YouTube's Ad of the Year 2010 - LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

Yikes!

Keep Your Distance

Or Death could be closer than you think

Sign on the back of fuel truck I passed on the commute home*. Needless to say, I drove very, vewwy carefully as I went past and for the rest of the drive.

Nothing like a warning about imminent death to raise your alert levels!

*The picture wasn't actually on the truck but it adds a nice touch don't you think?

Home Again

I don't think I told you (my lack of Internet is still getting in the way of anything but the most basic blogging - this update is via iPhone), but I just arrived home to the Triangle (NC) for a friend's wedding and general having of fun. I'm looking forward to seeing loads of friends (I've had to resort to writing out my schedule 'cause it's packed full!), a quick jaunt to Miami to see family, and taking care of a few errands.

I got here Friday afternoon and the wedding was yesterday at Fearrington House in Chapel Hill. It was beautiful, but relaxed and fun. A total success! Weeell, except for the grooms's aunt tripping and dislocating her shoulder, but aside from that....!

Today I get to see my church family at CHBC and lounge around at Weaver Street in Carrboro, before meeting up with my cousin and her daughter later this evening.

I LOVE vacation! :-)

Out of context

Ok, I was mad. Wait, I'm still mad. I'm so freakin' angry I could spit! But (because I don't have access to the web much... and whose fault is that?!), my Eircom rant went out without me having had a chance to blog earlier about all the cool things that have happened lately.

In the space of a week at the beginning of April, three great events occurred which made me very pleased with life. First, I passed my Irish driving test with flying colo(u)rs. Woohoo!! Then, the next day, I moved into my new apartment. Not quite enough space for my clothes (or my shoes), but it did prompt me to give away all the stuff that doesn't fit anymore, which is probably also a good thing. It's a great apartment and, despite the above mentioned drama, I'm glad I did it. I'm now right in the city and can walk to the gym, salsa classes, shopping (that I don't have space for), the English Market, etc.

Third, on Monday the 6th, the UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels male college basketball team showed why they're a DYNASTY and won the NCAA national championship. GO HEELS!!!!!

All in all, loads of good things happening lately. Including an upcoming trip home to the states for a friend's wedding and general having of fun :-)

Doesn't mean I'm not still pissed though.

Unexpected Compliment of the Month

Driving instructor at end of 1st "lesson": "You're a lovely driver. You should have no problem passing the exam."

Me inside my head: "WOOHOO!!! I'm good, I'm good, I'm so freakin' good! [sung in childish melody]"

**Note: Decided to be smart and take a few lessons before my driving exam next week for my full Irish license (and lower insurance). Of course I had to wait 6 months afer passing the theory test (by the skin of my teeth) to take it. Apparently 20 years of experience driving in the states wasn't enough!

**Extra Note: Passing your driving exam is a HUGE deal here, considering almost 50% of those who take it fail! They even have cards in the shops for congratulating the lucky ones who pass :-)

Back To The Drawing Board

So, having taken the Driver Theory Test (barely squeaking through due to very little studying) and queueing forever at the Motor Tax Office, Ireland now deigns to officially consider me a learner driver. Which means: publicly labelling myself as a dork by driving around with big red and white stickers on the front and back windshields of my car, no driving alone, no driving after dark, no driving on motorways (what few there are), and practice, practice, practice for the next 6 months.

This after 18 years of driving America’s highways and byways, averaging hundreds of miles a week, plus 6 months of driving in Ireland on my American license.

Even criminals get consideration for time served!

P.C.A. (Public Consummation of Affection)

Flowers budding, weeds taking over my garden, and little lambies gamboling through the fields... Yes, spring has definitely arrived in the Emerald Isle and apparently it makes even the most unlikely of couples just a leeetle too frisky!

I won't post a picture of the love encounter because I'm a tactful person (and I didn't have my camera with me, darn it!), but believe me, yesterday's PCA extravaganza is burned into my retinas!

As I was leaving work to grab some lunch, I saw two lovers of the canine persuasion going at it like a porn movie in the middle of the street. The giver (an extremely hyper Jack Russell Terrier) and the receiver (a large black collie-type) were smack dab on the white line and so engrossed in each other they didn't stop to pay attention to any of the multiple cars passing them in either direction. Clearly Mr. Jack Russell had a lot of energy to work off because he kept at it for at least a minute and a half as I drove all the way up and past them, waited to make my turn, and drove (slowly due to rubbernecking) away.

Now, just in case you doubt the staying power of this tribute to manhood, you should know that when I told my story later, one of my coworkers reported witnessing the same couple doing their business when she went off to lunch, AND they were still going at it in the same place when she came back by a half hour later!

Is there such a thing as puppy Viagra?

Welcome me back

So I've been away for awhile, okay a long while! No reflection on you, my scattered but wonderful readers and virtual co-adventurers. I just got busy and was actually enjoying having a life away from the computer. That's all over now :-) Not really, but I've been missing you all, so here I am!

Lots to tell about the past couple of months, but I decided to try filling you in as if I'd actually sat down and completed all the aborted posts I'd started. So here are a selection of vignettes from my Christmas and New Year adventures in pseudo-chronological order.

Shenanigans In the Real World (12/17/07): it's true, I have met Beth. How totally cool is that?! Think about it - you find a blog online written by someone who seems totally cool, you make a couple of comments on their blog and start chatting back and forth. Soon you're exchanging emails, then the occasional phone call, and a friendship is born. After having my guest room given away by Larry a few times (really, what's going on here Lars?), I finally managed to snag a visit this past weekend in The Big City. All I can say was I had a great time, and only partly because I got 95% of my Christmas shopping done :-) I just think it's amazing when someone you've never actually met turns out to be as fun and as much of a kindred spirit in real life as you imagined them to be. And Lars turned out to be OK too :-)

Battle of the Bulge (12/21/07): I just arrived in Miami a couple of days ago and already I'm in culture shock. My Lord, Americans are fat!

The True Meaning of Christmas (12/25/07): Without meaning to, and against all our efforts, we seem to have become trapped by the rampant consumerism of the season. Not the adults so much, but the children. How did this happen? My sister and husband work hard to set good boundaries and clear limits for their children. In fact my niece and nephew are the only kids, except for the children of my other Jamaican friends who grew up under the same kind of regime :-) and a select few others, whose childrearing I fully approve of. But still, Christmas had a small tinge of a nightmare. Gifts, stuff, coming out of the woodwork. My 2 year old nephew (who admittedly doesn't know any better), was like a wrapping opening machine, going from one package to the other ripping it open, then shoving it aside and moving on to the next one. He ended up trying to open his sister's and parents' gifts when he ran out of his own. And that took awhile because there was just so much darn stuff! My sister and brother-in-law finally had to end up choosing a selection to get stored away in the attic or outright donated somewhere else.

I now officially feel like an old fogey because all I could think of was how much my sister and I loved Christmas "in the old days". It had nothing to do with Santa (we weren't brought up to believe in Old St. Nick) and only about 60% to do with getting gifts :-) The whole season was special because of it's spiritual meaning and religious traditions, get-togethers with family and friends, and the ritual of Christmas morning - first early morning church service (6 am!), then breakfast, then opening gifts in rotation from person to person. We loved it. Even if we only got a handful of gifts each. I hope we're able to transmit something of the same experience to my niece and nephew, I really do.

The Surreal Life (12/28/07): spending a holiday at my sister's jungle cottage/amazingly landscaped house in Miami always makes me feel like I've left the real world behind. There's just something about not having any deadlines and living your days centered around the needs of the 2 amazing manifestations of my sister's (and my) DNA that just takes you out of your life. I have no responsibilities here except to engage in lengthy explorations of the backyard sandbox, take spontaneous trips to the zoo or the beach, or pretend I'm a soccer mom (or is that gymnastics aunt?) for a day. Nine days have passed since I dragged my whipped butt off the last connecting flight from Cork and it feels like I just got here yesterday. I can't wait till they come visiting in June! I wonder if they'll bring the same surreal world to Ireland with them?

Battle of the Bulge - II (12/29/07): Now I remember why it's so hard to keep the weight off here. I went to Macaroni Grill last night with my cousin and her beautiful and frighteningly athletic daughter and ordered one of my favorite pasta, cheese, and shrimp (not prawns) dishes. It smelled amazing and tasted even better, but it was so heavy and there was just so darn much of it that I could only eat about a quarter. The rest I brought back in a doggy bag. Has my stomach really shrunk that much? I'd like to think so :-) I have to admit though that a big part is just not having access to as much choice in Ireland. I'm overwhelmed now going into Tar-gay, or even just Eckerd Pharmacy, by just how much candy and sugared sodas and various crap calories packaged in pretty colors there are at the check-out counter and scattered everywhere. In fact, I'm overwhelmed just by the amount of choice in general!

I Feel The Need For Speed (12/29/07): How have I lived for 5 months without driving?! Since I still have not found someone to take over the lease on my beautiful Passat, it's been sitting in my cousin's garage in Raleigh patiently waiting for me to come back and give it some loving. And what a loving! I actually did get in some driving while with the family in Miami, but driving someone else's minivan around with a toddler and a talkative 5 yr old didn't give me quite the same rush as stepping into my own dream machine. The rush was totally unexpected but ohhh, so nice! The power beneath my feet, the authority of maneuvering a vehicle around vs. the innate helplessness of relying on my own 2 feet and the vicissitudes of public transportation, the sheer pleasure I got blasting the radio as loud as I could stand it with the sunroof open and putting the pedal-to-the-metal, driving way too fast down a straight, wide (4 lanes each way!) highway. There's nothing to beat it. Yeah, traffic was a bear and I rediscovered my inner impatient, angry cynic (there's nothing quite like road rage), but that first rush was totally worth it.



Worship (12/30/07): I love my church, I really really do! I knew I missed it. The small little Baptist fellowship I attend in Cork is great, but there's nothing like being around people who you've known for years (literally almost half my life now), in a fun setting that you're completely familiar and comfortable with, and knowing that your contributions were valued and are missed. I miss just knowing the rhythm of the place, including exactly how fast to sing the songs :-) Is it a Baptist thing where everything gets sung just a couple of beats too slow?

The message was great too, and only partly because it was given by the most recent minister I helped recruit :-) God wants us to enjoy life! We never seem to remember that part of the Good News. Dave also repeated a great rabbinical saying that I'm now taking as a personal challenge: God will call you to account for every permitted pleasure you refuse. I love that. I've got to get moving, there's a whole list of stuff I need to catch up on!

Kitty Love (12/31/07): Ah, there's nothing like the scorn of a high maintenance (possibly slightly spoiled?) cat who's been forced to live with a stranger (i.e., paid cat sitter and extremely patient professional) and several other animals for 5 months, without her owner around to provide the proper kowtowing and service! I was snubbed by my newly chubby sweetie today when I went by to see her. If only she knew how much money (lots!) and effort and angst I've put into finding her a good place to stay and preparing for her transfer overseas. Nahhh, she wouldn't give a hoot, she thinks it's her just due :-)



Overload (1/1/08): In contrast to my almost dreamy time in Miami over Christmas, my 4 days here at home in Raleigh have been crammed full! I've shopped to my heart's content, and my wallet's despair, and visited virtually every good friend I could find in town, some of them more than once! :-) I've loved it! Now I just have to find a way to cram everything into the previously empty suitcase and wrangle it back to Ireland. Remember my earlier smug complaints about rampant consumerism? Just call me Ms. Hypocrite.

Wheels! (1/27/08): It's small, cute, (relatively) cheap, and it's all mine. Yes! I am soooo ready to be mobile again. Walking everywhere may have been good for my waistline, but otherwise it was for the birds. Yesterday, for the first time, I had the freedom to go off exploring and, in some ways, I finally started to feel like I was in Ireland. My aussie friend, her 2 kids, and I meandered our way to Garryvoe Beach, Ballycotton, and several other very Irish sounding villages scattered across southeast Cork and the coast. We had a great time and I have the sand on my floorboards to prove it :-)


P.S. The picture is just a stock one, not my actual baby, but you get the idea.

Things I Hate!

1) Companies that withdraw my favorite products/items. Am I that odd that nobody else likes the things I'm addicted to? I still miss, crave (and complain bitterly about every chance I get, even after almost 10 years) Ben and Jerry's Dastardly Mash ice cream. A combination of New York Super Fudge Chunk and raisins. Mmmm, creamy goodness! What is it about raisins that just makes the world a little brighter place?

Panera Bread also episodically will remove my favorite salad, the Fandango. And, now, Quizno's Subs has decided, in some flash of stupid corporate reasoning, to phase out the Cabo Chicken sandwich. It's the best thing in there you stupid, bureaucratic numbskulls! OK, maybe it's only my opinion, but there must be someone else out there who agrees with me? Tell me I'm not crazy and that that combination of chicken, bacon, chipotle mayo, cheddar cheese, spring mix and guacamole doesn't completely do it for you?!

2) Drivers who don't use their indicator. It's basic courtesy and consideration for everybody else on the road. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?

3) Unprofessional behavior. Getting back to someone in the timeframe you specifically promised, or at least letting them know that things are delayed, is also simple, basic courtesy. I got an email today telling me that the Saudi Arabia job I'd applied for 2 months ago is now approved. For all the money I could have thought to ask for! $97,000 in a country with no taxes would be equal to about $126,000 (gross in the US) + free housing and no transportation costs. If I'd received this offer 2 months ago, when they were supposed to get back to me, I would have been hardpressed not to accept. Of course, I would be having some second thoughts now, what with Iran rattling it's sabers and the rest of the Gulf states buying up weapons at an increased rate. But still, it would only have been for a year or two! Hmmm, and I've only accepted the "temporary" offer from Ireland, nothing's permanent yet.... I can almost hear my mother crying out, "Nooo!!!" Don't worry mom, I remember what you taught me about keeping a promise :-) Plus, now I'm already emotionally committed to Ireland. And, really, what's a few more bucks anyway?

I have to think that this is the Lord's leading, telling me that Ireland is where I'm supposed to be. And, in a way, I guess I get the best of both worlds - after years of feeling like I had so few options in terms of job availability in the U.S., now I know my skills are wanted somewhere!

OK, so I know there are only 3 things on this list, but it is Easter, so I'm trying to be thankful for all my gifts. Still, these 3 had to be said.

Better than a funeral

I'm getting to like this idea of moving abroad more and more. It's like having a funeral, only better! So many friends telling me how much they'll miss me. People making an effort to come and visit me, take me out to dinner, ply me with drinks, promising (threatening?) to come and visit once I get to Cork! And, unlike a funeral, I get to be there to enjoy all the eulogies! :-) Seriously though, I guess it takes a big shift like this to make it clear to you how you're appreciated by the people in your life. I should have done this years ago!

Practicing stick shift continues whenever I have the nerve ... actually, at least once a day. I've been doing it by halves. I haven't gotten a chance to practice in my friend's old Beemer again (she assures me it's still running, at least as well as it was before, so I didn't really kill it!), but I realized that my Passat has a Tiptronic transmission which gives me the option of manually shifting the gears when I'm in Drive. I've been practicing on the way home from my practice, and anytime traffic isn't too hectic. It's oddly seductive. Now that the initial terror has faded and I can practice this piece by piece (i.e., no clutch), it's much more interesting than I'd expected. Maybe I'll even come to prefer a manual transmission, who knows?

More good news about the car situation. I found out that I'm not stuck with trying to get someone to take over my lease on the Passat. I can sell it! Volkswagen doesn't care - as long as I get enough to pay them off, they don't give a hoot. Such a relief for me! I'm thinking I might just wait till the last week before I leave and sell it to CarMax. No muss, no fuss. I won't make much (or much of any) profit, but it'll be off my hands. Whew!

So, I've pretty much told everybody about The Big News. The only people still in the dark are my supervisors/administration at my day job and my private practice clients. They won't get the news until all the paperwork is finalized - I'm only waiting on the psychology/government folks in Ireland to approve my training and degrees ("Yes sir, I'm a real psychologist and I might actually know what I'm doing") and then I'll be eligible for my work visa and can start winding things down here.

What friends are for

Encouraging. Holding your hand. Telling you that you can do it. Not blaming you when their car explodes!

It's been brought home to me even more sharply this week just how great my friends are. Whether they're far away or near, in touch with me daily, weekly or just every few months, blood or just "as good as" blood. Every time I've told someone new about The Big News, I've gotten only positive affirmations and expressions of support. Not to say there haven't been some jaws hitting the floor, but not one person has pooh poohed my decision or told me I'm crazy. Quite the opposite, I've gotten offers to help me pack, to sit with me while I'm sorting through crap I should have thrown out long ago, to send me care packages once I move, to come out and visit me once I'm there (I've gotten LOTS of those!), and to help me build up my tolerance by trying out various Irish pubs in the area (a friend's gotta do what a friend's gotta do, right?). That's not including the especially longsuffering friend who willingly got into her own car, admittedly one on it's last legs and not in use, to teach me how to drive a stick shift. She was kind enough to tell me I did quite well for a first-timer, even after the poor car started smoking and giving up the ghost! :-)

So tell me, who could ask for better friends?!