Friday already! End of the work week, well for those of us that are employed anyway. In which case I guess I am one of 'Them" (unemployed), since I am most certainly not on of 'us' (the employed). Nonetheless time has flown by at light speed this week, due namely to the fact that being unemplyed is a tough and underpaid job. I've been relatively busy on the prowl and this time it isn't for a boy, it's for a challenging job and..er..a paycheque to boot.

And how successful has my 'prowling' been? Well, given that this is PEI and given my assumption that I would probably end up working at a restaurant or Wal-Mart for the interim time I am on PEI, I'd have to say my expectations have been exceedd a hundred times over. Possibly to the point where I may have to consider a more permanent stay than initially planned. Not that anything has really happened yet, but there seem to be plenty of great opportunities out there and I''ve only been home for a week and a half. Yes, it turns out that spending 6 years at UPEI was a worthwhile investment in ways I didn't count on until my return to the Island's employment marketplace.

Anywho, aside from the job-hunting, I've been filling my days with lots of other exciting things like emailing, blogging, exercising and reading. OK, OK, maybe they don't sound so interesting to most of you, but when you've been deprived of free Internet access for over a year, being able to email at free will is a luxury. Of course constant access is also proving slightly hazardous to my,er, complex (for wantof a better word). I have emailed almost every single person on my Contacts list at some time over the past week and half and have only heard back from 1 single person (Thanks Gary!). The other three people I've heard from are Kelly, who had time to write even whilst travelling around Europe (to be fair she had a question about money), Jane (who wrote from the cruise ship she is working on) and Rana! Anyways, I know I am impatient and so I keep slapping myself on the wrist (figuratively speakign) and reminding myself that I took ages to write friends back while in Scotland due to lack of Internet access, not because I was trying to dismiss them (ever!)

As for the exercising. Oh how happy I am to be back at the AFC! THe gym at ScotEq was adequate but not entirely appealing and the classes, aside from Boxercise, hed no appeal to me whatsoever. There was no Myrtle-equivalent to realy get you into the workout andmake you sweat until you starting fearing a total meltdown. Yah! Exercising is fun again!

And reading - oh how I have missed reading. What with the constant social goings-on in Edinburgh and the ever constant presence of the TV in th livingroom, I didn't indulge in reading much over the past six months or so. Now I have loads of time and no interest whatsoever is trekking down to the basement to watch a television program, which is almost half adverts/half mediocre entertainment these days. My one exception willbe Desperate Housewives, which premieres on Sunday. Anywho, hello to reading and nurturing the mind. For now Harry's got me hooked at Hogwart's, but am looking for some heavier, more insightful reading in the near future and have a few recommendations to follow up on.

So, aside from those exciting activities, my days and evenings have been pretty quiet. And I am just fine with that - paece and quiet is what PEI is all about. I am still doing the Scottish dancing on Wednesday nights and now looking into adding Latin or Hip-Hop dance classes to my weekly schedule. I'm also spending a bit of time writing for myself. I am loving it.

Last night was an exception to the quiet evenings rule. I went out with my friend, Adam, who I hadn't seen in ages and has apparently discovered the secret weight loss. And I quote:

Adam: yeah, I didn't lose the weight the way I wanted to'

Shannon: Oh rally, well ohw did you lose it? (variety of disturbign thoughts/possibilites fly through shannon's head)

Adam: wel, basically I've just been eating better. I haven't been snacking, I cut out white carbs and I just eat when I am hungry.

Hmmm. I did not pursue this conversation any further. I am not sure what tee correct way to lose weight would be for Adam, but I was impressed with his 'not the right way', so kuds to him!

Anyways, we went for a quick drink at the Pilot House then headed to a house party where I knew basicaly no one. But it was fun nonetheless as everyone was friendly and I discovered I am not the only girl with crazy spiky haircut. Eventually we made our way to The Wave to watch/hear Sloan and to remember that,a t 25, I am getting OLD. Anyways, it was a great evening which included a free drink from the bartender becuase he ran out of Diet Pepsi for my drink and also included run-ins with some of my fav Island peple - Natasha, Sheena and Candace plus some folks I hadn't seen since uni days -Fred MacPhail and Lisa Duffy! The night ended with a cab ride home to Long Creek - total cost $32. Lalala

My litte thought of the moment: it's only been a week and a half, but already my mind, body and soul are starting to rejuvinate. I needed something that I simply couldn't get in Edinburgh. I don't konw exactly what it was, but I can feel it starting to seep back into me since I've returned home. It's a brilliant feeling. Maybe theere is just an Essence of the Island which can't be bottled and exported, it can only be experienced by being here.