Bonjour mes amis!

I'm writing you from Lille, France. This is my last holiday before I wrap things up in Glasgow and move back to the states. A friend from Chattanooga, Tara Luther, lives here in Lille. Today we drove to another small town, Amiens, to see their cathedral. It was stunning - twice the size of Notre Dame. The rest of the afternoon we spent walking around this canal town. It was a beautiful day and I even have a little pink on my nose to prove it! Much different than Glasgow.

If I was really on the ball I would be able to post some pictures from today! But I'm not. So I'll try to post my favorites when I get home. Monday we will visit Gent, Belgium and then Tuesday we will go to Paris for three days. Can't wait.
Au revior!

What's in a name?

When thinking of a name for this blog I wanted to choose something that was tied to my time in Scotland. Dead Chuffed Life sounds morbid or angry, but in reality it means the opposite. In Scottish vernacular, dead means "very".... It's dead easy. I'm dead serious..... Chuffed means happy or pleased.... I'm chuffed about it......So translation of my blog title is Very Happy Life.

Now that you are impressed with my dead cool title, I'll confess that I stole it. A friend here has a group called the Dead Chuffed Society and I really liked the name! My best creativity is usually another man's ideas. Rob & Duplicate - skills I picked up in missionary training.

People say that America and Scotland are two different cultures with a common language. But sometimes I don't even think the language is common! I love so many of my Scottish words. Rubbish, pudding, blether, queue, porridge, nappy. I wonder how long I will continue to say them when I return to America. I think I'll refuse to give some of them up. My favorite expression I've picked up isn't a word at all.....It's the deep-throated guttural exasperation of "och".

Here is some fun for you! I'll send a prize to the first (non-Scottish) person who can translate this sentence! Good Luck.
Canty whissunday! i'mm aff tae scratcher noo! (no internet cheating allowed!)

Welcome!

Hiya!
I've finally entered the blogging world. The idea first came to me soon after moving to Scotland and I regret not starting then. But it's never too late so here it is!
In a few weeks I'll be leaving Scotland so this will be easy for keeping in touch with folks on both continents. And soon I'll think of something interesting to say....... In the meantime, here is a picture of my street. About halfway down the block there is a large purple sign and my flat is the top bay window above that sign.