Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah

If anyone knows the song to which the title refers, you would think this is going to be quite a pathetic post. But this has post has no Joe Spivies with poison ivy (as the song), rather just some brief moments to praise my situation. And as I am convinced it is probably only my mom and dad who actually read this (thanks, guys), I hope to set both your minds at ease a bit.

I skyped with a friend yesterday morning who is currently an au pair in France. She was telling me about her travel plans and we were speaking about her possibly coming to Scotland and me possibly meeting her in Switzerland.. and amidst all this it dawned on me -- for the first time in too long -- "I'm living in SCOTLAND."

What an opportunity. I'm living in Scotland. This is not an everyday occurrence. This is not even an everyday opportunity. I have been extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to sit here right now, typing on my computer in Edinburgh, Scotland, while studying for my Master's degree.

I'm a bit of a pessimist. (A bit may be understating the matter). I Always see the empty half of the glass. Even if the glass isn't half empty, I pour some water out! I'm telling you, I am an extreme pessimist. I think I always saw positive speech as bragging or arrogance. But that has left me with the unfortunate habit of always seeing the negative.

This country - despite it's wind, rain, and snow - is beautiful and a place I am most fortunate to call home this year. A thank you to everyone who helped get me here and has supported me as I've been here. I love you all and cannot wait to share home with you once again.

I'll work on the stories again on this blog. I've lost my story-telling mind for the past few weeks. Gearing it up for some more adventures though.

"Muddah, Faddah Kindly disregard my letter"




(For those who don't know the song, it goes, "hello mada, hello fada, here I am at, camp grenada. Camp is very... entertaining... and they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining." It goes on to say a number of things that have gone horribly for this letter writer. In the middle of the letter he pleads to come home. However, at the end the sun comes out, and he closes saying, "mada, fada kindly disregard this letter").

Original Hello Muddah..