Finally done

Yay! Christmas is over!

All in all, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. At work they had sooooo many staff on. THe hard yards starts now when they have to cut back on hours to make up for the blown budgets over the christmas period. I am now working my contracted hours, monday and friday night supervision. Mondays I can handle, because I have done it before, and there is no doubt as to who is in control. Last night I didn't feel like I was in control at all, it was all a bit messy. The other girl working with me said we were busy, it is new years week, so maybe that accounts for some of it. Anyway, the longer I work that night the better it will be. I am happy to have the supervision shifts. Thursday I worked and I was just a cashier, I stood on register all night. I had to stop myself from getting annoyed that I wasn't able to do anything else but serve people. Get over yourself, its just a job.

I'll be working with Kat over the next few days, hopefully the thinking about working I've been doing over the last week will help me when I go in there tomorrow. I have to get the tables sorted out so that I am not so slow on the register. And serve people on the bar better. I sucked at serving people in the bar because I didn't have an idea about what was going on. But thinking about how confident I am moving around the department at safeway makes me think that it is purely inexperience. Hope to be better tomorrow. Should be busy.

Merry Christmas

Now that it is christmas week, it is officially O.K to enjoy it. I am humming along with the carols and wrapping presents. I bought a green merry christmas shirt to wear at work, and I'm wearing a santa hat. I'm getting the most out of this week before I say 'go away already!'.

I have presents for just about everyone. Mark doesn't know it but his plates DID come in the mail in plenty of time. They are hiding in my boot so that I can suprise him a little with them when it comes to present time.

Christmas at work has been dull. Not many customers, everyone is confused about the new opening hours, and there is not enough to do. Tomorrow and Sunday I hope it goes off! I think they did most of the sales during the day today, because apparently the total wasn't too bad for the day, but the night was dead. Might be because it rained and everyone went home. General consensus is that everyone will shop in the last few days to have fresh food in the fridge. I miss the lead up in the deli and seafood. Setting up for the massive day with four windows of prawns stacked so high that we can't close the doors. The first few years at uni I was back at Shepp East for christmas, last year I was living it up in the US, this year feels kinda dead. Small store syndrome maybe. There is a lot of that going around.

Anyway, being a little quiet there is time for the little things, such as thursday night, about 11.30 a guy came in looking for a hamper. I said to him that we don't have them, but if he wanted to put a few things together I could make one. So with a hamper from Kmart as the base I added in some other chocky items and make a wicked hamper. Wish I had been able to take a photo of it. It was a master piece.

Anyway, I am looking forward to being home for christmas day and boxing day. Just chilling out somewhere else for a few days. Its been good working so much, I have been able to get a few good gifts for close people. Kind of a relief from a few weeks ago when I had to hoard the $20 in my wallet because that was all I had for the week.

Must go to bed now, tell you about blue train tomorrow.

Love Leona. Thats an order.

It's been a good weekend, looking to be a great week. I had a quiet weekend, stayed inside through most of the heat. No airconditioning, but it wasn't too bad inside the house. I put my head under the tap in the bathroom a few times, and sprayed with the water bottle. Kitty got wet a few times in the laundry, (not by choice).

I had a good night at work, finally they have put enough staff on for me to close the store properly. Kinda handy seeing as we are coming into christmas. I don't believe i heard a single carol on the radio tonight, which was great.

We had a rather alarming incident, not involving me thankfully, but one of the customers got rather aggressive when we couldn't change his essentials card into a wish gift card. We have had a few people in the store doing it lately, we have to say no because the essentials card is for groceries only - no liquor or smokes, where the wish card is for anything. So when Matt told him NO, he got agressive. The duty manager came and helped matt say no, then the guy spat in the duty managers face. How feral is that??? The police will be at the store tomorrow, he can be charged with assault for that! Christmas is a great time of year.

I had all the registers open today, bar 8, which is a lot of customers for our little store. Having staff finally is wonderful.

Off to see Aunty Neene tomorrow, I enjoy the time I spend there. There is a lot of stock to organise out the back of the store for her to sell. Have to get some boxes and make piles of everything. Almost no room to move she has so much!

It's late, time for bed. Night.

I HATE

CHRISTMAS MUSIC!

NO MORE CHRISTMAS MUSIC!
GO AWAY!

December Approaches

Well, only a few weeks to Christmas, and I don't feel as overwhelmed with christmas spirit as I usually do, and thats a good thing. Sometimes Christmas can be just too much, and I grit my teeth till its here, then enjoy. I've been working lots, but the carols have been interspersed with other songs (so far) and there is only a minute or two of pain while they play through. I miss American christmas, where everything about this time of year makes sense, right down to the weird egg nog and ginger bread men. Awesome.

I found yet another reason NOT to shop at BILO, aside from the fact that it is a smelly, dirty, unorganised shop at the best of times, the customers are bad. And typical of the steriotype I have in my head of them. I had come to the end of the small shop I was doing, and there were only two registers open, express and a big register, I had a few things so I waited at the big register. There was a lady unloading a shopping trolley, and a lonley little basket sitting alone on the floor. The trolley lady finished unloading, I looked around, and, stepping over the basket, started unloading things myself. This skanky looking thing comes up behind me and says 'oh, right oh! in a condescending tone. I turned around and said to her 'if you aren't here, then I'm not waiting. But if you must go first then go right ahead!' Not a word of thanks or anything, cause I could have just gone on ahead of her. Wish I had just gone to Safeway.

My piano students are coming along sooo well, sightreading stuff, playing everything from memory, asking heaps of questions, and having fun in the lesson. I really look forward to wednesdays.

My sister has officially moved in, she's been here for a week and still doesn't want to leave just yet. She's been trying to find a hairdressing apprenticeship, but it is so hard to get a position. Perserverance will pay off in the end, we will just have to try harder. Annoy them so much they take her. She is such a lovely girl, and so hard working, she would be an asset to any business. Am I biased? Shamelessly.

Marks eyes have almost totally recovered from the surgery. He is reading things he can't remember being able to read before, it's been a while since his eye sight was the best. I was reading a thing in the paper talking about eye surgery, did you know you can have a lense inserted in your eye to fix your vision? How crazy would that be? They said it takes 15 minutes to do, and potentially hurts less than lasers. I recon that the drugs must be better for such a painful thing. Wont remember the two weeks afterwards! No, they said that some patients reported improved vision within an hour. Whatever the truth or spin, it has worked wonderfully for Mark.

Right, bed time. Night.

Add to the list

Leave me a message with recommendations for the worst movie ever. And which one should top the list!

Christmas looms

Four weeks to christmas, and now I am looking forward to having some time with family. The carols are bad, but not as bad as they have been in past years.

It's jills second day living in my house, and the demands have started. Just now, she said to me, 'too bad, you don't get a choice, we're going to buy icypoles!' That's it, she's going home tomorrow. I'm afraid for my life. Mum, what have you done to me???

Work has been good, I am doing lots of supervising shifts, and being able to organise things to my standards is nice.

Mark's laser eye surgery went very well, he is pretty much recovered and back to work. It was a very stressful week with him drugged to the eyeballs (hehe) and unable to remember anything. He has very little recall of the whole week after getting it done. Having no glasses is great, he tells me. Money well spent.

THe U2 concert was great, they sounded just like on the C.D, and had an amazing light display. My only gripe was the stage wasn't high enough, or I wasn't high enough, I couldn't see a thing! I would have liked to watch them play some more. But the atmosphere of the place was amazing, and we both had a great time.

About Bloody Time

One last assignment, and then I am done. I am so looking forward to going home to see my family this weekend.

I have been so stressed these last few weeks, one - because I had trouble getting the assignments in on time. Two - because I had a failed assignment, and now I have a fear of failing my first class ever. (it's not going to happen though, I'll pass, it'll be fine.) And just to top it all off I got a $50 parking fine because I was 10 minutes late back to my car.

The stress is manifesting itself in anger. I am hating to drive right now, because I get angry when I drive and have to talk myself back. I get angry when I miss the train. I get angry when someone gets in my way to stop me from going where I want. I need a serious de-stress.

I am just over being at uni, have been all year, and I can't believe that I have another year to go.
I am a mature adult, living on less than $300 a week. Now that I have this week out of the way, I can work some more, and earn some more money. I hate having to weigh up every dollar to think whether I might need it later. I want to be on a real wage and have some real money. So I can buy some real things. And save up some money. There is nothing to save.

Hopefully the first semester goes quickly, then it is just placement and a research project. Which I have to be thinking over the break about a topic. What could I research? It doesn't have to be music related.

I went to the races on Tuesday. It was soooo cold, I was glad to bring a jacket. It would have been warmer for Oakes day yesterday. The races were o.k. There was quite a crowd, enough for me, but I didn't think that it was a glamourous as I was imagining. Maybe I was in the wrong section. I just saw a lot of women wearing things they shouldn't be.bra straps hanging out, ill fitting dresses, too much boobs on display. The dress I wore was o.k, but I felt like I had to keep readjusting it, I just wasn't comfortable. Anyway, the point of the day was to spend time with Bec, the races were the excuse this time. Spending time with Bec is so easy. I can just be me and I don't have to worry about it.

Yay! 4 kilos lost! Jenny Craig is great!

End of the year almost, gasp!

Hey, welcome November! And what a rainy welcome it was! I got so wet running to catch the train.

Good classes today, the last for the year, hurray! We had a section where he talked about claiming things on tax, I didn't know half of it. I have to keep more receipts. Then I would get more back at the end of the year. I will be seeing an accountant this year, and sorting something better out than the internet. It works o.k if you are a student with not too much stressful business stuff to worry about, but when you start working, there are all these extra things to deduct during the year. Mark said he wasn't supprised by any of it, but muso and money don't usually go together. Oh well, can't say I wasn't warned, hey mum and dad.

Update on the Jenny Craig, I have now lost 3.5 kilos, a loss of 1.25 this week! Yay! I didn't do all that much excercise this week, but I did stick to the meal plan 6 days out of 7, so the food must be doing something good. I am feeling great after only a three kilo loss. Lots of gym this week and see what I can do. I'll be buying a new swimsuit in no time!

Looking forward to having you here Jilly babe.

The Future

I have been thinking a lot about the future. I feels like I am making a decision to move home, but I know that the decision was made a long time ago.

I rang some of my high school teachers today. I found out that there might be a few options available to me for work after I finish school. If I was finished now I could be working next year, because the classroom teacher is going away on leave. However another of the instrumental teachers is heading away on long service leave for a term and it would be in the right time for me to be there on internship. I am a firm believer by now that when things are meant to happen, opportunities open up for me. Whether it is because I make them happen, or whether it is the hand of fate or God leading me, I don't know.

I'll be home soon, and ready to leave my own mark on the place. Yet I still wouldn't have the faintest idea about how to plan a whole year of work for years 7 - 12. Not until I sat down to think about it for a few months. Its daunting. And scary. And I am sad and glad it's not my time to start working just yet. Another year to think about it all will be just fine with me.

I have a meeting with one of my tutors about my assignments. I have been having so much trouble with this class, I just can't seem to get the hang of it. Hopefully what I have written for the resubmission is o.k. She just wanted me to redo a section, to see if I could complete the critical thinking part. I really didn't do a very good job with this essay, because I rushed it too much to get it in on time. I didn't think about it enough.

But the other thing that I didn't do with it enough is include the word 'I'. The strongest mark left on me in regards to essays and essay planning is in English. In English class there is a definite absence of use of I. They don't want you to use I. They want you to be objective and academic. It was the same in the music electives. They don't want opinions, just facts. So when it has come to writing essays in this degree they want I, they want opinion, and I guess I wasn't quick enough to pick that up. The whole essay should be opinion.

So I thought I would write a small piece for my teacher portfolio. I could title it

'I am afraid of myself.'

Or is that just a joke only I get?

Yo

Hey all
Back to uni after a lot of weeks off.
Lots of assignments due soon.
No idea how to finish them.
I bought a new shirt and it's pretty.
My sister graduated on thursday and we went out and had lots of fun.
I think I ate too much tonight.
I think that I am overtired and it is time for bed.

Up date

About time I posted something. I've been working, trying to get up the motivation to sit and study for these assignments. Ugh, assignments. No, I need to change the mind set and take them on with some interest. They will take a lot of thinking about.

Its been hotting up lately, its fabulous. I love seeing the warmer weather. It was a bit chilly this morning, but I love those days when you can leave the house without having to worry about taking a jacket.

Jill is graduating this weekend! Yay! I am going to find a cheap dress tomorrow, I saw an evening gown place yesterday advertising cheap evening wear. Hope that they have something that fits. It will be fun to dress up with Jill and hit the town. I'm really looking forward to showing her a good time.

Band DVD

OHHHHHHHHHH, I tried to get a copy of the band dvd, and got a polite little note back saying that they don't post overseas, at this time.

Thanks for nothing.

So I sent a little heart felt note to one of the horn girls to see if someone can send me one.

Go To www.virginia.edu/marchingband and click on multimedia to download a part of the marching band video to get a glimpse of what it looks like.

Horn Lessons and the Coming of Spring

I had a horn lesson yesterday for the first time in about 8 months. I have been wanting to do it for a long time, but having the time and motivation has been hard. I think it is mostly the motivation I lacked. Anyway, I have been thinking a lot lately about the skills I am going to need if I am going to move to a country town. I will need the best skills I have to show to them that I have done something with my life since I moved away, and so that I have the credibility that I need to start my own musical things that I want, and not just be a part of someone elses. I have been practicing piano like mad, playing Grieg and Chopin and Rachmanninoff and whatever else I have to hand. I have piano lessons tonight, which I am looking forward to.

With piano lessons there are a few things I want to try this term. I am going to look into the suziki technique and see about taking it up next year. I would like to be able to take that back to the country with me. I need to be working on book keeping techniques, not just keeping track of who comes to lessons, but my own records of what they have achieved and where they need to go next. I want to try more movement and singing to get aural and rhythmic techniques up to scratch. And thinking about performance techniques. I need to think about the language that I use to talk about it, so that it is the most positive thing I can make it. It is a big stretch to go from a little room to a big piano on stage.

I have been to the gym yesterday and today, working hard on the treadmill. I am going to go today in a little while and do a few weights and walking. I was feeling pretty sore after the workout in the morning, but by the afternoon I was fine.

So my life for the next few weeks will be piano and horn practice, horn lessons, piano lessons, and the occasional shift at safeway. My stars yesterday said:
'A decision you make today will open many doors for you in the future, however don't burn all your bridges yet.'
Good advice it seems to me.

Holidays

I am enjoying being on holidays, having time to do whatever I want, go to the gym lots and finish reading the new book series I bought recently. I have done a few extra shifts at work, expecting a good pay this week. Finally got around to going to the gym today only to realise when I looked at the opening hours that it was already closed. Oh well, I didn't want to go anyway. I think I need to learn how to stretch better, I believe it is the reason I haven't been sleeping so well. I get a restless feeling that I can't make go away. Oh, and it doesn't help that the kitty walks all over me in the morning to get me to wake up.

T.V is so boring. The only shows I like at the moment are Thank God You're Here and Spicks and Specks. Nemo was on tonight but each time the ad break comes on, which is quite frequently, I get bored and go off to do something else. SBS has had a few good programs on, a lot about space recently. T.V is so boring.

Assignments are so boring. I just can't be bothered thinking so much to put together another essay. They said at the start of the year all these wonderful things about having different types of assignments that would break out of the essay mould, that we could submit musical compositions and drawings and sculptures and wonderfult things like that. A few months later, semester 2, and everything I have to hand in is an essay. Boring.

Anyway, new week next week. Three more assignments to finish and then I am done for the year. I must get organised and do a letter drop for music lessons and theory help. Kids would want theory help this time of year, yes? I promise that I will have something posted to that effect here tomorrow. Just need to get a new printer cartridge and we are in business. Or I could take it to the post office and get copies. Would they put something up in the window I wonder?

Stay tuned. Hehehe, tuned...

Oh forget it, it's a music joke.

Better Write Something

I get to the stage where I have opened the page to post something several times and just didn't have the feeling of inspiration to put a word on the page. Also I have been so busy these last few weeks, working and getting assignments in. I am on holidays for a few weeks and I recon I need them.

Seems like lots of people I know are off on holidays this week. I think right now I am happy to be staying at home. I am quite comfortable here right now, it has access to all the places I need, Mark and I have been finding out about the local shops and finding that we don't need to go over to the next suburb and fight traffic to get what we need. I love this suburb here and if I could afford to buy I would be happy here.

There is a big meeting for work tonight, I really don't want to go. These meetings are so stupid sometimes, just a whole lot of sitting around talking about things I don't care about. I need to get rid of this job, and find another job for the christmas period. But then I think about how much flexibility I'll need and I just have to wait for January and then I can start teaching and having theory lessons, and I should go and teach in schools. I have to keep in mind though the 10 week internship at the end of next year and the flexibility will go out the window.

January I can start having theory workshops in my house and get kids up to speed on theory in schools. I don't have to charge much and it would work out quite well. That all depends on where I'll be next year. Can we afford to rent in this area? Having it so close to the train makes it so useful.

End of the Season

Well, the game is still on T.V, but Collingwood have screwed it up for another year. There was nearly tears.

Dinner for Uncle Steves 50th last night were great, though I ate soooooo much food! He liked the collingwood jacket, though I don't know how much wear it will get till next year when we try again.

I like Sundays, I fell asleep on the couch for three hours and it didn't matter. The only things I have to do today are finish the assignment and decide what we can eat for dinner. I would like to order some chinese. I think that we have both had a few too many vodkas to go get Thai.

One week and I have some holidays. That will be great, some time to think about things and just hang out. Time to go to the gym and see what difference I can make. Probably not much, I need to stick with it a bit more than I have been. I just get so busy, and now it is a bit of a trip to get there, have to take the car. I can take the bus, but it is somtimes 20 minutes sitting on the side of the road when i need to be home already. One more week getting up early.

Intensity Increases

Well, it's that time of year when the assignments all become due at the same time, and the classes get harder to bother to turn up for, and the thinking I have to do gets harder and harder. THe book I am reading at the moment, come to think of it ALL the books I have to read for school are so hard to read because they are thick with created terms that I have to think hard to remember what they all mean. But I am proud of the fact that I can read anything with a critical mind, and I am excited to think that I can pass some of that on to someone else.

A good thing is that I have a few weeks off coming up when everyone else goes on placement. I am on placement from early next year before uni goes back, can't wait to find where they place me this time. Very exciting. I have a few weeks at school with classes after that, and then there is a ten week internship. THAT will be very hard, I was exhausted after three weeks. I think that I will have to put every thing on hold, including work and piano lessons. They don't realise how hard they make it for us, not being able to work or get paid for the full time school work. There should be something available so that students can still afford to EAT while learning how to do something. It is a big expectation. Thats still a year away.

Oh, it's past 11pm already, definately time to go to bed. I have a lot planned for tomorrow, because I don't have to work, or go to school, and then I have to be ready to go home in the afternoon. I am going to go to the gym, clean up the house, and mow the lawn. The weather is fantastic at the moment!!!! I sunburned my arms a little today, it was heaven. Lunch in the sun with boost juice. BRING ON THE SPRING!!!

>>Apologies for the excessive use of caps lock and !<<

My Dads Dad

My Dads Dad came to town, he lives a long way away. Over the years my Dad lost touch with him, as a result I have only met him once or twice. It was really nice to be old enough to be able to organise to meet him myself and have a great chat.

I was happy that we seemed to get along really well, he is such a nice guy. He told me about family that I don't know anything about, the connections between people are more numerous than you realise sometimes. I would like to work out a family tree, but I don't know how to go about it, and I don't remember names, which without a little history behind each person I would forget who was who.

Finding out about origins is all very interesting.

The other thing I was doing this weekend was attending as a scribe the National Music Workshop, where a lot of the important people in the music scene, government, schools, uni's, industry, AMEB, came to Melbourne to talk about the state of music ed in Australia, and propose things that need to happen next. It all came out of a National Review that the Government did into it, which is as thick as a phone book, and about as interesting. It is a lot of high level language which takes a bit of thinking to sort out the really important bits. I tell you I am all talked out. I listened to people all TALK, everyone had their say, lots of their say.

Yet for me, as a potential teacher the outlook for music teachers at the moment is very very good. If there is all this interest in having music teachers in schools, and having the status of music raised in public opinion, then there will be multitudes of oppourtunities for teachers like me. And because I am very specialised in both instrumental and now classroom teaching, there will be extra demand. Because I can do things in both the classroom and instrumental programs at a school. And if I decide that the classroom really isn't for me, then there will be heaps of teaching positions for instrumentalists. Having piano and horn is a bonus.

So the biggest things that they agreed on is that music is currently seen as a nice wishy washy kind of subject next to subjects like English and Maths and Science and whatever. When for personal development and well being music is the best thing. Everyone listens to it. It has been proved time and time again that music helps literacy and numeracy and cognitive skills and coordination and team work skills. So they want to raise the importance of music education for everyone.

They wanted to have everyone sing. Every child in the primary school should be involved in a choir and learn to sing. To most high school kids that would be weird and uncool, but they want to change the culture that it is not ok to sing in public. They want to be like Samoan and African cultures where singing as a community is taken for granted. It will be a hard change to initiate, but I think it is possible.

Lots of interesting discussion over two days. Better go to bed, I am so tired now I am stupid.

Train

Travelling on the train there are so many conversations going on that I find myself listening in to. It's so hard to find somewhere to look that isn't catching someones eye.

On the Broady train I always overhear at least one phone conversation, usually more. The other day I was sitting in an aisle seat and on one side of me I had the group of 14 year olds talking about their friend who had gone on their first date on the weekend, and went to the movies with a boy and has 'love marks' on her neck and they are so cute as a couple!
On the other side, (the side I was sitting on, ugh) I had three people talking about death metal and one of them talking about how people always want to bite him, and then demonstrating how he broke his finger once and could sometimes disconnect it and wave it around. YUCK!

I felt very sick.

On the up side on the train platform a lady approached me and asked if there were newspapers on the platform for sale. When I replied that it wasn't on this platform, but back up the stairs, she looked worried and said she didn't want to miss the train. She was old, and very shaky, so I offered to run up to the newsstand and get her a paper, as there was still ten minutes left till the train arrived. She pulled her wallet out right in front of me and gave me the money for it, I went and got her the last one left. I am glad that I could make someones day a little better.

Good Comment

I thought about the comment left and I've decided that it's exactly right. I should stop focusing on what I don't have any more, and focus on what I do have. I went to dinner on Sunday night with Shane and Kat and Matty and Neene and Steve, and it is these kind of people that don't care one way or another what I say or do. Or maybe it's that they do care, but still love me for me.

I have great friends at work, people in my uni classes always remember my name, when I can never remember theirs. Friends come and go, so I should make the best of the people I have around me now.

You know when Netty told me the other day that she wanted to talk to me, ultimatly to tell me off, she first asked me if I wanted to go have lunch with her. You know the first thought I had? Hey, she really does want to catch up. But really it was just to tell me off for being insensitive, and thats it. I keep sticking up for her and trying to see the best in her, when everyone else is telling me she isn't worth it. We really had a lot of fun in the same house. We worked well together on school work. Is it just my easy personality that meant we never clashed? Am I too reasonable?

I wonder if she will say anything when I see her thursday. There is only one more bill left from the house. Will I get the rest of the bond back?

Find out on the next, Days of Our Lives.

Life in a Routine

Now everything is settling down for the semester. I have monday and thursday at work, a few hours here and there at uni, and wednesday nights teaching.

My sister came to visit on the weekend, I didn't realise how much I miss being around her all the time, she used to make me mad a lot, but most of the time she makes me really happy. I relax around her because I know what she thinks about me and I don't have to worry about her opinion of me. She loves me no matter what.

Other friends are leaving me. I made Netty really mad with me, I don't think we understand each other any more. I don't know if she wants to be friends with me anymore, and I don't know if I can be friends with her either. I was talking to someone at uni about the fact that the bond hasn't all come back, and that someone went and made a few comments to Netty about it. I am mad with that person, and mad with myself as well. I have never learnt when to keep my mouth shut, and tell people things to see what their reactions will be. And because I can't think of anything else to say. I really don't like this other person, they make me uncomfortable when I am around them just because their personality drives me up the wall. I don't like his attitude, I don't like his sense of humour, I don't like that he can't take a hint and leave me alone when I am ready to leave, but I am also too nice to say any of that. Why bother. It would only complicate things.

So I feel like my friends have all left, and I am only left with family. Which is not a bad thing really. I used to count how many friends I had at high school, because it was important to be popular. And to make sure that everyone was included when we organised things with everyone. I caught up with Andy the other day, and the conversation was really nice, but I felt a few pauses in the conversation that I never felt before because we don't share anything in our lives like we used to. Bec is in the country, and I would love to catch up with her, but I don't even get time to get there to see family. I hardly caught up with her when she was in Melbourne.

I think the main thing with Netty is that I don't know how to sort out what I feel about moving out from the opinions of everyone else. It is hard to separate what I feel from what Mark feels sometimes, when he says things sometimes, I doubt my own judgement. I thought that Netty and I were friends, and we always got along great, but do we have the same thing when we aren't sharing a house? I don't want to let her go because then I will feel like I don't have any friends left that care enough to ring up just to see what I am doing. The only people who do that are my parents, Marks parents and Kat. How many people do I need in my life? It's hard to let friends go at the end.

Reminds me of Muffy's cat...

Public Transport

The biggest thing I hate about transport is missing the train. It has happened to me the last two times I've taken the train, and then you have to wait 20 mintues, half hour for the next one! Good thing that I've been leaving early from home to catch transport, but its on the way home that really gets me.

The other day after uni I thought I would try taking the train home, rather than two trams and a bus. So I went off to Melbourne Central, and my train has one minute left. I run down the stairs, elbowing people out of the way, only to have the train doors shut in my face. Next time I am army rolling it through the doors, though I do wonder if they stop closing just because you are in the way. So then I had to wait 20 minutes for the next one.

The next day I thought that I would give it another go, surely I would catch one on time. Well, I was on the platform with 5 minutes to spare, yet there is confusion among the other passengers abut which train is coming next, and which one just left. No announcements mind you. So then it comes the turn of my train, a few minutes late, and it just dissapears off the listing. The train evaporated into thin air. Magicians! So of course, 10 mintues standing around on the platform waiting. And waiting, and waiting. And still no sign of my train. I took the next one to flinders street.

So tonight, lessons finish, and the last people drop me off at the station, just in time to see the train pulling in. Of course the platform is on a big bridge, and its a three story high ramp. Thankyou, another 20 minutes in the cold and rain. Get on the train home, curl into a foetal position and hope to god that no one sits next to me.

I hate the train.

Success!

Well work today was good and not so good. Being on front end is really getting me down, I hate serving people endlessly, it gets me irritated about nothing, like the fact that they may want a second bag or whatever. I mean, who cares if they take a second bag??? Does it reflect badly on me, or have anything to do with me at all? No! So why is it such a big deal in my head?

I think that mostly it is to do with the fact that I am soooooo close to making a break with my previous life, (sounds like something really dramatic, and in a way I suppose it is...), and starting on the career that I have been studying towards for a long time. 2 years of primary school, six of high school, one year off, and now currently four years of uni time, that is a lot of years to be working towards the same thing, and still haven't really achieved it, being a full time paid musician. (Do they exist anyway?)

So Safeway is really getting me down because it is the halfway job, and I am ready to move on, but there is still waiting to be done, a little more time before I can call it quits. I think partly I am scared too, of making a break of it, and moving into a completely different kind of work.

At Safeway I am just a worker, I am there to complete a menial job, so that other people can benefit. As a music teacher I am there to provide knowledge, others look up to me for answers. I see it as two opposite ends of a spectrum, well two different kinds of jobs. The second I'll get paid a lot more for.

If I want to find a music teacher for this year and next, I will need to keep the safeway job. The way Uni runs, all you can afford is a poverty wage to study, I need this menial job to pay the bills. It's just killing me that I still need it. I hate it.

SO, SUCCESS!. About the crappy friday class, I saw Netty today, and she said that she got hers changed by putting in a request saying that we are country students and need to travel home. I read the request form that said in no uncertain terms that work, travel and general inconvenience are not valid reasons. Must just mean local travel, country travel counts as a valid reason. We country students need to have some perks over these city people.

After all this time, I still think of myself as a country person, I tell everyone that I am from a country town, and watch their eyes light up as I suddenly become more interesting, and more accessable in a way. Country people are different to city people. More open, more friendly, just different.

Mark asked me the other day if he was offered 3rd in charge of Shepp East would I want to move. I'm not ready to move there yet, there just isn't the range of oppourtunities for me until I am ready to take on my own whole department. When I do decide to go to a country town the incentives will still be there. I really think that Mark is getting used to the city, I don't think he will ever love it, but it is not turning out to be the scary crappy place he imagined it to be. The fact that we are together to support eachother too, IN OUR OWN HOUSE BY OURSELVES, makes living here really nice.

We are off to the local pub tomorrow to have a meal and a few beers. We don't usually drink beer, but I think that tomorrow I might have a few beers.

Self Esteem

Hey all, I am feeling better than I was when I wrote the last post. I went into a real depressed cycle, just hated everything. I had a great class tuesday, the lady taking our tute wrote the class and organised all the lectures, so she really knows what she is talking about. I have been hating the idea of this class on friday afternoon, but we shall see what I do about it when I get to the class. I'll go to it once, and see about changing if it is still the same guy.

Anyway, the tuesday class meant that everything starting looking up for learning things in this course.

The other thing that helped was the piano lessons I had today, all the kids are sooo cute, and I felt alright about how the lesson went. The last boy I have has a great talent, he is sightreading so well I am not sure what music to give him next. I have to find some more music during the week. It is his second lesson today and he had started scales, and talking about key signatures.

I went to the gym today, and ran around the block yesterday and today. I go back and forth between being happy with myslef, and not. Isn't that how it is for everyone? I think I am off clothes shopping for a while. I really really like the idea of these wrap dresses, I think that they look great, however when I wear them it looks nothing like the models, (obviously, cause I EAT things), but it gets me down none-the-less. Do fashion designers ignore the fact that 90% of women DONT look like broom handles? That some girls might be be bigger in the bust than an A cup? I know that these are questions that most girls ask themselves. Yet I am really struggling with self esteem at the moment. I have to keep telling myself that I am great looking, I have assesets that a lot of women pay money for, and I am well loved by Mark, no matter what I look like. It is so hard to keep believing it.

Two days to the weekend.

Back to School

I am so sick of uni already, and I have another year to go after this one. I hope that these new classes can provide something interesting and stimulating to study, a class that means something in terms of getting a job. I am so down on it from last semester, I just felt that the assignments and stupid and all the talk means nothing in the real world.

At uni we looked at CSF and Vels and all the new government stuff that controls the curriculum. However on the first placement I went on they laughed at the CSF, and the second one was a public school that didn't even use CSF. So why am I studying it? Why do it if no one really uses it? Why is it there in the first place? So the government looks like it is doing something for education? Uni feels pointless right now.

I am stuck in the friday afternoon tute with the same stupid guy from last semester. I am going to find the other lady that is a music teacher and get into her tute any way I can. I cannot do another semesters worth of work with this guy. Yet every class is full and I can't change officially into another one. I just hope that if I go there I will be able to plead my case. I just have to find where the better tute is.

And now I am off to work. To stand around and ask people if they want a bag, when I would rather tell them... yeah, I can't say that to the customers unfortunately. It's the people who buy say a tube of toothpaste, and want a bag for it. Isn't that why you have a big handbag and three green bags with pieces of paper in them?!?! PUT IT IN YOUR OWN STUPID BAG!

On a more positive note, I had Trine and Matt around for a roast dinner, which went very well thankyou very much. Mark even complimented my on my cooking, which makes me feel very happy.

It's raining outside, which is good, but I forgot to take the washing off the line yesterday when it would have been dry before it started raining. Oh well, there should be sun next week.

Placement is Over

I had the last day of my placement today. I was really happy with how the three weeks went, I now feel confident in front of a class, and confident in my ability to plan a class that will be interesting and that kids will get something out of.

Now it is back to uni, back to lectures and silly tutorials. I hope that these classes are better than last semester, because I am not excited about going back. I am glad that I had a break when I did because I was nearly unhappy enough with classes, mainly the tutorials, to call it quits and try something else. I've been doing this for a long time now.

I am in the final stages of being moved in. I have a few boxes of crap left to empty, and then I am all unpacked. It hasn't taken that long considering that we have both been out every day of the week, and too tired at night to do much. My new vacuum cleaner is great! It's an electrolux, and goes great.

Kitty was in trouble last night, just wouldn't settle. If it annoys me tonight, it will go in the lounge and stay there.

Assessment

Today on my placement I got assessed for my classes. I felt like I had a really good class when she came to see me, I had lots of things on the board and tried a variety of activities like teaching them about conducting and subdivision of beats.

I hope that the weather gets warmer soon!

I am going back to uni next week, it is going to be so easy after going to school all day and then working at night.

I've been watching Fraiser right from the beginning. I can't believe how funny that show is! They got the mix right right from the beginning.

Extended Update

Well, I have moved house, and we are nearly settled in. I have been working hard at school placement, and I am now at the end of the second week of it. My classes have been going great, there is no doubt that I know everything that I will need to teach music classes, now it is just the classroom management side of things that I need to work on.

Kitty loves this house, she runs around jumping out from behind doors. She still sleeps at night with us.

It has been soooooo cold! My car was covered with ice this morning and when I poured water on it, it had refrozen by the time I got in the car. I am sleeping better now with the electric blanket on.

Well today is the day when I pack up everything in a big pile ready to move tomorrow. I thought that I had gotten rid of a lot of things when I moved, but there has been a remarkably large amount of stuff to pack into a small supply of boxes. I think that I may need more, but it's a bit late for that. I might just buy some green bags from the supermarket.

My kitty has been asleep on me for the last hour, all curled up under my dressing gown. I really need a new dressing gown because kitty just loves to lick this one to death and I end up with big wet marks all over it despite constantly saying no. Ohhh big yawn. Having this kitty is like having a practice baby, except kitty was toilet trained when I got it. It gets into things its not supposed to, wont eat the food I give it, constantly wants attention, needs to be told no all the time, and is showered with love and affection all day.

Brekkie time.

Oh, I lost a kilo! Yay! I have been so hungry all the time, despite what I eat. I am going to try protene drinks for a while, see if they help through the day.

Moving Out

Its been a while since I felt like writing. I have been having trouble with my house, we got to the point where living with so many other people was just too crowded. I have been looking at rental houses all week, and we have been offered a great house at a great price. He should be ringing us up to tell us whether we can move in. Otherwise it will be back to the estate agents to look for something else. I am really excited about moving out, as much as I love Netty like family, I can't live in one room anymore. It will take some adjustment, but I am hoping that we will be good friends like we always have.

I have one more week on holiday before we all go back to placement. I am looking forward to getting into the classroom and trying out my skills. It is such a nice looking school, and it will be great to have on a resume. Everyone was really nice when I arrived, and I am excited about playing with some of the bands that they have there.

Ohhhh, I am going to finally set up a music area, nothing there but my horn and my music. The house has a piano, which I am very happy about. I hope so much that they let us stay there. I want to start moving things out this week. Do some cleaning and get the house organised. My house organised. THe house work hasn't changed, the bathroom is still dirty, Steph did some of it but not properly. I am feeling in limbo at the moment, waiting to be ready to move.

Holidays

I am offically on holidays, but it doesn't feel like it much. I have been working a lot, I did an 8 hour shift the other day. I should get lots of money next week. Kitty is booked in to the vet on Thursday, she is going to have an imunisation and have her bits done, and I am thinking about microchipping, but I don't know if it will be worth it. It's not that much money, and in the event that she does get out and go somewhere, we have a much better chance of getting her back. Its such a nice cat that I would be very upset if something happened to it. Its asleep on my legs at the moment.

I wish the warmer weather would hurry up and come back. I don't like winter much, and it is cold in my house today.

I was able to cross off quite a few things from my to do list. I paid a few bills, and booked the cat in, and I am going to book in to donate blood next week. I am really nervous about it, cause I remember how horrible it felt last time. I struggle with it cause they always seem to have trouble finding the vein and then getting it to run enough. The last time the nurse had to move the needle around in my arm and I felt it scraping. Ewwww, not nice! However, true to my nature I will do it again. It is a good thing to do. I will just have to see about how my overseas travel will affect it. That just occured to me then. But the US is a safe place to travel to.

I had a very nice steak last night. Meat seems so expensive. That is one of the wonderful things about the farm, we had a beautiful silverside roast the other day from the farm. It would be a lot of money to buy it in the supermarket. So if you are reading this Rosie, it was a nice roast, and I got a congratulations from Mark cause he liked it lots. I even made a fantastic white sauce to go on it. Thats one thing I can make well in the Kitchen.

Houses

Mark and I went and looked at houses in the new housing developments, wondering if it might be a good investment to buy one now, and then ten years later it would be worth a lot of money. But we found that it was a long way from the centre of the city, and there are a lot of things that you need in a house that you find isn't included, or they say they are including it for a great deal, things like floors and windows and walls. Important things like that.

So we were looking at houses in surrounding suburbs to see if there was anything in our price range, and there are houses out there if you are prepared to shop around suburbs. We will have to take a small two bedroom house because that it all we can afford in the surrounding suburbs. But the few houses we looked at are close to trams and trains and close to where Mark is working. We'll have a look and see if we like them. I know that I am ready to live in my own house with just me and Mark where I can have some cupboards for storage, and a spare bed for people to stay in, and a spare room for practicing. Notice how everything is about space? I love living with Netty, and now that we are settled in things are working o.k with the kitchen and bathroom, but when I talked to her this morning about houses she agrees that she is ready for a house with just her and Aaron, ready to start making a home, and move away from the share home environment. I feel like there are two houses squished into one house at the moment.

Weight Check

Still 86 kg. Oh Well.

Nearly at the end of the paper tunnel

I am nearly at the end of the week, where all the assignments are done and I am free for a while, except for the lesson planning I have to do. I will ring the school I am going on placement to next week and have a chat with the teacher about what the class is learning about and where I can take them next. I am feeling a bit aprehensive about this, for a few reasons, I haven't really planned a unit of work, I don't know anything about these kids, its a boys school, and I felt so confused and unsure about myself last placement. But I know that everyone else is in the same boat. When I get there and meet them I will hopefully find that they are not so bad. I am looking forward to meeting the teachers and students. It is the classwork that I am unsure about. But only because I haven't done it before. I will keep telling myself that I am an expert on music and theory and stuff by now, I have worked very hard to know all the stuff that I do about it. I am smart and mostly quick thinking, and I know how to explain things to people. In a working environment I am organised and tidy, at least at Safeway, and I know how to work as a team. Surely that is enough positives to outweigh the negatives. I will be fine once I have been there and started it.

A very sad thing happened the other day. The next door neightbours dog got into our yard and killed our bunny. The dogs had chased it out of the cage and around the yard until it died. We were too late to save it by the time that the neighbour had come next door and knocked to let us know. I don't know how things are going to go when we go over there and talk to them, but for the sake of my cat and our peace of mind they had better do something pretty damn good. Steph loved that bunny to bits. Its a shame that she has that stress on top of her exams.

Its the same thing as when Berlioz died, the feeling that something is missing, like when I put the cat out on its lead and it jumped up on the cage to watch the bunny like it always did, only there wasn't a bunny there.

Yes, I did say put the cat out on the lead. On a harness. We live inner city, and the cars got our last cat. Since I have done it, let the cat out only on the lead, it doesn't mind, putting the harness on means going outside. And the few times that it has gotten out, or Mark has let it out to run around without it, it doesn't go far at all, being used to a short distance it can go on the lead.

I love my Kitty.

I like my kitty

I am almost buff

Going to the gym has been going great! I have been going on average 3 days, and now I am up to 30 minutes workout. Ten minutes on the bike, and 20 mintues on the steppy thing. Its kind of an air walker thing, but better than those things on danos direct.

Anyway, on wednesday I get a fitness assessment, and a program for the cardio and weights. They'll show me how it all works and I can start using the weights. I have been a bit nervous about using it, I have just been sticking to the cardio section. The gym I am in is good, it is never busy whatever time I have been there, but I am starting to notice the regulars. I did the right thing getting this membership.

CURRENT WEIGHT IS: 86kg.

One more week of school and I am out of there! For a few weeks anyway.

Uni makes no sense sometimes

Things have been crazy crazy crazy here. I have been working lots, and I have been going to classes most of the time, and I am getting sick of the whole uni process. I have to find passion to keep going for another year and a half, another three semesters of the same old same old it feels like. There is too much talk and too much useless stuff in lecutres and workshops. There is this one guy on friday that is the worst offender. He waited until the last 10 minutes of class, a three hour class, to talk about our assignment coming up, and to give us an example of what the hell he wants us to write. Its all sooooooo vague and sooooooo stupid.

However the end result, teaching in a class successfully, is going to be worth going through all this dodginess. For want of a better word.

Life in my house goes well, we are settling in with eachother well, I really like having someone to study with, not that we studied much at the same time today.

Mark got a lot of gardening done yesterday, and I got all our washing done. I love clean sheets. We have been outside a bit enjoying a rare bit of sunshine.

21st galore

I had a great time on the weekend, two 21sts. THe first one was Katrina's and it was good because there was a lot of my family there. I spent most of the night with Jill, took her out to the pub and got her a few drinks, we talked and laughed for ages. I like being with her a lot.

The second 21st was Netty, the girl I live with. The party was o.k, it was fun to dress up and talk to a lot of people, but it all went tooooooo late and we didn't get out to dance until 3am. The speeches didn't get going until 11pm, and I didn't make much of a speech in the end because I was aware of everything dragging on. But I sang my 'Netty song' which everyone liked.

Felix my cat stayed at my parents place, and had fun playing with Miffy all weekend. I wish I could have two cats so that they could entertain eachother when everyone is out, but this house is too small and we couldn't fit another cat in here. Not that felix takes up much room really. I love my kitty.

Working Out

I got a gym membership yesterday, and today was the first time I went. I think that I have a long way to go, but I am happy to have started something. I was feeling like it was time to get moving, I am less and less happy looking at myself, and going into a clothes shop is impossible. Its already hard with my bust line, then add into that size 14/16, and there is nothing I feel like I can wear. I don't like the bulgy bits.

I'll put on here a weekly summary of how things are going, and a weekly photo, to see how I am changing. A few weeks of work should see some improvement. I have never been active, and only had a membership once, but it was hard to get to the gym cause I had to drive into town to get there, and then my car broke down and then the membership was over. This one goes for 36 months. Sounds like a long long long time to me.

Wish me luck with this.

I am finally better, the garlic remedy worked for a little while, and I think helped open the airways, but it took another two days to run its course.

I got my new placement, am going to be at a boys middle school. It should be an interesting experience, I don't remember much about what boys were like at this stage of school, I didn't start taking any notice of boys until at least year 10. At least this time I have plenty of notice this time, I can go to the school beforehand and meet the teacher and the classes so that I can get better organised, and know what kinds of things I'll be teaching for three weeks. This placement is 15 days.

Today is a lazy day, I'm still in my P.J's laying around. There is big contraversy on T.V over the end of the football, no-one can hear the siren, usually it's really loud, but someone must have turned it down, or something was wrong with the sound. The most contraversial thing is that it resulted in a draw. It will be interesting to see it discussed this week. Everyone is very confused.

Cures that taste bad

I had a remedy suggested to me by Steph, who lives with me. She said that I should eat a garlic clove, better than taking garlic tablets. So first she made roast chicken, and roasted heaps of garlic, and the next day I felt a lot better, my nose cleared up and then it was just a head ache and funny throat. But it came back yesterday, and my nose was all blocked and it was making it hard to sleep. Not to mention my nose is all sore from blowing my nose heaps. SO this morning I thought that I would try eating more garlic cloves to see what it would do. It was hard though, trying to swallow bit of garlic with my weetbix. Ugh. Yet, my nose is now clear, and my throat feels a lot better. Half an hour and I felt better. I can still taste the garlic in my mouth though... its not a remedy I would try convince many people of.

My cat loves me. My new haircut looks pretty good too.

Uni

Do you know that I only have five more weeks of uni before I am back on break again? I feel like I am always on holiday. Then after the five weeks, I have six weeks off, and then placement for three weeks.

I taught piano yesterday, and it went really well. The students made great progress during the week, and it was easy to teach them more about music. They remembered the facts that I taught them.

I have been really sick this week, I felt like I had a sandbag on my head when I laid down to go to sleep. Steph cooked chicken for dinner the other night, and roasted me heaps of garlic that I ate whole. I'm not sure if it made the difference, but the next day it was almost gone. I still have lingering effects, but should be gone by tomorrow.

SIck of being sick

Ohhhhh, I am sick sick sick. My head it all blocked up with stuff, and I can't get my nose to clear at all! I hope that it goes away soon. Sudafed isn't having much effect, neither is the panadol.

Never the less, it is Netty's 21st, and I am going to get out of my P.J's and go into town with her and steph and aaron. I think we are going bowling. That should be fun.

My kitty is sitting here with me watching me type. I love my kitty.

Living with Mark is so far pretty good, everyone is adjusting to having someone else in the house, it's easy cause mark doesn't take up that much room. I watched a movie today in my cinema room, its just fantastic. I watched the Notebook, it is sooooooo sad and romantic, I love it.

Home Theater

Oh Broadband is a wonderful thing, no more waiting around for five minutes hoping the page will load. Now, click and you're there!

You should see the set up in mine and mark's room now; stereo, 106cm plasma t.v, dvd recorder, surround sound. Its like having your own cinema. Everything is sooooo big now! Pity we couldn't get an advert editor, then we would be really cool. I think that we will be watching a lot more dvd's now.

Netty's birthday tomorrow! Yay, 21!

Ahhhhhhhhh!! I haven't been blogging for ages, I am back at home now and using a dial-up connection at the moment. I swear it took me 15 minutes to get the page to load just so I could sit here thinking about what I am going to write. Inspiration fails me some times, and I think that I don't have the energy to post something. There is always something to write about, its just it seems a lot of effort to then go and write it all down.

My kitty, Felix, is growing up beautifully. She really is a georgeous cat, its sitting on my lap at the moment, in a daze, looking up at me.

I am on holidays this week, still in P.J's and its after midday! I have done some washing and the dishes though... so not all bad!

Mark has moved in with me, and he is working very hard this week. He hated the store he was in, and is liking this manager a lot better. He has had a few weeks off work on sick leave with depression, living by himself in a strange little country town didn't suit him so well.

T.V is so horrible at the moment, I need more dvd's or more x-box games. Netty and Aaron are back from their little holiday in the country this week, and are bringing some cool games with them.

The kitchen is very full now that we have another person in the house. The old crappy fridge we have at the moment was often full to bursting with four of us in the house, so with an extra I got Mark to bring down his old fridge, and we decided to keep it as well as the old crappy one. As long as they still work they are good fridges. Until I have my own house somewhere then they will do nicely.

Co-incidently my room, with another person in it, seems less full. I have thrown out a LOT of stuff, or I just haven't gotten it all back yet from wherever I stored it. I'm washing the sheets today, but otherwise I've been able to make the bed when I get out of it. (well, eventually).

Promise not to let it go so long before the next post. XO.

If you haven't seen this show, you are missing out. I have only managed to see it on T.V a few times, but it really appeals to me.

This is the best site I have managed to find yet.

http://simplebliss.net/dontpanic

Placement

I have been staying in the country for a few weeks, I am out on my first placement at a highschool, seeing how the other half works. I like the role of the teacher, and the few classes I have taught so far have worked relatively well. There have been some things that I can improve, but the teachers I am working with have given me so much help and information. I don't know how they can give up their classes and let me teach them, and make a mess of it. But I guess that they are all not far out of school themselves, and they are giving back what they had when they were student teachers themselves.

Today I am teaching kids to play chords on guitar. Not to mention that I can't really play guitar myself besides the 4 chords I am teaching them today, but by the next class I will have to have learnt something else. I taught a theory class yesterday, and I felt really good about it, the class didn't go wild, and I think that they learnt something. The other class, the discussion, didn't go so well, I rushed through the discussion because I was so nervous. I still feel a bit funny about it, because I stopped talking when I got to the end of the notes, and realised that I should have taken more time. I have to get rid of this feeling that I failed a little. Because the discussion went well, I got answers to my questions and they didn't talk too much.

Its Marks birthday on saturday. Yay! he'll be 24. oooooh, old.

Its been an interesting few days, I went to the country on the weekend, I lit a fire in a few paddocks, and watched them burn. Mark has been at his parents house, on holidays from work.

He has been in Echuca for a few months, working hard at a new job and new position. He has gradually becomming more and more unhappy with it, being so far from friends and family, and me, and the managers at work he is just not getting along with. Sunday he woke up and decided he had had enough. He went to the doctor, and the doctor said he was suffering from stress and depression, and needed to get out of the environment that is making him sick. I rang him monday night while I was on a break from work, and he said he needed me, so I left work sick and drove the two hours to the farm.

He is in the process of getting work transferred to Melbourne to see if a change of scene is all he needs. He went to Echuca with so much promise, and it only takes one or two people to screw that up. If Safeway doesn't work out, maybe he could get his flying licence, do a uni degree, apply for a business job somewhere in the city. There are so many possibilities.

Nice

You will perish of fits. Repeat this to yourself:
"Things can work out even if I don't get
my way. Things can work out even...."

What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?
brought to you by

Echuca would have to be one of the most boring places to drive to ever. That straight road just keeps going and going and going. I keep thinking, 'gee, must be almost there', and then come across a sign that reads 80 kms to Echuca.

Getting here is good though, I am off to work in Echuca today, try something different. Mark is sick, hope that I don't pick it up. Know I will though.

I got better things out of my friday class this week than I did last week. We have to be thinking about interesting and creative ways to present our assignments. Have to have a think about it, the one due first is to look back over our schooling and talk about how we came to choose teaching as a profession. They also want us to think about teaching theory and decide where we stand on that. This course is making me think a lot. I haven't had to think much over the last few months...

We finally had our bunny cage delivered by Stephs parents, yay!, now the bunny can go outside where it can eat grass all day and get really fat. One less animal inside will be great. Last weekend Steph and Annettes parents came to visit, and bought their dog, so we had six people sleeping in five different rooms of the house and a dog, a bunny, and a kitty. Full house!

So after heaps of issues, my enrollment is now finalised, and everything is working out just fine. I am catching up with all the due dates that are coming up soon, but the assignments are not too long yet, and are very interesting. Everything that I am learning at the moment is very useful in the real world. They are skills that I will be using in a few weeks. All the teachers are making very sure that we all understand our legal obligations in schools, I have heard many times these last few weeks that you can't touch students at all, and never be in a room by yourself with them. This is especially underlined in music teachers, as we often give one on one lessons. Have to make sure that there are glass doors, or leave the door open.

I am sitting in the computer room at the uni. Got the three one hour lectures out of the way for the morning. They have been interesting, giving me new things to think about, or new ways to think about things I already know. One of the lectures was talking about language and text, including graphics. I think the guy is being paid by Microsoft, he talked on and on about their latest ads. He was talking about looking at text and graphics, and the instinctive deciphering that happens when we look at things. All the lectures were saying today that a picture or a graph is not self explanatory, you need text to go with it, and prior knowledge about the things in it to understand it.

I have a meeting to finalise classes and hopefully sort out the placement, but I am running out of time before school holidays start for the highschools. If there are no city placements left, I am thinking of taking a country placement, I could do it in Shepparton, back at good old Wanganui, (not shepp high, I don't think) I could do it at Echuca too, or any of the neighbouring cities. We'll see where they suggest.

The house in Melbourne has been so busy over the weekend. I am looking forward to the visitors all going home so that I can have some quiet and things back to normal. I have had a great time with my sister Jill over the weekend, we cruised around the city, taking photos for her art projects and we went to the beach and swam and laid in the sun for a while. We shared a bed for the weekend, and as a sign about how we have grown up, we no longer have trouble sleeping in the same bed, We used to have to have pillows down the middle to seperate us, so we wouldn't kick eachother in the middle of the night.

Anyway, time for lunch. Yum, pumpkin soup.

I went to some classes today, some interesting lectures, but the first few weeks usually don't have much information in them. I don't think that the computers class knows what its doing yet, all I got out of the one hour lecture was as a teacher you should do interesting things with computers to keep kids interested. The first lecture was good, talking about language in schools, how to question kids in different ways depending on the type of response you want, to find out how much they know, or to get them to learn something specific.

Hey Amy, thanks for your comments, I never know how many people read what I write. Sorry I haven't been updating a lot, I have had limited access to internet access. Better now that I am going to Uni a lot. I was talking about the end of term only a few weeks away, I meant the end of primary and secondary term. They have been back for a month already. This first term is really short, because we have the commonwealth games on in a few weeks. Would help transport if there arent heaps of kids trying to get to school as well as everyone else. Transport is predicted to struggle a bit, one of the biggest complaints is that its not a 24 hour system, trains and trams finish at 12.30am, but the workers are there until 1am or later. There is no parking anywhere nearby either. Good luck to them being out that late. I wouldn't want to be.

I got my kitty! Yay! Its soooo small and sooooo cute. Very exciting. Photos pending. Her name is Felix.

School starts

This is the first week of school, and I still don't have the transfer organised. I am going to call them in the morning and say 'OI! Fix It!' Sigh. It is all just too complicated.

I am going tomorrow for an interview over in East Brighton about a piano teacher position at a little studio. It would start next term, (the end of this term is only three weeks away already!), so five weeks and I could start. Don't get my hopes up too much, Netty went for a similar thing with Cello down the road here, and they just stuffed her around and she didn't end up getting any work anyway.

I am feeling very settled back into the house now, I have tidied up my room finally after moving things in, a big bed is awesome. I am soooo happy to have my room back, I have been floating for so long. I am sick of living in a bag. Now I just need a desk, and I can set up my computer again.

We had a cocktail party here over the weekend, it was great having so many people over. Netty and Aaron and their friends sat in the kitchen and played Blackjack, and Mark, Jill, Steph and I played X box in the lounge room. Later in the night Netty and Co went out, Mark and I nearly did but we didn't want a late night, and couldn't be bothered paying for a taxi. If the trains ran all night then we would have stayed out. But crappy old Melbourne transport. Nah, its not that bad really. During the day. Thats the biggest flaw, that trains don't run 24/7. Even if they ran every hour, or every half hour, it would still give you an option for a night out, and it would mean that myself, and many others would happily stay out a big longer and spend more money at the pub or nightclub. Of course there is the problem of security and safety. Maybe I wouldn't feel safe on a train at 3am. Better than being stuck in the city with no taxi at 3 am though. Its scary there at night when you are in a small group.

I am going to stand on the banks of the Yarra river and watch the parade go by I have decided. I could even score a seat in the MCG for it if I wanted to. There are lots of tickets still not sold. I wonder where I could get some from. It would depend on how much it cost.

Anyway, enough yap for now. Night.

Back Into Routine

I keep bringing up the blogger page, then closing it without logging in. I think of great things that I should put up online, then when I get on the net, I can't think of any of it. Or I just can't be bothered typing stuff. I am going to make a bit more of an effort, something every few days. When I get myself organised, then I can think about putting more photos on. Right now everything feels like its in transit.

I have no furnature in my room, my parents are bringing it down for me next week. There are a few people coming around for a bbq tomorrow, pity the weather sucks in Melbourne or it would be nice to be outside in shorts and t-shirt. I am already into jeans and jumpers. (sweaters, whatever).

I had my first shift back at work. I am happy that I didn't forget anything about registers. I worked in Liquor, for all the American people reading, our liquor laws state that alcohol can't be sold in the same section/store as general groceries. They have to be sectioned off, and it is run like an add on to the supermarket. You don't just find it in the middle of the store like at Harris Teeter.

My cat is nearly grown enough that I can take it with me to Melbourne. He is about 5 weeks now, soooooo cute! Its name is Felix, its black with white paws and white marks on its face. I'm pretty excited about it.

So I have had all these fees on my UVA account, and I can't get the transcript that I need for a transfer of degrees. It sucks big time. I hate how everything is blocked off. Its hard for me to get the money over there, and I am worried that I have sent the cheque to the wrong place. Fingers Crossed that it all goes off in a few days.

Fingers Crossed.

Induction

So I had to be re-inducted for work. That meant going back over everything about the company. History, Policy and Responsibilities. I had to stop myself from answering all the questions.

At the start of the session, the lady said to everyone to put their scarves and ties on. All the boys in the room took their ties out of the plastic, and sat looking at them stupidly. I ended up tying all the ties for them. One boy didn't seem to know what his collar was for and had the tie against his neck, with the collar buttoned up across it. Strange.

So I am now ready to work again, just the paper work to go through now. They seemed really happy to see me back, they like me at that store. It will be interesting to meet the new faces that have started while I have been away.

I will be getting a new employee number. I must say that I am sad to say goodbye to the old 360642. I have had that number since 2000. Wow, almost six years when you look at it. Mid way through 2000. I'm kind of fond of it. But its the price I have had to pay for overseas tuition.

Working

So not much has been going on in my universe for a while, just chilling out being on holiday. I rang safeway to try and get on, and I am going to have to go back through all the process of induction, the videos and training and stuff before I can get regular work again. I know that as soon as I have been through it, I can get back into working as much as I can to pay off the last bit of debt that I have from the holiday. I know that if for a while I put $100 a week into it, rather than the savings account that I have been for the last few years, then I will have it paid off in no time. Then I can start putting money back into the christmas club to put away in some kind of investment for when I need to buy my own house in Melbourne.

One-Arm-Driving-Tan

I drove home from Melbourne today, the arm is worse now than it was. I tried keeping a t-shirt on it, but some of the sun still got on it. I should put some more stuff on it to make it not hurt so much.

Katrina, Suzie and myself decided that we should stop being boring and go out somewhere friday night. We shouldn't have left the house though, we all weren't in the mood and ended up only getting one drink at one place. The hardest thing is finding somewhere to actually go. And then the public transport ends just after midnight, which is no good for going out. Places are that much harder to go to, and if you go out one of the streets away from the city, you have to spend so much money on taxis to get back into town, or to get home. The most important thing is who you go out with though. Some people just love to be out in a pub or nightclub, and it makes you want to be there with them. Sometimes going out is so overrated.

Sunburn

I was driving in my car yesterday, and from the sun being so hot, I have one sunburned arm. Maybe I should tan the other one, it looks weird, and very noticable. Hopefully it will fade soon.

I have started moving back into my room in Melbourne. My belongings are scattered far and wide, at several places. I don't remember where I put things in the mad rush to be ready to travel overseas.

I am so glad to be home. There is something so comfortable to me about the place that I live in.

New Place

Sorry everyone who has been checking, I have been very tardy getting a new post up. To be honest I have been to the new post page a few times, but each time I leave without posting anything, not liking anything I typed.

I have moved with Mark to a new place for his work. Its a two bedroom unit just around the corner from the city centre. I like this place, it has heaps of history, and I remember from when I was very little coming here with my grandparents. The shops we went to visit, the ice creamery and toy shop are still going strong. Both Mark and I remember it as a bigger toy shop somehow.

The other house is having the floorboards done, and new benches in today, I can't wait to see it, should look a million dollars. Or at least 250,000 dollars we hope. Mark is going to get renters in, our first investment property. He's going to look around here over the next few weeks and see if there is anything worth buying.

I am so glad to be home, havent done that much practice, but that will change over the next week. I have to find things worth practicing, with a mind to auditioning for the orchestra back at uni. If I can get into the orchestra, then I can have that as one of the electives in the course. Otherwise the only playing I will be doing will be for lessons that I have to pay for myself.

Next few weeks, mostly over Feb, I will be moving back into the house I was in before I left. Netty and Aaron, two of the three people that I live with, came to the unit to visit and have a drink with me. They are both so much fun, I look forward so much to being in the same house with them. I missed seeing Netty in the morning when I was having breakfast in my room, and setting off to classes with her. We should both have the transfer this year, we both have such good grades. My grades from UVA were really good, 3.75, I was very happy with the results. Especially being overseas and being Australian and all.

Hail to all those overseas, I got sunburnt yesterday. Enjoy the snow y'all.

Home

I made it home safe! I am chilling out at Marks place, happy to be back. Its like I never left. I was wondering how I would react with the driving, but it wasn't even an issue. I think that it was mostly due to being somewhere so familiar. In the airport I couldn't stop grinning at the voices I could hear around me, I could hear the difference that everyone reacted so strongly to every time I opened my mouth over there. It is so good to see Mark again, I was playing down how much I missed him. I look forward to seeing friends and family over the next few days.

Hometime

well everyone, this is it. Its time. Time for me to leave the USA behind and head back where I came from. Back to being just another Aussie, instead of that weird foreign girl that speaks funny. To familiar territory, places and people I know. Still many people to meet, but they wont ask me where I am from anymore when they hear me speak.

I will miss mostly the people I have met. It took me a while to get to know them well enough, but this last trip on the bowl game, (THAT post next time) was just amazing. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't just the fact that I stayed up all night New Years Eve that made me cry when the buses pulled out from the hotel. I will most likely never see most of these people again. A special few I know that I will meet again in the future.

So running the airport gauntlet again. Tomorrow there will be so many people in the airport travelling home cause it is the end of the public holiday and the end of the Christmas, New Year holdiay season.

Keep reading this page. The title that I thought up in the week before I left home still applies. Leona Is Gone from America. But only temporarily.