102 - TWO DAYS!

My cousin is cracking me up. She texts me this morning to ask if they have Diet Coke in Scotland... Like they're some backward country with no ties to civilization (or civilisation). LOL And then I thought, 'what if they didn't? would that be the end of the world?' Apparently... she said she might have had to make room for some in her suitcase if they didn't. That's dedication. As for me, they have a lovely pear cider that I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with... it's even tastier than the Ace pear cider that we have over here, but I don't recall the name, just that it was in a ginormous green bottle and they served it in a glass with ice. YUM! Trick-or-treat... pear cider, please!

Then I go to my Myspace page and I get: "I dreamt LAST NIGHT that I lost you when we landed in scotland and i couldn't understand what anyone was saying, I lost my phone and my money and was left outside the airport to die." LOL, I forget how anxious she is. I told her that bad dreams before a trip are actually a good thing. It means things run smoothly when it actually happens. It's worked for me so far anyway... all those dreams about forgetting my camera mean that I am hyper aware of whether or not my camera has been packed (and it has been). Dreams about missing my flight make me double-check the schedule. It's the mind's way of working out the kinks.

So I'm on the final approach. I'm terrified of not being allowed on the plane because my allerigies might make it appear that I have the flu, and everyone's so paranoid about it... I actually did gargle with salt water last night, and I swabbed my nose, and I took my vitamin (which I started doing beforehand since I finally found a vitamin I can live with - Viactiv), drank a Crystal Light that has 100% of my daily vitamin C in it, and I used the 'drink hot liquids' as an excuse to whip up some hot chocolate. Today I started sneezing so I took some Zyrtec -- which does seem to work for me without making me drowsy. Just gotta make it through tomorrow...

So, I'm trying to remember words I learned, and this is what I've come up with:

Alba = Scotland
Alba go bragh = Scotland forever
Albannach = Scotsman
Biscuit = Cracker
Crisps = Chips
Chips = Fries
Dressing = Mayonaisse
Salad = Lettuce
Ben = Mountain
Kirk = Church
Uisge Beatha = Water of Life = Whisky
Slan = Welcome / Goodbye
Slainte = To your health
Loch = Lake
Courgette = Zucchini
Aubergine = Eggplant
Neaps and Tatties = Turnips and Potatoes

Now if I could just master the accent. I can do Irish 'til the cows come home. In fact, the more I drink, the more Irish I can become. Scottish... it's the r's that get me. I can roll them by themselves, but to put them in a word... nuthin. Craig told me to practice 'the rrred birrrd murrrderrred the worrrm' but I can't get it down. If I can't do it right, I won't do it. I'm not trying to be condescending when I imitate an accent, I'm honestly trying to figure it out... but not everyone would know that...

Fixing to (yeah, fixing to... it's what we say here) go to my parent's house and have hamburgers. I love when dad grills hamburgers, he makes the BEST. Taking Push and Wolverine with me. I have high hopes for Push... after seeing this 30-second break down of Wolverine I'm not expecting a lot (I don't know why but it cracks me up every time!).