0014 - Coming together

It seems as if things are finally coming together. The truck battle may be... at long last... nearing its end. The dealer has informed our attorney that they intend to refund our money and take the truck back. To be honest, I am not jumping for joy just yet... not until the money is in the bank. These people have not shown much integrity up to this point. They've actually made that same claim before and backpeddled. Of course, this time they said it to our attorney, so if they back out again, they're going to face consequences.

So now, Mike is researching what we want in its stead. In some ways, the engine blowing up was a good thing. The truck we had was an F-350. It was black and it was pimp, so we called it Dolomite... we should have called it Dynamite, since the engine exploded. As far as towing goes, it was adequate; it towed more than we needed, but not by much. Now he is considering F-450's and Dodges. I don't really have a preference, but it seems like there have been issues with Ford engines in general, whereas I haven't heard anything negative about a Dodge.

I just can't wait until we can get a truck, have a hitch put on, and are actually ready to take the fifth wheel on its maiden voyage. I had hoped it would happen prior to our move, and I guess we might still be able to take a short trip ahead of time, but it just didn't work out like we hoped because of the truck.

Something else that moves us forward... I submitted my letter of resignation today. Feels weird. I've been at NASA for thirteen years. When I was hired on, I figured I'd be there for two, tops. I'm not quitting until May, but I need to start training my replacement, and my boss has asked me for an estimated date. It's not that he's pushing me out the door per se, but he has a budget to consider and he's trying to plan. Anyway... I have known this day was coming... but when I held the letter in my hand, it felt really real. It was a little terrifying. Left it on his desk on my way out this afternoon... so it is done.

Most days I have faith that our venture is going to be successful. Some days I worry about the 'what ifs'. What if we do this and we fail? How are we going to raise the capital required to get started? What if no one visits us after we open? What if the community doesn't accept us? It goes on and on.

I can't let myself get mired down in that kind of thinking. Gotta think positively, and ultimately I do believe in what we're doing and I think it will be successful. Just have to work it all out. I know that Mike isn't worried, and he has a way of making things happen. He also has a way of pushing me without realizing that he's doing it... I don't want to let him down, so I don't procrastinate like I might if I was only doing something for myself. It's good for me. He's good for me. Moreover, we're a good team. I'll stop gushing now. (I miss him)

Yesterday I rented a storage unit because I've started to pack up the house, and I need a place for the boxes to go. Haven't started moving the boxes just yet, but I hope to get started on that next week... it's too cluttered in here and I can't stand it. That's more forward motion. Hopefully I'll find a buyer without having to involve a real estate agent... I hate the idea of paying someone 6% of my net... profit margin is going to be slim to none already. And I hope it happens before we move.

This weekend I'm going to a Mardi Gras ball in Louisiana. My friend Kirk is going to be Queen of his krewe this year. He's been working toward that... pretty much since I've known him, and I've known him for almost 20 years. I'm happy for him.

Not so happy for my waistline... he has promised gumbo... brunches... more food... food after that... and then we're gonna eat... my 'diet' starts in earnest when I get back. I'm going to eat better, and at least one day a week I'm going to stick to foods that are beneficial for my blood type. I don't know if there is any merit to the blood type diet or not, but judging by what's on the menu it has to be good for me; it certainly can't hurt me. I need to drop about 50 lbs. No joke. I'm the biggest I've ever been and NOT happy about it. I don't feel good, I don't look good, and my clothes... I refuse to go up a size, so something's gotta give. The one positive thing about my blood type is that we're supposed to do stress relieving exercises like yoga, pilates and tai chi... all of which... I love! Nothing exhausting, no more sore knees. I also need to dig out my Method dvd's and get back to that. I feel better when I am active. Time to get off my butt and get active.

Tonight my goal is to make a list of everything I need to do... I have so much to remember that I have begun to forget things here and there. Not good. If I wanted to be anal about it, I'd put an MS Project together and track it that way - which is tempting... but I think just a list will do for now...

0013 - Scotland pics

Unfortunately all the pics posted from the bottom up, so that's how you have to read the blog for it to make sense... just think of it as a series of emails and it's not so hard. :) I took over a thousand pics... it's hard to reduce the trip down to just a handful, but I don't have time to sort through them all at the moment, so these are what I consider to be the absolute highlights.

Scene on the pulpit at St. Giles

My new favorite window at St. Giles

Holyrood Palace

I see dead people. The Necropolis in Glasgow... I could stay all day...

Hmmm... how come image number 665 looks slightly evil?

Glasgow Cathedral

Auchentoshan Distillery tour. Awesome guide, awesome tour, awesome whisky... if you like that sort of thing. Actually, I found a whisky that doesn't make my butt clench. It's called Bruador and it tastes like liquified honey. Seriously. Getchoo some.

Ghosts at St. Conan's Kirk!!! It was so cold and humid that when I breathed out and used a flash I got this cool effect.

For perspective. It's gargantuan. And the sycamore is even bigger. (sorry, I'm a sycamore girl... go team sycamore)

The Birnam Oak... 500 years old. Famous because of Shakespeare's MacBeth (witches in the Birnam Woods) and because it's the oldest tree in Scotland (possibly the UK).

The Whomping Willow?!?!? Really it's a 300 year old sycamore in the Birnam woods, and it's next to...

Atholl Arms Hotel (far left) across the river Tay.

Dunkeld Cathedral in the snow.

A few days before we arrived there was a windstorm in Scotland... 160 mph winds... knocked over quite a few trees in the Birnam Woods. This is one of the rootballs. For perspective, Mikey is about 5' or so.

I TOLD you I was the Queen High Mistress of the Universe. And now I have a picture of me sitting on a throne (non-porcelain) to prove it. ;p

Me shooting the Wallace Monument with a cannon at Stirling Castle. They wanted me to do it, otherwise they wouldn't have pointed it there.

0012 - Everything old is new again

I've decided to write thank you notes to some of the people in Tennessee who were so nice to us; Mike and I thought it would be a nice gesture. It's old school, and people rarely do it anymore so I think the effort will be appreciated (if they can read it). Technology is cool and all, but sometimes when I run across a card in my grandma's handwriting, or get a letter from my aunt Rose, it makes me smile; extra effort was involved, it feels more personal. There is a distinct difference in the way a handwritten note makes you feel, maybe because everyone has different handwriting, so it's like an extension of the person.

Sent Mike off today. I hate these days in so many ways... the dreading of it, how it casts a pall over the last few days we have together as we steel ourselves for yet another separation, the bittersweet last embraces, me attempting to hold back tears (and not very well I might add), the long drive to the airport and back, saying goodbye, coming home to an empty house, the point when his shirts stop smelling like him so I finally give in and wash them. I'm glad this is the last time. In four months he'll be home for good. This time was particularly difficult for me. I know going back is even harder on him. In some ways I'm glad Monday is a holiday, in other respects work keeps me busy... it's part of the routine and it might have been better if it wasn't a holiday.

Speaking of busy, the enormity of what needs to happen in the coming months is starting to weigh on me. Now that we've seen the land and done the up front legwork we have to start coordinating everything, not just on the land, but I need to start packing the house in earnest and get it on the market. In addition, I still have that damn truck to deal with, we're still fighting with the IRS, and now I have to start getting 2011's tax information together. I just have to bite it off piece by piece and not let it overwhelm me, which is easier said than done.

It's 11:15 and I should be exhausted, but I'm wired and will probably be up until late into the night. Tomorrow I plan on tackling the closets... packing some of our things, transferring others to the fifth wheel. On Monday I need to see about renting a small storage unit to stash the boxes so the house won't seem so cluttered. Right now I feel like a box hoarder... I hate clutter so it's really wigging me out.

0011 - Things in motion stay in motion

Busy, busy month. Went to Scotland with Mike and Mikey, used Craig as our driver for the third time, and as usual he made the trip effortless for us. First couple of days there was snow, and it was gorgeous. I never really realized what the 'crunch' of snow sounded like because it rarely snows here. On the second evening, Mike's gallbladder started acting up. We were staying at Castle Levan in Gourock at the time, it's a nice place run by a Czech couple who wanted to own a castle and sold their home in England to make it happen. Mikey really liked it, partly because it was a castle, and partly because it is supposedly haunted. By the fourth day I was on the phone with a nurse from our health insurance company because I thought we were going to have to go to the ER in Edinburgh, but with a little Tylenol (equivalent) and some z's, he made it until Christmas Eve, when we did go to urgent care. They did some tests, gave him some morphine, we scheduled an appointment with a surgeon for that Tuesday, and then surgery followed on Wednesday. In the meantime I was battling a nasty cold, feeling pretty crappy myself... but nowhere nearly as bad as he did. I was just glad that if it had to happen, it happened while he was home, and not while he was in Afghanistan. It's partly because of the quality of care, and partly because I hate feeling helpless... I want to take care of him when he's sick, not sit here and worry, unable to do anything.

After a couple of days to recover (it was outpatient laproscopic surgery), we flew to TN to see our land. In a word... scary. At first. There are two ways to get to our property, and the way the GPS initially took us was full or sharp twists and turns on narrow streets that looked horrifying when we thought about what it would be like to pull the fifth wheel behind us. The land itself was also a bit shocking to see in person... we thought we had more cleared, level land and actually drove by our property without recognizing it.

Then things got better.

We spoke to a wonderful lady at H&H Hardware in Gainesboro and she steered us toward a contractor who can not only level our land, but also run the water line and put in the septic. He reminds us of a friend of ours, very straightforward and easy going. Things were a lot less scary once we got in touch with him... after that we could envision what the land could be. Also spoke to my cousin Jason, who is going to do our concrete work, and I think he has a good handle on everything, so we need to put the two of them in touch with each other and I think we're 3/4 of the way there.

Everyone we've met in TN has been incredibly nice and it seems like we stumble onto the answers we're looking for, sometimes like magic. We managed to get the water, electric and all the rest somewhat lined up while we were there. We also got in contact with a real estate agent that has a piece of property that sounds perfect for Nashoba... waterfall, building that was used as a youth camp, across the street from a river, more acreage than we were looking for, and at a decent price.

On the way into TN we also stopped by a wolfdog sanctuary. Was really nice to see all the woofers and also see how he set his place up. He was a really nice guy who had lots of good advice. He's not open to the public, but since I volunteer at St. Francis he let us drop by for a visit. Small world too. One of the volunteers I work with, Natasha, brought one of the wolfdogs to him from Texas. He looks like he's happy with his pen mate, he was lucky she found him and was able to find him a good home.

Came home, relaxed for about a day, then drove to Austin to see friends and family.

On our second to last day there we went to Red's Indoor Gun Range in Pflugerville and shot for a while. As I was changing out a mag, the range officer tells me to clear the range, and they herd everyone out into the shop. Because of the urgency I thought someone had shot a finger off, or a gun exploded in someone's hand. Turns out that a man had chosen to commit suicide. He was about 70 years old and had recently found out that he had a bad case of cancer and left a note on the front seat of his van saying that he didn't want to be a burden. We didn't know that until the next day, we just knew he was on the floor and blood was pouring out of his head. Tried to figure out every possible scenario that it could have been accidental, but it was pretty obviously intentional, even before they proved that it was.

Mike is the one that actually told them to call 911. He was standing back from the lanes, watching me shoot in one lane, and his sister shoot in another lane. He happened to be looking around, heard a somewhat muffled shot and saw the guy fly straight back, still clutching the gun. He tried to alert the range officer but he was on the other end of the range, so he ran out, assessed the situation in a quick glance as he ran by (as he has been trained to do) and realized that the guy was dead. He calls it a 'through and through'... in one ear and out the other.

I didn't see anything as I walked by. Mike said that was intentional, he was trying to shield me from it. I did look through the window afterward and see the man lying in a pool of his own blood, his ear all fucked up, ear protection gone, and I remember thinking it was weird that the blood wasn't as dark as mine, that maybe he was anemic. Part of me wishes I hadn't looked, part of me probably would have imagined worse if I hadn't looked. I think everyone was in shock at that point. One young guy tried to stop the blood from coming out, he said he tried CPR, but what he really did was put his hands on each side of the guy's head. He came out with his hands covered in blood. I felt bad for him; I told him he needed to get tested because no one knows what kind of disease this guy might have had, not trying to be mean, just practical. Everyone who worked at the range was very nice and helpful, the police were personable, it was handled as well as it could be.

For most of the night I was pissed off. There were two children on the range at the time. The mom was able to shield the little boy from it, but the little girl happened to turn her head and saw it. If this man wanted to die, so be it. He could have parked his van in a garage and let the carbon monoxide put him to sleep. Instead, he came to a public range, rented a .40 caliber Ruger, put it behind his ear and blew his brains out in front of a bunch of strangers. Luckily no one else was injured, and no one saw it actually happen... we were just left with the aftermath... the memories of what we did see... the time we spent making statements to the police, waiting to be released... the millisecond of fear that one of us might have accidentally shot him (impossible)... the questions... making copies of our driver's licenses.... the extra trip we had to make the next day to retrieve our weapons.

People who knew him may choose to remember him fondly... I do not. To me he was a selfish asshole.

That night when Mike finally fell asleep I had a mini meltdown. It started with me thinking that I felt bad for not feeling sorry for the guy, felt bad for feeling nothing. Then all of a sudden I was wracked by sobs that I was afraid might wake Mike up. After I had a good cry I was okay... I got up and took a shower, then went to bed and fell asleep, but it was about 3 am at that point. Woke up feeling groggy and listless the next day, partly due to lack of sleep, partly due to the wine I drank the night before... probably also due to what had happened. I'm not going to let it stop me from going back to a gun range. I've been to several over the last decade and this is the first time it's ever happened. You just can't predict the future and it could have happened anywhere.

We came home Tuesday evening after having drinks with a friend in Houston. Yesterday and today were 'normal' days... doing stuff around the house... shopping for groceries... taking out the trash. I told Mike that I really like normal days with him around, doing normal things like normal people.

Neither of us can wait for his stint in Afghanistan to be over. Four months doesn't sound like much, but when you're on the home stretch every second seems like agony.

One last weird coincidence. An attorney we're working with for something completely unrelated is going to introduce us to an attorney in Nashville that wants to do work for a wolf sanctuary. She said he's willing to help us with our charitable status filing, which is about a $10k value... don't know if he's planning to do it for free or not, she just mentioned a number - but I do know that, from what I've heard, it's a monumental task and we will be grateful for the help. How cool is that? It was completely random.

0010 - Still still

We still don't have a truck. Turns out that the people who sold it to us are complete frauds and it only got 94 miles down the road before the engine blew. We need a new engine. Sixteen thousand dollars.

Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand. Thousand.

It looks worse than that ^, really, it does, but that ^ gives you an idea what sixteen thousand looks like. (sense of humor... still got one, but barely)

There is now an attorney involved. That's the very short version. The longer version includes lots of stress, irritation, (giving way to) murderous rages, heartburn, research, the development of ulcers, and the writing of letters - and it takes place over the course of... well, October 23rd and counting. On the upside, my brain is working in ways it hasn't in years, and if it weren't happening to me it might almost be fun. I considered law as an occupation when I was younger, but lacked the confidence and didn't pay attention when my mother told me not all attorneys argued in front of a judge. Oh the naive innocence of the young... I may have missed my calling and I can't even blame my mother - what is this world coming to?

But this wasn't a blog to grouse about the truck (hiss), it's a blog to grouse that the maiden voyage we planned after Christmas will not be happening. We're bummed. We were excited to take CC out for the first time and get a taste of what it will be like for the long haul. We had a nice RV park all picked out and everything. Now we'll be staying in a hotel room. *sad face*

Wait.

*happy face!!!*

Because in just two 'short' days, my stepson and I fly to Scotland to meet up with my favorite husband and tour my favorite vacation spot in the entire universe. We even spend the first night in my favorite place, in my favorite vacation spot, Birnam/Dunkeld and we eat at my favorite restaurant in Scotland - the Atholl Arms Hotel (looks like someone with a lisp cursing doesn't it? I can't be the only one who thinks that). It's been six very long months and it's been hard on us, but I have a very considerate husband who goes out of his way to keep in touch with me, and we are able to talk almost every day, which makes it bearable (but not easy). Anyway, we will have three weeks together and are planning to do a lot of traveling to see family and friends, as well as our land in TN, so our foul moods are slowly giving way to smiles and good humor again.

Forgot to mention - yesterday at 10:30 am we officially became TN land owners!!! Now the fun really begins... we have a building kit to put together and utilities to run and septic to install. No rest for the wicked.

Anyway, since this is a season to be thankful, I want to end by saying that we are extremely fortunate to have some amazing people in our lives. From kind acts by strangers, to friends so wonderful that we probably don't deserve them, we are reminded daily that we are the lucky ones. 2011 has been a good year for relationships; I've reconnected with people that I've wondered about for years, and spent more time than ever with my family, both of which make me happy, though there are people I still miss and hope to see again soon. I'm lucky that my friendships are pretty much eternal. Whether I see them every day, or once every year or two, every friend is important to me. So thank you to everyone who has touched our lives, whether you know it or not, but especially to our friends and family.

So have a merry Christmas, or whichever holiday you celebrate, and may 2012 be our best year ever (capped off by the election of a new President just before the world ends on 12/21/2012). ;p Next time you hear from me I'll be posting pictures from our trip.

0009 - A (Lengthy) Disappearing Act

Good customer service is so rare these days that I can count the companies who haven't pissed me off on two hands and have almost a whole hand leftover. But instead of focusing on the negative, because it has been a very negative month for me, I would like to focus on companies who deserve the accolades, because we always seem to share the bad reviews but never the good. I understand that everyone has different experiences, so these are mine and mine alone. Rest assured that when I have a bad customer experience, I fight to the bitter end for a resolution and in some cases never do business with that company again. These companies stand out from the crowd and have pleasantly surprised me in some way and/or have consistently provided outstanding customer service. We're talking years of it.

First, a few lessons I've learned along the way, because I'm starting to feel like something of an expert lately (you wouldn't believe all the battles I've fought). I have learned that customer service reps are merely a first line of defense meant to exhaust you into giving up. Most of them are not empowered to help you, and many people take their word as gospel so they just give up - this is what a company wants you to do. If you aren't getting anywhere with a customer service rep, ask to speak to a supervisor or request the address for the corporate office and write a letter. Letters are very effective if done right. I once received a refund for a missed shipping date and a $50 gift card for having written a letter.

Always document when you called and who you spoke with. When writing a letter or email, give praise if praise is due (if one of the ten reps you've spoken too went out of their way to help you, give them props), take emotion out of it and state facts, tell them what the issue is and how they can resolve it to your satisfaction. Don't threaten them, don't use expletives, don't even use the word "you", always try to refer to a company so that it doesn't feel personal to the person reading it. Allow them the opportunity to rectify the situation as long as it's reasonable to do so, but draw the line at more than one or two attempts.

When speaking to a representative, realize that it is not their fault and - as I said earlier - they are most likely not very empowered. If you lose your cool they are less likely to want to help you so they will just play dumb or give standard responses. If you are pleasant, you will stand out from the crowd and they may actually offer solutions you hadn't thought of, or make an exception to a rule. It is when you are about to lose your cool that I suggest requesting a supervisor. I try to give each rep the benefit of the doubt unless they prove themselves completely incompetent. Also, since many call centers seem to be in India now, you may have problems understanding or communicating with a rep, it's okay to pretend that the call was dropped and call back, or ask to speak to a supervisor.

The way I see it, we are the customers. We have a choice in where we do business. Companies don't have to act as if we are royalty, but they should certainly show us more respect than most do. I resent it when I have to stay on top of something, when a company says they will call me back and they don't, when they give me a delivery date and every time the deadline arrives they offer up excuses, when they put me through automated attendant hell, when they act as if I am a burden. And I don't know about you, but the longer I sit on hold, the angrier I get, especially if I keep getting transferred from department to department and have to tell my story to five different people. They always seem to take copious amounts of notes, but the next rep never seems to be able to find them.

So enough of that. On to the accolades.

Consistently good service... on time shipments, correct items shipped, pleasant cashiers/ representatives, easy returns:

• JC Penney
• Bed Bath & Beyond
• Bath & Body Works
• DirecTV (phone reps only... techs usually seem to have some excuse for running late and a tendency to voice how incompetent previous technicians were... I think it's an ego thing because Comcast and Time Warner techs were the same way... repairmen in general...)
• Barnes & Noble (storefront staff and online book help, not necessarily tech support)
• Amazon.com
• O.co
  

Standouts:

Citibank - They once refunded a payment I'd made when my bank account was overdrawn (gross misunderstanding with a vendor about a refund) and saved my butt. They also transferred a charge over to a promotional offer once. They didn't have to do either of those things and I guarantee you most banks wouldn't. I have been a long-time customer and they have always come through for me.

Pinkberry - I ordered my fro-yo to go and the girl behind the counter actually put ice in a baggie and set it inside the bag with my yogurt to keep it cold

Soap.com - I received a surprise free goodie (full-sized Comtrex) with my order, they have a 365 day return policy with free return shipping, and you can mail in coupons (I've dreamt of it and never thought it could be manifested in real life!). All of the items were in plastic baggies in case they spilled out and there was a very nice welcome letter from the owners. Very nice.

AT&T Wireless - When my husband flew back to Dubai he didn't turn his phone off, and if you just turn data off but don't turn the phone off, it doesn't register, it's like rebooting a computer after installing software I guess. We would have incurred an $800 charge for the data, but the representative said they had just started an international data plan and she could grandfather him in so all we would owe is $35. Then she asked if he planned on using a data plan, and if not said she could set it to auto-terminate at the end of the month. What's more? She actually did it. They also called us one month when his usage spiked to let us know that our bill was going to be higher than normal and find out if it was actually us making the calls. It was, so it was fine, but they suggested that I review my bill at the end of the month and dispute all the one minute charges for $3.99 because those were probably calls that didn't connect and after the 3rd ring (?) they start to charge. That saved us another $40. Most companies don't do things like that.

Bad Boys Transport - The driver that delivered my RV (on Thanksgiving Day) apparently only had my work number... I wasn't at work that day. He called several times and couldn't reach me, called the dealership and couldn't reach them, called his dispatch and no one answered. Finally he found my address on the temporary license plate (we had given him the address to the storage facility) and drove to my house. My neighbor happened to be home and she called me. He arrived about 8 hours earlier than expected and went out of his way to track me down. They get major props.

One King's Lane - Got a nice introductory deal from them with a signup bonus, a really nice bowl set and colorful vase practically for free. The items took a while to arrive but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality, and to be fair I think I've just been spoiled by the 2-day shipping I've gotten from Amazon Prime lately. Today I got a thank you gift of note cards. It was unexpected and I thought it was a nice touch.

Bay Area Postal - These guys are local, but I can't say enough nice things about them. The service is personalized, they remember their customers and always seem to be smiling. It's a little out of my way to go here, but it's worth it.

The Body Shop - Yes I love my bath products! I had a Groupon, $20 for $40 worth of product. I was hoping to score more Amber Oud to replace what I'd bought in Dubai and since used up. Apparently it's Dubai specific. :( However, on the day I chose to spend my Groupon, TBS was running a promotion where they gave each customer a card with a little perforated zipper, you open it up and get different deals... half off, one free item, etc. I got Buy One Get One Free (BOGO as it's known). I thought it was exactly that. Buy ONE, get ONE. The cashier told me I could get four more items if I wanted, I hadn't bought $40 worth of product yet. So it wasn't limited to one item, it counted for my whole purchase. I don't think that was true, and in a rare moment of ethical consumerism I did try to clarify, but she's the expert, so I ended up with almost $100 worth for a little over $20 plus tax. This makes Kristy happy.

Lastly... stores that I have butted heads with, but have gone back and made it right include Sears and Walgreens. Sears gave me the $50 gift card I mentioned earlier. Their corporate office called me after I wrote the letter. So I turned around and used the gift card during a promotion where you buy $50 in men's wear and get a $25 gift card to spend two weeks later. Mike got a whole new wardrobe for Dubai and we didn't pay for much out of pocket. It was pretty awesome. All I wanted was a refund for the shipping, the gift card was one of those unexpected things that makes a company stand out.

0008 - Alba

This has nothing to do with RV's, but hell, this blog is about life, it'll just have an RV bent to it for the next year or two. I'm kind of a random thought kinda gal and I just go with it. :)

Mike, Mikey and I are going to Scotland in a couple of weeks. This will be my third trip, and their first. I told our driver, Craig, that the route is up to him this time around; I usually plan most of it and he gets to squeeze in a couple of cool surprises here and there, so I can't wait to see what he has in store for us. It'll be nice to see him again too, he's a cool guy and traveling with him is always fun. I figure I've seen most everything I know to see, I have a few spots I am adamant about revisiting, but this trip will be mostly about me spending time with Mike and seeing Scotland through his eyes, and Mikey's. I think they're going to love it. How can they not? Scotland is amazing.

Part of the reason I fell in love with Tennessee is that parts of it remind me very much of Scotland - and not 'just' Scotland - but Birnam/Dunkeld, my favorite places in all of Scotland (have I said Scotland enough? Scotland, Scotland, Scotland, I love Scotland - Alba go bragh!). Some people like beaches. Some people like snowy mountaintops. I am a mountain, woods and lake person. I love the sound of water trickling over rocks, the wind in the trees, raindrops falling softly on a tin roof, the muffled sounds of a cold day, the crackle of wood in a warm fire - and I would be remiss if I didn't add -the howling of wolves. That's where I feel most at home. That kind of atmosphere energizes and rejuvenates me.

Speaking of TN (sort of), they were able to do our soil test today, and it was good news, the soil perked, so we could build a 3 BR / 2 BA house on the property... which we're not planning to do, but it increases the value of our land if we ever decide to sell. For us it means we can put in septic for CiCi to hook up to when we're home. Our realtor, Lindsey, ordered the appraisal and title search this afternoon, and once those come back, we can close on the property and it will be ours. It's exciting to think that when we go to TN in January, we will be going to 'our place'. It's a bit surreal actually. We've been talking about this for years... when we were just friends we daydreamed about having land, when we became involved we began to work toward making it happen.

Everything finally seems to be falling into place. We have CiCi, our truck will be here early next week. The land is almost ours... We can't wait until April... but for now, December is a good start.