A Text Conversation

I saw on the BBC online scores that Hearts (Dave's SPL football team) had lost to Aberdeen 3-0..

Kat: Fucking boo, baby.
Dave: Hold ma scarf, I'm goin fighting......
Kat: Try not to lose any teeth. I love you!

Week Four.

Late again but hey, you love me, so you'll forgive me.

Sunday
A break in class, after discussing different types of prayer.

Monday
Dave was at nets, so I spent a lot of time on Laguna Beach/The Hills.

Tuesday
The smoke from the distillery over the fence, on my way home.

Wednesday
Looking up from the bottom of our stairwell.

Thursday
Let's just say I'm looking forward to Friday. Can you tell?

Friday
Dinner, movies (Up in the Air), walking home through Gorgie.

Saturday
The band at the Burns Supper. They were great.

and...

Week Three.

A day late but my intentions are pure!

Sunday
(Ignore my yellow teeth). We are Wii fiiiiiends.

Monday
We had the week off, so the laziness begins!

Tuesday
A crappy photo from the car, out exploring East Lothian.

Wednesday
The snow has nearly all melted. Boo.

Thursday
Another cop-out photo, but I'm enjoying my new laptop rest from Ikea. It has a pocket for my phone that I will never use, is cushy, and the cover is washable. I feel like my Nana. (And yes, that is Sean Connery in skimpy clothing with a gun saying: "With this outfit, do I really need a gun?!? Let's fuck." Found on a blog somewhere - wrong but hilarious.)

Friday
Yeah. We're still lazy. I loved it.

Saturday
At Sing-along-a Rocky Horror Picture Show with Suze! My make-up was scary, but I was pleased with how authentic I managed to get my costume.

and...

I need better self-portraits.

Back to work today and I must say it's not as fun as being at home. Apart from the money bit. That's nice.

10 Things that make me happy today.

In order of occurrence!

1. Waking up to the news that the daily high is 3C. Nice to be back in the temperatures above 0C, though this does mean less chance of snow.

2. My brother kindly sent us Mario Kart for Christmas, as well as a 2nd Wii Wheel (MK comes with one) and a 2nd nunchuck (we bought one a while back, but Dave can't play several games with me multiplayer without a nunchuck). We borrowed the car last night for "day tripping" and headed out this morning to my work to pick it up. Above is Dave kicking ass on the game, because he is just good at all games (which can sometimes be infuriating). I need to get better at not twisting the wheel in a weird and unhelpful way.

3. After visiting work, we headed out to West Lothian to Broxburn, aka Middle of Nowhere, to get the package of thermals (HeatTech, to be precise) from Uni Qlo, that the couriers had attempted to deliver on Wednesday last week, when we were working. I ordered 2x pairs of leggings, 2x 3/4-sleeve tops, 1x short-sleeve top. Dave got long-johns (which inspired many Shakespearean jokes), 1x long-sleeve top, 1x short-sleeve. So far we're pretty pleased with them, though I can't say I have noticed the "technology" yet. They seem to work best when against your skin, but layered under other clothes. I'll keep you posted.

4. We left Broxburn and headed towards Haddington, but ended up taking a detour to Seton Sands (inspired mainly by our mutual love of Top Gear and my memory of the race on the sands -which I now can't find any evidence of online, unfortunately). While the sands were clearly covered by the well, water from the high tide, it was a nice wee spot to stop and have our packed lunch. We then took a walk on the "lovely" beach:

5. From there it seemed a logical progression to drive around the coast to North Berwick and take Haddington on the way back. I have a thing for villages, and North Berwick and Haddington are both very sweet.

6. Hot chocolate and cakes in Haddington. Mmm caramel shortbread, also known as Millionaire Shortbread (which Dave says is called that because it's what millionaires must eat).

7. We then moved onto one of my favourite stores ever: Ikea. Dave? not so much with the love. We did however get a fair amount of stuff, for not much money. Including candles (I love 'em): 2 scented (more on these below), a box of plain white, 4 short fat ones, two tall fat ones. Also in our purchases were a throw rug (also below), a new knife, a bread tin (for baking ginger loaf!), and the neat little laptop tray that I am currently using. Plastic, shaped like a piece of orange, cushy bean-bag bit for your lap. Like my Nana used to use for tea. Aw, bless.

8. Yes, the Lothians are still rather snowy, even if Edinburgh has melted. (Dave asked me if I needed him to slow down for me to take pictures, which is why the clip starts with "No, it's alright...")

9. The glorious smell of the living room once the above-mentioned scented candles were lit. I believe they are officially "mixed berry", but it smells like elderflowers in here. Mmmm.

10. Dinner, West Wing, and a lovely snuggle under the soft, soft throw with my boy. It's luxurious to the touch, and also has a tiny bit of weight to it, so it's perfect for lying on the couch to watch some telly.

♥

K

(This is also my 250th post on this wee blog. Yay blogging.)

Week Two.

Sunday

More snow.

Monday

Sledging trip out to Linlithgow where all around was white, white, white.

Tuesday

My snowy street in the sunset.

Wednesday

On the bus.

Thursday

Dave's 27th birthday: he refuses to get out of bed.

Friday

Icicles hanging from our neighbours' window.

Saturday

Laura, Charly, Dave. Out for drinks for Dave's birthday.

and...

A little blonder, and still a poser.

Week One.

Starting Project 365 in an effort to take more photos and chronicle the year better.

Friday

After midnight enough to be considered 2010 (cheating but hey!) - the chandelier/light effect from the Hogmanay Hoog ceilidh at the Assembly Rooms.

Saturday

A lazy afternoon shot from my mobile while we spent some time at the Edinburgh Winter Festival, and then went for a ride on the big wheel. Great fun.

and...

Bundled up in bed. At least it's only -1C tonight. (Amazing that that is an improvement..)

2009: Year in Review

2009 was for me, like for many others, not one of the best years. I can say that 90% of the issues for me were financial (as you can probably tell from my gripe post below), but I also took a lot longer to settle in here than I thought, I missed home, I had much more illness than normal, and I felt a bit stuck, especially creatively.

Pros: Dave, Edinburgh, work, Dave, snow, sledging, winter wonderland, visitors, nice flat, Dave, temple.

Cons: Money, settling, cold, friends (or lack thereof), missing home, no keyboard/musical pursuits.

I spent the first 3 months of the year counting down the days, hours, minutes, seconds... all I could think about was getting to Scotland to be with Dave. And once I got here, I was so excited to be with him, but found my new environment a little unsettling, and I was surprised by how unprepared I felt. Surely the two countries weren't so different? but yes, things were not how I was used to. And while I had fun mocking some aspects, I was slowly trying to absorb everything and move forward.

After just over 8 months of living here, I feel quite happy most of the time, and confused and sad at other points. The holidays were quite tough without my family, but I know that if I have the timezones right, they're just a phone call away.

I am full of so much optimism for 2010, it's sickening.

This time last year, I didn't post any resolutions/goals on my blog, but I had them written down.

- Move to Scotland - check!

- Work out more, lose a little weight - check! (and then.. started eating and stopped exercising..)

- Write more music - failed. miserably. I moved overseas without an instrument, and then struggled to change that.

- Have time for me - check! plenty of evenings/mornings in bed with DVDs and/or books.

- Find a job that makes me happy - check! ...in a way. I enjoy my job right now, but I'm not sure if it's forever.

- Devote more time to my faith - check! I am involved with an amazing shul/Rabbi here, and thrilled to bits about it.

For this year:

- Use my Wii Fit every day. Be fit and more toned, lose a little weight. Be happy in my skin.

- Live more stylishly! Dress better, be less messy, try to be a little classier.

- Get piano. Play it often. Write often. Release often!

- Go to shul as often as I can.

- Travel.

- Go home for Christmas/Dan's wedding.

- Steal from Sarah-Rose and start Project 365 (take a photo a day, post each week with a self-portrait).

- Happiness. Push myself more to get it.

I think that is an achievable list! I hope 2010 is an amazing year for everyone. I am really looking forward to making the most of this fresh start.

xxx

K

Hogmanay 2009-2010

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve 2009, known as Hogmanay in Scotland, involved a rather pricey ceilidh evening including dancing fun, overpriced drinks, pretty chandeliers and a good group of people enjoying the fun.

A few photos below, the rest to eventually hit my Flickr, which currently has Seattle (!) as the most recent shots..:

The ridiculously-overcrowded dance floor (we didn't even try to join these gay gordons!)

We're not too drunk, obviously.

And a brief video of some of our friends ceilidh dancing:

Christmas 2009

For a week or so prior to Christmas this year, the snow came tumbling down. A light dusting at work, then some proper snowfalls. The night of December 22nd was the heaviest, with us leaving the building to step into ankle-deep snow.

We went sledging, we slipped and slid all over the pavement, had snowball fights, made snow angels. I was, and am still, in love with snow. Ice, I can live without. But deep, fluffy, powdery snow.. I can definitely appreciate. The picture below is of the snowman I made outside my work on December 23rd.

When all the lights came on in Edinburgh at the end of November, I started to slowly understand what this Christmas in winter deal really feels like. And it's magical. With the snow, hot chocolates, the fire, the lights.. and bundling up in hats, gloves, scarves and walking around together? what a great season.

(Remind me of this when I'm complaining in February).

Christmas Day we went out to Dave's mother's after a lovely lie-in, and had a late lunch with her before the big traditional turkey dinner. Afterwards, we headed out to the home of Dave's Aunt and Uncle, where we played quiz games and chatted to family. It was all in all a very nice day.

And Hogmanay? well well well. You'll just have to check my flickr over the next few days. There were many laughs and dances to be had, and 2010 is proving to be pretty good so far.

New Years' Resolutions post comin' up.