The Smell of Friendship

The Smell of Friendship is most definitely not the weird smelling cigarette that some dude was smoking today.

So today I had an adventure that I wanted to share. My friend's birthday is tomorrow and it is a 1960's theme, so a couple of friends (Z and Rooster) and i decided to go op-shopping. It started out well. We decided to meet at the front gate, as there was a FISH picnic on at 3:15 at an oval/park thing nearby. Last year there was much the same thing happening and we all went to the park together at the end of school. This time was different though. We waited out the front of our school for a while - but no one arrived. So, i rang my sister to ask her where we were meant to meet. No answer. After a while we decided to see if anyone was around the school. Along the way we picked up another friend who was going to the train station. No one was anywhere in the school. I rang my sister again. No answer. So we decided to ditch the picnic and head into to town to go op-shopping. As we walked into to town my sister rang me, but I was too late to pick up. So I rang her again. No answer. We had well and truly given up on the picnic idea before my sister rang me again. By this time it was 3:01, 15 minutes until the picnic started and we were halfway across town. This time i reached the phone in time and answered my sister.

"Where are you?"
"I'm with my friends in town."
"Why?"
"Because we couldn't find anyone."
"Well i'm already at the park."
"Urggg. Bye."

So, my friends and I discussed our options, and as Z did not have money to buy food she wanted to go to the picnic, so we continued into town to catch a shuttle bus, before we did so stopping in the mall for a toilet break and food. We also made a detour to Uncle Pete's to buy a plastic fly. Don't ask.

After our break we continued to the bus stop when our friend on the way to the train station stopped. "That's my bus" she said as we watched a bus stop at the lights, which is where we parted ways. Our own wait for the bus was long and filled with weird smelling cigarette smoke. Finally we were on the bus and heading to the park. At 3:43 we arrived at the park after walking a fair distance from the bus stop. Once we reached the park it was deserted. That being said, it is rather large and littered with trees etc. We searched for the picnic group for a while until we gave up and walked back to the path to get to the bus stop. At the bike path we stopped and pondered the two paths that would lead us to a bus stop. While we pondered the bus went by, giving us 10 minutes to get to a stop before the next bus. A decision was made to go to the Uni stop and off we trotted, at a leisurely pace. In the end the decision to go to that stop was a bad one, as it took us nearly twice as long to get there. With the bus stop in our sights, our hopes  were dashed as we watched the bus sitting at the stop. If we had started running then, we would have made it, but alas, we did not and when we did eventually start running it was all for naught as the bus pulled away and drove past us.

An impromptu sprint on Z's behalf and a minute later, we reached the bus stop and settled in for a ten minute wait, discussing random things as teenage girls do. A couple of minutes later we missed the third bus. It was quite sudden really, we were chatting and the bus zoomed past us. It wasn't a ten minute wait after all... After that we kept an eye on the road for when the bus came, and a bus did come. A big blue one that is also known as my mum's car. I stood up in shock as my mum went past, and the confusion was mutual as she stared at us through the window. It turns out that the picnic was in fact at the park, we just were blind.

So the 3rd bus was early,... and the 4th bus was late. A full 10 minutes late. Before the bus arrived we lost another friend, Z, who decided that she didn't need anything from the op-shop and decided to catch the bus home. That left only Rooster and I. When the bus arrived it was 4:26 and we only had half an hour to get to the op-shop and shop before Rooster's dad came to pick us up.

We misjudged where the bus stopped, and it was 4:55 when we finally arrived at the op-shop. Just in time to see them locking up. Yes. Very anti-climatic I know. So we waited until 4:20 at a nearby play-park until we were picked up. Then, chatting in the car we missed the first two turnoffs to get to my house. Whoops.

Anyway... that was my journey today and although we didn't achieve anything that we set out to do we did have lots of fun and much needed bonding time :) I think that today was a success in that we bonded and hung out together, in the process strengthening our friendships. It really does prove that it is not the destination that matters, but the journey. And let me tell you, this journey was long and now my legs are tired.

Of course, an introduction

Where are my manners? I could introduce myself properly, but that's really not necessary.

I'm Harriet/Hazza/Harry/Hazmat/Haz/anything else you would like to call me, (except harry-the-rat as my uncle calls me). I am well.... you'll see my through my posts if you are interested. If you can catch the references (there are an awful lot of them), I love the Booktheif and basically all other books you can throw at me... and movies... and TV shows....
Basically i'm a nerd/fangirl/whatever you want to clump me with.
Before I tell you more about myself, I think I will show you what my friends think about me... or two of them at least.

On her blog (http://whenwewereinvisible.blogspot.com.au/), my friend Claire said:
Harriet: She's a very violent small person.  Harriet is so caring though, and is really motivated in school! She works so hard with everything she does. I really admire her for that. Also, she does so many things for other people. She's really giving, and is determined to make the world a better place. I love talking to her about various things, and she can get so passionate over something and will give me another look on what we are talking about. 

My friend Jesse (http://skiptotheending.blogspot.com.au/) said:
harrieT IS fun to banter with and she's pretty impatient, i found out at music camp, when i was telling zara and haz the story of everything and anything but it was a funny kind of impatient that makes you wanna snicker /cackles. you readers can determine that for yourself but anyway, haz/hazza is her nickname and i love harriet very much because she always offers her sandwiches to people sometimes and i'm usually the one to take it because i always forget my lunch. (that's the only reason i stick around her) she's generally a very sweet person and she always goes out of her way to do things for other people and she'll always be a beautiful person to have around. her hair is freakin' sunshine and her freckles are adorable and iunno but my friends seriously a lot of them have WONDERFUL BLUEY EYES AND IT'S BRILLIANT. she's a bit of a little sister in some ways that i kinda worry about her sometimes but she's also a little sister in that she's naturally endearing

Yeah... sooo... I think that these guys are too complimentary. Really. I'm not that great.

I'm not usually one to talk about myself and forget about my family, as they a a massive part of my life. One thing that I sure about my family- it is huge. And I don't mean couple of siblings huge. I mean the fact that my mum and dad (divorced) both are married. I mean that I already was one of four daughter. I mean that my stepdad had two sons. And my stepmum had two children. And therefore I have seven siblings. And 4 (five if you count oma) sets of grandparents. And 8 cousins. And 10 aunts/uncles... You get the gist.
Anyway, my family is super supportive of me and encourages me in everything I do, and without them I wouldn't be the person I am today.

I also have awesome friends, but I'll get to them on a later date.
So yeah. That's me (or part of me) and I hope you like what you read :)

Is This Today's Weather Report?

So I have this thing about painted rainbows, and I wanted to share these beautiful painting that were displayed at an art exhibition that I went to last year. I don't know why bit I feel that these speak to me and also- the skill that went into these pictures amazes me. How can people art so well? 

Her Best Friend, and later, her Partner and Catalyst in Crime

So, this is my first entry on my blog and I just want to tell you I have no idea what I am going to write.... But I guess I will start with the Pandas.
If you are following any of my friends you should have already seen this, but i want to show my perspective.
The Pandas are my friend group and we call ourselves the Pandas because we sit next to the bamboo.

My BFF is Athena: She doesn't come to our school anymore but she still counts. Athena is so beautiful and I am lucky to have a friend like her. She has the most wicked hair - it's short and dyed - and she is beautiful no matter what she believes. I think that Athena is like a lighthouse for me. She guides me in times of trouble, even though she is being hammered by the waves as well. She was going through a rough spot a while ago and i didn't help her as much as I should have so i am forever guilty, even though she is fine now and settling in really well at her new school. I miss her so much, even though we still hangout.

Rooster: Her real name is Ruby, but i call her Rooster because she has red hair and i miss heard someone calling her Rubster in year 8.... anyway. Rooster is my extreme hipster/mellow friend who is such a blast to go to fairs and stuff with. She is like a (rare) flower which is beautiful on the outside and even prettier on the inside. I love hanging with Rooster and I feel that over the past year or so we have been getting closer and I like that. I hope our friendship develops more in the future :)

Jet: Jesse is my beautiful little Jet who is just this bundle of fun. She is such a cutie and whenever i am with her i just feel so happy :) Jet is such a kind and quirky little character and i love her so much for it. She is like this butterfly in that when she is still she blends in to to the surroundings, but when she moves everyone is awed by her awesome colours and patterns.

Jamilla: it has been said a thousand times, but Jem is married to the imbodiement of animae. She is like this snail that found its way to Asia and finally came out of its shell. Jem is so quirky and fun to be around and it can talk to her really easily. 

Claire: Claire is such a beautiful girl that is so quiet most of the time, but this year especially she has become more open and we really get to see how awesome she is :) She is lots of fun to talk and hang with. 

Zara: Z seems really normal when you aren't her friend, but she is actually really random and crazy. She is also really smart and a bad influence on my during history - we really should have done some work last period.... 

Chanse: Chancey is my beaut friend who has such rosy cheeks and is practically always laughing. She is lovely and I lie hanging with her in the city.

Kai: Kai is really nice and such a gentleman. Although My friends ship me with him and whatever I say will be twisted to suit their needs. So let's just stick with the fact that HE HAS ABANDONED US FOR HIS MAGIC FRIENDS! 

Guy: Guy is just the funnest person to be around (although he can be really creepy sometimes - seriously dude, what's up with your obsession with Jesse?). Anyway, when I first met him he was this shy little (and by that I mean really tall because I am short) boy and now almost more than a year later he is this fabulous boy with an amazing soprano voice and really someone that I am lucky to be friends with.

Lucy: Lucy is my lovely friend with whom I share the love of the 'Checkout'. She is fun to be around and totally fits in with the rest of our weird group.

So yeah, that's us, the weird inter-year group that is the Pandas.