I think yours would definitely win! I don’t have any creepy chains or crucifixes or anything. Seriously, the crucifix thing really really freaks me out. I feel like there could be other explanations for all the other weird stuff going on in your dungeon, but not for that. I have an overactive imagination and I don’t think I could live there.

We’ve moved into our new house and as long as I avoid the basement with the creepy dungeon at all costs then everything is fine. Still no tv or internet, so it’s getting super boring. Things take so long here, it will be 2 more weeks till we get internet in the house!

Also, I’m super tired this morning cause I stayed up way way too late reading Steph’s book. It’s really good y’all! It’s the first book I’ve actually had a chance to read since having my kid last year and it’s definitely a good first book back.

Does your basement dungeon look like someone was locked into a bedroom and tried to dig their way to freedom, Count of Monte Cristo style? Mine has a normal closet door on it, totally just looks like it would be a normal bedroom closet, until you open it.

We made it to Scotland. The first few days were sunny and pretty, but yesterday was gloomy and rainy, so a typical Scottish day. I survived, but realized that I didn’t pack a jacket with a hood, which was very poor planning on my part. I got to check out our new house yesterday, and the ground and 1st floor are really cool, but the basement is creepy and possibly haunted. It has a dungeon in it. I’m not kidding, it’s a dungeon. It’s got stone walls and a weird crawlspace and I don’t like it. My days have consisted of shopping for furniture, trying to figure out where to go to get the things, and sitting in a hotel room watching hours and hours of Viva. I’ve seen more videos of British boy bands than I care to admit. Also, for some strange reason, the Goo Goo Dolls “Iris” video was on the top 20 countdown this week…..

Sometimes I think I would have been a way cooler person in high school if the internet had been a bigger deal back then. I mean the internet existed, but it was all AOL chat rooms and angelfire pages, and my parents certainly weren’t going to pay for that crap. But, if I had it I would have known so much more about music and pop culture and everything else. Then I see something like this and I thank god that I missed out on all of this.

And I think about half of my videogum comments have now been about embarrassing or klutzy situations I’ve been in. I’d say I’ve gotten better as an adult, but that’s really not true.

Here’s the recipe. I think actual French ppl would be very upset that it’s called ratatouille, but it’s pretty and delicious, and fairly easy to put together if you have the mandolin.

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2007/07/rat-a-too-ee-for-you-ee/

Oh yes, I will definitely be complaining about that. I have lived in the south for the majority of my life and I’m just completely unprepared to live so far north. I’m mourning the loss of all my flip flops and shorts right now, they are all going to live at my Mom’s house while we are abroad. I keep thinking that maybe I should just pack a few t-shirts and shorts, just in case, and really shouldn’t I be able to wear flip flops at some point during the summer? But my husband, who is much more cold-natured than me, was wearing fleeces in the middle of summer last year, so I think I’m in for quite a shock. Right now I’m sort of looking forward to the late sun, just because it’ll be so weird an different. But I’m really dreading the lack of sun in the winter.

*hand! I sliced my hand open.

So I’m moving to Scotland soon, and I have these fantasies that I will run into Tilda Swinton at a coffee shop or grocery store or something. She probably shops for her own groceries right? We probably won’t become friends or anything, because I’m shy and awkward, but maybe she’ll take a picture with me, and I’ll post it on here. Or at least I can post that I’ve seen Tilda in her natural habitat.

A meetup would be cool! We will be in the Aberdeen area, but are planning to travel around quite a bit. I’m going to need to be in a city bigger than pop. 200,000 fairly often! My husband has basically been living there for the past year and he really loves it. He says it is so beautiful and its amazing that you can drive for 15 minutes and be completely in the countryside. He’s also a big fan of the highland cows.

Trust me, I’ve already informed him about the need to purchase lots of wellies and other boots. I realized a few days ago the only boots I have are suede, and those aren’t exactly going to hold up well to the weather.

I’m pretty nervous about the produce situation. We live in the south and there are beautiful fresh veggies available all year around at the grocery store. I visited my husband around this time last year and there were like 3 green tomatoes and maybe some lettuce at the grocery store. But I’m telling myself that it’ll be a chance to broaden my culinary horizons and learn to cook more seasonally.

I’m a new mom, and breastfeeding, and I got a blocked duct and really bad infection. Had to have surgery last week to have the milk drained, and they can’t just stitch you back up after that because the milk would just come back in and get infected again. So the recovery is a bitch, but I’m lucky I guess that we caught it before the infection got super bad.

Recovery update: Still have a giant, but getting smaller, hole in my boob. But things are getting better. Had this crazy vacuum thingy put in this week, which is really cumbersome. I won’t go into to many details, but I have to wear this purse thingy that carries the vacuum at all times, and even sleep with it, but it’ll help to heal faster. My mom is here helping with the kiddo for now and my husband comes home this weekend, yay! On a positive note, it’s a hilarious injury to have, and most of my friends can’t resist texting me variations of “how’s your boobie today.” You can’t stay too grumpy when getting messages like that all day.