Bad Blogger

Gosh, it's been so long since I last posted. I guess I have a good reason for it, but I still always feel bad about leaving the blog alone for so long.

I got back into the US of A last Monday, July 2. And I've been mostly on the go since then. Last weekend I went to Philadelphia to visit a friend. I had a pretty good time checking out Philadelphia and seeing a few of the museums. We only had time for two, the Franklin Institute and the Art Museum. This lack of time was due to the fact that we spent four hours in the Franklin Institute. They really shouldn't have all of the fun interactive kid things...a person could get distracted. *wink* Of course, while in Philadelphia I did go and see the Liberty Bell.

I got back from Philadelphia on Monday and then yesterday Hilly (my career changed black lab) and I packed up the car and headed to LA. We're just chillin' in the apartment, but we're hoping to get to the beach at some point this week before heading back into the furnace that is the central valley.

That is pretty much all I've been doing for the past week and a half. It's super hard for me to believe that I only have another two weeks here before flying back to Scotland. I think next year I'll have to spend a little more time back in the States? What's that? Why didn't I spend more time here this summer? Well, we're moving again. We finally found a nice, four bedroom house that saves us time and money so we took it. I figured since I wasn't there to move last year I should be there this year to help out and move all of my stuff. Although...this year it is all downhill instead of uphill...nope! Gotta help this year! Gotta help.

Hopefully, I can post a few pictures when I get back to the valley. Like a dummy, I forgot my fire wire.

Spring Break

That's right people. My three weeks of relaxing has started! Well, alright, to be honest I'm going to put in 4 hours a day during the week on school work and 2 hours on weekends. But I can do those 4 hours whenever I choose to. Which means that I can wake up whenever I choose to. Lovely feeling really.

Also, my mother is coming for a visit. It should be fun even though I have absolutely no idea what to do with her. Here's a little secret; Aberdeen is not the most exciting of places. I'm sure I'll figure out something before she gets here. Here's hoping the weather stays nice. It looked not so pleasant today, but it's be so nice up until now. Hopefully by the time Mother gets here the sun will return because the few places I know I should take her to are the beach, the park, and the gardens. You might note that they are all outdoor activities.

My other plan for this break is to post all of the back log of posts! I have started a post for every Psychology lecture I went to. Just never got around to finishing all of them. I shall hopefully get one up on Monday. As for the rest of today and tomorrow, I am fully taking a break.

A Happy New Year's and Updates

I've been a little busy the past week I've been home. So, I'm sorry that I haven't been posting often.

I had a...pretty good new year's eve. My friend hosted a party and I went. It was the first new year's party I had been to where I was legally aloud to drink. Did I feel grown up? Kinda. I mean, it was nice to go out and buy my own alcohol and then go and drink the alcohol and a party. It did end a little sooner than expected, but wasn't and overall bad night. Well, it wasn't the best night I had ever had either, but that had very little to do with the party or Friends or other stuff like that.

Anyway, my brother came in for a visit on the 2nd and then just left yesterday morning. It was good to see him again and good to have family. I wish I had taken pictures of his visit, but it would have been of food he taught me to make since we really didn't travel. The next time he comes for a visit I'm hoping that we won't both have exams to study for and I'll have found out how to get buses to fun places here. I'm thinking next time he comes we'll go to Loch Ness. I haven't been there yet so it seems like a good place to go. Anyway, I really enjoyed his visit. He made me feel better and he brought me Swedish chocolate. Both are always appreciated.

Now it's on to studying for exams and forgetting. Well, not forgetting but...oh what's the word? Well, I don't know the exact word or phrase. But, it's a new year and everything will be better. Hope you all had a great new year's and have all of your resolutions put together. I've got mine. *smile*

Sunday Subjest #2: Happy Holidays

Oh gosh! Has it really been two weeks since I last posted!? Don't worry, I didn't die on the plane ride from Aberdeen to California.

Anyway, it's Christmas here in the household. We opened presents this morning, visited family this afternoon, and we're starting on the Christmas dinner now. Hopefully we'll be eating by seven or eight...haha! Yeah, I guess we got a late start.

Anyway, I've realised that I'm very happy that I came home for the holidays. I love seeing my dogs and my cat (Sweet Sylvester left his earth life a few weeks ago so now it's just cat instead of cats). I knew I missed them, but I didn't think that I would feel so much better. I think I need animals in my life. I've never not had an animal in my life. Hehe!

My cat Mia sitting in front of our very small Christmas tree on presents.

Anyway, that's pretty much all I have to say about Christmas now. Had a good time opening gifts and seeing people and cooking. It's definitely hard to believe that I'm leaving soon.
Well, happy holidays!

Sunday's Subject #1: Cold and Grumpy

Right, this is a new thing that I'm going to try in order to be a better blogger for this blog. It's called, as the title would imply, "Sunday's Subject". What my plan is for this is to come up with a subject for every Sunday and make it almost like a conversation. This means that all of you are encouraged to disagree, debate, and comment (you don't always have to disagree, but you're welcome to post your thoughts). Today's subject is "cold and grumpy". Basically, it's cold here and I'm perpetually grumpy. Here's the story;

So, I'm leaving home in a week right? Right! So, I should be happy about this. I'll get to cuddle my little lab Hilly, get cuddled by my giant golden retriever Arwen, and patronize the labradoodle Rosie. Not to mention I'll get to see my cats again and my cats always make my day. I also can't forget the friends I'll see and make merry with over the holiday season. I should be happy about all of this right? I'm not. Not really.

Alright, I am excited to see my animals, friends, and family again. I can't deny it because it would be lying, children, and lying in wrong. So, yes excited. But no, not happy.

You see, I'm a desert child. I grew up in the hot and dry where you had to drink your body weight in water every day and couldn't go outside if the weather man said not to for risk of asthma attacks and heat strokes (not that we always listened to these warnings as children...which, come to think of it, is probably why I developed asthma). I do well in heat...not so much the cold. I know how to deal with the cold (sometimes I think better than some of the teenage girls who have lived here all their lives. You should see some of the things they wear in the winter) and I can keep relatively warm with three layers on my legs and 4 layers on the hips up. As a desert child I think I was taught what to do in the cold just in case I ever happened into a snow storm in my shorts and t-shirt.

Why is all of this important to my bad mood? Because, I like snow even if it means the cold has to come with it. Have we gotten any snow? Nope! It's just been cold and wet. There's a great picture that my friend Sandy drew and I don't think he'll mind that I'm sharing it with you.

A picture my friend Sandy drew. On the right there is a small picture labelled "Winter Wonderland" with a happy, smiling guy. On the left is a picture labelled "Aberdeen" with a sad, downtrodden guy walking through the rain. In between the pictures is the "does not equal" sign.

Pretty much sums up what Aberdeen is like in the winter without snow. He drew this the day we had snow for 5 minutes and everyone got excited and posted their excitement on facebook. He was rather disappointed to wake up to find that there was, in fact, no snow to be found.

Unfortunately, it's not the fact that Aberdeen is cold but isn't snowing that is putting me in a perpetual state of grumpiness. If it were it would be an easy fix of hot chocolate, a blanket, and a good book/movie. The cold is just heightening all the things that are agitating me right now. I don't want to go into too much detail about my private life over the Internet, but how about we just say that it hasn't been the smoothest of months for Miss Erin. And I'm fairly certain that if it weren't freezing and I could sit down with a delicious hot drink and think about the events of the past month that have led up to the "blues" without having to worry about my fingers falling off then I might actually be able to get past them. It is not be. 

I also don't think it helps that someone had the bright idea to have an essay due the last day of term! I mean really? Who thought that would produce well thought out and coherent essays? Especially when they decided to give us crap questions. It baffles me. Truly. 

Anyway, I know this probably just sounded like a rant about how horrible my life is and how hard I have it, but I promise, it wasn't. I do have a small point to go with all of this woe. And that is that frustration and stress and...just plain sadness are, I think, a big part of being a University student. This is a time when everyone is truly discovering who they are and where they eventually want to be. There's gotta be some emotional trauma that goes with soul searching.

Anyway, I have to get ready for the committee meeting that I really don't want to go to because I got all of 2 hours of sleep last night (oh yeah, insomnia is also a symptoms of my "blues" because my mind never ever stops). But I made a commitment to the society so I'll go. I might even stay in the library to get some work done.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers in the States. This is my second Thanksgiving I've spent not in the US. Now, I don't know how many of you know my feelings on thanksgiving but I hate it. As a holiday I think it's a ridiculous premis and the traditional celebrations just lead to more cases of heart disease and type two diabetes. And yet, I'm homesick just like I was last year.

I guess it's that when you grow up with something you get use to it and when it's taken away from you you realise how very far away from home you are. I have my ups and downs with my parents, all four of them, but that still doesn't mean that I don't miss them terribly. I guess right now I'm just glad that I made the decision to go home even for just a little over winter break.

I didn't go to class today. Not because I thought I should honour thanksgiving, but because I couldn't. I know that sounds weird, but I rarely skip class (I can think of two English lectures this semester) and today I just didn't want to do it. Homesick hits me pretty hard especially when you see status updates all day about the homemade food people are going to be eating later today and all you can think about is how you don't really want to cook tonight but you will because otherwise you won't have milk in the morning and just what to do about the mattress cover that seems to have squished to the point of uselessness (I'm fairly boney so spring mattresses and me don't really get along unless there's a buffer between the two of us to help sort out our differences). 

Anyway, I have decided to make a pumpkin praline pie and the dough for the crust is sitting in my refridgerator. I have most of the ingrediants I need for baking tomorrow except the pumpkin puree. Apparently, pumpkin pie is not as big a thing here as it is back home. It's a good thing that I know exactly where to get pumkpin puree tomorrow after class. If my roleplaying game is on tomorrow then I'll take it along and invite everyone to partake in the great American tradition of eating. I thought about making some sweet potato souffle, but didn't feel like I'd have the time with the pie as well. Too bad though. The souffle calls for rum and I always feel like a big ol' grown up when I buy alcohol in the gorcery store.

Right-o, I wanted to talk a little bit about one of my English lecturers before I head off to sleep. He reminds me a lot of a mix between my junior and senior English teachers. He obviously has passion for what he does, but some of the things he says just...well the don't go over my head in the same sense as high school. I guess, I understand completely what he's saying, but what I don't get is why he says it in relation to what he said before it. It's like his slideshows are a outline of an essay, but not a finished product. By which I mean that they are organized to a point, but get a little lost here and there. He's an interesting guy to listen to and I don't mind him as a lecturer. I just kind of wish he would slow down and stop pacing from time to time.

I guess since I have nothing else to say on the subject it's that time of the post where I say all the things I'm thankful for right? Well...I'm thankful for my parents (biological and step), my brother, my friends, my four legged members of the family, and this cozy bed I get to sleep in even if the springs do leave sores on my hips every now and again.

Sound Reactions

As a puppy raiser I have certain terms to describe a puppy's behaviour, thinking, status...well everything. One of the these terms is "sound reactive." Basically this is when I puppy becomes nervous, stressed, or scared when he/she hears sudden, loud noises. Obviously, this isn't used to describe a puppy who gets a little scared but recovers quickly and gets back to work. This is used to describe a puppy who shuts down when they hear a sudden, loud noise. I've often wondered why I am allowed to raise puppies as I am noise reactive.

Today is Bonfire Day. It's like the Fourth of July in that people shoot off fireworks. I for one hate fireworks. I mean I HATE them. I don't quite understand them and they cause me a great deal of stress. All they do is cause a great deal of noise and pollute our already sickly air.

I had to walk home this evening with fireworks going off all around me. It wasn't what I would call a good time. I kept jumping and turning around every time one went off near me. At least I wasn't walking through any neighbourhoods where they were shooting them off. The smoke usually sets off an asthma attack if I'm too close.

So, I've got the TV on loud and proud and I'm sitting here (alone) in comfy pants with a cup of hot chocolate whilst trying not to hear the pops and booms outside and forget the fact that I'm alone. (It's a Saturday night and I've got nothing to do except sit by myself and watch TV. Yeah, I'm cool.) 

At least I had fun last night.

Spring Break Plans

Alright guys. It's all been decided. Well, not all of it, but a lot of it. I know basically that I shall be staying here for the first two weeks of my spring break then I shall be going home on the 6th until the 14th. Hooray! I'll get to see my Arwen again! (For those of you who don't know, Arwen is my 80lbs. Golden Retriever and my best friend forever and ever) Here's a picture representation of two things I'm going to do this break.

First, I'm going to become better acquainted with this.

This is my bed. Yep, I'm thinking that maybe I'll sleep for two weeks straight. OK, maybe not the entire two weeks. But it'll be nice to go to sleep at 4am and not have to worry about getting up in the morning.

Secondly, I plan on reading a whole lot.

Lolita and Lady Chatterley's Lover are for my Controversial Classics course. We are now on to our "Sex and Society" bit of the course. Lady Chatterley's Lover is all about sex and people having sex. Well, really it's about making fun of class distinctions, but it gets more people's attention when you say it's all about sex. It was banned in the early 1900's though, so you can image how racy this stuff actually is (i.e. not very). Lolita is one that I have not started reading yet, but I've had the lectures about it (the lecturer was very boring though so I really didn't pay any attention). It seems like it'll be an interesting book though it's about pedophilia. Hey, when the said controversial they meant controversial. Now, you see the George R.R. Martin book? This is the second part of the third book of the series Ice and Fire. I'm in love with them and fully plan on finishing this one and the fourth by the time the HBO series premiers and Jamie has his "Game of Thrones" night after the holiday. And there are two books on Kindall my Kindle that I want to read. I'm also going to be reading Smellorama so I can hopefully give Arwen a little confidence by teaching her how to find lost items.

Besides reading and sleeping, the first two weeks of holiday will include researching for my essay due in Week 9 for English and house hunting so that I have a place to put my stuff this summer and a place to live for the next three years. I'll also be hanging out with Marlene and Lisa and doing this new drawing project I have titled "Project Mufasa". I'm just drawing a lot of lions because I think lions are cool. Movie watching will happen as well I believe. And I'll hopefully play a lot of board games...well, if I can borrow some. I'm resisting the urge to buy a few different card and board games right now.

After that I'm going home for a week and spending time with friends and family. Should be relaxing...hopefully.

It's Almost Here

It's been a while since I last posted, so I thought I would give you all an update. Spring Holiday is just around the corner. Tomorrow is my last day of classes and I simply can't wait! I'm so ready for this three week break. Even if most of my friends are going home it will still be lovely. Marlene and Lisa are staying over the break as well. What's that? Oh, me? No, I'm not going home for break. I thought about it, but I came to the decision that I would really like to go home and see my friends and little too late and the flights are kind of expensive. I might still go home after the first week. But that's a big IF right now. It would be nice to spend two weeks at home relaxing. Maybe if I get the housing situation for next year worked out in this first week then yeah I will. But...well it might also be nice to stay here. We've been having such LOVELY weather lately and I hear California is suffering from surprise rain. Ohm decisions, decisions...

Anyway, I shall post tomorrow as well. I hope you're all having a good time doing whatever it is that you do. Happy spring!

Some Time to Think

I'm considering going offline for a week starting on Monday. For my facebook 30 Day Picture Challenge I would probably load all the pictures for that week at once...or maybe I'll just start once the picture challenge is over and done...or maybe I'll get online long enough to upload the picture and then go offline again. That last one will probably be the one I do.

Why am I thinking of going offline?

Well, I need some time to think. I need to get back on track with my studies (I've been slacking a little this semester), I need to decide whether or not I'll be going home for Spring Holiday (which would be helped a whole lot if my brother would answer my facebook messages), and I need to think about my life and where I'm going. I would get a whole lot of reading done which is good, because I'm expecting a book (Smellorama:Nose Games for Dogs by Vivane Theby. I heard about this book from Martha G) in April and I want to study up on all the Smelling Games I can play with Arwen and Rosie when I get home over the summer. With Rosie I'm hoping to dispell some of her energy, with Arwen I hoping to increase her confidence.

A lot of thinking needs to go into going home over Spring Holiday and I need to buy my tickets by next Friday if I'm going to do it. *actually I should have booked months ago, but I'm with paying a little extra* If I go home, I could see Rocco again before he's recalled and I wouldn't have to worry about buying food for two weeks. I would come back a little before Holiday ended to look at places to live. And there's a part of me that misses Arwen a whole lot. The pros and cons are about equal right now, so maybe being offline will help me balance them better.

I also haven't been feeling myself for a while. I don't know why, but I haven't been sleeping well and I've generally just been in a sully mood. I get happy streaks, like today, but when I get home and am alone...well...I have more time to think and it gets me down. So, I kind of want to soul search for a week and see what's up with me.

Anyway, I'll let you know tomorrow if you should be expecting to hear from me for a while.

Countdown

I go back to school on the 8th. This means that I have 6 days to spend here in Fresno left! Well...really 5 and a half seeing as it's already 9am here and I haven't done anything. I would like to say that I haven't wasted my morning, but it's been raining cats and dogs here so I haven't really wanted to go outside yet. But I will. I'm going to go to the store and buy some canned food to donate to the food drive going on in my community. I was going to walk there...and walk to the house where the food is being collected, but the rain has ended that plan.

Anyway, I've decided that I need a list of things to do while I'm still here so that I can make sure to fit everything in before heading back to Scotland.

To Do List:

1. I have to eat at Macaroni Grill before leaving
2. Gotta walk around Woodward Park (as long as it stops raining)
3. I need two new pairs of jeans to replace a few that have holes in them
4. Must eat at Edo Ya for really, really good sushi
5. Pick up some American measuring cups so I can actually bake back in Scotland
6. Clean the rest of my room
7. Drop Rocco back off at his new raisers (even though I would very much love to take him with me to Scotland I figure that GDB wouldn't like that so much...neither would the place where I live)
8. Buy some books here for my English course (I refuse to pay the money they're asking me to pay for a little book. It's ridiculous really.)
9. Make sure I have all the movies I want to watch
10. Make a list of toiletries I can't find in Scotland (or, like saline solution, is almost $30 cheaper here...)

New Year's Resolution

I don't generally make these resolutions. I figure that resolutions shouldn't be made just on new year's eve just to be forgotten about by Valentine's Day. But this year, my first year of University and my first year of living away from home and the first year without any sort of pet, I thought I should make a new year's resolution to help guide my way. Only, I'm hoping this will be more like a "all the years to come resolution". So, I guess, without further adieu here is my resolution.

I resolve to be a better to person in any way that I need fixing. I want to let go of certain bits of my past and with other memories of my past I want to see them for what they are. Then I want to learn everything I can from them and then pack them away at the back of my mind only to pull them out when I need reminding of what I've learned. I need to be more disciplined in my studies, but more importantly, I need to be more disciplined in me. I can't forget who I am no matter what and I need to embrace those things that make me me. I am who I am and who I am is a dork who manages to get stuck in the bubbles produced by putting soap in a fountain, who breaks out in show tunes every once in a while, who dances in her room in nothing but underwear while singing at the top of her lungs, who thinks there's nothing sweeter than puppy breath and nothing more relaxing than a purring cat, and who enjoys waking up early to exercise. All of things I am and all of them make me who I am. I should know what make me me even the bits and pieces I'm not so proud of. I shouldn't forget that I am a pretty awesome person any more often than I need to make me humble. Most of all I need to stop worrying so much. A little worry is needed, but I should stop getting wrapped in little details that don't really matter because it takes away from the experience.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe new year's eve and a great start to 2011.

It's Good to be Home

I'm very glad I left when I did now. I was a little hesitant about missing the last week of school until I heard of all the trials of my friends trying to get home for the holidays. If I had waited for a week, like I originally planned, chances are I wouldn't be home right now. I might if I got lucky, but there's only so much luck to around between travellers during the holiday season. If you guys haven't seen it on the news, some of the major airports in the UK and in Europe are just closed due to weather. London Heathrow is closed because of all the snow and the fact that they ran out of, what I am calling because I can't remember the actual name, plane antifreeze. I believe Paris is closed too. So, while I did miss a week of classes, I'm very happy that I left early.

Well, enough of my gloating about how easy it was for me to get home. On to present adventures. Rocco and I are in Los Angeles right now. We headed down on the train yesterday to spend some time with my mom and step dad. We're going to leave tomorrow for Phoenix which should be...well interesting to say the least. We're going to see my step dad's family who are Jewish but also not Jewish and he's Buddhist and...well, it's all very confusing. I'm not sure if we're actually celebrating Christmas but there are a lot of birthdays in his family around this time of year. Anyway, it should be fun and it'll be interesting to see how Rocco handles this long of a road trip. It would be so much cooler if we were flying, but then I would have to go through Guide Dogs to get clearance for him to fly. This way I only needed to make sure it was alright if I took him into another state.

Hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season so far!

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

We haven't spoken in a while and that's partly my fault. I lost faith a while ago, but I still like to believe that the impossible is possible. If anyone can do that, it's you.

You know how I know I'm not a little kid anymore? My letters to you used to contain a long list of toys and a variety of pets that I knew my parents would never get me. Now though...there's really only one thing on my Christmas list.

I've been a fairly good girl this year. I've had my bad days, but really, who doesn't? So, a friend of mine is in the hospital after yet another surgery. Santa, I know you can't make all of the health problems go away, but if you could help her be as comfortable as possible that would really help. And, do you think you could make sure she's out of the hospital and back home with her cat and dog by Christmas day? There's also one more thing that I would like. Is it possible for you to make sure that there is a new dog trained to be her wheelchair guide by at least summer? I'm hoping for earlier, but it does take a long time to train wheelchair guides so I'm not really expecting you to make that happen any earlier.

Anyway Santa, that's what I thought I would spend my Christmas wish on this year. There is something I would like under my tree this year, but I don't think you can wrap it, stuff it in a bag, and make your reindeer carry it all the way to me. I'm sure you know what it is though because you're Santa Clause.

Merry Christmas Santa.

Love,
Erin

November 29: Change of Plans

I'm now flying home on the 10th! That means I'm going to get home a whole week sooner than I originally was. Why have I done this? It's not because I'm bored here or any of that, it's because I've been getting a little homesick and really wanted to go home to my dogs and cats...but not my fish...RIP Cunningham. I know, I know. I'll be missing the last week of school. It bothers me a little too, but then most of my older and wiser friends basically said, "What's wrong with missing a week?" when I told them about my apprehension of not going to class for a week. So this is what I think. Most students will miss two lectures per class through the semestre. I have missed one lecture total in all my classes because I was really, really ill. So, I've saved my "I just don't feel like getting out of bed in time to make me 9am class" and "I have a 4 hour break between my morning and my afternoon class...why go to the one hour afternoon class?" ditches and saved them for this week of getting to go home early. It did cost me a little extra to change my flight schedule, but not much...well, not more than I was thinking. And the flight I re booked was actually cheaper than the one I originally booked so I even got to pay less. So, I'm very ok with paying a little extra if that means I get to be in my own room (though, my paint job has probably been painted over) with my own dogs. :) I'm not going to say my own bed because I think they've moved my single bed and the rest of my furniture out and stuck a double bed in. But I don't know yet.

I leave for home in 11 days!!!!! When did the semestre go by?!

BTW: I got a 16 on my Art History essay! YAY! One of the highest scores in the tutorial class. If I had actually proofread the thing for spelling and grammar mistakes I probably (well, that's what he says) would have gotten a 17. I might just stick with Art History.

November 26: Girls' Night In Part 2

As most of you know last night was Thanksgiving. This is the first Thanksgiving since I was born that I didn't celebrate the American style. But I did sort of celebrate it.

Last night was another Girls' Night In for Marlene, Vera, Lisa, and me. This time it was at my place just in case I got a call from one of my parents. We had lots of pizza and crisps and biscuits and blackcurrantade. It was pretty good. I wasn't too sure about blackcurrantade but it's just like black currant juice only fizzy. Then we talked about girl things like boys and their stupidity, and classes that made us angry, and the horrible things of being a girl. That's always my favourite part. :) Then we watched "How to Train Your Dragon". I hadn't seen it before, but I LOVED it. It's just a really cute movie and that's what I want in my stocking this year.

So, not a traditional Thanksgiving, but a really fun one nonetheless. Thanks to my friends who came over and made me forget that it was a holiday. :)

November 25: Thankful

Well last night I went to go see Harry Potter with a whole bunch of friends and it reminded me what I'm thinking for.

I'm thankful for friends who are just as crazy as me and don't mind walking down the street throwing snow at each other. I'm thankful for friends who find a way to make me happy even when I'm at my saddest. I'm thankful for friends who would be ready to come over if I were really sick and just sit with me until I felt better. I'm thankful for friends who find joy in the fact that I'll dance down the sidewalk in the snow just because. I'm thankful for friends who come over and eat pizza and play Munchkin and talk about the important things in life.

Most importantly though, I'm thankful for all of my friends. I love them all dearly and I'm very glad to have them in my life

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you over in the States!

October 31

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!!

This is my first holiday here in the UK. I can't help but miss my friends and what I used to do on this day. No child is going to come to my door shouting "Trick-or-Treat!" tonight and I have to say it was one of my most favourite things. I love handing out handfuls of candie to little kids and then giving 15 and 16 year-olds a piece or two as my way of telling them they should be having a party with their friends rather than trick-or-treating. Anyway, I don't really have that great of a costume. I'm probably going as a black dog with white ears because I don't have black socks. But to be honest, I'm not feeling all that well. I think I'm finally getting a cold or a flu. It's about the time of year that I normally get sick so I'm not terribly surprised. The Roleplaying society is going pub crawling tonight, but I'm probably not going to go. I would have gone to one pub if I were feeling even 95% but I'm down to about 70% so I'm probably going to come straight home after the session today and sleep. Hopefully I'll get a good night's sleep tonight, something I haven't had in that past few nights.

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone! Tonight is a night for fireworks and booze...quite a dangerous combination if you ask me. But that's the American tradition right? We barbecue while drinking beer and shooting off dangerous, flammable rockets.

Today, I can't help but think that this is a very American tradition. It also makes me think about all the things I might actually miss while I'm in Scotland. Someone asked me if I would go down to Sweden to visit my brother during Thanksgiving. I had to remind them that I won't get Thanksgiving week off like students do here in the States. At this moment that's the only holiday that I can think of that I will miss (not miss it like yearn for it, but I won't be here for it) while I'm at school. I do plan on coming home for my 3 1/2 week winter holiday, so I'll be here for both the Winter Solstice and Christmas. But I'm sure that there will be holidays that I'm not use to celebrating that I will take part in during the fall semester. I'm looking forward to experiencing other traditions and a new culture. Most people think that since they speak English in Scotland that I won't really have a culture shock. This is not true.

Everywhere is different regardless of the language they speak. Heck! Someone from California who moves to Texas or Alabama would have a culture shock. :) Even though I know I'll yearn for the traditions of America while I'm gone, I'm really looking forward to this whole culture shock thing.