strawberry flavoured blog

dear everyone...

2007-12-30T21:20:00.000+11:00

Some people send out Christmas "letters" with, or instead of, Christmas cards.
This year, Eorl and I did neither. I'm not sure I even have postal addresses for half the people I would have sent cards to!

The Christmas letter my mother in law sent out had a whole sentence about Eorl and I! It went something like "Eorl and Lauren continue to work hard." That makes it sound like life is very boring for us! So, here is my very general "Christmas letter" summary of my year.

Dear Everyone,
2007 has been a big year! It feels like every year ticks past faster. And in a way, I suppose it does- this year was 1/25 of my life (4%), but when I was 10, a year was 1/10 of my life (10%).

After all the build up, the move to my new job seems to have been worthwhile. While there were many aspects of my old job that I liked, there were also aspects of it which made me very unhappy. I am very happy in my new job, although it's very different, and I'm still settling in. Sadly, it isn't a permanent job, but I think it will be a good "stepping stone" for me- at the end of this locum I will have worked as a Speechie for 2 1/2 years, in 2 different positions- so hopefully I'll be able to get a permanent job!
This year we were involved in lots of different ministry activities. Eorl led youth group, and I taught Sunday School (for the first 3 terms, before taking a break). I did holiday kids club in July, and went straight back to work afterwards (silly). We both did Minis in October, and I had a week off work afterwards (sensible, although I was sick for most of it). While I was at home, Eorl lead on a second camp- Junior High. Then, in November, we spent a weekend on our church youth group camp, where I took on the challenge of cooking for everyone!

We're going to have a few more changes in 2008.
Eorl will be staying at his current school- he's happy there.
But, in January we will be looking for a new church to go to, and a new place to live.

Some people have been surprised to hear that... but we never really thought of where we live now as a place we would stay long term. And, despite how long we were there, I don't think we really ever thought we "fit" at our church. Now that I don't work 10 mins from here, there's nothing to tie us to the area, so we're taking the opportunity to move on.
We haven't exactly decided where we'd like to move to, but we have a general area in mind. The idea is to place us in between where I work, and where Eorl works. This will hopefully decrease the amount of time I spend driving- because I don't commute well. So far it's been okay, but it's summer time, and the novelty hasn't worn off yet!

I've lost 11kg doing weight watchers... which I'm happy with! But, I have a lot more kilos to lose!
I think I initally anticipated that I would lose weight faster than this, but over the past few months, losing weight hasn't always been my first priority (particularly during the few hectic weeks before leaving my old job), so overall I think I've done well.

So, this time next year, I hope to be healthier, living in a different place, and going to a different church. But I plan to stay a Christian (and growing in my faith), married to the same husband, and friends with some of the same people (although I hope to be friends with some new people too!).

Have a Happy New Year!
love Lauren.
PS: I did not go to the dentist in 2007 at all. I'll have to fix that in 2008!

it's real!

2007-11-01T19:12:00.000+11:00

Today I got a special envelope in the mail.
It was my letter of offer for my new job!

Having the letter of offer in my hands makes it seem all the more real!

And I have only 10 working days left in this job!
I'm very excited... but also very overwhelmed by the number of things on my to do list!

i wrote a letter today

2007-10-31T21:50:00.001+11:00

Eorl and I sponsor a 6 year old girl named Deysi, in Nicaragua. I wrote to her when we first started to sponsor her, and I wrote her another letter today. I’ve had two letters from her- with pictures.

As a kid I really loved getting letters. And I would like to send Deysi letters more often, so that she can enjoy getting letters too.

See more progress on: Write letters to my sponsor child

tax return time...

2007-10-30T22:16:00.000+11:00

Eorl and I have survived tax return time for this year.

Eorl submitted his via e-tax at midnight last night.
I submitted mine via snail mail today (e-tax is a great idea, but doesn't work if you're disorganised and can't find last years notice of assessment!).

I'm wondering whose tax return will come back first.
The tax man owes both of us money... so it should be a pleasant surprise when it does happen...

i did(n't)

2007-10-18T21:50:00.000+10:00

Since the Cervical Cancer Vaccine first became available, I have been trying to worm my way out of getting the injections done. It seems irrational- afterall, immunisation is for my own good, but I've had some really bad experiences with injections...

But then today, something almost unbelievable happened.
I went to the "Staff Immunisation Clinic" at the Hospital, to get my blood test results. NSW Health have recently changed their policy about what immunisations staff have to have, and because I hadn't had them all as a student(or the follow up blood test I should have had 4 years ago after the course of Hep B injections), they decided to start me off with a blood test, and then give me the necessary injections (I hate blood tests, probably more than I hate injections!).

The doctor looked at my results, and the news was bad.
I had to have:

diptheria, tetanus, pertussis
hepatitis B
measles, mumps, rubella (I was immune to mumps and rubella, but not measles strangely!)

I wanted to run away when I found that out! But I decided to be brave. So brave in fact, that when the doctor offered to give me all three on the same day, I let her!

So now I have two bandaids on my left arm, and one on my right.
The right one hurts more- it was a double dose of Hep B... she warned me that it would! But if I didn't have the double dose, I'd have to have a blood test in 6-8 weeks, and then possibly another needle (if my body didn't respond to the first one).

It did hurt to get them done. But it wasn't as bad as I remembered/imagined! And I didn't pass out this time, which is a bonus.

So, I've decided to be brave, and get the cervical cancer vaccine done too.
I wonder if they'll give me a bandaid that says "i did"- like the ones in the ad...

a new job!

2007-10-10T15:41:00.000+10:00

I have a new job!

It's equivalent to what I do now, but at a different Community Health Centre, in a different Area Health Service. It's not permanent... but the contract is 18 months long, and I think I'll be in a better position to get a permanent job once I have had a bit more experience.

There was some talk of Eorl and I moving out of Sydney... but because I've been offered this job, we won't be! I would prefer not to make it public on my blog where it is... but it is closer to bushfires! We won't be moving house at this stage- it is within driving distance.

I'm very excited!

don't they look and smell delicious?

2007-10-08T21:37:00.000+10:00

I have a secret love for crayola crayons!
I hadn't thought of them for a while... and then I was doing a "10 second interview" on facebook, which asked what my favourite colour crayon was... and since then, I have craved crayons.
So tommorrow, I'm going to get some crayons (I think I have some hidden in my study), and draw a picture.

Oh, the things I could do if I was on leave more often!

more things to get around to...

2007-10-08T18:55:00.001+10:00

I have been neglecting my 43things list for the last little while… but seeing as I’m on leave this week, I think I’ll try to get back into it.

This week I will try to make some progress on:

fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child
donate my old glasses to charity
look after my skin
Simpsonize myself
make my own cards

See more progress on: get around to it

sick on an annual leave day...

2007-10-08T18:28:00.001+10:00

Today I'm on annual leave.
I'm also sick! That sucks!
Annual leave is not for being sick, it's for having fun!
Sick leave is for being sick!
But my nose/sinuses don't seem to be aware of that!
I am a snot machine...
so I'm on the lounge, under a doona, watching DVDs...

mr potato head was naughty...

2007-10-06T20:17:00.000+10:00

It would appear that while I was away, Mr Potato Head was very naughty.
He was busted trying to smuggle ecstasy into Australia!
You can read more about it on the Sydney Morning Herald Website.

money in... money out!

2007-09-27T17:49:00.000+10:00

Today was payday.
It was a special payday- because I got a payrise. Because I've now been in this job for 12 months (and 2 weeks), I get paid at a slightly higher rate. It works out as about an extra $50 per fortnight.

I was looking forward to buying something special with my payrise, like I did with the last one... and then today happened. Today, my car went in for service. It was the 80,000km service, and the people at the Toyota Service Centre said it was a major service... which means it costs a lot. Then, they found something else wrong with it- which cost more money! I got the electricity bill today too...

So, I was $50 ahead at the beginning of the day... and $1000 behind by the end of the day, after paying for the car to be serviced, and the electricity bill. So, I think I've spent that payrise! I'm not too upset about it though... having a car that works, and electricity in my house are important to me!

loz returns to blog-land...

2007-09-23T16:32:00.000+10:00

It has been quite some time since I've posted here...
And I've received some complaints about that! I didn't realise how many people were reading my blog, until I stopped writing it!

So, I thought I'd return briefly, and give a short update on what's been happening since my previous post...

August 2007
Trying to be healthy was keeping me busy! Between trying to eat good food, and not junk (and staying inside the Weight Watchers Points), and going to the gym, this was keeping me quite busy! To date I have lost 7 kg, which I'm very pleased with!

My nephew Walter was born. He's very cute- but I've only seen photos, I haven't been to see him yet! It's sad that he's in Newcastle- it makes it that bit harder to just "drop in"- because he's so far away. Maybe on the holidays Eorl and I will be able to find time to go, when neither of us is sick! (We were thinking about going one weekend, but then Eorl got a nasty cold, and pharyngitis, and an upper respiratory tract infection... and we didn't think little Walter needed to be exposed to that!)

I won a prize at Starbucks! They had a lucky draw- you put your business card/contact details in, and at the end of the month they draw it. I made a joke of entering once everytime I went in there... and then I got a phonecall to say that I won! I have a little Starbucks bear (I named him Carmello, after my favourite barista!), and a basket of goodies- including chocolate for Eorl to enjoy, and coffee for me to make for our Bible Study group, when it moves back to our house next term (note to self: tidy up! people are coming over!).

My 25th Birthday!
I didn't have a party- because I didn't get around to organising one :( And then when I did, only James could come! But that's okay, I had a nice birthday anyway.
The highlights were: Eorl bought me tulips, my workmates had a little party for me with "birthday fruit salad" (they spied on me to find out what fruit I would like, because they knew cake was out because of the WW thing...), I spent the day with my Mum (no work! ADOs are a fantastic idea!), I went to see Katie Noonan in concert with Liz & Sheena that night (it was absolutely brilliant!), and went to see Brooke Fraser with Sarah, and Rachael and her friends the next night (that was a great concert too!). And I bought myself a new handbag. I do love my new handbag! I should take a photo of it to show off on my blog!

September 2007
Hmmm... well, my work situation has been a bit unpleasant. Too much to do, and not enough time to do it in... I've also been writing job applications, and going to interviews, because of the end of my contract sneaking up on me... no exciting news yet.

We've started preparations for Minis- my Stanwell Tops highlight of the year! A few years ago, it was common for me to be at the Tops at least 3 times in a year... this year, it's just the one. The people from my church organising our church weekend away didn't want to go to the Tops! :( Stanwell Tops is one of my favourite places in the world! And I love Minis Camp! I can't think of anything better to do with a week of Annual Leave next week!

I succumbed to the pressure, and joined facebook. My friends were doing it, and I thought I'd join in. So far it's been pretty fun! I've found some old friends, which is cool! I take pleasure in throwing sheep at people. I have a pet penguin, named Woddles, who likes to eat cherries. And I ignore all invitations to become a pirate or vampire! But I do enjoy playing scrabulous, if you want to invite me to do that!

I don't think anything major has happened, aside from all that!
Life has just be chugging along- and I've been struggling to fit it all in!

from 43things to 38... and back to 43 again

2007-08-10T00:31:00.000+10:00

I have taken somethings off my list of goals on 43things.

I have recently completed 4 goals:

knit a scarf
get new glasses
drink less coke
get broadband internet

I gave up one goal:

read all the books on the BBC Big Read Top 100

And I changed one goal:

"stop shopping" became "stop buying stuff I don't need".

So, now I have space for new goals:

Simpsonize myself
donate my old glasses to charity
stop using plastic bags
go to the zoo
look after my skin

Some of those will take a while, others will be quick... sometimes for me it's really a matter of adding them to the list so I'll get around to doing them!

i can knit!

2007-08-10T00:20:00.001+10:00

I have knitted two scarves now!
That’s what happens when you don’t get around to taking photos of your creations, to put them on your blog before you mark the goal “done”!

The blue and purple one is mine, the first one I made.

The second one is for my friend Liz. The yarn is really wierd- there are 3 strands of different stuff, and one of them has sequins! It was a bit harder to knit with, but it looks cool!

Now I plan to move on to knitting projects which require a pattern, because I’ve reall enjoyed knitting!

See more progress on: knit a scarf

Untitled

2007-08-10T00:13:00.001+10:00

I have my new glasses… and here is the photo to prove it!

They are Ray-Ban’s- and the bottom is rimless (and yes, I am being extra careful not to break them).

I’ll try to find a photo of myself wearing the old ones, for comparison. That might prove hard, as over the last few years I’ve not worn glasses very often, especially not at events where photos might be taken!

Over the last week I have been wearing my glasses- firstly because they’re new, and the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. The second, and slightly less pleasant reason, is that I’ve had an eye infection!!! Contacts aren’t comfortable when you have an eye infection! At least my eyes waited until I had new glasses to get infected- being stuck wearing the old ones wouldn’t have been pleasant.

See more progress on: Get new glasses

two fruits

2007-08-09T22:44:00.001+10:00

I like to eat two fruits from a tub/tin/can. I ate them for my afternoon tea today, which is what reminded me of this story! When I was in year 9 or 10 at school, in summer I liked to keep them in the freezer, and then put them in my lunch box. By lunch time they'd be defrosted, but still cold. I must have been doing this for at least two weeks, when I asked my group of friends- "what are the two fruits in two fruits?". My friend Kristin laughed so hard she almost fell off the seat- she couldn't believe I didn't know! There were other people who didn't know, but their excuse was that they hadn't eaten them. Anyway, I eventually worked out that the two fruits were pear and peach. They taste somehow different when they're mixed together- that's my excuse!

See more progress on: remember stories from my past and share them

I don't want to read all the books on the BBC Big Read Top 100!

2007-08-09T22:34:00.001+10:00

I’m giving up this goal. I don’t want to read all 100 books on the BBC Big Read Top 100!

In the year since adding this goal I’ve read lots of books, but none of the ones from the list!!

There are still some books on the list that I would like to read, eventually! But I’m not going to read them just because they’re on this list!

I have listed the ones I’d like to read here:
(perhaps eventually I’ll get around to it!)

4. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
19. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
30. Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
40. Emma, Jane Austen
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
53. The Stand, Stephen King
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie

See more progress on: Read all the books on the BBC Big Read Top 100

I still love coke, but I'm drinking less of it!

2007-08-09T22:19:00.001+10:00

I am happy to call this goal complete!

Since starting Weight Watchers two weeks ago, I have been drinking less coke. There is a simple reason for that- points!

I am very motivated by token economy… so it’s working for me that every morning when I wake up I get 24 points to “spend” on food/drinks. Water is worth zero points. Coke, other soft drinks, juice and milk are all worth points. So, I’m motivated NOT to drink those things too often, because I’d rather spend my points on food.

Some people on weight watchers have switched to Diet Coke/ Coke Zero. I don’t like either of those at all! I would rather drink water! And I don’t want to put too much artifical sweetener and other chemical stuff into my body… so I’m not going to let myself establish a new habit of drinking diet soft drinks!

I have heard it said that by drinking soft drinks daily, you can put on 10kg per year- because of the extra kilojules you consume when you’re thirsty, but not necessarily hungry! Looking at the nutritional information on the package, I can see why…

I wonder if some of the extra weight I’ve put on is because my husband likes to have coke in the fridge… whereas when I lived at home with my brothers I didn’t drink much soft drink, because it didn’t stay in the fridge too long!

So… I’ve concluded that coke is a “sometimes” drink.

See more progress on: drink less coke

making going to the gym a habit...

2007-08-09T22:05:00.001+10:00

I went to the gym AGAIN today!
So, this week I’ve been Saturday, Monday and Thursday!

Now, I need to make this a habit…
I wonder how long it takes to establish a habit?
I have heard people say it takes a month, but I don’t really know…

So, I’m going to say that before I can mark this goal as done, I need to do it for 10 weeks. Hopefully I’ll be able to mark it as done in October/November this year…

See more progress on: go to the gym 3 times a week

ginger goof chicken!

2007-08-07T22:41:00.000+10:00

Tonight I cooked dinner for Eorl, Jill and myself.

We *were* having Chicken and Bean Hotpot. The recipe came from the Weight Watchers cookbook- "the extremely contented tummy".

I usually buy garlic in a jar... but one day I couldn't find it, but I don't know how to crush the real thing, so I bought it in a tube, it looks like this:

The tube in question was in my fridge.

When I was little, I remember reading a book about a man who could not read, and ended up eating dog food- because he couldn't read what it said on the label, and only looked at the picture. The moral of the story- read the label!

I think I accidently forgot that lesson while I was cooking tonights dinner.

I opened the fridge and took out another tube:

It was *ginger*.

It's the same size tube, and roughly the same colour. But what comes out doesn't look or smell like garlic. I didn't let that bother me, and put ginger into my dinner instead of garlic!

I honestly don't remember when I bought the ginger, or what for!

So I accidently invented a new recipe!

Here it is, in case you'd like to try it!

Chicken and Bean Hotpot (or if you'd rather- Ginger and Onion Chicken!)

You need:
olive oil
400g chicken breast
1 onion chopped
1 clove of garlic (substitute garlic or ginger from a tube as you prefer)
400g baby potatos
oregano (I use the jar kind...)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (again, the kind you buy in a bottle)
2 teaspoons mustard (the powder kind)
1 1/2 cups of chicken stock (make it up using stock cubes)
160g green beans (trimmed)
1 chopped carrot (if you like)

Instructions
1) Heat some oil in a frying pan. Cook chicken for 2 mins on each side, or until it's brown. Remove from pan and put on a plate.

2) Add onion and garlic (or ginger) to frypan. Brown the onion (preferably till it has some black bits). Add the potatoes, carrot, lemon juice, chicken stock, mustard and sprinkle some oregano into the pan. Cover and cook over medium heat until the potatoes are cooked

3) Add the chicken and beans. Cook for another 10 mins, or until the beans are cooked.

4) Eat!
This recipe serves 4.
It's very filling, but only worth 3.5 points, if you're doing weight watchers!

taking things literally...

2007-08-06T21:31:00.000+10:00

I am knitting a baby cardigan- it looks like this:

I'm making it out of lavender baby wool.
It's really soft.

I showed it to Eorl, and told him to feel how soft it is.
He felt it, and asked why it was so soft.
I told him that baby wool is supposed to be soft.
He asked me if baby wool is made from baby sheep... is that taking things a bit too literally?

smiley faces for fruit and vegies...

2007-08-04T23:48:00.001+10:00

Weight Watchers has a “Points Tracker”, with a little section in the corner to tick off if you’ve eaten your recommended daily intake of important things. When you tick off enough of a certain thing, a little smiley face appears. That little smiley face motivates me to get more fruit and vegies. I find that the easiest ones to tick off are dairy (I love milk and cheese…), and oil.

Today- I ticked off 2 servings of fruit, and 5 servings of vegies. I actually ate more than 5 types of vegies (carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, sweet potato, and potato), but only 5 “servings” worth.

I’m impressed with myself- today I ate good food AND went to the gym! Perhaps after a few months on weight watchers, I’ll be able to mark this goal as “done”.

See more progress on: go for 2&5

today's achievement...

2007-08-04T21:57:00.001+10:00

I went to the gym today for the first time in ages…. (since March I think). My friend Jill dragged me…

I had forgotten that it feels good to go the gym…
When I’m finished exercising, I feel happy and energetic.

So, maybe I’ll go again tommorrow. Or Monday- depends how I feel.

See more progress on: go to the gym 3 times a week

cruising the net- wirelessly!

2007-08-03T19:00:00.001+10:00

I’m typing this very entry from my laptop, which is not plugged in to a phoneline! Yes- I’ve got broadband, and not only broadband, but wireless broadband!

Fast internet is making me happy!!
Now I should start doing some of the things I couldn’t do with dial-up:

download music from itunes
talk to my friends using MSN Messenger (if that’s what everyone is still using…)
watch videos on utube

See more progress on: get broadband internet

adhd vs "multitasking"

2007-07-30T22:43:00.000+10:00

I am reading "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs.

So far, it's a good book!

This description of a character (from p115) made me giggle:

"If KC has been six years old (instead of 46) she would have been labeled ADD; by virtue of maturity, she had lucked into the opportunity to describe herself as a multitasker. Now people just put up with her energy and mile-a-minute mouth."

I giggled, because it could be me (other than being 46)! If I was a kid, I think my colleagues might refer me for an assessment- I do sometimes behave like a person with ADHD!

Imagine this- you drop in on me in my office, unexpectedly. You start to speak to me- "Hey Lauren, I was thinking..." There are at least 3 tasks started, but unfinished... I'm probably surrounded by paper, typing on a keyboard which is partially obscured with bits of paper (touch typing is an advantage), possibly the radio is on too, and I'm just going about my business like there's nothing wrong... you think I'm not listening, but more often than not, I can answer your question too...

Don't get me started on meetings... I do what one of my colleagues calls "topic bungy jumping"...

The small print: If I remember correctly, I was tested for ADHD when I was in high school, and I don't have it. I'm just a bit ecentric!

i love a bargain...

2007-07-30T20:18:00.000+10:00

Today I went to a workshop in the city (For the Speechies/Special Ed types out there, it was Teaching 9 Critical Communication Skills, run by Pyramid Education, and it was fantastic!).

On the way back to the train station, I got this jumper! It's soft, and it's a beautiful colour ("ocean marle"). The brand is "agent 99", which I hadn't heard of (probably because it's exclusive to General Pants, and I don't go there much). Best of all, it was $59.95, marked down to $20!

I love a bargain!!!

waiting for new glasses...

2007-07-22T17:07:00.001+10:00

On Thursday, after work I went to see my optometrist.
He checked my eyes- they have gone from being the same, to the left eye being slightly weaker.
I ordered some new contacts (monthly this time, instead of fortnightly ones… these new ones are apparently better for my eyes…)

While I was there I said “I need some new glasses”, so the optometrist showed me lots of different kinds, and he and the receptionist/optical dispenser person helped me narrow it down to 3 pairs.

Yesterday, Mum, and Michael, and Eorl, and I all went to the optometrist. They helped me pick my new glasses frames- and I ordered my new glasses. Mum and Michael had their glasses adjusted. I also picked up my new contacts.

So this goal is almost complete… all I have to do is wait for the phonecall to tell me my new glasses are ready to pick up, and then this goal will be complete! Before I tick it off the list, I will post a photo of myself in the new glasses.

I wonder if I beat James in achieving this goal… he needs new glasses too!
I think he needs them more than I do!

See more progress on: Get new glasses

have you heard of Internet ADD?

2007-07-12T22:14:00.000+10:00

If not, then check out this article, at zenhabits.

I think I might have a bit of Internet ADD.
I blame Windows... there was a time in my life when alt-tab meant nothing to me, and I did only one thing at a time. I think I was in Primary School, and I think the computer we had at the time was a 286 dinosaur running DOS.

I wonder if anyone has done any research into the productivity trends in giving people internet in the workplace.

I don't have internet access, and I think that limits my productivity- when I want information, I have to physically go and find it, ask people etc, and when I need something, I have to reinvent the wheel, because I can't download one someone else has made...

But perhaps if I did have internet access I would begin to behave like the article describes...

I guess it's one of those trade off things... but I suppose a happy medium could be found...

a pay rise... and shoes!

2007-07-09T21:55:00.000+10:00

As of the 1st of July, Speech Pathologists (and others on the
"Crown Employees (Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Pathologists and Music Therapists) Award") got a 4% payrise.

I think it works out for me as about $60 extra in the pocket per fortnight...

To celebrate getting a payrise, I went shopping, and I bought a pair of these shoes:

I thought the owl print was cool. They're surprisingly comfy.
They were on sale of course- I got them for $25.

They also had the cherry keds I had my eye on early in the year... but these are a darker colour and so they seem a bit more practical... or at least as practical as a pair of cute shoes that I can't wear to work can be!

a busy week!

2007-07-09T21:14:00.000+10:00

What did I do with my week off work?

led at kids holiday club at my church.
saw Shrek 3
found a good book (it was "The Family Frying Pan", by Bryce Courtenay), and started to read it
celebrated my friend Jill's birthday, by going to Hog's Breath Cafe, and eating cake
had my friend Rachael over for dinner
finished my scarf (I used google to find out how to cast off and followed the instructions and pictures I found to finish the scarf).
had friends from my Bible Study group over for dinner (I cooked lasagne for them)- they all went to the movies after dinner, but they were seeing Transformers, and I wasn't really interested, and I was very tired, so Eorl went, and I didn't.

7/15- that's almost half!

What didn't I get around to doing?

going to the gym (too tired from kids holiday club!!!)
seeing Kylie and Haley. We were planning to go out for dinner, but the day we chose ended up being Kylie's Mum's birthday... so we postponed it. I did speak to them both though, which is an achievement.
visiting my friends Olivia, Annalise, and Isabella (and their Mum- Sam).
going to the hairdresser
going to the optometrist/getting new glasses
visiting my Mum
going to Ikea (my friend James wanted to go with me anyway, so we should plan to do that sometime soon... although I have to work out how to get a bookshelf home, as I don't expect it to fit in my Corolla)
writing letters to the girls who were in my cabin at camp last year.

In addition to the things I did and didn't do, I also came up additional things to do:

go to the dentist. They sent me a nice postcard to remind me, but when I rang up they didn't have any appointments that suited me.
visit my Grandma... I haven't seen her for a while...
see my friend James at his new apartment (and take him a housewarming gift...)
sell some more things on ebay (I keep finding things I don't need/want anymore...)
look on the internet to find a good broadband deal, and sign up!
visit the Chiropractor- my lower back hurts... and I haven't seen George/Mischa for a while
send emails to my far away friends- Elizabeth in Tasmania, Bernie in Melbourne, Irwan in Wollongong, Michelle in West Timor, Margaret in the UK somewhere... and everyone else who has emailed me in recent times, and hasn't recieved a reply
find the installation disks, so we can burn all my important stuff to CD, and format my computer (it's a bit clogged up!)
figure out how to fix my mp3 player... or replace it.
write a list of what I would like for my birthday
plan how I would like to celebrate my birthday
also, "join weight watchers" has kindly been added to my list by my friend Jill. She's decided to go, and has roped me into joining her...

looks like I'm going to be busy...

kids holiday club!

2007-07-07T22:53:00.000+10:00

This week I have been kept very busy by leading at kids holiday club.

We did a modified version of the "Jungle Adventure" Program, from Quizworks.

Our Memory Verse was:

For Christ died for sin once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body, but made alive by the Spirit.
1 Peter 3:18

We went through it so many times that I learnt it without even trying.
I was surprised how well the little kids learnt it by the end of the 4 days!

Highlights of the week (Wed to Sat) for me were (in no particular order):

doing a craft that the boys AND girls enjoyed! We made kites, like this one: I had made them before, but at the last minute I found instructions for them at 20 kids * 20 kites * 20 minutes. We used cardboard, drinking straws, wool, crepe paper, and paddle pop sticks (fat ones that look like tongue depressors).

We made them on a really windy day, so flying them was pretty easy.

The part of kite making that made me really happy was seeing this:
A particular little boy, (who I think must eat jumping beans or worms for breakfast, because he so rarely sat still!), loved his kite, so much that he cried when told to put it down, to do another activity. He took it home, ran around with it until it was completely broken, then got his brother's kite, and started running around with it. It was cool to see this little boy get so much joy and excitement out of such a simple craft activity. At the time this picture was taken, the other children were all involved in a game, but he was content with his kite.
Teaching a difficult lesson to Kindy to Year 2 kids, and feeling like they actually understood what I was going on about.
The program we did was structured a bit like this:
Day 1: God made the world.
Day 2: People stuffed up the world (sin), and need a rescuer (Jesus).
Day 3: God sent Jesus to be our rescuer and Jesus died for our sins. Jesus didn't s stay dead- he rose from the grave. Because Jesus died for us, we have the opportunity be friends with God, and get to heaven. If we ask him to, Jesus (via the Holy Spirit) will come to live in our hearts, and help us to live God's way.

So, by teaching on Day 3, I really had my work cut out for me. And it wasn't a lesson that I could easily do visually. So, I taught it in the context of the memory verse, and drew it on the whiteboard.
Here is a blurry photo of me doing just that!

walking around with a camera around my neck all the time- I took something like 300 photos, and we're burning CDs to give to the kids tomorrow at the Family Service at church to take home. The kids love having their photo taken, and I really enjoy playing around with all the functions my camera has. I'd love to share some of the cool photos on my blog, but I'm reluctant to show the ones with kids faces in them, without their parents' permission.

getting to know some people from my church I haven't hung out with much before. (Our church has 3 services, and all have the same sermon, so people don't mix much with people from other services).

laughing at Pati, everytime he sang the song "Who's the King of the Jungle?", because he sang it "I'm the King of the Jungle"... we corrected him the first time he did it, but whenever he wasn't concentrating, he went back to what I termed the "attention seeking" version of the song.

The proper version of the song goes like this:
Who's the king of the jungle? (Ooh! Ooh!)
Who's the king of the sea? (bubble, bubble, bubble)
Who's the king of the universe?
And who's the king of me?

I'll tell you, J-E-S-U-S! Yes! He's the king of me.
He's the king of the universe, the jungle, and the sea.

We were singing it from the Colin Buchanan CD -10, 9, 8... God is Great (which incidentally, is a great CD, if you want Biblical truth, set to a catchy tune, for kids to sing!)

Kids holiday club did make me very tired though.
I think I had a nap in the afternoon on all 4 days!

I'm looking forward to hopefully seeing some of the kids from kids club in my Sunday School Class next term!

holidays!

2007-06-30T21:33:00.000+10:00

I'm on leave for the next week! Yay!

The last few days of work last week weren't very good days. So, I'm happy to be having a break!

So, what will I do this week?

lead at kids holiday club at my church. That will keep me busy each day Wednesday to Saturday, between 9am and 12 noon.
go to the gym! I haven't been for months, so I am going to try to re-establish it as a habit.
go to the movies- I would like to see Bridge to Terrabithia, and Shrek 3. Hopefully I'll get to see one of them.
find a good book, and read it.
catch up with my good friends Kylie and Haley, who I haven't seen for a while.
visit my friends Olivia, Annalise, and Isabella (and their Mum- Sam).
celebrate my friend Jill's birthday.
get a haircut- I don't remember having one since I started my job (last September). I haven't got split ends, and it looks healthy enough, but it has grown very long!
go to the optometrist, for an eye test, and then shop for new glasses.
visit my Mum.
go to Ikea (if I can get away with it! Eorl hates Ikea). I would like to buy another bookshelf. Our book collection has grown such that it doesn't all fit on our existing shelves. Eorl is stacking rows of books in front of, and on top of eachother, but I don't like that solution. The point for me, of having a bookshelf, is being able to see and find the books. As well as another bookshelf, if I go, I will probably come home with some other nifty things...
have some friends from my Bible Study group over for dinner- they're coming on Tuesday, and we're going to the movies afterwards (because it's tight-arse Tuesday!).
catch up with my friend Rachael, who I haven't seen (outside of a work context) for a long time.
finish my scarf. Part of this goal involves visiting my Mum, because I don't know how to cast off!!! But, Mum will know how, and she will help me.
write letters to the girls who were in my cabin at camp last year.

Hmmm... 5 days off work, and 15 things to do! I'm a bit of a nutcase!
I get the feeling this "holiday" is going to be a bit less a rest, and a bit more a change of scenery!

I will update my blog at the end of my week off. Hopefully, I'll be able to update some of my goals on 43things too!

have you ever seen a zorse?

2007-06-29T18:19:00.000+10:00

If you haven't- here's one!

I had never seen one before, but Eorl showed me this:

Her name is Eclyse- her Mum is a Zebra, and her Dad is a Horse.

You can read more about her here, on the Daily Telegraph website.

another ticker...

2007-06-27T19:37:00.000+10:00

Mum said that I had to be able to think of something else to count down to... and I can- Christmas!

So- here we go- there are 5 months and 4 weeks until Christmas!

+++ excitement

2007-06-26T23:26:00.000+10:00

Tonight I got an email about something even more exciting to have a Ticker for...

What? You ask? Something even more exciting than my birthday?

Yep- Camp! I love camp. It's one of my favourite things in the world.
The particular camp that I'm going on is my absolute favourite of all camps I've ever been on (yep, it's even better than ski camp!)
I went as a kid, and then I grew up, and I now have the great honour of being a leader!

another birthday!

2007-06-24T17:39:00.000+10:00

My birthday is coming soon.
Birthdays do seem to come much closer together as you get older.

I haven't decided what I'm going to do for my birthday yet, other than have the day off work (I'm taking an ADO, and I have crossed it out in my diary already!).

But, I decided to install a ticker on my blog, to remind everyone that my birthday is coming.
The nice people at tickerfactory.com have got lots of new graphics now.
This is Howard the party frog, and he will help with the countdown.

I was impressed that he was available in half size too, so I've put him on the sidebar.

Now, I have some thinking to do, about how I will celebrate my birthday, and what presents I would like.

so much rain!

2007-06-21T22:07:00.000+10:00

We've had lots of rain lately.
There have been many times when it's been absolutely pouring!
Lots of people have wondered whether it has been falling over the catchment area...

Today, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the dam levels are at 50%!
That's fantastic news, and a big answer to prayer.

There have been some suggestions that the water restrictions should be lifted, but I think they're really premature. I think it's sensible to be careful with our water supply...

scarf revival...

2007-06-14T23:48:00.001+10:00

Over the past few weeks it’s been cold, and I’ve been wearing some scarves from my collection.

Yesterday I remembered the scarf that I started to knit last year… and went and found it in a drawer.
It got to about 40cm long before I got busy doing other things/the weather warmed up and I lost interest in making a scarf.

So, I’m knitting again- hopefully this time I’ll actually finish the scarf!!!

BTW: knitting is a bit like riding a bike- it comes back to you!

See more progress on: knit a scarf

gossip = bad

2007-06-14T23:10:00.000+10:00

Recently someone told me something.

The something they told me was about someone I know.

Someone they knew told them the something (and by the way, they shouldn't have).

I don't think the someone I know actually knows the something about them that I was told.

I think that person would benefit from knowing what I know. Initially, the information would upset them. But then they would have information to help them make better decisions in the future.

Was that cryptic enough? :p

So what do I do?

At Equip, I went to a talk by Ainsley Poulos about gossip. It was quite helpful.
Some of the material has been reproduced on the Sydney Anglicans website.

I get the part where gossiping is bad.
And I think that bringing this up with my friend would be gossiping.
And honestly the whole topic is a can of worms that I don't want to open!

So, at this stage I'm opting for say nothing.
But it's still bugging me!
So I'm whinging about it here, in a very cryptic way...

I wish I could go back through my memory, and erase the bit where someone opened their mouth and said to me "do you know x? someone told me that..."

an adventure...

2007-06-13T17:55:00.000+10:00

Today at lunch time, Abbey (who has recently started work on my team) and I went on an adventure.

We found ourselves eating at a Chilean Cafe/Cake Shop in Fairfield called "La Paula".

We had empanadas for lunch.
They were yummy, but not quite like I remember them.
I looked up empandas wikipedia, and found out that's because the one's Maggie's mother made were the Argentinian variety- and empanadas are made differently in different countries.

We had churros for dessert.
And Abbey bought some chilenitos to take home.
(I introduced my team to chilenitos by taking some to our team meeting last week).

So, as well as getting something to eat, today Abbey learnt 3 new words (empanadas, chilenitos, and churros), and saw some of the sights of Fairfield.

In a fortnight, we're going on another adventure... I wonder where we'll end up this time.

my inner child is happy

2007-06-12T01:25:00.000+10:00

Your Inner Child Is Happy

You see life as simple, and simple is a very good thing.
You're cheerful and upbeat, taking everything as it comes.
And you decide not to worry, even when things look bad.
You figure there's just so many great things to look forward to.

how is your inner child?

a lovely long weekend...

2007-06-11T21:21:00.000+10:00

After the crazy efforts I put in to tidy up around here, we had a great long weekend.

We had friends over most of the weekend.
The highlights included playing some new games- Carcassone, Bohnanza, and Acquire, and having lots of people over for coffee after church on Sunday night.

It feels like we've been on holidays... but tommorrow we're going back to work!

clean hair!

2007-06-09T13:50:00.000+10:00

I washed my hair today, after not washing it for 2 weeks.
"Yuck!" I hear you say!

I wish there was a good reason for not washing my hair.
But the only reason I have is half cold weather, half laziness.

When it's cold, I don't want to wash my hair. Because wet hair makes you cold (yes, I have a hairdryer, no, I couldn't be bothered using it). And because if I want to wash my hair in the morning, I have to get up a bit earlier, and it's much nicer to stay under the doona on cold mornings, than it is to get up.

Overall, it was okay for the first week. It felt dirty, but it didn't look much different from normal. During the second week, it looked a bit oily, and it wouldn't sit right. It kind of did it's own thing around my crown. So, I had to put a bit of effort into braiding or platting it, so it would look okay.

But now that it's clean, it's lovely and smooth.

I heard a while ago on the radio, about an experiment people were doing with not washing their hair for 6 weeks. You can read about it here.
After trying this for 2 weeks, I can't imagine going for 6 weeks!

I like my hair clean.
So, I'll have to put the effort in, and wash it (at least once per week!).

it's not fun, but it's necessary...

2007-06-03T23:42:00.001+10:00

I spent most of Saturday tidying up…
I cleaned out most of the bedroom.

I’m tidying up the house so that we can have people over next weekend…
So to all of my friends reading this… we’re going to have “Open House” at our place for the Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend. We’ll be playing games, and hanging out… let me know if you’d like to come…

See more progress on: spend at least 10 minutes every day cleaning, organizing or decluttering

where did the choir go?

2007-06-01T19:17:00.001+10:00

Tonight on the TV, Eorl and I saw the new Qantas ad.
They've replaced the "I still call Australia home" ad, with a boring ad.

The music is still "I still call Australia home", but the choir is gone. I'm not happy!
Eorl thinks the scenery for the new ad would have been much cheaper to film. And that's because it's nowhere near as interesting.

I still call Australia home!

So, here is my message to the Qantas advertising people- bring back the choir; it's part of our culture, and you can't just take it away, and replace it with an ad with the same song, but different scenery.

tommorrow...

2007-05-31T21:11:00.001+10:00

Tommorrow is the first day of June, the first day of winter, and the first day of my new Bible reading plan. I’m hoping to re-establish myself in the habit of reading the Bible daily.

Here’s the plan.
I will be reading through “The Daily Reading Bible, Volume 1”, which is published by Matthias Media. It has the Bible Passage, and some things to think about in one handy little book.

Volume 1 covers Matthew 5-6, Joshua, and 1 Corinthians 1-4. There are 60 readings all together.

I’m giving myself 10 weeks to finish it- by reading it 6 days per week. I’m giving myself Sundays off, because I already read the Bible on Sundays- at Sunday School, and Church.

See more progress on: read the Bible daily

reminiscing about lego

2007-05-18T21:34:00.000+10:00

I have a big shelf above my desk at work. There are a great many interesting things on the shelf, but my current favourite is this: The Lego Classic House Building Kit.

When I'm sitting at my desk, supposedly doing paperwork, I see this Lego kit and I want to build it! The problem with working surrounded with toys is that I want to shirk adult responsibility, and play instead!

I haven't seen it built yet. None of the kids ever want to play with it. I always find myself saying "do you want to do "x" or build Lego?", and often they choose the "x" (play dough, books, drawing etc.). It doesn't come with instructions... so I think it would take me a while to figure out- because I want to build it just like the picture.

I remember spending endless hours playing Lego with Mikey when we were little.

My memory is that Mike was better at it than me. For a long time I've thought he should be a Lego Designer when he "grows up".

Another thing I remember from being little is that the people weren't so hard to come by! Houses and cars and things were built to put people inside of. Mikey and I spend many hours looking at the "Lego books" (catalogue), and the Lego aisle at Big W. And I remember seeing little boxes of the people. I would like some people for my Lego collection at work, but they're hard to find!

I searched the website, and all I could find is these people. It's a set of 31 people- it comes with 235 pieces! It also costs $76.49! But there aren't any horses- I remember there being horses when I was little! I also remember pirates, and spacemen, and lots of the people in the picture above. I was hoping to be able to spend $15 or so, and get maybe 5 or 10 people...

I suppose there would be an advantage in buying this many- I remember how easily some of these bits got lost! I also remember Mum or Dad super-gluing some of our people together, so we couldn't lose their bits. Those people could never turn their hands to hold stuff (like brooms, or swords, or the bicycle handles), or change their clothes. So after that we didn't let them super-glue our Lego any more.

Anyway, I have enjoyed reminiscing about Lego...

if anyone has some people they'd like to donate to the cause, please let me know!
OR else I might just buy the whole town worth!

Lego would have to be included on my list of the top ten toys of all time!

PS: Mikey, wanna play lego?

but i don't want any money!

2007-05-18T20:52:00.000+10:00

Today I spoke to a friend who has a little girl, who is having some mild speech problems.

She and her husband have decided they would like her to have some speech therapy.

I said I'd love to do it!

And she said "what are we going to do about money, Lauren?"

And I said- "don't worry about it, I don't want any money"

But she said that they want to give me money, they don't want to "use" me.

I understand the reasoning, but I don't want any money!

So, I have to figure out how much to charge for my services. This is the reason why I could never work in private practice- I would actually need to take money from people!

board games are back...

2007-05-17T20:44:00.000+10:00

Today is Eorl's Birthday...
he isn't here though, he's at year 7 camp... so we'll celebrate on Saturday.

For his birthday, Eorl has requested some new board games, so we're going to shop for them together.

Today there was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald, which said board games are growing in popularity... but it was about games like monopoly. The games Eorl is thinking about are more like Carcassone, and Settlers of Catan, and other "strategy" type games.

We're going to have to get some friends together soon, to play our new games.

100 things you should do in your life (part 4)

2007-05-10T20:56:00.000+10:00

The final instalment- let's find out how many of NAB's 100 things to do in your life I've actually done!

76. work in a soup kitchen on Christmas Day
This would be a worthwhile thing to do with your time! But in Australia, would you really serve soup on Christmas Day when it's hot?

77. have a star named after you
Here is a star. * It's name is Lauren.
I haven't had a real star named after me- has anyone?

78. drive along Route 66
A driving holiday- sounds like fun... but there are plenty of driving holidays to be had without leaving Australia. I would like to do the Great Ocean Road in Victoria.

79. experience weightlessness
I think you can do this at Questacon, or the Powerhouse Museum or somewhere. I haven't.

80. live overseas
I haven't even BEEN overseas, let alone lived there.

81. run up the rocky steps at the Philidelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia is a long way to go to run up stairs... we have stair climbing machines at my gym... (and no Sarah, I haven't been for a while!)

82. watch Boca Juniors play river Plate at La Bonbonera
Sounds like more sport...

83. drink tequila in Mexico
I've never been to Mexico, and I don't drink.

84. create a world record
I'll have to think about what kind of world record I'd like to set!

85. invent the next must-have Christmas Toy
I'd love to do this! It would be some kind of Mr Potato Head...

86. be a contestant on a game show
I'd LOVE to go on something like Temptation.
OR perhaps the rich list, but I don't know if my general knowledge is good enough!

87. learn the piano accordian but vow to never play it
That's a bit pointless, why acquire I skill you have no intention to use!

88. go on safari
Do they have safaris in Australia?

89. become your team's mascot
The only team I'm on right now is a Speech Pathology Team. And I don't think they need a mascot!

90. enter the Archibald Prize
That could be fun, if I had the time!

91. pay it forward.
Pay it forward is a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) kind of thing, isn't it? I did something today that would qualify... but I can't say what it was, because it's an anonyomous surpise for someone!

<<92. milk a cow
Pretty sure I would have done this as a preschooler...

93. become carbon neutral
Hmmmm... this one is difficult!

94. get your dream job
The job I have now is the job I thought I'd like to have, while I was at uni. With the exception of the fact that I'm a locum- I'm not permanent. Now that I'm here though... I'm not sure whether it's my "dream" job...

95. fly in a hot air balloon across the desert
I think I would just like to fly in a hot air balloon, not in the desert!

96. own an original work of art
I bought a piece of canvas, for my brother to paint me a picture on. Mikey, how's my picture coming alone?

97. shout the bar
Woah, an expensive act of heroism!

98. dive with sharks
I would like to dive somewhere pretty, like the great barrier reef. But NOWHERE near sharks- I value my limbs!

99. grow your own vegetables
When I was little, we grew some strawberries in our backyard. I remember that. But I don't think I've every grown vegies... boring!

100. design your own cocktail
I went through a stage where I thought "mocktails" were pretty cool. I've made a couple... my favourite was introduced to me by my Dad- Orange Juice, Ginger Beer and Lemonade mixed together.

Okay- so I've done 10/100. 10% isn't much, but I really don't think this is my kind of list! I think I should write my own!

100 things you should do in your life (part 3)

2007-05-08T21:19:00.000+10:00

51. Learn to fly a helicopter
Oh, a helicopter would be fun... imagine flying OVER the traffic...
But I can't imagine having the money to learn to fly, and buy a helicopter.

52. yodel on a Swiss mountain
Have I mentioned that I've never left the country...?

53. drive the Monaco GP curcuit on a Vespa
See #52 above.

54. see all of Billy Wilder's films
I'm with James- who?

55. create a cult website and sell it for millions
My web design skills aren't so great... my imagination is good though. Perhaps I could team up with someone who has the appropriate skills, and make enough money to "retire"...

56. join a dig for dinosaur bones
Archeology could be fun. If I applied, I could tell them I have experience... being a messy person means your home can become just like an archeological dig, and have to carefully dislodge the layers to find the things you need.

57. see the Wallabies play England at Twickenham
I'm not really into football, Union is probably the least of my preferences.

58. ride the biggest roller-coaser in the world
Could be scary... but I might consider it, if I found myself in the place where it is, I might consider doing it, just to say I did!

59. see a killer whale in the wild
This could be pretty cool, so long as I wasn't in danger of being killed by it.

60. coach a kid's sports team
The only sport I could coach would be avoiding PE/exercise in general!

61. memorise a poem
I'm working on this one...

62. become someone's nemesis
I've bothered a few people over time, but I don't know if I would qualify as someone's nemesis...

63. shoot a short film
Oh, this would be fun too! And I could enter an ameteur film makers competition. Only I don't have a video camera...

64. start your own business
Perhaps one day, I might have my own private practice as a Speech Pathologist.

65. visit Stonehenge and recreate the scene from Spinal Tap.
Firstly, I haven't left Australia!
Secondly, I haven't seen spinal tap.
So this one is a bit hard!

66. buy a share in a racehorse
Gambling isn't my thing...

67. walk the Kakoda Track.
I haven't done this either, but it sounds like quite an experience.

68. get a tattoo
Yuck! I can't imagine getting a tattoo! I'd be stuck with it for a long time!

<69. learn CPR
I've done this! I've kept my first aid skills current since I was in high school. I like to hope it means I'll be prepared if anyone ever gets hurt when I'm around...

70. sit courtside at a Lakers game
I don't think I've ever watched any professional basketball game...

71. play lead guitar in a band
I tried to learn to play guitar, but failed. So, unless playing air guitar counts, this one is out for me!

72. meet someone with your own nameI've had my medical records mixed up with someone with my maiden name... (there's a reason why hospital staff are trained to ask for your name AND date of birth!), but never met anyone with the same name as me.

73. shape your own surfboard
I can't see myself doing a good job at this, and I've never surfed...

74. gallow a horse along a deserted beach
who comes up with these things?

75. play petanque in Marseille
Petanque is a form of boules, and you can play it right here in Sydney!

So, one more makes 8 out of 75... this makes it look like I haven't achieved much in my life... I wonder how I'll fare in the next 25...

100 things you should do in your life (part 2)

2007-05-07T19:24:00.000+10:00

26. walk the red carpet at an awards night
hmmm... you would have to be nominated for an award first...
(James, didn't we have an awards night and a red carpet at a camp years back?)

27. grow a moustache
I'm a GIRL- this would not be a good look!

28. be able to take compliments
I'm sometimes able to do this...

29. shower under a waterfall
Could be fun...

30. fall in love in Paris
I have never left Australia.

31. break up in Rome
See #30 above.
Anyway, I don't think Eorl would like to break up!

32. sit for a day in the gallery at Parliament House
We visited the gallery when I was on the Canberra excursion in Year 6, but didn't stay long (it was question time, and they were talking about Paul Keating having a heater for his dog... and his attitude to people living in poverty etc...)

33. go to the film festival at Cannes
I saw the movie "Mr Bean's Holiday" and he went to the Cannes film festival... that's as close as I've been.

34. spend the night in a haunted house
nope, never...

<35. write a song
I wrote a few in high school, and recently my Sunday School class and I made one up...

<36. read a book in one sitting
I've done this more than once!

37. go to the World Cup final
I've never done this.

38. visit Gallipoli
See #30 above.

39. have a white Christmas in Lappland
See # above.

<40. grow your hair long
done!

41. hug a stranger every day for a week
Can't say I've made a habit of this!

42. go white water rafting
A friend of mine used to work at the Penrith Regatta Centre, and we always talked about going rafting... but I never did!

43. dance in Grand Central Station
I don't typically dance in public!

44. score a hole in one
I've done this at Putt Putt! But never on a real golf course!

<45. talk to a stranger on the bus
I have done this throughout my life, and you can end up having some interesting conversations... one guy tried to pick me up...

46. ride a motorbike on the open road
I've never riden a motorbike.

47. learn to juggle
I've tried this, but I'm waaaaayy too un-co.

<48. collect something pointless
I think I have done this! I'm a bit of a hoarder...

49. own a convertable
Hmmm... does a matchbox car count?

50. play air guitar on the steps of Madison Square Garden.
See #30 above... I don't think I can get too far with this list without leaving the country.

7/50 so far...
I think I should start my own list of 100 things you should do in your life!
Any suggestions?

chocolate crackles...

2007-05-06T17:19:00.000+10:00

Today, I was a nice Sunday School teacher, and I cooked with my kids. Cooking with a group which averages 15 kids each week is a bit of an adventure, and we don't do it much because it can be a bit of an ordeal.

But today, we made chocolate crackles.
I thought the kids would like them coz I remember seeing them a lot as a kid (but not eating them, because I'm allergic to chocolate- honey joys were more my breakfast cereal in a patty case kind of thing).

You can find the recipe here at the Kellong's Website.
But I didn't use Kellong's rice bubbles- because I have 3 little girls in my class who can't eat wheat/gluten or lactose. They don't usually mind that they can't eat what we cook, but I wanted to be nice to them. So, I bought Freedom Foods Rice Puffs, and pure icing sugar (not "icing mixture" because that has wheat in it!).

The result was lots of mess (stirring somehow involves flicking out of the bowl when you're little), and some very happy kids.
(Hopefully they also 'got' the bit about King David sinning, and God forgiving him!)

eat cake!

2007-05-06T08:42:00.000+10:00

Today is International No Diet Day!
So eat cake!

See: http://www.ywca.net/default.asp?id=80

100 things you should do in your life (part 1)

2007-05-04T18:51:00.000+10:00

My Friend James is posting a list of "100 things you should do in your life" on his blog. It came from a NAB ad.
I thought I'd join in...

1. kiss a movie star
no.

2. swim with a dolphin
I haven't done this.

3. take the next taxi to the airport an catch the next plane to anywhere
This could be fun. Apparently once you could buy "mystery tour" tickets, and you just rocked up to the airport, and were told where you'd be going for the day- within Australia. I really wanted to do it, but at the time I was a broke student...
this sounds like fun!

4. run a marathon
I've never done this...
but City to Surf is coming up soon...

5. love your body
can't say I'm a fan of my body at the moment.. we aren't getting along!

6. travel from coast to coast across Australia
I haven't done this, but it sounds fun!

7. own a tailor made suit
I don't think this qualifies, but my Mum sewed clothes for me when I was little, and they were tailor-made for me...

8. plant a tree
I don't remember ever planting a tree, but I have planted flowers...

9. do somehing you fear
I'm not a big fan of heights, and I've done things like abseiling, and the high ropes course at The Tops... it's good to push yourself!
I also joined the gym, when I was a bit scared of that, but then I found out I kinda liked it...

10. do a stand up routine at a comedy club
I don't know if I could ever do this...

11. bungee jump
change this to "zorb" and I'm in...
but I don't want to jump off a bridge with a great big piece of elastic strapped to my feet!

12. eat something you've caught
I'm guessing that when you "catch" something at the supermarket, that's just creative use of verbs?
I've never done this.

13. skydive
no way!

14. run with the bulls in Pamplona
I love wearing red... but not near bulls! I remember reading about this in Spanish "culture" lessons in High School. No way!

15. learn to tango
Could be fun...

16. make a fire without matches
this looks tricky when they do it on Survivor...

17. teach someone to read
I volunteered for a little while to be a reading helper in a Kindy Class... it was fun! And lovely to see them succeed.

18. watch a lunarr eclipse
I don't remember ever doing this...

19. have your portrait painted
I need to find a small child to paint a picture of me!

20. win a premiership
I haven't done this..

21. brew your own beer
I don't drink beer, so I don't need to brew any for myself!

22. go to the opening night of the ballet
I've never been to the ballet.

23. buy cowboy boots in Nashville
I don't need any cowboy boots... but Nashville could be an interesting experience.

24. be an extra in a film
I haven't done this...

25. become the next internet phenomenon
A blog is the best effort I've ever made towards this...

So far, 2/25.. it will be interesting to see how I go on the rest of the 100.

another public holiday...

2007-05-03T21:56:00.000+10:00

It's official- those of us in Metropolitan Sydney get to have a Public Holiday on September 7th, 2007 for the APEC Summit.

You can check to see if it applies to you here.

When this was first mentioned in the media, I thought they were just going to give the people in the CBD a day off, but they have been generous and extended it to include outer Sydney as well.
Yay! The government is going to pay me NOT to go to work!
Thankyou NSW Government.

Perhaps that would be a good day to celebrate my birthday... it's a week after my birthday, but no-one has to go to work that day...

the mensa test...

2007-04-30T22:18:00.000+10:00

I took a test on the mensa international website.
It's called the "mensa workout".
I did it because I enjoy thinking puzzles.

But then I got a pretty high score... and that has me thinking it could be cool to attempt the real mensa test...

But I don't know whether or not I'd like to join mensa, which is the point of the test.
What advantage could there be in joining a society for people with an IQ in the top 2% of the population?

superbaby!

2007-04-30T21:32:00.000+10:00

Last night I had a strange dream.

In my dream, gave birth to a baby boy.

(photo from flickr- http://www.flickr.com/photos/schizoo23/84057816/ )

I was happy to have a healthy baby, but sad because I didn't know what to call him.

(I wonder what I was doing for 9 months while I was pregnant, if I didn't get around to picking a name for him?).

The baby was fair (strange, given that Eorl and I both have dark hair, and my parents and his all have dark hair... but feasable, given that my Mum and brothers were blonde when they were little.) In fact he looked a lot like my brother Mikey!

Anyway, so in the dream I went through all the boys names I could think of... Christopher, Thomas, Timothy... for each of the ones I liked, there was already an Osborne boy named that.

So, I kept going, and all the ones not taken by members of our family, got ruled out by memories of children who had terrorised Eorl or I at work (when you work with kids, it's hard to name a baby!).

So, in the end, the baby's name was Benjamin.

Our friend Benjamin came to visit me in the hospital, and bought baby Benjamin a superman bonds suit as a present, which was cool. But it was a size 1- Benjamin didn't know how little newborn babies really are! But, we put little Benjamin in it anyway, and took photos.

Since waking up this morning, I have been spending my spare moments trying to figure out what I would pick for a boys name, if I was pregnant (I'm not!).

how fast can you type?

2007-04-28T22:48:00.000+10:00

When I updated my resume, and filled out all those job applications, I estimated that I could type at 60 WPM.

Then, yesterday, I found a website where you can do a typing test.
It's at www.typingtest.com

I did the test, and after a few dry runs to figure out how it worked, I did it properly (the 3 minute one, with the "Tigers of the Wild" passage). And, I typed at 61 WPM, with 95% accuracy.

I think I typed faster when I did temp work as a secretary, but I think 61 WPM is an okay speed for a Speech Pathologist! And it's pretty close to my estimate.

STOP the countdown...

2007-04-27T18:01:00.000+10:00

Today I found out that I'm the "preferred applicant" for one of the positions I applied for at work. What this means is that after my criminal record check goes through (and I haven't committed any crimes, so that's not a big issue), they can officially offer me the job, and I can accept it.

So, I rang up and withdrew my applications for the other positions I've applied for (I like my job, I didn't want to leave. And anyway, none of the other jobs I'd applied for were permanent- so if I'm going to be a locum, I might as well stay where I am!)

And now, no more yucky applications or interviews, until this locum ends. (October 31st, this year)

our trip to dubbo

2007-04-16T11:05:00.000+10:00

We went to Dubbo this Easter.

The Zoo was fantastic- there aren’t as many animals as at Taronga Zoo (in Sydney), but they’re more spread out, and easier to see. The zoo has been designed really nicely! I highly recommend hiring a bike and riding around- it adds to the experience.

While we were in Dubbo, we also:

Went to Old Dubbo Gaol- which was a cool way to spend the morning.
Visited their Japanese Friendship Garden, which was very cool
Went to a wood-fired pizza place called “Sticks and Stones”- very yummy! I had chicken aioli pizza, and would go back if it wasn’t 5 hours drive away
bought Eorl a didgeridoo (he’s wanted one for a long time)
went to the movies and saw Mr Beans Holiday- it felt like a wierd cross between Mr Bean and Amelie, but I enjoyed it
relaxed!

I also left my pillow behind at the motel. I rang them, and they’re going to send the pillow case (which matches our doona!) back to me.

See more progress on: go to Dubbo Zoo

mission accomplished!

2007-04-01T23:02:00.000+10:00

Today (and I mean, it has taken almost all day!) I wrote job applications.
What an achievement!

I have now written applications for four jobs:

the permanent version of the job I'm presently in
the permanent part-time version of the job I'm presently in
two other temporary jobs, very similar to the one I'm presently in.

I have also updated my resume to show the skills and knowledge and experience I have developed over the last six months of working.

I hope, that out of all this job application writing (there's still more to go, but they're for jobs that don't close for a few weeks), that I can get a permanent position.
If I get a permanent position, I can work in one place for the rest of my life, and never write another job application again, unless I want to. Writing job applications is terrible.

What a yucky weekend I've had!
(Well, except for Friday night- I looked after Olivia, Annalise and Isabella)

a lonely little petunia in an onion patch

2007-03-31T20:40:00.000+10:00

I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch
an onion patch
an onion patch
I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch
And all I do is cry all day.

(I think I remember that song from preschool.
Any idea what it's about?
Are there any more words?)

Not only am I surrounded by paper,
my entire house is messy
and I lack the motivation to get up and do anything about it.

I have to write job applications,
but I lack the words.
How do you sell yourself?
How do you sell yourself to your current manager, who knows you, so you can't embelish the truth on paper?

AND I went to visit some relatives of mine in hospital- two separate relatives, in two separate hospitals. And they both told me that I'm fat. Not that I didn't know that already, but it isn't nice to be confronted by it.
So I'm not very happy.

Note for future reference: if you're ever in hospital, and you want me to visit you, then you should refrain from telling me I'm fat. It doesn't make me feel very good about myself. And it doesn't make me want to go back and visit you again.

another thing...

2007-03-29T22:03:00.001+10:00

I got around to another thing!

I looked up whether 43things supports the new blogger… and it does! Then, I set up my account so I can post to my blog from 43things, so everyone can see my progress without me cutting and pasting my entries!

See more progress on: get around to it

failing dismally

2007-03-29T21:56:00.001+10:00

I am failing dismally at this goal.
Did I spell dismally right? It doesn’t look right. But I sounded it out… and it’s the logical way to spell the adverbial form of dismal…

Anyway, the reason I’m using the word dismal is that during March, when I was supposed to have given up shopping, I bought…

a first aid kit for my car
some stuff from Office Works (ring binders and stuff for organising my “Speech Pathology Related Paper”- should have bought a hole punch at the same time!)
two t-shirts
some new underwear
some stuff at Ikea (a tree ornament thingy, finger puppets, magazine file thingies)
the new Jodi Piccoult book
birthday presents for two beautiful little girls (Molly and Olivia)

Does that sound like giving up shopping to you?
I think I need to change goals… or try harder…

See more progress on: stop shopping

in which Lauren is entirely surrounded by paper...

2007-03-28T19:53:00.000+10:00

Well, my goal of cleaning out every Speech Pathology-related piece of paper I own in one weekend was a little bit abitious. I got through lots of it the weekend before last, but I lost my steam on Sunday afternoon.

I felt ill last Sunday, so I didn't do much. I didn't go to Sunday School either!
Besides which point, I realised last Sunday that Eorl and I don't actually own a hole punch!
So, I couldn't have put it away if I tried.

So, I'm still surrounded by paper.
I've managed to get rid of a lot of it...
And on Monday I took a massive pile (okay, so maybe two reams worth?) of paper to work to shredd it... I took great pleasure in the destructiveness of the shredder at work!

I'm "getting there"...
but James is being discouraging!
He's posted on his blog a link to an article called "Clutter and Mess Trump Tidy and Neat".

But I WILL finish cleaning up my mess... one day...

a new entertainment book...

2007-03-26T18:06:00.000+10:00

It's time to buy a new entertainment book!

I have enjoyed using the coupons over the last little while, and I think it's good value.
It's also a nice way to support a good cause.
This year I'll be buying mine from Crusaders, an organisation which Eorl and I have led on ski camps with. Let me know if you'd like me to get you one.

a special search engine...

2007-03-25T17:03:00.000+10:00

LOOKLE.COM is an Australian search engine.
It's special because... it donates 1 cent from each search that you do to a charity of your choice.
You can read about it here. It isn't like those dodgy emails where a certain amount of money is going to be donated each time you forward it, because they can't measure that!

I'm currently supporting Learning Links with my searches.
1 cent doesn't seem like much, but it's better than nothing, and if lots of people do it, all of those searches will add up to lots of cents!

a new girl!

2007-03-16T19:24:00.000+11:00

When I saw this postcard on PostSecret, it made me giggle. I wondered what the girl who made it had changed in her life, that she now considered herself a "new girl".

Today, I felt like a new girl, because when I left my office it was TIDY! It was an amazing feeling. I'm going to try not to be so messy at work.

You can see more progress on clean up my desk here, on 43things.

It's important to note that the reason I cleaned up my desk is that the area computer network went down, so I couldn't find any other "work" to do...

phil the mystery man

2007-03-15T18:57:00.000+11:00

Someone named Phil commented on my last post...
I clicked on his profile to find out about him, but his profile wasn't available!

So, now I've decided to call him "Phil the Mystery Man"... Phil, do you care to reveal your identity?

spending my flybuys points!

2007-03-14T22:01:00.000+11:00

Today was a momentus occasion.

I redeemed my flybuys points for a reward for the very first time.

I redeemed 12,500 points for a $100 flybuys voucher (it can be used at Coles, K-Mart, Target and some other places).

I joined flybuys before Eorl and I got married, in 2004. I got cards for myself, Eorl, my Mum, and my Dad. It's taken us 3 years to get 12,500 points!

The reason for that is simple- they normally give you 2 points for every $5 you spend (unless you buy something that's got special points attached). So we must have spent about $30,000 to get those points (on groceries at Coles, petrol at Coles Express/Shell, and stuff at Target and Myer). So flybuys really isn't worth it, because you only get back about $1 for every $300 you spend! That's a return of 0.33%, for the effort of getting out a card everytime you shop in a participating store.

But they're sending me a $100 gift card, so that's something!

time is ticking along...

2007-03-13T21:28:00.000+11:00

With this week, came the horrible realisation that my locum contract at work ends in May- and it's March already!

So, that means it's time to start wrapping things up now!
I need to finish up with clients, and make sure everything is ready to hand over to the next person, and get all the things on my to do list done (or cross them off as "unrealistic" and not going to happen).

It all seemed pretty crazy when I had that realisation on Monday morning, but I think it's fairly under control now. It's going to be pretty busy though! I just hope I can be proud of the outcome.

The other issue that this raises is what I'm going to be doing for a job.
There are vacant positions on my current team which will be advertised soon (I hope), and I will apply for those. If I'm successful, I'll stay. If I'm not successful, I guess I'll just end up looking for a Paediatric Speech Pathology job elsewhere.

I have made a little ticker to show how long until my contract ends (my last day is 25/05/07). If the graphics were available, this would have been a fuse which has been lit, and the spark would move closer and closer to the explosives. But instead, we have a rather benign fishy.

a party bike- that could be the solution!

2007-03-10T18:23:00.000+11:00

James commented on my post about the campaign for prams to be made so kids can face the person pushing them, and he suggested:

Have the child facing the pushee and the pushee to talk backwards (and now be known as a pullee). So the child faces the parent as well as the direction they're travelling.

And I thought- it wouldn't be very nice to be pulling your child along, walking backwards. And then I remembered a cool think I saw on the Amazing Race- a Party Bike!

So I propose that the Mums and Dads of the world could get bikes like these, and then everyone could have eye contact with eachother when they wanted to (If only the footpaths were wide enough).

talk to your baby...

2007-03-07T17:49:00.000+11:00

The things people think of!

At the Talk To Your Baby website, there is lots of useful information about encourgaing communication in the 0-3 age group.

They are running a campaign to have more buggies/pushers (what we in Australia would call prams/strollers) made so the child is facing the pusher, to encourage more communication. I don't know if I would ever have thought of that! And I'm not so sure it's a great idea either- I wonder if little kids would be happier looking where they're going, or looking at their Mum or Dad.

king lear

2007-03-05T21:10:00.000+11:00

When I was in high school, struggling with Shakespeare for the HSC, our English teacher (affectionately known as “Mr Hen”), made us promise that we would one day go and see Shakespeare performed live, before writing it off and deciding we hated it.

I’ve often thought about it, but never done anything about it.

I just discovered though that King Lear (which was by far my favourite), is playing at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatres in July this year.
I have decided that I would like to go.
Would anyone like to join me?

You can see my progress on this 43things goal: see a Shakespeare play.

music and lyrics

2007-03-04T14:37:00.000+11:00

After our long day at the First Aid Course yesterday, Jill and I went to the movies.
We saw Music and Lyrics.

I really enjoyed it, and I recommend it! It was a funny, musical movie.
I'm a fan of Drew Barrymore movies- she's a very funny actor- I love 50 first dates!
And Hugh Grant isn't so bad either- I love About A Boy (and the soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy is just beautiful).

be prepared!

2007-03-04T14:34:00.000+11:00

I spent Saturday doing a first aid course.I did the flexible learning option through St John Ambulance , which means that you spend some time doing a CD ROM or workbook, then you only have to go for one day.

I think it was my 3rd or 4th first aid course, I can’t remember. I did my first one in year 9 or 10 at school (10 years ago), as part of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (which I unfortunately never completed). They expire 3 years after you do them, so I’ve done a few.

I think it’s a valuable skill to have, especially given that I work with kids, and teach Sunday School, and lead on camps and stuff… it means I’m prepared, and I know what to do when they hurt themselves.

My Certificate should arrive in the next week or so- I’m pretty sure I passed, but if not they give you a second chance at the assessment.

what not to do after you give up shopping...

2007-03-01T21:12:00.000+11:00

walk through the shops (like, duh!)
(sorry, I broke into Friends talk again, and that's so late 1990's)

So, I gave up shopping.
And then, I went down to the shops, to check our PO Box, get some coffee at Starbucks, and read the paper (coffee and the SMH are both considered "consumables" and therefore are not included in the ban). On the way back to the car, I walked past some shops, and had a little look in the windows.

There's some really nice stuff, at the shops. I found a pretty necklace I liked (red and black beads, with gold chain links), and beautiful red ballet like flats (matte, not shiny), and a nice top, and... anyway, the point of the story is that I didn't bring any of it home with me.

It was tricky to leave all that cool stuff at the shops, but I didn't *need* it.

But, I've decided that I should write myself a list of things to buy in April, and when April comes, if they're still there/I still want them, I'll consider it.
You can see my list below Angus.

The first item on the list is the red shoes.
The second item is the new Brooke Fraser Album, which doesn't come out until the 31st of March anyway, but it's available on iTunes too (but i Tunes is still "shopping" unfortunately).

I heard the first single on the radio today, it's beautiful.
It's called Deciphering Me, and the chorus goes like this:

Oh, can you feel the gravity falling
Calling us home
Oh, did you see the stars colliding
Shining just to show
We belong

giving up shopping...

2007-02-28T19:38:00.000+11:00

I have decided to give up shopping for the month of March.

It wasn't exactly an easy decision.
But I have FAR too much stuff.
And (true confessions time), I have on more than one occasion bought things I already owned, because I couldn't find the one I already had (for this reason I have more than one hairbrush, lots of pairs of socks, and at least three pairs of shorts to wear to the gym).

I have so much stuff I can't even keep track of it- I have piles of stuff everywhere.
I have presents in cupboards and various other hiding places in my house, that haven't been given to the people they were for.

So, this month- no "stuff" shopping.
I am allowed to shop for consumable items- such as food.
But no more clothes, shoes, books, CDs, or other "stuff".

In place of shopping, I'm planning to put my energy into going to the gym, cleaning up my house, completing the things on my goals list on 43things, and spending time with people.

If I don't keep this up for March, I will make myself do it in April too!
I might save some money too, but that isn't the point of the goal.

See more progress on 43things: stop shopping.

ah, endorphins!

2007-02-28T19:17:00.000+11:00

This morning I got out of bed early, and I was at the gym at 7am!!!!
What was I doing there?
For the first 15 minutes or so, my body was confused, and wanted to go back to bed. But after I’d done about 40 minutes of exercise, had a shower, and gone to work, I felt pretty good.
I believe the reason for this is a little thing called endorphins.

Today I felt very alert, but less stressed and I didn’t have a 2pm slump (I usually want to nap after lunch!). So, as much as the organisation of being awake and having my bag packed for the gym is a stretch, I think it might be worth it.

So, I shall try it again another day!
But not tommorrow…

see more progress on 43things: go to the gym 3 times a week.

my new gym

2007-02-26T19:04:00.000+11:00

I joined a new gym- M1 at Mounties.
It's better than my old one because:

it's cheaper
it has a lap pool
they write you a program, and update it whenever you like
they have computers on all the machines that record what you've done, so you can see your progress without having to write everything down
it's closer to where I work
there's lots of parking

So, hopefully I should have a better chance of succeeding this time around!
I went for the first time on Saturday.

See more progress on 43things: go to the gym 3 times per week.

from blushing bride...

2007-02-22T22:10:00.000+11:00

Nixter recommended From Blushing Bride to Wedded Wife on her blog... so, when I ordered Love Ella from Koorong, I ordered it as well.

I started it last night, and I'm enjoying it so far. It's a real book about marriage, not a fairy tale book. I really like how the author, Marla Taviano, talks about difficulties and differences between herself and her husband, but she doesn't end up "husband bashing".

I'll review it properly when I'm finished reading it.

have you tried sin?

2007-02-22T21:51:00.000+11:00

Walking through my local Westfield today, I went past a perfume shop.
The girl who was standing out the front of the shop with a black perfume bottle said what I now think was "have you tried sin?", and I shook my head "no", because I don't like perfume samples.

Then, after the encounter (I have a slow phonological loop) I realised what she must have said "have you tried sin?"- and I had said no.
That's not true- I have tried sin. We all have, and we stink because of it!

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

If my friend Thora was with me, she would have started a conversation about that, but I never think of what to say until after the situation! I miss Thora.

love ella

2007-02-21T22:40:00.000+11:00

Today I started to read a beautiful book, called "Love Ella", by Madeline Witman.
It's about a little girl named Ella, who is born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, and what the experience is like for her family.

I haven't finished it yet, but I'm really enjoying it so far.
It's an amazing story of how much a Mum can love a child, and fight for that child to be loved and accepted by others.

I'll post more about it when I'm finished...

30 reasons why I should have internet access at work

2007-02-19T20:16:00.000+11:00

I may or may not have complained bitterly about this on my blog before- but I don't have internet access at work, although my manager does. I have decided to ask if I can have internet access- based on the premise that it gives me access to resources that will help me to provide good service to my clients. Here are my top 30 (organised by type of site, not preference):

Speech Pathology Professional Associations
1. Speech Pathology Australia
http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

2. Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
http://www.rcslt.org/

3. Canadian Association of Speech Language Pathologists and Audiologists
http://www.caslpa.ca/english/index.asp

4. American Speech Language and Hearing Association
http://www.asha.org (And also the Multicultural Affairs and Resources- includes phonemic inventories for different languages, and lots of fact sheets- http://www.asha.org/about/leadership-projects/multicultural/ )

Local Organisations (with fact sheets/info for parents and professionals)
5. Learning Links
http://www.learninglinks.org.au/

6. The Spastic Centre
http://www.thespasticcentre.org.au/

7. NSW Dept of Education- translated parent information (School Readiness, helping with reading etc, special eduction etc)
https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/languagesupport/language/english.htm

8. Department of Aging, Disability and Home Care
http://www.dadhc.nsw.gov.au/DADHC.htm

9. Aspect (Autism Spectrum Australia)
http://www.autismnsw.com.au/publications/infosheets.asp

10. Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children
http://www.ridbc.org.au/publications/brochures.asp

11. Children’s Hospital Westmead Fact Sheets
http://www.chw.edu.au/parents/factsheets/

12. NSW Playgroups Association
http://www.playgroupnsw.com.au/

Research/Information
13. The Bamford-Lahey Children’s Foundation (information about Language Disorders and Evidence Based Practice)
http://www.bamford-lahey.org/index.html

14. Speech and Language Therapy in Practice Journal
www.speechmag.com

Therapy Resources
15. Microsoft Office Clipart- free if you have the microsoft office software, fantastic for making your own resources
http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/clipart/default.aspx

16. Caroline Bowen- lots of info about child speech, and free therapy materials
http://speech-language-therapy.com/

17. Speech Teach
http://www.speechteach.co.uk/

18. Speaking of Speech
http://www.speakingofspeech.com/generic.html?pid=8

19. Talking Point- information about communication development and disability.
http://www.ican.org.uk/TalkingPoint/Themes.aspx

20. Sign Swap- pictures of Auslan signs which can be used with clients.
www.signswap.com.au

Useful sites for supporting people who speak languages other than English
21. Multilingual Appointment Card (make an appointment card in English and another language)
http://www.communicate-health.org.uk/card/

22. Babelfish- translate text into other languages
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/

23. Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association- clearing house for translated information
http://www.mdaa.org.au/clearing/

24. Multicultural Mental Health Australia
http://www.mmha.org.au/

25. Clinical Decision Making with Linguistically Diverse Learners
http://www.clinicaldecision.umn.edu/

General Information
26. International Directory of Communication Disorders
http://www.comdisinternational.com/welcome.htm

27. Communication Disorders Dome- a search engine for Communication Disorders information and resources
http://www.comdisdome.com/index.jsp

28. Wikipedia- the free online encyclopedia- a great source of information about other languages and cultures.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

29. Google- to quote myself, "the internet is the source of all knowledge", and this is how I access it!
www.google.com.au

30. Google Scholar- Google for Journal Articles
www.scholar.google.com

to dubbo!

2007-02-18T21:24:00.000+11:00

I was in the stupidmarket (aka supermarket) today, and there is already a big display of Easter Eggs. Already! It's February, and Easter isn't until April.

I didn't mind being reminded that Easter is coming though, because I'm looking forward to it#, for a few reasons:

Easter is when we celebrate Jesus dying on the cross, so that we could be forgiven for our sins.
I'm going to have time off work at Easter.
We're planning to visit Dubbo

In the mail, I got the Dubbo City Guide (I requested it from the Dubbo Tourism website). This morning while I was having my Sunday Coffee at Starbucks, I had a look through it, and I have decided that while I am in Dubbo, I would like to visit:

Dubbo Zoo
Old Dubbo Gaol*
Dubbo Observatory

So, I was just wondering if anyone who has been to Dubbo would like to make any suggestions about other places to go, or where might be a nice place to stay... please leave me some comments!

#there is one reason why I am not looking forward to Easter- I don't eat chocolate, and the chocolate saturation at Easter gets very annoying, and is a distraction from the real meaning of Easter.
*While I am a supporter of British Spelling, "Gaol" is such a strange way to spell "jail". I can't think of any other words in the English language which are spelt with an "oa" in the middle to make the dipthong that the IPA renders /eɪ/. Can you?

amy vee and the virtues

2007-02-17T18:14:00.000+11:00

Last night, I went to Bar Broadway with my friends Liz and Shaun, to see Amy Vee & the Virtues. We met up with my friend Katie, and some of her friends there.

I had a terrible day at work yesterday (don't ask!)
And I was worn out (and so was Liz) but we decided we could probably use a distraction- so after some yummy Vietnamese food (braised beef with satay sauce, yum!) we headed out.

They weren't on until late, so Shaun looked very sleepy throughout the whole thing.
But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I don't know how to describe her music, but it was the kind of music I liked- it was rock, and it was strong vocally, like George, and Beth Orton, and I don't know who else (I'm typing this from Mum's house, or else I'd go to my CD collection and look for the name I'm trying to conjure up here). Liz bought the CD, so I'll have to go to her house, so I can hear it again... or buy it myself!

Amy did a beautiful cover of "Stolen Car" by Beth Orton. It was lovely to hear it sung with an Australian accent. I love hearing different people's accents in their music... except American accents, they bug me a bit, hence I don't listen to a lot of American artists.

I should go out and hear live music more often, because I enjoy it.
And you should listen to some of Amy's music too, to see if you like it.
Try her website: www.amyvee.com if you click on "sounds" it will take you to some music you can listen to.

extreme makeovers

2007-02-17T18:06:00.000+11:00

This afternoon I attended a delightful garden tea, arranged by some lovely ladies from my Mum's Church.

I enjoyed some lovely food, and some nice talks about the "extreme makeovers" that God has done in people's lives. I particularly enjoyed the talk where one of the ladies talked about how she took on lots and lots of things, and had high expectations of herself, but the lesson God taught her was that they weren't His expectations, and that His love for her was not dependant on what she did, but what Jesus did.
It would have taken a lot of courage to get up and share like that, and I really appreciated it.
That's the kind of lesson that I constantly need to learn...

I also met my brother's very nice girlfriend Denise...
(hi Mikey! when will you update your blog? Hi Denise! Hope to see you again soon!)

may is the month for...

2007-02-14T23:41:00.000+11:00

conferences! obviously...

If you look at my 'coming events' on the sidebar, it looks as though I'll spend a lot of May at conferences... but that's okay, I like conferences. I love new ideas- they make me feel excited!

strangers...

2007-02-14T23:29:00.000+11:00

I am not a Valentine's Day kind of girl.

I wouldn't mind being sent/brought some flowers for our wedding anniversary, or my birthday, but a random hallmark holiday doesn't appeal to me.

I did however, enjoy celebrating Valentines Day with my colleagues at work- we had 50c cones from McDonalds.

I also really liked this postcard- if we all thought of strangers as potential friends, the world would be a nicer place to live. Postsecret is cool!

how to set up a photographic studio in your lounge room

2007-02-12T22:33:00.000+11:00

This evening, I set up a photographic studio in my own lounge room.

If you would like to have a go, you will need:

2 pieces of white paper (I used A3)
a table
some blu tak
a camera
things to take photos of

So, you place one piece of paper flat on a table, and blu tak the other one to the wall behind the table. Then, you have a nice white background for your photos. So you place the things on the table, and snap away.

I did this so that I could take some photos of Mr Potato Head, and his parts and pieces.

I'm planning to use the photos with the kids at work. Mr Potato Head is a very useful thing to have- I don't think any paediatric Speechie should be without one.

Here's one of the creatures I made and took a picture of:

broom broom!

2007-02-11T22:31:00.000+11:00

This is the reason why we need to budget now:

It's a 2000 Toyota Corolla. A picture really is worth 1000 words- but I should mention that this isn't a photo of ours, just a random one I found on the internet to demonstrate what it looks like. I would have tried not to have a shadow in the picture!

We have a new car! And a loan from the bank to go with it.

But it is lovely to drive, and I like it a lot.

olivia again!

2007-02-11T22:14:00.000+11:00

This afternoon, I went to visit my special friend Olivia.
I have missed my little friend Liv since she moved to her new house.

She was pleased to see me, and took me on a tour of the whole house, including where everyone kept their toothbrushes, and who used which toothbrush. The details that are important to kids aren't usually the same ones which are important to grown ups!
We also went to a pretend beach in the lounge room (the carpet was conveniently sand coloured, and the rug and lounges were conveniently blue like the ocean).
Olivia was as energetic and creative as ever.

It was nice to have an afternoon with my small friends, and their lovely Mum.
I wish I was a little kid, then I wouldn't need to go to work tommorrow.
Maybe as a consolation for having to go to work tommorrow, I might let myself play playdough.

a book-crossing find...

2007-02-09T19:00:00.000+11:00

Today, I found a book that was left behind on purpose- someone was bookcrossing...

If you look on the website, you will see that bookcrossing is a kind of cool thing to do. The idea seems to be that you can make the whole world a library, by "releasing" books into the wild, for other people to find.

Anyway, the book was at Starbucks, one of my favourite places to go in Liverpool.
They all know my name... only there is one person there who makes crap coffee(and also hasn't learnt my name), but I complained to the manager the next day (I had picked up the coffee on the way to teach Sunday School), and she gave me one for free... so it's still my favourite place to go.

I didn't pick up the book, because it wasn't my kind of book. But seeing it there prompted me to visit it on the website, and also add a goal to my 43things list: release a bookcrossing book.

a kindred spirit and new toys

2007-02-05T18:53:00.000+11:00

what a lovely day I had at work today!

I have really found a kindred spirit(this is a reference to Anne of Green Gables) in Liz, she was totally worth tidying up for! It's lovely to be working with another Speechie- one who has lots of great ideas, lots more experience than me, and loves to talk! I think we'll work well together- if we ever stop talking. We agree on lots of things- including some of the challenges of the caseload (I'm so excited- she's worked there before, and knows what I mean about how hard it is sometimes), and the need for chances around the place (especially internet access!)

Liz bought with her some new toys... well, they aren't new per se, but they are new to me.
And I love toys!

reading the Bible daily

2007-02-04T18:24:00.000+11:00

Reading the Bible daily is a good habit to get into, but unfortunately one I've gotten out of.
Matty B has inspired me to get back into it. Good on you Matty!
So, I've added it to my 43things list, and I'll let you all know how I go!

the goals I have neglected...

2007-02-04T17:29:00.000+11:00

The reason that get around to it is on my 43things list is that I am a bit of a procrastinator. Actually, I prefer procrastinatress (there is someone called procrastinatress on 43things).

There are a number of goals on my list that I have been neglecting…

going to the gym
I am considering joining a new gym- one that both men and women can go to, because then I could have the added motivation of going with my brother, or my husband, or anyone really!
how 'bout it Mikey? I plan to go and check it out sometime next week (this week is already looking too busy).

losing weight
(on the list as getting my BMI into the healthy range for my height- but alas, this is a matter of semantics)
This requires organisation. When I don't have healthy food organised, I eat crap.
When I let myself get too busy, I don't give myself time to exercise.
Must get organised...

painting on canvas
the walls around here are looking very blank,
the canvas at Mum's house is also looking pretty blank.
Perhaps around Easter, when I take some time off work, I will get around to applying the paint I bought, onto the canvas I bought.

my desk
I go into the study sometimes and add things to the mess...
while I'm getting organised, I should make some time to tidy my desk. Even half an hour is enough time to do a part of it.

my filing cabinet
yuck! I need to move the stuff from the desk, to the filing cabinet, in an orderly fashion.
I need to go through the boxes of uni notes in the garage and work out if they're destined for the filing cabinet, or the recycling bin, or work...

my wedding album
still haven't touched it.
perhaps, by the time I've been married 3 years (17th April this year), I will have made a start.
I'm thinking of asking Elinor to help me... I'm thinking I should have asked her to make it in the first place- she did take all the photos, afterall!

I really need to get around to it…

moving offices

2007-02-04T16:45:00.000+11:00

As of tommorrow, I will no longer be the only Speechie on my site! I’m very excited about working with another Speechie in the office next door.

What it did mean is that I had to move offices (I was using Liz's office while she was on maternity leave, and she asked for it back!)- and with that, I had to clean up my desk! The paper I accumulated! My goodness, I didn’t even recognise some of it!

So, my old desk is clear, ready for Liz. My new desk is clear-ish, and hopefully I’ll be able to keep it tidy. I’ll have to, as it’s half the size of my old one.

My desk at home is still a junk heap though…

i got a letter...

2007-02-04T16:39:00.000+11:00

One of the funds I have tried to consolidate into my chosen fund sent me a letter during the week. It’s a “we need proof that you’ve changed your name” letter.

So this week, I will get one of the people upstairs at work who is a JP to sign off yet another copy of my marriage certificate. While I’m there, perhaps I should get a copy of my uni transcript signed off, so I can join Speech Pathology Australia as a “practicing member”.
Then it will be one fund down, 2 to go.

See more progress on consolidate my super on 43 things.

we ought to budget...

2007-02-04T16:30:00.000+11:00

Budgeting (one t or two? Mum?) seems like such a yucky hard thing to do. But, I think it’s something Eorl and I should do… (the reason for this will be made known on my blog within the next week- stay tuned!)

So, now that I have sponsored a child, there is room on my 43things list for “budget”. So, when I go online, I’ll have to look at it! So maybe that means I’ll get around to it.

See more progress on budget on 43things.