Nollaig Shona!!!!

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...

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

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

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! ;-)

Lost but not forgotten...

That's my mind (lost) and you (not forgotten). Sorry for the lack of posting - it's been crazy here the last few days. We're still in the Christmas Crunch here at work and I was trying to get some other 'very important' stuff done last night, which I'll get to in a minute. I think I've somehow worked through the madness of this place and have accomplished the seemingly impossible task of completing all of my projects here on-time and on-budget (well, under budget but the construction engineer for the owner told us to keep the savings because we'll be putting it towards extras over the next few weeks). So 1.5 weeks and counting until the Christmas holiday and the stress of getting these done in time is over.

So back to my 'very important' thing that I needed to be doing yesterday. I really only left 2 hours early, but it saved about 3 hours of sitting in traffic and allowed us to see Happy Feet so it was well worth skipping lunch for. By 'us' I mean Aine and Shauna - my two little 9 and 10 year old (respectively) friends. We had a serious date to go to the mall and do some bear building.

I picked the little ladies up from school and drove the hour to Dundrum as they did their homework in the back seat. We hit a minor snag with 8x7=?? and the meaning of the word 'succeed' but I worked them through it and it was a very prductive car ride, as all homework was done and shopping could begin upon arrival. Well, as soon as we got something to eat anyhow!

So off we headed to the 'restaurant' section since the girls were 'starving'. It's not a food court. It's really all restaurants. It's where you find TGI Friday's and Bennigan's 'American Grill'. That cracked me up since it's an 'Irish Grill' at home, but whatever works. So we went to Bennigan's since the kiddie menu there looked yummy. It was pretty good. The American Grill even came with an American waitress (from Arizona). I had wings and a quesadilla for dinner. I figure I'll claim the 'veggie' quesadilla as qualifying it for a healthy dinner... Cute aren't they? Picture was from my phone, so sorry about the quality. I'll try to take the better one off my camera later tonight.

After dinner we headed up to the Build-A-Bear shop. If you haven't been to one, seriously stop in next time you go by. They really are adorable and make great gifts for kids of all ages (27 year olds included). After much a-do about escalators and glass elevators we finally made it up 3 floors to the store, where they took off at full sprint once it was in site. After quite a bit of back and forth Aine picked out her Monkey (Monk Monk) and Shauna got her Froggy (Lou Lou). We were running late by then and they were excited when I surprised them with the idea of going to see Happy Feet so we purchased the animals with promises of coming back to register and dress them.

Happy Feet was really good. I'm a fan of animated cartoons anyhow, but it was one of those with adult jokes in it, like Ice Age and Shrek. Not that I've seen the first Ice Age, but so I've been told. I recommend seeing it and if you'd like a date let me know because I'd go and see it again. I was so in love with penguins by the end of it that I would have gotten Mumbles at Build A Bear but the Irish shop didn't have it. :-(

So back to the shop for another 45 minutes of registering and printing birth certificates and clothes shopping. Lou Lou got a cute winter outfit of jeans and a t-shirt with embroidered penguins along with a pair of sandals. Monk Monk came home in jeans with a skater chain and a leather jacket. Too cute. I finally dragged them out once the gate started closing on the store. It was a great math lesson as they stood there adding and subtracting, trying to figure out what they could buy with their allowance money. Movies and dinner were on me, but the moms insisted they buy their own Build A Bear stuff.

It was a really fun night overall and the girls seemed to have a really good time. I told them we could do it again sometime and I'm actually looking forward to it. Now, if only all of my dates could go that well... ;-)

Doh!

That was my reaction when I saw the next movie screenclick.com was sending my way. Ice Age 2. That would be grand expect that I haven't seen the first one yet. Oh, well. I suppose it won't make too much difference. I'm reverting to cartoon movies and toys to help try and get into the holiday spirit but I haven't been very successful so far.

My soccer match on Sunday has already been cancelled. The field is waterlogged. It figures that even when it's NOT raining the rain still puts a damper on things (no pun intended). I don't suppose the game would have happened anyhow because the forecast is calling for heavy rain to cause flooding on Sunday. Another lovely Irish winter day.

I don't really have much else planned for the weekend. I could stand to clean the house. It's been a couple of weeks since the bathrooms got a good scrubbing and the laundry could use some catching up on. There's a 21st birthday party tonight, but it's up in Arklow and I'm not really much in the mood to head up there for the night. I'd rather sleep snugly in my own bed and sleep in as long as I want in the morning. Maybe catch up on some of the shows my mom tapes for me.

One thing I have to do this weekend is head to the post office. I've got to get Christmas presents sent home before it's too late! My cards have to go out as well. I'm going to try a few more post offices if I have to to find the Air Mail Holiday stamps. For one, I'm curious. Secondly, Christmas just won't be the same without holiday stamps. Yes, my friends, it's the little things.

I'm off to finish up some work and take a walk down on site while the sun is shining. I think we might make it through the first day in weeks without rain today. It's a lovely brisk and sunny day (although I may have spoken too soon because when I looked out the window I noticed some dark clouds....).

Have a great weekend and see you next week!! ;-)

Christmas Crunch

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but everything here closes down on the 22nd of this month and doesn't re-open until the 3rd of January. This causes a phenomenon I like to call the 'Christmas Crunch'. It makes life at work a bit crazy in the world of construction.

Basically, everybody wants everything done 'by Christmas'. That leaves me with 12.5 working days to wrap up everything I've got going on 3 projects that were already tightly scheduled (NOT including when things happen like subcontractors staying home because they're hungover or showing up with wrong materials, or the entire site disappearing for 2 days to attend a a funeral) PLUS all of the last minute things people are throwing at me as they find them. The reason for the rush? If it's not done before Christmas, it's not done on this year's budget and it will have to come out of next year's.

I know. Most of you are hearing 'blah blah blah construction blah blah blah'. I'm hearing the constant ring of the telephone and my fingers hurt from dialling the phone to make sure people are going to be here when they're supposed to be and that materials are ordered and on time. So why am I blogging now instead of calling people? I needed a bit of 'cool off' time to get my brain back in relaxed mode so I don't fly off the handle at somebody. I have managed 5 years in the construction business without yelling or screaming and I don't plan on starting while I'm working in one of the most relaxed cultures in the world.

It's working. I'm slowing chilling out and feeling ready to make more plans and call more people. Lucky for me I'm only an hour from the end of the day so I can leave it all here and start up again tomorrow!!

Any other notes? Let's see. I watched 'The March of the Penguins' the other night. It came by screenclick.com, which is Ireland's answer to Netflix. It wasn't my first choice (I don't even know that it was in my top 5) but it was really good. It made me want to run out and hug a penguin. Did you know the Emperor Penguin gets to be over a meter tall? That's about 3 1/2 feet. They're so darn cute!! It makes me SO want to see Happy Feet. It's not really playing here yet. Let me know if you've seen it and it's any good.

Okay - time to get back to work. I'm re-motivated to get stuff done before I leave now. Is it time for Christmas vacation? I feel like I'm back in school waiting for winter break! ;-)

Blah

Blah is how I'm feeling today. I'm not feeling well, but it's an 'in between' sort of sick. I'm not bad enough to stay home but I'm just bad enough to make coming to work a long and painful experience. I don't suppose it has anything to do with standing out in the pelting rain and wind for 2 hours yesterday. And by 'pelting' I mean 60mph winds whipping little raindrop bullets at you. It was crazy!

I was out in the wind and rain was because our last Gaelic game of the season was yesterday and this season has dragged on and on and on for the ladies, who had started training in February. That's a REALLY long season. They usually finish up in September, but the weather caused a few cancellations and scheduling with the other team was a bit of a nightmare. It's done now. We lost by about 4 points. Nobody wanted the loss, but it was a relief knowing we wouldn't have to be out in that weather again.

I did some shopping this weekend and got to eat out at TGI Fridays. It's pretty much the same as eating at home but the menu is slightly different. They didn't have a few of the newer items on the menu (like the meat Fundido, which I was REALLY hoping they would have) but everything they did have was pretty good. As luck would have it they were passing out free drink coupons with the purchase of a meal as we were walking through the mall AFTER we ate. Guess I'll just have to go back before they expire, eh?

Other than the game and TGI Fridays it was a pretty uneventful weekend. Training on Friday night was fine and I went road running for the first time in a while on Saturday, which was good. It's too dark to run outside before OR after work so I'll have to stick to the weekends. I may find a gym to join though now that Gaelic is finished up. Especially with the holiday season sneaking up so quickly.

Time to get back to work. I'm going to try to get a good handful of stuff done and attempt to get out of here a little early so I can curl up in front of the fire with some chicken noodle soup and hope I feel better tomorrow. If I'm feeling better, maybe I'll even write my letter to Santa Clause so he knows just what to put in my stocking this year! ;-)