Girly Time

Cindy Lauper says it best: girls-they wanna have fu-un, o-oh girls just wanna have fuuuun. Well, realistically speaking, the fairer sex wouldn't come off looking too good if that was strictly true, but sometimes a girl does need to just let her hair down and have some good old fashioned

fu-un.

This week, I had me some serious girly time fun. To start, Veronika turned the big 2-9 on Monday, so we had a wee party at the pub after work. I had a few ciders, played some really bad pool (but looked very cute while losing-Veronika and I were the "green team" so we chalked up our noses to help distinguish that. Unfortunately, my camera was dead so I have no documentation. Crap.), and even ate a little tiramisu cake. Nice. Then on Wednesday, I had a rather crappy day off involving me running all my errands I never get around to (because I always put them off), wildy misinterpreting the bus system (buses and I just don't get along), and missing my ride for Monika's birthday party because I got back too late from Stirling (again, I blame the public transportation system). So I was feeling really down and frustrated when I got home. However, upon my arrival I ran into an equally down and frustrated Catriona, so we decided to do something about it. I jumped in her car, we picked up her girls, and headed off to Stirling (don't worry, no buses involved in this trip). We enjoyed a lovely meal where we stuffed our faces and died of laughter over the silliest things. Just what I needed.

Now here's where it gets real girly; Friday after work, Veronika came up to my room to give me some eyewash (yes, my silly eyes are still being ornery), and we ended up shopping for makeup online (thanks to Ivy's email---thanks loml!) which led to talk about makeup which led to me pulling out all my makeup which led to me giving Veronika a makeover. So fun. She almost NEVER wears makeup and I absolutely love playing with the stuff. So after I finished dolling her up, she started to ask me how she should wear her hair. I mentioned she would look good with some fringe bangs and the next thing I knew we had pulled out a pair of scissors, thrown my apron over her shoulders, and started cutting away. Not bad if I do say so myself... I think it makes her look like Goldie Hawn. Or Kate Hudson. Can't remember which. Anywho, check it out for yourself....

BEFORE

(to be fair, I did pick the absolute worst picture I possibly could-but that's what you're supposed to do-right?)

AFTER...Ta-Dah! A la Goldie Hawn....

Finally, I put the icing on my girly cake last night when we broke in Catriona's new barbeque, played Veronika's new Pretty Woman CD, opened a bottle of Merlot, and had a dance party. What a hoot. There's nothing like dancing barefoot out in the yard while the chicken burns on the barbie. Don't worry, I have tons of pictures since I got camera happy as I tend to do...

Veronika's first BBQ...and she's already burning the meat

Family Dinner...Girl StyleI Heart Laughing

And the dancing begins....

HORSIES!

No, that is not the cry of a five year old at a petting zoo; unfortunately, that is a twenty-two year old Texan giddy with excitement at seeing something to remind her of home. I know the whole horse/cowboy boots/western thing is so stereotypical of Texans, but I still like to buy into it. I even tell people I meet that I rode a horse to school everyday when I was little...they love that stuff. Well, on Thursday I was having a rough day at work---nothing in particular to bug me, just overworked, underslept, and a bit down. Anywho, one of the new girls who started in the shop-Hannah-let it slip that she used to be a professional horse jumper and she still owns a horse that lives a mere 15 minutes away. Well that was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Veronika and I convinced her to take us to meet her horse-Rosie-in Strathire and then we took a scenic drive in her car until dusk. So relaxing. I almost forgot how nice it is just to sit in the car, play a little Norah Jones, and soak in the scenery. I might have got a little carsick at one point (these roads here are dang curvy), but I just stuck my head out the window into the cool air like a dog and I was ready for more. I need to pursue relaxing activities like this more often. So refreshing.

This is Rosie with her momma Hannah....

Rosie in all her glory. She's retired now (being 11), but was quite a show stopper in her time.

So Veronika's a bit freaked out not only by horses, but ponies as well (this is Blossom).

Hannah and Rosie are super close, but then again they have been together for over a decade

Me getting some horsie lovin' from Rosie. Note the overcoat. In May. What the crap Scotland? Haven't you heard of near summer-like weather? Guess not.

Anywho, nothing else is really new at the moment. Just the same old same old work, sleep, etc. I'm trying to finish up my visa papers to send in this week and I hope everything goes through ok. Red tape is so frustrating to get through. Damn bureacracies. Pray for me that the right thing happens...I feel really confident in my decision, but you never know what the Big Guy has in store for you.



Oh, I almost forgot! I got a letter from Grandma in the mail the other morning at work that made my life! Thank you so much for the kind words and the updates...I loved hearing from you! I actually tried to read it in between serving customers, got all teary eyed, and then had to pretend I stubbed my toe to account for the water works. Anyway, bottom line..you're awesome and I heart you.



Sorry for such a nonsensical, blabbering, mess of a blog, but I hope the pictures help make up for it! I love you all like crazy! Muah!

Monday and Tuesday are my favorite days of the week.

Weird right? Most people are 'working for the weekend' and all that jazz, but for me, the weekend is when I work the hardest. And sleep the least. And then the grumpy version of Shivonne starts to show herself and it just isn't a pretty picture. I hate that girl....she gets on my nerves. Well when I'm smack dab in the middle of a hectic busy weekend, I just think to myself-'all you have to do is survive until Monday'. Oh how I love Mondays. Why? Because they are typically my day off. And not only that, but after my day off, I get a (generally) slow and pleasant Tuesday at work followed by (drumroll please....) Girls Night! Yep, Aimee, Monika, and I started having a girls night every week after work on Tuesday since Monika can get a late bus home that day. It makes work much more bearable to know you get to have a relaxing evening together at the end of the day. The only trouble with back to back days of fun is that Wednesday mornings I wake up and think, 'oh crap. my little ray of sunshine to get me through the week is a painfully long, dragging, never ending 6 days away. Oh well, I guess it just makes those days that much more special...

So on my precious Monday/Tuesday back to back combo fun time this week, I started off with a nice, relaxing day off. I slept in until about noon. Well, by that I mean my damn internal clock woke me up at seven, I layed in bed willing myself back into slumber, and finally snoozed on and off until I gave up and got up. During the afternoon, Chris, Tony, and I went into Stirling to run some errands. I (finally) got a new charger for my phone. Yes, the same phone that I left the charger for at the hotel when I moved about 2 months ago. Now I only have to wait until my next day off to pick up a sim card that receives service here in Callander (the two current ones I have don't) and I will officially have a functional mobile. Nice. Also while we were there, my boys got haircuts so they are looking less hobo chic and more clean cut these days. Then after a quick subway sandwhich, we were off to pick up some food and head out to a barbeque at the hotel which was a lot of fun. It was a gorgeous sunny day and we had a nice time with all the staff up there; the hotel is situated in a gorgeous location, and it's nice to get away from callander if only for the evening.

Well that's Monday. As for Tuesday this week, it was a bit of a bummer. First of all, Aimee couldn't come because she had unavoidable dinner plans with her Mom. Then, Monika decided to change jobs to the Pub/Cafe down the road. Yeah, I pretty much cried. I think it will be good for her though...she's really tired of working in the tea room. Anywho, we went down to the Riverside Inn to confirm her start day, said hello to Cheffy Chef (our old Chef Ian who used to work in the tea room as well), and then headed down to the River to play frisbee (which, in case you were wondering, I'm absolute rubbish at). That was pretty much it for this week, but we've already planned our next girls' night- Aimee's going all fancy pants and decided to cook us dinner! Well, by decided I mean more of I told her she should and she gave in, but still very exciting. Unfortunately I still have the entire weekend to get through, but at least there is a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Well, I think that's about it. Not very newsworthy stuff, but y'all always complain when I don't update and that's all I got for now. I miss you all dearly, and don't forget to keep me updated too people!

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Okay. So I know this quote by John Lennon has become somewhat cliche and common, but I really like and relate to it. Why? Because, I must confess, I am not a planner. This might come as a suprise to some of you, and I understand that. I have my planners stuffed with lists and pictures, my color coordinated online calendars, my mulitple notebooks filled with list after list of everything you can imagine from the books I want to read to the items I want to purchase in my near (and distant) future, my ever growing and constantly changing records of what I want to do before I die, etc. I even had myself tricked into believing I was a planner, but, alas, it is not so. I've come to terms with it. I just really like to appear to have things organized while avoiding the actual decision making process. Mature and healthy behavior for a twenty-two year old I'm sure. Gah, I hate to make decisions. They seem so final. And then you have to be responsible for that decision that you didn't want to make in the first place along with the consequences it entails. Plus, planning can eliminate so much of the excitement and ingenuity of life. In my short experience, it really is the random and unexpected twists of fate that make life exciting. Unfortunately, this isn't really realistic or entirely healthy behavior: prior consideration is often advisable if not necessary, if you don't act chances are someone else will do the decision making for you, and if you really want to take full advantage of this one chance at life we are given, plans must be made.

My anticipated return to Texas is quickly approaching; I only have 67 days until my scheduled flight home and 10 weeks remaining on a non renewable/non extendable blue card which allows me to work in the UK. Now despite how much I adore Texas, despite the fact I have not even considered a respectable post college career, despite how much (and this is the big one) I miss and love all you wonderful people, I am not ready to come settle down. I've only been away a little over three months, and that is like a little vacation from reality, a mere wrinkle in the time that constitutes my (hopefully) long life, and not an adequate length of time to really experience life abroad. I think I've mentioned before that I was looking into a visa so I could live in Ireland; however, the visa I would be able to obtain would only last for three months before they kicked my booty back to the states. Fortunately, another opportunity has opened up. My boss has expressed interest in me staying longer than my planned time. I let him know that I had no control over it, I couldn't extend my visa, and it wasn't up to me, but I would be interested in staying longer if possible. To make a long story short, there's a pretty good chance for me to get an open ended visa, paid by the company, that would allow me to work anywhere in the UK. Catriona (one of the administrative staff) has put my paperwork through and a letter should come through the post in the next few weeks that I need to take to the British Embassy while I'm at home in order to request an out of country visa. It isn't guaranteed that I will get the visa after all this, so I need to look into it more, but I think it's an exciting idea anyway.

Well that is as far as my planning process has progressed presently (like that tongue twister?). I'll keep you updated as I get more information, and please give me any advice you might have and keep me in your prayers. I love you all so much, and I really appreciate all the support you give. Love always, Shivonne.

So...I'm a dirty liar.

Okay. I realize in my last post, I might have mentioned something about providing more timely updates and not waiting an entire week before letting y'all know what's going on in the world according to Shivonne. Turns out, I lied. It has, once again, been an entire week since I've blogged. I know, I know-it's quite shocking, but I really haven't felt as if I had anything interesting or of significance to relay. And remember, it's not the quantity of posts that matters-it's all about quality baby. Well, except maybe for this one. This is more in the way of a self imposed guilt trip blog. On top of that, I'm selling out and totally copying one of Miss L Dee's blogs....that's right. Pictures. Of where I work. This way when you find yourself asking, 'I wonder what that fun girl Shivonne is up to', you can picture me working which is pretty much all I do these days besides sleeping. So without further ado, here is a visual representation of my life (*bonus-a picture's worth a thousand words so this should cover me for awhile):

MHOR Bread-my place of employment-situated right smack on main street near where the coaches drop off, so we get quite busy with tourists in addition to the locals who come in practically everyday.This is the sign you see when you walk in the door...recognize the handwriting? I unfortunately have to claim responsibility for the cheesy logo bit on the bottom. What can I say, people just eat it up. Go figure. P.S. I didn't mispell Lasagna, that's how they spell it here apparently. Silly Brits.


Me showing off my front window display. After all, it's all about the window...it's how you seduce people to come in the shop. Okay, seduce might be too strong of a word, but trust me, it works.

A close up of the window products...mostly scones. People here are crazy for scones and tea cakes; you wouldn't believe how many types there are! Plain, wheaten, fruit, soda, soda fruit, treacle, tatty (as in potato), cheese (mmmm...these are super good right out of the oven), pancakes, crumpets.....

Monika posing behind the cake display arranged by yours truly. I like to think of myself as the artistic director of cakes. Hmmm. Too much? I thought so- sounds a bit pretentious not to mention ridiculous. I just like to make it seem like I'm important. Anywho, this is at the beginning of the day so the shelves are still full of bread and the cakes haven't been ravaged by customers in need of a sugar fix.

CAKES! (you'd think I'd get tired of them after serving all day, but no such luck. Working in a bakery is dangerous business for your waist line, I'll tell you that much.)Pies. Yes, there is a difference between pies and cakes. Here in Scotland land, Cakes are the sweet stuff, and pies are primarily meat goods. Again, tons of variety-Scotch (mince beef), Steak, Chicken, Chicken Curry, Venison, Steak and Haggis, Steak and Black Pudding, Haggis, Vegetarian, Macaroni, Sausage Rolls, Bridies (mince beef and onion in a pasty). What will I do with all the useless pie knowledge when I return to Texas? Oh yeah, and that little ginger haired girl grimacing in the background is Christina-one of the really cute local school kids who works part time. I like her. She's silly. This little gem is the downstairs office/storage unit/employee break room/locker where I duck into to escape from customers to grab a quick bite or drink and regroup for the next round of people desperately in need of mhor bread. Sorry, I just can't help myself.Christina and Lauren (the other sweet school girl who works with me on the weekends) modeling our new long awaited red aprons that we received today. Monika described them as something her Grandma might wear. I wouldn't go as far as all that, but they definately don't live up to the hype they were given. Well I guess that's pretty much all for now. I'd upload more photos, but it takes freaking forever to get them on the post. When I get a chance, I'll make another online album so you can see all the pics I took of the shop...there are some really cool ones of cakes Luis the pastry chef made for display. Sorry for the lame post, but maybe I'll have some more interesting news in the near future...I'm trying to think over my future plans. I let you know when I have more details. Until then, I'll be thinking of y'all as always. I love you guys!

This Week

So I've been sitting here reading over all y'alls' blog comments (which I do an embarassing number of times a day-what can I say? I miss ya!), and I realized my most recent blog was about my day off last week and my off day is tomorrow. Yes my friend, I have neglected my blogging duties this entire work week. I sincerely apologize; I know each and every one of you eagerly check my site multiple times a day, sitting on the edge of your seat, hoping, wishing, praying I have posted yet another enlightening, witty, mind blowing observation on my life only to be disappointed when the same old thing loads onto the screen (well, I might be exaggerating a teeny itsy bit, but don't burst my bubble-my delicate ego can't take it). So to redeem myself for such a heinous lapse in judgement, I have compiled a "week in highlights" list in order to get you up to speed:

1. MONIKA IS BACK! I forgot how much I love working with that girl; the place is kinda depressing without her constant laughter, silly jokes, and Slovakian accent. She is seriously my favorite person to work with. Seriously.

2. Ian is gone :( Cheffy Chef/Uncle Ian (I'm not sure I ever actually call him by his plain name) took a job down the road at the Riverside Inn. I miss him and the kitchen is in a bit of a shambles without him around, but at least he is still in Callander(I saw him and Fiona-his lovely girlfriend-at the pub last night...happy days). Gabor is his replacement who is really nice but quite timid which isn't so great when you're running a kitchen, so we'll see how that goes...

3. Veronika is on holiday. For two weeks, the person who pretty much takes care of everything that goes on in the tea room and shop, does the orders, and makes the shop list will be gone. So what does that mean for me? You guessed it...more responsibility and hours with the same pay. Oh joy. Actually I guess it's not too bad; I just have to do up the list for shop orders, make the schedules, and keep an eye on things with Monika during closing. It'll be good though. Veronika gets really stressed out at work so it will be a nice break for her (not to mention a nice break FROM her and her over analyzed ways. I love that girl, but dang she stresses to much).

4. Chris got his car fixed. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but he has this like 1970 something classic mini named Felix. Unfortunately, I get the sense Felix doesn't approve of me. Both times I rode in the car it broke down. Well you know my luck with automobiles, I guess it's starting to rub off on the people around me. Anyways, Felix took a little trip to the garage, so hopefully he's all better. Just don't ask me; I haven't been allowed to ride in him yet.

5. My lilies opened! Aren't they beautiful? It's so nice to have huge, bright, cheery flowers to be the first thing I see when I walk into my room. Makes even my bad days a bit easier to recuperate from.

So basically, that was my week. Well, in an annotated, numerical, basic form. I promise to blog in a more timely fashion this week as to provide more of the riveting details of life in Callander you so desperately want. Love/Miss.

The Replacement

I don't know what it is about the word replacement that draws such a negative image to the mind. When you look it up in the dictionary, it basically just means a substitute-something that can take the place of another. Like, I want to replace that apple with an orange. Maybe the apple is just as good, but at the moment you just feel like an orange. No big deal. However, when we put our human egos into the equation, the whole replacement theory starts to turn a bit nasty....the connotation of something being as good as or (gasp) better than us isn't the nicest feeling in the world I suppose. Regardless, I think I have. Been replaced that is. And you don't even know the worst of it yet, but I guess I should start from the beginning....





Monday was, once again, my day off. It started off a bit rocky though; since Monika is out of town, I wasn't sure if I would have to wait until she returned in the middle of the week to have an off day, and Veronika didn't get the schedule ready for me to check since she was behind on paperwork. Because I wasn't sure, I decided to be a good little worker and show up just in case. Unfortunately, I managed to sleep through my alarm. I dashed downstairs, straight out of bed looking a mess mind you, and started to help putting out the pies. Veronika came in a little after nine and asked what I was doing working on my day off. Yep. I missed my once a week opportunity to actually sleep in a bit. Oh well, I decided to go ahead and take advantage of my early morning rising; I grabbed a roll and went off for a walk down mainstreet.





By eleven I had had quite the productive day. I cleaned my room, went to the post office, picked up some stuff from the pharmacy, and, of course, visited the pdsa charity shop. I swear, Veronika, Aimee, and I single handedly keep that place in business. It's really quite an addiction. There's something about shopping in a second hand store; it's like a treasure hunt everytime you go in. I think you appreciate things more when you work for them-digging through baskets, sorting through piles of books, and managing to time your visits just as they put out the "new" merchandise. Also, it doesn't hurt that it's a whole lot cheaper. Oh and for charity. That too. Sorry, I get a bit excited when I talk about it. On this morning, I managed to find a really cute gray shirt dress for only 2 pounds. Oh well, you'll soon see my impulsive buying is not near as bad as some....





Anywho, I digress. Onto the real story. After my errand running morning, I was giving myself a pedicure with my brand new nailpolish purchased during my productive morning when Tony and Chris walked in to see if I wanted to go to Stirling with them to shop. Since I had already blown a little hard earned cash, I figured I would be a good girl and stay away from any shopping centers and save money on bus fair (plus my nails were wet and I couldn't risk mucking up my beautiful paint job by putting on some shoes). No worries they said. We won't be long. We're just going to pick up a few CDs and DVDs. Right. About twenty minutes later as I laid back relaxing with a book, I began to think I might have made a poor decision letting those two big kids loose with their wallets in a whole city full of shops. Believe it or not, my shopaholic little butt is actually the rational one when it comes to stopping Chris from making impulse purchases. Turns out my feminine intuition was right on. During their 'little' shopping trip, these two goofballs picked up a Playstation Three for Chris, 3 games to play on the new ridiculously expensive gaming device, games for Tony's PSP, DVDs, and CDs. Yeah. Oh, but here's the best part; Chris tried to sweeten me up before I found out; he woke me up from a nap with a gift. It was actually very sweet- he bought me Breakfast at Tiffany's, one of my favorite movies, because I have it downloaded on my computer but it won't play right. I'm not gonna lie, this was a pretty smooth move. On top of that, he also bought me a bouquet of Lilies- he's actually the first guy I've gotten flowers from besides my Dad (don't worry Daddy, your flowers will always be my favorite). So I guess I'm set. Now that my boyfriend is dating a machine instead of me, I'll have a good flick to watch and something nice to smell. Seems fair enough to me. However, I've got plans of my own. I just might invest in a Guitar Hero as soon as I have enough tips saved up; we'll see who's the replaced one then...