Fairy Bread and Evil background music...

Wow... I've really been neglecting this blog haven't I? For the record, I told myself that I wasn't going to be sucked in by the halo of procrastination surrounding this website but still... as my mum pointed out yesterday on the phone *note - to be read in an exasperated mother tone* "I've worked out how to get onto the thing and you haven't written anything since the holidays!"

And so, I've decided to dedicate this blog entry to you Mum... mainly because I reckon you're about the only one who reads this anyway (... the comment box is most definitely OPEN right now for people to prove that i'm really not that pathetic)

...

Love you Mum...

*ahem* So anyway... The last few weeks have been more than a little hectic... seriously, I have this mental image of all of my uni lecturers sitting around eating fairy bread (why? I have no idea) and brainstorming ways to torture the second year students who became way too complacent in first year. To help, I've drawn a little picture....

Hmmm... I'm not actually sure that you'll all be able to read that.... or get past my wonderfully craptastic stick figures but hey.... the point is that my lecturers are ev...

Well ok - I should probably mention here that I'll be the first to admit that they're actually very helpful people and only give us that workload because they think they're the only ones who are setting crazy lab reports (I had 6 due last week.... 6!!!!!). I think it just seems like they're all banding together and lets face it... exaggerating is always fun!

So really I think I'm my own worst enemy. Mainly because I'm sitting here blogging and drawing stick figure cartoons when I really should be finishing my lab reports... what can I say? When your mother tells you to jump you ask how high ;)

Watch this! You know you want to...

My friend sent this to me... I was a little skeptical at first but eventually it made me cry... see what you think :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_M0H5nrY8E

Handy tip number one: have tissues on stand-by

Just for funsies...

http://www.xkcd.com/

Heh - how great is that? Although how did she not notice he never called her by name? How awkward would that have been?

Procrastinating? Me? Never!

Current mood....

Wow...

http://play.blogger.com/

Check it out - it's a slide show of all the photos people are uploading on their blogs... sounds strange, but it's bizarrely captivating....

My new direction...

So I've been thinking pretty heavily over the last few months (*sighs* yes, my brain hurts) and I've come to a pretty sad, but also incredibly exciting conclusion...

...I'm saying sayonara to CSI-land...

For those of you who don't know, for the last two years I've been embroiled in the wonderful world of Forensics, studying a bachelor of applied chemistry (Hons) in Forensic Science. Basically it's a stress-filled rollercoaster of struggling to keep above a credit average in some seriously hard subjects while trying not to lash out and strangle something because of it...
So on Monday I finally decided it really wasn't worth it! To be honest, the only thing I could have seen myself doing with the degree was going into the police force, stuffing around for about 5 years just so I could work in serious crime. To me, it just seemed like a lot of hooplah for a lifetime of stress and paperwork.

Forensics is not at all like CSI... oh no... most of it is lab work or painstakingly combing a crime scene for a skin flake that could (but probably won't) link a suspect to a crime scene.
Sound frustrationg or what?

So anyway, the question has to be asked - What am I going to do now?

I'm switching to Applied Chemistry - the plan is to finish that next year and then do the post-grad secondary teaching course here at UTS... That's right - I'm going to be a High School Science teacher

Don't laugh - I'm serious!

It's been a bit of a strange year; I remember someone coming up to me in church one Sunday and asking me how my degree was going; "you're doing education right?"

Ah... no...

A number of people I know really well have come out with "you'd be great teacher joh" seemingly from nowhere, includeing my Mum who then proceeded to tell me about the "teaching gene" that (admittedly a little obviously) runs through our family...

I think perhaps God's trying to tell me something... and true to form I, being the stubborn berk that I am, have been trying to go the other way. But I've given in (finally) and let me tell you I don't think I've ever been quite as relieved as I am right now... I don't feel nearly as worried about the future as I was a week ago, I'm not feeling stressed out about my subjects (I actually want to study now... warped huh?) and I'm much, much, much more excited about my course! My new course director gave me a long list of electives he thought I'd enjoy and I feel a bit like a kid in a candy store! Heh...

So there's what I've been thinking... weird huh?

Stressed is just Desserts spelled backwards...

In my brief (hah!) stay in the realms of stress-land, I have come to a conclusion which I hope will;
(a) put my current state of mind into some sort of perspective and;
(b) help me procrastinate just a little bit more (because we all know that's fun!)
The Three Stages of Stress

• Mildly worried

This is the stage where things are beginning to pile up but that day on which three of your assignments are due is still relatively far away so it doesn't seem so bad...

• Stressed to the point of nervous breakdown

Alright so this is a bit of a jump and should, by rights, be the final stage... I thought it was as well until this week, but I'll get to that in a second... This is the point at which everything becomes just too overwhelming. Assignment D-Day is rapidly approaching and it's not looking like they're going to be done in time. Panic decends and all one really wants to do is curl up in a corner and stay there until it's all over. This stage is usually accompanied by emotional, teary calls to the one's mother who really can't do anything to help but can at least knock some sort of sense into your panic-clouded brain. Yep... this is where I was a few days ago...

• Stressed beyond the point of nervous breakdown

This, I have to say, is my current state of mind. I am beyond the point of caring about the fact that I'm stressed. So much so that I appear completely nonchalant and well-adjusted when really, if I stop to think about it, I'm even more panicked and jumpy than I was when I made that phone-call at 11:00pm... I mean, think about it; I have an exam today that I only began studying for last night and what am I doing? Blogging!

Actually, I told someone about my crazy week and the amount of work I had to do and he laughed at me when I said I was stressed beyond all reason... huh - go figure

And while the final stage may seem wonderful and a marked improvement on the second, let me tell youl; it's not. I think I'd rather be in blind panic than total apathy - at least I'd be a little more concerned about the work I need to get done...

*sigh*

It's at times like this that I am immensely thankful that I have a God I can lean on - it's so comforting to know that even if I stuff everything up, I'll still be a beloved child of God - nothing's going to change that. As Jesus said;

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?