If you have to leave – leave with a bang! For my going away party Elizabeth and I went to Amsterdam for the biggest party of my life… 3million people.. Amsterdam.. Need I say more?
What a BLAST! We both had a really great time at the Symposium. The lectures were great (even if they were a little too kinase heavy) and it was really fun to hang out in a social setting with people I work near everyday. Hearing everyone talk about their work during the lectures was really great too.
On Saturday, Elizabeth and I took a hike in the wilderness and met a very cool retiree who belongs to the clan that owns all the land around Pitlochry. We chatted for the better part of a half hour as we walked back together and had a most enjoyable time. That night was the Ceilidh, a Scottish dance that resembles square dancing. Afterwards came the quiz session; a cross between a drunken game show and a game of Trivial Pursuit. We came in 5th but still had a great time!
All in all a really good weekend. The only thing it lacked was sleep *lol*
This birthday was special to me even before it passed… I’d always known that my 24th birthday would be special; over the years I’d thought of different reasons why it should be special to explain the feeling of anticipation that I’d always had towards it. 24 is the age of adulthood in some magical orders, it’s halfway through my TenYearPlan(tm), and many other reasons. It wasn’t until Elizabeth gave my a beautiful glass box during my second trip to Scotland that I realized why it will be special: I’d found love.
The eve before my birthday, Pam invited me to her Fireworks party to meet her new boyfriend Fausto. We all got along really well even though we had to speak French often (Fausto spoke only Italian and French then). We had a blast — Pam’s parties are always fun! Fausto made dinner and we ate, drank, and drank some more. He brought this wicked Italian liqueur over with him from home called Limoncello that got us all really smashed but still managed to remain appealing the whole night. It’s still a favourite drink of mine…
After the fireworks, we went dancing at the Odyssey for a few hours and had a blast! The club was packed and we danced the entire time 
Despite recovering from my partying the night before, I still had a nice lunch with my Dad and Jill. We went to Milestones and had a relaxing time.
Dinner with Mom was an echo of my 18th birthday, we had a very nice dinner; it was a great end to a special birthday.
