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!! ;-)

Another fine day!

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

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

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

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

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

Save a Horse...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Farmer's Market

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

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

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

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

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

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

Knackered

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

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

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

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

Deadly!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ahhh...

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

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

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

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

Cruel Teasing

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

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

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

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

I Survived!

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

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

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

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

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

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Text, text, text

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

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

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

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

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

As Noush once said:

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

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

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

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

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

Mother Nature

Two things are becoming increasingly obvious over here.

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

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

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

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

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

Sunshine and birdsong...

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another Rainy Monday

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

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

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

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

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

Ouch!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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