Do You Miss It?

I went out to breakfast with two of my very best friends from high school this morning, which is always a treat this time of year. Two of us live out of town (one in Vegas and one in, you know, Scotland) and the other just had a baby, so getting schedules coordinated in order to see each other is always a struggle. So it's usually once a year, around Christmas, when we're all back in town.

One of the questions asked was "do you miss it?" Do you miss being away from home? And yeah, I always miss home when I'm away from it. And I've also discovered, for all our fails and foibles and what not, I like being American. Be it ever so humble, and all.

But now, as I'm back here, I find myself missing things back in Scotland. One of the big ones is that I miss hearing people talk. And yes, it's a mixture of Scottish and assorted other British, mixed with the range of Greek, German, Eastern European, Chinese and Scandinavian from my course, but I miss hearing people talk. Which has me finding I turn on BBC America to fill in the noise.

Today's noise is brought to you by Law & Order: UK, which aside from being awesome and comfortingly formulaic as Law & Order (one go to tv badass is Olivia Benson from SVU -- she will take you down and be awesome doing it), adds in accents and wigs. Plus it has the fantastic Freema Agyeman from Doctor Who (Martha Jones) and the almost too beautiful to be real Jamie Bamber from Battlestar Galactica (Lee 'Apollo' Adama). Seriously, school girl crush. Honestly didn't know he was British until I stumbled on one of the BSG behind the scenes and heard him talking in his real accent. Be still my heart.

It's familiar and foreign at the same time, and just what I needed after working on my essays today.



In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups; the police who investigate crime, and the Crown Prosecutors who prosecute the offenders. These are their stories...

It Followed Me Home

Snow still on the ground here in MD, and ice is still on the roads. Well, only in parts. The road leading to my parents' house is traditionally one of the bad ones during 'weather' because it's just out of the town limits. That means that it's on the very bottom of the plow lists to get cleared, but still widely traveled. It makes for interesting drives during snow. Much better just to hunker down and stay indoors.

Now US airports and pictures and snow-tastrophies are on the news back across the pond and I get messages from flatmates and friends back in Scotland. The gist of all of them? "The snow followed you home -- don't bring it back with you!"

I'll try, y'all. Even if St Andrews is really pretty with the snowfall. I'm just as over it as the next person.



St Andrews Harbour under snow just before I left. Even wrecking travel plans, it was pretty.

Snow. Buckets of Snow.

You know what I really wanted? I really wanted blizzard-like winter weather to follow me from the UK back home to the US. The East Coast is lovely this time of year, but you know what it really needs? It really needs the type of road closing, flight canceling, wind howling, grocery store mad dashing snow that I had back in Scotland this past month. That'll help me not feel so out of place!



Thanks, weather gods! That backpack I got for Christmas pales in comparison to the sheer joy at having traffic snarled here, just like in St Andrews.

Christmas Day

Snow has followed me to the US. I apparently can't get away from it this year. But it's coming down now, which technically makes it a white Christmas.

Here's wishing you and yours a happy holiday if you celebrate, and a relaxing Saturday if you don't.

Remember: Be good for goodness sake.

Christmas Eve

My luggage finally made it back to the States and into my loving arms at 2am this morning. Considering that the flights into Baltimore from Heathrow had been sacrificed on the altar of 'we can only fly 1/3 of our normal schedule because holy crap the snow is killing us in the UK' I have nothing to complain about. And it doesn't look like anything was thiefed from my bag either, so again, nothing to complain about.

It made it back by Christmas Eve. Which means I had time to do that inevitable holiday task -- wrapping.



As the dining room table had already been cleared off for dinner (which for my Southern family means barbecue, coleslaw, and mac & cheese among other amazing foods -- turkey can wait, the eve belongs to pork) my bed becomes wrapping central for all of us who waited till the last minute (or who had no choice because their luggage was on another continent). Which while I wish wasn't so, usually means not them doing their own wrapping, but knocking on my door with a pitiful 'Rebecca... since you have the tape out, could you...'

They keep saying I'd miss it if they didn't ask. I reply they've never given me a chance to miss it.