jodi picoult

just wanted to let you all know that i have discovered a great new writer. well to tell the truth, i didn't discover her, either mum or kerryn did, and also she's probably not that new, she has written quite a few books. but anyway i think she's really good. her name is jodi picoult and this week i just finished reading 'Perfect Match'. it was great. i also read 'Plain Truth' when i was in the states. i highly recommend her - probably more so to the girls, because though she's not a flowery or girly writer, the main character in both the books i read were girls and that probably just appeals to girls more. maybe i'm wrong. but that's what i think. so, go and get her books if you like a great read.

anyway, just to let you know, i am off to the footy with mum tomorrow to see our beloved crows. hopefully they will win!!! then on monday i am up at 4am to go on our school ski trip to mt buller for the whole week. we leave school just after 5am on monday and get back on friday night around 8pm. it should be a lot of fun!!!

i really do have a great job

before coming home from the states, i was really was dreading going back to work. i really do love being on holidays!!! anyway, a week and a bit in and i am loving my job. the kids have been great - most of the time. and i do enjoy teaching them and just talking to them too. it can be fun.
i have always said that if i ever hate my job, or become a grumpy teacher, i will quit. but for the time being, i can't see that moment arriving anytime soon.
i feel priviledged that i am able to invest in kids lives everyday - hopefully. all i want to do as a teacher is enable kids to be the best they can be. who wouldn't love a job like that???

just as i am

i had my birthday yesterday. on friday night i had a great time out with the girls from school. (i love you girls). i love those girls. we always have great times. though we decided we all get too excited and know enough about each other that we never really finish a conversation. you know how it is.

then yesterday i had lots of great people pop in to visit me on my birthday. again, i am lucky to have great people in my life - all of them came round just for me.

a lot of these people know me quite well. they know my strengths and weaknesses, and probably could tell you a lot more about them than i could (i am not the world's best analyser or self promoter). i have been through lots of different things with them, but they are all still my friends. just as i am.

i am thankful that God loves me just as i am. of course He wants me to be become a better person and i want to become a better person because of Him and what Jesus did on the cross for me. i can try and try and try to become better, and sometimes i succeed and sometimes i fail miserably. but, He still loves me just as i am.

p.s. today's blog reminds me of bridget jones, you know when, doh, forgotten his name, darcy??? tells her he likes/loves? her just as she is. if you're a fan, you know the bit i mean anyway.

p.p.s. feel free to leave comments anytime, no one ever really leaves comments, except wendy, thanks wendy, but anyone can!!! i think i'd like it!

winding road

my revelation for today is that life can be like a winding road. maybe like the the great ocean road. you know, on one side, the ocean view. and it stays the same pretty much. and on the other side, things come and go. towns, trees, rocks. then there's the road itself.

well, sometimes you are running (i guess that's the part of me that wants to run a marathon coming out) down the road and you think you have got the scenery sorted. you kind of know what's going on. you can see a bend in the road ahead and you know things may be a little different, but then all of a sudden you get round the bend and there's a massive hurdle in the middle of the road that you didn't see coming. maybe a big masive tree has fallen and it's one of those huge trees. you know things are going to be different.

but, i guess that you keep going, you get over the hurdle and continue on. before you climb it, you don't know what it's going to look like on the other side. that's so scary. but you climb it regardless. you have to.

back to school

today was my first day of work (of the teaching variety) in four weeks. it was kind of weird, though very very familiar to be at school today. it was great to see all my friends and students again. though, tomorrow i am sure it will feel like we've hardly been gone.

after school i came home to aaron who suddenly got the urge to clean the kitchen, then the fridge, then the freezer. brad joined in too. how lovely, though i wonder if they were inspired because for the rest of the day all they did was play the playstation (and i do pretty much mean the rest of the day). anyway, whatever it was, it was great. i then went and had dinner with mum and anutie wendy. nice.

thought for the day...to have many great friends, one is a blessed person. i pray that i never take any of my friendships for granted and that i will always give my best in each relationship i have. h

HOME

i am home now! i arrived yesterday and annie and jayne came and picked me up from the airport. we went home and then went to the travel agent for annie (vietnam in sept) and then a few wedding things for jayne. nice. anyway i managed to stay up to 8.45pm which i thought was pretty good as i figured out of the previous 35?ish hours i hadn't really slept much at all. my flights were fine, just didn't sleep much.

this morning i woke up at about 5.30am. nice. i went and picked up mum at 10am. we had lunch at aunty wendy's then visited nana then we came home and hung out with aaron and louise and played mexican trains before going to church.

when i got home on saturday it was a bit weird. apart from the fact that the weather was miserable - cold and raining - i was really happy to hang out with some of my friends, but strange to come home when i felt like in one sense i had just left home. weird. today though things were much better. i really did feel at home tonight when i went to church. that's my other family. and i got see to a few more friends. still a few more to see, but i am getting there!

thought for the day...i could be a 'great' teacher and not make my kids do anything and probably be remembered for it OR i could be a great teacher and give kids life skills and may not be remembered, but have a long lasting effect

(p.s. please note that it may not be as black and white as that of course - great teachers are remembered by some - it's just a thought)

free for eternity

yesterday was independance day. we had a slow start (giving karin and henrik some extra time for jetlag - and dad who thinks he has caught it from them) and kez, hil and daniel came over. they left and we all headed downtown. pike place markets specifically, and a few other things too. we got home in time to make sure all the olds could have a afternoon nap. then we went out for a lovely barbeque. then headed downtown to watch the fireworks from the best spot ever (the roof of the building where mum and dad work).

anyway, while singing the national athem (ours and theirs) in the car on the way in, we decided we could celebrate our independance too (even if the queen apparently rules over us).

thought for the day...i am blessed to live in such a wonderful country. i am blessed to live in a free country. even more, i am blessed to be free for eternity.

mariners

i went to my first baseball game yesterday. seattle mariners (my team) played the texas rangers at safeco field. unfortunately we lost by one run, though it was exciting as it came right down to the last pitch! i also discoverd i knew more about baseball than i thought, as i had to explain a bit to mum, who, to give her some credit, did quite well, and paid more attention to the game than kez would have anyway. i decided i like baseball. though it could be improved if they just played 6 innings.

we came back to the lyons for tea. tacos were on the menu.

kez, hil and i then watched team america. i wouldn't really recommend it, though we did laugh a little bit.

thought for the day...we went to church this morning and captain rob preached a great sermon 'Lord, first let me...'. sometimes we try to make bargains with God about want we maybe want first and then we'll do what he wants. but really, if we are saying we are committed to following him, then that should not be the case.

soy sauce

on thursday i went down to camp arnold and stayed overnight. it was their first day of camp for the whole summer. it was nice to be down there, though it made me miss terribly all the great friends that i made while i was there and i wished they all could have been there. it's so pretty and peaceful (apart from the masses of kids running around, but you know what i mean).

after stopping at kez, hil and daniel's on the way home from camp, mum and i went to Costco (a place where you can buy everything in bulk fairly cheap). it confirmed to me once again that americans do not know the meaning of small. as we walked up and down the aisles i continued to be amazed at the size of the food for sale. this one wins though - i actually saw - and mum can confirm this - a 18.9 litre tub of soy sauce!!! can you believe that. i still can't and i saw it.

this afternoon me and my crew (which consists of mum and dad) are going to the baseball. unfortunately the mariners lost last night. i am hoping this will spur them onto a win today, though going on their recent history, i may be being a bit optimistc. oh well, go mariners!!!!