My First Pay!

Yay! I got my first pay cheque today in British Pounds! Haha. So excited to finally have an income again. What a fantastic feeling. I forgot to mention last week that I bought a new camera. I bought it on eBay on Wednesday. It's a brand new Sony T100. It's super small and has lots of great features. I was planning on waiting until my birthday to pool the money, but then I said screw it it's my big treat for my first pay! And it sure is at $500 Canadian! Feels like much less here though when you pay £215 Pounds - which turns out to be a bit cheaper (about $465 CAD).

Keeping my fingers crossed it arrives beforre we leave for vacation. When I came home today there was a notice that a parcel couldn't be delivered so I'll pick it up tomorrow. It should be my camera! Yay!

Too Little Sleep & Missing My Girls

My body is too old for two nights out until 2:30am! I finally got up at 12pm! And that was really pushing my ass out of bed. It was rough. Very lazy day of doing absolutly nothing really except booking the last bit of accommodation for our trip. I think everything is booked now! Yay! I hope so anyway. A week from tomorrow and we'll be in Scotland!

Really missing my girlfriends these days. It's really hard not having them close. I'm missing my family too, but I'm pretty used to being away from them so it's a bit easier. However, I do feel every few days home sickness for my family creeping in. Whenever I think about it I just immediately think of something else or I'll be lonely without them. I get to see Dad online at least once a week sometimes several - that's a big help. My girlfriends are definitely the hardest to be away from at the moment as they're the ones that make everything right when it isn't, they make me laugh, cheer me up when I'm sad, and just have fun with. I just wish I could call some of them up and say, "wanna go for lunch?" or just anything! It's the simple things I miss....

My cousin Dawn to crawl in bed and snuggle up with.

Michelle to be foolish with because there's nobody that makes me laugh like she does or that knows me better.

Aimee to go shopping and do lunch and just hang out with - nobody's known me for as long as she has.

Karen & I have always been like sisters and no matter how long we go without seeing each other, it's always like we never parted when we meet again.

Shannon Mac to get dolled up with and go dancing.

Kelly & Shannon D to go dancing and get in trouble with. Hehe.

Deanna, Crista, Paulette, Jamie, my cousin Tanya, Lavada, Julia....even though I didn't see you much while I was in Halifax (except for Julia since we worked together and she was my wonderful taxi - hehe), I still miss you all.

Can you all please come visit!? Big hugs and lots of love to you all - I miss you tons.

Fancy Dress Party

Oh, being out late sucks! A little bagged today after being out late - even though I didn't even drink much. Had to take the car in for an oil change and check up this morning so we had to get up at 10am. Still pretty good sleeping in it seems, but not really when you don't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning.


Tonight we celebrated Rachel's birthday which was last week. To celebrate we all (about 16 of us) gathered at a restaurant in Falmouth called TwoTen for dinner and drinks. Excellent food. The highlight of the evening was the fancy dress (costume) side of it all. It was mine and Keith's first fancy dress, so it was interesting! Just like going out on Halloween really.

I bought a Daphne (from Scooby Doo) costume but it arrived being twice my size. So I spent several hours today trying to alter it, however the sewing machine died on me while only half of it was complete. Aaaahhh! What do I do now! I went through my closet (as it's about 3pm and the party is at 8pm) and found what I could. The only thing I could come up with was Pebbles (from the Flinstone's) so I tried that. Wasn't a very good effort. I ended up as a partial Pebbles, but mostly looked like Jennifer Garner from 13 Going on 30. Oh well, better luck next time. Keith went as a cowboy with a lovely mullet! Oh was he hot!

Bungy won the best dressed costume being Captain Hook. It was awesome. One of the other guys (I believe they call him Final) won the worst dressed. He was a concoction of Sadam hussein wearing a tutu. The worst dressed prize was a huge paid of women's underwear (or bloomers I like to call them when they're that big) and he had to wear them under his tutu. It was hilarious!


After dinner we went to Club International. It's a pretty dodgy (kinda like the Palace in Halifax), but we just wanted to dance and so we did. We had a great time dancing the night away and just being fools. I stayed sober so I drove 7 of us home in our little Peugeot! It wasn't a very comfy ride with every one stacked and Bungy in the hatchback! But it was much cleaper than a 30 minute taxi ride.

Bungy, Me, Kev
















Ruth & Dave



















Keith, Rachel, Kev
















Ferg & Bungy



















Speedy

Masked Ball

I had booked an appointment for a spa pedicure and french manicure for this morning but it was cancelled as the lady doing the treatments is sick. It was a treat I promised myself I would do when I got a job, it just happened to work out that I had booked it for the night of the ball. I'll have to rebook now after we return from vacation.

Chris came to our place to go to the ball with us. We met Sid and Katie and the shuttle picked us up just around the corner from the house. The ball was better than any I've seen in Shearwater - not that that's shocking! Haha.

We were greeted with Champagne upon arrival, an amazing chocolate fondue fountain, and an open bar (for beer and wine). The dinner was excellent. A buffet with a variety of seafood, meats, salads, veggie dishes, and decadent desserts.

After dinner we jumped on the bumper cars (yep, they had bumper cars set up! - they're called 'Dodgems' here). What a hoot to play in those while you're half lit! Holly and I jumped in a car and we tried to hammer Keith and Andy. Good times!

Afterwards was a live band and there were a few casino tables setup. All in all it was a good night. Minus the arriving home at 2:30am which always hurts the next day.

The crazy red boa and red/beige feathers you see in the pictures are from the huge center pieces on the tables - Holly & I took the liberty of sneaking off with ours!

You can see the rest of the pictures in our photo album.

Movie Night

Tonight Dave hosted movie night. Dave's other half and their daughter are visiting from Bedfordshire so she made us some fabulous Chili Con Carne. Tonight we watched Norbit. What a terrible movie. There are about 3 funny parts and even thouse aren't that funny. It's mostly disturbing really. I don't recommend it!

824 Families Day

Today is Keith's squadron's families day. I took the afternoon off as I didn't want to take the entire day. However, by missing the morning, I was missing out on a flight in the Merlin. There's always next year. I arrived around 1pm just in time for lunch. Had lunch and drinks and hung out with all our crew. The day was focused mostly around the kids with lots of play areas and face painting. I took off at 3pm as I had some errands to run and left Keith to drink with Bungy. He called me at 5pm to go pick up his drunk ass. Haha.

Dave invited us out for dinner with him and friends that were visiting. We picked Rachel and Speedy up and met the rest at the Halzephron Inn. Spent the evening eating a lot of food and enjoying good company.

Mark Kotzer and his family arrived in Cornwall today. They will be taking possession of their house (2 doors down from us) in a few days and will move in next week or so. So excited to have Canadians close.

Veteran's Day Celebration

Happy Birthday Vern & Paulette!

Keith had another memorial to attend today in Perranporth - an hour away. We arrived around 11am and right away met one of the Australian reps that was visiting from London. He is the assistant Air Force Advisor for the Australian High Commision on London. He was there with his wife and daughter. The family members had the choice of meeting our spouses at the memorial or joining them in the parade. I decided to join the parade as the aussie's were doing so as well. It was kinda neat. After the ceremony they provided a light lunch for us. We spent our time with the Aussie's. On departure John gave us his card and told us anytime we're in London we are welcome to stay with them. How nice! Very nice people - very much like East Coast Canadians I thought.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in Truro shopping. We arrived home early evening and went to Anglo Asia (Indian) for supper. Then we lazed around watching a movie.

Loe Bar

Spent the morning booking more accommodation for our Scotland trip. This is more work than anticipated! But it will be well worth it. Keith and the boys headed to a pub in Portleven this afternoon for beers, but I wasn't interested in drinking so I took off to Loe Bar.

We've been meaning to go and I was wanting to be by the ocean, so I jumped in the car and went. It's only a quick drive away and I decided to park a bit away so I had a 15 minute walk to the beach. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Loe Bar is a beach that separates Loe Pool (a lake) from the Atlantic ocean. However, there's signs warning swimming is not permitted due to the currents, so it's a very quite beach. I pulled off my shoes and enjoyed the warmth of the sand on my feet and the fresh scent of the ocean. I would swear I was home. I dilidalied for almost 2 hours - it was fantastic.

I did get quite a surprise from this place - there were nude sunbathers! I had been walking across the beach and thought I say a man laying nude but I just thought I was seeing things as I was quite a distance. But within a few minutes I lifted my head from watching the sand in front of me and there was this very bare naked man walking across the beach in front of me. My God!

A few more minutes later I looked up again and there was another guy - walking towards me. Ah, where do I look!? Do I just put my head back down and not pay attention? So that's what i did, with a quick little peek out the corner of my eye. I mean, you just have to look! Later on the cute guy walked back in my direction and I was quite tempted to snap a quick picture of his behind, but I contained myself. Haha. What a day at the beach!

Speedy came over in the evening and we BBQ'd some supper and had a relaxing night. Rachel was at work so she picked him up on her way home. The guys were all out in town, but we decided to stick around home instead.

Blogging

Finally up-to-date with the blog. It's been a busy week and I'm sure the blog writing will taper off quite a bit now. I went back to July 12th, but you won't see it all on the same page - just go to the archive on the right hand side to read the others. The first one to read will be "Planning Our Vacation" and go from there.

More Care Packages!

Happy Birthday Rachel!

Received care packages from Chris & Vern! Actually we received one yesterday but didn't have a chance to open it. Received the other one today so Keith was just opening them as I was getting home. I think Chris bought a grocery order to send us - it was great! She sent us the biggest jar of Chez Whiz I've seen. We won't run out anytime soon. Yay! The Brits won't believe it when they see it - everything is in small portions here, no bulk. And she sent me Twizzlers - I miss red licrorice! Thanks Chris & Vern for everything.

Keith and his course had an adventure day where they grabbed a bunch of mountain bikes from the base and biked a trail somewhere in Truro. Today is Friday for me! This not working Fridays is going to spoil me rotten! Quiet evening talking to Dad online and mom on the phone.

Movie Night

Continued to do invoicing today and getting a better feel for the simplest of things. It's so hard to start a new job as the only thing you know is your name! Everything is foreign. I find the first 3 weeks of a job the most challenging, where you're trying to learn the basics and understand how things work. I'm not very good with feeling stupid, so I find those weeks trying as you spend most of that time feeling stupid! Haha.

Tonight was movie night and Dave, Speedy & Rachel came here. Since it was actually not raining, we BBQ'd. After eating I brought out the bag of chocolate bars Dad sent me for them to try. Rachel has been to Canada a few times and loves many things Canadian, so it's fun to have someone who appreciates the little things (like Wunder Bars!) with me.

Watched The Sentinel with Michael Douglas which was late finishing as we weren't paying attention to the time to start the movie. I think we were all bagged by the time it was over.

Started Work!!

Happy 30th Birthday Crystal!! And Happy Birthday to Derek!!

Dropped Keith off at work this morning, then headed to work myself! It's very surreal. Mostly because I'm in a different country I think and because I've been waiting for this day for so long.

There are 7 people (including myself) that work in the Penryn office. The office is actually located in a new apartment building that has about 8 units and most are rented/owned by businesses. It is quite high end and artsy with stone walls, hardwood floor, an amazing kitchen, a downstairs bathroom that is equipped with a standup shower, and upstairs there's one bedroom and an incredible bathroom furnished with a fancy stand alone tub and expensive sink, etc. It's small but cozy and perfect for being a design company. However, it means everyone works in the same room (what would be the livingroom/kitchen - open concept). When ABG moved they also bought all new furniture, so the desks and chairs are all new to compliment the office. The guys all seem to be pretty quiet, keeping their head in their work. I am definitely the youngest with most of them being in their 40s I would guess. There is a younger guy but he is leaving next week to go back to university. They were all welcoming and seem friendly.

A good portion of the day consisted of training. Siobhan, even though she shouldn't have, dropped in for two hours to train me on what she could. The main priority right now is invoicing, so I'm learning their invoicing process to get them out for next week. It seems to be a good time to start as they just finished a very busy project and now are in a bit of a lull with small projects. This gives me time to learn the basics before I get thrown in the fire.

I did worry this would be a very administrative assistant position and from what I can tell so far, it is. As it's a small company, I am the only one in our office that isn't a designer so I get to answer the phones, look aftfer the mail, and those smaller jobs that have to get done by someone. I think when I get the hang of the basics and we get busy again, I will learn a lot more and actually have more of a project management role.

Keith was on duty today and since there was night flying, had to work all night. Didn't see much of him today.

More Vacation Planning

I wrote on Thursday that I booked the ferry tickets, but I actually did that today. I had to alter the plan for various reasons so spent the day doing what I had already done on Thursday. Finally finalized a plan and booked the tickets. Also booked some accommodation but still have more to do, that I'll do over this week.

Aukett Brockliss Guy called me this morning and confirmed I will start tomorrow. I'm going to be a working woman again! Yay! I'm so excited! It has been almost 4 months since I worked! Wow, time flies.

Dreary, Lazy Day

So much for summer weather. Woke up to the usual rainy day. Emma left earlier than normal to head back. We probably won't see her until Christmas as her and her husband Dave are moving to Romania next month. Keith & Dale took Olivia for a bit of a hike while Lauren & I vegged on the couch watching the movie Ray.

Keith & I left around supper time to come home. We stopped at the Norway Inn for supper and then came home for more relaxation.

Finally A Summer Day!

Today was finally beautiful, sunny, and hot! It's a rarity these days. We packed up the cars, met up with Emma and Jane (Lauren & Emma's mom) and headed to Woolacombe Beach in North Devon. It's about an hours drive, but well worth it. The beach is miles long with beautiful hills/cliffs surrounding the land side of it.

We spent the afternoon basking in the sun and playing with Olivia. It had been Olivia's first time at the beach since last summer and she was very apprehensive of the sand! It took her awhile to brave it and step onto it. Once she did there wa sno slowing her down. She had a great time.

At one point, Keith, Dale, and I had her in the ocean soaking up the Atlantic. We thought the water would be freezing, but were quite surprised. I haven't been in the ocean in years but from what I remember, this water was warmer now in July (with few warm days to have warmed it), than our water in Ingonish is in August after a summer of hot weather. Dad tells me it's probably due to the Gulf Stream. It was a pleasant surprise anyway.

Jack slept most of the time and seemed to love the warmth of the day laying in his diaper in the shade.

Isn't he just the cutest!!!

That evening we picked up a feast of Rainbow Trout, scallops, and prawns and the boys made us a dinner fit for royalty.

Off To Chulmleigh - Meeting Jack!

We headed out for Chulmleigh at 1pm. First we were off to Exeter to pick up Dale from work. We hit some traffic on the way and drove at a snail's pace for a 1/2 hour - painful! Good 'ole Cornwall summer traffic! We arrived in Exeter around 3:30pm and spent an hour trying to find the University of Exeter where Dale works - that was even more painful than the highway traffic. We hadn't been in Exeter before (except traveling through on the train) and we arrived in Friday rush hour traffic. Not a great plan in hindsight. Finally found Dale after calling him and directing us. He gave us the tour if his office and the lab. Pretty cool stuff!

When we arrived at Dale & Lauren's, Emma was already there and Jack was asleep! We peeked in on him and he looked like a little angel. Olivia continues to grow and amazes me everytime I see her with how much more she can say. She's enjoying Jack and is gentle around him but you can see she's more cuddly now with everyone, than before. She definitely wants to make sure she's getting the same attention as Jack.

I wish you could see Olivia and Keith together. She loves her uncle and gets so excited to see him. She follows him around the house saying his name (or some variation of it) and no one else can entertain her like he. Emma and I just don't seem to compare when he's around! And he lights up everytime she says his name - it's priceless.

When Jack woke up we all had to have our turn holding him. He's so perfect! Keith & I have told Lauren we're cursing them because Jack is sleeping so well as we figure we're definitely doomed to have a fussy baby when we have one. They are lucky to have two great babies - it definitely makes it easier on Lauren with having Olivia to entertain and Phd work to manage.

Planning Our Vacation

Spent most of the day planning more of our Scotland vacation and booking tickets, etc. We want to see so much that I wonder if it's going to be more of a whirlwind than a vacation. I'm trying to make it so it isn't a whirlwind, but we will be covering a lot of ground. We have decided to visit the Inner & Outer Hebrides, which are small islands off the southern and western coasts of Scotland. Apparently, they are beautiful. We are more interested in visiting the less touristy places, than seeing the big cities, etc. One of the ferry companies offers what they call "Hopscotch Tours", which are itineraries to visit islands of your choice and includes the ferry tickets. I've decided to go with the tour that covers the Oban, Isle of Skye, Isle of Harris, Isle of Uig and Isle of Barra. Booking these ferry times and the order of how to go about it, was tricky. Trying to ensure we had enough time to spend in each place before jumping on a ferry to go to the next. Because we have a car and are traveling in the peak season of August, Caledonian MacBrayne (the ferry company) recommend booking all the sailing times now. It would have been nice to not have to book and grab a ferry at our leisure while we're there, but traveling in August is forcing us to book a lot more than we'd like. Anyway, eventually figured it all out and this is where we'll be traveling:

We'll be spending the weekend of August 3-6 with Dale & Lauren as they are on the way. We'll leave their place Monday morning and head out on a 6.5 hour drive to Scotland. We'll stay on a farm in Lockerbie that offers B&B accommodation the first night and is just off the highway not long after we enter Scotland. I have been tyring to book somewhat cheap accommodation as two weeks we'll be expensive and we don't need anything fancy. I'm excited to stay on a farm where we can do the rounds with the farmer in the morning (they have cattle and sheep).

Aug 6 - Lockerbie
Aug 7 - Stirling, Saint Andrews, etc
Aug 8 & 9 - Inverness, Nairn, etc and the Whisky Trail!
Aug 10 & 11 - Glasgow for the Piping Championships
Aug 12 & 13 - Oban where we'll do a day boat tour to some of the Inner Hebrides (Isles of Mull, Iona, and Staffa)
Aug 14 - The Outer Hebrides
Aug 17 - Isle of Skye (Inner Hebrides)
Aug 18 - Edinburgh for the Tattoo
Aug 19 - Very long drive back home!

I think the Hebrides will be the most amazing part of our trip. I'm excited to visit the Isle of Barra as that's where the MacNeil clan comes from (my mom's a MacNeil). I think it will be neat. We'll be staying in a hostel there and I think we'll attempt camping on the Isles for the other nights we're there. However, the Hebridean weather can be quite particular and may not be condusive to camping. I see us spending a night in the car! Haha. Over the two weeks we'll do some hiking and of course lots of touring and whatever else may come along.

I received a call from Aukett Brockliss Guy today. Siobhan, the lady I'm replacing, spent yesterday in the hospital and they're worried her baby may try to arrive early (she's only 26 weeks). They've asked me if needed, can I start next week. They'll call me on Monday and let me know and it's a good chance will ask me to start on Tuesday. Woohoo! Works for me!

Tonight is movie night at Speedy & Rachel's this week. Keith & I and Dave gathered at their place and Rachel whipped us up some great nachos. We watched the movie Dodgeball with Ben Stiller. It was a dumb comedy - very funny. We had some good laughs. The guys were given Friday off so we hung out until late while Speedy enjoyed some Crown Royal with Keith. Keith wanted him to check out some Canadian rye. Off to Dale & Lauren's tomorrow to meet Jack!

The Car

Happy 30th Birthday Frederick!!

Waited all day at home for the guy to return the car. He was suppose to return it by 11am on his way to work. Wasn't very impressed as it was a beautiful day and I had to stay here. Eventually talked to him in the afternoon and found out the wrong brackets came in, so the mechanic had to find the proper ones so the repair was delayed. Anyway, it's all fixed now - but we have to pick it up. Last night he left his car here so we had to drive that to Hayle (15 mins away) to exchange.

Once I finally talked to him I decided to take his car down to where Keith and I ran on Monday. I ran the same trail and it was so nice. Keith guesses it's a few kilometers. Not sure if I did better or worse than Monday. I think it was better, but not sure. I'm out of shape for running so it's really not pretty anyway. Haha. If I can keep myself in this groove, it'd be great.

Blah Day....

I just uploaded all the Canada Day pics and others I've taken since then. To view, click on the 'Photo Albums' link on the right.

Feeling very sluggish after being out last night. Alcohol is so cruel.

Our muffler came apart from the exhaust a few days ago so the guy we bought the car from is coming to pick it up tonight to fix it. He'll take it to his mechanic and have it out back together - very minor just a few brackets.

Monday Night Out

Spoke to ABG today and I start on July 30th! That gives me a week to get a handle on the job before I go on vacation. Pretty good, start a job and a week later go on vaca. Then I go back on August 20. Keith will have a week to entertain himself while I'm at work and he's still on leave.

Keith & I went for a run this afternoon. It was great to have company. We ran a trail beside Loe Pool that loops back into Helston. I am not the greatest running partner for Keith as I'm a slow runner and I have to have walk breaks but I love it when we go together.

Had supper when we got back and as we're cleanng up around 6pm we get a call from Mike saying they're all gathering at the mess and heading to Truro for a night of boozing. Its Monday! So we went. Spent a few hours at the mess then grabbed a taxi and went to Truro (25-30mins away). Me and 6 guys! Keith, Simon, Ferg, Kev, Mike, and Bungy. Andy and Holly decided not to come with us so I had no girl backup. The taxi driver was insane and I thought he was gonna wrap us around a tree. Before we went I figured we were going to a pub and head back around midnight. Once in the taxi I discovered we're heading to a club and we're having the same taxi pick us up at 2:15am. Dear God - it's Monday! Oh well, it's not like I have anywhere to be tomorrow. Went to Club L2 and it's very busy on Mondays as it's university night or something. Typical guys, want to head where the young impressionable girls are! I always know I'm getting older when I go to a bar because I have way more clothing on then the rest of the girls. We danced the night away and had a good time. Grabbed some greasy food for the cab ride home and arrived back at 2:30am. Poor Keith, he has to work at 8am.

Coverack & St. Keverne

Woke up to another sunny day - imagine that! I made us blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then we took a walk across the street to Flambards (large amusement park) that hosts a Sunday Car Boot Sale. We've been planning to check it out for weeks, so today we finally did. Disappointing. It seemed to be even more junk than you'd find at home and was smaller than I expected. There may have been 12 cars parked in a field with their wares laid out on a table or blanket on the ground. After a quick walk through we went to the Plant Center on property.

It being too nice to be stuck at home, we went for a drive to Coverack (small fishing village) and St. Keverne. Coverack is on the coast and very small as you can see from the picture.

We then drove to St. Keverne which is not a coastal village but seems cozy. I didn't take any pictures there as we just drove through it. We drove miles and miles through narrow country roads seeing small villages here and there.

Spent some time this evening looking for masks for the ball. Keith is probably going to go with a crazy Halloween mask idea - I'm assuming most of the guys will as well. I found a bunch of beautiful ones online that now I have to chose from. Here's a link to some I really like:
www.kinkyangel.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=176&gclid=COqUx9ammI0CFRWOEgodK07g6g&sort=20a&page=1

There are so many and some bizarre feathery ones too. Could be interesting!

Mullion-Polurrian Cove Hike

Woke up to a beautiful sunny day. This is quite out of the ordinary as of late. We decided to go for a hike - well I guess it's more like a walk really as it was pretty flat and easy. The trail was 6.4kms and most of it took us along the coast.

We started at a village called Mullion that is only 10 minutes from here. It's another one of those villages that completely hides behind the farm fields and you'd never guess it existed. Mullion is the largest village on the Lizard and I've decided I'm a big fan. www.mullioncornwall.com

Part of the hike covers Poldhu and the land where the Poldhu Wireless Station once stood. This station is where Marconi conducted the first transoceanic wireless telegraphy that was transmitted from Poldhu and received by Marconi in St. John's, NL. On the site stands the Marconi Monument and the Marconi Center which is a small museaum dedicated to Marconi.

I had to take this picture as it mentions Glace Bay and it just seemed cool to find a monument in England that mentions a town at home.

After the hike we visited the local Chocolate Factory and bought some to take with us. Then we dropped into The Old Inn which is a spectacular large pub - loads of character. We grabbed a beer and cider and watched a bit of Wimbledon.

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. We grabbed Indian take out and watched movies for the evening. Received a package from Dad today with lots of Shake N' Bake, KD, variety of chocolate bars, and PC Cajun spice that we can't get here. Thanks Dad!

I GOT THE JOB!!!!!

I got the job! I got the job! I got the job!!!

Had my second interview this morning. I actually found I was more nervous at this one even though I was meeting the same people again, plus another gentlemen. I guess because I knew it was down to me and another person or two. They confirmed there was only one other person during the interview. It seemed to have went well, but I can never tell. You just never know if your personality is a fit for their company - no matter how well the interview goes. They told me they'd let me know on Wednesday the outcome as they have a board meeting on Tuesday and will be making the decision then. All I could think about when I left was, how cool would it be to get a call today!

When I got home I tried to call Claire at Concorde as she likes feedback on how the interviews go. I couldn't reach her so Keith and I went out for a bit. I tried her again around 2:30pm but she was on the phone. Before I had time to lay the phone down she called me back. She said she'd just been talking to one of my references (Tony who I worked at Media Share with)- this didn't make me think anything as I assumed they were checking them anyway at some point, as part of their registration process. Then she told me she had some good news for me - and all I could think was 'No Way!'. She said they loved me and offered me the job! I was speechless for a minute, then of course I accepted!! They didn't even want to wait until next week to decide - that must be a good sign!

Keith was out doing yard work when I got the call so I'm running across the yard in my slippers (I'm like an old lady, I always have my big fluffy blue La Senza slippers on!) and yelling to him I got the job! I got the job! Then I danced around the house for the next while and talked to so many friends and family because I couldn't contain myself! Yeah, I'm a little excited!

Details: Project Manager at Aukett Brockliss Guy (www.abgdesign.uk.com) design company. They are located in Penryn which actually works out to be the optimal location for me - about 20 minutes away but it's main road driving, not narrow country roads. It is a 9 month term while the current PM goes on maternity leave. I will be working 4 days/week and although the vacation is pro-rated (because I'm not there for a full year) I still get 16 vacation days. Most companies here start at 4 weeks vacation per year! It's wonderful! Canada needs to go this route too! And they close for 3 days over Christmas, which I assume will cover all of Christmas week with the stat holidays included. ABG is a small company of 14 people, with 7 of them working in the Penryn office, 4 working in the London office, and the others are the higher ups that are barely around. ABG is the graphic design consultancy of Michael Aukett Architects (www.michaelaukett.com). Both have hefty clients such as Proctor & Gamble, Historic Scotland, Historic Royal Palaces, Tower of London, and British Energy, etc. ABG handles signage, financial reporting, brand & corporate identification, and web design to name a few. It will definitely be a new and exciting experience for me as I have not worked in this industry before. ABG will contact me early next week to let me know my start date. In speaking with them briefly today after I accepted the position, they believe I will start August 20th. They originally wanted someone to start Aug 6th, but during my first interview I told them I will be in Scotland during that time but I can be back for that Monday the 20th. So that's probably how it will work out. Aaaahhhhh, I can't tell you how relieved and excited I am to have a job and one that has all these perks.

We had planned earlier in the day (before we knew about the job) that we'd have some people over for a BBQ. We didn't get a chance to go out for a celebratory dinner, so Keith whipped me up a great steak dinner instead. It worked out well, having people around to celebrate with us.

Speedy, Simon, Sid & Katie & their girls, and Mike came over. We enjoyed hanging out outside playing ball and frisbee as it was actually nice for a change. Speedy had Dave's Rottweiler (he's 9 and a big baby) with him so we all had fun playing with him.

Mike took me for a ride in his BMW M3. He just bought it a few weeks ago and it's a 2000 I think? We had the top down and he showed me the thing can go - we were going 100 mph at one point! Holy shit! I want a Beamer!

Found out that there is a Masked Ball in a few weeks! Keith bought tickets this week and I think most of us are going. I've never been to a masked ball before! The boys have to wear their mess kits, and the girls have to wear a long dress, atleast calf length and of course we need to have a mask. Now I have to shop for masks. It's a dinner and dance and includes an open bar (called a free bar here). Yay! I'm excited! It should be very cool.