My On-Line Journal
Winter 2004-2005

March 17th, 2005
February 19th, 2005
February 3rd, 2005
January 24th, 2005
January 20th, 2005
January 15th, 2005
January 5th, 2005
December 26th, 2004
December 22nd, 2004

December 22nd, 2004

Happy Solstice everyone! Pretty hard to believe it�s the solstice already. I�m really glad it�s here though because it means that the days will finally be getting longer. And considering how few hours of daylight we have right now, we really need more daylight! Yesterday, the sun went down at around 3:30 pm and got up at 8:30 pm! Seven hours is just not enough!

Anyway, the past two weeks have been really busy which is why I haven�t written here for a while. Last weekend Sarah took Friday off and took a trip down to Edinburgh. She really enjoyed herself. To see more, visit her journal.
So I had the weekend to myself to buy and wrap Sarah�s present! I also had my work party on Saturday night after work. Mary and I went over to Samara�s after work to get ready and then we met up with everyone at a really nice Indian restaurant downtown. It was nice to meet some of the people who work at the two other Bargain Books in Aberdeen. Dinner was really great too, we had some pappadams with mango chutney that were just amazing. I ordered something that sounded really yummy, sweet and mild as I don�t really do spice. So I was a bit surprised when mine came and it nearly burnt my throat off when I took a bite! But I was so hungry at that point I didn�t really care, plus we were all sharing food so I had some less spicy things as well. I thought maybe it was just me that thought mine was really spicy, but my boss, Paula, and Mary both tried it as well and they both agreed it was painfully hot. So the waiter, who was so incredibly accommodating, took away the dish that threatened to turn me into a dragon and brought out the one I had ordered in the first place, which was really yummy, plus he threw in an extra bottle of red wine for free!

After dinner we went to a little pub for a few drinks and met up with a few more people who couldn�t make it to the dinner. Then it was on to a club for a little dancing. I waited for a bus after with a guy from the Trinity Bargain Books and his girlfriend. They were trying to get back to his place which is quite far away, but the bus never came so we I invited them to come back to my place. We had to walk and didn�t get in till quite late, but it was better than leaving them out in the cold.

Then came the week of not eating supper at home. Monday night Sarah and I went to go see The Phantom of the Opera the movie. It was absolutely amazing. I won�t spoil it for anyone who�s planning on going to see it, and I don�t know if it�s even out yet at home, but when it does come out, if you like the music or like musicals in general or think you may, it�s a great movie. I was really impressed with the casting choice for the most part, other than I felt the phantom was a bit too young.

Tuesday we went to our monthly moot. A Baha�i girl came in to talk to us about Baha�i, the origins of the religion, what it�s all about, we had a great discussion and she was really interesting to listen to, very open and not at all off-putting.

Wednesday Sarah and I went to see a Pantomime. This is a real UK Christmas tradition. Pantomimes, or Pantos go on for about a month before Christmas. They�re a musical comedy production of a classic fairy tale with some changes. There�s always cross-dressing and there�s a lot of audience participation. For example, every time the villain comes on, everyone boos and hisses and when the hero comes on, everyone cheers. There�s also a sing-a-long and every time someone says �Oh no I�m not!� you shout back �Oh yes you are!� and that continues for a while. Tons of fun. The one we saw was Cinderella. The other thing about Pantos is that they�re generally amateur productions with people taken from the community. The actors, for the most part, were really great. The girl playing the prince was great except she seemed a bit embarrassed to be chasing after Cinderella who was also being played by a girl. The two men playing the ugly step sisters were so hilarious!

Thursday I worked a really long shift, from 10am till 9:30! Long shifts do mean big pay though which was really nice. Work is crazy lately. Christmas shoppers are insane. A lot of them will buy pretty much anything you hand to them. I also have some good news about my Christmas. Paula, my boss, has asked me to have Christmas dinner with her and her family so everyone can stop worrying about me spending Christmas alone.

Friday Sarah and I went to a Yule party with the people from the Aberdeen moot. Most of the people there were older than us, in their 30's and 40's and most knew each other so Sarah and I felt a little out of place, but we inherited the charge of the raffle so that gave us a chance to socialize a bit. We met some really nice people and though we didn�t win anything in the raffle, it was a pretty good night. The only problem being that most people were smoking so we both felt a little ill by the end.

Saturday Sarah met me after work and we were meant to meet up with a few other people from work for drinks to celebrate one of the girls from the other shops� birthday, but we ended up just going to Slain�s Castle, a really awesome converted old church, for supper and then back home again because we were a bit too tired.

And finally on Sunday I had the day off so I got to sleep in and then we went out to see A Series of Unfortunate Events. It wasn�t as good as I�d hoped but it also wasn�t as bad as I had feared. Jim Carey as Count Olaf probably wasn�t the best casting choice in my opinion, but that�s just my opinion. Finally, after a whole week of eating out and take away meals, we actually made dinner on Sunday night and sat down to eat it. Monday we also got to eat at home.

Last night, as it was the solstice and Sarah�s last night here, we had an excellent roast dinner that Sarah made. We had Quorn chicken style roast, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, corn, Yorkshire puddings, Christmas pudding for desert, the works. Sarah did a really amazing job of the dinner. We even had Christmas crackers! We opened our presents to each other as well. I bought Sarah a three CD set of children�s songs for when she goes back to the Day Care and she got me a great relaxation kit with foot massager and showers stuff. We rented three movies, Muppet�s Christmas Carol, a Bollywood movie that was a bit of a disappointment and Gosford Park which we didn�t end up watching. As it was the solstice, the plan was to stay up all night and watch the sun come up. Sarah ended up going to bed for a few hours as she had to travel all day today and wanted to be awake. I did actually manage to make it through the whole night though, only the second time I�ve ever made it through the whole solstice. Of course, by the time the sun came up this morning I was so exhausted I wasn�t coherent, but I did it.

So Sarah�s started her journey back home. She�s staying at her Nan�s tonight and then flying tomorrow back home. I�m really going to miss living with her. It�s been a whole lot of fun these past few weeks. But it�ll be interesting for me to live on my own for a bit, see what it�s like to just have me to worry about until Greg gets here. Greg�s applied for his Visa last I heard and should be here in about four weeks or so with any luck, so it�s only January I�ll really have to get through on my own.

That�s pretty much all that�s new with me. Sorry about the really long installment, but it has been a busy few weeks. And in the midst of all this I�ve been trying to get my applications all ready for University! So much craziness! Hope everyone had a great solstice and will have a very happy Christmas as well.

Love
Jeannie

December 26th, 2004

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I just got back from my Boxing Day shift and I�m totally knackered, but I have the day off tomorrow so I get to sleep in! Yay for sleeping in. I have a whole lot of things I need to get done still like moving rooms and cleaning the flat, getting some groceries, working on my applications and starting to send home some of Sarah�s stuff she�s left behind. Not to mention the most important thing, playing with my Christmas presents!

As you can see by the picture above, we did indeed have a white Christmas this year. It started snowing sometime while I was at work and continued into mid-day on Christmas, stopped briefly so I could get to Paula�s and then continued gently for the rest of the day. It�s been snowing occasionally today as well! We still only have maybe two centimetres with the tips of the grass poking up through, but it�s snow so I�m not complaining. Work on Christmas Eve wasn�t too bad. The day before had been absolutely insane. Completely non-stop all day long, but surprisingly, Christmas Eve was much more reasonable. At one point, Paula and Hazel called me into the office. I thought it was something to do with the Boxing Day sales, but no, they had gone and made up a stocking for me to open on Christmas Day! They�re so sweet.

The evening was pretty good. I mostly just watched tv, Coronation Street, The Christmas Carol, The Snow Queen, the normal Christmas fare. I talked to Sarah on the phone and found out that her planes had all been delayed for various reasons and she didn�t make it into Halifax until four in the morning Halifax time, that�s eight in the morning UK time! That�s an insane amount of travelling time considering the direct flight from here to there would take about seven hours total, not two full days! But she got in safe and sound and in time for Christmas and her birthday and that�s what really matters. My parents and brother had equally made it safe and sound to Cape Breton.

Christmas morning dawned snowy and beautiful. I slept in a little until I built up the suspense enough and had to rush out into the living room and open my presents. My stocking was full of fun little things like a coaster with a rear view of a Highlander who is doing a Marilyn Monroe impression and a mini bottle of whiskey and mini hip flask, along with the traditional orange and candy cane. My parents sent me some lovely red plaid pj pants, fluffy socks, a top, pants, a great jigsaw puzzle and Sims Makin Magic which I still have to try out. So I happily called my parents and then called Sarah to sing Happy Birthday at her and she comes out with �I have a message for you from Santa�. I�m thinking, �Okay, Sarah�s lost it�. But she tells me to go and look under the blue towel she left in her room. I go and look, and what do I find? Another stocking full of goodies! So now I have stockings for both feet, even though they don�t match and don�t really fit. They look great on the mantle though, don�t they? Sarah�s was full of useful and wonderful things like a phone card and herbal tea and a book of logic problems to keep me busy for years. Now they're all sitting under our "tree", you may be able to see it in the picture, I'm not sure. Sarah made one out of air dry clay and there's on inside a snowglobe I got from my secret santa at work.

Then it was off to Paula�s for Christmas dinner, which was not at lunch time like what I�m used to. Paula�s husband Tom and her daughter Clare picked me up at around 2pm and was sat around with a few other friends and neighbours drinking and talking until around 6:30 when we ate. It was a wonderful evening. Paula�s family is really great, very open and I�m so happy that I got to spend Christmas with them. They received a very wonderful present just before we finished eating. Paula�s son Tom was stuck in Glasgow where he works because his jacket was stolen along with keys to everything so they were very upset he wouldn�t be spending Christmas with them. So who showed up in a car borrowed from a workmate? Tom! They were so excited to see him. I was so happy for them. After dinner we played Taboo, the girls verses the boys. We had Clare, Paula and myself. They had Tom senior, Tom junior and Clare�s boyfriend whose name eludes me currently, but he looked and acted so much like Tyrone from Hollyoaks! I don�t know if anyone other that Sarah will understand that, but basically he was really sweet with a kind of a football build to him. I vaguely remember someone mentioning he plays rugby so I guess that makes sense. At last, Clare drove me home at around ten to twelve.

And as for New Year's, in a bizzare twist of fate, it looks like I'll be spending it back at Polmaily! I have three days off around New Years and they need someone to do the kids activities and I need something to do so I've agreed to come and help out. I get to live in the hotel, the tinyest of the single rooms but it's got its own bathroom, and I get to go to the guest/staff party in the evening which I hear will involve fireworks this year! So that should be a lot of fun.

So my job�s up very soon, only two more weeks left. I�m mentioned to Paula that I would be interested in continuing on, especially in a part time job if it�s possible. There are apparently quite a few people who have expressed interest in the full time position at our store plus there are full time positions at the other two stores, and possibly a part time at our store which would be ideal really. I just don�t feel like I can do so many hours anymore. I�m really tired and I really want to be able to go travelling a bit more. I want to visit Leah in Ireland and see the Isle of Lewis, the place where apparently the majority of Cape Bretoner�s come from and a million other places before I come home, but I also need to support myself for a while and save up for Uni in the fall if I�m lucky. Ack. Too much stuff. Anyway, I�ll just have to wait and see what happens I guess.

So that�s all my news for this Christmas. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. Drop me a line! I love getting mail. It doesn�t have to be long.

Love
Jeannie

January 5th, 2005

�Should old acquaintances� be forgot and never brought to mind, should old acquaintances� be forgot and days of auld lang sine� Happy New Year Everyone! I can�t believe it�s 2005, and at the same time, watching silly car and music compilation CD commercials too much has led me to believe that it was 2005 already! I�ll never understand how they can claim a car or a cd is a 2005 model before 2005. It doesn�t make any sense! Anyway, enough about silly advertising.

So Boxing Day at the store was, as predicted, pretty hectic, but not as bad as we had feared. Turns out that most people to go directly to a bookstore with their Christmas money. We had a few returns of course, double presents and things like that, but mostly we were kept busy all day writing down the prices to most of our stock which meant re-pricing almost every book on the shelves and in stock. That took a long time and we were still doing it on yesterday when I was at work. The worst part was the fact that, despite all our hopes, MacHappy and MacHuggle were still going! Loud and annoying as ever, all day long, every half hour! But I�m pretty used to ignoring them by now, and, as it was after Christmas, we took out the Christmas CD and put in the James Bond one! Fun!

I finally managed to switch rooms, so now I�m in Sarah�s room. It�s not actually bigger I don�t think, but it does have a much bigger closet which is good because every time I did laundry, I realized I didn�t actually have enough room in my dresser and closet for all my clothes! So I cleaned out my old room and moved everything into my new room and gave everything a good dust and vacuum. I still have to wash the sheets from my old bed for Greg, but I have a little while yet to get that finished.

I also finished the puzzle my parents sent me. I�ve had a lot of fun playing with all my new toys from Christmas. Sarah�s logic puzzle book has got me totally stumped. I even had to cheat a couple of times! It�s really hard! And the Sims Makin Magic is awesome! I wish I had more time to play it, but I think it sucks up enough of my life as is really. You can do all kinds of new things, like bake! Weird. Plus I put up a tree and laid out some cookies and Santa beamed into our living room and left us a pool table! I also bought myself a yoga set. It has a mat, a book and a DVD with it. I bought it from work so it was really cheep but it�s actually really good. The only New Year�s resolution I�ve made is that I�m going to do yoga every day that I can. I�ve done it almost everyday since I bought it so it�s working pretty well.

So rather than hang out here for New Years when I had three days off, I decided to head back to Polmaily to help out there. Sonia had told me that they were a bit stuck for people to do the kids activities and I had heard that the party there would be pretty cool, plus I�d get to stay in the hotel and get paid for it, so off I went. I left on New Year�s Eve on the train. I had to get up really early because the train�s reservations had gone down and I was worried about getting a ticket. I probably shouldn�t have worried, but that�s just me. I had decided at the last minute to get everyone presents from the store so along with my backpack I had a plastic bag full of wrapped presents. I think I did pretty well finding something fitting for everyone.

Sonia and Andrew met me at the train station and once we got in, beyond putting my stuff up in Room 12, the smallest single in the hotel, but still a very cool room to stay in, I went straight to work. First I helped blow up some balloons and then it was straight to the children�s activity of the day, a party for the kids in the Conservatory. I was working with Estelle, one of the new girls. She�s from France and doesn�t speak much English at all and was very happy to find out I speak French, however haltingly. Right after that I started helping Hannah clean up and get ready for kids� tea which it turns out I was going to be serving along with her and Neil. So back into a kilt for me! Luckily, we found one that was slightly bigger than the one I wore while I was working there before so I could actually breath, and Hannah lent me one of her white tops as I hadn�t brought any of mine with me, not knowing I was going to have to need it. It was great gossiping with Hannah and hearing all the news. It was great seeing everyone really. That�s one thing I do really miss about the hotel, the people. I know there�s all kinds of bickering between them, and that�s really annoying, but I think it�s kind of an inevitability when people live and work together and never see anyone else. Samantha seems to be settling in pretty well, and despite what she may think, I think everyone likes her pretty much. The new ownership of the hotel isn�t making things at all easier on anyone though. The new guy has promised a whole lot but not come through on many of his promises so far. We�ll see how that goes. Hopefully, things will get better. But as much as I miss everyone, I�m glad I�m not working there anymore.

That night I was working Monster Club with Estelle after a very quick change and one of Chris�s great dinners. It�s no wonder I lost weight since I left there, I never stopped eating while I was working there. Monster Club was great fun. There was one return family from last year with these two little red heads. I remembered them very well from last year because last year Hannah and I were doing Monster Club and the little boy, Ben, who was around one last year, screamed the entire night and he was a solid little boy. Hannah and I had to take turns carrying him and hopping he�d go to sleep. His sister Emily was great last year and was just the same this year, but a little older. Both children were so wonderful this year. No crying, no fussing, but oh so wonderfully cute! After Monster Club, I put on a nice top and black trousers and went to join in on the party in the conservatory. I was going to wear my long red dress that I worn the year before, but fewer of the guests had gotten really dressed up and besides that, the dad of the return family actually remembered what I had worn the year before! So I went the slightly more casual route.

The party was great fun for the most part. The guests weren�t quite as into it unfortunately. We had karioke which was tonnes of fun, and of course, a piper to pipe us into the New Year then lead us all outside to look at the fireworks display. It was very impressive and very loud! We also did a few Scottish dances. Strip the Willow and Gay Gallogate? I can�t remember the name of the second one. They were both lots of fun though. Unfortunately, the DJ wasn�t very good. Telling inappropriate jokes, insulting some of the guests and Hannah and he played the music too loud despite us asking to turn it down. But over all, it was a pretty fun night.

Next day I had my favourite kids� activity, circus tricks! I had found some balloons to make balloon animals and since most of my kids were the right age, I had them making balloon animals for the first hour before we finally cracked open the circus stuff. Estelle caught on really fast on a lot of the stuff so hopefully the trunk won�t be sitting idle while she�s there. It was nice to see the playroom again and be back in my element.

The next day, beyond attempting to fix up the website for a while, I didn�t have much else to do, and I didn�t want to be underfoot, so I went up on a walk around Rychraggan for old time�s sake. We had woken up to a few centimetre�s of snow and the kids and adults alike were having a great time out playing in it. It was good snow, and just wet enough to make good snowmen, however small. While walking up the hill, it started to snow again and the wind was really chilly. It felt, however briefly, like a proper snowstorm, but it only lasted a few minutes, so it doesn�t really count as a storm. It was so nice to go up there again. The air is so clean and it�s so peaceful. And the view! Well, let the picture speak for itself.

Samantha and I were invited to Sonia�s house for dinner along with Jena and her parents. It was a lovely roast dinner and I was full to burst by the end of it. We had a great time talking about the usual topics, the hotel and horses, though Neil did try his hardest to get us to talk about rugby for a while. After dinner we ended up playing with these bizarre whizzing balloons. Basically, you blow up these balloons with straws and let the go and they go all over the place, kind of like regular balloons, but they make really weird noises. They had us in absolute stitches though!

The problem with this whole visit was that I had it in my head the whole time that I was supposed to go back to work on Tuesday, so rather than going home on Sunday as I had originally planned, I stayed an extra day and went home on Monday. I was sad to go, but there are many reasons why I am glad I�m not working there anymore. So I was a little surprised that, when I got back to my flat, there was a message on my answering machine from Mary wondering where I am and if there�s anything wrong. Yup, you�ve guessed it. I was supposed to be working on Monday, not Tuesday. I called Paula to apologize and then asked Mary if I could take her shift for her yesterday since she had had to work for me on Monday. So that�s how I came to be working my last shift on Tuesday. No, I didn�t get fired because I missed a day of work, it was my last day because my time as a Christmas Temp has come to an end. It�s kind of sad. I�ve enjoyed working for this company, even if I haven�t always enjoyed the job. But it does give me some time to go visit Leah in Dublin. Turns out there�s a cheap flight from Aberdeen to Dublin for only 99 pence plus taxes, so it works out to be around 24 pounds for a return ticket! That�s less that a train ride to Inverness! So looks like, against my better judgement, I�m going to be flying again. I just hope this won�t do any damage to my ears in the long run.

Anyway, sorry for such a long entry, but I had a lot to talk about. Plus being on my own makes me have more to say. Hope to hear from everyone soon.

Love
Jeannie

January 15th, 2005

Well, here we are again, another suitcase, another hall. Well, not really, more like another dozen resumes and another job applied for. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate job hunting? Well really, how many people enjoy it? I would be extremely surprised if there was anyone who did like it. I�ve lost count of how many jobs I�ve applied for. No news yet, not even an interview, just a letter saying that they�ve received my application and will let me know by between the 21st and 24th if I get an interview and then whether or not I get the job. It�s a office job that sounds kind of interesting. There are a few interesting jobs I�ve applied for like one at Thortons, a really awesome chocolate, and WH Smith, another bookstore, and even La Senza! Can anyone imagine me working there? Plus a few office jobs, Hotel jobs and even some bar assistant positions i.e. glass collectors and one of the people I know in town might be able to get me a job doing after school programs which would be awesome and look good for my University applications. Speaking of which, I�m all finished my application to UNB and am nearly done my one for Memorial, so I guess in a few months I�ll know if I get to go back to school.

So here I am for now, watching The Majestic on TV and eating peanut butter out of the jar. I haven�t been out of the house a whole lot these past weeks since I finished my job at the book store other than to canvas the town and to do a little sight seeing. I�ve mostly been playing too much Sims and watching TV. I also managed to find a copy of �The Player of Games� by Iain M. Banks that someone told me I had to read. It�s a good book, Sci-fi, and written by a Scottish guy. I was hoping to write about how excited I am about going to Ireland, but due to extraneous circumstances, mainly council tax (it�s a lot like property tax except that whoever lives on the property pays it.) I�m not going to Ireland just yet. Hopefully before I go home I�ll have a chance to go along with a lot of other places I�d like to go. There�s a great and very cheap flight direct from Aberdeen to Dublin so there�s really no excuse for me not to go eventually.

So I hope that everyone knows already that Greg�s got his trip up here all booked. He�s leaving the evening of the 9th of February and then should be up here a few days later. I�m really excited about that! I keep thinking of all the places I have to show him and things we�ll have to do, plus trying to readjust to living with someone again.

In other news, Josie and Ryan got back safe to Canada just before New Years. They had a great trip but unfortunately, Ryan had his bag stolen with his camera so they�ve lost all their pictures from their trip after they left here. Luckily I had a copy of their pictures from the UK but it is devastating that they lost the rest. I can�t imagine what I would be like if I lost all my pictures. Anyway, now that they�ve returned, Josie�s decided to pick up and move to Montreal. I think this will be great for her, I�ll just miss her being close by when I get back, but it�ll give me an excuse to go visit Montreal. Other than being in the airport in June, I haven't been there since I was very young and would really like to see it again.

Not much else new. I miss everyone and I�m booking my flight home for the beginning of June and as much as I do really love it here, I�m looking forward to being home again. Of course, if I get accepted into University I�ll be picking up and moving again a few months after I get home, but at least I�ll be in the same country. I hope everyone�s having a great weekend.

Lots of love,
Jeannie

January 20th, 2005

Extra, extra! Read all about it! I have some good news for a change! Yup, after that rather depressing update a few days ago I have some good news. It all started on Sunday. I decided that rather than taking the day off job hunting like I had planned, I would go into town and pass out a few more resumes, but I�d get a little more dressed up this time and I even put on some make-up! Shock! Horror! And yes, Sarah, I do own make-up and I did bring it with me, I just don�t wear it much. Anyway, the job hunt was, as usual, pretty depressing, but whatever. I was on my way home for some lunch and I was coming up to the Northern Hotel and I thought, why not stop in there and see if they had any jobs. They weren�t advertising or anything, but you never know. Hotels are always looking for new staff. So I went in and was immediately given an application form to fill out on the spot, interviewed, given a tour of the hotel and offered a job. This whole process took about an hour and I was starting to get pretty hungry by this point. I wasn�t really sure about this job. It�s a waitressing job in the bar, restaurant and/or function room, but I�m not sure if I want that kind of stressful job again. The money�s pretty good and the hours aren�t bad but it means my evenings and weekends are pretty much gone. So I was told I can work this week, three nights, paid up front in cash and then at the end of the three nights I can decide if I want to keep it, which I think is pretty fair.

So finally I got to come home and have my tea (supper) and I was really excited. After hunting for a job for so long and getting so worried about my money situation, and not being able to go to Ireland, this seemed like the best thing that could ever happen to me. But I was wrong, there was more good news! The next day I went out to get some groceries and some new shoes for work because I really needed some comfortable black shoes. I found some really nice ones at Marks and Spencers. They were a little more expensive than I had hoped to pay, but they�re really comfortable and nice looking. Then I stopped by BookWorld to have a chat with everyone and to see if I could get my P45 (tax stuff). It wasn�t back from head office yet, I still have to wait a few weeks for it, but it was nice to see everyone and have a good chat with Paula and Mary. And I also got my last paycheck. I thought I had already got it, but apparently not. So that was cool in and of itself, but then I opened it and it was so much bigger than what I thought I was going to get! So basically, I needn�t have worried so much about my money situation in the first place and, kind of unfortunately, it turns out I could have afforded to go to Ireland but then I may not have gotten this job at the hotel, so who knows. I�ll still get to go at some point before I go home.

So my first day at work went pretty well. I was working in the bar and it wasn�t too bad. Serving food isn�t that bad, it�s a very relaxed atmosphere and it�s not that different from serving at Polmaily. The drinks are a bit harder. The beers are mostly on tap and so I have to learn how to pour a pint from a tap. It�s really hard to not have a huge head of foam on a beer! Especially with Guinness, and I have to learn how to do the shamrock on it. Not everyone does it, but I think it looks cool when they do. My first one ended up looking more like some sort of insect, but I�m sure I�ll get it eventually. My only real problem was with different people telling me to do things different ways and that I didn�t really get to go when I was scheduled to leave, which I wouldn�t have really minded if we were busy, but we really weren�t. I spent a long time that night trying to decide whether or not to keep the job. I barely slept at all, but in the end I decided that I�ll keep an open mind for this week and see what happens.

Not much happened the next few days. I gave the house a really good clean, did all the sheets and everything. Played some more Sims (I am so addicted to that game) got some more groceries, and thought a lot about leaving this job, especially if this job doing after school programs ever surfaces. Today I got a call from Samantha from Polmaily asking me a few questions about the computers and to gossip a bit about how things are there. It was good to hear from her and hopefully she�ll come and visit me soon. I went to work tonight and it was pretty good. The manager wasn�t there so there weren�t any mixed messages or anything to worry about. I was working in the restaurant, but there weren�t any guests eating in there so I mostly ended up helping out in the bar and being shown how to set things up and the theory about how to serve guests in the restaurant. It�s pretty much the same as at Polmaily, but I didn�t serve in the restaurant very much. Walking home was pretty awful though because it�s cold, windy and slushing so I was soaked but now I�ve got the fire going and had some hot chocolate and I�m all warmed up. I�m still mostly undecided about the job, but I keep thinking that it�s only for a few months and I will make a fair amount of money working there and then I can go travelling before I come home and have some money left over to put towards going to school. And this other job just doesn�t seem to be happening. Plus, I�ll go crazy sitting around in this house doing nothing for much longer. I still have Saturday night to work. We�re having a Burns Night Supper and I�m working in the ball room (it�s really pretty) for that, so we�ll see how it goes.

My last piece of good news is that I�ve officially booked my ticket home. It�s done and paid for. I leave Glasgow with Zoom Airlines at 9am on the 5th of June and arrive at 11am on the 5th of June. Aren�t time zones great! So mark the date on your calenders! I�m excited about coming home. I�ve really enjoyed being here and in a lot of ways I will really miss it, but I�ve been away from home for too long. So that�s pretty much it for my news!

Love
Jeannie

January 24th, 2005

Twas a dark and stormy day. I came up over the rise and there it was, Dracula�s castle. Yes, I kid you not, I was at Dracula�s castle today, well, they don�t call it that of course, it�s called Slain�s Castle but once upon a time, Brahm Stoker stayed there, this was of course before it lost it�s roof and became the ruin it is today, but it was the inspiration for his famous novel �Dracula� so now you know, Dracula did not actually live in Transylvania, he lived in a little costal, remote, Aberdeenshire castle outside a tiny little village called Cruden Bay.

But before I get into all that, I�ll tell you about the past few days. First of all, the Burns Supper went really well on Saturday. It was a bit stressful at times with a few periods boredom inter-spaced with some excellent food and some good conversation. It was a huge dinner, 160 Aberdeen Rugby players and wives/girlfriends etc. all done up in their kilts and sporrans getting really drunk and eating scotch broth, haggis �neeps and tatties� (turnup and mashed potatoes) with amazingly awesome cheesecake for after. Each of us girls had four tables of ten each and a guy to run our food out to us. There was a piper to pipe out the haggis and then one guy recited the �Ode to a Haggis� by Robbie Burns himself, later they did some other speeches, but I didn�t get to hear them. The other people working were really great and, despite the fact that I was the last one to get my tables done almost every time (but I blame that on the fact that all my tables were full whereas some of the others had a few empty seats) it was a pretty good night. So basically I�ve decided officially to keep the job.

So this week I�ve got Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off and then working the rest of the week. After that, I�m not sure. So what to do with all my extra time? Now that I have a job and my money situation�s better, I have a bit more drive to get out of the house. So Sunday I decided to go on an adventure to find Tesco! Not the most exciting thing ever, but still fun, I promise! I had a vague idea of where it was, so off I went. It is quite close by, the only problem being I have to walk past the sewage plant to get there, but there�s also a nice caf� and a gym and a few other things down that way. Plus one of the buses that runs this way goes down there every half hour so if I ever get a bigger load of groceries, I can take the bus home. It was a bit odd, it looked like a mix between First Lake Drive and the Price Club. I had a great dinner that night, I made pizza bagels, had some candles lit, even set my silverware out properly, and had a slice of leftover cheesecake and tea for desert. But I was so full afterwards!

But what to do today? I couldn�t sit around the house all day and I didn�t really feel like going somewhere over night, so I decided to go to Slain�s castle. I did a little reading on the web and this morning I managed to get up a bit earlier than usual and off to the bus station. The bus was a little more expensive than I thought it would be, but not bad. It was only about a 50 minute bus ride and it was nice to see a bit more of the countryside. It�s amazing how flat it is out that way, a few sort of rolling hills, but mostly just flat farmland. From the tourist board website I expected the fact that the castle ruins are not in any way sign posted and that they are very much ruins, not kept by anyone, with the roof taken off in 1925 and left to the mercy of the weather out on the edge of a cliff, it�s not exactly safe so no one wants to take responsibility for it. Luckily, when the bus came to the edge of the village I could see it so I knew vaguely which direction to go. I passed a very nice golf course and turned down a road towards the harbour, past the beach but it looked a bit cold so I decided not to go for a swim. But when I got to the harbour, there was no where else to go, despite the fact that I knew I was going in the right direction. So what did I do? Go back to the road and find another way down? Of course not! That would be the smart thing to do, and those of you who have been reading this journal know, I hate doubling back. So there was a staircase up to a little picnic area overlooking the harbour. I went up and then up a small foot path to the top of the cliff. And what did I see? Yes, I actually saw the castle! It was still pretty far off, but I was on the right track, or so I thought. There were footpaths cris-crossing all over the field on top of the cliff and I could see a few other brick ruins dotted over the field. One that I saw in the distance looked like three brick walls in pretty good condition. The looked really odd so I decided to go investigate. It was really strange, I�m not sure what they were meant to be, they didn�t have rooves or doors, but the two end ones had an opening facing towards the middle one which was open at both ends. Actually, they reminded me in a way of the Clava Cairns, except brick and new. They didn�t have much graffiti in them or anything, but I did have a close encounter of the owl kind, the first owl I�ve seen really close up. I�m not sure what kind it was, possibly a tawny or brown owl. Anyway, the buildings remained a mystery so I started off towards the castle again.

It was so incredibly desolate, there was no one around, just the gulls and the pounding waves on the cliffs. Eventually I realized I wasn�t quite in the right spot. I could see the castle, but there was a river running in the middle so I had to find a way around it. I got a little muddy, but eventually I did find a bridge after a brief detour and got on the right track. There were a few fields that had recently been turned which added to the feeling of desolation about the place. I could really see how this castle could have inspired �Dracula�. I�m not normally creeped out by castles. I�ve seen my fair share while travelling around Scotland in various stages of disrepair, maybe it was the weather with dark clouds looming over the sea, the occasional ray of sunlight illuminating the dark rocks below, or maybe it�s the fact that since this ruin is not under the care of Historic Scotland it could very well fall over, or maybe it was the isolation or it�s history, or all of these things, but it was incredibly creepy to be sure.

The walk back was fairly uneventful. I got back into the village about half an hour before my bus was due so I went looking for somewhere to get a tea or a bite to eat but everything was closed for lunch it seemed. It was a little odd. So I decided to walk past the bus stop I had got off at and walk up towards the golf course where there was a bus stop with seats! On the way, I passed this hotel and for those Lemmony Snicket fans out there, I�ve discovered that St. Olaf is the patron saint of Iceland and Norway. Not terribly interesting, but still, it�s fun to know there is a St. Olaf.

Back in Aberdeen after a nice but very rainy bus ride, I decided to stop in at BookWorld to see who was about and talk with Mary and Paula. Things are going pretty well there just now. It was nice to see them, as always. On the bus home it started slushing again. I am so jealous of everyone at home with your snow. I know it�s a pain but it�s better than this chill you to the bone rain and sleet. It�s like it can�t commit to being rain or snow. So that was my adventure to Dracula�s castle. Tomorrow will be the adventure of cleaning the bathroom! AHHHHH Scary! Happy Robbie Burns Day tomorrow!

Love
Jeannie

February 3rd, 2005

Spring is sprung, the grass is riz.... wait a second, it�s only the beginning of February! Yup, those green things growing on the side of my flat are indeed daffodils. Not quite in bloom yet, but they will be soon. There are already snowdrops and other flowers growing, buds on some trees and bushes, and it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day today. I�m not mentioning all this to make those at home jealous, just to explain why I�m terribly confused about which season it is.

I�ve had a really great week. Last Saturday Hannah took the train up to stay with me for the day. Unfortunately, I was working, another Burn�s Supper, and I didn�t get away till late, but we still went out to a club and danced for about three hours. It was great fun. I got to meet a few of Hannah�s friends and we went back to their place for some pizza and a bad movie. We ended up falling asleep on the couches for a few hours and then took a taxi back to my flat very early in the morning where we went back to sleep for a few more hours before I had to get to work.

Sunday at work was really crazy. Not very busy in the morning, but then in the evening it was just crazy! So after nine hours of hard work on very little sleep, they wanted me to go out with them for a drink which is their regular Sunday tradition. I went into the public bar next door with them for a few minutes, but I was falling asleep at the table, so I skipped out.

The other day before going to work, I had to deal with a little problem that I wouldn�t have to deal with if I weren�t living alone. I had to get this out of the house. I�m terrified of spiders and this one was rather large. I knew I had to deal with it though because if I didn�t get it out of the house, I wouldn�t be able to relax. So I trapped it under the biggest glass I had and then went into the bedroom to freak out. I eventually managed to get a notepad under it and tip the glass right side up so he was stuck at the bottom. Then I flung him outside and didn�t he just start crawling back towards the house as fast as possible! Anyway, that was my little spider episode. I know it�s stupid to be so afraid of them, but I just am. My adrenalin gets pumping and I get all shaky and want to run away.

The rest of the week was fine. I�m still sleeping a lot, which reminds me, I have to get to bed after I�m done updating this journal because I�m working at 12. On Tuesday I went to see the Aberdeen Opera Company�s production of �Anything Goes�. For anyone who doesn�t know, in my first year at Mount Allison I was in the chorus of this musical. I had one line. �Sure�. That was it. But it was a really fun musical to do. Not much of a plot at all, but great songs and costumes and such. The Aberdeen Opera Company�s production was really great. They�re an amateur company and the guy playing the male lead played Buttons in the Pantomime �Cinderella� that Sarah and I saw. He was excellent, amazing voice. I wasn�t as impressed with the one who played Bonnie, but Moonface was really great! One thing that was really funny was hearing all these Scottish people acting with American accents, except one who had an overdone English accent. Mostly they did a really awesome job of it, with the occasional slip. The dancing was also really great.

Then yesterday after work we had a going away party for one of the receptionists who�s leaving for greener pastures. We had been really quiet so I mostly been stuck cleaning all evening. We sat and had a few drinks in the bar and then most of us went out to a club called Liquid which was surprisingly busy for a Wednesday night, it was a student night or something. We had a ton of fun and it was cool to meet a lot of the staff I hadn�t met yet.

And today, since it was beautiful and warm, I went downtown and did a little shopping. Nothing big, but I did buy some hair dye. Yes, I bit the bullet and dyed my hair again. A bit more drastic this time. I knew I couldn�t go ginger red because my skin is too dark. I wanted to go bright red but I chickened out at the last moment and bought �deep intense mahogany�.This is the first time I�ve ever dyed my hair on my own, and it was a bit difficult and unfortunately, I did get a few drops on the carpet. I don�t know how I�ll get them out. But the final effect, I must say, is quite nice. But I�ll let you judge for yourselves. I don�t like what the flash does to the colour, but without the flash looked worse.

So that�s all that�s new with me. Greg will be arriving here on Thursday which is really exciting. Talk to you soon.

Love
Jeannie

February 19th, 2005

Hi everyone,

Sorry that it�s been a while since I wrote but things have been busy these past weeks. Greg arrived safe and sound on Thursday though his travels weren�t without problems. First off, his baggage took a different flight from London to Edinburgh so they didn�t arrive at the same time as him. And then the number he had for the flat was off by one number so he couldn�t call me when he got into Edinburgh, nor could he call when he got to Aberdeen! Luckily he had the address of the flat so he just took a cab over. It shocked me to say the least when he showed up though! I was watching the teletext trying to figure out which flight he was on and when he would get here.

We haven�t been doing much since he got here, a little shopping, a little sight seeing but not much. We went to Duthie Park on Wednesday and it was so warm out that we didn�t even really need coats! There are flowers up everywhere and it was really beautiful. Luckily, I had a few days off in a row plus some partial days so I had lots of time to spend with Greg, and also to rest my wrist.

I�m not sure what exactly I�ve done to my wrist, only that it hurts. It�s not swollen or bruised, but it seems to click out of place occasionally and if I carry too much or turn it the wrong way it really hurts, so I�ve been trying to rest it, but it�s hard to rest it at work where I�m picking things up all the time. Work has been going really well. I�ve been doing lots of functions and even had one night in the restaurant with guests! It was only one table of five, but better than nothing. They were very nice and though I know they could tell I was probably making mistakes, they were very nice about it and left me a nice tip too. :)

Jim, my boss, was out for quite a few days so I hadn�t been able to ask him about giving Greg an interview. Finally on Thursday evening he was there and he told me to bring Greg in on Friday for an interview. We were doing a function that evening so I guessed that he would probably end up working that evening. I don�t think he really believed me. But sure enough, he had the interview and that night was working as my �runner� at the function. Basically, when we do functions in the ballroom we work in pairs, one person to run back and forth with the orders, food, etc, and one person to actually serve the tables. Greg did a great job and despite the annoyingly drunken students we were serving, we managed to be very efficient. Greg�s at work just now. I finished at 7 but he�s on till 11 or so in the restaurant. He also had some training on the reception desk this afternoon so he�ll be getting lots of hours hopefully. They�re all very impressed with him. :)

I�ve heard it said that Scotland doesn�t have seasons, it has weather. Never has this been more apparent than the past few weeks. Most of this week was so warm, the flowers were all blooming, there were even some buds on the trees! It really felt like spring was here. Then yesterday it got really chilly and windy and last night it started snowing and it�s been snowing intermittently ever since! There�s only about an inch or two on the ground, but it is really chilly and windy still.

That�s about it for now though. Hope to hear from you soon!

Love
Jeannie

March 17th, 2005

Happy Be Kind to Snakes Day! aka St. Patrick's Day. Spring is really here even though it's a few days away. Actually, it feels almost like early summer! Both today and yesterday it was in the low to mid teens and it�s meant to stay nice for the rest of the week as well! Insanity! Greg and I even went out for a walk tonight in t-shirts. Greg went as far to wear shorts and sandals, but I think that was a bit excessive. And it was snowing last Saturday! All this lovely weather got me into the spring cleaning mode today so I ended up hanging laundry on the line and gave the kitchen a thorough cleaning, then I pampered myself for the rest of the evening with a long shower, some good food and herbal tea and some candles :)

Yesterday, before going to work, as it was sunny and warm despite the really high winds, I decided to go visit Stewart Park which is literally right up the road from us. It was an absolutely beautiful day. The birds were singing, the crocuses and daffodils are blooming, people were out with their dogs and kids, it was really great. The park is pretty small, but very pretty and diverse. There are a few trails through little gardens, two playing fields, a small playground and a small wooded area with trails.

As you can see, I took quite a few pictures. The flowers were really beautiful. I was trying to do some interesting things with my camera settings to get some really nice close up shots. I think that one turned out pretty well. The odd archway thing is near the entrance furthest from our house. It�s made of wood but I�m not sure what it�s from or what its purpose is. It�s not on a trail or anything. Who knows. Then, after wandering for a while I went and sat down to write a bit in my journal, which was a bit hard because the wind was really strong and kept blowing my pages. While I was sitting there, I looked up and saw this cloud. I don�t know about everyone else, but it�s not exactly one of those clouds that is just a random formation that if you tilt your head to the side and squint it looks like bunny with a fishing rod, it looks like a bird! When I uploaded it onto my computer I noticed the seagull off to the side of the picture. Interesting coincidence.

I�ve been doing a lot of thinking lately, as I only have two and a half months left here, of when I�m going to stop working and go travelling and where I�m going to travel. There are so many places I still want to see and people keep telling me I have to see this or that. I suppose it depends mostly on how much I�m able to save up and how quickly I save it. Mostly, the places I want to see are in Britain, but I would like to see a bit of Europe as well. Also, Greg and I would like to go visit Findhorn, either for just a tour or for one of their Experience Weeks. Findhorn is a fairly large community in Forres, a few towns from here, about a half hour by train. It�s a communal society where everyone works together, there�s a lot of spirituality as well but all religions are accepted and practiced. They have a school and a college and stores and everything. It looks really amazing. They have a website www.findhorn.org with lots of interesting info on it if anyone�s interested. They have a lot of interesting eco-friendly ways of getting electricity and their gardens look amazing. I also want to visit Leah in Ireland, I�d like to see some of Wales, plus Glastonbury, Stonehenge, the Hebrides (Islands off the west coast) and a few other towns like Perth and Dundee. Some of the places I want to go I can do on day trips. I also bought a book about walks in and around Aberdeen that Greg and I can try. It�s all part of it getting warmer and so I want to get out of the house more.

That�s about all that�s new just now. Lots of work. Things are going pretty well at work for the most part. Oh, and Greg has been updating his live journal as well. You can see is at www.livejournal.com/users/sabian108 There�s an interesting little episode that happened the other night at the hotel posted on there. I wasn�t a part of it at all as I was running around like crazy because of the millions of guests that we didn�t have enough tables for. I did see the police, if only in passing though. For more, see Greg�s journal.

Anyway, enjoy the Equinox on Sunday. The days are definitely getting longer!

Love
Jeannie

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