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.)