After Valentine's

The best part about Valentine's Day is the day after. Why?



Candy is at LEAST half off. Which makes the 15th it's own very special candy holiday. Think I'm going to shell out for chocolates in the days leading up to Valentine's just to have chocolate on that day? No sir. All I have to do is wait a day and I can get a cute little cheeky devil for half.



And that cheeky devil is made of milk, dark, and white chocolate. AKA it's made of deliciousness.

Now if only the kilo tub of Haribo bears was on sale, that would be divine...

The Aero Bar

I admit, I miss a lot of food from back home. Flavors, brands, the fact that salsa can have actual heat in the States, but every now and then I find something in the Tesco that makes me go 'why don't we have this in the States??'




Sweet mother of Hershey, why don't we have this in the States??

For those who've never had a taste of this amazing little concoction, it's a solid milk chocolate bar. Pretty standard. However! It's been aerated, so the bar is full of little bubbles. Why would you want bubbles in a candy bar? I'm glad you asked.

The bubbles make the chocolate melt. on. your. tongue.

It tastes lighter, melty-er, choclatey-er.

Mars bars are great, Galaxy bars good, but this... oh, sweet Aero bar, why are you not in the States and therefore present me with the sad fact that at some point I will have to leave you and not have you again? Not cool, candy gods, not cool.

I feel like I should mail a box home, just to share the love.

Hello

Hello blustery weather.

Hello awesome Indian food.

Hello multitude of awesome accents on the street.

Hello nightly hot tea and walks along the North Sea.

Hello new friends I haven't seen in over a month.

I'm back in Scotland.

Goodbye

Goodbye comfortable full sized bed.

Goodbye complete wardrobe, and shoes... oh, the shoe collection.

Goodbye car.

Goodbye Target and Wal-Mart and American-sized grocery stores.

Goodbye Mexican food, Old Bay, and grits.

Goodbye live American television (White Collar, Glee, Big Bang Theory, various embarrassing addictions like Teen Mom 2 and RuPaul's Drag Race...)

Goodbye friends and family stateside.

It's time to head back to Scotland.

License and Registration, Ma'am

It's now down to just a couple of days before I head back across the pond, and of course, there are whole lists of things that I need to get done before then. Could I have done them sooner? Yeah, probably. But that's neither here nor there. One of the things on the list? Spending a lovely afternoon at the MVA.



For those unaware, that would be the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, a wonderland of... standing in lines, waiting for your number to be called, only to realize that you didn't pay attention and the person behind the counter who's looking at you like you're insane isn't just being cranky, it's because you're sitting at the wrong window and completely didn't pay attention to the call screen (I got distracted! It wasn't my fault! Okay, it was completely my fault but... yeah, I have no excuse).

Once I got to the right window, it was easy enough to get the ball rolling, get all registered in the great state of Maryland, and... surrender my out of state paperwork.

I didn't think it was going to be as hard to hand over that license as it was. I haven't lived in Maryland in years, but as I no longer have a permanent residence outside of MD, it made sense to go ahead and change all of the paperwork now that I was on break. Yes, I realize I spend my time in Scotland now, but it felt like closing a big door when I handed over my North Carolina license.

I loved living in Raleigh for the most part. And I've lived there for the better part of ten years, with the occasional shift back home before going back. I don't know if I'll go back -- that's all going to depend on who wants to give me a job and contribute to this gainful employment thing I'll be eager to get back to at the end of this adventure. But I do know that I made friends with some awesome people, had some fantastic adventures, and almost sort of considered putting down roots. Haven't quite gotten all of the adventure and wanderlust out of my blood, but Raleigh would be in the running once that happens. Of course, there's also the question of 'is it the people or the area that I fell in love with?' Even if I entertained going back, there are people who made it awesome who are still there and who are probably not going anywhere, but there are also a good number of them who have left on their own adventures or who I hope leave to go on adventures.

Every big move comes with questions, and none of them have to be answered right now. As it stands, I still have that wanderlust in my blood (hello Scotland), and even though it has meant next steps and adventure, it's still hard to close that door and hand over something as silly as a driver's license for a new one.

Well, that and my picture on this one isn't nearly as good as the picture on my old one. I looked good today, too, but man, that did not communicate well on film.