3.

Oh hey! 3 posts in one hour. When you're on a roll...you stop eventually. This is my eventually for today.

On day three in Scotland we went to Loch Lomond (loch = lake) and climbed Ben Lomond (...a hill. I prefer to think of it is mini-mountain, but whatever). It. was. BEAUTIFUL. The fellowship, the scenery...oh gosh, it was lovely! It was so pleasant being with our friends and one another (good, good people.). I got some of my favorite people pics here, and they are on FB. Here are a few scenic ones...

This was part of the climb. TOMS are just not made for that sort of climb...at least mine were not. I fell once (not here, praise the Lord). Fortunately it was just in mud and my shoes and jeans took the brunt of it (instead of my camera or sweater).

Scotland recap continued

Oh how ambitious I was when I started my Scotland recap. We'll see how many days I can blog about. The blogging took a hit when I went house-sitting and my internet didn't play friendly and I couldn't get on. I think I was feeling very "bloggy" a couple weeks ago, and now I'm dozing off most nights at 9:00 p.m. Woo. Hoo. (And, I have some good recent things to blog on, friend visits, grilled peaches...) But back to Scotland. Woo hoo!

Moving along quickly...

Church was Sunday. Church was awesome, being with our family across the pond. Afterwards we picnicked inside (when the Scots say it's unseasonably cold for them, you know its cold) and went for a stroll around the nearby glen (park). LOVELY! And then back for tea (dinner) and resting (it did not get dark till around 10/11:00 p.m. and I was definitely thrown off a wee bit by that).

(Pictures from the glen)

Vintage find!

I am fairly sure I have mentioned that I LOVE working in downtown Athens. The perks are awesome. I'm within (easy) walking distance of a post office, my bank, Starbucks, lunch spots, the farmer's market on Tuesdsays...I could go on. Very close to work is a vintage clothing shop that has had 50% off signs on its windows for a few days. I kept thinking to myself that I should stop by, but never did. Then, one morning this week I commented on boss-ladies earrings who said they were from the vintage shop across the street and that her husband got them for 75% off. SEVENTY-FIVE % off. It took all of my will-power to not run from her office into the store. Instead, I said, "ooh! I want to go! Want to go at lunch with me?"

10 hours later (well, more like 2, but hey, I was excited) a few of us set off. I dove whole-heartedly into the dress rack (if you've met me you understand) and I emerged with a win. Vintage, early-early 80's. Navy blue with white bits. Fun neckline. High-waist. Drawbacks...100% polyester and shoulder pads. However, it was cute and about $4 so I was sold. I got home and washed it immediately so I could wear it to work Thursday (I was kind of hoping that at our senior's lunch I'd get a "I used to have that dress" from one of the older ladies). Did I mention it was polyester though? I put it on and immediately felt like I was suffocating. And was burning up. I liked it, but it won't be pulled out again till maybe November.

Here it is:

I came in wearing sling-back camel-colored heels with this, but they made it all of 10 minutes before I started running around. And this is Katherine! She and I were hired at almost the same time last year. She's awesome! In addition to our cute dresses, we're also modeling the office trend of wearing the same colors. It happens pretty frequently, and is usually a good laugh when we come in and see that it's happened. It's awkward though, when boss-man and I wear something similar (it happened once, and that was enough. Who knew green stripes were so common?).

Scotland Recap, Round One of Nine/Ten/Eleven

Scotland Recap, Round One of Nine/Ten/Eleven? What sort of title is that? Well, I've tried counting the days and I cannot figure out how many posts to make (or dual posts/etc.) A far more accurate title would be "round one of of number to be determined." Instead of a long post of "this is what I saw" and "this is what I did" and "this is what I learned" etc. (which those are lovely, BTW) I'm shortening it up a wee-bit and posting a story per day.

TRAVEL DAY(s)

Brookie-bell said it best when she was taking me to the drop-off spot "breathe." I had to work before leaving that evening and it was a mad day at the office (yes, I will be interspersing as many U.K. terms as possible into these blog posts, thankyou) as I finished up making arrangements for while I was gone. I ended up leaving late (which was no good since I got off at 5 and had to be being dropped off at 5:30) and had to finish packing a few bits and pieces at home. One of my most distinct memories (other than crying in my office at around 1:00 p.m. because I was freaking out about not finishing my work) is sailing through the air as I tripped when I tried on the TOMS my flat-mate had picked up for me. Regardless, the team all got to the airport with passports and luggage in hand, got on a plane, and had a (blissful) night flight across the pond.

(Have I mentioned in prior blogs how much I love the people I was traveling with?)

In Amsterdam after cruising around the airport for a while (and getting an overpriced mocha) we got settled in for our "city-hop" flight to Edinburough. Here is where I pulled out my camera for the first time and tried out the awesome lens a friend lent me.

Wee!

And then we were there! We got through customs (praise the Lord!) and met our new Scottish friends! We had lunch at the church (and encountered Scottish scones. Oh. My.) with people of D-Link and then headed off to our host homes. I stayed with the most lovely mother and daughter...it was great! I travel well and had been feeling fine during the flights, reading my book, chatting, but I conked out during lunch. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open (apparently somethings never change, regardless of what side of the ocean I'm on). And the next day was...

Forgot to post.

I started this a while back and never posted it. All of these stories are from last week (for date's sake):

Sometimes when I tell stories at work I wonder if they think I drink a lot (I definitely do not). What makes me say this comment? Well, because I share (true) stories like this..."this weekend I was house-sitting and when I tried to stand up while putting something away I slammed my head into a door-frame and now I have an egg on my head." I mean, honestly?! Even while I was doubled-over after the slamming incident I thought to myself, "how does this happen?!" (Editor's note...I still have a soft spot on my head)

Today at work we had an exceptionally monotonous work meeting. I was fighting with everything in me to stay awake. I went into the meeting feeling drained so I strategically sat myself where the facilitator wouldn't see me and my staying awake antics, but my colleague I sat next to definitely did, asking at one point "you tired?" (Editor's note...this happened again. Today. But this time we got to watch a movie on databases on a big screen. It's the first time I've been to a "movie" in 13 months. Moving on...)

I read a lot of Harry Potter over the 3-day weekend. That, coupled with my recent trip to Scotland was exponentially increased my use of U.K. English day-to-day. My favorite example from today was when I was typing to someone and almost used the word "mollify." (EN...I am still using U.K. spellings occasionally. And I love it. At church on Sunday we had Scottish visitors and when I asked one of the children if they liked rice krispies treats she said, "well I'm not particularly soaked on them." That phrase WILL be making it into day-to-day conversation.

Summer takes a hit.

I love summer. The sun, water, fresh fruits and veggies at reasonable prices, relaxed atmosphere, lightning bugs...it's all good. It's summer! I love it!

But as I've been enjoying these first few days of Georgia-summer, I'm also getting over summer time woes. Yesterday when I went to the pool at 1:00 (yes I know the worst time, but I had lost time to make up for) I realized I was low on sunscreen and didn't bother to put any on my legs...let's just say running this morning with sunburned knees and feet is an experience I'm not aiming to replicate anytime soon. I grabbed more sunscreen before going out today, and then I was chased away by storm clouds in about 20 minutes. Anh.

And, I think I have swimmer's ear?!?! Maybe...? I'm currently deaf in my left ear and my throat feels odd. I don't know.

I'm not deterred from my affection for summer though, and I can't wait for some summer-time here:

Yay July! Happy Summer!

a tale of 2 watermelons

For about a week I have stared at my blogger dashboard seeing that this was going to be my 200th post and I wanted to do something "special" or "different." Instead I'm going to be sharing about watermelons. Oh well. I tried.

Watermelons? Upon returning from Scotland (and yes, recap posts are coming...sometime) I had the most intense cravings for only fruit and salad. This was manifested by my dinner for the past 2.5 weeks or so of the same thing every night: watermelon and strawberries (oh and sometimes a greek yogurt). But not a slight amount of watermelon, no no. I put a dish towel over my shirt and would dice up a hunk of it for dinner. It was fabulous.

This week I went to the grocery store after work (my list being whole grain pecan cereal, ice cream, and watermelon), grabbed my items, and headed out. I get home, continue the domestic streak by cleaning out the fridge and chucking everything old/not needed (including the receipt from my just-made purchases, an important part in this story) and taking it to the dumpster. I come back in, grab my towel, the cutting board, and dice the melon. It's rotten. Like, mush. I'm looking at it and observing how it has the exact texture of the watermelon I got food poisoning from a few years ago. There's no way I'm eating it.

I'm a little out of sorts since this is one, my dinner, two, it's past dinner time, three, my dinner is inedible, and four, I'm going to have to take care of it now (I wouldn't have time to go back to the grocery store for about 4 days). I call Publix and tell the story and all is well until they say, "just bring your receipt in!" I then go even further back in the story and share how I tossed it. They said it's okay and come on in. Well, the same friendly lady on the phone is not the same friendly lady (and gentleman) behind the counter when I get there, but when all is said and done I leave with a new watermelon.

And the next day a coupon for Earthfare comes in for a $2 watermelon. Bah!