Things I miss...Things I'm loving

Let me preface this post by saying above all else I miss my family and friends the most.  I am so grateful for Facebook, Skype, texting and all other things electronic that have enabled us all to stay in touch.  What a remarkable age we live in!

That being said, as of today we've been here a month and have come to really love it here.  But, with leaving a lifestyle that you've become accustomed to for so long (not that I'm THAT old) there are some things that I miss.  They are, in no particular order, the following:

1. Salad.  People just don't each a lot of it here.  Every restaurant back home I would know exactly which salads they offered.  I even brought my own dressing to make it healthier.  My salad friends...you know what I'm talking about!  Even fast food places had awesome and (at times) healthy ones.  You can buy all sorts of leaf (that's what they call lettuce here) at the markets, so obviously people make them at home.  I guess restaurants figure when people go out they don't want to eat salad because they've eaten them all week?

2. My pantry.  My pantry was home to not just food, but also all my appliances, kids craft supplies, etc.  Right now most of our food fits in the 2-door, under counter cabinet, but I haven't really stocked up on essentials yet.  I do have extra bags of crisps, a bag of potatoes and a couple of cases of Diet Coke already shelved in the garage...so I guess that's always an option to set up a pantry there. 

3. My closet.  I really miss my walk-in closet.  And it's not really that I'm a clothes horse or anything, but I used it for storage of suitcases (which we now have 12 of, remember?), Christmas wrapping paper, all our linens, etc.  Plus sharing one with Steve reminds me of how untidy the fella is.  Back in our old house I could just shut his closet door and pretend it was clean.

4. A garbage disposal.  I really, really miss a garbage disposal.  Having to scoop food bits out of the sink strainer into the garbage is nasty.

5. A downstairs bathroom.  I have ADD (not doctor diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure) and when I come downstairs from doing something upstairs and realize that I forgot to use the bathroom, it's annoying to have to trudge back up.  Not that I really have far to go...but still.

6. No outlets in the bathrooms.  It's actually against code here to have electrical outlets in the bathroom.  Even the light switches have to be placed on the wall outside the bathroom.  So now I have a "dressing area" in our bedroom where I can do my hair.  How very 1950's of me!  Pretty soon I'll be drinking a gin and tonic while I'm putting hot rollers in my hair.

7. Having packages, if they are too big to fit in the mailbox, left at my front door.  Here I have to trek to the central post office to pick them up...after a two day waiting period.

Things I'm loving....

1. Having a house that's so small it only takes me a couple hours to clean top to bottom instead of a few days like our old one.

2.  Being able to walk 20 minutes into town to get to the gym, library, hardware store, grocery store, bank, post office, etc.  This makes eating all the chocolate possible.

3. Depending on which direction, traveling by car will get us to the coast, downtown Newcastle and countryside....in only about 15 minutes.

4. Polite people. 

5. Polite people.  I had to say it again because everyone seems to be so nice here.

6. The accents.  I've always been a sucker for a Scottish accent and being so close to Scotland is great.  I could listen to a Scot talk all day (mostly because it would take me that long to actually understand what the heck they're saying.)

7. No traffic.  Morning radio news blurbs are practically void of traffic accident/road congestion notices.  These roundabouts are scary, but I really do think they help with the flow of traffic.

8.  Getting my mail delivered right through the slot in the front door.  Scared the bejeezus out of me the first day though...I thought someone was trying to break in!

I'm sure both lists will grow the longer we stay and the more we experience/do without.  I'll update them when I can.