I was so close I could almost TOUCH him!!

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

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

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

Kick Off is at 5.30

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Yippeeeeee!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blast From the Past

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

Mush

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

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

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

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

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

Miss me?

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm a Slacker

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

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

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

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

Sporting Weekend

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Weekend Recap

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

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

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

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

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

THIS is what the dance floor can do to you!

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

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

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

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

Welcome Back

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

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

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

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

5.30

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

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

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

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

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

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

High Heels & Peanut Butter

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

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

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

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

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

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