July 13

So very very little happened today that it's barely worth posting.

My older brother has been gone all day. Most of this morning it seemed as though he was just in a different room, and if I called for him, he'd come out. It's a little hard to grasp that he actually isn't here. He was away on Fridays last term as well, but since the holidays I'm not used to it anymore.

No big plans for tomorrow. My sister has these big ideas about 'Weekend Workshops', but I'm hesitant. She'll probably get her way sooner or later, but who knows how long it will last.

May 16

It was so cold yesterday! At square dancing it was even colder. Some of the people who have been doing it for a while said that the hall where we dance can sometimes go down to two degrees Celsius. That is so cold, I don't even want to think about it!

This afternoon, I was reading a book called True Stories of the Strange and Unknown. There are some amazing stories there. This is one of them.

The Wonderful Watch
When Wal Williams of Charlotte, North Carolina, accidentally dropped his watch from a light plane at 600 metres, he though he'd never see it again. But next day, while gardening, he found the watch in his own backyard. It was still running-and keeping perfect time.

Isn't that so weird?

I'm currently reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Apart from the fact that we watched the movie not too long ago, I wanted to read it because it has some wonderful descriptions of winter, and chocolate. What better book is there to read on a cold winter's night, curled up under the blankets, than one that really makes you appreciate everything you have, and how blessed you are. Winter is a time when you want yummy hot meals, and there are people like Charlie who don't get them. I don't think that a visit to a chocolate factory would work for all of them though.

My birthday is coming up so quickly! It was three weeks away yesterday. None of my family have bought my presents yet, but at least they have plans to go shopping. I also still need to write invitations to my birthday party, and I want to have them written by Friday! I have to get on with that pretty soon.

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 3

As I write, I'm listening to Our Song. It's a song by Taylor Swift, my favorite of all of her songs. I love most, probably all (I haven't heard all of them) of her songs, but this is my favorite. Here are the lyrics:

"Our Song"

I was riding shotgun
With my hair undone
In the front seat of his car
He's got a one-hand feel
On the steering wheel
The other on my heart
I look around, turn the radio down
He says, "Baby is something wrong?"
I say, "Nothing,
I was just thinking
How we don't have a song"
And he says...

[Chorus:]
Our song is the slamming screen door,
Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow
'cause it's late and your mama don't know
Our song is the way you laugh
The first date "Man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have"
And when I got home ... 'fore I said amen
Asking God if he could play it again

I was walking up
The front porch steps
After everything that day
Had gone all wrong
And been trampled on
And lost and thrown away
Got to the hallway,
Well on my way
To my lovin' bed
I almost didn't notice
All the roses
And the note that said...

[Chorus:]
Our song is the slamming screen door,
Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window
When we're on the phone and you talk real slow
'cause it's late and your mama don't know
Our song is the way you laugh
The first date "Man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have"
And when I got home ... 'fore I said amen
Asking God if he could play it again

I've heard every album, listened to the radio
Waited for something to come along
That was as good as our song...

[Chorus:]
'Cause our song is the slamming screen door,
Sneakin' out late, tapping on his window
When we're on the phone and he talks real slow
'cause it's late and his mama don't know
Our song is the way he laughs
The first date "Man, I didn't kiss him, and I should have."
And when I got home ... 'fore I said amen
Asking God if he could play it again

I was riding shotgun
With my hair undone
In the front seat of his car
I grabbed a pen
And an old napkin
And I wrote down our song


It feels like Friday! I can't wait for tomorrow, because it feels like it should be Friday already, so I want Friday to come. Tomorrow is the bonfire, and hopefully I won't have a sore throat by then. My throat is better today than it was yesterday, so maybe by tomorrow I'll be fine, then I can roast my own marshmallows. My sister came up with a plan for cooking me marshmallows. I find a stick, she puts them on, my brother cooks them, she says when they're done, then (her favorite part) she EATS THEM! I'm not sure how this gets me marshmallows, but she says it will work. I have no doubts that it will work to HER satisfaction.

My little brother has been working on fractions on his whiteboard. He came over to me and asked me to help him, in such a cute voice that it was almost impossible to resist. Have you ever seen Larry the Cucumber from VeggieTales? My brother is so much like that, down to the silly songs. He even likes to hop or skip around when he's happy. 

May 2

My youth group is having a bonfire on Friday night. I think it will be really fun. My sister and older brother will be going as well. I want to be able to cook marshmallow around the campfire, but I might not be able to get that close if my throat doesn't get any better. My brother likes his marshmallows hot, as in on fire. I like mine hot, but not that hot. My sister can't cook them at all, because cooked marshmallow are bad for her braces.

This afternoon I read a really good book called Can I see your ID?. The whole book is written in 2nd person. If you don't know what that means, it means that instead of being about me (1st person) or he/she/them (3rd person), this book is about you. It's a really interesting style. The book itself is all about people who have pretended to be something else, like a teenager who pretended to be a 40-something train driver. It's a really good book, and it's really cool to read all about these people, who took on a whole other identity.

April 20

For some reason I have been reading about April Fool's Day hoaxes this afternoon, and some of them are fantastic! There's a whole list of them here. I've only read the first two pages so far, and I knew a lot of them beforehand, from previous research, but they are still really funny. One of my favorites is the spaghetti trees. I can't believe so many people actually fell for that!

My little brother, mother, and sister have been frantically preparing for my sister's birthday party tomorrow. There's heaps to get done, it seems. She hasn't even finalised her costume yet, and neither have I! It has a Z theme, so she wants me to come as Zelda. I don't know what I would wear to be Zelda. I don't wear long purple dresses, and I don't have a sword. Hopefully, my sister will help me find something. Either that, or the guests won't know what Zelda looks like, so it won't matter.

It's Friday! No more schoolwork until Monday. YES! My schoolwork isn't really hard, but it can definitely be boring. I'll enjoy having a break. Our teacher will probably be coming next week, and she'll want to know how we are doing with our schoolwork. I hope I have good news.

No youth group tonight, which is sad. I enjoy youth group. I get to be with my friends, and play games, and have fun. I don't see my friends that often, so I enjoy it when I can.

I should probably be helping with party preparations right now, so I have to go.

April 5

Tonight we are going out to a Passover dinner. I can't believe that tomorrow is Good Friday. The holidays are half over and my holidays haven't even begun yet! Why did I get so much schoolwork?! Sorry, I just needed to rant for a sec.

My cold is almost gone, so maybe I will actually be able to wake up for the 8AM service tomorrow. I am so glad my cold is almost gone. It is so awful to have a cold in hot weather!