ONE SLEEP....

The bags are packed and weighed and all come in UNDER the weight limit which is marvelous - and that is THREE GIRLS!!!
We have even done the online check in so a lot less stress at the airport which is very necessary when travelling with children.
I had a pedicure today, ended up going for the pink AGAIN, I get such a summery feeling when I see that colour on my feet...next time I will do my best to break the mould and choose a different colour. Of course I had to pop in to a couple of friends, luckily Carla lives across the road from the salon which makes it very easy...and Rose lives nearby and took a stroll, well actually I think she ran...up to the coffee shop for half a cappuccino, sadly she could not finish it as she is so in demand she was meeting another friend for lunch...oh and then ANOTHER mate for coffee - go Rose(!!!) and thanks to all of you who called wishing me a good holiday...it is so great to know I will be missed!!!!!
Jess celebrates her 15th birthday tomorrow so we took her out for dinner to a place called Tribecca in Ranelagh - food was superb, I had a salad with avocado, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, peppers and mixed salad leaves - it was so good I did not even have to season it! Kirstin had a pile of nachos which looked worth salivating over, Jess had a burger, which she gave top marks for and Malcolm had a divine angel hair pasta with tomato, chili, garlic and bacon - successful meal out for all! The girls then attacked a chocolate brownie and a Hot Fudge sundae, they shared both desserts as neither could make up their mind. Now I am home enjoying a glass of wine and doing my second last post before I leave...I will have to do ONE more tomorrow! For now I am being pulled away to play a board game...so duty calls.

TWO MORE SLEEPS...

I cannot believe our summer holidays are upon us. School is closed, suitcases are being filled and weighed, last minute washing crisis, favourite jeans that have to be worn until the last minute...well I put my foot down and said all washing for the trip ceases by midday on Sunday...
I need to go through all the tickets, addresses, car hire information and get a pack together, we literally home for an evening and then off again at 05h00 the following morning...exciting stuff!
I am not sure that I will get a chance to do another post for a while, I may have to stroll into an Internet place during my Holland trip and send an update of all the cheese I have eaten....but no promises! Perhaps in between all my last minute bits I will get to tap a note out tomorrow, I mean the countdown MUST go on...but if not....ADIOS AMIGOS!!!!

The morning after the day before...

Yesterday I used the power of positive thinking and wore a skirt and a t-shirt to work. I have learned a couple of valuable lessons though so I did wear my runners/takkies for the walking part of my trip -Dublin streets and slip slops are not a good combination...and of course I packed an umbrella AND took my rain coat. I considered driving but I love the walk, the exercise is great and Dublin traffic is an absolute nightmare especially when the weather is bad, lots of people who would normally walk take their cars!
Of course because I was so prepared for the rain hardly a drop fell from the sky which made walking all the more pleasant.
The shop was very busy which I really enjoy and I spent a lot of time stocking shelves and helping customers, so busy I forgot to do my countdown...oops! 4 DAYS TO GO
... and my power of positive thinking DID work because it did not rain and it was a warm day!!!

Rose was having her work farewell at 51 in Baggott Street and she had invited a few of her non-work friends so Carla and I went to help celebrate new beginnings with her. After a visit to Eddie Rocketts (never thought I would actually end up there after midnight!!) we all caught a cab home and I was sensibly in bed by about 2...I think! Malcolm came crawling in from a farewell that someone had at his work a little after 3...and he has to play cricket today, should be FUN...for now we let him rest!!!

Friday Song: Minnie Driver - Everything I've Got In My Pocket

When I read that Minnie Driver had made an album (yes the actress!) and that it was not half bad I rushed out and bought it, probably about the 6th CD I have ever bought for myself...a year and a bit later I am sharing..one of her songs. I was looking for something more upbeat for a Friday...but I guess being a Friday is probably good news enough!!!

Graduation

Today Kirstin closed another little chapter of her life and graduated from primary school. Jessica and I went along to watch the ceremony and we muddled through the Catholic service with all the crossing and thanking and and. Jess made me laugh when everyone kneeled and she suddenly realised what that "funny cushion thing" at our feet was for....did not have that in the Methodist school chapel!
Afterwards there were wonderful snacks and the most divine looking mini pizzas, my weakness...sadly I knew I would not be getting in any decent walking as it was lashing rain so I had to abstain.
The 6th class all had the obligatory girls' wailing session with red faces and sniffling as only girls truly know how to do...then it was a slide show of the year they have all shared and it was fun to see some of the kids on their first day of junior infants, how they grow!
I must confess that I was not very sad to during the whole process, I think because Kirstin was only at the school for a year, I was a lot more tearful when we took them out of Saints last year, but the girls had been going there for 5 years. So now I have 2 high school children on my hands...let the games begin!

On the 5th day...

ooohh, ooohhh....5 days to go and it is the day of the defuzzing! Yep leg waxes and such are happening today, not the most pleasant of thoughts but I cannot wait to wear shorts/skirts or cropped pants again...have had to hide my legs for a wek now! No pain - no gain...and no razor on holiday!

School Play

Last night we went to see the senior infants and the 6th class perform their plays. The senior infants went first and they were ADORABLE, jeez they are cute at that age! They did a little story on a village - the Lazy Daisy Village and littering, it was too cute with a little 'litter muncher' who went munch munch...I think I smiled throughout the performance.

After that the 6th class put on a sterling performance of Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat which was better than the show that Kirstin did during her extra mural...expensive drama lessons...will definitely not be sending her back there!I sat and watched young ladies on the stage and wondered where on earth all those years have gone, all those tall, grown girls on the stage and mine is one of them! There certainly are many benefits to the girls being older, like being able to go on hockey tours...or to watch Def leppard knowing they can be left in the hotel room..but when they were little and I could not do any of those things I certainly did not mind!

Anyway...after the play Tracy and Warren were taking their 2 girls - cute little girls to Eddie Rocket's and Skyla begged us to join them. Malcolm was playing cricket and then watching the soccer, I had already eaten at home, but the kids hadn't - sly move on their part me thinks... so I thought, why not! I am glad we went, the girls enjoyed it, they all sat at a table together and I got to be the third wheel with Tracy and Warren, a good third wheel though...a tricycle! We sat there long after we had eaten having great craic and then realised the kids still had school, it was 21h30, the sun was still shining, oh how I love the Irish summer...lots of rain but so many daylight hours!

Warning: Potentially nauseating post...

Catching up with laundry and cleaning the house is boring. My blog provides a satisfying distraction...so I find myself popping onto it, staring at the blank page, feeling guilty and heading back to housework with a duster dangling unenthusiastically from my hand. Why do we have to do housework, wen need houses like those self cleaning ovens...although once everything is done there is a certain satisfaction in sitting down glass of wine in hand and surveying all that has been cleaned. Of course if you do not sit down with that glass of wine double time the place will be a shambles of school bags, text books, shoes and clothes again.
Kirstin finishes primary school tomorrow, I cannot believe that my children will both be in high school come September. Tonight she is in a play, tomorrow is graduation and then she is done. WOW.
As parents we always do the very best we can for our kids. I have always been happy to work half day, stay at home, take on temporary jobs so that I am here for my kids. When they were little motherhood was 24/7 with 4 arms, eyes in the back of your head and endless energy. As they get older and become more independent (especially here in Ireland, I do not even have to drive them to school anymore) my defining role is coming to an end, sure the kids still need me but it is not with the same ferociousness as before. There are new sets of rules to be followed, different forms of punishment, logical arguments and the pressures of exams and friendships. It is still a battlefield, but unlike when they are little, moms cannot use the "kiss it and make it better" line anymore.
As they become more independent my role needs to change, still a guide but one who sometimes has to let them make a tough decision, or a wrong turn in order to learn a life skill or a lesson.
As a woman I am also coming of age, a realisation that it is also time for me to step up to the plate and have a turn, that my life is not a dress rehearsal and I need to make the most of it.
That by following my dreams I am not doing a disservice to my children, I am in fact hopefully providing a good example. Now if I could just figure out what my dreams and aspirations are...
For now it is back to the vacuum cleaner for a little more cleaning.

Countdown

SIX days to go...and I am catching up with laundry and preparing the house for a lonely few weeks...what clothes to pack? Checked the 10 day forecast in Enschede, if it is right Wednesday will be STUNNING...and every day will be warm, even if there is a little rain...I live in Ireland what's a little rain?

Wild Horses - Lyrics

Kirstin put this song on her Ipod and I was listening to it yesterday on my morning walk...amazing!!!!

On the seventh day luggage was purchased...

Today I found myself out and about. I had to drop a project off for Kirstin - she left it at home and would lose marks if it was not handed in, growl - and then as I was out I visited Mandy and got to see her now not so little baby and her chatty and very informative son! They have just moved and he gladly showed us around his room, his sisters and then on to his folks...where he insisted on opening the cupboards to show us their clothes!! I did not peek honest - a bedroom cupboard is very personal space!!

Once the grand tour was completed he enlightened us on his planned journey to his new school in September, showed us his sweets and then built a puzzle which you can add gears and cogs to...very fascinating stuff, having had 2 girls I never got to see toys like that!

After that it was off to buy LUGGAGE as we are going to Holland with hand luggage only...which means small clothing receptacles are necessary. What do you think? Girly you say...no way!!

SEVEN DAYS TO GO....

Let the countdown begin...

Yep, here we go 8 days and summer holiday really kick off. The kids and I are looking forward to our Holland trip, not quite sure what we are going to be getting up to...do not even know what the weather will be like, 5 day forecast...does not look very summery but hopefully by July 1 that will change.

Then it is off to London and France, this time with hubby in tow! We plan to buy lots of wine and food, barbecue, relax, lie in the sun and read books, oh and of course a few little day trips to interesting places. The only thing is....if the pictures are ANYTHING to go by we may not want to leave...when I found this place I did not care where in France it was, I just knew that it would be a relaxing place to spend a week....wanna come?

Rock of Ages - Def Leppard

Dumbstruck

The day only got worse. We finally left home at 10:30 and then had to turn around because Malcolm had left the camera battery plugged into the charger behind. I was sort of good humoured about that, after all i did want to get pictures from the weekend.

Then we were off again, Molly nestling in her cradle ready to tell us the best way to go but because Malcolm is a MAN and Molly (my sat nav) a WOMAN he gagged her and chose to negotiate the streets of Dublin on his own. Of COURSE he went the VERY long way round and as he cannot gag me I finally convinced him to turn Molly on.

From then things went more swimmingly but I have to admit to enormous frustration because the sat nav was giving our arrival time for the Giants Causeway: 14h20. This was very bad news because Rose had bought tickets to a comedy show and we needed to be in Belfast by 17h00. My time hopping around the rocks had dwindled tremendously, especially as we would have to squeeze a lunch in too.

Visions of a fun road trip with our friends had also gone up in smoke - they did not get lost and were WAY ahead of us which meant finding a wonderful pub for a decent lunch was out of the question.

We finally stopped for lunch in Antrim, I was hungry and moody, not a very pretty picture and to make matters worse the pub I chose was a bit dingy and the food was below mediocre. Oh...and by now it was 15h30 and we were still 40 minutes from Giant's Causeway AND it was raining. I decided that seems the tickets for the comedy show were only a fiver we could always skip the show, but the weather was so lousy so I suggested to Malcolm that we go back to Belfast and look at doing Giants Causeway and rope bridge on Sunday. He liked the idea so some texting between ourselves and our friends ensued and we all headed BACK to Belfast.

We got to the hotel ahead of D & R and checked in. Rose had told me the hotel had a special and it was €70 but I noticed that the receipt was €160, I asked Malcolm to speak to them at reception and he said no, we would first chat to Rose and see what the story was. Of course I thought this was a bad idea but decided not to voice my opinion as I was already grumpy. A glass of wine in the bar helped and then D&R arrived and we sat in the bar a bit longer and I finally started to relax. the day really had been one mistake after the next but my humour was slowly returning.

At 18h00 we all went up and got ready to go out. I had decided to wear my new dress, a black dress with buttons the whole way down, casual enough for a comedy show, but it was cold so I wore a pair of footless tights and a cute pair of slip slops. When D&R came in to wait for Malcolm (yep, he was holding us all up) Derrick asked if my shoes were going to be comfortable for walking to the comedy show. The only other pair of shoes with me were runners so I told him it would have to be okay because it was all I had!

Malcolm gave me my ticket for the comedy show, it was from Ticketmaster and I thought, how weird to have got comedy show tickets for a fiver from Ticketmaster and then I saw...Def Leppard on the ticket. They were not planning on telling me until we got to the stadium but my choice of clothing, well SHOES had prompted them to fess up. And I thought romance was dead...

Yep, the whole trip to Belfast had been organised in February, read all about it here: http://threenewirish.blogspot.com/2008/06/lets-get-lets-get-lets-get-rocked.html the impromptu stay at the cheap hotel...quick thinking from Rose because I had started looking into B&B's for us when it was first suggested that we stay in Belfast, she knew that I would never find something THAT cheap!!!

They all thought that I suspected, especially when I posted about the Def Leppard concert last week but I honestly had NO clue, I was totally and utterly in the dark until the name on the ticket registered in my brain. Of course there were loads of rocker types staying in our hotel for the concert and they had all been at the bar with us earlier in the day, D&R and Malcolm were wincing waiting for me to ask about all the long haired people but I just sat happily sipping my wine.... oblivious. I also realised while listening to the opening act - White Snake that I am NOT a fan of rock, I love Def Leppard but they are more of a pop rock methinks.

Just saying...

Woke up to the sound of rain, lots of rain this morning. It is dark and wet and the best place to be would be hugging my pillow. Unfortunately I am an early bird and once awake I cannot lie around in bed...unless I have a good book on the go (which is hardly ever because then my family complain about my book tunnel vision).
I checked the weather for the Giant's Causeway....raining and raining. So much for my vision of me clambering around on fascinating shaped rocks of different heights...I will probably be looking at the causeway through intermittent windscreen wipers and a lot of...precipitation. Will I get to do the rope bridge? Guess it is going to be a wait and see kinda day.

A great walk, a lovely lunch and....

I had to share my favourite walk with you, it is from the Charlemont luas station to Baggott Street along the canal. When the weather is fine, as it was today it would be sinful to walk quickly and not take in its beauty. Of course you do have to look past litter in the canal which detracts from the splendour which is a pity but the peace and quiet of the walk is still magical. Today i got to watch the 5 ducklings show off their swimming skills and as the water is so clear I could see them diving, in a wriggly kind of way all the way to the bottom, dig around with their beaks and then shoot up at a phenomenal speed, shake off the water and go back down again, too cute! Mom floated around looking rather unfazed by all the goings on.

Then it was lunch with Rose which was of course fabulous because the company was good. After that it was back to the eye clinic and my 1 week eye appointment. I am happy to report that the only drops I have to carry on taking are the lubricating ones!

Now I have to go and get ready for a night out with the hockey ladies which is sure to be fantastic - I shall avail of public transport because I believe we will be having wine...have a great weekend now..with a trip up to Belfast...Giants Coauseway, a rope bridge and a comic show tomorrow night a visit to Newry on Sunday I would say that mine should be eventful! Phew!

FRIDAY SONG: Berlin - Take my breath away - Top Gun

Yes if you are a child of the 80's you will apprciate this song...just do NOT watch the movie again. Somehow years later the lines are just not as COOL as they once were...

Retail Therapy?

Today Jess and I trawled the mall, Dundrum mall that is. Sadly I am not the best shopping companion, I like to get in and get out with a minimum of fuss, for some reason I have never enjoyed shopping much. I think it has something to do with the mirrors in the changing rooms. Why do we look worse in THOSE mirrors, yes, yes, the lighting, the 360 degree view (Yuk) but I am sure more clothes would be sold with soft flattering lighting and a decent bloody mirror, I know we have to keep the 360 degree thing going, walking away from someone knowing that the back view isn't bad is very important.
So the mirrors...in M&S are hopeless, the ones in Esprit are not too bad, and I cannot remember a time walking into Esprit without seeing something I like. Bonus for me today, I found a dress on sale, a) my size b) I liked c) was marked down 50% and d) did not look half bad in the mirror! Jess came away with 2 shirts that she liked and we celebrated at Yo Sushi with california rolls and much time spent watching the belt make its slow rotation. Today for once I think I understood retail therapy. I guess it also helped that we were there for 2 hours, any longer and maybe I would not have walked out as happy...

On Saturday we are finally going up to the Giant's Causeway and the ROPE bridge - can't wait. It will be great to be out and about and loads of fun as we are going with our friends, the more the merrier! I liked the legend of the Giant's Causeway and as I am too bone idle to rewrite it I have copied a bit of info for you all...

Stolen from Wikipedia...

Legend
Legend has it that the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner's great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the 'infant', he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.
Another variation is that Oonagh painted a rock shaped like a steak and gave it to Benandonner, whilst giving the baby (Fionn) a normal steak. When Benandonner saw that the baby was able to eat it so easily, he ran away, tearing up the causeway.
The "causeway" legend corresponds with geological history in as much as there are similar basalt formations (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at the site of Fingal's Cave on the isle of Staffa in Scotland.

Now of course I have to save the best for last because I am really looking forward to this part of our trip...apparently people have made it one way and then have had to be rescued from the island by boat as they are too scared for the return journey...I am sure there are not too many stories like that, hope I do not become one of those statistics!

Caught in the rain...

I worked today, I only work once a week at the moment, long story but basically one of the other girls was desperate for more hours as she needs extra money and seems as I am off to Holland and France AND the kids are on holiday I figured she could have my shifts. I worked 10 -14 today and then could not leave...the rain had me trapped. I ended up spending an extra happy hour with Debbi waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't. It slowed down to a drizzle and I decided that at least I would not be soaked through and spent the next 10 minutes making my way to the luas trying to avoid getting rain in my eyes!
I should have just caught the bus as it drops me off at the top of my road but opted for the luas which meant a 15 minute walk through rain yet again. I guess after a year in Dublin I should always carry around an umbrella or a rain coat. Oh well.

Mumblings

I don't know what to say...for once I am sitting here in front of the computer wondering why I prattle on about my daily existence to the unsuspecting public. I guess I need to remember that it only gets read by interested parties!
Some people have been asking about my eyes... my inflammation is under control, had an appointment yesterday - found myself tearing along the canal trying very hard (unsuccessfully) not to be 5 minutes late for the appointment, could not even stop to get a quick caffeine kick...and all is no longer swell, which is a good thing! Relief for me because I am so sick and tired of eye drops at this stage, sadly still have to take them but at least it is now 6 times per day instead of every hour. Not to mention the other 2 bottles of eye drops, sigh, but well worth it to have such great vision, although apparently the clarity is still coming. I do have blurry moments where I want to look for my glasses but a few moisturising drops in the eye and things soon look better!
This is also a very sad week for me because I have to say goodbye to Melissa, she is leaving the Emerald Isle for the U.K. She has been a great friend and I really am going to miss our chats and our walks. Tonight is her last summer hockey game and I cannot even play, no hockey for 4 weeks after my eye op...so I will go up to the club after the game and we can drink a glass of wine together, NOT for the last time but for the last summer hockey time! Okay I think I had better end this post off, it is a slippery slope into depression....I will try for something funnier later, hopefully a funny anecdote will present itself later...

Def Leppard - Love Bites - CONCERT

Why oh why are they not playing in Ireland??? All over the UK...but with flights, hotel and tickets it ain't going to happen, and this is one band I would love to see...my all time favourite song from them...have a lsiten.

I can see clearly now...

The alarm was set for 06h15, very unnecessary as I was awake by 06h00. The day had arrived, the sun was shining through the blinds and I found slight difficulty swallowing. Heart felt like it was beating a little harder than usual but I was calmer than I had imagined I would be.
At 07h00 I closed the door behind me and started my walk, realised I was wearing a cardigan and was specifically told not to wear clothing with lose fibres, turned around and ran home to get a fleece instead. 07h15...door closed behind me and started the walk to the luas! Sun was gone, cloudy and threatening but very pleasant nonetheless. I love the walk from Charlemont along the canal towards Upper Baggott St, listening to my Ipod, spotted some ducklings with their mother watching over them and reminded myself that I was about to have lasik eye surgery, and wavefront...holy canoly.
Stopped for a coffee at Rose's favourite place and was at the clinic by 08h00. Stood around with the staff as the door was still locked, slightly annoyed as my appointment was set for 08h30 but a woman from the clinic had suggested I get there 30 minutes early. Ended up having a great chat with all the staff, one of whom had been out the night before...told her I hoped she was not my "scrub nurse". Finally got into the clinic and sat in the waiting room, another couple arrived and we got chatting, he was very scared...somehow I found myself calming him down, his wife was teasing him so I told her to go and sit in the car...obviously I was teasing! What can i say, we bonded, his surgery was after mine and I was taken upstairs before him. Had my pre-op appointment with the surgeon, all good to go. He asked me if I was nervous, very surprised to be saying "Not at all" but I really was so calm...he even asked me to hold my palms out, checked them for clamminess/sweatiness...no luck, cool hand Luke was me.
After my pre-op appointment had to go back to the waiting room, my new friend and his wife were waiting so we got to chat again, he had thought I was already having the op...had heard the rat tatting of the laser, I think they must test it before they start surgeries...
After his pre-op appointment we were given boxes of the drops we would be taking for the next week, compared notes on our post surgery recovery - his recovery time is longer than mine, felt bad.
I got called in for my surgery, got a beautiful hair net and was ushered into the theatre. Lay on a dentist style chair and saw that the late night girl was putting in my local anaesthetic drops, excellent, maybe i would get a few extra drops? After all the drops the surgeon came in and things got under way. Putting the clamp on to hold my eye open was uncomfortable, but not painful, then I suction up is put on the eyeball, I think to hold it still while they create the corneal flap. As I lay there I discovered that I actually got to see what they were doing, I thought it would be greyed out but I watched the corneal flap being cut and saw it being moved aside, it was most bizarre. I had to look straight ahead at an orange light the whole time, then someone says "Wavefront on right eye 16 seconds and it starts, at this point you kind of see stars - pretty cool actually. There is a strange smell and then it is over. Again I watched as the corneal flap was replaced and a brush like instrument was used to put everything back into place. One down one to go!
Left eye...same except that wavefront was 14 seconds and the corneal flap took a lot longer to put back in place...hmmm. Chatted about the jibbitz on my crocs while he was busy, all the theatre nurses wear crocs and they loved my ducks, elephants and flowers!
If I had known that I would see what was going on the whole time I think I would have been more nervous, but when it was all happening I was so grateful that I could see what was going on because it meant that I was not going blind!!!
Surgery done I was taken to a dark room, saw my nervous friend and gave him a big smile and a thumbs up, at least he knew I came out being able to see! Instructions on when and how often to sue the drops given again and then I called Melissa to let her know I was done and ready to be collected! Got home, had a coffee and then Melissa went home and per doctor's instructions I went upstairs to get some sleep. Of course I could not fall asleep, but lay there with my eyes closed, chatted to friends and family on the phone and listened to the radio. Bored. Got my glasses out and put them on to see if they looked weird, very satisfied to see that everything was blurry. Bored. Went downstairs and ate some soup. Back upstairs Lisbon Treaty discussion, Ireland is up the creek without a paddle, scary times ahead. No wait, the whole of Europe were hoping we would say NO and Ireland is being applauded...still confused.
Dinner time, watched Holland score their first goal against France Wooohooo! Sadly after dinner had to go back to bed...took my Ipod and lay on my bed listening to music, started a list of all the music it plays, tricky as I do not know what the songs are called and it is a shuffle so have to guess. Jess runs up with the latest score, she is supporting France as she likes Gallas and Henri, very sad to tell me that score is 4 - 1 to Holland, lies on my bed and we share the Ipod. At least I am no longer bored. Of course in between all of this I am washing my hands and inserting 3 different kinds of drops into my eyes...finally decide I am tired, put on funny goggles, so that I do not knock or rub my eyes while sleeping and finally fall asleep. Wake up to find goggles around my neck, oops. Replace goggles and go back to sleep. Wake up at 06h00 again, bloody hell. Things a bit blurry, thought it would be 20/20...use lubricating drops...slight improvement. Appointment at 09h20 for post op check. Removed contact bandage from left lens and had eye test, allowed to drive! Slight inflammation so I need to take anti inflammatory drops every hour, I think eye drops are all I will know for the next week!
I am not allowed to touch my eyes for a week, NO make up, carefully shower and very carefully wash face. Surgery was a piece of cake compared to all of this!

I ain't missing you bad english

Blast from the past...I think all school socials had to play this song in the 80's!!!

Gulp...

The day of my lasik eye surgery is fast approaching, so of course the nerves are starting to kick in. I need to be there at 08h00 so will probably walk and catch the luas, it is a lovely stroll along the canal to get to the clinic. Apparently all told I will be there for 3 hours and then my friend Melissa has offered to collect me and drive me home...apparently I will have rather blurred vision so using the public transport system and my own 2 feet is not advisable.
Today I was walking home, the car safely in the driveway at home marvelling at how now that I actually have a vehicle I prefer to walk wherever I go, great exercise and it is also awesome to be out and about. Funny how things change.

Carlingford Adventure Centre

Kirstin's class is going to the Carlingford Adventure Centre tomorrow. The teacher asked if a parent could volunteer to go along and help with the kids, I offered my assistance willingly.
We are leaving at 07h40 tomorrow on a bus and will spend the whole day there.
The best part is that I get to take part in all the activities, I think I can choose four...I am so looking forward to it, I am sure that even the drive up will be great, beautiful Irish scenery and lots of noisy girls...hmmmm. Best I go and get a decent night sleep then...

Trains, planes, tubes but no automobiles

Hectic weekend, never to be repeated in that fashion. We left home at 05h30 on Saturday morning to catch an 08h00 flight to Gatwick. All went well, we even ended up chatting to a South African guy while waiting to board and ended up sitting with him on our flight too. We had organised a hire car because getting to Adrian and Nicky seemed like a lot of work, on and off trains and tubes and 2h30 journey times. On the plane my brain suddenly sprung to attention and I asked Malcolm if he had brought his drivers' licence...obviously the answer was NO. When I travel I tend to remove cards and any other useless paraphernalia from my wallet, and so it happened that my pink drivers licence lay on my bedside table as we winged our way across the Irish sea. Ever hopeful we still went to Europcar in the vain hope that they might still be able to help, perhaps they would forget to ask for a licence...I had even taken my sat nav along and in true positive spirit turned it on and entered our destination. Sadly none of my actually helped and we found ourselves standing at the Gatwick train station working out how to get to our destination. I was very proud of the way I handled it, no moaning and groaning, I did not get angry (just walked behind M shaking my head, muttering under my breath and giving him killer looks) I also went to the journey planner guy and asked him if he could reverse our route so that we arrived back at Gatwick at 11:30 the next morning, good under pressure moi ;)
And so we found ourselves dashing from train to tube and back to train until 12:30 when we finally reached our destination.
Champagne was opened lots of talking ensued peppered with more people arriving and so the fun began. We went out for lunch - at 16h00, by then I was ravenous as all I had eaten was half a sandwich and a banana, lunch was well received by my roaring belly. After that it was back to the hotel, the menfolk stayed at the pub, more wine for the ladies while I watched the hairdresser style their hair and then I snuck off for a snooze. (Exhausted as Friday night managed the grand total of 4 hours sleep)
The party was fun, there was a roulette and black jack table, I stuck to black jack and spent much time squandering my chips, very easy when it is not REAL money! There was also a dj so spent a bit of time on the dance floor too, popping over to the buffet of snacks for energy once in a while!
The party wound up at around 01h00 and we all walked back to the hotel and had a night cap in the hotel bar, I eventually admitted defeat at 02h00 - I was EXHAUSTED and snuck off to bed. Sadly woke up at 06h30 in the morning WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? Packed our things up, woke M at 07h30 and we got ready to leave, checked out at 08h0, had a quick breakfast in the hotel restaurant -VERY quiet at that time of the morning and at 08h30 hopped in our taxi to get to the train station. Train, tube, train and finally back at Gatwick. Plane delayed for 20 minutes so much sitting around...thank goodness for "This Charming Man" by Marian Keyes, kept me sane and I managed to finish it too, sorry people but chick lit rules! Everyone mocks it but pure escapism and what a fantastic book, think it might be her best work yet, it was worth the wait!!!
Finally arrived back in Dublin at 16h30, then had to drive back to our friends and pick up the kids, Got home close to sick, SHATTERED. Walked to Supervalu - got dinner things and fruit for Kirstin's school lunch, back home where I made a chicken a la king - a woman's work is never done!!! Collapsed into bed at 22h30, comatose until the alarm went off at 07h00 this morning...aarrgghh

Boys of Summer-Don Henley

Here is a most excellent summer song..brought to my attention today...ENJOY and have a fab weekend. We are off to London in the morning for a birthday party. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Where?

So my little sojourn to Netherlands gets more interesting by the day. I thought we were staying in Enschede, but apparently we are staying in Vasse which is 25 - 30 km's from Enschede, from the picture I got from Marianne I reckon we are really in the country. Pretty cool, but it is not on my map that I have so I assume it is a really tiny place, wikipedia has this to say:
"In 2001, the village of Vasse had 569 inhabitants. The built-up area of the town was 0.18 km², and contained 197 residences.[1] The statistical area "Vasse", which also can include the peripheral parts of the village, as well as the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 880."
I would say that my assumptions are correct...holy moly...
Memories of holidays with my grandparents are already flooding back, long walks through the country, swimming in rivers, peace and quiet...for a country with a population of approximately 16,570,613 you would not think there could possibly be villages the size of Vasse!
Marianne actually lives in Cape Town South Africa so it is fairly ironic that we will be visiting her and the kids in Holland of all places! Any suggestions of things to do...I know I do have some Dutch visitors occasionally...

Spur of the moment...best way!

Living on Europe's doorstep is marvelous. My sister-in-law is off to Holland at the end of June and has hired a house in Enschede, she has some work to do there and will have my niece and nephew with her.
We all mumbled about getting together while they were over but were not sure of dates etc. She emailed me her dates and I fiddled with Ryanair and came up with free flights! Of course there are still taxes, but for the girls and I to fly it will be 90 euro return, for all 3 of us!!! I could not pass up the opportunity so we are flying to Eindhoven on 01 July and catching a train...2.5 hours - hope it is scenic.. up to Enschede. I am sure we will be able to do a few little side trips, I personally would love to visit Delft, not sure if it can be pulled off on this trip, but you never know! We will spend time up there until 5 July, and then we will go down south to Kerkrade where Marianne grew up. It is her birthday on the 6th July so it all works out fantastically. The fact that we fly back to Dublin on 08 July at 16:35 only to fly to London at 08h00 on the 9th July did not deter me, I could have flown back earlier but it would have cost more than double, so we are going to be in panic stations, but we only live once right? I guess I had better get onto google and find out a little bit more about where I will be...

Streets of mauve

Tonight after a very wet hockey match I drove home on streets slick with rain, reflecting the most beautiful colours from the sky, the air looked pink, the streets were mauve and the sky was awash with oranges, pinks and purples. The clouds had a golden lining and the sun was making one final defiant attempt to make its presence known after a very soggy day. I was absolutely soaking wet after playing for over an hour in rain, so much rain that I had a little river running down my nose and I have never been happier! My friend also told me to keep 07 August next year free, yep it looks like the date has been set...07-08-09...pretty darn cool, my very first Irish wedding!!!
Oh yes...and as I was walking out of Trinity with Jess at 18h00, we bumped into a friend of mine Kelly, my my but Dublin is a small place!
I was in the shower tonight trying to think how to describe how happy I am...the best I came up with is that I almost feel like I am going to burst out of my own skin kinda happy...I know it sounds bizarre...
Oh...and I even scored a goal ;)

Where did you blog from?

It is raining, a lot! Of course as I left the house this morning I paused at the door wondering whether to grab my rain jacket and decided not to bother. Bad decision. I am also wearing flip flops, worse decision. I had to walk Jess to Trinity College today at noon, (about 10 minute walk) it rained the whole way, a fine rain so I did not get too wet, a few odd looks...crazy lady with no umbrella/rain jacket...but hey!
It rained the whole way back to work too...so by the time I got back my cardigan was rather damp, and me with a cough I cannot get rid of...oops.
At 15h00 I had to walk BACK to Trinity, fill in some questionnaires and such. This time I got an umbrella from work but because the streets were so wet my feet kept slipping out of my shoes, I was shuffling along using my toes to keep my shoes on, now I think I need to disinfect my feet! It will have to wait though as I am still sitting at Trinity, on one of their computers (all my questions were computer based and as Jess is still busy they said I could go onto the internet..he he) yep blogging from Trinity - pretty cool hey!!! Who would ever have thought....

What song "gets" you???

I was happily sitting on the bus making my way home, on another FABULOUS day in Dublin I might add, listening to my Ipod when the song came on. I am not sure what it is about the song but it puts me through such a range of emotions, sorrow being one, but somehow it is a good sorrow. I love lots of other songs but generally the emotion is either happy or sad, this one somehow envelopes it all....



Forever Young - Alphaville



Lets dance in style, lets dance for a while

Heaven can wait were only watching the skies

Hoping for the best but expecting the worst

Are you going to drop the bomb or not?

Let us die young or let us live forever

We dont have the power but we never say never

Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip

The musics for the sad men

Can you imagine when this race is won

Turn our golden faces into the sun

Praising our leaders were getting in tune

The musics played by the madmen

Forever young, I want to be forever young

Do you really want to live forever, forever and ever

Some are like water, some are like the heat

Some are a melody and some are the beat

Sooner or later they all will be gone

Why dont they stay young

Its so hard to get old without a cause

I dont want to perish like a fading horse

Youth is like diamonds in the sun

And dimonds are forever

So many adventures couldnt happen today

So many songs we forgot to play

So many dreams are swinging out of the blue

We let them come true



Gold/1982

Kirstinism...

Today was E's 5th birthday party/tea. D and R invited a whole lot of us over for tea, cake and many savoury nibbles. The kids and I went along, Malcolm had a cricket match so he was enjoying the fab day we are having...AGAIN... C made an astonishingly large chocolate cake fit for a princess and we all sang and wished ate and chatted.
C is getting rather broody and was telling us how she would like 2 boys, I then started mumbling about the fact that I am very happy with my 2 girls but every now and then a little desire for a boy creeps into my thoughts. C, D and R are of course very gung ho about that particular idea, but I explained that this is not going to happen unless I find another father for my child...to which Kirstin pipes up: "Yes I secretly pray every night that Daddy's grows back." Well J almost needed the Heimlich, C was crying D and R were bent double and my stomach muscles ached... I hope they all realised that K was only talking about THE SNIP...

Summer Fun

Well the weekend would be over...but tomorrow is a bank holiday. Yay!!! The weather has been absolutely fantastic, sadly the girls and I worked our tails off yesterday, IN A CELLAR!!! We were unloading the container for the shop and were up and down stairs with all manner of goodies. I did not even get a sniff of the Temple bar market as I was at work by 08h15. Today Kirstin emotionally blackmailed us to go to the beach, she did not really have to do that as I was all geared up to enjoy the gift of ANOTHER good day. She started making picnic sandwiches AND came prancing downstairs in her swimming costume (togs here) and singing about the summer sun....fair play to her I guess as we certainly ended up at the beach! We all applied sunscreen liberally and I put on my new polka dot (yes really!!!) bikini with my sarong and off we went.
We got to Brittas and the wind was HOWLING which makes the beach a very unpleasant place. Luckily there are a lot of dunes so we found a marvelous spot sheltered from the wind with a fab view of the parking lot....very sad but oh so very true...in our defense there was nothing else we could do, unless breaking our youngest child's heart counts...we could have got back in the car and gone home!!!
I decided to work on my tan and promptly fell asleep in the sun, not much else to do what with the other options of counting cars or people traipsing to and from the beach...
All I can say is that the sun in Ireland is....small fry, after 2 hours of rotating and snoozing I cannot even see a tan line...ask anyone from the Southern Hemisphere what that time worshipping the yellow ball in the sky would do and it will definitely involve colour, depending on the factor of the sunscreen applied. Lobster red anyone?
We also managed to bump into friends while there, Tracy and her family had stopped off for a swim and sat and chatted a while, made us feel very local...