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!!!

OK, so there's this federal election going on in Canada right now...it's in its eigth and final (thank God) week. To date I've tried to steer clear of discussing politics and the campaign on this blog because a) I am currently working for one of the Liberal candidates b) if I weren't employed in this arena I would probably not be taking any notice of the election and c) it would probably bore/annoy most readers. So for those reasons and others I will continue to remain zippo on the whole deal, at least when it comes to my blog. But do you know how hard it is to have a conversatoin with someone without being pulled into a political discussion.

Yesterday I went for a check up at my dentist's. He asked what I was up to these days, I casually mentioned I was working for an MP. Do you think it could be left at that? Oh no siree. Not that I minded, because he said he was voting for a party that I don't despise (there is only one main party I am hugely unimpressed by...If you just took the first syllable of their party name, you'd find it accurately portrayed how they are trying to get into power..but I digress). Anyways, it seems that everyone has their opinions...except people my own age. And I wish I could say 'what's up with that?' but truth be told, if I weren't smack in the middle of it, Iwould probably be just as disinterested..I mean it's not like I'm planning to be in Canada for much of the next four years (note to parents - this is true).

In a completely unrelated note, I went to my first Creative Writing class tonight and found that the Green Party candidate is one of the students. He is extremely well spoken and personable. The rest of my class mates get the thumbs up too. It's nice to be back at uni, if only for one class..one class where there is always food and laughs and no tests!

Anyhoo, I am a planner and so I am making contingency plans should I find myself unemployed in the near future. Until today I figured my options were:

a) try desperately to find another decent job on PEI and threaten mom and Jim with my indefinite intrusion in their home
b) attempt to find a meh job that would pay teh bills until the summer then jet off to Australia
c) jet off to Australia asap, no passing go and not collecting any more income, thus finding myself in dire need of cash upon landing in the Land Down Under
d) moving to Ottawa temporarily -dependent upon securing an internship with the Sierra Club and then jet off to Australia (there's a distinct theme developing here)

Anyways, today I found myself being convinced by the Myers-Briggs male equivalent of Jen MacPhail that I should consider going to Korea to teach English.

I am now considering it very very seriously. Why? In short -the money is very very good. I could potentially wipe my student debt out in 6-8 months. Also, when finished there it would onl,y be a hop skip and jump to Australia!!

Watch this space for more developments on career front...

Anywho, in other thoughts: Why is it some peopel feel it alright to ask certain questions (out of the blue) but are unwilling to reciprocate when asked similar questions??? Patience wearing out....

Eyes drooping, bed time for bonzo.

I made a very specific request during the holiday season that no one get me ANY candy or chocolate. And my request was heeded except by, well, my oldest friend, Schemida (not oldest as in age, but as in length of time we've been friends). Schemida got me a little tin can filled with runts, which were actually quite tasty. And yes, I did eat the entire can within an hour of our turkey dinner. But that was OK, it was my sin-allowed day.

What I didn't anticipate was getting any products that appeared/smelled edible but weren't. I ended up getting a jar of body butter, which is the same as body lotion but with a more appetizing name. Anyhoo, this wasn't jsut ANY body butter..this was CHOCOLATE body butter. As in smells like chocolate and is irresistible. I rubbed some on my arms this morning and am still fighting the urge to lick my forearm. So thank you to Schemida for the Runts and the chocolate-smelling body butter.As a self-confessed candyaholic on the road to recovery, they were just what I needed to, er, fall off the proverbial Cand(y)wagon! Just kidding!!!! Thanks so much, I love smelling like chocolate, it's intoxicating :)

In unrelated news: am I the only one that thinks all this warmish, non-January-like weather is slightly/very ominous??? I mean it's been a pretty weird winter thusfar, with lots of rain and freezing rain and temperatures hovering around the zero mark. Even more than usual, I hear people talking about the weather and these are the two constants that I have found everyone saying:

1. It's so weird/strange/odd/surprising
2. It's great/brilliant/so pleasant

Of course, as I am in the midst of reading 2030 by Robert Hunter, in which he proposes that global warming is happening at an accelerated rate (due to a positive feedback loop of carbon producing more carbon) and that withing 30 years the polar icecaps will have disappeared, well I don't see things quite the same. In fact I find it quite:

1. Disturbing, scary, ominous
2. Unsurprising, obvious

Now I know that most people would say I am an alarmist and attribute the mild weather to El Nino or natural weather patterns or the January thaw (I ask you..how can there be a thaw when there hasn't been a freeze yet????). And maybe I am, I certainly hope I am. I hope I am wrong, I hope the vast majority of climatologists and scientists that acknowledge the greenhouse effect are wrong. But what if they aren't? What if science is right and the politicians and media that are controlled by the big oil companies are wrong?

I know it's easier to imagine that the climate isn't changing and things will continue to be status quo into the future. It's so much easier than imagining the alternative because once you imagine the alternative you are forced to ask: What now? What can we do now to stop this from happening?

And the answers don't come easily.

Anyhoo - sorry for the seriousness of this post, I am just finding that this Canadian winter is not a winter at all and that kind of scares me. To read the blog posts of Anne and Jen as well, who've both commented on the unusual weather in Edmonton and Florida is also disconcerting. I don't know the answers, I'm not sure I even know the questions. All I know is that I have to do something, I have to take some action. This is the time to be proactive. There will be no opportunity to be reactive 30 years from now, it will be too late. This is the one time when it simply won't do to let a catastrophe occur and THEN put in measures to make sure it doesn't happen again (see 9/11 and Tsunami 2005). We need to heed the warnings - they are getting stronger and warmer by the day.

Random thoughts from a bogged-down blogger's bendable, binary brain.:

• Cars suck. Cars especially suck when they have to be repaired. Repairs especially suck when they will set teh car owner back by half a grand. SPending half a grand on car repairs really really sucks when you don't even know if you will have a job to drive the car to within two weeks.
• January 23rd is my D-day. As in Decision Day - to take back the MP3 player I bought or not, to get my car repaired or not, to hop on the next plane to Oz or not. Yes, folks, January 23rd is indeed an important date for this Shanadian, whose budget does not take into account the possibility of having no job to go to in the aftermath of election 2006.
• In good news, I have found my new favorite CD - Jack Johnson's 'In Between Dreams'. I am also finding myself rather partial to Elton John as of late (I blame it on the inhalation of mass quantities of hairspray). Your Song and Tiny Dancer are especially addictive. Sigh, memories....
• I love that I am getting fit. It was hard going for a little while, when I wasn't seeing results, but now that I've got the eating under control I am loving the results my workouts are showing. 15 pounds to go adn 5 weeks to Disney World - hello bathing suit shopping (again, dependent on Jan 23)
• Robbie Burns Night is soon! I wish I was in Scotland for it, but they are having celebrations here on little ol' PEI, so may get my dancing shoes on and save my appetite for some slimming haggis...
• Creative Writing class with Lesley Anne again! Yah! I love being back at 'school' and I love that there are other alumni and I am most definitely not the oldest person in the class. Holy hannah though - four reports?!?!? On top of weekly writing submissions! I may have to take a hiatus from the blogging so I can do some 'real' writing..as in stuff that I would not be embarassed to read in front of 14 peers. Ahem.
• Um, yeah OK I guess that's about it for now folks. This weekend will be a busy one with King Kong, Little Christmas and lots of writing to be done.

Thanks to those from foreign lands who called or sent Christmas cards that I just recieved - much appreciated. For the record, PEI is 4 hours behind GMT ...so if anyone from over there wants to call ..make it late night your end and you may catch me !! OH and if anyone wants to call me but doesn't have my number, just email me :)

Welcome to 2006. This blog is now two years old. I, unfortunately, am significantly older and will be, egads, more than a quarter century by the time next Christmas rolls around.

Anywho, so it was, all things considered, an exceptionally enjoyable Christmas season. By contrast to the last two Christmases, where I suffered from maladies including a very broken heart and horrible toothache, I was in a relatively decent state of mind and being.

Highlights from the holiday season:

• Having the company of Sahra and Henry on Christmas. I don't think my sister has been home on the 25h in at least four years. Having 5 on Christmas morning was much more exciting than having just the 3 of us.
• Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas baking, Christmas day eating, chocolates, green & red candy..well, you get the idea. I gave myself a few days off the Lifewise plan to indulge in one of the holiday's many splendours. It's a good thing I got boxing gloves and 8 lb weights for Christmas so I can work off all I gained in those measly four or five days.
• Being with all of my family. I am so very fortunate.
• My tickle trunk. My father is a very talented woodworker and tends to make gifts for Sahra and I. This year we both got beautiful, cedar lined trunks. I am starting to get a nice little collection of wooden furniture..now if only he would build me a house.....
• Visiting relatives on PEI and in Oromocto. In a break from tradition, I actually got ot visit with more than just my immediate family this year! I saw all my grandparents, two uncles, an aunt, and my cousin, Noel, to boot. It was thoroughly enjoyable, especially as I was the youngest person in most cases. Except for Mark & Rita's cute little grandchildren. OK, so I'm not normally super comfortable around kids, heck, I've never even babysat..but if I ever needed convincing that kids are fabulous company....
• Catching up with friends from away, especially Keri (who I am not sure whetehr to define as a friend from away or home??), Schemida, Christine and Sarah. OH..and a big congratulations to Mr Jimmy Moase who is engaged...and living in St. John's.
• Catching up with Miss MacPhail of DisneyWorld. ONly 6 weeks until Tash & I head down to sunny Florida!!!

Lowlights from the holiday season

• Eating too much (see above note in highlights)
• Realizing that I may not be celebrating Christmas with my fabulous family next year as I will most likely be Down Under.
• Learning and experiencing firsthand some tough lessons in friendship. Why I tend to chase after things that do not exist is beyond me. I guess I don't like to give up hope, or give up on people, but there are times you just have to for your own sanity... ?

OK, I guess I have to go now. My horoscope is being read by our visitor. Apparently I, and every other Leo, am entering a two-year period of self-development and fulfillment, which will be blissful. Apparently I am not supposed to be too gloomy or serious about anything...and Tuesday or Wednesday of this week would be a good time to have/set up a date (not the dried fruit). Watch this space for updates on horoscope fulfillment :)