American In Ireland

Seriously?

2008-07-16T11:27:00.003+01:00

There's a guy named Paul from Arklow (36) who was on Today FM (national radio station - you can tune in at www.todayfm.com) talking about how he gave up drink for 2 months because he was drinking 4-5 days a week in the pubs and looked in the mirror and thought he looked pregnant. He's married with two kids (8 and 10years?). The comments that were coming in about Arklow were too funny. People don't seem to think too highly of the town I live in now - not that I can blame them sometimes.

The funny thing was that he didn't think at all about the health consequences he was having or the money he was spending (probably €200-€400 per week) as being a problem at all. I missed most of the original conversation but the dj calculated (from what Paul said) that he must be drinking upwards of 120 units of alcohol per week. Every week. Since he was 18.

So now he was trying to figure out what to do with himself since he wasn't at the pub with the fellas and missed the social aspect of it all. I don't know... How about spending some time with his FAMILY??? If the kids are involved in sports there must be other dads at the matches to talk to. Going for walks? Bringing the kids to the pool? Playing outside with them? Going to the cinemas? Spending the money to hire a sitter and take the wife out to dinner?

It's amazing the number of people who drink as much as they do in Arklow. I was thinking just the other day as I drive down Main Street and saw a man I know walking into a pub 'How on earth can he be out at the pubs so much with a wife at home?' I always see him walking in and out of pubs on any given day at all hours and I know he's married. You rarely see her out with him. It's just odd because they'd be a young couple - shouldn't be tired of each other yet and God help them if they are! I'd be bored with it. Not to mention broke. It's hard to go out in Ireland and spend less than €50 a night. Drinking all day on a Sunday can mean €100 easy.

I don't know. Part of the culture, I suppose. But even people outside of Arklow were saying they couldn't believe it so maybe it's just the town.

And yes, I know it's been forever and that I'm a slacker. My whole family has been over for just about a month now. Maybe I'll try to get back to blogging now that I'm down to just Mom. I'm heading home on the 24th for a little over 2 weeks. SO excited to get some summer weather and see everyone.

I should probably get back to work!!! Feel free to send some sunshine this way if you've got any to spare!!!! ;-)

Directions

2008-05-24T19:08:00.003+01:00

In a totally Irish moment, I stopped in a small town to ask directions on my way to Athy. It's pronounced A-tie, like the thing you wear around your neck - dare to pronounce the 'th' properly and people will look at you like you have 4 heads and then say 'Oh... You mean A-tie!! Anyhow - I stopped in Hacketstown to see if they had an atlas because mine was in my new car and I was driving the old one, which was to be handed back to the company once I returned to Arklow. They didn't have an atlas or map, of course. So I asked these two men in the car park and these are the directions I received:

Man 1: Go up to the top of town there (pointing) and you'll want to take a right - that puts you on the old Carlow road. Then you go straight through the next 4 junctions. Then you go straight through the next four junctions (that was NOT me double typing). Then you'll take a right and a left.

Man 2: Straight away! There's a large cow field right there (because there AREN'T cow fields at every other junction in Ireland??).

Man 3: Then you'll got straight through to Castledermot where you'll take a right, left, left, and right.

Uh-huh. I've been here way too long because I actually UNDERSTOOD what he was talking about and managed to find my way to Athy following their directions. Lol. Only in Ireland. ;-)

Glue

2008-04-04T11:22:00.002+01:00

I think I'm going to get high on glue if I sit at my desk much longer! The guys are installing the floor and it's REALLY stinking up the place. At least it's the only spot they have left. The glue has been giving me a WICKED headache by the end of the day.

So it's been less than a month since my last post, which is an improvement. It would have been shorter since work's slowed down a bit, but I didn't have a desk for the last week and a half with all of the floors being put in. I was sitting on the floor in a corner with my desk on my lap trying to get stuff done so I kept computer time to a minimum.

I've entered into this 'simplify mode' at home. I've been going through everything and trying to organize papers, fill out paperwork (taxes, absentee ballots, etc.), sort through clothes to send home (it's just not cold enough for some of my sweaters here), and generally clean out my apartment a bit. The paperwork took forever but it's just about sorted and my clothes are all over the spare room but I hope to have that finished this weekend.

In Ireland news: the Taoiseach (Tee-shock) , Berti Ahern, has resigned from power. He's the political leader over here and has been absolutely hammered over the past 18 months in regards to his financial affairs and mysterious transactions linked to his bank accounts. It started as an investigation into planning corruption (taking payments and then allowing people to build developments, etc) and every turn came with more and more sketchy answers and actions from Bertie. Living in the States, you might be familiar with his daughter, who wrote the novel-made-movie 'P.S. I Love You'.

So now he's out of office and every new program is covering his leaving and the new successor and I'm already sick of hearing it after two days. Bertie did a lot of good for the country (Northern Peace Agreement, amazing economy, etc.) but it would have been a bit better for him if he could have done it without discrediting his reputation!

In other news, my mom and my dad's cousin Dorothy are coming over next week. I'm looking forward to them being here and I'm looking forward to Dorothy making my birthday cake! It's going to be yummy! I'm thinking I might take the day off and hang with them while they're here... Might be fun!

Okay - this day is dragging. One of those that's going to take forever to end. I'm hoping I can get out of working tomorrow. I want my Saturday to myself! In the meantime I think I'll try to get some work done. It might just make the day go by faster. In the meantime, TGIF!! ;-)

Ugh!!

2008-03-11T10:01:00.002Z

Sorry guys! I know it sounds like an old excuse but work is seriously crushing my blog time. It's crushing any life I had at all. I remember that when I moved over here, one of the reasons was because I really liked the whole emphasis on work-life balance. What happened to that? I'm now going to be stuck working over the holiday weekend while my cousin and her boyfriend are in town which just sucks. I already pushed all of my guests as late as I could because of this job and now the stupid thing just won't quit. They keep delaying us and not giving us info and not turning over areas for us to work in. At least there's this other guy from our company who's up here now. I think it's true - misery DOES love company!

All in all, everything else is okay. Football has kicked off again and this year we've got a Junior team, which means everyone gets to play more matches. It's good for a workout but it also tends to swallow up all of my Sundays. This past Sunday we had a match at home at 11am and then an away match (1 hour drive) at 4pm. Not much time to do anything else in between. Kind of frustrating when it's my only day off but at least it's fun.

My sister Anne is still living over here. She came over back in October and is trying to sort out visa stuff now. She seems to be having a decent time from what I can tell. I hardly see her since I don't get home until about 8pm and she starts work at about 7pm. I was looking forward to spending more time with her when she came over and I'm hoping that when (if???) this job finishes up I'll be able to do so.

I'm not sure if or how much I've mentioned Danny in this blog, but we've been seeing each other since last summer and things there are going great. He's an amazing guy and things with him just seem to get better all the time. He's from New Zealand, which I like. He's super laid back and balances out my stressed-out self when I have a bad day at work (that happens more often than not here).

My friend Heather was over a couple of weeks ago. It was so great to see her! I think she was a bit disappointed in the lesbian population of Arklow and she was a bit (okay, a lot) sick her first weekend here but she seemed to have a good time otherwise. I took her to London for the day as a belated surprise birthday present. It was a fun whirlwind day. There's definitely enough to keep you busy in London for a few days, but at least she got to see the major tourist points! I'm hoping it doesn't take us as long to catch up again but it's good to know she's the kind of friend I can go forever without seeing and when we do see each other it's like we never missed a day!

That's about it for updates. I'm kind of low on things to write about since I spend all of my time working. Trust me - you don't want to hear about that!!

Hope everything is grand wherever you are!!! ;-)

A Month

2008-01-19T13:25:00.000Z

I suck. I know. If it makes you feel any better - my house is a mess, I have no food in it, I haven't consolidated my loans, and it's almost the end of January and we still haven't sent Danny's parents their Christmas presents because I haven't had time to finish the scrapbook. I'm exhausted. I need a full 48 hours of nothing but sleep.

It's Saturday and I'm working and it's the only reason I have time to type this, although it means that none of the other stuff on the list above that I'm meant to be taking car of is getting done. Oh, well. Such is life. Winter is not meant to be this busy!

Spring is going to be busy though. I've got visitors every month from here until summer. Heather's taking Ireland by storm next month and I can't WAIT. I haven't seen her since her commitment ceremony two years ago but she's the kind of person who can turn a horrible night into a good memory by knowing just the right thing to say. That, and I haven't had a decent short skirts/long jackets night out in ages!

March is my cousin Alex and her boyfriend (also my former co-worker) Andy. That should be good fun and they're renting a car so I won't feel bad if I can't entertain them because I'm working some of the week. It's St. Patrick's Day so I'll have a day or two off anyhow - which will be nice.

April is my mom and cousin Dorothy (my dad's cousin, really). Mom knows all the tricks and spots to go and I think they're renting a car during the week too, so also an easy visit (I just feel bad when people come and I have to work - I feel like I'm neglecting them!). It's my birthday while they're here - although my sister Shaine is pissed that she's stuck home with Dad for her 21st!

May is my Aunt Sharon (Alex's mom) and her friend Deyette. They're a fun couple of gals and they'll be in and out and around the country. I have to do a bit of research for castles they can stay in. I really liked Kinnitty castle, so I think I'm going to check into it. You feel like a princess stepped back into medieval times when you're there - just with all of the modern conveniences.

I'm sure summer will see Mom and Dad back and I think they want to bring Shaine and her boyfriend Greg too. How we'll get everyone around is beyond me - maybe rent a minivan?? Who knows, who cares?

So busy, busy, busy - but plenty of room for more visitors if you want to stop over too!!! I've got to go check on the boys - I'm hoping they want to get out of here as badly as I do so they'll finish up early. I don't think they took any lunch break, which is a good sign that they might be finished up soon! I'll keep my fingers crossed! ;-)

If there were an award

2007-12-18T09:43:00.000Z

for 'ultimate slacker when it comes to blogging' I'm pretty sure I'd win it. Things have been crazy around here. The commute still isn't helping. It took me three and a half hours to get home last night thanks to a guy breaking down in one of the two lanes going through a construction zone. Sweet. Oh - and I had a guy try to drill his arm off at 4pm yesterday as well (it was an accident)e. Not too many dull moments around here!

Tomorrow is my last day of work and then I fly out to go home on Thursday. I haven't even taken my suitcase out to fix the handle (Samsonite sucks, by the way - second bag to break on me), let alone pack anything into it. I'm meant to bake Christmas cookies, clean the house, and finish this project up before I go as well.

At least the project is coming along nicely. Lots of little things left to do like mastic (caulking), some electrical cover plates, some flooring details, cleaning, etc... But most of the big stuff is sorted. Fire alarm is the big thing and that's being done as I type.

I'm super excited about going home for Christmas. I really need to get going so I can get all of this stuff finished and enjoy my break! If I don't manage to get back on here for another week or so, MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! ;-)

Just In Case

2007-12-05T19:26:00.000Z

Just in case you are wondering what on earth has happened to my blog... my reason is that it is now 7.30pm and it is the 2nd time all day I've been able to sit in front of my computer. I'm waiting for people to finish up on site (probably another hour or so) and then I have to trudge along on my 2 hour journey home, which will probably be much shorter tonight without the rush hour traffic. One bonus. This isn't the latest I've been here, nor is it the most tired I've been. It doesn't leave much room for blogging. Or sleeping. Or eating. So don't feel left out - I've also been ignoring things like that - it's not that you fall low on the list.

I will work on being a better blogger. Perhaps I'll make it a New Year's resolution. I should have more time in the New Year anyhow. That will help. I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO can't wait for this project to end. They'd have to send me to Northern Ireland to get me any further away and I don't think my visa allows it so at least I can look forward to being closer to home! ;-)

Today FM

2007-11-16T10:36:00.001Z

So I called in to request a song this morning on the way to work and got put on the radio. Won some Cd's just for getting picked! Not sure what Cd's they're sending. I like anything though - I think they mentioned a 3 CD 60's compilation, which would be cool. I like oldies but all of mine are on cassette tapes from when we used to make mixes in highschool (I'm SO old!). :-) Probably an Irish band or two thrown in there as well. I've had people ringing and texting all morning to pick on me as well. I picked ACDC Hells Bells first but they were already playing You Shook Me All Night Long so I went mellow/sing-a-long with Son of a Preacher Man. :-) The amount of SHITE I'm getting for that pick.... There are only a handful of radio stations here and most of them are nation wide so everyone listens to the same thing. I even heard from my ex-boyfriend's old roommate who moved back over here from the States. How funny is that?

I'm going to try to get a few pics posted. If I don't get back to post again, hope you have a nice weekend!

Super Slacker, Part II

2007-11-09T09:35:00.000Z

I know. I know. I suck at blogging. I’ve honestly just been SO busy though. This job is sucking the life right out of me. The driving isn’t helping. I will NOT be sad to see my next job site. It had better be something in Arklow. I deserve it after not moaning (too much) about having to come up here. Nobody else gets a short stick like that! On the bright side – I still have a job, so who am I to complain?

Let’s see… I haven’t written much about Ireland and Irish news items lately so I’ll give that a go. Gotta love the Irish government. On the same day that they announced super pay hikes for top ranking officials (Bertie Ahern, who is the country’s leader, is now one of the top paid leaders in the world with his 38,000 euro per year raise) they also announce that L-drivers (people with provisional licenses, like learner permits) are not allowed to drive by themselves anymore.

First of all, the law states that they aren’t allowed to drive by themselves anyhow. Unless, of course they are on their SECOND provisional license – then they can drive without an experienced driver in the car. If they get their third then they’re back to having somebody drive with them. Does that make sense to anybody out there??? So anyhow – the law states they’re meant to have somebody with a full license in the car with them at all times but it’s hardly ever enforced. They suddenly decide that they’re going to fine people 1,000 euro if they’re caught driving alone.

While I agree that people shouldn’t be driving alone in the first place, I also have to say that it’s well known that the police turn a blind eye to it and therefore people have built work, social, and sports lives around being able to drive alone. They were originally giving people 3 days to get that all sorted. It’s currently over a 6 month wait (at a good testing center) to get a driving test to have your license issued. I think something like 20,000 applications for tests flooded in the first day or two so you can imagine what that did to the wait time.

So anyhow – back to my original point. The government decided to announce all this the same day they announce the pay hikes. So as much as people would love to bitch and moan about the pay hikes, the license issue obviously affects them directly so the pay hike issue was left alone. Clever, wasn’t it? They eventually chilled out about the license issue (as was suspected they would since it was more of a distraction tactic than anything) and are saying it might start next year.

What takes the cake is that the same ministers who got the pay hikes are now telling everyone ELSE to not be too aggressive asking for pay raises and such, as the economy looks to be entering a slower period. Talk about some angry callers on the evening talk shows!! It’s kind of entertaining.

So those are the latest Irish news items anyhow. I’ll try to post again later with some personal updates if I get a chance. It doesn’t look TOO bad for work today, although it’s Friday and so I’m sure something will go wrong. That tends to be the case up here for some reason or another. Mondays and Fridays are cursed. We’ll see. If you don’t hear from me, have a great weekend! ;-)

A new record...

2007-10-26T22:29:00.000+01:00

I think I've set a new record for slacking as far as posting goes. Give me a break though - I've been working crazy hours and with all of the driving I'm having a hard time fitting in the basics like sleeping and eating... I'll try to be better though. I feel like I say that a lot.

Anyhow - I'll try to post this weekend. Turmoil in the news regarding driving permits and license enforcement. It'll sound ridiculous to everyone living in the States but not so much here. It's wreaking havoc on people getting to work because they want to start enforcing the law that says you can't drive without a full license. Hmmm... crazy, huh? How could they do such a thing??? Lol. Ireland. Gotta love it.

Anyhow - I'm starving and my take-out should be here soon so I'll try to post this weekend since it's a bank holiday and we've got Monday off!! Woo hoo!! I'm also hoping I'll have a few good pics from my Halloween party tomorrow night. Oh! And updates about my sister Anne moving here! Keep checking. I swear I haven't forgotten you!! ;-)

Holy Slacker!!

2007-10-08T12:07:00.000+01:00

So sorry! I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted. I'm not going to have a ton of time to post today but I thought I'd enlighten you guys with what's been going on for me on this side of the world.

I'm still driving a million miles a day to work (when I'm not taking the train anyhow) and it kind of sucks. The architect's rep is a royal pain in the hole and is going to drive me crazy before I leave here (which I will NOT be sad to do). In the last 2 work days I've had a fire and my blocklayers have been kicked off site (after 2 hours this morning I managed to get them let back on). I'm cranky from all of the driving and wish I had my life back!

They also called this morning to say that they're taking my fun '06 Peugeot 307 off lease and giving me the '04 Mazda. I suppose that won't be so bad because my sister will be in town and so I'll need the extra seats but I'm really going to miss the power in my little turbo-diesel car.

Last weekend I went to Reading to visit my old flat-mate Sion. It was a freakin' blast. I haven't had as much fun in a while and as soon as I find the connection piece for my camera I will put the pics up. They're good for a laugh anyhow. It was tough getting stuck on a bus (which they call a 'coach' here) full of 18 really fit rugby players with accents, but somehow I managed to survive...

We finally opened the crazy big shopping center next door to my place. I managed to get there to do a bit of grocery shopping the other day and the prices were pretty good. The stores look to have quite a few good items for sale and I may even find a pair of tall black boots this season (I looked all last year but with no luck and I need a pair because the heels are about to fall off mine). Once I get paid I may be a bit more inclined to do some shopping.

Oh - and my sister moves in next week. She's driving home from Cali to NY this weekend (and apparently has already been caught in a blizzard and gotten a flat tire) so we'll see what the trip over here has in store for her.

That's the fairly fast recap on what's been going on in my life. I'll get some pics of it all up as soon as I manage to sort out my camera. Hope everyone didn't miss me too much! ;-)

The Singles Table!

2007-09-20T19:37:00.001+01:00

My Gaelic Football captain got married on Friday. What a day!! It was such a nice wedding and she looked AMAZING! It's so funny to see people who NEVER dress up all glammed up with hair, nails, tan, etc... So Friday we all took the day off and headed south into Wexford for a bit of wedding bliss.

The wedding was great and I ended up with my friend Janet, sitting at the singles table. Yep - all the other coupled up people on the team got placed around the room and we sat with all of their single male friends. Honestly, I can't complain because the guys were really nice and I think I paid for about 3 drinks all night. An Irish wedding lasts until sun-up, so that's a WHOLE lot of drinks.

It was rather entertaining because I think Janet and I may have been two of the only single girls there and she wasn't drinking and had to leave early because she was IN a wedding the next day, which left me. And the more they drank, the harder they tried. At one point my friend Paul asked if I was running a new 30 second Speed Dating show. It was kind of funny.

Anyhow - I took loads of pics so here are a few to entertain you:

The Bride and Groom (Mary and Michael)

This is our trainer, Paul. I'd say more than half the girls would LOVE to get some personal training from him.

This is the team with the bride and groom - we clean up pretty nicely, eh?

No, that's not a special dance to a song - that's what they looked like all night!

And what's a wedding without a little dancing on furniture and sticking of hands up skirts? In all fairness, Helen was only trying to keep Naomi from falling but we all got a good laugh out of it when we saw the pic!

So that was the wedding from last weekend. I actually started the post Thursday on the train but never managed to get it finished. On the train again = posting again. I'm hoping to take the train a bit more often, which means you'll see a bit more posts. Riding the train and working in Dublin has given me a few more fun things to post about so I don't think I'll be short on material.

Okay - enough for now. I'm going to wrap up, go home, and try to get a run in before I lose my motivation. I'll miss training tomorrow for the Xavier Rudd concert in Dublin, but more on that later!! ;-)

I was doing so well...

2007-09-19T22:41:00.000+01:00

I know I’ve been a bit of a slacker about posting lately, but it’s tough with all of the traveling I’m doing when I don’t have an internet connection at work. I take for granted being able to rely on e-mail to get in touch with people at work sometimes. It’s definitely a lot harder when it’s not available. I’m hoping that will be remedied today with the help of a wireless internet card for up here, since the placement of my office makes it more than difficult for them to hook me up to the existing system at my current project.

I started my job in North Dublin on Monday. Holy commute! It takes between an hour and twenty minutes and an hour and a half to get up here in the morning, depending on when I leave. The killer is the two hours + it takes to get home at night. I’m wrecked after the morning drive and a long day at work and all I want to do is be in my own home with my own things, but I sit in traffic instead. I somehow managed to end up directly behind my friend/teammate Cliona yesterday, which was kind of funny. What are the odds?

Everybody keeps asking why I don’t just stay here during the week, but I’ve done the whole ‘living in hotels’ thing during the week and it makes me one completely miserable person. As it starts to get darker and the weather starts to turn to crap, I may start staying one night a week or something. In the meantime, my office isn’t even set up so I’m dragging loads of stuff back and forth and it’s way easier to just have my car up here.

My other option for traveling back and forth is the train. It’s about a 2 hour commute by train but I’d be able to sleep, or e-mail (with my handy new wireless internet card), or read (I think Harry Potter was the last book I even had my hands on), or post, or do work… You get the idea – it would at least be productive time. I could then spend the time at home crashed out on the couch or cooking (I made enough pasta/goulash on Monday to get me through most of the week) or whatever and still manage to get photos edited and e-mails written on the train. I may try it tomorrow and see how it goes.

So that’s the current work situation. The project itself is okay – nothing too special but it’s got a jammed schedule that I want to jam even further so I can get out of here ASAP and stop the insane commute. I can hardly understand a word the architect is saying between his crazy Cork accent and the mumbling – which makes me dread meetings and having to talk to him. Lucky for me he has a rep on site so I deal with the rep most of the time.

In other news – I’m heading of to London (well, Reading really but I figured most people wouldn’t know where that is) to see my friend Sion next weekend. He’s originally from Whales, I met him in Venice, and lived with him in Worcester. Funny, isn’t it? Very small world… Anyhow – I’m flying over after work on Friday and then heading back here on Sunday. He’s picking me up at the airport and then we’re chilling out Friday night and heading to his away game (rugby) on Saturday before going out in Reading. He’s sending me more details on what we’re doing but I haven’t been able to check my e-mail in two days (not entirely true since I could have checked it at home but was too lazy to pull my laptop out of the bag).

I’ve also posted a few pics – see tomorrow’s post for those. Phenomenal wedding on Friday. Mary was brilliant and it was a small enough wedding that we got to hang out with her and Michael all night long. They looked like they were having a blast. Just the way a wedding should be!!

Enough is enough. I have to get SOME work done today. See? I could have had this posted already if I were on the train on my wireless internet connection. Instead, I’ll have to wait until I can upload it later today. Ah, well. It’s Wednesday – as my friend Kara would say: Happy Hump Day!!!

Well then!

2007-09-10T10:58:00.000+01:00

Not quite back up to par, but at least I'm posting once a week or more... It's a start and I'm blaming the sunny weather on the lack of posting. I'm okay with that though. I've got a long, dreary Irish winter to post all the blog stuff you could possibly read.

So the week's been a bit crazy. My GM pulled me into his office last week to tell me my next job is in Dublin, which is a 2 hour commute, at best. It's all the way to the top of the M50 and past the airport, so the traffic pretty much rivals going into NYC or Boston at rush-hour. Sweet. The job is meant to last for 6 months but I love a challenge so I'm shooting to get in done by Christmas (4 months). Completely possible if the lead times on materials can be sorted out. Anyhow - I'm meant to start up there on Monday (a week from today) so I have to get offices and everything else set up there this week. I'm also going to a meeting up there tomorrow to get a better handle on the place, people, and what's going on. We'll see how this goes. I'm also itching to meet with my bosses to discuss compensation for the 4+ hours of travel or having to stay up there during the week (so NOT appealing to me).

The weekend was good. Quiet, but good. Thursday we had our staff night out and it was a drunken fiasco, as usual. Fun though and everyone came back to my place and we didn't get to bed until 4am so it was a bit tiring as well, but that's alright. I didn't have a hangover to go with the exhaustion so I didn't mind quite as much. The rest of the weekend I just stayed in - saving both money AND calories. I think if I were to give up drink and cheese, I would drop 15 pounds without a problem. Right now, I'd rather the 15 pounds. Clothes fit just fine and I'm okay with that!

Speaking of food: Friday night I made homemade pizza (rosemary garlic dough from scratch) and made my first attempt at sushi. I made 4 rolls with combos of avocado, cucumber, carrot, scallion, and smoked salmon and chilled them for Saturday. It was gorgeous when I woke up Saturday so after running to the Farmer's Market in Gorey I rang Noush and we decided to make it a beach day. We went and laid out for a few hours and I packed sushi and cheese and crackers and iced tea. It was a perfect afternoon and we totally got to catch up with everything in the meantime.

Saturday evening was spent watching a bit of rugby and grilling up some chicken and fresh Farmer's Market veggies. Then yesterday I went to watch a rugby match and caught up on some movies. Three movies. That's more than I've watched since before my parents came. It was good to curl up on the couch and do nothing!

Back to work today. I'm so much more productive on Monday when I stay in over the weekend. I've gotten loads done today and it's only 11am. There's heaps to do before I have to leave it all at the end of the week (and Friday is a wedding, so I lose a day there!) so I'd better get back to it. Hope your Monday isn't too painful!! ;-)

Less Than a Week

2007-09-04T09:50:00.000+01:00

Less than a week since my last blog. I'm pretty sure that's a recent record! Hopefully things will get back to something a bit more normal now that everyone's gone home and I have a bit of time to breathe. Don't get me wrong - I loved having my parents and my aunt here, but it was a whole lot of hectic at my place for 3 weeks! Work and everything else needs to get back to normal now!

So the last week they were here was fun. We didn't do a whole lot of big things - well, except for crashing a wedding. That wasn't planned but it was pretty fun. My aunt says she hasn't danced like that in 30 years and I believe her, because we stayed until the dj packed up at 3am.

Anyhow - we managed to get them all packed and to the airport (which took 2 cars, thanks to the crazy amount of luggage and the small size of cars over here). I got a text when they got back to Boston and I didn't hear from my sister, so I'm assuming they made it to Albany in one piece.

Now- back to work. I've got loads of little things to catch up to and I've got to get myself back into my weekly routine. My body is so happy that it includes heaps more sleep than it's been getting lately!!! ;-)

Wow!

2007-08-29T12:09:00.000+01:00

Has it seriously been over 10 days since I posted??? The last week or two have been completely insane with my parents and aunt here, so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. The last 5 days have been a complete whirlwind and I had time off from work to play tourist so I don't have much time to type, but here's a quick recap:

Thursday I took the afternoon off and we went to Powerscourt Gardens & Waterfall in Co. Wicklow. It was really nice and a good way to kill time on a nice afternoon. Then we went to Slly's Pub on Thursday night to see the Pianoman play, where were we ran into my ex. Always a fun time.

Friday we left around 10am and drove down the east coast, stopping by Waterford Crystal Factory to shop for pretty, sparkly things. Then we continued on our way along the coast to Blarney (which is right outside of Cork). I went into the Blarney Castle with Dad and Aunt and played photographer while Mom shopped in Blarney Woolen Mills. We learned THAT lesson when Kara and Crystal were here in April and we missed them kissing the damn stone. Dad and Aunt Rose got to kiss it though and even my dad seemed to have fun there.

Then it was on to Killarney, where we checked into a really sweet B&B and went into town for a few drinks at a local pub. Good times had by all. The next day was spent on a bus touring the Ring of Kerry and then Aunt Rose took us allout for a yummy dinner. Sunday we went to Muckross Gardens and Ross Castle before heading towards Galway. On the way to Galway we stopped at an awesome little beach where HEAPS (that's my new word, courtesy of my kiwi friend Danny) of surfers and people swimming. We left there and headed for the Cliffs of Moher.

People are stupid. There must be about a thousand signs telling you NOT to climb the wall because people DIE doing it. Yet people still insist on climbing the walls and standing on the very edge. These are NOT small cliffs, people. Ah, well. Darwin shall have his way.

We left the Cliffs and headed further north to Galway, stopping in this cute little village for the best seafood I've had so far in Ireland. It was really good. We got to Galway and checked into our place before heading into town for drinks at An Pucan, where they had traditional Irish music and then a local band who played old time songs and fun stuff.

Monday we spent on another bus, touring the Connemara Region before heading back to Galway for another yummy seafood dinner. Tuesday we were heading back home, stopping by the beach to collect pebbles and shells on the way.

It was a JAM packed weekend and I got in quite a bit of driving. I was happy to be sitting on coaches and getting a break every once in a while. I think I've perfected my tour guide roll in the west of Ireland anyhow and I got to see some new things. It's amazing how different the regions are. I'll put up pics once I get them downloaded.

Oh!! And I got to hold a lamb on the Ring of Kerry. Some of you will understand what a silly huge deal that is. I've got pics so maybe I'll post them too!!! I'll try to get them up before the end of the week but no promises. Everyone leaves Monday so I should have SOME time back on my hands then!!! ;-)

Brrr....

2007-08-17T09:18:00.000+01:00

I'm sitting here at my desk trying to keep my fingers warm because the window is open and it is THAT cold outside. I'm wearing a fleece jacket and I'm still cold. It IS August, right? As my friend Naomi was saying 'This isn't even a bad summer - this is just Mother Nature taking the piss.' 'Taking the piss' would be slang for 'teasing' or 'making fun of' over here.

I'm tired today as well. Not complaining - just saying. I went out with the girls for a few drinks after the match. Literally. I kept it to 3 or 4 Coronas. And yes, they have Corona in Ireland. At my favorite bars they even keep lime in stock so I don't have to settle for drinking it with a lemon. I like the Corona because it leaves me hangover-free in the morning.

So our match last night was a doozy. It was against the worst team in the league. The girl who was marking me said the team was twice as big last year but they lost a load of players to pregnancy, marriage, moving abroad, and the like. Yes, I said the 'player who was marking me' because I actually PLAYED last night. Not only did I play, but I STARTED. I scored a goal with my left foot and everything! Very exciting stuff.

The invasion of the Americans is going well. It's kind of hard to keep people entertained in Wicklow County when they can't drive. The bus system isn't too bad though, so Mom and Aunt Rose have been to Dublin and Wexford to shop and walk around. I think they're having a good time. In the meantime I've had meals cooked for me, laundry washed, bathrooms and microwaves cleaned, and cupboards ('presses' over here) sorted out and organized. I won't complain. It's a lot of little stuff I haven't had time for because I've been crazy at work and trying to entertain them. We went shopping at Dundrum after work the other night and ate at TGI Fridays (yummy). It's tough because unless you're in Dublin just about the only thing open after work are the pubs.

Today they want to do my grocery shopping for me and have me pick them up with it on my way home from work. It should be a pretty quiet night for me since I have to get up at 4.30am to go get my dad. Well, I have to LEAVE then so I actually have to get up earlier. Then it's home to nap and then I'm making a big Irish breakfast for everyone and then it's off to the Stones concert at Slane Castle.

The concert should be awesome. I still have 2 tickets I'm trying to get rid of. I managed to get 13 people for the mini-bus I organized, which means it's only €30 per person round trip to go up and back. It's a long trip, so that's awesome. Plus is the STONES. It's one of those concerts you just HAVE to see. I have my wellies ready though - need to keep my feet dry because it's meant to be a wet one. What else is new?

Hope you have a good weekend and I should have a decent amount to report early next week. Maybe I'll hole myself up in my room this weekend and try to blog a bit. Might be a nice break from the madness that will be the rest of my apartment. ;-)

The Invasion Begins!!

2007-08-11T10:06:00.001+01:00

It's the invasion of the Americans in Arklow. Mom and Aunt Rose are here and taking up space in full force. It's strange having people here after having the whole place to myself for so long. The company is nice, but I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet when they leave after another 3 weeks. In the meantime, I get to be super-hostess. I enjoy that!

Today we're off to the Gorey Farmer's Market and to do a bit of walking around and shopping. It's a cute little town. It would be better if it weren't drizzly and crappy weather out, but at least it's not cold.

I'm off to shower and get ready. I have got a knot the size of Texas in my right shoulder/neck region (a bit of a tough week at work) and it really hurts. Anybody want to fix it for me! Have a good weekend! ;-)

Super Slacker!!!!

2007-08-04T21:59:00.000+01:00

That's me. I'm a super slacker. Well, not really - I've actually been really busy so I haven't had time to blog. Yes, I realize I could probably make time but I've been too busy working and having fun. It's wedding season in Ireland so there are weddings, hen nights, bbq's, and everything else to squeeze into the summer months. Not that it's really been that summery. This week was alright but it's the first nice weather we've really had since April and it went away just in time for the holiday weekend. Go figure.

I'm waiting for my friend Maggie to come over so we can have a few drinks and go out. She's had a sad sort of weekend so I told her I'd cheer her up with daiquiris. The poor girl has never had a daiquiri!! Madness. So anyhow, I have all of this leftover fruit from the bbq I threw last night (a spur of the moment type thing that ended up being really fun and the food was great!) and some rum and some whipped cream. Can't go wrong once you throw in a little caster sugar (kind of like a really fine granulated sugar - not quite confectioners but smooth and small enough to dissolve easily). So waiting on her and testing out my recipe to make sure it comes out okay in the meantime. Yum. Seems to be working out alright!

So Mom and Aunt Rosie get here on Friday. I have to be up in Dublin at 5.50am to pick them up and then I'm heading into work while they get a bit of sleep. I'll probably take a half day but no point in being here all morning. They'll need a nap. I can come home and make them lunch at 1pm and still only use half a day so I can spend a few more afternoons with them while they're here. Dad gets here the Saturday after and then I'm dragging him and Mom to the Rolling Stones concert up at Slane Castle. Should be a good show!

I found some awesome new music. It's an Australian artist named Xavier Rudd. He's a lot like Dave Matthews with a few cool new instruments thrown in. My friend Danny (originally from New Zealand but spent the last 5 years in Oz) told me about his website so I checked him out and ended up downloading some stuff from I-tunes.

My sister Anne is thinking about moving over in October. I really need to ring her and find out if she's going to do it or not. My apartment is kind of expensive to keep on my own so if she's not going to help out a little bit with the rent then I'm going to have to find somebody else to take a room. A few hundred a month would make a huge difference. Not that I really want to give up having my own place but maybe I'll meet somebody as cool as some of my past roommates. There's always a chance, right?

Alrighty. I'm going to get Maggie's drink ready, as she should be arriving any second. I'll try to post some pics from the craziness that was my last week or so. Hope you're having a great weekend. Mine's an extra day long. Hooray for bank holidays!!! ;-)

Grey's

2007-07-24T22:38:00.000+01:00

I am going to kill Bracken (I'll wait 'til tomorrow though - the triplets turned 29 today!) for talking me into watching this at the beginning of the season. I am SO hooked on it. How could you not be once you watched a few episodes??? There's at least one fantastic scene in every episode. I used to make fun of people for getting caught up, but now I've become one of them. Ugh. This is why I don't watch Lost.

I went to a fun wedding on Friday. The afters of the wedding really. I'll post a couple of the pics for you. There were Irish dancers, people wearing kilts (and nothing under them, by the way), lots of drinking, lots of dancing, and I figure the two broken shoes I came home with are a sign it was a good time.

The Lads

Jenny and I

Joan and Alice (She's Canadian!)

I didn't know Anto played bagpipes, but apparently he's an All-Ireland award winner and that's how everyone else knows who he is - learn something new every day!

That's me with my friend Mark. I have some very compromising pics of him in his kilt!

Me with my friend Ben. He makes me feel so tiny!

The wedding was serious amounts of fun. It was good to get out with everyone and dance for the night. They kept the resident's lounge open until after 4am, so it was a long night of drinking and I slept in for the first time in ages the next day. Didn't budge until 2pm. I haven't done that in ages but I think I needed the sleep.

There's another afters of a wedding on Thursday for Bracken's sister Fiona and our trainer/coach from last year, David. They met at a wedding last summer. Mad, isn't it? Then there's a going away party for work on Friday and a hen night on Saturday. It will be my first hen night (aka bachelorette party) in Ireland so I'm sure you'll hear all about it!! I'll try to get on later in the week! I've been such a slacker! ;-)

Need to Travel

2007-07-17T09:36:00.000+01:00

I need to travel. I realized today that I've begun to take for granted the STUNNING views that are everywhere I have to drive. I miss that feeling of seeing a new view or a new place for the first time and trying to take it all in so you'll never forget it. I may have to suck it up and just do a bit of travelling myself this fall (or 'autumn' as I must call it here or they all make fun of me!).

My parents arrive in about 3 weeks. I'm in the throws of trying to plan what to do with them while they're here. They're bringing my great Aunt Rosie with them, who is 74 but likes to travel and tends to be up for just about anything. I feel a bit sorry for my father who is arriving on the 18th at 5.30am and is going to be dragged to an open-air Rolling Stones concert later in the afternoon. He'll just have to learn to live by my current saying 'I can sleep when I'm dead'.

I did a pretty good job of trying that out this weekend, with the Arklow Seabreeze Festival in full swing. Music was playing in all of the pubs and on all of the streets and they always bring in the best of the best bands. Well, as far as local and regional go. But that does include a lot of good bands. Vertigo, The Piano Man with Rory the Mean Fiddler, The Groove, Avalanche, etc... It was a good weekend for music anyhow.

Agh! Work all of a sudden got crazy today. So much for my morning break! I'll try to get a few pics from my staff function posted later on today. There were a couple of good ones! ;-)

Staff Night

2007-07-11T22:08:00.000+01:00

So tomorrow night is our Midsummer Staff Night. I'm looking forward to it, mostly because I planned it so I'm anxious to see how it goes. I have a feeling it will be a good one though. It's the biggest group we've gotten to come out besides for the Christmas party, so I don't want to disappoint in the hopes of getting everyone to come out again.

I managed to get the entire back section of Sally's, the new bar in town, reserved for us. I've set up food (pizza, wings, garlic bread, sausage rolls, etc...) and they've even got the Piano Man and Rory the Fiddler (my favorites!) coming in at 9.30pm. Even without the staff function, that makes an awesome night on it's own.

It's been a long week with very little sleep, so I'm going to head to bed a little early tonight to try to catch up before tomorrow night. I have a feeling it's going to be a late one! ;-)

Agggh!

2007-07-05T16:56:00.000+01:00

I know I'm a slacker, but I've been busy. Mostly because I've been trying to stay busy but it's backfired and now I'm so busy that I don't have time for anything. I've only taken lunch once in the past week!! I suppose it makes the time fly though.

I don't know what's up with the weather over here. It's been crap. Rainy and cool, which is not at all like last July. Then again, last July was the nicest July EVER here so maybe I was spoiled by it. If it keeps up, these are going to become the hottest fashion trend to ever hit Ireland!!

I thought it was funny anyhow. Big match against Bray this weekend. The semi-finals. They're even letting us play on County grounds. That's nearly unheard of. I'm looking forward to being a super-sub/spectator for that one. Even the girls who play County on our team are nervous!!

I've got to get back to work. I'm in between two job-sites, planning a staff party for a week from today and I've just been put in charge of the big end-of-project party. Lots to do!!! Have a good weekend if I don't get on here tomorrow. I'm not going out Saturday so I should be around to post! ;-)

Hmmm...

2007-06-28T16:33:00.000+01:00

I would have SWORN I posted earlier this week, but the last post showing on my log is from last Friday. Oh, well - you get a post with pics this time now! Saturday was our Hoolie for the Geraldines and it was a lot of fun. We got a decent crowd and there was much drinking, dancing, and carrying on. Here are a few pics from the event:

Blondes DO have a lot of fun!

(Mary, Myself, & Frosty)

Steph & Sarah

Cathy & Suzanne dancing up a storm!!!

Dee (drunk is background), Frosty, & Fishy

Bracken (tough girl with her football bruise), Michael, & Lisa

Paul (our trainer) & his wife, Deidre

Andy & Me

It was a fun night and there were lots of laughs. The people with the funny nicknames do have real names, but the nicknames are way more fun. I found that screwdrivers don't give me hangovers (yippee), I learned I can waltz (thanks to Milo, my South African friend), and I met a load of great new people.

This week has been crazy with work, training, and matches. I've been working late and I've been wiped out when I've finally gotten home. I'm looking forward to a little bit of relaxing this weekend (although I have a sneaking suspicion that Saturday will be spent at work for at least part of the day).

I'll try to blog again tomorrow night. The new pub opens in town but I haven't managed to talk anyone into going over to check it out with me. I know it can be done though so I'll just keep on trying! ;-)

Awake

2007-06-22T19:56:00.000+01:00

I've spent a lot of time awake this week. Sleep doesn't seem to be my friend. I've been waking up in the middle of the night and by 'waking up' I mean WIDE awake. I think I'm going to blame the absurd amount of daylight over here on the whole thing. It's light until 11pm or so, which leaves my body thinking it's only 9pm and that I have a few more hours to stay awake so it does. Then it gets light out at 4.30am (yes, CRAZY) so I wake up thinking I'm late for work and it takes a minute to realize I'm not and then takes forever to fall back asleep. I suppose I have the weekend to catch up now though!

Nothing too crazy to report this week. We had a match yesterday and I actually played a half. That's a little crazy in itself. I didn't screw up any more than anybody else (it wasn't one of our best matches) so I suppose that's not too bad. Would have been nice to go on and be a superstar. One of these days...

Tomorrow night is the Hoolie so tonight we're all going out selling tickets. I've got 12 left, so we'll see how I do. The danger in going out tonight is that I could be hungover for tomorrow. There's also a danger on selling tickets because then I have to track tickets and money as I'm buying drinks and collecting money and have to remember to put it in separate pockets so I don't wake up tomorrow and have to drain my bank account to pay for them all!

Should be a good night (going out with the girls usually is) so wish me luck. Time for me to go get ready! Have a good weekend if I don't catch you before Monday! ;-)

Hee hee...

2007-06-20T23:38:00.000+01:00

Ok... So this guy Darragh asked me if college is really like 'The Naked Mile' and I'm watching it for the first time right now. I think I may actually have to admit 'yes' and maybe that's because I played rugby or maybe it's because I was hanging out at way to many frat houses, but for whichever reason - I have to say I really MISS it. Even the soundtrack works for me! Thank God for staff nights out. ;-)

Monday Monday....

2007-06-18T16:54:00.001+01:00

Mondays when I don't go out on Sunday seem to be just as long when I don't go out as when I do. I'm beginning to think there's no good reason to miss a few good bands playing in town on Sunday nights!! Sunday nights always seem to be less expensive as well. Not quite sure how that works out, since we usually head out earlier.

It looks like this Sunday will be another miss at the pub though. I've got the rest of the weekend to contend with. I think we're going out selling tickets to the Hoolie on Friday night and then Saturday is when the Hoolie is actually happening.

What is a Hoolie, you might ask? It's pretty much a big party to raise money for our Gaelic Football team. They hold one every year and tickets are €10 each. There's a band and DJ and a raffle with loads of prizes. It's meant to be a really good time - I missed it last year but I've heard stories. This year Team USA (Noush and myself) have been put in charge of the raffle. Something to do with our oh-so-shy (sense the sarcasm?) personalities. I'm just looking forward to the white cowgirl hats we get to wear!

This past weekend was fun. We won our match on Saturday and I even got to play the second half this time. Afterwards we met up at one girl's house for birthday drinks for Janet. It was a fun time and we all headed down to the pub afterward to sell Hoolie tickets (I got rid of 8 in an hour) and have a few more drinks. A few more drinks turned into an after-hours party and a rather late night. It was fun though and I've got some great pics from it all. I've got to get them downloaded tonight so we can decorate with them on Saturday so I'll try to get them posted as well. I've got pics from home I want to put up while I'm at it.

Yesterday was a quiet day - I watch Casino Royale and Borat before heading to bed. I'm kind of lethargic today from doing nothing yesterday!! I should probably go for a walk or something but it's all rainy and gross outside this afternoon. Here's to hoping the weather and the week improve from here! ;-)

Help!

2007-06-14T16:58:00.000+01:00

Help is exactly what I'll be yelling for as I drown to death on the pitch tonight. It is absolutely LASHING rain outside. I don't even want to walk the 10 feet from the door to my car. I'll be drenched. At least it's not freezing out. I bought new receiver's gloves while I was home to try out for football. I think tonight might be a good test night. Hopefully he won't keep us too long, although I suppose it doesn't matter much once you're already soaking wet.

It was good to get sleep last night, but I'm still tired today. I was up for over 30 hours straight so I'm not surprised. I'm sure I'll sleep like a baby tonight. I'm planning on getting my pics sorted tomorrow night so I can post some up here. There are a few really funny ones taken of people on the trampoline.

It was good to be home. I really miss being back there in the summer time. Trips to the beach, the races, camping, rugby tournaments, bbq's... All good ol' American summertime fun. Ireland is nice in the summer, but it's just not the same. They've only had really good weather the past few years so they haven't quite perfected the art of outdoor fun. I'll have to see what I can do to improve upon that this year.

It's almost time to go and I've got to get geared up to sprint to my car. One more work day to go and it's time for the weekend. Woohoo!!! ;-)

Wow!

2007-06-13T20:01:00.000+01:00

I just fit a WHOLE lot of stuff into a really short trip home. I think I got more accomplished when I booked the trip home 2 days ahead of time than when I plan it way in advance. Funny how that works out sometimes.

Friday night I spent in Boston, having dinner and drinks with my friend Mike and then meeting up with Alex and Andy (my cousin and her boyfriend/my former workmate). It was great to catch up and even though I didn't get a ton of sleep Alex and I managed to get up and get to a diner for a huge diner breakfast. SO yummy. From there we went Wrentham way and shopped until we were about to drop.

Saturday night I spent in Worcester, hanging out with some old friends. It was amazing getting to see so many people. It was super fantastic to catch up with my old roommate, Kelly. She had told me she cut her hair REALLY short but I just couldn't picture it. It looks AMAZING! It totally suits her - she's brave to have gone with the cut though. It's a super-short pixie cut of sorts. A bunch of the boys were around and we even went to Maywood for afterhours. Hey! What's a night out in the Woo without Maywood???

Then it was away to upstate NY in the morning. I met my family at Mass and then went home for a nice little nap. I got to go play with my best friend's babes and watch my cousin play soccer. Then it was back to the house for BBQ! All the family got together to celebrate my mom and uncle's birthday (twins!). Great night.

Monday was shopping and more BBQ with the family. Then it was packing (a pure challenge) and off to bed. Tuesday I left for the airport with just enough time to visit Crystal and the kids. I got a sopping wet swimming poll hug from Emma and off to the airport for me. I eventually made it back via Paris and it was a long afternoon at work but I survived. I'm sitting on my couch waiting for it to get late enough to sleep. I'm SO tired!

I your weekend was as good as mine! ;-)

Home Sweet Home

2007-06-07T16:48:00.000+01:00

As if I haven't been busy enough with everything else in my life, at about 4pm yesterday I decided that a trip home was in order. This weekend. So I called my boss, got the ok, made a few calls (to be sure people are around), and scheduled my flights for this weekend. Woo hoo!! Here I come!!

I'm only off tomorrow, Monday, and Tuesday so that I can be back in work on Wednesday morning. I'm really looking forward to the short break though. It's been a long few weeks and it's working out well with work. It's mom and Uncle Matt's birthday on Monday so I get to attend the birthday bbq on Sunday and my sister Anne is home which puts my whole family in the same building for the first time in over a year. And yes, I WILL win the fight over who gets the comfy seat in front of the tv. Ahh... the things you miss when you're away from home.

I haven't been back since October and I doubt I'll be back before Christmas, so I'm trying to cram a whole lot of stuff into a little bit of time. Boston, Worcester, Cropseyville, people, eating, shopping, eating, chilling out, eating. Is anyone noticing a recurring theme? I really miss the food at home. I can't wait for some yummy chicken wings and maybe some good Italian. And hamburgers and hotdogs and grilled clams. I'm getting really hungry thinking about it.

Anyhow, I have to get going so I can get home to pack and get ready and maybe hit up Gaelic and kickboxing before bedtime. Yes, I'm always on the go. I'm getting very fit for it though! So if I don't get back on here in the meantime (which I hope to do), I'll catch up next week with pics and stories. Try not to miss me too much! ;-)

Funny Stuff

2007-06-05T21:28:00.000+01:00

On holiday in Europe, Bert noticed a marble column in a church in Rome with a golden telephone on it. As the young Italian priest passed by, Bert asked who the telephone was for. The priest told him it was a direct line to Heaven, and if he'd like to call, it would be a thousand dollars.

Bert was amazed, but declined the offer.Throughout Europe Bert kept seeing the same golden telephone on a marble column. At each, he asked about it and the answer was always the same: a direct line to Heaven and he could call for a thousand dollars.

Bert finished his tour in Ireland. He decided to attend Mass at a local village church. When he walked in the door he noticed the golden telephone, but underneath it there was a sign stating: DIRECT LINE TO HEAVEN 25 cents, "Father," he said, "I have been all over Europe and in all the cathedrals I visited, I've seen telephones exactly like this one but the price is always a thousand dollars. Why is it that this one is only 25 cents?The Irish priest smiled and said, "Son, You're in Ireland now, it's a local call."

I thought that was great. It suits Ireland anyhow! ;-)

Mini Marathon

2007-06-04T23:59:00.000+01:00

I just ran my first 'mini marathon' today. That's just a 10k road race, but I've never run one before. I finished in under an hour, which I thought was pretty impressive considering how late I was out and how much Corona I drank at my friend Lisa's BBQ. Now I'm shattered and looking forward to crashing in my bed, but I'm still kind of awake because I was a dumbass and had a cup of coffee after dinner. I should know better but I was too tired not to. I would have fallen asleep on the table.

The road race was a lot of fun. It goes all around the center of Dublin and there were 48,000 women registered. It's the largest women's 10k in the world. They raise silly amounts of money for different charities. I'd say the majority of women walk it, but there are quite a few who were running it today. I think I probably could have done better if I was sure my legs would carry me. If I were to do another, I'd probably be better off time-wise.

I'm heading to bed now though. I've got Gaelic training and kickboxing tomorrow night. Yes, I'm ambitious when it comes to working out lately. I can't help myself. It suits me! Hope you all had a great weekend. I'm looking forward to only 4 working days this week!! ;-)

BBQ

2007-06-03T08:50:00.000+01:00

It is so NOT weather for a BBQ today. Or a Gaelic match, for that matter. I'm becoming more and more content with not having a ticket to the match. It is LASHING rain outside. The thing about having an apartment with windows full across the living area is that no matter what the weather is, you get it tenfold. Almost like you're out in it.

It's only 9am here but it feels much later. I'm not really able to sleep since my friends Anto and Liam insisted on starting rounds of vodka and Redbull last night. It's the drink of choice at the end of the night but since I'm not a big caffeine drinker it keeps me from sleeping in the first place and then from sleeping in once morning comes. Ugh. I may set up some nice slow music (maybe my new Medeleine Peyroux CD) and try to get myself back to dreamland.

The BBQ I'm going to is at Lisa and Paul's house and should be a really good time. I've never been up there but the place looks big enough to hold people even if it's still raining. Paul's got a good group of friends so it should be a good mix. I'm looking forward to it. I just have to figure out what I'm going to drink because I have to go get it at the store beforehand. Whatever it is has to leave minimal hangover, since I have to run the mini-marathon tomorrow morning. I should really pack my bag for that tonight too. I'm meant to be at the Bay Hotel at 11am tomorrow to catch our bus. It's going to be a long day. I've been told by loads of people it's a fun one though. Hopefully the weather will pick up by then.

Anyhow - I'm entirely too tired to be typing this at the moment so I'm going to crawl back into bed and try to get a bit more sleep. Hope your weekend's going well! ;-)

Long Weekend

2007-05-30T21:46:00.000+01:00

A long weekend for you last weekend and a long weekend for me coming up this weekend. Fair warning before I get too much further into this post: I sweetened my burgers with a few glasses of wine. It's about my bedtime but I'm not really sleepy so I thought I'd post in case tomorrow is as busy as the rest of the week.

Thanks to the weekend, my Monday was a pretty exhausted one. Work was fine but I just couldn't bring myself to do much more than crash on my couch that night. Yesterday was busy at work and then I had Gaelic training. I left training just before cool-down laps to get to kickboxing before it was too late to show up. Busy, tiring night. Fun though.

So I love my new kickboxing classes. I'm getting a little more comfy in my gloves. Well, not MY gloves because I don't own any yet. I'm going to talk to Jerry and see if I can sort that out tomorrow. The sweat left behind by other people on the shared gloves is just kind of gross. I've got class again tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it!

My weekend was pretty good. Pretty normal Irish weekend. Lots of pubs and recovering and hanging out with friends. Not a bad weekend in all. I met a few new people and danced to a few good songs. I even downloaded some to dance to around my place as I get ready.

A confession: I've recently becoming addicted to E!. The channel, not the drug. They show it over here. I'm becoming a gossip junkie. Tonight is 101 Best Kept Secrets.

This weekend is the 'June Bank Holiday Weekend'. It means we have Monday off and I'm looking forward to it. I'm meant to run the Mini-Marathon in Dublin. It's a 10k race in Dublin on Monday. It's NOT going to be a fun physical experience since we've got a BBQ the night before. At least I won't be alone in my pain - the other girls are all invited too!!

I should get to bed soon. It's been a long and busy day and I know I've got another long one ahead, dealing with not-so-lovely people. I hope you are all happy to be halfway through your week!!!

Dave, Sweet Dave

2007-05-24T16:11:00.000+01:00

Went to see Dave Matthews Band last night. The venue was this place called The Point right on the Liffy River in Dublin. It's a pretty cool little spot. I certainly wouldn't object to going to another concert or two there. The traffic wasn't even bad getting there - only the last little bit which was the most assinine traffic pattern I've ever seen but you'd have to be there to understand.

I also went to that funeral the other night. People were spilling out the doors. Everyone met up at the funeral home and lined up behind the hearse. The hearse then proceeded up to the church (about 3/4 mile) at a VERY slow pace and we all walked behind. Eveyrone waited outside while the family went in and they set the coffin inside. Everyone took their seats and then it was a fairly regular funeral mass. Most people headed to the pub for a few social drinks and/or food afterwards. There were 7 kids in the family so there were quite a few people around.

Training for tonight was changed to tomorrow night to acocmodate for a graduation mass that's going on in town. That means I'm free to go to kickboxing. The only thing is that kickboxing is at 9pm and I don't know if my motivation will last that long. That's kind of late for me. I'll be boxing past my bedtime! :-) I suppose it will allow me a quick sandwich with time to settle after work. Maybe I'll take a quick nap or something so I'm not as tired later on.

No big plans in store for the weekend yet... I have a match on Sunday but it's a 1/4 final for the championship, so the odds I'll get a game are slim to none. It will be fun to watch at the very least. I should blogging again before that, but if not

Only in Ireland

2007-05-22T14:13:00.000+01:00

This e-mail just went company wide at the pharmaceutical plant I'm at right now. A 'bullock' is a young bull, for those of you unfamiliar with the term. It just struck me as funny and I had to laugh. Wouldn't see that working in downtown Boston! ;-)

To All,

Missing bullock last seen heading towards site.

A bullock belonging to Mr. John Hughes, it has gone missing from his land, if you see it please ring Mr. Hughes direct at 086-6007363. and inform security.

Regards,
Kathleen

Where does the time go?

2007-05-21T15:04:00.000+01:00

Seriously - I feel like I just blogged the other day and then I look and it's been since Wednesday. Hmm... time flies when you're having fun I guess! I'm exhausted today. Another Sunday night out. I met up with Frosty around 10pm, so I didn't drink a lot but we were out until 2am again so I'm pretty tired from it. I'm sure you all are reading this thinking that I must be a crazy slacker and that I don't take my job seriously, going out the night before work. Not the case though - it's seriously part of the Irish culture. I was dancing with my co-workers until close last night and I can tell you I was MUCH better off than a few others. I'm not hungover- just tired.

I'm going to my first Irish funeral tonight. Long story and line of connection and nobody I knew personally. I'm kind of curious to see how it all goes. I think the part tonight starts at the funeral home (although a lot of people hold the wake at their house) and we'll walk up to the church (up main street -the hearse goes first and everyone follows) for Mass. I believe there's another Mass in the morning and then they walk up to the cemetery for the burial. Kind of like in Waking Ned Devine. I'll let you know more in my next blog.

The weekend was okay. We drew (tied) in our match on Friday. It ties us for first place in our division. Next Sunday is the 1/4 final match. Should be good. Saturday I went to watch Arklow United play in the cup final (men's soccer) and then went out with them (my friend Lisa's fiance plays so I hang with her) and witnessed complete drunkenness unfold. I have pics but haven't had time to get them off my camera. I think they're blog-worthy though!

Today is the longest day ever. I'm looking forward to getting home from the funeral and crashing into bed. Tomorrow night is training and then Wednesday is Dave Matthew Band! Woohoo!!! Catch you soon! ;-)

Blah!

2007-05-16T14:48:00.000+01:00

The weather is blah. There's not really a better way to describe it in one word. It's rainy, cold, wet, and dark. Just blah. I swear I must be solar-charged because when it gets like this, my energy level drops in leaps and bounds. I'm not my normal 'chipper self' as one of the girls in the office said this morning.

The weekend was quiet. I really didn't do much of anything besides catch up on movies and tv shows that my mom tapes for me and sends on DVD. I caught up on laundry. One less thing I have to do during the week, I suppose.

Last night I made bread pudding for the first time ever. I was having this craving for it at the start of the week so I looked up a recipe, improvised a bit, and threw it in the oven last night. It came out pretty darn good. I had it warm with fresh cream over it last night and then I warmed it up in the microwave at work for breakfast again this morning. I'll be making that one again for sure. If anyone's interested in the recipe, just let me know!

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet on this side of the pond. I've got a Gaelic match on Friday night, the FA Cup Final (soccer) is on Saturday so that should be a good afternoon/night out, and that's about it. I think I'll try to make it to the Farmer's Market since I missed out on my falafel last weekend. I DID manage to get 4 pairs of shoes re-heeled though and he cleaned them up nicely when he did them. That walk across the bridge does a number on high heels!

I should be back before the end of the week. I've got loads of meetings and things to get done before the end of the day on Friday but I'll try to make time. Maybe get up from the couch (or even bring my laptop over TO the couch) during the evenings... Who knows? Hope you're enjoying the week anyhow. Halfway to Friday!! ;-)

The Sweetest Thing Ever

2007-05-12T10:25:00.000+01:00

I think I just saw the sweetest thing ever. I'm just coming in from my morning run (intervals to help improve my speed) and the next door neighbors' door was open. I live in a 3 story apartment building, and all of the apartments have their own entrance. It saves on sharing a staircase, I guess. It also makes life easier for postmen and delivery men, if you think about it. Anyhow - the door was open to the next apartment over and when you open the door, the only thing there is a carpeted stairwell leading up. A young couple live there and I don't really know them so I'm not sure what their story is but taped to the front of every stair (the vertical part) on the way up was a piece of white paper (about 6x10") with one word in big, black marker. Each step had a different word saying I-MISS-YOU-I-LOVE-YOU-I-NEED-YOU- and that's as far as I could see!! A welcome home (but they've both been there)? An apology? A marriage proposal?? Doh!! I may have to get to know them better just so I can find out! How sweet is THAT??? And men think it's all about money and big lavish things. They have SO much to learn! ;-)

Page 3

2007-05-10T14:54:00.000+01:00

I was just glancing through the blog of a young lady named April, who happened upon my blog and gets the humour of Irish life, having lived here for a while herself. She mentioned the naked woman in the daily 'newspapers' (aka trashy tabloids that abound here) and I realized I never mentioned the girls from Page 3.

Every issue of certain papers has a 'Page 3 Girl'. It's usually a large breasted, always beautiful young woman looking at you from a full-page photo of herself in nothing but a skimpy pair of panties (if that). It's quite alarming at first, and if one happens to be laying in the break room at work or some older person's home (which they always are) you rush to flip past that page without even reading the juicy celebrity gossip or (very rarely) informative little news bits. After a while you just stop noticing and when your boss stops by to see you, the page stays flipped open in near porn-like glory. Too funny. I should send some home to my male friends. They'd get a kick out of it.

A funny thing about the page 3 girls is that they tend to be nobody in particular. Just 'Mary, 19' or whatever their name is. Occasionally you get a former soap star or girl-band singer, but not often. Then there are the few who got their start on Page 3. Jordan, I believe, is one of those. I just read an article about her staring in her own reality TV show on E! at home, so some of you may know who she is. Incredibly large breasts and blond hair pretty much sums it up. I think she may even be preggers now.

Just a bit of a ditty on Page 3 for your entertainment. If you fly through one of the airports, you'll know exactly which page to flip to. Back to finishing this book about critical path... ;-)

Rain, rain, go away!

2007-05-09T16:23:00.000+01:00

I can't believe I made it through an entire winter of this weather. I was getting pretty used to the sunshine and warmth of the past few weeks. It looks like the weather is going to be 'unsettled' for the next week or so, as they like to say here. I suppose it will keep the football pitch soft, which would be a plus. My left ankle (an old break) is killing me from all of the stop and go on the hard pitch last night.

I almost totally forgot about Mother's Day being this weekend. They celebrate it much earlier in the year here - at least I thought to buy a card while it was happening to have in-stock for this month! I can't get onto the website to order my gift though - I think it's probably just jammed with shoppers for Mother's Day. Oh - well. I'll have to try first thing in the morning here, when the rest of America is still sound asleep.

National elections are going on over here. It's kind of a funny process to watch. It's so different from everything at home. It's more based on local politics and party platforms. The candidates are all walking door to door for community support and they've got big posters with their ugly mugs hanging all over the place. I think the funniest (not really though) story I heard is the Labour Party sending out leaflets about how they want to save the environment. Instead of sending one packet to each house or using recycled paper, they're sending one to each person - so my friend Frosty's house got FIVE sent there. Way to save the environment, Labour Party!!!

Just thought I'd drop a little post today. I'm reading a novel about project management and lead time for critical paths at work. I know - sounds fun, doesn't it? It's actually kind of interesting but I needed a break anyhow. Happy Wednesday! Halfway through the week already!!! ;-)

Oh my!

2007-05-08T14:48:00.000+01:00

I knew it had been a bit since I posted, but I was thinking it was Friday or something. Ooops!! It's been almost a week! Well, as you can tell from my perception of time and how quickly it's flown, it's been a fairly busy few days! We had a bank holiday yesterday so today is more like my Monday and it was a long weekend of drinking to kick off the summer fun.

Here's an interesting little tidbit about Ireland and Europe in general. They don't start 'summer' at the same time we do - whereas we go by the solstice at home, they go by calendar months here. In other words, the first day of summer is May 1st. That makes the seasons break up into four neatly arranged three-month intervals. They were talking about how it's a bit different on the radio the other day, which is what brought it to my attention. So this past weekend was the first weekend of summer here.

There was no lack of people to hang out with this weekend so most of the holiday weekend was spent meeting up with different groups of people in different pubs around town. I did a bit of shopping down Wexford way on Saturday with Frosty (she wanted to visit a new store that opened down there and it turned into quite a productive day of summer shopping) . Then there was a fun group of Americans in town that I ran into Friday night and kept bumping into throughout the weekend. They were over for a racquetball tournament (I'm also scheduled to meet up for a match with Frosty this week, whenever I manage to squeeze THAT in). It's always fun to run into people from home - to get their take on Arklow, if nothing else. They got along just fine from what I could tell!!!

The window in my room lets in way too much sunlight so I kept waking up early each morning - it made me want to scream. Yesterday was a bit cloudy - so between my slight hangover, the cloudy sky, and the sleep mask I had from one of my flights, I was able to get a decent amount of sleep. It felt AMAZING.

We had a match last night and beat Clara 9-5 to 0-3 which is equivalent to 32-3. Ouch. At least the weather was nice for a match. Tonight it's back to training and getting run into the ground. :-) I'm working on my sprinting form, which seemed to help a lot the other night. My calves were kind of tired though so I've been walking around the apartment on tip-toe trying to strengthen them a little. Yep - I look a bit mad but I'm hoping it will work!

Time to get back to work. Hope you all had a good weekend and that your weeks seem as short as mine actually is! ;-)

One Year

2007-05-02T17:00:00.000+01:00

Holy cow. I've been living here for a year! The time has flow and yet I feel like so much has happened! I've had 2 jobs, lived in two towns and three different houses, learned a new sport, learned to drive standard on the wrong side of the road, earned a license all over again, and did it all in 2 different vans and 2 different cars. That's a lot to cover in a year.

I don't have much time to write today (it's nearly the end of the day) but I thought it was important I get that into my posts. Kind of cool though. Didn't picture that happening as part of my life plan... Maybe as a vague idea of 'living/working abroad' to add to my life experiences. Anyhow, my friend Noush (the American one or 'yer one the American' as they'd say here) sent me a really cool wine glass to take a proper celebratory drink! I thought it was very cool so I posted it for you all to see. Wish I could find a real one for my apartment! Great conversation piece!

Anyhow - I'm off to get some yummy steak from the local butcher. He's also a farmer and supplies all of his own meat and 99% of the time it melts in your mouth. Very tasty. I've got a great marinade I picked up at the Guinness Factory that I'm dying to try.

I'm also looking to get a bit faster in Gaelic (yes, I realize that eating the above-mentioned steak won't help) so if anyone's got any good sprint workouts or ways to increase speed (I hear hill runs are really good), I'd appreciate the advice.

I'm off! By the way - it's been a full year and there are a whole LOT of people over there who still ow me a visit! If Crystal can pull it off being married with 2 kids, then you most certainly can! You know who you are!!!! ;-)

One of these weeks...

2007-04-30T14:27:00.000+01:00

One of these weeks I'm going to wise up and NOT go out on Sunday night. It's just so damn hard to say no to the girls. It's pretty much guaranteed to be a good time, which makes it REALLY hard to say no. At least I was in a bit earlier than usual last night, so I'm not all that tired today. I've learned that if I stick to having a few Coronas I can also avoid a hangover. Sweet.

This weekend was fairly quiet otherwise. I spent Saturday cleaning, shopping, and cooking. A bunch of the girls (8, I think) came over for dinner. It was something to do besides go out drinking since we had a match on Sunday. It was a big hit. I made garden salad, chicken parm, and cheesy garlic bread. Bracken finished the meal with fresh strawberries, ice cream, and chocolate sauce for desert. Good stuff. Everyone had a great time and can't wait to do it again. We decided we'll have to do it some night when there isn't a match the next day because if it's that much fun sober, we're curious to see what happens when we throw a few bottles of wine in the mix!

We lost our match against Blessington yesterday by a goal. It was a tough game and the girls ran themselves exhausted. Suzanne ran so hard she made herself vomit. Yuck. She's a tough cookie. It's been beautiful out all weekend and everyone's cheeks are a rosy red from the sun. My arms are getting pretty tan already. Who would have thought I'd have a tan by April in Ireland? The sun has been shining all the time and it's stronger here so you don't really need to be out in it long to get a tan/burn. I even had sunscreen on yesterday!

I've got to get back to work. I just wanted to drop a few lines since I was SO bad about it last week and the week before. Hope you all had a great weekend! ;-)

101 Dalmations?

2007-04-27T20:49:00.000+01:00

Nope. 101 posts! My last post was my 100th. That's a lot of typing! Good stuff though. I like using this as a way to keep in touch with people from home. It's a great way to keep them updated with what's going on over here. Besides, Ireland is a cool place and maybe it will convince a few more people to visit!

I'm beat again today. We had training last night and then I met a few of the girls out, hoping to celebrate an Arklow United (men's soccer team) semi-final win. Unfortunately, they lost with a minute left in overtime so it was more like they were trying to drown their sorrows than anything... Still a good time though. I've been going out a lot lately, but at least I've learned to not over indulge with the drinks, so I'm tired but not hungover. Better than being both, for sure!

I get to enjoy a good night's sleep tonight and sleep in tomorrow morning. I'll probably head down to the Farmer's Market for my weekly falafel and some fresh produce. I've got grocery shopping to do because I invited a few of the girls over for dinner tomorrow night. The problem is that there are 30 girls on the team and I don't have room for all of them so I invited a few of the older gals. I think there are 7 in all, including myself. I've decided to make chicken parm for dinner. The whole idea is to load up on carbs for our match on Sunday and give people something to do instead of going out.

I'm hoping the younger girls don't find out and get offended. I want to invite one of our assistant trainers, Cathy, but then her daughter would know and the whole thing gets complicated. I may call her and explain my dilemma and say she can bring Sarah (who I think is 18) but to keep it kind of hush so as not to hurt the other girls feelings. I figure I'll have some of the younger ones over another night before a game. I haven't hosted a load of people in the new place, so I'm not sure how many I can comfortably fit. Tomorrow will be a good trial.

Anyhow - I'm going to stuff my face with leftovers and watch some TV. Give myself a nice full belly to sleep on! I hope you all have a great weekend if I don't talk to you. We're meant to go out Sunday after our match, so I'm sure I'll have some good stories on Monday!! ;-)

Geez!

2007-04-25T15:12:00.000+01:00

Yes, I know I'm late getting this post up but life has been seriously crazy here the last few days. Crazy in a good way - but crazy nonetheless. I've had a dinner dance, people staying at my place, 2 days of training (in Dublin), a football match, and training. Yikes! It's keeping me occupied anyhow.

I had a good weekend. Friday I got my hair cut and highlighted (last entry). Saturday I went to the Farmer's Market down in Gorey for a falafel and lemonade and ended up with loads of produce, some yummy cheese (they even had smoke Gouda this week), and some garlic pesto (they were out of the red one). I went up to Partidge's (my favorite 'gourmet food store') and got semi-sundried tomatoes (fabulous in pasta), artichoke hearts, and kalamata olives. I'm making pasta with all of that tonight. Saturday afternoon my friend Liam's date, Clara, showed up at my place to get ready (we had spoken on the phone but hadn't met yet - she's from out of town so I offered my spare room up for getting dressed and made up) and then it was off to the rugby dinner dance.

The dinner was good and the craic was great. Everyone looked fantastic (I had a new dress that I ended up having to get at 4pm since the one I was meant to wear was ripped and I hadn't noticed). It was black-tie so everyone stepped it up a notch. Dinner finished around 11pm, the dancing went on until 2am, and the bar was open until 4am. After that a few of us headed back to my place to drink (until dawn again - you think I'd learn my lesson) and have a bite to eat. It was a great night and I cooked everyone a HUGE fry (Irish Breakfast) and then it was off to the pubs again. I wasn't drinking much but went along for the entertainment (and entertainment there was). Clara had to drive home so I walked back with her and was in bed passed out by 8.30pm. I slept like a baby! It was great.

Monday was training in Dublin. I am SO glad I didn't accept the job offer from up there. That commute is a nightmare. It takes about an hour on a good day. At rush hour it takes well over 2 hours. I was training for an advanced course in Microsoft Project (scheduling program) and the course itself was okay. I got to have sushi for lunch- it was a bit expensive but REALLY good. I hadn't had it in over a year, which made me appreciate it that much more.

Monday night was a friendly (aka 'scrimmage' in the States) that took place a good bit south of my already long drive home. I got a ride with a few of the other girls who were running late and haven't laughed that hard in ages. When we got there (in the messy rain) the other team was short players so all of our subs (myself included) went to play for them. I ended up scoring a goal against my own team, which the girls thought was brilliant because it's the first time I've scored in a regular match.

Tuesday I was back up to Dublin to finish my class and then Gaelic Football (since soccer is done, it's just 'football' unless stated otherwise) training last night. It was a rainy training, but fairly warm. I was exhausted by the time I got home. It was the kind of tired where you just sink right into the mattress and think you might actually become part of the mattress. Sleep felt good.

Somewhere in all of that, I managed to get a few pics from the weekend off my camera. And here goes!

This is Clara and I just after dinner (so fairly early on in the evening).

This is everyone at about 3am. Drink much??

And this is my friend Tracy and I (today is her 20th anniversary with her husband, by the way!)

All in all, a very good weekend. It will be so nice to just cook dinner and watch a DVD tonight. I have Brokeback Mountain and The Departed. I'm looking more forward to the Departed, but I may get Brokeback Mountain watched and sent back so I can get the next movie. We'll see. Hope you're all surviving and enjoying the fact that you're halfway through the workweek already!!! ;-)

TGIF!!!

2007-04-20T21:32:00.000+01:00

This week went by pretty quickly but I am still SO glad it's Friday. My diet is right down the crapper today. I just ordered myself a Super Platter (garlic mushrooms (breaded and deep fried), wings, chicken tenders, and breaded chicken wings) and a things of garlic/cheese chips. The chips are french fries in American-Speak and they have a garlic/ranch sauce on them and are smothered in cheddar cheese. They look SO good. The reason I know this is because I went to the SAME pizza place for a 7" pizza and wings for lunch with the guys from work. Yep - good diet, Rach.

It's not SO very bad. I DID run crazy amounts of sprints last night at training. Well, I attempted to run crazy amounts of sprints - I wouldn't really call the speed I run at a 'sprint' but it's the fastest I can go and I have to excerpt just as much energy to do it. I'm also going running in the morning, so I'll make up for a little of it then.

I also got my hair cut and colored tonight. I would normally pay about $100 in the States to get my highlights and cut. I paid 145 euro tonight. It's a lot more, but I LOVE it. She used 4 colors (may be lost on the guys here, but the girls will get it) including 3 blonds (it's SUMMER) and a caramel colored low light. The cut is really good too (that cost me about 45 euro last time - so the rest was color). Happy enough anyhow and I don't mind paying the money for a good cut/color. I only get it done 2 or 3 times a year.

So it's time for the weekend. I'm looking forward to a nice quiet evening and then I'm getting up, running, stopping at the office on my way back from the run to get drawings set, and then it's off to the farmer's market for a falafel! Yummy!! I hope you have a great weekend!! ;-)

Yikes!

2007-04-18T13:59:00.000+01:00

I just realized it's been so long since my last post. A lot has happened in the last few days, so I'll ask you to be forgiving. First and foremost, I turned 28. The girls on my Gaelic/soccer teams were all out to wish me a happy birthday as the clock struck midnight, going into Monday morning. What was kind of funny was that the female singer in the pub turned 27 at the same time. Silly coincidence.

What else? My sister got a year older. It was kind of sad not sharing a cake this year (or having any cake at all - I actually went out and bought myself strawberry shortcake last night because it just felt so wrong). Normally we bicker over what silly theme our cake will have (everything from Bob the Builder to Care Bears) and then everyone (the normal family group anyhow) comes over for pizza or a BBQ. Not this year.

I did manage to get pizza though. I went to this new place that opened - Apache Pizza. It's like an American Pizza joint (minus the blue cheese). I tried the wings last night and they were pretty damn good. Not the best I've ever had, but by far the best I've had in Ireland. I think there were about 6 in the regular sized order and I devoured them! I think they'll be seeing a lot more of me over the coming weeks. I've got at least 2 other sauces and 2 other types of dippers/wings to try out!

Another new thing since I last blogged is that I'm starting to run again in the mornings. It's not a long run - only 15 minutes or so. It's enough to get my blood pumping and turn my face very red though. I didn't think I'd ever go back to normal color today! I knew the first few days would be tough (that first minute of the run is torture between the cold and trying to wake up) but I also know that in a few days it'll even itself out and my energy will eventually build to the point where I drive everyone nuts with my perkiness during the day. It's also a pretty run along the beach and by the duck pond and then back down the street, where I can watch the town starting to wake up. Not bad, if I've got to run. Now I've just got to update my Ipod. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

What else? Not a whole lot. I really have been busy with miscellaneous things though. I haven't even been able to watch my Happy Feet dvd that I got for my birthday. It was the only thing on my birthday wish list and my mom pulled through with it! On a side note: my sister Anne painted me an awesome California sun set so when it eventually rains here again I'll have a bit of sunshine to look at!

Okay - back to work for me. I'm slacking a bit by writing my blog, but I didn't take a lunch and it's been so long since I blogged that I couldn't help it. I hope you're all having a good week! Happy hump day! ;-)

Zzzz...

2007-04-13T13:15:00.000+01:00

What a week of madness. I am so tired I think I could sleep for a solid week straight! I just dropped the girls off at the airport this morning and it seems SO quiet here now. Maybe I'll just pretend they're napping so I don't feel quite so lonely...

We covered a whole lot in less than a week: Glendalough, Waterford, Blarney (minus actually kissing the stone - stupid gate), Dublin, London, Avoca, and they even managed to have a drink in 80% of Arklow's pubs. I've got pics of all of that, but I haven't had time to edit or organize them, so I'll pick out just a couple to share this week:

This is us the first night they were here: Me, Kara, and Crystal.

This is the next night, after a long day of walking/hiking in Glendalough and Avoca.

And this photo was just so funny and cute, I had to share. It's one of the street signs up in Glendalough.

I was planning on heading into work for half a day but decided my time might be better spent sleeping off the crazy week. It's going to be a busy weekend and I don't want to be miserable because I'm tired for everything. Anyone who knows me knows I'm NOT a whole lot of fun when I'm tired and it's my birthday weekend, so it's extra important I'm in a good mood!

I promise to get more photos sorted this weekend and I'll post a bit about all of the things we saw. It was a lot, so bear with me. We even sat through a table quiz (too late to officially join in) and won a bunch of stuff in the raffle draw. More on that in the next few days! Have a great weekend! ;-)

Let there be Guinness!

2007-04-10T22:13:00.001+01:00

Yeah, I'm a big slacker. I know it's been a few days. I've been super busy driving my guests all over Ireland. It's been fun and exhausting and I don't have to do it tomorrow! Actually, that's only because we're flying to London at 6.45am. Ugh!!!

That's okay though. I'm sure it will be an awesome time. It can't possibly be any worse than driving all the way to Blarney to find that the castle gates closed 5 minutes before we got there. No joke! We all decided that if that's the worst that happens this week we'll be doing well. Tomorrow will be jam packed with all of the London usuals... Big Ben, London Bridge, London Tower, Buckingham Palace. We'll get the added bonus of lunch with Sion - my old housemate from Worcester. He works in London and is meeting us there. I'm really looking forward to seeing him again - last time was when he was over in Dublin for a rugby game!

I'm heading to the airport at 4am to catch that flight so I'm heading to bed. When I get back I'll tell you about the Guinness Storehouse tour, the rest of our trip to Blarney, the fun nights at the pub, and the Waterford Crystal tour. Pictures on Thursday or Friday. Until then, enjoy your week!! ;-)

Let there be Guinness!

2007-04-10T22:13:00.000+01:00

I'm heading to the airport at 4am to catch that flight so I'm heading to bed. Pictures on Thursday or Friday. Until then, enjoy your week!! ;-)

Another fine day!

2007-04-06T17:36:00.000+01:00

It's gorgeous out again. I was going to go into work for a while, but it was way to nice to sit in an office without windows. I spent the morning cleaning and making beds and finishing all the little things for Crystal and Kara's visit instead. I walked over to work to drop off a CD for the guy I share an office with (the Grammy Nominees 2007 cd is really good, by the way) and ended up staying to go out for lunch. We went to the Bay and everybody who could eat (a bunch of them went out last night but I was saving myself for the weekend) ordered Cajun grilled salmon salads. They were REALLY good.

Anyhow - that was lunch. I came back and finished all the little stuff around here, watched Team New Zealand win the Americas Cup (prepping myself for when I start sailing later this month) and now I've finally poured myself a glass of Captain and Coke with lime, to kick off the week of vacation ahead of me! I'm also working on cooking a whole trout. I've never done it before, but one was (kindly) given to me (freshly caught last night) so I thought I'd give grilling it a go. It's sitting in my kitchen, stuffed with garlic, butter, onion powder (I was running out of room), parsley (overgrowing plant on my window sill) and lemon slices. I'm wrapping it in foil and attempting to grill it. I'll let you know how that turns out. Keep your fingers crossed, pleased!

All of the pubs are closed today and I don't think stores can sell alcohol either. I'm not really sure what everyone else is doing today. It's a holiday weekend but no pubs? Such a strange thing in Ireland. The only other day they close is Christmas but there's dinner, presents, and loads of other things to keep you entertained that day. It's a shame because even though I'm not one to frequent pubs on Friday afternoons, it's perfect weather for Kitty's Beer Garden. They just don't do house parties like at home. If I were in Worcester, everyone wold be around a fire or beer pong table, wearing sunglasses and jamming to music. Ahh... I miss home days like today!

Speaking of home: I got a birthday package this morning!! I was getting ready to go running when the bell/phone rang. It was the mailman and he had a package from Mom (unmistakable writing) so I ripped it open on the way up the stairs because she didn't tell me NOT to open it, but she's a clever one. The present were wrapped up inside. :-p Silly Mom!!! That's okay. It give me something to look forward to. It's worse than Christmas though because I have to wait over a WEEK! SO not fair!

Ok. Back to watching Celebrity Oops on E! for a while. I'm tired after my run and walking and house cleaning. It's a well deserved Captain and Coke I'll be sipping (it's already close to 6pm here). The girls get here tomorrow so if I have a chance I'll blog, but you may not hear from me for a while. I'll be sure to take loads of pics to put online. Have a Happy Easter!!! ;-)

Save a Horse...

2007-04-05T14:13:00.000+01:00

...Ride a Cowboy!!! I love that song. I played all the way between this site and the site I work on in the mornings. Sunglasses on, singing away... I'm sure anybody who saw me must think I'm totally off my rocker. I don't care today! I'm in a FANTASTIC mood!

Who wouldn't be? The sun is shining, it's in the sixties, I'm getting out of work at 3.30pm (Irish tradition before holidays), I'm off for a week, and Crystal and Kara are coming in less than 2 days!!! Oh - and I've got a match tonight in the wonderful weather. It's going to be nice to be warm in my uniform.

Seriously - I'm practically bouncing off my chair right now. Only an hour to go but it seems like forever. As you can tell, I'm getting LOADS of work done. I've been trying to ring a bunch of the engineers to get answers but apparently they're out enjoying the weather because not 1 of the 15 people I tried calling answered their phone or called me back. Oh, well. Gives me an excuse to blog.

This morning I downloaded 'If I Had a Million Dollars' by the Barenaked Ladies to bring into work. I had been telling my co-worker Alan about the song and promised I'd bring it in for him to listen to. He laughed through the whole thing and announced that Americans are all crazy. I think he had decided that about me already but the song helped confirm his suspicions about the rest of the country. I don't think it's THAT crazy. Besides - they sing about Kraft Mac and Cheese. How can you not like a song about Kraft?

Okay - I need to get a little more work done before I head out of here today. May head in to the office once or twice if I get time just to save the holidays for later this year and get a bit of work done. Should be a very laid back week down there, since it's the only site open! Catch you later!!! ;-)

Faster! No! Slower! No, I mean Faster!!

2007-04-03T15:17:00.000+01:00

Get your head out of the gutter. I'm talking about TIME. This week is crazy. I want it to slow up a little because it's been insanely busy, but at the same time I want it to hurry up and get over with because Crystal and Kara get here early on Saturday. SWEET! Now to figure out how to fit in everything I have to do before they get here!

I'm trying to get a quick post in because I have a Gaelic match tonight. They couldn't play over the weekend so we have to hurry up and rush to Kilcoole after work because they don't have lights on their pitch and if we get there late, we'll be playing in the dark. Ugh. Good thing it stays light out until after 8pm now. We should JUST be able to squeeze it in. Hopefully the rain will stay away until then too.

Tomorrow night I'm going to try to get my grocery shopping done for the weekend and start of next week. Friday would be the only other day I could do it and I don't know what's open since it's Good Friday. It's the only day besides Christmas that the even the pubs close down so I doubt much else will be open. I think I'll head into work anyhow though to try to save a vacation day.

Thursday is training and my co-worker Dave's unofficial going away party. I think that means the younger crowd gets to go out with reckless abandon and not worry about embarrassing themselves in front of company directors.

Friday is work and then last minute getting ready for the girls and early to bed so I can get them in Dublin in the morning. Saturday morning I'll pick them up, bring them back for a big ol' home cooked Irish breakfast and then let them take a nap. Then it's off to the rugby match and drinking!! How's THAT for a very Irish first day in Ireland?

I booked our flights to London yesterday. It's been decided that we'll fly over early on Wed., take the Express train into the city and get hop-on/hop-off bus tickets. That will let us see everything a tourist would want to see in the city and includes 3 walking tours - one which starts at 6pm and is a ghost/haunted pub crawl. We'll get done with that just in time to take the train back to the airport and catch our flight to Dublin, where we'll land at 11pm. Not bad for a day of country hopping! Oh! Somewhere in the middle there we're meant to meet up with my old roommate Sion for lunch! He lives and works there now. So excited!

The rest of the week is still pretty much up in the air but there's Waterford, Dublin, Glendalough.... Loads of things to choose from. I'll leave it up to the girls and what they feel like doing on any given day. Makes you want to visit, doesn't it?

I'd love to write more but I've really got to get back to work. This whole going between two sites is killing me work-wise, but at least the day goes by faster!!! More later this week!! ;-)

Farmer's Market

2007-03-31T18:20:00.000+01:00

So I went to the Farmer's Market today... again. It's becoming a little weekend ritual of sorts. The nice weather the past couple of weeks has made it easy to enjoy the outdoor shopping. It's great for getting fresh produce and they've got yummy cheeses, pesto, and falafels!! Not to mention the fresh lemonade. Now where else would you get a combo of items like that???

I never had a falafel before last weekend but there's a man who has a little tent there and he sells these amazing wraps for 5 euro. He's also the man who had the lemonade. SO yummy. There's another guy who sells really good pesto. He's got about 3 different kinds and it's great on just about everything. He's also got all sorts of jams, sauces, chutney, etc. There's a woman who sells jewelry, a man with a fish truck, one tent has plants, another cheeses (great tomato and basil & chili, like pepperjack). This is what the set up looks like:

On my way back I decided to stop at a new store. It's not really new to Arklow, but new to me. They've got the craziest shoes mixed in with some more traditional styles. I picked up a new leather bag and new pair of kitten-heeled shoes. They're both dark brown leather and SO cute. I only spent 50 euro between the two and saved over 150 euro off the original prices. Two new pairs of shoes in two weekends. I need to stay out of stores that sell shoes!

No big plans for this weekend. I'm thinking I'll take it easy and try to be in good shape for my match tomorrow. Soccer this weekend. We're in the cup tournament, which means we can win the league. How that happened, I'm not quite sure. We haven't won a game all season. I've been told we're still 3rd from the bottom. I'm hoping the nice weather holds up through then.

One week from now and I'll be cooking dinner (or maybe taking them out) for Crystal and Kara! Yeah!!! Can't wait. It's almost good they aren't coming until Saturday. I didn't realize that EVERYthing is closed for Good Friday. Including the pubs. Christmas and Good Friday are the only two days that happens. Crazy. Monday is also a bank holiday, which means that Sunday will not disappoint. It sounds like my Gaelic team is already planning on being out in full force and Geraldines + alcohol = definite fun.

Hope you all have a fun weekend, whether you're out partying or at home relaxing. I'll catch up with you early next week!! ;-)

Knackered

2007-03-29T21:16:00.000+01:00

'Knackered' is an Irish word for 'tired' or 'exhausted' which is what I am after training tonight. Tuesday was bad enough with all of the sprinting and then he made us do it again tonight. He added a minute this time - or so he thought. He didn't have a watch on the other night and thought we ran for 15 minutes. It had actually been about 30 minutes. :-) I timed it but wasn't about to tell him. He would have made us go for 31. Yikes!

Father Ted is on tv right now. Quirky little Irish comedy about priests who live on Craggy Island. It's on NetFlix if you subscribe. It's funnier than British comedy (in my opinion) even though it's a sort of older show. You should check it out if you get a chance. It's good for some stupid humor.

Tomorrow is the big 'Programme Forum'. We're walking through the schedule line-by-line with pretty much everybody involved in the project from 11am to 4pm - which means it will run late and I'll be stuck there forever!! Oh, well. As always, a good learning experience.

I'm seriously exhausted and going to pass out. It's almost 10pm here and I'm like an overtired child this evening. I'll try to make more time tomorrow night for a more interesting blog. Sorry for the slacking! ;-)

Deadly!!

2007-03-27T11:45:00.000+01:00

'Deadly' is my new favorite 'Irish word'. It means 'cool' or 'awesome'. Sunday night was deadly!! I meant to go out for 1 or 2 drinks and instead ended up out UNTIL 1 or 2. Actually, it wasn't quite that late, but it was certainly late enough. Damn Lisa and her double vodka and Red Bulls!! My blog has been a bit bare lately so I made certain I took photos to entertain you all:

This is a typical Sunday out at the pub... band jamming, people dancing:

Then you throw in a few football players and change pubs:

Then head to a true 'local' pub for a sing-song and to finish the night:

Deidre was really thirsty (above) but in the end decided to share her Mickey Finns with the rest of us (below). Thanks, Dee!

It was a really fun (though unexpected) night out and was well worth being a bit tired yesterday at work. I didn't feel so bad because I was still really productive and got quite a bit done. Boy, was I glad to see my bed last night though!

I'm hoping the weather these past few days is an indication of what summer is going to be like. It's been beautiful!! I even fired up the grill for some steak, seasoned potatoes, and brussel sprouts (very popular here and came out pretty damn good for my first time cooking them). The clocks changed on Saturday night so the days are much longer. It's already light until after 7pm - I'm looking forward to training in natural light. The lights on the pitch just aren't the same!!

So I'm off to head down to my other project to work on the schedule. I've apparently been picked by my boss to present it to all of the owners, architects, staff, etc. on Friday. THAT ought to be interesting, considering it has over 1100 items on it and I only started working with it last week and a half!! I'll keep you posted on how that turns out! ;-)

Ahhh...

2007-03-23T19:40:00.000Z

That's the sound I just made after taking a lovely long sip of my Sam Adams Boston Lager. I treat myself to it every now and again... It's a bit of a splurge at almost 15 euro for a 6 pack, but well worth it every once in a while. Now to find something not fried to eat with it. I was too lazy to go to the grocery store after work so there's no fish to cook. I spoiled myself (and Noush) with salmon steaks and mussels last week. She had already had Chinese but even she managed to eat a good helping - I impressed myself with it.

I downloaded two episodes of Bones this week. My mom usually records it for me but she missed the episodes. Itunes had them so I downloaded them, but there isn't really any way to get them to dvd so I can watch them on a regular tv. I'll have to hook up my speakers and watch it on my laptop unless somebody out there knows how to get it to my tv. I looked online but with no luck. Ugh.

Ahhh... another sip of Sam. No big plans for this weekend. Just my 2 matches on Sunday. I've got football at 11am and then soccer at 3pm. After screwing up every time the coach was watching last night, I doubt I'll get much playing time. I don't mind so much though because I actually did well when he WASN'T looking so I know my skill is at least improving. My kick-passing and accuracy is up. I was catching the ball on the fly, and I was having no problem making runs and finding open players. I was solo-ing just fine too. Practice makes perfect, I guess.

Anyhow - my friend Joan is stopping over so I have to pick up the clothes I have hanging all over the place drying. I hope you all have a great weekend!! ;-)

Cruel Teasing

2007-03-22T14:59:00.000Z

Teasing is just not nice. No, I'm not talking about a school yard bully. I'm talking about Crate and Barrel. They keep sending me e-mails (granted, I signed up for the list ages ago) with lovely things I would adore having in my place, but they're SO far away and shipping is SO expensive. I want a Crate and Barrel here! Or maybe an Ikea... They're having a hellish time getting planning permission (permission to actually build) in Dublin. Something about it creating too much traffic. Of course it would create traffic. It would be the only decent homestore in Ireland!

My typing today is totally off. I think it's got something to do with my fingers still thawing out from last night's match. It was SO cold last night. Windy and raining on top of it all made for some very purple, very stiff extremities. Brrrr!!! I got to play most of the match, even if the first half WAS for the other team. It was only a friendly (aka scrimmage) and the other team was short until players could make it there from work. It was a good experience and I had a brief warming up period during the first 10 minutes of the second half (my raincoat never felt so good) before Paul put me on at corner forward for our team. I don't think I did half bad and I feel like I learned more about where I should be in each position, so maybe the cold was worth it. Training again tonight. I'm hoping it stays a little warmer...

I'm still running back and forth between my normal job site and the one at the main office in Arklow. It's a bit of a pain but I'm trying to catch on so I can take over the schedule and progress reporting for the €90million+ job the company is doing down there. I could use the scheduling experience and I like a challenge so it should be good for me. It's just a lot of history and work in place to catch up on. It's nice being back in an office with loads of people again though. It gets kind of lonely up here in Rathdrum!

Alrighty - my time is limited up here today so I've got to get some work done. Hope your week is going by faster than mine! Just think - tomorrow is Friday and whether you're in Ireland or the good ol' US of A, it's ALWAYS a welcome day of the week! ;-)

I Survived!

2007-03-19T15:43:00.000Z

I survived my first St. Paddy's (I was corrected by all people Irish when I spelled it 'PaTTy's' the other day) Day in Ireland. It wasn't too much different from most other weekends out here, except that everyone was much drunker much earlier and there were plenty of crazy hats and green shirts to be found around town. Beer was flowing and good craic was to be had everywhere.

The parade was an interesting site. There were a few good floats, some tractors, some concrete trucks, some kids, some cars... just a hodgepodge of local companies getting a bit of free advertising in, from what I could tell. The sidewalks were jammed and the kids were excited, so I guess it was mission accomplished for the parade planners.

Our friendly match for Gaelic on Saturday was not a win, but it was a good match anyhow. Our trainer, Paul, was pleased with us for holding our positions and making space. He said we improved, even if we didn't win. The team we played were the Wexford Co. Senior Lady Champions, and we put up a good fight. Oh - and notice how I said 'we' because I actually got to play half a match at corner forward. Everyone said I did well, so I think it was a step in the right direction. Just watching the matches is a help because I get to learn the rules and what I really need to work on. It lets me figure out what questions I should be asking at training to help improve my match. It's so strange learning another new sport again. I like it though!!

Yesterday was another day out - watched rugby in the sun and snow and then took it easy for a while before heading out to dinner (had the BEST steak at Diablo's - first time there and it's my new Arklow favorite) and met my friend Joan and a few of the boys out for drinks. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open, so it was an early night and I slept like a log! There's a really good band playing in town tonight so I may stop in to check it out for an hour or two. This weekend feels like it's stretched out forever! I guess it kind of has...

Time to walk over and get my car. I'm so NOT looking forward to heading back to work tomorrow. ;-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

2007-03-17T13:59:00.000Z

My first St. Patrick's Day in Ireland... I hope it's better than everybody says it will be. They tend to talk it down like it's really not a fun night, but the shear volume of people going out would convince me otherwise. This year has two advantages - 6 Nations rugby is on all afternoon so the pubs will already be packed AND it's on a Saturday.

Arklow is decorated in green orange and white flags. The shopfronts have all of their finest green clothing displayed. Little kids are walking down the street wearing funny hats with shamrocks on them (that look like they were probably a fun school art project) and the parade floats are parked along the way, being made ready for the parade.

This year's parade doesn't look to be so hot. Apparently, there's not so much as a marching band in it. It's looking a lot like boy racers and lots of business floats. We'll see.

I've finally got my broadband set up so I'm sitting on the couch watching Ireland play Italy in rugby as I watch this. It's a good match so far and Ireland is up 13-9. There are 17,000 out of 22,000 Irish supporters at the match. Their national anthem was louder than Italy's. That wouldn't seem significant, expect that the match is IN Rome! :-) Can't say they don't show their colors and support for their team!!!

I have to head to the shower so I can get over to watch the parade. We got beat in our Gaelic friendly match today. It was just one of those days where everybody was a bit off. I played most of the second half and didn't do badly for the times I got the ball. It wasn't making it up to the front of the pitch quite as much as it should have... Hard luck - and probably hard training too. Our coach/trainer seems set on the idea that we need more sprinting. Ugh! I suppose what won't kill us will only make us more fit!

I hope you're all having a great St. Patty's Day and I'll get back to you tomorrow or Monday (I LOVE having broadband) to let you know how it really turns out! ;-)

Text, text, text

2007-03-14T14:04:00.000Z

Lots of texting goes on in Ireland. It seems to be the preferred method of communication, right behind speaking over pints at the local pub of course. People don't call (or 'ring') each other very often - they always text. I can pretty much guarantee that if my phone rings on the weekend, it's a business call or Noush. Everybody else just texts.

I mean everybody. I know kids as young as 8 who have their own phones and they can text just as well as most adults. It's like a sport to watch the teenagers texting here. They can hold a full conversation with you in person and text and entire conversation with another person without ever losing eye contact with you. It's crazy.

I've developed a fairly quick texting hand as well. It's an easy mode of conversation while at work and it's easy enough to 'group text' a team to let them know when the weekend's matches are being played. It's also the preferred method of conversation when I need to reach my mom with a small question or tidbit of information. Way cheaper than calling and she's even gotten to the point where she uses 'text speak' to type away messages.

The other thing that's kind of funny about text is that it's really popular with tv and radio programs. It wasn't like that when I left the States, but who knows? Maybe it's getting there. Anyhow - people text in instead of calling in now. It all comes up on a computer in front of the DJ and they can read them out or discuss them or whatever. Same thing with radio contests. People text in their answers and then it's a random draw instead of the '10th caller' or whatever.

So that's my little tidbit on Irish life for today. I'm a bit busy with cleaning up other people's messes at work today, so I really should get back to it. Hope you're having a Happy Hump Day!!! ;-)

As Noush once said:

2007-03-12T14:25:00.000Z

'The odds are good but the goods are odd.' I love that saying and I'm sure Noush will enjoy that she earned herself a title shout-out in my blog! :-) Well deserved. That was said in reference to a night out on the town I had a few weeks ago where it seemed that every other guy I talked to hit on me. I'm not sure why or what was going on, but it was noticeably strange. Maybe Irish guys are just friendly. They can certainly be odd. The saying was proved correct again when Noush and I hit the town on Saturday. What a crazy night of talking to people.

There were farmers, coworkers, married men, sportsmen, bartenders... you name it. Now I know how the guys who used to be my housemates felt living in America with an accent. It's an instant conversation starter. Lucky them!

This weekend was the weekend people switched the clocks ahead in the States. Not so much here. We have to wait until the 24th into the 25th of March. A bit behind the times here. Ha ha. Get it? Behind the 'times'. Yeah - I'm horrible. I know. Anyhow - that makes me an hour closer to all you folks reading over in the States. It's nice to think of you as being closer, even if it's only in theory.

In other news: The Geraldines kicked some bum in the match yesterday. They only played the starters with two subs, so most of us were spectators. Spectators in freezing wind and pouring rain - so we did a lot of cheering to keep warm. The ladies blasted through the first match of the season, with Liz scoring more than most people will all season. It was good to watch and made me feel a little more comfortable about what I need to work on in training so I can be on the pitch for a change! It's so strange learning a new sport again. I thought I was through with that when I discovered rugby. Who would have thought?

That's most of the news for the weekend. Ireland beat Scotland in a pretty close game on Saturday for 6 Nations action and I managed to get the new place fairly well settled. It's nice to be able to WALK home after a night out in Arklow. I'm looking forward to doing it a lot during my upcoming 4 day weekend. Yep - we get FOUR days for St. Patrick's Day. Heheheeee. Want to come drink with me? ;-)

Mother Nature

2007-03-08T16:40:00.000Z

Two things are becoming increasingly obvious over here.

1.) Somebody copied Mother Nature on our training and fixture (game) schedules.
2.) Mother Nature has something against dry socks.

It was lovely and sunny this morning but no sooner than I thought about what it might be like to train in dry weather did it start cloudy up and big drops fell from the sky. At least the weather is warming up a bit. It's somewhere in the 50's during the warm points of the day. We've got our table quiz tonight so maybe if it's raining, Paul will show some mercy and let us out a smidge early. That would be nice. Doubtful, but nice.

I'm off tomorrow, so this will be my pre-weekend post. It's looking to be a busy one. There's an Arklow rugby match on Saturday morning, followed by Ireland vs. Scotland for 6 Nations. It's being played in Scotland so most people will be packing themselves into pubs like sardines to watch the match. It's good craic and the atmosphere is a bit unique. It's fun to see everyone trashed so early in the evening too. I may go out and then head home for a bit because the match is on at 1.30pm and I was getting drunk pretty quickly at the last match, which didn't start until 5.30. Lots of food and slow drinking on Saturday.

Sunday there's a Gaelic match at 11am and it's away so we'll have to be up bright and early. Then I have to be back for my 3pm soccer match, which I already KNOW is not going to be fun. It wouldn't be so bad if we had more players and I knew I could play for just a half if I needed to. I refuse to give up all of my weekend fun just because somebody decided that all physical activities should be scheduled on Sundays. Grrr...

So I've got a big weekend ahead: settling into the new place, making it through a Saturday of drinking college style without ending up 'legless' (as they like to say here), and then managing to get to everything I'm supposed to be at on Sunday. Wish me luck!!! ;-)

Sunshine and birdsong...

2007-03-07T13:33:00.000Z

What a GORGEOUS day out here. It makes me wish I were out hiking instead of sitting inside at this desk. I've certainly been able to come up with plenty of excuses to be outside and walking around site today. It's a nice change of pace from trying to stay dry. The sun is shining and the birds are singing and I'm sure it will only last until this evening, but I'll take what I can get.

Today I've been sending texts and e-mails to recruit people for our table-quiz fundraiser tomorrow night. It's for the Geraldines, so the whole team will be there anyhow. It's a good start. I realized as I was doing this that most of you wouldn't even know what a 'table quiz' is so I thought it would be a good topic to blog about.

Table quizzes are pretty popular in Ireland. They can be done as fundraisers or just for fun, where all of the money is put towards prizes. Most require teams of 4 and charge between €5 and €10 per person. The teams all sit together at a table and the quiz usually works in rounds. For each round, a sheet of questions is given out and the team works together to answer them before time runs up and they have to turn the papers back in. At the end of each round, the answers to the previous round are usually read out so you know what you missed.

The scores are usually tallied by rounds on a big board and at the end, the team with the highest points wins. I've only participated in one quiz (to raise money for a charity through work) and we did okay. I usually know the stuff nobody else does and they usually know everything else. There tend to be a lot of Irish celebrity/sports questions and although I'm catching up and do okay on current news, I haven't quite nailed the recent history or Irish pop questions yet.

Questions can also be photos that you need to identify (bad celebrity pics or baby photos of older celebs) or word puzzles. Overall, it's a pretty good time and if you've ever been to Hooters on quiz night then you might have a decent idea of what it's like. I'm counting on a 'fundraiser' being a good excuse for people to drink on a Thursday and I'm hoping they'll come out for just that reason! I've got Friday off, so I may indulge in a few and then walk back across the river to the new digs!!

Wish me luck recruiting a team!! I'll catch you tomorrow (I hope)! ;-)

Another Rainy Monday

2007-03-05T16:12:00.000Z

It started out nice enough today. A bit cool, but clear and sunny. Not so much the case this afternoon. I think I might drown if I step foot outside. It looks like a good day for tanning salon. One of those days it feels nice to close yourself in a little booth, shut your eyes, and pretend you're on a beach somewhere. I'd LOVE to be on a beach somewhere.

The weekend was pretty uneventful. I spent most of it packing and cleaning so the landlords could show the place yesterday. It was a big hit and the first couple who saw it want to take it. The landlords were so delighted about having people move in next week (and at €100 more per month which we insisted they would get if they asked) that they want to refund the last two week's rent and all of the deposit. Sweet.

I've also managed to get Friday off without having to take an actual holiday or call in sick. My boss says no worries, since it's been so quiet up here anyhow and he knows I won't get any help on Saturday. All of Ireland will be watching the 1pm Scotland Vs. Ireland match so I'd be out of luck. Just picture me carrying my desk and bookcase up two stories by myself. I'm NOT superwoman!! (Although I do like to pretend sometimes!)

That's pretty much it. The match was called off due to rain yesterday. My leg still feels awesome after my visit to the physio on Friday. He needs to do my neck and shoulders. I don't remember what it feels like to have them knot free. I think it must feel nice though.

I'm going to attempt to swim through the rain to my car now. Hope you're all having a dry Monday!! ;-)

Ouch!!

2007-03-01T10:03:00.000Z

That is HOT. I've always been a Matthew McConaughey fan and this pic, posted on TMZ, solidified that. Wow. Take me to THAT beach please!! sorry - I couldn't help it. That photo needs to be seen and enjoyed.

I've been a bit of a slacker with my posting this week, but I didn't realize how much of a slacker until I did a quick check of my blog before I left work yesterday and noticed I hadn't posted since Friday. We're pricing another job here, so it's been a bit hectic. Most of it got done yesterday, so I should at least have my breaks and lunchtime back now. I'm moving up to Arklow next week, which means I'll have broadband access and be able to blog at home a little more easily as well.

Last weekend was fun. Friday was kind of quite. The highlight was going out for a seafood dinner and they served scalloped potatoes! I love those and haven't seen them since I've been here. Granted, they called them something different, but they tasted the same.

Saturday was a good amount of fun. There were no major incidents during the 'God Save the Queen' at the rugby match. I realized for the first time that the song 'My Country 'Tis of Thee' is written to the same tune as the English national anthem. Yes, I'm a little slow sometimes. I met up with my friends Sue and Sue to watch the match at about 5.30pm and ended up out for about 10 hours. That's a lot of drinking for out-of-practice me. Yikes! I had a great time though. I ran into a lot of people I know and made some new friends along the way.

My soccer match wasn't until 2pm, but it still made for a long match. The small tear in my quad from sprinting the week before still hadn't healed and I probably would have sat a half out but we only had 11 players. I don't think my quad is ever going to get better and that's insanely annoying because I was enjoying the workout and getting in shape and I can only do everything half-assed when it's hurt.

As I mentioned before, I'm moving into a new place in Arklow next week. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment on the 3rd floor. It overlooks the river and marina and is about as close to everything in town as you can get. It's a really nice place - fully furnished, as rented apartments tend to be in Ireland. Our old place is online and up for rent so I'll be spending tonight and tomorrow night cleaning the house in case anybody wants to look at it. I'm not looking forward to that at all. I've been so busy with training and everything else that I haven't had time to keep up with housework. Did I mention I hate moving? Ugh.

Anyhow - time to get back to work. I've got to go walk a guy through an area for pricing crane hire. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?? ;-)

I was so close I could almost TOUCH him!!

2007-02-28T16:28:00.000Z

Dave Matthews, that is. Sorry to any of you who got random texts on Monday night to that effect, but I was excited and sent a text to anyone who knew who he was (which eliminates most of the numbers over this side of the pond). The show was amazing.

Dave played with Tim Reynolds, which I was hoping for and was excited to see. I'd never seen one of his acoustical shows and they're WAY more mellow. It was like he was playing in a big coffee house. Everyone stayed seated and you could walk up the isles to take photos. I was seriously 10 feet away from him. He's a good entertainer. He had the whole crowd laughing and talked to people in between songs.

He played some new stuff and lots of old stuff. Satellite, Crash, #41, Some Devil. The encore alone was 5 songs long! Well worth the money and the trip to Dublin and now I'm SO psyched to see him play with the rest of the band at The Point in May. Sorry I've got to keep this short - it's been kind of busy at work this week but should chill out a bit tomorrow. Hope you're having a good week. Happy Hump Day!!! ;-)

Kick Off is at 5.30

2007-02-23T14:58:00.000Z

The big game is Saturday. Well, I suppose there's a 'big game' on in Ireland pretty much every weekend depending on who you're talking to, but it's 6 Nations season for rugby and Ireland is taking on England tomorrow at 5.30. That makes it the biggest game in a while and people have been looking forward to being at a pub to see it. I'm heading out with a few of the ladies late in the afternoon to join in the festivities. It should be a good time.

To give you an idea of how big this game is, I know of a pair of standing room tickets that were originally (and by a great stroke of luck) purchased for €80/pair. They were being dropped off in Dublin today to a man who bought them for €2300/pair. There's some profit. I didn't even make half that for my Yankees/Red Sox tickets in the first row of the Green Monster the year it first opened. BIG game. I've seen them selling for as much as €3000 each for good seats.

It's also a big game because of the location and history of the match. The usual rugby stadium (Lansdowne Road Stadium) is being torn up and redeveloped, so it's been agreed after MUCH debate that the 6 nations tournament could be played at Croke Park. This is the national home of all things Gaelic, meaning Football and Hurling. Not rugby, not soccer, and most certainly not the English. The singing of the English national anthem has become quite the topic of pub debate and radio talk shows.

There's good reason for the hatred and arguing in this case. During a match at the park on the 21st of November 1920, British tanks rolled into the park and opened fire on the crowds, killing 12 spectators and 1 player. The scene is depicted in a few historical Irish movies and the whole thing would make you drop your jaw in disbelief. The day became known as 'Bloody Sunday' and it's one of the many reasons Irish attitudes toward the British tend to be so hostile. People aren't thrilled at the idea of so many English being in the stadium, let alone singing 'God Save the Queen' while they're there.

It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. As another little bit of added history, I did manage to find the only other two non-Gaelic game played before this year in Croke Park. I think most of you will find the teams familiar:

2nd November 1996: Notre Dame v. Navy (54-27)

27th July 1997: Pittsburgh Steelers v. Chicago Bears (30-17)

Crazy, huh? I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes. I'm heading out soon to get ready for dinner. I'm going out to a nice seafood dinner to celebrate passing my driving test and finding a fantastic new apartment in Arklow (more on that next week). Have a great weekend. ;-)

Yippeeeeee!

2007-02-22T14:50:00.000Z

I passed my Irish driving test!!!! This is a very exciting matter here. The national pass rate on this test is 53.6% and the town I took it in has a pass rate of 48.7% so to pass this test on the first try is HIGHLY unusual. Talk about being nervous! The photo is a play on the 'L' sticker you have (or are supposed to) drive around with in your front and rear windows until you pass the test. It's usually a relief for people to be able to take them off.

I started getting really worried about it over the weekend so I looked online and scheduled a lesson for last night with an English guy named Martin. he laughed when I told him I wanted a lesson last night and that my test was today. I met up with him last night and after I drove around for a while and he showed me some places they might bring me, he announced that I didn't have any bad habits and I should be grand so long as I relax and take my time.

So I was feeling a bit more confident this morning, until I actually left work to drive to the test. It was then that I started getting little butterflies in my tummy. I stopped and washed my car on the way to the test because I figured presentation couldn't hurt and then I got there nice and early, as it suggests in the letter they send you. I had to sit in the waiting area for a bit but at my scheduled time of 11am, the guy came out of the office and called me in.

He filled out some information and had me sign off that my car was in good condition and then he started the verbal test. I easily answered all of the questions and then it was on to road signs. He pointed out different signs and I knew them all, thanks to my instructor last night. I probably wouldn't have known 'contra bus lane' if he hadn't pointed out that they ask that one a lot. I'm still not 100% clear what it is but I think it's kind of like the lanes near Boston where they switch the HOV from one side to the other depending on traffic. At any rate, I managed to get through the verbal with no incidents.

Then onto the car, which was where I got really nervous for some reason and after lifting the hood (or 'bonnet' as they call it here) I managed to point out all of the fluids and parts he asked about. I then got into the car to demonstrate the turn signals and brake lights. Good stuff. So he finally got in the car and we're ready to go - everybody buckle up!!!

This is where the nerves got me. I backed up in my space and put my signal on to pull out and some cars came by so I was sure to pay loads of attention and make sure I was obvious about checking my mirrors. Then I pulled out. Except I didn't pull out. did anybody notice a step missing there? How about shifting into first? Oops!! I went backwards instead of pulling forward. The poor guy must have been wondering what he was getting himself into. Not exactly the best way to start the practical part off. He was nice though and told me to take a deep breath and just relax. So I did and on we went without another hitch (well, maybe a small one when he asked about hand signals because I could have sworn one was different from back home but apparently not).

So we got back to the office where I got the good news that I managed to pass the test with flying colors!! Yippee again!! It's such a process to get a license. It's no wonder everybody drives around on their permit/provisional license. Totally illegal but nobody seems to care.

Enough from me. I've got to get back to work on some meeting minutes for work. The end of the day is nearing and then it's off to training for me! More tomorrow!! ;-)

Blast From the Past

2007-02-20T14:10:00.000Z

I just had to hop on and write a quick bit about this pen. Yes, a pen. As in the writing instrument. Like the one in the photo. Have you ever seen one of those before? I want to laugh every time I go into a meeting with the engineers where I work because I remember those pens from when I was about 5. Yeah - as in over 20 years ago! Grandma used to get them for us from school to play with and we (or at least I) thought they were the coolest thing ever. One pen with four colors!! Way cool! I honestly haven't seen them since my first few years of elementary school though and so every time I go into a meeting and see all of the big, grown up engineers using them, it serves as a reminder of just how behind the times some things are over here. I can't help it - I associate those pens with the 80's and playing with Barbies!! Just my quick little thought for the day! ;-)

Mush

2007-02-19T16:45:00.000Z

Mush is what my head is today. It's overworked and starting to melt. My desk looks like a tornado hit it and I hate when my desk is a mess but I seriously needed a break from work, even if it is a 5 minute blogging break. I'd normally get up and go walk around outside but I'm really not in the humor to be completely rain-soaked.

I did a very funny/stupid thing today. I was all psyched up for the Dave Matthews concert tonight and realized, none to late, that it is NEXT Monday. Ooops. that works out alright though because I've got training Tuesday and Thursday, a driving lesson on Wednesday, and my driving test on Thursday. I like the idea that I'll be able to breath (and maybe do a little housework) before the weekend.

I was too exhausted to do anything by the time I got home last night. I had a soccer match in the morning and then training as soon as I came back for Gaelic football. I was so tired by the time last night rolled around that I could barely manage to hold the pages open as I finished 'The Devil Wears Prada'. Good book, by the way. I moved the movie way up on my Screenclick list today. It's at #2. mostly because the 'queue' wouldn't let me put it at #1 for some reason.

We lost the soccer match, by the way. I think we're hopeless. We were up by 2 points and still managed to lose 3-2. It was a good run anyhow. There will be some serious celebrating when we finally win a game.

Agh! Just got a call from the office. The big boss man wants his concrete moisture reader. I'd better run (literally if i plan to stay dry!). See you tomorrow! ;-)

Miss me?

2007-02-16T11:16:00.000Z

Oops. I didn't get around to my blog on Wednesday but I might have made a little more effort if I ad remembered I would be down at the main office without computer access yesterday. I have to head back down there again for a meeting at noon (lunch is at 1pm, remember) and I'm not sure if I'll be back up here in the afternoon or not.

My new thing is going to be working between here and the main office. I'll be doing some scheduling in the main office while still doing what I do up here. The problem is that there hasn't really been a schedule worked out for it all so it's a bit helter skelter at the moment. I only found out about this meeting 2 hours ago, so I've been working stuff around being down at the main office. It's a bit of a pain because I'll have to bring everything with me in case I don't make it up but then I'll have to bring it all back if I DO end up back here. Not a big deal if it weren't a 3/4 mile walk up a very large hill!

I had training for Gaelic Tuesday night and last night. I was tired but not sore after Tuesday but I think I might cut my legs off because it would hurt less today. It must be from sprinting. It's the only thing we changed up last night. Or it might be because the pitch was so soft/wet. Talk about soggy ground! I could have done without the sprinting anyhow. We can fully thank our keeper for that. She was bitching and moaning about running and said she'd rather do sprints, so we did the running and then sprints on TOP of it. I suppose it's all well and good though because it's only been 4 sessions and my clothes already fit better.

I'll be sleeping well on Sunday too - e let us know we'd be training for an hour on Sunday afternoon after we finish our soccer match and get back to town. Yikes! It should be a fun session though - looks to be more set drills, shooting, and maybe a scrimmage. I really like the new coach. He works to plan training and does a good job at it. He's learning our strengths and weaknesses pretty quickly and working around them to make us better. I've been impressed so far!

Not much else has gone on this week. I've watch a few movies (Mission Impossible 3, Armageddon, You've Got Mail). Between that and training I haven't had time for much else. I'd love to get in a little more reading. I've barely started 'The Devil Wears Prada' but it's meant to be a good book and I'd love to read it before I watch the movie.

I should get going if I'm going to get to the office in time. I'll try to get on again this afternoon or during the weekend. Sorry for the delay. Have a great weekend if I don't manage!! ;-)

I'm a Slacker

2007-02-13T12:48:00.000Z

I didn't manage to get those photos off my camera and onto a disk yesterday. Sorry about that - I like spicing up my blog with photos every now and again. Maybe tomorrow or Thursday. I've got training tonight so I'll have to see how tired I am. He was mumbling about increasing everything by 5 and my body may object to that.

I never did get to go see Dirty Dancing this weekend. The only shows were late and I had a 65th birthday party to go to so Music and Lyrics won out. It's the new Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore flick. It wasn't bad. It's pretty much what you'd expect from a Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore flick. Not a cinematic work of art by any means.

I'm waiting for my next tow movies to come from screenclick.com. On the website it says they've mailed out Superman Returns and Mission Impossible 3. It's funny how they do that. I have them all mixed up on my list so I'd get a chick-flick here and an action movie there and a serious drama over there. They always all come straight in a row. Like Madagascar and Ice Age 2. Good thing I'm always in the mood for some cartoon laughs.

Okay - I'm going to go eat my leftover stuffed peppers for lunch. They came out alright last night. I can't wait until it's warm and light again so I can grill and then it's grilled chicken sandwiches and leftover grilled veggies for lunch. Yummy! Tummy's rumbling... See you tomorrow! ;-)

Sporting Weekend

2007-02-12T15:41:00.000Z

Yesterday was a day of 6 Nations sadness here in Ireland. Ireland played France at 3pm yesterday and after a not-so-stellar start managed to hang in there and really give it a go the second half. They were up by a few points with only a few minutes to go when France scored this miraculously depressing final try to win the match. I've never heard a packed pub so quiet. Nobody knew what to say - they were all just standing there with their heads in their hands...

It was a agreed by all that at least it was a good match. Nothing like watching the football (soccer) team play this year. THEY were almost beat by a team who has only won a single match in their last 300+ games. Yep. A guy named Ireland (yes,his name is Ireland and he plays on the Irish team)saved them from utter humiliation by scoring a last minute goal to make it 2-1. The team they were playing was San Marino - I don't think they've even managed to TIE anyone in the last 5 years. Sad, sad, sad. Everyone's looking to hang the manager (not literally). Poor Steve Staunton. I wouldn't want to be him - that's for sure.

My weekend was a fairly quiet one. Training on Thursday didn't hurt at all the rest of the week. Surprising. Don't get me wrong - I was exhausted. At least I wasn't in pain though! Our match was cancelled yesterday because the other team couldn't field enough players, so I didn't get in the run around I was hoping for. I'm sure Paul will make up for it at training tomorrow night though.

I'm meant to play indoor tonight for 45 minutes, but it takes longer than that to drive up and back and it's really not that great of a workout, so instead I think I'll spend that time looking at places to live in Arklow so I can avoid that whole driving problem. I feel like all I do is drive. I can't even meet my friends out for a drink or two because then I'd have to drive. Any of you who know me know that if I'm driving, I don't drink at all. Not unless I have one with dinner when I know I'm going to be out for a few hours. It's way to much hassle to go out and NOT drink here. People harass you and order drinks for you and then get offended when you don't drink them. I'm not being rude - just safe.

On a good note - Iced Tea is invading Ireland! I love it! I'm seeing it in more and more stores and now they have it at the local grocery store. They still don't have mixes and I can't get Crystal Light, but being able to pick up a bottle of Nestea iced tea with lemon at the checkout is a nice change of pace. I don't have to drive out to that one store anymore!! Who knows? Maybe Crystal Light will eventually make it's way over here. Probably not, but anything's possible!

I hope you all had a great weekend. I'm hoping to have a few photos to put up tomorrow, just to show how packed an Irish pub can be on a Sunday. Very few sports bars at home rival it on Sundays during NFL season... ;-)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2007-02-09T13:40:00.000Z

That was the theme song here yesterday... It snowed for about 8 hours, which is a LOT of snow for Ireland. I think we had about 2" of really wet snow. The kind that turns into instant slush and makes really good ice-balls. It was pretty though. It's just starting to melt now that the sun came out. It's melting fast too. It looks like New England on a warm spring day (back when they used to get snow in that part of the world). I was hoping to get some photos after work today but it looks like the snow will be gone before I get a chance. It was too dark by the time I got out yesterday. Sorry!

On a fun and time-wasting note: Check this out. It helps to bring out my childish side. Don't get me wrong - I'm a responsible grown-up most of the time. Sometimes I just don't WANT to be. A case of the Peter Pans, if you will. Maybe that's why I like the peanut butter so much. Or maybe they put something in the peanut butter and that's why I like being a kid so much. I'll leave that to the conspiracy theorists...

I have this pic I took the other day on my way home from Dublin. It was after I met Axel for lunch and was on my way home. I missed my turn to get to the highway and decided to drive along the coast road for a while. I figured that as long as the ocean was on my left I was heading in the right direction and would eventually get home. It's fun to get lost sometimes, but only when I do it on purpose. Anyhow, about 10 minutes outside the city center I came to this really steep and windy part of the road and it led me past some GORGEOUS houses (they were almost like mini castles) sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea. This is the view from that road:

The photo doesn't even do it justice. There's a spot a little further ahead with benches along the edge of the road. I could sit on those for hours looking at that view. It was SO pretty.

In other fun news: They're playing Dirty Dancing at the movie theaters this week!! I'm SO hoping I make it up to Dublin to see it. It's one of my favorite movies ever. I've seen it enough times that I could probably just close my eyes and watch the whole thing in my head but it would be WAY more fun to watch in on the big screen. I loved that movie so much that when I was little my mom got me a tape called 'Swayze Dancing' where he teaches you some of the moves. Did you know his mom owns a dance studio down south and that's where he learned to dance? There's a little piece of trivia for you. I don't know who thought up the idea of playing it in cinemas, but I love that person right now!!!

I survived another training last night. No big plans for the weekend. Just a soccer match in New Ross and hopefully a trip to Dublin to see Dirty Dancing in theaters! Have a great weekend and I'll see you next week! ;-)

Wow.

2007-02-07T10:33:00.000Z

That's a one word description of how I feel about the amount of running I did at training last night. On the downside, if I sit still for too long I fear I may never be able to move again. On the upside, I'm going to be smokin' in my swimwear if I keep this up every week. We ran for two hours straight. There were one minute breaks on occasion to let us try to catch our breath a bit and occasionally get a drink of water, but mostly running. At least he switched it up so we weren't bored running in circles all night.

I think it's going to be a good season. Our new trainer's name is Paul and he's fairly serious but isn't lacking a sense of humor. You wouldn't survive training thirty women without some sort of sense of humor. I like that he doesn't let anyone slack and if somebody is trailing, he hops in and runs with them to encourage them. He even took us all inside and did a quick explanation of field positions at the end of training. I've been trying to get somebody to do that for 6 months now. Fair play to him. (That means 'great job' or 'good for him' over here.)

I added some photos yesterday from the Hunt Ball on Friday night. I didn't include any from Saturday but I figured I'd do that today. There are some amusing things that almost all Irish parties where dance is involved have in common. Kind of like at American weddings you see a lot of the YMCA and the Chicken Dance. Here, the songs of choice are 'Is This the Way to Amarillo'. I found a site that plays it when you click on the site. Ignore the rest and just listen if you go there. The other song is 'Rock the Boat', which I'm sure most of you have heard before.

During 'Is This the Way to Amarillo' people usually just get up and dance, no special moves or anything. It's just one of those songs where everyone in the place is expected to be on the dance floor and everyone sings along. There are a couple of clapping spots in the chorus, but nothing crazy.

'Rock the Boat' is the same version I've heard in the States (oldies song of sorts) but here they have a whole thing that goes along with it. Everyone sits on the floor in two rows, one behind the other, and waves their hands side to side. The 'boat' that rocks the hardest wins. It's strange and it looks something like this:

It's good fun. Just different. There aren't too many other dances over here that make it to every party. I've never seen them do the Chicken Dance and I think I may have seen the YMCA once. Just a bit of Irish party culture for you. And one more photo of the 'American Contingent' on the Gaelic Squad. This is Noush (from near Atlanta) and myself and the dance:

That's about it from the parties this past weekend. I'm going to try to keep taking loads of photos at Gaelic events so we can try to get a 'social section' on the photo wall at next year's dinner dance so keep a look out for the crazy ladies on my team! ;-)

Weekend Recap

2007-02-06T13:34:00.000Z

I probably should have done this yesterday but I was hoping to find some interesting pics when I emptied my camera last night (which ended up being early this morning because I forgot to do it last night). Nothing too exciting on the camera, but the weekend was good anyhow.

Friday I managed to get my shoes fixed and get my hair done in good time after work. The hair looked really cool (but mostly from the back so it's kind of hard to see in any of my pics) and I was glad my shoes were in good working order (even though I kicked them off to dance for the last few hours of the night). The ball was okay - the band during dinner was an old jazz band and they were great but the band after dinner was less than stellar. The dance floor didn't really get fun until they stopped playing and the DJ went on. That's when I lost my shoes and gained my new dance partners, Richard and Trevor. Kudos to them for knowing all of the words and being able to lip-sync the Grease re-mix back and forth with me! The dj didn't stop playing until about 4.30am and it was close to 5.30am before we managed a taxi to the after party. It was a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG night.

This is my friend Billy who is visiting from Singapore for a few weeks. He's originally from around here. I met him about a year and a half ago.

This is Susan - my very fun and very cute partner in crime on the dance floor.

This IS the dance floor! Well, part of it.

THIS is what the dance floor can do to you!

I ended up sleeping away most of Saturday, trying to catch up before my football dinner dance that night. I made it without a hangover or being tired (even though the dancing went on until 4.30am, the bar closed at 2am, so that probably helped. The dinner dance was fun. It's always interesting to see the girls dressed up when all they ever wear when we're together are gym clothes. They all looked fabulous! They were breaking up the dance floor with some moves I've never seen before and doubt I will ever see again. Very interesting... Our new trainer was there and I'm guessing all he could think was 'WHAT am I thinking taking on this team????'

It was a fairly mild night as far as partying went. A good time though. I managed to get home and into bed by 3.30am, which allowed for about 8 hours of good sleep before I had to get up for my soccer match. What a group on that field! I'm surprised they managed to kick the ball because I'm pretty sure some of them were seeing 3 or 4 balls at a time. It's something to blame the 2-1 loss on anyhow. Seriously though- we didn't play badly. Our record makes us come across as the worst team on the planet but it's really not that bad.

After the game it was in to Kitty's for free soup and sandwiches and then home to collapse on the couch in an anti-mobile state. I had the WORST knot in my leg from the match (had to come out for the last 15 minutes because of it) and spent most of the evening trying to stretch/work that out. Oh - and I watched Eight Below - the story about the sled dogs that get left and have to be rescued in Antarctica. Cute movie.

Tonight is the first night of training for football, so we'll get to see how our new trainer is. General consensus among the ladies is that they are looking forward to starting up the season but dreading the work it's going to take to get back into shape. Did you ever notice how it only takes a small fraction of the time to get back OUT of shape? ;-)

Welcome Back

2007-02-05T16:35:00.000Z

Welcome back to the start of the workweek. I'm kind of tired and a bit sore so it's another slow start to the work week. I'm going to hold off going into much detail about the weekend until I get some of my photos off of my camera. A story is always much more interesting when there is a picture to go along with it.

It was a long weekend with lots of dancing and a little bit of soccer and a lot of lack of sleep. I caught up on some last night but I'm looking forward to my comfy bed (and new pillow that I treated myself to yesterday) when I get home tonight. I'm skipping out on 45 minutes of indoor tonight because I have one hell of a knot in my right calf and I would rather miss tonight and be in good form tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the start of the Gaelic football season. I'm looking forward to it because I need to get back in shape and from the sounds of things our new trainer is intent on getting us there. At the same time I'm dreading it because I need to get back in shape... which means I'm not... which means the first few training sessions will probably be a bit painful. My only comfort is in knowing that most of the other girls on the team are at least as out of shape as I am. I've been in worse shape, but I've certainly been in better!

I've actually got a couple of topics to touch on this week: the Celtic Tiger, the Irish housing/land market, cross country running in Ireland, and turf. In the meantime, wish me good luck in getting a lovely long night's sleep! ;-)

5.30

2007-02-02T14:29:00.000Z

I woke up to a rather disturbing tale this morning. Apparently there was a fight at popular late night hangout in Arklow last night and the bouncers were forced to 'remove' the gentlemen involved. I guess two of the lads owed money to the third who was there on behalf of a Dublin drug dealer. So the dealer went and got his car and came back and ran up onto the sidewalk, killing one and injuring the other. Who does that?? The victim was in his early 20's - just a boy really. It's something you'd expect to see on some crazy police show or in a big city environment maybe - but not small town Ireland. I'll have to keep you posted because as of now all of my info has been gotten by way most Arklow late-breaking news is: word of mouth.

It's kind of scary how many people could have been hurt by that car. The street outside of that particular nightclub is so packed late at night that it's hard to drive through slowly and sober without hitting a drunk kid stumbling along. The fact that only 2 pedestrians were involved is a pure miracle. I'll touch on the topic of streets crowed with kids late night sometime next week. It's a hot topic over here but I'm not in the humor - it's Friday.

I'd much rather discuss something unimportant - like my hair! After much calling around I finally managed to get an appointment to have my hair put up in an up-do for tonight's ball. I figure, it's a ball and it's Friday and I don't have the time or patience to do my hair myself. This is were my friend Heather always came in handy in college. She was SO good at doing cool things with my hair. Plus, she's an awesome person and we'd get to hang out and have a few drinks while she made me look fantastic. Anyhow, what an ordeal!!

All I wanted was a simple up-do. I don't really care WHAT they do with it- just as long as it doesn't involve scissors or dye. I just want it off my neck and shoulders and out of the way. You know - the kind they use 10 cans of hairspray on but it doesn't LOOK like they did. Ugh. Every other place I called insisted on doing a consultation visit first. a.) I'm not getting married b.) I need my hair done for tonight. I finally found a place who is squeezing me in at 5.30 but that's going to require some SERIOUS dashing home to shower and blow dry my hair since it has to be clean and I have to shower anyhow.

I'm also going to squeeze in getting my shoes fixed (keep your fingers crossed). The one place I went to last night looks like it hasn't been open since the 1800's and the place in Gorey shuts at 5.30. Lots of things revolving around 5.30 today. I'm hoping to make it all work.

Anyhow - I've got to get to work so I'm not stuck here any later than I have to be. have a fun weekend and you'll probably hear from me on Monday. I should have some good tales - a friend from the States is back in the country and my friend Billy (originally form Arklow/Gorey) is back in town from Singapore and will be out tonight. Should be a good weekend. Have a fun one! ;-)

High Heels & Peanut Butter

2007-02-01T10:01:00.000Z

High heels and peanut butter. You might be wondering what they have to do with each other. Absolutely nothing. They're both on my mind today though. I'll start with high heels.

I'm tall. I'm not so tall that I stand out like a sore thumb (I'm 5'-10") but it's a bit more obvious here than at home. I have a few wonderfully tall friends in my mix at home but here it's safe to say that I only know one woman taller than me. I don't really know her - I know her to see her. Not that it stops me from wearing high heels.

I love high heels. I don't love them so much that I have a 'Sex in the City' style collection but I've got my fair share of 3-5" heels hanging around. It's seldom I'm seen out on a weekend night without a towering pair of heels on. With all of that wear, they eventually start to wear down, get worn out, and/or just need a little bit of TLC. What can I say? I love my heels but it's a bit of a 'tough love'.

So my task for the day is finding a cobbler or shoe repair guy who is able to take care of my favorite heels. This wouldn't be a problem at home because I'd look it up in the yellow pages and they'd list every shoe repair place in the area. Not so here. I opened the 'Golden Pages' for the first time today and for the whole of Ireland (because the Golden pages cover the entire country) they listed four shoe repair places. I know I've seen more than four places in the few towns I'm in on a regular basis and none of those towns were even listed. Go figure. Try the internet maybe? No luck there either. Ireland may be growing and coming up to speed but businesses (especially smaller ones) haven't quite copped onto the idea of websites.

I finally fell back on the old standby and did a bit of asking around. So now I know that there's a place 'by the round-about' but nobody knows the name of it. No help. Directory assistance here can't look something up unless you know the exact name and location of the place. Fantastic. My guess would be they close at 5.30 or 6pm. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that it's 6pm and scoot out a few minutes early. I'm then going to keep my fingers crossed that they're not busy because I need these heels for tomorrow. Doh! Yes, I know. Last minute. I deserve to walk around in worn down heels for waiting so long.

So - on to peanut butter. The Irish aren't big fans of peanut butter. I've had their peanut butter and I understand why they aren't big fans. It's bland. I would hardly recognize it as peanut butter in a blind taste test. Yuck. Lucky for me, I have awesome relations who sent over Peter Pan peanut butter for Christmas. Thank you Mom and Aunt Sharon! The reason it was on my mind was because I've been eating wholewheat toast with yummy peanut butter at tea break (10am) every morning. This morning I realized I'm running out. Oh no!! And as if to rub it in my own face, I somehow managed to drop my toast when I went to take a bite and it landed PB side down on my desk. Ugh! Poor Peter Pan. It's my new room and board fee for visitors. Right along with Kraft mac and cheese. It will also be a birthday package request. Hey - at least I'm easy to buy for, right? ;-)

Textbook or Novel?

2007-01-31T15:30:00.000Z

Today I've spent a good portion of my day reading at work. It's a nice change of pace, though I don't know where I'm supposed to bill the hours to. I suppose I'll find someplace to bill them. I had to stop by the main office last night to pick up a book from my boss. He has somehow hand-picked me to become one of his new scheduling gurus. Later this month I'm heading to an advanced course dealing with Microsoft Project. It's a 2-day ordeal up in Dublin (the traffic ought to be fun to battle).

Anyhow - I was expecting the book to be a textbook style thing, but it's really written more like a novel with a storyline. It makes it a bit more interesting because it flows a bit more smoothly and it tells the story and explains the logic from the viewpoints of a few different characters. I suppose there are worse things I could have to do for work!

I'm INSANELY tired today. Like delusionally tired. I've been awake since 3am and I mean WIDE awake - not even that drifting in and out of sleep where you don't get a great night's sleep but at least you get something. I had a bad dream about something (I don't even remember what) and was just straight awake until I got up to come to work. I tried getting a drink, walking around a little, turning off the heat (it's only on for half an hour on timer during the night anyhow) but nothing worked. Guess I'll make up for it and sleep well tonight.

I really want to skip training and go sleep, but I also feel a bit more fit lately and my jeans seem to button a little more easily, which is always a good motivator to keep going. Besides, I'm in charge of texting everyone to make sure they show up so I kind of feel like I should set an example. So off to training it is. Here's to hoping I don't pass out in the middle of the pitch! ;-)

The Weekend

2007-01-29T15:03:00.000Z

The weekend was a pretty good one. Nothing too exciting, but nice all the same. Friday night I had soccer training on the astroturf at 9pm. It's a weird time for training but the astroturf books up pretty quickly so we take what we can get. It pretty much eats up your whole evening though - so that was it for Friday.

Saturday I got up and went for a run. It was kind of warm and not raining so I wanted to take advantage of it while I had the chance. It's not often I'm home while it's light out and I can run the road without fearing for my life... Then it was off to Dun Laoghaire for lunch and shopping. I met up with Axel, a friend of my cousin Alex (no - that's not dyslexia), for lunch and we walked around a bit until we found a nice little pub with a fire and the games playing on TV and nice seat next to the window. Lunch lasted almost 2 hours and it's always fun to get another American's perspective on life in Ireland. He's over here for a month doing some work and lounging around a bit - living as a local of sorts in Dublin city. Cool guy - I'm glad I got to meet up with him while he's over.

After lunch I was off to the homestore for that wedding gift I've been too pressed for time to buy. I couldn't help it. I had this one perfect bowl in mind and I was SO glad they still had it. That taken care of, I took the time to grab a vanilla latte on the way out. There's a coffee chain called Insomnia that's very Starbucks like. I can say that one thing the Irish don't excel at is making coffee. I can see why they stick to tea. Insomnia pulls it off pretty well though.

Then home for a quiet night of watching movies and drinking wine. Well, I ended up watching the Discovery Channel, really. They were featuring my old company on Construction Kings. then The Deadliest Catch was on and I've become strangely hooked on that as well. Go figure. Maybe it has something to do with being on an island... all the water surrounding me... I don't know.

Sunday I was up early to head to my soccer match. Well, not really early. The match was at 11 and it takes about an hour to get to where we played so I only had to get up at 9.30am. It was late enough that I didn't feel as though I were robbed from sleeping in on the weekend. Our Wexford matches are about the only time living as far south as I do pays off. It puts me about 30 minutes closer than everyone else and I can sleep in.

We lost. We do that a lot. We aren't as bad as that makes us sound though. We're great at getting the ball up the field. Shooting isn't one of our strong points though. It's good fun and we have a few laughs and it's something to keep us all a little more fit. I'm feeling the 90 minutes of running around today though. I feel more like I was in a rugby match than soccer... When did I get so old???

The weekend was capped off with watching 'My Super Ex-Girlfriend'. Not the best movie by any stretch of the imagination but I nearly spit my ice cream out when Uma Therman (the superhero, G-Girl) threw a shark through the window and it chased the ex-boyfriend all over the apartment. I was laughing so hard. Gotta love mindless Sunday evening fun.

Oh!! I almost forgot to tell you about my favorite part of the weekend. As I was watching The Deadliest Catch on Saturday night, a bit before midnight my mobile rang and I looked down to find my old roommate Sion's name on the screen. Very strange. So I answer it and it's Sion. Wasted. Hilarious. He had just gotten off the phone with our other old roommate Shane, who now lives in Australia (the phone bill ought to sober him up, if nothing else). Anyhow, Sion (pronounced Shawn) lives in London and was calling to check in and say 'Rach, I'm so F*&KED!!!!' over and over again, in between begging me to come over and bribing me with 6 Nations rugby tickets. I lost my breath I was laughing so hard. He was always so much fun as a roommate. I'm going to make a serious effort to get over there in the next 2 months. He's got a great St. Patty's day weekend planned. Plus, I met his girlfriend when they were over in the fall and she was good fun as well. The more fun the better, right?

Now back to another Monday at work. Is it Friday yet? ;-)

Sometimes...

2007-01-26T15:08:00.000Z

Sometimes it's nice to be the only one in my office - it means on days like today, when spreadsheets and paperwork are wrecking my head, I can sign into Launch and sing along with all of the country songs as I type and file. I will admit it. I LOVE COUNTRY MUSIC. It's one of those genres where all of my memories listening to it are good ones. Don't get me wrong - the sappy ones still bring tears to my eyes but usually because they bring back some bittersweet memory of good times had.

Sometimes it's also nice to have a weekend full of NOTHING to look forward to. I did just make a few plans for tomorrow, but certainly nothing high-paced or crazy. I'm planning on heading up towards Dublin to a town called Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leer-ee) to do a little shopping and meet up with somebody for lunch.

The shopping is for the wedding gift I was supposed to have for the wedding last weekend. It was short notice on the invite though and I wasn't able to get up to the store in Dun Laoghaire to get the serving bowls I wanted. The store is Meadows & Byrne and it's kind of like an Irish Pier 1, but they have this section of handcrafted Irish pottery and I LOVE the funky serving bowls for gifts. Anyone who has a kitchen can use serving bowls (even if it's to dump take-out into so it LOOKS like you cook). These are all individual designs so she's guaranteed not to have the same one and she's got a fun, funky side to her personality that says she'll like them.

The lunch is with one of my cousin's friends. He's over here on an extended vacation in Dublin and we've been writing back and forth by e-mail so I thought it would be fun to meet up while he's over here. He was over to run the Dublin marathon while I was home in October so we might have waved at each other as our planes crossed path, but that was about it. It's always fun to see what people from home think of Ireland and to catch up with an American every now and again.

And that's it. Those are all of my plans for the weekend. I think there's a soccer match on Sunday morning, so that will fill a little bit of time and I'm going to training tonight, so there's another hour filled. Next weekend is going to be a busy one (two dinner dances - one black tie) so I'm going to do my darnedest to catch up on sleep beforehand. I'm off to sing a little more and finish up a bit more paperwork before the end of the day (only and hour left!!) ;-)

Family First

2007-01-25T13:59:00.000Z

Just to give you an example of how important the core family is to Irish life and culture, let me show you a small part of company policy (national law) regarding maternity leave:

'The leave must commence 2 weeks before the end of the expected week of confinement (due date - this must be medically certified) and the employee may not return back to work any earlier than 4 weeks after the end of the expected week of confinement.'

That's crazy! They MAKE you take 6 weeks off and then the allowance is even more crazy. any guesses on how long you can take off with no fear of penalty? Well, it's only 22 weeks at the moment but that will change to 26 in March. and you get a payment through a special government program, so you don't quite lose out on money either. Madness.

Other than that the policies seem to match up pretty well with companies from home. I read through it once before (when I was hired in August) but they just re-issued it and you have to sign that you accept it and send the signed sheet back to the head office. Much like home.

Wait. I kept reading. After the 6 months, if you're still breastfeeding, you can take an hour of paid leave every day to go home and feed the baby. There's still no paternity leave, but it looks like this company lets you use 'parental leave' for the same purpose. Very cool.

You may be wondering what's with all the talk about babies? I ASSURE you it's not because the thought of having my own has even entered my mind. I'm just boggled because I know professional women who have put off having children or who wish they had more time to spend after their child's birth who would LOVE this policy. It boggles me how much they push family values and children to the forefront over here. Again - very cool.

That's about the extent of it. The other highlight was the 21 days paid leave, although they prefer you don't take more than 2 weeks at a time except for special circumstances. Billy and Dianne (the couple from the wedding) took 3 weeks for their wedding. Most couples take about a month when they get married. Most couple at home I know are lucky to get a day or two beforehand off.

Alrighty - back to work. Just thought I'd ramble about that for a bit... Hope everyone's having a great Thursday and looking forward to Friday!! ;-)

Photos!!

2007-01-24T13:08:00.000Z

So I finally managed to get my photos off my camera and onto my computer from this past weekend. Here are a few to check out:

This is the happy couple on their way out of the church:

This is the VERY cool castle (Kinnitty) the reception was held at:

This is the entrance to the castle. I liked the knights keeping watch at the top of the stairs:

Above is a pic of the boys looking handsome in their tuxes (Simon, Emmitt, Baz, Anto)

And finally after much eating and drinking - the GIANT beds:

That was the crazy castle with the crazy wedding full of crazy people. It was a great time and the photos hardly do it justice. I've got a link to more photos on my Shutterfly account. Comment if you want the link! ;-)

Music, Knights, and Pulled Muscles

2007-01-23T11:07:00.000Z

I suppose it's all in a day's work as far as Irish weddings are concerned. Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday but I thought I'd have photos if I waited until today. Unfortunately, I got a bit stuck at work last night so I decided I'd wait until tonight to do photos so you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see them!

The wedding was great fun! Everything was about as perfect as a bride could ever hope it would be. Dianne (the aforementioned bride) looked stunning in a long ivory dress with a long sleeved lace jacket of sorts and her hair pulled back just right. She always wears her hair down so it looked particularly dressy on her. Billy, the groom, wore a long tux jacket with pinstriped pants and even appeared to have comber his hair for the occasion (a long running pub conversation the week before had suggested that he may not). The flowers were just enough without being too much and the bridesmaids looked perfect in their two-piece black gowns. The program at the small catholic church in the village (with it's bright stained glass windows and hardwood panel ceilings) was a rolled scroll on creamy old fashioned parchment.

They had hired two local singer (a young man and woman, though not a couple) to sing during the ceremony and the two of them had voices like angels. He gave the guests goosebumps with his performance of Ave Maria. The bride's sister (also a bridesmaid) sang as well and sounded great. You always have to wonder how bad it's going to be when a relative gets up to sing but she really sounded lovely. The priest was fantastic. He really put the couple at ease and had a great sense of humor throughout the ceremony, bringing the perfect balance of serious commitment and fun to the entire thing. Billy and Dianne are known for being fun so it suited the ceremony well.

After the ceremony everyone headed to the pub across the way for a drink or two while photos were being taken and then the crowd made there way to Kinnitty Castle, just a mile or so down the road. It's breathtaking when you come up to it, and there's no mistaking it's a castle. The entrance way was fantastic with it's deep red carpet leading up the stairs and two suits of armor overlooking the stairwell. The pre-dinner spot was the Dungeon. It's an actual bar downstairs in the castle and the walls are the original stone and everything is kept lit with candlelight. There was mulled wine and campaign (I should have stuck to the mulled wine as the campaign bubbles did not agree well with my stomach later on at dinner) and open bar for anyone who preferred a Guinness or other type of drink.

From the dungeon we were led up through the castle and the courtyard (where they had a bagpiper playing gorgeous Celtic music) and into the medieval banquet hall. They seated all of the cousins and younger guests up on the balcony which meant it was sometimes hard to hear, but the view of everything was great. Dinner was salmon, chicken, or steak. My only complaint was that the steak was SO well done but I should have known better since that is generally the way the Irish cook all of their meat. People look at me like I have three heads when I order my steak medium rare. The wine flowed freely throughout dinner (although those campaign bubbles deterred me from eating or drinking as much as I liked and I actually had to go for a walk to calm my stomach before desert was served). The speeches seemed to last forever (1 hour and 20 minutes) but included some really funny stories and jokes and even included a slide show, featuring a photo of when the bride was only 13 and the groom was 28. She's 23 now and they've known each other all their lives and really are perfect together but the best man (and groom's brother) couldn't help himself from pointing out the 'yuck' factor that existed back then! It was pretty funny and did get a pretty good laugh out of the crowd since most of them have known them their entire lives and could recall them at those ages.

Anyhow, after dinner the tables at the front of the hall were cleared and the band set up and there was dancing. Lots and lots of dancing. The band played until about 1am. They're a local band called 'The Groove' and they really are quite good. They kept things fun and moving until they packed up and by then the DJ had already set up so the music just kept on going. The bride was barefoot and dancing the night away with everyone in the place and the groom was right by her side joining in the fun. That was also where my pulled muscle came into account. I absolutely adore dancing with my friend Simon and I think I must have pulled it during one of the dips but I didn't really notice until after the song ended and I was walking to the bar for another drink. The fun was well worth the pulled quad though! The DJ was on until about 3am and then we all went back to the Dungeon (the bar there doesn't close which was a key selling point for the groom!). To everyone's surprise and delight there were about 5 or 6 musicians set up in the corner playing traditional Irish music and having a sing-song. The bride and her sister sang to the groom and everyone had a good time singing and dancing along until about 4 or 4.30am when things finally started to settle down and people started to leave. Madness.

So that's the story of my Irish wedding encounter. I was back at the castle the following day to catch up with everyone before heading home and find out what I missed. There was some additional drinking into the morning hours but everyone retired not long after. I was able to take a mini tour of the castle and the rooms were great. They had two double beds put together and they were so big you could sleep 5 people in them and not even touch the person next to you. I know this because five of the lads were still in bed when I went up and they looked totally comfy and spread out! They were 4 poster with velvet canopies and old stone walls. Gorgeous. I would have loved to see the bridal suite but they hadn't come down yet. The halls and staircases and everything were all so awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing the professional wedding photos. I'm sure there are some great ones.

Anyhow - I've already written through my tea break and then again through my lunch break so I had better get back to work. Photos to follow! ;-)

Yesterday....

2007-01-18T11:18:00.000Z

All my troubles seemed so far away...

Ahhh... the new Beatles Love Album. Great stuff. It's certainly making my day fly by a bit faster at work. Good thing I'm in the office by myself because I don't think I'd be able to help singing along and then the guys would think me simply mad! It's also earned me a few brownie points with an engineer or two on site. I've volunteered to dump it onto one or two mp3 players today.

I've also got the new Yusaf Islam album that came out just before Christmas. That would be the artist formally known as Cat Stevens. It's not bad. It's not my favorite work of his, but I'm a sucker for songs I know by heart and I know almost all of his old stuff inside out.

The other album I got for Christmas is a the Westlife Love Album. Unlike the Beatles Love album, this one actually has all love songs on it. Westlife is an Irish boy band that's pretty popular over here. The album features songs like 'The Rose', 'The Dance' (Garth will ALWAYS do it better), and even 'Total Eclipse of the Heart'. It's fun because it's getting all of those old sing-along songs played on the radio again. I have to say the originals will always hold a stronger place in my heart though. I remember driving around running errands with my mom when I was little, listening to them all on her cheesy easy-listening station.

Just a random bit of music info. I was bopping away and thought it might be of interest if anyone's looking for some new music to check out. ;-)

Dave x2

2007-01-17T13:44:00.000Z

I just booked tickets to see Dave Matthews Band at the Point Theatre in Dublin in May. This will be the first time in a very long time I've gotten to see him twice in one year. The first show is in February and it's just Dave. The second show is with the full band. I'm looking forward to both.

I'm eating leftover Chinese for lunch today and I like Chinese but it doesn't always make the best leftovers. I take issue with dried out fried rice. It's a shame too because the place I got take-out from last night is REALLY good. I got orange chicken and fried rice and it was made with REAL oranges and the fried rice was lovely. The kind of rice you'd get if you went to a Japanese steakhouse and they cooked it on the grill in front of you. It's a full restaurant as well, so it's better than the single counter take-out places in general.

I seriously sound like a foghorn. To the point where I'd be laughing at myself if blowing my nose wasn't so exhausting. I'm supposed to go to soccer training tonight but it's going to be about 0 degrees (30 F) and sleet and rain and whatever else feels like falling from the sky. Not great for improving one's health. I may have to bail on it again. It's only 2 trainings I've missed so far and the other was last Friday when I was out of work sick. Can't blame me there! I even made my sister and Kellie go and run while they were here.

Has anyone tried Bebo.com at home? It's a lot like myspace, but the crowd seems to be younger. On myspace there are plenty of people my age and older. On bebo.com, not so much. Most are at least a few years younger. My sister and Kel have been on it keeping in touch with their new-found Irish friends and my friend Joan was bugging me to join so I did. It's fun to text around with some of the younger people on the rugby team and send messages back and forth with my sister and Kelly. Wouldn't be much for networking and meeting people though.

Oh - and last night I had the strangest dream. People kept kind of swapping out of it. Like one minute I was driving (a giant logging truck??) down the road with my sister and the next time I turned around it was a favorite ex of mine. Very strange. The funny part was that it only changed to him once I started getting upset because I was lost and didn't know why I was driving a big logging truck. He was trying to make me laugh and giving me things to hold onto which was making it very hard to drive the big ol' truck! One of our first dates I got lost driving back from a wedding and I didn't handle that so well. My next gift from him was one of those little squeezy stress balls to keep in the car for road-rage moments. He always used to laugh at me for that... I still get upset when I'm lost. I wonder where that stress ball ever went... I think it's still in one of my memory boxes. ;-)

Ahhhh....

2007-01-16T10:45:00.000Z

It's the first day in about a week that I can sit at my desk without constantly holding a tissue under my nose. It's also the first day I can sit without using my hand as a prop to hold my head up and the lack of illness is a welcome change.

I was out sick on Friday and got loads of sleep and was feeling quite a bit better on Saturday. I have that wedding this Friday and I needed to go get a dress so I made Baz drive up to Dublin on Saturday afternoon so I could go to House of Fraser (kind of like an Irish/British Macy's). I slept all the way there and back (still a bit drained from my cold) but I did find a really pretty dress for the wedding. I found the same dress for sale on Ebay if you want to get an idea. I love it and was excited to find it was 70% off. Nothing quite like after Christmas sales.

So after I went shopping I met up with a few of the girls for dinner at the Corkscrew. It's a fairly new restaurant/wine bar in Gorey and it was perfect for a girls' night out dinner. I'm SO taking Crystal and Kara there when they come over. It's so comfy and cozy and the food was pretty good. The prices weren't bad either. I know - girls' night out when I've been so sick? Well, I was feeling better and it wasn't like it was a wild and crazy night out. One of the girls is 4 months prego and the other is due next month, so nobody really had more than a glass of wine. It was nice to catch up and hang out though because dinner out with the girls hasn't quite caught on here but Noush (American friend) and I are trying to make it stick.

Sunday was a beautiful day here. I decided to give soccer a go and tried running the rest of my cough out of my lungs. It felt great to get some fresh air and not be soaked with rain. We lost the game but didn't play so badly. I got in 90 minutes of running, which is more exercise than I've had in quite some time. I showered and went over to watch the men's rugby game and my sunglasses were happy to come out of hibernation. I got to catch up with my friend Joan, who had also been kind of sick the week before. I was feeling fine Sunday night, with the exception of being a bit tired after all of the exercise and fresh air.

I don't know if it was because my immune system was already compromised or what, but I woke up yesterday morning not feeling so well at all again. It wasn't the same cold though - I was SO sick to my stomach. I'm already taking Friday off though so I decided to give work a go. I would have though food poisoning but I was so busy Sunday that I kind of forgot to eat, with the exception of a small sandwich out at the club. Anyhow - I went to work and couldn't even manage to keep water down. At lunchtime I decided to give it a go and ate about 5 plain french fries. It was about the safest bet from the canteen. I finally got everything I wanted to done and left about an hour early. I got halfway home before I had to pull over and be sick again. Fun day. I got home and crawled into bed and woke up at 8.30pm feeling a little better. I made myself some Kraft mac and cheese and had a few glasses of water (sweet rehydration!) before heading to bed until morning. I'm feeling MUCH better today though and I'm actually kind of hungry for lunch. The fried aren't looking so appetizing though...

So that was my weekend of fun and games. I'm listening to my new Yusaf Islam CD today. He's the artist formally known as Cat Stevens. My mom got me the CD and book for Christmas and I've been too busy to get to it. I like the CD but I still think his old stuff is better. Then again I'm a bit partial since it WAS the first music I could sing all of the words to into the end of a hairbrush when I was little. I think I'll like this one better once I listen to it a few times and learn a few of the songs. I'm off to get some more work done and see what's good to eat at the canteen. SO hungry! ;-)

Once upon a time...

2007-01-12T20:07:00.000Z

... there was a wedding in a beautiful castle. Actually, it wasn't once upon a time. It's next Friday and I get to go! My friend Dianne is marrying her fiance Billy at Kinnitty Castle in Co. Offaly a week from today. It's a big black tie event and it should be loads of fun.

It's about a 2.5 hour drive from here and the wedding ceremony is at 1.30pm. I haven't been to an Irish wedding yet, but I've heard plenty about it. Once the ceremony starts, the wedding is on until everyone pretty much passes out at the end of the night. There's the ceremony, then everyone goes to the pub while they wait for the reception. Once the reception gets close, everyone heads there and there's a bit of a welcome reception, followed by dinner and then dancing. Once dancing starts, the people who were invited to the 'Afters' start showing up...

A tradition in Ireland as far as weddings go is to invite a core group of people to dinner and then invite more distant friends and relatives to the 'Afters' so that they can all come and party and celebrate without it costing a fortune to invite everyone to dinner. It makes sense as Irish families are so large and it's hard to pick which cousins you would invite or not invite. Choosing to include all grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins only in a wedding invite could add up to 150 guests very quickly. It really is a fun way to get together with everyone on your special day.

So that's the plan for the wedding. I'm feeling better today after getting a whole lot of sleep last night/today. I've been drinking lots of fluids and eating lots of fruits and veggies trying to beat the cold germs out. I'm hoping to feel better tomorrow for my haircut and dress shopping. I don't have anything over here that's nice enough for a black tie wedding. Off to Dublin I go. I just hope it doesn't drain me. I'm supposed to meet the gals out for a quiet dinner tomorrow evening and I'm really looking forward to it. Don't want to be falling asleep, face-first in my meal!! ;-)

Sniffle, sniffle. Cough, cough.

2007-01-11T18:56:00.000Z

Yep. Sick. I get sick about once a year but when I do, it's a doozie. It started on Monday was slightly annoying on Tuesday and by Wednesday I didn't have much of a voice left and couldn't stop coughing. I went home a few hours early yesterday because it was pointless trying to do anything over the phone - the people at the other end wouldn't have appreciated me hacking up a lung in their ears. I was too exhausted from coughing to do much else. So I woke up this morning and wasn't feeling great but thought I'd give it a go and head into work. After all, I wasn't really coughing very badly.

The lack of coughing must have had something to do with me being horizontal while I slept because as soon as I was vertical for more than 30 minutes, I was coughing so hard I almost had to pull over. I was already almost to work though so I figured I see if it was jut my lungs clearing out in the morning and hope it would clear up. By 10am I had made a doctors appointment and was leaving around lunch to get there. It was in my lungs, sinuses, ears, and my glands were swollen. Yuck.

I will admit I was a little worried about going to see a new doctor. I don't even like going to a new doctor when I'm at home. I've had to switch doctors a few times as I've moved from state to state but I always put off going to see a doctor for as long as practical when I know I'm going to see a new one. So what if I'm a bit silly?

I ended up waiting forever to get in to see her, but the bonus to that is there are only 2 exam rooms and they are in the doctors' offices so when they DO finally see you, a nurse doesn't stick you in an exam room and make you wait forever while the doctor deals with other patients. Anyhow - turns out it's probably just a bad cold but it's bad enough that she wrote me a prescription for a penicillin based antibiotic in case it gets worse over the weekend. I don't like taking antibiotics unless I have to so I was glad she didn't find anything wrong.

The medical system here is a bit different from home. There's private health insurance, but not many people have it. It's mostly considered a high priced luxury. I don't really spend much time at the doctors office so I haven't bothered getting it. Unless you have a regular problem (allergies, asthma, etc...) it doesn't pay to get the insurance if you go to see a doctor only once or twice a year (which is my average). The visit was only 45 euro, so it didn't hurt the pocket too badly.

Anyhow, I came home and slept all afternoon. I just had a bit of dinner and I think I'm going back to do the same again. I've been pretty much kicked out of work tomorrow (Mick said he'd lock me out of the office if I showed up) so maybe a day of rest and bad daytime talk shows will cure me. I need to get better so I can be in top shape to attend the black tie wedding at a castle next week! More on that tomorrow... I'll need something to do while I'm home sick! ;-)

Boo hoo... sniff sniff....

2007-01-09T13:32:00.000Z

The girls are gone. They've left me to head back to the States. I dropped them off at the ariport yesterday morning and headed into work a bit late. They almost missed the connection from Newark to Albany but made it just in time. I'm now sitting at work dying of some sort of chest cold. The kind where you can't stop coughing and it hurts to cough so it makes you want to cry. The guy I work with just ran out to grab some stuff at the hardware store and when he came back he plopped cough medicine and cough drops on my desk. Yep - I sound like crap.

The up side of the girls not being here is that I had time to take photos off of my camera and put them on disk last night. Most of the week I was too busy taking them. A few pics of the fun times they had over here:

This is my friend Gavin. The girls loved him. This picture completely describes his personality.

These are the girls on their first night out. They had a REALLY hard time making friends. Can you tell?

They actually went running in those outfits. Yep - gonna miss 'em!

So that's a quick summary of my week with Kelly and Shaine. My sister Shaine is the one in red and Kelly is in the yellow, if you're wondering. I'm trying to talk them into moving over for the summer and getting a job here for a month or two. There's certainly no lack of men waiting to entertain them if they do! Ahh... to be 19 again!

Fun things they noticed on their trip over...

-Ireland has good Chinese food.

-There's nothing quite like an Irish chipper for a late night snack when the bars close. They have the 'best burgers ever' acoording to the girls.

-The roads are really narrow and people drive VERY close to the hedges and trees on the sides of the road (they were a bit scared at times, I think).

-Irish men LOVE cute American girls (don't all guys?).

So there are a few things to look forward to for all of my friends whose arms I'm twisting to come over. They made me look forward to my next set of visitors in April. I'm looking forward to Kara and Crystal maknig the trip!! ;-)

Recap continued...

2007-01-04T15:17:00.000Z

So I finally got everything cleaned up and groceries bought so my sister and Kelly wouldn't starve. They flew into Dublin airport at 7.30am on Friday and today is the first day since they arrived that they haven't had much to do.

Friday was spent napping, shopping in Gorey, and pigging out on chicken parm. It was my first time making it and even I was impressed with how well it turned out. I'll be adding it to my list of regular favorites for entertaining if anyone wants to stop over for dinner!

Saturday we went to a rugby match where the boys made them do a shot of Powers (Irish Whiskey) and have a glass of Guinness before they were allowed to leave the clubhouse. The rule was that a trip to Ireland was not a trip to Ireland without whiskey and Guinness. They did it. I was impressed. I was also impressed that it didn't make them sick. We headed home and got ready to go out. It was Chinese for dinner (really GOOD Chinese) and then up to Arklow. It took all of 5 seconds at Christie's Bar to have a row of men 3 deep trying to talk to them and buying them drinks. It was fairly entertaining to watch. We headed to Oscars/Rascals for some dancing and a few late night drinks and then home to sleep it all off. I'll have some good pics within the next few days of all that fun.

Sunday was a day of more shopping in Wexford (Shaine needed dress shoes!) and off to Arklow again for New Year's Eve. It was fairly uneventful but we ran into some friends and it turned into a good night. We went to an afterhours party at a friend's house where a bunch of the rugby lads were partying. It was a really good time and they were singing everything from old Irish folk music to rugby songs. It was a bit of a Scottish/American/Irish contingent and we finally snuck out about 4am. I'm not really familiar with that part of town and we ended up on quite a few one way streets that caused us to back track in our very tall heels. I'm not sure my feet are fully recovered yet.

It took us about an hour and a half to make it back to Fernhill, where we were staying. You would have thought somebody (like the police roaming the streets) would have stopped to pick up three freezing girls in dresses and heels... It would have been much appreciated. New Years was spent sleeping in and hanging out. We rented a few movies and video games and watched 'Take the Lead'. Not bad - I'm a sucker for those dance movies though.

Tuesday we went to Dublin, where we shopped ourselves stupid on Grafton Street. The girls got a few of the latest fashion trends (maybe a post for tomorrow). It was dark and we were exhausted by the time we stumbled back to the car. I took them for some proper Irish pub food in Gorey and then we headed home to pass out.

Yesterday they went shopping in Gorey and then I dragged them to soccer training with the rest of the ladies. They both scored in the scrimmage and seemed to have a lot of fun. Shaine called today to say her hips were in severe pain, which made me feel good because I'm not sore at all and I'm an old bag in comparison!

Speaking of bags... Shaine got me a really nice Coach bag and matching wallet for Christmas. It's lovely brown and matches my new coat and all of the brown outfits I've been buying lately. Great gift!

So that's been the week for the gals in Ireland. So far as winter weather goes, it hasn't been too bad. I was expecting worse - but yesterday was really the only rainy day. A few showers otherwise but there's also been some definite sunshine. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it keeps up for the weekend! ;-)

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

2007-01-03T12:11:00.000Z

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I'm back to blogging on a regular basis. It's tough to get to at home because dial-up sucks for doing things like that and I don't have the patience to deal with it. Anyhow- today is my first day back to work after the holidays and I'm missing vacation already.

I was spoiled this year. I haven't worked since the 22nd of December! It flew by though. The Irish celebrate Christmas with a LOT of drinking so I feel like I was hardly at my house at all.

I met up with the ladies from my team on Friday, the 22nd for drinks and a bit of fun. They were falling over drunk, but a lot of fun at the same time. We worked on trying to harass our trainer/coach to come back next year and I think we had a pretty successful go of it. I retired at a reasonable hour since I wanted to get some stuff done over the weekend before Christmas.

I had people over on Saturday with loads of snacks and drinks and Christmas spirit. It was a nice way for everyone to wind down after a long week of shopping and getting ready for Christmas. Christmas Eve was spent getting those last minute gifts for people I didn't realize I would have to buy for and then it was back up to Arklow for drinks with friends. There were a good amount of people out at the pubs (which close at about 11pm on Christmas Eve) and then to sleep so Santa could come.

Santa came and went and I went to Christmas DAY mass for the first time ever. I always go on Christmas Eve and now I know why. I hated having to get up and shower and get ready and not be able to open presents or anything until after I got back. The service was pretty much the same as at home. Then it was off to do some visiting and Christmas dinner. Christmas dinner here consists of turkey, ham, brussel sprouts, about 10 types of potatoes and whatever other salads people feel like adding. I was STUFFED by the time I was done eating. Very yummy.

Christmas night was more visiting with musical performances and sing-alongs. It was good fun and I was happy to relax, drink some wine, and watch some tv. I missed being at home with my family though. It still doesn't quite feel like Christmas happened since it wasn't the same as every other year.

St. Steven's Day (the 26th) is a BIG drinking day in Ireland. There are big parties and the pubs are packed. We went to a party at the Bay Hotel. They served chicken curry - which was the only thing they serve and which I found kind of strange but I guess it's tradition. There was much drinking and dancing and I ended up at the Resident's Lounge with my friends Doreena, Darragh, Simon, and the newly-met Ross.

A resident's lounge in Ireland is a little pub or back room with a bar that can stay open later than the rest of the pubs, so long as they are serving to residents. We know the owner of the hotel so we were able to sneak in for a 'few more drinks'. That turned into a sing-along and an impromptu strip tease by Darragh. Simon has a great video of it on his phone. Ross is good fun and the first openly gay Irishman I've met. He's SUCH good fun. Not to mention adorable and we got some good play on the whole 'Ross and Rachael' thing.

The rest of the week was spent cleaning and shopping for when my sister arrived with her friend Kelly on Friday morning. I've actually got to check in with them before lunch ends, so I'll have to pick up and finish this post later/tomorrow. Hope you all had a really happy start to 2007! ;-)

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-01T15:16:00.000Z

Happy New Year!!! This is going to be a quick post, as I have two 19 year old gals over here to entertain. Just wanted to let everyone know I didn't forget about them and that I'll be summing up my Irish Christmas experience once I get back to work on Wednesday. Should be a quick summary since 'drink' covers most of it. Hope you are all ringing in the new year on a good note. I'll catch you in a couple of days!!!! ;-)

Nollaig Shona!!!!

2006-12-22T12:22:00.000Z

That's Merry Christmas in Irish (or 'Happy Christmas' - they say that a lot here). Just learned it today and I'm not entirely sure how it's pronounced. Irish sounds a bit like a cross between a mumble and a slur to me sometimes. It's really pretty language once you get to hear it on a regular basis, but it's like alien speak to me. It's spoken so quickly it's hard to keep up. They're always playing Irish Language programs on RTE 4 (tv station) and all of the road signs here are written with English and Irish names on them. I was looking for a beginners course to take at the Adult Learning Center but they didn't have any available.

It's the last day of work and I've only got about 1/2 hour left. I'm looking forward to having a week and a half off. It will be a bit like being back in college. I'm going to use the afternoon to pick up a few last minute decorations, bake a few cookies, and catch up on a bit of sleep. I was up late last night baking cookies for all of the lads at work. There are only 7 of them who are direct employees so it wasn't too bad. I made Nutmeg Meltaways, sugar cookies, and molasses cookies. Yummy. I gave them all away this morning though so I'm going to make more when I get home.

My liquor cabinet is fully reloaded for the holidays. It pays to be in project management in the construction industry at Christmas time. I'm forever walking into my office and finding wrapped up bottles of wine, vodka, and whiskey on my desk. I also got a box of chocolates this morning from the head office. I'm not a big chocolate fan but they'll be handy for setting out when I'm entertaining.

Here's a silly little thing. They don't sell tinsel over here. You know - the shiny silver stuff that comes in little strands that you drape on the tree. Not every one uses it but I like a little add glitter. My awesome mother went out when I mentioned it and bought a whole package to stuff in an envelope and send to me. It arrived the day before yesterday so I took it out and put it on the tree last night. SO much better. All pretty and glittery. Much more like home. Plus I did everything in red and silver this year so it adds to the silver effect.

Oh! Good day sunshine!!! It's been sunny for almost a whole week here! I hope I didn't just jinx it but it's so awesome that I have to share. Cold, but sunny. Just how I like my winters. This morning was really pretty (although a bit slick) with all of the trees and grass covered with a think frost. It looked a bit like freshly fallen snow! Better than nothing, I suppose.

Ok - I have to head out. I'm going to lunch with the guys and then I'm off to do last minute errands. I'm hoping to make it up to Arklow tonight to meet up with the ladies. 9pm at Kitty's is the plan. Hopefully I'll get a good few posts in over the holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! ;-)

I am blessed...

2006-12-20T12:52:00.000Z

No - I'm not getting all religious on you. Just pointing out an odd habit people have over here of blessing you when you get off the phone with you. I don't mind - it just took some getting used to. It's not so much the personal phone calls that threw me off but every once in a while I'll be making a business call and instead of 'goodbye' I'll get a 'God bless' before the person hangs up.

Another common saying instead of 'goodbye' is 'good luck'. I used to think it was strange that people would say ' good luck' and hang up on me. I've gotten fairly well used to it now but it still makes me smile as a funny little thing.

Sometimes it's not so much WHAT people say, as how they say it. People here like to repeat things when they're getting off the phone with you. I know a good handful of people who do this. Instead of 'bye!' you get 'byebyebyebyebyebye... click' or 'goodluckgoodluckgoodluckgoodluck' often repeated so quickly that you're not sure what hit you before the person is gone. It's good for a giggle when I think about it.

So is everyone ready for Christmas? All of the decorations up? All of the presents wrapped and under the tree? I'm fairly well along now. I've got a few last minute things to pick up and my wrapping hasn't even started yet, but that's alright. I've got time. Most of my gifts for shipping have already reached home and that was the part to worry about. I've got until Monday to wrap the rest.

I'm looking forward to opening the gifts my mom sent over. They've been sitting in my house taunting me for a good few weeks now. I think I would have cracked and opened them except that then I wouldn't have them to open Christmas morning and that would just be sad. She already let me open two anyhow. I opened a crystal Mikasa vase when they got here and I opened my Hallmark ornament while I was decorating my tree. A tree is not a Christmas tree without at least a Hallmark ornament or two on it.

My mom has gotten us (my two sisters and I) Hallmark ornaments every year since we were born so that when we grew up and moved away we'd be able to decorate our own tree. It was a sad year when I took those to my own house with my own tree. An end of an era. They ended up back at my parents' house though. I'm storing them there while I'm here. I didn't want to risk something happening to the box if I shipped it or travelled with it.

I'm sitting here now eating my leftover meatloaf, cheesy potato wedges, and corn from last night. Not bad for my first meatloaf since I lived at home. I was cleaning while it was cooking so it's a bit more on the well done side than I'd like but it's pretty good otherwise.

I'm going to get back to work through the rest of lunch. I'm planning to brave Dundrum Shopping Center again tonight and the sooner I can get out of here the better. Wish me luck with the Christmas crowds!! ;-)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2006-12-18T14:01:00.000Z

Well, it is. That's also the name of one of my favorite Christmas songs. I think I like Dean Martin and James Taylor's versions best, but I've got the Elton John version as my ringtone now. It plays well on my new V3Razr. It's also a song that gets stuck in my head for hours at a time!

I successfully made it through my company Christmas party without getting belligerent or doing anything foolish. Yes, I know. What fun is that? Plenty, considering I've only worked with them for about 6 months. The party was good fun and I was able to do some internal networking, which is always handy. It's also fun to see a different side of people when they're out having a few drinks and enjoying the craic.

The way they do Christmas parties here is a bit different. Every Christmas party I ever went to at home was held in the company's own little (or big) reserved banquet room. Here you call and reserve for a certain number of people and they reserve your table for you in the big ballroom. There could be 20 different companies all at the same party (as there were at ours) and then they serve dinner and hire a band and everyone kind of mingles. Strange, but it seems to work well and it keeps the cost of the party down. Our company was pretty good about the drinks too. They had wine available at the tables and they paid for a good few rounds during and after dinner. It's not really a situation that lends itself well to open bars because you'd never be able to track who was with which company without bracelets or tickets. Anyhow - it's a different way of doing it, but it was still good fun.

Last night was the Arklow rugby 'Christmas Party'. I use the term loosely though because other than Santa showing up to hand out sweets, it was pretty much the same guys drinking in the same clubhouse and going to the same bar the same way they do every Sunday. It was a decent time, even without drinking (I knew I'd regret it today and I've got too much to do this week to start it out hungover). I met a few new people, discovered a new spa in the area (I like trying them all out) and had at least two of the players proclaim their undying love for me. Must have been the hat I was wearing. It seemed to go over fairly well.

Speaking of spas... I realized as I was changing out of my work boots on Friday that my feet were in now sort of shape to be wearing dress sandals on Saturday so I called and made an emergency appointment for a pedicure. And manicure. And massage. And dry float. What can I say? I had a posh weekend. I couldn't help myself. There was a new spa at the new hotel near my house and I've been dying to check it out. It's really nice!!

So the whole 'dry float' thing was a little different, but nice. It's kind of like getting wrapped up in a lovely soft, heated water bed. They give you a scalp massage and have twinkling start lights in the ceiling. It puts you to sleep pretty effectively. The benefit of the dry float is that a half hour of sleep in it is supposed to be equivalent the 3 hours of deep sleep. Something to do with there not being any pressure on any of your body parts. I'm not sure if that's the case, but I was mighty refreshed after the whole thing. I was also advised by the massage therapist that I 'have a lot of tension in (my) shoulders. A LOT'. No shit, Sherlock. That's why I made the appointment. Only kidding there. She was really nice. I just like that phrase!

So that was my weekend. Did a little shopping in between things. Met a really nice and helpful man at the sports shop. His name is John and I think he must be about 100 years old but he's SO sweet and really knows his stuff. If only I were 60 years older or he were 60 years younger... ;-)

Filters Suck

2006-12-15T10:36:00.000Z

I was all about posting yesterday but something on the sign-in site must have contained sexual content because the firewall/crazy filter here blocked the sign-in page on me. Luckily, it was only a temporary thing and I'm back on today. Yeah for Friday!!

A rainy Friday at that. I seriously have never seen so much rain in my life. On Tuesday they text everyone to cancel the game on Sunday because the pitch is so waterlogged there's no way it will dry up by then. Madness. Training on Wednesday was a flop. Only 6 of us showed up so we stood around talking about how to get people there and the GAA unofficial Christmas party that's happening tonight at Deidre's house.

Speaking of GAA - I finally uploaded some of the pics from the crazy karaoke night for your viewing pleasure:

Naomi, Bracken, Jan and Me

The Ladies Dancing to Karaoke

Sing it, girls!!

A pretty fun night, overall. The cowboy hat was a gift from a very drunken gentleman at the end of the bar who placed it on my head as I was walking to the ladies room. Perhaps he was inspired by the Noush/Rachael rendition of Devil Went Down to Georgia performed on karaoke. Noush being from Atlanta (and wearing red in the photos above).

I'm looking forward to seeing what tonight brings. Unfortunately the party is in Arklow so I may be sober and driving. Regardless, being sober has never stopped me from having a good time so we'll see how things go.

I've got loads to get done today so I'll catch you again on Monday. Have a nice weekend! Only 10 days left until Christmas - get your shopping done! ;-)