Packing, packing, packing!

As I write this, I am surrounded by boxes.  We are moving to a different place in less than 3 weeks, and I leave for Minnesota for 10 days on Thursday!  A couple of weeks ago we decided to look for a new abode.  We viewed one place last Friday night, fell in love with it immediately, and put the deposit down last Saturday.  Currently we rent a 2-bed apartment and Paul's office, so we're combining the two into a 3-bed duplex.  We've decided to stick with renting for now, and we got a great deal on the new place.  I am so excited because it has a dishwasher, 2 1/2 bathrooms, and TONS of storage, including an attic!  So, when you come visit there will be a bit more room for you now!  We'll be moving on Friday, August 7th (4 days after I get back from MN), so I'm trying to get nearly everything packed and ready to go before I leave on Thursday.

I am really looking forward to my trip to MN!  My friend Meghan is getting married on the 25th, and I plan on meeting up with quite a few friends and family too.  I plan to play tourist as well, hitting up the MN Zoo and Science Museum.  I'll be sure to get pictures up of my trip and our new place as soon as I can!

We took in a Bruce Springsteen concert on Sunday night- he is incredible!  He played for about 3 hours straight.  Not bad for a man of nearly 60!  

Sorry the posts have been infrequent and this is quite short, but the empty boxes are calling!

June Recap

Where has the month of June gone?  The weeks of summer are flying by for me.  Here's a recap of what we were up to this month:

-First weekend in June was a Bank Holiday- spent some time in Louisburgh, then went on to Galway for a night to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday

-Saw the theatre version of "The Shawshank Redemption" at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin

-In Louisburgh last weekend for a wedding reception on Saturday night and celebrated Father's Day and my birthday (a bit early) on Sunday

-Have enjoyed the nice weather- it's been around 70 degrees Fahrenheit (I know it's not as warm as it is in MN, but still warm for here!) and sunny for quite a few days this month

-Today we spent the day enjoying the sunshine in two seaside towns just north of Dublin- Howth and Malahide.  We walked along the pier in Howth, had lunch, then relaxed on the sprawling lawn of Malahide castle with the newspaper.

-Have been working, and I have been trying to get to classes at the gym on a regular basis.  Paul has been out on his bike every week.  For my birthday I got a set of golf clubs from Paul and his parents and sister, so hopefully we'll be out on the course soon.

-We've decided to hold off on buying anything in Dublin at the moment.  The economy is still so volatile and property prices are supposed to fall even more, so we're just going to sit tight for a bit.  We'd rather put our resources into starting to build down in Louisburgh.  Hopefully in the next couple of months we'll have the site cleared.  

Here are a few photos from the month:

Flowers from my 95-year old patient that she picked from her garden!

Celebrating my birthday a bit early in Louisburgh last weekend

On the pier in Howth today

Relaxing at Malahide Castle

Overnight Visitor

After getting unpacked and doing all the laundry on Monday, I returned to work on Tuesday.  Paul's sister, Marie, was working in Dublin this week, so she stayed with us for the week.  Last night the two of us went to a couple of shops near our apartment, and when we were getting ready to leave we spotted an adorable little dog wandering around the parking lot.  We waited awhile to see if anyone was with her, but no one appeared.  We asked the security guard in the parking lot about her, and he said she had been there awhile but not with anyone.  She had a collar but no ID tags and was well looked after- beautiful coat and teeth.  We knew she had to be someone's pet and couldn't just leave her to wander near a busy road.

So, we tried taking her to the nearest Garda (police) station.  We were told that normally they would take her, but they had prisoners in all the cells and would have no place to put her.  They gave us the phone number of the dog warden, but when we rang, we got a message saying it was basically a 9-5 service.  We tried ringing another Garda station, but they wouldn't take her because technically she was found in the area of the first station.  There was no way we were going to let such a nice dog wander all night, so we took her back to the apartment.  Meanwhile, Paul was out getting my car serviced in an area where there is no mobile phone coverage, so he had no idea of our adventures.  When Paul finally got home at 11:30 last night he found us sitting up with the dog, and I'm pretty sure it was love at first sight!  He even let her up into the bed because she was whining.  

This morning I rang the dog warden to give the details of the dog but said that we would be more than willing to keep her until her owners were found.  She is such a good dog (perfectly house trained, didn't chew on anything!) that we couldn't bear the thought of her in a pound.  When I was finished with work I took her to a local vet to see if she had a microchip- no luck.  We printed posters, and when I was distributing the one to the security office of the parking lot where we found her, the worker said that someone had just been there with photos looking for the same dog.  We got in contact, and it was a very happy reunion between Penny and her owners.  Turns out their nephew had taken the dog out, switched it's collar with one of his friend's dogs, then lost the dog.  He didn't tell them until 11 at night because he didn't want to get in trouble!  At least it was a happy ending, and below is a photo of Penny.

Honeymoon in Jamaica

We got back this past Sunday night from a wonderful week in Jamaica.  We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios.  After an eventful landing in Jamaica- it was raining, and we were going a bit too fast, so we touched down for about two seconds then took off right away again- we arrived at our resort on Saturday night, the 16th of May.  

We spent time reading, relaxing by the pool/beach, playing chess and ping pong, and enjoying the warmth!  Snorkeling and a glass-bottom boat ride were included at the resort, so we took part in those activities.  We also climbed Dunn's River Falls- Jamaica's famous landmark, went golfing, and spent most of a day at a nearby Sandals resort (Dunn's River).  The mornings were beautiful, and our jet lag worked in our favor.  We were awake by 7 each morning, so we were able to make the most of the day, as it usually got humid and rained in the afternoon.  It was a fantastic getaway!  Here are a few photos.

The beach at our resort

In our villa

Out on the course

After dinner one evening

At the Dunn's River Resort

The beach at the Dunn's River resort

At the Hard Rock Cafe in Ocho Rios

Enjoying one last drink- a virgin Jamaican Smile (half pina colada, half strawberry daiquiri) before getting on the bus back to the airport.

Hurry up Friday!

Our suitcases are packed, and Friday can't come soon enough!  We will be departing Friday evening for London, then on to Jamaica on Saturday to celebrate our belated honeymoon!  I cannot wait for a week of relaxation and warmth!  I'll be sure to get some photos up when we get back.

The first weekend in May was the Bank Holiday weekend, and there was a traditional Irish Music festival in Louisburgh.  We didn't take part in any of the "official" concerts, workshops, or dances, but all of the pubs had groups of musicians who would spontaneously start playing together.  There were also a lot of people around the town, so it was a fun weekend.  Below is Marie and me in Joe McNamara's, one of the pubs.

This past weekend we hosted a poker evening on Saturday.  Sadly, I did not defend my title, but I put up a good fight and ended up finishing third.  We also got a few final bits and pieces for the honeymoon, packed, went to the cinema (saw State of Play with Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck- quite good!), and I did my US tax return.  Now it's just a matter of making it through the work week!  

Updates

Here's a brief update of what we've been up to the past two weeks!

-Attended our friends Stevie and Ness' wedding on Friday the 17th (see photos below).  It was a beautiful and fun day.  The reception was held at an historic house built in the late 1600's- gorgeous! 

-We've been house hunting in Dublin.  We are considering merging Paul's office/storage and our apartment.  For what we are paying in rent for the two we could be paying a mortgage just as easily, and it's a buyer's market now!  We're looking around but still not sure what we'll do.

-Last Sunday was a beautiful day here, and a few friends and I rented bikes and cycled around the Phoenix Park, then went out for dinner.  It was a lovely afternoon/evening.

-Paul was also cycling in the Phoenix Park during the week.  He and a few of his friends are thinking about doing something called GaelForce West this summer.  It involves running, biking, rowing, climbing Croagh Patrick, then biking again.  All in one day!  

-I signed up for and got all of my course materials to do a Diploma in Wedding Planning by distance learning.  It's an area that I think I have strengths in, and who knows where it might take me.  If this course goes well, I am thinking of doing either an evening or distance course in Event Management also.

-This weekend we've been relaxing and catching up on things around the apartment.  We went out for dinner on Friday evening and rented a movie last night.  We had a couple of friends over for breakfast this morning (I even cooked black pudding- yuck!), and Paul has headed off with them to watch a race (the cars that he has raced the past couple of years).  I keep telling myself that I need to get my taxes done this weekend.  If you live abroad, you still have to file but get an automatic two month extension- therefore I'm procrastinating a bit!

-Only a bit less than 3 weeks until our honeymoon to Jamaica!  I can't wait!

The Wedding Party

The first dance- they started off on a slow song, but then it broke into little snippets of about 10-15 other songs like "The Chicken Dance", "Grease Megamix", "I Like Big Butts", and others.  They had it choreographed perfectly.  The best first dance I've ever seen!

Paul and me

Long Easter Weekend

I had the wonderful privilege of having a 5-day weekend this past weekend!  Monday was a bank holiday, Friday our office was closed, and Thursday I used as my "privilege day" (a day everyone in the health service/public service gets to take off some time around Easter).

On Thursday I made a trip up to Banbridge in Northern Ireland (about an hour and a half drive from here) to do a big grocery shop.  The prices are so much cheaper, and the exchange rate between the pound and the euro is in our favor at the moment.  An example- a 1.75 litre of Tropicana orange juice is 5 Euro here!  Ridiculous!  I got it in the North for 2.76 pounds (approx. 3.07 Euro).  I got a trolley full- I was literally having to put my whole body weight into it to steer it around the store towards the end!  Our freezer, fridge, and cupboards are packed.  I figure we should only have to buy milk, bread, and maybe a little fruit for the next month.  A new budget was announced here last week with a few different tax increases, so I imagine this will become a monthly trip for me!

Friday afternoon Marie and Brian drove down to our apartment, then the 4 of us headed down to Tralee in County Kerry.  Paul's mom was already down there- she has a house there and had gone down on Thursday.  On Saturday evening there was an anniversary mass for Paul's granny who passed away a year ago.  After the mass, most of Bridget's 9 brothers and sisters and their families got together for tea and sandwiches.  We got up early Sunday morning and were on the road by 8:30.  That meant we were back in Dublin by noon, which was great.  Paul and I spent Sunday laying on the couch, watching movies, and eating chocolate and candy that we had given up for Lent!  I had brought back a load of candy from the States- Starburst, Peeps, Starburst jelly beans, Nibs, so I broke into those.  We also enjoyed our Cadbury Easter eggs!

Paul did a bit of work on Monday, then we went out for a bite to eat on Monday afternoon and went to a shopping centre south of Dublin to pick up a few things we needed.  It was back to work yesterday, but it's another 3-day work week for me, as we have a friend's wedding on Friday.  I think I could get used to this!

One of my main purchases in the States was a new laptop- we had been using the one Paul has had for about 5 years, and it was getting to be very temperamental.  We decided on a MacBook, and we really like it.  We have become Apple converts!  If you're in the market for a new computer, I highly recommend the MacBook.

Also while I was in MN, my sister gave me the first 3 books in the Twilight series.  I've finished the first two, can't wait to get through the third, and have rented the movie.  I was a bit skeptical before starting them, but they are great, quick reads.  Not just for teenage girls!  

Here are a few pics from this past weekend!

Paul on the way down to Kerry- we thought we were never going to get there!  With traffic and stops, it took around 4 1/2 hours.  (Less than 3 1/2 on the way back on Sunday!)

These two were taken in Moneygall, County Offaly.  Barack Obama's great-great-great grandfather left there for America in 1850.  As you can see, they are quite proud to have a claim to Barack!

My Easter egg (next to my water bottle to give you an idea of the size).  It came in a box with 3 full sized chocolate bars.  Like the egg wasn't enough!