The News...

Ok, here it is then.....

A while back (like 5 or 6 years ago), I toyed with the idea of moving to Scotland. Don't know why Scotland - just always felt drawn there, and I felt a kinship to the people of the country. After all, they're my people. I mean - granted, my people come from all over the UK and Ireland, but for some reason (maybe it's because my name is Scottish) I've always felt closer to the Scots. So, I planned to take a trip there, and did so in 2006. I never really told this to many people, but I wasn't entirely sure I was going to come back from that trip. I was willing to stay, however, I did come home. During the trip, I spent 3 weeks in the city of Dundee. I had an entire month worth of vacation in the country, but spent 3 weeks in this particular city because it was the one in which I was thinking of settling. When I did come back, I was showing my pictures to one of my friends, and she indicated that one of our friends was moving to Scotland - to the very city that I was thinking of. So, I got in touch with this friend, and over the 2 or so years in which he has lived there, I've observed and investigated, poked and prodded him. (my poor guinea pig friend - ;-) - you're so good to me) Anyway, after observing, etc, I feel and have felt some time that the time has come for me to move there. I decided to officially go through with it earlier on in the year, and have taken steps to get there. I sold my car, rearranged my whole budget, have paid a massive amount of my debt off, and am still saving, paying, etc for the actual move. I bought a ticket to fly direct to Glasgow on August 18th with a company called Zoom airlines... Anyone who keeps up with the news will tell you that Zoom went bankrupt on August 28th. So, that presented a challenge for me. It was a bit discouraging for a week or so, but I got my money back, and have purchased a new ticket with a different airline to fly out on December the 10th. May I recommend to all of my friends to ALWAYS buy airfare with your credit cards? Seriously... Yes, I'm moving before Christmas, and yes it's permanent, and yes I can work there (I have dual - you know - British parents), and no I don't have a job lined up. I have faith that I will find work there, and I have a very good friend helping me to look for a place to live - the same one who so graciously allowed me to observe.

So, today, I wrote up my resignation, made a plan with my manager to set the resignation in motion, and then once that was all established, I told all of my co-workers. It felt really really good to get it off my chest, as the news has been official for some time. It is now entirely - world wide - official. I mean - it can't get more official than turning in my notice. It's very much a reality now. It has been, but it's even more real to me now than it was yesterday.

The truth is, there's nothing really holding me back. I'm young (ish), single, and I have my whole life ahead of me. My whole family is quite excited for me - with the exception of one - but she'll just have to get over it. Sometimes I feel like I'm going on a second mission. Perhaps I am in some ways...