just found out. So, to avoid any such situations, here goes...

I like Taylor Swift's music.

There. I said it. I still can't believe it myself. I blame The Hunger Games.

You see, when I got home from seeing The Hunger Games, I downloaded 'Safe and Sound', by Taylor Swift, from the sountrack for the movie. Over the next few days, I fell in love with the song, and her voice! Before I knew it, I had expanded my Taylor Swift collection, by buying her album 'Fearless' on iTunes too. I have watched about a dozen of her interviews on youtube, and I think she is just so lovely, very sweet and funny too.

I feel like I'm a bit above the demographic that she's aiming for, in that I'm old, and not a teenager, but how can I help what I like? Right? I reckon there's a lot of people in my 'demographic', you know who you are...

Phew! I feel so much better, now that's off my chest!

Thanks for listening :)

Onya Taylor!

One of the funniest guys I know!

The following is a facebook conversation between myself and my little brother (I'm in the purple text, he's in the blue). He really is hilarious!
This is the end of a conversation we had a few nights ago, on the 24th of April. Prior to this, we had been chatting about doing an 'A Current Affair' style interview, where we uncover the secrets behind 'the real Smurfs': Papa Smurf is rallying up the other Smurfs to take over the world and maim a few people along the way. That they probably have secret underground colonies and such.
We also talked of informing Obama about our findings, to get him on our side in the fight against The Smurfs.
When I mentioned how inspirational my brother is, in his generosity over the percentage I would be getting in this multi-million dollar story, this followed....

You, sir, are an inspiration!

I'm like yoda but I can't lift spaceships with my mind
And I'm not green, 3 foot tall, or 1000 years old. Apart from that we're identical!

I've often thought of how similar you are to Yoda.

If ever people are confused when I am talking about you, I simply say "Oh, you would've seen pictures of him on facebook, he's the one that would remind you of Yoda"

Problem solved!

It’s the face isnt it, you're not the first person to say that

  

I don't doubt it

I reckon you should contact James Cameron

He'd use you in some remake for sure!

HaHa

I mean Steve Spielberg

Or George Lucas

And say hey what up im not green or 3 foot tall im not a thousand years old and cannot lift spaceships with my mind but apart from that im pretty sure im yoda

Yeah, third time's the charm!

My Star Wars knowledge surprises even me!

He would sign you, then and there, and probably buy you a car and a house, just for good measure

And probably give you his own personal hoverboard, that's how excited he will be to be in the presence of the real life Yoda

 (if anyone's gonna have a hoverboard, surely he would)

and maybe a pencil do you think i could get a pencil

sorry starting to get a little too excited

If you're REALLY lucky, maybe

Would it be too much to ask him for a stationary set? You might get a ruler that way too

And maybe a rubber shaped liked R2D2

Ok, now that might just be pushing the friendship

if i could get a protractor i would just die

Without a doubt! Who needs a hoverboard when you can have a protractor!?

with a protractor i draw everything in my house 1:12 to scale

If only you had gotten to George Lucas earlier, that's what you could've done tomorrow

miniture pictures of everything i own that would be a wonderful world to live in

You'd better watch where you leave things like that though, if those Smurfs gotta hold of any detalied designs, they might find weak spots, and the next time you have a shower, they could figure out how to drown you

Just sayin'

And you know Papa Smurf would be the instigator

dont worry i got a tracker on his car i will know when he is coming and suprise him with an assault of my own

Ambush him

Nice

the old jump out of the cupboard and ambush your enemy trick

gets them every time

You'd probably clean him up, just with the swinging door of the cupboard

thats pretty much the entire attack just make a noise in the cupboard so they come closer then POW i smash them with the cupboard door

Pure genius

I am proud to call you my brother

So proud 

i know my plans are pretty ingenious and worthy of much praise i shall have to alert the press so that i get the thanks from everyone that i so very much deserve

I reckon, when you alert Mr Obama, he will instate a national holiday, in your name

call it day of legend

More than likely

There will probably be merchandise with your face all over it

I reckon a protractor might be in order

Take that Mr Lucas!

Well, now I really should try and sleep for a little bit

Thanks for chatting! Can't wait to receive my cheque in the mail ;)

Night xx

yeah you will get your cheque when hell freezes over i mean yeah sure. talk to you later

Business venture...not really, but wouldn't it be cool if it was?!

Hmmm...I am thinking about transforming part of my bedroom into a 'studio' of sorts.

You see, I LOVE photography! Particularly of kids/families. Nothing makes me happier than taking a photo that captures a sweet little smile, the absolute love between parents and their children, or the fun of siblings! (cheesy, but true!) Well, I say 'nothing' makes me happier, but really lots of things make me happy. Rainbows, animals, catching up with friends, theme parks, a really good nectarine (has to be 'yellow flesh' though), my family, colourful things, a good book, storms, and so on and so forth. Oh, and Milo, it makes me happy! Man, if that stuff wasn't so ridiculously bad for me, mostly cause I eat it like the world's gonna end tomorrow, I would buy it more often! Shout out to Nestle :)

Lots of things do make me happy, but photography is different. If I could do it full time, and make enough money out of it to support myself, I would do it, but I like it as a hobby. Someone recently said to me "you can have too much of a good thing" (I know it's a common phrase, but we were actually talking about my photography). I don't want photography to become 'too much', I don't want to over do it, and start to despise it. So 'hobby' status is great for right now, cause I also love teaching, and I do want to do that full time.

Anywhozles, my bedroom is kinda perfect to convert the end of into a mini-studio. There are 2 parts to my bedroom, a small room that my bed and wardrobe is in, and another, bigger and longer room that is currently home to my tv, a couple of bookcases, a massive Harry Potter cardboard promo-thing, and a whole bunch of stuff that I don't know what to do with. So, if I sorted through all my stuff that occupies about half of the bigger room's space, and cleared it all out, I could turn that end into my mini-studio!
I could offer to take photos for my friends, of their kids, I could do family photos and stuff too. So I could have all my fabric, and little hats and other props, and keep them all together in my 'studio'. I could also do 'on location' photos too, outside ones and such.

 Behind that awesome poster, is the other half of the long room...that 'hidden' half would be where I could set up my 'studio' (I love the sound of the word!)
All along the left, are windows, great for photography (not the windows themselves, though I'm sure they're great, but I more meant the light that they would provide).






 

Here, the people I don't need for whatever photo I happen to be taking, could watch a dvd, read a book, check the time, check out another HP poster, listen to music...I might even move the washing basket of dirty washing into where my bed is, cause that's just the kind of photographer I am :)

This is the wall opposite the tv. I could upgrade from one beanbag to a whole couch (I have a great red couch that is just asking to be placed in this very spot!), you know, so my clients have somewhere to rest while they watch dvds...or, they could fight over the one beanbag :)





 Doesn't this all sound like heaps of fun!!??

I could make it cheap as chips (if I even charged at all), so I am making a little money from it, and I'd be getting some practice in, which would (hopefully) result in some half decent shots :)

Oh, the world is my oyster!

This has nothing to do with the rest of my blog, but isn't this just the cutest photo ever!?!?!
This is my youngest nephew, he's 5, and so stinkin' cute! If I ever have a prep class, I am definitely stealing this idea for my kiddies! :)

Thoughts of the day...

Good evening, my friends!

I have 12 pageviews from Russia, 12...according to the stats...12. From Russia! I won't lie, I was excited to see that my little blog has broken the banks of Australia and the U.S!
So, I feel I must say a hearty 'G'day! Let's throw another shimp on the barbie' to my Russian readers.
Firstly, my Russian friends, if you have heard the above phrase before, and if it does in fact make you think of Australia, I need to inform you that we don't say that phrase, except if we want to make fun of how we must be viewed by the rest of the world :) We don't even call them 'shrimp', we call them 'prawns'...a 'shrimp' would be a term for someone short, whether that be a child, or someone who is in fact, genetically short...I do not suffer from such genetic stature myself, but I have a few friends that do, and I love them just the same ;) And we don't 'throw them on the barbie', that's for sure!

So, back to Russia! Thanks for visiting, and I hope to see more stats of you guys visiting my blog :)

Well, as you may have read previously, I am a fan of 'The Hunger Games'. I bought the first book in the trilogy last Thursday, and finished it Monday night. I then managed to borrow the other 2 books from a friend, got them last night, finished book number 2 last night, and am 4 chapters in to book number 3. I am hooked! The story that runs through the books (promise I won't give away anything major, just in case you were gettting worried!) covers a lot of emotional ground, it is sad, suspenseful, happy, confusing, angering, & though provoking.
A friend said to me recently that she wonders whether the writer was trying to draw some parallel between the books and our own lives. Those living comfortably in homes being those that live in The Capitol, and those that are suffering from things like homelessness, war, and poverty being those in The Districts (not so much the 1st few districts though). Now, if you have read the first book, or watched the movie, you will understand completely what I'm saying, those that haven't, I am sure you can get the general idea of the parallels.
I have been thinking about these paralells as I have been reading the books. I have been thinking a lot about how blessed I am to have a roof over my head and food to eat. I go through phases of being thankful to God for all the ways He has blessed me, two of the millions of things being food and shelter.

The stats on worldhunger.org state the following for the period of 1996-2010:
 
In round numbers there are 7 billion people in the world. Thus, with an estimated 925 million hungry people in the world, 13.1 percent, or almost 1 in 7 people are hungry.

One in 7. There are 7 children in my family, that means one of us would be going hungry. This is something that I cannot even begin to imagine! How awful would it be for a mother and father to watch their child slowly starve to death, for siblings to watch also. How dreadful to be working so hard to feed your family, and to watch them die.


My husband went looking for food every day in the bush but there was not much to hunt. It was like the whole country was dying. Some days, he will come with enough from the bush to eat for one meal; other days we will go hungry. We went hungry more days than we ate. My children started dying slowly.

"I lost four of my six children to hunger. We felt helpless. There is nothing in the world worse than watching your own child die in front of your eyes because you cannot feed him.


This was part of an article I just read about a mother of 6 children on irinnews.org.


How incredibly heart wrenching! I don't have any children, but I have 7 nieces and nephews, and just the thought of any of them going days without food is unbearable, but to be powerless to help them?? My goodness, how dreadful!




I guess the point of all this is to say that it has gotten me thinking, and I hope it has gotten you thinking also. Australia certainly a plave that isn't free from needy people and families, but I am so incredibly blessed, by not being hungry or homeless, that I want to help! I have done the 40 hour Famine a few times in the past, which is a great event, but there are so many other ways to help too!


As I mentioned, a great way to help is to raise money for things like the  40 Hour Famine.
Or you could donate a sum to an organisation that is helping families struck with poverty, a few suggestions are:Compassion Australia
World Vision 
Caritas Australia 
Plan Australia
Or, you could sponsor a child:
Compassion Australia
World Vision 
The Smith Family 
 I am sure there are many other websites and organisations that help needy families.
Another website that comes to mind is:
Tear Australia
On this site, you can buy anything from school supplies for a child, to a goat, to family health care, right through to a community school, or a water sanitation project for an entire village! It's a wonderful site, and a great idea for birthday/Christmas presents for friends and family, as it is helping people in need, and they give you a little card explaining what you gift has done.

Anyway, just some things that I've really been thinking about these past few days. I am so very blessed, and I am going to try to spread these blessings by helping others that are not as fortunate as me.

Bye for now :)

Holidays, why do you move so quickly?

Today I farewelled my mum, and left Tamworth after having spent a glorious 13 days there! I must admit that I wasn't took keen to leave, I love hanging out with my mum, she is just so darn lovely, and she is hilarious! Plus, leaving means that I have to return to Brisbane eventually, and holidays are just so nice...
Mum likes to scare people, and she also likes to kick the back of your knee while you're standing still, so your leg collapses. Her favourite place for doing this in when people are leaning on the top of the half-wall around the kitchen, so that when your leg collapses, your knee hits the wooden wall.
She has passed these wonderful traits on to her kids.
Mum got me good last week when she jumped out from an empty room as I walked down the dark hallway, I screamed and kicked her in the shin, out of self defense. I didn't kick her very hard though, so if she had've been an intruder, it wouldn't have done them any damage...maybe put them slightly off balance, but not injure them.
Then, a few nights ago, I crouched in the dining room (mum walks from her bedroom, through the dining room, to get to the kitchen). I closed the door between the dining room and kitchen, and turned off the light...then, just as she walked past, I yelled and grabbed her leg at the same time. She screamed such an ear piercing scream, that me ears were almost ringing. Pay back :)

The drive from Tamworth to Lismore is about 5.5-6 hours. I spent about 5 hours of the trip singing at the top of my lungs (I love doing that!). I didn't sing at the top of my lungs the whole time, in truth, cause it hurts your throat after a while, so I toned it down sometimes :) Singing is such a fun way to pass the time! It's especially good on long trips if you have recently purchased an album, gives you time to listen to the whole thing and pick your favourites, then repeat the ones you really like, so you can attempt to learn all the words...or, in my case today, learn a couple of lines from each song, and then get them mixed up accidentally, and sing songs that make no sense :)

I did not stop to rescue any animals this time (I didn't see any that needed rescuing...otherwise I probably would have).
On the drive from Brisbane to Tamworth, I drove past a turtle, in a 100k zone, that was in the middle of the other side of the road, so I turned around and parked near it. The the rescue mission was on!
I picked it up and immediately had visions of it flicking its head around and biting my fingers, so when it moved it's head slightly as I was carrying, I instinctively dropped it (from a bit of a height) onto the road...poor thing! Attempt two at relocating it, and I picked it up and put it in the grass on the side of the road, but not before it peed on me! There I was, trying to save its life, and it has the nerve to pee on me? What's with that!? Anyway, I'm hoping it survived, not that I'll ever know. I should've taken it with me to Tamworth, mum would've loved that! I would've called it Michelangelo, put a bandanna on it, and fed it pizza, oh how 80s tv has misinformed a generation!

So, I made it to Lismore! Relatively unscathed! (I did spill half a can of Sprite on my lap while I was driving...not cool!) I'm now at my friend Amanda's house for a couple of nights...she got me strawberry filled chocolate eggs for Easter! She's the greatest friend ever!

To end, my favourite joke at the moment:
Why do seagulls fly over the sea?
Cause if they flew over the bay, they'd be bay-gulls!

HILARIOUS!!

My Dad Whom I Love!

In previous posts, I've noticed that I've switched between saying 'mum and dad's', and 'mum's'. There is a reason for this, please read on.

On the 28th of February, 2012, my dad passed away. He had cancer (brain tumor - discovered September, 2010) and had been in a wheelchair since his last surgery in September, 2011. A couple of people have said "He was sick for a while, so it wasn't a total shock", and while I am 100% sure that those people did not mean to come across as insensitive, it was hard to hear. Yes, he had been sick for a while, but it doesn't make losing him any easier. I mean, I spent 5 weeks in Tamworth over Christmas, and he was talking and joking and being demanding, I thought he would be around for at least a few more years...but, it wasn't part of God's plan. He died in his sleep, and next to my mum, his wife of almost 44 years, so he wasn't alone.

It is hard, and sad, and still a bit surreal, to have lost my dad. I don't think I will ever be 100% ok without him, but it is kind of a blessing that he doesn't have to suffer anymore.

I have been in the habit (obviously) of saying 'mum and dad's', my whole life, and it's taking a bit of getting used to to switch to saying 'mum's'...plus, it IS my mum and dad's house, they bought it together, and worked to pay it off together. So, for future reference, this is why I switch between the two.

My dad was a great man. The most amazing man I could ever hope to know. He was so smart, and loving, and caring, and friendly, and hard working, and other-ish...he is greatly missed, and will continue to be.
Never have I met anyone more willing to offer up his time for other people. Dad worked hard in all areas of his life: work, leisure, and home.

There is a magnet on mum and dad's fridge that says 'Stop me before I volunteer again' - That was my dad. He was on the school board all through the 7 of us being at school, he was at so many of our sports carnivals, running the bbq, he volunteered at the South Tamworth Bowling Club for almost as long as I can remember. Dad taught 6 of us to drive (he reckoned that's where his grey hair came from), and taught us all the importance of checking water, oil and tyre pressure. He picked us up from sports training, and dropped us off (and often watched) our weekend games. Dad was a big factor in me getting my first job (at McDonalds) cause he was friends with the store manager (I think he may have done some mantainance jobs for him too).
Dad was more than willing to help us wherever, and with whatever he could. He was my go-to for any questions that I had...mostly about cars, mechanics, road rules, and homework...he knew so much! He knew so much about everything!
I cannot bring him the praise he deserves in this blog. Just know that he was an amazing dad/husband/brother/uncle/cousin/and friend.

Dad and I definitely came to blows about things (especially things to do with me being a Christian), and sometimes he would frustrate me so much that I couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him, but I loved him. He was stubborn, and I could be too. Sometimes, we would get into a 'discussion' about something, and even if I figured out part way through that I was wrong, I wouldn't back down. I'd stick to my guns, no matter how ridiculous.

So, while he is gone, there are lots of things that remind me of him, and I'm sure the things that I know about him, will continue to have some influence on my life and decisions.

For those of you who pray, please do be praying for my mum, my 6 siblings, dad's 6 siblings, and all dad's friends, as we all continue to process everything that comes with this sad event.

Lunch in Southbank with mum and dad! (mum took the picture)

Easter is over :(

Wow! It's late. Currently 2:22am. I've really gotta get out of this 'holiday habit' of staying up late and sleeping in late...maybe tomorrow night ;)

Easter is in fact over. My weekend at mum's was busy, noisy, and lots of fun! In total there were 16 people sleeping in the one house! (one brother in law, and my little brother weren't able to make it). 16 people makes for busy meal times :) My 7 nephews and nieces were all here, they had an Easter hunt on the Sunday (and I only forgot where 3 of the eggs were this year!).We all ate lots of chocolate, and lots of other food too! It was a fun weekend, I LOVE hanging out with my family. Almost everyone has gone home now, only 8 of us in the house at the moment, and I'll probably be leaving in the next day or two.

I've not done much at all since my last blog. I love how relaxing it is in Tamworth! I love that I can't hear traffic at all hours of the day/night. I love looking at the stars. I do not love how cold it is. It is currently 6 degrees celcius here, and it's 15.7 degrees right now in Brisbane. I have definitely gotten used to the warmer weather up there!

I went to see The Hunger Games tonight. I went by myself. I'm cool like that.
I really enjoyed the movie! I was surprised, cause all the sci-fi-iness of it didn't appeal to me at all, but I wanted to see what all the hype was about, and I loved it! I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat a few times, I got involved in the characters! Now I am on a mission to get the book (and the other 2 in the trilogy) to get the whole picture.
I almost got up to tell off the teenage boys that were laughing in all the serious parts (there were probably only a dozen of us in total watching the movie, so it was easy to know who they were), but I, in true fashion, chickened out...mostly cause I was worried they'd have a go at me being at the movies by myself. Like I should care what a few teenage boys think, right? I should've walked up there and told them off, I should've lectured them about respecting the rest of us that actually wanted to watch the movie. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, didn't. Next time. Maybe.

On the subject of movies, the other week I mentioned that I was going to work my way through a movie list my family had compiled, and the 1st one was 'Heat'. I did hire it, and I didn't like it. I didn't watch it all, I got kinda bored of it, so maybe I didn't give it enough of a chance, but what I did see wasn't enough to make me want to see it through...so I returned it :) I'll have to get the 2nd movie off the list out when I'm back in Brissie (can't remember what it is).

Anyway, I should get to bed before everyone is up, I guess. So, as exciting as this post has been, I must go.

TTFN (anyone else seen the 'Winnie The Pooh' movie?)