Rule Britannia....Finally facing my Waterloo (oh im witty)

Okay so i realize its been FOREVER since i've updated this but its been a busy couple of weeks...or has it only been a week im not sure anymore.

So what have I been doing this past week? Well it was my week off from work from the 7th to the 11th which was nice...So i didnt do much of anything to tell you the truth i slept I walked around...I went to Leith....now heres a story...

So off i went one day to Leith just to chill and not be bored...I headed out to the Ocean Terminal, a random mall that joins up with the Royal Yacht Britannia exhibit...which i find slightly odd but whatever you can get to it from the second floor between starbucks..
So the mall has bars in it...and they have this amazing view from the "food court" aka the bars over the Firth of Fourth looking down to the Fourth bridge and you can look on over across the waters into what I assume is Fife...SCottish people correct me if I am wrong! Anyway so i shopped a bit looked in stores got a starbucks and then decided to eat outside as it was sunny and warm. So out i went to sit on a bench and eat my Chocolate chunk shortbread when once again an older women asked me for directions, at this point i have decided to not say im a tourist but just give directions anyway...so she wanted to know where to walk to see a good view of the water...This was my plan to walk there as well so i told her to just take a right up at the main street and keep walking....good advice turns out about a half hour later i did the walk myself.
I walked until i found a little tiny harbour and then managed to walk out along the pier...beside a random spa/gym with an outdoor pool...and i found myself a little piece of cement and sat looking out at the water listening to the waves and reading my "Long way down" the Ewan McGregor book...yup you heard me and just being amazing..

Then I called Aunt Sheila who lives in leith and made a date for that thursday (so this must have been tuesday if i think properly)

So Thursday I trekked back out to Leith to see Aunt Sheila, my grandmothers cousin. She lives in this tiny tiny bungalow like thing out in a cute part of the city close to the water...ish.....I visited with her for 3 hours..and boy oh boy....lovely women but shes the master of all story tellers. I even got to watch a video from 1970something with a bunch of my relatives dancing at her parents golden anniversary, which is insane as ive met some of them in Canada and it just blew my mind. I especially loved her third person narration everytime she almost sat on her glasses. She is a sweet sweet lady and Im going to go around again another day and hopefully meet her sons and her grandson who is my age.It was great we had a nice visit and then i forgot my phone number list at her house!!! CRAP so i have to go back soon:D

Then on Friday Jess and I started to house hunt....we went out to the middle of NOWHERE...and met this guy with this amazing house it was a town house like thing 3 floors huge kitchen...BUT it was in the burbs so far that the buses only come around on the hour....which is not at all good for working in the city centre...he also had a strange fascination with photographing wolves....which meant as soon as we said we were from Canada he nearly begged us to move in. Anyway off we went to another location which was on the other side of town heading more towards Leith than the Zoo....and we saw....our flat...our amazing little flat...its a one floor flat on the mian floor, we dont have to go up stairs or live in a tennent house, you just open the front door and its our flat...there is a little garden(which we have to weed...i jokingly said we should fly the mothers over to do that) And a nice little wrought iron gate!!!!
So after seeing that we called the agency up and took it....after our deposit and this week our hell of getting things signed and references its almost ours...so close....sooooooo close....its so close we're frustrated...so anyway thats our major concern now getting all of our info together in order to send it in and sign our lease we are supposed to move out on the 30th!!!!

Then on Saturday I began a stealth operation....Operation Lallie's 80th birthday. For those who dont know Lallie or Allison, is my Grandmother's sister(on my dads side) And she was having her 80th birthday and I was supposed to be a great Canadian surprise...So Laura invited me down and i jumped a bus(which was a terrible experience and no matter how cheap i will never do it again...not a single person spoke English and i almost missed it because the website gave me the wrong pick up point) So Laura and Ben picked me up and we drove out to see Alison with a small detour to her step grandmothers house to meet her step aunt and such...very strange nice little dogs though and we had tea and Ben pointed out every single thing in the house that he figures was british...."There, thats very Brittish lizzy look at that"

So then off we went to Hawes, one of my most favorite places on this island! We drove in i saw Morag and John and loads of people i hadnt ever met or seen in a long time, and then we went to find Alison...i bumped into one of her older deaf friends first unfortunatly and she got a little muddled...thinking I was Laura..in all fairness i was standing beside Ben...but still the conversation went as such
Mag(old lady: Laura? Is that Laura?
Me: No no im Lizzy im from Canada
Mag: Laura my goodness
Me: No no...Lizzy
Alison: Thats not Laura Mag....you know i dont know who that is
Mag: My Laura you've put on weight.....

Yea...awesome..the conversation then went here...
Alison: OH Mag thats not Laura....who are you i feel i should know
Me: Lizzy...from Canada your great neice....
Alison: Not Lizzy Swanson
Me: Yup Yup me thats me
Alison: I didnt know you were coming....where have you come from!?

Awkward conversations continued long into the night including discussions about which wife number my mother was and why my father is so crazy...yup dad...crazy....

I got to sleep up on the top floor again which i love up the top of those ooold staircases, and then it was up early for the train back to Edinburgh...Laura and Ben drove me to Leeds where i got on my train and headed home!! Where i didnt have enough money to get a bus so i walked allll the way home...fun....

And now this week I've been at work each day actually in the water (OKAY ITS 1AM HERE AND SOMEONE HAS THEIR FREAKING DOG YIPPING OUTSIDE MY WINDOW....OUR NEW FLAT IS ON A SIDE STREET THANK GOD) and ive had a chance to teach this little brat named Daisy who really stinks at swimming but she learned a bit! And a few little boys who are adorable...little kid accents are great! I was shadowing a polish women...who has learned her english from being here in Scotland and the accent is truley amazing so confusing! Like Oakville there is a huge polish population...HUGE....

So anyway this week was just me doing work and getting the flat stuff organized...EXCEPT FOR TUESDAY...fondly known to me and me alone as MAMMA MIA DAY

Apprently you north Americans dont get Mamma Mia until this friday but we got it a whole week early which is different for us so dont spoil it for me! Sarah, Jess and I did our weekly Canadian night and went to our flatmate's pub which is around the corner for some 2 for 1 menu night!They are launching a new menu so everything was 2 for 1 and because of our flat mate connection (he's the manager) we got dessert for free...two of them!!! SO awesome, then we trekked down to see Mamma Mia at the big theatre....and was it everything i had hoped....AND MORE!!!!!
So corny so perfect, except for Meryl Streep who should stick to making important Holocaust choices instead of singing and Peirce Brosnen...no James Bond should ever sing...EVER...he looked like he was pooping...or trying to move a piano everytime he sang. But you know besides the main characters the movie was great!!! If you love the musical i suggest it...i sat singing in the crowd having a blast and giggling uncontrollably when Peirce sang. Fun game: can you find the abba members? They are in it!

Anywho...now im chillin on a friday night had a meat pie for dinner which i love! And treated myself to a Dr Pepper and im going to climb Arthur's Seat tomorrow...well thats what my friend has decided but umm..weather is going to be "heavy rain" so we might have to put it off, which is a shame i really want to get to the pointy part (Its spherical but quite pointy in parts) ---oh if anyone gets that reference...you are my new best friend....


Wow well there is a novel for you enjoy comment away ask questions, the more you know the more you grow or something like that!