Dingle

My friend P told me if I had a chance to go to Dingle I should. And so we did. And let me tell you, it was worth it. The scenery and landscape on the West side of the Island is very much what you think Ireland coastline would be. Lush, severe and beautiful.

The little town of Dingle is very quaint and full of tourist.  Our guide was telling us today that most the shops in Dingle close from Nov - Feb because there aren't very many tourist that come through. Those are some hard times I bet.

Dingle has the wonderful Dolphin who has lived in their waters for over 30 years, Fungi. We didn't see him today out in the water, but the locals assured us he was there. They have tours that go out specifically to meet Fungi. Crazy. Luigi met Fungi today too. 

I also got to meet an ass today.

As I mentioned, the countryside around Dingle was just gorgeous. The greens are so green. I keep thinking that it's as lush as Washington, and yet its a different kind of lush.

We took this scenic route called the Slea Head Drive. It goes out along the coast and the drop off from the road is, well, let's just say you'd have a bad day if you made one wrong step.

We spent a lot of time on the bus today and my butt was getting tired of sitting. Still, the scenery was gorgeous and I just can't get enough of the green, lush landscape.

We got back a bit later than planned and we were starvings. So we walked down to this little pub called Murphy's.  I ordered the Beef and Guinness stew...and oh boy was that a treat. So rich and delicious. They served it on top of a big scoop of mashed potatoes. Why have I not eaten stew with mashed potatoes ... ever?

But the best part of dinner was Janet's meal. She ordered the Beef Stroganoff. Now we've all had beef stroganoff and we all know that it has beef, mushrooms, and sour cream in it. Maybe onions even. Her's had bell peppers and...wait for it...PICKLES. Dill Pickles. Crazies thing ever.

And just for fun, let me share photos of the other things I ate today.

Fish and chips at some restaurant that Grand Circle set up for us to eat at. It was good. In fact, it was one of the few fish and chips I've had there in which they didn't have the skin on the fish. Who does that? Gross. The last couple of times I've had fish and chips they leave the skin on the fish. Ick.

Murphy's Ice Cream is a big deal here. We had it once before in Dublin and decided today seemed like as good as time as any to have another cup. I had Malted Chocolate both times and it's delicious.

In Dingle I got a wee bit chilled so I decided to pop into a restaurant and get a hot chocolate. They asked, what I thought was, do I want whipped cream. Naturally I said yes. It came out with whipped cream AND marshmallows. Where has THAT been all my life? I really have lived a sheltered life.

Tomorrow we head out to drive around the Ring of Kerry. More landscapes. More beautiful scenery. We'll have time in the after noon to actually see Killarney. We've seen almost nothing of it. I did spy a pub called Mustang Sally's. Might have to check that out.

Blarney Castle - Sheep - Killarney

So here I sit in Killarney thinking about the day we had. What a busy busy day.

We left Cork bright and early and headed to the Blarney Castle.  The whole way there I debated whether I was going to climb the 127 steps to the top or not. Truthfully I wasn't sure I could make it.

Once there Janet and I were #3 and #4 in the entrance. We booked it to the castle. A good walk from the entrance. And before I had time to even consider it I was climbing. And climbing and climbing.

Now, just the climbing is bad enough. But worse is it's a circular staircase made for a small child. I am neither small nor a child. It got tight in there. I was joking about having to send for some Kerry butter to get me out of there.

Alas, we made it. Huffing and puffing I was on the top of the Blarney Castle. I had absolutely no desire at all to kiss that stone. First off, whomever told me they wipe it down after every kiss is a big fat liar. And second of all, the position you have to get into...no way jose.

After the fearful climb down - felt like forever - we wondered the grounds. They were spectacular. Just beautiful.

Back in the coach, we headed to Killarney. Killarney is in the county of Kerry and the landscape has changed every so slightly. Lush and green still, but a bit more mountainous.

After lunch we got to do the one thing I had been waiting the entire trip to do. Witness a sheep dog in action. We stopped at a local farm who's shepherd talked to us about the sheep, the cows of the area, the grass, the dogs, etc. He had such a thick accent that I could barely understand him. As we were standing waiting, he released the sheep who took off into the field. The dog, Rose was her name, stood by him patiently. With one nod of his head, she bolted after those sheep. And I mean bolted. She was so fast I couldn't catch her on the camera. And before long, those sheep were right back at the gate with us. She paced around them and they stood completely still. If any of them made the slightest move she moved with it.

BTW, the sheep are all marked a certain color to denote being his sheep. The shepherds in the area all share the mountains and the sheep roam freely during the summer months. In order to know who's are who's they mark them with a colored dye.

The concentration on her face was so amazing.You could almost see her thinking. Towards the end of the demonstration he had released the sheep and kept her tied up for a bit while he talked to us. Then he wanted her to bring them in. She took off. Only she was going after the wrong sheep. She must have been easily a football field length away, if not slightly more. He yelled her name "ROSE" and pointed with his cane in the other director. That darn dog stopped in her tracks and ran in the other direction after the sheep he was pointing at A FOOTBALL FIELD LENGTH AWAY! I was just amazed.

Oh and it rained the entire time we were outside watching this. Most folks stayed on the bus, but not me man. I had to be out in the downpour attempting to get photos.

As we entered Killarney, we were dropped off for a jaunting ride. Basically a horse and carriage ride, through the national park here. It was just beaufitul. The flora and fauna here is amazing. They say anything will grow in Ireland because the temperature stays the same year round. And based on the forest I believe it. We saw red deer on our trip and they acted as if they didn't care at all we were there.

This is George - our horse

Finally made it to the hotel and I was just exhausted. Janet stepped out for a quick walk and I took a quick nap.

Tomorrow we head to Dingle and apparently see some of the prettiest land in all of Ireland.

Cork - Cobh (pronounced Cove) - Home lunch

Today was our first full day in the Cork area. Cork itself is just another big city. Nothing overly interesting to see in the city itself. The highlight of my day in the city was finding a Starbucks that looked like this.

Janet and two other gals from this trip wanted to go into the Art museum and I really did not. So I told them to go on ahead and I'll sit in Starbucks and have a cup of coffee.  Little did I know Starbucks would be so cool looking.

But let me back up a bit. This morning we hopped on the coach again and headed to a small port town called Cobh (pronounced "cove". I learned today the Gaelic language doesn't have the letter 'v' in their language. But a "bh" or an "mh" makes the sound of a v. Who knew? 4 million Gaelic speaking people on the Emerald Isle that's who.)

Ahem. Anyhow, what's so special about Cobh? Well, it's a charming little fishing village, but more importantly it is the last stop the Titantic made before it's fateful trip. We had a somewhat famous historian about the Titantic give us a walking tour around some of the memorials and provide us the "truth" about the Titantic. It was fascinating to hear. I sat and wondered about the people who got off the boat on that day since Cobh was their stop. Or the worker guy who got too drunk in a pub and didn't make it back on the boat before it sailed. Those peoples lives were forever changed by one decision they made. Crazy, isn't it?

Now I've officially seen the last place the Titantic stopped AND the cemetery in Canada that most of the lost souls was buried in.

The other thing about Cobh is that the Lisuatania was torpedoed just outside the harbor. They have this fantastic memorial statue for it. The angle is standing on a sword to denote peace. And the two men below were two fishermen who spent HOURS picking up survivors in the water and bringing them into shore.

We had some free time when Michael, the tour guide, was finished with us so Janet and I decided to walk up to the St. Colman's Cathedral. And by walk UP I mean this massive, very steep hill.  As we were walking up and I was hyperventilating because of all the exercise I wondered why I was doing this. But then when we got to the top and we saw how MASSIVE this building was, it was totally worth it. I should also mention as we were walking up this hill, as we crested the top the wind was blowing so hard that it blew Janet's glasses off the top of her head.

After the tour we got to do something that I wasn't even sure what it was when we signed up. The company, Grand Circle, does these Home Hosted Lunches where we go and have a lunch prepared by an Irish family and we learn about their lives.  We were hosted today by a wonderful woman named Joan. She fixed the most fantastic meal I've had. We started with a salad that was an end all be all salad. Followed by the most scrumptious Cottage Pie I've had. But the dessert! That was what put it over the edge. She fixed a Bailey's Cheesecake...Let me just tell you...I was so tempted to pick up my plate and lick it. It was so freaking good that I'm sure I'll dream about it for years.

Back in Cork we decided to walk around a bit more, but really, there isn't much to see in Cork itself. So we found a nice little pub with heated benches outside and stopped in to have a beer and a whiskey.

Later in the evening, the Hurling Championship game was on and since we all learned about hurling we went down to watch the game. It's a violent, brutal game, but so fun to watch.

Tomorrow it's off to the Blarney Castle. I won't be kissing the Blarney stone - gross - but I do plan on going up to the top of the castle...it's 127 steps so I hope I can make it.

Tomorrow is also the sheep dog exploration series. I cannot wait to meet me some sheep dogs...and maybe a few sheep. I may or may not try to smuggle one home. The dog, not the sheep.

Waterford - Cahir - Cork

Hard to believe we're already in Cork. The days are flying by and I'll be home before I know it! Booo.

This morning we left Kilkenny headed to Cork. Along the way we stopped at Waterford and Cahir.

Waterford is what you think it is, the home of Waterford crystal. I'm not a huge crystal fan - just something else to break - but to see how they made it - by hand I might add - and the process they go through is amazing. Super interesting and informative. I didn't think the place we were going was where they actually manufactured it, but it was. And the mass majority of what they do is by hand. There is some automation, but mostly it's by hand. We had a great tour through the factory and then had about 45 minutes to wander around Waterford.

After we headed to the town of Cahir (pronounced Care). We had a bite to eat at this little place called the Lava Rock. I had a chicken finger sandwich that was to die for. Not only was it HUGE, but I found myself eating the sandwich keeping the lettuce, tomato and cucumber on it. Odd for me. But the combination of that, some garlic aoili and some balsamic glaze on the chicken was to....die...for.

After lunch and a potty break, we toured the Cahir Castle. The castle is strategically placed on a hill above the Suir river - which I found swans and white geese in. Its made of limestone and was built sometime in the 12th century. Even typing that I'm amazed it's still standing. It wasn't nearly as big as I thought it'd be.

Tomorrow we're heading to Cobh (pronounced Cove) and then a lunch with an Irish family. Little did we know that it's expected to bring some small gift as a token of thank you. So Janet and I headed out after dinner tonight to a local grocery store.  The wind was blowing so hard...and the rain was coming down sideways. At one point Janet said, "I was just passed by a leaf." Crazy.

While in the grocery store we looked around to see what they sell. Always fun to see inside a grocery store in a foreign country. We found these chips called Bacon Streaks. Don't' believe me?

Kilkenny (June 8)

Wow. Kilkenny might be my new favorite place in Ireland. Such a wonderful little town (24K people here). It's branded itself as a medieval town and they have the castle and other old buildings to back it up.

We started our day with a hurling demonstration. And, no, I don't mean a hang over tossing your cookies kinda of hurling. Instead hurling the sport. It's the national sport of Kilkenny and Ireland-ish. But the Kilkenny folk are VERY in to it.

We hopped on the coach and went out to a local man who makes hurling sticks, aka "the hurl" as we were informed. We had one guy telling us all about the game (I learned a lot today) and the other lad who makes the hurls showing us how they're made. Talk about manual labor. Making them by hand is a dying trade apparently and his children aren't interested in making them so once he's done, it'll be it for his family business (he was like 3 rd generation hurl maker).

From there we came back to the hotel for a pit stop before our walk about of this medieval city. Our Program guide took us all through the Medieval Mile as they call it. In the hour and 15 minutes it took to walk it we had sun, rain, torrential downpour, rain, wind, sun, rain, downpour, sun, wind, rain, etc. My goodness the weather changes fast here.

Highlights of what we saw:
1. St. Canice's Cathedral and Round Tower. Built in the 13th century. One of only two medieval roundtowers in Ireland that can be climbed - which we did not do. 128 stairs up...no thanks. Plus the tower was relatively narrow and I'm not a fan of confined places. I tried to talk Janet into it and she declined.

2. The Black Abbey - Founded in 1225 by the Earl of Pembroke for the Dominican Friars. The Abbey had some fantastic stained glass windows in it. The cool thing, or a bit creepy, depending on how you view it, is there was this row of monumental slabs and stone coffins dating back to the middle ages. It's called the Black Abbey because the Friars word black robes.

3. St. Mary's Cathedral - It's tower is HUGE...it's 186 feet tall and cut from limestone. It was built between 1843 and 1857.

4. Kilkenny Castle - The castle is from the 12th century and is extensive. This is where the Butler Family lived - they're one of Ireland's famous families who were ... they were Marquesses and Dukes of Ormonde.

5. Whiskey & Beer. I'm a big fan of tasting beer of the region you're visiting. Here is no different. Smithwick's (pronounced Smith-icks no W pronunciation) and Kilkenny are the two popular ones here and brewed here too. Go figure.  We also partook in a new whisky today. Janet tried a peat whiskey and it was list tasting a camp fire. I tried Bushmill's 10 Yr and OH. My. God. was it good.

Tomorrow we leave Kilkenny behind and head to Cork. Stopping at Waterford and the Cahir Castle along the way.

Dublin - Glenndalough - Kilkenny

This morning we said goodbye to Dublin. Before that we spent the morning at the Guinness brewery.

I'm a fan of Guinness. It's one of the  many reasons I am falling in love with Ireland. The people and so far the food being the other two reasons. But this morning it was all about "the dark stuff".

We were up and out the door by 8:45. Our tour guide took us through other parts of Dublin on the way to the Guinness Brewery. Where, however, they don't actually brew any beer, but whatever.

We were the first big group in the Guinness Storehouse this morning. Which worked out perfectly because there weren't so many people getting in my way for photos. Still I had a bunch of older folks to contend with, but I work around them. Bob and weave. Bob and Weave.

The tour was fantastic. Very tourist orientated, but I learned a lot about Guinness as a brand and as a beer. The benefits provided to Guinness employees made me want to drop everything and go to work for them. The young lad doing our tour (19 yo) gets FULL paid benefits that include medical on site, three meals a day free, a "handsome" salary (though he didn't tell me what) and 21 days vacation. Oh and all the free beer you can drink. Um, where do I sign up?

The tour ends and dumps you at the Gravity Bar which gives you a 360 view of Dublin from like a 9th floor building. Very cool indeed. And a free pint of Guinness. It was pretty cool because Guinness, as you may or may not know, takes 2 minutes to pour a good pint. They had about 10 pints sitting in different stages on the bar when we got up there. It was so cool to watch it go from a creamy, milky color to a dark lush brown. Though, did you know, if you hold a Guinness up in the  natural sunlight it's actually ruby red? Me neither.

Once we were done drinking there we headed to a Medieval monestary called Glenndalough. But before we got there we stopped at this little place for lunch and for some "shopping". I did the lunch part and not the shopping part. The place - who's name I'll have to look up - was also a nursery and garden. There were so many flowers there I could barely stand it. I now have photo after photo of flowers. And here's a flower. And here's a flower. And here's a flower with a bee butt sticking out.


Done with lunch we were off to Glenndalough (which means the valley of two  lakes) where we got to see one of Ireland's most atmospheric monastic sites. St.Kevin built this place in the 6th century. The vikings pillaged it some 600 years after it was established. Now it's just ruins. But what makes it cool is the Round Tower of Glendalough. It's 100ft tall and is one of the best kept ruins of these round towers in Ireland. The other ruins near by date from the 12th and 13th centuries. Stunning.

The Round tower sits in the middle of this mid evil cemetery. Guess who was in 7th heaven? Ahh... this girl. I mean. The Civil War cemeteries were old. But this place...good heavens. So many headstones you could no longer read anything on...it was just amazing.

It started to rain as we were leaving and heading to Kilkenny. Which is where I sit now typing this out. We got into the hotel around 5 and had a group dinner this evening. Janet is out walking off dinner and I chose to sit and tell you all what we did today...and work on my photos.

Tomorrow we will spend the day walking around Kilkenny. Kilkenny is another medieval town  built in the 13th century. There's a HUGE castle here and a HUGE cathedral we'll see tomorrow.

Day 3 Dublin (June 6)

Our Internet in the hotel wasn't working last night, so I'm posting today.

What a day! We were up bright and early to breakfast with the rest of the group. The breakfast was delicious. They had this homemade bread that was so delicious I can barely even think. It was the traditional European breakfast with meats, cheeses, breads, bacon (no our bacon), bangers, potatoes etc.

After breakfast we hopped in our coach for a city tour. The interesting thing, at least to me, about Grand Circle is they have assigned seats on the bus. Every day the seats rotate two forward. It guarantees that everyone gets a "good" seat at some time. There was some squabble a couple years back where people were selecting the front seats (which by the way are the worst seats on the bus) and others were complaining. Thankfully there are some open seats on the bus so I was able to hop onto the other side from Janet so we could get photos on both sides.

Photos were almost impossible on the bus. The streets are bumpy and getting photos in focus didn't go so well today.

After the city tour - which included a stint in some wicked traffic - we finally landed at Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and the Long room Library.

Oh….MY….God….that library was too much. I just couldn't believe how so incredible cool it was. And - well - long. So I asked our tour guide where the books come from. I guess Ireland has some "law" that when books are produced a duplicate gets sent to the library. She said there are warehouses upon warehouses full of books. These are, by the way, not your trashy novels. The tour guide said there was some rule about what types they copied.

Anyhow, the long room was so fantastic. I think I took at least 100 photos in just the room.

The Book of Kells was interesting, but not overly interesting. To think they were completed in like 900 AD or something ridiculous like that. But the book has been separated and there are only a few select pages on display in a VERY dark room. No photos were allowed anyhow - Janet got busted for taking photos of some of the information on the wall.

Done with the long room and Trinity College we had the rest of the day to explore on our own. Our first stop was the Temple Bar District. Locals thinks it's touristy and wouldn't be caught dead there. It was but I loved it. So colorful and flamboyant and a pub like every 6 feet.

We stopped at a pub called The Quay's Bar. Such a cute place. Stereotypical pub to me. I had the best Guinness Stew I've ever had and Janet had some freakin' fantastic fish and chips. Naturally we both had a Guinness. The first of many.

Guinness is so good here. Everyone said it tastes different than in the states. I'd have to taste them side by side to tell, but here its like drinking water.

After lunch we walked to see Christ Church. At one point Janet and I were standing on a corner looking for the church and a map. We both were saying "I think it's that way." and both pointing in the opposite direction of each other. Oy.

We got our bearings, found the church and found out that you had to pay to see inside of it.  I had seen enough photos online before that I didn't think it worth it. It's not one of those gothic, gynormous churches with massive ornate things all about. It's your basic cathedral.

We marched up the street to the Dublin Castle. Same deal. It cost $$ to get in and we weren't interested in paying to see wood floors and needle point pillows. So we shot some photos and headed off to find the Celtic Whiskey Shop. My friend Paul recommended going there and tasting some whiskey and oh by the way if I'm there buy him a bottle of The Irishman Cask Strength whiskey…if they had it. Oh they had it. The last bottle and it was $200EU. We said no. We did taste a disgusting whiskey though.

From there we stopped and had a coffee at this little café place called Spar. Their all over here. They're basically their Starbucks. It's got coffee, goodies, general store, etc.

We decided to be adventurous and take public transit back to the hotel. Queen PopUp would be so proud. We got on the bus and I asked the driver if the bus went to Ballisbridge Hotel. He said yes and off we went. I asked Janet how we'd know when were there and she felt she'd recognize it. Well, we didn't have to worry. The bus drive announced it on the PA system for us.

These Irish people, I tell ya. They are so kind and so helpful.

We dropped our stuff at the hotel, took a little break then headed off to dinner. Our tour guide recommended this pub up the street called the School House. We found our seats and I promptly ordered a shot of the Irishman Whiskey to taste it. It was good, but not great, in my opinion. I'm not a fan of non-distilled whiskeys. Another couple from our tour came in and she tried a whiskey called RedBreast…now THAT was good.

I had fish and chips for dinner and Janet had this massive Beef and Guinness Pie. Of course we also drank a Guinness. I mean, when in Rome and all.

Tomorrow we leave Dublin behind. We stop at the Guinness Stone house on our way out and head to Glendalough and Cork.

More tomorrow…we're having a great time. And my feet only mildly hurt. Enough whiskey and Guinness and turns out I can't fill them at all.

Day 2 - Ireland - Dublin

We made it! What a long freakin' trip. I forget how long the transatlantic trips can be. We made it to Amsterdam and waited. But before that...

We flew Delta, Delta is one of my favorite airlines and they again proved why. Now favorite airlines are very subjective for sure, but Delta has been on the top of my list for some time. We were an hour late leaving Seattle. So Delta bought a bunch of Papa John's Pizzas for us. Once we took off they delivered the pizza to us. So we had pizza as an appetizer.

We had ok seats, but the flight wasn't full - and even though it wasn't full we didn't move seats. Sleeping was almost impossible so we just dozed. I watched Beauty and the Beast and started Jackie (horrible movie by the way). They fed us the entire time too. It was crazy.

We hit Amsterdam and sat for 4 hours. That 4 hours was long. We were exhausted and the coffee wasn't great. We got on the puddle jumper to Dublin  and WHAM I was out. But then they fed us too. We had the craziest sandwich. It was chicken - like deli meat chicken, on wheat bread, with a sweet pepper spread. Yah, Y'all know I was likely to not eat that...but I did and it was decent. Either that or I was starving.

In the Amsterdam hotel though, we found ourselves giggling because when we walked into the bathroom there was guy in there cleaning it...while us women were using it. No one seemed to mind. Janet looked at me and basically said that wouldn't happen in the US.

Then in the stall there was this little box that said to put some TP under it and a little squirt of purell would come out so you can wipe down the toilet. SAY WHAT? I did get a photo of it, and of course used it, but the photo's on the cell phone and I can't get it off over here.

But the best part of Amsterdam was my blond moment. Now, I blame being exhausted, but you all know that there's some truth to my blond roots.

My cell phone was running out so while we were waiting I decided to go charge my phone. I just stood there with my phone out, charger in hand staring at this odd outlet. It took me a minute to realize that my charger wouldn't fit and I'd have to wait until I got the converter and the right plug in.

Ugh.

We mad it though. Dublin customs took forever, but our driver was waiting for us and dropped us at the hotel (Ballisbridge Hotel) Then tonight we did a meet and greet and talked about "house keeping" - rules for the road if you will. It amazes me you have to tell adults some of the things they were reminding us about, but alas, not everyone is as molded and refined as I am. Snicker snicker.

That followed by a horrible dinner. The only thing good about this dinner was the wine. But the dinner was in the hotel and I ordered the steak and it came out so well done I was tempted to drop it to the floor and ask for a chainsaw to cut through it. Our table companions were fnatastic...a chatty bunch which I love.

Oh small world...Janet is forever running into people she knows no matter where we go. She was on a cruise in 2013 to Germany with BigBro. There was a couple on the cruise that they just adored and got to know. There's a Woodinville Winery connection here that I can't remember. But turns out the couple at the table with us, that's there aunt! Crazy.

Oh and lastly, I'm the youngest person on this trip!

Tomorrow we get to do a city tour, Trinity College, which includes the Book of Kells and the library (I cannot wait to shoot the library). Then we have the afternoon off. Janet and I will likely go to Temple Bar district and find some pubs to check out.

Two More Sleeps...

Its hard to believe that the long planned Ireland trip is upon me. It seems like just yesterday SIL, Mom and I were discussing where we wanted to go next. I knew, in my heart, that mom would never be able to afford this trip, but it was fun dreaming with her all the same.

I think I'm ready. All my work items are buttoned up - I hope. The travel research is done. The photography list is done (see below), the house is cleaned and the pet sitter ready. Now all I have to do is pack.

As big trips grow closer for me I feel a since of smallness. It sounds weird, I know. But I think about how large the world is and all the places yet to see. And I realize that my little spot on this planet is little indeed. Just a blip on the map.

I love to think about the adventures we'll have when we travel. Almost 100% of the time things never turn out like I imagined they would. Most often, they're better. I'm trying to learn to let go and just experience the experience instead of analyze whether I'm "living" and "experiencing" the right way.

The Scavenger Hunt List is long this time.

First on my list is a photo of "malware" our work mascot (?) I think he's our mascot. At any rate, we've had this little guy travel all over the world and have tweeted photos of him saying, "Malware found in Brussels." or "Malware spotted in Vegas".

Then the list gets fun:

1. Peace
2. Old chains 
3. fences 
4. Doors 
5. Crosses!!)
6. Celtic Knot
7. Whiskey
8. Old books
9. Guinness
10. Kissing the Blarney Stone (
11. Rolling Hills
12. Lakes 
13. Markets 
14. Sheep with a Shepherd 
15. A person in a kilt 
16. A redhead
17. The eiffel Tower (I sometimes hate my friends)
18. Sheep 
19. Rory Mcillroy playing golf
20. A pint of Bud Lite
21. Rainbow 
22. Leprechaun 
23. Four Leaf Clover 
24. Animals 
25. Belleek porcelain 
26. Castle Walls , Castles
27. Rusted Iron 
28. A horse 
29. Lace 
30. A Body of water
31. An old gentleman asleep at the pub 
32. Guinness tipping into two faces
33. Irish Whiskey tasting
34. Sheep being sheared by a shepherd

So yah. Stay tuned and "watch this space". I'll be posting as frequently (daily has been the request) as I can. 

We said goodbye again...

The Memorial Day weekend came and went. I'd like to say it went fast...well sometimes it did, but it seemed to drag to me.

The Niece and I took off bright and early on Saturday morning. We made our traditional stops on the way to Odessa and arrived at the cemetery around 2pm.

Seeing Mom's headstone next to Dad's really jolted me that this is real. I mean, I knew it was real, but seeing Mom's headstone made it REAL.

We dropped down into Odessa and found the family sitting around in the hotel picnic area. It was so good to see the St. Louis family. I hadn't seen them in so long (while I hate the reason why I was seeing them). Hugs all around and quick catch ups.

We hung there for an hour or so until we went to dinner at the local restaurant, Chiefs. Mom bought dinner for the family again. Well, her estate did. We all knew she'd try to buy it if she was alive, so why not.

After dinner we took off up to the cemetery to fix the headstone and make sure it was all pretty. The local headstone guy put the headstone too close to Dad's and so I had the middle brother move it back a bit.

On Sunday we all woke, hung out at the hotel and chit chatted. Around 11 ish we went up to the cemetery and had a little memorial for mom. Biggest Brother read a little something and then we opened the floor for stories. My two favorites, Mr.Braspir and the bathroom and how we got the crap hats.

Following that, we went and sat around at the hotel and shot the breeze. The Family is a talkative bunch.

In the afternoon we had our little picnic at the hotel. We were going to move to the park and then decided we might as well stay right where we were. We BBQ'd burgers, ate a ton of food and had a good time just being around each other.

These people...I love these people. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins galore, friends who are family and a couple of dogs. What's not to love?

After the BBQ started whining down, a couple of us took off to Irby to pay our respects to where we scattered BigBro's ashes.

Back at the hotel we sat around for another several hours and just talked and told stories. We all knew the next day was going to be the final day. I couldn't help but sit and wonder what tomorrow and the next day would hold for me. I knew it was going to be hard...and I still am not sure just how hard.

Monday morning we headed up to the Bohemian Cemetery to celebrate again.

Even now as I write this I just cannot believe what I'm looking at. How did this happen? How did I get to a point where my mother was no longer with me?

The Niece and I took off immediately after the service because we knew traffic would suck. We roasted all the way home in Sparky...

And now I need to hit the ground running to get myself prepared for Ireland next weekend. I hope I can do it...

MMemorial Day

A thousand years ago our little gang of friends played in a volleyball tournament in Chelan over Memorial Day. The t-shirts we got had Memorial Day spelled wrong - Mmemorial Day - with an extra "m". For the longest time, when memorial day came up I'd think of this and say it as "mem-morial day".

Since that time, Memorial day has become our weekend to say goodbyes to loved ones. I swore when Dad died I'd not go back to Odessa for another Memorial day. Then Ric died. I said the same thing. In fact, just last year I mentioned it to mom and she said, "You will when I die." I joked with her and said, "You think I will."

When I said that to her, I never thought I'd be sitting her the Friday before Memorial day planning her memorial. Ugh. I hate everything about this.

I had a "moment" this past week. This week has been relatively stressful at work. That coupled with me tamping down my grief finally came out in a horrendous way. I left work on Wednesday. I got no further than a half a block and I had to pull over. The sadness and grief was so overwhelming I couldn't drive. I sat in a parking lot and had my moment. Dried my eyes and continued on my day.

I've been told I'm in a survivor bubble and have been warned that this weekend may be what bursts that bubble. I think that added to my little moment too.

Still, everything is planned. I'll take off tomorrow morning with the Niece and we'll head East. It's supposed to be beautiful so Sparky, a hat, some sun screen, the Niece and I will head out. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends. I just wish it wasn't under there circumstances.

On a bright note, Ireland is just a week a way!

14 sleeps

Two weeks from tomorrow SIL and I will be on our way to Ireland. This trip was planned last July and it has sped up and surprised me that it's just two weeks away. I'm both excited and exhausted thinking about it. Exhausted because I have to get through Memorial Day first...and then who knows if this "survivor bubble" I'm in will explode or not. (I've bought my trip alcohol so I should be fine.)

Tonight after work I decided to read, thoroughly, the trip plan and am so dang excited about going now. Here's what's on our itinerary.

Day 2 (Day 1 is all travel)
Arrive in Dublin and meet "the gang" as I'm going to call them.

Side bar: In case I didn't tell you, this trip is through a company called Grand Circle Travel. It's a land tour. All we really have to do is show up.

After we meet the Gang...we have a walking tour around our hotel by our Program Director.

Side Bar: I'm just going to say now that the Gang will have one of the following and will eventually annoy the h-e-double-toothpics out of me

1. The person/couple who's always late
2. The know it all
3. The whiner
4. The ugly American

Any who.....

After the walking tour we have some free time in Dublin and then we have a Welcome Dinner. 

Day 3:

A tour of the city. I'm assuming this will be via a big bus. During this tour we'll stop at Trinity College. 

Y'all, Trinity College has THE library I've wanted to shoot as a photographer for decades. Here's photo from the Interwebs...I only hope I can come close to something this breath taking. 

Photo stolen from some fantastic photographer on the Interwebs

Also at Trinity College, and probably a bit more interesting is the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells contains the 4 Gospels in Latin, are extremely ornate and are from 384 AD. 

After we finish that tour we have the afternoon free. My plan, and SIL is riding shot gun on this, is to find this store called Celtic Whiskey and do some Whiskey tasting. My Kidd Valley buddy provided this gem to me and I cannot wait to see it. 

Day 4

What trip to  Dublin would be complete without going to the Guinness Stonehouse. I've heard its a touristy tour, but hey...I'm a tourist. And we get free Guinness. What's not to like. 

Leaving Dublin we'll hit Glendalough and the Glendalough Monestary and some place called Avoca before we end up in Kilkenny for the night. 

Day 5

Kilkenny starts with a walking tour, Kilkenny Castle and ... wait for it...a Hurling demonstration.  I just hope I don't hurl. hahahah...After that we'll have the afternoon free to wander through Kilkenny. 

Day 6

It's off to Cork. On the way we'll stop at Cahir Castle and then Waterford. Yep. THAT Waterford. I'm not a huge crystal fan, but it will be interesting to see. Once we arrive in Cork we'll get a walking tour and dinner. 

Day 7

Cobh (pronounced cove). We'll see St. Coleman's Cathedral which has the largest carillon in Ireland. (Yah go ahead...look up carillon...I'll wait...and I had to look it up as well.) "The 49-bell Carillon of St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh is the only such instrument in this country and is the largest in Ireland and Britain."

Cobh is also famous for being the last place the Titanic docked before it's fated trip. The Lusitania sank not far off this island too. 

Day 8

The ever so popular Blarney Castle. And no, I won't be kidding the Blarney stone. Gross!

We'll also hit Killarney where we'll take a horse and carriage tour through a forest. 

Day 9

We're going on the extra tour for this day and taking a trip to Dingle. Kidd Valley buddy said Dingle was worth every penny...so we're doing it. 

Day 10

Ring of Kerry and Killorglin. Basically an all day driving tour with some free time.

Day 11

Galway. On our way we get to stop and do/see THE second most exciting part of this trip ...a working Sheep Dog farm. Yes! Weather permitting we'll get to see how they train and work the border collies. Love this. 

Oh and we'll get to see the Cliffs of Mohr!

Day 12

Walking tour of Galway and the rest of the day on our own.

Day 13

More side trips. We've decided to do the Connemara side trip to see more of the country. There's a monestary on this side trip that's supposed to be beautiful. 

Later that evening we'll do the farewell dinner. And by this time I'll probably be ready to come home. I always say (and I think Mom/Dad used to say) ... "it's always nice to go on vacation but it's always nice to come home."

So yah...that's the trip. It'll be here and gone before I know it. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom. Wish You Were Here

It was hard to put into words how much Mom meant to me when she was alive. Now, it's even harder. So instead of trying to put into words...I'm posting this...

Video of Mom...



And this....

Here We Are Again

Here we are!
A month after the last blog post....
Almost 4 months after Mom passed...
The eve before Mother's Day...

What now?

First, the last 4 months have flown by so fast I can barely believe it. I know time flies when you get older, but good gracious it's as if those full months were nothing more than mere minutes.

I sold the Catalina house this last week. Proceeds heading to the Estate fund and hopefully I can start paying off Mom's estate and move forward just a little bit. One more check box checked. It's a relief, to be sure, to have that house sold. Oddly, I thought it would take longer to sale that house than the Voyager house. Who knew?

The rest of the Estate is what it is. Every day I do something related to it and have gotten used to the idea that this isn't a fast process.

Not looking forward to tomorrow. I've chosen to spend the day by myself. I'm not one to want to be around people when I know I'm going to be overly emotional. It's funny how everyone says grief is individual and unique for each person, then they try to NOT let you grieve the way YOU want. I know most have good intentions and I wouldn't change the support I have for nothing, though it gets a little exhausting. I now understand what Mom and SSIL had been saying when they both lost family. Funny how experience gives you perspective.

In other exciting news...Ireland is just a short couple of weeks away. I'm so excited. I'm a little anxious because I've not done any of the typical Jenn planning that I normally do, but I'm learning to go with the flow. I plan on spending a good portion of this weekend getting caught up on research of what we'll be doing. We got our final paper work and credentials in the mail yesterday and seeing those made me realize this was real. And happening in T minus 15 days...

Before we get to that though we have to go through Memorial Day. This one will be tough. Seeing Mom's name on a headstone isn't going to be something I thought I'd do so soon in my life. But I'll get through it. There will be many family members there to support me...and some alcohol. Seriously, it'll be a tough weekend, but one that has to happen and one that will soon be a memory.

Seattle Celebration of Life

I wasn't quite ready to write about Mom's second Celebration of Life after it ended last weekend. But now I've had a chance to reflect on it.  We had mom's second celebration on Saturday March 25th. I estimate we had about 50 family and friends come by.

What did I learn about mom?

Her Boeing career was so much more than I had imagined. I knew mom was one of those women who didn't let the "man's" world stop her. She fought her way through management with the Good ol' boys. Two of her previous co-workers and employees were there. One I've know pretty well throughout the years. She calls mom, Mama Jo. She has recounted stories of how mom helped guide and motivate her through Boeing and through her own personal life. That was mom. If you let her in, she'd be into everything in your life. Good and bad.

The second gentlemen I knew at arms length. I had met him and his wife a couple of times. I didn't know what mom had done for him. He told me how he was moved up here from Edwards AFB and how Mom was directly responsible for his career growth into management and logistics. He teared up a little when he remembered all the things she taught him about how to be a good manager. He felt he had been very fortunate to have mom show him the way.

She was, no doubt, a career woman. She loved her job and hated her job with equal veracity. We all do. But at the core was a woman who wanted to grow and to bring good people around her to help them grow. I only hope she knows what an impact she had on them.

Other guests that made a surprise appearance are two friends from my childhood. Both live nearby and I'm sad that we don't get together as much as we could. In Lancaster their parents and mine were inseparable. Every weekend we were either at their house, or them at ours. We laughed at how many weekends everyone stayed the night because of too much booze. We recounted stories of Boeing picnics, and the trouble our parents would get into ... such good stories. The best part is we have something on the calendar to get together in April. I really hope we can continue to do just that.

Family showed up too. The sister from Portland and her family came up. My aunt Jean and some of her family came up (always good to see her). She, in fact, is the person responsible for my scrapbooking problem. I wish I had gotten a photo of just her and I so I can write a scrapbook page about her.

I had several friends show up to support me. People who had met mom through the years and who considered her "Mom" too. Some put "Adopted Daughter" on their name tag. That just made me smile.

Overall I had to smile at the love in the room. A deep sadness brought all of us together, but the stories and the happiness that was in the memories made it bearable.

Mom Memory of the Day

Its inevitable. Every day a memory of mom and I will drop into my mind. I've been jotting them down and planning on writing a bit more about each one. Many of them are funny to me, but are such inside jokes that I'm sure no one else will think they're funny.

One thing I've learned through all this is that people lie. People tell you to "don't sweat the small stuff". And that "small stuff doesn't matter". This isn't really true. The "small stuff" are all the stories that make me smile and remind me of the woman mom was. The "big stuff" is easy to remember. The "small stuff" a little more cherished.

Today's memory is brought to you by the alcohol Tequila.

Sometime in the 90's. I really can't remember if I was still in school or just out of college. I think the latter. Dad was off hunting. Mom and I had been out shopping. She had purchased a book shelf that we planned on putting together that night.

On our way home, we stopped by the grocery store and bough makings for Mom's famous enchiladas. And apparently some tequila and margarita mix.

Mom mixed the margaritas (actually I think this might have been before the night in college that made be turn away tequila forever). At any rate, mom was mixing the drinks and I was making the enchiladas.

We laughed. We cooked together. We talked. We did what mother's and daughters should do together.

We ate dinner and went downstairs to start putting together the shelf.  On our way downstairs mom made some comment about the entire pitcher of margaritas being empty. How'd that happen?

We spent the next 2 hours putting together this shelf. The instructions were pictures and not words. Which, as you can imagine, with tequila in your system are confusing.

Finally. Finally we got the shelf together. We plopped ourselves down on the couch to stare at our work of art.

Silence.

Then we looked at each out and broke out in a gut laughter that led to uncontrollable giggles.

To this day I wish I had taken a photo of the shelf. There were 4 shelves. One of them was not connected and hanging down.

We laughed and laughed. Ultimately we left the shelf there and went to bed.

I smile just thinking about how much we giggled.

I have this and so many more that I want to get out of my head and onto paper - well virtual paper.

I'm Fine...Not Really

ChickenLady called me today about something completely unrelated to Mom and how I was doing, and our conversation naturally went to Mom and grieving. ChickenLady lost her husband several years ago, so she gets grieving. In fact, she helped SSIL through the loss of BigBro.

Anyhow, she said a couple of things to me that really resonated.

First let me say I feel like I'm not doing this grieving thing "right". Knowing full well there is no "right" way to grieve. "Everyone is different", everyone says. And I truly believe that. I'm not crying every day or every waking moment like I expect I should. Turns out I'm probably doing just fine.

ChickenLady said that after the loss as significant as this you're in a Survivor Bubble. You're just getting through the day doing what you need to do. And in my case, closing down mom's estate is a lot of work, stressful and a constant in my life. In my survivor  bubble, I'm doing what I need to do to get things done. Which makes sense. I wondered how I was able to compartmentalize my feelings right after mom died - just so I can get the house cleaned out and ready to sell.

She went on to say that the survivor bubble will get weaker and little holes will start to form. Don't be afraid of those little holes. You need them.  She implied that eventually the bubble will burst and that's when you'll feel the full weight of your grief.

I really like this analogy. It really made sense to me and made me feel like I wasn't going crazy or that I did, in fact, have a heart and can feel.

I also mentioned to her that I've stopped myself from crying every now and then because I say to myself, "I'm stronger than that." To which she responded, "Crying really shows your strength, not the other way around." I must have sounded confused because she went on to say that crying shows your brave enough to deal with the emotion.

Huh...

So here I am...where I am I have no idea. I just know I miss mom horribly and that I really, REALLY want to talk to her, oddly about this whole thing.

Today will be a hard day. Today we say good bye to a good family friend who died in February. Him passing just added to the grief for this year.

Can we be done with 2017 already?

Breathing...

It's been almost 2 months since I lost mom. TWO MONTHS! Gone in a blink of an eye.

It's been a rough 2 months and thankfully sometimes a happy memory finds it way inside. I had no idea that grieving AND trying to settle mom's estate would take such a toll on my mental capacity. It's exhausting to say the least.

In two months though, I feel like I have made some ground on this thing called Estate management. But let me tell you, if you've not had to do it, it is harder than you think. I was so naive thinking that all it took was an organized person. No, in fact it takes an organized person, a smart person, a really smart person, and patience.

Today I received an offer for mom's Voyager house. With minimal back and forth we agreed to a price. It's contingent on the house passing an inspection though, so there's that. But the thought that I might have that off my hands is quite the relief. One down. One to go.

Its the second house that's going to cause me more grey hair. Every time I turn around another piece of paper work is required and more $$ is required. I'm so done with it. And then I need to remember that patience is something I need to practice.

In two weeks we'll have another Celebration of Life for me. This for her Seattle family and friends. It dawned on me this weekend that I'd better get to planning. I have much already done, but the final touches need to happen. Thankfully this is a simple celebration.

So how am I doing?
Well, there are good days and bad. The good are days where remembering mom brings a smile to my face. The bad are days I want to badly to talk to her. Then when I realize I can't, it just hurts. A pain I haven't really ever experienced. She's gone! Forever. It's when that thought enters my mind that I'm just so dumbfounded at how we got here. Denial.

Then there are times I think I'm not grieving the right way. I know, logically, there is not "right" way to grieve. In fact, I'm a tad worried that I'm bottling it all up and some day it's going to be unleashed and I won't be able to stop it. Then I worry some more about that.

Worry, mental exhaustion and more worry are all my compadres of late.

On a bright, personal side, I'm getting my act together so for anyone who has to deal with my estate, they won't have as many issues. I bought this great book called Get It Together and have gotten it together. At least I've accomplished one thing in the last 2 months.