Thursday 25 October 2007

Table for 5



What a difference a few days make! We've settled into school a little more and the boys continue to make friends and enjoy the newness. We've had a few tears the last couple of days as reality sets in and the realization that this is not a "holiday" hits us all.




On Tuesday morning, after droping the big boys off at school, Scott, Charlie and I emptied the hotel room of our suitcases and headed to Hatfield Drive. Since our air shipment was still not here (@#$%!!), I then headed to the store for the basics: air mattress (we have one futon mattress from our first trip to Ikea and one bed that is on loan from our landlord), sheets, blankets, pillows, towels, skillet, etc. We were all so thankful to have a little space!


Wednesday, Charlie and I headed to Ikea for a temporay kitchen table because eating on the floor no longer felt like camping! After 3 hours in Ikea (nightmare), I'd made some selections that might make settling in a little easier. Scott has used his trusty new drill to become a skilled Ikea Assembler for the MacNicols.

Just notice the before and after pictures of our kitchen! Doesn't the table make all the difference??? Oh yeah, and the real plates we picked up at Ikea! It's the little things that make us oh so HAPPY! It redefines what's you need vs what you want!

I hope you also noticed our washer and dryer in the kitchen. This house did not come with a dryer, so Scott insisted that we get one right away. Scott was probably scared of what I might do or say without one as I was hanging the 9th load of laundry on the drying rack for the day. I do love the drying rack though. It's just about as old as the house, 1904, and it's on a pulley system. Since the ceilings are so tall, you just hang your laundry on the rack and pull it up to the ceiling. It's approx. 12" x 72". It is also in the kitchen. Tonight, I learned what happens when you forget the laundry on the rack while you are cooking dinner! The boys' freashly laundered uniform shorts now smell like garlic.


Right now, we have the dryer vented out of the window unitl the workman can come and drill a hole in the wall. They said they'll be here sometime next week, maybe the week after. I'm sure the neighbors love the self venting system.


Scott sucessfully set up our phone and internet at home today. It only took about 24 hours, as we just can't seem to figure out how to dial anyone from here. We couldn't call for help because we are still learning how to dial all the different numbers. It's different for mobile, landlines in Glasgow, and landlines elsewhere. It also doesn't help that we have one US mobile phone and one local phone so dialing from each is different. It's super frustrating and I know there is a lesson in patience in it somewhere but boy are we impatient about stuff like that!


One more thing, have you ever tried to feed Scott Nicol and his three growing boys out of a mini-fridge??? I know that I've said that the idea of going to the butcher, baker, cheesemonger and the root and fruit markets everyday was exciting, but until I find those placees, my people are hungry and this tiny fridge isn't filling them up! You should have seen me today. One shopping cart full of groceries and I have crammed it all in only to have them eat half of it for dinner! I'm sure it doesn't help that one row is full of beer!! Anyway, while I was purchasing a vaccum today I figured, what the heck, a drink fridge is a good idea. It will be delivered on Tuesday! Then I can take my time to find the above mentioned markets, right?


More on the joys and frustrations of living abroad soon! Cheers!