Another year has come and gone...

May 3.  An ordinary day for most, I'm sure.  But for me? Not so much.

May 3, 2003 was a day I won't forget.  I was up early that day and had returned home from running errands to hear my phone ringing.  The caller ID showed "Dad's Phone" so I quickly picked up.

"Hey Dad, what's up?" I asked.  The answer changed my life forever.  It wasn't my dad.  It wasn't even my dad's wife. It was an unfamiliar woman's voice crying and talking so quickly over a poor-quality phone line that I could only make out the words "passed away." 

I immediately panicked and screamed "Who is this? What is going on????" and then my dad's wife DID get on the phone.  She was crying, too, and apologized, telling me that she was too upset to make the call, that I was the first to know that my dad had passed away in his sleep the previous night.

My dad had many issues with his health: he had type 2 diabetes that he eventually had to go on insulin to manage, he had heart disease, and had survived a double bypass that was originally supposed to be a triple bypass, and because they used some of his leg artery for the bypass, his leg wasn't healing well because of his diabetes.  He was a bit of a mess, I knew that.  But he was my dad.  And dads are supposed to be indestructible.

But he wasn't.  He had died, peacefully in his sleep, thank the universe. 

I told Gail I would call my brother in Seattle.  My other brother was out of the country and I wasn't sure how to reach him.  So I hung up, dried my eyes a bit, and started dialing.  I called my brother, my grandmother, and my mother, and somehow got the words out.  I called my boss and one of my friends in NC, because I knew I'd be heading to Oregon and would miss some work and need someone to take care of my cat.

And I cried.  A lot.

Nowadays I don't cry as much, but I still miss my dad.  He didn't get to see me get my Master's degree, or meet my now husband or even walk me down the aisle at my wedding.  But those moments were still beautiful and wonderful.  I miss him, but have learned to live without his physical presence. 

And another May 3 has come and gone.

I love you Dad!

Good things in 2013!!

                                           

    

As 2012 was coming to an end, I saw many posts on Facebook for a great way to find the positive in 2013.  It's basically taking a jar, and starting Jan 1, writing down good things that happen to you, and putting them into the jar.  Then, on New Year's Eve 2013, read through the contents of the jar in order to help you remember all of the good things, big and small, that happened throughout the year.

I decided to take on this challenge, as I always seem to be needing help looking at the positives in my daily life.  I found a jar in our cabinet o' glass jars -- I think it was an old spaghetti sauce jar -- and I used fabrics of different colors and decoupaged the outside of it.  It is very colorful and sparkly, and once dry I set it on the desk in the entry of our house.  This way, I see it every day, and that helps me to remember to write things down and put them in the jar. 

(None of these are my jar, since I don't have a smart phone to post my pictures online, but you'll have to trust me that it's pretty cool.)

Some folks are trying to write down one thing a day; me, I'm just writing down the good things as I encounter them so that I'm not pressuring myself.  But Joe even asked me if he could add things to the jar as well!  So, now that the year has begun, we have a few pieces of paper in the jar, and I have several things in my head that I still need to write down. 

What a great way to focus on the joyous, positive events throughout the year!

Chemistry

I'm enjoying a couple of weeks off from work, and it has been really really rejuvenating.  I have been pretty stressed out and burning out at work for a while now, and though I still love *where* I work, I feel less than confident in my current role. I've sustained a lot of injuries over the last twelve months, mostly while attempting to keep really traumatized little ones from hurting themselves or others.  But I power on, trying to keep myself healthy and muster enough energy to be as positive as possible with my students.  NOT easy.

In fact, I had to turn to my doctor for help in the form of medication -- yes, I'm now on an antidepressant.


Me, a "Qualified Mental Health Professional" with about 20 years' experience working with a challenging population of children with special needs.  Administering meds to most of those little ones every day.  Now taking one myself.  And it has helped me get through some really overwhelming and traumatizing times (yes, we adults can be traumatized, too).

So, here's to the makers of modern medicine, who help those who try to help others.  Thanks.

Catching up...

So, clearly I suck at the blog thing.  No new insight there.

However, here we are at the end of another long, crazy year, and it seems only natural to look back a bit, reflect, and see what lessons can be taken from the events of the last 12 months.


So, in no particular order, here's what I've come up with so far:


* I love my Pacific Northwest family and friends, and I miss them all very much.  Spending time with them (here and there) has been rejuvenating.

* It is okay to ask for help, in whatever form that may take.

* Slow and steady may not win the race, but it will finish it, by god!  

* Never underestimate the power of cats.  They are independent, loving, protective creatures, and they have a wisdom I will never understand.  And that is okay.

* Home really is where your heart is.

* There is more to life than work.  There HAS to be, in order to stay sane and healthy.

* My husband completes me.  He is my rock, my biggest cheerleader, my warmest hugs, my sweetest shoulder to rest on.


What are some of the lessons *you've* learned in 2012?

SIDELINED!

Man, this sucks!

I usually run three days a week, with 2 or three other days of the week for cross-training.  Tuesdays I run 3 miles, and have been trying to do some work with intervals to increase the intensity of the run, and improve my speed and strength.  Thursdays I run 4 miles, on a different route, and Saturdays (or sometimes Sundays) I do my long run.  My last long run was 11.5 miles, increasing .5 miles each week to build up to my Half-Marathon.  Was. As in, previous.  As in, had been running, but not now.

*SIGH*

Last Thursday, March 8th, is a day that will live in infamy.  But it goes a lot farther back than that, and has to do with a lot of things that have been stressing me out.  So, let me go back a little more...

Work has been stressful.  I have a very difficult job to do, and though I love it, it weighs heavily on me at times.  I've been struggling for weeks with feeling hopeless and unmotivated, feeling unsupported yet not sure what would help me.  Needless to say, my morale was shot, and mood was crap. I kept thinking about work, even at night when I tried to sleep, wanting to be better, but not sure how.  I often couldn't sleep, and it was taking its toll on me.  I was cranky and short-tempered most of the time, and my professionalism was on the verge of disappearing.  I tried taking Ambien and it helped, but I didn't want to end up relying on pills to get to sleep each night, so I didn't always take it, convinced that I will just get to sleep on my own.  It wasn't a good cycle to be in, needless to say.

I had a meeting with my supervisor last week, and it was eye-opening in many ways, and gave me a lot of things to think about, and I believe things will be changing.  They have been changing internally, for me, and I tried putting an intentional focus on the positive into my work.  I felt great.  I even wrote the word "JOY" on my inside wrist to be a constant reminder. :)

But sleep was still a struggle.

Which brings me to Thursday morning.  I didn't sleep well (surprise!) Wednesday night, but still felt like I needed to run.  It's so therapeutic for me, an excellent stress reliever.  So I headed out to do my four miles.  I left my driveway, started jogging, and went through my usual path along the side of the road (we don't have sidewalks).  I ran up by the local elementary school, and around the corner, where they have recently re-paved parts of the road, and re-painted the lines.  I run on the left, facing traffic of course, and when there are no cars coming I hop up on the line, since the side of the road is bumpy and not paved.  Well, at about 1.4 miles by my Garmin's measurement I put my foot on the line, but the line was half off the pavement. So my left foot went half off the pavement too, and rolled. I caught myself before I fell, but not before I heard/felt a "pop".  Strangely enough, though, I didn't really feel a lot of pain.

The smart part of my brain kicked in and said "You really shouldn't keep going.  You don't want to be farther from home and have it start hurting more, do you?"  And luckily I listened to the genius in my head, and turned around, heading for home.  Since it didn't really hurt much, I did more of a jog than a walk, trying to get home quickly.  I had forgotten to turn the Garmin off, but when I did, it turns out, even though I tripped, I managed a 12 min/mile pace! :) go me!

Long story short, it's sprained.  I went to Urgent Care, and they x-rayed me, sent me home with my ankle wrap and a note telling me I couldn't go to work, and that if it still hurt or got worse, to go to an orthopedist.  So I did.  Monday it wasn't better, and so I went and talked to an orthopedist, who told me that it was a sprain, but because it has been damaged before (more than once! I'll save that story for another post), the ligaments were weak and it was taking longer to recover.  Ugh.  No work for a week, and an order for Physical Therapy.  Oh, and  worst of all: NO RUNNING FOR 3 TO 4 WEEKS!!

AAAAaaaaahhhhhhh! I have a half-marathon THIS WEEKEND, and I can't go.  It cost me $80!  I'm sidelined from training for my MAIN half-marathon in about 6 weeks! *sigh*  SIDELINED. Ugh.

But I've been cleared for cardio on the elliptical and stationary bike to keep my endurance up, and have two pages of exercises to stretch and strengthen my ankle and calf from the PT.  It's killing me to miss out this weekend, but I know it's for the best.  (I may still go to the expo and pick up my packet (shirt and race bib!), but we'll see 'bout that) So I'm making the best of it, I guess. Trying to take it easy to make sure I'm ready for work on Monday.

In every sense of the word.

Mind Games

Well, welcome to 2012!  I have zero excuses for my slackerness, so I suppose I'll just move right into the post.  But for the record, I've written countless blog posts in my mind that I simply never actually sat down and typed.

This usually happens while I'm running.  Particularly my long runs on the weekend, when I have considerably longer chunks of time to distract myself from the actual work my body is doing.  I've also "written" lots of emails, to-do lists, and made all sorts of plans for myself.  All in my head.  That all get left on the trail.

My long runs have gotten progressively longer, as I've now registered for not one, but TWO Half-Marathons this spring! One in March, close to home, and one in April at the Outer Banks.  I had been increasing my mileage pretty slowly at the end of last year, and then I realized I had to step it up a bit.  So, starting in January, I increased my long run by 1/2 mile each week.  At this writing, I finished a long run of 10 miles on Sunday, and will do 10.5 next weekend.  Sounds crazy, right!?!?!

I have developed some rules and mind games while I run, to keep me distracted motivated.  When I'm on the American Tobacco Trail (a great place to run, by the way!), I *have* to run in transitional areas.  This means bridges, tunnels, cross-walks, and gates.  And there are quite a few of these, so it means I don't get too comfy while I walk.  I also listen to the same music mix each time, and try to get to a certain spot or mile marker before a specific song snippet comes on.  For example, I try to be right around 3 miles when the Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" clip comes on, and somewhere around 5 miles when the Bruce Springsteen clip comes on (I know, crazy song combos, right?).  So far, this works for me. 

And if all else fails, I count my footsteps.

Gratitude

I'm a bit of a Facebook junkie.  I'm on there a LOT.  I don't play the games and all of that crap, though, I really do use it as a tool to keep up with friends (and family) near and far, and organizations that I support.

One thing I've noticed people posting about since the beginning of November is GRATITUDE.  Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, it makes sense to take some time to reflect.  I can't say that I express my gratitude very often, but it's never too late to start. 

So, here's my Grown-Up Gratitude List (not in any particular order, and it is in no way complete):

1.  My husband:  He is my best friend, and tells me daily how much he loves me.  No matter where I am, when I'm with him I feel like Home.  I could say so much more, but I'll start crying, so I'll leave it at that.

2.  My Mom:  I would not be the woman I am now if it were not for how she raised me and how I saw her live her life.  I'm strong, independent, stubborn, and love coffee and crossword puzzles, all because of her.

3.  My Friends: I've got a great network of friends, some who have known me since I was in Junior High, some I've met only recently.  They are a very diverse group of people, and they make me laugh, cry, and drive me crazy (or do crazy things), but I would not be the person I am today without them, either.

4.  Cats:  I love my kitties, they are my fur babies, and petting them is my daily therapy.

5.  Autumn:  The colorful leaves, the changing sunlight, the crisp air.  It makes me feel recharged and renewed.

6.  The Pacific Northwest:  The part of the world my late father always called "God's Country".  I did not appreciate the beauty and richness of this area until I did not live there anymore.  Now I feel like I'm not quite complete unless I've touched my toes into the sands of Cannon Beach, walked through the stalls at Saturday Market, or watched Mount Hood or Mount Rainier change as the sun sets.

7.  My body and brain:  I am becoming stronger than I ever knew I could, and am constantly learning and changing how I think, feel, and move.  It's an amazing gift that keeps on giving.

K... I'm stopping there for now.  Perhaps I'll add more later on this month...

What are YOU grateful for?

Super Slacker

Wow!  I guess it's a good thing I don't have a lot of followers, since I seem to suck at blogging.

It's been a busy few months since I last posted, considering it's now OCTOBER! :)

I've been a runnin' machine, for one thing, and as I've learned more and more about successful, healthy running, I decided to add in some cross-training.  So, I joined a gym.  It offers great group classes, and I've gotten into three of them that I'm going to try to do regularly:  Pilates class on Monday mornings (super stretching and core work!), Total Body Conditioning class (oh, the lunges, the squats, the push-ups!), and Sh'Bam! (a high-cardio, high-fun dance-ish class).  I also thought that, as it gets colder and the sun rises later, a treadmill could be a useful tool to continue my training.

Which brings me to the Next Awesome Thing: a new goal!! I think in my last post I mentioned a goal of running a 10k.  Well, pbthththth on that goal.  I've done not one, but TWO 10k races so far, and another one planned for November!  So my new goal: a half-marathon!  I'd love to do the Princess Half at Walt Disney World, since I've never been there, but it's awfully expensive to get there.  The hubby keeps trying to get it to work with our finances, so we'll see.  The one I definitely plan on running is the Flying Pirate Half at the Outer Banks, NC.  One of my besties will be flying out here with her family to run it with me, and I'm so excited!!!!


So, that's it for my running stuff... 

slow and steady finishes the race, right?

A fresh start (blog-wise, anyways)!

I know this blog has covered a lot of stuff: wedding planning, house-buying, master's degree-earning, job- saving, and even Europe-traveling!  Well, it's still going to cover a lot of the random events and activities in my world, but will also focus a lot on my new-found obsession: fitness and good health.

I'm constantly trying to lose weight, I have been for most of my life.  Some times are more successful than others, obviously, or  I wouldn't still be struggling with it.  But I set a goal for myself to increase my activity, specifically my cardiovascular activities.  

I had my annual physical in January of this year, which included blood work.  My doctor wanted to have a detailed cholesterol test done, since my family history is not great in this area, and sure enough, the bad cholesterol is rearing it's ugly head (thanks Mom!).  The foods that I eat are pretty healthy as it is (lots of whole grains, very few fried foods, lots of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins), so the one area I could do a lot of work with is my exercise.  I am a big fan of yoga, but hadn't been getting my heart rate up with any intense exercise on a regular basis.

So, in came my goal for the year: to train for and run a 5k.

I found the Couch to 5k Running program, which looked great to me.  It is intervals of time, to build up endurance gradually, walking and jogging until you are able to run 30 minutes non-stop.  I LOVED it! I still love what it did for me -- it made me LOVE running! I've tried jogging before, and hated it.  And I think that's because I tried to do too much, too fast.

I finished the program in May, and have done three 5k races and one 4-mile race so far.  I'm now changing my goal (adding on to it, really) from training for and completing a 5k to training for and completing a 10k!  I just registered for one on October 1, and have been looking at training plans to get myself ready.  I've been doing boot camp classes for cross-training, and am loving that "oh, I'm so sore" feeling from my muscles being used in new ways.  

So, stay tuned and we'll see what happens.

Run, Forrest, RUN!

I have this habit each year of picking goals or projects to work on, and this year I set a goal for myself of running in a 5k.  So, I've started running.  Well, really it's more of a jog.  Or, as my friend Amy calls it, "wogging" -- a combination of walking/jogging.  That really is more appropriate, as I'm not very fast.  And I feel like I should apologize to my neighbors who have to watch me out there three days a week.

I found a training program online called "Couch to 5k" which has a 9 week program of walking and jogging intervals that eventually lead you to jogging for 30 minutes non-stop (which, I suppose, would be enough time for most folks to run a 5k).  I also found a podcast that uses music to signal when to walk or jog that corresponds to the Couch to 5k intervals, and it's been great to not have to look at a watch and keep track of time, but concentrate on my form and breathing. I started in February, and with only one week that had to be repeated (I got really sick in March), and have now successfully completed the program, and I love it!  I'm still jogging 3 days a week, and have completed two 5k races so far.  I have another one in June, and hope to sign up for one each month to help keep me training.

The challenge I'm facing is my weight loss.  I know that I'm gaining muscle, but I don't seem to see much difference in how my clothes are fitting, and very little change in my weight on the scale each week at Weight Watchers.  I've been pretty frustrated with it for several weeks now, and am working on adding healthy proteins to help my metabolism.  I started eating almonds as a snack at work, which had been great, until I broke a tooth!  *sigh*  Now I have a temporary crown and have been banned from eating hard, crunchy foods. 

I'm waiting for my dentist to call and tell me my permanent crown is ready to be installed, something I'm not looking forward to, but hopefully it won't keep me from my weekly jogs!

Save Wright School!

Friends in North Carolina, PLEASE!

There are cuts to the budget that are necessary, but please don't let mental health services be one of them!

Yes, I do work at Wright School, but I write this as a concerned citizen of North Carolina who wants our children with special needs to have quality services to help them with their mental health needs.

Time is running out! Please do what you can! :) Help us to help these kids and their families!

Dear Friends of Wright School (or those who know how important mental health services are)

(Most of this post comes courtesy of Rebecca Viverette: she worded it so well I didn't feel the need to change anything)

It was your support two years ago that has allowed Wright School to continue to serve children, families and communities. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. The time has come once again to advocate for Wright School so that it remains in the state budget. Though Wright School is currently in Governor Perdue's proposed budget, we have recently learned that a plan to close Wright School was presented to the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee for Health and Human Services. Time is of the essence and your support is of the utmost importance. We have many new legislators that need to be educated about the scarcity of quality resources available to children with severe mental illness and their families in their communities, and about the great work being done by Wright School. You may help by choosing one of the following most effective ways to advocate:

1. Face to face meeting with your legislators
2. Phone call to your legislators
3. Hand written letter
4. Personal email
5. Form letter or email

At the bottom of this post is a sample document, with detailed information about the program. Personalized letters are the most effective, and the two attached documents can be used as sources for talking points or templates for letters. Click on the following link to find the contact information for your legislators: http://www.ncleg.net/GIS/RandR07/Representation.html. Please make contact with members of the House by March 31st, as they will complete their revisions of the budget and pass it to the Senate in April. We would like to hear back from you. It is helpful to know which legislators have been contacted.

You may also send Governor Perdue (governor.office@nc.gov) a note of gratitude for keeping Wright School in her version of the budget. We were not in her proposed budget two years ago, and your letters and support are part of the reason Wright School is in it this year. Thank you again for your continued support!

___________________________________

Dear (Name of your legislator):

I understand that the task of balancing the State budget is more challenging than ever, and I support your efforts to do so in a way that preserves programs that work. Wright School is a best practice, short term, high quality residential treatment center for children with severe emotional, behavioral and learning difficulties whose needs can't currently be met in their communities. One of the program's foremost goals is to identify, strengthen and form alliances with community resources to support the children and their families when they return to their communities.

I urge you to visit the school and see for yourself! You will find that:

·        Wright School provides best practice treatment that works. 

A research study, conducted by Duke University and published in 2006, shows that Wright School’s treatment program DOES make a positive difference for children with challenging and troubling behaviors. To read more about Wright School’s outcome study, go to   http://www.wrightschool.org/study.htm

·        Wright School serves and strengthens communities across the state that have scarce resources or have exhausted their resources.

·        Wright School serves children and families from all counties in North Carolina whose Local Management Entities (LMEs) approve their application for admission to the program.

·        Wright School’s safety record is exemplary.

·        Wright School is the only non acute care state operated facility that provides residential treatment for school age children with severe behavior problems.

·        Wright School is a highly cost-effective treatment program that serves as an alternative to the medical model of acute inpatient hospitalization for stabilization.

·        Wright School also serves as a training site for the professionals of tomorrow. 

Please support this program. If you can, visit the school and talk to the staff. It is really a stellar example of a program that works.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

__________________________________________________________

Okay... finally back to the present day!

I just wanted to make it official -- I've finished my London/Ireland blogs!!!!!  It only took10times longer than the trip itself, but now it's finished!

Now, to present day posting.  Yay!

Epilogue to the European Whirlwind

Well, we got up early to catch the bus to the airport, luggage in tow.  It was a quiet flight back for us, long, but we were pretty tired and eager to get home.  It was an AMAZING trip, but we were both really homesick, missing our husbands...

Turns out there were crazy thunderstorms in Chicago, where we landed back in the states.  As soon as we able to turn on our phones, we were bombarded with texts and voicemails from Michael, Joe, and the airline, letting us know that our flights to our respective homes were canceled. ACK!  We got in line to claim our luggage and I was able to get re-booked onto a flight from O'Hare to LaGuardia, and then back to RDU.  Brian, unfortunately, would have to wait until the next day to get to Seattle.  Which really sucked, because he was supposed to go back to work that day, and now had to pay for a hotel and wait another day.  My flight to New York was uneventful, and I waited for a few hours in the crappiest rat-hole of an airport I've ever seen -- LaGuardia airport SUCKS!! It smells, it's old, and I was so annoyed at how long it was taking to get home, I was in a really bad mood.

Finally, I made it home, and as I headed toward the baggage claim area to meet Joe, I was peeling off layers of coats, since it was 75 degrees in NC!  Joe was actually waiting right outside the security area, and I have never been so glad to see him!  Home at last, exhausted.  Brian made it home the next day.

What a wonderful trip! Brian and I both want to go back to Ireland (and I want to go back to England), but next time, we'll bring the hubbies with us :).

Monday -- a Bunch of Blarney

This is going to be short... it's been a long day, and I'm pretty beat.


We got up at the buttcrack of dawn to catch a shuttle bus to the airport. We flew to Cork this morning, and then took a bus to Blarney Village and the Blarney Castle grounds.  Wow! It was an amazing trip!  Beautiful, mystical grounds, and an amazingly clear gorgeous day!  They really dangle you waaaay down to kiss the Blarney Stone!

After we toured the Castle we explored some of the grounds.  We were able to see some ancient rock formations and a Druid cave.  Oh, and some fairies, too -- "Heyyyyy!" :)

We took the bus back to Cork to have a late lunch, and then caught a bus to get back to Dublin.  It was a long trip, even though it was an Express bus route.  By the time we got back to Dublin we ate dinner, and went to have an Irish Coffee at the hotel bar before going up to pack.  We head home tomorrow, bright and early!

G'night!

More pictures (click here!)

October 23, 2010 -- Dublin on a Sunday

Dublin was much better today. Cold, but dry. We walked ALL over today, saw a whole lot, all on foot. We got up early, and left the hotel to find some breakfast, and it was SO COLD outside!!!  And windy, too!  Well, we walked down the middle of O'Connell Street (the median is rather large), found our airport shuttle bus stop for tomorrow and Tuesday, and took lots of picture of the art installations down the median -- statues, mostly, and a really tall spire.

We walked down to the river, found the Ha'Penny Bridge and did our morning self-portrait.  We crossed the bridge to head to Grafton Street to find coffee.  Being Sunday, however, in a church town, not much was open at 7am -- except Starbucks.  *sigh*  So, we caved, had lattes and pastries, and thawed out for a bit to figure out our plan.  From there we walked to St. Stephen's Green -- WOW!!!! It was beautiful and AMAZING! Lots of monuments, gardens, fountains, benches, and green spaces.  Lovely, truly lovely.  Left there and headed toward the "Cathedral District."  Went to St Patrick's Cathedral (of course), saw a bunch of other churches, as well as St Patrick's Park.  "If it's old, it must be important and therefore I must take a picture of it" became my picture-taking mantra :).

We stumbled upon Dublin Castle, and impulsively decided to take the tour -- super interesting!!  Ate lunch nearby, and headed back out.  Wandered down to Dublinia, a Medieval Interpretive Center that looked interesting from the outside, but it was way way expensive to get in, so we passed on it.  SO, what was left to do in Dublin? The Guinness Storehouse, of course!!  We took the tour -- it was AWESOME!  The atrium was designed to look like a giant pint glass (the world's largest, to be exact) -- very cool.  The tour takes you from the ground floor, and spirals up, and goes through the brewing process and how it has changed over the years.  At the very top is the Galaxy Bar or something like that (Gravity Bar, actually), and it had the most AMAZING views of Dublin -- almost 360 degrees around!  We were able to get a free pint of Guinness as a part of the tour, and it was THE BEST PINT !! So yummy and smooth... mmmmmm.  We met an Irish Rugby team there, and they invited us to join them for the evening, but we politely declined.  I don't think we could keep up (or come close!) with them.

The last thing that I really wanted to do? The Leprechaun Museum.  Unfortunately, though, it closed about 30 minutes before we got there... so sad :( ... I was disappointed, but we wandered off to a nearby bar called The Church -- it really is an old church!  It now houses a bar/cafe/restaurant/lounge-y kind of place, but the still has the structures and details of a church.  Including the organ pipes and marble carvings of bible verses and monuments on the walls!  Brian and I each had an Irish Coffee there, and left to find dinner at a more affordable place.

We went back to the hotel to settle in early, since we have to get up early to fly to Cork and kiss the Blarney Stone!

G'Night!

Some pictures (click here!)

Dublin!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

We made it to Dublin!

We're tired and it's raining like crazy, fits the mood, I guess.

We found the hotel, and wandered Dublin a bit. We saw the Book of Kells -- the Long Hall is amazing! We found a pub in the Temple Bar area that had some awesome Trad music, but it was also crazy-crowded! We had a couple pints, ate at another pub, and headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow's our one day in Dublin, to see the sights, so we have to figure out the plan.

Me, I'm not so enthusiastic today. I'm homesick, and miss Joe terribly. The rain didn't help much either, but hopefully things will be better after a good night's sleep.

Goodnight!

FRIDAY! (October 22, 2010)

** Note to any readers (if there are any): I've been lame and not finished the Ireland Poo Journal entries, but I'm back at it! I think, though, that I will finish them without photos, as you can see the pictures at http://s1090.photobucket.com/home/orshadow2010/index **

We stayed in town, taking a taxi to St. Patrick's Cathedral & then walked around all day. It was great! Except for the wind and rain.

We saw some lovely sights, went to a lot of shops, and got our TATTOOS! They look awesome, and had a great experience with the tattoo artists. Inkfingers in Galway was the studio, and Steve (from Australia) and Joe (from Ireland) were our artists, and it was LOVELY!

Brian and I wandered into some pubs on our list, and we heard some Irish music at a couple of them. (Brian had a Galway pub list downloaded to his iphone, along with a walking tour and historic sites!) And we also enjoyed pre (and post) tattoo Irish Coffee at Taaffe's (I think that's how it's spelled!). Yummy! Just like Grandma's -- heavy on the "wee bit"! :)

So, we did a little souvenir shopping, at some fantastic fish and chips at McDonagh's (so good!), lovely tea and scones, and more Guinness, of course :). A good day overall.

We made it back to the B&B, and figured out our bus transport to Dublin, took pictures of our tats, and sent them to the hubsters. We're pretty much packed, so we'll shower and finish packing in the morning, and leave after breakfast.

But now it's time to write some postcards and hit the hay.

G'night!

Off to Inis Mor!

Thursday, October 21

It's been another great day! It was a gloomy, cloudy start, but we decided to brave it and head to the ferry to tour Inishmoor (Inis Mor), the largest of the Aran Islands. We walked down to the bay to catch the ferry shuttle bus (after another yummy breakfast at Amber Hill, and dropping off a bag of laundry). It was crowded, but there were two seats up front (across the aisle from each other). After the icky bus ride to Galway, I decided to get some Dramamine, just in case I needed something a bit stronger than ginger, so I was ready!

The trip was about 45 minutes long, winding around Galway Bay, through several towns and rural areas, including Connemara, I believe. As we went, I saw fewer and fewer signs with any English on them.

We arrived at the ferry port, loaded onto the boat, and found some seats. A lot of older folks on board -- a couple of tour groups, I think. The ferry ride was fairly uneventful, a good sign, considering the rain last night, and the overcast skies both made me worry about water travel... my Dramamine did make me a bit sleepy, though.

Once we left the ferry it was a short walk from the pier to the village of Kilronan, where we decided to get on a mini-coach tourbus. It turned out to be a great way to see the island, that's for sure, but the tour guide was no Desmond :(.


We stopped at the bottom of a steep hill that turned out to be the tallest point of the island. It had a circle fort at the top called Du'n Echla, and there was a signal tower/light house next to it. Well, there were ruins of these buildings there, I should say It was a brisk, steep walk up the hill, but the views were AWESOME! We wandered around, and then headed back down to the mini-coach, and then we drove to another fort area. Well, we actually stopped at a little set of shops and the visitor's center where we went through to get to the actual fort. This fort was called Du'n Aonghasa, and it was 2500 years old! The ruins stood on 300-ft cliffs, so we had another climb to the top. We got some coffee (meh) and some scones (yum!) and off we went! Great views once again, and we even saw a leprechaun's house on the way up!

The walk was great, though a bit rocky. It's a lot like the Burren, rocky, with some grass and vegetation in and around the rocks. And Cliffs!! with NO railings!! Ack it was scary! After spending a long time up there, we wandered down the hill again and did some shopping. We had to wait a while for one of our tourbusmates to come back to the meeting spot -- he was off buying some sweaters. Once we were all there, we loaded back up and went to the ruins of Seven Churches -- amazingly old! 7th or 8th century, I believe. Lots of tombstones and carvings.

We then drove down to the end of the island "as close as we could get to the States". There were two small islands off that coast, but were uninhabited (there's an automatic lighthouse on one now). We saw many thatch cottages, including one from a 1930's movie "Man of Aran" -- sounds interesting. We drove past the Seal Colony, but since the tide was high there were no seals :(... We then headed back to the village and our tour was over.

A bit chilly and hungry, we decided to get some tea and food, and went to the American Bar (where everyone was speaking Gaelic!) for some potato & leek soup and brown bread. So yummy! Refreshed, we shopped some more. Brian bought me a cute little black sheep (since we've decided we're the black sheep of the family), which I promptly named Desmond! I keep adding to his name, too... so far it's Desmond Seamus Patrick... who knows where it will end :)! Now Phil the Squirrel has a friend!

We headed back to the pier, and after nearly being run over by a swarm of old people in a tour group, we loaded up , sat down, and fell asleep. We then got on the bus back to Galway, and it was PACKED! The heat was cranked, and I felt like I was BAKING, so we got off as soon as we could to get some fresh air. We walked to Salthill to find some dinner, and decided to go back to Lohan's (where we ate the first night), and I had a pint of Guinness. It was lovely! Brian added a shot of Jameson's to his (ew! -- the bartender hadn't even tried that before!) Dinner was good, but dessert was DIVINE!! Bailey's Cheesecake! It was like mousse, so yummy! We walked back to the B&B and worked on some details for our Dublin trip (we had to research train v. bus -- bus won out!), and got our laundry back. Yay for clean underwear!!

Now, it's time for bed. No alarms set tonight, we're just waking up whenever. We're going to Galway tomorrow to check it out in the daylight, and possibly get our tattoos! there are some historical sites, too, and hopefully some music to be heard.

G'Night ALL!

What a Wednesday!!!

20/10/10 Wednesday

I have decided that Galway is my long, lost home. I love it!

Well, today started in a bit of a panic, oversleeping by an hour! It worked out okay, though, Brian took his shower as I started gathering stuff together for the day (and had my Nescafe'). When he finished, I hopped in, and Brian went to go talk to Anthony or his colleague Patrick about booking tickets for today on the bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren. Luckily it could be arranged for them to pick us up at the B&B, which gave us some time to eat some breakfast and have some real coffee! Brian opted for the Irish Breakfast, while I chose the continental breakfast (I don't eat pork, and the Irish Breakfast was almost all pork, with 2 eggs and toast)... yum!

We were picked up out front of the B&B, and after picking up some other tourists at other hotels and B&Bs, we went to the bus (or "coach") station and switched over to the actual Tour Coach. It was already pretty full, so Brian went to the back, and I sat as close as I could to the front. I sat next to an older American gentleman who didn't talk much, but appeared to be enjoying himself. We sat across from the bus loo, which stunk a bit the entire day. Yay.

We saw our driver, Ray, and the Tour Guide Desmond, who was Ray's father. It was a DELIGHTFUL trip! I loaded up on ginger this time, and didn't feel sick at all! We stopped a lot, getting out to walk around and take pictures, and lots of fresh air. The views were ALL spectacular, and Des was a wonderful storyteller! I took some video of him, and of the scenery, to try to catch a little bit of his character to take home with me! And I took a bunch of pictures -- so many that my camera battery died!

We stopped at the Ballyalban Fairy Fort, which was really the remains of an ancient ring-fort, or perhaps part of a homestead, but, according to Desmond, is now inhabited by fairies and leprechauns, who will run up your pant leg if you're not careful! :). The Fairy Fort did feel very magical and mystical to me...

Burren means "rocky place," I think, and the area is entirely made up of limestone. It has grass and some flora growing in the cracks of the rocks, but no trees to speak of. We stopped at an ancient tomb, called Poulnabrone Dolmen, that was estimated to have been built 5,800 years ago! amazing!

We walked around it (the tomb itself is protected, of course), and were able to take a tiny piece of limestone with us!




We stopped in Kilfenora, the city of crosses, and there were a bunch there! We walked around an old monastery, and Ray explained some of the things we were seeing in the carvings and the layouts of the rooms, as well as tombs and a graveyard. We learned that the St. Patrick's Cross is really a combination of a cross, the Christian symbol, and a circle, a Pagan symbol (I hope I'm remembering that right!).



We stopped for lunch in a pub in Doolin and had some yummy fish and chips! I also tasted my first Guinness in Ireland -- just a sip of Brian's, since I didn't want to jeopardize my happy tummy travels.




Then there were the Cliffs! Oh. My. God. I was awe-struck, close to tears. It was truly an amazingly beautiful sight. Wow.

(I'm only posting a couple pictures, so the rest you can find on my photobucket.com page...)

We eventually headed back to Galway, serenaded by Ray, the driver, as he sang some songs we might hear in pubs. What a great day!

We were dropped off at the coach station, and we walked to Eyre Square. I finally found an ATM to get some Euro cash! Whew! We stopped in a pub for a beer, and to warm up, then walked around some more to find a pub that served food. We also learned that most pubs that serve food won't have live music -- just not enough space for a kitchen in those pubs!

It started raining after our tour, sprinkling, mostly. We got new calling cards, and went to nearby phone booths to check in on the hubbies. These booths smelled much better than the ones in London, but while I was on the phone some random drunk guy walked up, knocked on the glass, then put his cheek/mouth on it... whatever.

Now we're back at the B&B, and may try to get to the Aran Islands tomorrow (Thursday), but we're going to have to wait and see what the weather brings.

G'night!