January: month of mixed emotions

Though Christmas is the most wonderful holiday on my agenda and in the immediate weeks to come, it is overshadowed by a nerve-racking prospect, among others.

I am a graduated senior. What else am I worried about but my score, which will be released on January 4? Unlike Dancing Feet, I am not looking forward this. Though I want to know, I am nervous at the thought, and cannot imagine how I will be on the day (not to mention that I will have to get up early in order to call my school between 10 am and 12pm.) Is my goal of 39 too high? How will I feel if I get 38, or less? And I try not to hope that I will get 40 or above (though it is my deepest desire) so that I do not set myself up for disappointment.

And as if all those nerves weren’t enough, my driving test to get my provisional licence is the day before. My mother had booked the test for the 12th of December, but – apart from not quite having 50 hours – I’m not ready. So, in my mother’s haste for me to get my licence, it has been postponed til January 3rd. I’m glad there are no traffic lights in the town where I’ll be doing my test (though it may be a larger town than my own, it’s population boasts only 2000), but reverse parallel parks persist to be the bane of my life, or at least my driving ability. And hill starts. I hate hill starts. To be optimistic, however, I have not hit anything. Yet.

But that is not the end of my agony. No. On January 15th, I find out which university and course I have been accepted into. If the ENTER for Arts at Melbourne Uni is anything like it was last year – around 90 – I should be accepted, but what if I’m not? In 24-48 hours of receiving this – an – offer, I find out whether I have been accepted into the residential college of my first preference (if I receive an offer at Melbourne).

On the flipside of all this, there are a few things that I actually am excited about. The first of this (Christmas notwithstanding) is going to Melbourne around the 20th to see The Phantom of the Opera, which I am have not seen and am very much looking forward to (unlike my brother, who lacks an appreciated of the arts). We’re also going to the Australian Open, which is always good. This year is a little bit different, though, as we’ve got a day pass for Monday and we’re going to the night games on Sunday – we’ve never bought a day pass before, but it should be fun. Last year we saw Federer, and the year before that, Sharapova, both of whom were absolutely amazing. I’ve just been informed that we’re also going to see the musical Shout, of which I was completely unaware, but equally looking forward to!

Though of course, the photos don't do their playing justice.

Furthermore, around Australia Day my good friend Sara is coming to visit and stay with me! If I can survive all of the above, I shall be simply delighted!

As to those photos of Hawaii, an explanation is finally due. The first of the house through the hedge is actually my grandparents’ house. It’s a beautiful, big, old two-storey house that my grandmother’s parents owned and lived in. There’s a pool and the front and huge backyard that resembles a rainforest, with a stream that divides it from the mountain behind, of which there will be many photos. The photo was taken from behind the hedge that borders the house on three sides (the stream makes the fourth). I was standing in an overgrown road between their house and the next, which led from their unused garage to the next photo.

The overgrown shack, as I refer to it, was something I stumbled upon in my exploration of the garden (though it is far too large and untended to be called that). It may have been a garden shed once upon a time, but now it is simply forgotten, and a mosquito haven – I got eaten alive taking the photo.

Expect more photos – of Christmas and Hawaii – soon!

x
Just a girl