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.

I've been home for one week now. One whole week of rest & relaxation, one whole week of peace & quiet, one whole week of unemployment and non-income.

Don't get me wrong, I have been busy...spending money and emailing everyone under the sun! Oh, how wonderful it is to have unrestricted access to email and Messenger again. I have found a new addiction to replce my candyaholism!

OK, well it hasn't all been about purchasing Asics sneakers that I can't afford and writing novel-length emails to friends I haven't seen in ages - I have been slightly, er, productive... The Atlantic Fitness Centre and I have become fast friends again. It's such an enjoyable gym to go to, because people know each other so it's quite social and of course Myrtle's step class is always good for an early morning laugh as she tends to single out some of the men for a bit of teasing (i.e. taking the piss in UK terms).

I have also taken up dance classes at Beaconsfield Carriage House (7 - 9 on Wednesday nights if anyone is interested). Scottish & English Country Dancing for all ages and experiences - no partner required (phew, cause I think the last eligible male under 40 was claimed about two years ago....).

I kid you not, the first dance we learned was, and I quote ' The Canadian Barn Dance', which I presume must have been developed by some Canadian that migrated to the UK and decided that our nation should eternally be associated with barns. I'd actually done the dance before so was able to get through it without looking like a complete idiot. The English country dancing though - now that's quite a different story. It requires grace and timing - neither of which I was adequately supplied with upon birth. In any case, it was a brilliant evening and I met some wonderful, friendly faces, so I will be returning, no doot aboot it (that's Canadian speak spelled out phonetically for the amusement of all Americans and Europeans reading this blog) .

Thursday I caught up with Rana over a Baha Beachbum at 42nd Street Lounge. The chat and drink were equally enjoyable! Saturday evening I drove into Charlottetown, armed with a Yorkie bar and some German chocolate. I was on my way to a Scottish-themed night being held at Natasha's friend's place. Sarah is a Scottish girl who has been living & working in PEI for the last four months on a co-op work term. She had prepared mince and some sort of oat-based dish. Natasha had the haggis, neeps & tatties under control (it's a good thing the customs at Halifax airport are so lax, or it may have just been tatties and neeps). So I brought some European chocolate, which I could not and did not indulge in. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and edible evening with great company and delicious Scottish cuisine.

Other things have happened over the past week - some of which are significant, others of which are not significant. If you want to know more you can email me : )Yes, yes this is a desperate attempt to get moer email..now that I have unrestricted access I am soliciting replies and mail from any and all...as long as it is nice and in English!

Another day, another two blogs created. Evidently I hav too much time on my hands these days as illustraetd by the creation of two brand new blogs.

The first is entitled The Shan Weigh In, and as you may have guessed from the rather obvious title, it is a blog about my healthy living plan. OK, I know most people won't be interested in reading this, if any at all, but its namely a blog for me anyway - another incentive to stick to my regimen. After all, I don't want to go reporting that I've sipped up and gorged on the five ponuds of chocolate I hauled home from Europe! Furthermore, witha blog dedicated to this subject, I intend not to bore readers of All Shanadian with any more tales of woe about my weight and candy obsession. If you really want to know how I am doing in my endeavours you can just click on the link!

The second is entitled Earth to Shannon and I have to give my big sister, Sahra, all credit for the blog name! Thank you Sahra :) I hope this blog will be of interest to more readers. It's my first attempt to write publicly about something that isn't entirely personal, something that we all have avested interst in understanding more about: - the environment. This is something I have found myself becoming increasingly passionate about ove the past couple years. I wanted to create a diaolgue about this broad reaching topic in the hopes of keeping myself actively involved in learning more about various issues/concerns. I'm also hoping that it will generate more comments and ideas from readers.

So, that's it for the moment - please excuse the 'construction state' of these new blogs - I'll be working to develop them over the next few days.