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.

June 5

Today is my birthday! It was fantastic. We went to Caboolture library at the Hub, and I could not believe how big it was. The Hub was huge! For some reason I was thinking it would be a small, round building, similar to a beehive. Instead it was a huge building, with three levels, heaps of rooms, and very angled, not at all round.

I borrowed 20 books at the library. For me, that is a good birthday. We also went to the op shops in the area, and my sister practically got a new wardrobe, so she's happy too. I found a Nancy Drew book and bought that. That's the first Nancy Drew book I have ever owned, and I'm pretty excited. I'm going to read it soon.

June 4

My birthday is tomorrow! I'm really excited.

As a something special for tomorrow, we are all going to go to Caboolture Library. We haven't been since it moved a few months ago, so I'm really looking forward to seeing the new place.

On the weekend is my party. So far I have three definites, though one of the guests will have to leave early. I guess that's okay. At least I'll have a few of my friends who can stay the night through.

Now, the biggest problem is the cake. My mother likes to bake us all birthday cakes, but I don't really like cake. I'd prefer something else, but she isn't sure if she can make something else, especially because she doesn't have a lot of time to buy ingredients. So I'll probably have cake again this year too. I suppose that then I can see what cake my mother will do this year. One cake that she suggested that I would like to have is chocolate cake. But not just any chocolate cake. This chocolate cake has chocolate just oozing out of it. If you don't think that sounds delicious, you are not a true chocaholic.

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 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".

May 8

I found a really great book at the library today. It's called the Ultimate Book Guide, and it has all sorts of books, and suggestions of what you could read if you liked those books. I'll probably spend this afternoon reading this book of books!

May 4

Sometimes my little brother does really funny and silly stuff. Today, while we were shopping, he scanned his library book at the check out machine. It said that it couldn't identify the item. No surprise there, though it would have been cool it it had!

We leave in less than an hour for the bonfire. My mother and little brother aren't coming, as it is exclusively a youth group event. My little brother goes to Kid's Club instead. I'm really looking forward to it.

April 11

Today, my older brother and I had to watch the movie Australia, for English. That sounds kind of weird, that we watched Australia, for English, but we did. It's a really interesting movie, but some bits are tragic.

My brothers are playing games, and my sister is working on her newsletter. I'm not sure why she likes producing it, but it makes her happy, and it's kind of fun to write in with stories and reviews.

Today appears to have passed unusually quickly. That could have something to do with the fact that I spent until 10:45 reading in bed. Hey, it's holidays! My sister was asleep that whole time.

Tomorrow we have to go into the City. That includes going to the library, so I can't be too disappointed, but it's still annoying.

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 15

I have decided that my habit of talking to myself while working out maths problems is a really bad one. I've been working on my maths for the past hour, and now my throat is sore from talking too much! Thankfully, I can still blog, and that doesn't hurt my throat.

Did you know I dream a lot about libraries? I'm serious, I really do. About half my dreams involve libraries, where I invariably find the coolest books, that I have never seen before. I never visit the same dream library twice though, and I haven't visited any of them in real life.

We went shopping today, and my mother bought heaps of flour. She'll be baking this afternoon, but until then we have a wall of flour in our cupboard. It's kind of cool.

Now to today's miracle. I found this on a website, and it sounded so cool! This will be today's miracle. God is amazing in what he can do.

March 12

I found a really good book at our church library today. It's called Miracles of Answered Prayer. Some of the stories were so amazing I wanted to put them on my blog. So I have decided that March will be my Month of Miracles. Each day I'll put a miracle from this book on my blog. I hope that as you read these miracles, you will think of the amazing power of the God who can do these things. I f nothing else, at least it will give me something to write about! Hopefully, I'm not breaking any copyright laws by doing this.

Footprints to Follow

by Sandy Seltzer

Dustin, my California-bred guide dog, was having trouble outside our Long Island apartment. This was his first snowstorm and he was confused. I'm blind, and I wasn't doing so well either. No one was out, so there were no sounds to steer me. And contrary to what many people think, guide dogs do not find the way for a blind person. The blind person directs the dog.
After a harrowing forty-five minutes, Dustin and I finally made it back. But guide dogs must be walked regularly. "Next time why don't you ask God to go with you?" a friend suggested. And so I did. "Lord, go with Dustin with me. The wind is so fierce, it's hard to concentrate on our direction. Lead us." 
 Snow stung our faces and it was difficult to make a path. Dustin whined a little. "Okay, boy," I said to him, "the Lord is with us." And then I gave him a command that a blind person gives only when another person is leading the way: "Dustin, follow!"
Dustin perked up and to my astonishment took off as though he knew exactly where to go. We made it to the street and then headed back to our building with no problem.
A young woman trudged up and offered to walk us to our door. "We'll just follow your footprints," she said, "Yours and the dog's, and that other person's."
"What other person?" I asked. 
"There are a dog's prints. And your prints. And a larger person's prints. Wasn't someone with you?"
I paused for a moment and then I answered, "Oh yes, there was Someone with us." There always is. 

That is such a cool story. 

My little brother is sick. He's sitting in the lounge room, watching The Bee Movie. He's been coughing all day. Hopefully he'll be feeling better by Wednesday, or he can't go swimming, and he loves that (not)!

March 7

Both my brothers are feeling sick. The rest of us are fine, however. My younger brother was still very eager to go to the library earlier today,  so he's obviously not too bad.

We did go to the library earlier today, and it was cool! I always love going to a different library. They have different books there. I found 12 books I wanted to borrow, not realising that I only had space for one book on my card! The way cards work at our library is that you are supposed to able to borrow 20 books. However, the machines will let you borrow 40 books, in case you have the strange habit of returning 20 books, then getting another 20 books before the system realises that you have returned some. So, back to today, and I had 39 books on my card, and tried to borrow another 12! Fortunately, my mother let me put some books on her card, otherwise I might have had To go home without any new books. Tragic, indeed!

My older brother and my sister are washing the guinea pigs. They are getting a bit dirty (the guinea pigs, though my brother and sister probably are too!), and need a wash. I'm (rather selfishly) hoping I won't have to help. I don't really like getting assorted yuckness off guinea pig hair. Who would?

Our English assignment should be done soon, and then this silent barrier may be lifted, and I can talk to my brother about it. I like talking to my brother about schoolwork. We are in the same grade this year, which has never happened before now, so I want to make the most of it.

One final thing: do you think the song Friends Forever is sad? I definitely do, but my mother doesn't, to such an extent that she can't see why I do!

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!

February 21

We may not be going square dancing tonight, as my brother is feeling sick, and my mother is tired. I'd like to, but I realise that a good night's sleep is important, and therefore staying out late dancing might not be the best idea.

Today wasn't been a very interesting day. I just worked all day, and we went to the library and went shopping this afternoon. I don't think that classifies as exciting. Square dancing would make today interesting, but as we may not be able to go tonight, that may not be able to count.

My mother may be making vegetable soup for tea! That would be delicious.

My brother has just come out with the strange idea that reading isn't fun. What else could reading possibly qualify as? Of course reading is fun! Reading is fun, educational, entertaining, interesting, and almost anything you can think of. It depends on what you read, how you read, when you read, and where you read. For example, reading by torchlight under the covers at night pretty much has to be fun. Why would you do it otherwise?

February 15

We went square dancing last night, and it was so much fun! I didn't think I would like it, but I really did. Everyone was nice and friendly, and I picked up the steps without much difficulty.

Today, we visited Strathpine library. None of us had been there before, and it had a good selection of books. My sister, who hardly ever borrows anything, looked like she was borrowing 6 books, and I borrowed 16. I actually had to borrow some books on my older brother's card, because mine was too full, and as you can put 40 books on a card, that's quite a feat! For most people that is. I have my card full a lot, too often I sometimes think, because if I have my card full when we visit new libraries, I can't borrow anything, and that's really awful.

My little brother looks like following my older brother's tradition of computer games. They both seem to like the same ones, and are both pretty good at it.

Sometimes I think I should only post when I actually have something to say, but then I don't think I'd ever actually post. Not much really big and exciting happens to me, like flying to the moon. That would be really neat! I don't think I'd like it though. Who would want to eat out of a tube, even if it does mean you get to go to outer space? It would still be awful!

My sister is playing the keyboard. She doesn't seem to have lyrics to any of her new songs. She doesn't sing along. Maybe she's just to busy concentrating to sing, as these are new songs.

I have to stop now, or I'll never be able to read all my new books this afternoon!

February 14 (Valentine's Day)

Firstly, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you all enjoy/ed it.

Wouldn't you love to be a tech whiz, and be able to hack computers and do all sorts of stuff like that? I don't think I ever will be, but I think it would be so cool. One day I want to be able to design websites, but that, though really cool, isn't quite tech whiz level.

My sister is on the keyboard. She is not playing carols, but actually seems to playing something really gloomy. I don't know it. It sounds really nice though.

My little brother is a maniac in training. He's on Mathletics, and talking about himself in the third person, narrating his competitions. It is so funny! He's got the whole crowd, aka himself with different voices, cheering him on. With support like that, how could he lose?

I didn't get any Valentines today, and I couldn't even wear red or pink, because it's my policy to always wear a blue polo shirt on Tuesdays. Tuesdays we volunteer at the library, so I like to wear polo shirts then, and blue is my favorite.

We'll have to sell some of our baby guinea pigs soon. Truth, Salvation and Gideon are almost old enough, and by Friday they will be. I'm pretty sure they will be sold next Monday. Even though they will soon be gone, at least we will have the rest of the babies, until they too have to be sold.

February 7

This is post 99, so tomorrow will be the big 100 post mark! I still don't know what to do about that. I really need a good idea, or even 4 ideas, or 8, or 11. I don't care how many, but anything from 1 up would be great!

This afternoon, my little brother got a copy of Persuasion, which we are currently reading as a group. This copy is all his, not borrowed from a library. He thinks it is fantastic! He's actually really funny about it, looking at it and talking about it all the way home. This, from the boy that has said that he hates reading! It's hilarious!

My sister is on the keyboard. I don't know what she is playing, but she seems to be doing well.

Last night, my sister and I were talking about Sense and Sensibility, specifically, what if Willoughby had never gotten involved with Eliza? Marianne would have married him, and thrown the entire story out of line. We decided that Edward would have married Lucy Steele, and either have stayed in town, or gone to live at the Norland Parsonage. Elinor would have married Colonel Brandon, and been reasonably happy. Robert would have married Miss Morton, with her thirty thousand pounds, and be even more doted on by his mother. It would still be a reasonably happy ending, but not nearly as tragic, or romantic.

This afternoon, we went to the library, and I got more books. My book stack has not reached the curtain rod, as it had for a while, but it is about halfway.

January 23

For our first day back at school, did it have to be so rainy?! It's been steadily raining since mid-morning, and I'm tired of it. One of our guinea pigs had babies today, and I haven't been able to take photos, or even see them again because of all this rain.

My little brother is practising his harmonica. He got a new one for Christmas, to replace his old broken one, and I think he's enjoying it. My sister is on the keyboard at the same time, and they don't harmonize at all. They don't clash too badly, but they certainly don't harmonize! Now he's right behind me, staring at the rain while playing his harmonica. Maybe it inspires him. He can't actually play a song on it, but he makes up interesting melodies, that I kind of like.

The summer holidays are over, and so is the Summer Reading Competition at our library. I can't wait for them to announce a winner, but so far they haven't. I'm probably too impatient, but there isn't a specified date I can wait for, so impatience is inevitable.

My older brother has disappeared again. I'd like to know what he actually does in his room for hours on end, but I know what he doesn't do. His computer is sitting here beside me, so he's not on that, though I suspect he might be before long. I think maybe he's tidying the room he shares with my little brother. My little brother is a very adept hoarder, and keeps things that you wouldn't believe.

I'll try to get some baby piggy photos on my blog soon, maybe even later today. The rain is starting to slow, so it might not be long.