.... so I'll write instead.
We're into our fourth month in Edinburgh. Life goes on, doesn't it? I find myself wondering where I am and why I am here; not in the philosophical, cosmic sense of life but in more along the lines of trying to figure out how I can be part of the life I've left behind for the time being. Which is probably not healthy!
Life has been feeling like an alternative universe lately. When I see current pictures from the neighborhood and family, it feels so odd not to be part of things that were mainstays on our calendar for years. I love what I see when I look out my window, but I keep wondering how is it I've been plucked out of my routine and placed here. God may have nothing more in mind for me (and us), than simple lessons about His abundant goodness or how to get along better as a family without all the social distractions of our old life.
I am making friends here and people are generally friendly. I have some volunteer commitments and social things on the calendar. But you just can't replace friends, nor would I want to. When people ask me if I miss the States, my answer is always "No, I don't miss the States, but I do miss my friends and family."
The weather is nothing like I've ever experienced in the summer before. It's amazing how quickly you become acclimated, however. 72 feels like bliss and even 50 with some rare bright sunshine becomes pleasant. My girls would've complained endlessly about how cold it was if they'd had this weather in Georgia in APRIL, and yet now the bop out to the car with bare legs and just school blazers in 45-50 without a comment. The next week's forecast doesn't show a day with an expected high beyond the 50s. My coat and jacket collection is growing.
My mom and dad (aka Grammie & Pa for their fan club) arrive two weeks from today, and we are counting down the days. I'm trying not to look at the date in July for their departure. So many things to show them about our life here.
You'll all be very proud of me, I'm driving our new-to-us (Citroen) car just about every day now. City driving is a workout, many of the roads are too narrow for two cars, so I'm always on the lookout for a "wee lay-by" to swing into to let another car pass, then I pull out into the roadway while the car at the other end waits for me. Sometimes this works better than others ...
I never thought I would be anti-SUV, but the Land Rovers and BMW SUVs look so so enormous on these roads and they just barrel along in such tight squeezes. I can't imagine paying the petrol costs for those -- after doing the conversions from liter to gallons and pounds to dollars, I arrived at the figure of $8.35 per gallon. Glad school is about 3 miles away and we have the smaller engine on the car. I never thought I would be happy to have a 1.8L engine but it's just right for the city driving. Some days I never take the car out of third (did I mention it's a standard transmission -- shifting with my left hand! Thanks, Dad, for making me learn to drive on your old manual Saab all those years ago. It's not as much fun to drive as Daryl's last car ...)
I've been writing some more Yelp reviews, if you want to look me up (http://www.yelp.co.uk/edinburgh
I'm Kate W.) and see what we've been doing and eating the last few months.
We have only one scheduled visitor for the fall -- get some plane tickets booked! We're told autumn is a great time to visit Edinburgh, so we hope to see YOU here :)
