On Biblical and Non-Biblical Ways of Getting Dates

Helen, my lovely team-leader who is leaving, is getting married! (That's not why she's leaving.) I am of course invited to the wedding. Along with a friend, who must have wheels (because the wedding is in the sticks).

I was discussing with Kal and Reb.

Reb (the spiritually mature one) suggested that I get an escort. "They always end up together in all the movies."

I pointed out that I didn't think the Christian, future homeschooling demographic was highly represented in the male escort population.

Kal suggested that we draw lots. "It's Biblical!" said she.

"So at church on Sunday we should get all the single boys with cars to put their names in a hat?"

"Of course, if you get someone you don't like, you can just get rid of their name."

Music Meme

Because you are all mean and horrible, I'm putting up a new meme.

1. What is your favourite song?
All Aroung the World (Myth of Fingerprints) by Paul Simon and Bleeker St by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Bleeker St is the most poetic song I know.

2. Favourite artist / group?
Paul Simon for artist, Steeleye Span for group.

3. What is your fav. Beatles song?
Hey Jude.

4. What song do you detest?
I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Deep Down in My Heart

5. What song encapsulates your teenage years?
Elf Child. Although I can honestly say they would not approve of the anime Elfs.

6. What song do you want to dance to / have sung at your wedding?
Love Is Like A Storybook Story (From the Princess Bride, which is clearly the most awesome movie ever).

7. What did you most recently listen to?
Straight No Chaser's 12 Days of Christmas

8. What odd instrument do you play / want to play?
The Harp. Music video to come.

9. Last musical event / concert you went to?
Verdi's Otello.

10. What do you want played at your funeral?
I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Deep Down in My Heart. I will have the joy because I will not be listening to it. There will be way cooler music in heaven.

11. Your 'social conscience' song?Blackleg Miner by Steeleye Span, and Streets of London, which I heard by the composer live in 2007 (I think) along with Steeleye Span.

12. What song sums you up? Why?
At the moment, probably Pussy Willow by Jethro Tull. But it'll change on my mood. I also considered having Feeling Groovy,which is about as different as you can get, ignoring the folk influences on both. What can I say? I'm mental.

Wow! Nearly all my stuff is Folk Rock! That is because Folk Rock is AWESOME!

For Joab

Horatio


Archie

Kal, apparently Archie is in 5 episodes, not just 2!

Click here to read about the series, and there are movie links at the end of the article.

Randoms, mostly for Kal, who is coming back today

These people are AWESOME!

Helen is resigning. My life is over.

I got hugged. Real hugged, not photo hugged. At church. By a church boy. By an ASIAN church boy. (Boy is new, Kal, you don't know him.) Clearly, Jesus is returning very, very soon.

I bought a new laptop. It is smaller than the box of chocolates I bought yesterday.

I actually practiced the harp yesterday. I can play the first line of Bach's Minute in G, but what with the harp needing tuning, it sounds slightly odd.

Speaking of tuning, I bought a tuner! With built in Metronome. (Or was it a metronome with built in tuner...? (I also bought a new keyboard)) Soon to come - harp played in TUNE!

Chocolate pile has reached it's zenith. I am preparing to eat it all.

I missed you!

Clearly I'm Not Worried About Germs

Just in case some of you haven't noticed, I adore some of my kids. Jonty, Hannah, Alana, Zoe, Big Ella, Alec and 'Cilla are the definite darlings in my eyes.

Alec and 'Cilla are best friends. They play together with various toys, mostly of animals, complete with elaborate story lines.

You also might have noticed that I've been receiving rather a few presents from my children and their parents - as have most of the other teachers. Astha in the toddler room had a whole lot of fruit given to them, and they decided to put it in the staffroom. (Incidentally, Kal, that's where the mango comes from. Reb, YOU MAY NOT EAT IT. It is for KAL.) There was so much fruit Astha had to make several trips. In between the trips, a few peaches were stolen by small hands.

Later in the afternoon, I find Alec feeding a peach to a toy dinosaur. I take the peach away. I don't want to spend hours cleaning toys.

Two minutes later, I hear Alec call out, "Sam, 'Cilla's not SHARING with me!"

I tell 'Cilla to share without looking.

I turn around a minute later to see them sharing another peach, one mouthful for 'Cilla, one for Alec.

I started laughing, and Helen looked over. She said, "I'm going to pretend that I can't see that." "See what?" I asked.

When they decided that they had had enough of the peach, they came up to me and gave me the rest of it.

I ate it.

From the Mouths of Babes

I was outside with the kids when Jonty came up to me. "Let's talk about something serious Sam," he said. I asked him if he had anything in particular in mind. He didn't.

So I asked him what he thought about the state of communism in China.

He looked at me and sighed. "Bad. It's going to ruin everything."

I Bought the CD

My Kids Kick Reb's Kids' Butts

Well, they do!

It is the end of the year, and at this time, all good children (and their parents) give their teachers presents.

Reb got chocolate, lollies, mugs, a calender, and a few other nic-nacs.

My kids gave me: more chocolate (and the year isn't over) about the same amount of lollies, three gift hampers, a mug, tea, home-made brownies, Christmas ornaments, AND a hundred dollars.

That's right. One of my kids gave me cash. And gave Helen cash.

My kids so win.

Okay, Who Was It?

I get emailed all the comments. So imagine how pleased I was when someone actually had done my literary meme. On the other hand, this is what they wrote:

1. What are you currently reading?
1.The mX "Here's looking at you".

2. What books did you most recently buy?
2. "The Rules: the best kept secrets for capturing Mr Right".

3. What family from literature would you most like your future family to resemble?
3. The Lion King- Simba's Pride.

4. What family from literature are they most likely to ACTUALLY resemble?
4. Lot's. From the bible.

5. Clothes from what book (or historical period) that you wish would come back into fashion, because it would look COMPLETELY AWESOME on you?
5. The 80's. I like shoulder pads.

6. Clothes from what book (or historical period) that you wish would come back into fashion, because it would look COMPLETELY AWESOME on members of the opposite gender?
6. The Garden of Eden.

7. What literary character would you run off with?
7. Draco Malfoy.

8. What literary character would you write out of existence?
8. Mr Darcy. Too many girls like him, but he's a cold snob.

9. What animal from literature would you have as a pet?
9. Puff the magic dragon.

10. What fairy-tale would you like to live in?
10. Cinderella. I like shoes. And a girl who cleans is awesome.

11. What evil fairytale character would you be most likely to be?
11. Cinderella's step-mother. Clean that kitchen!

12. What poet (living or dead) would you have write you a love poem?
Robert Burns.
12. Some angsty emo kid on myspace. Or Shakespeare's Mum.

Guess who this is? Hahaha! If you get it right, you win brownies.



JOAB?! WAS IT YOU?!

Yay For Medication

Well, remember my lung test. I got the results a while ago. Guess what? I have damaged lungs!

They have changed my asthma meds. I was on Flixotide, low dose. I've been bumped up to Seretide. My brother Robert was put on Seretide when he went to hospital 3 times in one year with asthma attacks.

My Seretide is darker than his ever was. I beat him. It even has a counter so I know how far through it I am, so I don't run out. The counter is WAY COOL.

It did however take a LONG time to get to me. My lung test was ages ago. And I literally got the meds yesterday. And I got them the working day after I got the prescription. (Would have got them Sat, but I was sick and couldn't breathe properly - ironic). Which meant I was about three weeks without meds as my Flixotide finished and it took them forever to send me the presciption.

Please all pray that the new meds are helpful for me.

Crafty Christmas

I thought that some of you might like to see some of the Christmas presents I've made. I've already given most of them out, and the rest are all wrapped up. (I only have one more present to get or wrap - Mikey's.)



These are Serene and Rica's gifts. I also made one for Emily and one for Angela, but they already have theirs. They are really simple presents, though they look awesome. They are just old calico bags, dyed black, with iron-on patches.



But don't they look AWESOME!

Literary Meme:

I've been wanting to make up one of these for ages - mostly because I want to post the crazy answers.

1. What are you currently reading?
The Mythology of Science, The Normans, The Nature of Love.

2. What books did you most recently buy?
How to Calculate Quickly and The Kings of Clonmel (Ranger's Apprentice, book 8).

3. What family from literature would you most like your future family to resemble?
Probably the Keith family from the Millie Keith books. Although the Murray/O'Keefe clan and the Austin family by Madeleine L'Engle are hard on the heels of the Keith family.

4. What family from literature are they most likely to ACTUALLY resemble?
The Larkin family.

5. Clothes from what book (or historical period) that you wish would come back into fashion, because it would look COMPLETELY AWESOME on you?
Regency period, i.e. Jane Austen novels.

6. Clothes from what book (or historical period) that you wish would come back into fashion, because it would look COMPLETELY AWESOME on members of the opposite gender?
Regency period, i.e. Jane Austen and Hornblower novels. Although it might make church a little odd. I can't picture Asian boys wearing Regency navy uniforms... probably a good thing.

7. What literary character would you run off with?
Heathcliff. What can I say? I like the dark obsessing types. And I bet he's TALL.

8. What literary character would you write out of existence?
Joesph from Wuthering Heights. ANNOYING.

9. What animal from literature would you have as a pet?
The hen that laid the golden eggs would be nice...

10. What fairy-tale would you like to live in?
Beauty and the Beast. I bet the Beast was TALL.

11. What evil fairytale character would you be most likely to be?
The witch from Rapunzel.

12. What poet (living or dead) would you have write you a love poem?
Robert Burns. And I'd get at least two poems out of him - a in love poem, and a break up poem. AWESOME. As long as he didn't refer to me as Haggis in either poem. Yuck, Yuck, YUCK. But his poetry is Yum, Yum, YUM.

Tagged: Kal, Alicia, Steph, Joab, Shaun, and ANY OTHER READERS. Please provide links - not everyone will have read the same books.

Who Are You?

Please do this quiz. And let us all know the results.

Any peoples having not done so by the time I next see them WILL DIE.

Surprisingly, I am most like Sam.

Speaking Of Awesome Music

For all those horrible people who couldn't come to the opera on Friday, you missed out BIG TIME. Verdi's Otello was one of the best operas I've EVER SEEN. It was a stunning production as well.

If I didn't contact you, it was most likely that I assumed you had CG on. Apparently that is a good excuse.

Excuse me now, I want to go listen to Verdi.

Everyday Beauty: Music

I'm finally doing another Everyday Beauty post. It's been on my to-do list for about two weeks.

Music is vital. Most people don't realise just how vital it is. Consider:

- How often music is used for worship. No, music does not equal worship, but it is involved a lot of the time.
- Music effects the brain.
- Music changes the way we perceive our environment.

For me, the main qualification for beautiful music is that I like it. I have eclectic tastes, as you can easily see from my list of favourite music on the sidebar. I like the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkle, Celtic and other folk music, folk rock, classical, choral music and children's music. I can even stand listening to Kal's depressing emo music. (It's music. Reb's stuff on the other hand, is not. And sorry, Amy and Joab, who are the only two blog readers who's music I've heard, I don't think much of your noise either. Comments of "But it's Christian music" will see you seriously hurt. It's noise. Christian NOISE.)

I listen to music pretty often. I put in 3 CDs in consultation with Gleda and any other early bird kids (the Bugs get played all the time) but I get to CHOOSE. I choose based on the qualities I want in the kids. Wednesday's kids do not get Simon, the Bugs or any Folk rock before lunchtime. Or after lunch. Or really anytime. They get classical and soft Celtic balads. Because the last thing I want is to hype those kids up.

It means that our room is a Wiggle-free zone. I never minded the Wiggles, but the toddler room plays them constantly.

On music playing - more people should do this. It regularly shocks me that people think I sing beautifully. To my ear I sing nicely, but not beautifully. Most musical 'talent' comes from practise (most, not all) and pretty much everyone can sing well with practise and instruction. Most singing is in the breathing - and I'm actually better since having damaged lungs. I have to use my technique. Before I was lazy.

Regarding my playing of music, I practise piano once a day, most days (though it has fallen off this week and last - not well) and I pretend to play the harp. I have other instruments that I want to be able to play (guitar, tin whistle - I actually sound really good on the tin whistle (breathing again) and so I can play anything in the book, but nothing out of it) but I'm not up to them.

So, the point of this post - make your life everyday a little more beautiful. Put a CD in the CD player!

Funny

Kal: "Oh look, I got mail! It's from the Red Cross. They want my blood!"

I Can't Blame Joab

But I can blame Kal. Kal, my head hurts. I blame you. (Smashing your head against a cup of tea really hurts. I have a slowly growing bruise.)

Why did I hit my head? Because of THIS