To-Do List: Take 2

For the past two months I have been chiseling away at our moving to-do list. I thought there would be a sense of relief and accomplishment when I finally scratched the last item off, but instead I felt overwhelmed at the to-do list awaiting me on the other side of the Atlantic. You can check out the full list here. I’m hoping that it only takes two months to accomplish, but that all depends on when our sea shipment arrives.

The absolute most important task we need to complete is setting up our Scottish bank account through HSBC, which we have an appointment to sort out today. Once we have a bank set up, we can transfer money and therefore buy a car, which is the second highest priority.

Other important items will be setting up my cell phone, buying a TV license, and having cable, internet, and phone lines installed. We also need to register with National Health Services so that we have an appointed doctor if the need arises.

Anytime you move there are literally hundreds of miscellaneous items that need to be taken care of. For instance, we need to stock the fridge, buy cleaning supplies, doggie proof the yard, etc. A lot of that has to wait until we move into our house on May 11.

Since our lease doesn’t start until Friday, we’ve been fortunate to find a temporary ground floor apartment with access to a large garden for the dogs. It’s quickly living up to my cottage fantasies. It’s absolutely adorable and impeccably decorated. I am seriously loving the floors in the apartment- beautiful tile and raw hardwoods.

I’m just slightly nervous about having the dogs in this house. Usually the owners don’t allow pets, but they made an exception since this would be such a short stay and we promised our pets were well behaved. So far, Bailey has done her best to prove me a liar.

I took her to Hazlehead Park today and within 3 minutes off of her leash, I caught her rolling in horse poop. My mom warned me to stay away from sheep poop, and I guess I should have taken that as a blanket warning against all animal excrement. Since the damage was already done, I decided to let her remain off leash and just get as dirty as she pleased. And oh, did she please. About 60 seconds after the horse poop incident, I saw her running through a mud puddle that went up to her shoulders.

While she was in dog-hog heaven, I was busy trying to figure out a plan for how to get her rinsed off without taking her in the adorable and immaculate apartment we are so grateful to have at our disposal. On the route back, I let her rinse off in a stream which cleaned her up to her doggie elbows, but her chest was still a muddy, poopy mess.

I put her in the garden, frantically looking for a hose and found none. Finally, I concluded that she’d just have to hop in the shower with me. Neither of us was very happy about it, but we survived and have agreed that until we are in our own house, she just can’t be allowed off leash. I also concluded that a buying a big plastic tub for outdoor dog baths is pretty high up on my to-do list.

Here are some more pictures of the cottage that I couldn't find a clever way of fitting into the post: