Oh boy I'm sick and tired of horrible weekends! I didn't want to leave the house yesterday because it was to rainy and windy all day. And today I can't leave the house because I'm prepping for my colonoscopy tomorrow. For anyone who has been through the process, you'll understand. For those unfamiliar with the process, trust me, you'd rather not know the details.
I wish the weather would perk up so we could spend more time outside. I think we're just going to have to get used to being wet outside. It's either that or we never go outside... Oh well, it's not all bad. I was going through my videos today and I did manage to get the family out in our garden for some yard work and playing. I planted tons of bulbs and some poppy seeds, so come springtime it should be pretty out there.
Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow goes well for me. There are some ways that the medical system here is better than the states. But for major stuff, I think I'd still go back home... that is if I had insurance. (which I wouldn't unless I had a good job) I'm a bit scared about the whole process here and not getting enough drugs to knock me out. Ah well, I will survive.
Sunday, 26 October 2008
Friday, 24 October 2008
I'm cold!
Yup, that's about all. I am really cold, but refuse to turn on the heater when it's right before bedtime... Perhaps I ought to just get in bed.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Who can blog when there's driving to be done?
Yes, that's right... I am now officially legal to drive forever in the UK!!!!! Well, I'm not sure about the forever part of it, but I did manage to pass my driving test the first time. Now, all of you Americans will think that's no major feat, but let me tell you the driving test here is rediculously stringent and the fail rate is like 60% in most places. Simon failed his first test, so I was nervous. But after hundreds of pounds worth of driving lessons, it paid off and I passes straight away. I totally could have been failed, but the guy was really nice and turned a blind eye to a few things and scored them as minor faults instad of major faults which mean you fail.
We haven't really been able to take full advantage of my new driving situation because I was sick two weeks ago and this past weekend we had a nursery fiasco.... The fiasco was that it was closed on Friday for staff training. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been a problem, but neither Simon nor I knew about it, so he went to drop Marius off - right before he was due at the train station to take a trian up to St. Andrews where his friend would pick him up and drive another hour and a half up into the woods to conduct a weekend field trip. Ugh, Simon called me and I had no clue why the nursery had its light off and doors locked. After many frantic calls to my nursery and their corporate office, I was finally informed of this training... I guess they had fliers up on the walls, but they also have about 10,000 other pieces of paper and crap all over the walls, so how was I supposed to know which ones I should read? Anyhow, they credited me with a day, so I saved about $100. But the end result was that I had to drive Simon up to this woodsy lodge after work on Friday. So we took a 2.5 hour drive in the dark and rain. If the motorways here were as well lit as in the US, it wouldn't have been any trouble, but it's really hard to see at night on the roads here so by the time we go up to the lodge, I didn't want to do any more driving. But, of course there were no extra rooms, so I shared a twin room with Simon, our friend Mike who works at St. Andrew's University, and Marius. It was a closet of a room, so needless to say it was quite cramped. Then I drove back home Sat and had the rest of the weekend to myself as Simon was still up in the woods. Oh well, perhaps this weekend we'll get out and take a hike somewhere. I'm dying to start roaming in the countryside again. Although the days are getting really short now and it's totally cold, but better that than staying inside for the rest of my life I suppose.
That's about all. There is no resolution on the roof... I think I will have to pay 50% of the cost with my downstairs neighbor, and he thinks the whole building will have to share the cost... How to resolve that, I'm not sure, but I've been ingnoring the issue. I need to invite him up here with his wife so we can site down with a glass of wine and look at the deeds to see what's what. But, the house is a mess so I've put it off. The house is always a mess though... so I should just go down and have a chat anyhow. Oh well, I'm tired of thinking about it. I just wish I could get it done myself and not organize some sort of communal payment. What a pain in the backside!
We haven't really been able to take full advantage of my new driving situation because I was sick two weeks ago and this past weekend we had a nursery fiasco.... The fiasco was that it was closed on Friday for staff training. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been a problem, but neither Simon nor I knew about it, so he went to drop Marius off - right before he was due at the train station to take a trian up to St. Andrews where his friend would pick him up and drive another hour and a half up into the woods to conduct a weekend field trip. Ugh, Simon called me and I had no clue why the nursery had its light off and doors locked. After many frantic calls to my nursery and their corporate office, I was finally informed of this training... I guess they had fliers up on the walls, but they also have about 10,000 other pieces of paper and crap all over the walls, so how was I supposed to know which ones I should read? Anyhow, they credited me with a day, so I saved about $100. But the end result was that I had to drive Simon up to this woodsy lodge after work on Friday. So we took a 2.5 hour drive in the dark and rain. If the motorways here were as well lit as in the US, it wouldn't have been any trouble, but it's really hard to see at night on the roads here so by the time we go up to the lodge, I didn't want to do any more driving. But, of course there were no extra rooms, so I shared a twin room with Simon, our friend Mike who works at St. Andrew's University, and Marius. It was a closet of a room, so needless to say it was quite cramped. Then I drove back home Sat and had the rest of the weekend to myself as Simon was still up in the woods. Oh well, perhaps this weekend we'll get out and take a hike somewhere. I'm dying to start roaming in the countryside again. Although the days are getting really short now and it's totally cold, but better that than staying inside for the rest of my life I suppose.
That's about all. There is no resolution on the roof... I think I will have to pay 50% of the cost with my downstairs neighbor, and he thinks the whole building will have to share the cost... How to resolve that, I'm not sure, but I've been ingnoring the issue. I need to invite him up here with his wife so we can site down with a glass of wine and look at the deeds to see what's what. But, the house is a mess so I've put it off. The house is always a mess though... so I should just go down and have a chat anyhow. Oh well, I'm tired of thinking about it. I just wish I could get it done myself and not organize some sort of communal payment. What a pain in the backside!
Saturday, 4 October 2008
Busting out the jackets and blankets
It's official, the temperature has dropped into the single digits (Celsius) and there's no going back I'm afraid. The days are really short now and getting shorter with each passing of the sun. I've succumbed to turning the radiators on daily and have packed up my clothes drying rack as a result. My slippers have come out of the closet and the trees are turning yellow. I'm still half hoping for a Santa Ana to blow its way across the hemisphere so I can finally wear some sandals. But alas, this is Scotland. I just need to suck it up, buy a pair of fancy wellies (wellington boots - aka rubber boots) and lots of trendy tights to spice up my wardrobe. I think I'll get the boots here, but other than that, I'm waiting until we go home for Christmas to go on a minor shopping spree. I figure I've literally only bought two pairs of jeans since moving out here a year and a half ago, so I deserve the spree. Plus, I guess it's my American duty to throw my IRS check down the drain at the mall. Credit crunch be gone! I'll pump up the economy myself by buying lots of stuff!
But before we head over to Lala land, I've got lots of things to tidy up here. Like our roof and fireplace situation. I noticed a water damage spot growing on my bedroom ceiling in late August, so called several roofers to get a quote to fix the problem. But, I've gotten different responses from each roofer. Varying from the need to replace our entire roof (two of them actually said that!) to repointing (that's british for regrouting the stones/bricks) the chimney (all of them have said that) to just punching a hole in the fireplace myself to vent it. I am going to get one more roofer's opinion, and this one was a strong recommendation from an architect friend before making any decisions. But it's been over a month now, and I'd like to get some resolution, as I've already had chats with my neighbors in the building since they'd all pay a share of the cost... What a pain. But I hope it'll all be over soon. Then I can focus on getting a fireplace put into our front room, as I've given up the hope that I'd actually sledge out the bricks myself and install one. I really think this work can be done in the next 2 months so we can go away and not have to worry so much. Then when we come back it'll be time to focus on the bathroom remodel. I really want that done before my parents come out in May. I don't think my dad would be too happy with taking a bath! But I suppose he'd manage somehow!!!
Other than that, work is going really well. My contract was extended to the end of November, and I'm really starting to enjoy it and feel confident about my performance there. Hopefully something more permanent will pop up in the new year, but for now I'm just happy to have gotten back into a work routine and settled Marius into nursery. Simon's work is going really well too. He's working on a paper that will be submitted to Nature, and he's the third of about 5 or 6 authors! Keep your fingers crossed that it'll be accepted! The other authors are famous and have tons of Nature papers already, and the work is rather sexy, as science goes, so that will for sure help the chances.
Here's another gratuitous pic of the boys!
But before we head over to Lala land, I've got lots of things to tidy up here. Like our roof and fireplace situation. I noticed a water damage spot growing on my bedroom ceiling in late August, so called several roofers to get a quote to fix the problem. But, I've gotten different responses from each roofer. Varying from the need to replace our entire roof (two of them actually said that!) to repointing (that's british for regrouting the stones/bricks) the chimney (all of them have said that) to just punching a hole in the fireplace myself to vent it. I am going to get one more roofer's opinion, and this one was a strong recommendation from an architect friend before making any decisions. But it's been over a month now, and I'd like to get some resolution, as I've already had chats with my neighbors in the building since they'd all pay a share of the cost... What a pain. But I hope it'll all be over soon. Then I can focus on getting a fireplace put into our front room, as I've given up the hope that I'd actually sledge out the bricks myself and install one. I really think this work can be done in the next 2 months so we can go away and not have to worry so much. Then when we come back it'll be time to focus on the bathroom remodel. I really want that done before my parents come out in May. I don't think my dad would be too happy with taking a bath! But I suppose he'd manage somehow!!!
Other than that, work is going really well. My contract was extended to the end of November, and I'm really starting to enjoy it and feel confident about my performance there. Hopefully something more permanent will pop up in the new year, but for now I'm just happy to have gotten back into a work routine and settled Marius into nursery. Simon's work is going really well too. He's working on a paper that will be submitted to Nature, and he's the third of about 5 or 6 authors! Keep your fingers crossed that it'll be accepted! The other authors are famous and have tons of Nature papers already, and the work is rather sexy, as science goes, so that will for sure help the chances.
Here's another gratuitous pic of the boys!
Sunday, 21 September 2008
Where did my summer go?
That's the question everyone in Scotland is saying. Why you might ask? Well, let's just say it was above 75 degrees about three times the whole summer. And we never had a week go by without at least 3 days of rain thrown in the mix. This summer was the wettest on record. That's what everyone told me last summer, so I was half hoping that this one would be different. Oh well, that's climate change for you. All of the scientists said that Scotland, and indeed the UK as a will be getting more rain as a result, but it'll come in larger chunks, so we can expect more flooding with a drought or two during the non-rainy season. This country has never had a non-rainy season, so water conservation is absolutely unheard of here. They'll be in for a big surprise when pretty soon Earth's climate really starts taking a turn for the worse. But we don't need to worry about that, because the Republican party will just pray to God for a miracle right? And if the entire country of Bangladesh drowns and dies, then well, I suppose it'll be because they didn't convert to some crazy evangelical form of Christianity and we'll have another minor Noah's flood. I'm sure that'll be mentioned by some nimrod in the next 25 years....
Oh, I'm not even living in North America any more and already I'm livid about this election! I would probably be so angry I'd just spontaneously combust if I were still in Tennessee. It's far too cold and rainy here for that to happen though!
Anywho. Work has been going really well. I am enjoying it, and will be a bit bummed when my very short term contract is up. At the very least it's been good to meet people in the field and get back into the swing of things. Plus Marius is starting to really enjoy nursery, so that's good. Although we can't afford to keep him there if I'm not working... So after my long Californian Christmas, I might have to really kick my job hunting into full swing and actually blast my resume out there. We'll see though.
Marius is totally turning into a British kid! He says Nee-Nar for his emergency vehicle sirens! Here's a video of him saying it. It's too cute! What next I wonder? Hiya instead of Hello? Mum instead of Mom?
Friday, 5 September 2008
I can't resist this one...
OK, so I know this is really just supposed to be all about the family and whatnot. BUT.... This is really too good not to share. And hopefully all of you Bill O'Reilly loving people out there (uh hmm, Mom and Dad) will start to listen to him with just a wee bit more attention and hopefully some critisism. You should listen to all opinion shows with critisism anyhow... But that's another blog entry for another day.
And for some pure good kid fun. Here's a lovely video of Marius loving his cousins!
And for some pure good kid fun. Here's a lovely video of Marius loving his cousins!
Monday, 11 August 2008
First day of nursery and work
Well, today Simon dropped Marius off at his nursery, and I went into work for the first time in 18 months! It was really nice to be back in an office again. I'm still just getting my head around my projects and trying to figure out what I need to start doing. But it is interesting work, and it's nothing too complicated, just a lot of keeping people on track. It'll be easier than getting Simon to do the laundry!!!!
Marius had a little cry when Simon dropped him off, and again when he had to go inside after lunch, and again when he was going down for a nap. But that's not too bad for the day. We get a little piece of paper with the list of things he did and ate, and it said he had a "fab" day playing with "goo." I'm not sure what that is, but when I took off his socks to put him in the bath, he had something yellow on his entire foot. I think he got a marker on his foot, but why the whole foot, I'm not sure?
The poor boy got what looked like an insect bite on his face on Friday. Then he had more later than night and again on Saturday and Sunday. Last night we figured they were hives, and today I got a call from the nursery saying that he had red bumps on his back. I will try to call the Dr tomorrow to see if he can be seen, but I'm sure it's not a bug, as they come and go pretty quickly for the most part, and we washed everything in his room, plus if it were a bug, I'd have gotten bit too. It's strange... we didn't change any soaps. I think it may have been due to lunch meat or Indian take out we had on Friday night, but then again, he had one of the bumps before the Indian food on Friday.... hmmmm mysterious, and a little frustrating, as I want to know what is triggering these mystery hives. It seems to be a little bit more common when he's upset, but he still has a few of them through out the day when he's totally fine too.
Oh, we had a blast with Paula and the family. I cried when they left.... Four days was WAY too short. Marius loved playing with his Uncle Ian and the kids. And I'm sure the feeling was mutual. It was really nice to see them all playing together. I can't wait for them to come back again next year. It should be fun!
Marius had a little cry when Simon dropped him off, and again when he had to go inside after lunch, and again when he was going down for a nap. But that's not too bad for the day. We get a little piece of paper with the list of things he did and ate, and it said he had a "fab" day playing with "goo." I'm not sure what that is, but when I took off his socks to put him in the bath, he had something yellow on his entire foot. I think he got a marker on his foot, but why the whole foot, I'm not sure?
The poor boy got what looked like an insect bite on his face on Friday. Then he had more later than night and again on Saturday and Sunday. Last night we figured they were hives, and today I got a call from the nursery saying that he had red bumps on his back. I will try to call the Dr tomorrow to see if he can be seen, but I'm sure it's not a bug, as they come and go pretty quickly for the most part, and we washed everything in his room, plus if it were a bug, I'd have gotten bit too. It's strange... we didn't change any soaps. I think it may have been due to lunch meat or Indian take out we had on Friday night, but then again, he had one of the bumps before the Indian food on Friday.... hmmmm mysterious, and a little frustrating, as I want to know what is triggering these mystery hives. It seems to be a little bit more common when he's upset, but he still has a few of them through out the day when he's totally fine too.
Oh, we had a blast with Paula and the family. I cried when they left.... Four days was WAY too short. Marius loved playing with his Uncle Ian and the kids. And I'm sure the feeling was mutual. It was really nice to see them all playing together. I can't wait for them to come back again next year. It should be fun!
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