Mayo Association Dinner Dance

Paul has become involved in the Mayo Association here in Dublin (there are branches all over the world for people originally from Mayo), and their annual Dinner Dance was this past Friday night in Dublin. A few of us from Louisburgh attended and had a great night!

Amie and Mike

There were over 600 people in attendance and over 60 raffle prizes. Amie won Paul's donation of lighting- what are the chances?!?

Paul and Me

Weekend in Edinburgh

The weekend of January 21-23 a group of us headed over to Edinburgh to celebrate a few 30th birthdays. We took in a lot of the sights and enjoyed nights out. Here are a few pics!

Martin on the tour bus

Bagpipes!

Paul at the Scotch Whisky Experience

Sean, Jean(one of the birthday girls!), and Paul at Edinburgh Castle

The gun is called "Mons Meg"

Christmas in Louisburgh

We spent a nice, long Christmas break with Paul's parents in Louisburgh. We got down on Thursday the 23rd, and I came back up to Dublin on New Year's Day to get unpacked and settled in before heading back to work tomorrow. Paul will be getting a lift back with a friend later today.

We went to church and opened gifts on Christmas Eve, then ate ourselves into a coma on Christmas Day. I did the turkey again this year, and I was quite proud of how it turned out! Over the few days we got in lots of time by the fire, read, watched tv, went to the cinema, visited friends and family, and checked out the after-Christmas sales. It was a really nice, relaxing holiday!

Christmas Happenings

As we were snowed in a lot during December, it gave me a chance to break in my birthday/Christmas gift from Paul- a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. I love it!

Paul and I got in the Christmas spirit one Friday evening by taking in the Christmas markets in Dublin. We drank mulled wine and punch, ate German sausages, and browsed around the stalls. Snow was falling gently, so it made for a lovely evening!

The Saturday night before Christmas, I had a girl's Christmas night out in Dublin- we went out do dinner, then drinks. Here's a few of us enjoying the evening.

The Big Freeze- Again and Again

We arrived back in Dublin on the morning of December 1st, and we were quite lucky to arrive when we did- the airport had been closed up until about an hour before we landed and closed again a few hours later due to snow. Ireland was experiencing freezing temperatures and snow for about five days before we got back, and it lasted another ten days after we got back. I made it to work each day, but we didn't do any home visits because the roads were so bad. The main roads were bad, and the secondary roads and estates were terrible. The army was driving the public health nurses around, but unfortunately us physios don't rank that high! Paul and I even got to go sledding- mind you, it was on a garbage bin lid because they don't sell sleds here!

We got a reprieve for about a week and a half before it hit again. In the week before Christmas, it took one of my co-workers 4 hours to get home one evening (typically a 30 minute drive)! We also lost water in our office because the pipes were frozen and again, no home visits because the roads were so bad. I finished up work on the morning of Thursday the 23rd, then Paul and I headed to Louisburgh. The drive took us 7 hours! Usually it's 3 1/2 to 4. We arrived safely though, so that's all that matters!

The freezing weather lasted until the day after Christmas, and when things started to thaw, pipes started bursting everywhere. Luckily Paul's parent's house was okay- they did have a burst pipe in the flat attached to their garage, but it was caught quickly and didn't do any real damage. So, Paul and his dad were very busy over Christmas fixing pipes! They were out until 3am Christmas night and rung in the New Year with their heads in a cupboard fixing a leak in a hot water heater!

I think I may start a business importing shovels...

This was the view from our dining room window during the first round of snow-

Thanksgiving in MN

Paul and I made a quick trip to Minnesota for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately it was less than a week, so we didn't get to see everyone that we would have liked to. We did have wonderful hospitality by Justin and Margo and ate ourselves silly at Calef's on Thanksgiving. Margo, Sonya, and I also took part in early morning Black Friday shopping. I got most of my Christmas shopping done while I was there!

Catching Up

So, I'm two months behind! I'll try to get caught up on our happenings for the past several weeks (in a few posts!) In mid-November, one of my sister's good friends, Amanda, came to visit. She had been working in Germany since the beginning of the year and made a quick trip over to the Emerald Isle before heading back to the States in December. We spent some time in Dublin, then drove west to Galway and Mayo. We enjoyed beautiful scenery and lively pubs!