August 14

Today has been pretty much nothing but hard work and reading. I had more work than last week, yet I still had more time to read. Tomorrow will probably be more of the same.

Really, nothing blogworthy happened today. It was a pretty much average day, except that my mother is sick.

Yesterday something totally cool and weird happened to my computer. I somehow managed to turn the screen entirely upside down! It was totally weird, yet still had a level of awesome. It took me a while to turn it back around again, but it was still so neat!

June 19

Today was less about Maths and more about finally finishing that speech for English. Mine still needs to be copied to disc and posted, but is otherwise done. I don't understand why it needs to be posted when I could email it, but I'm assuming that that there is some government reasoning behind it.

I was experimenting with the camera on my computer today, and it is so cool! I can do all sorts of stuff, even make everyone wear scuba masks, or Santa hats. Really cool!

May 27

Next post will be Post 200!

I never knew how much hassle was involved in getting a new computer up and running. It seems like there are so many thing to do, and not enough time to do them in. I want to have some time to just play around on my computer, but it seems that I have too much to do for that.

Today was pretty cool. We went shopping for my birthday. I know that my little brother will get me an umbrella, because we made a deal. He gets me an umbrella for my birthday, and I get him one for him. I don't know what my sister and older brother will get me, but I'm pretty sure it will be good.

At our youth bible study this morning, we got a brand new hangout. Sometime soon, we'll have a working bee and paint it and all that sort of stuff. That should be fun, and I can hardly wait!

May 26

I have a new computer! I'm typing on it right now. It's a laptop, and it is so cool!

YAY!

I'm too excited to think about anything else right now.

May 23

My 195th post. WOW!

My sister is sitting on the trampoline, singing Edelweiss (the song from Sound of Music). I don't know why she is, and there appears to be no reason, but she's doing it anyway. Sje just loves to sing.

Last night I discovered that the e-book The Complete Arthur Conan Doyle Collection is actually missing several Sherlock Holmes stories. That does not seem right!

My laptop is still not in commission, so once again I am on the family computer. I have to hurry up.

May 22

My laptop's death warrant is practically signed. As soon as possible, I will be getting a new computer. I'm looking forward to it. I have never had a new computer. For a while I shared a computer with my sister, then my dad gave me his old laptop, but now I should be getting a new computer all my own! I really am blessed.

My sister has taken up knitting. It is so funny to see her sitting there with this gigantic ball of wool, knitting away. It is the biggest ball of wool I have ever seen, probably the length of a ruler, and bright purple. She hasn't told anyone what she is making, except possibly our mother.

My birthday is exactly two weeks away! I'm really excited, but I'm worried that most of my presents will be IOUs. No one seems to have bought me a present yet!

We have all been really busy with schoolwork. Today my older brother and I found out that an assignment that we didn't even know about is due on Friday! My little brother and sister have their teacher coming around in two weeks, and the teacher for me and my brother is coming around next week.

Does anyone agree with me that it seems so weird to say or write 'my brother and me'? For example, which makes more sense, 'the teacher has come for my brother and I', or 'the teacher has come for my brother and I'? 'My brother and me' is grammatically correct, but doesn't sound write. My sister summed it up nicely. "The one that doesn't make sense is correct"!

May 21

My laptop is having serious technical difficulties. It is in a catatonic state, neither off, nor on, and I can't get it to be either. As a result, I am on the family computer today. I really don't like this keyboard, so today's post will not be long.

As part of my schoolwork I was studying Ivanhoe today, and it looks like a fantastic book! We actually have a copy sitting on our classics shelf, so I am hoping to read it.

I tidied my desk today. This is a rare occasion. I'm trying to sort out what books go back to which libraries, as I have borrowed books from about 4 different libraries, and 2 different people. That makes it awkward when I want to return books, but I'm not sure who I got them from.

May 20

I just finished reading The Boy In Striped Pajamas, and it wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. The movie was awful, and was so utterly despairing, but the book made it seem so matter of fact. There wasn't much emotion to it. For once, I liked the movie better than the book.

I'm writing on the family computer, because I see no point in waking up my notoriously tempermental laptop for only an hour or so. Normally I would spend hours reading on the internet at the weekend, but today I decided to decrease my pile of unread library books instead.

May 15

I'm on the family computer today, because my older brother is hard at work and I don't want to disturb him. However, this computer is really awkward for me to type on. Having an enter key helps though.

Today, for me, has been a day of finishing things. Two of my subjects had Unit Reviews, and I spent most of the morning working on them. Tomorrow I start a whole new unit in those subjects.

I used Skype for the first ime this morning! My brother and I had a Skype call from our English teacher. It was so cool, and I'd never done it before. What a world of possibilities there are out there!

I saw a fantastic picture of chocolate on this blog. The blog is called Animate and Create, Mate, and the chocolate photos posted recently are really amazing. How does anyone make a keyboard of chocolate, and for that matter, why would they want to?

May 14

My computer is being super slow.

Mother's Day dinner last night was fantastic. My siblings prepared it while I was distracting our mother. They plated everything up nicely. It was a full three course meal with drinks. Before that was flowers, and afterwards were chocolates and her favorite drink. It was amazing, and we could tell that she loved it.

Today we went to the Abbey Museum. The lights weren't good, so my photos may be blurry, but I took heaps anyway. As a picture is a thousand words, I can't show them all, because that would be the equivalent of an essay (!), so I'll just show one or two.

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.

April 27

We have to leave the house in an hour if we are going to make the bus to the city. That doesn't give me nearly enough time to do everything I wanted to. I wanted to be able to write up a new stoy on Charlie, but now I might have to do that on the train.

In fact, there is so little time that I haven't even turned on my notoriously tempermental laptop. I'm blogging from the main computer instead.

My little brother got a whiteboard today. Itt should be easier for him to do Maths now, because he can work it all out on a white board instead of on paper. Sometimes paper just isn't big enough. It's so much more fun to scribble wildly, as big as you need, without having to continue equations over the page. Sometimes I have to take up three pages of my maths book with one equation! My writings are pretty well spaced.

My sister is playing the keyboard. Fortunately, she's stopped with the Christmas Carols. I am so glad of that. She hasn't done any for a while. However, she does play 'Can you feel the love tonight', which always sounds so sad. She doesn't agree with me and my older brother. She tells us that it is a happy song, all about true love. I don't care if it has true love in it, that doesn't change that it is a sad song. The music is sad, and some of the lyris are sad too.

It is really cold today. It's really starting to feel like winter. That's not really a bad thing, because my birthday is in winter. Somehow, my birthday feels like it is just around the corner, even though it is over a month away. I couldn't possibly start counting down until May.

April 19

All day long I have been doing activities with time limits, so now I feel like I should be typing as quickly as possible. I had a typing test this morning. Now, I should be finished with typing test for a while. Yay!

My little brother is playing Wii Tennis, with some awful singing to go with it. He can sing really well when he wants to, but when he doesn't, he sings really loudly and out of tune.

I had a very productive day today. I got a lot of work done in a pretty short time, and then did some more work in a slightly longer time.

My sister, Queen of the multi-taskers. She's brushing her teeth while playing Mahjong. It looks kind of funny, but she's managing.

No youth group tomorrow night. They are having a meeting. My sister will be going to a meeting of the Kid's Club staff, so I'll be stuck there, all alone, with nothing but my books, my iPad, and maybe my computer. Sounds like fun! I'd still prefer youth group though.

April 2

Officially, I am on holidays. Unofficially, I have schoolwork to do. My brother and I were issued our school assignments a bit late this year, so we have to catch up. The result is that we are having more of a half holiday than a full holiday. It's not too bad. I have to get off really soon for two reasons. Firstly, I have been on the computer all day. Secondly, Dinner will be served soon.

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".

March 27

In the last 24 hours I have somehow acquired 2 new followers. Thanks so much!

I love it when my computer is slow, and I type something on the screen but it takes a little while for it all to come up. It is so much fun to watch what I type come up on the keyboard as though I was typing, when I've taken my hands off the keyboard!

I'm a bit mad at the moment because I got a C on an assignment I thought I should get a B for. For me, a C is an entirely unacceptable mark. I expect better of myself than that.

I totally forgot to mention this, but 2 baby guinea pigs were born on Saturday, to the guinea pigs I look after. They are really cute, but we haven't come up with names for them yet. If I post some pictures, will you come up with ideas? We're kind of stuck.

My little brother is playing with a blow up football. He's throwing it all over the place, even trying to step on it. He's acting like it's some kind of alien life form that he's trying to catch.

I'm so looking forward to the holidays. I'd love to be able to stay in bed for hours, playing on my iPad. I probably can't though, for two reasons. Firstly, there's breakfast. I'd be too hungry to stay in bed for hours. Secondly, guinea pigs. Guinea pigs don't take holidays. They need to be fed every day of the year.

Maybe I can bribe my older brother into feeding my piggies one morning. There's no point bribing my sister, she sleeps for too long, and my little brother doesn't like going in the side yard, where my piggies are. The grass is too long there for his liking.

Today's miracle is incredibly cool. I would be absolutely terrified in her situation. Probably a good thing it wasn't me then!

The Shoes I'm Glad I Forgot
by Elizabeth Sherrill

Of all the times to have the airline lose my luggage! It was only my toiletries case with my one pair of good shoes, but of all places to wind up without them!
I'd flown out to New Mexico for a one day seminar sponsored by the Southwest Christian Writers' Association. "No one will care about your shoes," Margaret Cheasebro, the group's president assured me. 
Undoubtedly, Margaret was right, but of all times... Even as I thought it, a phrase from our church's communion service came to mind: "we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee."At all times? I wondered. 
At the seminar's close, several writers came up to the stand. Suddenly there was an ear-splitting crack and the sound of exploding glass. A woman shouted "Lie down! Everyone!"
Through the window she had seen a man brandishing a gun. Later we learned that he had been drinking and shooting at telephone poles. From the wall behind the speaker's stand, the police recovered the tip of an electric screwdiver fired from a muzzle loading pistol. 
While Margaret filled out a police report, the rest of us relived our escape, each recalling a step forward or a second's delay that had kept her out of the line of fire. 
For my part, I traced a trajectory from the window to the wall, an inch over the spot where I had been standing. I was thinking of a pair of two-and-a-half-inch heels in a missing bag. I echoed an ancient prayer: "we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee."

Definitely something to be thankful for! God is so totally amazing. He controls all circumstances, and though we may not see why at the time, He has a reason. Even if you never know the reason, it's still there. 

As my older brother just (un)enthusiastically reminded me, we get to go square dancing tonight! I like square dancing. It's awesome fun. 


My little brother just claimed he doesn't have faults. SO not true. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23 NIV) My little brother is no exception, whether or not he thinks he is.

March 18

I'm still having fun playing with Charlie. We are back at home, and I didn't want to go to the bother of turning my laptop on just for blogging, as it takes so long to turn on and I would prefer to use the time playing with Charlie. So I'm on the family computer.

We went to Bellingham maze today. While we were heading there, it was drizzling. When we got there, it was raining. When we went around the maze, it was pouring, until we had to find my older brother, and then it was a total downpour! When we left, it was back to raining, and by the time we stopped for lunch, it was only drizzling. That does NOT seem fair.

Lemonade and Cupcakes. What a great afternoon tea!

March 13

I am once again writing on the family computer, but this time it's for a different reason. My laptop is working perfectly fine. It's just that my older brother is using the internet connection we share. I have to say, I'm enjoying how fast this computer is, and I'm enjoying the use of an ENTER button. My computer is unfortunately missing one.

I have a new miracle. This one is personal.It may not seem such a big deal as yesterday's, but it's special to me.  I like to read stories on the internet. Normally, these stories can only be read on the internet.Sometimes, like today, my brother uses our internet connection. Somehow, Someway, I can still read these stories, even when I'm offline! Better still, my computer can actually procees them faster than when I'm online! That, for me, is miraculous and majorly cool.

My little brother has had a sick day today, and from what he said, you'd think it was the worst punishment in the world! All he had to do was lie on the lounge all day watching movies, and rest in his bed for 45 minutes in the afternoon. He complained the whole time! Now he reckons he'll never take a sick day again. That's hard to believe.

We go square dancing tonight!

March 8

It's totally quiet here. My brother has to have total silence for the assignment he's working on. I finished mine already, so I'm on my laptop now. I can hear the click of my  computer keys, and they sound so loud in this atmosphere. My little brother and sister are down in the boys room, my sister helping our brother. She's better with computers than he is, so can give him help when he needs it.

I can't believe that there is less than a month left in term. It seems that I have way too much to do for it to come that soon, as well as the fact that it seems like the last holidays ended not long ago!

When the holidays come, my sister's birthday comes soon after. Her birthday is in the middle of April, and she's got party plans settled (mostly). I think she's planning a bit late. She only came up with the plans last weekend. I started planning my (early June) birthday party in January! But that's definitely too early. I just love the feeling of excitement that comes with planning a party, so I just couldn't wait any longer!

When you read something, do you prefer proper grammar, or the kind of grammatical errors most people make? I've read stories that make my spellchecker gasp in horror, but I like it because it sounds real. What story about little kids with perfect grammar sounds at all realistic? I don't care if  'shouldn't've' sounds wrong,  because that's how little kids say it. That's much more important than accuracy. It's really just a different kind of accuracy, actually.

March 6

Peanut butter on toast tastes so good! My little brother was having some, so I decided I'd like some too. Now my mother and sister are having some as well! That was a totally unnecessary amount of exclamation marks, so I might as well add some more!!!

My older brother and I have to write an assignment for our English class. That's not too bad. A bit annoying, but alright. The annoying bit is that we have to keep totally quiet about it! We aren't allowed to talk about it at all, especially not to each other. That's really hard. I like to talk to my brother, and having something I have to keep quiet about isn't easy. I'll be glad when the week is over, and we can talk about it.

I'm writing on my laptop! I don't have to write on the family computer! My laptop is feeling a bit better today, maybe because I woke it up so late this morning. I slept in, so it did too. That seems fair.

We should be going square dancing tonight, though my little brother is coming up with every excuse in or out of the book to get out of it. He likes square dancing, so I reckon he comes up with excuses just for the fun of coming up with excuses!