Navigating without a compass

Chasing cars and visiting bars...

2010-01-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

So 2010 has arrived. Our evening started off with dinner at my house, simple lasagne and salad for us and the kids had the option of lasagne, pizza and culy fries, I think we ALL know what they chose. J had two friends to sleep over and from the look of the pictures they had an absolute blast. Not too happy about the fact that they played outside as the snow fell with NO shoes on, but they certainly were having fun!
I envisioned Dublin to be heaving with people celebrating the arrival of 2010 BUT Dubliners had other plans, house party plans and as we drove down Georges Street in our taxi the pavements were uncomfortably desolate, deprived of inhabitants; deserted; uninhabited. Kapisch?

Okay not quite so bad but it is the quietest I have ever seen that busy pub lined street. This did not help me much when I realised that I had left my beloved hat (yes I have an unhealthy attachment to it) in the taxi that was now heading down the very quiet street, where is traffic when you need it? Well I legged it down a block and the guy looking down on me took pity and the pedestrian light went red. I made it to the taxi just as it was about to pull off and when I looked in the back seat my cute woolly hat was not there! By now G had caught up with me and she suggested we head back up to where we got out and there the poor thing was lying in the street! Luckily it had not been driven over, so after cursing no traffic I changed my mind, I'm fickle like that, and thanked my lucky stars that my hat had not been muddied and destroyed.

Hogan's was our first stop and we could actually walk straight to the bar! WOW. Anybody that knows Hogan’s would understand my surprise, at 10pm it should not be so easy to get to the bar! We had a glass of wine and then decided to go to the pub that has no name; G calls it Upstairs which actually makes sense. Anyhow up we went and sat down with a glass of water, over 30 sensibilities. We met a group of people who invited us to sit with them and we had a good old chat and watched with awe as big fat fluffy snow drifted down to earth, dusting the roof tops and it was magical. One of the guys said it was almost like Upstairs management had organised the show just for us, it suited the setting so well.

G and I decided to try and squeeze one more pub in before midnight but when we went out we met two guys who were going into Hogan’s and they pointed out that our chances of being stuck in a taxi instead of a pub were fairly high given the weather and the fact that is was already 11:30.

SO back to Hogan’s it was, and next thing it was midnight, I did not even see it coming, no big countdown, no nothing, anti climax of note. We went downstairs to the dance floor and attempted to dance to the crap music and finally gave up and headed back to the sanctuary of the bar.
I bumped into an old acquaintance (Dublin is so good for that) and we ended up having an enlightening chat about life and relationships. Sadly it ended when the pub closed and we all got ushered out into the cold frosty morning. G and I had a tough time flagging down a cab so we decided to pop into Eddie Rockets were I had the best BLT sandwich I have ever tasted, think it was partly thanks to the wine......
And then we walked and walked, slipped and slid on icy streets and no cabs in sight. I reckon we walked about 30 minutes in the freezing cold, walking in the street as it was so quiet, until eventually a taxi on his way home from his shift took pity on us.

All in all it was a fabulous evening and G and I have decided that this is the year we are really going to LIVE. A few trips, Blackpool hockey tournament and more. 2010 is going to be MAGIC.

Where did IT go?

2009-12-29T14:04:00.000-08:00

Dublin is a whirwind in December, we are like worker bees buzzing in and out of dinner parties, office parties, girls night out, hockey Christmas parties and on and on. I have blinked and Christmas is gone. What the hell happened? I must even confess that my plans so neatly laid out in an earlier post were shelved. Yep I am embarrassed to say that I did not even put up a Christmas tree. The girls and I had a discussion and decided that as I was house sitting for a friend it was not really worth putting up a 40 euro tree that we would not even get to see for more than 2 days. I did put out the fine looking nut cracker, some Christmassy candles and the angel that proudly presides over the tree albeit in a decidedly lopsided (drunken) position, but if it was not for that mottley crew my apartment would have looked untouched by the festive season.

Christmas Eve was a time for new traditions for my girls and I and so we hopped on the luas and headed into Dublin to meander the ~~cobbled~~ paved Grafton Street poking our noses into shops only to beat hasty retreat when we realised we were in a sardine tin of people. It was ICY cold which somehow added to the festive feel and we really did have a lovely late afternoon ending with fabulous hot chocolates and wedges of cake. The cherry on the cake was the sale at H&M we stumbled upon where I managed to spend a mere 20 euro on a black dress for Kirstin and a scarf and 4 pairs or ear rings for Jess, with 5 cents change, bargain of note and lovely to be able to buy them each a little something to mark the occassion.

Then we made our way to a friends house for Irish coffees where the girls soaked up the Christmas spirit amongst wonderful people I have been lucky enough to befriend. The girls were transported back to our SA days when thigh high children would be demanding their attention and they loved nothing more than providing it. Of course the bubble burst when I had to herd them out to the car and drop them off at their dad, the reality of what I have done abundently clear to me as I watched them walk into their other home. Luckily for me I was heading back to the same house I had just left and so I soon felt better again! The girls were also having a fab evening with their dad and uncle so it really was not a bad Christmas eve all round.

I slaved over the stove on Christmas day to produce a fine Christmas dinner, and managed to brine the turkey again - I strongly recommend you try Nigella's brined turkey it really is magic.
It was a very quiet Christmas day, the girls MUCH loved uncle arrived on the 24th and so there were 5 at the dinner table, very different to the 20 odd we had last year. Sad how people fall away from our lives, I am not even in touch with some of the faces at last years table - mutual consent really, ain't life funny?

On Stephen's Day/Boxing Day the girls headed down to Cork with their dad and uncle and I was left in Dublin with three invitations to dinners, again I am blessed with some amazing friends! Sadly I was feeling so full of cold that I ended up dosing myself with Lem Sip and stayed in bed for the whole morning. I finally ventured downstairs but only to switch on the enormous high definition TV, no not my new Christmas present, house sitting remember? I curled up on the couch with a few good movies and was quite content until I spoke to a friend who was having a family dinner and then suddenly loneliness desended and I had a little moment....It did not last long and watching Yes Man ensured I was laughing again in no time.

The underbelly of motherhood and teenagers

2009-12-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

It has finally happened. My 16 year old has discovered that 1 - 2 - 3 is not quite as scary as it used to be, yes I am embarrassed to say I tried it out on her last night. I am not sure whether it was so unsuccessful because I happened to be on my knees loading a washing machine as she stood high above, or if the fact that we can now eyeball each other has some power. At any rate there I was at 3 with no repercssion and then she laughed at me. NOT funny. Needess to say I reverted to childish behaviour and got really mad at my powerlessness and used the power of words and ended up accusing her of behaving like a certain member of the family which really pissed her off. Will you think less of her if I told you she said I can be a real *itch sometimes? Please don't, as that anger came from a very different place and frustration over our new situation which she never unleashes, okay that is a fib, she does have an avenue for her frustration, her little sister bears the brunt.
It spiralled out of control before my eyes and next thing I was running around locking doors and collecting keys so that she could not leave the house. "I am 16 now and you can't stop me" of course after the 123 debacle she suddenly felt rather giddy with 16 year old know allness. I forbid her to leave...ha ha, no seriously I did.
Next thing she had wedged a chair against her door and then I was climbing out of MY bedroom window standing guard at hers! Yes, my SA friends burglar bars keep your teens in just as much as they keep unwanted thugs out. It is Ireland so it was raining and the youngest teenager was having a laugh at me sheltering outside under my window which was amusing, and ridiculous. I climbed back into my room, no point in standing out in the cold and of course that is when Jess made her move, out the window and off she went.
And then I cried, a lot. The kind when your whole face is wet and your nose does what your eyes are doing and it is an ugly sight to behold. Of course the father was already in the loop and I called to ask him to let me know if she ended up there, although the eldest walking 20 minutes is HIGHLY unlikely even when motivated by pulsing seething anger. I left her, what else could I do? Okay I cleaned the skirting boards, vacuumed and pulled myself together. Poor little teen, she witnessed the lot and was very sympathetic, although I am sure her turn will come too. In the end mutant teenager came home and sullen silence descended upon the apartment. What next? Of course I have spoken to her, and told her in no uncertain terms that she will be very sorry if she ever does that again, after the whole fiasco last night and my part in making her angry enough to run off into the dark I think I should pick my next battle with care. But at the end of the day as I said to her I am her mother and I can make her life as pleasant or as unpleasant as I like, considering she hates walking, would be too scared to catch a bus at night I do ultimately still have the power, best she keep that in mind if she wants a social life.....

Weekend in Williston

2009-12-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

I finally got my act together and booked a flight to Manchester so that I could visit Melissa in her new home, something I had been promising to do for AGES. I decided to catch the bus to the airport - €2.20 vs a taxi at €40 minimum, a no brainer would you not agree? That is if you don't mind spending 2 hours on a bus, luckily I had the time and my Ipod. My flight (including boarding) was actually quicker than the public transport journey!
I also ~~enjoyed~~ my first Burger King, sorry but I really do not understand the queues, people are not only willing to pay for it, but to line up and wait! At least I can now say that I don't like it and speak from experience.
Mel and Chris fetched me fom the airport and we drove to their village, dropped off my luggage and literally took 15 steps to the door of their local pub, The Nags Head. I was quite surprised to discover that the pub has two sides, a plush section and a .....um, not so posh section! I found it rather bizarre but apparently it is fairly common, in the country!
On Saturday Chris woke up and made us a delicious breakfast; ciabatta with bacon, sausage and scramble egg - YUM. After that we stepped out the front door, shuffled about 10 steps to the right and waited for the bus! We were on our way to Chester for some retail therapy, okay Christmas shopping! Chester is lovely, old fashioned but with every shop a girl on a spree could want. Melissa introduced me to another amazing shop, White Stuff, it rivals my other favourite Fat Face.
I also went and emptied my purse at the Benefit counter and did not even feel too bad about it, I absolutely love their stuff, never thought I would ooh and aah over make up!
We got back to Williston and opened a packet of crisps and a bottle of wine and curled up on the couch. At 18h00 we wrapped up warm and headed for the village green. How many steps you ask? I think maybe this time it may have been 25, maybe 30. The Christmas lights were due to be turned on and this was to be celebrated with Christmas carols, little did I know that we would be given song sheets too. I had taken my camera along and after clicking off a few pic's of Mel and me (long arm ones) was approched by a bearded fellow who asked me to take a few more pic's which they could put in the local paper! I do not know if any actually made it as I am useless when it comes to using the settings on my camera. Melissa and I also had such a laugh, when I sang Rudolph, thought the word was snow and it turned out is was foggy so I ended up singing snoggy!

Then one(snoggy) foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

That caused one of those happy moments, you know the ones? Where your heart feels floaty and that the whole world is jsut right, a sense of peace, it really is the simple things that do it. It was so awesome standing there in the cold with my friend belting out (tuneless, in my case) carols. T
After all that warm and fuzzy it was back to Mel's place for a delcious beef and oyster mushroom sitr fry with egg noodles and fool proof/beginner chopsticks. Not so fool proof for me, but in my defense I can handle a pair of chopsticks with relative ease and found that using the pair that looked like giant tweezers resulted in me flicking noodles across the room - again I am sorry Mel!
Then it was off to the Residence for cocktails, I wish I could remember what my favourite was called, basically a long island iced tea but with cranberry juice instead of coke - so good I had three!
After that it was to The Black Lion where we met up with Chris and then headed back to the local for a night cap and to meet up with a couple of Mel and Chris's friends.
On Sunday we had a little lie in and then I packed and we headed off to The Cheshire Cat in Nantwitch for lunch. The service was leisurely to say the least but the food was good and the apple and blackberry crumble came with homemade custard - heaven!
Sadly after that it was the drive to the airport, a superb weekend which flew by and ended too soon.

Christmas is coming?

2009-12-11T02:48:00.000-08:00

Oh my word, yesterday I realised with horror that it is TWO week until Christmas! I cannot believe that Santa's visit is around the corner. I have decided on a real tree again this year, there is something to be said for sharing your home with bugs during the festive season. Last year I put up the artificial tree but I have definitley decided that a REAL tree is special. Tomorrow after hockey we shall trim the tree, drink mulled wine and possibly do a bit of baking, but first I must get through this evening and what promises to be another fabulous night - Christmas party at Fallon & Byrne, last year it was fantastic and I am fairly sure it will be a repeat performance...well maybe not the part where I only got home at 05h00....but no promises!
Hopefully I can give you an update of my weekend with Melissa this weekend, had a fabulous time and a moment of 'this is what life is all about' while singing (off key) carols on the little green in her village. More later, shopping is calling. Darn I cannot find spell check on this new post format, hope my own editing did not miss anything!

Hello new blog spot!

2009-11-30T10:17:00.001-08:00

Welcome to my new home. I like my new blog address and it is rather relevant to my new life, which by the way I really like! My apartment still needs loads of home touches and once I get my pictures from M things will definitely start taking shape. I cannot believe that I have been in my apartment for THREE months - wow!
My new blog will hopefully give me a little more freedom to express myself, I plan to take photo's off and keep it kinda anonymous. Chat soon, need to go and get a ginger nut, spread with peanut butter...YUM!!!

Look what the wind blew in!

2009-11-19T14:51:00.000-08:00

I am sitting on the couch looking at the tip that is my lounge. If I needed a reminder that it is 'my week' with the kids a quick peek into my living area is all the verification I need. Like the seasons can be identified so can my weeks. When the girls are here it is like a messy breezy autumn day and books, shoes, bags and clothes look suspiciously like they have been blown in by a mighty wind. I think that must be the case, surely two girls cannot create such havoc? And then I see that more has been added, a scarf, gloves, hat, coat, handbag and the daily Metro...was that really me? Then the tales of the day get told, dinner gets eaten and I kinda forget about the state of things.
So yes, I have a week of chaos and this is followed by zen like peace and tranquility and a tidy house. I think it is the best of both worlds, just as the peace and quiet gets to much the bags, shoes and laughter return.
All this talk of wind, it must be because it was SO very blustery today. I walked out of the apartment to a wall of rain and wind which immediately picked a fight with my polka dot pink umbrella, turning her inside out and destroying a couple of joints. Somehow I manage to flip it back to normal but the poor thing is destroyed. I will continue to attempt to keep my head dry under its flailing skeleton for a while, after all it cost me £20! In all fairness though, the wind was so strong this morning that it actually even snatched my beanie off my head in some sort of cheeky game and I was sent running down the street after it..grr. I have to say I would prefer the wind WITHOUT the rain!
But I cannot complain because there is something very energising being blown about in such mad conditions. The weird thing is that it is not that cold, I was out at 22h00 collecting the kids from a school play they were watching and it was 14 degrees!
Tomorrow night I am playing in a hockey match, I really really hope the weather has settled by then!

Musings

2009-11-04T14:30:00.000-08:00

A few lessons I learned this past
week...

Don't lose the lid for the milk bottle in a confined space. Yep, the recycling bins are inconveniently placed in the car park basement. This is very handy for regular motor vehicle users, but as a staunch supporter of the local bus corridor my car does not get to stretch its wheels very often. On a Wednesday however it has a little outing to the hockey club which also means a visit to the recycling bins. Now as the bins are near the exit and I am always in a rush I put all the recycling in my car and empty out on my way to the exit. Tonight the lid popped off the empty milk bottle in my car, the bottle that has been empty and in the warm apartment since Monday. LOVELY.

I can play hockey for 2 and a half hours on a cold, damp windy night. I went down to hockey to practice with the Vets at 19h30 and we ended up playing a match against the thirds. After that I was rearing to go home but Mandy and I decided to stay for the thirds and fourths practice so hockey continued until 22h00. Considering I only got home from work at 19h00 I was pretty pleased with myself.

Focus Ireland is a fabulous charity. Last week a whole bunch of us from work volunteered to paint a house and clean up a garden for the charity. It was a fabulous experience and was made very memorable when our 6 foot something MD managed to put his knee through the €1800 glass top hob while painting the kitchen. The thought running through everyone's mind? Thank goodness it wasn't me. Anyhow, the charity does great work in Ireland and I think what they do benefits all of us so thanks muchly.

To swine flu or not to swine flu..

2009-11-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

I have swine flu. I am eating like an oink. I am not sure what it is but what I see must go into my mouth, croissants, pastries, ice lollies, cashew nuts, pizza, bananas...i could go on but I think you understand my predicament. It did not help much when Kirstin taught me the fine art of drinking tea through a twix, yes astonishingly it does work, unfortunately you need a LOT of twix to get through a cup of tea! Of course with all the input I then have to ensure a certain amount of output and so I found myself walking home in blizzard like conditions in the dark, to ensure that the Twix does not find its way to my ass, especially because the pastries already have.

Now Jess did have the H1N1 virus - and that would have been rather handy to contract. With H1N1 you CANT eat, I reckon they call it s-w-i-n-e flu to reduce the street cred's of the marvelous side effect of the virus. If everyone knew that you could lose up to 3 kg's (ask Jess) not many people would be buying anti bacterial wipes now would they? Of course I kept a safe distance from Jess, using my polo neck jersey as a barrier - she was not impressed but in all fairness I had not discovered the merits of swine flu at that stage. In all seriousness though, I did NOT actually want o get sick, shame Jess really was not well but I must point out that considering how contagious it it meant to be, none of us got sick.

Sweet and Sour

2009-10-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sitting in my car at the traffic lights, and notice that through the darkened window of the BMW x5 in front of me little hands are waving. Of course who can resist waving back at friendly children and so I smile and wave, not that I can see much but the small hands through the windows! Next thing there is a notebook but I can't read it, I use the international sign language for 'I can't see what that says' and the notebook is shoved against the window with the word SWEET in big bold letters and it hits me. The game my children used to play when they were little, if the driver smiled and waved they were sweet....and yes a grumpy unmoving person was sour! Wow time sure does fly, now my children are as tall as me, gone are the little hands and rosy cheeks peeping up from the back seat. SOB!!!

Am I back?

2009-10-19T11:51:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, I really do battle to find time to blog, in fact it is so bad that I was going to delete this monologue of my life but my girls begged me not to. Instead I closed it for a while, invitation only without inviting anyone. Sorry. I am not sure I am back, no promises that I am actually going to start spewing out irrelevant stories again.
Life has had some interesting turns, no internet at home for a week at a time, weird! The girls spent 10 days with Malcolm while his folks visited from SA, very odd for me, I missed them a lot but it was also quite a new experience not having to rush home after work every day, not feeling bad tearing off to hockey practice on a Wednesday etc.
Overall life is still good and I am still playing hockey, have had my first Vets festival committee meeting and have made some fabulous new friends, lost a few old ones and realised how lucky I am to have such strong unwavering friends in my life. My favourite saying "some people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime" has never been more relevant.
Back? If not on my blog then in my life you betcha!

When the sun shines in Ireland...

2009-09-13T11:45:00.000-07:00

It is heaven on earth. I am sure I have said it all before but amuse me, won't you? There really is something special that happens on this green isle when the sun shines. The traffic jams to Brittas Bay are horrendous, so don't do that, instead head out for a walk up the Dublin mountain and sit on the rocks overlooking the sea and the land below. On your walk up every person who passes you by will nod and smile and say hello, hi, hey or some form of greeting they particularly like. You will pass people with dogs, people bending over the hedgerows filling pales with black berries (wish I could say big fat blackberries but they are not genetically modified up there) and marvel at the way the light filters through the forest bits of your walk. Or get up early and head for the beach or go further afield to Wexford if you like....just DO NOT stay home and do the chores!
I reckon that in SA we get so used to our fabulous weather that we take it for granted, here a sunny day is a gift, a thing to enjoy and boy oh boy we do.

Bagless

2009-09-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

Engrossed in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on the bus this morning and my phone rings and I am rudely yanked from Hedeberg Island in Sweden as I hear the panic stricken voice of my youngest....
She got off the bus and left her school bag behind, a rather ingenious way of avoiding the dog ate my homework excuse, only the bag was a brand new Roxy one and she was not a very happy young lass.
I sprung into action, luckily Jess had her bus ticket so the number on the top right corner helped dispatch contact the driver who confirmed that Kirstin's bag was on his bus.
The fact that I had done this all before for my eldest ensured a sleek operation, only this time I had to go to Donnybrook garage to collect the abandoned bag. Last time we just met the bus on its return loop, very handy that was! BUT having said that I felt a true sense of belonging when I hopped in the car and headed for the Donnybrook garage this eve without my sat nav! Silver linings on every cloud.

Forms of torture

2009-09-03T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hockey season has started again, I did play summer hockey and had a fabulous time, scoring three goals per match towards the end of our short season and feeling like a real pro, okay an IMPROVER is more accurate, but hey this is my story!
That is until I ventured out on a cold and wet Wednesday night and reality came tap tapping. I am not very good at the drills, in fact I wanted to lift a corner of the astro turf and hide. The weird thing is that once we started playing, unfortunately only after 1 hour and 15 minutes of humiliation, I was actually quite good. I thoroughly enjoyed getting soaking wet and having rivers of water running into my eyes, slippery grip on the hockey stick and soggy shoes. It somehow added to the satisfaction of going out there and getting some exercise!

After all that running around I decided that a more gentle approach to exercise was a good follow on and so S and I took her Scottish terrier for a walk up Kilmashogue, a poorly timed walk it has to be said. We met at 7h30 and began our ascent with Alfie happily leading the way. At 8h15 we decided to turn around and head back as the evenings have shortened alarmingly and we found ourselves stumbling back in near darkness towards the end of our descent! Of course we had Alfie for protection and S and I did not feel the need to speed walk, or jog on our way back to the cars, at least we got to appreciate the sights of lit up Dublin spread peacefully below us. I think form now on our mountain walks will have to take place on the weekends and when the urge of an evening walk attacks, we will prowl the streets of suburbia instead.

New Beginnings

2009-09-03T13:57:00.000-07:00

This post has been postponed and put off for a very long time but I guess I have to bite the bullet and get it over and done with. I think I have not been blogging because things are so different now and even though all the important people in my life know about this, it is still a very awkward topic that will hit a nerve with loved ones. I also do not want to upset anyone with posts, but I guess at the end of the day reading what I write is a personal choice.

Simply put I asked Malcolm for a separation and after a year I moved out into my own apartment and started a very new and foreign journey. The girls have been absolutely fantastic and although I am sure it is difficult for them they have settled well and are very encouraging and supportive.
I am not going to say much else about it, as it is obviously very personal but perhaps after getting this out the way I can return to blogging with some enthusiasm, instead of treating a hobby I used to enjoy as a duty and a chore.

Eureka! Ikea.

2009-08-04T14:15:00.000-07:00

Armed with bottles of mixed cordial, CD's and the promise of lots to look at, the girls and I made our way along the M50 to the new Ikea in Ballymum. We were happy enough to wait in the long queues to get into the car park, in fact we had decided that it would be part of the whole experience, and at least I knew I would not get 'Are we there yet?' because they would actually be looking at Ikea while stuck in the car!
The amount of QT we ended up getting would make speed dating on telly look slow, it took us a horrifyingly quick 10 minutes before we were in a parking space slamming the doors. Oh well.
The store is massive, I heard on the radio that it is either the size or Croke Park..or twice the size, considering 80 000 people fit into Croke to watch Bono and the gang...that makes Ikea rather humongous.
We meandered around upstairs in the show area - they even have a 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apartment fully kitted out in Ikea, pretty cool.
Lunch was a mere recession busting €10.70 although admittedly the order was 3 fries, smoked salmon, brown bread, 2 juices and a coffee (free refills on drinks) but still!!!!
All in all it was a great day out and we will definitely be going back for mattresses (if my Internet research can unearth some good feedback), book cases and anything else we might need in the near future, oh and maybe, just maybe LUNCH!