The LATE Friday song

What can I say, last night at Dicey's this song played and I thought, oh I like...good Friday song - I know it is Saturday but I heard it on Friday!

IT'S BAAACK

Wow all hands on deck for a crazy weekend at Three Rock and lots of hockey. I am beginning to question my enthusiasm of being on the committee...so much to do and so little time! Who am I kidding? I love the rush! Tomorrow my day begins in a Desperate Housewives type fashion with a trip to the hairdresser for an overdue highlight session and after that the fun begins, programmes to be collected, envelopes to be stuffed, food to be bought, glasses to be collected and somewhere in between I have to get myself semi glammed up for our Friday evening get together - guess that means I should go and put myself to bed, was hoping to find a Friday song as I have been neglecting that but what's another week eh?

Calm before the next storm...

A glass of wine, a joint of beef in the oven, football and the sound of pages turning in the background. Welcome to Sunday in my home today. The page turning is my eldest preparing for junior cert, the football, we duh ... and the glass of wine? Well just a glass of wine really, but it does create a warm fuzzy glow as an added bonus.
Weekends as a working mum are very different to what I am accustomed to, but I have found my rhythm, Saturday is cleaning (oh OKAY...unless something more appealing rares its head) and Sunday at some stage is the hunting and gathering for the week ahead. To this end I have to just say...I L-O-V-E Aldi. My budget remains intact and generally I even have a little left over grocery money at the end of the month, how great is that! I have also discovered frozen mashed potato (in three varieties) which is fab for the working mom, and today I am testing out the Maris Piper roast potatoes...we will see. My potato ricer has not been forgotten I hasten to add, just not as utilised as in the past!
Blissful weekend it may be, but I do have to confess that I am also really looking forward to next weekend. TRR Vets hockey festival time of year again and as my family have learnt....I'm here, but not really ( a stop over for a change of clothes and spot of beautifying) as most of the weekend (OK...all of the weekend) is spent playing hockey and then evenings socialising. This year I am on the organising committee so a bit more work will have to be done, but hopefully it will just add to the buzz of the whole weekend.
Sadly it flies by so quickly, this morning I woke up thinking ... "This time last week I was in Black Pool" and in some ways it already feels so long ago! I guess I just have to make every minute count and then hold onto the memories I create for as long as possible! (The wine talking???)
Wow, this afternoon really is peaceful, wet and cloudy, lots of rain but feeling so content.

James how could you?

A while ago I went and bought a new hand beater, this is a rather necessary appliance in my kitchen even though it does not get as much action as it once did. I popped into House of Fraser and was rather amused to see that James Martin has added his smiling face to the boxes on the Wahl products. The price was very similar to all the others so I decided to get it - even though I did not know the brand, James had me convinced that it would be a long lived kitchen appliance.
WRONG.
Sadly it lost the battle with the brownie mix and died a slow and agonising death (well it SOUNDED painful) while trying to beat the batter. Wimp! Sadly I have seen a few more appliances with his name, but I am not going to be tricked into buying another Wahl product by one of my favourite TV chefs.
I guess buying quality only applies to the actual ingredients when cooking with James.

Eastern Promise

I sat in the lounge area of reception yesterday morning after checking out with a heavy heart, but that was a good thing because the reason for my gloominess was the end of an absolutely awesome weekend!
Black Pool Fylde Fillies Hockey Festival did NOT disappoint. In fact if anything it was even better than last year because some of the faces were now familiar and it was great to catch up with people from a year ago. I left having met even more people and 2010 will no doubt be another great reunion! See I am already planning to attend next year.
Paula has a wicked sense of humour and to this end I was made team captain for the weekend, just goes to show the spirit in which we play…i.e. not very seriously!



Besides forgetting the name of the team we were playing while doing a ‘Three Cheers’ all went fairly smoothly, although I did not do much and elected Fiona as my mouthpiece because she is very good at encouraging everyone!
I did manage to sustain a few injuries; my beautifully swollen foot has done my injury proud! When it first happened and I was hobbling about I felt like a bit of a hypochondriac but now I am vindicated and have proudly showed off my bruises and scrapes – a wonderful astro burn on my left arm also generates a suitable wince to all who see it!
On Saturday night we all dressed up in the same outfits, and I must say it was pretty cool dancing in the turquoise circle that made up the Dolly Mixtures.
As usual all the teams rose to the challenge and some of the outfits were absolutely amazing.


After all the dancing a whole bunch of us ended up curled up on chairs and couches chatting until after 04h00 and then we all felt satisfied that we had met the magic hour and now had bragging rights for Sunday morning as to how little sleep we needed. Pulling off a win in the first game of the day on Sunday, was the highlight of our hockey games, especially as we had to get up earlier to get to the pitches!
Sunday evening was a repeat of last year with a visit into Black Pool to watch Funny Girls which did not disappoint. Afterwards we walked over to a bar called Roxy’s were the music drew us all on to the dance floor and we had a fantastic time.
More chatting ensued back at the hotel and another early morning bed time was the result! Somehow we still managed to make breakfast before the 10h00 cut off and then as the sun was shining and the whole sky was painted blue we even had a walk on the beach.

Black Pool here I come AGAIN

Wow I cannot believe a year has passed me by and I am off to Black Pool for the hockey tournament. This year the dinner on Saturday night is Eastern Promise - our outfits are...actually you can see the pictures when I get back!
It has been a manic week, Monday being a public holiday has thrown me off a bit and I found myself madly grocery shopping and getting bits for tour on Tuesday night.
Wednesday night (tonight) we proudly watched as Jess was presented with her award for Artist of the year 2009 at her school.
Tomorrow night we will be looking for a school in East Glendalough to enjoy seeing our youngest in action on stage and then somewhere in between I need to pack -WHY am I blogging? I have to go and pack!!!! Sorry folks but airport at 09h45 on Friday so adios!!!

Busy little bees

Friday - Lost the plot in Marks and Spencer - tatty teddy (blue nose bear as I fondly call him) pink dressing gown and slippers proved too darn irresistible and THEN I saw the most beautiful embroidered pajamas and then and then and then...€75 later I made a hasty exit hoping that the fact that the gifts were for my husbands SISTER'S baby would be a good enough defense.
Evening spent with family in front of the TV with Pizza Hut pizza, popcorn, Ben and Jerrys newest flavour - Chocolate Macadamia and DVD's.....ahhhhhhhh.

Saturday & Sunday - Spent the entire day up at the hockey club volunteering during the Irish Hockey League finals. Jess and Kirstin joined me and ended up pitching in too - Kirstin gleefully took up parking attendant duties as it required the use of walkie talkies - over and out!
On Saturday evening we had drinks at the club and a taxi home...car left in car park - on the bright side it was a fabulous spot for Sunday when Kirstin and I reported back for duty after I had done some necessary house work and a pleasant stroll up to the club. Sunday night was more wine...but only one glass and then home for a spot of couch surfing.

Monday - Bank holiday wooohooo!!! Went to Dundrum with Jess and replenished my work wardrobe with a couple of things. Jess ordered some jeans and then made a lunch stop - food was not fabulous but the setting is pretty cool - basically a HUGE glass wall and I am sure on a sunny day it must be fabulous.
Next on the list was a mad dash into town to meet Don and Maura, Maura is working in Dublin for two weeks and we wanted to say a quick hello to Donovan before his flight back to London. We went to a place called Lemon Jelly where Jess Kirstin and I had pancakes - I could make better but they were not bad...and the others had bagels, Malcolm said his was amazing..to me the name Lemon Jelly evokes imagery of fantastic pancakes and all good gooey sweet things, but what do I know? Don left to catch his plane and the rest of us had a little wander around the shops and then called it a day as the kids had to get everything ready for school!

The Vase

When we were living in New York we invited a couple to our home for dinner after having enjoyed an evening at their place. They arrived and the wife handed over a box from Pottery Barn, not the usual bottle of wine, chocolates or flowers but a beautiful frosted red/brown vase.
For some reason I am affected every time I see that vase. What is it about it? I have no idea, the bearer of the gift is a lovely person but we have no contact, in fact that dinner was the last time I ever saw them.
But something happens inside me when I see that flower receptacle...a lifting of my spirit, a tug deep inside. It is peaking out from the top of my kitchen cupboard in one of the pictures I put on my blog and even there in the picture it caught my eye. I am not a hoarder or a gatherer, am not over sentimental about THINGS but I cannot bear the though of ever losing that vase. Weird.

Showers that don't make you wet

We have a mini baby boom going on with our SA friends, yep two of my fellow Africans in Dublin are pregnant, a baby boom because our circle is kinda small, and if you count it in couples the percentage is high :)

Anyway!

I decided to throw Kelly a small intimate baby shower to celebrate the coming of their bouncy boy or girl. A brunch was my choice for the late morning gathering and a very surprised Kelly walked in to find smiling familiar faces.
Hours before I had been manically mixing spooning and pressing out muffins and scones while Jessica and Carla went about blowing up balloons and hanging banners.


I had managed to make a makeshift (okay, okay) wash line and hung some baby clothes from it in the lounge and once Carla, Jess and Kirstin had completed the look with pink, blue and cream balloons, changed all the items on the mantle piece for fluffy toys and it looked very much like it was supposed to!
Everyone brought along something tasty to add to the groaning table and much fun ensued.

I had asked everyone to bring pictures from their baby days and we had great fun asking Kelly to guess...
I also bought safety pins and Lisa managed to collect the most safety pins from people who said the "word that was not allowed to be said" - B-A-B-Y.
We also all had a go with a pair of scissors and a ball of string to guess the circumference of Kellys bump!
Lisa brought pin the dummy on the baby which was also loads of fun and a fabulous idea.


For once we did not allow the kids to hijack the lounge but we STILL managed to sit around in the open area by the kitchen! Now guess what we were talking about here....

Kirstin wrote a poem...in about 20 minutes and here it is:

Babies bring excitement and joy

Will it be a baby girl or baby boy?

Picking out a high chair, stroller and crib

Then baby bottles, dummies and bib.

Dirty fingers, crayoned walls,

Shouting and screaming in the malls.

Fairies, princesses dinosaurs and more

T Rex, fairy tales and folk lore.

Cowboys and Indians boys will play,

In the sunshine every day.

Crowns and fairy princess dress

for the girls with very little mess.

Little fingers, little toes

What it will be nobody knows.

SMILE - Lily Allen

Friday again - and I kick the weeekend off with a 7 a side hockey tournament tonight! Last night the Vets festival committee members got together for a meeting and the three of us ended business at 22h00 and then sat around talking until midnight, it was fabulous. Good springboard to the coming weekend!

Corridor Duty!

Corridor duty is not all bad. It gives you lots of time to reflect…on when last the carpet you are sitting on was vacuumed! We were there to do a job though - keep the battle of the sexes lines well defined by the patterned carpet running along the hotel wing we were in, girls rooms on one side and boys all opposite.
There was only one small unfortunate incident where I got caught up in a prank…but after that I behaved. Yep, it all started innocently enough, I noticed two girls entering a boy’s room with a key card and went to investigate. The boys whose room they were in had hidden their shoes and it was payback time. I stood helplessly by as they began to dismantle their beds! Of course I had to tell them that there were better ways to do things, soap on the toothbrush being one of my personal favourites. Unfortunately I got caught up in the moment and next thing the boys were trying to get into the room and I was hidden in the bathroom where of course I was discovered, the boys got a rather big fright to see me there, oh dear not a very good example, but extremely funny…
After that little hiccup I took my task more seriously and settled down to carpet scrutiny with the other four on my ‘team’.
We decided to let the kids all sit in the corridor and socialise as it was the easiest way to keep an eye on EVERYBODY. Sadly this did not work out very well and a very angry night manager came upstairs to find 29 kids, linen pillows and five adults hanging out in the corridor, OOPS. Unfortunately ONE of the rooms on our floor was occupied – typical. After that everyone was sent to their own rooms and we continued supervision from the corridor and played lie dice. I discovered that I am NOT very good at it. I also learned to play backgammon and think that perhaps adding another board game to our alarmingly big collection may be necessary.
At 02h00 three people went to bed, and I was NOT one of them. Dave and I heard the kids trying to peak under the door (looking for feet) and I hatched a cruel and evil plan...we left shoes outside every noisy room. I guess as a mother of two girls my instinct to keep things in order was too strong. and we prowled the corridor, listening out for stirring and sneaking about noises. At one point I went into one of the girls room just in time to here a thump on the window. I went and flung it open, peeped outside, looked left and right and discovered why the rooms had quietened down - they were all hanging out their windows for flow of conversation purposes! At first they mistook me for one of their own so it was very difficult keeping the laugh out of my voice as I roared for all of them to get into their rooms and go to bed. Somehow I managed though because 5 heads disappeared at alarming speed.
Next we confiscated the handset from the phones as every couple of minutes our hopeful 'it has been quiet for a while' would be shattered by the ringing of a phone in some or other room.
Finally it got quiet - 03h00.... Dave and I lay in the corridor on our pillows and he slowly drifted off to sleep and then I heard a cell phone alarm! I jumped up and stood at the door of the room and listened carefully, some rustling and then silence. I hid around the corner and took in the sight of Dave gently snoring in the corridor with telephone headsets strewn about and had a fit of the giggles. At 04h15 I woke Dave and we finally got to spend a little time in our rooms for some well earned shut eye. In the morning the kids discovered all the shoes and were absolutely flabbergasted that we had such foresight - the cheek of them! They actually commented that they did not think we were clever enough to come up with a low down dirty trick like that!
They forget....that once upon a long time ago I was one of THEM.

LAST weekend re-visited

I never finished telling you about my hockey weekend, so a quick run down of the highlights. We spent A LOT of time at the club. Every morning started with breakfast at 10h00 and then it was a day of hockey for the kids, a lot of sweet buying and water carrying by me and a lot of encouragement - they all thought my psoitive thinking was MAD...but humoured me anyway and went from an apalling loss in the first game to a very proud draw in the second - and afterwards they told me how the positive thinking had really helped them, let that be a lesson! 15 year old girls agreeing with an adult - I kid you not.

Slowly but surely I got to know some of them, it was rather daunting I have to say, especially as I did not know ANY of them and they did not know me!

On Saturday night there was a dance, which finally ended at midnight and all the kids trailed off with their families. We walked back to our hotel and came across a bar with tables outside and sat down for a drink. We soon discovered (the gay credit card sign above the door was our biggest clue) that we were at a gay bar and had some very interesting conversations with a very funny guy! Of course it was so pleasant that we had a second round of drinks before finally deciding that bed was probably a wise option due to the fact that we would be faced with 29 U16 year olds again in the morning, a very sobering thought!

Fast forward to Sunday night...we all stayed in a HORRIBLE town (sorry if you live there!) and as it is my policy to find the positive in every situation it is this: the best thing about the town is that I can cross it off a list of "Where I would like to live!"

We all went for a walk and some very strange guy followed us for a while, I stayed back with the boys and kept telling them not to turn around, it was just encouraging weirdo...of course boys being boys...but finally we caught up to the rest of our group and Dr Strange sloped off in a different direction.

After our walk the kids went back to causing mayhem and the adults met on the hotel terrace for a sundowner before dinner. At 20h00 all the kids came up to the restaurant and we had a buffet style meal leaning towards kids favourites...29 vs 5 we did not say a word especially as it was all very edible!

And then the fun began! And I think it should be a post unto itself...