June 8

We got back too late yesterday for me to blog. My sister now has "light green and lavender" braces. I think they look green and light purple, but that's probably just me. She likes to use the exact terms.

Maths is annoying. I'm not actually that bad at it, it just takes so long, and is mostly boring.

We have had three library visits this week. Fantastic! Yesterday we were at Brisbane library, Tuesday we visited the Caboolture library, and today our school library came around. That library is actually meant only for primary schoolers, because older kids aren't thought to have enough time to read, but I always have time to read. I borrowed books from that library anyway. Some of the books they have are classics, like Little Women, and The Secret Garden. Others are less well known and more modern, like AirQuest Adventures, which are fantastic regardless.

May 13

On Friday I borrowed a computer game from Brisbane library. It was a Nancy Drew mystery game. This afternoon I tried to install it on my computer and play it, but it didn't work. I tried my sister's computer, with her permission, and it wouldn't work then either! So now I can't play it. The other computers are either in constant use, or the disk drives don't work properly. It's really annoying.

We are planning a really nice dinner for my mother, for Mother's Day. My sister and older brother paid for most of it, with help from our dad. I can't tell you all about it now, in case she reads this before then, but I will tomorrow.

May 11

Yesterday I went to Brisbane library, and now my card has 21 books on it. Brisbane library cards are only supposed to have 20 books on them at once. Today, we are going back, and unless I return books, I can't borrow anything! So I have to return some of the books I only borrowed yesterday, so that I can borrow more books today. Fortunately, I'm a quick reader, so I already read the books I'm returning, regardless of the fact that I only borrowed them yesterday. A train ride can be great for reading.

My little brother and I share several traits, one of which is to write at a ludicrous slant, that, on occasion, makes writing illegible. That is only sometimes though. Most of the time, we have legible writing. At least, he does. Mine, not so much. It's a bit mixed up. I can read it, but other people sometimes have trouble reading what I wrote in a hurry. One advantage of that, it keeps my siblings from reading my diary!

My sister is practicing her singing exercises. She has to listen to one song over and over again, and hum/murmur/??? along with it. It sounds kind of weird. Some more news about my sister? She had her braces changed again yesterday. They are now "pink and lavender".

March 29

My laptop is being stubborn again, so I am once again writing on the family computer. I woke my computer up early this morning, so I could do maths before we went out, and it was wonderful. It woke up quickly, did what it was told, and stayed alert the whole time. Now, it's being incredibly stubborn.

My sister had the colours on her brace changed today. They are now pink and teal. I think they look nice.

My mother thinks I should use proper touch typing techniques while on the computer. The thing is, I can't! If I try to touch type on this computer, I end up with about five letters that I didn't mean to put in!

We went to the Brisbane Square Library today. I returned eight books, borrowed seven, and somehow my bag was heavier afterwards! I got a whole lot of heavy books. One of the books was so good, I read all 377 pages this afternoon, and then reviewed it for the newsletter my sister produces. I'll post the review here.

Adam Canfield: The Last Reporter
by Michael Winerip
The Slash, Harris Elementary/Middle School's newspaper, has been shut down for exposing the town's most powerful family's shady business dealings. But the co-editors, Adam and Jennifer, are determined to keep going. With the help of the Amache brothers, tow outrageous kid entrepeneurs, they attempt to collect the money to become an independent newspaper. A suspicious school election, and unusually high test scores, round out this funny and mysterious book.
I rate this book 5 stars.

The miracle for today is cool. Once again, these miracles are not mine. I just read about them, and are inspired by them, so I post them here.

Smiling Face
Author Unknown

One of my girlfriends had dropped off her 3 year old son at daycare.  The weather was very cold and there was predicted to be a snowstorm later that day. 

Mid-morning she received a call from the daycare to pick up her child.  The snowstorm was approching  much faster than previously anticipated.  She picked up her son, and as they were on the way home, the snow began falling heavily and the roads became icy. 

The car hit a patch of ice, and her car spun several times.  He son was safely strapped in the the safety seat in the back.  The car spun off the road, and somehow landed safely between a stand of several trees.  My girlfried, shaken, turned to check on her son in the back seat. 

Her son looked up at her and asked in his little 3 year old voice... "Mom... when we were going around and around and around... who was that man looking in the window?" 

Puzzled, my friend ask her son, "What did the man look like?". 

Her son replied, "He just smiled at me".

February 29

It's a nice day outside. Blue sky, not too hot, but not cold, a few clouds gently drifting along, yet for some reason I'm sitting here at my computer. All I can say is, I'm not an outdoors person.

Tomorrow, we head into the city so my sister can get the colours on her braces changed. She hasn't decided what colours yet. While we are in the city, we are also going to the Sciencentre to check out the new display, 'Whodunnit?'. We'll get to do all sorts of interesting things, like compare tire tracks, dust for fingerprints, and *GROSS ALERT* examining maggots on a security guard's corpse.

Tomorrow we will also get to go to the Brisbane library. That means more books, and probably a heavy backpack all the way home from all the books I pick up. I have real trouble not borrowing a book when I find it. Sometimes it's reasonably easy, sometimes I just have to put every cool book I find in my backpack. That always means a very heavy backpack.

Last night we went square dancing again, and it was still fun. I'm getting the hang of some of the moves now, so it gets easier. I can't say it gets more fun though, because it was already so fun to start with!

January 10

It is so hot!!! Some of you will probably be in the middle of Winter right now, but here in Australia it is really hot. Where I am, near Brisbane, it is 30 degrees Celsius. In Brisbane itself, there is a high of 32. We've got lots of fans on, cold water in the fridge, but it is still so hot!

Is your opinion of holidays that it is a good time to
A. Have fun?
B. Relax?
C. Get ready for the next school year?
D. Do housework for at least 2-3 hours a day?

I reckon, definitely B, though I know that some housework is necessary.

I got a collection of Peanuts comics from the library today, and it's kind of funny. Not a very modern comic, but still entertaining.

Could you comment on what the weather is like where you are? Obviously, it's hot here, but what's it like where you are from, and where is that? I hope that it's not as hot as here.

It's lunchtime here, so I gotta go. Sausages for lunch, cooked on the BBQ.