New Thing #52:

  Since I am back-dating even more posts due to stresses of Year Eleven and study and music, so forgive the short posts for the next six posts.....

  Today, my New Thing isn't really about me but about my sister. We argue ALL the time because we are not similar at all but I am proud of her. For a twelve year-old he is an amazingly good swimmer and waterpolo player - next July (2013) she will be swimming the English Channel in a team of six, and this April she is representing WA in Under 14's Waterpolo Nationals. (Its ironic, just as I'm writing this, she is getting annoyed at me and told me to eff off...).

  But today, she won Champion Girl at her Year Eight swimming carnival. She beat out 200 year eight girls and twelve other specialist swimmers (people at school on swimming scholarships) to get the title.

  I am extremely proud of her.

New Thing #51: Lazy...

  So today was a step forward in my next project. What is that you ask? Well, no, you haven't missed anything. I have a massive pin board next to my bed (think 50 cm by 1.2m), and have a whole lot of stuff on it:

• movie tickets
• pamphlets and brochures for things I want to go to/have gone to
• origami
• cute pictures
• drawings
• things my friends have given me, etc.

  But, I am beginning to not like it. This is mainly because it has a lot of stuff pinned onto it and at parts has three or four layers of stuff on it. Having an incredibly neat room makes it look like an eyesore, the kind of thing that makes immaculate look shabby.

  So the other day one of my friends suggested that what I should do is print out a whole lot of pictures and decorate it with a few ribbons or something and make a photo board. So today I started sifting through photos and realised that to have a board of up-to-date/decent photos, I was going to have to get my act into gear. Today, I actually started sorting through all the photos on my digital camera that I took in France last September. All the girls I went with have long since given me their photos and put them on facebook so I hadn't really felt the need to load them and delete the bad ones, and so have had 6 Gigabytes of memory cards sitting around my room for the last six months.

  I am proud of my effort and now have sixty photos to put on the board.

Je suis très fatigué, je vais donc finir d'écrire cela et aller dormir! Au revoir.

New Thing #50: Artsy Moi

  Last one, and no excuse needed because I am actually writing this on time....

  So today, one of my good friends and I went to an event to do with the Perth International Arts Festival. I have never done anything like that because, well, it's Perth. No one interesting ever comes to Perth (not entirely true, but oh well). But it was a lot of fun. An author came and spoke in stage production form and we had so much fun.

  I am writing on lack of sleep because of my two hours sleep last night, so I know none of this will make sense, but I try.

  Thank goodness, none to go.

New Thing #49; Little Miss Chatterbox

  OK, so this is my excuse for not posting this one - I had such a busy day that I didn't have enough time to do anything but get ready for the next event.

  So, last night (Saturday the 25th), the girls I went to France with had a French Tour reunion. We slept in a tent in one of the girls backyard, and had so much fun!! We filled the tent with blankets, pillows and sleeping bags, added in junk food (think crisps, M&M's, macaroons, lollies, etc.) and lots of talking. So much so that we stayed up talking until 4am!! The only downside was that we had to get up at 7am because one of the girls had to leave for tutoring. It was the most fun night, and it just proves that nine girls all in the same year but who had previously had nothing to do with each other can become amazingly good friends in the space of three weeks in France.

  So that's two down, one to go.....

New Thing #48: No Post

  OK, since I am back-dating these posts, they will only be quick since I have three to do before I die of tiredness (skip to #50 to see why).

  Today was the first time that I have purposely and knowingly not posted on here. I had to talk to my parents about a few things, and as the only quiet time we have is after my brother and sister go to bed so by the time we were done it was 11-30pm, I had orchestra the next morning, and I felt dead. So that is not only New Thing #48, but it is my excuse as to why I haven't posted for Friday.

  One down, two to go.

New Thing #47: Oh, am I annoyed at my iPod right now.

  OK, so last night, the battery on my laptop was dead so I spent a half hour writing a post on my iPod only to realise that it was deleted by the stupid thing when I log on today.. I'm SO FRUSTRATED RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

  Anyways, so last night I made a chocolate cake in a mug. Long post short, it didn't work out to well, but I don't think I made it right. Anyways, I ate it with peanut butter and a scoop of ice cream and it was heaven.

  But today, I had a practical in chemistry to do. So last night we have to write up what my teacher calls a "prelab", where you research and explain the experiment and the reactions that lead to the observations or something. But today, when I handed my prelab in, she told me that it was really good! This doesn't sound like much, but if you had met my chem teacher, you'll know that she never gives out complements.

  Got to go throw my iPod against a brick wall.

New Thing #46: As good as chocolate.

New Thing #45: Freaking Out Over Nothing

OK, still  not 100% so if this is not a great post, don't blaim me...

  Last night, I didn't have the concentration to finish all my homework, I just couldn't fathom the energy. So this morning I woke up and realised I had a lot of work to do in the two hours before class started. By the time I actually started, it was 8-30am, and I had half an hour to read a chapter in my Politics and Law book, and then make a flow chart about the American system of government.

  Now, having to do that much work in such a short time frame, Old Me would have freaked out. Epically. But New Me, New Thing Me, more confident and happy Me didn't. I didn't freak out!!

  And it worked well. I completed it all, and the teacher even told me it was great and that if it was a test, I would have gotten an A!

  So I'm ecstatic.

  I have to go!

  góða nótt

New Thing #44: I can't even be bothered thinking of a title...

  OK, today is the first day in nearly a year where I am too tired to function. So, good day, busy, lots of homework, watched Castle and Bones, wrote this, went to bed. My day.

  Also, my dog mistook my gorgeous new black wedge sandal as a chew toy. No war wounds are visible - i rescued it in time.


   afaguegbhtg]tthy

New Thing #43: Bookworm

  This one goes on the list of things I haven't done since I started high school. My day was fairly quiet. It is the first Sunday in months that I hven't been working, and I planned to take full advantage of it, as I had nothing planned, all homework was done, and I only had a hockey game to go to from 5 to 7 tonight.

  So, I got up at 9am (I got home at 12-30am from babysitting), had a coffee and read a magazine, showed my Grandma the rest of the photos from when I went to France, cleaned my room, then had nothing else to do. When cleaning my room, I came across my Kindle (it is amazing, I love it, especially when travelling) and realised that the last thing I was on was the page to buy a book that I have wanted for ages - "Sisterhood Everlasting", the fifth book it the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants series. So, I decided I'd buy it, as it was on sale for 50% off.

  And I started reading it. And couldn't stop. So today, I read an entire 500 page book in under a day.

  I have to go, as I still have a few pages left and three hours to make this New Thing entirely true.

  Bisous

New Thing #42: The Easiest Way to Make Money

  Since I have just got home from babysitting, and it is nearly midnight here, this will be short. I know when I say short it usually doesn’t mean that, but I promise that today I will.

  Anyways, today, I went busking in Fremantle for the first time ever with my saxophone quartet. It was a successful performance (considering we only busked for 45 minutes, and it took us over two hours to get there due to a domino effect of bad transport experiences…). We made $15 dollars each, and when counting the fact that we only played eight pieces twice through and we have only been rehearsing for six weeks and never have busked before, I think that’s decent!

  Got to go, Elena

New Thing #41: Nervousness at its Max

  Today was a massive milestone on the road to music tour. I think I've mentioned it before, but in April I am going on a music tour with my school that culminates in Villers-Bretoneux (in France) performing at the ANZAC Day service there. It is televised live to Australia and many people high in the Australian government will be there.

  To cut a long story short, apparently last year's performance was fairly rubbish (it was done by a school from Melbourne) and so they came to see us perform today. Today, I performed in front of two representatvies from the Department of Veteran Affairs. Remember that these people are the people that can say "nope, not good enough, we'll get an army band to perform instead". Not only would we not be performing, but that is a few thousand down the toilet.

  But, the title explains the emotions running through the room at 9am, just before the try-out. 117 music students, 9 teachers and 1 conductor were more nervous than I've ever seen them before. And the music staff especially can get really stressed before performances.

Auf Wiedersehen

 

By the way, we passed with flying colours!!

New Thing #40: Accented? Apparently So...

  OK, I have a massive Politics and Law test tomorrow so I need a large amount of sleep and consequently, this will be kept short.

  Before today, I have never had anyone say anything about my voice/the way I speak. When I was little, I had a lisp and had speech therapy to get rid of it, and now when I am tired I speak out the sides of my mouth at times, but it isn't noticeable.

  But, today, something weird happened. Not one, but three different people told me that I speak weirdly. And not because of my impediment. Apparently I put emphasis on syllables that other people wouldn't emphasise, and that some of my words come out in strong American or French accents. This didn't really surprise me I guess, because I speak french and have American family that I talk to all the time, but it was just weird that before today, I have never had anyone comment about the way I speak, and today I had three people tell me.

  But oh well.

  So long!

New Thing #39: Shop 'til You Drop

  OK, anyone of my friends that read this blog would know that this is possibly a bad idea. Having a new shopping outlet when I already shop way too much is a recipe for disaster. I do save most of my weekly income, but the money I don't save, I love spending on magazines, make up and clothes. Especially clothes.

  You see, they say that a girl should have at least one LBD (little black dress). I have two, plus a black dress for funerals, plus two black and white block coloured ones. That is five of my thirty-something dresses. At one stage, my mother was worried that I was a shopaholic.

  Also, I've come late to online shopping. There is nothing better (for me anyway) than having an hour or two free, so going and grabbing a take-away cappuccino and wandering aimlessly around a shopping centre trying on gorgeous clothes and all your favourite shops. I love my Vogue and I can tell the brand by looking at the dress. So online shopping, I believed, was going to ruin that for me.

  Until today. Today, I spent three hours shopping for a cocktail dress online. I have a school dance in a few weeks and will probably not have enough time to get a dress the normal way. So, I reluctantly got the names of some good sites from a friend and started shopping. And I found out that it isn't that bad! I mean, give me normal shopping any day, but this is a close second!

  I have to go as I'm tired to the point of making this post disjointed because I have no idea what I am typing....

  In the style of many teen chick flicks, toodles!

New Thing #38: Passing Level Nine

  Today's New Thing is so lame that I couldn't even think of a creative name for it. Today I passed Level 9 in ABreaker with 100%. It is something that I have been trying to do for a week, I had passed the level (you need 90% to pass) but I wanted to get 100% and I finally did it!

  Also, note for everyone who read yesterday's post. I wrote a 1 500 word essay, and a pretty darn good one at that.

  I won't bore you any longer, Elena

New Thing #37: Last Minute Dash

  Today, I did something that I'm not proud of. Something that I promised myself I wouldn't do this year. I left an assignment until the night before it was due before starting it.

  I have a essay to write on rule of law for Politics and Law. It has to be over two pages, size 12, and is due on Wednesday.

  You may be thinking "If it's due on Wednesday, why are you writing about it at 10-30pm on Monday"? You see, it's simple. I didn't bother starting it as I had a long day today. Jazz, nearly falling asleep in Chem, in class essay in Literature, you get the drift, so I didn't make a bad day worse by working on any homework or assignments tonight (I only have a bit of homework thank goodness, so I can finish it tomorrow before school).

  Got to go before I pass out from tiredness.

  magandang gabi!

New Thing #36: Walk Like an Egyptian

  Today, I mastered something that I have wanted to master for years. I have tried to get it not wobbly and actually I-can-walk-outside-and-not-be-afraid-that-people-will-laugh-at-me wearable, and today I actually did it!!

  So, I was trying something out on sister as we have a costume party to go to at the end of March and she is going as Cleopatra. I was doing the makeup trial run, and one thing lead to another, so today I finally learnt how to apply liquid eyeliner.

  I also got 23 mosquito bites on my feet in the space of 20 minutes, but that is another story.

  You know you love me, XOXO, Elena

New Thing #35: Don't Even Ask....

  On the top of this blog, it tells you why I am doing this. I am doing one new thing everyday for 366 days, mainly because there are so many things I have wanted to do, or have put off doing and I felt like I needed to make a dent in that list before I graduate. Year 12 will be too busy to do this, so I am doing it in Year 11/Junior year.

  Today's New Thing doesn't fall into that category. It falls into the "What-the-hell-just-happened-to-me" section.

  A flying cockroach just landed on my head. I am traumatised, especially since I dislike them so much I am on the verge of it being a phobia. But I'm fine now.

  Let's just say that it was swiftly (let me put this politely) disposed of.

 ગૂડ નાઇટ *

  *also, google translate tells me that this is good night in a language called Gujarti, please comment if you know where in the world this is spoken.
 

New Thing #34: I Care about Hair

  Today, I completed a task requested by one of my best friends, Louise. She is constantly getting told off by her teachers for fiddling with her hair in class, so she requested that I start off with a basic hairstyle and change it once every class without the teachers telling me off.

  So, my day with six different hairstyles, one for each class, went like this:

8-30am: Arrive at school with hair down, bangs pinned back using two bobby pins
9-45am: Modern History; teacher talks about rise of Hitler while I change hairstyle to a half-up half-down 'do with a twist on either side of my head at ear level joining at the back
10-15am: English Literature; teacher talks about the representation of different sexualities within text, I change to a half French braid, with bottom half of hair out and top in a braid.
11-30am: Music; teacher talks about compound time signatures, hair is completely out, with bangs brushed back (using fingers)
1-45pm: French; teacher talks about verb conjugation while I change hair to a small braid on each side of the head pinned at the back, with rest of hair down
2-50pm: Politics and Law; teacher talks about separation of powers while hair goes into a full French braid.

  Not once was I told off. I think the way to do this is have the bobby pins/ hair elastics on the desk or in your pencil case so you aren't fidgeting in your bag for them, and also, do it while your teacher is talking, not when you are supposed to be taking notes or actually writing or doing something.

  καληνύχτα

New Thing #33: Catching Zzz's Part 2

  OK, today will be quick as I will sound stupid and I want to shorten the amount of blog post time I waste on me being stupid.

  So on Thursdays, my school gives year 11s early leave, where we can leave after our period three class ( 3 hours early). But because I have a music lesson at 2.30, I have to stay at school for all of that time. But today, chemistry really took it out of me (Chem is my period 3 class) and made me incredibly tired. So when I went to the library to study before my lesson, I was almost asleep.

  To cut a long story short, not only did I fall asleep at 1-30pm for five minutes, but because I was typing before I fell asleep, I had to delete seven entire pages of the letter "Z"....

  God aften.

New Thing #32: Adding to the CV

  I have a pretty decent resume for someone who is only 15. I have held a part-time job for 2 and a quarter years, am a straight A student, and am fluent in French. I have done over 70 hours of community service in the last year, and play three instruments (seven if you include the 4 types of saxophones and two types of clarinets I play). I have travelled overseas every year since I was born and have competed in a few public speaking competitions. I play in a Jazz band, a wind orchestra, a saxophone quartet and sing in a choir. I am on the debate team, was a national teams Irish Dancing Champion, head girl at my primary school, am currently training to run a half marathon and am going to be the guest speaker at a Rotary Club meeting.

  Yet I haven't learnt from my mistakes....... You see, at the end of every term, I arrive burnt out and in desperate need of sleep and a break from text books. So by my fourth year of high school you'd think  I would have learnt a lesson. But today, I added more to the load. I applied to be on the student council, the ambassador for donating blood at my school and am considering doing the Duke of Edinburgh.

  So I hope I survive to see the end of my challenge.

  ราตรีสวัสดิ์

New Thing #31: 100+!!!

  Quick post today, I am extremely busy and have heaps of homework to do and I want to go to bed early.

  So, up until 45 seconds ago (literally, I'm not lying), I had no idea what I was going to do as I've had one of those crappy days in which I feel like doing nothing new. But then I logged on and I realised that today is the first day that One Day at a Time has had over 100 views!! Just in time for today, which marks one month since I started (and an incredibly long month it's been...)

  Now, I have to sign off, but remember that I would love ANYONE AT ALL to comment on a post or email me, as I have had no one at all do this (remember my email address is onedayatatime96@hotmail.com ).

  Bonum nocte!

New Thing #30: Mean Girls-esque

  OK, let me start this one off* by saying that I set myself personal rules and have never bullied anyone, nor am I rude to anyone just for the sake of it (I'd like to say that I'm not rude to anyone period, but that is slightly stretching it since there is someone I work with currently who gets me worked up and as a result I can be rude to her).

  I'm taking Modern History as one of my uni-level subjects, and I took it as the one I may drop for year 12, but I am quickly falling in love with it. So anyway, over the weekend we had an assignment to complete. It was about how sources and how they are interpreted can be heavily changed by the bias related to it. So my (amazing) teacher gave us each a scenario, but one that would happen now. They were all to do with our year twelve ball (prom), and the scenarios ranged from:

  You are the principal of the school. Write the speech you are going to write.

     TO

  You are a female student who has been dumped by her boyfriend on the morning of the ball. Write a Facebook status everyone can read about it. (I got this one)

  Then, this morning, we all had to analyse each others "source", and some of them were hilarious. One of my close friends (lets call her S) had the topic: you are a female student whose best friend wasn't at the ball. Write a text message to her giving a recount of the night.

  Now, S is like me, and won't let herself go onto Facebook when she is angry at someone/something and also doesn't swear (did I mention swearing was encouraged in this assignment?) so this was a step down from how she normally acts. So, as preparation, she watched Mean Girls before writing her assignment to get herself in the head space. One thing lead to another and today, I read an assignment that included the phrase "boo you wh***". It was an interesting experience since usually you would be given at least a detention for this, yet the teacher didn't bat and eyelid.

  I have to go, but let me just say that the Patriots will take charge and beat the Giants next time.

  Buenas noches!!

  * yes I am aware that I use this as my intro often....

New Thing #29: Running Up a Storm

  Not really. But still, I was close.

  Quick post today, as six hours of homework over a weekend, most on a computer, really doesn't mean you want to spend a lot of time on a computer after that...

  So today, in between studying/homework, I knew I needed a break and suddenly felt like running. To give you the full story, basically I was a cross country runner in primary/elementary school and a fairly decent one. But in high school, I got to the point where I didn't have the time to go jogging, so I stopped. All exercise.

  Since then, I have swum occasionally and ran a few times, but in the last two and a half years, that isn't much. So today I ran five kilometres on a cross trainer in twenty two  minutes!! So I was quite happy with my effort, as that is 4 minutes something per kilometre!

  Got to go!

  Buonanotte!

New Thing #28: Study Time

  I have little of a social life. It's mainly because I cram so much into a day that it's hard to find time for anything else, but I do try. But also, I hardly had the motivation/energy to study. Especially on a weekend.

  Today will be a short post as I am sooo tired by the way. But, today, I did three hours of homework and study voluntarily on a Saturday. This is new for me because I always feel guilty for not studying but never actually do it. It is also why I am probably making no sense, and the post sounds rubbish....

  I have to go as I'm so tired.

  Bonsoir!

New Thing #27: New Year, New Me

  OK, no, I didn't get some radical makeover. Just one on the inside.

  Last year, I had so many unfortunate things happen to me last year that I ended up feeling extremely unhappy all the time, which made me not motivated to do anything. So this year, the day that I started doing this, I realised that it isn't a new year which changes things, that won't do anything. It is me that needs to change. So I still may argue with my parents or siblings often and those things, but every time I start feeling down, I do something that makes me happy, like read trashy magazines or talk to friends on the phone or something.

  Along with the new me comes my new found need of sleep. I have always loved sleep-ins but never get to do them because of everything I have on, and have always had trouble getting to sleep so during school I run on about 5 or 6 hours of sleep. But today, I went to bed at 9pm on a Friday night voluntarily. This may not seem like much, but if you knew me, it's something entirely unlike me.

  Must sleep, but before I go, I'd like to hear your suggestions for New Things or what you think of my blog, so please leave a comment or email me at onedayatatime96@hotmail.com .

  Ardievas!!

New Thing #26: First NB

  Terrible acronym in the title I know, as it isn't one of those that you see and automatically know what it is, but I couldn't give away too much in the title though!

  Today I had my first semi-nervous breakdown of the year (there is your "NB"). It kind of built up over the day and ended at the year assembly after lunch. I can't believe how many tests, assessments, exams, assignments and the amount of homework we have over the course of the year. I know it is partly my fault, as I am doing 6 WACE subjects (the highest amount of university-entrance subjects you can take), but over two hours homework on the second night of the school year is INSANE!

  One of my friends ( he is the year above me ) prepared me yesterday morning for the likely hood that I would freak out somewhat by the end of the day, and I was proud that I didn't. But I obviously saved it for today... I can't see how I can balance:

• debating
• public speaking competitions
• Ball committee
• Youth Parliament
• work
• 6 WACE (chem, french, English lit, politics and law, modern history and french)
• etc, etc

  But I'll be able to do it..... I hope.

  Souhaitez moi bonne chance

New Thing #25: It's official - I'm Old

  I may still be in my mid-teens but I sure feel old. Today I started year 11 (the Australian version of junior year) and since I am now in the "senior" group at school I am feeling not only special but slightly (only just, but still) ancient. This wasn't helped by the fact that my little sister started year 8 at my high school today and she's three years younger than me!

  Because our year 11 and 12 are about preparing you for your final exams (used for university entrance), my school day was a blur of course outlines, marks, assessment weighting/scaling and Curriculum Council stuff (the CC is the Australian board that sets the entire curriculum for years 11 and 12). It got to the point where I felt everything is going in one ear and out the other....

  And not only is today the first day, but:

1. I'm back to my usual perfectionist, over-achieving self who crams as much as possible into each day. it all starts tomorrow, with early morning library session before school, school, saxophone quartet rehearsal, year assembly and then work. So much for me taking a step away from that sort of schedule this year...
2. I already have homework.

  I have to go as last night I had five hours sleep (I had to back up my school laptop and everything along those lines so I got to bed at 1-30am and had choir so I woke up at 6-15).

  kwaheri*



  *goodbye in Swahili, mainly on the basis that I like saying the word "Swahili" (yes, I know I have no life and am slightly sad)

New Thing #24: Catching Zzz's

  OK, once again, short post, need sleep.

  So today, I took full advantage of the last night/day of school holidays and not only had a long sleep-in, but I had 12 hours sleep. Since I am your average over-achiever who crams as much as possible into her school terms, this is a feat in itself. Twelve hours sleep is something that I haven't had since I was like, 10, and don't even get when I am sick..... It's kind of sad.

  I'll be back (imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger saying it)

New Thing #23: My Mother the Cow-Herder

 Warning: today's New Thing has less to do with the title than it sounds. I am still tired, and considering I start school on Wednesday, I need all the sleep I can get, so this will only be short.

  I went to see an entire game of my sister playing water polo! I have never had the time to do it before, as I always have homework/debating/Jazz practise and can't come and see it. She is in one of the top Under 14's teams in WA, so it was a fairly good game, but it was then that I realised that (title explanation incoming) my mother's idea of cheering is yelling at the same decibel farmers use to herd their cows.

  OK, so got to go, but as I am running low on sign off ideas (sad considering this is only my 23rd post...), my sign off shall be lame.

  !!eybdooG

New Thing #22: Apping It Up

  OK, I have a sneaking suspicion that I used a title like this for a post a few days ago, but I can't be bothered checking as it is late....

  So the (quick) back story to this one is that my boss and I share the same love of strategy based apps on our various Apple products. So when he fell in love with this one called Amazing Breaker, he has told me for weeks that I should buy it (for only $0.99 AUD). So, today I bought Amazing Breaker, and app that I have been meaning to get for 37 days (yes, I know it is sad that I know that it is 37 days, buy my To Do List is chronologically organised - OCD at its maximum).

  Currently sleep deprived, so I will sign off now in Croatian, as a tribute to Novak Djokovic, the deserving winner of the Men;s Single Australian Open Final.

  zbogom!

New Thing #21: Joining the Circus

  Just to clarify the title, I was rubbish at today's New Thing and there is no way that that will be in my immediate (or distant) future. I was so bad, all the little kids were better than me!

  Anyway, there isn't much to explain about today's NT, so it will just be a quick post. Today, my brother had his belated birthday party, which ended up being a trampolining party. My brother, my sister, 15 of his friends and I spent 2 hours this morning learning how to trampoline (aerial somersaults included) with the added benefit of 40+ degree heat. This definitely was something new as I have the flexibility of an arthritic 80 year-old and so this is nowhere near anything I would do voluntarily.

  In conclusion, fun but me + trampolining doesn't equal a good match. And also, I have renewed respect for the Cirque du Soleil acrobats!

  да спаткання*

  * Goodbye in Belrussian - my little tribute to today's winner of the Australian Open Women's Singles Final, Victoria Azarenka

New Thing #20: Insert Castanets at Own Risk

  To begin, I am not entirely sure if castanets are Spanish or Mexican, but if they are Spanish, insert a Mexican word into the title (I suggest fajitas or some other tortilla-based food) and call it even.

  Today with only be quick as my wireless is playing up and I don't want to have to completely write this post again if I click "publish post" and the wireless is down.

  OK, so my New Thing for today is food related. My brother is a fussy eater and so some of my favourite foods aren't made for dinner as a certain someone won't eat it. Yet, I love my Chili Con Carne (darn you, kidney beans that he won't touch).

  So this morning we went grocery shopping and I convinced mum to buy me the ingredients for it, and tonight, while everyone was out, I made chili con carne and rice and froze it in individual serves!!

  This way, I can heat it and eat it before I go to work, I get my Mexican goodness, sans younger brother complaining.

  Bon Appetit!

New Thing #19: Frenching It Up

  To start this one off, let me explain that even though I like to wear my hair down - it's shoulder length, thin and blond, so it is easy to deal with - the summer Perth is having is too hot for that. It was 44 degrees Celsius today, and I was dying.

  Also, let me tell you, make up is my strong point; I can do almost anything with makeup: smokey eye, liquid liner, bronzer, fake tan etc. But hair is a different story. I can do it down in about two ways, a half-up half-down thingy or a pony tail, and a fancy (yet extremely easy) bun thing for formal events, but that is it. I just don't have the coordination for it.

  So today, my New Thing was a milestone. I taught myself to French Braid my own hair!! It is great, it means that there is some hope for me yet, and with a bit of practise, I have a new hairstyle for school in this hot weather!

  Got to go, have had work all morning and people over all night (it's Australia Day, the equivalent here to the 4th of July in the USA so it was a public holiday and there were fireworks in the city which you can see from our house) and am extremely hot and tired.

  If I don't melt before tomorrow, I'll write then...

New Thing #18: The Epitomy of Boredom

  My day was fairly busy, I worked in the morning and then had orchestra for three hours this afternoon. Nothing new. So when I got home, I was fairly bored as I had nothing planned and there was nothing really to do.

  So I asked my 11 year old brother to let me paint his nails. After a small amount of bribing, I painted my brother's nails dark blue and red. The conditions were that if I wanted to paint his nails,they had to be in the colours of the Barcelona soccer strip, so the fingernails were alternating colours of blue and red. It was fun, but I didn't realise until after that this was a new thing for the day, so today's was unintentional!!

  Talk tomorrow, I am extremely tired!

  Ciao

New Thing #17: Losing It

  OK, today's will be short otherwise it will turn into a rant of sorts. This is another boring one, but it still counts!!

  Today, my brother was playing some computer game which brought a virus onto my laptop and I lost everything on it. Thank god it wasn't my school one or I would have murdered him, but it was the laptop that has all my photos, some music and school documents that I wrote or used before April '11. Thank god I have a backup of 90% of the pictures and most of the music, but I still lost documents which I am not happy with.

  So beware, many computer games can bring viruses to a computer. (For all you technology people out there, the virus fried the C drive or something and killed the RAM, so if anyone knows how to fix this, email onedayatatime96@hotmail.com or leave a comment on this post).

  I'm off to mourn its death. Nighty night.

New Thing #16: School Before School

  Ok, there is something you need to know to make this New Thing easier to understand. The summer holidays in Perth end the 31st of January, and school starts for everyone on February 1st. Also, just a warning, this NT will be one of the more boring ones.

  So, I go to a high school that is known for its performing-arts based curriculum, and next year we are doing a "tour", where we go overseas, and perform in other countries at big (some absolutely amazing and massive) ceremonies. And all of the conductors and teachers get stressed about whether or not we will be ready in time for the tour.

  So today, being 10 days before school starts, I had to go to school during the holidays for a choir rehearsal. It was fun, I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen for six weeks, but being in an (extremely hot) auditorium for three hours even though I love music, was not the way I would have liked to spend my day....

  So long, farewell (until tomorrow!)

New Thing #15: Karting

  Sorry, today's post will be fairly short, on the main reason that I still can't stop reading that book and I am getting incredibly tired because of it and want to go to sleep early.

  Today, my family and I went to the biggest amusement park in Perth (think Disneyland, then picture it 1000 times worse, and you kind of have the idea) for a few hours because we got free tickets through Dad's work. There are quite a few things to do there, but as rides that turn me upside-down and big waterslides aren't my thing, I did the stuff meant for little kids, such as bumper boats, swimming and went on the water playground. But before I did all of this, my family convinced me to go Go-Karting.

  Today I went Go-Karting. It was fun, but I was in the car with an 8-year old who I didn't know but had offered to drive because she was too small to be in one by herself which meant I was afraid I was going to go too fast or hurt her and was worried slightly. I went what I thought was incredibly fast, but considering everyone overlapped me twice (some three times) in the space of four minutes, apparently I was going at a snails pace. And at one point I nearly ran over a bird.

  All in all, today's New Thing was fun but I think I enjoy other things more!

  Mais c'est la vie, au revoir!

New Thing #14: Book Worm

  I am a bookworm. I love reading any books, especially ones about successful people or anything by Jodi Piccoult. So for Christmas, my Grandma gave me Steve Jobs' biography. I have had it for nearly a month now but as it is over 600 pages, it kind of intimidated me.

  Last Tuesday I started reading it and have found myself getting really absorbed into the story and his life. So last night I did something I hadn't done since primary school - I read the same book for six hours straight.

  During Primary School, I quite found myself unable to put a book down in time for bedtime, so I always had a torch next to my bed that I would use to read a book under my doona until I was literally about to pass out from being tired. But when I got to high school I realised that lack of sleep made me unable to focus for an entire day and I gave up doing it. So yesterday, I decided that I would unwind before bed and started reading the book at 9pm last night. I kept reading (using my lamp - I now have my own room) until just before 3am when I was about to fall asleep.

  This in hindsight was probably not the best idea considering I had to be up at 8am as I had things to do today, but it was fun, and I am about to start reading the book again once I sign off here!

  Sleep tight!

New Thing #13: Friends Fanatic

  I'm sorry, I have to be really quick, my laptop is about to die and I has momentarily misplaced my charger.

  Today's New Thing was kind of like my Notting Hill one. I love Friends (the TV show) but I have not seen one of the seasons. Since I don't have Foxtel/cable/whatever you want to call it, the reruns on the television only start from season three and go through to season ten.

  I have seen season one as I got it as a Christmas present a few years back, but have never been able to see season two. So today, I went to the Blockbuster near my house and rented the first eight episodes of Season 2 of Friends!!

  I've got to go, as I only have three minutes battery time left, but I promise it will be more detailed tomorrow!

  Enchante!

New Thing #12: Future Lawyer

  Since I was little I have wanted two things: to be a lawyer and to go to Yale. The first is achievable, the second was more something to aim for. But I have promised myself I will at least apply.

  There are only a few problems there:

1. The tuition is around $50 000 per year
2. I'd be an international student, since I'm Australian
3. My parents thought I was crazy thinking I may go to Melbourne uni, 15 hours (on a plane) closer than Yale

  The time has come to start getting my act into gear about applying and beginning SAT prep. So now all I need to do is convince my parents to let me apply. So, today I made a PowerPoint listing the Top 21 reasons why they should let me apply to Yale!! I am proud of my effort, since I spent over three hours on it,  but I am yet to show them. I will let you know how it goes.....

  A bientot!

New Thing #11: Geek Chique

  Once again, not exactly. Let me start this one off by saying that I generally am this type of person anyway, it is just this one activity that I have not completed since about year four.

  My father taught me how to play chess in year three when we had a class chess competition running in free time and I decided I'd like to teach the guys that girls can play chess. After I came first in the competition (mainly by my strategy of drag it out so they get bored and lose focus) my chess abilities became rusty. Until tonight.

  Today, I played a game of chess against my dad! I lost miserably after it got to my king against half his pieces, but I can still say I played a game of chess for the first time in 6-ish years.

  Until we meet again!

New Thing #10: Cinderella for a Day

  Tomorrow, I am having a whole lot of friends from school over to my place for the day, and to be allowed to do this I made a deal with my mother that I could let them come over if I clean the entire bottom storey of the house. Previously there have been some things I have refused to do, and left that to the next unfortunate person made to clean the house. But today, I couldn't.

  So today I cleaned a toilet. 'Nuff said.

New Thing #9: Deciphering the Undechipherable

  Well, not exactly. Let me begin; I am a big fan of a lot of crime shows. I like to sit back and make a week of school, work, music, homework and debating just a little more fun by watching a crime show.

  You name it, I have seen it. Bones, Castle, Law and Order: SVU and CSI: NY are the reigning favourites, but there is one pattern. All but one are set in New York City, where somewhere is often referred to as the "Tristate Area". Every single time I watched a show where that was mentioned, I made a note to look it up sometime. And today, I actually did.

  My New Thing today was finding out what the "Tristate Area" actually is!! And it is actually more logical than I thought it was. I knew it couldn't have been the areas of New York City, because, well, there are five to my knowledge. So, it turns out, the term "the tristate area" actually refers to the three US countries closest to Manhattan: Connecticut, New Jersey and New York!

  So, next time I watch Castle, I will be able to sit back and actually know what they are referring to!

  وداعا

  (goodbye in Arabic, it turns out!)

New Thing #8: Mastering the Mind

  Today, it was another of those "I did nothing entirely new at all today" days. So, I went to the very site that inspired me to do this is the first place to get some ideas. This blog is called "In the New" (link at the bottom of this post) and the lady did one new thing every day for an entire year, and got to do things like being interviewed on CNN, etc. It is really interesting, so it is worth taking a look at!

  But anyway, I got off topic. One of the things Jen did was she took the online Mensa test. Mensa, if you didn't know already, is a world-wide group for people of high intelligence. The online Mensa test is a practice for the real test that you have to take in a written form, and tells you whether or not you should even bother applying. The test has thirty questions to do in thirty minutes, and they are all pattern or word problem related.

  So, today, I took the online Mensa test! I won't divulge my score, but I was quite surprised, and it is worth having a go at!

  Adios!

  In the New: http://jen365.blogspot.com/
  Online Mensa test: http://www.mensa.org/workout.php

New Thing #7: Social Media Delay

  I am the first to admit that I take a while to catch on to social media crazes. I got MySpace about five minutes before everyone deleted it, I only got Facebook last March, and I skipped the Twitter and Formspring things entirely. So, last week,  when a girl I work with told me that I should get Tumblr, I made a mental note to sign-up within the next year.

  Today, I got home late, to realise I hadn't done anything new, exciting, or something I had put off for a while. I went and looked over my list of things I could possibly do and the idea stood out as something I could do on (extremely) short notice.

  After very minimal typing - it literally took me two minutes; you come up with your email, a password and a user name and you are done- I joined Tumblr!! I haven't yet had much of a look at it, but it looks interesting, especially since I have realised a lot of my friends have it.

  Again, if you have anything I can add to my list, please email me suggestions at onedayatatime96@hotmail.com !!

  Sayonara!

New Thing #6: Last Minute BBQ

  So, I decided at 5pm today that I was going to go to my grandmother's to stay the night tonight. When I called grandma, she told me that she had been planning to go to a barbeque at 6pm tonight at the retirement village she lives in.

  So tonight, I spent just over an hour with 13 people, all over the age of 65. I was interesting, because I knew none of these people and yet we got into quite a few discussions about current movies and events!

  To you this may seem quite a boring New Thing, but for me, talking to people who are over the age of 60 who I don't know or am not related to is something I usually avoid. But if you come up with any good suggestions, please email me at onedayatatime96@hotmail.com !

  I am getting excited about all the things that I could do over the year, and all the people who know me that know about this have been giving me suggestions which I can't wait to try! I have also been given the Perth Modern School list of 101 Things to do Before you Graduate, and a few of them look fun (example: play Ultimate Frisbee with a tortilla).

  A bientot!

New Thing #5: Trivia Day

  So today, being a 36 degree day, of course the rational thing to do is go on a picnic at a park. But, of course, this is what two friends and I spent our day doing. We had previously arranged that I would be in charge of sweet food and a board or card game. But considering that our boardgame collection for people over the age of twelve hasn't been updated since I was about six, the only thing I could find was the 1990-something edition of Trivial Pursuit. Considering I have never played that, today, we made it our challenge to play it, and succeded.

  So, today, I played an entire game of Trivial Pursuit!!

  Since it was made a year or two before we were born, amd made for the generation above us, there were a lot of not-so-subtle clues givenm but it still counts!!

  I have no idea what I'm going to do tomorrow, it will probably just happen, but if you do have any ideas, email me at onedayatatime96@hotmail.com !!

  Arrivederci!

New Thing #4: Beach Day

  Hey!! Today's New Thing was a complete work-out in the self-confidence department, as well as a three-for-one deal!! I had planned to do one yesterday, and then the other two happened out of chance. I think that's how a lot of them will work this year, but still email me at onedayatatime96@hotmail.com !!

  Last week I was invited by a friend, Mat, to go to Hilary's boat harbour for the day with quite a few other friends. So I jumped at the chance because today would be the first time I have ever worn a bikini in public. My mother is conscious of being sun-smart, and because I burn incredibly easily, I have never been able to have own a bikini before. Which, being a teenage girl, can cause a slight problem, as I am always the only one swimming at a beach in a one-piece. So, for my birthday last November, I got a bikini from my grandmother (it was one of those "pick your own present" presents)! I have worn it a few times at my uncle's pool, but never in public, so today was going to be that day.

  I then get there, and all the guys had decided to jump off the jetty into the ocean, and they convinced me to have a go. Since I had never done that before, at Hilary's, or anywhere else for that matter, that became the second new thing I did today.

  And the third new thing I did today was spend more than 15 minutes in the sun without getting incredibly burnt. Living in Australia, where the sun beats down and in summer it can get to over 45 degrees Celsius, and having pale, easy-burning skin don't make a good combination. And no matter how many times I re-apply sunscreen or cover up with clothes or sit in the shade, I still manage to become bright red and burnt to a crisp. Yet today, I managed to spend 5 hours in the sun, on a 35 degree day, mostly in a swim suit, without getting burnt once! It doesn't matter that I used half a bottle of sunscreen, I still did it!!

  Talk tomorrow!

New Thing #3: Through to the End

  So, today is day three! I'm so glad that I decided I would do this because the idea has made this year look amazing! Everyone has told me that year 11 is hard because you find it challenging to get yourself motivated as there is nothing to work for at the end of the year, but with this challenge, this year shall be fantastic!

  Anyway, on to today's new thing.... So, I have always told people that Notting Hill is my favourite movie, but there is a slight problem with that: I have never actually seen the last 15 minutes or so. Until today. Let me explain.

  About 3/4 of the movies we own are Bali copies. Around 95% of them are good copies, but the other 5% have some kind of problem with them, and in Notting Hill's case, they fall into the latter category. The DVD that I own skips in the last 15-ish minutes and so you can't watch it.

  But yesterday, I borrowed a (non-Bali) copy of Notting Hill off a friend and today, I watched Notting Hill from start to finish without any defect in the DVD. Tomorrow, I'm beaching with friends, and I already have my New Thing planned!

  Live long and prosper.

New Thing #2: Crunchy Lunch

  Hi!

  So, over the last day, I have begun to realise how hard this is going to be. So far, the only person who knows about what I am doing is the friend (let's call her H) that I mentioned in yesterday's post! It shall become easier when I start telling people about what I am doing, but for the moment, I am trying to prove to myself first that I can do it.

 But, back on topic, we spent today trying to come up with ideas about all the things I could do to fill this year, and we got enough to fill just over a month! I'm sure things will come up along the way, but if you can think of something, email me at onedayatatime96@hotmail.com !!

  Anyway, today I was at said friends house for lunch, and they didn't have much in their cupboards. We managed finding cream cheese, bread rolls and a packet of cheese and onion chips. So, H decided that she was going to have a cheese and chip sandwich. Since this was something that I have thought was wierd since I first heard about it (I think it was reading a book in primary school), I decided I would try it! So, today, I ate a chip sandwich! I am now amazed that I have never done that before; it was actually a decent thing to eat!

  Got to go, but I'm thinking tomorrow, I will do something movie related!

  Au revoir!

New Thing #1: Hello all!!

  As I have only eleven minutes before the start of a brand new day, I would just quickly like to write my first post!!

  I have decided to write this blog because, well, to put it bluntly, last year was fairly rubbish. It got to the point where most things that I wanted to do that year had to be put aside so I could focus on the things that I needed to do there and then. I spent at least the last six months of 2011 wishing for a new year, a new start. So when it came to New Years Eve, I promised myself that I was going to make this year count. At that point I wasn't sure how, but I promised I would.

  Last night, I saw this really inspirational blog (well, to me anyway) about a lady who decided that she was going to spend the year before she turned 30 doing all the things she had wanted to try or do. It was then I realised that that was something I'd like to do. With the support of one of my closest friends, I started this blog tonight in the hope that whether or not people will read it, I will have documentation of all the amazing things I will do over the next year.

  This blog will be about trying new things and finally doing the things I have wanted to do forever. I will need help to come up with 366 ideas for new things, so email them to me at onedayatatime@hotmail.com.

  So to start off the (not-so-new) year:

  Today I started a blog.

  May the next year be a fulfilling and happy one!