Long time, No see.

Once again, a very long time since I last posted anything. Since posting last, I completed Ausan 1, (a sign language course) almost finished a Braille course, my horse ran through the fence, and I'm getting sick again!
We had 2 great weekends in Melbourne while doing the Auslan course. Sarah did it with me, so she came down both weekends, and Kath came down on the second weekend. On the second weekend we allwed ourselves an extra day to go shopping. Aunty Lynne dropped us at Chadstone shopping centre in the morning, and we spent a few hours in there. That place is phenomonal! I have never seen anything so huge! Miles upon miles of clothes shops. We picked up some linen sets at a really good price in Laura Ashley, I almost fell over in David Jones. We walked in, and I discovered the hard way that those floors are really slippery. My shoes don't have very good grip so I slid straight into Sarah, righted myself, and then slid again.

After Chadstone, Aunty Lynne took us to the Direct Factory Outlets (DFOs). That was fun! There were so many nice clothes there that were all really well priced.

All in all, we had a wonderful time in Melbourne, figured out the public transport system, and it was great to see Aunty Lynne and Uncle Bob again.

I am almost finished my Braille course, which has cost me a great deal of grief. I enjoy Brailling, but this course has been tough, and I fell a long way behind.
My horse, Luka, ran through a fence a week ago. She had escaped into the driveway, and I had gone to get her in again just as the cows were hunted up past her. I watched her freak out as the cows closed in on her, bolt down the road, through the fence into the ponies' paddock, and then panic some more as she realised there was a wire stuck around her front right leg. She ran back through the fence, shook the wire loose, and then settled enough for Mum to go up to her while I ran back to the house for her halter. We called Luka's old friend he vet, who came out and bandaged her leg up. She had also scratched her nose pretty bad, but that was alright.
Also went on a school excursion to the Ettamogah Sanctuary (now called Oz-e wildlife) with the Preps, 1's and 2's. I had a shocking headache all day, but still had lots of fun! We began the day by watching the peguins get fed, then wandered around to look at some unsociable emus, the more friendly deer, some dingos, an extremely playful wombat, some birds, and a few lizards. After Lunch we looked patted a snake, a blue tongue lizard, a shingleback lizard, and a bearded dragon. We then saw the koalas getting fed, which was really interesting. Finally we fed the kangaroos. Everyone loved this part! A couple of the roos had joeys. I let some of the kids take my camera, and they got some amazing photos! It was a great day.
Kath was shortlisted in the Elyne Mitchel Rural Womens writing award. We went to the presentation, where she won the door prize! We are all really proud of her for her effort.
Some pics:

A joey in it's mother's pouch. This photo was taken by one of the kids when we went to the sanctuary.

More roos

Me holding my very sedated horse after being patched up.

Kath at the Elyne Mitchel Rural Womens Writing award

A rainbow over the farm

Posting again after a very long break. Not as bad as last time! Been tired and stressed, but things are beginning to settle again now. Been tutoring, and one of the boys I tutor, Kurt, stays out some weekends. Last weekend he and my brother, Daniel, lit this fire.

It has been about three months since I blogged last. It is now really cold! We didn't end up doing anything for my 18th. We went down to Great-Grandpa's 90th, and then saw the other side of the family on Mother's day. I was really tired and stressed, and glad that we kept it quiet. On the Wednesday, when my B'day was, Mum and Grandma bought cupcakes into the school for recess. The Bursar also mad a really nicce cake for me as well. It was a good day. I went out for lunch with the teacher I work with, and we had a nice time.

We have friends staying in our house at Cudgewa, and every week we go back there to get togther with them and another family that comes up. I take the younger kids and do a "Sunday School" type lesson with them. I have been teaching them sign language, which they love! I love teaching them, despite not being very good at signing! They are a bright bunch of kids and they learn so quickly.

New Year

Wow, once more, a long time since I have blogged! I now have a paid job at the school, and am loving it! It is week 6 of term, and we only have about 4 weeks left. It is a really great job, and I am having fun! One of my sisters, Sarah, is volunteering Fridays at the school, and she loves it as well. Fridays are a lot of fun with here there.
She is sick now and I can feel myself coming down with it as well. I really don't want to get sick now! Too much to be done!
We are planning my 18th in May. We wrote down a rough guest list which came to 101 people! I know not everyone will come, but even so, it will still be a lot of people! It includes teachers at the school, rellies, and other friends. We have a lot of friends and Rellies! The reason it came to so many is because most of those people have big families.

That next day was awfull. I went to work and was so sick all day. I had the chills in the morning, and so spent the time in front of the heater. I had a shocking temperature in the afternoon. Everyone thought I was stupid for coming in, and everyone was probably right, but I didn't know that I was going to feel so awfull. Before I left for work I felt like I only had head cold, and was pretty good. I got to work and found out different. Anyway, I survived.
It's almost the end of term. I am so worn out. I have had a great time, and I will miss the kids and the teachers over the holidays. I can't wait till next year, whatever that may bring.

Haven't blogged in ages. I have got the flu, which means I am trying to rest up and I have plenty of spare time for the first time in ages. Yesterday was Tuesday, which meant a long day for me. Morning at the primary school, afternoon at the High school and then some tutoring to finish it off. By the time I got home, I was shaking like a leaf, I quickly came down with a temperature, my eyes were watering and I felt miserable. I had a cuppa, read some of my Bible, had a shower, crashed, and slept for an hour. When I woke up I had lost my voice completely (which I have partially regained this morning) and was using a lot of sign language. Sarah can understand Sign language pretty well, but everyone else only knows a few, so Sarah was my interpreter. I am working back at the school tomorrow, so I hope my voice improves.

My Aunty took us kids to the snow a couple of weeks ago, and taught us to ski. I was very slow, but didn't fall over much. Sarah was a better skier, much faster, but she fell over regularly. It was a beautiful day. We arrived at about 10:00, and caught the chairlift up to the nursery slopes. As I had my skis on for the first time at the chairlift, I had no idea how to stop myself, and therefore mad a complete mess of getting on. I ended up getting separated from everyone else and going up the chairlift by myself. I am kind of glad that I did, because although I have only been on a chairlift once before, I love riding on them. I love the feeling of being so high up and flying along, and looking at the scenery. The dismount off the lift was about as bad as getting on. With the help of one of the attendants I eventually was able to right myself and go in search of Aunty Jane, her friend Heidi, and my siblings. After being reunited we made our way to the nursery slopes. Standing at the top, I couldn’t help feeling relieved that it wasn’t nearly as steep as I thought it would be. The feeling of relief didn’t last too long, we pushed off down the slope, and all of a sudden I was no longer self propelled! My skis had a mind of their own and I had no idea how to stop! I managed to turn to the right so I was parallel to the slope and throw myself over. After returning to the upright position, with the help of Heidi, I was off again. Although the first run down was a disaster, and I was on the verge of tears, the second run wasn’t so bad. I felt a little envious of the 5 year olds who whizzed past os on their skis as we waited our turn to get on the conveyer belt back to the top of the slope. The third run was almost easy and by the fourth run, I knew I would never want the day to end. After 4 or 5 runs each, we somewhat reluctantly left the slope to head to our lessons. Aunty Jane and Heidi went skiing by themselves while we had our lessons. The lesson took about 2 hours, and by the end of them I was much more confident. After playing on the nursery slopes a bit longer with Heidi and Aunty Jane, we took some pictures and decided to test our skills on the slope back down the village.
“We’ll do Wombats ramble once too see how we go, and then we’ll do it again to head back home.” Was Aunty Jane's decree.
Well, doing it twice sounded good. I had no idea that I would end up doing 5 or 6 times before we left. The first time my legs ached by the time I was at the bottom, from snowploughing. I was basically braking all the way down. I fell for the last time that day on that run. I was about to crash into some trees, and all I could think about was the blokes who had been killed the weekend before from crashing into trees. I knew I wasn’t going fast enough to kill myself, but in a split second I decided that throwing myself over was still the better option. The second time down was great, and by the time I had completed the 5 or 6 runs down, I was reluctant to part with my skis. It was a great day.

Settling in

Since we have moved to the dairy farm, things are beginning to settle down. After 5 weeks of living in caravans, we are finally in a house, and we finally have internet again. The house is small, but seems huge after the caravans. I have my own room which I am thrilled about. No more sharing with my sisters. I am still volunteering at the school. I love working there. It is a lot of fun and I am learning so much, thanks to people who are taking time to help me. The course I am working on is going well. Hopefully should be finished in a few months.