A Foreward: My Life After

Its been awhile since Dublin and I thought after a much needed break I would try to start up again. Although, decidedly, my life is not all that interesting anymore. I'm looking for work. still. A news reporter today just informed me that "the economy is in a jobless recovery from the recession." Well thanks for the red hot update. I could have told you that...if those people would give me job that is.  I mean seriously, I've posted my resume on every website known to the professional world and have only gotten responses from a company that wanted me to sell car wax. At Nascar events. And told me he hated all Virgos when I told him it was my birthday. Rough.

Not that I'm really being that picky. Seriously, but if you're a "big name agency that works with top billed clients worldwide" and you don't have a website? Or samples of the "top notch work" you've accomplished? And you're offices are located in a strip mall in Des Peres? Sketch. For the right company (which could be almost anyone at this point - I'm even rethinking the car wax offer) I'm willing to be completely flexible.  I'm luxuriously low budget and I'll do anything - read intern, bottom of the barrel, ready and eager to pick up your dry cleaning and your spilled coffee - that you would need.  That sounds desperate, and I wish I could say that it wasn't but hey, here we are. Still I understand that's where you have to start and I'm totally fine with that...as long as your company has some basic draws like a name and an address not located 5 minutes from my house because I know West County ain't the up and coming hub of the advertising industry.

For now, I'm babysitting for 3 boys a couple days a week and on the weekends. Hanging out with little boys is completely different than any situation I've ever been in, and in more ways than one it really helps me sharpen up my workplace skills like time management and conflict resolution.  Though I'm sure all offices have problems, I doubt they will be harder to resolve than when 2 boys are trying to kill each other and 1 is trying to climb out the window of the backseat of your moving car. Still, they're really funny and they definitely make life interesting and fun. I get to do things I forgot I love to do like draw on the driveway with chalk and build elaborate forts in the basement.  And the other day when I left one of the boys hugged me and invited me to his soccer game, so the job comes with great fringe benefits on a good day. But then again I'm unprepared to have to outwardly state rules like "Everyone of you will have to keep your pants on today or we are going home" so kids will have to wait until I am infinitely more patient. 

I also work for my Aunt Laura helping make Chambeeze (visit YoungTraditions.com and order yours today!) I used to be a model for the line back in the 80's so I figured I owe some dues. I sort and glue and we chat about everything. Plus, I get to go over in sweatpants so it's really an ideal job. Also, she feeds me lunch which rocks.

I'm going back down to school this weekend which should be exciting.  I haven't been to a single Grove yet so I really can't wait. Lee still lives there and it's nice because I always have a place to stay...I even get my own room so I can spread my stuff out everywhere and be as messy as I'd like... but usually by the end of the weekend were about ready to kill each other which is probably not a good sign if we ever want to seriously cohabitate. Still it's nice to see everyone and catch up on all the gossip I've missed.  To bad we just got our butts handed to us by Bama last weekend...Hotty Toddy.

I loved getting to see my friend Maria a couple weekends ago when he sister got married in St. Louis.  Beth and I attended the reception, which was beautiful, down in the Forrest Park Visitors Center.  Turns out at a wedding where you have no date and know anybody, alcohol fills the void perfectly, and we visited the bar quite frequently whenever it appeared to be a slow song. That is until this small midget of a Mexican man attached himself to me. I couldn't even tell you his name but he wanted my whole life story, even while I was trying to do the Cha Cha slide and conversation is totally inappropriate. It all started when this girl came up and scouted my age and I thought alright, this could work. Now I'll have someone to dance with, or at least someone to go to the bar for me. That is until this short guy appeared from, well probably from behind someone of normal height, and proceeded to badger me across the dance floor until I made Maria's boyfriend, Brad, come sweep me away and pretend we were dating.  Maria's aunt drove us from the reception to a hotel close by and Beth, Maria, and I got to stay in a 6 person suite that the bridesmaids had stayed in the night before.  There was even complementary breakfast. Classy.

I've kept in touch with a lot some people from Dublin.  I still talk to Kaitie and Ben pretty regularly, and of course Lana and Thomas and Charles and all those guys that I see in Oxford.  It was fun have Kaitie and Ben in Memphis, and I'm hopefully planning a trip in the spring to South Carolina to visit Kaitie, Hunter, and their new puppy Chevy! 

Hope all is well. Love, E 

London and the Last Goodbye...

We did so much better in London. We got in super late and took a cab to our hotel (our correct hotel mind you which is always a good start).  The lobby was nice but the halls and our room was so tiny we could barely get our luggage through.  We literally checked in and went to bed. We got up early again on Tuesday.  Beth was the first to shower, and that's when we realized we couldn't turn the water temperature lower than 20*C (or about 90*F).  After that was fixed, we both got ready and headed out, prepared for a full day of sightseeing.  

Luckily, Beth is a planner and we had a whole list of things to accomplish, all arranged geographically.  First, we hit up Kensington Gardens and the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.  Then Hyde Park and Hyde Park Corner (the busiest traffic corner in London).  Then Buckingham Palace (where we didn't see the changing of the guards...we actually didn't see any guards at all. And the Queen wasn't home which was weird because she definitely knew I was coming but whatever.) We stopped and had breakfast then headed to Queen Victoria Station (the biggest tube station in London) and bought day passes. We took the tube to The Eye (the giant ferris wheel) and waited in line until our time to ride.  There was a couple moments of panic when we thought we weren't going to actually get on since we bought our tickets from this really shady street vendor and they had Flight time: 2:30 on July 30th stamped on the back, but all was well and the "flight" took about an hour.  Next we went to Big Ben and House of Parliament, where my camera conveniently died. Then off for a really interesting tour of Westminster Abbey.  We took the tube over to St. Paul's Cathedral (which is HUGE) then walked across Millennium Bridge to the Globe Theater and the Tate Modern Art Museum. Then on the tube again to Piccadilly Circus, where we had drinks and appetizers.  And finally the tube back to our hotel.

We took a nap, and had dinner at a cute little Italian place right down the street from our hotel. After all our travels, we realized we could take the tube from right outside our hotel all the way to the train station where we caught the Express (the 45 minute train that runs from the city to the airport) back to London Stansted. Our plane left at 9:30, so to be there 2 hours early we had to be at the train station at 6:30 to catch the Express which means it was another early morning. But we made the plane with (surprisingly) no problems and we were off to our final day in Dublin.

We picked up my checked bag at lost luggage, and skipped a much needed nap in favor of shopping and doing the Jameson tour (which is way better than the Guinness factory by the way if you ever have to choose).  We ate dinner near our hotel and indulged in a final pint of Hooker (Galway, that is). Then at my mother's insistence we had a drink at the actual Temple Bar (which amazingly I had never been too...at least I don't think I'd ever been there).  Encouraged  by the 2 (or 3) previous pints we headed to Fitzsimmon's Bar down the street and had another pint while listening to this guy with a great voice singing all sorts of American songs. Then back home for a final pint in the hotel bar, and therefor I blame my mother for my slight hangover on the flight home.  

Which seemed way longer (and actually was an hour longer) then the flight there, especially since my sleeping meds didn't work.  I had a small incident at the airport. I almost cried when the airline attendant told me my checked bag was 3 lbs. to heavy. She was so surprised when I just whipped open my bag at the desk (no lock to mess with this time) and just started throwing things out that when I stood back up she just told me it was fine without even checking the weight. We made it to O'Hare just before a bomb threat was called in, but finally made it on our plane to St. Louis, and finally HOME.

It was a long summer. It was kind of cold and my job kind of sucked, but I met really great people and had the time of my life traveling around and going out like crazy.  Everyone asks me if I'm glad I did it, but I can't even think of a reason I wouldn't be.  I learned a lot. I had a lot of fun. And now...I have to look for a job and try to grow up but it was a hell of a way to end my college career.  

Love to all, and thanks to anyone whose read this and finds it the least bit interesting.....E

Croatia a.k.a The Most Stressed Anyone Has Ever Been On Their Way To The Beach.

So by now most of you who read that have already heard all this...but I figured now that I have the time I might as well officially wrap things up. 

My friend Beth finally made it to Dublin after being delayed in London over and hour.  She was a real trooper, and we spent the whole day (literally all day) walking and walking and she didn't even complain.   She ended up getting in around 10 am and after a quick shower we went downtown for lunch to our favorite place, Bewley's.  It took FOREVER...but after lunch we went all over the place.  We took the Trinity tour (which walks you all around the campus and tells you about all its history).  It ends in the Book of Kells, which, by the way, is kind of a let down. You can't read any of it, and the tour guide doesn't actually take you inside so you're on your own to figure out what exactly is going on, and then of course you end up in the bookstore.  

Then we walked up to St. Patrick's, and it was closed.  Then we walked all the way over to the Jameson Factory, and it was closed. And by that time all my friends were coming downtown for our last dinner together, so we hiked it all the way back to O'Connell to meet them. We had a real Irish dinner down in the Temple Bar.  By then Beth was getting tired, so we skipped out when everyone went to the Comet and headed back to the apartments.  Everyone started drifting back home and we all sat up chatting and laughing for a while. Finally, the last goodbyes were said and we all went to bed.

Saturday started early.  I was up at 5 to shower, finish packing, close up my room, and say goodbyes to my roommates before the taxi picked us up at 6:50 am (the driver was actually 15 minutes early which started the stressfulness since I had 2 months worth of crap to haul down the stairs in a hurry, along with an overflowing trash bag.) We made it to the airport and I was pretty nervous considering I'd spent the last week worrying about my luggage and now it was judgement time....

To help you understand, I will explain a little bit about RyanAir...the airline we were flying with for all of our subsequent travel locations.  You are only allowed 15 kilos (33 lbs.) in your checked bag, but for a small fee (20 euros a kilo) you can check whatever you want. You are also only allowed 10 (22 lbs) kilos in your carry on (and, if you were wondering as many people apparently are since I found this information in the frequently asked questions, you are not allowed to carry on a parachute, avalanche travel kit, or your own life vest or raft.  Luckily, passable items include babies and golf clubs). I crossed my fingers and just tried to casually throw my bag on the check table.  It was 9 kilos over (I had Beth stand pretty far away with my carry on so they wouldn't ask any questions).  The airline representative started adding up the total on her fingers so I figured it couldn't be that bad...130 EUROS. THEY WANTED ME TO PAY 130 EUROS--OR NEARLY 250 USD--- PER FLIGHT TO HAUL ALL MY STUFF AROUND WITH ME. I laughed. There was no way that was happening. 

Here's where we encounter our next problem. When attempting to find a way to cram more stuff into my already packed carry on, I realized I had locked the keys to my luggage lock inside my actual luggage. Awesome. To make it worse, turns out the Irish aren't invasive and don't riffle through any checked bags, nor do they have bolt cutters to break into suspicious luggage. The one time I really wanted my civil liberties to be violated and nothing.  So I'm running all around the airport until someone sends me to airport police. I make friends with the chief after he hears my sob story, and he convinces the valets to knock my lock off with a hammer.  On our way back to the station I find out that I can check unwanted bags at lost luggage for the duration of my trip.  So I whip out my trusty backpack and Beth and I take over the Airport Police Station lobby to repack my bag.  To give you a mental picture, my stuff is spread out all over the floor and on top of my open checked bag.  Beth is throwing things into my now empty carry on as I fling them out of my now disorganized check bag. We stuff a couple things in my backpack, she sits on my suitcase as I zip up the leftover contents, we drop the bag at left luggage, and off we go.  The airline worker is amazed that my bag is now online 10 kilos. 

You would think that this would be the end of our drama...but no. We land in Zadar, Croatia and grab some kunas (Croatian currency) and a cab to our hotel.  I'm a little bit suspicious when the cabdriver doesn't know where our hotel is.  But I say Falkenstiener and he hands the sheet back to me and heads out.  When we go to check in the desk clerk keeps saying things like "You flew into this airport?" and "Do you have a car here?" which are never comforting signs. Finally they inform us that our hotel is a complete other part of the city and proceeds to pull out a map of the entire country.  Turns out, OUR HOTEL WAS 5 HOURS AWAY. In a completely other city serviced by an entirely different airport.  This could be a bit of an issue.

Luckily, the desk clerk was possibly the nicest human being on the face of the planet and found a way to transfer our entire reservation (including our reduced price) to their hotel since they were a chain.  The problem? It was a family resort that especially catered to children and Beth and I spend the next couple of days looking like drunk, incompetent mothers. But our room was nice, and more importantly it wasn't 5 hours away, so we made it work. 

We had drinks that afternoon, then took a long nap before dinner, and then enjoyed all inclusive drinks that evening.  Sunday, the second day we were there, we got up and took the train (which was actually a tractor pulling a cart ) into town to catch the ferry to the islands.  We got tickets to the closest one since that was the easiest to pronounce, and were disappointed not to find the beautiful sandy beaches we thought were awaiting, but giant concrete slabs instead.  Still, we got a lot of sun, had a lot of fun, and swam in the Adriatic Sea. Monday we had to check out at 10 am, so we took the tractor back into town for a bit of shopping, then went back and laid out all day at our hotel.  We hosed off in the beach shower, and changed clothes.  We grabbed our last free dinner before catching a cab back to the airport.

I promise promise promise to post pictures soon....E

Oh yeah, I saw him. In Scotland. At the British Open. No Big Deal.

I've been waiting for this past weekend to come for what seems like years now. I remember when we booked the trip I didn't know Kaitie or Andrea very well, but I knew I was going to the British Open. Now we've all become good friends and I can't believe our trip has come and gone already.

Friday I waited. I did my laundry. Waited. Took a nap. Waited. Called Kaitie and begged her to leave early. Waited....she got home around 5:30 and we all took off for the airport to catch our bus. After returning to the apartments so Corrie could get her passport (which we didn't even need by the way) we were left with about 10 minutes to get from our apartment to the bus. Lets just say we had a great cab driver and we made it just before the bus left. It was a 3 hour ride that dropped us off right at the hotel. There were about 13 of us all together and 9 of us were going to the Open on Saturday so we just went to dinner at the really great Italian place and then called it a night around 11.

We had to be checked into the ferry by 6:30 am, so my day started around 4:30. I was the first one up and showered, and was coffee in hand when the cab came to pick us up at 6 (I guess I take more after my mother than I thought). The ferry port was only about 5 miles from our hotel, so we got there early enough to check in and have breakfast. The ferry wasn't a normal ferry, it was a freaking cruise ship...we spent the first 15 minutes of our trip (before they started the movie we viewed from stadium seats) learning all the amenities the ship had to offer including a casino (No Eric, I didn't play Blackjack), a children's playground, and a full service nail salon. We all watched parts of Bedtime Stories..an appropriate choice since most of us slept through the entire film...for most of the 2 hours it took our ship to cover the 8 miles between Ireland and Scotland. From there we went straight to an hour bus ride...again mostly spent napping...until we finally arrived at Turnberry!

The security check in was surprisingly casual, and Kaitie easily snuck in her camera (don't get too excited, we only used it before and after the actual tournament for fear we'd end up in golf jail). Of course we all headed straight to the "Official Merchandise Pavilion", lists in hand prepared to buy gifts for everyone we knew (Kaitie's list was at least a page long). We were there for a good hour and half and since the boys all ditched us in favor of food I found myself asking a lot of random strangers "If you were my Dad, do you think you would like this shirt?" and begging them to try things on.

We made it over to the food pavilion and ate quickly to make John Daly's tee off a little after 12. It just so happened that we were walking over just as he was walking out and we ended up being right on the ropes so I got to shake his hand. Luckily before hand I had dutifully applied lip gloss, knowing that if my mother saw me on TV with John Daly without any on...she'd kill me. Lana kept yelling "Hey John, I'm from Tennessee." while I just sat in awe...

We walked around for a while just looking at the course and watching bits and pieces of play until we found a sunny spot on the 5th green. We watched John (I can call him John now because we're obviously great friends after the handshake business) come through again, along with Sergio Garcia, Ernie Ells, some cute guy in a turquoise sweater and another French guy in tight pants who does one handed push ups on the green while lifting his leg like he's about to water the grass. We got up for beer and obviously lost our spots so we walked around for a while until we found another nice spot right off the 14th green.

We hadn't been there more than 10 minutes when the French guy hit a ball right off Lana's foot. We had to move back to he could play through right in front of us. We were all so excited we were going to be on TV (check your Tivo or YouTube for footage of the 14th green...I'm probably there) we probably looked like huge tools smiling nervously and acting all interested in the ball angle and the club number, and then finally nodding our approval when he hit a good shot.

We left grudgingly to pick up our purchases and make the bus on time. This is when Kaitie and I realize that we think we've bought the wrong size shirts for our respective Dads, and so ensues panic, nail biting, and wine drinking the whole ferry ride home. This was followed by an endless fashion show starring every boy on our trip who had to try on said shirts while we made comments like "Well he's a little bigger than you considering he's about a foot taller, but since it comes down to your knees, being a boy, do you think this would fit?" Until everyone got so sick of our worrying they went to bed (or maybe it was we got so tired of worrying that we went to bed....either way it turns out I got the right size. So no worries...)

Sunday we slept in a little bit and had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Most everyone else went home, but Kaitie, Corrie, Andrea, William, and I decided to stay and do a Black Cab Tour. The tour takes you through the major points of The Troubles. The hotel recommended a balanced cab company (some only take you through the Catholic side while others only take you through the Protestant) so ours included major points of both. It was eye-opening, to say the very least, and very informative. We saw the murals that are painted along the giant 48ft wall that divides the city and our cab driver got out and explained everything in detail, taking time to answer even the most basic of questions. We saw memorials, churches, and political buildings that still house killings and hatred. Ya'll will be very happy to know that we learned that the hotel right across the street from ours is the most frequently bombed in the entire city (going on 32 times now)...I saved that little tidbit from my mom until we got home. We took pictures, but respectfully decided against smiling in a sorority squat in front of some of the more horrific things we had ever seen (so basically our pictures are just of things....monuments and murals...instead of people). I honestly have never wanted to go to church so bad in my life.

Finally we grabbed the bus home and were back in time for Sunday Night Dinner and a Movie (featuring mexican and Juno this week) at Kaitie's. This past weekend was easily one of my favorites. Being so anticipated I figured it couldn't possibly turn out as great as we imagined, but it definitely did.

Fortunately we found out over the weekend that our website finally launched...just in time for our last week of work. GREAT.

Cheers, E

Ohmygosh...

I LEAVE FOR BELFAST TODAY...TOMORROW I WILL BE AT THE BRITISH OPEN!!!!!!!

The Cold,Cold Rain in Cork

Well I figure if I stop now I'll never get everything in before I leave for the Open on Friday and the pileup would make me anxious. (I know... surprise surprise the thing that was supposed to relieve my anxiety is causing it. Ain't that the way it always ends?) But I thought I would take a break, catch my breath, and let you get a snack or go to the bathroom or something before I continue. Consider this a commercial break in my life....

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

So Saturday morning after my parents left I got up early (try 6:30 early) to catch the train to Cork.  Kaitie wanted to go for her birthday so I promised to tag along and somehow we conned Cory and William into going with us.  So we caught a taxi and off we went to Dublin-Heuston. 

I love riding the train.  To book your trip you basically say "I want to take the train".  Though you book your ticket for a certain time, the stations aren't really sticklers about the time you actually choose to depart and you can pretty much get on any train you want no matter what your ticket says.  Its a lot less scary than flying (especially here after all the problems with AirFrance) and cheaper too. I would like to dub this particular train ride "controversial" not so much because we had any problems but because we literally talked about every topic you could think of that could possibly instigate a fight.  Those of you that know me know that this sort of bantering usually makes me uncomfortable because I don't like confrontation per say and it makes me nervous when people start yelling (or violently whispering) in public places. We talked about politics, foreign policy, the economy, and what we recommend that our obviously inadequate government due to right these issues.  Apparently their first step should be to talk to us since we know everything. Well, they should talk to everyone else that is, since I am shamefully uninterested (and therefore sadly uninformed) about all of the above a basically stuck to playing the game show host and took to yelling out "John McCain. Your Thoughts? GO." until everyone had pretty much talked themselves out and we moved on to significantly more entertaining topics like religion and race. Sounds horrible I know, and even though it ended with William whispering "I really want Cory to just come out and fight me." I actually enjoyed hearing everyone else's opinions and learning a little something as well.

Three hours later we arrived in the rain with no directions. It was only softly...but consistently...misting at the time so after we found our hostel we decided to walk around the city.  We stopped for lunch at a little place down the street and spread out all our tourist pamphlets to decide what to do. An hour and a half later, having scrapped the Ring of Kerry due to the torrential downpour that now covered all of Cork, we made the bright decision to just "see where the day took us." It took us to the beginnings of a flash flood.  The rain wouldn't let up for a minute and eventually we just gave into it and ran around soaking wet.  Though I can't exactly tell you what we did all day, we had a lot of fun.

After consulting the tourist office, and deciding against their recommendation to see the play Big Maggie, we ran back to our hotel to pull ourselves together before dinner. William had forgotten his jacket and an umbrella and was drenched from head to foot.  Kaitie and I's jeans were leaking water through the rolled up cuffs. In short, we were a hot mess.  We sent the boys home and ran to Penny's to fid pants for us and a coat for William.  I got a T-shirt and a pair of yoga pants for under 10 euros (Turns out I like to bargain shop when I have too), Kaitie got the same pair of sweats and we found William a cheap jacket.  Mission accomplished.  We ran back to the hostel dreaming about the dryer the hostels ad had promised.

As it turns out the hostel was doing laundry all day and had loads of sheets in the dryers so we couldn't dry our jeans.  I very literally just checked them and they are still wet.  Needless to say we didn't make it to anywhere fancy in Cork seeing as Kaitie and I were stuck running around in 5 euro sweats for the rest of the weekend.  Our hostel was relatively nice (meaning it had a private bathroom and our bed had sheets) and it had a bar in the basement. Good enough for us at least.  We attempted to dry ourselves off and we all took a little bit of a nap before dinner.  We got up and found this really great little burger place.  My burger even had guacamole on it (Oh how I desperately miss Mexican food.) and we sat and had appetizers and drinks and talked for a couple hours. Then we made our way over to a comedy club we had seen earlier and watched these 2 stand up acts.  They were hilarious...granted I might be a little biased because I love all stand up...but they really were great and the manager even let us in on some special student price. 

Sunday we got up early (again 6:30 early. What's a girl gotta do to sleep in around here? Jeez.) and caught the bus to Blarney.  It's a half an hour ride but we were the first ones of the day to kiss the stone.  We walked all around the Castle and the grounds and when the bottom 3 inches of my sweatpants became unbearably dirty I simply just cut them off.  Now I have new capris. 

We did a little shopping in town, ate lunch, and caught the bus back to Cork.  We got to the train station early and jumped on the train leaving 2 hours before our scheduled tickets.  No great conversation this time...we slept all the way home.  Now my clothes smell like feet from being in my backpack with my wet towel, my jeans are dirty, I'm exhausted, and my rooms a disaster since I'm in the middle of trying to unpack, but it was worth it.  I can't really adequately explain to ya'll why it was so fun...but rain and all we had a blast.  Its crazy to think I didn't know these people a couple of months ago...and in 2 weeks they'll all be gone.  

But we still have so much more to go really...UP NEXT: Belfast, the British Open, Beth and the BEACH!!!! 

T-minus 17 days and counting until Home. Mark your calenders!

.....E

They talked Irish to Me: My parents visit

Woah.  Its been almost 2 weeks since I posted...I'm sure you've all on pins and needles.....

My parents arrived safely, albeit a little flustered and without their luggage, on Thursday afternoon after missing their connection in London.  They picked me up in a cab on the way into town from the airport and we drove the half an hour to where they were staying.  And then came the big question...well you live here..what do we do now? I didn't know. I barely even knew where we were (which is kind of embarrassing having been in the city for 6 weeks. As it turns out though the hotel was right near one of our favorite bars and I used it much like a ship uses a lighthouse--as a beacon of hope that I was somewhere near home and for directions to almost anywhere). They wanted Irish food and asked me where we ate all the time and so I listed off every Italian restaurant in the city explaining that "real Irish people don't really eat Irish food". Well real Irish Americans from Ole Miss at least. We found someplace acceptable had a nice lunch and walked around.  Everyone but me (and my mother who had thoughtfully packed everything she would ever need in her carry on) felt dirty and tired, so after a bit of shopping and a quick pint my sister and my dad went back to the hotel for a nap and I showed my mom to my apartment.  When we got back to the hotel mom decided she wasn't tired and we went down to the hotel restaurant for wings.  She stayed up until 11:30...meaning it really was vacation! I had taken the day off work to meet them, and though I know they'll hate me for it I had a really nice day.  I knew they were off running around the London airport trying to find their bags and directions and everything else while I slept in. I spent the morning downtown by myself where I printed off my tickets to the Open, bought a sweatshirt I'd been eyeing, sat in the Starbucks and people watched for a while, then went home for a bit of grocery shopping and a nap. Pleasant is the only word I can really use to describe it. 

I stayed Thursday night with them in the hotel with the intent of getting up early the next morning to simultaneously take everyone shopping on the way to the airport to look for their lost luggage  Luckily, all their bags arrived by the morning which made things a lot less stressful, so we went and had breakfast up by my work which my parents so kindly deemed "the ghetto." We finally got to the rental car place around 12 and this is where the fun begins.  I'm not even a good driver in America where cars are on the correct side of the road so I would have never attempted this trip, but my Dad did surprisingly well (at least during the parts that I was awake...) and didn't even almost kill us until we were making a right turn into our B&B and he pulled out into oncoming traffic where he promptly threw his hands up in the air and just shouted "get this thing in reverse" as cars sped around us.

Mary, who owns the B&B told us about a really nice place to eat dinner and so we took her up on her recommendation. She was right and it was probably one of the best meals (if not the best) that I've had since being here. Kelsey and I (I realize now I've been referring to my family as if all 7 of you don't know them) split the chicken deliciousness (I don't remember its proper name but it was served on top of pasta stuffed with blue cheese and garlic and covered in a dreamy white alfredo sauce so deliciousness fits I assure you) and the crab claws.  Stuffed and happy we found a bar that boasted Irish music.  The 2 guys were amazing and we stayed and drank for a while before walking home. 

Id been telling my mom how nice the weather had been lately, so of course the day we get up to hike the sky burst open and poured forth a river like you had never seen.  It rained all day (the good thing about this only being that Mom didn't make us get out of the car at random places along the road to take pictures with any sheep or tree that she exclaimed was beautiful). We drove over to check out this really old Abbey and its grounds, and then just drove the rental car through along a scenic road that runs through a bunch of little towns. We stopped and ate and shopped and basically just looked around at the scenery.  We all took naps, especially Dad who was tuckered out from driving, and then went to dinner where we proceeded to walk in and out of almost every restaurant in the town until we finally decided one was worthy. We actually went back and listened to the same guys at the same bar (yes, they were that good).  This time we had better seats and stayed all night until the bar closed as I attempted to down Irish coffee and Baileys (Lets just say even the thought of whiskey makes me want to vom so I ordered wrong) and sign up for the Irish drum class one of the singers was offering. Sunday it rained again, this time throughout the whole drive into Galway.  I had to catch the train to Dublin from there and Mom and Kelsey wanted to shop.  It rained and poured until we finally gave up on shopping and sat down to eat lunch. As luck would have it, the sun came out right after we ordered. Figures....

You'll have to ask them as to what happened the rest of the week since apparently my parents and I had flip flopped responsibilities. I had to stay home and go to work, pack, and clean my apartment while it seems they spent the week playing outside and occasionally fighting with my sister. The highlights I received consisted of them attempting what sounds like a triathlon and visiting the Arran Islands and what my Dad now affectionately calls the "smores".

They all came back in town Thursday night and I took my sister with me to yet another birthday dinner (this time for my new bff kaitie) at TGIFridays. We moved onto free shots next door...and things progressed nicely from there until we got home around 3am.  My parents said they had a nice night too...hanging out and apparently trying to identify people they know at the Temple Bar.  Friday morning came early. I forgot that the Dublin Public Transportation system doesn't stop and go at my every whim, and though I thought it was a good idea to leave around 9:40 to meet my parents at 10, the bus schedule decided it would be better to leave around 9:10. So with wet hair and a full suitcase we ran for the bus and Kels got a real taste of what its like to live in Dublin. We rode the 44 out to Enniskerry where Powerscourt Gardens is located.  Its this huge old mansion with every different type of shrubbery known to man. (It was really pretty and I'm probably not doing to justice..but I mean how many ways can you describe plants?) We rode back to Dublin and ate dinner at one of my favorite restaurants (Bewley's Oriental Cafe...the one that houses neither a cafe or orientals) And then I took the bus home to watch a movie since I was getting home late without my phone and I was leaving early the next morning for Cork.  I talked to them yesterday and they had another safe flight and arrived with all their luggage.  All and all....it was a really fun trip and I was so excited for them to get to be here and share this crazy experience with me.

 Tune in for more about our trip to Cork...

Love to all...E

PS--Again I would post pictures but all of the new ones from this weekend are on my Mom's camera since she informed me I was a bad photographer.