Let's go Lebanese

On Saturday afternoon I played in my first hockey match as centre forward -also a first! Not sure I like the position becasue I was told to basically camp near the goals and wait for the ball which never arrived! When I did venture forward to where the action was I was sent back by the coach..aarrgghh!
Hockey ended later than expected and it was utter madness trying to get ready to go out, I left the club at 16h45 and was supposed to be at W&T's to drop the "babysitters" off at 17h30, then drive back to our house, park the car and walk to the luas. We had a 19h00 sitting at the restaurant and only had until 20h50 before we got evicted for the 21h00 sitting.
The restaurant was Lebanese, The Cedar Wood and the theme ran all the way through to their wine and beer, I did not even know you could get Lebanese wine, I was not overly impressed with it, although Rose enjoyed it. The food was okay, but I was expecting a bit more - I would have liked lots of little finger food items...and the desserts were VERY unimpressive, the variety of ice cream with chocolate sauce was plain old vanilla with a teaspoon of chocolate sauce on it...for €5.50! Tracy had the baklava which she really did not enjoy.
After dinner we decided that the night was but a puppy and headed over to Café on Seinne for cocktails and dancing. I had a couple of cosmopolitans and then Kelly got the girls a Jaggerbomb which we all made short work of. Needless to say we all had lots of fun...finally heading home at around 02h00, Kelly and I a little less enthusiastic about our exit than the men folk!

My days are numbered

And the number is ONE. Yes this really is my last day as lady of leisure, tomorrow I am going to help out for the last time at the shop and Friday is D Day (Divine Day - okay?). Today is going to be great, I am off to Dublin now to meet Debz, she is taking me shopping...to a couple of her favourite places and then lunch somewhere...ahh the end of an era!
Tomorrow I work and then I am having my hair cut, after that I guess it will all be after hours and weekends so best I enjoy it one more time.
I am looking forward to all the new challenges, and changes are supposed to be as good as a holiday...are they not???
David, my new boss to be even called me yesterday afternoon to congratulate me and let me know that he was looking forward to seeing me on Friday - I was pleased that he called, looks like I have a decent boss which makes all the difference...let's hope I don't have to retract that statement at a later date!!!
Perhaps it is time I got myself a diary, the dates and plans for next week or swirling around in my head...wow I am a busy girl.
Oh and one more thing....I was just thinking that it would be nice to get some ideas for Friday songs, some days I am stumped and spend ages in front of You Tube...so any suggestions will be seriously considered...and appreciated! Email is probably best and most of you have my address, if not there is one on my blog profile!

Dig Deep

I did it, I managed to refill the hot air balloon and we went out again and joined everyone for drinks at Russell Court Hotel - it was a near miss because the weather was lousy and Malcolm and I had decided that it would be our guide, no rain = PARTY. The gods obviously wanted us to spend a night out and so they arranged for a temporary respite of leaky skies, lucky us!

The evening was great, we even ended up going down to the nightclub and I finally drank a JaggerBomb, having avoided them thus far. I think the 4 glasses of wine had made me a little too

pliable and I tossed it back like a pro.

At 2h30 my sensible husband (more like expert, as he has done late night stints in Dublin - this was my first) and I made our exit, any later and a taxi would have been very difficult to come by because all the night clubs close at 3h00 and then it is mayhem on the streets!

Full of Hot Air

Yep, that was last night...this morning I am a deflated balloon, tired and I have a sore throat and I am reading my wine induced post shaking my head and wondering whether I made any promises to F and J (2 lovely ladies - sisters - from Northern Netherlands - more about that in a bit) regarding me pitching up for drinks tonight...Rose also invited me to 51 and although I do remember making no promises, she did ASK first.
The comedy night was gas (as they say in Ireland) and I met some new people that M works with too. One of the ladies F commutes back to Holland every 4 days to be with her daughter and partner - UNBELIEVABLE - all that travelling every week, AND it is not like she lives near a major airport, she flies into Amsterdam and then has a 2 hour commute to her town!
Mmmm and I am worried about the impact my 9 - 5 will have on my kids....who are at school from 9 - 4 MINIMUM...and often sport or clubs go on until 5:30, they probably wouldn't know I was working 9 - 5 if I did not tell them.
Off for my eye check up now...have disturbing moments of blurriness every now and then so I hope all is okay. The weather is absolutely foul today, raining, windy dark and dreary, bed and a good book would be a most excellent option...

Rock on weekend...oh and the Friday song...

Yes...it is 01h00 in the morning, I have had 4 glasses of wine and I probably should not be sitting in front of the computer...BUT. We got a lift home with Paul after a fantastic evening of comedy...listening to Tony Law, at Queens pub in Dalkey, who is funnier than the videos I found on You Tube but ANYWAY....on our way home this song was playing on the radio and so Idecided it would make a most excellent Friday song...have a fabulous weekend folks...I sure will. Tomorrow night looks like a ripper, drinks at a hotel in Dublin followed by who knows what, a Saturday coffee morning with someone I have not met before and who knows what else may come along...lunch anyone?

Weekend roundup

Market Bar was great, apparently unusually quiet but perhaps that had something to do with the mass exodus from all over the country to witness the Electric picnic. Malcolm's colleagues ALL wimped out, not one arrived but of course MY friend Kelly showed up, after she saw a facebook update on where we were going and commented on it which allowed me the opportunity to invite her, thank goodness, always more fun in a group!
We sat at the bar and had a good catch up and then Kelly told us about The Cellar at Fallon&Byrne - a wine bar where you can choose from an extensive list of "wine by the glass". Malcolm was in the mood for wine and as it is my drink of choice anyway we all voted for a change of venue.
The cellar was lovely, much quieter but the atmosphere was pleasant and we ordered a liver paté, a cheese and meat selection, both with warm crusty bread and smoked salmon on brown soda bread. We all sampled all the goodies and enjoyed a couple of glasses of wine, there was only 1 rosé on the menu and as I had been drinking white at Market Bar I decided to try it and it was good enough that 1 turned into 2!
We behaved ourselves enough to leave in time to catch the luas home which was quite an accomplishment...for Malcolm, he normally has to catch a taxi home after a stint in Dublin, what good influence Kelly and I are!!!
Of course we got home and ended up talking in the kitchen until 03h00 so we were still exhausted on Saturday morning.
Malcolm had to drag himself off to cricket and I went to help Carla as she has just moved into a house that needs a lot of scrubbing! We washed walls and skirting for a couple of hours and I think we made a difference, although there was just so much to do!
Sunday and Malcolm was off to cricket again and I spent the day pottering around the house, catching up on washing and then I fetched Carla and we went shopping for bolts and washers for the house and then I took her off to Lidl to show her how to shave her grocery bill by a couple of hundred a month! Example? I bought a punnet of premium quality nectarines for €1.99, at M&S half the size punnet would be €4.99...Tesco might be €1 -€1.50 cheaper than M&S and that is just one example, enough home economics!
And I guess that was my weekend, not quite fits into a nutshell but hey!
Oh...and today is the most magnificent day, blue skies as far as the eye can see, sadly I have to work but at least i get to enjoy my walk and the sunshine at its best...

Follow me

The morning started off with a trip to the uniform shop. NO I did NOT leave everything to the last minute, the tracksuit I needed was not in stock 2 weeks ago when I took Kirstin to get "kitted" out in her new school clothes. Luckily we managed to snag one of the last ones today and as I was paying I took note of a Spanish lady who had just completed her purchase and was shaking the lady behind the tills hand and thanking her for her help, not something witnessed on a regular basis! In my nosiness I saw that the uniform was the same as Kirstin's and was going to say something (you know me...) but decided against it. As we were leaving the shop I heard somebody giving her directions to Dundrum and as I was heading that way I spoke to her and offered to lead the way. She accepted and then asked if I knew where the bookshop was...and so I found myself guiding her through Dublin to Wise Owl in Ballinteer.
Of course I was wondering whether she had just moved to Dublin, or if her daughter was going to boarding school, if she needed anything else and decided that I would give her my number and let her know to call if she needed more help...luckily when I got out the car in Ballinteer we had a little chat and I discovered that her daughter had been attending a different school in the area and that she knew part of Dublin quite well so I kept my number to myself and saved myself from any awkward moments. Why is it that I always feel compelled to help people out in these types of situations? I gave her directions to the school and Dundrum from where we were and she thanked me and we parted company. Kirstin reckons that was a good deed and that I will be rewarded, I think it was no biggie as I hardly went out my way but if she is right maybe my 3 pm second interview will be a roaring success...here's hoping!

Down The Rabbit Hole...

Malcolm has a colleague who is climbing a mountain in Nepal in aid of Make a Wish and she held a table quiz fundraiser last night. I love quizzes so we booked a table for 4 and were joined by a formidable husband and wife team V (Malcolm's colleague) and T.
Our skill lay more in the talking, drinking and craic department - luckily we were all on board for that so when our team did not win we all stayed in one piece. The same could not be said for the table behind me, one of their team members was pulling out all the stops in the final round, trying to gain extra points by taking centre stage and participating vigorously in the singing part of the contest. I desperately wanted to sing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper but I am aware of my enormously flawed voice so I watched helplessly as she decimated the song instead. This was all too much for T, competitiveness can be rather ugly when you are all out supporting a charity and trying to have a fun night out and so after the quiz and a last drink he herded us into a taxi and down the rabbit hole I went.
We went to a casino, a very different experience to my vast knowledge of gambling institutions. A drivers licence is a requirement, the club we went to is members and their guests only, and we were finger printed, photographed and investigated (OKAY not that - but the rest YES.)
Upstairs through lots of glass doors we entered the hushed environment of people losing money. I am NOT a gambler, I feel awful losing €50 so I was a very interested spectator as V and T took piles of chips and haphazardly placed them on numbers, corners, colours, evens and whatever else the roulette wheel had to offer. I watched T happily lose €500 and then my eyes nearly popped out of my head when he bought another €1000 and spent that in 15 minutes too. OUCH. Not a bother for T, another visit to the cashier and another €1000 plastic card appeared and more colourful chips were passed around. I went and watched V, a lot better for my state of mind because she was playing with €1 chips...I ignored the fact that she was still placing about €50 per whirl of the wheel and more often than not coming out of a round without getting a satisfying pile of chips.
Next thing T was telling me to bet and I explained that I was happy to watch and the only gambling I had actually done before was Black Jack. Before I could protest I was being hauled to a card table, sat down and €250 worth of chips appeared before me and T said we were playing Black jack until one of us lost our money. He lasted 3 rounds, I played for hours. The table had a minimum bet of €25 and after a wobbly start (yes I worked my way all the way down to a last chip before clawing my way back up) I had a comfortable pile of discs in my hand. I even remembered to tip the croupier and the little bell would ring as my chips were appreciatively swept down the hole. I changed my €25 chips for €100 ones and put €400 worth of pink plastic in my back pocket! It was surreal, I had a guy betting on the back of me, telling me he had not seen anything like my luck in a long time, apparently I won ten hands in a row at one stage, but it was all so strange and new to me. I managed to win another €100 and then decided to quit while I was ahead and went back to T and tried to give him all the chips, but he refused to accept them and so it was that I walked out of the casino with €500 in my back pocket. Lady luck was also on their side and although they had spent a cool €6000 V had €13 000 in her handbag, and here was me all excited with my little roll of €50's.
We finally got home at 02h30 this morning and I was still dancing around and jumping up and down in excitement with my money, waving it around, it will come in handy for that new hockey stick I want to buy!

No Blue Monday

Howth from Dublin side

We woke up to yet another cloudy day, but Google weather was predicting no rain. After lolling about at home, setting up Kirstin's blog, skyping my baby sis and visiting all my favourite blogs we ventured out and headed for the Dart station in Monkstown for a day (well afternoon - had wasted the morning on the computer)in Howth. There is a great cliff walk that I have been dying to try and it was a perfect day - not too hot and no rain!!!
We had to drag the kids along - they find the couch and TV more appealing than a day with the folks (sharp intake of breath due to disbelief here please) so we offered them a meal out as a reward for playing mountain goats with us. The walk was absolutely what the doctor ordered, a great bit of exercise with breathtaking scenery and horrible smelling plants, but they were so pretty that we soon got used to the smell.

View from Howth looking towards Bray

I had visions of a fish and chip dinner on the grass next to the harbour but sadly our children had much more formal plans so I had to ignore my salivating every time I saw a white box of Beschoff fish and chips, made worse by the smell of vinegar which made me want it even more! Worst of all the restaurants were all filled to capacity so we had to endure an extra hour on the train before we could get food into our grumbling bellies...the scrambled egg on toast at 11h00 was very well digested by the time we had finished our walk!
The kids had selected REAL Gourmet Burger in Dun Loughrie for their gastronomic pleasure but the wait time was an hour and so I found myself very happily ordering from the Cafe Mao menu - my usual, roasted pumpkin spring rolls and Asian Greens in a soy and oyster sauce. Malcolm ordered his favourite too, Nasi Gooring and after much deliberation the kids settled on Chicken Satay (Kirstin) and Yellow curry (Jess). They rounded it off with the most divine smelling chocolate puddings which I later discovered tasted even better than the smells that had been attacking my nasal passages...but I did not succumb as I was ready to explode having already sampled every one's food and eaten my own! I have not forgotten about my fish and chips on the grass dream though, so perhaps we will take George and Murray there while they are staying with us...weather permitting of course!

Visiting the North side

On Saturday we ventured out at about 14h30 to go and find V's house. Malcolm works with him and he was having a little exhibition of his photographic achievements at his home on the north side of Dublin.
Malcolm had received an email invitation and had a look at the map book to plan our route. We decided to walk and luas as it was fairly far from us. I insisted on making a photocopy of the map page that Malcolm felt he had committed to memory, between me and you, I am glad I did!!!
Anyway......after a fairly long walk we finally got to the street, and went in search of No.7. We rang the doorbell, no answer. We walked up and down the little road and found no clue as to which house it was, although Malcolm was fairly adamant that it was No. 7, but what worried me was that the No.7 also appeared on the street sign and as Dublin has odd postal codes I was under the impression that the 7 was probably the post code.
Luckily Malcolm had the phone number of one of the guys he works with, C, in his phone and he called him. C said he would log onto his work email and get back to us. Malcolm in all his wisdom decided that V had probably waited around for an hour, and when nobody arrived, went for a cycle or an outing. Again I questioned his authority, surely he knew that an invite for 15h00 in Dublin meant people would only arrive at around 16h00, and it the invitation had been for 15h00 ONWARDS...
Anyhow we headed back from where we had just been, a bit of a waste of time but hey, we had walked the streets of the north side and at least that was SOMETHING.
About 10 minutes later we got a return call from C...No 53, ahhhhh.
We turned around yet again, we had come all this way, what was another little walk? And so we found ourselves at V's house admiring his pictures and meeting a whole lot of new people. It was a good afternoon and when we were ready to leave another couple (who we had hardly spoken to) offered us a lift back to Dublin centre which I gladly accepted thinking that Malcolm worked with him, only to discover that this was not the case! Anyway they were a great couple who happen to live fairly close to us and we had a good chat all the way back into town.
Malcolm and I went to the Wool Shed, it is a Southern hemisphere pub, catering for Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans and we had a couple of drinks there and watched South Africa beat England in a (cricket) Test series for the first time since 1965!
After that we ate a celebratory meal at Wagamama (noodle bar) before heading home.

The morning after the day before...

Yesterday I used the power of positive thinking and wore a skirt and a t-shirt to work. I have learned a couple of valuable lessons though so I did wear my runners/takkies for the walking part of my trip -Dublin streets and slip slops are not a good combination...and of course I packed an umbrella AND took my rain coat. I considered driving but I love the walk, the exercise is great and Dublin traffic is an absolute nightmare especially when the weather is bad, lots of people who would normally walk take their cars!
Of course because I was so prepared for the rain hardly a drop fell from the sky which made walking all the more pleasant.
The shop was very busy which I really enjoy and I spent a lot of time stocking shelves and helping customers, so busy I forgot to do my countdown...oops! 4 DAYS TO GO
... and my power of positive thinking DID work because it did not rain and it was a warm day!!!

Rose was having her work farewell at 51 in Baggott Street and she had invited a few of her non-work friends so Carla and I went to help celebrate new beginnings with her. After a visit to Eddie Rocketts (never thought I would actually end up there after midnight!!) we all caught a cab home and I was sensibly in bed by about 2...I think! Malcolm came crawling in from a farewell that someone had at his work a little after 3...and he has to play cricket today, should be FUN...for now we let him rest!!!

Caught in the rain...

I worked today, I only work once a week at the moment, long story but basically one of the other girls was desperate for more hours as she needs extra money and seems as I am off to Holland and France AND the kids are on holiday I figured she could have my shifts. I worked 10 -14 today and then could not leave...the rain had me trapped. I ended up spending an extra happy hour with Debbi waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't. It slowed down to a drizzle and I decided that at least I would not be soaked through and spent the next 10 minutes making my way to the luas trying to avoid getting rain in my eyes!
I should have just caught the bus as it drops me off at the top of my road but opted for the luas which meant a 15 minute walk through rain yet again. I guess after a year in Dublin I should always carry around an umbrella or a rain coat. Oh well.

Streets of mauve

Tonight after a very wet hockey match I drove home on streets slick with rain, reflecting the most beautiful colours from the sky, the air looked pink, the streets were mauve and the sky was awash with oranges, pinks and purples. The clouds had a golden lining and the sun was making one final defiant attempt to make its presence known after a very soggy day. I was absolutely soaking wet after playing for over an hour in rain, so much rain that I had a little river running down my nose and I have never been happier! My friend also told me to keep 07 August next year free, yep it looks like the date has been set...07-08-09...pretty darn cool, my very first Irish wedding!!!
Oh yes...and as I was walking out of Trinity with Jess at 18h00, we bumped into a friend of mine Kelly, my my but Dublin is a small place!
I was in the shower tonight trying to think how to describe how happy I am...the best I came up with is that I almost feel like I am going to burst out of my own skin kinda happy...I know it sounds bizarre...
Oh...and I even scored a goal ;)

Where did you blog from?

It is raining, a lot! Of course as I left the house this morning I paused at the door wondering whether to grab my rain jacket and decided not to bother. Bad decision. I am also wearing flip flops, worse decision. I had to walk Jess to Trinity College today at noon, (about 10 minute walk) it rained the whole way, a fine rain so I did not get too wet, a few odd looks...crazy lady with no umbrella/rain jacket...but hey!
It rained the whole way back to work too...so by the time I got back my cardigan was rather damp, and me with a cough I cannot get rid of...oops.
At 15h00 I had to walk BACK to Trinity, fill in some questionnaires and such. This time I got an umbrella from work but because the streets were so wet my feet kept slipping out of my shoes, I was shuffling along using my toes to keep my shoes on, now I think I need to disinfect my feet! It will have to wait though as I am still sitting at Trinity, on one of their computers (all my questions were computer based and as Jess is still busy they said I could go onto the internet..he he) yep blogging from Trinity - pretty cool hey!!! Who would ever have thought....

Bank holiday weekend

Suitcases EVERYWHERE - driving around this morning I would swear that half of Dublin are leaving for the weekend. Sadly I am staying put - I MIGHT have to help unpack a 20 foot container tomorrow and customs are not telling us when it will be released. I had to call someone from the Dept of Environmental Affairs yesterday - they want to sample all the curry powder for sudan red - I think they assume that SA are a bit behind the times, but sudan red was taken off our shelves a long time ago! Anyhow, tomorrow I may be using all my muscle power, carrying boxes, silver cloud is that I am getting exercise without really realising it! Of course it will be a mad day, and I have roped the kids into helping, M graciously declined...he can think of more appealing things to do with his time. If the container does get delivered I will go into Dublin early, visit the farmers market at Temple Bar for breakfast....excellent, I can't wait to sample all their goodies!

IN OTHER NEWS:

My mad friend Lizle is running the Comerades….AGAIN!!! Good luck Lizle and if anyone would like to sponsor her as she is running for a charity this year (details below) please contact the telephone number provided! Off to do my internet banking now…

Casa do Sol School is a school for intellectually disabled learners situated in Linden, Johannesburg. Lizle Austin ran and completed her first Comrades in 2007 and this year she’s running for Casa! Good Luck on your first ‘uprun’ Lizle!
Would you or your company be willing to sponsor him per kilometre or an amount on completion? If so, please complete this form and hand in at the office or fax to the school at (011) 782 7736.
It does not have to be an enormous amount but every little helps towards making a better life for our children at the school. Thank you for your assistance!

Further information can be obtained from the school at Telephone (011) 782 0231.

Walking on Sunshine

Now I am not sure how many of you read the INCIDENT WITH THE IPOD - where I merrily washed Kirstin's jacket with the Ipod securely zipped in the pocket...so I replaced it for her and the other day I decided to give the abused one last go, see if it had managed to pull through its little ordeal and it had! Now I walk to work and back with music in my ears, I am fairly sure I must look kinda strange because I cannot help myself - I tend to walk to the tune of the song...but it certainly is a much more pleasant walk now! This morning I was going to catch the bus - still worried about my chest but the day is just so absolutely marvelous that I ended up walking, I could not help myself! I bumped into Meriel getting off the luas at Stephen's Green and kept her company until our paths had to part ;)
I crossed the Millennium bridge looked out at the water with the sun shining, music in my ears and decided that today is an outstanding day! Dublin is beautiful, life is treating me well and I am so happy, and ever so lucky

Madness

My legs are a bit like pudding, jelley to be precise. I chose to ride my bike into work, first I escorted Kirstin to the luas, came home for 20 minutes and then set off on my journey. I only have to be at work at 10h00 so the roads were already fairly quiet when I set off at 09h00. The ride to work was great, it is nice and cool and there is a bicycle path for a lot of the way, sidewalks too...ONLY when there are no pedestrians present....I hope that is allowed. Anyhow, I got to work within 30 minutes which was pretty cool. At around 13h30 I started dreading the return, the saddle imprint was a bit of a clue to the possible (probable) discomfort about to be experienced. At 14h00 I grit my teeth hopped on my bike and headed home, it really was not too bad. My legs did protest at the only real hill I encountered and I did consider walking but I was a bit embarrassed becasue the hill really was well, just a hill, so onward and upward I went. I made it home by 14h30 and when I got up realsied that my scheduled evening walk with a friend was probably not a very good idea, so tomorrow I am having a lady day, a pedicure and a leisurely stroll around Dundrum ought to do the trick...ahh part-time employment is bliss.

DONIMATOR...

Back to the awesome weekend then....Friday night. Climbed ino bed with my latest acquisition, This Charming man, and settled down for an enjoyable hour.....okay okay yes it is the latest book by Marian Keyes, but hubby was downstairs watching TV - I thought that this was a much more exciting start to my latest post...

So I here my man's voice booming on the phone -I am not sure he actually knows HOW to talk quietly...I deduce from the conversation that his brother Donovan - Dono - is on his way for a visit...cool. I fall asleep before he comes upstairs and so am not able to interrogate him about said conversation.

Saturday morning first words out of my mouth..."So, when is Dono arriving?"

Malc's tries to tell me that Dono is not popping in for a visit but I explain my UNINTENTIONAL eavesdropping of the night before. Sadly it was meant to be a surprise for me and the girls - I explained to Malcolm that in order to keep a surprise, talking quietly on the phone is a prerequisite...luckily the girls were fast asleep so at least for them it our Monday morning visitor would be a surprise.

On Sunday there was a gathering at Wanderers in Ballsbridge for all Southern African folk in Ireland. We had heard bad reviews about the previous years fiasco but safety in numbers (10 0f us) made us all brave and we decided to give it a try. Mmmmm an hour later after trying to shout above the distorted music, watching an extraordinary amount of lighter fluid being added to the bbq's and very dodgy looking braai packs, 10 people were jumping into cars and heading off to the nearest shop to buy meat and drink - rendezvous - our place, as quick as possible. I got stuck in the kitchen making salads but of course I had all the women folk in the kitchen with me, chatting away while I showed them all what a messy cook I am! To make matters worse I buckled under the pleas for milk tart and had to make that too!!!

The day was glorious, the sun was shining, the temperature was ALMOST at 20....in JHB we would all have been wearing sweaters, here in Dublin we were running around in our summer finest! We wrapped things up at around 23h00, it really had been a great day.

Monday and I was trying to clean up from the night before, hung around in my pj's and waved Malc's off, the kids thought he was off to a cricket match but he was actually going to fetch Don from the airport. I managed to get the house half way respectable, no way I was spending the whole day cleaning, we had a VISITOR and fabulous weather AGAIN!!!

Dono snuck in the back door and surprised the girls, they were absolutely thrilled to see the one and only Uncle Don!

Malcolm did actually have a cricket match so he left us to go and "throw" balls and hopefully hit a few too. Jess had arranged to meet some of her school friends at the fun fair in Leopardstown at 15h00 so we decided to go off to REAL Gourmet Burger in Dun Loaghrie for the best burger in Dublin that we have found so far before dropping Jess off. Sadly it was closed - some air conditioning problem so we headed over to Gastro Pub instead. We spotted a table which was in the sun and then discovered that they do not serve food outside!!! I found this mind boggling, to have to sit inside on such a sunny day when there was such an awesome table begging to be occupied was sacrilege.

After lunch we headed over to the fair and Jess met up with her friends and Don, Kirstin and I decided to attempt throwing balls into milk urns to win a stuffed toy. €6 and 12 balls later we abandoned the stupid milk urns for a darts game. Then we shuffled from the dart board...still empty handed to a horse racing, ball throwing game, once again we left sans toy. After all that the Ferris wheel looked like a bit of fun so we hopped into a swinging basket and off we went. Sadly the views were not as spectacular as I thought they would be, I guess having a fun fair next to the M50 ain't going to be too inspiring but we did get a good look at the racetrack. Kirstin desperately wanted to have a go at a roller coaster type ride so we found a Mickey mouse one and her and I clambered aboard. Donovan wisely stayed on Terra firma, it was a silly looking ride and he had already had his fair share of proper rides in Vegas! The ride was a laugh until we got spun around in a horrible jerky manner and I started feeling a little queasy, Kirstin told me she wanted to throw up and I ordered her not to. She thought that this was my clever way of controlling her heaving stomach...it was really a desperate attempt to avoid getting messy. Being the obedient (ha ha) child that she is she did manage to retain her lunch and I rewarded her by buying a photograph taken of us on the ride. She looks suitably horrified and I am calmly sitting there smiling, in reality I was trying to ensure my skirt did not provide any unnecessary distractions for anyone!

Donovan was determined to win a fluffy toy and so we returned to the milk urns, then we made a turn at the darts. He finally gave up and we all piled into the car and headed for home. We went down to the cricket grounds in Rathmines and watched the last few overs of Malcolms game and then had a drink in the bar. After that it was home to braai/bbq a few steaks and make a salad. we ended up eating at 22h00 - this light until 21h00 throws us a bit sometimes!!!

On tuesday Jess had school, shame Kirstin scored - she was still on her half term break! Jess desperately wanted to miss school but they are doing revision for exams and she ahs missed so much work so we had to deny the poor girl.

In the evening we caught the bus into Dublin and walked around St Stephen's Green, while standing on the bridge a swan came running across the water and Donovan managed to snap a fantastic shot...what a picture to wrap up the end of a LONG post!!!

Walking on sunshine

Life is just so bloody marvelous at the moment. On Friday night I went to my dreaded hockey tournament, had an absolute ball (tee hee) and scored my very first goal, then I went on to assist in another one so I was on top of my meatballs! After the game Meriel and I drove around looking for an in service A.T.M which just added to the fun of the evening in some bizarre sort of way, and then we had drinks and dinner at the hockey club with all the other teams.
On Tuesday we woke to the sun streaming through all the windows and a beautiful day. I decided to get out there and make hay so I called a friend, Kelly and we went down to Avoca in Wicklow for lunch and wondered around the nursery. I then picked Kirstin up at school, hunted Tracy down in the car park and we all set off with the kids to Airfield Farm. We were scraping all our cents together to pay the admission for the kids and then scraped some more to have a coffee at the restaurant. It was an awesome afternoon, we sat outside in the sun and I actually....wait for it....got too hot!!! In true Dublin fashion though my jersey/jumper came in handy about an hour later when the sun finally disappeared behind the clouds.
To top it all off I have actually managed to stick to my healthy eating plan for about 54 hours and the temptations that I have faced....the food at Avoca is begging to be eaten and then I was faced with it a second time at Airfield, which was worse because we even managed to scrape together money for scones for the kids and I had to butter and jam them.....and they looked sooo very good. Of course it fuelled my resolve and I am hoping to get through all the temptations at work today too. Ooohhh oohhhh ooohhh I also did some running yesterday morning, now that is one for the history books!!!!!
This morning I woke to magnificent weather again, and I had to walk through the cobbled streets of Dublin with my sunglasses on! Bliss I tell you, pure bliss.

Birthdays and stuff....

I have not even told you about my birthday…ages ago really, but anyhooo. I worked which was better than sitting at home I guess, and we did not go out for dinner because I had a hockey meeting,and as it was a week night and the girls had school I decided to save it for the weekend. I got a fantastic surprise when Lizette called from SA to wish me, we worked together at http://www.oldparks.co.za/ and became good friends so it was great to here from her.
So back to the hockey meeting...I went and drank lots of wine with the hockey ladies (good thing about birthdays - hubby dropped me off AND picked me up) and Wendy even baked me a DIVINE cake, with rhubarb in the middle of it, made with half flour and half ground almonds it was so very very yum and I was enormously touched by her efforts. I even got to blow out my candles!!!
I only got my present on the Monday after my birthday and we went out to lunch on the Sunday as a birthday treat, perhaps it is a good thing as I got to enjoy my birthday over a few days. The lunch was pretty cool, we went to the Gastro Pub and they do a school boy lunch on a Sunday, roast chicken and vegetables for 4 people, the whole chicken gets put down at your table and carving knife and fork are supplied for your slicing/hacking pleasure. We had roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, butternut, peas, gravy AND stuffing all served in different dishes, the kind that granny always has on the table. It was well worth the €30 and I am sure we could have filled at least another 2 tummies with the left over’s.
Okay, I am getting to the present….my husband in all his wisdom (and lots of hints, nudges and flat out telling) got me a Garmin for my birthday, and not just any old talk out loud maps, but the PINK one, beautiful metallic pale pink. I have the freedom of the city now and I zip around without a care in the world. I have driven into Dublin, gone to City West, managed to take Kirstin to drama practice at a new destination all without getting the least bit worried about taking the wrong road. Of course taking the wrong road still happens, I mean what is turn left in 150 metres between friends, it really is so much further than I ever imagine but this is no problem for my clever friend, she just recalculates, sends me around some block or other and puts me back on track. Of course with all the road works it can be a tad frustrating when you get to a non-existent traffic circle expecting to take the third exit and find yourself faced with a highway off ramp. This is not a mere around the block correction but at least I know she will get me back on track somehow.
My girls also bought me some more Australian Women’s weekly cook books to add to my collection, I have a lot of replacement requirements after foolishly selling at least half of the evidence of my nasty little habit. They wisely chose healthy food option ones after carefully going through them to make sure that I would not be able to put a plate of something they considered foul and distasteful in front of them at dinnertime.