The Best Little Country in the World

Against an impassioned desire to stay forever, I sadly left Scotland on Tuesday after 6 glorious days in the best little country in the World. As many know, I've always held Australia and New Zealand as special places within my heart because, as I stated in the dedication to my Master's thesis, these countries somehow manifest the spirit of my spirit. Well, add Scotland to the list because it has truly captured my imagination; I've fallen in love with yet another culture.

Scotland in November, you say? Thank you, Thanksgiving! I was able to tack on an extra 2 days to the 4 day holiday and make a mini travel adventure for myself, which is my favorite thing to do in the entire World. I left last Wednesday and arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday morning the 22nd. After a day of roaming around that beautiful city (I spotted my first Scottish Adonis at a pub during lunch, by the way), I was off for three days on a stellar tour through the country to the Isle of Skye and back. I finished up with a mini trip to Glasgow and flew home last night. Beautiful people, beautiful country, amazing vacation. I met some fantastic characters and, despite the fact that I was solo, had the most romantic time, thanks to bewitching tall tales and the enchanting scenery of harsh, august landscapes.

The Scottish and the Australians have a similar spirit, one that I admire greatly. They both seem to take simple pleasures and enjoy what they've got with a reverence and jolly-good-time attitude. In other words, they're warm, fun-loving people who make the most of what's out there. Plus, give me a man in a kilt with a deep brogue and I'm totally lost... and found.

I hope to God I'll be able to post some photos of the trip. However, my brand new camera has decided to give me a hard time of it and is only showing 3 photos of the 100 I took (due to some nebulous memory card error). I started to cry when I found out. However, in the spirit of optimism, I suppose I'll have to haul my ass back to Scotland very soon to retake these photos if they are indeed lost forever. Now, that solution ain't too bad!!!

Cookie Cutters from Down Under

I experimented making sugar cookies with my new cookie cutters from Australia. Or should I say biscuit cutters? Hmm, very Donna Reed of me, but I did have a good time... AND I deserved a reward after running 7 miles non-stop on Saturday! The New York City Marathon is less than one year away. I gotta get pumpin'!

Election Day

Ok, ok. So this isn't THE election, but I still voted via proxy (thanks, Ginger) for the local Loudoun County crew. In exactly one year, Hillary Clinton will be president elect. Am I wrong? Hmm... I might be forced to write-in the Hoff. We'll see. My goal is simple: Down with these segregationist "No Dogs Allowed" recreation areas and parks! Anyone in support of this anti-doggery gets a "Woof" of no confidence.