This morning I had Guiness for breakfast! It was delightful! Just got back from Dublin and I gotta say.. I adore that city. Definitely some place where I could see myself spending significantly more amounts of time. I love the city feel, the history, the food, the people, the music, the accents, the boys, the the the the… it was great!

Had a perfect weekend away… lots of sight-seeing, lots of shopping, lots of eating, lots of drinking, lots of relaxing… and I don’t feel totally exhausted at all!

Also.. did you know that The Tudors films a lot in Dublin Castle? I waited around for Jonathan for quite some time but I guess he didn’t get my messages..

And it’s Friday again! Thank God! This has been a crazy week but it’s also gone quite quickly. I managed to get up at 4:44am every morning in honour of NaNoWriMo. It’s been an interesting week and I think I definitely have a workable story going. A combination of an old idea with a new one. I’m taking the approach of writing what I know but also just seeing what happens. It’s actually quite fun.

Granted I am way more caffeinated than I’ve ever been and around 4:44pm I nearly hit a brick wall but it’s kind of worth it! At least I’m writing!

Last night, through the wisdom that only comes after a Jumbo Raspberry Mojito I realized that I haven’t fully let The Engineer go from my mind. There is something about him that I can’t just write off. I can’t dismiss him entirely even though sometimes I want to. Lately our chats and conversations and messages have been nice and he says the things I want to hear. The problems arise due to our location and lack of actual face time. We’ll both be home at Christmas and plan to get together a few times. He wants to sort out visits in 2010. I think that could definitely be arranged. So again.. wait and see…

Tonight I’m going to Dublin with one of my good friends! I’ve never been before and am really looking forward to it. We plan to go on the free walking tours, see some impressive things and spend the rest of the time in pubs. Works for me!

and the day I will start NaNoWriMo! I wasn’t planning on doing it but then I’m watching as my writing goal dates are getting closer and I have no signs of any workable material and so… I will commit the next 30 days to writing 50,000 words… It will be a bit tricky because I do have quite a few trips coming up but as long as I spend the non-traveling time writing.. I should be okay.

I am also going to start with some sort of fresh idea and boycott my “Canadian girl moves to Indonesia to teach and live…” plot line that is just becoming some sort of self-reflective drivel.. So we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning…

I am excited to have an actual deadline to work towards and I love all of the message boards and things associated with this. It helps to know I’m not alone.

I stole this meme from Dayna.. and she was right.. it is harder than it looks…

A – Advocate For: abolition of human trafficking. Yes a bit of a harsh start to an otherwise silly meme but this issue has really grabbed my attention, I do believe something needs to be done and I am looking into ways to get involved…

B – Best Feature: My eyes most likely or maybe my hair although people keep saying that I’m really blonde now and I’m scared that I’m now german rocker platinum blonde.. which is not the look I’m going for!

C – Could do without: Olives

D – Dreams & Desires: Get a good paying job in an “easy asia” country, publish something, find real true love…

E – Essential items: lip gloss and gum

F – Favourite pastime: books on the beach

G – Good at: making people laugh… saying the thing that everyone is thinking but no one will actually say…

H – Have never tried: sky diving…

I – If I Had a Million Dollars: I’d pay off my debt, buy my parents a cute cottage and myself a sailboat.. although a million dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to..

J – Junkie For: gummy frogs and everything chocolate

K – Kindred Spirit: MK is my person

L – Little Known Fact: i’m carrying jude law’s love child..

M – Memorable Moment: I think my first flight ever.. when I was 24 and moving to Indonesia..

N – Never Again Will I: drink the green fishbowl drinks in Bali

O – Occasional Indulgence: trashy entertainment gossipy magazines

P – Profession: Highschool English Teacher

Q – Quote: “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” ~ Mother Teresa

R – Reason to Smile: so many exciting travel plans!

S – Sorry About: not saving money

T – Things That Are Worrying You Right Now: money and moving to another overseas location

U – Uninterested In: politics.. sorry.. i try but i’m just not…

V – Very Scared Of: living in the middle east

W – Worst Habits: eating my feelings

X – X Marks My Ideal Vacation Spot: SEAsian islands!

Y – Yummiest Desert: chocolate mousse

Z – Zodiac Sign: sagitarrius

I finished my reports! It’s never as big of a deal as I think it’s going to be once I get going.. but the getting going thing is always a bit tricky.

I’m off to Budapest tonight for a workshop/conference thing. I’ve never been there before.  I think it will be a good time although I have to spend all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday in workshops. However, it’s not going to cost me anything, I’m flying a decent airline and staying in a 5 star hotel… life is rough! We’re also planning to take a night dinner cruise and see the opera…

The only bad thing is that I’m really not feeling so hot. Stuffy head and crazy chest cough thing. Oh I knew I shouldn’t have been bragging about how I’m never sick… I just don’t want to be the coughy sneezy kid in the back!

OK off to teach a little bit and then I’m home to pack and off to the airport!

7 pm in Covent Garden, my friend and I were walking to dinner and we heard two guys our age having this brilliant conversation:

Guy 1: So like there is incontinence and continence right?

Guy 2: Right

Guy 1: So continence is when you can’t?

Guy 2: Yeah and incontinence is when you piss all over the place…

And to think I miss being able to understand what people around me are talking about!

Just got back from nearly a week in London. Oh how nice to be in an English speaking country! Had a lovely time catching up with friends, shopping, hanging out in cafes and the like. Also saw Jersey Boys which was quite entertaining and fun.

Went out with some girls on Friday night to some rather cool area of the city. The bars were filled with boys but seriously.. random idiots! All of them! I have heard bad press about English boys but always refused to believe it.. however there it was.. blatant.. obvious… ugh.

This is a short week for me. I have a ton of reports to write and then I’m off on Thursday for a conference in Budapest! Never been there so looking forward to it.

I’ve got some good travel coming up between now and Christmas.. will definitely break up the time between now and the next holidays…

After a week of eating far too much and drinking far too much.. I need some time to cleanse… so it’s up early tomorrow to hit the pavement!

I am finally on Oktober Break and what a nice feeling it is! Yes I know I’m lucky as the Canadian teachers only get Thanksgiving Monday off but I’ve been back at work since early August… so yes…

I spent the weekend chillin and cleanin and just generally relaxing while trying not to think about my family in Canada who were in the midst of a great big Thanksgiving Feast. This is my 5th Thanksgiving away… so it’s really not a huge deal but still I do miss my family and well I’ve been craving Pumpkin Pie!

Tonight I’m flying to London for the rest of the week! I am looking forward to catching up with friends and hanging out, shopping, talking, eating, drinking, seeing things… I think it will be fun! Quite a few of my friends from here will be there and so we’ll meet up and see shows I think.

I had another somewhat frustrating conversation with the Engineer who has relocated to a different area of France… apparently it’s closer to me but I’m not sure. Google Maps doesn’t seem to think so… Anyway I was joking about how I travel to ease the pain of knowing I’ll die alone [I tend to find this funny but it really throws people off].. and he launched into this whole thing about how I’m like a fine piece of art that will only go to the highest bidder.. but I’m getting the feeling that he has no desire to even attend the auction. Ugh… cheesy metaphors make me queasy.. I think the Engineer feels like he is impressing me but its really really annoying actually!

Alright well I think that is all I’ve got for now. I’m quite keen on relaxing this week as when I get back it will be insane! Reports, conferences, workshops and all that is involved with job hunting….

I am single.

I am not married.

I am not in love.

I am alone.

*sigh*

Last night I went out with The Ladies. They are an amazing group of women, the majority are quite a bit older than me, quite a bit single and quite a bit content. It’s funny because while we ranged in ages from 25 to 50 we are all loving the lives we’re living. When I was younger and would look at older single women I felt a sense of horror and dread that I would one day end up like them. To be single forever seemed to be the end of the world! Yet last night I looked around at these ladies, and realized that it definitely is not the end of the world. They are strong, independent beautiful women. They have lived and are living and not about to put up with something boring or average. We went to a Spanish restaurant for Tapas and lots and lots of wine and talked and talked…

Now.. I’m not saying that should a good guy come along I will refuse to give in and will go for single independence over domestic bliss but I am saying that should I be one of those Single Forever women… I will make the best of it and know that it is not a horrific situation in the slightest!

Learning a language is really rather amusing if you think about it. Tonight we were learning the differences between “keine” and “kein” and “nicht” etc… so we were reading phrases asking if something was something else and then saying no it isn’t.. it’s another thing all entirely. At one point it struck me funny and I couldn’t stop laughing. The conversation is supposed to be.. if translated:

A: Hello, is that the bank machine?

B: No, it is not the bank machine. It is the Sausage machine.

OK first of all.. who mistakes a sausage machine for an ATM??? And secondly… why would someone ever buy wurst from a machine?

That is all..

doing free shots with the cute waiter on a random Saturday night!

For a Friday at work it was a terrible day and so off to the local cocktail bar for big cocktails we went! On Fridays my colleagues split into three sections: the lame ones who go home, the rough ones who go drink the local beer at the local pub and the fun ones who head downtown for half priced jumbo cocktails. The place we go has huge drinks for little money and so it’s become a traditional place to unwind.

There is also a very very cute waiter who seems to always be working when I’m there. We always kind of flirt but last night it was really fun and very obvious. The good thing is that we finally got each other’s names. The bad thing is that he thought I was Australian… The good thing was that he brought me a “special” drink that was filled with candy on skewers and glow sticks and was really a sight to behold. He also was speaking English with me which hasn’t happened until last night. Now seriously, nothing will happen there except for some fun Friday flirting and nothing can happen. I like the bar too much to risk a bad situation and not being able to go back there. My English friend S tells me that one must take his or her local pub very seriously and never get involved with waiters or “barmaids” as he put it. The pub is too important. While that seems a bit extreme I think I have to abide by that. Maybe he just enhances the overall experience but he isn’t worth risking losing the best cocktails in the city over. Oh so nice to see I have my priorities in order!

Oh and I heard from the Engineer. He has returned from 9 days of solid grape picking… whaaaat?

I really need to stop caffeinating before German classes but who am I kidding? That isn’t going to happen! Anyway my Thursday German lessons are oh-so-much better than the Monday ones. We have this jovial old man teach us on Thursdays and I think he finds most of us very amusing. At least he’s pretending to be entertained by our idiocy. It makes it much more fun.

So I’ve been communicating quite a lot with the Music MAN.. and I dig his style. We have a few issues with the timing of the big production but he’s wanting to keep me on board and so trying to work around my situation… My situation being whether I stay or go after this year. While I have been planning to leave in June, I am finding that Year 2 is so much more fun and I’m loving this place a lot these days and so the thought of leaving when I’m finally figuring out life here.. is somewhat unsettling. Yet relocation is unsettling no matter what…but that’s for another time. the Music MAN is really quite cool and I’m really hoping this working together thing works out. So we’ll see…

The other thing of note that recently happend has to do with Mr. October. Remember him? From almost a full year ago.. wow time flies. Anyway things ended very badly between us and I have been feeling very guilty about how I handled things. A lot was going on in my life at the time and I think I really handled things badly. Over the past months he has been known to send out feeler-messages but nothing more than: “How are you?” or something along those lines. I tend to reply and then hear nothing for a few months. It’s strangely unsettling and part of me has been tempted to just lay it all out and try and explain myself better but then I don’t know what that would accomplish except to in some backwards way make me feel better. Alright so– Mr October and I had a brief chat on the weekend that was relatively pleasant… which made me happy. I didn’t get to really explain anything and I don’t know if I will but the fact that the blood isn’t all bad anymore is a good thing. So there you have it!

So yet again.. things are going on but nothing is going on…

However.. I am getting something that resembles fit and my clothes are starting to look baggy… which means a major shopping trip is on the horizon!