It's 11pm.

ON A SCHOOL NIGHT.

Meaning I am up way past my usual teacher bedtime of 9pm. (Am a granny.)

Why is this important? Just means that everybody needs to ooh and aah over the cute wee sloth, and pretend that this is actually a real post. With written words and everything.

Give it a shot. You can do it.

There are some days when the only thing you want to do is get away from it all.

In October I pushed myself too far with my jogging and ended up straining my shins and ankles, so I cut right back. It's incredible how only a few weeks off the exercise bandwagon can make such a huge difference in your fitness: getting back into my routine has not been easy. And my efforts haven't been anywhere near as successful as they were a few months ago. Suffice it to say I've been feeling a bit down on myself, especially as some of the kilos have started creeping back on me, and I've been feeling less than psyched about myself.

It seemed that my usual 'treadmill after work' timeslot wasn't working for me anymore, so I switched to setting my alarm earlier and attempting to do some walking before my morning shower. Sadly, that didn't work either; I'd wake up, turn off the alarm, and go back to sleep. So I'm not a morning person, I'm not an afternoon person, what's a girl to do? Come home in my 20 minute lunchbreak? Everything got completely out of whack.

Feeling like I've let myself down is the worst feeling. I had built up this idea in my head that by the time I moved to England, I would be fit and healthy and well, trim. Even after the hard work I've put in over the past few months, I'm still not that person. I don't know if I'll ever be that person. And I have this horrible feeling that my being the same old shape, the same old person, is going to let other people down too.

I don't know. I'm thinking too much today, about a whole stack of things that have been going on here at home and in my mind. This afternoon, I spent a little bit of time downloading some new tunes onto my Ipod. I changed into my work out clothes. I headed downstairs. I sat on the lounge and stared at the treadmill for a fairly long time, wishing that just being in the same room as exercise equipment could burn off the calories.

Eventually I stepped up and got on with it. Ninety minutes and ten kilometres later, I got off. Sweating like a pig. Uncomfortably chafed under the armpits. Wobbly in the legs. Happy. Proud. Feeling good. This is why I need to deal with my issues. This is why I need to just get on the damn treadmill and walk away the stress. Now comes the trickier part: convincing myself that it's not a chore, making sure that I'm doing this for the right reasons, and not being so damned hard on myself all of the time. I have a long way to go.

When things have you worried, how do you get away from it from it all?

(The title doesn't have quite the same ring as "vampire" does, but it'll do!)

Today's random chatter comes from two lovely ladies who I stalk via my feed reader: LaLa @ Julaberry, and Lacey @ Perks of Being a JAP. The first part are tell-all interview questions which I'll take a shot at answering, and the second is one of those musical memes that I've been eyeballing this week and finally decided to do. Three memes in two days? I know. I know. Do you think you can still love me, even after this treachery? I promise to give you a real post.. tomorrow, if all goes well.

1. If you were in a beauty pageant what would your talent be and how would you demonstrate it? First of all, there is no way in hell I would ever be in a beauty pageant - because this is one Aussie who you definitely do not want to see in swimmers. Trust me on that one. Sadly though, I don't really have a talent. I'd like to say I could sing or twirl a baton or walk on my hands or something, but I'll stick to the facts; am talentless. I suppose that getting a class of seven year olds to settle down and get to work would be called a talent by some people? (Never seen screaming children at a beauty pageant before, though.)

2. In your wild “yoof” (or perhaps even now) did you have a pulling outfit and what did it consist of? Oh ha, a pulling outfit. Too funny! Considering I've never actually succeeding in "pulling" anyone, I'm going to assume that my outfits suck. I always thought that nice jeans and a pretty top were a good go-to, but at the moment? I don't own a single nice dressy top that I adore. It's a wee bit sad.

3. If you were a piece of furniture, what would you be and why? I would be a bed. Everyone needs to get into bed. Everyone loves to get into bed. And you could dress me in pretty, pretty patterns. Sounds like a plan.

4. If you won 10 million dollars (or pounds) in the Lotto, what would be the first five things you would do with your money? Well, I'd be hoping it were 10 million pounds, as that would be about 25 million Aussie dollars with the exchange rate.

1. I would help my parents pay off their house.
2. I would buy myself a house, and keep enough to live comfortably.
3. I would donate money to charities which I find important, especially animal ones.
4. I would take time off work and travel the world like a crazy person.
5. And then I would come home and make good investments with the rest.

5. Best drunk story? Is it sad that I don't really have a best drunk story? I didn't touch alcohol until I was 19 and on my first Contiki tour of Europe. I suppose the drunkest I've been would have been that first night I ever really drank, in Nice. I remember being in an Aussie pub and being nice to the bar-maid, who in turn brought us free shots. I remember exclaiming random statements like "How am I going to fit all of that into my mouth?". I remember stumbling up the stairs to the loo, giggling like an idiot and making people braid my hair because I was hot. And after that? I remember nothing. Not a thing. Earlier this year though, I was sent random pictures from an old Contiki mate: this is the photographic evidence of that fateful evening. (Luckily I had Jase to hold me upright & get me home.)

My skinny (back then) arse was camera shy whilst skulking home. Either that, or the person taking the photograph was also incredibly drunk. Possibly a combination.



That's enough incriminating evidence of my youthful drunkeness for one blog post, so let's move right along. You know how it goes: Put music on shuffle, answer the question, write the song name down NO MATTER WHAT, yada yada.

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Beautiful Lie - 30 Seconds to Mars (You lie! You lie!)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Outside - Staind (That works. I'm on the outside, I'm looking in..)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Feeling This - Blink 182 (Phwoar. Let's not beat around the bush.)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Over My Head - The Fray (Reports. School. Home stuff. Moving. Argh.)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Songbird - Eva Cassidy (Really? I'm meant to be a singer?)

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Here is Gone - Goo Goo Dolls (Beautiful motto. I love it.)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
New Deep - John Mayer (I've been called lots of things, deep not being one.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Everybody - Britney Spears (Will you still be my friend if like Britney?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Hold Me - Savage Garden (I miss me some cuddles.)

WHAT IS 2+2?
Colorblind - Counting Crows (2+2 is colorblind? Who knew?)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Omaha - Counting Crows (Maybe my best friend will move there one day.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
So I Need You - 3 Doors Down (Eerie but true.)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Do You Believe Me? - Juliana Theory (I promise I'm truthful.)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Play With Fire - Hilary Duff (My lifelong ambition is out: I want to be a pyro.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
When Morning Comes - Dishwalla (I wonder what they look like in the morning?)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Run - Snow Patrol (This is sort of fitting, what with my move and all.)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
50 Candles - Boyz II Men (Wait, this is my sexy song. Should be after wedding!)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Get You In - Better than Ezra (Get me in.. the ground?)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Friday - Craig David (Fridays always interest me. Relax day.)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
City Love - John Mayer (Meh. I do not love the city. I do not get out much.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Silence - Sarah McLachlan/Delerium (Shuddup your face.)

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
I Caught Fire - The Used (What is it with me and fire today....?)

Ha! I laugh in the face of NaBloPoMo! And also at the "Bra" sign behind J's head.

Seeing as though the only thoughts swirling around my head today are "RA RA RA 29 DAYS RA RA RA", "Mmm, chocolate" and "Look! Shiny!", I figure it's acceptable for me to admit defeat and post a meme for today's post. Besides you never know, you may just learn something new about me while you're here. Hoorah!

Four First Names of Crushes I Had

1. Grant (I don't remember much of him, or hell, even what he looked like, but I do remember the crush. Ahem. It was kindergarten.)


2. Peter (The primary school love of my life.)


3. Jimmy (Also primary school. I was a crush whore.)


4. Adrian (Ah, he was my next door neighbour and SO cute. Phwoar.)

Four Pieces of Clothing I Wish I Still Owned

1. My Lee & Wrangler jeans. Who knew they'd end up cool?


2. Silver sparkly Chuck Taylors. Why did I give them away.. why?


3. Overalls. Long, daggy, denim overalls. Bless! I miss them!


4. The slinky pink spaghetti strap dress I used to fit into.

Four Professions I Secretly Want to Try

1. I want to write. (Not sure what yet, but I would love to do it.)


2. Psychology/Counselling. (If I do one more year of uni, I am qualified.)


3. Dogwasher. (Kirby is my hero.)


4. Stay at home mum. (This one won't be happening for a while)

Four Musicians I’d Most Want to Go On a Date With

1. Jason Wade from Lifehouse (And I hope he would sing to me.)


2. John Mayer (As above)
   


3. Johnny Rzeznik from the Goo Goo Dolls (I love the letter "J".)


4. Isaac from the Fray (As above. I'm so original.)

Four Foods I’d Rather Throw Than Eat

1. Any seafood (Fish included. Gross.)


2. Raw tomatoes (Blech!)
   


3. Strawberries (I have to be in the right mood to eat them.)


4. Licorice (Hate, hate, hate.)

Four Things I Like to Sniff

1. Cakes baking.


2. Fragonard & Be Delicious perfumes.


3. My dogs, after they've been washed.


4. Jason. (One more month until I can sniff him again.. that sounds wrong.)

This one has been making it's way around the blogosphere, so feel free to nab it.

The countdown is on, my friends.

There are exactly 30 days until Christmas.

If that alone wasn't terrifying enough, that means that there are exactly 30 days until I'm moving. Out of the country. To a foreign country. One that is cold.

It's pretty scary how fast these past few months have gone. It feels like I was only just saying goodbye to Jason at the airport, wondering how I was going to cope being on my own for months on end. And here I am, months later, counting down the days until I leave.

Only one more month! 30 days total. 20 school days. 4 weekends. Yipes.

I suppose it's only fitting to post something randomly English?

Stop, press: I've discovered a new time-waster on the internet.

[Gasp!]

I'm not going to say much about it, but instead will post a few images and give you the link, so that next time you have a few minutes to kill, you can visit at your leisure. The site is Left-Handed Toons. All of the cartoons featured on there have been drawn by people using their non-dominant hand - I love it. Think I should use this idea on my kidlets at school and see what they came up with. (I do wonder if this will be like my Threadless tees though, where nobody thinks they're amusing except for me. And some of you.) Ah, well. I think it's classic!

I have so much school work to do in the next few weeks, it's not funny. Writing reports, tallying student absences, writing in student record cards, assessing the kidlets, filling in continuums of student achievement, my head! My room looks like a bomb has gone off, and I've barely gotten around to doing anything resembling either packing or organising. To be able to pay off my USA holiday & flights before I leave, I need to get my taxes organised and head to an accountant with my family. And if I see one more stinking advertisement about the federal election tomorrow, I may explode - and for the love of all things good, don't vote for Howard (or should I say Costello?) As for me, I have a hot date tonight; with my pj's, some packing crates & season eight of ER. Hoping you all have a wonderful Friday!

When it's raining at school, the kidlets are kept inside for recess and lunch breaks - leaving them with little else to do than play games and act like lunatics draw. This morning, I was given a gift by one of my kidlets. Turns out that he had found some paper with a "Draw your teacher" box, followed the instructions and had created a sketch which he wanted me to have. Looking back, I should have been nervous, since it was about this time that he and his friends burst into fits of giggles.

This is why: [You'll need to click to enlarge, it'll take you to Flickr.]



Apparently, I'm not 23. I'm really a scary looking seventy year old woman. Or a pointy nosed witch. With Harry Potter spectacles. (In my defense, my lasered eyeballs are glasses free and just fine. Those were my sunglasses perched on top of my head.)

My eyebrows appear rather terrifying, and despite what it looks like, I promise I wasn't smoking in my classroom. The man hands though, those are real. Can't argue with that. Bloody genetics.


Also note the bulging arm muscles, lopsided bosom and veiny neck. The growth on my elbow is a wee bit scary. Kid's got an eye for detail.

I was suitably distressed after checking the portrait out, but did a good job of masking my horror with a "Wow, great job!" A few minutes later, I realised I was still holding the picture in my hand with a death grip, so decided to take it further. I asked him if he thought I really looked like this, to which he snickered and mentioned something about being far away, bad lighting and not being able to get a good look. (Who knew I was raising precious little artists in my classroom?)

He asked if he could re-draw the portrait, and I told him that if it was raining that afternoon, we could stay inside and do some creative drawing. Lo and behold, it was pouring - time for drawing. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.) The kidlets were happy enough doing this, so I set them all the challenge of drawing other people as portrait shots. A few others jumped on the bandwagon as well.

Here are the results of my rainy afternoon of sketching with the kidlets. I'm going to put my commentary for each picture in a random order first, and it's up to you to match it to the appropriate picture. I'm sure you'll figure it out!

1. Cartoon-style, big cleavaged, vampire-fanged Aly.


2. Aly on profile, with elvish ears, a receding hairline, one heck of a raised eyebrow, hypnotic eyeballs, and a little man dangling from her keychain. (Look!)


3. Slightly sunburned, double jointed and lopsided caricature of Aly.

4. Aly the tart, with a red pout, an excessive amount of blush, a watch halfway up her arm, PEARLS, and a skanky nightgown with one shoulder strap suggestively falling down. (Try not to be distracted by the floating bubbles with my surname floating around my head. This is ART, folks.)

5. Terrifying, devoid of soul, wrinkly & nekkid looking Aly.

6. Scary, tribal-masked, voodoo Aly hanging on a washing line.

A few days ago, I brought up a common argument that has been ongoing in my household for years, entitled "The Photograph that Sparked a War".

While I wait patiently for you to check out the link to refresh your memories, I'll just summarise it briefly for those of us who are lazy short on time:

Cute chihuahua. Doggy sized t-shirt. Completely adorable photograph. Full frontal doggy bits. Photography debate. Sibling rivalry. I win. He loses. Life goes on.


Judging from the comments in the last post, the general consensus was that because the picture is of the utmost awesomeness, it must have been me with the mad photography skillz, yo. (Actually, I just made that up because it sounded good. We still have no idea who took the picture, and probably never will.)

This afternoon, I opened my an email from my Mum, and found this waiting for me:



You know what? She's totally right .... but I still took the damn picture, already.

Every few months, my favourite store for online shopping has a sale, causing me to break my budget and buy some cute and quirky shirts I don't really need. I'm not a big shopper though, so I figure that splurging every once in a while is okay.

Yep, it's the Threadless $10 sale again, just in time for Christmas. And as per usual, I've decided to indulge by nabbing myself some tee's. Anyone who's been reading these parts for a while will know that I'm addicted to them, as I find it amusing how most people just don't get the humour behind the designs. (Like this time.)

You might recognise some shirts on the website. The famous noun shirt that shows off my inner nerd. The alphabet shirt that I love wearing to school. The starry shirt I wear to concerts which gives me a glow in the dark bosom. The awesome evil bunnies shirt which makes me giggle. The scrabble shirt whose label reads 'well that just really sucks'. Plus just a couple more. I'm a trifle addicted. I love them.

What's that.. you want to click some more to see today's purchases? Alrighty! Here's what I nabbed for myself today, in a semi-boob squishing Girly XL:

Insomnia
Three Plus... One
So Far This Is The Oldest I've Ever Been
Tragedy Struck
A Key for Everything


If you're up for doing some shopping for gifts or for yourself, you should definitely check the sale out. And if you feel like purchasing, you could always click on my referral link while you're at it. Just think, not only are you nabbing yourself a bargain, you'd be helping contribute to the "Keep Aly Clothed" fund.

Happy shopping!