Four weeks ago today, Jason boarded a plane and flew to England.

For four weeks, I've not kissed anyone other than my mum and grandma.

I went scale free for four weeks in August. (Well, from the 6th. Close enough.)

In four weeks time, I will be blissfully enjoying the school holidays.

And four weeks from now, I'll be four weeks closer to not being on my own anymore. Now that's something I can look forward to, wouldn't you say?

When I am asked what I notice first about the opposite sex, I have a couple of staple answers: I look at their eyes, to see if they are friendly. I look at their smile, to see what makes them laugh. I look at their butt, because . . . well, why not? But I've come to realise that I almost always leave a certain something off my reply list, even though it's a pretty darned important one.

I'm talking about their shoes.

I think that I'm fairly fussy when it comes to shoes. I used to work in a shoe store when I was at university and once upon a time I owned a fairly large collection of shoes. I happen to know there are some really ugly shoes out there, and so I can't help my eyes wandering to people's feet from time to time.

The first time I met Jason, I wasn't sure what to expect. For those who don't know, we were introduced randomly online, and despite chatting for months I had never seen a photo of him. Why not? I don't know. Maybe because I wasn't actively looking to find a partner on the internet, so I never thought to ask what he looked like. Besides, I developed a good old fashioned crush on him through his words, and not based on his looks. How many people can say that about their significant others? How we met is a story for another day, though. Let me backtrack to my first impressions.

As you may have expected, one of the first things I looked at were his shoes. Because honestly, most guys don't think much of their shoes - not as much as we ladies do anyway, I would hinge a bet. Luckily, Jason passed the test. He was wearing a pair of brown Colorado boat shoes, ones I recognised from my retail days. They're nice shoes that look very stylish under jeans or pants, all men should own a pair just like it. [Jumps off soapbox.] Jason finds my shoe fascination very amusing, but seriously; if he had been wearing a pair of scruffy, ugly shoes on our first date? I don't know what I would have done. Ack.

So, let me put the age old question on to you: What thing/things do you notice first when you're randomly meeting a person of opposing gender to yourself. What is it that makes you check those things out first? I don't have many male readers, but I'm very interested to see what you have to say!

"Miss S is like a friend to me."

Very sweet, oh yes.

Conveniently stated too, as we just discussed parent-teacher interview times.

Funny that.

Dear School Canteen,

Let me begin by thanking you for providing me with lots of fantastically fattening meals in the past, and for helping me fill up many a lunchtime with me stuffing my face. You also contributed to my fat stores, which have helped to keep me insulated over the winter months. I suppose I should thankyou for that, even if I am going through hell to try and remove it all from my midsection now.

We've had a pretty good relationship, you and I. Even if I have taken to avoiding walking past you, for fear of binging on chocolate milk and chicken nuggets. We get along fairly well. But I have to ask you to please . . . PLEASE, for the love of all things healthy, stop making your garlic scented chicken and rice stir-fries waft through my classroom door. It smells divine, while plastic wrap really does not.

You're making my cheese sandwich look a trifle miserable in comparison. Please cease yummy smells immediately, if you would be so kind.

Yours in nutrition,

Aly.

I've made a fair few mistakes when it comes to slips of the tongue in the past, particularly when I'm nervous. (Remember Lick Nachey, anyone?) I always figured I was just hopeless, but just yesterday I learned that my ability to mix words up and blurt out nonsense instead is genetic, and is all thanks to my hilarious dad.

After proudly showing him my tiny knitted wonky square, Dad had a bit of a chuckle and decided to pronounce that it was;

"Like a thumper for your jum."

Go ahead and decipher it for me. I'm too busy rolling around on the floor imagining his confused expression after he'd said it. Hee.

When I first went to high school, I'd like to think I was pretty cluey about my studies. I loved to read, I loved to write and I enjoyed learning about things I was interested in, particularly anything to do with history. But when it came to anything practical, I was a little like Hermione Granger without a spellbook: nervous, antsy and paranoid. Unlike dear Hermione though, who eventually managed to be brilliant in all areas, I really WAS hopeless. Cooking class? Oh dear. Woodwork class? Ha! Metalwork class? Don't even get me started on that one.

If there was one thing I learned from my seventh grade Textiles class (that we were forced to take, I might add) it was that I have the skill of a toddler when it comes to anything needlework. I remember one of our assessment items was to create a pencilcase out of fabric, the fussiest part being attaching the zipper using a sewing machine. It was fairly simple to most of my classmates, even those who hadn't sewn before. But to my horror and embarrassment, I was completely awful at it. I don't even remember what the final product looked like, but you can bet that it was a shocker. Am sure that my Textiles teacher graded me with much amusement.

I simply cannot sew. Or knit. Or even hold a needle and thread properly.

Most people think I'm exaggerating when I say I can't do these things. Haven't I ever stitched a button on a coat before? The answer is yes, however it wasn't done very well. I could barely even thread a sewing needle, and my idea of stitching on a button was to just keep looping the thread through the holes enough to make sure it wouldn't fall off again anytime soon. As for knitting? Let's just say I won't be creating any woolen masterpieces any time soon.

Since my grandma has been staying up here for the weekend after a short stint in hospital, I decided to make use of her domestic skills and have her teach me how to knit. Unlike her clutzy granddaughter, nanna is a whiz with needles. I'm sad I didn't get those genes from her and am hoping they will be passed down to the next generation of kids in our family, should I ever have them. I'd hate for them to be stuck with me trying to teach them, poor things.

Having agreed to help out, I got my trusty "learn to knit" kit out and joined her on the lounge. My first knitting project was to knit a scarf some kids booties a fancy jumper a really tiny square. That's it. A puny little square, nothing fancy. 'Pah!' I says to myself. 'A square! I can do that. No worries.'

Nan proceeded to give me a walk through of how to cast on to the needle and where to go next. She did that again. And again. And a few times more, after watching me stare blankly at the knitting needles. Eventually I moved on to doing some myself, but because I am a fussy wee thing, I'd unravel it all and start over if it got messy. And let's face it, it got messy fairly quickly. And that was only with 12 stitches!

After ditching my attempts for a few hours, I brought out the needles again to settle in for a night of keeping my grandma company. I figured it would be nice and companionable; me knitting my square (!), nan doing some crochet work, and the television blaring away in the background. It didn't quite turn out that way though. Replace the companionable silence with exclamations like 'Bugger!', 'Crap! I lost it again!', 'Bloody wool!' and 'Nan ... help!' and you'd have a fairly good idea of what was going on in my lounge room. Good times were had by all.

I do have a nice mini square now, though it isn't exactly symmetrical. It's also a little frayed at the edges, due to my frequent habit of ripping it all off and starting again. But you know what? It's a square all the same. A square that I knitted, all mostly by myself. If only my Textiles teacher could see me now . . .

I've gone from being completely motivated to completing items off "The List", to slouching around in the afternoons feeling lazy. Such a change of heart in such a short time, it's a bit of a worry! I figured I'd refresh my memory about some of those items, and see what opportunities I'll have coming up in the coming weeks.

Exercising? Well, I've been fairly good, but I can say for certain it hasn't been done on 25 days this month. I've kept on blogging every day, which is to be expected. Yada Yada Yada. I don't shutup that easily. I'll be stalking Kirby again in a few weeks to see Snow Patrol in concert, so that's killing two birds with one stone. (Writing that expression just made me realise exactly how much I HATE that expression. Poor birds. Why would people want to kill them, anyway?)

Moving along . . . I did manage to save $2000 this month, which is fantastic. I was about ready to apply for my UK Visa, but Jase suggested leaving it another month, so I'll follow his advice and wait a little longer. I had a room clean-out a few weeks ago, and there's not really much else I can do until I'm closer to moving out, so there's another dead end. I'm going scale free until September 1st, so I have no idea what my weight is, but judging by the size of my belly from this angle? It hasn't changed a great deal. And I haven't really got any plans to head out anywhere, at least not until the next school holidays arrive.

In fact, about the only exciting thing I can think of involves a new friend of mine. Her name's Kelly, and we met through a weight loss blogging community a couple of months ago. My greatest achievement so far, has been convincing her to start her own wordpress blog, which you should all stop by and visit.

Kel has even started her own version of "The List" (also complete with speech marks) and is helping me out on one of my items: The dreaded colour pink. In case you're not aware, I'm not a fan of anything pink. I usually get looks of shock when I announce this, because apparently all blondes should be wearing pink, but I've just never liked it. I have precisely one pink item in my cupboard, and I certainly didn't buy it for myself. Kel has made it her mission to pinkify me, and is going to send me a little something in my favourite shade. The rules? I have to wear it out in public and take a photograph of myself while doing so. I'm excited (and a little nervous) about what she's got in store for me, and can't wait!

As for the technical part of this post, I've had a few people email me and let me know that they are having trouble seeing my blog being updated via Bloglines & Google Reader. I've recently registered my blog with Feedburner so if you are having any trouble, I would recommend removing my ramblings from your reader and re-adding it.

If you're wondering why your Readers are telling you that I've gone quiet all of a sudden, just remember: I'm the Aussie freak who posts every day. Chances are they've just gone crazy, as they tend to do sometimes. They're a wonderful invention, but can be very fickle wee things at times.


Since I know a few of you are addicted to coffee, make sure you pay a visit to the Oracle of Starbucks. I have to admit, he's pretty all-seeing and all-knowing, he got me down to a tee: "You don't go to Starbucks much; when you do you just tag along with other people since you have nothing better to do. You would like to order a Tazo Chai Crème but don't know how to pronounce it. Most people who drink Tall Caramel Macchiato are strippers." It's true. I really don't visit Starbucks much. And I am a stripper. What does the Oracle say about you?

When you're trying to lose weight, simple things seem to require a lot more thinking than usual. You start to plan ahead when it comes to food choices, you have to think about your options when you have a day out and you experience good and bad feelings based on what you eventually decide to put in your mouth.

To sum it up? You have food on the brain. Always. In great detail. Mmm. Food.

It's one thing to change your lifestyle in day to day terms. But being on a diet while you're working with primary school kids? It's just plain torture.

Growing up, I remember having a sandwich, some sort of muesli bar, fruit and bottled cordial in my lunchbox. Ha! You should see some of the things these kidlets have in their lunchboxes! They have several different kinds of lollies, chocolates and cake bars. I've even seen cans of soft drink brought to school! Don't even get me started on the canteen. They have a whole lot of healthy options, but the favourites are still the meat pies, the hot dogs, the hash browns and the chicken nuggets. How's a well-rounded teacher supposed to stay healthy with all of these kids ordering sweet-smelling (and highly fattening) lunch orders?

I'm being good. I'm eating my packed lunch of fruit, yoghurt and a sandwich . . . But damned if I haven't been craving a hot dog all day long.

I've spent a fair amount of time over the past few weeks perusing blogs and seeking as much information as I could get my hands on, for the sheer sake of borrowing creative genius. It seems that when it comes to blogging, we tend to fall into a particular category. I'm not just talking about the standard blogging genres, because I don't believe I 'fit' into any in that respect anyway; I blog about education, I blog about myself & I blog about odds and ends. Categorise me where you so desire. No, what I'm talking about is how seriously we take our blogging.

While I will stand by the fact that I began this particular blog because of hilarious writer's like Amalah, I wasn't doing so for fame or fortune of my own. If you have, for some bizarre reason, ever taken the time to go through my archives, you'll notice that for months I had practically no readers at all. Except for my Mother, bless her cotton socks. (And after reading back over some of the dribble that I came up with in 2006, I'm surprised that I have any readers at all right now. Completely cringe-worthy.) So blah blah, I didn't start this blog for popularity; it was more like a way of me writing every day, even if those days didn't contain anything newsworthy. Once I pick a challenge, I usually stick with it.

Thanks to the wonder that is the internet, I've made my fair share of blogging friends. In fact, when something of note happens, I tend to scramble for the keyboard to blog and/or email you all, because sharing with you seems equally important as sharing to the people who surround me in reality. (Ha, in reality. That makes you all sound like figments of my imagination. Hello? Are you really there?) In regards to what I write, the content itself is all over the place. I would like to say that I don't censor my writing for anybody, but that would be a lie. I'm very aware of who reads my blog. I'm very aware that I'm unaware of people who read my blog. And so I do keep things censored, and steer away from certain topics. Them's the breaks for not being anonymous, and for keeping things 'real'.

As you can see, I'm doing a wonderful job of my usual trick today; rambling on and getting off track. Just a few paragraphs ago, I was discussing the seriousness of blogging. But what exactly does that mean? I don't actually know. Let me have a stab at figuring this one out.

There are the popular bloggers; ones with an insane amount of readers, the ones that are common place on our blogrolls and are well-known amongst the rest of us. Then there are blogs who fall in the middle; they still value their blogs and take care of how they look, and are happy with their fabulous, if a little smaller circle of friends. (Of course, they always welcome new visitors, too.) And then there are blogs for people who just plain enjoy having their own space of the internet to call home, unconcerned with who reads them, how many comments their posts recieve and what their site statistics happen to be on a certain day. Which of these do you think you fall into?

I think for the time being, I'm an 'on the fence' blogger. I do secretly experience thrills of pride when I see myself on a new blogroll or when I make a new blogging friend, but if there suddenly became a rule where your current readership was frozen forever? I'd be happy with what I've got. As for my writing, well, I have my days. I'm happy enough posting a random quote from one of the kidlets one day, followed by a deep and meaningful post about the future the next. Nothing like a little variation, and besides - that's life. All over the place.

But does all that mumbo-jumbo make me serious about my blogging? I think it does.

I blog every day. Regardless of the content, I try to ensure that my posts contain good grammar. I use spell check before posting. I punctuate fairly well, if you ignore my overuse of commas and exclamation marks, but that's a story for another day. I enjoy recieving comments from readers who have enjoyed what I've posted about, or simply want to join in on the topic at hand. I'm fussy with my sidebar, and currently love my text-based template. Checking the blogs of my stalkeriffic friends is something I do daily.

Blogging is simply a part of my routine, including in my lunch breaks.

What are your thoughts? Do you think you are serious about blogging?

I know I'm seriously addicted, in any case. And wouldn't have it any other way.

I have a whole stack of things I could blog about today, but not a smidgen of energy to type them all out. As much as I'll whinge about it later, I'm actually looking forward to the weather turning warmer; freezing in the playground during lunch-duty is definitely not my idea of a good time! Even finding the motivation to get dressed into gym clothes instead of fluffy pyjamas once I'm home from work is proving to be difficult. What's a girl to do?

So, what is the remedy to this lazy situation? Why, borrowing other people's brains, of course. And as Lara says, stealing is a great form of flattery. And yes, I do happen to be nabbing the following bits & pieces from her blog. Drop by and say hi!

Am bringing memes-back. [Yeah.] Starting with Blogging Tips.

It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a star (*) beside those you like. Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends! Just think- if 10 people start this, the 10 people pass it onto another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn. * http://www.neonscent.com/
2. Be, EXCELLENT to each other. http://www.bushmackel.com/
3. Don’t let money change ya! http://www.therandomforest.info/
4. Always reply to your comments. * http://chattiekat.com/
5. Link liberally— it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati * http://chipsquips.com/
6. Don’t give up - persistence is fertile. http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/
7. Give link credit where credit is due. ** http://www.sfsignal.com/
8. Pictures say a thousand words and can usually add to any post. ** http://scifichick.com/
9. Visit all the bloggers that leave comments for you - it’s nice to know who is reading! *** http://stephaniesbooks.blogspot.com/
10. When commenting on others’ blogs, a few kind words go a long way. ***
http://shelflifeblog.blogspot.com
11. Don’t limit yourself to reading only where you think your interests are; blogging can add infinitely to one’s knowledge base. *http://dolcebellezza.blogspot.com/
12.Don’t write a book and consider writing text that equals 2 minutes of reading. Some of us have short attention spans and can’t handle reading a 10 page paper in a web browser. Pictures sometimes say it better than words. ( I know someone else already said it, but it was a good hint) http://www.missteacha.com
13. Blogging should never be a chore - if it's not fun anymore, something needs to change! * http://laradavid.blogspot.com
14. Don't steer clear of blogging about 'the everyday' things; you'd be surprised just how interesting that can be to other people. www.breathe-gently.blogspot.com

As for Meme #2, well, you'll catch on to it pretty quickly!
Also taken from Lara's blog.

1. You wake up in the morning. What time is it probably?
The first time I wake up is at 5:45am. Here I usually fumble around for my mobile phone and reset the alarm for 6:30am. This is when I usually stumble out of bed and pry my eyelids open using toothpicks.

2. You get yourself some breakfast. What do you make?
Lately I've been making sure I eat breakfast, I used to skip it more than I should have. It's either toast with vegemite, or two weetbix with warm milk.

3. Someone calls you on the phone. Who do you want it to be?
I never (NEVER) get phone calls in the morning, so I hope it isn't an emergency. I could hope it would be J calling from England, just to say hello.

4. You turn on the TV for a bit. What channel do you put it on?
The Comedy Channel. Usually I can find something amusing to watch while I scoff my breakfast and try to keep warm.

5. You have some time to kill before you leave. What do you do?
Check on the bunnies to make sure they have food & water.

6. You go and have a shower. How long does it take you?
I'm a fast shower-er-er-er. Usually 5-10 minutes, depending on whether I'm shaving my legs or washing my hair. See? Quick!

7. You decide to get yourself ready for your day. How long does it take?
5 minutes to get the majority of water out of my hair, a couple of minutes to get dressed and brush my teeth. Low maintainence, all the way.

8. You put on some makeup. What do you put on?
I don't really wear makeup, rarely to work. If I am getting glammed up (!) for some reason, I'd put on a layer of tinted moisturiser, usually a little mascara and some lip balm. Of course, now that my lashes are tinted, I don't even need that!

9. You’re ready to leave. What do you take out with you?
Just my handbag. With food for recess & lunch breaks, too.

10. How long does it take you to get to work?
Takes me between 20-25 minutes, depending on traffic lights.

11. What is the first thing you do when you get to work?
Sign in at work, check my in-tray and then wander down to the classrooms. Once in there, I usually just potter around my room and get set up for the day ahead - planning the day's activities, having any notes or sheets ready, and make sure that I can actually find my desk under all of the crap that is thrown on top of it.

12. Do you take part in office gossip/water cooler talk?
How about just staff room talk? I'll participate if I have something to say, or else I'll just sit quietly and listen. Fly on the wall, you know.


13. Anything particularly annoying about each work day?
Kidlets that don't listen. It's really starting to grate on my nerves.

14. What’s the best part of the day?
I love the moments in class where one of the kidlets will actually get the gist of something you're teaching them. Seeing the imaginary light-bulb flash on is very rewarding, especially since in my integration class, it doesn't happen often.

15. Do you usually leave on time or stay late? Take any work home with you?
Last year I was busy doing accreditation, documenting a huge project. Since I completed that, I'm spending less time at school after hours. Most work that I take home is generally related to my teaching program, or any special things I need to have done.

16. The boss calls to tell you that don’t have to work, and you’re free for a whole day. What do you do?
Dude. Not going to happen. Why go and get my hopes up? I'd spend my day at home in bed, and wouldn't get out of my pyjamas.

17. With whom would you want to spend the day?
Jason. Although considering I only have the one day off, and that a flight to London takes about 24 hours, I don't quite think that would work.

18. You go to the store to get some snackage, but it turns out you can only buy one thing there. What do you buy?
Maybe a loaf of bread? You can do lots with a loaf of bread.

19. You’re walking down the street and you find a magic lamp that grants you 3 wishes. What do you wish for?
First things first, I would second Lara's wish for a never-ending supply of money. I'd also wish that all vegetables could taste like junk food & all junk food would have no calories. And I'd wish for a never-ending pack of TimTams.

20. You meet a man who says he will give you your dream job, what is it?
It would be writing a novel of my choice in a pretty cottage in the country.

21. You can choose any concert of any singer/band in the world; whose do you go to?
Lifehouse & The Goo Goo Dolls. (I can put them both, because they recently toured together, so I'd just go to that concert.) Lifehouse mean more to me than most people will ever imagine, and I adore the Goos music. Plus, Johnny is hot.


22. You get home & there’s a check for $50,000 in the mail for you. On what would you spend it?
I'd put it in a high interest savings account and try not to touch it.

23. You get to bring back anyone from the dead, famous or not. Who would it be?
Dumbledore. (Nitwick, Blubber, Oddball, Tweek.)

24. You get to interview your favorite celebrity. Who is it, and what would you ask him/her?
I really don't have a favourite celebrity. No idea on this one. (Honestly!)

25. You get to see into the future but you can only find out one thing about your future life. What would you want to find out?
If I'm going to be happy & content.

26. At the end of your perfect day, you go on a perfect date; describe it.
Heading out to dinner somewhere special but not overly fancy, driving somewhere pretty, listening to music, and lots of talking and cuddling. (And maybe a little bling thrown in there, for good measure.)