A Scotland Slideshow...

This is just the first part of the trip! Enjoy.

(Remember to open in full screen to read captions)

First Half of Scotland - Edinburgh and Hiking

Scotland

After a quick trip across the Atlantic, I touched down for a week and a half long visit to Scotland. Back in college I was lucky enough to spend some time in Edinburgh, and I've always said I would come back. So I did, but this time I headed north and west of Edinburgh, into the Scottish Highlands for a "bit of a walkabout."

A little Internet scholarship helped me locate Wilderness Scotland, a personalized outfitter that specializes in small group (5-7 people) walking tours of some of the wilder parts of Scotland. I settled on a tour that includes the northwest Highlands and Cape Wrath, which is the farthest north and west point in Scotland.

I didn't know exactly what to expect. There were about 5 other people on my tour, none of whom I'd met before, so I was curious to see who they were and what they were about. It turned out to be a great group. There are Fiona and Sandy, a brother and sister from London who were originally from Scotland; James, who makes his home in Scotland; and two retired Canadian ladies named Sharon and Judy who are traveling partners with a penchant for visiting out-of-the-way places. We're being led by Lorraine, who is a native Scot, and a spectacularly accomplished guide and walker. She knows the country, the tracks and the terrain intimately, which makes for a great trip.

My trip started in Edinburgh, with a day there to get myself acclimated to the time change, pick up some last minute odds and ends (since I didn't have a chance to do that before I left WI because of some pressing work commitments), and do some sightseeing. I'll leave it at that for the time being - I'll have pics and MOVIES to follow! :)

OMG!! Two posts in ONE DAY!!!

One of my most recent adventures...Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Ruidoso, and Alamogordo with Mom. Enjoy the slideshow! :)



Double clicking the slideshow will make it bigger, and allow you to see the captions and the pictures at the same time. It's a LOT less annoying that way.

Reasons I Love Living in the Country, #307: It's FULL of Surprises

You may think it's just another ordinary day - stirring of wind moving the windmill, a little dog going for a walk, a bale resting in a field of alfalfa.



Then you realize the bale shouldn't be there. It should be up here...

Ooops. :)

(By the way, we are totally into freedom of speech here at One Day Closer, so despite hubby's dictatorial opposition to the posting of these photos, here they are.)

Getting the heck outta Dodge...

CH-ch-ch-changes... (Any wonder why I can't seem to post??)

So last week I was in seven states, in one form or another, and ended up putting in several hundred miles of windshield time (middle-of-nowhere-Kansas, anyone?). Not my idea of a great week, but very illustrative of how 2009 is shaping up for my department at work. We managed to grow more than 30% in 2008, and we're goal setting for 2009 currently, with plans to repeat and increase that growth this year. While it's exciting to be a part of so much change and growth, my sleep deficit is well into the negative digits. For those of you wondering, it was home (WI), MN, MO, IL, TN, TX, and KS. And the next couple months look like more of the same.

It has been busy at work, but also busy at home. The holidays were a blur - we had seven Christmases in December between B and I's families, and I managed to still fit in a trip to TX. I got my tree up (with the help of darling Bother #1) and lit, but never did manage to get ornaments on. Oh well, there's next year. It was Wii bowling, movies, food, gift grabs, white elephants, toasts, excitement and bondage (family, not the other kind). Hey everybody - let's do it again next year! :)

There have also been a lot of changes happening to the circle of family and friends. Three cousins and two college friends announced babies for 2009, another announced a 2010 marriage, another a cross-country move, and I couldn't be happier for all of them. While changes create apprehension, the also create opportunity.

So here's to 2009 - already the year of changes.

Twerd

I know there are a lot of things I need to post to the blog for all the hardcore "fans" out there, but I need to take a moment and discuss something I'm a hardcore fan of: the TWILIGHT books. For those of you not familiar, they are a series of books by young adult author Stephenie Meyer, and they revolve around the central character, Bella; her boyfriend, Edward; and her best friend, Jacob; and their friends and family. Sounds innoculous enough, right? Except that Bella's human, Edward's a vampire, and Jacob is a werewolf. Makes it all much more interesting! :)

So, pop culture nerd that I am, I had heard a TON about these books on various blogs, media outlets, shows, etc, and I decided I had to check it out. Last week, I started the first book. This week, all four are done. They're that good. And yes, it's official - finishing all the books in less than a week makes me...drum roll, please.... a TWERD (twilight+nerd=twerd).

The first Twilight movie comes out Nov 21 (already have plans to see that), and the first really good trailer came out yesterday. There had been others, but this one really gets your attention! Here's a link to Perez Hilton's TV channel, where you can see the new trailer (it's not even on the official Twilight website yet...!).

ENJOY! And welcome to Twerd-dom!