No Sugar??

Alastair and I are about to give up sugar.

And do more exercise.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

But I am good at procrastinating, and that can be tomorrow. For now, I shall settle down with a quilt, a movie, and a packet of mint slice biscuits. :P

Oh my goodness

We've had a lot of visitors, but today I have none. I'm sitting around in my pj's... organising my students for this next term... working on our budget... calling NRMA about contents insurance (wha da??)... sipping tea... and watching TV. It's kinda cool. :)

Valentine's Day...

...has also been called "Single Awareness Day" ~ and it's true! Valentine's Day has never been a big deal in our house... none of us thought about it much at all. But in recent years, it's become completely commercialised, so I think the fact that I don't "have a valentine" is more "in my face". This morning, I'm trying not to think about the lack of a man's love, but rather remember Perfect Love... God's Love. "But God showed His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) And it will never end: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you." (Jer. 31:3)

My prayer for all of us: "May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ." - 2 Thes. 3:5

Now something for a bit of fun...

1. Make a list of 5 things you can see without getting up: 1. Bible 2. UBD 3. pencil case 4. homemade bread 5. lawnmower

2. How do you style your hair?  Usually with a heat-brush, or if I'm in a hurry, a messy bun!

3. What are you wearing now? pajamas - yay!

4. Who was the last person you said 'I love you' to? Lachlan

5. Do you nap a lot? If I get a chance, yes! Does that mean I'm getting old?

6. Who was the last person you hugged? MD at orchestra

7. What's your current fandom/obsession/addiction? 2 minute noodles & mint slice biscuits.

8. What was the last thing you ate today? Haven't eaten anything yet!

9. What was the last text message you received? "r u ok?"

10. What websites do you always visit when you go online? In order of importance: gmail, facebook, blogspot, vodafone, nab. (I don't always get to past gmail).

11. What was the last thing you bought? coloured paper for orchestra flyers

12. What are you listening to right now? the sound of rain on the roof.... noice. :)

13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head? "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera

14. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Would it be a superpower to make people be able to understand what I mean when I say stuff??? I cause too many dramas when I open my mouth.

15. What is your favourite weather, and why? COLD weather, because one doesn't sweat like in summer, and because it's usually easier to get warmer than to get cooler.

16. If you could play any instrument, what would it be? I play two already, but I'd like to be able to play piano better, so that I didn't stress so much over church playing. :P

17. How are you? I am well. I am feeling slightly chilly. I am happy that tonight some friends are coming over.

18. What's something you'd like to say to someone right now? I love you.

19. If you could spend tomorrow any way? Well, since it'll be all rainy, it would be to have some close friends over, and curl up on the couches and D&M to our hearts' content. :) 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Random thoughts...

Just a few thoughts for today... my brain just isn't working properly.

Yesterday, I taught 16 students in one day. That's a record for me. And I *love* 7-and-8-year-old beginners.

At the moment, I don't have enough energy to be anyone except who I am. Unfortunately it's a take it or leave it situation. I hope God helps me to get better at "doing life".

I wish I didn't open my mouth sometimes. It would make things easier.

So much of life seems to be such extreme opposites... fire and flood, happy and sad, hot and cold, loved and alone... and so on.

I'm one tired chicken today.

Does anybody else besides me "potter around"?

Today was a pottering-around kind of Saturday. Here's a brief overview: I slept in a bit (it was very good), spent half the morning on the phone finding good flute deals for two students (it wasn't as hard as I make out), chatted about nothing and laughed on the phone to another friend for twenty minutes (I love having time to do that!), gave two flute lessons to complete beginners (I love beginners!), made a template for tax invoices with Dad's help (which I now have to issue - blah!), got my finances sorted out - also with Dad's help (he's so awesome at all this stuff!), drafted a start-of-year letter to my Broughton students' parents to introduce myself (though it is likely that they'll never meet me!), started a Student Database in Excel (Excel is not my favourite computer programme), went to the video shop with the youngest of my stand-in-brothers and came out with five movies instead of one (that's what you get when you take brothers, biological or not! :P), ate yummy spaghetti bolognaise for tea (with Ice Magic on icecream for dessert), another friend randomly came to share dinner and the first part of the movie with us too (which was really cool and made my night, as she's not the least bit local, and she came all the way out here just to spend a couple of hours with us), and last but not least, drove said stand-in brother and his cello home, with him changing gears for me all the way (well, most of the way, he forgot that it was his job a few times) so that was kind of novel.

All in all, a pleasant (but very VERY hot!) day!

I just want to say to any of my lovely family and friends reading this that... I. Love. You!

How well can you...?

One of those random things that goes around... DeeDee did this ages ago...

How well can you...

cook? Mfff... culinary calamities are my speciality. :P Although... they are happening less and less now, which is pleasing. :)

sew? I love sewing, (though I don't get much time for it anymore), and I think I'm okay at it. :) 

clean? Haha... I can clean well. Whether I do clean well is another story. Usually I'm in a big hurry. :P

sing? Ah dear... not very well I'm afraid. I wish I could sing better. :)

play an instrument? When I put a bit of effort into practising, then I can do what I need to do...

write? Formal/professional writing - badly. Rambling on and on with random junk - fairly well. :P

read? I read when I have to, and I am capable of reading well. However it takes a good book to hold my concentration.

paint or draw? Very badly. Let's not go there.

tell stories? I love making up stories, but am ashamed to tell them to anyone except cousins under the age of 5, because anyone older than that would think I'm silly. :P

persuade? Depends who I'm trying to persuade. I don't like to persuade, because I think of it as on par with manipulation (and I despise manipulation). However, a reproachful look works with some.

resist those who persuade you? Ha. :P Not well at all. Some people can get me to do almost anything. :)

dress? I feel that I can dress for any occasion. I like how I feel when I dress up nicely. :)

decorate a room? I love decorating rooms... time and lack of funds can be somewhat inhibiting for a person with lots of ideas, though.

decorate a cake? Again, I love decorating. Have always enjoyed decorating cakes.

parallel park? I learnt to do it in our big cars, so I can do it okay. Having said that, I haven't done it in a manual car yet. *writes that on to-do list*

regular park? Okay-ish I suppose.

control yourself around food? Um... at the moment I'm trying hard to get better at this!

control your strongest emotions? If it's absolutely imperative that I control them, I can. However if it's not... most people know that I'm an emotional being. :P

take care of children? Haha.... my babysitting stories/disasters go on and on... I like to think that I would be good at it now. :)

make a cup of coffee? I don't drink it, so I doubt that I make it well.

motivate yourself? Sometimes well, sometimes not.

organise? I love order. :)

make a deadline? Deadlines are of utmost importance to me. I can do deadlines.

make others feel comfortable? I would love my answer to be that I'm brilliant at this... but I'm not so sure.

wrap a gift? I think I do okay in the gift-wrapping department. And I love embellishing with lots of big bows!

dance? Ha. Ask my brother. :P Actually, don't. :P

swim? I can swim reasonably well. If I knew which way was 'up' and could swim 'up' when I was being dumped by a wave, I would say I was brilliant.

debate? Not well at all.

* * * * *

Can you tell that I can't sleep tonight? 

An update...

I am actually more stupid than I had originally thought. My friends tell me fairly regularly that I'm a lunatic, but this tops the cake:

Last night, I again participated in the rather barbaric sport of sock-wrestling.

Just thought you might like some pictorial evidence on how my bruises are progressing... and to see the big new one coming up on the inside of my elbow...

Just thought you might like to know...

I absentmindedly just put my mobile phone on the mouse-pad and started using it as a mouse, wondering why the cursor wasn't moving. Am I tired or what?!?! I've been up late sorting out an Information for Members booklet for FGYO.

I am weird and random enough to present...

A Bruise Which Even A Boy Would Be Proud Of!

I got it while I was sock-wrestling with my sister on Sunday night... when my mum saw it, she said "and you're how old, again???"

Just for fun...

Goodness me, that was a loooong post! Ooopsy - I didn't realise I'd written that much. I'll try to be more concise in future!

Anyhow, I just wanted to do one more thing. All those meme thingies and email forwards that go around that I've never participated in... I have secretly wanted to complete one. So here it is:

Well, at least, here I thought it was! For some reason I can't copy and paste into this silly thing.

Trying again...

and again...

it still doesn't work. So I guess I'll re-type it and get someone to help me another time...

Factoids ~ A Blog Post With 15 Weird Random Facts About Me!

* I am in the middle of holidays, and I still feel as tired as I did during term time.

* Some of the most awesome people on earth call me their friend.

* Jesus has saved me from my sins!

* I do not love my blonde hair.

* This year, I plan to take much more care about what I eat.

* I get sunburnt very easily.

* I hate getting sunburnt. Like, really hate it. It makes me cross.

* I wish I could play the piano better.

* When I turned 18, I stopped biting my nails overnight.

* I am told I have an expressive face. I don't think this is a good thing.

* In 2009, one of my goals is to learn to control said face a bit better.

* I miss my brother very much.

* I ran over a turtle when I was on my L's.

* When I get cravings, I crave cheeseburgers, 2 minute noodles and mint slice biscuits.

* I am capable of crying at the drop of a hat for no reason. It is quite an unfortunate situation.

* When someone hugs me, I feel very loved and it makes my day.

* I love to sew, but I don't get a lot of time these days.

* Happy babies in shopping trollies make me smile.

* Sometimes I eat too much chocolate.

* I can now drive a manual car... thanks to some very patient people.

A little bit of this, and a little bit of that...

...and you shake it all around (clap clap clap)... Yay! I love the chicken dance. Seriously.

Okay, so that was a weird way to start My First Real Post... aside from My Obligatory First Post.

This blog scares me a little. And for several reasons. I won't go into them all, but my main fear is that I am "copying". I used to dislike it so much when my sister copied me! Now I know that imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery, but between the ages of about 7 and 17 I totally couldn't think of anything I found less flattering. Anyhow, my dear friend Danielle, who told me today that she wants to convert the world to blogism, said that if I had a blog, whe would read it. So she helped me to set one up... she held my hand (figuratively speaking) each step of the way (as I asked an astronomical amount of silly questions). And so today begins a new chapter in the life of Carla.

So... what does one write in one's blog? How do you all know how to write such interesting posts, which are so much fun to read? Does one get better at it, as one goes along? I'm feeling slightly intimdated, in case you hadn't guessed.

Perhaps I shall start by telling you that it is my sister's birthday tomorrow. I love birthdays! Although, truth be told, these days birthdays in our house are a little different, since my little brother is on the other side of the world. Oh hey, maybe I should tell him that I have a blog now, and that he can read it if he likes! Actually, that sounds like a good plan to me. I just miss him so very much! But you know what? Since Lachlan left, I now have two extra little brothers (well, as far as age goes... one is little, and the other might as well be my twin) ~ but they are friends of ours (and Lachy's) who have stepped in to try to fill the void he left. And I must say, they're doing a pretty awesome job.

Anyhow, back to my sister's birthday! Tomorrow, she will turn 23 - I can't believe she's that old! I can't believe I'm as old as I am either, but that's beside the point. After dinner, we are having some special local friends over for dessert and games.... we've planned the menu, want to know what it is? The birthday cake will be a chocolate cake, then we're having pavlova with cream and ice cream, fruit salad, and rocky road. Being the fantastic big sister that I am (haha), I already have the pavlova in the oven. My organisations skills rock. Haha again. Dear me, I am such a strange person. What I think is the best thing about tomorrow though, is that it's all about Meaghan. Not about me. Not about anyone else. Just her. And I want to make sure that she knows that.

Tonight in church my mind started wandering. Does that happen to anyone else? And do you hate it as much as I do? It was very warm inside, I was rostered on for playing piano (which tends to stress me out a bit), and I had a sore neck. It makes me cross when I don't take in the sermon like I should. Anyhow, I started to wonder what I will look like when I grow old...

I think this must be The Most Random Post Ever.