TheLionRampant.net

–I was getting sick, but think I am now getting better
–I got to go out to lunch today with friends
–A paper I presented at the conference in Dublin will be published
–I will officially be a PhD student this Friday when I stand in a very long line and pay my fees
–I have Bible study tomorrow and I did it
–We are going over to our pastor’s house for dinner on Friday–good food, no cooking, no dishes
–We had the Randalls and Hays over for a “reunion” dinner on Sunday night; good times
–We have clean air–yay, dehumidifier
–Jesus loves me

The last few days of my mom and grandma’s visit were a little less eventful and less tiring! Thursday my mom and Nana spent the day in York; they took the train down and back in one day. They walked around the Shambles and saw the Minster and we picked them up at Waverley train station in time for dinner at our flat: bbq beef sandwiches and coleslaw. For a warm day, it was a perfect meal (I know, you all won’t believe it was warm in Scotland in September, but it was! Of course now it’s turned all blustery and the temperature’s dropped at least 5 degrees F).

Friday my mom and grandma toured Holyrood Palace and my grandma resisted the urge to touch tapestries and old wooden banisters. As it costs to get into the Palace, even with a Historic Scotland membership, I opted out on the visit and slept in! I met them at the Queen’s Gallery (a small gallery where they have exhibits of the royal art collections) as they currently have an exhibit on the Dutch Golden Age taking place. We saw some wonderful paintings by Vermeer (”The Piano Lesson”), Rembrandt (a “self-portrait” and an early painting of his of an old woman, commonly referred to as “the Artist’s Mother”) as well as others by Jan Steen, Gerrit Dou, Hobbema and others. We then popped into the Edinburgh University Centre so I could get a sweatshirt and then had a quick visit to Blackwell’s. After Bryce finished with classes we went to Argos to get our de-humidifier! (It’s great! We have clean air and have since emptied probably 8 liters of water from it! Hooray for clean air!) After that, we went to Sainsbury’s for my mom to get her mixed herbs and to buy food for dinner–cheese fondue and then fruit and cake for chocolate fondue! Yummy! I then escorted my mom and Nana to the bus and went off for some fun with some classmates at a local bar to celebrate that we’ve all turned in our dissertations!

Saturday we all slept in and had a lazy morning. Bryce and I walked over to their flat in Stockbridge and picked up the sewing my mom had done for us: buttons and a patch on Bryce’s jeans. We walked all around the city and made a few stops for errands (and a milkshake!) while my grandma rested and tried to cure her sore throat. We rented “Cold Mountain” (good, but SO sad!) and paused it to go to dinner at Pizza Express. Of course we were all sad and teary and so dinner was sort of ho-hum. We said our goodbyes that evening as they were to be leaving at 6.30 the following morning. Their trip here was great, tiring, and memorable! We were truly spoiled but are so grateful for the wonderful things they purchased for us that we can’t afford–the de-humidifier, lots of meals out, clothes, a cool coffee table book on Scotland, groceries, etc! I was really sad after they left and suddenly didn’t want to be in Scotland anymore; it all felt alien all of a sudden and not home anymore. But after my sadness and frustration, the following day I got to go to church and be with good friends and life looked a bit brighter.

Bryce took some great shots with his new camera of our trip, so hopefully we’ll get those posted within a week. So keep checking back and tell us what you’ve been up to!

Wow, we’ve been living the high life with my mom and grandma here!

They arrived, happy and exhausted, on Thursday afternoon. We took them for a little drive around the city and to dinner at Pizza Express before tucking them into their bed. The next day, we drove up to St Andrews and saw the ruined Cathedral, ate some yummy curry, and walked around a bit. My grandma thought it was all she could have expected. My mom liked the look of it a whole lot more with the sun shining and without the wind rushing through you in December. We motored on up to Kerry’s and spent Friday to Sunday with the Crocketts. Besides wrestling with the kids, we enjoyed some more yummy dinners we didn’t have to cook as well as a trip to the Braemar Gathering and walking through the famous Crathes Castle Gardens. This is when my grandma got over her jet lag–although I suspect some of her ensuing excitement was being 50 feet away from the Queen, Charles, and Philip at the Braemar Gathering. Plus we got to witness about 100 bagpipers come into the Highland Games with all their different tartans and hear them play “Highland Cathedral”. It was magnificent! Besides our sighting of the royals, we saw a hill race (literally up a big ‘ole hill and down in 30 mins), saw some hammers being thrown and the caber (i.e., big telephone pole thing) tossed. Gotta love the tank top, work boots and kilt outfit.

We all went out to lunch after church on Sunday and then the four of us drove back down to Edinburgh for Sunday night service at New Restalrig. Very good sermon as usual and my fam enjoyed chatting with David afterwards. We then had a cheese and cracker supper in the car as we parked out in Holyrood Park to watch the Firework Concert which is the official closing of the Edinburgh International Festival. Of course, with our lovely Scottish haar, most of the fireworks were obscured by mist. We made it down to Grassmarket (just below the castle, where the fireworks were being shot from) during the finale and so could finally get a good view.

Monday as the weather had turned from the glorious (and hot!) sunshine, to misty, cold, wet weather we did some errands: Argos (in search of a dehumidifier), Asda, and Ikea. Gotta love being sandwiched inbetween the car door and the new bookcase we got. Oh well, it’s worth it! We then had yet more tea, visited St Giles, and met up with the Hays for dinner at a new hamburger joint on the Royal Mile. We all then proceeded to the Free Church College for the opening lecture and made awkward small talk afterward–of course, we at least knew people this time and knew a bit more of what to expect.

Tuesday, Bryce paid his fees and we headed west to Glasgow. We finally found Bryce a University of Glasgow sweatshirt and picked one up for Jonathan too. Most of the galleries were closed but we made it into the University museum and art gallery before we were rather rudely shoved out at five minutes till 5 pm (closing time) so the staff could leave at 5. We took a drive around the city and then ate some fabulous curry at Ashoka.

Today, I went to Bible study while my mom and grandma had a lazy morning after all our walking the day before. Bryce started classes and is already memorising the Hebrew alphabet. It looks like this year the lectures will be more interesting and also more difficult. He’s taking: Hebrew, New Testament 1 (with of course more Greek), Systematic Theology, and Church History 2. It should be a heavy load. After some bus mishaps, my mom and grandma found Valvonna and Crolla and we had some yummy Italian food and then proceeded up to the castle while Bryce went home to organise and study. Tonight we had a nice home-cooked meal at the flat my fam is staying at and the Hays joined us; of course my Weight Watchers isn’t going so hot this last week or two–but what else could I be doing during the fall than losing some weight? I can afford to gain a pound or so right now, I think; I mean, when people are taking you out for lunch or dinner and buying treats, one can’t refuse. At least that’s what I say.

Some of the pictures we’ve taken are uploaded in the Photos section, here. More pictures and fun to come!