In the summer time when the weather is... cold?

I'm going to start this blog with a fun story. This is part of the reason I want to live in Scotland the rest of my life.

So Clay got a bike for his 30th birthday. Lots of our friends and family chipped in to help us buy him a great bike since we walk everywhere and don't have a car here in St Andrews. So we started looking for something for me on the CHEAP. Gumtree had proven unsuccessful, even though I contacted several people about bikes that they said would 'fit a small human.' So when I finally found a great bike for £10 in Leven, just south of us in Fife, I jumped on the opportunity.

After some emails and phone calls, Clay and I caught the X58 bus to Leven and met John, the son of the guy selling us the bike. He chatted with us for a few minutes, telling us we were the first Americans he had EVER met, and then handed over the bike. When he asked how we were getting it back without a car, we told him we would just take it on the bus. He said, "Well, you have my number, so if you can't take it on the bus with you, call me and I'll drive you to St Andrews."

WHAT. I love this country.

Leven

Sunset on the Old Course at 9:30pm!

So it's almost the end of May, and pseudo-summer is on its way. I say 'pseudo' because it never gets over 70 degrees. I think the high over the next 10 days is 63? That's like never-ending springtime. I haven't seen 80+ degrees since August 13, 2013 (that's when I moved here). The sun comes up at 4:33am and goes down at 9:43pm, with the sky still kinda blue at 10:45pm.

March/April/May has been fun. In March, uveitis came back in full force, but lucky for me, the NHS is STILL FREE. For everyone who says it's difficult to get an appointment because of free healthcare: I called them at 3:00pm on Sunday afternoon, and was in and out of the Dr. Vallance's office by 11:00am the next morning, and a sweet Scottish man gave me a free cup of coffee in the waiting room. I have a follow-up in July, but I'm pretty sure this most recent flare up disconnected some of my scar tissue cause now I can see a teensy bit better than before. BOOM.

April was fun. I spent the month raising money for Clay's 30th birthday bike, which was a huge success. I started watching Downton Abbey which was a glorious mistake. I have taken on some new responsibilities at work, one of which involves training and I absolutely hate it. I always feel like a weirdo trying to train people how to do things, and end up giggling a lot and them looking like a deer in headlights. This makes my masters degree in education especially ironic.

Sometimes my work makes me feel like this.

Other times, it makes me feel like this. And yes, a professional took this.

May's been good. We had a weekend away with church, which was basically like extended Home Group time. Blankets, no shoes, and shenanigans. We learned a new card game, Lauren dominated everyone, and then Clay and Gavin had a paper ball fight and a snuggle. It was a really really good time.

snuggle time.

Jasper and Quentin at home.

Jasper and Quentin at the weekend away... exactly the same.

And now May is almost over. It's still cold and rainy some days (one of those days being today) but it makes the sun especially nice. Clay and I went for a nice bike ride to Tentsmuir Forest, rode around on what can only be described as a roller coaster bike path through a forest, and then saw some seals out on the beach.

Also, today is our 5th anniversary! What have we done today? Absolutely nothing. We have plans for dumpster diving (because I've already found a Microsoft Surface Tablet in the trash?) and then some dinner, where we will finally have the 5th Anniversary conversation to decide that we're still not having kids yet.

Lastly, I want to tell you about something cute that they do in Scotland. Whenever something is found on the sidewalk/pavement or in the street, people pick it up and put it somewhere prominent in hopes that the owner will come back by and find it. I can't tell you how many hats and socks and baby gloves I've seen on people's front gates or on fences. This one was particularly exciting.

Carm