So because I'm a loser and have done nothing but watch tv over the internet this week, I have a few observations about CSI. (I've watched 5 episodes in 2 days...)

1)Has the flashlight they use to detect blood and other bodily fluids always made a beeping noise when they turn it on? Cause that drove me crazy this last episode.
2)I find it pretty awesome that there were 2 actors from the ever amazing '2gether' series on this episode. Too bad they were never on the screen at the same time. An Erin/Mickey moment would have be AWESOME.
3)I really hate how every once in a while the writers are like 'Hey, didn't Catherine have a little person at home a couple of seasons back? Maybe we should write her a couple of scenes this season so that people can be reminded that Catherine is a single, working mom, and can still look fabulous'
Oy. I grew tired of the Lindsay character about 5 seasons ago. Plus, about 6 different girls have played her. Doesn't the original Lindsay need some money?
4) I think we need more Greg. I miss when he was that quirky guy in the lab, who always had funny hair and snarky comments. Now he is seriousGreg and can't make snarky comments because real CSIs don't laugh. And Grissom has the monopoly on witty one-liners.

Anyway, I maybe should get a life and not write entire entries about FICTIONAL SERIES and the characters they contain...

In other news, 16 hours til my flight leaves!

Well this is it.
My last night in Heald Green.
I can't say that I will miss it too much, although I will miss my huge window, and being able to sit on my bed and watch the planes take off.
The past two months have been incredibly frustrating, tiring, lonesome, and at the same time invigorating and well needed. I'm really glad that I had the balls to come over here, completely alone, and start a new life (for a while anyway).
But I am so ridiculously ready to go home. I can't wait!!

Seriously, this is going to feel like the longest (and probably shortest) week of my life! It's only 7pm on Monday, and I'm like "So...I'm pretty much packed for home, I watched 2 episodes of Scrubs, 1 of CSI, Wall E, and I had a shower...but I don't leave till Saturday...OY." But at the same time I know that some part of me is going to be like "Aw man, it's Friday already? I leave tomorrow?Boo." When I check in to my hotel on Friday night. It's a weird feeling, to be SO EXCITED for home and yet still sad to be leaving, when the only thing that I think about when I'm here is going home. And I have nothing to do (hence the picture. I literally have like 25 like it. Webcam+Boredom= that. sorry guys!)

I took a lot of pictures yesterday though, and I'm going to try to do so again tomorrow, so that I can really show everyone at home what it was like to be here. I took some of the train station, the view out the train window- I know, riveting, but I do take the train a lot.

I work at 6:30 tomorrow :(. I hope the trains are running. Last tuesday, when I worked at the same time, I was waiting and waiting for the train, and then the guy who works at the station finally showed up at like, 6 am and was like 'There is no train this morning! Didn't you check the website?!?" and I thought IT'S 6 AM! OF COURSE I DIDN'T CHECK THE WEBSITE! I WOKE UP LIKE 20 MINUTES AGO!
But I didn't say that out loud because that would have been rude. And he might have yelled at me or held me hostage or something. He's kind of a creepy guy...
But yeah, I should maybe read or do something else that will help me get to sleep, as I have yet to get more than 3 hours of sleep when working the early shift. And I would like to change that.


5 days!!!!

So I'm coming home.

I can't really deal with the whole Grandma being sick while I'm over here thing. I'm the only member of the family that isn't there for her right now. I am perfectly aware that being about 7000 km away is a good excuse for not being there, but it doesn't change how hard it is.

Plus I really hate my job, and I'm tired of feeling so out of my element. And their sanitation practices give me the heebie jeebies. They're not bad like 'people will get sick' bad, but I'm pretty sure that if Health Canada walked in they would be like 'Close. Now.'
They don't keep any of their cloths in sanitizer (and they have seperate cloths for milk, soy, and signature chocolate) and they use paper towel to wipe their counters. Also they touch the inside of the cups when they mark them (EW) and no one really seems to wash their hands that much. So like I said - no one will get sick, but we have such higher standards in Canada that it's weird for me.

It's not all bad though (although the emo tone of pretty much every entry since I got here may suggest otherwise :P) the people that I work with are pretty great - everyone is really nice about my Grandma and they all want to know about Canada a lot. Plus I LOVE the architecture here. All the old buildings are so awesome! I am going to venture off north next week after I'm done work and waiting for my flight - there are a couple of buildings that I haven't hit up yet. And all the museums in the country are free! I love that so much. The art gallery was really cool - too bad you're not allowed to take pictures lol.

Oh and I saw a guy full on chugging a bottle of Crown Royal while walking down the street. Awesome. That was right before I saw a group of people in Guy Fawkes masks a la 'V for Vendetta' doing the Time Warp in the middle of Picadilly Gardens...who wouldn't love this city?

But yeah, that's the update for now...
Bobbi - if you read this (I have no idea if you do haha) before I get back - can I have a job? I hear you need daytime people!

See you all soon - 13 days to go.

Shit.

So I thought that there was a small possibility that it would be easier to leave the second time around, because I know that everyone actually misses me, and is not just saying it to make me feel better.
It's not.
Because now I have been reminded of all the things that I miss from home, and not just food and cars haha. It's not too bad though.
It was really great seeing everyone too. I really, really missed all of you! (Seriously. If I was a little less restrained, I would have attacked you all. Just like the picture!!)
But then again, now I miss you all twice as much. Sigh.
I was hella sick on the plane on the way back, and I literally slept for 9 hours today (and I'm still tired lol) so I think that has a big effect on my frame of mind. I have a job, I have a place to stay, and I have money, so really, I have it pretty good, but I do wish that I could bring everyone from home over here. When are you all coming to visit again? Next week? Sounds good.

Timeplan phoned my UK phone while I was back home, and apparently they have a couple of jobs in the Manchester area now...I'm going to phone them tomorrow, because I don't know if they were actually close to where I am. If they're more than a half hour train ride, I'm not going to take it...I'm already tired of hour long commutes and that's just to Starbucks! We'll see. I just can't wait until I have another job that works with kids. It'll be great. I hope.

It's funny how I was talking an entry or two back about how I felt like I was missing something huge at home, while I was in England.
Turns out I was. My grandma is in the ICU at the University hospital, and has been for a week now. She has opened her eyes once in that time (and for ME, nonetheless). My family has been a wreck, and I just came back for a week to see how she was doing. This very optimistic part of me was hoping that she would be awake and starting to recover when I got here. Needless to say, she's not.
The doctors aren't too worried about it though - she had two major surgeries (one to remove part of her stomach after it ruptured, and another to clean out all the acid after to prevent infection) and A LOT of medication, and it takes your body a long time to deal with that when you're older.
I still wish she would wake up. My Grandpa is really impatient with her progress, and only really focuses on the negative aspects of her recovery. It's making me angry because I'm a firm believer in the 'positive thinking can = positive results' point of view (even if it doesn' t always work. I still think it helps) and I just want to yell at him. Negative thinking isn't going to help Grandma get better or help you deal with it. Positive thinking will. Oy. I don't know. I think it's just stressful and tiring and the jet lag is definitely getting to me now. I'm so sleepy- maybe because my body thinks that it's 10:30 at night.

But, the family is coming up from Calgary this weekend for Thanksgiving and more Grandma visiting - hopefully she'll be awake by then.

Pray for us. Or whatever it is you do when you're having trouble.

So I started work at my new Starbucks.
It is weird.

The funny thing is, it's very much the same as Canada Starbucks (cs for now - I'm too lazy to type both words every time) but also very different. The till/cash systems are very, very different, and everytime I am on till (which would be every shift I do ever) I feel like I have travelled back in time and am playing Cross Country Canada rather than ringing through people's orders. Also, they're not too concerned with cleanliness - they grab the inside of the cups all the time, and they don't use sanitizer for their milk cloths...ick. They call drinks differently than at home and make some of the drinks differently too (Ashley, when I come home, remind me to make you a Strawberries and Creme - brit style. It's weird), so I feel like I'm in some alternate universe where technology hasn't advanced and everyone has weird accents.

But it's a job. And since Timeplan wasn't nice enough to tell me that they don't deal with Manchester for jobs, I have to find something. There's a headstart program that has a head office right beside my store that I may check out though, apparently they're recruiting right now, and I would love to deal with children again, and not impatient adults that want their lattes NOW.

Maybe it's the weather. I think the sun might have shone last week, but I'm not sure...