I think I am beginning to thrive on the unknown and, quite possibly, on carrot cake too! I've certainly immersed myself in ample doses of both lately! Side effects yet to be determined, but am tring to couneract carrot cake consumption with double time at the gym.

Yeah, I've been eating pretty erratically as of late and indulging in foods that are not on the Lifewise plan. I have finally discovered that almost all the weight gain/difficulty losing weight that I have experinced in my life has been a factor of life. Every time I have moved to a new place, got a new job, had my heart broken, or lost a job I have packed on the pounds. And it is only when I am in a comfortable routine with lots of 'knowns' that I am able to succesfully take the pounds off. Anyways, I've gotta work on changing this because I'm pretty sure at the rate I am going, I will be in 'unknown' situations a lot of the time.

Speaking of which....the answer is still 'I don't know and please don't ask me until I get back from Orlando'. I am officially taking the next 12 days to chill out, relax and take a breath. I will sort through the options and make plans upon my return from Disney...unless I find a hunky mouse down there and decide to elope....

I am too tired to write anymore. Just spent the last hour talking to the Shac- we are arranging a rendevous at the Pearson airport (stopover on the way to Orlando) So excited, have never met anyone at the airport simply for a coffee and chat!!! And a fellow adventurer and all-round great person at that!!!


K, now I really am too tired to write anymore....

Hmm... to be overly dramatic and mopey or nonchalant and cheerful. Oooh, ooh, I know - we'll take a little dash of the dramatic, mix it with a teaspoon of nonchalance, dip that in some moping and sprinkle with cheerfulness! And voila:

It's the end of my job as I know it, but no worries, I've got Contingency Plan Korea on the table, but yeah, it does suck that I am leaving after only three months, I'll totally miss my co-workers and the coin. On the other hand, it's been a great ride, more than I expected when I came back in September and now I've got a brilliant, new adventure awaiting me!


And now a conversation between Blogger and Shanadian:

So.....(inset awkward silence)...um....yeah, sorry I've been away so long Blogger.

Will you forgive me?

I didn't totally forget you, I just couldn't post as often.

Sorry, what did you say?

Oh. Well..OK, you're right I could have, but I guess I just didn't.

I'm sorry, I suck.

Please take me back. I promise I'll never neglect you again.

Well, yeah, OK, maybe I will have a bit of trouble if I end up in Korea and Internet is not as accessible. But I promise I will try my hardest!

Yes, of course you're my only blog site! I'd never go for any other blog site, you're the best by far!

Awwww. Thank you :) You won't regret it!

_________________________________________________________________

Phew! So, the federal election is over, Canadians have spoken loud and clear and they (kind of) want change. Not emphatically, mind you, but hesitantly. So hesitantly, in fact, that, while the Conservatives (or Cons, as I warmly refer to them) will form the new government, they have only 21 more seats than the Liberals and nowhere near enough to get anything passed by the House without a strong ally. Even if they were somehow able to convince the NDP to vote with them (you know, cause that's what extreme right-wing and relatively strong left wing parties do all the time), they STILL wouldn't have enough power to get anything by the Liberals & Bloc Quebecois. In fact, they'll need either the Liberals or the Bloc on their side get anything done. Ah, the conundrum of being right-wing in a minority government where all the other parties tend to the left-wing.

So here's the good news: they won't be able to do anything TOO damaging to this country's fabric - nothing too extreme..at least in the short term.

Here's the not so good news: They can still do some things like:

1) Back out of Kyoto (um..hello...it's freaking 7 degrees in Alberta today Mr Harper. Do you really think turning your back on the environment is the wisest thing to do - and no, public transit tax credits for public transit systems ALREADY in place just won't cut it!!

2) Call for a free vote on SSM in the House and bring this issue back to the forefront. OK, so apparently in some instances you suggest less government interference in people's lives, so you propose to just give them some money to make them go away (e.g. childcare without the 'care" and textbook credits for students) but in other cases you vehemently believe that the government should hold absolute power over a person's life, most notably, you think that the government should be allowed to label certain types of love as acceptable and other types of love as unacceptable in the eyes of the law. Well, that kind of hypocrisy is simply unacceptable to me.

The other not so good news:

If the Cons are stymied from doing anything too radical in their first year as a government and another election comes around, Canadians just might believe they deserve a majority government. And that, my fellow Canadians, is when a certain something I like to call Bush-it will hit the fan at high speed. You'd better be wearing protective gear (i.e. massive wealth, no reliance on government programs and no deviation from what might be termed 'normal' or 'acceptable')

My greatest disappointment with this election is that the Green Party did not garner a larger portion f the votes. I do understand why - this was a major tug of war election between the right and the left wings, and there were few willing to tick off a candidate whose chances of winning were pretty much nil. But, to be fair, the Green Party has the answers - they know what this country and every country around the world needs to do in order to remain viable and sustainable. Our world is on a collision course with Mother Nature and, in terms of politics, I'd say the Green Party represents one of the following : a) our seatbelts b) an airbag c) the 'evasive maneuvers' button..if we were in a spaceship ;)

And that, my dear friends, is all I can say with regards to politics. I'm not sure any of it makes sense, I'm not sure I'm even close to the mark on any of my analysis, but it's what I think, so I guess I've said it now! Do you know how hard that was to keep to myself while the election was going on???

For feck's sake, why am I so tired?? I mean, I slept for ten hours straight last night and did pretty much nothing today, aside from one hour of cardio at the gym. Meh - I'll blame it on stress of not knowing whether I will be employed as of Tuesday. Although, to be honest, I am quite prepared for this possibility. In fact, I am kind of making plans based on this scenario. Plans that involve traipsing around a couple of continents and eventually settling into life in Northeast Asia, teaching kids how to speak English. Good times to be had!

And yet again I am reminded that it's the random meetings and moments that lead us through life. I mean, really, if I hadn't gone to Christine's on New Year's Eve, I definitely wouldn't be planning to head to Korea. That I am sure of. I'd probably still be majorly stressing about finding on job on PEI or trying to scrounge up enough money to get a working visa for Australia.

Oh, and for the record, I am still going to Australia..I'm just making a few extended stopovers on the way over! Anticipate I'll be hitting the Land Down Under in November or December 2006, just in time for summer. Hey I have to go, it's one of my 101 Things to Do Before I Die. And so is meeting my name twin, who, conveniently, lives in Sydney! So I have to go, and I'll be killing two birds with one stone!

So yeah, Jauary 25 is Robbie Burns night!! Last year we had a blast celebrating in Edinburgh - a three course meal, Burns poems, haggis piping and a ceilidh with lots of crazy Canadians dancing up a storm. Finished the night off at Drop Kick Murphy's where I ran into an Irish guy that I'd dated the summer before. And he was wearing a shiny tracksuit. Oh dear god!

Anyways, this past Friday the Caledonian Club was holding a Burns night in Charlottetown so I headed in with plans to meet Natasha there. Hmmm. It didn't work out as she was late, and I was even later and she assumed I had left so went in the darkened theatre and sat on the floor. I didn't think to look on the floor when I poked my head in to look for my missing friend. Ah well, it was not meant to be I guess.

Yesterday I went to see Brokeback Mountain in the afternoon. I can't say I was overly impressed with it - v. slow-moving and perhaps not as special as everyone is making it out to be, although the acting was v. good. Last night I cooked supper for Keri and we kicked back and had a nice chat. After Keri bid goodnight, I did some weight training and then watched American Idol, which I'd taped earlier in the week. And that was my v. exciting Saturday!

Did I mention I am leaving this Island soon!!!! Not that I don't love it, because I do, but I've got to get my travelling done before civilisation collapses around us (oops, sorry the alarmist slipped out there). But honestly, where the hell is winter?? It still has not reached our doorstep and this is disturbing!!!