Sorry

I was quite busy yesterday so that's why I didn't post. Anyway, yesterday was the last day of Non-adult Environment. Uncle and Aunt came back near 11pm yesterday. On the whole, it was great fun. Then again, wait for my next post! Probably will be on Saturday because I'm going for a sleepover at Sarah's today and then going to Ryan's house after the sleepover. So! Wait for meee!

Non-adult Environment-Day 2

Woke up at 7.15am again this morning. It was so hard to wake up especially when normally I'll be asleep. Anyway, last night I realized that I (or we) have to water the garden, both front and back. While waiting for Jordan to come and walk the dog, I decided to water the back garden. You guys are probably thinking it's just a garden, there's no big deal. But one thing, the garden is HUGE! Well, not huge, but it's at least 10m by 10m. And that doesn't include each individual pot of flowers, or tomatoes.

Anyway, that wasn't the problem. While watering the honeysuckle waay at the back, I stepped on something. Something soft and squishy and possibly smelly. Yepz, you got it. It was either dog or cat poo. (it was dark! I couldn't see!) After that I got into a foul mood and finished the job. Imagine how I felt whenever Jordan told me he;s already watered the back garden after cutting the grass.To his credit though, he did water the front after walking the dog ^_^

Putting the cats to bed was no biggie, they came quite quickly and didn't leave me standing shouting for them too long. I've got that to be thankful for.

This morning I had to use the Mighty Lead to get Benjamin out of bed. I've decided to put him out of bed before making up their breakfasts. Benjamin immediately got up and went out of the door. It was quite a while before I realized he was weeing as he went out. Thank goodness it's in the garden and not inside. However, I was in my furry slippers! And a few drops of wee flew through the air..

And onto my slipper which absorbed the wee instantly. -.- I steeped it in Vanish before putting it into the washing machine on it's own. I thought it'll be cruel to put any other item of clothing in with my slippers. I feel bad though, it feels like such a waste of water and electricity.

Cats were good today. No presents in their cat litter tray. Probably did it somewhere else. I'm still waiting to step in it so I'm watching where I put my foot. After that, I settled down with my breakfast and watched tv. This time, I got wiser and left the door wide open in case Benjamin feels the need to answer his call of nature. This way, no accidents, and also no paranoid dog! YAY!

Watched tv for quite a while, and then had a shower. Jordan was still in bed. One of the great things about being alone or the only one awake in the house is you can shower for as long as you like. After that, I made up my lunch, and by that time the cats and dog were due their lunches too.

Since there was leftover roast, I skimmed the oil off the stock and gave it to the animals. Then used what ever stock I need to soften the rice enough for frying and gave the rest to them. The animals loved it. And licked their bowls clean. As for me, my fried rice made with various odds and ends went well. Just needs more salt. I've had enough rice to last me at least for dinner.

After lunch, more tv watching. Eventually I got around to practicing piano and had an insane amount of fruit because I was a little hungry and it's not meal time yet. Guess how much fruit I've had so far?

Two wizened small apples, one peach, one big apple, and two huge strawberries. The strawberries are easily the nicest and sweetest I've ever eaten in my entire short life. And I don't really like strawberries that much, but I'll probably have more strawberries later. In case you're wondering why I'm eating that much fruit, it's because I'm just eating the ones that look like they're going to go bad. The strawberries just look good that's why I ate them. :P

Soon after, it's 5pm. Time to feed the animals again. This time I opened a can of tuna to share between the cats and the dog for a nice treat again. Benjamin was sleeping so he wasn't around trying to trip me up as he does whenever I put something remotely close to my mouth. He thinks I'm going to share. I do sometimes share with his the occasional chocolate bar, but I cant share my fingernails with him can I? So making last meal of the day for animals was good, except Benjamin doesn't really have an appetite whenever he's just awake. So had to coax him quite a bit and very quickly before the cats eat his tuna.

Jordan gave me my camera back today, and I took a few photos. He borrowed it from me for camping a few eons ago but now I have it back. It's got quite a few great photos of sunsets in it. There:And I took a not-so-good picture of the mountains from my room. It'll have been better if it's not so out of focus and if it's brighter.Then came on and took a personality test from a link from Jodeline's blog. I think quite a few aspects of it are true. Those I think is true, will be in GREEN! Overall result will be in BLUE!

Your view on yourself:

You are down-to-earth and people like you because you are so straightforward. You are an efficient problem solver because you will listen to both sides of an argument before making a decision that usually appeals to both parties.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

You like serious, smart and determined people. You don't judge a book by its cover, so good-looking people aren't necessarily your style. This makes you an attractive person in many people's eyes.

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

You prefer to get to know a person very well before deciding whether you will commit to the relationship.

The seriousness of your love:

You are very serious about relationships and aren't interested in wasting time with people you don't really like. If you meet the right person, you will fall deeply and beautifully in love.

Your views on education

Education is less important than the real world out there, away from the classroom. Deep inside you want to start working, earning money and living on your own.

The right job for you:

You're a practical person and will choose a secure job with a steady income. Knowing what you like to do is important. Find a regular job doing just that and you'll be set for life.

How do you view success:

You are afraid of failure and scared to have a go at the career you would like to have in case you don't succeed. Don't give up when you haven't yet even started! Be courageous.

What are you most afraid of:

You are concerned about your image and the way others see you. This means that you try very hard to be accepted by other people. It's time for you to believe in who you are, not what you wear.

Who is your true self:

You are mature, reasonable, honest and give good advice. People ask for your comments on all sorts of different issues. Sometimes you might find yourself in a dilemma when trapped with a problem, which your heart rather than your head needs to solve.
Notice how much GREEN there is? So there you go. A blow by blow recount of my day so far. In comparison, it's a much better day than yesterday, with fewer incidents. Much more boring though, because Ryan's at work from 12.30-9pm and Claire and Sarah are with their respective boyfriends. Plus Jude's still in the Caribbean. So that leaves me, and..me! (Jordan went out with his friends)

Will probably update soon. Going to re-heat the fried rice in the microwave oven for dinner. Might have to make an actual lunch from scratch tomorrow. Thinking of doing pasta. Hmm..

"Look, I don't want to wax philosophic, but I will say that if you're alive you've got to flap your arms and legs, you've got to jump around a lot, for life is the very opposite of death, and therefore you must at very least think noisy and colorfully, or you're not alive." - Mel Brooks (American director, writer, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor, and producer best known as creator of broad film farces and comedy parodies)

Non-adult Environment-Day 1

Well you can say that today was a late Friday the 13th for me. -.- In spite of things going bad though, I still had a good time. Let's start from the very beginning (a very good place to start).Woke up at 7.15am to prepare to feed the cats and the dog. Went into the studio where the dog is sleeping, and decided to not wake him up and quietly make the meals instead. But whenever the meals were made, Benjamin (dog) decided that he wants to have a lie-in!

And thus, I had to take out the Mighty Lead, and drag him outta bed. Lazy fella. So, after congratulating myself and patting myself on the back for not killing any animals and not having any 'accidents' from the dog yet, I fed the cats. And found a nice wee 'present'.

Now, it would have been fine if it was in the cat litter tray but nooooo, someone had trailed off onto the floor and had diarrhea there. So I cleared it up, still congratulating myself for preventing myself from making a bigger mess by vomiting on Sonny and Missy (cats) while they're happily eating their breakfast as if they do NOT excrete from their bums.

You can say it's a crappy present *audience groans*.

Meanwhile, Benjamin is hemming and hawing about eating his breakfast and running around me because he doesn't want to be left out. He decided that the breakfast is not worth it and went back to his nice warm bed. I had to get out the Mighty Lead to get him out. And run away from close the door so we wouldn't have an 'accident' from Benjamin in the house. Presents from cats are enough.

Then, through all that commotion, Missy got into the house and I decided to get her out. I picked her up and she started purring and I was feeling guilty about putting her out. Then Benjamin tried to come into the house. And what ever way it worked, I ended up putting poor Missy into Benjamin's face and Missy hissed and scratched me to get away. Half a minute later, after I had pushed Benjamin back out of the house into the garden, I was left standing a little stunned with a scratch on my left finger and a really sore right hand.

Looking at that paragraph, I realized that I do have potatoes for brains.

Then I waited for Ryan's reply for ages and didn't receive one. It seems so irrelevant now, but I was kinda upset about it so I'll list it down as one of the unlucky things. Then, got to the pool, everything is grand, then went into the pool, lo and behold!

Lots of little kids splashing around and already knowing how to swim. Definitely swimming better than me whether I can float in fetal position or not. When I was bobbing about trying to ignore the currents, Ryan pushed me! He said it was a wee bobby push. But to me, in the water, it's HUGE and it's SCARY! (quite laughing, I am a giant coward really)

Right, made up again, 'cos I threw a hissy fit at that. Then went to Subway, and we realized that we had no money for a drink. That's not too bad.

But went to the bus station, and whenever Ryan was talking to the bus driver about the price to go to the place he wants to go to, my bus came and went. I was like:Ryan got his bus and went on his merry way. Leaving me alone. Maybe feeling a wee bit lost and nervous. And to top everything up, the next bus didn't come! It is a bank holiday today you see, and what I looked at was the normal bus time table. Well, on a holiday time table, they simply cut off the last bus from the normal time table! That was just the icing on the cake. I freaked and threw another hissy fit.

At Ryan. (yea I know, poor guy) But to Ryan's credit, he did make things better. His mom came to give me a lift all the way home, to my doorstep. :) YAY! My day was actually effectively healed simply by the fact that I got a lift home :) I am most certainly NOT going out on a bank holiday after this.

Hooray for adults.

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You cannot try to do things. You simply must do things." - Ray Bradbury (American literary, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer best known for his 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles)

Non-adult Environment-Introduction

Tomorrow the two only adults in this house will be flying away to London for two and a half days. Leaving Jordan and me to fend for ourselves in terms of food. Yes, we have to cook and feed the animals and manage the house.

Let's see how we fare tomorrow. Jordan and I have come to an agreement that I will feed the animals everyday (7am, 12pm and 5pm) as well as put the cats to bed every night and basically managing the animals while Jordan will feed the fish. I'm fully aware that fish are ever so slightly easier than two cats and a dog but there are many many fish one in a pond, and three tanks in the house in three different places. Plus, the animals reciprocate what you give them. Fish probably do too, but it'll be not as obvious. Therefore, I will feed the animals more simply 'cos I derive more pleasure from that than sprinkling flakes and brine shrimp into a tank or a pond.

As for food, we will be feeding ourselves and wash our own dishes after that. As for the laundry, I have no idea who's gonna handle that but I suppose I'll do it 'cos I can't stand not having the laundry basket in the toilet. That should keep me busy enough. I'll probably feel like a housewife. But the sense of accomplishment! It is irreplaceable. That is why I can't understand why I cannot motivate myself to do things when I know that I would feel so accomplished.

Don't think we'll do too badly. It's just an experiment to see how we'll fare on our own in university. Let's hope that Uncle and Aunt won't look like that when they come home:Haha. Tomorrow is Day 1 in the Non-adult Environment. Tune in tomorrow for more details. Going swimming tomorrow. By the way, I know how to float now in the foetal position. :)

"Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress." -Bruce Fairchild Barton (American author, advertising executive, and politician)

Deep Thoughts

Today I'm with the kiddies in church. It was really fun :D There were quite a few kids and they were all playing and things. One or two of them even came up to me voluntarily and I was like "Aww..!" Anyway, I found that children have as much of a personality as we do.

Yes yes, I know that we are supposed to know that children are still people, just smaller and not as able-bodied. But it is sometimes quite easy to forget that they are people and take them seriously when they only come up to your knee. And I have always known that children have personalities. Just have a little bit of problem trying to break of the stereotype that all children do is play and cry and eat. There was a new boy in today, because he can't talk yet and is still stumbling around a little, I should say his age is about 1+. Even though he can't talk, he is quite expressive with his eyes, and hand movements. From all of that, I can tell that he wants whatever his sister is playing and what he wants, he gets. His sister I must say has great patience for someone her age. I think I would have hit my little sister on the head should she dare to take my toys off me when I was that little.

Like I have been repeating over and over like a mantra, we can learn a lot from children. We could choose to have that insatiable curiosity and the never ending energy. Sure, our bodies will age but it doesn't say why our minds can't stay as curious as ever. In the logical way of course, I'm not asking you to lie down on the ground and cry and demand to be fed. Just be curious, and appreciate everything. From reading a few mother's blogs, I realized that their fascination with their babies and the joy they derive from them comes partially with looking at the world through their baby's eyes.

My childhood was filled with splashes of color that I would never forget. (Yes, I'm sure it's not all the colorful sweets I scoff down my little throat) Every time I think of my childhood, it will be filled with color, and the fascination of how things are. As much as I would like to stay in that time, I know that it is inevitable that all I could do to relive my childhood now, is to remember it. Time and tide waits for no man. Once this second is gone, it's over. Never to come back again. Does that not fill you with fear? That one day, you would have to shoulder the responsibilities of an adult and eventually lose the life you are currently living now. Maybe with me living in another country it's more apparent that I will eventually move out of Northern Ireland and I will perhaps never again be able to sleep in my room as if I was home. People change and most of the time, whether you like it or not, the change is irreversible.

I admit, I love life as it is now. And a little part of me wants it to stay this way forever. Where everything is predictable to a certain degree and safe. Forget about the adventures from Harry Potter and making magic. I think growing up should be enough of an adventure for me. A very scary adventure. At the age of 12, I used to think that I am already 'grown up' not knowing that the REAL growing up process with the real world is going to entail a whole lot of stress, failures, tears and losses. It is only with experience do we grow as people into (hopefully) responsible adults and as I once heard in a movie, you can only ever learn things the hard way.

I do believe that every second is to be cherished and reveled in, simply because you are there and you have the chance to be alive. Looking around on all the advertisements of people from around the world, the domestic arguments that one has seems to pale in comparison to what the people are feeling. Like my e-bay. I have put up two items for sale yesterday and both of them have not a single bid on them yet. I could throw a tantrum and get all stressed about it (as I normally do), or I can just go "Nah, I care, but not enough to get stressed. I can always put it up at a lower price."

I wonder how long I can keep this treasuring life thing before I have my next tantrum :P

"Life is like playing a violin solo in public and learning the instrument as one goes on." - Samuel Butler (a British writer strongly influenced by his New Zealand experiences)