Driving Lessons

I’ve done my fair share of gloating about how wonderful moving to Scotland is, but don’t worry, I’ve also got my fair share of concerns. My number one apprehension: Driving. It’s hard enough remembering to drive on the opposite side of the road without having to navigate round-a-bouts and one lane roads with two way traffic. Yes, I am super stressed about driving in Scotland.

Though I’d feel more comfortable driving a Smart car or mini-cooper, since we’re only getting one car it will need to be something large enough to accommodate 4 people, 2 dogs, and a good bit of luggage. We’re mainly looking at small SUVs or station wagons.

Because I can only drive an automatic, and 99% of Brits drive Manuals, there are slim pickings for what is available. Ideally, I’d like a Rav-4, but I know better than to get attached to that idea. I’ll just have to drive whatever Automatic is available at the dealership when we arrive. But if you’d like to toss up a prayer on my behalf, tell God that I’d really like a Rav-4 or Volvo station Wagon. Thanks! (I’m sure that ranks pretty high on his list of priorities, dontcha think?)

One complication with getting a GIGANTIC vehicle like a Honda CRV is that to get your Scottish driver’s license you have to take your driving test on a vehicle below a certain total weight. We’ve heard conflicting numbers about what this weight is, but some of them rule out smaller SUVS. If you can’t take the test with your own vehicle, you have to use one from the testing center. And since 99% of the Brits drive Manuals, 100% of the testing vehicles are stick shifts.

Since I’m already learning to drive on the opposite side of the road and navigate round-a-bouts and one lane roads with two way traffic, I doubt it’s the best time in my life to also learn to drive a manual. This means that when buying a vehicle, we have to buy something safely under the weight limit for the driving test.

The rule is that you can use your US license for the first 12 months of residing in the UK before you have to apply for your Scottish license, which involves a driving exam. From the rumors I’ve heard, I’d say 80% of Americans fail their driving test at least once. It’s apparently really stinkin’ hard, which doubly motivates me to be able to complete my exam in an automatic.

When I asked my dad about this conundrum of buying a car small enough for the exam but big enough to tour our friends and family around Scotland, he advised me to just not worry about getting my Scottish driver’s license. When I asked him if this was illegal he replied, “Probably”. Apparently my Mom never bothered getting hers which means she was driving illegally for about 1 year and a half.

That’s all well and good except for the fact that my mom has the best luck of anyone I’ve ever met. Seriously, I don’t know if she’s ever walked out of a casino without winning at least $500. Me on the other hand, let’s just say I must have opened a lot of umbrellas indoors, crossed paths with a thousand black cats, and broken several mirrors in my day because my luck stinks. I’m sure if I tried to weasel out of getting my Scottish license, I’d get busted on the first day after my 12 month driving allowance ran out.

Buying a car is on the top of our agenda for this week, but I’m hoping that learning to drive it can wait a bit longer. Jonathan took me for my first drive yesterday. His analysis after I relinquished the wheel back to him was, “You did okay. Your only problem was staying in the lane.” Oh staying in the lane was my only problem? Well, why didn’t you say so? I’m so glad that staying in my lane isn’t the most important part of driving. Oh wait… When I politely asked him to stop patronizing me he said, “Well I thought I’d be teaching you to drive on the other side of the road. I didn’t know I’d be teaching you how to drive”. OH SNAP!

But honestly, those country roads are tiny and people drive at least 20 mph over what could possibly be considered safe. And all of those tiny roads are lined with stone walls, which though picturesque, are a pretty big safety hazard. I’m going to try again today, but this time we’ll go out to the more modern suburbs where the roads are nice and wide, American style. I think that’s my safest bet until I get more comfortable with the general rules of Scottish driving…and I get a bit better at staying in my lane.

Monday Progress Report: Joyful Reunion

I could easily write a thousand words about the progress we’ve made over the past week, but you know what they say about pictures. This one says it all.

We were happily reunited with our pups about 2 hours ago. After spending some quality time with them in the garden we took a lengthy walk to parade them through town. They weren’t here for more than 30 minutes before a Scottish gentleman walked over to give them a good pet and compliment them on how pretty they are.

Their shell shock from the plane ride quickly wore off and they are already adapting to Scottish life. We are noticing that Spaniels are everywhere in Aberdeen, so our pups should fit right in. After dinner we’ll head to the park so that we can let them off leash for a bit.

Tomorrow, I’ll be back to my wordy self and give you a summary of everything we’ve learned so far, but for now, I am just soaking up the blessings that God has given me.

Little Ones

Little ones, the next 48 hours will not be fun. You’ll be shoved around, exposed to unfamiliar and frightening sounds, sights, and smells. I can’t be with you, but promise to be thinking of you every moment until we are reunited. It hurts my heart to put you through this and I will try to provide you with every comfort I can for this journey.

Please trust that after this you’ll find a new home, full of fresh, cool air and fields stocked with rabbits and pheasants for you to chase until your legs give out. You’ll be through with 100 degree summers and daily walks through urban neighborhoods.

Instead, you’ll be allowed to romp off leash through forest trails, sniffing, hunting, chasing. You’ll finally have the life I have always wanted for you; a life where you can simply be a dog; where you’ll not only have a yard, but a whole countryside to explore.

You just have to make it through these next 48 hours. I wish I could stay with you. I wish I could make you understand. The discomfort and confusion will be temporary, but I promise you, an exquisite life is waiting on the other side.

As I think about putting my sweet pups on the cargo hold of a plane, I worry so much that they’ll be traumatized by the experience. I desperately want to stow away with them so that they can see my calm reaction and know that it will all be fine.

It hit me that it’s probably a pretty good analogy of how God must feel about his children on Earth, not fully comprehending the joy that lies waiting for us in the Kingdom of heaven. We experience difficulties and struggles and wonder if God has abandoned us. I know that His heart must hurt to see us struggle and I’ll bet He wishes he could be physically present to comfort us.

He promises that we will be rewarded for our faith, but we live in a world full of frightening sights, sounds, and smells; it can be easy to forget that we are just on a temporary journey. This life in comparison to eternity is even shorter than a flight to London. The reward is even better than Scotland; even more beautiful than rolling hills and valleys dotted with sheep; even more pleasant than the fresh Scottish air on a crisp and sunny summer day; even more delicious than fish and chips and a pint of Scottish Ale.

More than a thousand times better than Scotland! Can you imagine it? Neither can I. But I trust that it’s waiting for me, and that it is worth any fear, discomfort, or heart ache that I might experience in the meantime.

Empty Houses

You know the scene in the first Sex and the City movie where Carrie reflectively walks through her empty Manhattan apartment for the last time? The scene was very poignant and memorable to me because I saw the movie on the same day that I moved out of my college home. Since that day (almost exactly 4 years ago) I’ve re-experienced the “empty house reflection” three times.

The most impactful was definitely the first, walking through the empty home 1 mile away from the LSU campus.

In that house I experienced so many emotions, including  a gut-wrenching break-up followed by Jonathan and I’s first kiss 6 months later. It was where Bailey spent her puppyhood; where I forged lifetime friendships and honed my beer pong skills; where I turned 21; where I took graduation pictures; where I planned my wedding. It was where I came of age and therefore, it was very painful for me to walk away from.

Our next home in Midland was where Jon and I first lived together; where 3 months into marriage we had our biggest fight ever; where I got so angry that I packed my bags and started my car before realizing that Jonathan was my only friend within a 500 mile radius so I should probably swallow my pride and go back in and apologize; it’s where we learned what a commitment and covenant truly means.

That house is where we fostered a Brittany Spaniel named Chapman and after 4 months, had the heart-breaking experience of handing him over to his forever home; where two months later that painful separation led us to the decision to adopt a sweet baby named Samson.

It was where the two of us became an inseparable team and if I’m being honest, slipped blissfully into co-dependency.

Our Houston house is a little different. I think that in 10 years we will look back at our time in Houston and hardly remember it other than as a blip on our timeline. For the past year and a half, I feel like we’ve been coasting. There was little turbulence in our transition to living in Houston. We both had jobs, friends, and family waiting there to greet us, making the adjustment much smoother than what we experienced in moving to Midland. Though our cottage in the Heights has no doubt been my favorite house, it’s always felt a bit empty memory-wise.

Honestly, I feel more attached to my parents’ house in Lake Conroe where we are currently staying until our flight tomorrow night. Since my parents are in the process of moving to Covington, Louisiana, they plan on selling this house in the next few months; a decision which has me a bit choked up, recognizing that this is likely my last visit here. Since my parents ex-patriated as soon as I went off to college, this lake house is the closest thing I have to a childhood home.

For the past 6 years it’s been a place of peace and restfulness; a place to study for final exams; a place to get a tan; a place to take a cool morning jog with a view of the water; a place to visit my family after long periods of separation; a gathering spot for birthday, engagement, and holiday celebrations.

So it’s appropriate that my last day in Texas started with an early morning jog with the dogs followed by two hours of reading in the Texas sunshine. After lunch and a few last minute errands, I curled up in my parent’s comfy bed and watched a movie. We ended the day with a sunset boatride, our pups jubilantly wagging by our sides, ears flapping in the wind. It feels strange to have this day of calm before the inevitable chaos of the next few weeks, but I am so grateful that we were able to squeeze it in.

Holy smokes, we are moving to Scotland TOMORROW! Life is crazy. And good. Life is crazy good.    

The Art of Moving

I’m a bit scatter-brained at the moment, probably because my house looks like this.

I feel oddly displaced but at the same time, eerily calm. The movers arrived yesterday and I have to finally accept the fact that I’ve done all that I can; prepared as much as I could have, and now it’s time to stop studying and take the final exam. Just looking at all of our possessions in boxes reiterates the fact that they are simply that, possessions. I can survive in Scotland as long as I have my husband and dogs. Other than that, it's all replaceable, and even then, only a matter of comfort and not survival.

My biggest anxiety is that we didn’t donate more or throw more away. Packing light is my personal strategy of travel, and I prefer to move in the same way. I don’t want to open a single box and find something useless or unloved. Jon and I were both ruthless in going through our closets and drawers to axe anything we didn’t want cluttering up our house in Aberdeen. As it was being boxed up, it was funny to see how the movers' had labeled what was inside the boxes.

Apparently, Jon’s junior high football memorabilia made the cut and will be traveling the world with us. That’s a pretty high honor, a spot that not even my wedding dress achieved.

To get out of the movers way, we spent most of the 93 degree Houston day outside on our patio reading. I finished reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese which I so highly recommend; I cannot even express to you! Go read it- NOW!

I’m about 8 chapters into The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, but within the first 2 paragraphs I could already tell it was going to be a tearjerker. Maybe it’s not such a good book to be reading right now since it narrates the life of a young couple through the eyes of their dog. Already, it has me looking more closely at my pets and wondering how much they really understand and how sensitive they really are.

Yesterday was a great trial run for their travel day since they had to be kept in their travel kennels while the movers were here. There were plenty of loud noises, strange people, and a few times, their kennels even had to be moved around. But I was able to go in every few hours and pat their heads and model some calmness for them to know that it was all okay.

A huge weight is lifted off of our shoulders since their European Union Heath Certificate and animal export flight approval from the USDA was delivered at 9:30 this morning. I admit that I lost a lot of sleep over these papers and I am currently guarding them with my life. I’m at Starbucks right now since our Internet was cut off as of this morning, and the papers are on my lap. Seriously. They will not leave my sight until we hand them over to the pet transport company on Saturday. Now that they've passed the scrutiny of the USDA, they just have to get past Animal Control in London and then they will be home free.

When I left, our house was completely packed up and being loaded into air and sea shipment containers.

I’m sure my neighbors love us right now since we are blocking 3 of their driveways. Oh well, it’s a good thing we’re moving.  

Vonage

I’m sure you’ve all seen the commercials for Vonage, but until my parents moved to Aberdeen I really had no idea what service this company actually provided. It basically allows for international calls to be converted into domestic ones, making it a lot easier for us to have phone dates with our friends and family in the States. You set up your Vonage box through your internet service and plug it into a landline and voila, you have a US phone number all the way in the UK.

The most fun part about it was choosing our own area code. We decided to follow our hearts, go back to our roots, and represent the 225. As soon as we get into our new house, we’ll set up this service so you’ll be able to call us in “Baton Rouge” whenever you want. Just please remember that there is a 6 hour time difference and we go to bed at 9, so please no calls after 3 pm Central Standard Time J.  

April in Review

Never has a month flown by quite like April 2012. I’ve mainly experienced it in a pre-occupied haze, but managed to get a few personal goals accomplished all the same.

Reading: I finished The White Lioness by Henning Menkell and In The Lake of The Woods by Tim O’Brien. I truly cannot speak enough praises about Tim O’Brien. His writing is so lyrical yet mysterious. He never directly describes what’s happening, but instead narrates his novels through implications.

In the Lake of the Woods is a mystery novel in which the wife of a politician disappears without a trace days after he loses a big election. It was captivating, and as always, beautifully written. I’ve been encouraging Jonathan to read it so that I can finally talk to someone about my theories on what actually happened, since, true to form, O’Brien leaves the conclusion wide open. If you’ve read it, let me know so that I can pick your brain.

Currently I’m reading Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, and it’s another that I would strongly recommend. Verghese is truly gifted in the art of character development, and if you’re into medicine, it’s an interesting read since most of the main characters are ex-pat surgeons in Ethiopia. It’s a bit long, but such a nice change of pace after reading three thrillers in a row.

My reading experience will be forever changed after receiving this little guy as a gift from my husband.

The first book I bought with my Kindle Fire was The Art of Racing in the Rain which my friend, and fellow dog lover, Jill recommended to me. I can’t wait to give it a test run, though I’m still a little resistant to replacing my paper books. Call me old fashioned, but I love the weight of a book;  I love to pass a book along once I’m done with it; I love to look at my bookmark to see how much reading I’ve accomplished; heck, I love bookmarks period, but I also understand the convenience of having a library of digital books waiting at your fingertips.

I still think I’ll buy physical books from time to time, but it will be mighty convenient when traveling and living overseas not to have to lug my entire collection with me everywhere I go. Especially because, at the rate that I normally read, I usually take 5 books with me anytime I go on a week’s long vacation.  

Writing: My writing this month was par for the course. I still blogged every weekday except for one (because my computer charger didn’t work in Scotland) and wrote about 13,000 words. I’m starting to think that my original goal of writing 20,000 words per month is just darn unachievable. I know that’s not true, and I’m hoping to have a little bit more writing time once we get settled in Aberdeen.

Cooking: I actually found a great vegetarian recipe this month for Roasted Tomato and Spinach Cheesy Tortellini. For the first time, I made homemade roasted tomatoes and I now know what my famous secret ingredient is going to be. They were fabulous and a tasty addition to add to virtually any meal. What I did was just slice about 25 cherry tomatoes in half, seasoned them with drizzled olive oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and then roasted them in the oven for 4 hours on 225 degrees Fahrenheit. Every 30-45 minutes I would flip the tomatoes over for even roasting.

For the Tortellini recipe (which you can find here), you basically just toss the roasted tomatoes in with some chopped spinach, Parmesan cheese, and cooked tortellini pre-stuffed with cheese. You can find these in the frozen pasta section of your grocery store. I sure hope they have them in Scotland too, because this dish was super yummy and tasted like it was way fancier to make than it actually was.  

Well I have to run. Today is the most stressful day of the move so far. And by the way, I say that every day…but this time it’s really true. Today is the day I send off the dog’s paperwork to the USDA for approval. It’s a giant, stressful step and I’d appreciate any prayers or positive thoughts you could send my way.

Happy May Day (whatever that means)!