Baby when you're gone...

“A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.” - Carl Sandburg (American Historian, Poet, and Novelist, 1878-1967)

I am over the moon right now. I am the proud auntie of one Frances Kate Gill, to be affectionately known as "Frankie". I am absolutely gutted that I can't actually see her in person as she's in Edmonton, but I have pictures on my computer and my ipod so I can look at her whenever I want. And now, through technology so can you....

I meant to put loads of pics in here, but for some reason it won't let me, might be my internet connection, so you can all just enjoy this one!

Who says you can't go home?

"You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." - Samuel Johnson (English poet, critic, and writer. 1709-1784)

I arrived in London Heathrow Airport and was soooooo excited. I walked through arrivals and found Alison with a "Welcome Home" banner, and cards from the other girls who couldn't be there. In a way it was a homecoming because London was my home for just under a year, the same way the Nish was my home for 3 years, Innisfil was my home for 15 years, and Glasgow will be my home. I stayed with Alison and it was so great to catch up with her. She is one of those people that I wish I'd met on my first day in England, instead of all the way into second term.

Maya came over that night and after much screaming we finally went for something to eat. It was as if no time had past - a true measure of friendship.

I met up with the girls at Covent Garden for the night market and had such a good time - great food, great shopping, great friends. We found a tea stall and I bought Chocolate Flake tea, and Maya bought, are you ready for this? Popcorn tea!! I'm posting the link for this site because there are so many different/unique teas out there, and if you want some I can try and get it for you.

http://www.teapigs.co.uk/tea/black-tea/chocolate-flake-tea/

Alison and I outside Covent Garden market - this pic took many attempts as people kept walking past and I kept laughing. Maya was nearly run over so that I could have a pic in my blog.

We continued our tour of London and had a blast. London at night is so beautiful, so many lights and things happening. Truly never a dull moment.

Canada House

On my last day, Alison and I, being the history fiends that we are, went to Hampton Court - Henry VIII's home on the range. First, we walked through a park where the deer are the descendants of those that Henry would have hunted. They truly rule the roost around there, and while somewhat fenced in, they just climb under and walk across the cricket pitch.

Hampton Court is incredible. (sidenote of irony, I'm watching The Tudors right now!) We went through the maze there and got only slightly lost.

Alison getting "lost".

Me after defeating the maze.

I also got to visit Mr. Toby Lester whilst in Twickenham, and again it was as if nothing had changed. We talked about nothing of any importance and just got caught up. I even scored a hug out of it.

I had a bit of a struggle getting from Richmond station to the Victoria coach station. I took the tube to Victoria rail station but then had to walk with 2 suitcases, my backpack, laptop bag and purse to the coach station. I was sweating bombs and then had to sit on the bus for 9 hours to Glasgow. The high point of my journey? I met Lucy from Brittany. We sat on the bus together and thanks to her ability to speak English (despite my poor French) we kept each other company.

I arrived in Glasgow just before 8:00am and after being ripped off by a black hack taxi, I made it to Cumbernauld safe and sound.

Peace out brusselsprouts!
(Entry about Glasgow to come soon - I've already given you two what more do you want?)

It was my party and I almost cried because I wanted to....

“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” - George Harrison

This will be a very short blog about my birthday (and the shortness is in no way a relection on the wonderful time I had). I left for Nova Scotia on Friday Aug. 8th, well that's when I was supposed to leave. However, since I hadn't slept the night before, I fell asleep the moment I got on the plane, woke up 45 minutes later, and we still hadn't left the runway. Apparently there was something wrong with the brakes so we had to get off the plane and board a new one. I wouldn't of minded but my lovely friends Mick and Scott were already at Halifax airport, but since as I've mentioned that they are lovely, they waited around until 2:00am and we got a hotel room in Dartmouth.

The next day - which was my 22nd birthday, started off with a road trip back to the Nish for one last farewell. We stopped at Swiss Chalet (mouth watering at the thought of that chicken) for a birthday lunch. When we got to Mick and Scott's place, Mick gave me a wonderful birthday present. It was a book of photos of St.FX that she'd taken. I seriously show it to everyone so they can understand why I loved that school so much (however, upon taking a tour of my new uni, it might rival X in terms of architecture). And finally, the piece de la resistance was the birthday cake. I have never seen a cake like this in real life. It's the kind of cake you would see in a movie that looks so delicious and yet they blow out the candles and never actually eat it.

If I could see your faces at this moment in time, I know jealousy would be written right across them.

We met up with Drew and Syl for dinner at BP the next night, and then had lunch with them again and BREANNE!!! Throw a few Star Wars movies into the mix, and it was easily one of the best birthdays I've ever had. I was worried as this was my first birthday away from home (yes I'm a big baby), but my friends made it incredible.

I was sad to leave the Nish again, and as usual, tears were a must for the occasion. However, this adventure in the Nish laid rest to my fears of my friends moving on without me. I know they will grow and change, and I won't be there to see it all, but our bond and relationship will never change.

Just sit back, relax and enjoy

"How full of trifles everything is! It is only one's thoughts that fill a room with something more than furniture." - Wallace Stevens (American poet whose work explores the interaction of reality and what man can make of reality in his mind. 1879-1955).

Here it is, the much anticipated blog about my recliner. I love this chair more than any other piece of furniture. It resided in my family room for over a year and oh how I coveted it. I was so pleased when we got the new couch because that meant that the little recliner that could would become a permanent fixture in my very own room.

I used this chair to watch several episodes of American Dreams, and also used it to play super nintendo, yes I kicked it old school, and yes I won. Super Tennis was my game of choice, and I could beat the computer every time, I'm that good. I stayed up super late playing this game, but it was so worth it. A dose of childhood before I enter into the real world.

This is my game...

This is my chair...

My next entry will be about the wonderful birthday I've had, but I'm kind of tired right now and wouldn't be able to do it justice.

History sometimes repeats itself, history sometimes repeats itself, history sometimes repeats itself...

"History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illumines reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity." - Marcus Tullius Cicero (Ancient Roman lawyer, writer, scholar, orator and statesman, 106BC-43BC)

I leave in two weeks time and so enter the nerves. I have no doubt that I will be a good teacher, some say I have the personality for it. Where the dilemma lies is that I fear I don't know enough history to teach a classroom full of highschool kids. Really, when I think about it, I don't know that much. If my class needs to know about Nazi propaganda then I am their girl, but what about the other 2000+ years?

Another fear is that during my practicum, I will be teaching British history...to Brits!! Just from taking it in elementary school gives these students a leg up. I'm not worried about teaching English lit because I can think on my feet - hence the many papers written the night before (in the same night that I read the plays/novels). I think I'm overthinking things here. Everyone keeps telling me that I'm going to know more than the kids, and if I don't have the answer than I can just tell them I'll find out - but that's easier said than done.

Perhaps this is just last minute jitters. After I throw up on the first day I'll be fine....

My next entry will be about the recliner that has found its home in my room. I love this chair and spend many hours playing Super Nintendo on it. There will be pictures so brace yourselves!

You've got the write stuff...

"Ink on paper is as beautiful to me as flowers on the mountains; God composes, why shouldn't we?" ~Audra Foveo-Alba

Ever since I was a kid I've wanted to be an author. In my highschool graduating class I was voted "Most likely to write a bestseller" quite the accolade, I know. I was able to write 86 pages about Nazi Germany and propaganda, and yet I have great difficulty in deciding what I want to write about. I want it to be a novel, however, the prospect of this is somewhat dreary.

They say write what you know - can I manage an entire novel about Celtic? Yes, probably, but would anyone outside of my immediate family enjoy it? I have a rough idea for characters but I don't know. I want memorable ones, lasting ones. I want my heroine to be in league with the greats whether it be Jo March from Little Women, or Lucy Sullivan from the queen of Chick-lit, Marion Keyes. And I want women (or men depending on what tickles your fancy) to fall for my leading man like they do for Mr. Darcy. I want it to be funny and romantic etc etc.

I even googled how to write a novel for ideas and the most prominent tip is that your idea will happen when you least expect it. And so, with that in mind I have put down the notebook and pen and am waiting for an idea to hit me over the head. To take my mind off of my conundrum, I am watching Batman & Robin on the Space channel. As usual, when watching a movie, I feel a desparate need to imdb each film to learn as much as I can about it. (I imagine it will be useful in a round of Trivial Pursuit of Jeopardy in the future). Random fact learned from my imdb-ing - in the Batman series, Robin's real name was/is Dick Grayson, while Batgirl's name was/is Barbara Wilson. I am a big fan of Mr. Bale as Batman, but George Clooney isn't too bad to look at.

And we're off to the races...

Ok so I'm not literally off to the races but I thought it would be a good title to start off with. I used to have an open diary in highschool (in fact I logged into it today and low and behold it's still there - I just haven't written in like 2 years), but I thought this would provide a great opportunity to keep everyone in the loop while I'm away in Glasgow (how's that for a run-on sentence? Me going to be English teacher).

So flights are booked and I can't wait. I have a few days in the Nish (YAY!), one of these days being my birthday. After I received a wonderful scrapbook from my friend from X, I think it cemented in my mum's mind how much the friendships I made this year meant to me. And so she surprised me the other day in the car by telling me that I could route my flight to London to go through Halifax. I can't wait to see my friends again (obviously there are some who will be missing, and they know who they are) but it's still going to be a great trip. After Halifax it's onto London for a few days to catch up with my besties there and then finally onto Glasgow (EEK!).

I will be in Glasgow in just over a month - that is quite scary. Going to another country for university, I know, I've been there, done that. However, this time it is completely different. I'm going off to learn my trade, there's no more uni after this. I will instead have a profession. I would be nervous enough going to teach school in Canada, but over there, I will be expected to teach British history to British kids - and they will know more than me. I imagine that when this happens and they question me, I'll simply suggest a movie - what do you reckon? Good plan? I think so.

Since I know this thing can host videos, I've contemplated the idea of having a video blog occasionally. That way you'll get to see me instead of just reading about my life (as exciting as that is!).

Pretty bland for a first entry isn't this? I promise that in future, they will be better, because even if nothing is really going on, I'll make something up.

You Should Be Listening To: DUFFY

Aimee Anne Duffy (born 23 June 1984 in Gwynedd Wales), known professionally as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songer.

Her breakthrough album Rockferry is AMAZING!! She's like a cross between mod 60s, soul, and present day. I highly recommend her. "Mercy" has been getting a lot of air play right now, and while I love this song, my favs on the album are "Warwick Avenue", "Serious", "Delayed Devotion", and "Distant Dreamer". Give her a listen and let me know what you think!