Slain and the Rain

We survived Halloween! I can't believe we ever wondered if Aberdonians were big on celebrating the holiday -- the streets were packed with costumed partygoers! We barhopped to a couple of places and lasted until about 1:30am, by that point it was taking 15-20 minutes to get a drink and we were catching way too many elbows in the overcrowded joints.

My favorite was at the beginning of the night when we went to Slains Castle, another old church converted into a bar. I've mentioned it before, this one is completely decked out in a Medieval theme so it lent itself perfectly to Halloween! The women's bathroom is a bit of a mystery there, unless you know where it is. There's a wall of book shelves and the door to the bathroom is part of the wall. You really can't see it unless you know where to pull!

Saturday was literally the one and only day it did not rain. It picked right back up again on Sunday, pouring buckets all day and all night. Apparently there has been some really bad flooding in the area as a result, especially in nearby Stonehaven and Huntly. Burst river banks and too much water were to blame, as people were having to be rescued from their homes.

I did start my new job yesterday, Monday. I'm very excited about it! I'm working as the Sales and Marketing Coordinator for h-events, an Aberdeen-based event production and management company. They operate heavily in the sports arena, coordinating a number of events and things for major oil and gas companies. It's a great segue for me into a slightly different career, while still being able to use my skills as an editor. It's only been two days and I know I'll be learning a lot while I'm here, which will be the remainder of our stay in Scotland.  Hopefully there will also be opportunities to attend a few sporting events as well.

The best part of the job is that it's a 10 MINUTE WALK from our flat. It's the absolute wierdest feeling to leave our place and arrive so quickly on foot to my office. Crazy! I will be so spoiled when we move back to Houston, I won't know what to do with all the traffic again. But I must say that I definitely miss my Avalanche, it will feel like driving a monster truck when I finally get back in it. We are used to our tiny Micra now and whipping around little Ford Fiestas and Mini Coopers that fill the streets. I can't imagine what having a real backseat aaannd a truck bed will be like in 9 months!

I also attended an interview last week with the local city aquatic directors and it ended up being a good meeting, I'll likely be implementing a new synchronized swimming program in January! I'd love the chance to share synchro in Aberdeen, they've been wanting to do classes for awhile now but didn't have anyone to teach them. On that note, I need to say CONGRATS to my own team, PTX Masters, for winning silver in the 2009 US Masters Championships in Florida!!! Way to go girls!!!

Other than starting work, this week has been fairly quiet. There's going to be a big fireworks show Thursday night, the city puts one on every year. It's by the beach so we'll head over and check it out. There's also the first-ever Stonehaven Ale Festival on Friday, so we're tossing around the idea of hopping on the train since it's so close. Plus, Mike and I are both up for an afternoon of shopping and a nice dinner somewhere so we'll be relaxing and enjoy some downtime before heading to Dublin next Friday!!!