OK, on I am just tempting the weight Gods. YEs, yes..of course I've given up teh whole 30 day hiatus from candy - I have done it [before people, but that was in a controlled enviroment (i.e. home), where temptations were minimal in comparison and I was DRIVEN by teh memory of not being able to get up on a horse when I was in Austria.Anywho, I'm off the band wagon and boy did I fall off. It's almost as if I want ot see just how much weight I can gainbefore i go home jsut so I have more to lose./ Or maybe I am getting back at Zoom Airlines for thier strict baggae allowances. Why don't they take a passenger's weight into account when specifying restrictions? Surely that's not fair!

Anyways, thanks for the two pieces of cake Grand! Must say, Black Forest does quite wel as a breakfast replacement!

Raeanne - I am sooo excited to see you too!!! I don't know which email to contact you at so best ask you here and now - do you want me to find/book a hostel for you? Also, can you email Chris and ask him the same question. I will im to find value for money but ensure the place is clean and quiet enough and in a good location. I am to please :) Just let me know what you want, I will try to deliver! Please email me at my hotmail address...I will be checking tomorrow morning and then going to look at hostels in the afternoon.

As for the big news - may I presume it involves a BIG purchase, perhaps of a permanent dwelling. Yes, I suppose that would make you a REAL adult (although, personally I think you are alreadya real adult, but anywho) I, on the other hand, have decided to be a FAKE adult for a wee bit longer. Me thinks I am enjoying the limbo period between adolescence and adulthood a bit too much :)

Hmm...OK, well not much new since yesterday. I have a nice long weekend to enjoy now..will start in approximately 3 hours and terminate Tuesday at 8.30 am. Until then I am chillaxing.

Hmm..so as of late life'ss been a bit like the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, except not really. More like The NOt So Good, the Good and the Really Good - an optimist's dreamworld really. Yeah, life has been pretty shantastic I must say..the only downside is that time has absolutely been flying by and it is starting to hit me that after 16 months or one and a quarter years I am nearing the end of an adventure that has exceeded all my expectations. I am leaving a place I now consider home and it is permanent. Sad. Very Sad.

So here is a list of the things that have been happening as of late or are going to happen in near future. I've categorised them for those readres who enjoy categorical postings :) The rest of you can suffer..sorry!


The Not-So-Good

• Miss Jen MacPhail has now departed Edinburgh to go hang out with Mickey & Goofy in Disney World. She's the second of the original 3 to leave and it was all I could do to not cry when she got on the bus last night. Instead I went home and broke my candy hiatus and ate half a bar of chocolate. Jen is one of, if not THE, most awesome & hilarious people I know and I am so glad she is my friend. The fact that she will have free Disney World passes for her friends over the next year, has nothing to do with the praise I am heaping upon her ... none whatsoever. Once you've been doused with MacPhail energy & wit it is hard to imagine living without :(
  
• Shannon has gained a half a stone. They measure weight in stones over here and it sounds better to state my weight gain in a measure that most of you won't be able to figure out unless you are ambitious enough to google the term. Rest assured it is a LOT of poundage to gain in two months..although it is also the total amount I have gained over my entire time here in Edinburgh, so from that perspective its about on par with what most Canadian girls seem to gain whilst living in Scotland. I just happened to save all the gaining until the last
  
• Shannon is not going to have one last fling with the Emerald Isle as mentioned previously. Bus tickets to Belfast were sold out. Instead Shannon is going on a min-trip to Inverness and spending the money she saved by not going to Belfast on a Fringe Show (see Good Things)
  
• Shannon is leaving Edinburgh in 18 days. Wahwah.
  
• Shannon is returning to PEI unemployed and heftier than when she left (see above). Most of Shannon's friends have left the Island, thus social life will be near non-existent. Sigh. At least she will have plenty of time for the gym.
  

Good Things

• With the money Shanon is saving by not going ot BElfast, she is going to see hilarious Irish comedian, Tommy Tiernan
• Following resolution of the bus strike in Edinburgh, teh bus company is offering refunds/one week of travel to bus pass holders. This will bring Shannon's card to 11 September which is perfect, since this is the day she leaves!
• Raeanne & Chris & Wendy are all coming to visit during Shannon's last week of work here.
• Shannon's landlord is letting her stay three extra days atthe flat so she can move on the weekend instead of midweek
• Shannon's friend, Ailbhe, has graciously offered to put Shannon up during her last week in Edinburgh. Shannon will try to repay kindness in meals and will not be rude to her hostess (as Shannon recently experienced this behaviour from a guest staying over at her flat and was very offended by rudeness and disrespect)
  

The Great

• Shannon's head and heart are both finally/mostly sorted out. It's been a long and arduous journey to contentment, but done & dusted for the moment. Shannon has resolved not to let her heart get broken again (because its just that easy), since she realises she sucks at repairing things like vital organs.
  
• Shannon is looking forward to exploring options and adventures for the future. A new beginning!!
  
• Shannon is going on a road trip with Emily. Yah!!!!!!!!!!!! Pittsburgh to Orlando. Hello United States of America!
  

Phew. So I finally gave my notice at work today. Wow, didn't think it would be that difficult but it kind of is when you like your manager and co-workers....I will not speak of the actual work itself. Anyways, I am now free to talk about my departure from Scotland openly on my blog and in emails.

So....um yeah....going home to PEI. Don't know what I am doing when I get there. Don't konw how long I will be there. Don't know if I am going anywhere else in the nearish future. Think I will have to see what fate has in store for me..although last time fate stepped in she kind of tricked me by throwing something in front of me and then taking it away just as quickly. So I am kind of skeptical about Fate, but there have been times it has intervened and life has takena fabulous turn..so I suppose I will put my faith in Fate as her track record is pretty decent.

K - have to go look at flights to Ottawa and various places in the United States because I have people to see and Disney Worlds to be done!! Lalalalalalalala