If there were an award

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

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

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

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...

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!!

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!

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...

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!

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

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!

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....

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!!

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!!!!

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

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

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

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!

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...

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

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...

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....

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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...

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?

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!

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!!!

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!

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...

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!

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!

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. Pictures on Thursday or Friday. Until then, enjoy your week!! ;-)