Soteria

Up, up, and away.

2008-04-15T03:01:00.001+01:00

Well, I have been fussing with blogger for a bit and have decided to move. You will now find me here.

How does your garden grow?

2008-04-11T23:13:00.003+01:00

I decided (a bit late in the season) to grow a vegetable garden...in containers! I have been wanting a garden for so long, but have not had the space for one.

The first sign of life came from the radishes. Appearantly these are very easy to grow. In just a few short days they started peeping through the soil. I don't like radishes, but I chose to grow them for my bunnies. :)

Next came the snow peas. These I also don't care for. I am growing these for Josh. He will eat them as a healthy snack. I am also starting to see my green beans start to come up, but they are mearly more than a bump in the dirt. I really hope to see my bell peppers, jalapenos, roma tomatoes, and salad tomatoes soon!

I am excited about what I am going to do with the salad tomatoes (they are like wee cherry tomatoes). I want to plant them in one of these. I saw a picture of small tomatoes in a hanging planter, hanging down over the edge. I hope it will work out.

I have not purchased any of the large planters yet (except a rusty tin container I found at Goodwill). I am holding out, trying to put off spending more money. But I was thrilled to find these cute pots for my herbs. I got 4 at Menards for $2.50 each! I guess they were on sale because when I went back to get more the price had gone up. As far as herbs, I am growing 2 kind of mint (I love mint tea and I enjoy mint in my iced tea and lemonade), dill, cilantro (coriander), basil, and oregano. I cheated and bought the mint as plants. Now I wish I would have purchased basil plants, too, because I am not patient enough to wait for it to grow.

It is so much fun to watch these plants grow from a wee seed. I am a nurturer and my nurturing instincts doesn't stop at people and animals. I watch over these pots of dirt all day long, every day. I move them from window to window as the sun moves. I protect them from chilly drafts. I noticed the first little bit of green popping up. Hopefully we will get some veggies from these plants. I can't wait to eat my first very own not-store-bought-grown-in-my-garden tomato!

Hey, with the way I go through tomatoes and the price of them these days, it's a great investment. :)

On the lookout

2008-04-11T20:51:00.002+01:00

Anyone know where I can get a bay plant? Like as in the kind you use for culinary purposes? I got excited about getting one but I am finding that none of the garden centers around here carry them.

spring?

2008-04-03T15:25:00.002+01:00

As depressing as winters were in Scotland, I was not prepared for the depressing winter here. I had forgotten just how LONG winters are! And how ugly, brown, and ugly! One thing that was always consoling during winter in Scotland was the green. The grass stayed green all winter. That cheered me up when the sun simply wouldn't come out. And I really looked forward to February because I knew things would start to change. The days got longer, the sun started to peek through, buds would suddenly appear on trees, daffodils would brave the frosts, and sometimes pedestrians would start to shed their outer layers.

Here it is APRIL and we are finally getting some sun and warmer temps (for more than just a one day freakish stint). But there are still no buds on the trees, nothing pushing up through the soil, the grass is still predominantly brown.

I was looking back on my posts because I thought I had posted about the change in seasons, but here is one from 26 April last year. I pictures show how lush it already was by that time. I know things do change quickly around here, I just don't remember when. I will be eager to see when we can get some leaves on the trees!

This picture was taken late March last year.

I really need your help!

2008-03-31T14:23:00.003+01:00

I know that you know that I have been helping to pay for the education of a friend's little girl in SE Asia. It is coming time to pay for her tuition and I don't really even have enough right now to just make a partial payment. I have $120 of the $600 that is needed. And that is not including wiring fees. We are just unable to cover any extra this year. I would really hate to tell my friend that we cannot send his girl to school this year.

Please pass this along to anyone you know that might be interested in helping.

Just click on the 'donate' button at the top to donate via paypal.

Did you know...

2008-03-14T01:23:00.002Z

I don't think many people realise the responsibility they are taking when they sign the back of a check.

When someone writes you a check and you sign the back of it (endorse it) to deposit or cash it, you are basically telling the bank that YOU will make good on this check. If the check is drawn on another institution it is impossible for them to know right away if there are funds in that account. They will not know for a couple of days. This is why you have to have at least that same amount in your account if you are cashing it (say it is a check for $100, you have to have at least $100 in your account). This is for recourse. So if the check gets sent back to your bank then they will take that money out of your account AND you will get charged a fee for the check being sent back.

I certainly never knew what I was agreeing to by endorsing a check. Here's a little hint: if you bank at, say, Chase, and someone writes you a check drawn from a Chase account, you will know immediately whether that check is good or not.

My store

2008-03-10T22:23:00.002Z

I guess I'll go ahead and share now. I set up a store at Cafepress a week or so ago. I just threw some things up there and I am a bit embarrassed at how simple it looks. I was really eager to get things on there and hoping to make a few extra bucks, but haven't had the time to fix it up. But I thought I might as well post about it here. Who knows if I will ever get the time to make it a bit more professional looking. I should probably upgrade to one of the premium shops. I imagine I could get more hits that way and I could have more than one kind of something (right now I can only have one mug, one calendar, etc.).

Oh, yes. I know that the mug is backwards. For some reason no which way I tell it to view, it shows it that way.

Deal of the day

2008-03-10T22:17:00.002Z

Our budget is super-duper tight right now. When I go grocery shopping I am not buying anything extra. But I was so proud of myself yesterday when I got 3 17oz boxes of Cheerios for $3.75! Strack's had a 5/$10 sale and I had a voucher for $1.50 off 3 boxes. Then there was another voucher available in-store for $.75 off. I figured if I could get 3 boxes for the price of one it was ok to buy extra this time. :)

4 things

2008-03-03T22:48:00.002Z

My friend Eden sent me this survey via email. I was supposed to send it out through email, but I decided to post it on my blog instead. :)

4 Jobs I have had in my life:
nanny
case manager for adult homeless individuals
supervisor at Starbucks
bank teller

4 Places I have lived in my life:
Hobart, IN
Chicago, IL
Edinburgh, Scotland
Lowell/Cedar Lake, IN

4 TV shows I watch:
We don't have a TV, but my mom gives us DVDs of shows sometimes. I like Dr. G and other medical type shows. We enjoy survivor shows like Survivorman and Man vs Wild, but we make fun of them because they just like to show off. I would probably watch some Masterpiece Theatre and I like some of those remodling shows. But not enough to get a TV for them. :)

4 Places I have traveled:
Philippines
Ireland
Scotland
The Adirondacks in New York and San Fransisco were a couple of my favourite US trips.

4 People who e-mail me regularly:
I am pretty bad about getting back to people, so I don't get as many emails as I used to. So much of my communication is done through Facebook now.
Eden (we were friends in high school, then we were at Moody together) puts me so shame by emailing me right away, after I take a month to email her.

4 Of my favorite foods:
dill pickles! (I sure did miss them in Scotland!)
Tex Mex
Uh...dessert!
right now one of my favourite snacks is either apple slices with caramel sauce (homemade) or pretzles (homemade) with cheese :) When I'm at work I munch on dried mango slices.

4 Places I would rather be right now:
Scotland
somewhere warm and sunny (yeah, I know...Scotland??)
somewhere with mountains
somewhere near water

4 People I think will respond:
well, I'm not sending this out as an email, but you can let me know if you put it on your blog!

4 Things I am looking forward to this year:
I am going to steal Eden's answer and say SPRING! Oh, will it never come!?!
hopefully finding a place to settle down and start putting down some roots
making new friends
who knows WHAT the year will bring!

The customer is always right

2008-03-01T21:34:00.002Z

Me: Could I please get some ID for this cash back?
Customer: makes angry face, acts agitates, sends ID
Me: Who is "D"?
Wife: Me
Me: OK, I'm gonna need you're ID to cash this check since it is made out to you.
C: She doesn't have it!
Me: OK, I'll send it back then for "B" to sign since you are using his ID.
C: Why do I have to sign it?!
Me: Because "D" doesn't have her ID and the check is made out to her. You can just sign the back of it as well so you can cash it.
C: Well, just send the whole *** back and we'll go inside!
Wife: NO!
(pause)
Me: What would you like me to do?
Wife: Just cash the check!
Me: I will need to...
Wife: HE DOES NOT NEED TO SIGN IT!!!
(pause)

I turn the speaker off, turn to my co-worker, and say, "They are giving me such a hard time? What is the big deal about signing the check?"
My co-worker says, "Well, since I know them you can just go ahead and do it for them. But you are in the right, what you are doing."

Why is it so hard for some people? Why do they not realise that asking for ID is for their own protection?

Yes, we made it

2008-02-27T21:25:00.002Z

In case you were wondering, we did finally make it back home. On our way over to Vermont Josh made some comment about how we have never had a flight without drama.

As we were leaving Vermont people we saying, "Good thing you are not leaving tomorrow! We are supposed to get a storm." Well, guess what? That storm was already heading for Chicago!

While at the airport in Burlington we noticed that one direct flight to Chicago was already cancelled. We had no idea there was even going to be any severe weather at this time. Josh thought it could have been a security issue.

When we arrived in Vermont we noticed another flight to Chicago (United, who of course make tonnes of flights to Chicago) was cancelled. Our layover was short so we popped over to a greasy spoon to stuff our faces with some cheese fries. That wee bag of pretzles on the plane just didn't cut it.

We rushed back over to our gate and saw that we were now departing 2 hours later. They said we would be boarding at 6:30, but not taking off until 7:45. Something about statistics for delayed flights.

Forty miles outside of Chicago the pilot informs us that there is a backlog of planes waiting to land and that we will have to circle Chicago for an hour and a half. Fortunately it only ended up being half that. It didn't do much good though as we were not able to get to our gate for another 30 minutes. They wanted us out of the way for the de-icing of the plane in the next gate. As we were taxi-ing around we saw plane after plane after plane just sitting there waiting to take off.

After such an exhausting weekend we arrived home at 12:30am, three and a half hours later than planned. And we got to get up at 6 the next morning to go to work.

A weekend trip

2008-02-25T23:21:00.001Z

We were in Vermont this morning.

We're now in Philly.

At the airport.

I guess there's bad weather in Chicago...

I love Calphalon!

2008-02-21T16:43:00.003Z

We are not extravagant people, but we do appreciate quality. We will pay a bit more for something that we feel will last us a long time. That is why when we were picking things our for our wedding registry we went with Calphalon. We chose to get the hard anodized set because we also wanted to be able to use stainless steel utensils. My grandparents were so kind to buy us the set and over the years we have found other Calphalon bits and bobs discounted at Marshalls or TJ Maxx. This is the only cookware set I have (partly because Josh is so persnickety about having everything match, despite his lack of presence in the kitchen).

Little did I know that making pretzles last night would void my warrenty. Once the dough is shaped is has to be sort of parboiled in baking soda water. When I was done and cleaned out my skillet I noticed discolouration in the pan (deanodizing). I knew that boiling vinegar would void the warrenty, but I didn't hear about this one. I looked online to see. There was something about cleaning with baking soda, but not cooking with it.

So I phoned up customer relations. She said yes, this would void my warrenty, but she would send me out a prepaid label and they would replace it as a courtesy. That's even better that if I just sent it in on my own and I would have to pay the postage for that monster.

We did have to send in 2 other pots almost 3 years ago because of deanodizing. They replaced them with a newer line that is similar, so I am wondering if they were having too many problems with this line and discontinued it for the new one. Hey, I don't care if they have to iron out the kinks. I can be assured that I will have these pots and pans for the rest of my life! ...or as long as Calphalon is around. :)

To be fair...

2008-02-13T15:16:00.002Z

I explained to Josh this morning about the email he recieved yesterday with the church wanting him to fill out this survey that costs $125. (Josh had to work 19 hours yesterday. He got home at 3am and had to get back up at 6:30 to go back to work.) He told me that it might be a service provided for pastors and churches. Sort of like a dating service where they match you up based on your common interests and stuff. I guess that explains it a bit. But I am still put off by the idea of a church requiring this of any of their candidates. I suppose it would work out if you are looking for a large church that will be paying a higher salary. Ah, well...

Of all appalling things

2008-02-12T15:40:00.000Z

I have seen some goofy things in this whole process of applying for a ministry position at churches, but just today as I was reading a response from one church to Josh this was the most appalling. They want the candidate to first fill out a survey along with sending in their resume. Oh, and the candidate will be charged $125 to access this survey.

still in a fog

2008-02-06T22:12:00.000Z

...literally and mentally.

We've had a lot of fog the last couple of days. Reminds me a lot of Scotland. A couple of days ago it was REALLY bad. That was more like the haar we got in Edinburgh. It made me nostaligic. The nostalgia wore off when I had to drive in it. It was very scarry, especially on these country roads where the fog sweeps through the fields and engulfs you as you drive by.

I want to give you an update on our jobs situation. We both now have jobs. Yay! I am working as a teller at Chase bank. It is just part time, but I think I will enjoy it. Josh got a job through a temp agency working with a company that does clean-up after a fire or flood. They also do carpet cleaning, which is mostly what Josh is doing. Unfortunately his schedule is unpredictable. One day when he was about to get off work they all got called out to a big flood job. He had to work a double, until midnight then back to work at 8am.

I also set up a new blog today. Yes, I know. I can't even keep up with the two I've got now. Actually I am hoping my friend will take over the new one in due time. Many of you know that I have been raising money for a friend the last few years. We are paying for his little girl to get a better education in the Philippines. Take a look at it, though there is not much there just now. Hopefully I will get more info on there soon.

Sorry about the lack of communication (my emailing had been pretty bad, too). I have been in an anti-computer funk lately. I love to hear from you, but I just can't be bothered to do much surfing or typing. Part of it probably has to do with this GLOOMY winter we have been having. And of course before that it was the rough living situation we were going through. There's always an excuse I guess. Maybe I will have to rethink this blogging thing...

A little mid-winter humour

2008-01-14T15:41:00.000Z

I love the Snowman. Josh and I had the opportunity to see it on stage last year in Scotland.

I love this advert, too. Some say it is a sacrilege. Maybe it is funnier with a British sense of humour. You tell me.

Just so you know, they happen to be flying over Scotland. Let me know how many landmarks you recognise.

Oh yes, I forgot to say that Irn Bru is probably THE most popular 'fizzy-pop' drink in the UK (or is it just Scotland?). It is a strange orange colour and tastes like an ultra-sweet cream soda.

Didn't get the job

2008-01-11T22:09:00.000Z

The last day of my work at Target is tomorrow. I have felt very dejected there, like I can do better. I have excelled at every job I have taken on. My training there was poor and there are a couple of people there who do not take that into account when I cannot do something I wasn't trained to do. Something happened Wednesday that got me fired up.

Thursday I had an interview for a teller position at a local branch of a nationwide bank. I did not get the job, but appearantly I made such an impression that the interviewers asked the recruiter to try to fit me in at another branch. So I have another interview Tuesday. At least I will know what questions to expect! It is a much longer drive, but we really need some sort of employment. I hope all goes well. They are offering benefits!!

Happy New Year

2008-01-05T21:40:00.000Z

I know it is late, but Happy New Year. Oh, and Happy Christmas, too.

It has been such a challenging year, but full of goodness, too. So many of you really stepped in with so much encouragement when we needed it so badly. The last 6 months of the year were the toughest months of our lives.

We are unemployed again. Josh's time with UPS and mine with Target were seasonal so we are looking for work again.

I have been going through an anti-computer stage lately, just wanting to get things done around the house. I have been wanting to get to the pictures from our last trip before we left Scotland. Hopefully I will get to them soon. I do miss Scotland and it is kind of hard for me to go through the pictures. Here is a wee taste:

For your consideration

2007-12-21T19:47:00.000Z

OK, for any one of you that might like to go shopping, hang on to an item only to decide later you don't want it, and leave it in some random place...DON'T DO IT!! Think of the poor employees of the store that might have to stay there till midnight to put it back.

Something to chew on...

2007-12-19T20:14:00.000Z

A friend of mine made a very interesting post the other day. PLEASE read it and go to my other blog.

Guess where I'm working...

2007-12-15T20:56:00.000Z

I just saw this video on Steph's blog:

Hungry boy

2007-12-05T23:29:00.000Z

I just wanted to share this picture of Stevie. A couple of weeks ago he took us out to eat at Olive Garden. He loves his chicken alfredo pizza. And I really loved the macchiato coffee drink I got!

We finally got it!

2007-12-05T23:24:00.000Z

As I said here, we did get a wee bit of snow on Thanksgiving, but THIS is snow! And this was before the extra couple of inches we got throughout the rest of the day.

And we had a pretty sunset.

Rude Customer

2007-11-29T22:10:00.000Z

I was just looking at my stats. There is an interesting feature that tells you what referred people to your blog, such as a google search. I was laughing because out of all of the google searches that led people to my blog, "rude customer" was by far the most. And most of those people doing the searches were from different countries. Not really sure what that means, but it is interesting. ;)

Oh, and I know it is a week past Thanksgiving and I have not posted about it yet. I am still keeping pretty busy, despite being unemployed. But I will get to it, and I will probably post it on my other blog.

What am I thankful for?

2007-11-20T23:52:00.000Z

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming this week I cannot help but reflect on the year and think of what I am (or should be) thankful for.

It was one year ago that we breathed a huge sigh of relief. We were running out of money and we set the deadline for November 15th. If Josh didn't get a job by then, we would have to leave Scotland and go home. Bethany phoned Josh on November 14th offering him a position. It was at the Thanksgiving meal we hosted for our friends that we were able to announce we would be staying.

We have been through so many challenges during our time in Scotland and after our return home. After so much upheaval it is hard to think at first what I can be thankful for. Yet hard times bring us many reasons to give thanks.

I am continually humbled by the kindness and generosity of our family and friends (on both sides of the pond!). I am put to shame when I complain about something, only later to see someone give so generously to us. People in our lives have been generous with their money, time, possessions, and whatever resources they have.

Know that we are so thankful for you. Know that we have and will pass this generosity on to others whenever the circumstance allows. God has provided us with so much blessing through you.

Though I have felt lonely, I have never been without a friend.

Though I have felt pinched by finances, we have never been without food and a home.

10,000

2007-11-15T13:59:00.000Z

I made it to 10,000 hits to my blog! :)

Moved

2007-11-14T20:48:00.000Z

Through a whirlwind series of events the opportunity came upon us to move into our own place. And guess what, WE'VE MOVED!!

A friend of my mom's has kindly offered to let us rent from her while she is trying to sell the house. She has given us a very generous offer and with the property including woods, it is a bit closer to what we would like to have when we eventually settle and start putting down roots. I love that it is so dark at night that I have to take a flashlight outside with me and that we have to drive down a country road to get to our house! I just saw the mail truck for the first time today and it is not even a real mail truck!

A requirement for us to move was that we needed a vehicle. We found one the very day after we started looking! I never, ever thought that we would own an SUV. Yes, we bought an SUV. It is a 95 Jimmy. We felt that it was a good deal for the price. It runs good and the body is in great condition. We are happy to have it for hauling things, such as for camping trips. We will just not be able to keep it for our primary vehicle. Friends of ours have very generously offered to give us their car for next to nothing after they get their new vehicle. That will work out well as we both plan to work part-time....

Which brings me to our next need. Please be praying or/thinking of us as we are looking for jobs. Josh would like to find something to put him more in the direction of ministry. This could take a bit of time as there is not an ABUNDANCE of ministry related jobs available in the area.

Me, well, I am looking for anything at the moment, which gets a bit depressing. I have been applying for retail positions hoping to at least get some seasonal work, and maybe making my way up using my supervisory experience. At first I was limiting it to places that I enjoy shopping at myself and that might offer some kind of benefits package, but after no reply I had to expand my horizons. It felt a bit demoralising applying at ALDI. But it feels even more demoralising that they were supposed to call by today and I have not had a call yet. I guess a part of me is greatful that they have not called.

We are thankful to be in our own place and I can now think about what I am going to make for our family Thanksgiving gatherings. :)

Sweet Home Chicago!

2007-11-09T13:22:00.000Z

Since we have been back we only visited Chicago for one night (the day of our arrival from Scotland) and an evening for a wedding. Oh, we DID get to walk around downtown a bit after we took my BIL and his friends to Ohare a while back.

I had been longing to spend more time there so I told Josh that I wanted to go for my birthday. He couldn't refuse that, could he? :) This sounds silly, but one of the only things I wanted to do there was go grocery shopping! I really miss the selection there. So I picked up loads of bulk spices from Pete's Fresh Market (that is a GREAT place for produce and anything Mexican) and spent a long time browsing the isles of Trader Joe's (YEAH!).

We stayed with our friends Nathan and Andrea and brought our bunnies along. They have a little girl and it was so much fun to watch her with the bunnies. She would get so excited, flap her arms around, then land one of those hands right down on the bunny's head.

Andrea took us shopping and we stopped at Montrose Harbor for a little walk (it was SOO windy!). Before we left for Scotland Andrea and I went rollar blading on the lakefront. Afterwards we snapped some pictures here but I was so sad that they accidentally got deleted. So we had to do it again. :)

I don't know if you can see it here, but there were actually flowers on some of the trees!

The next day was my birthday and I spent it with my family. It was a nice day to just relax and hang out. My mom posted some old pictures on her blog if you want to check them out.

fall back

2007-11-04T12:26:00.000Z

I hope you set your clocks back before arriving at church an hour early! What a pain when you realise you could have had an extra hour of sleep.

We set our clocks back, but I didn't get that extra hour. I didn't have to get up until 7, but I was up bright and early at 5:45. I guess I was just too excited about our trip to Chicago. I told Josh that I wanted to go for my birthday since we haven't really gotten to visit. We stayed one night when we arrived from Scotland. We are going to visit our church up there and stay for 2 nights wtih friends. I am bringing my bunnies along (for anyone that might be concerned about them). There might be a couple of wee ones that would have fun petting them. :)

Back to the time change, we were having this discussion about changing the clocks with an aussie friend of ours in Scotland 2 years ago. She couldn't remember if we set the clocks forward or back. I quoted the little ditty we use to remember "spring forward, fall back." She said, "AAAAH! I never heard that before!" I was shocked that she never would have heard that! I thought everyone did! Then she reminded me that it is the opposite in Australia. Uh-huh. Shows how much I know.

hmmm...

2007-11-02T18:12:00.000Z

I wonder how much emissions the emissions testing sites emit...

Long time no post...

2007-11-02T02:55:00.001Z

I am sorry that my posts have been few and far between these last few months. It is not that I haven't had anything to post about. I have just had a hard time feeling motivated to actually DO it! Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated. We greatly appreciate our friends family who have been a HUGE support to us. I feel like I have been letting YOU down by not keeping in touch through my blogs.

I want to introduce a brand spankin' new blog to you. My very own mother has decided to set up her own inspirational blog. I am looking forward to her posts. Go and visit her!

The girls

2007-10-29T20:57:00.000Z

I had a lovely time this Saturday getting with my friends from high school. For the last several years we have gotten together about once a year or so, but always kept in touch through emails and blogs. Oh, and when get would get together it would be with our husbands as well. We do love our husbands with us, but plans changed this time and it was just the girls!

Steph and I drove over to Winona Lake, a very cute little town, to meet up with Tiph and Jil. We went to a sushi bar kinda place for lunch. I am not a fan of Asian food, so Tiph and Jil let me pick off their places. :)

We walked around some of the quaint shops, then went over to a coffee shop in town where we chatted until dinner time. When we went over to Haciendas for dinner! We were snapping pictures and getting video like crazy.

I was gone for a total of about 12 hours and it was SO GOOD! It was a really nice time hanging out with the girls.

Visiting a friend

2007-10-17T04:40:00.000+01:00

Last weekend was our anniversary (6th!) but the weekend before was when we celebrated. We always like to celebrate by going away somewhere. Even when we were on a student budget in Scotland. The first year was the New College retreat to Carberry Tower. The second year was to Dunkeld (we were SO happy to finally see some fall colours!).

Three years ago for our anniversary trip, we went to Ireland! Well, we were also visiting a friend and looking at universities. This friend was my college roommate. She went to Ireland for an internship, but ended up changing her plans and stayed for a wedding. It happened to be HER wedding.

When we visited they had one lovely daughter, and another on the way. Seriously, on the way! Erin had some kind of food list she had stashed in the freezer and information about her daughter's routine. She informed us that it was for us...JUST INCASE. :)

As we were making our plans to move over to Scotland I was thinking it would be fun if I ever had the opportunity to visit Erin and her family in Ireland. It didn't work out though as we nearly crossed paths flying over the Atlantic! When we decided to move back to the States I was waiting to hear that they were now planning to move back to Ireland. Just kidding!

So, again, for our 6th anniversary we visited Erin and her family. The autumn colours were lovely and it was so nice to get away for a few days. It was fun to meet her 2 youngest daughters. They are all such busy girls! There was never a dull moment. Josh had the pleasure of playing Thomas the Tank Engine all weekend. We also went to the apple orchard and watched the girls bounce around in a bouncy castle and get a pumpkin painted on their hands. The above picture was taken as we were walking out. Sorry, Anthony, I didn't get you in it. But, ya know, you were pushing a stroller and, well, you just didn't fit. :)

Thanks for letting us come over!

Happy Birthday!

2007-10-09T17:59:00.000+01:00

Happy Birthday to my husband!

It's the big 3-oh today.

Thank you for everything you have done for us. I thank God for your wisdom, your patience, your selflessness, your love and commitment, your level head, and of course the fact that you took us to live in another country for 2 years! :)

I love you.

What's in a name?

2007-10-02T23:48:00.000+01:00

I'm on a roll with these meme things now. Here is a fun one I got from Steph's blog. I just have a little bit of a hard time with the "favourites" cuz I don't really have too many favourites.

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car)
Rabbit None or Bunnie Nothing or Chestnut Zero Zippo
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie)
eek! I don't have any favourites here! Uh, Peppermint No Bake?
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name)
Dbou
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Purple Rabbit
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, hospital where you were born)
Stephenie St. Mary
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first),
Boude (HA! HA!)
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),
The Pink Raspberry Mocha
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers),
Claude Richard
9.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ),
Anne Claude
10. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),
Erny Edinburgh
11. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
Summer Hydrangea
12. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”)
Blueberry Capri
13. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
Skillet Sugargum
14. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + “Tour”),
The Quilting Thunderstorm Tour

8 things about me

2007-09-25T13:31:00.000+01:00

Here is the draft I started ages ago. And in the mean time (just today) I have been tagged by another friend, Anita. Hers is a bit different (7 facts) but I will kill 2 birds with one stone. :)

I will not tag anyone just as in my other facts about me thing. If you want to participate (PLEASE DO!) let me know...

I have been tagged by my friend Erin at Prairie Road for a meme. I have been blogging for 2 years and this is my first tag! YAY! Problem is, I don't really know very many people to tag myself. Oh, well.

So here are the rules:

The Rules: “Each person posts the rules before their list, then they list 8 things about themselves. At the end of the post, that person tags and links to 8 other people and then visits those peoples’ sites and comments letting them know that they have been tagged, and to come read the post, so they know what they have to do.”

1) I am currently an America expat, meaning I am from American, but living in another country. In just a little over a week, though, we will be moving back to my husband's hometown in Indiana. (See how long ago I wrote this!)

2) I cannot swim, though I love to be around water. I like to water ski, too. :)

3) We have not had a TV as long as we have been married. After we moved here I think my mom felt bad that I might get sad and lonely, so she started sending us DVDs, which we watch on our computer.

4) I have had a huge fear of walking over bridges over water (or even driving over them) but since we visited San Fran and walked the Golden Gate Bridge the fear is not so crippling.

5) I love to take photos, but I am sad because I think I lost my eye the first time we crossed that pond.

6) My brother has Down's Syndrome and I am really looking forward to seeing him again next week (after over a year!)

(here is where I left off, so these have been just completed today)

7) I still have my tonsils, I have never broken a bone in my body, and have never been admitted to the hospital.

8) I am now the proud mother of 2 mini rex bunnies. Yes, they are my babies. And Ceilidh and Lady Grey are almost fully litter trained. YEAH!

Hanging out

2007-09-25T04:42:00.000+01:00

I thought we made a nice picture.

I was invited to go along with my mom to hang out with one of her friends. Mrs. Guffey and Shaun have been friends of the family for, gosh, about 15 years now? Stevie and Shaun have been best buddies since they attended the same school when they were little.

Mrs. Guffey and my mom have similar personalities and they have a very calming effect on me. It was nice to hang out today.

Four things about me...

2007-09-21T23:20:00.000+01:00

My friend Erin at Prairie Road sent me this email. I thought I would post on my blog rather than sending it as an email. I am not going to tag anyone because I read so few blogs and many of you with blogs have already done this. But if you would like to participate (whether you are on Blogger, My Space, Facebook, whatever) please let me know!

Hmmm...she tagged me quite a while bag for something else, which I started and saved as a draft. I will have to dig that up..

Things you may not have known about me.....

A) Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Lake County Prosecutor's Office
2. nanny (started with one beautiful girl of 15mos and finished with 3 gorgeous girls, the 15-month-old being 8!)
3. Social Services Caseworker
4. Starbucks Barista, then Supervisor

B) Four movies I would watch over and over:

1. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
2. Anne of Green Gables set
3. Sound of Music
4. Fiddler on the Roof

C) Four places I have lived:

1. Hobart, IN
2. Chicago, IL (several different moves)
3. Edinburgh, Scotland (2 different places)
4. Lowell, IN

D) Four TV shows I love to watch:

We have never had a TV, my while we lived in Edinburgh my mom would send us DVDs of shows. These were some I liked:
1. Dr. G
2. The Dog Whisperer
3. Survivorman
4. umm...can't think of anything else

E) Four places I have been on vacation :

1. camping in the Adirondacks in New York
2. San Fransisco, CA
3. Ireland
4. various lovely spots in Scotland

F) Websites I visit daily:

1. the blogs listed on my sidebar (except Brett's because he never updates his)
2. americanexpats.com (but really not as much anymore)
3. I'm really not online as much anymore, so I will visit various other sites off and on
4.

G) Four of my favorite foods

1. DILL PICKLES!!! (which I could not indulge in while in Scotland)
2. tex-mex
3. Chicago-style pizza
4. dessert!

H) Four places I would like to be right now

1. somewhere in Scotland
2. somewhere scenic
3. somewhere else
4. Chicago

Introducing...

2007-09-12T02:20:00.001+01:00

Ceilidh and Lady Grey!

We finally picked up a couple of rabbits. I have been eager to have them. They are both mini rexes. We decided to get two so they can keep eachother company. Not like they don't get enough lovin' from us!

Ceilidh (pronounced kay-lee) in Scotland is a social gathering. We went to a couple of ceilidh dances and had a blast! Lady Grey is my favourite tea and I thought it an appropriate name for a gray bunny (actually she is considered blue). Lady Jane Grey was also queen of England for 9 short days. She was forced to the throne at the young age of 15, but the true heir (Mary) gathered the support of her people and took the throne for herself. Just a brief history lesson. :)

Happy Birthday!

2007-09-12T02:05:00.001+01:00

Yesterday was Stevie's birthday. He is 24! We went over early to hang out with the family and open presents. Then 2 of Stevie's best friends came over for cake and ice cream. We made an attempt at some fireworks, but the rain was not cooperating.

A lazy walk to Leith

2007-09-07T01:32:00.001+01:00

I am on a roll! I have finally gotten to so pictures I took in Edinburgh. These were taken on one of the few gorgeous summer days we had about a week and a half before we left. I took a walk along the river to Leith and picked Josh up from work.

I am going to post the pictures on Beannachd Leibh, simply because I like how they look better against a black background. :) And of course I will have more photos on flickr.

Michigan

2007-09-06T16:51:00.000+01:00

These pictures are all out of order and I don't feel like arranging them.

Paddleboating on the canal at Aunt Sue's

Grandpa. The sun was in the way.

Aunt Sue and mom

Out for dinner

Mom brought fireworks to let off at Aunt Sue's

Of course, Josh had to use his torch (flashlight) to light the way.

Me and Stevie

My grandma loves flowers and birds. It is so nice to walk in their back yard and look at all the flowers or sit at the kitchen table and watch all the birds flitting from one feeder to the next.

The gang

My mom managed to pick this duck up several times, luring her with a piece of bread. Every time the duck got more and more skeptical.

Watching the boys in the water...

...these boys. Josh managed to get Stevie to sit in the water. He even laid down in the water and walked out to chest deep water. Only for his brother!

Do ya think we're related?

2007-09-06T16:34:00.001+01:00

This is my cousin Nicci and I. Last week we went to Michigan with my parents to visit family. It was good to see them after 2 years. I am working on the pictures now, so hopefully I will post about our trip soon.

Oh, my friend Steph posted a pictures of she and I visiting my family in Michigan. WAY back when. Oh, my!

FINITO!!!

2007-09-04T04:17:00.000+01:00

Finally! After 3 years!

Bad customer service: not only in the UK

2007-09-04T03:55:00.000+01:00

Wilco is our local grocery store. It is about a mile down the road so I usually just walk if I am not already out. I bring my own bags, a backpack (rucksack) and a shoulder bag, just as I did in Scotland. I just hate that I have to walk along the main highway through town, there are no trees, and no sidewalks on the side of the road that the store is on. And it is HOT right now (still).

So yesterday I did some shopping in preparation for our Labor Day barbecue. Let me just say, people look at you funny if you are drivable age and you are walking. Anyways, I walked into the store and was greeted by a smiling man who looked to be the manager (he was wearing a tie). I lazily did my shopping and proceeded to the check-out.

As the lady started bagging my groceries (they do that automatically here. And they have to stand, they don't get chairs) I told her, "I don't need any bags. I will just put them in my own." They lady says, "You'll whaaaat?" So I repeated myself, as I am taking the things out of my cart, and point to my backpack. She screws up her face at me and says in a very snotty tone, "How did you get in with that backpack?!" I stare in amazement at her and say, "Uh...I didn't know it was a problem..." She says, "You're NOT supposed to bring a bag in here. You have to check it at customer service. THERE ARE SIGNS!!"

I proceed with the transaction wide-eyed. I just put everything in my cart as I am too disoriented to pack my bags right now. I finish the transaction and before I walk away I say in a very calm manner, "The way you handled that was incredibly rude. You could have said that a bit more politely. I have just moved here and was not aware of the rules." As I walked away I hear, "oooh kaaaay"

I proceeded to the customer service desk, where a lady is slowly counting several piles of money. She is facing a wall, but should be able to see me in the corner of her eye. I clear my throat several times, shuffle things, move around. She pays no attention. After about five minutes I say, "Sorry. I just have a question. I have cold things that need to get home." She slowly walks over to me and acts a bit miffed that I have disturbed her (here at CUSTOMER SERVICE!). So I ask her, "How would I go about making a comment about service I have recieved? Is there an e-mail?" She pulls out one of their sales papers and shows me where to write.

As I am walking out, the same manager-looking guy tells me to have a nice day and looks at my cart. While I am packing up my bags in the entry-way he pops his head out and says, "Oh! I was wondering why they let you through without bagging your things." Then he tells me that he things it is great what I am doing and that they are always trying to think of ways to get people to bring their own bags. I tell him that I spent the last 2 years in the UK and most stores don't even offer bags, or you have to buy them (which was a bit untrue, as the stores in the cities do provide bags, but offer other incentives if you bring your own), so I was used to bringing my own. We had a wee conversation about the cost of groceries there and such, then I went on my way.

I plan to send an e-mail about my experience. I am confident the manager would appreciate the feedback.

Happy Labor Day

2007-09-03T22:54:00.000+01:00

Our niece

2007-08-26T02:10:00.000+01:00

I don't put pictures of other people's kids online unless they are unrecognizable. So here is an unrecognizable picture of our niece, whom we just met today. :)

Enough already!

2007-08-24T02:36:00.000+01:00

I really, really missed storms while we were in the UK. A good thunderstorm. One that you could sit out on your porch and feel the refreshing spray from the rain after a hot summer day, listen to the rapid and rumbling KABOOM! of the thunder, and watch the electrical show in the night sky.

But this is a bit much!

Since we have been home we have had 3 tornado warnings and 3 or 4 (I lost count) severe thunderstorm warnings. We have watches and we have warnings. A watch is just saying that we have to "watch" out because this MIGHT happen. A warning is that this is already happening: there is already a storm going on or a funnel cloud has already been spotted.

Lowell has a siren at the volunteer fire dept for these warnings...just down the road from us.

Last night we were already in bed, but still up talking after midnight when we heard the siren. So we went upstairs to find out what was going on. Then today we were sitting outside as we watched dark clouds hasten up to us. Suddenly a strong wind swept through the area, knocking branches off trees and leaving a lot of debris in its path in just 20 minutes. The temp suddenly dropped about 15 degrees (F).

Last week, my parents (just 30 mins away) experienced a severe storm, pulling whole trees from the ground. One was knocked into their road, blocking it off completely. They were without power for 18 hours. Others for 3 days.

We are so waterlogged right now! I guess we brought the rain with us from Scotland. But this rain is different. It comes down fast and furious.

It's this heat! We have had such hot days. Today was around 95. Then we get a sweep of cold air and it causes to much turbulence.

I just like these pictures

2007-08-20T02:24:00.000+01:00

I was trying to sort some of my pictures when I came across these that I have not posted.

We were taking a walk on a lovely spring day. This is the park by Murryfield Stadium, which we passed on our walk down the River Leith. I just thought it was so lovely that the ground was covered in soft pink petals. There were some guys playing cricket so we stopped to watch. Cricket doesn't seem to be a spectator sport as we have never actually seen anyone watching, other than us. We tried to figure out the rules but we couldn't.

popcorn

2007-08-18T04:38:00.000+01:00

I prefer popcorn popped over the stove top, but during my last few months in Scotland I enjoyed Orville Redenbacher's honey butter popcorn. Is there anywhere I can get something like this? Or is kettle corn the closest I will come?

Janelle

2007-08-14T16:33:00.000+01:00

When I raised money for this year's tuition for Janelle the peso had gotten just a wee bit stronger against the dollar. Therefore I was just a wee bit short in the money I had sent them. Janelle is also in need of a few other supplies.

For those who may not know, Janelle is a little girl in the Philippines, daughter of a friend from my visits over there. I have been raising the funds to provide better schooling for her for the past few years. Many of you have given so generously and I and the family are so greatful for the blessings you have provided.

Of course, this is not just a short-term project. The tuition bill comes every year until Janelle graduates. Right now we are just in the middle of the school year, but if you can think and pray about it, or if you know of anyone who may be interested in supporting a child...

At the moment we just need a small bit. If I recieve any money over the amount needed for the year, I will keep track of it until the next year. If you are interested, please let me know. I can let you know where you can send a cheque or how you can pay by paypal.

Cheers

Another WHAT??

2007-08-11T22:27:00.000+01:00

I know I hadn't really been doing too great at keeping up this blog, so why do I think I should start a new one? Beats me.

So I have finally started my new one and after a few days of sitting on it I now feel comfortable enough to announce it. I will keep the current blog as just my everyday bletherings about Josh and Deliverance. The other blog will be sort of geared towards our British friends, but American friends will find it interesting, too. When we moved to Scotland I had a good time pointing out the differences of living in the UK. The new blog will be pointing out the different things in America, from a 'repat' perspective. It is my nature to be rather negative, and I am already finding that the blog is turning out that way. There are many positive things about living here and I will try to remember to point those out, too (like TARGET!).

So here it is, here is the title of my blog. You may say it doesn't really fit in with the theme of my blog. I wanted something in Gaelic. Beannachd Leibh It means "good-bye" or literally "blessings go with you." Ha! As I am typing this out I realise that even my title is negative! Maybe I should have choosen Failte for 'welcome.' Oh, well. And here's the link: http://americanrepat.blogspot.com/ I hope you visit!

Was it just a dream?

2007-08-11T00:24:00.000+01:00

It is so very strange, but it just feels I just woke up and Scotland was just a dream. The last week and a half has flown by, but Edinburgh seems so far away. I have not kept the intonation that I picked up from living there 2 years. It is no longer natural to use words like 'car park' or 'to-mah-toe', but I do still use 'wee' and 'rubbish'. I usually enter the car on the proper side, though I did have to peek through the window once yesterday. :) I drive on the 'right' side of the road, though I did find myself on the left side when I turned down and isle in the 'car park'.

Thank you

2007-08-10T14:21:00.001+01:00

I want to thank our friends and family on both sides of the pond. You were so kind and generous to us in this time of transition. We really appreciate all that you have done for us.

Going Home

2007-08-09T15:09:00.000+01:00

Monday was supposed to be our 'free' day. I really wanted the time to just walk around Edinburgh and enjoy the city before we left. Josh didn't think that was going to happen, but I was confident that if we worked hard enough we could get things done a day early.

Things looked pretty good on Sunday. We had a lot of things packed and we were working on the cleaning. We would leave the flat in good condition, even though we had to do a lot of cleaning when we recieved it. Being Sunday, though, we could not do any of the errands we needed to do. So we made a list. It kept getting longer.

Josh was right. Monday was spent doing a lot of running around and last minute business/packing/cleaning. It was a joy and a nice break to be able to sit down with Sam for one last cuppa.

I had arranged with one of my customers who is a cab driver to pick us up Tuesday morning between 5:00 and 5:15, so we got up at 4:15. We had to throw away our bedding because there was nothing else we could do with it. At least the sheets were the ones I brought with us which we had since we were married nearly 6 years ago. We've only ever had 2 sets of sheets so they were pretty worn.

Anyways, we were ready for Noelle and she packed us up in her cute little cab. The cabs in the UK all look like PT Cruisers (I don't know what kind of car they are) and they are very roomy and clean. Noelle drove us up to Waverly Station. We wanted to be there when they opened to get the first train to Glasgow. Our flight left at 10:45 so we needed to be there at 7:45.

At Waverly, we purchased our tickets, looked at the screen to see which train would be ours, and took our luggage to wait by the train. It seemed odd that just 5 minutes before departure the lights were still not on and there was no boarding. Josh went down to look at the screen again. It had been changed! So we picked up all of our luggage (4 over weight suitcases, computer bag, camera bag, overweight carry-on, and my oversized 'personal' bag), jetted over to the proper train (which WAS boarding) and got settled inside.

Josh had looked online, we looked at maps, and Sam helped us with directions from the train station to the bus stop we would need to take to the airport. It looked pretty simple. We would only have to cross the street once out of the station. This was very good as we did not want to lug our suitcases all through the streets of Glasgow.

We got out to the street and saw that there was construction on the road, closing the road completely. We dragged our luggage uphill to the station, just INCASE the bus still came there. There was a little turn around place in front of the station. There was a sign at the stop telling us that the stop was closed and where the closest stop was. ARGH! So we had to go back down the hill, down about half a block, cross the road and the half-block square, and go down to our station. Not a big deal withough luggage...

When we got to the stop we found that the fare was not the fare quoted online. So we dug through our pockets. Good thing we still had some extra change. We waited for about 20 minutes. In that time there were 2 buses due. This 'airport' bus did not have much extra room for luggage. The bus was already pretty full and we had to pile our luggage on top of others' and in the isle. There were more tourists boarding after us to add to the nice pile in the isle.

So we were at the airport 3 hours early, as Aer Lingus suggests. We waited at the screen that tells you where to check in. Nothing. There were information people going around telling us that Aer Lingus would be opening their desks and such-and-such points in about 20 minutes. The queue currently at those points was for American Airlines and it did not look like it was going to be done any time soon. So we waited. 20 minutes came and went. We ended up waiting about 2 hours before they opened their desks. Fortunately we got in the queue before they opened because we asked the information people again. There was a huge queue already forming and they only opened 2 desks. I thought "there is no way we are taking off in one hour." And they were SO SLOW!!!

We made it through the queue and made our way down to security. Before we even arrived the lady at the desk said, "You're only allowed one carry-on." "But the website said you can have a personal bag..." Shakes her head. "What about a camera..." Shakes her head. So we walk away to try to condense our things. The stress has finally gotten to me and I break down in tears. Our carry-ons (one being our computer) are already stuffed full and I wonder how we will fit my camera and other things into them. Josh works while I blubber and he manages to do it, though we had to throw away some snack items. He takes my camera out of the camera bag and puts it around his neck. "They are GOING to let me carry this camera!" :) We walk up to the lady with our passports and she smiles and says, "Got it sorted?" I don't even attempt so smile or speak with my puffy red face.

We make it through security, though there seems to be something in my bag that they have to test. Since we couldn't bring any water we stop at a cafe to pick up a couple of bottles. The guy is taking too long so we figure it is more important to get water in Dublin since that will be our long flight.

When we approach our gate where people should already be boarding we see the seats filled with travelers and NO PLANE! So I go back to get some water.

We finally take off 50 minutes late. This concerns us as we only had 1.5 hours until our next flight and would have to go through security again. When we get off the plane there is a lady holding a sign "connection to Chicago". We do to her and wait for the others connecting. She FLIES through the airport with about 20 people in tow, some elderly. We lose her at one point and just guess where we are to go. We catch up to her at security. Again, something catches their attention in my bag and they have to test it. I still don't know what it was that was so interesting. We were the last ones through security and the lady is gone! ARGH!!! She never even told us where we would eventually end up. So we had to fly to find a screen to see what gate would leave from. Not on this screen. Ah! Here it is on this screen! Way down at the end of the airport. We zip onto the plane and get settled for a long flight. We were supposed to have the row at the emergency exit but we were put in the row behind it. The row we wanted was empty, so we sat there in hopes that the people weren't showing up.

We end up waiting about 20 minutes for our flight to leave. Probably to get our luggage from one plane to the next. We were concerned about our luggage not making because of the delay of our first plane.

No one comes up to kick us out of our seats, so we are happy. Then there is an announcement about how we have to make sure to take everything, including jackets off the plane in Shannon. We did not even realise we were making a stop in Shannon. So we thought it would just be a quick stop in Shannon, then take off again. No. We take a quick 30 minute flight over to Shannon, EVERYONE has to get off and go through security AGAIN! Then we get back on and head off to Chicago. This would explain why our flight was 10 hours instead of 7. Of course, when we boarded there was someone in the seats that we thought we had for the long-haul flight. :(

We did get to see the famous Cliffs of Mohr as we were departing Ireland. Once we were over the Atlantic we got settled in and had a nice flight. Hardly any turbulence at all. I was afraid with all this taking off and landing that my motion sickness would set in, but it had been a while since I had flown so it was fine.

We got to O'Hare and could feel the heat already, even though we didn't disembark the plane outside. And it didn't help that there must have been 20 other international planes arriving at the same time! The luggage retreaval was so packed full of people. There were not even any luggage trollies available. I waited in the spot they were supposed to be and when an employee came by with abotu 10 trollies it was like vultures swarming to get one. By now it was 11pm our time and we were tired. It takes a while, and we were a bit concerned, but our luggage does show up. We get through the long queue through customs AGAIN and try to find a phone to call Bessie, who was picking us up. We finally see her friendly, familiar face and she loads us up in her (air conditioned) van and takes us to Nathan and Andrea's where we were all going to have dinner together. It was nice to see these friends again (and meet Nathan and Andrea's baby!) especially after such an ordeal.

By the time we had boarded our final flight I was so annoyed with companies who are disorganised and don't keep their websites accurate and up to date. People who know us know how prepared we like to be. It was maddening that we were very prepared for this trip. We had to do so much rushing around and changing of plans. It would be more understandable if it was because of our own lack of preparation. It was maddening because it was on account of someone else who should have been better prepared.

Arrived

2007-08-07T18:12:00.000+01:00

Sorry for the long silence. We have been very busy and still have not had high speed internet. Thanks to my parents I can post this picture (sorry for the large size) and a brief update.

Just wanted to let you know that after a very long and frustrating ordeal with Aer Lingus (NEVER TAKE THEM!!), we arrived safely and soudly in Chicago and are now back home in Indiana. And I will let our British friends know that it is VERY HOT here!! I was shocked when we arrived that all I had to do to sweat was stand still. And it has only gotten hotter and so, so muggy! Yep, it's August.

I will have to let you know about our trip home later.

Thank you to everyone who has been thinking of and praying for us. We still need you thoughts and prayers. We are keeping busy and I am having a bit of culture shock.

We will have high speed internet again hopefully tonight, so I will try to post more regularly again. I am also thinking of starting a new blog. American life from the perspective of a repat. Any ideas for a name? :)

Almost

2007-07-29T18:34:00.000+01:00

Only 2 more sleeps.... :o

Leaving do

2007-07-21T11:17:00.000+01:00

If you are in Edinburgh and did not get an evite for our leaving do, my apologies. We would like you to come to our place so we can see our friends before we leave. It will be next Saturday, 28 July 10am-4pm. Email me if you can come or need more details.

Also, take a look (or another one if you already have) at our sale: http://carbootsale.blogspot.com We still have so much to sell! I will be willing to ship most items, but will have to add shipping to the total price. Some things have been reduced and I will consider any offers (we just need to get rid of this stuff!).

OUCH!

2007-07-19T09:14:00.000+01:00

Orange really mucked up our internet service...

Josh called them Wednesday to ask them for whatever postage thing it is we need to send back our broadband box thingie. They thought we wanted to break our contract, incurring a £190 fee for breaking early (contract ends 4 Sept). Josh could not get it through to them that he fully intended on paying through to the end of the contract, but that we were moving and needed to send the box back early.

He finally gets a supervisor online. This guy says, "Ok, no problem. We will send you what you need, no fees charged, and since we cannot charge you for usage you did not use we will be sending you a cheque for that last month." YAY! Even better than we thought!

Yesterday I am using the internet in the morning, but cannot connect all afternoon. When Josh gets home from work it is still not working. He debates calling, wondering if there is just a server problem that will get fixed soon. I talked him into calling since he will be working all day the next day and I need the internet for planning and such.

So he calls after tea. He is told that our service has been canceled. OOO! I very rarely see Josh as hot as he was last night! And on top of all of the frustration it seems that the call centre is in another country, so he is trying to explain to this non-native english speaking person that there was a miscommunication problem and how vital it is that we have internet NOW for our upcoming move.

He asks for a supervisor. After some investigation it seems that the person Josh spoke to the day before was not allowed to do what he did and the system knew it. The system just shut us down completely. They say it will take 10 days to get service back to us. Uh, and we leave in HOW many days?! Josh explains again that we leave on the 31st and it is vital for us to have internet. So this lady offers us a free month of dial up. WOO-HOO!

We have been spoilt by broadband the last 2 years that dial up just seems DREADFULLY slow. So this means we have to limit our internet usage. We are not clear on if the "free" means that all calls are free as well. Calls are charged per minute here, even for local. And since it take about 4 minutes just to get into my inbox, well...This means no uploading of photos as well. :( I had so much that I needed to catch up on, too. Who knows when I will be able to share our photos of our most recent excursions. And our upcoming holiday to Mull.

Well, I really ought not to be updating my blog now. It is morning and calls are a bit cheaper at night. But I type quickly...

I just had another thought! I can't visit other blogs!! Especially ones with lots of photos.

Ah, poor me. I sure do lay it on thick, don't I? ;)

The Return to Glencoe

2007-07-17T17:02:00.000+01:00

The week after we went to the borders with Michelle and Paul, Sam and Peter took us to Glencoe. Let me just say we have been spoilt by our friends! We have been to Glecoe twice. I fell in love with it the first time. But our visits were just to one spot, the same one, and just for a few minutes for photos. I had been wanting to return to spend a bit more time there.

We first stopped at the Visitor Centre where there was a nice lookout point and a big natural display of Glencoe as well as the history and a video about the massacre.

Our picnic spot at the visitor centre

When we were done with lunch we inteded to head out for a wee hike. But nature had another plan. We were hit with a downpour of rain. At least we were still in the car. So we decided to sit out the rain (hmmm...this sounds familiar).

The rain stopped and we started up to the waterfall. I didn't realise the walk was going to be straight up the entire way! I puffed on my inhailer, but I was still so out of shape and embarrassed that I was slowing everyone down. In the end we didn't make it all the way up to the waterfall, though we got a good way there. We weren't even sure if there was a path to the waterfall. The midgies were eating at Peter and me and it was starting to rain again.

After our walk we headed to the King's House Hotel for tea. This is one of the stops for folks doing the West Highland Way, so we saw some tired walkers there.

Thanks, Sam and Peter for that adventure!

The Borders

2007-07-13T17:17:00.001+01:00

I am having a hard time keeping up with this blog now. I am trying keep up with another blog to sell our things here: http://carbootsale.blogspot.com/. I am also enjoying the warmer weather we have been having. I just can't attach myself to the computer when it is nice out. Especially here when the weather can change in a second. Just recently we were going to go out for a walk but for some reason Josh wanted to wait a bit, can't remember why. He said something about how nice and sunny it will be when we go out. I said, "Josh, we are in Scotland!" He knew that what I meant was "It may be sunny and warm now, but in just 5 minutes it could be cold, windy, and rainy." I am seriously now exaggerating by how quickly the weather changes. So everyone that lives here knows that if it is now out, you better get out there NOW to enjoy it. :)

So, speaking of weather, we had a nice wet day for our trip out to the border abbeys a couple of weeks ago. Our friends Paul and Michelle wanted to take us to a part of Scotland that we hadn't seen yet. The border abbeys are, obviously, on the borders (of Scotland and England, for those who may not know). I don't know much of the history of them, but I do know that being on the borders they were prime target to be ransacked by the English. I am sure I will provide a few links here and there, so if you are so inclined you can read up on the history.

Jedburgh Abbey was the one that I had seen a lot of pictures of and really wanted to see, so that was our first stop. I didn't really get many pictures because the audio tour thingie was handheld, making it difficult to keep up with everyone else and snap some shots.

After being drizzled on throughout the tour we decided it was time to eat lunch. We found a dry spot (under a pavilion) and spread out our picnic. I guess Paul is like me and goes a bit overboard with the food planning, so we definately did not starve!

After drying out a bit we got on our way toward home. On the way we decided to make a little detour to Dryburgh Abbey. It was anything BUT dry. We waited in the car for a few minutes for the downpour to let up a bit. When it was a little less wet we hopped out to take a look.

I am really suprised that I didn't find too much mention that this is the burial place of the beloved Sir Walter Scott.

You can see Josh is getting wet. We got so tired of WET. But you learn here that if it is raining, you just get on with it. If you wait for it to stop raining, life will pass you by!

Thanks, Paul and Michelle for taking us to see the borders!

Strawberry Shortcakes!

2007-07-11T21:10:00.001+01:00

I have not posted about any of my baking fun in a while...well, because I haven't done much baking. I was so depressed and stressed from work and other things that I wasn't in much of a mood to do anything, even though baking can be very therapeudic for me.

We have finally be getting some really great weather, which puts me in the mood for summer foods. And what says summer better than strawberry shortcakes! Well, maybe not for your british folks, but we Americans get very excited about strawberry shortcake.

I baked my own shortcakes and whipped up my own whipped cream. I am a convert. I don't know if I will every buy Cool-Whip when I am back in the States.

I am looking forward to getting back to a summer of plentiful fruit. We haven't had much in the last 2 years because the fruit here is either pretty expensive or it just doesn't taste good. The nectarines, plums, and peaches are sold rock hard! I only recently discovered that they sell a small package of 'perfectly ripe' necartines and such for a more dearer price. I don't understand why they can't just sell them all 'perfectly ripe'! I will miss the british berries, though. They are so scrummy! (weird that I just used that word) I just bought a package of british raspberries and ate them all by myself! Not a single tart one in the bunch. And so sweet!

Last Day

2007-07-08T15:37:00.000+01:00

My last day of work was on the 4th of July. It was very uneventful. No tears were shed, except for a customer or two, and Brett who was getting used to his free drinks. :)

Since no one planned a leaving do for me, Josh took me out to celebrate. It was a dual celebration for the 4th of July. We had Mexican! Yum, yum! Something you don't find too often here. And this place has been sitting under our noses all along! We went to the Blue Parrot just down the road from us. They have fun eclectic decor. From the outside it looks like something from Mexico with their colourful painted grates covering the windows. Their loo is located outside in a wee shed. Oh, and they have a fake blue parrot in a bird cage to greet you as you enter.

This was one of the rare times I felt full upon leaving a restaurant here in Scotland (the portions here are much more wee than we Americans are used to). Josh got a burrito and I got chicken fajitas. I can't really get used to the way they serve up their chicken for fajitas here, in large chunks rather than thin slivers. I still cut them small.

Oh, we had chips and salsa to begin with (not complimentary like many Mexican/Tex-Mex restaurants we are used to). The salsa was called spicy, but I had to ask because spicy by Scottish standards is kinda wimpy, even for me. But it really was spicy! And good!

Afterwards it was still so nice out (we are just now starting to enjoy a bit of summer here in Scotland, we get a bit of sun each day and sometimes the temps get up to 70!) that I just couldn't bear to go inside. Despite our full bellies we went for a bit of a walk on the River Leith. I will miss the river.

My Last Week

2007-07-02T22:53:00.000+01:00

Today was the first day of my last week of work. Wednesday is my last day. Yes, my independence day is Independence Day. ;)

We had a bit of an adventure. I actually didn't serve any customers today. I would have been greatful for this in weeks past, but as all of my customers are morning regulars and I only have one more morning this week, I was quite sad to think that I may not see any customer if Wednesday happens to be their off day.

I don't know why I always get the pleasure of these early morning adventures...

We arrived to a burnt out door...oh, wait, that was January. Everything seemed fine when we arrived. We went to clock in but it seemed that the newish barista may have punched in the wrong code to the office door and locked us out. Ok, I will clock us in for the appropriate time. We go upstairs to do some opening duties. I am concerned that I may not get all of my duties done downstairs in time to open at the right time (these customers start beating down the door if we do not open at 6:50). I do down later to try again. Nope. Later. Nope. I was sure it had been the right amount of time for the lock to time out. I tried for 20 minutes to no avail. Everthing is in the office. We cannot open without getting in there. Everything including phone numbers.

We get our jackets back on and head on up to the nearest Starbucks. I used to work with the ASM on shift so we have a bit of a banter. Then he laughs at me when I can finally tell him that we are locked out of the office. So I call my manager and write down some other phone numbers.

Back at our store I try the door again just to see. No access. So I call maintainance and have a bit of a laugh with the guy because I was suprised at the cheery greeting he gave me (I had to ask him if I had the right number). I tell him my problem, tell him we can't open, and he says he will have a locksmith call me to see if he can talk me through an override for the code. While we wait, we clean.

My manager shows up. We clean...and we clean. Despite the sign on the door the customers still jiggle it, wondering why it does not open. Some beg us to just make us a drink anyways and they will give us 10 quid (tempting...I might have made out pretty big today if my boss wasnt' there!). We clean. They can't figure out why we can't open if we are all there in plain view.

After 2 1/2 hours we wonder what is up with the locksmith. A call like this would go on an emergency call, which requires a response within 2 hours. My manager calls maintainance. They say, "Oh, you aren't trading??" Uh, we said earlier that we could not open. "Oh, well we will have to send someone from Glasgow. It should be 2-3 hours." WHAH!!!! If they would have responded when we first called they could have been here by now! Ok, so we clean some more.

Our 11:00 barista comes in and we decide we should have lunch soon. At 11:30 my boss says I can go home. YAY!

So I will find out tomorrow when we were finally able to open. Unfortunately there was probably so much food that had to be thrown out because we would not have been able to sell it all without the morning rush.

I wonder if I will have any more adventures this week...

Kinda sad

2007-06-29T17:42:00.000+01:00

Maria and me

We are starting to get down to a lot of 'lasts.' Today was the last day I would see Maria. She is flying back home to Spain on Sunday. Today was also the last day I would get to work with any of my favourite colleagues. Maria is gone, Josh is LONG gone, Sylvain was on holidays this week and we are not scheduled to work together next week, Danny is on holidays next week. So that's it.

This move is sad and very different than our move here. When we came here, though we were sad to leave family and friends, we knew that we would see them again. Now we are leaving a place we are not sure that we will ever see again, and we are leaving people we may never see again. If we do, it would require an awful lot of traveling on someone's part.

I am starting to say good-bye to my customers, too. Some of them say they will be sure to come in Wednesday morning for my last day.

Frolicking sheep

2007-06-26T22:36:00.001+01:00

I really, really want one of these for a souvenier. http://www.jamespirie.co.uk/standrews/product.cfm?ManID=7&GrpID=0&Group=&CatID=0&Start=1&PageNum=1&ProductID=404

I just can't bring myself to pay those prices for a wee mug. And I mean wee! Highland Stoneware is a good investment, but I wouldn't just stick it up in a cabinet somewhere. I would want to use it and of course I will end up chipping it.

We are going to end up coming home with plenty of other souveniers.

me@work

2007-06-23T08:09:00.001+01:00

Very exciting, indeed.

I don't have any pictures of actually doing work. Maybe that says something.

There has been a group of us leaving, so we have been bringing in our cameras to capture our last days. It's been fun to get pictures of the people I have been working with the last 1-2 years.

I don't know why I chose to pose with a milk pitcher and an espresso cup.
Maria and me on her last day.

Nevermind the shiney faces. It was hot and we just finished a rush.

Maria's last day was last week. She is going back home to Spain.

Danny, me, Maria. This again was on Maria's last day.

Josh's leaving do. He recently went back to Canada.

The misty Isle of Skye

2007-06-20T10:00:00.000+01:00

And it is not for no reason that this isle is called misty

As I said in a previous post, we decided at the last minute to do a 3 day tour of Skye. Agian, with Rabbie's Trail Burners. They have really good tour guides! Our guide this time was named Richard and he told stories about Scottish history nearly the entire time. They were all bloody because as he said, there are no nice stories about Scotland.

Our tour was lovely, except for the torrential rains on Thursday, the day we toured the island. But by Thursday afternoon the skies cleared and the sun shone (off and on, and rain off and on). That is why they say 4 seasons in one day in Scotland.

On the tour with us was a group of 5 from Malaysia. We learned on the last day that in that group was a couple on their honeymoon! They were also in the hostel with us, in the same room. Now, it's nice to travel with family, but I couldn't take them on my honeymoon with me.

I don't really remember all of the names of places and the exact sequence of things. It is hard to describe the trip, so I will just let you see some of the pictures and see for yourself how lovely it was. I will try to explain some of the pictures when I get them on flickr. It might not be until tomorrow, though, as I am getting ready for work just now.

Can anybody tell me what this looks like?

Can anybody NOT in Scotland (or the UK for that matter) tell me what this looks like?

Eilean Donan Castle

Kilt Rock

You can't see it here because this is when we had the torrential rains, but this is called kilt rock because of the creases in the rock, which look like a kilt.

Portree (the royal port)

Where we stayed

Neist Point

Glen Coe

Much more foggy this time.

And now, time to go home

2007-06-19T17:18:00.000+01:00

So then, it was time to say good-bye to my parents. I don't have any pictures of us on this day. We had to get up before the sun, so I wasn't about to risk the wrath of those with blood-shot eyes.

It was so nice to have my parents for a visit, and we were so glad that they enjoyed the trip. This was their first flight ever and we were so worried that it would end up being traumatic for them. I am glad they came in April, too. They were thinking of coming in June, but seeing this weather now, I am so glad they came when they did. We have had about 2 partial days of sunshine in the last month!

We got to enjoy a nice sunrise on the bus ride back in to Edinburgh.

Day 6

2007-06-19T16:09:00.000+01:00

I think I must have gotten my days mixed up because I thought the last day was a free day. But anyways, here it is. The last thing we went to see was Rosslyn Chapel. No, I have not read The DiVinci Code. I just know that it is a very ornate chapel and if was high on my dad's list of priorities.

My parents got to enjoy their first ride on the upper deck of the bus. It was here that they saw just how close the busses come together and my mom could not help but panic every time.

Though it was much smaller than I imagined, it was really a lovely chapel. So much work went into the intricate carvings that covered the entire interior. There is so much meaning in the carvings. If you can I suggest reading a bit about it. I couldn't really find any links that went into the detail of the carvings, but here is a start:

http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/roslin/rosslynchapel/

https://www.rosslynchapel.com/htm/architecture.htm

And again, like always, vitis flickr for more pics.

Day 5

2007-06-18T10:16:00.000+01:00

Today was the big, much anticipated tour to the Highlands. We chose to go with Rabbie's Trail Burners (notice the pun, Robert, or Rab Burns is one of their celebrated author's). There are so many touring companies in Edinburgh. We are glad we went with them because the tour was more intimate. Only 15 people to a bus (our tour happened to only have 8).

First of all we had to make a stop at St. Giles to see John Knox's grave. The first time we were there it was hidden under a car. Yep, carpark #23 and a simple unmarked plaque.
So then we hopped in a minibus and headed off to the highlands. It was good doing this with a tour guide. Don't have to worry about maps and figuring out what the road signs really mean. It was especially good in the highlands as the roads are very narrow and twisty.
Our first stop was to visit a beloved heilan' coo (highland cow) named Hamish. He gets so much attention.

My absolute part of everything we saw during this whole week was Glen Coe. It was so stunning and haunting. I wanted so badly to go in and explore some of those hills, but it was only a quick 10 minute stop. Glen Coe will always haunt me.

Other than it's spectacular beauty, Glen Coe is famous for the Glen Coe massacre. We heard of many battles between the clans on our tour (a bloody, bloody history Scotland has), but this one is very well known because the MacDonlands had given highland hospitality to the troops that had slaughtered them. It was an unwritten rule to always provide hospitality to those who came to your door, even if they were an opposing clan, as the Campbells were to the MacDonalds. And in return, those who accepted the hospitality were not to do any harm to their hosts. The weather in the highlands could be very severe so this hospitality could be very vital to the lives of travelers.

We reached our destination: Loch Ness. Our stop on Loch Ness was Fort Augustus. Loch Ness is not just a wee loch. It is 23 miles long. It is the largest loch in Scotland by volume and contains more freshwater than all of England and Wales combined. Though it is only 1 mile wide in some parts, it is very deep. Its deepest point is 754 feet. The depth of the loch leads to many stories about what could be lying at the bottom of the loch. Including Nessie. And look! We even got a peek at her!

Please take a look at flickr for many more stunning photos of our tour.

Remember, there is more than just one page. Click on the little numbers at the bottom of the flickr page to see more pics.

Happy Father's Day!

2007-06-17T15:38:00.000+01:00

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Is Ecover really best?

2007-06-14T13:35:00.001+01:00

When I was on my detox diet I decided to buy some eco-friendly cleaning supplies. I thought that if I was detoxing then I should be aware not only the toxic stuff I digest, but also the stuff that I put in the air and in our clothes. I bought Ecover hand soap, dish soap, multi-purpose cleaner, and laundry detergent and fabric softener. I felt that the laundry stuff was the most important right now as it is what we put in our clothes and our clothes are on us always.

Anyways, I noticed that when I do the dishes or clean the bathroom I have to use twice as much soap or cleaner as I would with the other stuff to get the same results. So I am wondering if this stuff really is more earth-friendly. Will twice as much of the more 'friendly' chemicals do just as much damage as the 'non-friendly'?

I am also wondering how much our footprint will change when we move back to the States. Some things here are sort of forced or automatic. We do not have a car. We do not have a dryer. A lot of shops do not offer you bags or you may have to pay for them. One of our larger grocery stores offers 'points' if you bring in your own bags. And they certainly wont bag it for you! Our heating is hot water and I love that you can put it on a timer to just have it come on once or twice a day for an hour or so.

I know that when we go home we will be driving a lot more. It is just not as easy to walk places as it is here (or take the bus). I will probably still try to do some of my grocery shopping without a car, or try to pick things up on my way here or there. I plan to use my own bags. I am really used to that. I will probably get strange looks when I start to frantically pack my own bags. I'll have to get used to someone else doing it for me again. While I do miss having a dryer, I will probably just use the dryer on a lower setting for a shorter time and air dry the clothes the rest of the way (I am just tired of crunchy clothes, sometimes smelling of mould if they don't dry fast enough). I now have my 'woobie', my beloved hot water bottle. And I drink tea a LOT more, so I will utilise those methods of keeping warm rather than turning the heat up. We will see...

Carboot Sale

2007-06-10T09:47:00.000+01:00

I set up a blog to help sell (or sale) our items off before moving. If you are located in Edinburgh please take a look. If you are not in Edinburgh and are really interested in something I may be able to arrange shipping. I am DESPERATE to get rid of things (though some things are difficult to part with).
http://carbootsale.blogspot.com/

Another move from the 'nanny state'

2007-06-09T08:46:00.000+01:00

Crackdown on middle class wine drinkers
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1884492.ece

This article from the Times says that the government is trying to crack down on excessive drinking. Good on them! I do think there is a problem. I question their motives and the way they are going about it, though. A tax on wine is supposed to curb the drinking of those who sip wine at home, causing health issues, costing the NHS money. And that is just it. 'costing the NHS money.' One of the things you get with universal healthcare (and I love free healthcare, not looking forward to paying for insurance, doctor's visits, prescriptions once we get home) is a lot of laws that are supposed to keep the general public in better health. Hmmm, maybe they should be cracking down on chippies... ;)

It seems to me that a more effective approach would be to crack down on public intoxication. It is not illegal to be publically intoxicated. Last night as we were walking back late from the cinema we had to dodge drunks who were inclined to nearly fall on us as we walked by. Some looked sick and I was worried they would keel over and vomit on my shoes. I told Josh that we were probably one of the few out on the streets who weren't drunk or nearly drunk. And these weren't the drunks on the road that I would have pictured a couple of years ago (dirty, scruffy middle-aged men in flannel shirts and torn jeans, had their licence revoked, live with mom). These were professional 20- and 30-somethings, even teens (it is legal to drink at 16), men and women, a lot of women. There are a lot of fights when people are drunk. I saw a lot of tension between strangers as we walked by. There are very, very strict laws on the weapons you can carry - nothing, really (absolutely no guns allowed ever, no mace, no knives other than a wee non-locking pen knife), but people coming up with their own weapons to do combat with a fellow drunk. They are using broken beer and wine bottles to stab when they can't use a knife.

The article said that they are also going to require labels on bottles and signs in pubs stating the units of alcohol per glass because people are just not aware of how much alcohol is in a drink. I am sorry but people just need to be told that they need to take responsibility for their actions. I laugh at a mental picture of someone throwing up on the curb (there is a LOT of vomit to be dodged on a Saturday, Sunday, or even Monday morning...heck, ANY morning), cursing the pub for not telling them that the amount of alcohol they drank was going to make them drunk. Drinkers ought to be responsible for their own actions, listening to their own bodies and being aware of when they are getting to their limit. Your mind will tell you when you are having too much to keep all of your faculties.

I find that people are very responsible about drink-driving. There is zero tolerance so most people will plan ahead for this. They will walk home, call a taxi, or there will be one designated driver. But beyond this there needs to be more responsibility with how much one drinks and how it will effect their own health and their behaviour in public. I am tired of dodging vomit on the sidewalks.

Ok, that's me done bletherin'

Sometimes they really make you smile

2007-05-31T18:22:00.000+01:00

I have been telling a few of my customers that I will be leaving soon. They frown and say that I will be missed. Two-grande-skimmed-cappuccinos came in today. When I told her about my leaving she stuck her lip out and said, "You are the best cappuccino maker in Edinburgh! What shall I do!?"

Thunder! Could it be?

2007-05-31T16:51:00.000+01:00

I thought I heard a low rumbling noise and thought, "Is that thunder?!" I have only heard thunder a couple of times since we moved here. And I think I have only seen lightening once. I sometimes forget that it exists. So I ran to open our french doors. Sure enough! It is thunder! It sounds like it is many miles away, but it still brings up those memories of sitting on the front porch to watch the rain storms in the summer. I love that fresh smell and the feeling of the cooling mist from the rain.

The thunder is becoming a bit more frequent and the clouds are very gray overhead. Maybe we will get a storm! Naw, it will probably just pass right over.

It is strange what a different view we get from our windows. The windows facing south reveal a very gray, stormy looking sky. Very ominous. The windows facing south show a bright blue sky with fluffy white clouds.

MTA: I just saw lightening and the thunder is getting louder and more distinct! It smells like rain! :) Only, I hope it's not raining in 4 hours when Josh has to walk home.

Rude customer of the month award

2007-05-29T19:46:00.000+01:00

Customer comes in. I was actually in a pretty light-hearted mood for my first day back from holiday. I greeted her with a smile, as I always do, and said, "Hi, there! What can I get for you?" Not smiling or greeting me she says, "I want a coffee." Still smiling I say, "Ok, what size?" Rolling her eyes, shaking her head, and flailing her arms about (clearly this is a tough question) she says, "I don't know! Small!" STILL smiling I say, "Ok, a small drip?" (No, I wasn't calling her that) She says, "Yeah, an americano." For those of you who are not coffee drinkers or those of you who only have YOUR drink and don't know what else exists, an americano is espresso with hot water. So I say, "Oh, you would like an americano?" This is appearantly too much for the customer because she begins convulsing and saying, "Whatever, whatever! I just want coffee! What is it you are talking about!? Just give me coffee!" Uh-oh, I have one more question for her and I am not sure she can handle it. "Are you sitting in or taking away?" She screams at me, "Taking away!" So I give a look to the girl on till and proceed to take a tall cup over to the columbia shuttle (drip coffee).

I start to get the coffee. I hear a customer come in and she greets the rude customer by name. I recognise her voice as tall-single-shot-black-americano-in-a-grande-cup-and-skinny-blueberr-muffin (Yes, that is how we know our customers). After a moment I hear Maria say, "Which kind of muffin?" And she stares Maria down and litterally screams, "I SAID A SKIIIIINNY ONNNNE!" So I stop what I am doing and stare her down. Maria very politely says, "Which kind of skinny one?" and actually starts to list them. She said blueberry so Maria goes to get it. I am still staring at her and she looks at me, then quickly looks down. I am tired of being treated like crap and I am trying to think of what to say to her. Maria is flustered and grabs a plate to put the muffin on. Rude customer is about to pull her hair out and hisses "I SAID I am TAKING AWAY!" Regular customer and I make eye contact and she looks a bit bewildered. She talks to rude customer. Rude customer says she is having a bad morning. This is my cue. I bring her coffee over to her (not including the addition of saliva that I wanted to make) and say, "You ought not to take it out on us. We are just trying to get you what it is you are wanting." She shouts at me saying that she just wanted a skinny muffin. I say that we have several skinny muffins. And she declares herself the winner of this battle by wobbling her head around and shouts, "WELL, I didn't know THAT!!" and turns to regular customer.

Day 4

2007-05-29T16:25:00.000+01:00

Finally, chapter 4 of the story of my parents' visit!

Calton Hill is a lovely place to get great views of the city. The views rival those from Arthur's Seat. Well, it's practically right NEXT to Arthur's Seat, but you don't have to huff and puff your way up there. There is a nice little drive way and we were perfectly happy to take the taxi up.

This is one of the most popular, if not THE most popular views of Edinburgh. Too bad there was still just a wee bit of haar hanging about, but the views were still lovely. My dad was inspired to break out into a photo shoot with my mom. :)

After this we took a wee walk down Prince's Street and over to Prince's Street Gardens. It was such a lovely day and everything was in bloom!

From there we went straight to the Queen's palace, Holyrood to make sure we had plenty of time to see it (we spent too much time in the castle on Friday and they were closing by the time we made it down the Royal Mile). Unfortunately they don't allow pictures inside.

This one was a first for Josh and I. I am not much for wealth and glamour, even if it is the royalty, but I really enjoyed the history. In one of the rooms it is said that one can still see the blood stain that was spilt by David Rizzio, the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots. Here is a brief story of what happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rizzio

I'm not sure I spotted the place of the stain, but I had a good guess.

Outside the palace is Holyrood Abbey, founded by King David I. Here is a link to the story: http://www.marie-stuart.co.uk/Castles/Holyroodhouse.htm

It was lovely to walk the gardens of the palace. I could just imagine myself as a courtier in centuries past.

After the palace we made another trip back up the the castle. The photographer in my dad wanted to get better shots over the walls. No, not with the cannons! Though I had my canon. I am so not funny! Like I said earlier, there was still a wee bit of haze, but the views were WAY better than the white wall we had to look at on Friday.

When we were done in the city we went home to prepare for Sam and Peter. We enjoyed their company for dinner. Sam brought over some amazing puddings for the British experience. If I remember correctly, she made rhurbarb cobbler, Bramley apple cobbler, and chocolate bread and butter pudding. It was yummy! And my dad even tried some! Shocking! I think my parents could have sat up all night just listening to Sam and Peter talk. :)

Again, please, Please, PLEASE hop on over to flickr to see the other pictures. I don't think I am getting much traffic over that way. I am not proud, but I do love pictures and I do like to share the wonderful things that we get to see. There are quite a few pages now of photos from this holiday.

Away a few days

2007-05-22T18:14:00.000+01:00

Not that I have been posting on here very often, but I just wanted to brag..I MEAN let you know that I will be away a few days. We have decided very last minute to use our holiday this week to go on a tour to the Isle of Skye! I am very excited about this. Yeah! See ya later! ;)

MTA: I must tell you how this came about. Josh was at work and I was thinking it would have been really nice to go away somewhere for our holiday. We were planning Stonehaven, but everything was booked up. We were still going to do it for just a day trip, but I was still feeling like I wanted to go away somewhere. Glencoe is the place I REALLY want to go back to. Of course without a car it is a lot more difficult. So I was looking at tours. We took Rabbie's Trail Burners when my parents were here for just a one day tour to the highlands. I highly recommend them if you will be taking a tour in Scotland. So I looked at their longer tours. They had a 3 day tour to Skye. I didn't think they have any spots left for this week at such late notice, so I was trying to think of ways Josh could just get a few days off work to do something.

So I looked at their calender just for the heck of it, and they DID have something for this week. And they left the next day! I didn't think Josh would go for it. It is expensive, too, and we need the money to move. But we might never get to do it again! And really have'nt gotten to see a lot of Scotland.

So Josh comes home. We chat for a few minutes. Kiss and stuff. He brought me flowers! Then I say "Hey, we can do..." and I hesitate to remember what it was I was trying to say. And without hesitating he says, "A 3-day highland tour." I need one of those little emoticons with the eyeballs popping out of it's head. I went over to look at the computer incase I had left up the tour site. Nope. I said, "How did you do that?!" He had been thinking the same thing! So we chatted a bit about it. The pros and cons. If we should wait until our last week when Josh wont be working. I felt that that might be too stressful with last minute things to be done. So we walked up to the Royal Mile to book in person. :)

Let me tell you, tourist season is in full swing here! I don't miss living on the Royal Mile. It was crazy just trying to get anywhere up there. And the AMERICANS!! UGH!! ;)

Anyways, we are looking forward to leaving in a couple of hours now.

31 July

2007-05-21T07:46:00.000+01:00

We will be coming home. Not visiting. We are moving back. We decided that we needed to be with family at this time. I am already going through our things to decide what to take back with us and what to get rid of. It is amazing how much one can accumulate in under 2 years!

An overseas move is a bit more challenging than moving to another city or state. Please pray for us in this transition.

Day 3

2007-05-15T16:45:00.000+01:00

Ok, here I go. I am going to attempt to continue my posts about the Feezor/Bougie holiday.

We hired a car which meant, um, we had to drive it. Josh did a fab job of it last time he drove here when we visited 2 1/2 years ago, so I nominated him. :) As we were driving out of the car park I had to remind Josh that as he makes his left turn, he will hug the curb, rather than crossing traffic. He did great.

We had a little bit of a late start, which made the traffic getting out of Edinburgh very frustrating. We were not aware that they were doing work on the Forth Rd bridge on Saturdays - how would we? We don't drive!

We drove up the coast, nearly to Aberdeen, to a city called Stonehaven. Josh and I happened upon it during our visit to Scotland and thought it was so beautiful. There are very dramatic views of Dunnottar castle ruins and cliffs. The haar from the day before was still lingering, but it was not as bad. You could see it sweeping in from the sea, then back out.

Unfortunately, one thing I had forgotten about was all the stairs to get to the castle. Dad was willing to brave the hike, but mom stayed back with Josh to just enjoy the sun and views. Every so often they spotted us as we were looking through the ruins and we zoomed in on them with our cameras.

I am afraid I do not know much of the history of Dunnottar Castle except that it was impenetrable, due to its possition on the cliff, until Cromwell came in with cannons and did the place in.

As we were leaving we noticed a photo shoot going on with the castle as the backdrop. Lovely background. But then we saw the piper, and then a lady in a white dress was walking up. It was a wedding! Nice! She was carrying her heels because she had to walk down into a ravine and then back up again to get to the groom. As we were leaving the haar started to swallow up the ruins. We were leaving just in time. Not good for the wedding, though!

After the castle we drove over to St. Andrews. We spent a little too much time exploring the castle that we arrived just before the castle and cathedral closed. It was still a lovely day so we just walked through the quaint town, took some pictures of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club (golfers know how important that is!), and enjoyed the scenary of the beach.

Oh, don't forget to look at flickr for LOTS more pictures (as soon as I get them up). Remember that there is more than just one page. It seems that a lot of people are only looking at the first page. Please, browse through them all! I greatly enjoy comments on the pictures (there is something you can click on under the picture to leave a comment) if you can spare a moment.

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T20:53:00.000+01:00

Steph posted about this cool ecard thingy, so I decided to do one for my mom on Mother's Day. Here's mine:

Oops

2007-05-09T15:35:00.000+01:00

Sorry to get your hopes up about another post about my parent's adventures here (I know you are just waiting on pins and needles!!). I remembered some other things I need to get done today. I know it's a bit ambitious, but I was wanting to plan our meals for the next month. I used to plan them for two weeks and it made life easier. No wondering what we are going to have for dinner. I scheduled a grocery delivery for Friday, so I need to get my shopping list in order. I also need to clean.

I would appreciate your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. I will tell you about it later.

The long days of summer

2007-05-09T13:07:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I woke up to find a decent amount of sun peaking through the curtains. I figured it must be about time to get up (I get up at 5:50). I looked at the clock. It was only 4:30!! And the sun rises on the other side of our flat! I love these long days. I just wish I was able to enjoy them right now. Last night I noted that at 10:30 there was still a wee bit of light in the sky. :)

I am going to try to work on my post for "Day 3" soon. Hopefully this afternoon. It's been a rough couple of weeks and I am just shattered.

Day 2

2007-05-05T17:54:00.000+01:00

Now, since our days were so action-packed I wont have room for all of the photos on blogger, so take a look at the rest on flickr. Just give me some time to get the on there. Oh, and many of my pictures from this day were deleated, too, so I am using a lot of my Dad's pictures again.

The day started out looking so gorgeous. The was sunny and warm! We were really debating what we should wear. I was thinking of going without an extra layer. *gasp* But I decided to take a light layer. We were prepared for a little bit cooler than what we thought it would be, as it tends to be a bit cooler on the Mound.

We were heading for the castle! But first we made a stop at Greyfriars Kirk, made famous by Greyfriars Bobby. Rather, a bunch of Americans made Greyfriars Bobby popular with the American tourists, making Greyfriars Kirk a popular destination.

You can see in the first picture how blue the sky was, then notice the drastic difference in the second picture. Usually the weather on the Mound is a bit different. Sometimes foggy when the rest of the city is sunny. That is what we figured was happening, but during the short time we walked around it seemed to be getting foggier and colder.

When were done at Greyfriars we hopped in a taxi so as not to waste any precious energy and shot up to the castle. This was my parents' first taxi ride! I did not realise that or I would have gotten a picture of them, rather than my dad snapping shots of us.

I was disappointed in the fog and I knew my dad would be, too, wanting to get some shots of the great view from the castle. As time went on it was evident that the sea haar was rolling in. Funny because I was telling mom before they came that we probably wouldn't have to worry about the haar as it tends to roll in after a period of warm weather, and it was too early for that warm weather. Well, it had been unseasonably warm, which we were greatful for, but I had forgotten about the possibility of the haar. And not only does it obscure views, it can make a very warm day bloomin' cold!

Cemetary for dogs of soldiers and views of the city...or not.

We stayed for the one o'clock gun, but we had to guzzle some tea and hot chocolate from the cafe to keep warm.

When we were done at the castle we headed down the Royal Mile. We stopped at shops, the Woolen Mill, St. Giles, Wannaburger for a great big bite to eat, and John Knox' house. You will never guess just who we spotted at John Knox' house!!

Our ultimate destination was to be the palace, but we lingered to long at the castle and in the shops. The palace was closed. My mom was ready for more, but fortunately... I MEAN unfortunately things close early here so by 6:00 we had to call it a day. Mom really wore us out. I was ready for bed after dinner!

Josh felt a bit nervous about the next day. He had to drive!

Rough week

2007-05-05T17:01:00.000+01:00

I am so glad it is finally Saturday. On Thursday I seriously thought it was Friday all day long. The week just seemed to go on forever.

I am so tired of working in a place where there is something that either falls apart or is on the brink of falling apart EVERY DAY!! And, I don't know if this is true or not, but I feel like I am the only one that does anything about it. I think my boss pretends like he doesn't notice and leaves it up to me because he knows I will do it. It is nice to be thought of as reliable and getting the job done and such, but it is very draining, too, when I have to do all of these things on top of my everyday job. And I am only there part-time.

We are short staffed at the moment (we are actually chronically short staffed, but right now we are one or two supervisors short, so it effects me more) so I am working more hours. I get teased a lot by my customers because 30 hours is seriously a lot of hours for me. I have a hard time handling much more than 20. It is just physically VERY draining. I am on my feet nearly the whole 8 hours, constantly interacting and being overly cheerful with customers, planning the shift, delegating jobs to my barista, checking the food delivery to make sure we got all of the food we ordered, dealing with whatever is happening in the store that day (deliveries, maintainance, etc), and dealing with whatever suprises are being thrown at me (Deli, the espresso machine isn't working; Deli, we are out of mocha; Deli, the police are asking for you; Deli, Deli, Deli!!!). On top of this I have to do duties each week such at ordering our change for the week (if it hasn't been ordered I have to run to the bank), ordering our supplies for the week, putting away our delivery so I can figure out what I have to order for next week, keep track of our dairy and amend our order accordingly, check on the food order to make sure my boss has done it (good thing I checked this week otherwise they would not have had food for this weekend. HA!). And then I am always running around fixing things, calling maintainance, calling maintainance again to see why they haven't come out for the last 5 work orders, unclocking our ever-clogging ladies toilet, counting how many light bulbs have gone out this week (seriously, bulbs in the country do not last long. We normally have to have about 50 changed every few weeks). We have 2 new baristas so I am training nearly every day, which takes time away from the other duties I need to get done. I am also the resident activist, so there was a time where I was constantly advocating for my baristas just to make sure they got their basic rights such as breaks and holidays.

So this week I had to deal with all of this and more. I was scheduled for 30 hours, which did allow for more time to get my duties done, but also more time for general craziness to occure. My boss (full-time and salaried) is hardly working more hours than me this week and next. We have been having problems with one of our tills and on Thursday it just decided to quit on us. This was a big problem as I really needed the extra till to start training our new baristas. I'm sure it was an ever larger problem today as they normally use both tills throughout the whole weekend. We have new frappaccinos which are a pain in the REAR to make and they are so confusing. They are increasing in popularity and really slowing things down at the bar. It is getting busier, yet we do not have extra coverage to deal with the flow of customers. We had a problem with something which I cannot share here. As always, it was left up to me to deal with it. I called the appropriate company, they scolded me (it wasn't my fault!) and said they would deal with it. Good! Then they called back and said, "Actually, we are not going to deal with it. We think you can get by." When I hung up the phone I bawled from all of the built up stress and tiredness.

I normally get 3 days off over the weekend, but I only have 2 this time and I have to go back for another 4 day week. I am so tired. And Josh is sick, too, so I was trying to take care of him (at which I failed miserably) and I can tell my body is fighting off his cold as well.

So, here's to hoping for a better week next week...

Sorry for the rant

Blogging Against Disablism Day

2007-05-01T16:59:00.000+01:00

My friend Erin posted that today is Blogging Against Disablism Day so I checked it out. Diary of a Goldfish is hosting this and I would like to participate.

I don't have anything inspiring to say. I don't really have any insight as to how we can all band together to fight discrimination againsts folks with disabilities. I just have my own experience as a sister of someone with Down's Syndrome.

My brother, Stevie (um, I guess he likes to be called Stephen now, but I'm still Sissy to him so he's still Stevie to me) is seven years younger than me. When he was born I was told that he was different but I am not really sure how much of it I understood. All I knew was he developed slower than other kids. I am not sure the word 'disabled' was ever used in our house and I never really thought of his as disabled. I was never ashamed of him.

Growing up with him was tough. I did have a hard time understanding why he could get away with things I would have gotten in trouble for, and why I was getting in trouble when he was being so provoking! Of course he did recieve discipline. It was just different and it took him much, much longer to "get it." I remember it took something like a year to get him to stop sticking his tongue out at people. Then there was the finger. Many a driver must have been shocked to see that coming from a wee kid in the back seat! He managed to pick up the worst imaginable habits.

So, as kids we fought quite a lot. He was able to get under my skin so easily. And I will admit that I did provoke him a bit. Even though he made me so angry I would have fought tooth and nail for him. Fortunately I don't recall more than just a couple of incidents where I felt that someone was making fun of him. Once a neighborhood boy who was just trying to get me mad said something about Stevie, so I just yelled at him and told him to get out of my yard.

When I went away to college our relationship transformed into a friendship. On visits home I would drive him around with me to do shopping and such. I bored him to death looking at clothes, but he just wanted to be with me. I always rewarded for his patience him with Taco Bell or a candy bar. I liked having his company.

I don't remember if Stevie took to Josh right away, but when their relationship grew Stevie was fearcely in love with the idea of having a brother. Well, not just any brother. He wanted Josh as his brother. Stevie became more interested in Josh than in me! As our wedding day was approaching he became obsessed with Josh becoming his big brother. When we came back from our honeymoon we went to see him at his bowling tournament. He spotted Josh (and Josh only, even though I was standing there right next to him!), shouted "JOSH!", ran over, gave him a hug, and proceeded to parade him around to his teamates and teachers introducing Josh as his brother. He totally ignored me. :)

Stevie didn't really understand the whole concept of in-laws and such. He thought that we were all a big happy family now and was thrilled to take on Josh's brother and sisters as his siblings, too. He still asks about them when we talk to him on the phone.

While I am sure it was heartwrentching for my parents to find out that their child had Down's Syndrome (which they did not know until they had already held him), I am sure they would say that they would not trade Stevie for anything in the world. He has been such a joy to our lives (yeah, a pain in the butt sometimes, too) and a blessing to those who meet him. He probably doesn't understand why we do not come to visit him anymore, but he still loves us unconditionally and saves coupons to restaurants for us to use the next time we come over. Hopefully we can use some in September. :)

Visit this blog that Erin linked to. Take a browse around. Take a look at some of her posts linked on the sidebar. Especially the story of her acceptance of having a daughter with Down's Syndrome.

Day 1

2007-04-30T14:03:00.000+01:00

Yeah! I finally have my pictures. Unfortunately all of the first days' and part of the second days' pictures were overwritten by photos I took before I realised my pictures were gone. So I will be using my dad's pictures for that.

So, after all of the last minute hoovering, dishes, and general tidying, we hopped on the bus to meet my parents at Edinburgh airport. They ended up being about 25 minutes late. After our hugs the first thing they talked about was Heathrow. :) We have never had to go through Heathrow and we hope we never have to. They said their flight from Chicago was delayed by 1 1/2 hours because of a snow storm. The plane was waiting for a flight to arrive from Texas. This delay caused them to be late for their flight from Heathrow. They were obviously in a rush once they got to customs. The officer took his time chatting with them and looking over their passports. When my parents asked, "Aren't we going to miss our fight?" the officer said, "Probably." Then when they asked someone else, "Will they hold our flight?" (since they remembered that their flight had been delayed waiting for another flight), the person responded, "No, because you flew in on American Airlines. If you flew in on British Airlines they would have waited for you."

Appearantly the travel agent told them they wouldn't have much of a walk at all from the the gate they arrive at to the one they depart from at Heathrow. This was far from the truth. They had to book it from one end of the airport to the other. Thankfully their flight was delayed and they made it just a few minutes before take off.

Other than that, they loved the flight. My dad even took some video of take-off and landing. He loved that part. That is the part of the flight I dislike the most. We are so glad that their first experience flying was a good experience (other than Heathrow).

After all of that we knew we would have to try to keep them up as long as possible, otherwise they would never get on our time schedule. So after the initial resting up and opening their suitcases full of goodies for us, we took them on a walk around our neighborhood.

It was such a lovely day. We walked down the River Leith. This is one of our favourite places to walk. We took them to explore a bit of Dean Village.

And my dad got his first photo of a red phone booth. :)

Josh was pretty tired by this time so we had to stop and rest so he could catch his breath.

Mom does not look like she just survived a long flight and a quick jog through the airport, does she?

On our way home we had to stop by my place of work. Ya know, just so they could see where I work. Ok, we got a little treat, too. :)

We went back home to get some dinner, but first my dad wanted to take a wee kip. It ended up being a not-so-wee kip as he slept through the rest of the evening. He woke up for a couple of hours just as we were going to bed, but then slept through the night.

While mom was still up Josh ran out to the chippie for some good ol' Scottish food. He brought back some battered and fried sausages, battered and fried hamburgers, and of course, some chips. We all tried Branston pickle for the first time. We decided that it had a good flavour and would have been good without the chunks of vegetable. We couldn't stand much more than a bite of it. Sam happily took it off our hands the next time we saw her. :)

Google satellite

2007-04-27T17:59:00.000+01:00

I was wanting to share this. Have you ever looked at the satellite images on Google maps? Just go to google.com. Click on maps. To the left is a button for satellite. It will come up with a satellite image of North America. You can just zoom in and zoom out or type in a certain address. I could see the top of my parents' house! :) I think the area we live in looks pretty cool from the sky. The design of the roads is well, sort of boring yet interesting. It is boring especially if you are on the ground because everything looks the same, but it is interesting because...it's Edinburgh! So if you know where I live, type in the road and see what my neighborhood looks like.

Also, here's a fun little excersise that someone gave me (was it you, Casey?). Go to directions. Type in London, UK to NY, NY. Scroll down and look at #37. Too funny!

Jealousy

2007-04-27T17:27:00.000+01:00

It's difficult for me not to be jealous or discontent. Imagine that! I have had the opportunity to do something that not many folks get to do. I am living in another country, a beautiful one at that! There might be people who are jealous of ME! While I do really like it here - sometimes love, sometimes just feel fondly towards :) - I do get tired of being a transient. I am looking forward to finally putting down some roots - getting our own place, having some property where I can have a garden to sit outside and have a place to barbecue, establishing ourselves in a community, and not have to think that I am going to be leaving whatever friends I make in 1, 2, 3, 4 years.

I was thinking of what my friend Erin said in one of her comments on her blog that she has to forcus on the positives of wherever they live. I really need to do that more often because there are SO many positives here. Many negatives, too, but I should stop focusing on them. I mean, really. Look at how beautiful this place it!

My dad's picture

And how cool that we used to live literally 100 yards from a castle! (Well, from the esplenade)

Dad's picture again

And I get to hear that Scottish accent that all you Americans drool over EVERY DAY! Believe me, you get used to it. I hardly notice it anymore.

I hope to get my pictures soon so I can share more positives about this country.

A walk in the park

2007-04-26T16:18:00.000+01:00

The day before yesterday Josh and I took a lovely walk to the botanics. The weather was so wonderful and everything was in bloom. It smelled so nice. It is such a treat to enjoy a bit of nature when you are living in the city, even if it is manicured.

We brought bread for the ducks and peanuts for the squirrels. The ducks are overfed right now. They were not that interested in our bread (even though it was homebaked!). The squirrels are not shy. They are so accustomed to being fed that if you stand in one spot they think you are about to feed them. They run right up to you. If you are rustling a bag, now, you better stand back! Once we heard on running about in some bushes. Josh rustled my bag of peanuts and out he popped from the bushes! Some of them will even take a peanut right from your hand. I am too chicken. I usually drop it as soon as they are close enough. Some of them were greedy. Once they got the first peanut well secured in their cheeks they would wait around for a second one. :) I got a quick video of feeding one squirrel, but for some reason I can upload it to youtube. Will have to figure that one out.

Join!

2007-04-25T15:24:00.000+01:00

Facebook. Here's mine. I also have it in my website list to the left. I head about it for the first time from my friend Josh (former co-worker who deserted us for Egypt and is going back home to Canada soon). Then Emma finally sucked me in by inviting me to her facebook. I can't remember, but I think you have to sign up in order to view someone's page, but it's a lot of fun. You will never imagine some of the people you can find on there! It will even automatically send an invite to the people in your address book who are already members, then they confirm the invite and you are friends!

I know, I know, like you need another site to keep you on the internet (that is just what I was thinking), but this is a great way to keep in touch with people in a rather non-committal way. You don't have to make posts all the time like on a blog. You can leave a quick message for someone on their "wall." You can add your work and school details and it will let you know who else from your college or place of employment are members. Cool!

Sign up and add me as your friend. Then I can finally see what you are up to rather than just knowing you are lurking on my blog and not leaving comments! :)

Oh, and if you are from American Expats just let me know who you are because I may not connect the name and the screen name. I don't want to just add any old weirdo as a friend. Just the expat ones. ;)

Annoying

2007-04-23T20:08:00.000+01:00

Why do I have to sign up for a Google account every single time I want to leave a comment on a blog? At first I just had to sign into my dashboard (twice), but now that doesn't even work!

New Layout

2007-04-21T23:17:00.000+01:00

A few weeks back when I tried to add a link to my sidebar, everything disappeared. I was so annoyed and I cannot figure out how to get them back. So I took this opportunity to choose a new layout, though I still like the old one. I wasn't really happy with any of the ones I had to choose from. If anyone would like to voluteer their services to create a fun layout for me I'll, um, I'll think of something. :)

I am still in the process of adding my links. I will probably leave some out and add some new.

Make absolutely certain

2007-04-21T16:15:00.000+01:00

I'm sure we have all had those times where the cashier gives us our change and we say, "Oh, but I gave you a X." Well, I make a lot of precausions to avoid that from happening. When I am given a note I lay it down in front of me, on top of the till, until I am done giving the change. Also I say "out of." So if they ordered a grande latte I would say, "That is 2.25 out of 10."

So I was serving a lady today, doing all of these things as usual, but of course she waits until I put the money away to say, "I gave you a 20." I was pretty certain she didn't, but I looked in the spot where I place my 20s and 10s. There was a 20, but there were a few 10s on the top. I told her this, but she kept insisting, saying that she knows it was a 20 because her husband gave it to her. So I grudgingly give her an extra 10. BIG MISTAKE!!! I know that I should not have done that, but it was so busy, there was a queue going to the door and I figured I would not be able to take the time to take my till downstairs to count it. I served the next person, then consulted my coworker. The lady was sitting in, so I still had time. He told me to count my till. He would cover for me.

I took my till downstairs and counted it. Sure enough I was £10 down. I consulted my coworker again just to make sure I was figuring it right. I went to the lady, apologised, and said that I had counted my till and it was now £10 short. She huffed and puffed and rolled her eyes (she was a bit snippy to begin with, couldn't believe that we didn't have a microwave to heat up our croissants with). She said she was going to call her husband because he gave her the money, then she would come over to me.

So I had to cover bar. Ten minutes later she had not come back to me, so I went to her. She said that her husband told her that he did give her a 20, but since she didn't want to dispute it she would give me the 10 back. I then went downstairs and had a good cry. I guess it really stressed me out.

It seems that I have been in the habit of giving change too quickly and giving 10s rather than 5s lately. This is really silly on my part because the bills are different sizes and colors. This means my till has been £5 short a few times and is starting to look suspicious. I caught it once when I glanced up as a guy was putting the note into his wallet. I saw the color and said, "Oh, did I give you a 10?" Without even looking at it he said, "Yes." My heart dropped and I thought, 'this guy knew I had given him too much change and did not even say anything.' So, as a cashier I am pleading with you, please make sure you know what you are giving the till operator and check to make sure they have given you the correct change.

And another thing, make sure you get YOUR drink. When it is busy and customers are in a rush, sometimes they will just come over and grab the first drink that appears on the bar, even if there are other customers before them. If I have a suspicion that it might not be their drink I will repeat it and they will nod and take it anyways.

Today a lady came over and grabbed the venti skimmed latte I just put on the bar. I had a feeling it wasn't hers. I made the next drink, a decaf grande latte. I put that on the bar and the poor guys standing there said, "I think that lady took my drink." I said, "Well, she is going to be suprised because she ordered a decaf, and that is not what she got." See, I clearly called the drink out, she was standing right in front of me, and it was a different size. I don't get it!

And this leads to another thing. Decaf coffee. I have heard people complain several times that they ordered a decaf and were sure it was not because they were so perky afterwards. First of all, make sure you get YOUR drink! :) Secondly, decaf is not caffeine-free. They are not able to get all of the caffeine out of the bean so there IS still just a wee bit in there. For some who are sensitive, it may effect you. Thirdly, yeah, there is the chance that they did not give you decaf. If you are getting your drink at Starbucks and they call your drink out but you did not hear "decaf" don't be afraid to ask. It is such a habit for me to hit the regular button, that I have to think hard to make sure I hit the decaf one. If I am not absolutely certain which I hit, I will remake the drink. I understand how important it can be to some people to have decaf rather than regular. Not all are this careful so just double-check. I try not to get annoyed with the customer who asks, "Is it decaf?" after I have clearly called it out as decaf. :)

On Hold

2007-04-20T16:51:00.000+01:00

It was a good week. We had a very nice visit from my parents. We were concerned that we would wear them out, but it was the other way around! I think I am finally recovered.

I had a great disappointment on Tuesday. I had all of the pictures from the whole week on my memory card. When I went to put them on the computer I found that I only had 35 pictures. I knew that I had taken about 250. I was totally gutted. They somehow just disappeared. My dad had taken about a million pictures, but I still wanted mine. They showed the trip from my perspective. Well, my dad told me that he would take the card home and try to recover the pictures. I didn't count on it because I didn't want to get my hopes up. But guess what? He did! So they are sending us a cd of my pictures. I will have to wait until then to post about the holiday because I just can't do it without the pictures.

So just hold on! Hopefully sometime next week I can show you what we did. But I will say that I am enjoying with wonderful American goodies they brought with them. :)

Today

2007-04-12T07:40:00.000+01:00

We are picking my parents up from the airport in just 2 1/2hours. I am so curious about how their flights went. This is the first time ever that they have flown. Good for them for going through such an adventure later in life!

Queen's English

We were chatting with our friend Brett from American Expats. He teaches English as a second language. He was saying how it is funny that he is an American in Scotland teaching the Queen's English. When he is teaching a word that ends with 'er' he is to pronouce it like ə (however would be pronounced howev-uh). And then we were talking about how it's funny that they just seem to switch their er's and a's at the ends of words because if a word ends in 'a' it is pronounced with an 'er' and the end of it (Emma is pronounced Emmer)

New Blog

2007-04-02T19:48:00.000+01:00

My friend recently succumbed to the blogging craze and started a blog herself. It's a great way to keep in touch with people, especially as an expat, as she has been for a few years now.

I first met Erin online on American Expats before we moved to Edinburgh. She and her husband and their little girl were living in Edinburgh. He husband was studying at New College, where Josh was at the time planning to study (and has now finished his degree). They lived in Evanston before their move and had similar backgrounds to us. I thought "How strange!" Erin was such a huge help, allowing me to email her and ask all kinds of silly questions about Edinburgh and student housing. They invited us over for dinner our second night after our move to Edinburgh. It was so nice to already have a contact over here and to meet them. It was also very convenient because earlier that day I broke down crying because our oven did not work (well, it was all of the emotions of the move, time change, everything).

Now Erin, Eric, Kate and their newest addition, Will live in a prairie town in Canada. Erin plans to post about life in Canada and parenting (a passion of hers). Go visit her blog. She has a lot of insightful posts on our forum. I am looking forward to reading more on her blog.