What does it mean when time speeds by? Does it mean that we are getting settled and so we don’t notice time? Or does it mean that life is still such a whirlwind that we can’t keep track of it? Regardless, here it is nearly a month into the new year so it’s time for an update.

I do think that we are adjusting albeit slowly. The flat is now feeling more like home, even though we are STILL waiting for the delivery of the rest of our belongings. Grrrr…. we got notice two weeks ago that they had landed and cleared customs. Now we just have to wait for them to get to Aberdeen. How long can that possibly take? It’s the same bloody island! I’m fairly certain we could walk faster. (Note: according to Google maps it would take 163 hours to walk to London. Depending on our level of determination, we COULD actually walk faster.) It’s not that we don’t have everything we need because technically we do. What we don’t have are the things we own that we want: pictures for the walls that mean something to us, sharp knives, hats and gloves, books, records, etc. I am very much looking forward to the day that I can actually dice tomatoes without mashing them to cook in my cast iron skillet while listening to music on vinyl. (Let’s say Ghost in the Machine or Learning to Crawl if we are looking in the “P” section). Being patient and taking lots of yoga breaths….

Work has begun to have a *bit* of a routine – although I think that will more evident starting this week now that classes are back in session. I give my first lecture this week (Eeek!) which is much earlier than expected. I’m co-teaching Data Governance and Ethics and the other lecturer has to be in Vancouver this week so I get to do the “Welcome to the module” lecture. Which will contain very little about ethics because that’s his gig. My part isn’t for another 6 weeks when I start talking about how data governance helps people to do the right thing (once the ethics stuff explains what the right thing means). I’m already planning for a bottle of prosecco and a fish supper to celebrate my first lecture on UK soil. Updates to follow.

Besides work and home, we are exploring. Our hiking boots are getting quite the workout and we are loving that! We look for opportunities to head out every weekend to wander somewhere nearby. We’ve covered quite a bit of the coast north of Aberdeen, a few kilometers in the Cairngorms, and some woodlands around castles nearby. We are now card carrying members of the National Trust for Scotland (or will be when the cards arrive!) so we will be visting lots of castes and manor houses and other historical sites. First up was Castle Fraser which has nothing to do with the characters in the Diana Gabaldon books but that didn’t stop them from capitalising on the name. The grounds were lovely (albeit very icy) and the castle was really interesting. Most NTS sites are closed until April but this one runs a “behind the scenes” tour in the winter that shows how restoration is done and how the collection is cared for. We got to see all kinds of things that are usually off limits to tourists during the summer and hear all about the ghosts. Next weekend we head north for a different kind of Scottish national touring: distillary visits!

And our diary is filling up. (Apparently we don’t use calendars, we use diaries.). We’ve already had one successful outing with friends from Edinburgh who met us halfway to spend an afternoon in Dundee. We have friends in Dundee who are heading north shortly, friends from Stirling who maybe our first overnight guests, and then we head to the west coast to visit my family. And that doesn’t include the travel we have planned over the coming months (Grand Canaria in February, Switzerland in March, Florida in April, Philly in May). Those adventures will be outlined in the travel blog so you’ll need to check that out later.

And the obligatory “photos of us having fun” to go along with the post.