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! ;-)