Back to School, and Becoming Claudia

So this week was the first week back at uni for the semester. I can tell it's going to be a long and boring one, seeing as this semester I am redoing the classes I failed last year when I was going through my depressed phase. It doesn't seem too bad so far for my Junior English class, because even though I have the same tutor and lecturer, it still seems quite fresh, and she's changed the assignments for the class this year which I'm happy about - I wouldn't want to put in all that work again on trying to write a new essay on the same topic.

My Junior History class, however, is exactly the same. Right down to even doing the exact same tutorial activities and readings as the class last year. Now, that's just lazy. The assignments are the same as well, but that's fine with me - unlike the English assignments, I didn't really try very hard with History and pretty much did the bare minimum for the first assignment, scraping through with only a very low credit. This time, I know exactly what it is the lecturer wants us to say, and, having now taught in a history classroom, I have some real ideas on lessons and what will work for the assignment.

That said, I'm already over this semester. I just want to finish it so that I'm finally able to do my internship and start earning some money.

Speaking of money, tomorrow I start a new baby sitting gig. It's just casual sitting, for a family with three kids. I'm hoping it all works out, then I'll be working for them once or twice a fortnight. Coupled with the baby sitting I already do, and the tutoring, as well as the fact that the people I already sit for are passing on my details to some of their kids' friends' parents, I'm looking pretty set for the rest of this semester, fingers crossed. And all those Baby Sitters Club books I devoured as a kid are finally starting to pay off.

Also, even in their worst tantrums, dealing with kids isn't anywhere near as bad as dealing with douche customers and colleagues...

Happy Birthday, Nan!

Too bad your birthday was back at the beginning of February. And too bad I started this back in January, but at last, I have finally finished your present.

A great big wonky, ridiculously coloured granny blanket. Worth the wait, right? Oooh yeah.

I would show it to you laid out so you can get the full effect of its ugliness, but its wonkiness made it very difficult to fold up, and I only thought to take a photo after the folding process. From this angle it actually doesn't look too bad ;)

Rollin' with my Homies

So I came down to Sydney on Saturday after a few bumpy starts; first I slept in to the time I had told my family I'd be home. Then, when I finally got off my butt and was ready to go, my car wouldn't start. Awesome. Realising that if it didn't start, I wouldn't be able to afford to get it fixed anyway, so I waited a bit, tried and succeeded to start it again, and then prayed to Oprah for the two hour drive home. Luckily, my car made it in one piece, but he will be having a check up tomorrow.

Saturday night was spent at my little cousin Laura's 19th birthday party. Oh, these kids grow up so fast. I basically spent the night sitting near the food watching the teenagers getting drunk. Let's face it: I only came for the food. ;)

Meanwhile, when did teenagers become so cool?? I remember being incredibly awkward right up until I was about 22, and even now I'm still pretty awkward. Everyone there had trendy, hipster hair, too cool for school clothing, and a typical frankie magazine expressionless face.

Also, the other thing that really pissed me off is how everyone else in my family is allowed to drink alcohol around my grandmother, except for me. Seriously. I remember once bringing a bottle of tequila home and then having to pour it down the sink after being screamed at. Until I moved out of home at 22, if I was going to be drinking at a friend's house and was expected to bring a bottle of something, I'd have to end up leaving it there. It was fine that my brother had a few beers everyday after work, and was always having big nights out with my cousin who is my age, but if I ever drank I was in trouble. Even to this day I can't drink alcohol around her.

But little Laura was completely trashed and wasn't seen without a drink in her hand all night, but that's fine? And they wonder why I'm in therapy!

Sunday was spent taking my little sister to Ikea for the first time. I'm still shocked she had never been. After the fun of pretending we were Kim and Brett from Kath & Kim, following the arrows and being a bit ridiculous, the novelty very quickly wore off for her, and she was eager to leave. She was thoroughly unimpressed by the furniture I needed to buy (an expedit bookshelf and a lack table for Bec, a little Billy bookshelf for myself) and the fact that we would need to haul it out of the store and into the car somehow. I rewarded her with a trip to DFO, a place that makes me a little insane. I can never find anything I like, and I don't think it's actually that cheap. BUT I did manage to find some VERY cheap things from Barkins. I trawled through the site but couldn't find any of the items I bought. I got two tops, a skirt and a dress for $28. I know, right? Freaking awesome.

Since I was making my sister do the driving for the day to bump her log book hours up, I decided that we should pay a quick visit to my friend Nicole. Mary has now decided that she wants to move to Newtown and she wants to buy a cat like Nicole's kitten, Prince Louis. (Or is it Louie?) So cute.

Barnaby

Meet Barnaby.

Barnaby is the little critter I made for my friend Beau's birthday last week. I haven't had a chance to post about him because I've been busy doing absolutely nothing with my life. You know how it is. The photo above shows Barnaby believing he can soak up knowledge by just being around books.

He's a little bit wonky, and when I say a little I mean a lot. Beau chose all the adorable fabric, and then I went to work.

Barnaby does not like to smile:

He thinks it's lame. Barnaby's face is constantly set with a mixture of "Bitch, please" and slight nausea.

Barnaby loves snuggles in winter, but hates them in summer. If you try to snuggle him in summer he will smack you down with those long arms of his. He's not quite tame yet, so he tends to smack most people down. Mikey is trying to tame him. Unfortunately I think he's fighting a losing battle. It's also a little awkward because Barnaby very much dislikes owls, making Owlby feel a little worried.

I also made a wonky present for Melanie's birthday, which was a week later. I forgot to take a photo of him, so here's one I stole from her blog:

Penguini is an Italian penguin. He would like to point out that his mustache is in no way some douchey hipster fad; he's been rocking that bad boy since the day he first noticed a little bum fluff. He hates the fact that he has to explain to everybody, "No! Dees is my Italiano mostachio! Ima no wannabeea!" Don't tell Penguini, but he has a ridiculous stereotyped accent - I don't know any Italian that actually speaks English that way. BUT he is rocking it anyway.

So that's what I've been doing with my holidays so far. Oh, and making a jigsaw puzzle. And sorting through all my uni stuff and getting rid of all the stuff I've kept that I don't actually need (random notes and handouts) and sorting the rest into things that will be useful for my future teaching. I'd love to be one of those people that can just type everything up and keep it in various, well-organised computer files, but alas, I'm old school and must place everything in labeled folders that, if I ever do need a resource, will require me to spend ages flipping through each page to see if it is there. It's tedious, but it works for me.