Ten on Tuesday

I'm playing with Lin over at Linny's Vault again today...come and play!

1. Today was another day off, but instead of like the last time with sunshine and visits with friends today mostly consisted of gale force winds, hale and cuddling with my laptop time. Boo Irish weather.

2. This may or may not make me a horrible person...and its also TMI big time BUT- Hubs has a colonoscopy tomorrow and is drinking that klean-prep liquid (which smells like a candy necklace strangely enough) and is running to the bathroom every 10 minutes (sometimes less). I burst out laughing every time he makes a frantic dash for the bathroom (I'm laughing as I type this)....mean I know, right? But for me... very funny. (as he yells from the other room "One day this will be you!!")

3. So Pottermore is open to the general public now. I have spent the majority of my day today going through the website. I'm a Hufflepuff....I don't know how I feel about that. In my mind I always thought I was a Gryffindor. (Could I BE more nerdy? lol) Anyways I'm really liking it...dissapointed that the second book isn't ready yet though! If your on it you should add me as a friend- GobletLeviosa16820

4. I really really miss having a dishwasher. Seriously.

5. You could also say and I really really miss having a tumble dryer as well. Its about equal to my desire to have a dishwasher. There is actually about a list as long as my arm of things that I miss having. Le Sigh.

6. Hubs will be done with school very very soon!! I'm super excited and nervous about this happening. The job market is still unstable and incredibly difficult in Ireland. I would love for him to find a job ASAP but I know that probably won't happen. Anything would be great though...I would love to know what its like to live in a two income household instead of a one income household supporting two people (and this is part-time work income peoples...IE we are broke the majority of the time....boo!)

7. I have really enjoyed being able to sit in bed today and listen to/watch the rain. Its nice knowing I don't have to go out in it as well!

8. I really need to start writing down my ideas for blog posts. I come up with these wonderful ideas at the most random of times (grocery shopping, washing dishes, at work, driving etc) and never write them down and rarely remember them! There is so much stuff about this city and this country I would love to share (some things cool some things absurd....must be better blogger!)

9. I watched the Oprah with Shirley McClaine the other day (really old one I know but this is Irish TV....its never got current shows on!) I love her as an actress...as a person shes a little eccentric. Her talking about UFO's over her hottub cracks me up...but if I had her kind of money I don't think I would give two craps about what anyone thought of me either!

10. My birthday is right around the corner and I have no clue what to ask the hubs for....any thoughts or suggestions? I'm terrible about asking for stuff for myself and then when I don't get anything or dislike what I get (could I be more selfish or firstworld sometimes...geez!) I don't have room to say anything! So people help me out...whats a good gift that doesn't cost much that would be fun for 27?

Well here's to hoping everyone has a great week! Wish me some luck for sunshine!

A Day Off

I had a lovely day off (one of the few perks of working retail is having a day off during the week....its not as busy in town as the weekend and I love being able to laze around the house in the morning)

I had a few errands in town, getting my dress for the work ball altered, buying bits and ends for my blog swap (woot!) and following that up with a tea date with my friend Jen!

I saw a few interesting things throughout the day and thought I would snap a picture or two and share them with you guys!


I saw this card in the Tourism office here in Limerick...It made me LOL...Every time I've gone to the Cliffs Of Moher its pissing rain sideways and it can be a challenge especially when you go over the fence on the left side of the cliffs to walk along the edge....this drawing was just perfect!

(This is a picture the last time I was up at the Cliffs....It was extremely rainy but you can't tell in the picture...also ignore the closed eyes...I seriously have a Chandler Bing picture taking issue!)


So I walked by this fountain on my way out of town this afternoon (during a sunny spell...I swear Ireland is the most beautiful place on Earth when its sunny....which is rare) and did a double take. Ok...I know why they dyed the water red....Red is the color for the Munster Rugby team and there was a large game for Easter (Munster refers to the region of Ireland we live in...there are four regions...that's for another blog post) So I get the reason....support Munster etc....but I just find it CREEPY. It looks a little like a biblical plague type dealy....(i.e. a little like blood) I wonder how long it will take for the dye to fade or for them to change the water....or whose bright idea that was in the first place....

Then headed over to Jen's house for tea and she made some lovely scones when I got there! She is currently 6 months into making a baby and has gotten very domestic and does tons of baking now which I have had the pleasure of taking advantage of a few times now!


These scones were AMAZING! She put a drop of vanilla in the dough and you could just tell it had that sweetness in there....with a little butter and some jam I could have died and gone to heaven happy!

YUM!! I had two and was full up and still wanted more! (BTW scones are the closest thing here to biscuits but the way they make them here tend to be sweet with raisins in them...blech!)

All in all it was a great day off! I'm looking forward to another relaxed and fun day off that like in the near future! (hopefully with some more sunshine too!)

Ten on Tuesday

Its Tuesday again already?? What the what?!? Seriously this year is going by so fast!

By the way you should totally play along Ten on Tuesday with me at Linny's Vault! Not only is this girl awesome but it gives me a great reason to blog when I can't think of anything worth writing a whole post about!

• After a totally stressful day (A complete lack of sleep and having to deal with stupid people makes for a really snappish Rach) I came home to a wonderful surprise! My good friend Cat (who came and saw me for Paddy's Day!!) sent me an awesome Easter package complete with a Bunny and Spring Oreos......ohhhh spring oreos....you complete me.
  

(also I will be hoarding most of this....theres no telling when I'll get back to America again...stale Easter candy will have to tide me over until then haha!)

• I love my cat but I swear Neko is putting himself on the endangered kitties list. Every single morning without fail he is scratching on my door almost EXACTLY one hour before my alarm goes off. My alarm goes off at a different time each day depending on when I work. I don't know how he knows this but I swear....one more time....kitty cassarole.
  

• Here's an Irish weather saying for you- "It's gone very cold" (subsitute cold for rainy, grey, cloudy on any given day.....on a rare occasion you can say sunny....then add an exclamation mark) Start talking about the weather (always a hot topic here) and I can put good money on that phrase cropping up. Even I say it all the time. Well it HAS gone very cold. Last night it was sleeting. Tonight, just freezing. Its meant to be SPRING! Take a hint Ireland!

• I have been craving Stauffers Whales lately...you know, the knock off Goldfish crackers. Seriously I think about them sometimes when I'm hungry and feeling a little despondent. If anyone ever felt sorry for a cold and homesick American living 3000 miles from the closest store that sells them feel free to send me a box! NOM

• I wonder when high school drama ends....I mean, its called high school drama because its meant to be a behavior for teenagers...unfortunately it seems to carry on well into (at least in my experience) our late 20's. I thought I was done with this years ago? I certaintly feel too old for it. I think my wisest choice here is to ignore the situation entirely...I mean you can't keep a fire going without fuel right?
  

• I definately need to write a post about spelling differences between here and the states. There are so many words that are very common and are spelled different....it drives me nuts! (no its not TYRE its TIRE.....gah!)
  

• I saw a friend post this on facebook tonight and it's pretty much the coolest thing ever....

I definately had a tear in my eye by the end of it....absolutely brilliant! Definately check out his facebook page: www.facebook.com/cainesarcade

Or his website: http://cainesarcade.com/

There has been a donation started for a savings fund for Caine to make sure he gets a good college education...I think they have already raised like 24,000 dollars!

• I watched the entire second season of teen mom 2 last week. I just love a good train wreck what can I say? It makes me so glad I'm not that age anymore...and Leah filing for divorce first? Well I guess I'm not in her situation and the camera edits it the way it wants to, but I would have put a little more effort in reconciling first.....just my opinion. Don't get me started on Jenelle....GEEZ.
  

• I'm meant to run the Great Limerick Run this May....not doing so hot on my traning despite running a 10k with a friend last week.....I should really do something about that....

• I bought a super pretty ball dress for my company's huge fancy Ball coming up later this month (woot!) and I'm going to get it altered tomorrow...fingers crossed it doesn't cost an arm and a leg...literally (har de har har)
  

Well since its technically Wednesday here (just barely!) and I'm tired I'm going to wrap this up! Hope everyone had a great Tuesday!

Easter Weekend

Easter in Ireland is always a great weekend...a little different than Easter in the states but fun times nonetheless.

It kicks off with Good Friday (also known as Great Friday in my circle of friends.) It's meant to be a holy day where there is a certain amount of fasting and abstaining. Because of this Good Friday is one of two days in Ireland where the pubs are closed (the other being Christmas). You also can't buy alcohol in the stores on Good Friday in Ireland...because of this the day before you see tons of people in the Grocery store with carts overflowing with cases of beer, wine and liquor...just in case. LOL

My friends several years ago decided to rebel against this antiquated Irish tradition of abstaining on Good Friday and spent the day getting drunk and having good times(this began the tradition of Great Friday). Great Friday went from being 6 people in a house to a house party with over 200 people. It then evolved into a full blown festival which has had much local success in the past. This year was meant to be the biggest years festival yet, but unfortunately the day before the Festival there was some trouble with a local Guard who decided to push around what little power he had (you know, instead of dealing with a real problem like the drug crime that had ridden this city) and shut the festival down over an 80 year old technicality. (Apparently you need a license to dance in public in Ireland....where is Kevin Bacon when you need him?!?)

Anyways after the tragedy which was this years festival my friends brought it back to Old School Great Friday and we had a nice session with close friends. It was great craic and I some how lasted until 7 in the morning, even though I had been up since 7am the previous day working! (woot maybe I'm not so old after all haha!!)

The next day is known in our circle of friends as Terrible Saturday....this day involves a lot of laying in bed wishing for death and watching movies on the computer.

Today was a nice Easter though. I think Easter here is a little more laid back than the Easter's I knew in America. There are no baskets- no non-chocolate gifts, no deviled eggs (sad face), no Easter egg hunts or egg dying (double sad face) and a serious lack of fuzzy bunnies.

I decided that I would attempt my first ham this year and I'm pleased to say that I did not food poison myself or James (woo hoo!)

I found out on the interwebs that its about 20 minutes per pound so I proceeded to weigh my "small ham" as if a 5 pound ham is small for two people.


Lets just say I will be researching a lot of creative ham recipes this week....lol
(BTW I got that ham for half price....5 euros for a 5 pound ham....I call that a success even if we had gotten food poisoning!)


I saw a lot of recipes recommending basting but I had no clue how to make a baste or what exactly basting involved so I just took the plastic off and popped it in the oven. 2 hours later I pulled it out and it was finished! (I gave it some extra time....just in case. I usually bake all of my meat to death anyways.)
After a quick whip-up of mashed potatoes and some veg we sat down for a traditional Easter roast which was much easier to make than I thought it would be! Dinner success! I believe I will start laying down some family traditions for these holidays.

Oh and of course its not Easter in Ireland without getting an egg....

Yum! The Easter bunny was good to us this year! (Its not a basket but hey, who can turn down an oversized Maltesers egg? not this girl!)

Happy Easter everyone!

Ten on Tuesday

Its nearly been a month since I last blogged...and lets be honest it was about a month previous to that when I blogged last. Lets just say I'm glad I didn't make blogging more consistently a New Years Resolution!

1. I transferred stores. The new store I'm at is much much slower (i.e. less money....oh the joys of a commission based job) but its ultimately better. Less stress overall= a happier Rach. I no longer feel ill at the knowledge that I have to go to work in the morning and have near panic attacks when I make a mistake. Lets just hope I can pull something out of my ass to make decent commission at this store!

2. I have decided I watch WAAYYY too much tv. Like seriously rotting my brain out. I used to never watch tv... like maybe once a month! But since moving to Ireland I seem to be glued to it. I'm ashamed to say that on my days off I will watch like 6 or 7 hours if not more of tv. Seriously ridiculous. I've put myself on a TV ban for the next little while...I have a feeling that I will get a lot more done and probably be a lot happier as well.

3. I had friends over from America....It was fun (mostly!) and I really enjoyed seeing them make all the same small errors I made when I was first here (like mispronunciation, not understanding something silly and completely Irish, trying new foods). It made me feel more....normal! Also it was so nice just having a random conversation and KNOWING that the other person knew exactly what you meant and not having to explain things to make the story make sense. (there may or may not have been a drunken singing of the diarrhea song....if you were a child growing up the states you know what I'm talking about...)

4. I had my in-laws over for dinner Saturday....it was lovely. Good dinner (although I still need to work on getting all the food on the table at the same time....and giving people silverware!) good conversation. About 2 hours after they came over there was a knock on the door- my neighbor came to inform us that their car window had been smashed. We look on the front seat and a rock as long as my forearm is sitting on the drivers seat. Angry Rachael? you bet. Especially since the Guards are so completely USELESS. You just have to bend over and take it in a situation like that. And of course I feel so responsible for it happening....my stupid scummy neighborhood....definitely not renewing our lease in this place!

5. I'm doing the Great Limerick Run again this year....walked most of the 10k last year and plan on running at least half if not most of it this year! Did nearly a 10K last sunday with a friend of mine and we had a time of 1hour 10mins. Not too shabby....hopefully I can get that even lower for the Race!!

6. My cat is super cute but drives me insane most of the time. Like this morning when I was laying on the couch praying for the coffee maker to hurry up and be done already....I'm glad he wants to play but please don't jump on my head from the stairs above me...If he keeps that up we might be having kitty roast for dinner one day this week.

7. It was soooo beautiful and warm and sunny last week! everyone kept on calling it summer.....I was in denial. Well this week its rainy, grey and freezing. I really hope last week wasn't all of our sunshine! I'm too pale!!

8. Saw the Hunger Games...and through a complicated twist of luck got PAID to see the hunger games. WOOT! Movie was actually really good...would have liked it even more if i never read the book but both book and movie were excellent I thought!

9. I am loving this song right about now....It gets stuck in my head for hours but I don't mind!



10. I'm super excited about Lin's blogger swap...I've never done one before and I'm going to have to do some serious blog stalking to figure out what to send my swapee (is that a word?)!!

Well here's to hoping its not another month before I get back to my blog and dust out all of the cobwebs!