Reviving this old thing! Post number 100.

When I started this blog I was finishing my final years of school, and now I am finishing the final year of a University degree; something I was never certain that I would get to do. It's a surreal feeling.

Currently I am 20 years old and about as stressed as possible. I have a never-ending list of assignments and personal projects, and most of them are due within the week.

As part of my Nursing degree we've had to complete practical placements, where you work in a hospital or aged care facility for a certain number of weeks in a professional role, undertaking tasks and being assessed. I have my last one of these placements beginning on September 9th, and it's a rural hospital placement - I have to move 110km away from home for 8 weeks.
I am incredibly excited to get this opportunity, and to grow and learn in a community nursing environment which I have never before had the opportunity to do!

As far as my personal life goes; I have had a wonderful year with a lot of personal development. I undertook a placement in January in an operating theatre - I nearly failed this placement and learnt a lot about how to approach others in a work environment and also how to deal with harsh criticism. I grew from this as a person, though it wasn't an enjoyable experience. I then travelled to the south of England for a month (February/March) on my own, staying with various family members or friends I had met online. It was so refreshing and invigorating to travel alone, meet people I had never seen face to face, and to just do whatever I felt like doing. Letting the days flow in whichever way they wanted to was absolutely fantastic. I became far more independent and feel I learnt a lot about what I want from life.
I then returned to University for 8 weeks, bought myself a car, and undertook a further 8 week placement on which I was able to slip into a management position and gain much needed experience doing the work I will, hopefully soon, be being paid for. The nurses I worked with were so incredibly supportive and wise. After placement ended I had more time to spend with a boy I had inklings of feelings for; which blossomed nicely into a deep-seeded crush, which I for once acted on! We're now dating, and have been together for just under 3 months. I'm pretty happy with this.
My anxiety and depression was diagnosed earlier in the year and I have been seeing a psychologist for 4 months - at today's session he told me that I had made remarkable progress and our future appointments need only be on an as-needed basis. So that's something I have also made progress on!

This year has been so wonderful thus far - I have grown and developed as an individual in ways I never thought I could. It certainly shows what I can achieve if I set my mind to it!

It's a bit embarrassing to look at those first twenty or so posts - but it's a slice of my history, and shows how much I have progressed since!

I won't make any promises of future posts, because to be honest - I don't know when I will find the time.

Lavender's blue, dilly dilly

Today I finally got around to picking some Lavender, which I have been planning on doing for at least a month, because all of our Lavender bushes are in flower!

I separated them into four bunches and have hung them up on a coat-hanger in my room, so for the next week or so, everything will smell like Lavender and nothing will hurt!

I have been browsing a whole lot of dressmaking blogs lately, and I found what looks like a delicious recipe for 'Lemon Lavender Tea Cookies' over at The Cottage Home, and plan on making it with the Lavender I picked today!

 I have also been busy sewing a nightdress that I designed, though currently I have hit a wall with my motivation for basically everything, so haven't made much progress on it. I was sick with an URTI and bronchitis for about 3 weeks, and am only just getting over it, being on my fourth course of antibiotics, so we'll see how that goes! My University studies are going well, though as I said, my motivation has been lost and I am not sure when I shall find it again, though I really hope it will be soon.

I'll post again really soon, with some information on my nightdress project! I am so proud of it, it is the first time I have sewn something entirely myself, with only guidance and not help from my mother. So proud.

I hope you are all having a cozy winter, and that none of you lose your motivation to do things~

What happened over Summer

Hello!
I decided to let this blog go, to not update it ever again (albeit half-heartedly, obviously). So, clearly, I am back!
A lot happened over my Summer holidays.
Mainly, I went to Sydney and Melbourne and got to see the AMAZING Harry Potter Exhibition!
I decided to read 50 books this year, got a new computer, started driving again and became a trainee figure skating coach.
The plan was to eventually become a fully accredited coach, but I wont have time to do that AND pass my Nursing degree. So I chose Nursing!

The HP Exhibition was absolutely fab. It was a truly wonderful experience, being up close to the props and costumes from the films. My favourite parts were the Dementor, The Bloody Baron's costume and the Great Hall set up. Hagrid's hut and the interactive sections were really good too. None of it was bad. Even the one little broken mandrake with the sign that read "I'm taking a nap!" was brilliant.

The Ford Anglia! This was the only thing I could take a photo of, as it was in the Foyer and not the Exhibition, where photography was NOT ALLOWED else be ATTACKED BY NARGLES.

Apart from that, we did the usual tourist-y tours of Sydney and Melbourne, which was fun!

Here are some photos, and I will update again soon, I promise :)

Playing hide and seek with a Dinosaur!

Captain Cook's Cottage

Cathedral

Summer to do list and short update

Quite a few things have happened since i last updated!

I finished all my assignments for Uni and started studying for my exams.

Then on the 11th i had a pretty awesome birthday, with some really awesome people. Milly (pictured centre) and Alex got me Harry Potter lego, which is the first lego i've ever owned! 

Caitlin bought me a TARDIS mug, and i got a lot of tea from Lana.

With my birthday out of the way i studied for my exams and finished them mid this week. Then i got a job! Exciting, i know! Two and a half years of job hunting finally paid off. 

So now, over summer i'm relaxing and fulfilling a list of things to do!

As well as slowly decorating for christmas :)

This is the list as it currently stands;

1. Buy the Deathly Hallows part 2 DVD and have a Potter marathon. A proper one. Without stopping.
2. Take Alanah shopping for her Birthday present.
3. Buy a swimsuit. Preferably a pre-60s style one.
4. Actually wear it to the beach.
5. Sew a christmas dress
6. Sew a pinafore
7. Sew an early Victorian era maid’s apron
8. Read; Snuff - Terry Pratchett
9. Read; Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green & David Levithan
10. Write out christmas cards & decide on presents
11. Sort through the piles of old, year 11 and 12 artwork underneath the sofa. Bin most of it.
12. Paint at least one portrait. In oils.
13. Take a minimum of two bags of clothes to an op shop.
14. Obtain a tweed jacket for Female!Eleven costume.
15. Record another Amy Pond impressions vlog. Properly. Why is the last one on 300 views most of it is just me talking about mum being sick.
16. Finish reading; Reaper Man - Terry Pratchett, Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
17. Read; Anne’s House of Dreams - L.M.Montgomery
18. Learn how to light and maintain our paraffin lamps.
19. Visit the Harry Potter exhibition in Sydney and see the wonderful Alexandra and various other people who i haven’t organised what i am doing with yet.
20. Decorate the house for Christmas. Properly. I expect there to be lights and tinsel everywhere. E v e r y w h e r e.
21. Read The Hunger Games, else be murdered when you return to Uni and you-know-who finds you forgot to read them.
22. Read the Chronicles of Narnia in chronological order
23. Clean my room

I think i may have pulled a muscle in my back

That title may end up being completely unrelated, i have no idea, i haven't finished writing this post yet. In fact, believe it or not, i am actually only 30 words in. Crazy huh? Anyway, i just adjusted my sitting position on the couch ready to write this and a muscle in my back* just went "lol nope" and it really flipping hurts.

A quick explanation as to why i missed a few weeks of blogging; because i did. Sorry to myself for failing the blog at least once a week challenge. My bad.

~ONWARDS~

Guess what? Alright i'll just tell you; i have one assignment and two exams left before i'm finished for the year! 'Course, that one assignment is worth 50% of my overall grade for that subject, and is due in a week... Hey, i've started the outline, i'm not leaving it until 4 days before it's due for once, be proud of me or something!
Hey, it's two weeks today until my birthday! Not to mention, in 64 days i can eat chocolate again :)
If you have no idea what i mean, go here: 365 days without chocolate!


I should really start planning my blog posts.
Here is a picture of me that adequately demonstrates how i have been feeling for the past week or so

That was a really nice orange, actually, and if i wasn't about to eat a finger bun i'd go grab another.
OH what about combining oranges and finger buns?! .... On second thoughts, i think putting two good things together and hoping for the best really only works with fish fingers and custard. I'm not game enough to try orange and finger bun.
Alright, iCal is telling me i need to either revise for my Human Body test or get on with that report, so i must be off! Sorry this was so disjointed but SUCK IT UP.
Get it? Because of the orange.. and.. oh forget it.

________________________________________________________________

*It feels like it could be my Thoracolumba fascia, but it's more than likely just my Latissimus dorsi. 

Thoughts which occurred to me whilst writing this post;

• I wish i could Ctrl+Shift+C and motherlode my life.
• Do you think deaf people who are skilled at lip reading can understand cartoons? Maybe it's the mark of a good animator when a deaf person can lip read what the characters are saying...
• There is a hole in the lining of one of my bags, and this means i have a huge secret compartment that all of my pencils and pens like to disappear to. It was so secret even i didn't know about it for the first few days.

A picture, a link and not much else

Today i went mad. I was on hold for a total of about 2.7 hours today. Internet connection troubles. That is all i shall say on the subject.

dis was mi

In other news;
http://lrs.unisa.edu.au/ess/echo/presentation/5f304f6d-e54e-4e48-8660-11d476b541b5
if you skip through to 18:20 you can hear me breaking down into hysterics over Erectile Dysfunction, Ash's bit after my breakdown is quite hilarious also, and then i quickly gave my section before succumbing to the inevitable giggle fit. Ohhh boy.

n... new what? huh?

For an hour there i didn't think this new interface/editing/thing was going to load!
That probably doesn't make sense, but, basically i've apparently upgraded to the new Blogger and it looks very nice but it is confusing and takes a while to load.
Oh, i can add my location now? uhhhh.... no thanks!
Look here! I can allow or not allow comments! I get so many comments, that will be really useful for when i don't want to allow all of those thousands of comments that i get. Thanks, Blogger!

Another thing i seem to be able to do with this new interfaceywhateveritis is i can look at the statistics for who views my blog! I was not aware these stats existed, but apparently i had a few hundred views last month which is... which is news! I um... I was quite certain that only a handful of people read this. Maybe only a handful of people do, and they have really slow internet like me and need to refresh the page 20 times before it loads properly.

In other, and fortunately completely unrelated news (And now for something completely different), I started Pratchett's 'Witches Abroad' about 10 days ago, and without any intense reading sessions i finished it this afternoon! This is a bit of an accomplishment for me, considering i had an essay to write, the Royal Show to attend and several other time consuming things to do.

The Show was quite a bit of fun. I bought some rose water turkish delight and i've all but inhaled it. I do this every year. I'll be wandering through the wool shed thinking about re-learning how to spin wool as i have a spinning wheel now, i'll saunter up to the Melba's stand and grab a small tub of the glorious god-given treat and then i'll be wishing for months to come that i'd robbed nearby children of their spending pennies and bought the entire stock load.

Yet another off-the-top-of-my-head thought, my hair is getting quite long, i like this.

And... that's all for now!

Ugh.

Sorry for not blogging or whatever. Only two or three people read this so i don't know why i'm even bothering.

"Gilbert darling, don't lets ever be afraid of things. It's such dreadful slavery. Let's be daring and adventurous and expectant. Let's dance to meet life and all it can bring to us, even if it brings scads of trouble and typhoid and twins!" 

Do you know what i'm afraid of? Not the dark. Not being alone or lost or death or anything like that. I'm not afraid i'll never find someone to love me, i'm not afraid i'll get murdered and i'm not afraid of choking on small objects, which is apparently a very serious fear that some percentage of the population experience. They worry too much in my opinion.
Where was i? Oh, right, the thing i am afraid of... i appear to have forgotten what it was. Oh well.

You know what? I don't really enjoy Nursing. No, that's a lie, I enjoy Nursing, i'm just not passionate about it.
I wonder what i am passionate about... i'm sure i'll find out in due course. It'll probably be something cheesy like a person or something. Cody, watch out.

Maybe that's it, i'm afraid i'll never find my "calling" in life... it certainly isn't Nursing.  Well, it might be a specific field of Nursing, and i just haven't realised it yet. I don't know. But somehow i don't think it is Art, either... So i'm feeling lost at the moment. It's not a good feeling.

Maybe i will go live under a bridge and fling stones at small children. 

I'm still sick!

This cold is not getting better, it is getting worse.
I have a feeling that i'll be spending my entire day in bed, reading and attempting to start my first assignment for this semester... but it's not due until Monday and we all know what i'm like.

Slightly, well, completely off topic, but i think Michelle Dockery was a perfect casting choice for Susan Sto Helit in the TV movie of Hogfather. I also wish they would do more film renditions of Pratchett books... I loved Going Postal and all the others, they are always done so well! Besides, i need something other than Doctor Who to entertain me on these sick days. Which i don't think i'll ever be rid of. This is the longest i have been sick in forever!

Might go open my window, it's really sunny out today!

Mum has just brought me the Show magazine, brb checking out showbags.

This has been a horribly short post... here, have a picture of us at the Adelaide Show in 2008;

i was a cool kid.

It hasn't been a week so this still counts

Look, it's Sunday not Monday therefore it has not been an entire week since i last posted.
Shut up don't give me that.

So i decided last night that i am actually going to do my Nursing homework this semester and see if that can get me some motherfezzing distinctions.
So i am currently was reading something for a class i have tomorrow but i got distracted as i usually do and i am now listening to music in my iTunes and realising that what the actual fuck i don't have any We The Kings?!

Sorry

Anyway, i was talking to mum earlier about her beauty therapy course and how she got distinctions and high distinctions for every flipping subject. Way to make me feel good about getting credits. Sheesh.  But yes so that is my motivation; I must do better than my mother. Oh and i do like getting distinctions, they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Speaking of books, i STILL haven't finished the last 30 pages of Anne of Windy Willows. I think it's because every time i open it to finish it i get caught up in the scent and start daydreaming about large libraries filled floor to ceiling with beautiful books and long marble halls with tall windows.

My favourite Beatrix Potter book is Squirrel Nutkin. This is mainly because Dad's nickname for me is Squirrel, which is catchier than you think. I also wont let anyone but my father call me it, though i respond to it on automatic so if someone starts talking about squirrels i'll tune into their conversation without thinking. Kind of awkward to explain to people i don't know that sorry, i didn't mean to interrupt but i heard you were talking about Squirrels and oh is this my stop i think it must be, goodbye!
And then i'm at some silly stop like Keswick and i have to wait for the next train to come along and it just RUINS MY ENTIRE DAY.

My room is still really messy... it has been like this for about 3 months. I have three boxes full of stuff on the floor but i can't sort them because it's all stuff i don't know if i want or not... so i can't throw it out but i also have nowhere to store it. Blah.

There we go, blog post! I might write another tomorrow, i'll take my laptop to uni i think :)

Post Script; hi Cody! I love you.

Post number seventy five

I couldn't think of an appropriate title, can you tell?

So i'm sitting here sipping a Horlick's and listening to some 60s music whilst mum dances about the kitchen, singing along.
My past week hasn't been particularly eventful, except for the fact that i kind of might have a boyfriend now. Which is very nice!

At work on Sunday this bloke came in again, he stares at me a lot and follows me around and tries to grab my hands and is just generally really really flirty. He isn't creepy or anything, he's quite nice actually, but it makes me laugh so much. 'Course he takes my uncontrollable laughter as, i don't know, nerves? So i think he thinks i think he is really attractive. Which he kind of is, but he isn't my type (he doesn't like Doctor Who or Harry Potter)
Have i suddenly become really attractive in the past year?! I really don't understand, i never used to get much attention from boys! Maybe it is that i have learned how makeup works.

This is going to be another disjointed post, i hope you know that.

Someone commented on my booth with "Smitten kitten". I like it.
I almost want to google it and see what comes up... okay i will
IT IS A LINGERIE STORE. DYING.

So she waits in the rain for a flicker of hope,
whilst ALL OF HER FRIENDS ARE OUT SMOKING DOPE

idk

i was going to write something lovely but i ceeeeeeebs
this is Tori on not much sleep
HOORAY
i am almost tempted to actually sleep before midnight, but that is crazy.

OH. I will watch August Rush again.
My children better be musically talented. Else they'll find the years of music lessons i make them take to be unbelievably tedious.

I am only joking.

Sort of.


What is there to write? What is there to say?
Same things happen every day.
Not a thing to write, not a thing to say,
So i take my pen in hand and start the same old way
Dear i thought i'd drop a line,
the weather's cool, the folks are fine.
I'm in bed each night at 9,
P.S. I love you. 


Having a bit of a Sinatra sing-a-long.

YEP. So i had a good week or whatever.

Sunbathing in Winter!!

This, here today, is the best day i have had in a while, and i have only been up for 2 hours.
I woke up to sunshine, and i am now sitting outside, sunbathing, in the middle of Winter.
I am about to finish the last 30 pages of Anne of Windy Willows and then go inside and have some porridge.
It is currently 22º but it'll be anywhere up to 28º today and that is lovely weather. My favourite weather.

The sun has warmed my garden, and if it's not too corny, my heart. 
I fell asleep last night in tears because i had been thinking about my most recent heartbreak. You know how i am, always overreacting, well, this time i really wasn't. I'd just bottled it up for so long and i needed a good cry. So that's what i did!

I can smell violets... i really love the smell of violets. 

There's no use ranting about what upset me last night, mainly because i already did so over on tumblr, but also because i need to move forward. There is so much more to be enjoyed in life at this present time, and i do not want to miss out on it because of my selfishness.

I know you wont read this, but i really do adore you. And you need to stop living so far away, please.
I need a hug. A long hug followed by some snogging.
Lots of snogging.

Alright, i'm going to go enjoy the rest of my day!
Here, have a picture of the little violets whom are responsible for that heavenly smell;

Not the best quality photo but i have lost my SD cards and no matter how many times i yell "ACCIO SD CARDS"
and flourish my wand, they do not appear. 

I had this post all planned out

But then i forgot what i was going to write... hmm... not so good.
Well, here's what the latest scarf looks like;

It's for my very good friend Stefanie, who turned 20 about a week ago, and it's supposed to be finished by tomorrow night... looks like i'm not sleeping again tonight!

I'm improvising in a few sections, mainly because i'm running out of brown and yellow wool and i don't have the time to go searching through Spotlight for a wool match, so i've added a colour and i'm cutting back on some rows. Wont matter, it's essentially perfectly two thirds of the original length, so, NO COMPLAININ' STEF. If you uh.. have found this... which you might have done, but, it would be awkward if you did.

ON THE SUBJECT OF AWKWARD; HOW AWKWARD AM I?
I know, right? Never would have guessed it.

Well... that's me done.
Yep.
Alright, bye!

It's that time again

Hello, i'm procrastinating! Despite having signed out of tumblr, facebook, twitter, skype. In classic 'Day of the Moon' style i'm even keeping a tally on my arm of each of the different times i've done something that isn't my presentation.
You really don't want to know how many times that is now.
Problem is, it's really bloody difficult to find any information on this particular Theorist, because all her works were in German, and so to find a work of hers translated to English isn't too hard, but to find the one particular theory of hers that i need actually translated is the most difficult thing in the world i swear.
Not really, i think living in poverty would be a bit more challenging. But you get the idea.
It's a group presentation, so whilst it isn't actually due until Tuesday, the rest of my group want me to have emailed my bit to them by.. uh... well two days ago. I need it to them by Sunday afternoon at the latest. Thing is, i have work tomorrow so i am pretty sure it wont get done during the day. Which is why i am sat at my computer at 11pm trying to get this done! I could, literally, just rant on about nothing in particular, because i know and understand the theory, but if i get it wrong i'll probably fail, and that's not so good.

My head is also somewhere else completely. I've recently admitted to myself, and him, that i fancy someone. That's great! you say. Problem is, he kind of lives in America, which is a little bit ridiculous. Makes things difficult.
Doesn't help that my parents are really accepting of the idea that i could go and visit him for Christmas this year. How am i supposed to focus on this assignment?!
"Remove all your distractions" I have. I logged out of most of them. Besides, I can hardly remove my brain... you wouldn't think it, but i kind of need that one.

It's been a while

Sorry about that

Not going into details about the breakup. Can't be bothered. I'm 100% fine and dandy and over it now, anyway! :)

So i finished my Doctor Who scarf, and i've started a Griffindor one, then i need to knit a Slytherin one pronto and mail it to Mike in America for his birthday which was last month :/

and THEN i have to start another Doctor Who scarf for Stef's birthday in July!

SO MUCH KNITTING OH GOD

apart from knitting i have been doing Uni work aaaaand stalking a boy at my Uni. 

Ummmmm yes.

So every year, on Mother’s Day, we have a family lunch thing at the winery of a family friend. My parents have been going to these since before i was born, and i’ve been going since i was born. Every year, one day. At every one, the family friends’ nieces and nephew are there, about my age, i used to play with them when i was little. I used to scoff down my dinner and then run off and explore the vineyards, according to my father, the first year i did this was to escape the little boy that kept chasing me. The last 4 or 5 years, i’ve pretty much just sat inside, staring at this nephew of his, as he is rather cute. This year, we were sat on our respective tables, almost facing each other. Quite a lot of shy staring and quickly looking away went on. That kept me occupied. After he left, i was trying to ask Dad whether he knew the last name of his mother or what the kids were called. My Father being the awesome guy that he is, pulls aside the uncle and says i’m interested in knowing who’s married to who, and he steers the conversation towards knowing about his nieces and nephew. Managed to get a name. Looked him up on facebook. I feel like a stalker, but i inboxed him, didn’t add him, just inboxed him, and just casually mentioned that technically we’ve known each other for years, in a matter of speaking, depending on how you look at it.
Then, next day, Monday, i'm walking through the library, and guess who i see? The TARDIS!! No, i see this boy, right? i gripped onto my friend's arm and was like "It's him... " 'it's who!? you're hurting me!' "right. we need to talk. i have a story to tell you" I then followed him through the library. he saw me, don't even care.
Several days later i see him at uni AGAIN. Seriously. It's great.

So that's all i've really been doing!
Knitting and stalking!