Take a load of Fannie...

"The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it". ~Author Unknown





I hope you all have your party hats ready, confetti better be in hand because we have an occasion here. This is my one year anniversary of arriving on Glasgow's fine shores. And how am I spending said anniversary? With a little Rod Stewart singing The Great American Songbook whilst blogging from my bed (after a ten hour shift). Hence the reason I need all of you to have your party hats on and confetti for the throwing!





So a year on and what's happened? "Tell us in a nut shell" I hear you shouting so I won't bore you with the details. I am now a qualified (if unemployed) teacher working at TGIFridays, I went home to Canada for a month, I've been to Iceland, and am now living in my first ever flat and essentially enjoying life.





I graduated from teaching in June and have to do a year's probation work through supply teaching. Once that's finished, I'll be able to teach anywhere that wants to hire me for more than a year. I'm still working at TGI'S because at the end of the day I still need to pay my bills (and I actually really enjoy it). My ultimate goal is to teach though so hopefully I'll get some supply work. In Scotland, all Scottish born students get a guaranteed probation year so on Monday, all my friends from the course will be starting their new jobs - am I jealous? Of course I am! I am exceptionally jealous, and I don't think that makes me a bad person, it merely highlights the fact that I really want to be a teacher. I am also a realist though and I believe that I was wise not to give up TGI'S right away.





I went home for a month and it was amazing, spectacular, wonderful - feel free to insert your own adjective here ________. I have a new best friend - her name is Frances and she's my niece. I honestly did not know that you could fall in love so fast but after two minutes at the airport I was smitten. It was great to be home and just relax and hang out with my famiy and friends. It certainly made coming back to Scotland harder but I'm confident that I made the right choice. I went to my best friend's wedding and had a total reunion with some of my MOST FAVOURITE people. The wedding was fantastic, I loved every minute of it. Me and the girls thought that there would be quite a few people from X there, and when we got to the wedding we saw that it was mostly family, it was so intimate, so Mick and Scott. (Mick, if you're reading this, we felt truly honoured and priviledged to have an invite to that wedding and even if I'd lived on the most remote island this past year where smoke signals were the only form of communication, I still would have found my way there). (May I just point out that my keyboard is being really stupid at the moment and is missing letters out so I have to keep re-typing every sentence - and yet I perservere). I agonised over the decision of whether to stay in Glasgow or not, it wasn't something that I took lightly. In the end I decided I would rather give it a go than get home and regret leaving.





Another exciting thing in my life right now is that I'm living in my first real flat! I live in a lovely flat in Anniesland - to the west of Glasgow. Is it the most perfect flat ever? Is it the most modern flat ever? The answer to these questions is simply no, and yet I love it all the same. It's an older flat which meant a lot of things had to be fixed when we moved in but they're all sorted now. I was a bit discouraged when people came to the flat and were sort of critical about it but now I don't care. Keep in mind that the average age of people who have been in the flat have been over 50 so they worry about things not working, but I'm just happy to be out of student accommodation. People worry because we live on the ground floor but Anniesland is sooooooooooo safe. I believe that living on the ground floor is no different from living in one of the houses on our street. There are always kids playing and our neighbours are lovely. We have an (overgrown) garden in both the front and the back, but most importantly it's ours. I was so pleased that my friend Mairead came over for my birthday because she said it was lovely - she sees the potential. I'll post pictures soon once it's all fixed up. I really wish I could convey correctly the pride I have for this flat. Perhaps it's because it's my first real flat, but I love it and wouldn't want to move from it. It has high ceilings and wood floors and a great big living room for entertaining. That's where my quote comes in - who cares if there are some things we need to fix in the flat - "The ornaments of your house will be the guests who frequent it". And I hope people feel free to frequent it whenever they like.





Hmm, what else is there to write about? One more thing than I'm going to bed. I have recently developed a penchant for going to the movies on my own - is that weird? I had done it before but really only out of necessity - like it was the only time a film was showing that I really wanted to see and no one could go. But now, I quite like going on my own. I always thought there was a stigma attached to it, and I thought everyone would wonder why I was there on my own - then I remembered - you're in a dark room- no one can really see that you're on your own. I went to see Harry Potter the other night on my own because everyone had already seen it and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I got whatever sweets I wanted, I sat where I wanted and just had a complete chill out session. I'm going to a matinee tomorrow because again there is a limited showing of a film that only I've heard of, and I'm going alone (and I'm also really looking forward to it). Let me know your thoughts on this*





Right that's me, off to bedski.





Love,


Mulrine





*unless you do think this is creepy, then I don't want to know.

Me and Frances passed out on the couch.

Well I am very cultured you know...

"I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums." - Stephen Wright (American Actor and Writer 1955-)

My friend Lauren and I are both doing the history course at Glasgow Uni, and it turns out we both live in the same block of flats. This particular block of flats is literally a 5 minute walk from a massive art gallery and museum - and in the 5 months that we have lived here, neither of us have ventured over. In fairness to me, I have actually been to Kelvingrove Art Gallery almost 7 years ago, while Lauren who is Scottish - has never been. (However, in fairness to Lauren, she isn't from Glasgow). So, in order to better ourselves and spend a Saturday afternoon doing something useful, we decided to go on an excursion.

What a wonderful time! Kelvingrove is unlike any museum or art gallery that I have ever been too. There is a floor plan, but no actual sense in the layout. In one room you can find a suit of armour, a horse's skelton and a Spitfire from the world wars! And we loved every minute of it. As Lauren pointed out there were no stuffy guards or employees walking around making sure we didn't touch anything, in fact there were many exhibits that encouraged interaction. You could happily take your kids there without fear of them knocking over the T-Rex. An imagination would feel welcome to come alive in this place.

Rumour has it that the building was actually built backwards and that's why the back of the building is so much more grand than the front. Lauren told me today that apparently the architect gave the plans to the builder the wrong way or something so it got mixed up. Regardless, it's a beautiful spot.

Here's the website so that you can check it out if you want. There's a cool history of it with better photos than I took. http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/venue/index.cfm?venueid=4

The front (really back of the museum)

A really strange display they have of all these different faces hanging from the ceiling, some happy, sad, laughing etc. I loved it.

I wish this was clearer so you could see all the various things (note the plane hanging from the ceiling in a room full of animals)

This was part of their display on the Arctic.
The Fisherman
This is called "Motherless" and it's absolutely heartbreaking. It's little info card said it's one of the museum's most favourite pieces. It's of a father holding his wee girl.
A fireplace done in the Charles Rennie Mackintosh design (very famous Scottish artist) The Spitfire

This was part of the display on sectarianism in Scotland and how it takes shape in football .

Alright kids, I'm off for now but watch this space soon for a recount of New Year's (I'm just waiting on some photos). Going to Aberdeen in the morning to watch Celtic - so excited!! In total it will take about 6 hours travelling (going there and back) for a 90 minute game.

Hail! Hail!