Here I am back at work - a miraculous weekend recovery which I credit to copious ingestion of Orange Juice not from concentrate and many, many hours of sleep (induced by Nyquil).

Right, so am sure I left you hanging with anticipation as to what the weekend held for this SickShannon. Without further adieu I bring you teh weekend review (not the unintentional rhyming of the that sentence!)

Friday Evening: Shannon wisely chooses to stay in and recuperate from her cold while Keri heads out on Work Do and Jen has haggis with lacrosse team. She is kept compnay by double bill of Simpsons and a not-so-good movie she rented (Two Brothers - cute, but very slow moving and kind of sad for a supposed family movie)

Saturday Afternoon - Following on 10-hour sleep Shannon heads to town to pay massive Council Tax Bill for flar (massive = over $1500). Ouch. She finds herself in Freebie heaven and ends up with, amongst other things, a free day gym pass, a bottle of ketchup, jar of mayonaise, laundry detergent and a frisbee.

Saturday Evening: Shannon is feeling much better so heads out with Canadian crew to do Grass Market pub crawl - very enjoyable, but a late night is not had - in fact we leaev so early that the very nice bouncer at Drop Kick Murhpy's comments . . .I guess we are regs now!


Sunday Afternoon - Gorgeous sunny day and 10 Celsius, so Jen & I head out for a mammoth walk/hill climb which lasts 3 hours. After we walk & climb, we decide to hop on a random us and see where it takes us. It takes us to a shopping centre. Surprise, Surprise. After resisting temptation to buy CDs galore, we head off to do Sunday Evening thing

Sunday Evening - Dinner at Anne's. Yum!!! Mushroom soup, pad thai and scones w/clotted cream. Mmmmmmmmm!!!

So, not the most eventful weekend, but thoroughly enjoyable for a recovering sickie. I

plan to dedicate this week to seeing all the movies I have missed over the last month including: The Aviator, Ray, GARDEN STATE, Million Dollar Baby, Team America (maybe?) & Closer. Funny - Ocean's 12 is not even out here yet!

Today I am sick, thus I am not at work. I slept 12 hours - my nose is not longer congested, but my head is throbbing. OJ here I come.

Last night I spent a whole hour with Suzi!! Suzi of PEI - Suzi who lived here, like, 3 years ago, found herself a Scottish bloke and has come over to see him. It's the only long-distance relationship that I know of which has lasted so long... Anywho, it was fab to see Ms Suzi, save for the fact that I was really feeling quite sick

Sickness may be result of not giving myself any downtime since returning to Edinburgh. Down time would result in me thinking - me thinking would result in one of two scenarios: Lots of crying OR making really big decisions about where I want to be in the next year. So, for now, am nixing the thinking - highly dangerous stuff it can be.

Last night I went to comedy with some random bloke who I'd met a week and a half ago. Very random. Anyways, turned out to be good company (although slightly taller than I am used to) and the improv show was hilarious - espeically the skit entitled 'Le Quebec'.

Um, oh and Tuesday I was out with a not-so-random bloke whose name is the same as my father's. How weird is that glad I didn't acccidentally refer to him as 'Daddy' during the evening.

Last night I just chilled and watched Fahrenheit 9/11, which was on TV. Second time around I came to conclusion that, while it is essential viewing, as documentaries go, it wasn't the best that Mr Moore has put out.

K - back to doing nothing for me - that is what one does when one is sick right?

Watch for weekend review on Monday - it may go something like - I was sick - I coughed and sneezed a lot. Just a guess.

Random Notes from the Desk of a Little Cog in the Big Machine called Capitalism:

1. Miss Bo Peep has now stated that she will likely be delaying her trip north until April 30th (or so).

2. Miss Shannon will actually have the flat completely to herself for one WHOLE week!!!!! Yah! March 6 - 13 here I come. (not that I don't love my flatmates - I do - but oh how I yearn for alone time.

3. Jen, Anne & Shannon have made up a schedule of things to do and places to go in the next few weeks. Plans include, but are not limited to:

Rock Climbing
Road Trip (I REFUSE to drive the entire trip this time around)
Chinese New Year Celebrations
Murder Mystery Party
Twister (oh, I think I just made that one up)
Ceilidh

4. If I can make it until February 15th that will be 4 Valentine's Days in a row that I have been ALONE.

5. Everyone in the office appears to be off sick

6. Shannon is at that point (yet again) where she is feeling utterly and completely confused about where she should go next/what she should do. Argh - life is so much easier in the confines of university life or a secure job in Canada. All I have is an extreemly vague vision of where I want to go (literally & figuratively) and no idea whatsoever how I am to get there.

7. My efficiency at work last week was 76%, this week it was 122%.

8> I hvae to go, my half hour lunch is over..again.

Ah, yet another weekend has passed us by, yet another weekend review to write up. The utter joy!

Friday Night – After much contemplation I opted to skip the after-work workout due to the fact that I was feeling extremely nauseous. Nauseousness, however, did not deter me from contemplating a mid-way- home stop at the Woolworth’s for a bag of bubblegum (now that I can chew again!). Luckily, I was distracted from bubblegum plan by text from Jen regarding the evening’s plans. Bubblegum thoughts were put on backburner.

Jen & I traipsed up to the Royal Mile in search of the Jolly Judge (FYI – this is a pub, not some happy-go-lucky court official).In my v short google sarch for free wireless internet spots in Edinburgh, I discovered only two places and the Jolly Judge was one of them. Oh I looked so cool puling my laptop out of backpack and drinking a diet coke. The good news is that there is wireless Internet there, the not-so-good news is that, at least on Friday, there were a load of loud suits and it was extremely smoky. Ah well.

In other good news, I can now say, quite confidently, that Tuesday evening’s investment was value for money – kind of. It has occurred to me since then (especially on Saturday night), that I could probably achieve the same results, if not better, on my own in both quality & quantity. No difference though, what’s done is done and I’d say I faired the best of the 4 of us.

Saturday Day – Shopping, but not really buying, well, except for TICKETS TO CHICAGO!!!!!!!!! Jen, Anne & I are going in March. I am SO excited!!!! Now, before you all go ‘What the heck is Shannon doing going to the States – and Chicago no less?’ Nae worries, I refer to Chicago the Broadway Musical that was made into a movie a few years ago. We scored £5 off for being students too (didn’t even have to show our cards!)

Saturday Night – The HIGHLIGHT of the weekend, and possibly the month: A BURNS SUPPER. A bunch of us Canadian gals attended a formal dinner & ceilidh in remembrance and honour of Robert Burns. It was FABULOUS! I actually had an evening gown to wear and heels. There were 75 attendees – mostly from North America and Scotland – plenty of kilts to enjoy! The dinner was delicious – a truly Scottish affair with Haggis, Neeps & Tatties and some very weird (read – not so great tasting) dessert of whipped cream and oats.

The ceilidh to follow was a blast and an aerobic workout. I love it though- dancing is soo fun! Dancing with men in kilts is incomparable J

Afterwards we headed to our new favorite Irish pub, Drop Kick Murphy’s, for some live music and more dancing. And then, out of the blue (or really, coming through the throng of people)., I discovered that Ediburgh is indeed a small place where one is bound to catch up with one’s past. Particularly if that past is in the form of an Irish bloke and you just happen to be at one of the two decent Irish bars in the city, Yes, yes, Filthy’s had followed me all the way from Rose Street to the Grass Market.

Sunday Day – Recovery. Not that I had been drinking – but I am def lacking in sleep these days, It was a pretty chillaxed day – a bit of shopping, a hot chocolate and catch-up on gossip with Anne & Jen. Apparently Anne had been entertained by me the previous evening – I was completely oblivious.

Oh – back to work – again, sorry I can’t email more often. Schem – you are next on my list!!!

OK, for the most part I try to abstain from discussing politics and the state of our world because I know that, for most, it makes for a boring read OR they have a v different viewpoint and become upset. So , in advance, I will apologise if I bore anyone or upset anyone, but seriously, I am nauseated by the so-called progress and evolution of the Western World and its impacts on everything from human rights to playing Mother Nature (eg cloning) to the environment. Blah.

But what are we, the concerned citizens of this world, to do? It is a David vs. Goliath fight and I fear it may already have been won by the giants.

Anyway, here's a thought for the day - pulled straight from the archives of Anne's blog:


Laurence W. Britt, a political scientist, details 14 similarities in Fascist movements in the article "Fascism Anyone?".

These similarities can be found in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Franco's Spain, Salazar's Portugal, Papadopoulos's Greece, Pinochet's Chile, and Suharto's Indonesia. Most of these are becoming all too well known in America as well.

Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism
Disdain for the importance of human rightsI
dentification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause
The supremacy of the military/avid militarism
Rampant sexism
A controlled mass media
Obsession with national security
Religion and ruling elite tied together
Power of corporations protected
Power of labor suppressed or eliminated
Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts
Obsession with crime and punishment
Rampant cronyism and corruption
Fraudulent elections

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news - I am taking a holiday in March! I think I will go to Sweden..actually I KNOW I will go to Sweden! Yah!

It hurts to laugh - I went to boxercise class and was tortured.

Tonight I am checking out the only pub in Edinburgh with Wireless Internet Access - the Jolly Judge. Woohoo!

Hmm..what else to say? Not a whole lot I guess - looking forward to the weekend. It is lovely outside today.

To certain people:

Dear Dad: It was nice to talk to you last night too! Hope the weather clears soon - but please please don't go on the roads until it is good again (that goes for all you Islanders!!). Well, hope you keep reading my blog, I'll do my best to call more often now that I've discovered an extremely good calling card.

Dear Sahra: DO you even read this anymore? I will try calling you this weekend. Or maybe email you. We need to talk about something :)

Dear Everyone Else: I hope you are happy. Write me!

You will notice, if you are detail-oriented person (i.e. Raeanne!) , that I've added a new link entiteld Anne's Blog. Anne is my favorite new friend - she's an INFJ, which explains it completely! Anyway, its another CAnadian perspective of life in Scotland, so check it out if you wish. Her latest entry is especially interesting as it is another perspective on the whole speed-dating thing.

So last night we had a girl huddle to discuss the previous evening's successes and failures. After lengthy discussions of the not-so-good guys (namely drunken Canadian bloke) we had to decide whether to go in and tick anyone off or take another speed dating event for free. I tried to figure out a wayt o scam teh system so only one of us had to do the ticking but, essentially, if you want ot know who chose you, you have to do the ticking yourself.

All but Anne decided to tick. I was torn, because I can't resist something free, but there was one tick I wanted to make! THen again, I reminded myself (as did Jen) - would I really want to go speed-dating again? With that thought fresh in my mind, I went on-line and ticked away. In total I ticked 5 guys - 3 as friends and 2 as potential something or others (read - dates??). HOnestly, I would have been happy just to tick two, but I wanted to get my money's worth, plus I was curious to see if they had ticked me and anyways..you never know.

Right - so Ego Boost was forthcoming!!! Every bloke I had ticked, except one, had ticked me. The one who hadn't, had not logged on to do his ticking yet. Of course, the blokes probably tick every girl off, but ah well, it was a badly need boost to my self-confidence, which *may* have dipped dramatically in the latter part of 2004. And then I went home and my mobile rang and next thing you know - a date for next Wednesday (totally unrelated to speed-dating).

SO - there is hope, but I still kind of wish that there were a place like in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.... Oh, a highly recommended movie BTW.

This weekend I am payign £25 for a 4 course meal, ceilidh and quiz night in celebration of Robert Burns. It is formal dress and a fab chance to meet some other people who have come to Scotland thru SWAP (that is the organisation that is hosting the event).

Well, back to work now! I am sorry I can't email more often!

NOTE TO ALL IMMEDIATE FAMILY - I will try calling you tonite between 5 & 6, so PLEASE don't be doing updates on computer!

So – I bet you’re all wondering how things went down last night! Me too – the scores are not yet in, so in that respect will just have to wait and see…

Anywho, the night was ..er..interesting and a good laugh to boot!

There were 13 blokes and 14 gals (including 3 Canucks & 1 token Irish friend). We were given scorecards and badges with our name and a number. Us gals actually ended up being the rotaters since there were more of us. We started ‘dating’ the person with the same badge number as us and then when the organiser blew a shrill whistle we moved on to the next person. After each date we were meant to tick off whether we were interested in seeing the person again (as a friend or more..) . I didn’t actually tick anyone off – it just seemed a bit, well, I don’t know – but a ‘Score’ Card?!?!?! OK, but I did write down everyone’s name and badge number…

As for the quality of the blokes – well it was a smorgasboard really. The first few were decent enough in all respects, then came two or three er..’interesting’ characters, luckily the last four or five redeemed my faith that there are some nice/interesting/attractive men out there.

I’ve yet to decide whether I will actually tick any of the bloke’s off as an interest – you have to do that on your web profile. If I choose not to tick anyone off then I can go to the next event for free! If it weren’t for just one lad I would def be taking my Get Another Speed Date Free card. Why I didn’t just get his number after the event is beyond me and the three glasses of wine I had – I blame it entirely on the book ‘He’s Just Not That Into You’ which discourages ladies from making any forward moves such as number taking. What is up with that????

There was a lone Canadian guy there- he wasn’t exactly representing..then again he is from Toronto. He was by far the most intoxicated person there and could do nothing but gripe about how people in Toronto are so materialistic..um..hello – Big City = Materialistic Rat Race Population…
Right, well that’s that. It probably wasn’t worth the £20, but it was an experience and, hey, I got two drinks from two blokes afterwards, so I guess there was a bit of an ROI!

First - a wee sidenote: I posted a few more pics while I was home for the holidays. They are in the Scotland folder - just click on the My Pics Link on the right-hand panel. Now that I have Wi-Fi (hehe - I love saying that), I'll do my best to post pics on a more regauylar basis, most will probably b e from Jen & Keri's cameras...those cameras go everywhere.

Right- so tonight is speed-dating. What in the world was I thinking? Where did I get the idea that this was a good idea? AS per usual I committed myself (i.e. paid money) before actually thinking about what event would entail. I would never do anything if I actually let myself think about the possible scenarios that might play themselves out.

Best-Case Realistic Scenario - An entertaining evening where I meet someone who will occupy my thoughts, thus kicking out the current occupier of my thoughts (I think this would be a good thing).
Worst-case scenario - 2 hours of creepy/sleazy men and conclusion that current occupier of mind is irreplacable (because, of course, the men at this sped dating thing will be representative of singletons on the whole.....)

Apparently we're not supposed to ask the standard questions like 'What do you do?' and 'Where are you From?' because, well, you know, answers to those questions would give us no clue as to whether we might be interested in bloke. What do I care if the bloke is a dealer in non-prescription drugs, or has been unemployed for 8 months? What do I care if he is from a polygomist community? Nah boring, pointlesss questions those are.

So, I am racking my brain for some entertaining/useful questions, here is what I've come up with so far:

1. Do you spend a lot of time in basements?

2. Part a. Do you like dragons? If so, please answer Part b.
Part b. Do you like dungeons?

3. What cartoon character do you most resemble (phsically & in character)?

4. Do you, or have you ever, watched Big Brother (voluntarily) ?

5. What are you doing on the evening of May13? Have you already purchased tickets?

6. Are you from Ireland?

7. What colour are my eyes (note - I will close them at this point)?

8. What colour are your eyes?

9. What do you eat for breakfast?

10. How many times a week do you speak to your mother?

11. Who does your laundry?

12. Please spell 'potato'.

13. If you had to vote for Charlton Heston or Michael Moore to lead your country/the world, who would you choose?

14. How many minutes do you spend on your hair each morning?

15. How many are there in a baker's dozen?

16. Have you ever lived away from home?

17. Where was your last holiday?

18. Do you ever use tipex? (ie white-out)

19. Have you ever sung karaoke? List of songs please.

20. What time is the 3.00 parade at?

SO - yeah, that's all I've got for the moment. That should give me a bit of a clue as to his character - believe me, these are highly useful questions....maybe I should sell them.

Well, back to workie work. Yah!

It's Sunday evening in Edinburgh. The end of my first weekend of 2005 in Edinburgh. And where did it go??

Well, I believe I have another first on my hands: Shannon spends a whole weekend being utterly unproductive. Oops..except for opening a bank account, but that hardly counts. Friday night, us gals just crashed at the flat and enjoyed a mix of American & British comedy on television. I then proceeded to sleep for 10 whole hours - a new class of luxury. Finally the pounding headache disappeared, along with the baggage under my eyes.

Yesterday, I spent the day just wandering an getting reacquainted with Edinburgh. It was warm, in comparison to Canadian winters, but got dark around 3.30 ..What's up with that??

Had our first night out since being back and it was a blast - Jen & I had Anne & Vanessa over for drinks (and crepes) and then headed out. First stop was the Walkaboout, but it has lost most its appeal and its decent DJ has been replaced by a 40-something bloke with the blondest dye job ever and crap taste in music. Anyways, we blew that popsicle stand before midnight and headed on to a new spot - Drop Kick Murphy's. Yes, yes yet another Irish bar - this one was AWESOME - a live band playing a mix of new music and fiddly dee dee music. The place was packed and quite favorably so for us gals:) I met a bloke who *apparently* trained Gwen Stefani (of No Doubt). A fun night was had by all - although I think I am too old for the late nights...

Oh - in other news - Ms Shields is leaving us :( She's heading North to bond with the sheep..soon she'll be Little Miss Bo Beep... Not until March, but that will come upon us soon enough....

Please don't email me at work anymore...

Oh - Jen, Anne, Ailbhe and I are going speed-dating onTuesday - We've already talked strategy, but to no avail. We have no idea what to expect fromt he blokes there - Ailbhe seems to think they'll all be loners with Dungeon & Dragons obsessions. Personally, I'm not so concerned about the blokes as I am about having my ego crushed. Ah well - All's far in war and speed-dating I guess.

On that note, will head off - Jen needs to check for flights home....hehehe start another rumour I will!!!1

So like, whoa, dude I needed sleep soooo badly by teh time last night rolled around. I think from Sunday night until Friday night I must have had about 20 hours of sleep - instead of the usual 40 hours. It was not a pretty sight, nor a particularly sharp one. How I functioned at work is beyond me.

Shite - time is almost up - that's what you get for emailing your time away. Still not on wirless internet- there is only ONE place in Edinburgh where it is free. Here at Cafe Nero you ahve to pay but none of the staff know how much. Interesting

Things I should have written over the past two weeks but completely neglected to do (sorry!!):

• Janet, Joan & Ernie - A fond farewell to you all, sorry I didn't have teh chance to pop into Kelley again before I left :(
  
• Janet - Again, congratulations - keep Keri & I in the know about goings on and definitely get in touch if you are headed this way in the spring.
  
• Becky R - Sorry to have missed you too - will make it a mission to see you before the yer is out - where is it you're going again Miss Restless?? (she says cheekily)
  
• In NOvember I wrote a blog post about some of the horrendous customer srvice experiences Miss Shields et al have had recently. Today I would like to relate a positive experience: Last week, while I was still in Charlottetown, PEI, I took my old dinosaur of an IBM ThinkPad notebook to MicroAge to see if it could be fixred. Thge service guy was straight up with me and suggested that it would not be worth it to fox because it was so old and otehr things were likely to go wrong with it in the future (good point). But did he then try to sell me a new laptop? NOPE! I did broach the subject though, and the service guy and sales guy provided me with some valuable information about laptops, without being pushy AT ALL! Best of all - when I told them I was on atight budget and asked if they had any used laptops, tehy said NO, but then they directed me to a person they knew who was selling his TOshiba laptop (whihc, incidentally the guy had bought from FutureShop). I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with MicroAge - I had never gone in there before because, well, to be honest - I don't like the name of their business and I've always been lucky enough to know someone who could help me with my computer problems before, but I am glad I did - their service was impeccable and despite the fact that I didn't end up buying anything there, I would highly recommend you check them out before heading up town to Future Shop where the only thing they have in store for you is pushy sales guys, rip-off warranties and up-selling techinigques galore.
  

So here I am and here you are. What would we do without technology eh?

Blogger's note re: this particular post - Guaranteed to be even more nonsensical than ever before or the value of your reading time returned to you in the form of Canadian Tire money. 1 cent for every minute you believe you have wasted by reading this blog.

OK -so I made it back to Edinburgh no worse for wear, save for a rather large amount of lost sleep, hence this chica is especially lightheaded today.

The trip back was pretty uneventful. Jen did find a bit of amusement in seeing me drag all my luggage through the Newark airport (the carts cost $3 USD - I had none). I suppose I was quite the sight with laptop case strung over one shoulder, EBatles Bag over the other, Roots backpack on my back, dragging my enormous 60 lb suitcase behind me on one side and dragging my big green backpack on the other side. As Jen noted - she should have taken a picture.

Upon arrival yesterday morning, I chose to stay awake, unpack and do a bit of shopping - time for sleep later!! It turns out this may not have been the wisest decision, as I wasn't able to et to sleep until 1am last night, so am runnning on about 6.5 hours of sleep over the last 48 hours.

This may explain why I am having trouble remembering even the simplest things today - like what kind of Bond Processing I have been trained on and how many more hours I have to work to make up a 7 hour day. IT can only get better from here!

OK - well I have 3 books on the go at the moment:

1. The Celestine Prophecy - Will this be a spiritual awakening for me? I've only just begun, but already I sense that the insights of this book will be significant to my understanding /perspective of the world at large, in the same way that Ishmael was.

2. What Type AM I? Yep, you guessed it - more Myers-Briggs Personality stuff. Actually this is the book that first got me interested in the MBTIP last year. Amazing what one can learn about themselves and others from psychology. Everything to be taken with a grain of salt though - it is not teh be all and end all.

3. He's Just NOT That Into You. OK, so the title is not very positive or encouraging..hey it was written by a guy (mostly) so it's straight to the point. Nonetheless, this is not the type of thing any gal wants to hear. But you know what? I finished this book last night and, in the end, it may not be what a woman wants to hear, but its what every woman should know - that their time is precious and should not be wasted on men that don't care enough. A good read, but, again, I would suggest taking it with a big grain of salt, because having read about Myers-Briggs types I'd have to say that this book has not taken into consideration differences in personalities, particularly with regards to the Introvert/Extrovert and Thinking/Feeling preferences. It did, however, make me think long and hard about what I deserve and what I have settled for in the past -very different things.

I am at the Halifax International Airport. I am on my laptop, using wireless Internet connection for the second time in my life and am getting slightly (read majorly) frustrated with it. In the ende, the kindness of a fellow PEIer saved me from going insane - she offered me her wireless netowrk card for use, because mine was being stubborn and not working. I suspect mine is not working because the signal here sucks big time - something like 6 Mbps - I don't know what that maenas, but I am pretty sure it's very very slow - just like this day!!!

Waiting - I don't do waiting well. Waiting for airplanes, waiting for people, waiting for email replies, waiting for the next adventure....I am not a big fan of any of the above. I am, in conclusion, a rather impatient person in many respects. It should be noted, however, that I have been described by many people as PATIENT when I am teaching them something. So there ya go.

OK - I am babbling and that is not good - I have to go find Jen now, she is arriving at the airport in approx 7 minutes.Maybe I will come back on Internet after I find her, after we check our baggage. In May I left with 20lbs of baggage, this time around I am leaving with 7o lbs., You could fairly say that I am returning to Edniburgh with a lot of baggage...in more than one respect.

Panic as I check time on clock. Go find Jen now.

Phew! So crazy busy these past couple of weeks, have had to put blogging on the backburner. And still it does not end...

In less than 24 hours I'll be in the air, headed back to my other home in Edinburgh. Leaving with mixed feelings and a HUGE amount of luggage - hey a gal's gotta have her peanut butter Canadian-style. No, but seriously, I didn't expect this mixed feelings thing. Me thinks it is mainly because my holiday home has na,ely been a healing holiday and I've only really had the last week here to fully enjoy with head, heart and mouth mended for the most part. But that's OK, I knew I needed to come home and now I can return to Edinburgh ready to lead my life, rather than let life lead me.


OK - a few notes regarding the past 2 weeks:

• Brandon visited from Ottawa. Sahra & Henry visited from Halifax. All were subjected to Shannon's moaning.
• Shannon was moaning because her whole mouth was in pain. It hurt to eat, it hurt to floss and it hurt to think. Tylenol 3 seemed the only escape from the excruciating pain.
• Shannon finally went to dentist on Tuesday and had a tooth in decay pulled. She paid big time for it, what with no insurance, but the pain is gone, gone, gone. It is amazing how much physical pain can impact upon one's mental well-being adn I suspect that much of the stress and distress I've suffered over the past month was related to this dental problem. I can't explina how much clearer my thinking is now, and how much happier I am - not to mention pain-free and able to eat again!!!
• Shannon bought a laptop computer. Now she had no excuse not to get on with her writing. She will also have more access to the Internet!!

Other things have happened -even significatn things, but I just can't recall what they are at this moment - I am a bundle of nerves - excited, tense, slightly nervous and wishing this day would not end.

On that note, I best go and try to relax. It's going to be a long day of travelling. 24 hours from the time I leave Cornwall until I arrive in Edniburgh - well, more like 20 taking the time change into account, but still.....

Will try to write tomorrow from my laptop via wireless Internet at the airport!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Year According to Shannon

A Brief Account (by Shannon standards) of Almost Everything..and in chronological order too!!!

JANUARY 2004

• Shannon Sticks to Her Strict 'No Candy & Lots of Gym Time' Regimne. This is in effort to reduce effects of living in Dublin for six months and travelling around countries laden with chocolate for 5 weeks. Successful results!!
• Shannon Embarks Upon an Adventure into the World of Research and Academia. That is to say, she (finally) starts working on her Honours paper, adhering to the idea that procrastination is the key to success and least amount of stress. Topic of research: Is it possible/desirable to develop eco-tourism on Prince Edward Island? (forseeing the future - Shannon will come to dislike the word 'eco-tourism immensely)
• Shannon Attempts to Find Fun Things to Do in Spare Time. Result: All-Shanadian Blog is Born! Unbenkownst to Shannon, web log will become rather addictive past-time, particularly over next few months when she is searching for ANY distraction from her research paper
• Shannon Goes to Trivia at Casey's. A monumental moment indicative of just how void PEI is of entertainment options. Luckily Shannon has an awesome trivia team, which completely makes up for the fact that average age of clientele at Casey's must be in the 40's.

FEBRUARY 2004

• White Juan hits the Maritimes and packs a brutal punch. Large doses of Cabin Fever are experienced. Storm after storm hits PEI and Shannon is reminded of what it really means to be Canadian as she sits at home on Friday night and watches T.V. and cancels yet another doctor's appointment.
• Shannon starts doing research for her Honours paper. The term 'starts doind' is used loosely and, in fact, it might be more accurate to say she considered starting to do research for the first half of the month and then actually got down to doing it in the second half.
• Shannon distracts herself from Research by becoming overly involved in her Web Course. Shannon makes assumption that rest of students are being driven crazy by her constant posting, but doesn't really care.

MARCH 2004

• Research Continues, Panic Sets In. Enough Said
• Shannon Chooses to Distract Herself from Panic Related to Research by Taking in Fun, Winter Activities, Celebrating St. Paddy's Day and Being Manic Gym Rat. She succeeds in having fun tubing down hills, drinking copious amouns of liquor on the 17th and losing more weight. She also succeeds in procrastinating.
• Jen Finally Comes on Board for Adventure to Scotland. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!

APRIL 2004

• Much Chocolate is Eaten, No More Pounds are Lost. Shannon becomes rather obsessed with Allen Bunny and finally eats him - head first.
• Shannon Visits Sister Sahra for Easter Weekend . Spends copious amounts of time at Tim Horton's and preparing/eating food.
• Shannon Completes Research Paper and Does not Exceed Maximum Page Limit. Shannon used an editing trick ot cut her paper from 120 pages to 70 pages - she moved them to the Appendices!!!
• Shannon Completes Research Presentation, Faces Firing Squad and Survives - Just Barely. Evidently Shannon believed in her research findings and cared about her research topic or she would never have succeeded in standing up to intimidating academics who had smart questions to ask her.
• Shannon Passes Her Honours with Flying Numbers! She succeeds in missing her second graduation ceremony.

MAY 2004

• Shannon, Keri & Jen Take off for the ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME. May 12th marks the end and the beginning. It is an amazing place to be - on the cusp of finishing one's education and beginning one's exploration of the world.
• Shannon, Keri & Jen Find a Flat and Jobs to Go to in Edinburgh. Life is Good!!!!!!!!
• Shannon Finds Herself Unable to Rid Herself of Irish Blokes. This time at least the first one had an 'interesting' name, which provided much material for Keri & Jen

JUNE 2004

• Shannon Lands Her 2nd Job in Edinburgh as Glorified Data Entry Clerk. Little does she know she will remain at Scottish Equitable into the nest year (a bit of foreshadowing there).
• Shannon & Jen Discover and Proceed to Exploit Filthy McNasty's and Karaoke Nights to the nth degree. Much free liquor is consumed, many songs are 'sung', certain Irish bartenders/patrons become victims to Canadian girl charm. Ahem
• Girls' Flat Experiences Hot Water Shortage. Keri threatens to leave flat and go live in a cardboard box. Jen points out that is a good idea since the cardboard box would definitely have hot water.
• Shannon, Keri & Jen Start Accumulating Friends. Tops on the list are Kathleen, Brandon, Vanessa and Filthy's crew - they're more like drinking buddies though.

JULY 2004

• Canada Day Celebrations at the Globe. Canadian Karaoke, Hockey on TV, Red & White. Rock On. It's great to be Canadian!
• Girls Travel to Aberdeen for a Weekend. That turns out to be more than enough time in granite, oil city. Luckily there are fab gals from PEI there.
• Shannon, Keri & Jen Land 2nd Flat - Modern, Convenient, Nice and Well-Priced. Their luck just keeps on coming.....
• Shannon, Keri & Jen Take Road Trip Around Scotland. Shannon drives on the other side of the road, learns everything there is to know about Roundabouts and is entirely grateful to have Super-Navigator Jen in the passenger seat. Highlights of trip include: Carboot sale in Kinross, short stop in Perth, Inverness, the Loch Ness and Drumdrochit, castles and, after three hours on non-passable roads, an open highway between Glasgow and Edinburgh

AUGUST 2004

• Jen & Shannon Take On the Fringe Festival Full Force. Success stories of first weekend - Shannon gets heckled by comedian, Shannon accidentally volunteers to join an Improv group on stage, Shannon & Jen stur their stuff at the Karaoke show and *almost* succeed in becoming idols. Much fun is had by all
• Shannon & Keri 'Celebrate' Birthdays and Being One Year Closer to a Quarter Century. Copious amounts of cake are consumed.
• Brandon and Kathleen Leave. This is not a highlight, but significant loss to the Canadian Crew. Brandon's leaving, however, is entirely enjoyable - It turns out a Scottish Ceilidh is a thing of beauty, sweat and, possibly, blood.

SEPTEMBER 2004

• Shannon Returns to 'Do Dublin'. Weekend is most pleasant and Shannon enjoys the Irish capital much more as a visitor than she did as a resident.
• Jen's Parents Arrive from PEI - The First Bonafide Visitors From Canada!

OCTOBER 2004

• Shannon Finally Makes Her Way to London to See the Great City with her Sister Sahra. After frantic, airpot mishap the gals meet up and spend the week traipsing around London and do a day tour of Southern England. Highlights are too numerous to name.
• Sahra Comes to Edinburgh - Shannon's First Visitor!! All goes well
• Hallowe'en is celebrated with Costumes & Candy.

NOVEMBER 2004

• Shannon's LONG Run of Luck and Happiness Dips Dramatically. At the ripe old age of 24, Shannon finally discovers what it is to be heart-broken and the words to Sheryl Crow's 'Teh First Cut is the Deepest' finally make sense.
• The Gals Have a Christmas Potlatch and Say Farewell to Friends Until 2005. By this time, they have accumulated a whole new set of friends so there is plenty of food and fun to be had the the potlatch. Turkey and Mashed Potatoes remain in the fridge for one week

DECEMBER 2004

• Birthday Celebrations for Jen! Pirate Hats and the old alma mater of Filthy McNasty's make up most of the evening. Oh, plus a bunch of drunk Santas doing the Rose Street Pub Crawl.
• Home Sweet Home! And oh, how sweet it is to be home at last.