During the course of writing my blog I will be sharing some more information about me and the things I am using/ interested in/ hobbies etc.

I think you might have already picked up on the fact that even though I am fairly new to eBay, only since late August last year, I really love learning about it and buying and selling.

I know I have a long way to go but I really do have the best tools for learning from Bidding Buzz ,  Avril Harper , and John Thornhill.   Their weekly tuition is fabulous.

I think you can also really tell I am extremely passionate about John Thornhill’s Coaching Program. I have come further in Internet Marketing in a very short time, with his John Thornhill’s Mastery Coaching than I have come in well over 2 years.

What have I achieved?

I have learned to download a theme for my Blog to make it more attractive.   I have added my own header and footer to personalise my own blog with the help of Steve and Dave Nicholson at www.planetdivinity.com Their work is totally brilliant and they are extremely helpful.  I have extracted files, added Adsense ads, uploaded themes, tested my blog, subscribed to AWeber etc and now have an opt-in box on my Blog that works.  I am also finding my niche to create my first product.

I have found 10 things that I am passionate about so I can hone in on my Niche.

I grew up in a place called Paddington near the central business district of Sydney.

Paddington has definitely changed since my days of living there for the first 20 years of my life, which is now many years ago but  is also now a very expensive place to live.

Mum and Dad rented there for many years when I was growing up, to only purchase it for around $2000.  They sold the house for around $18000 not 2 short years later, which enabled them to build their dream home in Belrose.

Whilst growing up in Paddington, I went to a little school called Glenmore Rd Public School and then earned a place  at Sydney Girls’ High Selective School.  I had earned a place, in Year 5, in to Woollahra Demonstration School, which was an Opportunity Class School for which you had to sit a test.  Mum and Dad wanted me to stay at Glenmore Road, which I did.

I had an interest in Music from a very young age and was only quite young when I taught myself to play the Recorder and read Music, around 3 to 4 years of age.

I always wanted to be in a Sports team at school but, even though, apparently, I was quite good at the sports they offered of Netball and Softball, I never made it in to the teams.  I turned up for practice every week, but was not included.

I became very interested in Tennis in Year 5 and so started hitting up against our carport wall at home. It was a different wall to practise against as it had never been concreted so had lumps and bumps all over the place. I really enjoyed that as it was very challenging to hit the ball back, as it came at you from all different directions.

Being extremely disappointed about not getting in to the school sports teams for Softball or Netball, even though training hard and turning up for practice regularly, one day an opportunity arose to form a tennis team at our Primary school that would play tennis competitions against other schools. There was only one hiccup. They needed a parent to take the team to the various venues. That is where my mother came in, and she kindly took us all.   This was a huge step forward for my Mum as she was not used to doing anything like this at all.  This all occurred when I was in Year 5 and we went on to win the Comp.

When I went to High School, still absolutely passionate about, and active in playing Tennis, I eventually went on to Captain the School Tennis Team during my Senior Years.  This was a great honour.  I played much Tennis outside school as well and was involved in many A Grade competitions.

Where Music was concerned I had always wanted to play the Piano and learn Ballet but we were unable to afford these. I used to Sing all the time, right from when I was young. I would sing songs I created myself or sing along with records we had at home, such as Gilbert and Sullivan, Showboat, South Pacific etc.

In my second year of High School, I took Music Elective and this was when I found the Violoncello. Actually it was the Double Bass I first excitedly took home to show Dad and Mum, as I was going to be loaned this instrument so I could participate in the School Orchestra. Dad, however,  said he couldn’t find me behind the Double Bass as I was only 5’2″. So, sadly, that was the end of the Double Bass and I was to bring home the Violoncello – otherwise known as the ‘Cello.

I absolutely loved learning this instrument, and continued Singing, joining the School Choir and Choral Group. I also joined the Recorder Band and was to end up learning all 5 Recorders and playing them in the school band over my years at High School.   In my last 2 years of High School, I was to actually train and conduct the School Recorder Band.  I also went on to train many Recorder players during my teaching years, as well as train and conduct many Recorder Bands, some of which were coached to play the 5 different recorders in part playing.

In the next 4 years I continued learning the ‘Cello and was getting extremely good exam results. I was participating in the School Orchestra, which was just fabulous. I was then selected to try out for the Secondary Schools Orchestra and won a place in this. I also joined a Chamber Music Group at the NSW Conservatorium.

I was to earn a place for my Senior Years at the Conservatorium High School, but Dad preferred me staying at Sydney Girls High School.

With Tennis, I continued playing at School, and also joined Tennis Teams outside school. We went on to win the School Competitions over the years. I ended up in A Grade outside school and we won most Competitions there too.

Sadly, early in my last year of High School, with the ‘Cello being my major exam instrument, and after having just been selected to play in the Orchestra for Rudolph Nureyev and Dame Margot Fonteyn, and being up to up to what was called Thumb position on the ‘Cello, I was unable to achieve thumb position as I am double jointed in all my fingers, and my fingers kept locking at the top of the strings near the bridge. No matter what I did I was unable to achieve this thumb position and go any further as at this stage of one’s playing thumb position is used frequently.  I was devastated as I had to give the Cello up, an intstrument I truly loved and apparently, was considered to be very good at.  All at the last year of my High School in Music with it being my major exam instrument.

This was  for 1st Level Music and I could now no longer play it. However, no matter how devastated I felt inside, there was really no time at all to feel this devastation, although I really was as I loved the ‘Cello, the Orchestra, and the Chamber Music group.

What was I to do?   Luckily I was fortunate enough to have been playing the Recorder from when I was 3 to 4 years of age, so I purchased all the Music I required for 6th Grade in this instrument, and started practising furiously with only 4 months to the final 1st Level Music Exam.

It was very sad to say goodbye to the ‘Cello, but I did go on to earn my 1st Level Music results coming 2nd in the State in Music, a subject I thought I had failed. This was absolutely wonderful.

I did very well in my other subjects in High School.

I had always wanted to be a Teacher. I was to get 5 Scholarships, one to be a Lawyer, but Teaching was what won me. I did not want to be a High School Music or Maths teacher, a scholarship I had also earned,  as I had seen how the children at my High School had mostly not wanted to do Music, and subsequently how they behaved in the lessons, and that was a good school. I felt that if I could capture children in Primary School, I had more chance of passing on a love of Music, Maths and other subjects on to them. This was to become more true than I was to realise at this time.

I was to enter Alexander Mackie Teachers’ College in Paddington, not far from my home, in fact in walking distance,  and a new chapter in my life was to begin.   This College no longer exists. It was Sydney Technical High School, before it was the Teachers’ College.  It was almost next door to the Army Barracks in Paddington.

This is where I will leave us today and continue the journey again soon.

Bye for now and have a great rest of the day!

Regards Carol