Mel's Friday song

Hey hey it's Friday and at last I can celebrate that fact like the rest of you lot...no longer just another day at home but a time to lie in, kick the feet up (not really), relax, drink wine, be silly...oh okay I was already doing all those things. BUT now it somehow means so much more...so thank you Mel for the tooth brush song, as you pointed out you can stand in your bathroom, your toothbrush a microphone and belt this one out (Jeremiah was a bull frog) and look forward to da weekend...Party on everyone, I sure plan to...if I actually get some long lost sleep tonight!

Please Sir..can I be a couch potato?

Half way through the week and I HATE to admit it but the thought of curling up on the couch is pure and utter magic right now. My brain is cooked, so much to learn and everything happens so fast, I really do KNOW that I will be fine, that in 2 months I will be shaking my head at this post but right now....OMG.

To make matters worse my evenings are pretty hectic too, Monday night was a meeting for hockey, Tuesday evening I had an appointment which meant a fast walk from the luas, move directly to the car without entering the front door and make a mad dash for Dun Loaghrie and then I still had to do grocery shopping...at 20h00, no not very funny!

Tonight I have hockey practice until 22h00...which means shower and bed are a LONG way away!

Malcolm is in Brussels on business and gets back tomorrow evening so it is just us girls for now, and I hope he realises that as tomorrow night is my only evening with NO plans dinner will be....something quick and easy!

Friday evening Malcolms company are giving Market Bar another try, hopefully his work colleagues actually make an appearance this time, the jury is still out as to whether I will go but something tells me that by Friday I will be ready for a night out again...of course I may be whinging but I have to admit... I love the fact that I can barely think straight!

Chances of an appointment with my couch at some stage.... 100%

Shattered

Yes, that is the best word I can come up with. It is not the 9 - 5 part but all the information I am taking in, the people and the new environment, it is all so new and all my senses are on alert. It is fantastic but tiring. To make matters worse I have not been sleeping much and this morning after making coffee with unboiled water (is that even a word), dropping things, knocking over my moisturiser i even did a chant in the mirror...I am not clumsy, I am not clumsy, repeat as necessary. I am seriously exhausted and then had to drag myself up to the club for a Vets meeting this evening, but how could I miss getting together with all the girls again after the long summer? And yes, long and summer are both wisely chosen words...

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!

The Beginning.....

I have to admit to nerves on my first day, more so than on the day of my interviews, I guess walking into an open plan office made me feel rather dizzy. I only had to be at work at 10 on my first day so it was a rather leisurely morning of getting ready, checking email, skyping the sister, and eating breakfast.
When I arrived my boss came through to meet me and he took me to a meeting room where he ran through the floor plan and we had a chat and then I got shown my desk, met my team and got to see The Boss in action for a while before being whisked off by H.R to run through contracts etcetera. After that i was met by a lovely lady who walked me around the building showing me the showers, kitchen, fire exits, fire assembly points and all that jazz. The most interesting part of my tour was the fact that every Wednesday a massage guru comes into the office and we get a 20 minute pure bliss session of 20 minutes for a FIVER! I like it. On a Monday we get a delivery of pastries, fruit and yogurts to get us off to a flying week, this is SO much better than housework!
The best news I got today is that my recruitment agent was WRONG...I do NOT need a corporate wardrobe! A pair of trousers or a skirt, a nice jersey/sweater/jumper or shirt are good enough - I am over the moon, it was great walking around seeing people and realising that a suit is definitely not a requirement.
Next up was a delicious lunch on the company account with the boss and one of the other team leaders, in fact he was one of the guys who interviewed me first, and after that a cappuccino at a nearby pub...what a great start to my new experience!
Back to work where I was buddied up with Rob who started my training and a bit of chatting amongst my team ensued, a great bunch of people it has to be said.
Th office is absolutely open plan, not even the directors have their own offices which is actually pretty cool, and not something I am used to.
After work I got the kids and we headed to Dundrum where I snapped up 2 pairs of pants a REALLY cool jacket and a couple of shirts from my fave shop - Esprit. After that the kids and I wound our way to Mao for a divine dinner...Chicken Lemongrass salad for me, yellow veg curry for Kirstin and Chicken yellow curry for Jess. Now I am home in my pj's about to sit down and enjoy a movie with my girls...bliss

Working Wardrobe

I felt like the kids must have felt on their first day of school, taking pictures in my suit (uniform) was a bizarre experience, but my dearest cousin and most awesome sister have been badgering me for a picture and I finally have some that are actually sort of fit for blog consumption (don't look at the hamster cages) so in the spirit of sharing and so that you can see what I will look on my first day of new beginnings...here you go! Thanks to all for the good wishes and congratulations, it is much appreciated and I am sure it will all help towards a most excellent first day at the office...

Noah and the Whale - In Five Years Time...

Lizle, this is a song you may not know, but it is so cheerful and upbeat that I suggest you FIND a way to lsiten to it!! Puts a smile on my dial and I will be listening to it before I go to work to get that bounce in my step...

Sleepless in Dublin

I can't sleep. It is 12h30 and I was lying in my bed overheating with thoughts buzzing around in my head. This always seems to be the case after hockey practice on a Wednesday but tonight is the worst. After the fitness regime we got put through I imagined myself collapsing into my bed and passing out in minutes, but no...there I lie thinking...oh I must blog about our new eating program! Mmm odd. Of course now you are dying to know what I am talking about aren't you? Well even if you are not I am going to tell you anyway, in the vain hope that I get tired!
Kirstin has decided she is a vegetarian, after spending a week in August on a dairy farm and milking cows and feeding calves the thought of a juicy steak, or any other meat for that matter, makes her feel rather queasy. So humour her I have and last night I prepared a lovely dish of quinoa with broccoli, corn, spring onions, roasted red and yellow peppers with a tomato pesto stirred through, very delicious, perhaps it is a good thing for the entire family that she has turned her back on meat! Tonight was bruschetta and then a chickpea salad - salad courtesy of the fridge at SuperValu I must confess. Oh and to complicate things she will not eat fish either. This has been going on a little longer, she saw a show on fishing and was horrified to see how many poor dolphins became casualties in the nets and so swore off anything from the sea too. I am thinking vegetable lasagne for tomorrow, recipe anyone?
Okay, I am still not tired, this is not good. Tomorrow night I am meeting a few girlfriends and we are going out, there is a new movie aptly titled Women that we are all going to see and then a glass of wine and a chat should round things off rather nicely, except that at this rate I will not make the 20h20 show never mind the glass of wine afterwards! Having said that Malcolm has now done the kids school lunches a couple of times so perhaps a sleep in is not entirely out of the question!
Oh...one more thing! I am so excited I have figured out how to schedule a blog post (will NOT confess as to how easy it is to do...mmm) for a specific date and have got what I think is a great Friday song all racked up and ready..it will be posted on Friday morning at 07h00 - how AWESOME is that!!! Perhaps working and blogging will work out after all. Ha Ha!!!!

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!

Working Girl

I am a saint not a sinner...
The news you have all been waiting for...as suspected I have NO criminal record, no bad debt, no bankruptcy hidden in a closet somewhere and so I begin the Nine to Five on Friday! Yep plans of going away for the weekend (seriously was contemplating a last minute flight out of Dublin tomorrow) are shelved and I get to meet all my fellow colleagues on Friday Hoooooo Boy! A new chapter of my life begins...

RUN!

I am not a runner, I love walking and I can do it with some serious pace and that is good enough for me. However, I need to get fit for hockey season and as a right wing player I run a LOT - short bursts yes (I can handle those quite easily) but in order to keep the heaving chest and heavy panting at bay fitness is a requirement...running will make me fit. So with lead boots I dragged myself up to the club on Monday for a fitness session which involved a run which I was dreading. I knew that I would crash and burn and end up walking back to the clubhouse, a lone figure way behind a moving mob of running ladies. Oh well got to start somewhere hey? So you can imagine my surprise when I managed the entire run and even led our little group back in to the club gates, woohoo!!!! we were running slowly and I am sure i heard Heather making some comment about ostrich legs (gasp!) when I put my foot on the accelerator as we neared the club, but honestly I had to make a dash for it because if I didn't I felt that I was going to have to stop and with the finish line so near there was NO way that was going to happen. After all that I even did jogging and sprinting on the pitch for a while and then we had a relaxing chatty warm down and said our goodbyes...until Wednesday!

The Boy in th Striped Pyjamas

On Sunday at 18h00 we sat down at the movies and watched this brilliant but sad film. I think you could have heard a pin drop at the end and when the lights came on we stayed seated witnessing the emptying of the cinema in the most subdued manner I have ever seen.