Not only is sitting in a little seat for hours on end a little stressful but planning the trip can be just as emotionally draining and exhausting.
For the past couple of weeks (since I left home in September really) I've been trying to make the decision about whether or not I should go home for Christmas. I've been considering the cost of a round trip ticket which is ridiculous and how much I would miss being home over the holidays. I was talking with my dad about the cost of the ticket and he said that he would pay for our (my brother's and my) tickets home this one time. So, that issue was quickly put into the "pros" column.
I don't think I would really mind staying here in Scotland for Christmas especially since Greg (that's my brother) would be coming over from Sweden for a few days. I could handle it.
But then, I think about Hilly. For those of you who don't know who Hilly is...well, she's my dog. Not the family dog or my parents' dog, but MY dog. Over the summer I finished raising Hilly for Guide Dogs for the Blind before it was decided that she hadn't made enough progress to continue on to be a Guide. When she was Career Changed (our fancy way of saying she failed Guide Dog Puppy Training) I jumped at the opportunity to make her a permanent part of my family. In short, she's my forever dog; my heart puppy. Unfortunately, bringing a dog with you to University is hard enough when you're just on the other side of the country let alone half way across the world. So, because I know that it was better for her, I left her with my dad and step-mom. I'll be honest, every time I think about not seeing her over this Christmas...I get sad enough to cry.
Now, I've been talking with my brother about what he wants to do and I made the decision that I would stay if he decided to stay so that he would have family. I was talking with him today and he said that he had decided to stay. He doesn't like flying and flying over for only 10 days and then turning around and flying back is stressful. So, I too decided that I would stay and we would spend Christmas together.
Then I found out that my father was getting excited about seeing both of us this Christmas. Way back in September I said that I wouldn't be able to come back for both Christmas and summer break because of the cost of the ticket...but my dad is now offering to pay for the ticket. And I would get to see Hilly and spend some time with some more puppies.
I really want to see Hilly again and if I wait until summer it will have gone almost a year without seeing her. This is getting so stressful! Shouldn't it just be as easy as saying "yes" or "no" and be done with it?
Showing posts with label travelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travelling. Show all posts
Friday, November 4, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Home Again
As you may have guessed from the title I am finally back in Aberdeen. The flights were pretty uneventful which is how I liked my flights. The car drive from my mom's place to LAX was more eventful that the flights (then again, it was LA traffic at 3:30 in the afternoon). Basically the flights went like this;
Get to the airport, argue with mom over which terminal I was suppose to be in, go to wrong terminal, walk outside and around to right terminal, argue with mom over whether I can go straight to the counters to check in bag, go straight to counter to check in back anyway, take 2 pounds of clothes out of bag, check in bag, hug mom goodbye, go through security, wait at gate for 2 hours, board flight, talk to man sitting next to me about divorces and psychology, sleep, get off first plane, take terminal bus to the next terminal, go through immigration, go through security, wait at gate for an hour, discover that flight has been delayed 20 minutes, take a survey while waiting, board plane, read, sleep, get off, claim bag, get taxi and go home.
There are a lot of steps involved in flying anywhere, but really it was an easy travel day. There were no problems with my seats or getting the vegetarian meal. They didn't charge me extra for my bag being slightly overweight. We didn't sit on the runway for hours before actually taking off and my bag was the first one out on the baggage claim. I didn't have to wait in a ridiculously long line for a taxi. There wasn't even any traffic from the airport to my flat. The whole travel thing went very smoothly. So smooth that it actually unnerves me a little.
But, now I'm home trying to get my new room in order. At least I have a few weeks to get everything sorted out before classes start. I need a mattress topper, an extension cord, a bedside table, a pencil holder, some pictures...
Get to the airport, argue with mom over which terminal I was suppose to be in, go to wrong terminal, walk outside and around to right terminal, argue with mom over whether I can go straight to the counters to check in bag, go straight to counter to check in back anyway, take 2 pounds of clothes out of bag, check in bag, hug mom goodbye, go through security, wait at gate for 2 hours, board flight, talk to man sitting next to me about divorces and psychology, sleep, get off first plane, take terminal bus to the next terminal, go through immigration, go through security, wait at gate for an hour, discover that flight has been delayed 20 minutes, take a survey while waiting, board plane, read, sleep, get off, claim bag, get taxi and go home.
There are a lot of steps involved in flying anywhere, but really it was an easy travel day. There were no problems with my seats or getting the vegetarian meal. They didn't charge me extra for my bag being slightly overweight. We didn't sit on the runway for hours before actually taking off and my bag was the first one out on the baggage claim. I didn't have to wait in a ridiculously long line for a taxi. There wasn't even any traffic from the airport to my flat. The whole travel thing went very smoothly. So smooth that it actually unnerves me a little.
But, now I'm home trying to get my new room in order. At least I have a few weeks to get everything sorted out before classes start. I need a mattress topper, an extension cord, a bedside table, a pencil holder, some pictures...
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Thespian Instincts
Here we are in the land of Ashland, Oregon. Let me first say that this place is gorgeous. I mean, it's absolutely wonderful. When I was applying to Universities the University here in Ashland was definitely up there on my list. As you know though I picked the real land of Shakespeare. There's a part of me that thinks it's too bad I didn't chose Ashland. I would have had a blast here in Ashland. Especially since I've done this whole acting thing since I was young. Every season during the Ashland Oregon Shakespeare Festival I would have been right there in line to audition for parts in plays.
Of course there is a drama program in Aberdeen. The Centre Stage Society is the school's drama group. It isn't as highly acclaimed as the AOSF is the thing. I could audition for shows there (and I might this coming year) but if I were here I would be working with famous stage actors and some well known movie actors as well. That, I think, would be so cool. Plus, I've always wanted to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet which I don't think is on the school's list of plays for this upcoming year. (I almost auditioned for my hometown's Shakespeare in the Park version of Romeo and Juliet, but it continues too far past when I need to be back in Aberdeen.) But, back to Ashland.
This place is such a great place for those of us who enjoy acting. Since it's a tourist destination there is always need of waiters and waitresses for the many restaurants and bakeries in downtown Ashland alone. There are also tons of stores that probably use young actors to work behind the counter. Everywhere you go you see actors.
Yesterday, my mother and I were walking around the downtown area when we saw two young girls with their father. They were performing songs on the street and had the music cases out for tips. These girls couldn't have been older than 12 (and 12 is stretching it a little), but they were out there playing their violin and guitar and singing. They were very good for youngins. Then further on we saw a family of string players. The oldest might have been 14 and youngest was 8 at the most. The one girl was sitting playing a bass that was taller than her and probably weighed more than her. They too were very good and they too had a case open for tips.
Like I said, this is a great place for performers. My question to you is that do you think it's right for a young child to be out on the street performing for tips? In this situation I actually saw nothing wrong with it because they were all obviously there to earn a little extra cash to cover game expenses their allowances didn't.
Oh, I wish I grew up in Ashland. I would have continued with the violin.
Of course there is a drama program in Aberdeen. The Centre Stage Society is the school's drama group. It isn't as highly acclaimed as the AOSF is the thing. I could audition for shows there (and I might this coming year) but if I were here I would be working with famous stage actors and some well known movie actors as well. That, I think, would be so cool. Plus, I've always wanted to play Juliet in Romeo and Juliet which I don't think is on the school's list of plays for this upcoming year. (I almost auditioned for my hometown's Shakespeare in the Park version of Romeo and Juliet, but it continues too far past when I need to be back in Aberdeen.) But, back to Ashland.
This place is such a great place for those of us who enjoy acting. Since it's a tourist destination there is always need of waiters and waitresses for the many restaurants and bakeries in downtown Ashland alone. There are also tons of stores that probably use young actors to work behind the counter. Everywhere you go you see actors.
Yesterday, my mother and I were walking around the downtown area when we saw two young girls with their father. They were performing songs on the street and had the music cases out for tips. These girls couldn't have been older than 12 (and 12 is stretching it a little), but they were out there playing their violin and guitar and singing. They were very good for youngins. Then further on we saw a family of string players. The oldest might have been 14 and youngest was 8 at the most. The one girl was sitting playing a bass that was taller than her and probably weighed more than her. They too were very good and they too had a case open for tips.
Like I said, this is a great place for performers. My question to you is that do you think it's right for a young child to be out on the street performing for tips? In this situation I actually saw nothing wrong with it because they were all obviously there to earn a little extra cash to cover game expenses their allowances didn't.
Oh, I wish I grew up in Ashland. I would have continued with the violin.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Back
Well, I arrived back in Aberdeen yesterday early afternoon. There is absolutely nothing to say about the flights. They were uninteresting and boring as usual, though I did finish one of the books I am reading (I'm a really slow reader, but I finished over 200 pages yesterday. I suppose that isn't saying much as I was on one plane for over 9 hours and on another plane for 45min and the other for 1.5 hours...still). Anyway, it wasn't what happened on the plane that was interesting. It was what happened in the terminals.
First off, I didn't get to sit next to any cute guys. Which is disappointing, but unsurprising. I did get one seat next to me empty on the plane from LA to London which is always lovely. I also got upgraded to...I don't think it was business class, but it wasn't coach either. More room and the flight attendants care about you more. Hooray! Though, I did get to see the seats in Business class. They recline ALL THE WAY! And they have bigger screens for in-flight movies and outlets and... *sigh* someday, when I'm Queen of Awesome, I will be on Business class during a transatlantic flight. Someday I even hope to be in First Class...oh yeah, that would be LOVELY! Anyway, back to the terminals.
From my home terminal to LA absolutely nothing interesting happened. I got there after saying a long Good-Bye to my Arwen, got on the plane, and landed in LA. Boring. But I was on an American Eagle flight and all American Eagle flights come in to an isolated terminal. This means I have to get on a shuttle bus to the terminal I need to get to. I showed the person running the shuttle buses my boarding pass and he ushered me to the first shuttle. Now, when I get to "my terminal" I start thinking, "This doesn't look like the Tom Bradley International Terminal, but the guy must have known what he was doing so..." I looked at the screen for my gate number and it said "TBIT". At this point I was still under the impression that I was in the Tom Bradley International Terminal so this confused me just a little. I decided to sit and read for a little and after that chapter was over and the departure screen was still telling me that my gate was "TBIT" I decided to ask someone and behold! I got on the wrong shuttle because the guy didn't look at the whole ticket that said "LAX to LHR British Airways". No, he just looked at the top that said American Airlines. *sigh* Second time this has happened to me. Note to self: Don't show your ticket anymore, just say which airline you're on. So, I had to go out of security and back through. Now, at this point I'm a little nervous thinking whether or not I can make my flight. The security line doesn't seem too long so I decide there's no need for me to politely ask to get to the front of the line and make everyone mad. So I stand at the end and have to go through the whole body screen thing, not the medal detector, again. That's twice in one day and two TSA agents who owe me dinner. Then, of course, half of the screen on the conveyor belt is cut off and they have to do a rerun on a pair of shoes. Of course they're my shoes and of course it takes 10 minutes for the rerun to happen. After I was all put back together again I rush to the screen, check my gate, and rush to the gate. All that rushing was unnecessary as the flight had been delayed. I must admit, I let out a sigh of relief. At this point I was upgraded (Hooray!) which meant that I didn't have to sit in the back with the EF Tour teenagers. Another sigh of relief. Unfortunately, what was suppose to be just a 10 minute delay ended up to be an hour and a half delay, but the seat next to me was empty and I wasn't ridiculously tired so I was ok with this. Except for the fact I had to sit in a steaming hot airplane for about 45 minutes. That wasn't so fun. But, I finally got to see MegaMind (which is really cute by the way) and there was actually a vegetarian entree I could eat so I didn't have to wait for the muffin they served at the end of the flight to get some food. That always makes a flight just that much more enjoyable.
Well because of that delay we were late getting into London. Fair enough. We all knew it was going to happen. We were instructed to stay in our seats and let the people on (insert flight numbers here) get out first so that they might have a chance of catching their flight (what I found out later is that my flight was scheduled to leave just 10 minutes after this flight to...Nice I believe it was, and they didn't call my flight number which I think is weird). Anyway, I let them all off first then rushed out myself knowing I had a quick connection too. I pretty much ran to the UK Border Control and guess what. I was second in line for the Non UK or EU passports and a guy who worked there stopped me from going through to let the people in the UK and EU passport line go first. When I started seeing people who had got in line about 5 minutes after me go, I started to get mad. There were two people in the "All Other Passports" line. I didn't understand why he couldn't just let us go through. It's not like we were in line to get to our next flight or anything. So I said, probably a little more upset and angry than I meant to, "Excuse me sir, but I got in line before them, have been waiting for 15 minutes, and I have a flight that leaves in like 20 minutes. Do you think you could let me through?" He did and at least had the grace to look mildly ashamed that he didn't ask, "Do you have a quick connection?" or something to that extent. I really want to call the Border Control people and complain and say, "Just because I don't' have a UK passport doesn't mean I didn't pay for my flight and want to be able to get on it." But I know it won't do any good. But, believe it or not, this is also the second time this exact thing has happened. Anyway, got through security a little slower than I was hoping (at this point I was really hoping they would allow me at the front since my flight was leaving in 20 minutes instead of just letting into the "fast" line which really isn't all that fast. But, beggars can't be choosers.) When I saw on the board that my flight was "Closing" I had to run to the gate. Managed to get on the flight and that was that. Though, if I had missed the flight I might just have stomped back out of security and given that guy at Border Control a nice slap in the face...or that might have been the sleep talking.
The flight into Aberdeen was nothing special. I got off and waited at baggage claim. And I waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, I gave up and went to Baggage Services. Apparently, my bag did not make it on the flight but was on the next flight in from London. Now, my foul mood hasn't completely left so...I might have almost started crying before I told myself I was just tired and being silly. What gets to me is, there were two or three people on the flight to Aberdeen who were also on my London flight. Their bags made it on why didn't mine? *sigh* So, filled out the form and they told me that it would be delivered to my building tonight. Ended up waiting around for an hour after I got a text saying that the courier people had picked it up before I called the courier people. They told me it would be delivered tomorrow at some point. At that point I had to say that there was no one working in reception tomorrow and I didn't have time to sit around and that I had a few things to do tomorrow (which is really today) and really couldn't wait all day for my luggage that the airline lost...or didn't get on the right plane at the right time. Thankfully the guy understood and thankfully a driver happened into the room at that moment and said he could deliver it tonight (which is really yesterday evening). So, around 20:00 or 8pm I got my bag and was able to wash my face. After the face washing I promptly went to sleep.
I slept for 12 hours. And now that I am rested, showered, and fed I should get dressed and get food for the week and then... *sigh* do that studying for the vocab tests I have on Monday that I neglected to do all break.
First off, I didn't get to sit next to any cute guys. Which is disappointing, but unsurprising. I did get one seat next to me empty on the plane from LA to London which is always lovely. I also got upgraded to...I don't think it was business class, but it wasn't coach either. More room and the flight attendants care about you more. Hooray! Though, I did get to see the seats in Business class. They recline ALL THE WAY! And they have bigger screens for in-flight movies and outlets and... *sigh* someday, when I'm Queen of Awesome, I will be on Business class during a transatlantic flight. Someday I even hope to be in First Class...oh yeah, that would be LOVELY! Anyway, back to the terminals.
From my home terminal to LA absolutely nothing interesting happened. I got there after saying a long Good-Bye to my Arwen, got on the plane, and landed in LA. Boring. But I was on an American Eagle flight and all American Eagle flights come in to an isolated terminal. This means I have to get on a shuttle bus to the terminal I need to get to. I showed the person running the shuttle buses my boarding pass and he ushered me to the first shuttle. Now, when I get to "my terminal" I start thinking, "This doesn't look like the Tom Bradley International Terminal, but the guy must have known what he was doing so..." I looked at the screen for my gate number and it said "TBIT". At this point I was still under the impression that I was in the Tom Bradley International Terminal so this confused me just a little. I decided to sit and read for a little and after that chapter was over and the departure screen was still telling me that my gate was "TBIT" I decided to ask someone and behold! I got on the wrong shuttle because the guy didn't look at the whole ticket that said "LAX to LHR British Airways". No, he just looked at the top that said American Airlines. *sigh* Second time this has happened to me. Note to self: Don't show your ticket anymore, just say which airline you're on. So, I had to go out of security and back through. Now, at this point I'm a little nervous thinking whether or not I can make my flight. The security line doesn't seem too long so I decide there's no need for me to politely ask to get to the front of the line and make everyone mad. So I stand at the end and have to go through the whole body screen thing, not the medal detector, again. That's twice in one day and two TSA agents who owe me dinner. Then, of course, half of the screen on the conveyor belt is cut off and they have to do a rerun on a pair of shoes. Of course they're my shoes and of course it takes 10 minutes for the rerun to happen. After I was all put back together again I rush to the screen, check my gate, and rush to the gate. All that rushing was unnecessary as the flight had been delayed. I must admit, I let out a sigh of relief. At this point I was upgraded (Hooray!) which meant that I didn't have to sit in the back with the EF Tour teenagers. Another sigh of relief. Unfortunately, what was suppose to be just a 10 minute delay ended up to be an hour and a half delay, but the seat next to me was empty and I wasn't ridiculously tired so I was ok with this. Except for the fact I had to sit in a steaming hot airplane for about 45 minutes. That wasn't so fun. But, I finally got to see MegaMind (which is really cute by the way) and there was actually a vegetarian entree I could eat so I didn't have to wait for the muffin they served at the end of the flight to get some food. That always makes a flight just that much more enjoyable.
Well because of that delay we were late getting into London. Fair enough. We all knew it was going to happen. We were instructed to stay in our seats and let the people on (insert flight numbers here) get out first so that they might have a chance of catching their flight (what I found out later is that my flight was scheduled to leave just 10 minutes after this flight to...Nice I believe it was, and they didn't call my flight number which I think is weird). Anyway, I let them all off first then rushed out myself knowing I had a quick connection too. I pretty much ran to the UK Border Control and guess what. I was second in line for the Non UK or EU passports and a guy who worked there stopped me from going through to let the people in the UK and EU passport line go first. When I started seeing people who had got in line about 5 minutes after me go, I started to get mad. There were two people in the "All Other Passports" line. I didn't understand why he couldn't just let us go through. It's not like we were in line to get to our next flight or anything. So I said, probably a little more upset and angry than I meant to, "Excuse me sir, but I got in line before them, have been waiting for 15 minutes, and I have a flight that leaves in like 20 minutes. Do you think you could let me through?" He did and at least had the grace to look mildly ashamed that he didn't ask, "Do you have a quick connection?" or something to that extent. I really want to call the Border Control people and complain and say, "Just because I don't' have a UK passport doesn't mean I didn't pay for my flight and want to be able to get on it." But I know it won't do any good. But, believe it or not, this is also the second time this exact thing has happened. Anyway, got through security a little slower than I was hoping (at this point I was really hoping they would allow me at the front since my flight was leaving in 20 minutes instead of just letting into the "fast" line which really isn't all that fast. But, beggars can't be choosers.) When I saw on the board that my flight was "Closing" I had to run to the gate. Managed to get on the flight and that was that. Though, if I had missed the flight I might just have stomped back out of security and given that guy at Border Control a nice slap in the face...or that might have been the sleep talking.
The flight into Aberdeen was nothing special. I got off and waited at baggage claim. And I waited...and waited...and waited. Finally, I gave up and went to Baggage Services. Apparently, my bag did not make it on the flight but was on the next flight in from London. Now, my foul mood hasn't completely left so...I might have almost started crying before I told myself I was just tired and being silly. What gets to me is, there were two or three people on the flight to Aberdeen who were also on my London flight. Their bags made it on why didn't mine? *sigh* So, filled out the form and they told me that it would be delivered to my building tonight. Ended up waiting around for an hour after I got a text saying that the courier people had picked it up before I called the courier people. They told me it would be delivered tomorrow at some point. At that point I had to say that there was no one working in reception tomorrow and I didn't have time to sit around and that I had a few things to do tomorrow (which is really today) and really couldn't wait all day for my luggage that the airline lost...or didn't get on the right plane at the right time. Thankfully the guy understood and thankfully a driver happened into the room at that moment and said he could deliver it tonight (which is really yesterday evening). So, around 20:00 or 8pm I got my bag and was able to wash my face. After the face washing I promptly went to sleep.
I slept for 12 hours. And now that I am rested, showered, and fed I should get dressed and get food for the week and then... *sigh* do that studying for the vocab tests I have on Monday that I neglected to do all break.
Friday, March 25, 2011
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.
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.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
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.
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.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Tomorrow
I leave home tomorrow morning to head back to Aberdeen. I dropped Rocco off today with his raiser (I've come to terms that I am no longer his raiser but will always be his "Momma") and picked up a few things that I needed. All I have to do now is pack, which is a lot easier than it sounds. I was suppose to be really cleaning my room this break so that the parents could move everything out and make something of my bedroom besides a bedroom. Needless to say that didn't go as planned, but I have been working little by little on it. Hopefully I'll have most of the mess cleared out, but who knows what'll happen? :) I'm actually very ready to get to get back to Aberdeen even if it is freezing out there.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
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...)
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...)
Thursday, December 23, 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
My Trip Home
Alright so now is the post where I tell you about my trip home.
Sp, first thing's first. I had to get to the airport by 4:30am since my flight was at 6:30am. Now, I was going to book a taxi to come by my building around 3:30am because that would give me an hour to get to the airport and that's what it usually takes in bad traffic. I thought that since it was going to be early morning that it wouldn't take that long but better safe than sorry. But, a friend of mine, you know who you are, said that I should be extra careful and have the taxi come by at 2:30am just in case of snow and ice. Well, the snow and ice had pretty much melted by Friday morning so guess what time Erin got to the airport. That's right...2:45am. Now, you might ask, "Hey Erin. Is the airport even open at that time?" The answer is no. I waited outside for a good hour before someone came and opened a door and then again until 4:30am for the ticket agents to arrive to get my baggage checked.
Besides having to wait out in the cold for that long I had a very smooth ride. I slept for a lot of it because I was running on an hour of sleep. Even then my sleep on the plane wasn't great so I was basically awake for 26 hours before I got home, took a bubble bath, and finally went to sleep with all of the animals in my room.
Speaking of animals I had a wonderful surprise when I got to the airport. A few people from my puppy group were originally going to meet me at the airport but then things happened and they couldn't come. So, I wasn't expecting anyone besides my dad and step-mom. But when I got there Alyson and Rockford had come! I was so excited to see to see them and so thankful that they came!
Anywho, I'm home now and enjoying the fact that I'm not just eating cereal and salads. :D My dad made biscuits this morning...and I had 3. When I normally only have 2. So, my plan to lose weight here so that I can gain it back when I get back to Scotland might not work out. Because it is the holidays and everyone likes to make cookies and cakes and good things to eat. Eh, we'll see.
Sp, first thing's first. I had to get to the airport by 4:30am since my flight was at 6:30am. Now, I was going to book a taxi to come by my building around 3:30am because that would give me an hour to get to the airport and that's what it usually takes in bad traffic. I thought that since it was going to be early morning that it wouldn't take that long but better safe than sorry. But, a friend of mine, you know who you are, said that I should be extra careful and have the taxi come by at 2:30am just in case of snow and ice. Well, the snow and ice had pretty much melted by Friday morning so guess what time Erin got to the airport. That's right...2:45am. Now, you might ask, "Hey Erin. Is the airport even open at that time?" The answer is no. I waited outside for a good hour before someone came and opened a door and then again until 4:30am for the ticket agents to arrive to get my baggage checked.
Besides having to wait out in the cold for that long I had a very smooth ride. I slept for a lot of it because I was running on an hour of sleep. Even then my sleep on the plane wasn't great so I was basically awake for 26 hours before I got home, took a bubble bath, and finally went to sleep with all of the animals in my room.
Speaking of animals I had a wonderful surprise when I got to the airport. A few people from my puppy group were originally going to meet me at the airport but then things happened and they couldn't come. So, I wasn't expecting anyone besides my dad and step-mom. But when I got there Alyson and Rockford had come! I was so excited to see to see them and so thankful that they came!
Anywho, I'm home now and enjoying the fact that I'm not just eating cereal and salads. :D My dad made biscuits this morning...and I had 3. When I normally only have 2. So, my plan to lose weight here so that I can gain it back when I get back to Scotland might not work out. Because it is the holidays and everyone likes to make cookies and cakes and good things to eat. Eh, we'll see.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Is Home
Just thought I would let everyone know that I am home. I slept for 7 1/2 hours and now I can't go back to sleep because my body thinks is 1 in the afternoon. I'll have a more detailed post later when I can put the events of my travels into coherent sentences. Until then, I'm happy to be home. :D
Thursday, December 9, 2010
I Can't Wait
I'm going home early tomorrow morning!!!! I really can't wait to be home again. I love it here, but it'll be nice to have minimal responsibilities again. I have everything set up. I checked in online, though I didn't print out my boarding passes because I really couldn't figure out how to do it online so I'll just pick them up from the kiosk tomorrow morning as I drop my bags off. I booked a taxi to take me to the airport at 2:30am...ugh! I don't mind mornings...but that's really early morning. Better to be at the airport earlier rather than later though. My flight leaves at 6:30am from Aberdeen to London. Then from London to LAX then on home after that. A full 20 hours or so of travelling in all, but I'll be home early evening tomorrow California time. I'll get to see my doggies again and my kitties!!!!!
Erin is happy...except for the 2:30am taxi ride. That's not gonna be so much fun.
Erin is happy...except for the 2:30am taxi ride. That's not gonna be so much fun.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Only 2 More Days
Alright guys. I only have today and tomorrow of class and then I leave very early on Friday. Am I excited? Of course I am! I can't wait to be back in Sunny California...even though I hear there has been little sun as of late. All of my friends have told me that it's actually really cold and that it's been getting close to freezing most nights. You know what I say to that? That they should try getting below freezing everyday during the day for the past 3 weeks and then they can talk to me about cold. I'm going to be going around in tank tops and shorts during the days I can assure you.
Anyway, today I'm doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Getting the last present to wrap up and sent to Freya and her family and picking up a few things for my parents and friends. I think I'm going to get something pretty and Scottishy for the annual PWAP Christmas Puppy Meeting. I'm also waiting for some Gaelic children's' books to arrive. The manufacturing centre is in Glasgow which isn't that far from here...maybe an hour or two by car. So, I was hoping they would be here by today and that I would get to pick them up before I left. But, I know buses and trains have been cancelled to Edinburgh from Aberdeen, so maybe the delivery from Glasgow is delayed. In any case, I'm really hoping that they get here by Thursday at the latest. A little girl in my puppy group asked for something Scottish and I wanted to get her a Gaelic Children's book...hmmm...if I don't get word that it's in today then I might just by her a cute Loch Ness Monster Doll. :D
Besides that, I'm packing and enjoying my last few days here in Scotland before I head back to the States.
Anyway, today I'm doing some last minute Christmas shopping. Getting the last present to wrap up and sent to Freya and her family and picking up a few things for my parents and friends. I think I'm going to get something pretty and Scottishy for the annual PWAP Christmas Puppy Meeting. I'm also waiting for some Gaelic children's' books to arrive. The manufacturing centre is in Glasgow which isn't that far from here...maybe an hour or two by car. So, I was hoping they would be here by today and that I would get to pick them up before I left. But, I know buses and trains have been cancelled to Edinburgh from Aberdeen, so maybe the delivery from Glasgow is delayed. In any case, I'm really hoping that they get here by Thursday at the latest. A little girl in my puppy group asked for something Scottish and I wanted to get her a Gaelic Children's book...hmmm...if I don't get word that it's in today then I might just by her a cute Loch Ness Monster Doll. :D
Besides that, I'm packing and enjoying my last few days here in Scotland before I head back to the States.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
I'm here!
Alright guys! I am here in Scotland. After I left Alabama the trip was rather boring. Except in London Heathrow. You see, they sent me to the wrong terminal. So I waited and went through security again and all that good stuff and then I'm told, "you came to the wrong gate." I'm sorry, I came to the wrong gate. No, no, no, no, no. None of you people would answer my gosh darn question when I asked which terminal should I go to and then finally stuck me in a line for terminal 3. The long and the short of it is that I had to run around that airport to get to terminal 5 in time to catch my plane which I did almost miss. I didn't, but the possibility was still there. Oh! So frustrating!
Did I tell you guys that instead of living in the "dorm" rooms I was offered a place at an off campus flat. I really like it. I have my own bathroom and room, but my kitchen space is shared with 4 other people. I actually haven't met any of my flat mates because I've been running around trying to get sheets and pillows and towels and all the stuff like that. I still need a hair drier. But those things will come in time. Possibly tomorrow when I'm not suffering from lack of sleep.
Right now what I'm (FINALLY) going to do is take a shower and wash off all 15 1/2 hours of travel. I feel so gross, but what could I do without towels first? Am I right? Anyway, I'll post some pictures of my flat room later.
Did I tell you guys that instead of living in the "dorm" rooms I was offered a place at an off campus flat. I really like it. I have my own bathroom and room, but my kitchen space is shared with 4 other people. I actually haven't met any of my flat mates because I've been running around trying to get sheets and pillows and towels and all the stuff like that. I still need a hair drier. But those things will come in time. Possibly tomorrow when I'm not suffering from lack of sleep.
Right now what I'm (FINALLY) going to do is take a shower and wash off all 15 1/2 hours of travel. I feel so gross, but what could I do without towels first? Am I right? Anyway, I'll post some pictures of my flat room later.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Only 2 Weeks (Plus a Little)
I am slowly and surely packing. I went out and bought a whole bunch of new, warm clothes. Well, as warm of clothes as you can get in California. Anyway, I pretty much have all of my clothes ready. I bought these really cool socks that go all the way up my legs. They're amazing! Let's see, new pairs of long pajama pants, 6 long sleeve or turtle neck short sleeve shirts, underwear, socks (about a million new pairs), some regular shirts (hey, $8 at Target), some dorm shoes...and long pants. Yep! Plenty of new clothes but they are definitely a lot cheaper here than they will be in Scotland.
I've also bought a few new cooking things. I got a vegetable peeler that goes on your finger. :D I think it's the coolest thing in the world. Well, besides my collapsible strainer.
My large bag is half way packed. All of my jeans and long sleep pants are packed and so are most of my long sleeve shirts and sweaters. My socks too and other underwear. I'm waiting to pack up my little suitcase until after this weekend when I go down to visit my mom and step dad. But I really think I'm going to have enough room for everything! Including my pictures! That's a big relief for me.
On another note, I got a call from my first puppy's new partner's wife asking me what I ate. I told her I ate everything really, but that I was a vegetarian. I think I said something along the lines of I'm not really that picky and she said well, you're a vegetarian. That's pretty picky. I thought that was hilarious! But seriously, I really do eat almost everything...except meat.
Anyway, I'll post pictures of my last two weeks here. Most of these two weeks will be spent with Rocco. I think I might miss him the most. That sounds weird, but I've really grown attached to him. He's such a goober and I have no idea what I'm going to do when I'm in my littler dorm room all alone...with no dog. I've had a dog all my life. I mean ALL my life. It's gonna be the biggest change of all I think.
I've also bought a few new cooking things. I got a vegetable peeler that goes on your finger. :D I think it's the coolest thing in the world. Well, besides my collapsible strainer.
My large bag is half way packed. All of my jeans and long sleep pants are packed and so are most of my long sleeve shirts and sweaters. My socks too and other underwear. I'm waiting to pack up my little suitcase until after this weekend when I go down to visit my mom and step dad. But I really think I'm going to have enough room for everything! Including my pictures! That's a big relief for me.
On another note, I got a call from my first puppy's new partner's wife asking me what I ate. I told her I ate everything really, but that I was a vegetarian. I think I said something along the lines of I'm not really that picky and she said well, you're a vegetarian. That's pretty picky. I thought that was hilarious! But seriously, I really do eat almost everything...except meat.
Anyway, I'll post pictures of my last two weeks here. Most of these two weeks will be spent with Rocco. I think I might miss him the most. That sounds weird, but I've really grown attached to him. He's such a goober and I have no idea what I'm going to do when I'm in my littler dorm room all alone...with no dog. I've had a dog all my life. I mean ALL my life. It's gonna be the biggest change of all I think.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Packing and Registering and Flight Times Oh My!
So, I'm still deep in the packing process. I'm not getting rid of a lot of books so I asked if I could set up my bookcases and books in the spare bedroom and got the ok. So they won't be in boxes for the next few years. My luggage should come in any day now and as soon as it does I'm going to start packing up my warmest clothes and figure out what articles are ready to go on to the next person. I think I'll keep most of my shorts here and only take one or two pairs. What else? Hmm...Well, I'm going to soon buy sheets for my dorm room and a few pots and pans because they don't provide those over there for me.
I tried to register online for classes yesterday and that didn't work. So I emailed my overseas advisor and she hasn't gotten back to me. That probably means I won't hear from her until Monday, or I guess Sunday late. That's ok with me as long as get my classes all taken care of before I leave in a month.
My plane tickets are proving a bit of a hassle. My mom said that she could come with me to help me move in which is great, but she will have already started school and we're trying to find times that will work for both of us. Her boss is only letting her miss two days, three if there's a delay. I of course would love to leave from here so that I can go to my friends open house on Thursday. She's getting married and I'm bummed I can't attend the ceremony so I would really love it if I could go to the open house. But that means that my mom would have to take a train up here. I wouldn't mind leaving early, but she can't and says that she wouldn't mind leaving Thursday evening from LAX, but I would be thinking the whole time "I could be at K's open house to wish her well." And I really want to arrive on the 18th for welcome weekend so that there is someone there to get me to the school. Maybe I will leave that Thursday so I can take the shuttle to school without my mom. I stand a better chance at talking to classmates if she isn't there with me. I don't know...but I'm freaking out man!
I tried to register online for classes yesterday and that didn't work. So I emailed my overseas advisor and she hasn't gotten back to me. That probably means I won't hear from her until Monday, or I guess Sunday late. That's ok with me as long as get my classes all taken care of before I leave in a month.
My plane tickets are proving a bit of a hassle. My mom said that she could come with me to help me move in which is great, but she will have already started school and we're trying to find times that will work for both of us. Her boss is only letting her miss two days, three if there's a delay. I of course would love to leave from here so that I can go to my friends open house on Thursday. She's getting married and I'm bummed I can't attend the ceremony so I would really love it if I could go to the open house. But that means that my mom would have to take a train up here. I wouldn't mind leaving early, but she can't and says that she wouldn't mind leaving Thursday evening from LAX, but I would be thinking the whole time "I could be at K's open house to wish her well." And I really want to arrive on the 18th for welcome weekend so that there is someone there to get me to the school. Maybe I will leave that Thursday so I can take the shuttle to school without my mom. I stand a better chance at talking to classmates if she isn't there with me. I don't know...but I'm freaking out man!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Plane Tickets
Starting the hunt for plane tickets. It's not an easy ride through the jungle of prices and flight times and arrival dates. They jump out and attack you like wild lions, or tigers, or bears (Oh my!) There are a few things I would love to do before I leave. If at all possible I would love to go to my last puppy meeting on the 16th of September and I would also like to attend a wedding. But I know I won't be able to do everything I would like to do before I leave. I might just have to choose what's more important...and cheapest.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Visa Picture
I went out with Rocco today to get my Visa Picture. For some reason I can't take good passport pictures (those are what goes on your visa). I always look like I'm trying to, I don't know, swallow my own tongue or something. Oh, well. No one is going to see it anyway. Except for Passport control when I get there and I'm going to look like crap anyway because I will have just spent 14 hours+ travelling. Getting close now. All I have to do visa wise is go to my appointment next Thursday and then send it in.
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