Happy New Year.
I started off 2018 with mom here! Mom was able to come over Christmas for a whole month. She attended the lab Christmas dinner and met my supervisors, friends, and other professors. I think she enjoyed meeting everyone, and putting a face to the name. :) Mom also got to meet Megan and have lunch with here. It is always a good time with Megan.
I had to be in the lab the first week she was here so she rested (despite what she says) and watched some Netflix. We then started our 2 week stay in Scotland. I sure have missed Scotland. We started the time there meeting Helen for dinner. It was so good catching up and having the French mojitos! The next morning I dragged mom to Henry's Coffee. I became addicted to Henry's when I was doing my Masters. They have the best coffee, and back then they had amazing gluten free muffins. Sadly the muffins were no more, but the coffee was still amazing! It was so good meeting my old professors and hanging out with Helen. We also got to have my coffee flavoured muffins from Muffin Break, so I say Dundee was a huge success in the gluten free department. Tesco there also carries my gf flatbread that I love and cannot find anywhere else. The city also has finally finished the bridge to Tesco and the University so that was nice. It was icy, cold, and some snow so we were both happy! While we were in Dundee we travelled to the Glamis castle/Christmas market, Stirling Castle, and Broughty Ferry. The Stirling Castle was my favourite, and better than the Edinburgh Castle. Glamis had food trucks and I can now say I have eaten from a food truck! There was one that did GF food. Happy days! We also had mulled wine, but that was not as exciting as my food from the food truck. It's the little things in life. We toured the castle there as they did a Victorian themed tour for Christmas. In Broughty Ferry the castle is basically a pile of stones, but they were working on it so not much to see. As we were leaving, I slipped on the drawbridge and landed on my bad ankle. I had to buy some ankle boots to stabilize my foot, but had to throw away my tennis shoes, which was sad. Needless to say my ankle is still swollen and sore. Oh well...good thing I started PT for this foot a few months ago.
Stirling Castle:
After Dundee we travelled to Edinburgh. We took a tour from there up to the Highlands and Loch Ness. We saw Nessie, a Highland cow, a goat, a bunch of sheep, and a red deer. We had an amazing tour guide who was very informative and stopped if we wanted to see other things or take photos. Loch Ness was amazing and being on a boat surrounded by snowy mountains was amazing and very cold. I loved the snow covered mountains. When we were coming back from Loch Ness it was -2 degrees (Celsius) so the tour guide stopped at an ice cream shop as it is a necessity to try ice cream at -2 degrees in December. This was one of my favorite tours we have done in Scotland. We also took a tour to the Rossylan Chapel, which was my favorite place (outside of Dundee). The Rossylan Chapel was used in the DaVinci Code movie and it was stunning. While in Edinburgh we also walked through the Christmas market, so many people! But mom and I did by matching coffee mugs that are made from stone with a place for your thumb...and made from Amsterdam. I love my mug! We also took 2 haunted history tours. The walking one, was hilarious and I would recommend that over the other haunted tours. He does 2 tours and the one we took was amazing. The bus one, was ok. I fell off the bus step and injured the same foot, so I wasn't really interested in the last part of the tour after falling. I was more concerned with my already injured foot. Oh well. One of the last days in Edinburgh, mom wanted to go curling so we did. We took lessons. I never paid much attention to that sport, but mom loves it. And can I just be the first to say, curling is hard. Who would have thought pushing a stone and sweeping a broom on ice was hard?! I enjoyed it. Mom on the other hand, loved it and was really good at it. I liked pushing the stone, although I landed multiple times on my knee (other leg), and it was very bruised. I hated sweeping. If you ever go curling, wear knee pads...and maybe for your first lesson, don't go with mom. Mom has some powerful stone pushing skills. She was so good, she made me and the other sweeper girl fall. Mom was just that good. I would do it again, if I get knee pads first. It was a fun night and I know it was the highlight of the trip for mom.
Tour to the Highlands:
While in Edinburgh, they had no Henry's so mom and I had to find a different coffee place for breakfast. There was this cute café (with amazing coffee) that has some gluten free food, but it was all fresh and organic. But they take all of their left over food from each day and give it to the homeless shelters. Reminded us of Mike and his Union church/café. The world needs more places like this.
St Giles Cathedral
We left Edinburgh to travel to Glasgow. Now, the first time mom and I went to Glasgow we weren't impressed. This time, it was amazing! People were so friendly. We had Tim Horton's coffee (Yes, Canadian coffee), muffins, and hot chocolate from a TARDIS. We didn't plan much for Glasgow but did see Jumanji 2! It was amazing! As we were leaving we saw Jamie Oliver's restaurant, but didn't have time to go. Well, all the more reason to go back.
Glasgow Christmas market:
Scotland, I love you! I am ready to go back!
Then we came back to Northern Ireland. No more snow, ice, or falling. We went to Derry/Londonderry in the pouring rain. We met a family from Texas, of all places. They were nice and stationed (Army) in Rammstein. Lucky. We went to Portrush, as I treated mom to a massage for Christmas. And we walked into Coleraine multiple times. Sadly, it is not as exciting as Scotland. But my favorite coffee place in Coleraine just started serving GF breakfast (And without egg!) Happy days. On the way back one day from my gf French toast mom, Shruti, and I saw this rainbow that was so strong in color that the colors changed the houses and trees below. The picture doesn't do it justice:
But you can see the colors on the roof. Amazing.
Mom and I celebrated Christmas and we were able to skype family. Zach came home to surprise the kiddos so it was good to talk to him too. And can I just say my Christmas gift from Zach and Lauren was by far amazing!
Now, what brother and Sister in law would send a blanket, let alone have one made for their sister that has the bones on it?! Mine! And a hand carved turtle. Happy Natalie! My blanket is so warm and I love it. I am a nerd.
On boxing day we did some shopping, and the accommodation held a pizza party for those that were here... Free pizza...who could say no.
We ended the holiday with a trip to Bangor, where we had some food from Sudan and just a good time hanging out with a friend and his family.
This was a trip of international foods: Indian, British, American, and African.
The last night we stayed in the Europa in Belfast. It was a highly bombed hotel during the troubles here. And a fancy hotel too. We saw the fish of knowledge and St Patricks church.
Sadly, mom is back in the states. No more watching Big Bang Theory and singing with theme song, no more watching Say Yes to the Dress or Come Dine With Me and laughing at random things... and no more unburnt food or dishes being done. I loved that part. But I loved having mom here. It's more fun with mom here.
So that was December in a cliff notes version.
I am now back at work and have mice once again. This set of mice, like my music playlist of Pink, Imagine Dragons, and other pop music. And today, none of them jumped or tried to escape. I think singing the songs to them helped calm them. :) But ask me about them in 2 weeks and we will see if that is still the case. They were all good today. And I can proudly say I did today all by myself in an hour. In the past when I did animal work I had someone with me usually, but if I did it alone it took about 2 hours. I think I am getting better. It also helps having non sexist mice that like the quiet and music I can sing. I enjoy the animals. If you would have asked me that a year ago, I never thought I would. As I usually panicked and ended in tears over those mice. Now, I prefer to be down there with them. Maybe if my cell work ever starts to work, I would prefer that. Oh well.
I started to read more, not just articles but fun books, for one of my New Years resolutions. I am halfway done with the book I started on New Years.
Well, that is about it for now. Things haven't been too exciting for January as of now...except for well behaved mice. :)
I hope everyone had a good holiday season and a happy New Year! I hope 2018 is a good year for everyone.
Cheers
