31 posts tagged “ireland”
This is the calmest I've ever been before even a day of fun, let alone a week's vacation and travel. I don't know why I'm not having any stress or anxiety, it's not at all like me, but I'm not about to stress over the lack of stress either!
I am feeling some guilt over leaving Mia. I wish she'd focus during her english lessons and learn human language already so I could clearly explain to her that we're not giving her away to strangers and abandoning her, that we want her to have fun exploring a new place for a week, but we can't wait to bring her back home. I miss her when I'm away for a few hours, a week is going to be tough!
I looked out the window this morning and the side yard is filled with little green flags marking the current sewer and water main lines, so that's progress on the plumbing front already. I just need to drop off a house key for them before we leave.
I have a good idea what I need to pack, and it's going to be very light. Clothes will be casual and allowing for layers. I'm going to wear my hiking boots, and that's all the shoe I'll be taking. I wasn't going to take any electronics other than the camera, but now I'm thinking I'll take my mp3 player and my Kindle (for the plane). Aside from that, I'm just going to pack a sketchbook, a pen and some drawing pencils. I'm not even planning on packing much in the way of toiletries, since I'll just hit up a store in Dublin when we get there to get some shampoo and soap and such. Packing will be so easy.
I have a few phone calls to make today, a couple errands to run, a little laundry, some light chores... then it's just time to pack. Now worries at all. ...Which is weird, but also lovely.
What a fabulous afternoon!
We went to the museum and I headed straight for the Chihuly exhibit. It was a decent size exhibit, all stuff from the museum's own collection, but most of which I hadn't seen on display before. He really is great with color and form. There were some gorgeous pieces, many of which had me wondering how they were made.
As we were leaving the exhibit, we walked past the hot shop and saw there'd be a demo in fifteen minutes. I've seen a couple demos there before but I still really wanted to see another. :) We went into the cafe to have a quick bit of refreshment, and just before the demo was supposed to start, I noticed the studio was near full. Glass walls, you see. (Pun intended.) We chugged what was left of our orange juice and snuck into a couple of seats in the back row of the studio.
It was a great demo, a one woman show, which is kind of unusual. She did a great job though, managing all of the pipes and punties all by herself while explaining a ton about glass and the blowing process. It ran almost an hour, and in that time she demonstrated some basic techniques as well as optic molds and thermal shocking for that crackled effect. By the end of the demo, she'd made a gorgeous 10" diameter amber, footed glass bowl with a scalloped edge. She'd used a special glass that gets an irredescant finish when it's flame-treated at the end of the process. I have some of that glass, but I haven't yet figured out how to work it in my torch flame to bring the metals to the surface. Craig very patiently waited while I hung around after the demo to ask a few questions, and I got dibs on the bowl she made! Assuming it survives the annealing kiln, it's reserved for me, and they only charge $50-60 for the bowls made during demos! (Procedes to benefit the museum, of course.) That's 1/3 to 1/6 what you'd pay for a similar piece sold by the artist! I can't wait to go pick it up! It'll be ready Tuesday.
After the glass pavillion, we went back to the main building. We took a quick look through the gift shop, which is a fabulous gallery filled with beautiful, original art pieces, lots of which is glass work! Then we attempted to check out the LitGraphic exhibit, but I was too wound up with too much glass on the brain. I couldn't focus on the graphic art at all, so I asked Craig if we could bail and come back to this exhibit another day when I could give it my full attention.
So we were only at the museum for a couple of hours, but it was an absolutely fabulous couple of hours, and it left me totally recharged, wound up, and filled with inspiration.
We did a little shopping while we were out, getting some rain pants to pack for Ireland so we won't get soaked if it starts to rain while we're out tromping through bogs and looking at ruins. :) We each got a few lightweight shirts to pack for the trip too, so we're pretty much ready to go now! ...This is going to be a long week. :D
*And* on top of the awesome time at the museum and the great shopping-fu, we also had a late lunch at Panera. They've brought back their mac&cheese!!! I had a small cup of that sinful yum with one of their fuji apple salads, which are so delicious.
It was a great day out, but it wore me out completely. I'm going to spend the rest of the day just chilling and waiting for bedtime, I think.
I'm so not a multitasker. I know being able to multi-task is a badge of pride these days, but you know what? Fuck that! I can give one thing my full attention, thoroughly accomplish a task with integrity and confidence, and then move on to the next. Multitaskers are always doing just enough to get by. I wasn't designed to work that way. (Another in a long list of reasons why I've never wanted children.)
But, I digress...
Feeling the pressure today. There are too many important issues/concerns on my plate right now, and it's grinding on my nerves hard and fast.
I made the reservations for boarding Mia while we're in Ireland. I can almost check that off my list, except they want to examine her first. I don't think that'll be a problem, but I'd really rather just know that finding a plan for her can be checked off my list of worries already. I feel tons guilty enough about leaving her for a week as it is. So, Friday she has an appointment, and I have all fingers and toes crossed that my sweet (*old*) girl is deemed healthy enough to take on as a boarder, and that she likes it there.
I really need to make a packing plan for Ireland already, while I still have time to acquire any wardrobe essentials that might be needed. We're staying casual and packing carry-on only, so packing light is the name of the game. It's going to be colder and rainier this time around though, so quick-drying layers are ideal. I think I'll sit down with a cup of tea in a bit here and start working on that list, just to get it settled in my mind a little.
Oh yeah! I need to call the bank too and see how much time they need to order some Euros for me. Must have the monies before we leave!
Then there's the party planning. It's nigh impossible to say no when it's for someone you love dearly, but I have to start doing that. "No party planning ever" needs to be one of my hard and fast rules. I do not like parties. Attending them is hell enough, planning them is excrutiating! I've already committed to this one though, so I have no choice but to plow through. I'll have to get back to that today too. I put it on the back burner last week when I had other priority issues eating my time and sanity. I can't put it off forever though. It's been haunting me and I just want to be done with it!
Today's election day. We'll be going out to vote when Craig gets home. Not a big deal there. It's a simple ballot this time and I know exactly how I plan to vote. I still get performance anxiety about it though. My brain and all of it's stupid anxiety! Oh well. That'll be a non-issue by 6pm, ...sooner if I can't manage to push it out of my head, because I'll just go out on my own and get it over with for sanity's sake.
Then there's the plumbing. We're now looking at replacing both the sewer line and the water line. Both need doing, disaster is imminent in both cases otherwise. We're talking about $5k in forseeable expense. Oof. The money's not even the biggest stressor, though it certainly registers! We're also talking two, maybe three days without functional plumbing. Argh. It really needs to be done before permafrost, which means before Ireland and preferably before the party I'm hosting, ...which means work needs to start this week ideally. argh. Not much I can do about that right at this minute other than worry, and worrying gets nothing done, so for today at least, I'm going to try to just not think about it.
There'll be a funeral for one of my great aunts this week too. I can keep that bit of stress out of my head for now because details haven't been arranged yet. Hopefully it won't coincide with Mia's vet appointment or the start/progress of plumbing work, because we're down to the wire on those things which need to happen ASAFP and I don't have rescheduling options.
Ok. So if I can get at least three of those things taken care of so they're not weighing on me any more, *then* I can start thinking about the holidays. I really need to jump on that as soon as possible, because holiday stress builds exponentially for me with every passing day.
I do feel better just for having listed it all out though, honestly. All that vague pressure and sense of impending doom never looks as bad when it's organized and prioritized. It'll look even better if I can deal with some of it and just get it crossed off the list though, so I'd better get to it now.
I'm getting so very excited about our upcoming vacation. When our travel agent started looking at airfare, the best route to Ireland was through Amsterdam, so Craig asked him to give us a one day layover on our way home so we could have a little time to get a quick peek at the city. It's not a lot of time at all, not for some place we've never been, but it's a nice way to audition the city for future vacation plans. I figure we'll probably have enough time to check out a museum or two, walk around a bit to get a taste of the city, and find a good restaurant for dinner. The Steltman Gallery that features Michael Parkes' lithographs is in Amsterdam, so I'm going to have to look up the location and hours for that. :) WOOT! I love exploring new places!
I'm totally stoked about the driving tour through Ireland though! I'm looking forward to going back to a few of our favorite spots like Cashel, Ennis and Slea Head, but I'm also looking forward to seeing new places like Dublin, Connemara and Galway! I'm looking into a visit to the Hill of Tara too, hoping to see it before the M-3 highway project trashes too much of it. It looks like our suggested driving route takes us pretty damn close to the area on the way back to Dublin, so it shouldn't be too difficult to work it in.
It'll be good to experience the weather in Ireland in November too, given how much I currently want to move there. I did some quick research, and it looks like November can be rainy with a chance of snow. I don't know why, the thoughts of warmer sea air probably, but I wasn't expecting that Ireland ever saw much snow. I still want to move there, my thinking being that we'd be close enough to the mountain ranges of Europe for some awesomely snowy winter vacations if I really needed a snow fix. I told Craig though, if it snows in Ireland while we're there, I'm taking it as a serious sign that we're supposed to stay.
I went and looked up all of our hotels yesterday, and they are swank! They all have fitness centers and pubs and complimetary breakfasts. The hotel in Killarney has a *gorgeous* pool, and the Galway hotel has a spa with all sorts of crazy offerings including an ice cave(!) ...whatever the hell that is. *L* Of course, I don't expect to be spending enough time in our hotel to take advantage of most amenities, but it's still nice to know we'll be staying in clean, beautiful, comfortable places, and the fitness centers and pool could come in handy if I can stay disciplined enough to get through a daily workout when there's so much sight-seeing to do. ...Honestly, I'm not going to feel *at all* guilty if there's too much to see to make time for working out, but it's nice to know I have the option.
I was thinking I'd board Mia at the vets' for the week we're gone, but I'm starting to have second thoughts about that. I have to get out there to see their boarding facilities. She's used to having the run of a quiet house. If they're going to have her in a small cage listening to squaking parrots and exotic birds all day every day, well I don't know if I can do that to her. That's kind of like sending your kid to San Quintin while you jaunt off to Europe for a week. I'm thinking about getting a house-sitter if the boarding thing doesn't look as swank as our hotels are. It's always so tricky making sure our bunnies are going to be well looked after when we travel. I have a few options, I suppose.
We spent an hour outside last night looking for meteors. The neighbor's porch light came on almost as soon as we stepped outside, and it was on for quite a while, but we still managed to see a few meteors despite the light pollution. We counted 13 meteors (numbers 10 and 13 being amazingly huge with long, bright trails), 4 bats, 2 satellite(or ISS?) sightings and countless planes. And I only got a couple mosquito bites. :)
Well, my coffee cup is empty and I'm starting to feel my brain kick in, so I guess I'd better get busy and get some stuff done today. I have big plans for today. Big plans for tomorrow too. ...And Saturday. Pretty much, big plans from here on out for the forseeable future, ...'til the end of the year at least. :) Life is *really* good!
Craig talked to our travel agent today, and has decided he wants to spend his birthday this year in Ireland!!! We'll be gone a week, taking a driving tour, staying in Dublin, Killarney, Galway and back to Dublin! I'm so excited I could scream! I can't wait to see some new things, and I also can't wait to have another pint at The Poet's Corner in Ennis!!! ...And I can't wait to see Slea Head again, our future home!!! I'm so frakking psyched!!!!!!!!!!11!
So Craig came home to tell me all of this exciting news, and then he had more great news to relay. We're finally going to get our money's worth out of our health insurance. They're starting a new wellness program this year. The program allows us to workout at several local gyms, including one that has AN OLYMPIC SIZE LAP POOL!!!!!!! I get to swim again! The wellness program has all sorts of other goodies, like access to personal trainers and dieticians and such, BUT I GET TO SWIM AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today I got a trip to Ireland *AND* access to a lap pool! This is turning out to be one of the best Jen's Big Birthday Months EVER!!! I'm so damn excited!
Longing:
Pain:
My back. I've had backaches before, the ones where you can barely move because your back muscles are just too injured to work. I've never had the kind of back spasm that shoots with a sudden pain that buckles your knees and has you seeing stars though. Not until today. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do to make this better. I've tried hot baths and the occasional anti-inflammatories. I've tried small stretches and very careful movement. I'm at the stage now where I'm considering a few hours on my back with my feet elevated - but damn how I hate to be so immobile. This is day four of the kind of pain that interferes with normal life, and I'm really sick of it. I do NOT want to go to the doctor. I need to fix this. If any of you people out there have experience with back pain and you want to shoot some suggestions my way, I'd be very grateful. It's my lower back and hips that hurt. I can sit somewhat comfortably, and walk comfortably, but it's the transitions from one to the other that bring me to my knees. At least we'd planned for a weekend in. Still, I'm SO done with this!
You can keep your "Jigg's Dinner" (which is Canadian, not Irish!), and give me an Irish breakfast!
We went out for dinner last night to Claddagh with Dave and Kelly. There were a few yummy temptations on the menu, but I had to go with the "Bangers and Mash" so we'd have some sausages to take home for breakfast this morning. Yum!!!
Even with the yummy Irish sausages, my breakfast of eggs on bread with sausage still pales in comparison to what we were offered every morning in Ireland no matter where we were:
- eggs on toast
- sausages
- rasher bacon
- black & white puddings (Yum! Really wishing I had some!)
- tomatoes & mushrooms
...and then you had access to the breakfast bar with the following:
- porridge
- granola-type cold cereal
- fruit salads
- yogurt
- and I think there was a bread option, like pastries or bagels or muffins or something, but who could want that with all the other delicious options?!
I think that's everything. Oh, and coffee or tea, of course! And juice.
The breakfasts we started each day with in Ireland were fine feasts indeed! A very filling meal before days of driving and hiking around the countryside. Good times. *sigh* My breakfast today is but a small representation, but I do love these Irish sausages! Mmm, tastes like Ireland! :)
Craig, when can we move there???
Now that 2007 is over, I can blog my best moments. I was pretty damn sure that nothing in those last days could possibly top my very favorite memories, but you never want to close the door on those kinds of possibilities.
2007 was a very good year for us. I made a lot of progress in figuring out how to care for my allergies and asthma through nutrition rather than pharmaceuticals. We got rid of a ton of "stuff" that was taking up valuable space in our house. After *many* years of thinking myself "too busy", I finally got my beloved reading habit back and ripped through 50 (almost 52) books this year as opposed to the usual 3-4 of recent years. I also got my whole fabulous book collection cataloged on LibraryThing.com. Craig and I (Uncle Geek & Aunt Meanie) got a new nephew and were asked to be Truman's godparents (*LOVE*). We had lots of very happy memories with friends and family. Also very worth mentioning that we didn't lose anyone.
But my absolute best memories from 2007, and honestly, some of the very best memories of my whole life, came from our very first trip across the ocean back in April. That trip to Ireland with my husband (*love*), Stephanie, Dave, Anne and Roger (some of my very favorite people) was the trip of a lifetime and my heart still feels like it'll burst with happiness just revisiting the memories.
Among the highest points of 2007, and really my life:
...waking up at 4am local time in The Old Ground Hotel in the middle of Ennis to complete silence, standing at the open window admiring the mist covered church and just marveling in complete amazement at finally being in Ireland and fulfilling a lifelong dream.
...the moments I got to spend alone sitting at the well in Liscannor, a site considered sacred even before Christians dedicated it to St. Brigid.
...my husband taking me by the hand to lead me into the cloister at Muckross Friary ruins in Killarny National Park to see the most beautiful tree I could ever imagine, a hundreds of years old yew tree that you'd never know was there from the outside of the building.
A million, billion thank-yous to my husband and BFF for all he did to make that trip a reality. It was the best thing I've ever done and there's no one in the world I would've rather shared it with!
We've been discussing travel plans for 2008 and, in the name of respecting our finances, we'll probably stay local this year. We're talking about weekends at Hocking Hills, Hueston Woods, maybe a couple days on the lake at Maumee Bay, and a day canoing the Au Sable. There will also be long weekends with friends at a distance, especially those in Baltimore (MISS YOU GUYS!!!).
But we've also started talking about getting more use out of our passports. I have one now and I intend to use it as much as possible. Sometime in 2009 or 10 we're thinking a week or more in Scotland, or maybe a short, more metropolitan week in London. I want to start planning even beyond that though, because for my third trip across the seas, I do want to go somewhere non-english speaking, and I want to plan far enough in advance that I have time to learn a little of the local language. ...Or maybe we should just jump in with both feet and look to make it to Morocco or Egypt next. You never know how long you have, and there's *SO* much out there to see and experience. Amsterdam could be fun too. So many possibilities...
Once in a while I see a movie I like so much that I know I must have it on DVD. This is not a common thing. I've seen lots of movies I've absolutely loved, but don't really feel the need to own and have ready to watch at a moment's notice. Today, however, I found one of those must-have films.
Today we caught a matinée of I Am Legend. It was a really good movie, but then we came home and watched Black Sheep. Weresheep. I must own this DVD.
My Ireland people, remember that look-out point and the crazy flock of sheep that had us all in stitches? Yep, just like that, but with lots of stage blood and spare parts.
I waaaay overslept today, but I don't feel at all guilty about it, so NYAH! I made myself get up at 10:30am, though I could've easily dropped back off to sleep for another hour or three. Something in the house smelled go'od! I came downstairs just as Craig was plating up the dutch baby he'd made for breakfast. Gods, how'd I get so lucky to marry a man who likes to make breakfast on the weekends?! It definitely makes up for the fact that he doesn't sleep in. ;)
I'm still in my pajama pants and tank top. My shoulders are cold, but it feels so good that I don't want to cover them. Mmmm, cold. We're getting closer to my kind of weather! Lovely morning/afternoon!
My asthma wasn't as bad yesterday until the evening when it started troubling me again. I'm okay so far today, though I have a cough now, which I'll take over limited breathing ability any day! Makes me think I was right about having a chest cold coinciding with the time of the month when my hormones make my asthma worse. It's always so hard for me to tell what's some new germ, and what's asthma and allergies as usual. Whatever. It's history now. Hormones are settling back down and I'm breathing freer. Most importantly, I got through it without prednisone! I hate it when my doc puts me on that vile shit, though I admit it does help a ton when I'm having a scary time just breathing. This time my stubbornness wins though! No 'roids! ...Just say no. *nods*
I'm having a hard time starting my day. I've grown a bit used to biding my time while sitting on my ass these past couple of days. Still, I have a ton of chores to catch up on and a ton of fun stuff tempting me. I'm not going to go nuts on the chores and fill my lungs with dust again, but there are some things that are really bugging me. I'll take it slowly and probably wear my respirator.
Screw the work though! I want to play!!! It looks way too breezy to play with my torch today. I have plans to clean off the chest of drawers in the mudroom and use that as workspace, with a fan in the window to vent fumes, but that's WAY too dusty to be cleaning off while trying to get over a chest cold. Soon though.
There are so many other fun things I could do today though. It's going to be hard figuring out how to use my time. This is the exact thing that usually bottlenecks me and finds me watching the day slip by while doing nothing more than trying to figure out what to do first. No more. A to B to C to... Just do it. Just do *SOMETHING*! Anything, even the wrong thing, is better than nothing! Damn my obsession with always needing to identify the absolute best options.
And then I started a new book yesterday which is also calling me. I'm finally reading "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury, and what a fabulous read so far! The man makes such a splendid use of words. I find myself sinking into his creepy velvet painting as soon as I start to read, feeling it engulf me and cut me off from the world around me, pull me into a beautiful nightmare. It's a delectable treat of a read so far. I'm terribly tempted to ignore everything else flashing at me in red letters on my task list, and just drop into this book until it's done.
So, to sum up, I'm feeling better, well fed and loved, and sitting at the start of a good day full of great possibilities in near perfect weather. Life doesn't get much better than this! ...I mean, of course it would be better if I were writing all this from my home in Slea Head, Ireland instead of Delta, OH, but Delta's pretty damn decent ...for now.
