Cranesmuir, Family Lands, & a chance at time travel

Our Journey Continues...

May 16: Woke up before John, and went downstairs to read before breakfast. It was a good hour or so before the others joined me. Erin and Scott gave me the run-down of their travel woes. At least they made it to Scotland with their luggage.

We all had a delicious "Scottish Breakfast" that consisted of bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms, potatoes, and tomatoes...parritch optional

Sam and Scot arrived just before 9am. We loaded the van, introductions were made, and a group picture was taken. (From Left: Jennifer Kellogg, Brenda Kecskes, Scott Moyers, Erin Moyers, Me, John, Scot AnSgeulaiche, and Samantha MacKenzie)

First stop Culross, or "Cranesmuir" for my fellow Outlander fanatics. We saw the home of Gellis Duncan, the herb garden, and the pillory. (Pics below)

Next we drove through the MacGregor (Oggs roots) and MacNab lands, wonderful rolling green hills, and into the Highlands.

While in MacNab territory we stopped for lunch and saw a water mill wheel that may have a pair of red underpants floating somewhere nearby :)

Strolling through the MacNab burial ground was a particular treat for John and myself. And all us Monty Python fans were elated to see Doune Castle which was used in 'Holy Grail.'

Glen Lyon provided some nice uphill trekking for us out of shape folk. Rain threatened for just a moment before the sun came out again. We were surprised at the end by a cleft stone, and of course all us ladies had to touch it just in case. Alas, no humming was heard and no one was magically transported back to the 18th century. No pictures of this, but stay tuned for the next cleft rock trip only days away....

We drove to Pitlochry where our B&B was located. Our hosts were Janice and Gerry-very kind folks. After putting up our bags, again on the third floor room (I'm thinking this is a hint from somewhere high up that we need to exercise more), we all walked to Fern Cottage for dinner and ales. Tried the Red MacGregor, in honor of my fellow clansmen/women, and found it to be a wonderful full-bodied red ale. Too bad we can't get it in the states :( On our way into the restaurant, we spotted Dougie Maclean (O Caledonia) in the restaurant. Always nice to spot a local celebrity.

May 17: Happy Birthday to me! The big 3-0! And what a view to wake up to...

After a nice birthday breakfast-with a tart provided by Sam and Scot, as well as a birthday song, to be eaten later- we conversed over cup after cup of amazing coffee from a press. Even Erin liked it, and she never drank coffee during all those night shifts we worked together. Finally we were dragged out to the van, reluctantly leaving behind the last dregs of our caffeine.

On our way to the Highland Museum, we stopped in Newtonmore to browse the Harris Tweed shop. Man was that a mistake! Erin and I stood there practically drooling over the double breasted coats. They were only $570 USD, I don't understand why John and Scott were against us buying them. To our chagrin, we left the store with nothing.

The Highland museum is an outdoor facility that recreates 18th century life. Here we also encountered our first of many "feral" animals. This inside joke provided lots of humor throughout the rest of the tour. Any living animal was considered feral after that day.

The lingering peat smoke on my jacket had me craving that special single malt blend that Scot carries (Laphroaig and Macallan) for the rest of the day.

Our next stop was a wee church (Cille Choirill) that resembles the one Jamie and Claire were married in. The view was spectacular from the old graveyard in the back.

We had tea, actually coffee, at Glengarry Castle (the new one, built in 1866, after the old one burned down) and had a stroll around the grounds afterwards.

Fort Augustus @ southern end of Loch Ness. Got some great pictures of flowers, and maybe Nessie herself! Brenda read the passage from Outlander where Claire encounters the Loch Ness Monster. (credit to Erin Moyers for the picture of John & me at Loch Ness).

Our next B&B was the Woodlands located in Drumnadrochit. After dropping off our stuff we set out for "Fiddler's," a pub and restaurant with a jaw-dropping whisky collection. The owner, Jon Beach, was most helpful in suggesting our wee drams after dinner. Among the gifts I got from the generous owner were a dram of 30 year blended whisky, a whisky glass with the Fiddler's label, and what can only be described as a water dispenser resembling a tiny bong. Our total came to around 20 whiskies. We stayed until closing time and walked back. "Tha smuid orm ann mo choire," or "The vapours are upon me in my cauldron," would be an appropriate saying for us all after that. Scot tells us that expression means you are only slightly drunk. When I asked what you'd say when you're really drunk, he replied that a Scot would never admit to that.

(view from our B&B; my birthday celebration)

After we returned to the Woodlands, John surprised me with a copper and agate necklace for my birthday. It matches the earrings he got me for Christmas last year.

There's no way to top this birthday. What a way to usher in my third decade!

just what I needed!

Back before we went to Scotland, my biggest stress was finishing my short story for the Writer's Digest 2010 competition. I'd been going over and over it, getting advice from fellow writers and family (with backgrounds in writing/literature), and generally working myself into a tizzy about it. With the deadline approaching (May 14) and my self-confidence lacking, I got the following daily horoscope update which was exactly what I needed to hear.

"Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 -- You are determined to get what you want, but you could become your own greatest obstacle if you allow your fear of failure to run the show now. Your anxiety can increase your stress levels and instead of remaining flexible enough to respond to changes, you may begin to shut down emotionally. But you can ease your tension by simply reminding yourself that worrying won't help you be more successful. Each moment today is an opportunity for you to choose flexibility over stubbornness."

So I took the proverbial chill-pill and worked my butt off to finish it. On May 13, 2010 I submitted the story and have been (with the exception of during our trip) thinking about it ever since. The results won't be out until late October and surely my worrying will subside by then...I hope.

A big thanks go out to Ron Wodaski, Tara Watson, and Isabelle Whitman for critiquing the story for me.

National Lampoon's European Vacation

...well, just Scotland really...and Amsterdam for a few hours.

I've finally gotten around to posting some of our trip. This will have to be broken up into 2-3 days per blog given the amount of things we did.

May 14: As usual, my procrastination left me scurrying around getting things done the day we left (copies of passports, mailing back the books I didn't want from the book club, etc.). I took Dagan to school, walking him all the way to his room instead of dropping him off out front, and tried not to cry on the way back to the car. It's a whole different ball-game leaving the kids to go out of the country.

My mom drove us to the airport with Ian and Bronwen as co-pilots. Ian did okay saying goodbye but Bronwen was scared of the drop off area (dark and loud-the same reason she hates parking garages), and she got a little tearful when we left. I choked back emotions that were probably big bright signs on my face, and we went inside to check our luggage.

I started "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson @ the airport. Thoroughly enjoying it. Dark humor, medical stuff, the hint of a love story...all good ingredients. John tried to finish up "Dragonfly in Amber."

Incoming storms delayed arrivals which made our flight a half hour late. Luckily we had a three hour layover in St.Paul. The flight was okay-small plane, no kleenex, no paper towels, and no ice. But thanks to the continuous flow of cold air up my jeans, I never needed the ice to cool me down. An hour into our flight, I realized what I'd forgotten to pack-my decent blouse for dinner at the castle. Bummer. So, I told myself I'd surely find something to wear before that night. I'm lucky that's the only thing I forgot.

During our layover in St.Paul, we stopped at Itasca Grill and had nachos and Beer (well, I had beer-John is stubbornly not drinking though I'm not sure why). The Jalapeños were laced with ninja fire, so I picked mine out. Didn't want to be stuck on an eight hour flight with the green apple trots! Talked to my mom, and she said it was pouring in Nashville. They had to wait thirty minutes outside Dagan's school, because of hail, before allowing the kids to leave. Talked to my dad, and he informed me we "might even see some Americans [bands] while you're there." I passively agreed to search out said American musicians. Called Erin to see how their flights were going. She and Scott were just getting to Nashville airport, but so far there were no delays. All good, for now.

After we settled into our seats on the plane, our neighbors just behind us started getting ready. I was blessed with a pre-teen Dutch boy behind me. He must have had a thousand things to put away because every minute I felt him open the pouch behind my seat and let it snap back in place with a thud. It literally happened 20-30 times. This would be a very long trip at that rate. Thank the Gods he stopped...eventually.

I read a bit and tried watching movies. I gave up on the latter due to our position over the wings/engines preventing me from hearing anything through the earbuds. I finally attempted sleep after dinner was served thinking a belly full of food and a beer would put me out. Wrong. I must have woken up every thirty minutes. No rest for the weary, just like home.

May 15: I woke up for good at 09:00 (Amsterdam time) to find ice on the windows, and beyond that-the ocean below us. Still not there...

Had a breakfast snack before landing. Got our tickets transferred since they didn't print our boarding passes in Nashville. Then we were off to find the mini-museum (Rijksmuseum). Pretty underwhelming actually. I was expecting more pieces, but there were maybe 15 total. It was nice though. Got some coffee at Starbucks, checked my email and updated Facebook to let everyone know we'd made it that far. Didn't do any shopping since we would be back in a week for a much longer layover.

The flight to Glasgow was quick. After getting through the passport check we got our bags and looked for Erin and Scott. The plan had been to ride to the B&B in Edinburgh together. Their flight landed at 14:53 and ours at 15:30. We looked for over an hour, but without cellphone service to call them, we left for the bus station. It was a pretty drive, and I was amazed at how similar the landscape in the Lowlands of Scotland was to Tennessee.

Our B&B was the Burns' House. We found out from her, that Erin and Scott had missed one of their flights and wouldn't be in until late. John and I lugged our bags up to the third floor (this will become a theme for our travels), and set out for dinner. We met Brenda & Jenn, the other third in our tour group, in the hall. They'd been there since the night before and showed us to the eateries. Since we couldn't get our calling card to work, we stopped off at a Wifi hotspot and sent my mom a message that all was good, and we were safe in Scotland.

(below-the view from Burns' House B&B)

We ate dinner @ The Footlight-more pub than restaurant. Burgers, chips, and Amstel Light X2. Feeling more than exhausted, we went "home" to bed at 21:30 with the sun just beginning to lower in the sky. Mrs. Burns told us Erin and Scott had made it, but we just missed them going out for dinner. Oh well, I was too tired to be good company anyway.

The thing I learned about B&Bs in Scotland (in general)- very little water pressure and extremely hot water.

I'm back!

Some of you keep up with my ridiculous life via Facebook or Compuserve, but in case you don't... my three year old son has been in the hospital for two weeks for pneumonia. He ended up having surgery to clean out a pocket of pus in his left lung which resulted in a chest tube after surgery. He's been home since this past Wednesday. Ian is a little weak after basically being in bed for almost three weeks, but is getting stronger everyday.

During all the drama, there was an enormous outpouring of thoughtful wishes and prayers from the aforementioned online communities (feel free to catch up on the trials and tribulations of our hospital stay via the links above; I don't have room or time to rewrite it all here). I really can't thank y'all enough; it meant so much to me and my family.

Now we're counting down as the date for our Scotland trip approaches. I truly can't contain my excitement. I think about it hundreds of times a day. John confessed that he's nervous about leaving Ian after the recent hospitalization. I'm hoping that as it gets closer to departure time he'll be more comfortable with it. Kids are resilient and bounce back from things like this so much faster than adults do.

Anyhow, there's not much new here in Nashville. Just every day stuff, spring cleaning, work, kids, blah blah blah. I'm scrambling to catch up on the April writer's exercise for the Comuserve Writer's Forum, as well as get some work done on Blood Song. If I can, I'd like to polish up the short story about a cigarette for the Writer's Digest annual competition this year (due May 14th). We'll see how things go.

Music, sweet music.

After yesterday's serious post, I'd like to talk about something more upbeat and easygoing... Music. I don't discriminate, I love all genres. Well, that's not completely true. I can do without new country and new rap. I stopped listening to anything newer than, oh, probably 1994. Anything after that just doesn't do it for me.

Music plays a very large part in my life. It inspires my writing, can lift or drag down my mood, and I like to think my iPod as the soundtrack to my life. Someone at work recently told me they were "not really into music." This idea floored me. I can't imagine a day, no... an hour, of my life without music. Honestly, pick any song, and I can relate it to some incident in my life. Most of my major scenes in my WIP were sparked by music.

I've done a couple of blogs about We Were Promised Jetpacks. Don't worry, I won't tarry too long here. (Sorry boys, you'll have to share the limelight for a bit.) They are definitely the best band I've heard in a long time, and their album "These Four Walls" is IMHO the best release of 2009. And here my obsession threatens to take over again. Let's move on, shall we?

Here's my current playlist (artist-album). What are you listening to lately?

Heartless Bastards-The Mountain

Mark Knopfler-Golden Heart

Ray Lamontagne-Trouble

The Black Keys-All You Ever Wanted

Fanfarlo-Reservoir

Panda Bear-Person Pitch

Autism Awareness Month

April 2, 2010 launched World Autism Day, and the month of April is Autism Awareness month (at least in the states).

My eight year old son, Dagan, was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism/Asperger's Syndrome when he started kindergarten. We knew something was different about him, but we never considered Autism. He could talk, for Pete's sake! Really, really well in fact. By the time he turned two, he could recite and recognize the letters of the alphabet, as well as their phonetic sounds. He was conversing with adults, using the speech of a 4 or 5 year old. He could spell his name. And by age 4, he had already taught himself a few words to read. I never made any effort to get him reading. He followed along while I read our stories every night, and actually taught himself to read. If he couldn't pronounce it, he'd ask. Once. And that was it.

In my head, Autistic people had a language deficit. They didn't interact well with adults. So his diagnosis was a shock to say the least. I cried a lot, wondering what I might have done wrong somewhere along the way. And then I started reading, and reading, and reading some more. I researched for a good six months before we found a DAN! doctor. And we've been very pleased with the results. While Dagan hasn't had the drastic turnaround that some kids have had. There is a noticeable difference however.

He suffered for four years with horrible constipation before unconventional therapies turned his life around. It's been a hard road and a longer one ahead. Dagan still has some difficulties socially at school, and is at an age where other kids are starting to notice he's different. And every year, new fears arise...how will he live on his own, will he be able to hold a job, will he find someone to love that will accept him as he is? It's a long way off, and hopefully the research will continue to uncover more each year.

To all the people dealing with Autism and it's large spectrum of disorders...You're amazing!

Not many people can understand what it's like living with this. People assume that since it's not a medical problem (which it actually is) and they attend school, that it can't be all that bad. Well, you're wrong. It's hard, but at the same time I wouldn't change anything about his personality. Dagan is an affectionate, creative, intelligent, joyful boy, who loves to make others happy. I just want him to have some resemblance of a "normal" childhood, and grow up to function in society.

To all the folks not living with this disorder, educate yourself and others. You never know when you might be faced with it. Last time I checked 1:100 kids have Autism.

Check out these sites for more info:

Autism Society of America

Generation Rescue

Age of Autism

TACA

Margaret and Helen

Thank you Pam (from Compuserve Books & Writers Community) for introducing me to the funniest blog EVER. Margaret and Helen are in their early 80's, and have been best friends for over 60 years. From breastfeeding to healthcare reform to Britney Spears underwear mishaps...there's plenty of food for thought. Most rants revolve around politics though, and Helen does most of the posting. I'm telling you, I haven't laughed that hard in Lord knows how long. They're sarcastic, smart, witty, and just plain hilarious.

Their commentary is funny enough on its own, and then you remember their age, which makes it even funnier. You just don't think of women from that generation cursing, and making fun of politicians. Not what I'm used to, at least from my grandmothers. My mother, on the other hand, will be just like this in another 25 years.

So check out these wonderful ladies, you'll be glad you did. Unless your a Republican, and then you'll just be pissed off.

p.s. I highly recommend reading the Thanksgiving letters. Priceless.