Friday Funny

Another one I found in my email. Monorail Cat is a legend ;)

Nine Inch Nails

Recently, I volunteered to be a nail model for a friend of a friend who is doing a nail technician course. So I got a free set of French nails.

Now those who know me know I'm not really girly. I don't wear heaps of makeup, I don't spend a fortune on my hair and I keep my nails so short all the time, partly because I got used to it after playing netball for many years. I really don't care less about my nails as long they're not in really bad shape or have enough dirt for a garden underneath them. You'd never see me in one of those express nail salons.

I had a manicure for Emma's wedding and it was weird being so careful with my hands. I did manage to chip one within a few hours and patched it up with liquid paper (classy...not!). The whole time I just couldn't stand having longer nails and longed to take the nail clippers to them. And to think some people don't reckon I'll make a very good farmer's wife ;)

Crystal (the chick doing the nail course) did a great job for her first time and my nails looked the classiest they'd ever looked. Yesterday she did the rebalance because my real nail was starting to show under the acrylic but she only had time to do one hand. Tonight she came around and removed them.

Despite my hands looking very posh, I initially found it very frustrating having to be careful washing the dishes or doing gardening. I couldn't pick things and undoing the clasps on my necklaces was difficult. Plus I was forever getting stuff stuck under them. But after about three weeks I was fairly used to them.

Even though I'm definitely not a nails person, I've volunteered to help her again when she next needs a model. Maybe next time I'll ask for claws ;)

Get On Your Soapbox #7

I've had my fair share of rants on this blog so I decided it's high time I jumped on the bandwagon of a worthy cause. But first I want to let you all know some good news....

In this post, I mentioned I'd been for a skin cancer check and was awaiting test results. The doctor told me no news was good news and, if she was going to call, it would be after about a week.

Well, it's been over three weeks and she hasn't called. So that must mean good news! I still have to go back in February to get another mole checked so please keep praying for that.

Now I want to encourage you all to be 'sun smart' and go and get a skin cancer check. It only cost me $55 and you get $32 back from Medicare. It doesn't take long and it could save your life!

I'm too busy
NO EXCUSE!
I don't have the cash
I'M SURE A FRIEND WOULD LEND YOU SOME
None of my moles/freckles look dodgy
YOU'RE NOT AN EXPERT

In the words of Nike - JUST DO IT!

I know it's trendy to have a tan. But no tan is worth dying for. I'd rather be white and alive than tanned and risk getting skin cancer. Don't have the 'it won't happen to me' attitude.

Please...please be sun smart this summer.

Interview With Sarah

Got this off Scott from Scott's Simple Life.

1. What time is it? 3:30pm
2. What is your full name? I'm not putting that on the web! Someone could Google me ;)
3. What are you most afraid of? Physical pain
4. Place of birth? Perth, Australia
5. Favourite food? CHOCOLATE! (silly question!)
6. Your natural hair colour? Light brown
7. Have you travelled? Just in WA and Victoria. Yet to go overseas.
8. Do you scrunch or fold toilet paper? Scruncher
9. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yep, all my loved ones. I cry when I think about/see them dying, going through hard times or changing for the worse/being influenced negatively by others.
10. Been in a car accident? One. It was one of the scariest incidents in my life. My friend Kate and I were driving to the video store two years ago and were going around a corner on a green arrow. Some idiot came flying through a red light, smashed into us, hitting the car just behind me and then drove off and left us there. The car did a 180 turn and ended up with $9000 worth of damage. We were okay apart from whiplash and shock but the tool who hit us was never caught.
11. BMW or Mercedes Benz? BMW but I don't really care - a car's a car.
12. Favourite day of the week? Saturday because there's still another day of the weekend to go.
13. Favourite Restaurant? Italian
14. Favourite Flower? Frangipani
15. Favourite sport to watch? Aussie Rules Football
16. Favourite Drink? Water, juice, chocolate milkshake, mocha, hot chocolate, iced chocolate (hmmm do we see a pattern here?), mango smoothie, Coke, lemonade, lemon lime and bitters.
17. Favourite ice cream? Cookie Crumble
18. Disney or Warner Brothers? Old Disney from the 50s, 60s and 70s - not this new Pixar crap!
19. Favourite fast food restaurant? KFC
20. What colour is your bedroom carpet? Avocado apparently.
21. How many times you failed your driver's test? Twice but it should have only been once. Stupid driver tester person...
22. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Justine, our wedding photographer. Yay!
23. Hobbies? Writing, gym, singing, acting and beading.
24. Bedtime? Too late for weeknights - that's why I'm always tired!
25. Who of your readers will answer this questionnaire? Not sure - surprise me!
26. Who is the person you are most curious to see their answers? Anyone
27. What means the most to you? Jesus, Duncan, family and friends.
28. Favourite TV shows? Out of the ones that are currently on: Home and Away, Heroes, All Saints, City Homicide and I've taped some episodes of The Librarians but have yet to watch them. I thought I should watch that show seeing as I am a librarian ;)
29. Dating males or females? My fiance Duncan.
30. Tall or short? This is a weird question. Does it mean whether I'm tall or short or whether I prefer tall or short people? I really don't care if people are tall or short. I'm 164cm so average I guess.
31. What is your favourite colour? Blue
32. How many pets do you have? One - Miss Ebony puss :)
33. Age? 24
34. What would you like to accomplish/do before you die? Go overseas and serve God in some way, finish my book and write many more (and get the first two made into movies and star in them), have kids.

So that's me, I'd love to see your answers. If you have a blog why not post your answers on your blog, by copying and pasting this post onto your blog and then deleting my answers and inserting your own. If you do, please leave a note in the comments section of this post with the link to your blog.

If You Do A Donkey Vote.....You're A Donkey!

With only one more sleep until the Australian federal election, it seems a lot of people will waste their vote tomorrow. Maybe they'll write garbage all over the ballot paper? Maybe they'll not put a lot of thought into it? Maybe they'll not even vote at all?

I thought it would be good to hear the opinion of someone fictional. Jacob Coote is one of the main characters in my FAVOURITE book, Looking for Alibrandi and he gave the following speech at 'Have A Say' which, in the book, is a public speaking event for some Sydney high schools.

".....Because we have a choice, and I think that we vote not to get the best party in, but to keep the worst party out. Because we can stand here and protest. We can get all riled up about the premier's ideas. We can say he's a d***head even. We can call the prime minister and the leader of the opposition one as well........

But in some countries, people can't do that.......In some countries people our age can't concentrate on their schoolwork because of the sound of gunfire.

In some countries they have one-party systems and they have things called the People's Army, and when the people come out and have a say like we're doing today....the People's Army shoots the people.......

So, great. Let's be apathetic. Let's not vote. Let's let anyone run this country. Let's be ignorant and let's all be proud of that ignorance. And maybe we'll have a People's Army one day too." (page 28)

Marchetta, M. (1992). Looking for Alibrandi. Victoria: Penguin.

I'm not a political person. Sometimes it feels like your vote won't make a difference or you're simply picking from the best of a bad lot.

But I urge you all, if you're voting tomorrow, to vote wisely and not waste it by believing that one person won't make a difference.

Be thankful that Australia is a democracy and that when we vote tomorrow, we won't have men with guns standing over us.

I Asked For A Trickle.....God Sent A Flood

Of people that is...

I mentioned in this post that I'll be breaking my lease in mid December and needed to find someone to move in to avoid paying double rent. The stupid stupid real estate agent first told me that it was my responsibility to find someone then later turned around and said no, actually it was theirs.

Before they told me it was their responsibility, I'd been madly hunting for a new tenant. I placed an ad at the Housing Office at the uni I work at, posted on the Staff Blog at work and emailed all of my friends and Aimee talked to the neighbours to see if any of them were interested. We prayed that God would send a few people our way.

He didn't just send a few, he sent heaps.

I had all sorts of people contact me but mostly students or employees of the university. One thing that astounds me is that people ask if the weekly rent price includes expenses. I mean, far out, do they really expect me to calculate a budget for them and figure how much electricity, gas etc they're going to use? One couple asked if they could have my TV and microwave - not buy...have. And it looked like they were serious.... .weird people!

Anyway, a guy I work with was very interested, he applied and is the new tenant after we move out WOOHOO!!

Praise God, especially since the rent is going up by $100/week. There's no way I could afford to stay on anyway.

Sarah's Night Adventures

I was reading Bek's blog about her sleeptalking and since I do the same, I thought I'd blog about the many random occurrences over the years. They are quite funny and I don't remember much so I'm going on what others have told me.

My sleepwalking and sleeptalking misadventures began probably in the latter years of primary school. The first incident was when I was about 11 or 12 and my parents said they heard a big thump and came into my room. When they switched on the light, there I was standing next to my bed and staring at it like I was in a trance. The mattress was half on the bed, half on the floor and the sheets and blankets were in a tangled mess.

Mum: Sarah, what on earth are you doing?
Me: I was trying to turn the mattress around.

Goodness knows what for?!?

A few months later, my dad woke up in the middle of the night and saw the bathroom light had been switched on. When he investigated, he found me standing in the bathroom, staring at the light switch.

Dad: Sarah, what are you doing in here?
Me: I can't tell you, it's a secret.

Dad took me back to bed, being careful not to wake me up. Once I was back in bed, he asked me again.

Dad: What were you doing in the bathroom?
Me: Ummm, I was looking for Tim.

Tim is my brother, as some of you will know. Dunno why I was looking for him in the middle of the night, let alone in the bathroom! haha.

There were many other incidents over the years of me yelling, shouting, screaming and talking in my sleep. Sometimes I was having arguments with people or I'd sound convincingly like I was awake and having a normal conversation. Apparently once at a sleepover, I sat up and asked "Is it six o'clock yet?" to which my friend answered, "No." Then I replied "Good." She thought I was awake but I can't remember it so I must have been asleep and fooled her.

Poor Emma copped it during our three years of being housemates. Once she recalled I let out a bloodcurling scream one night which nearly gave her a heart attack. When she came into my room, I was sleeping peacefully.

Emma: Sarah, are you okay?
Me: Mmmmmm
Emma: What were you screaming about?
Me: A lion was eating my leg.

Emma told me she had thought to herself, Oh, is that all and went back to bed. She ended up coming to my doorway on numerous occasions. Once she found me wandering in the dining room and had to quietly lead me back to my bed. Another time I had screamed and she come into my room and I was lying on my bed, face down with my arm twisted under me in a weird position.

Me: Get it off, get it off.
Emma: Get what off?
Me: There's a rat crawling up my arm.

Emma had to reassure me there was no rat and I woke myself up in shock but was relieved to find that she was telling the truth. Apparently I was lying in such a weird position that it was causing the sensation of something crawling up my arm.

Then another night, Emma woke up to the sound of banging and she came into my room to find me standing on my bed and banging on the window and walls. I was freaked out because I thought the door had disappeared and I was trapped (the door was across the other side of the room).

There was a funny episode when I was staying at home in Albany after I had my wisdom teeth out. My parents woke up to a bloodcurdling scream and me racing around in the passage.

Dad: What's going on?
Me: There's a snake in my bed. It was an anaconda and it was slithering all over me.
Dad: There's no snake. Go back to bed. (He said he was a bit bewildered and annoyed).
Me: Go and check.
So my dad went and checked because I kept refusing to go back to bed.
Dad: There's no snake.
I accepted that and went back to bed.

I can blame the painkillers for that one ;)

Aimee was quickly baptised into my night adventures when she moved in. She'd only moved in a few days before when I screamed again. Being a light-sleeper she was quickly roused but wasn't yet used to her new room so she blundered around in the dark, totally freaked out, trying to find the door. When she got to my room, I was soundly asleep.

Well, at least I'm not violent in my sleep like some people I know of or sleepwalk long distances. My mum was telling me years ago that she was talking to the mum of a guy I went to school with and she was saying that her son sleepwalked out of the house and headed off down the street. His dad got up to make himself a cup of tea and was shocked to see his son returning. When he asked him where he'd been, the son replied, "I was going to visit Grandma." Then he went back to bed.

This was in Albany. I hope his grandma didn't live in Perth or somewhere far. He must've changed his mind because otherwise it would have been a long walk!

The best thing to do for someone who is sleepwalking is not to wake them. Otherwise they'll get freaked out and not know where they are. Just gently guide them back to bed.

Poor Duncan....;)

The Crowdies!

I went with some friends to the Crowded House concert on Friday night at the Supreme Court Gardens. I am a big fan so it was great to see them live and Neil Finn is a fantastic entertainer. Perfect weather and even a streaker to liven things up even more!

My favourite songs are Fall At Your Feet, Don't Dream It's Over, Better Be Home Soon and Mean To Me.

Ali, Bek and I

Jill, Ali, me, Corinne and Jane

Bob Evans was the opening act.

Then we went a bit crazy with some fairy floss ;)

It looks like Jill's having a bubble bath.

I thought I should be a part of Movember.

Dave found it all hilarious but was reluctant to join in.

Then the moment we'd been waiting for.

Death of a Politician

If you are living overseas or under a rock, you may not be aware that Australia has a federal election coming up in eight days. Bek has encouraged us all to RESEARCH the various parties and vote wisely. I couldn't agree more and as I was going through my inbox the other day I came across a forwarded email from three years ago and it certainly is an appropriate time to post it on my blog. It's theologically dodgy but makes a point....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

A powerful politician dies after a prolonged illness. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.
"Welcome to Heaven," says St. Peter. "Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we're not sure what to do with you." "No problem, just let me in," says the guy.
"Well, I'd like to but I have orders from higher up. What we'll do is have you spend one day in Hell and one in Heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity."
"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in Heaven," says the politician.
"I'm sorry but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to Hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a club and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him, everyone is very happy and in evening attire. They run to greet him, hug him, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then dine on lobster and caviar. Also present is the Devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that, before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a big hug and waves while the elevator rises. The elevator goes up, up, up and the door re-opens on Heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.
"Now it's time to visit Heaven."

So 24 hours pass with the head of state joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.
"Well then, you've spent a day in Hell and another in Heaven. Now choose your eternity."
He reflects for a minute, then the politician answers, "Well, I would never have said it, I mean Heaven has been delightful, but I think I would be better off in Hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to Hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he is in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags. The Devil comes over to him and lays his arm on his neck.
"I don't understand," stammers the politician. "Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and club and we ate lobster and caviar and danced and had a great time. Now all there is, is a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable."
The Devil looks at him, smiles and says, "Yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted for us!"

VOTE WISELY THIS COMING ELECTION!

This is Disgusting!

Customers booed Qantas staff as they came to the assistance of an elderly woman who collapsed and died at Brisbane airport, according to reports.
The 80-year-old woman was standing in a queue at the Qantas club lounge when she apparently suffered a heart attack on Monday morning, the Courier Mail reported.
Customers, frustrated by long queues, booed staff members who left their check-in counters to assist the woman until medical assistance arrived.

Here's the rest of the story on nineMSN http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=323167

It's one thing to struggle with impatience but I bet they wouldn't behave like animals if she were their granny.

Diary of a Wedding Planning Machine: Photographer

Does anyone know of any good wedding photographers?

I fear we've left it a little late to be contacting photographers as a couple we liked and contacted (Narelle Watson and Third Eye Photography) are already booked. I've learnt you need to book EARLY. We're still waiting to hear back from a couple more but I was just wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

I really like good photography. It's the evidence of the wedding day and everything will be such a whirlwind it'd be nice to have good photos to remember it by. I especially love 'natural' shots where people are caught off guard rather than posing in some ridiculously awkward position.

Having said that, we don't want to pay huge amounts of money either. And we'd like to be able to have the rights to all of the photos and have a CD of them to print off.

Any suggestions?

Raise Your Bat

I've reached 200 posts. Well done me!

To celebrate, I want you to tell me what you want me to blog more about at the Sedshed. Or you can ask me a question and I'll do my best to answer (I reserve the right to refuse though hehe).

Over to you.......

Misinterpretation of the Written Word

Has this ever happened to you?

You're having a conversation with someone via instant messenger, SMS, blogs, email or letters and something one person said gets misinterpreted by the other. Maybe they took something you said the wrong way or vice versa. Maybe you or they never meant it to be 'bad' but they took it as such.

I was talking to a friend last week who is also engaged and doing the long distance thing like us. She said she hates talking to her fiance on MSN and they've had more disagreements that way than by speaking methods of communication.

It's happened to Duncan and I as well. Once I sent him an SMS which I thought sounded fine (I wasn't angry at him or anything) and two seconds later he was ringing me, asking if everything was all right between us. I was shocked and replied, "yes, of course." He thought my SMS sounded a bit blunt. I guess that's the problem when you only have a limited amount of characters to say something.

What's with this? I've seen it happening on blogs as well. A lot of bloggers are commenting on a particular post, one says something, another takes it badly (although the other blogger was probably not trying to be hurtful) and suddenly war erupts in the comments section.

Written communication has its advantages but I'm starting to see why many people prefer face-to-face or even phone conversations. This way, tone of voice and facial expressions can be evalauted to determine whether the person is joking or really being rude or nasty.

Maybe we just need lots and lots of smiley faces :)

Faint Hearted

Yesterday, I went to a MoleScan clinic to get a skin cancer check. It was one of those things I kept meaning to do but always used busyness as an excuse to keep putting it off. Last Sunday at church, a friend was telling me how she'd been recently and this prompted me to ring up and make an appointment.

I was really hoping they didn't find anything even remotely dodgy and while the doctor was checking, she said "so far, so good." Then she spotted a couple which she reckoned looked a bit suss.

Now while I'm not a fan of needles, I'm all for the 'if in doubt, cut it out' motto so when she said she wanted to take a sample of one on my back, I obliged and hoped the anaesthetic needle wouldn't hurt. It stung a bit but was bearable. She took a photo of the other one and asked me to come back in three months or sooner if I noticed it had started to change.

In regards to the one on my back, she said no news was good news. If it's bad, she'll call me back and I have to come back to have it cut out. I have never been cut open while being awake and the only stitches I've ever had have been in my mouth when I had my wisdom teeth out and they came out by themselves. I've never had a local anaesthetic before, only general.

All was well until I went to the receptionist's desk to pay and I started to feel really weird. First my vision started to go, my ears were ringing and I felt really light-headed and sick. The receptionist quickly got the doctor and they got me a chair before I passed out. I was still conscious but couldn't hear very well, except that the doctor was telling me that this was a reaction to the anaesthetic and was normal.

I then had to lie down on a bed for half an hour before I was well enough to drive home.

Please pray that none of these two moles will need to be cut out. Otherwise I'm going to have to bring someone with me next time to drive me home in case I nearly pass out again. I'm trying to stop my mind drifting towards horrible thoughts of advanced skin cancer so prayers for everything to be okay would be much appreciated.

Count Your Blessings

I just thought I'd take some time to reflect on how fortunate I am. You might like to do the same.

I read an article where the author stated that it is insensitive to encourage other people to 'count their blessings' as that person might be experiencing intense suffering at the time. While it is appropriate to acknowledge and even empathise others' hurts and trials, we can still give thanks for the blessings in our own lives.

I just read 1 Thessalonians 5:18 in the Bible part of which states '...........give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.' This is pretty clear and certainly doesn't leave room for the grumbling which I often find myself partaking in.

So next time........

I grumble about having to clean my house...........................
I'll be thankful that I have a home.

I grumble about my car....................................
I'll be thankful that I have transport so easily available.

I grumble about having to walk so far....................................
I'll be thankful that I can walk.

I grumble about having to go grocery shopping......
I'll be thankful that I have money to buy food.

I grumble about having to carry things................................
I'll be thankful that I have arms.

I grumble about having to vote.............................................
I'll be thankful that I live in a democracy.

I grumble about having too much 'people time'..........................
I'll be thankful that I have friends.

I grumble about going to work...............................
I'll be thankful that I have a job.

I grumble about bills.........................
I'll be thankful that I have electricity, gas, a telephone and a computer.

I grumble about being sick..........................
I'll be thankful that I have ready access to medical facilities.

I grumble about money........................................
I'll be thankful that I'm rich compared to many others.

That's just a start.

What things could you be thankful for today?