A Very Blogworthy Day

Monday I had one of those elusive days that just seems....right. Don't get me wrong, I'm generally a happy-go-lucky kinda girl who enjoys life, laughs easily, finds pleasure in the little things (well, pretty much I'm just easily amused), and doesn't even mind work most of the time. I'm not gonna lie, it takes a lot to make me have a rotten day...heck, I'd even go so far as to call myself an optimist. But still, some days just stand out and really make me appreciate life. And Monday was one such day.

To start off, it was my day off so I was in pretty good spirits; though I did have my doubts since my last two days off were a bit shaky. Days off can be tricky; you find yourself on a slippery slope if you're not careful-like you expect too much from it. Similar to what Christmas day can be like when you're little really-all of December you wait and wait for what you believe will be the best day of your life so far to FINALLY come and when the dragging days do pass and you wake up extra early on the morning of such a highly anticipated day, aren't the odds going to be highly in the favor of some sort of disapointment? Nothing in real life can really do a five year old's imagination justice though, can it? So after you open all the presents, and eat all the cakes, and sing all the carols, you can still feel (if you're not careful), oddly, a bit empty. The same theory can apply to my one day off a week: all week long I look forward to it as my saving grace, but once it comes it passes in a blur with something always amiss and all I can think is, 'crap. I have to go back to work in the morning.' But then a really great Christmas (or in my case, day off) can come along and redeem the ones that have not lived up to the self created hype, and faith is, once again, restored.

So what was so darn great about Monday you might ask. Well, to start off, I visited Stirling Castle! I know I'm a dork, but I love history. And museums. And old buildings. And with castles you pretty much get a three for one deal on these things so I'm in paradise. Plus, we don't have castles in America or anything much older than 300 years so I go a bit crazy in a country that actually has a medieval period. And, this is the best bit, I suckered Chris, Tony, and Claire to go with me. I enjoy stuff like that by myself, but it was much nicer having company for a change. We started off our visit with a tour of Argyll's Lodging-a 17th century residence just across the way and through a cemetary from the castle (weird fact: I love graveyards. Not sure why, just do). We had a very enthusiastic tour guide, one of those people who just seems so eager that you want to listen that much more. Then Tony and Chris treated themselves to ice cream for being so well behaved before we wandered around the castle. I think my favorite parts were the great views (the castle sits up on a volcanic rock above the city) and the architecture of the buildings. After we had our fill of exploring, we checked out, what else, the gift shop. To be fair, they have some pretty awesome toys in castle gift shops....especially the boys section. I would buy a styrofoam sword over a unicorn anyday. Oh, and Tony and Chris did. Buy styrofoam swords that is. Good thing they got their ice-cream before that purchase or they might have lost the priveledge. Claire and I just stuck them in back of the car on the ride home so they could beat up each other without bothering us...much. Also, between swordfighting and ice-cream eating Chris managed to make another purchase....earrings (don't worry, they weren't for him). He bought them under false pretenses of purchasing chocolate and then suprised me with them as a gift on the ride home. Pretty smooth huh? And he actually chose very well-buying jewelry for a girl is no easy task, especially for one as particular as me. They are swirly and silver and have a purple gem and I heart them.
After our educational yet enjoyable afternoon of castle exploration, we had a relaxing evening in complete with cheese, champagne, and Ratatouille. Very classy if I do say so myself even if we did drink the champagne out of pint glasses and watch a children's film (hey-we don't exactly have an excess of champagne flutes in the staff house and pixar rocks my socks off). As great as a day as we had, it made it that much harder to go back to work Tuesday morning, and it didn't help that Chris got ANOTHER day off. Spoiled brat. Only kidding. Sort of. Anyways, y'all know how much my amateur photog butt loves pictures, so here's a few more from my lovely day at Stirling Castle for your viewing pleasure....