i can't resist

I chuckle almost daily as I stroll through town center in search of lunch. There is a small clothing shop that is almost always along my chosen path for the day. Apparently, they sell shoes as well. The reason I chuckle is because of the sign that hangs in the window that looks like this:



Now, normally I would think lots of not-so-nice thoughts about the marketing person who made that sign, and the people who approved it. But in this particular scenario, I have thought:

• "I wonder if they're trying to be clever and make people think there's a sale on when there's really not...just to get them to wander into the store (I bet that's half the battle in the retail sales world)?", and
  
  
• "Hmm...I wonder if that's just how they say it here in England, as opposed to 'Buy one PAIR, get one free'?", and
  
  
• "I wonder if that shop just happens to sell shoes one at a time, instead of in pairs."
  
  
• "Maybe it's just another case of poorly done marketing that ended up with an interesting twist.", and
  
  
• "I wonder if ANYONE else has spent as much time thinking about that sign as me...including the people who made it?"
  

Whatever the answer, I still grin as I pass the sign every day...one of these days I'm going to wander into the shop just to find out, but for now I'm still enjoying my daily chuckle at all the possibilities.

patience is a virtue...

...and I'm not as virtuous as I'd like to be.

I’ve been in England almost 4 weeks.
I just got a phone last Friday (last day of week 3).
I should be getting broadband in 6 days.
But I still don’t have a television.

While this does mean that I’ve done a lot of reading and walking around town just to keep from sitting around staring at the walls, I am definitely looking forward to the day when the much anticipated TV does actually arrive. I have DVDs to watch, a language to learn (and isn’t a country’s media the best way to do that?), and hours of unallocated time in which to do it.

I’m living in a ‘fully furnished’ flat, and (clearly) a TV is supposed to be part of that package, but the people that lived here before me had their own TV, so I guess the owner never had to buy one. They agreed to provide a TV by mid-September, but we’re quickly approaching October and I still don’t hear the choir warming up to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

It’s definitely an exercise in patience…and I have to say that God is forcing me to ask myself I would be spending as much time in the Word or studying or prayer if I did have my precious TV.

What I’m hating is that the answer is NO. And what is even more shameful is that even though I AM spending more time doing those things, I still find jingles of other things to do instead of being thankful for all the ‘extra time’ I could be spending with the Lord! So, it’s two lessons in one, really (and maybe more, by the time it’s all said and done):

1. Have patience.
   
2. Reconsider how I prioritize my ‘free time’ before the Great Distracter arrives.
   

my introduction to the island

So, let me take you back to the first weekend I spent on the Island after I left Houston. Although I came here to live in England, I spent the first two weeks traveling in Scotland for work, mostly. Anxious to spend as much time as possible in the land of the Scots, I signed up for some extra time in country over the weekend before I was to report for duty at a conference in Aberdeen.

For brevity’s sake, I’ll confine this story to the events of the first (full) day of travel with my 2 (American) co-workers who were also in Scotland to work the conference.

Early Saturday morning, we picked up the rent car (which I was nominated to drive, given my need for acquiring the skill anyway) and were assigned a 4-door Smart Car. It’s cute…in an odd sort of way. I can’t imagine having the 2-door version, but this one actually looks like a whole car. So we were off.

I’m happy to report, for the record, that over the course of the weekend we managed to avoid contact with all other cars and pedestrians with which we shared the roads of Scotland. And I say ‘we’ because it took all three of us to get around – driver, co-pilot and navigator.

We left Aberdeen, and headed for the Braemar Gathering (Highland Games - the link is to the pictures of this year's event) to witness a traditional Scottish event (the caber tossing is particularly exciting!). One of the big pulls for us to attend this particular event was that it is traditionally attended by some members of the royal family. And true to tradition, the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince William arrived as expected at 3pm. We were rather excited that we were seeing the queen on our first day in the country – even though she was about 2 football fields away.

Not long after they’d arrived, we headed for back to Aberdeen. After stopping in a couple of small towns (to shop, of course) along the way, we headed across a small, short bridge to the entry gates of Balmoral Castle (Queen Liz’s home away from home). We couldn’t see much (except the gate itself), so we turned the car around and headed back for the main road. Now, remember that it’s my first day of driving in the UK, ever…so I look both directions about 4 times before committing to a turn in any direction. At my last glance to the left, I spotted the motorcade. The queen was on her way home! Her car literally turned RIGHT in front of us. I was, for a brief moment in time, approximately 4 feet from the Queen of England.



I will be eternally grateful to one of my travel pals for the speed of her trigger finger on the camera. What really got us about the whole thing was that, as we crossed the bridge to Balmoral, we noticed a few people that had started gathering to see the queen come home…and there were a couple of guards posted at the gate…but there was NO indication that we were MOMENTS away from her arrival. Needless to say, we all FREAKED OUT! We were screaming and laughing so hard that I had to pull the car over, and Heather (our shutter bug) had to get out of the car and run around a bit before she could begin to compose herself again.

A few minutes down the road, it occurred to me that, if I were an on-my-feet thinker, I would have hit the queen’s car with our little rental (hey, we bought the insurance!). Can’t you see it? “Why don’t you come in to the castle and we’ll exchange insurance information over tea” and all.



At least now I have a better plan for the next time I’m within striking distance!

simon

We’re about to move our offices to the 3rd floor of our current building. I’m working with two other people to plan the space: Shelley and Simon. In trying to explain how we plan to lay out the kitchen area, the phrase “Simon did a drawing” was said to me today. With the accent, “drawing” sounds like “drawRing”.

So, in my head, I immediately saw images of Mike Meyers in a SNL skit sitting in the tub playing the character of a little boy, singing “Well you know my name is Simon, and I like to do draw-rings”.

It was all I could do to keep myself from chuckling. I may have cracked a small grin, but at least whatever expression I had was not coupled with audible (and seemingly random) laughter.

wandering around edinburgh

I can't believe 3 days have already come and gone. I'm going to have to move closer to facing the real world tomorrow (but not QUITE back to office life yet).

I'm going to have to write a bit about our actual comings and goings...but for now, here are some pictures.

falling in love all over again

I have finally set foot again in the place where I first fell in love with Scotland...Edinburgh. I'm even staying at the same hostel I stayed at the last time I was here, and I'm amazed by my memory's ability to remember some of the places I visited last time, and exactly where they are in relation to my humble temporary abode.

I feel like I'm looking at everything with a bit more wisdom this time around, and although it is a dark place, so is a lot of Scotland...so is a lot of the world! However, Edinburgh is home to the roots of the Scottish reformation, begun by John Knox, whose church I hope to visit tomorrow (he's not there anymore).

I'll be happy to serve as tour guide for anyone who ever wants to make the trek across the Atlantic.

dedication or addiction?

This is me in Aberdeen this week anywhere from 11:00pm to 1:30am after a full day at the conference we're here for...I'm staying in the flat of a co-worker b/c all the hotels were booked, and of course some people decided at the last minnute that they wanted to come...so I gave up my hotel room to stay here, where I have a more 'homey' feel AND access to laundry facilities (which allowed me to pack a smaller suitcase for my two-week-stint in Scotland).

Someone in the building has a wireless network, but the only place I can get the signal in this flat is in the hallway...so this has been my 'home office' for the last 7 days.

I'm not sure if this makes me look dedicated to communication or addicted to wireless Internet...either way it was a good photo op!

scotland coastal trip

In case you don't pay much attention to the links on the right...here's a few pictures from my trip along the eastern coast of Scotland today.

We drove from Aberdeen down the coast to Stonehaven, which is a small town just before the Dunnotter (DunOTTER) Castle ruins - see more info here. Then we drove on to St. Andrew's and walked around the golf course, attended a wedding (on the 18th hole) and had tea in the club house. It was absolutely SURREAL!!

The 'old course' is closed on Sundays and you can just wander around on the course (and you can get married there too), but the other two were open for golfing (who knew there were THREE courses there?).

It will be out of order...but as soon as I have the pictures to prove my claims, I'll write about my day at the highland games in Braemar, Scotland.

home sweet home?

After a rather uneventful flight that included exactly zero minutes of sleep, I spent almost an hour in line to get through customs to enter my new homeland. Needless to say, I'm one sleepy chica.

Although I think it will be quite a while before I use the phrase 'home sweet home' with passion and confidence to speak of London (Woking), the truth is...this is my home now.

'Home home' will, obviously, always be Houston, Texas.