Hello, hello, hello!

I don't have too much to report really, but felt it was time to update my blog a little. I came back from training in England about 3 weeks ago and life has been pretty quiet since. There hasn't been too much going on at work, which has been nice for a change, but I am now starting to get a bit antsy . . .

So, I decided to book a trip to Edinburgh for my birthday next month. It's a big one: 30. I am having trouble accepting the fact that I will be turning 30 already. It doesn't seem right some how. But, at least I get to spend it with some good friends in my "second" home.

In other news, a good friend of mine from Ottawa might be coming to visit me in June. I am very much looking forward to it. It's been quite a while since I've seen her. I think it's funny that people have started to visit me once I moved to Northern Ireland. I have lived in the UK on and off for a total of about 4 1/2 years and in that time no one has visited except in the past 6 months! I had 3 visitors from Canada in that time period and it's been splendid.

I'm still getting physio for my ankle which I sprained back in December. It's incredibly annoying that it's still not 100%, but I am told that I am doing "really well" and that it "should" go back to normal. Somehow the word "should" isn't as comforting as I would like it to be . . .

The Olympics! I hate being so many time zones away from the Olympics . . . I miss all the good stuff . . . like the US-Canada men's hockey game. The BBC has poor coverage of the Olympics too . . . at least compared to the CBC! I almost never get to see a complete race/competition, it's just the highlights, which somehow takes away from the whole thing. I like to be anxious and on the edge of my seat, waiting to see how things go. Also, they have coverage at random times. For example, on Saturday, there was a recap of what had happened the day before at around 1pm. Then, on there was some coverage again around 8pm. And then, the bulk of the coverage started around 11pm until the wee hours of the morning. I tried to watch, but fell asleep around 2am. Or was it 3am???? Hopefully, this will be well improved for the London Olympics in 2012. I must try to get tickets to some events, but I am not sure what I want to watch . . . track and field? rowing? the marathon? what other events are there???

11 days to go until my UK manual (stick-shift) driving test . . . oh, oh, better go practice!

My very own cookie monsters

A weird thing is going on at my work . . . I have been feeling somewhat excluded lately. Why, you might ask . . . well people seem to be excluding me from the sweets! It's the strangest thing. Someone will come into my office and there will only be two other people sitting there - me and somebody else. The sweets are offered . . . not to me but only to the other person! "Would you like a cookie, Simon?" I am left to salivate obnoxiously while the plate of cookies pass under my nose. At first, I thought it might be some sort of weird Northern Irish hazing ritual - how long until the Canadian girl cracks, grabs the plate of cookies, and procedes to stuff every single one in her mouth? I had been feeling pretty good about passing said ritual without knocking the plate of cookies to the floor and jumping up and down on it to infinity. No sweets had passed under my nose without being offered since Christmas. I thought I had broken these Northern Irish cookie holders. That is, until today. Today, they had apple crumble and I . . . well, I had nothing. I looked longingly at the plastic container, trying to hint suggestively with my eyes but to no avail.

The Northern Irish are definitely tough cookies (what - was that a bad pun?).

My local bank was robbed last week!

Three men committed armed robbery in my bank in Enniskillen last week! I feel especially sorry for the ladies who were working the tills. No one was hurt and a few thousand pounds were taken. You can read the full story here.