Howdy folks. Last time I wrote to you we were in Fukuoka Japan. We then briefly bopped through Seoul and London on our way here to Inverness. Unfortunately our baggage remained behind in London. Whoops. Oh, and they can only find three of our four checked bags in their system so far. Double whoops. So we went to Tesco and got a couple of things for the kids and Miss Jenny has hand me downs for Her Sweetness.

So that’s the bad.

The good: fuckin’ A this apartment is great. We went on a bigger grocery shopping trip this morning than we have done since Hawaii. And we are going to go again on our way back from lunch with Miss Jenny. I FEEL SO FUCKING HAPPY. I GET TO STORE OVER A WEEK OF GROCERIES AT A TIME!!!! This is my happy place.

We are absolutely adoring our first contact with Scotland. Folks are very friendly. Like: if we don’t nod or smile or say hello to someone immediately… they do it first. Oh glory be. Not to mention there are fat people everywhere. I had not understood how slightly uncomfortable in my body I felt in Japan where I saw tons of beautiful clothing… that I could not possibly buy because I was about 8 sizes larger than they carry in stores. I could have bought pretty clothes today. But I didn’t because my bags will be here soon and I have too damn many clothes already. But I COULD HAVE.

My kids each found a pair of pants and a shirt that fit better than anything they’ve been able to buy for a while.

My fucking ancestors lived here. I can tell.

Deep sigh of happiness. Not to mention that the slightly bracing air is glorious. It’s not cold, but we are happier in a hoodie with our tshirt. We have been over heated for a long time now.

The selection of produce was fabulous. I got so many kids of produce. Spinach and tomatoes and Brussels sprouts and cabbage and grapes and raspberries and strawberries and blueberries and bananas and apples and carrots and broccoli and potatoes and cauliflower and garlic and bok choi and… I’m sure there is more. That produce drawer is packed. I didn’t get meat or cheese or any such. We will definitely need a second trip today before I feel like we have the full variety we like to have on hand.

And all of our devices are on the wifi network. The kids have already downloaded more library books. This week is their spring break. I told them I am not going to monitor their screen usage beyond the parental controls that are already in place (which means they can read as much as they want on their phone/ipod).

It was a bitch pushing the baby-car/stroller/buggy up the hill with all the food in it, but the view is absolutely amazing. I love being back in the hills/mountains. (These feel like rather small mountains to me, but I love elevation.)

This is showing promise to be a glorious two months.

We found a restaurant just over a mile away for breakfast. It was all you can eat full English breakfast. I was stunned by how much Her Sweetness put away. We were all really hungry. The last day of travel really took a lot out of us.

We are the first guests in a brand new apartment. The host is super nice and she asked me if I could suggest anything that would make the place better to stay in. She said she will go pick up everything I suggested today so I really couldn’t ask for better hosting. (Tea pot, wash cloths, second frying pan.)

The apartment isn’t really decorated to my taste, but it is very modern and chic Ikea stuff. It’s kind of funny to me. It’s white on white with a little bit of grey and tan. And lots of stags.

I am looking forward to staying here. I feel like I just slid into a perfectly sized glove. I mean, if I lived in this sort of house I would absolutely paint it to look different… but this is a luxury apartment. It wasn’t going to be wacky. And I don’t think I’d be permitted to have a large wild garden by HOA standards right around here. So it’s not long-term perfect. But this will be incredibly comfortable and appropriate for a while. And there’s a lot of potential.

Gosh I am appreciating the cold. I mean, it’s not cold. But when we left the house this morning it was 45F. After sweating like a pig for months that felt so nice. And it’s not California cold where you have no insulation in the houses so you freeze 24/7 all winter. It’s snug and nice inside and then when you step out to walk it feels lovely chilly. I like it.

Wellington is 50ish-70ish year round.

Hm.

We are going to leave to go meet up with Miss Jenny in about half an hour. I’m super tired but it’ll be nice. We are going to do a second grocery run on the way home. Then I intend to hide in this apartment for 3-4 days without leaving. I am weary.

I continue to be shocked by how well my children handle travel. We had a couple of moments of whining/fussing in a travel day where they were awake/in motion for almost 26 hours with a few cat naps. Her Sweetness even slept in the airplane bassinet for about three hours.

Can’t complain about that.