Through The Darkness Comes ...

Getting There... Ireland, Day 9

I'm almost done, I promise.  After this post the last two days go very quickly! So day 9 begins with my husband getting up extremely early to drive my IL's to Galway so that they can catch a bus to Dublin because they are flying to Scotland that day.  I did wake up because everything was echoing but because they weren't down there very long I was able to go back to sleep for a while.

I woke up again around 7:30 and read in bed for a while.  When the kids woke up I got up and we all started getting ready for the day.  I think my husband came back soon after that.  Around 10:30 we left the cottage.  Our plans for the day were to do anything we wanted to do that we hadn't done yet within a reasonable driving distance.  This was going to be our last night in the cottage, the next day we were driving to Dublin to spend part of the day there and the last night in a hotel before flying home the next day.

So we headed out around 10:30 and leisurely drove around the area close to the cottage so I could get all the pictures of sheep I wanted.  The day was sunny and clear so I was able to get more pictures of the cottage itself.

We drove to one of the nearest villages that we had driven though a million times but never stopped in except for the castle. First, we stopped at the castle and made plans for the kids to go horseback riding later in the day.  Our plan was for all of us to go riding but they wouldn't let the ponies go out with the big horses so we settled for letting the kids go. We made an appointment for later in the day and set off to enjoy the day. Next, we stopped at the Abbey in the town.  WOW! I couldn't believe that we had driven through this town almost everyday and missed this beautiful Abbey. When we first approached the abbey we were greeted by the most charming calico cat.  It followed us around for most of our visit winding its way in and out of our legs and wanted to be petted. We then made our way down a path to the stone fishing cottage.  This place was full of photo opportunities! We spent at least an hour here.

We walked around the town.  This was the town were they filmed The Quiet Man so that is what it is best known for. We ate lunch at a pub there. The food was pretty good and it was nice to be just the four of us. After lunch we walked around the town some more and then set off for a drive through the country side.  I finished my book (Forever After) in the car.

We drove back tho the castle for our horseback riding.  The kids had a great time riding.  The ride lasted about an hour and the got to go all over the castle grounds and even all the way up to the castle. If you ever go to Ireland and have mega bucks that castle would be the place to stay!

It started raining at the end of the ride and on the way back to the cottage.  Also on the way back our oldest started complaining of an earache.  Luckily I had brought some vicodin syrup from home but he had to wait until we got back to the cottage to have it.  He took some and slept through the night. 

The rest of us had sandwiches made out of the leftover food in the fridge.  We packed and the watched TV.  I edited pictures on my camera.  We also met with the lady who owned the cottage and settle the bill on the heat and the electric. Wow, we set a record for the gas. I also started a new book; Shoot the Moon.  I really wanted to achieve my goal of finishing all the books I brought before the trip ended.

Summer

Ahh, summer. I felt I should post something about summer instead of Ireland before the summer was over, LOL! 

 The last couple of weeks have flown by, we've been really busy.  If we had wi-fi I could be blogging from my garage but instead I sit out there and read and watch my youngest son ride his bike or scooter.  I pick at my flowers or sometimes visit with my neighbors.  Sometimes I even end up babysitting  watching all the kids.  I wouldn't mind so much if they would return the favor but all the little ones like coming here for some reason, I can't figure out why, it's not like we have anything fun to do here except bubbles, bikes, and chalk.  My oldest seems to be a hit with his four square ball and a couple of tennis rackets. I'm just glad he seems to be getting along with the kids this year.  There have been some spats but for the most part he has been able to find someone to play with everyday.

The first week of summer we stayed around the house and the kids played with their friends and we did the activities described above. We also signed up to do the summer reading program at the library. Last week the kids had swimming lessons.  This was the first time either one of them have taken them so I was a little nervous about the older one being in the beginning group but it turned out to be fine because there was another boy his size and age just starting also. We went bowling with one of the kids from my oldest sons bowling team last year just to keep their progress up.  It was nice for the kids to get together and it was nice to see the dads again.  Swimming lessons continued into this week and ended yesterday.  This week my oldest also had basketball camp all week.  My youngest is doing gymnastics once a week  every week all summer. After this week we don't have any other activities "planned" until the third week of July when we have VBS at our church.  Both kids will go and I'm volunteering all week.

I have to say that I've really enjoyed having the kids in all the activities.  We're up and out of the house everyday.  Plus we see people we know with the prospect of getting together with people in the future. There were two other activities I had wanted to sign my kids up for but all that came to a screeching halt yesterday.

Usually I never know how much money we have.  I only spend money when I go grocery shopping or when I go to walmart every two weeks.  Sometimes I need things in between but usually my husband will have told me we have a certain amount so we need to be careful or I just judge his mood.  Things have been tight the past couple of years so if I need some new clothes or the kids need some new things I usually am able to finagle my walmart budget and include the things I need into that and leave out toilet paper and paper towel that I tend to stock up on.

This month we had some extra money so I was able to get some new summer clothes ( I spent around $60) and I got some things for my husband.  We also had Fathers day and my husbands birthday, my husband also restocked his liquor cabinet.

So, yesterday the phone started ringing again, you know, THAT kind of ringing. I don't know why I answered it but I did and I pulled out a couple of bills and started looking at them.  I paid a few that needed to be paid right way (even though my husband takes care of them).  Then I noticed that our on line banking statement says that one of our loans is 3 months behind (not our mortgage).  My husband swears it's not and it must not be because the phone hasn't been ringing that much.  It started yesterday and it hasn't rung today at all.

I breached the subject of the tennis camp I wanted to sign my oldest up for  because we have to pay for it by Monday and of course he said no.  I'm really disappointed because I know how much he would enjoy it.  The other class I think I can still do because it's later in the summer and I can have the money scrapped together by then. I just want it to be fair for each of them.

Summer=Expensive

Plodding Along... Ireland Day 8

As I mentioned it stormed all night.  Boy, did it storm. Like, house shaking wind, horizontal rain type storm.  It was still raining in the morning when we all got up, although it was just regular old rain by that time.  We determined that horseback riding would be out for the day because the ground was soaked. 

My husband convinced his parents to come with us to an Abbey that used to be a castle were everything is supposed to be made by the Nuns that live there.  Since my IL's are very C@tholicand are very into this kind of thing, my husband used this to his advantage to get them to come along. 

I wasn't convinced how much fun it would be and it was still raining when we got there.  We sat in the car a while and finally had to make a run for it because the rain made no signs of letting up.  Luckily we had umbrellas with us!  We stopped in the Welcome Center/restaurant first. Everybody had scones and clotted cream.  Because of the nut allergy with our youngest, he and I split an apple/blackberry pie.  This was one of the most delicious pieces of pie I have ever had.  I wish I had taken a picture of it although a picture wouldn't have convened the taste.

After the mid morning snack we hit the gift shop (of course)  before braving the weather for a tour of the castle and grounds. 

The above pictures were taken inside the Welcome Center/ Gift Shop / Restaurant.  We were waiting for the IL's to come out of the gift shop.

The castle itself was beautiful; one of the most beautiful things we saw while we were in Ireland.  If the weather had been clear it would have been amazing and I cannot imagine what it is like in summer when everything is in full bloom.  The rain never stopped but kept a steady  light drizzle the whole time we were there picking up to a light rain here and there.  My IL's were racing ahead with our oldest.  We were never sure why.  My husband and I took our time with our youngest stopping wherever we wanted to see sights and take pictures.

 At the end we found my IL's back and the restaurant with our oldest getting lunch (or another snack) however, they got soup with cream in it and our oldest couldn't have it because it had dairy in it.  He would have eaten it if we wouldn't have shown up when we did and then we would have had to listen to how much his stomach hurt from eating the dairy.

There was really nothing else on the agenda for the day because of the weather so we drove to a town that my husband had read about that was supposed to have good shopping.  We stopped and had a proper lunch.  We had trouble deciding on a place because they were all so expensive, even for lunch. Finally we found one with a kids menu and reasonable prices for lunch.  It turned out to be a good choice because my husband said it was the best fish breading he's ever had. I had potato leek soup and we talked our youngest into having pasta instead of chicken nuggets (yay!!!!)

After lunch, we walked around the town, luckily the weather cleared up, and we did some souvenir shopping.  I got some things for teachers and the kids classes, shirts for the kids, earrings for my mom, and a pair for myself.

About this time my FIL started not feel well and spent alot of time going into stores to find bathrooms.  We decided it was time to go because it was starting to drive my husband crazy.  This is a problem my FIL has had for years and refuses to take care of.

We stopped at a butcher and got meat for dinner and headed back to the cottage to make dinner there for my IL's last night with us.  They were heading to Scotland the next day.  When we got back to the cottage I went upstairs and read, edited pictures, and played with the kids until dinner was ready.  For some reason my stomach was bothering me and I still hadn't started my period.  Basically I just needed a break from everybody, I was PMS-ing big time!

We had dinner, it was okay, but it's hard to cook in a kitchen your not used to.  My husband and MIl made lamb chops, mashed potatos, some wierd vegetable thing my FIL picked out at the store that not even he would eat.  I can't even remember what else there was I just remember everybody being disappointed how it came out for a "last" meal together.

We put the kids to bed and we got ready for bed early so my IL's could finish packing and get to bed early for their trip the next morning.

Why My Best Posts Never Get Published

A variety of things happen during the course of the day. Some of the things that happen to me would make very funny blog posts but I never write about them.  I do compose long, drawn out posts in my mind, usually at the end of the day in the shower when I'm reviewing everything that happened to me over the course of the last twelve hours or so.  It's funny how I methodically go over everything in my minds eye as if I were actually writing it down.  I always think I will write it down the next morning but I rarely do and if I do it never gets typed up the way it was brilliantly composed in my mind the night before in the shower.  If only I had a waterproof laptop in there with me...

Finding My Passion

A couple of weeks ago my husband had a reading done by a Medium who is a friend of his.  This Medium is part of something that is my husband new passion in life and something that I will talk about soon, but not now.

Anyway, in the reading she mentioned that one of the people that was coming forward to talk to my husband expressed some things specifically about me.  Some of them were right on, others I think this medium could have gleaned from meeting me but the thing that stuck me as odd was that this person said that I should get back to my passion in life.  The other thing that the Medium said was that she could she another child waiting to come into our lives, a girl.  I'm sure my husband would have never told me this part but he taped the reading so I heard every word this Medium said.

The day after the reading my husband asked me what I thought the passion was that I needed to get back to. I told him I had no idea, since all I've really ever wanted to be was a mom.  He looked at me and said, "Oh no, don't even think about that." To tell you the truth I wasn't even thinking about the child she said was supposed to come into our lives, I really have only ever wanted to be a mom and and a wife. Sure, I have been good at things over the years but I get bored with them after awhile.  I was really good at my job and totally immersed in it before I met my husband, but once I met him I totally lost interest in that. I taught aerobics for 13 years but after I became a mom that became boring to me.  The only things I've wanted to be since I was little were a mom, a wife, and a princess. Yeah,  I've totally got to get back to that Princess thing!

Day 7, Part 2

After lunch we continued on our journey to the cliffs.  It was becoming clear that we probably we're not going to make it that far because it was already mid afternoon. We had another stop we wanted to make on the way there as well and with stopping at another stop we would not make the cliffs before dark.

We had a little trouble finding the national park we were trying to find and things got a little heated in the car when my FIL announced that he, "didn't even want to see a pagan temple anyway". My husband insisted that we were going because I had seen a picture of it and had wanted to go there. Now when I saw pictures of this national park and read the description it sounded really cool.  When all the pressure of going to this one place was heaped on my shoulders I came close to telling my husband to forget it.  I was happy that he stood his ground. 

 I was a little disappointed when we drove up to the place because all that was there was the portal tomb that I had seen in the travel book. This in itself is very cool but I expected there to be more tombs in the area and  the area itself was very stark.  I'm sure when more plant life is blooming the place is gorgeous and has even more photo opportunities.

So we get there and the weather has changed again and it is cloudy and windy.  My IL's stepped out of the car and decide that they will stay in the car.  After coming all that way just to stay in the car seemed like such a waste.  I can only equate it to going to India but not wanting to see their temples because they're  not Christian. My husband, the kids and I went and had a great time.  It wasn't until we were coming back to the car that we noticed a sign saying not to move any of the rocks or build any of your own portal tombs. OOPS!  If you happens to go there and see two smaller ones behind the big one, you'll know who did it!

Above are the ones my husband and kids built.  I also took tons of pictures of rocks, ivy and moss but decided not to post those here.

When we got back in the car my MIL announced that, while she appreciated all the planning that my husband had done and the driving that he had been doing she would really like to go horse back riding and to see the castle that we had gone to earlier in the week so could we please just drop her off there the next day and she would spend the day at the castle and she would arrange her own transportation back. This would have been okay except that we had been planning on going horse back riding anyway and what was with the sudden interest in the castle?  When we went to England/Scotland we couldn't get her in one, she was too busy shopping.  Plus this castle wa a hotel not a tourist attraction. We tried placating her by telling her we were going horseback riding anyway and we were going to an Abbey to have scones made by NUNS.

On the way back to the cottage it started to rain.  We stopped in Galway and my husband, kids and I parked the car and ran down by the Galway web cam and called my parents and waved to them while they watched us on the computer.  While we were in Galway we also tried to find a converter for the curling iron.  No such luck.  We ended up buying a curling iron instead but the largest barrel we could find was a 1/2".  I looked like I had 70's hair for the rest of the trip! 

By the time we got back to the cottage it was pouring out and it continued to storm all night long!

Beauty

Whether you love photographing flowers or just looking at flowers, check out this DPS post.  These pictures are gorgeous!

To Read or Not to Read?

I was watching Oprah this morning and they were showing an older episode in which she had one of her book club selections.  I have read some of them with mixed reviews. Some I have enjoyed but most I have had to work to get through. Remember the summer she picked Anna Karenina? I hated that book with a passion.  I made it through but I was skimming the pages at the end to get through it.

The book she was talking about was The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett.  Has anyone read this?  Would you recommend it?

Almost There, Ireland , Day 7

Ugh! Up again at 6:30 to the tune of crashing and bashing downstairs.  We've already told the IL's that everything is magnified 100% upstairs we can't understand why they aren't trying to be quieter! My MIL was trying to figure out how to use the washing machine so we could get some laundry done. In an attempt to pack lighter we knew we'd have to do laundry at some point and my IL's were going to Scotland for another week.

I woke up kind of head-achy and I was supposed to start my period soon.  I decided to stay in bed and read awhile since the kids hadn't woken up yet.  Hubby got up to join his parents downstairs. My FIL was continuing to make his list  of everything that didn't work for the lady that owned the cottage and my MIL was obsessing about calling and meeting up with some friends of hers that were in Ireland at the same time. My husband got tired of his father complaining about everything and gently told him to stop because it was hurting his feelings.  I kept thinking of every place I've ever stayed in with my parents and in every place something has been broken and my dad may  have bitched about it and if somebody didn't come fix it he's usually just fixed it himself. One trip we went on the air conditioning was broken in every single motel (yes, motel) room we stayed in and my dad fixed it every single time.

Anyway, The day started out beautiful. I took tons of pictures around the cottage and then we started off towards our destination. 

On the way there we made several stops.  We had seen this several times to and from Galway and just had to see what it was.  It was well worth the stop.

After stopping for over an hour we continued on our journey and then stopped again along the way and another castle ruin.  I was the only one who got out of the car to take pictures and everytime my husband stopped at interesting things for me take pictures of I could feel the tension rising in the car.  But my husband and I had agreed before the trip that my passion photography would be something that he would indulge just as I would not complain about every grocery store or tourist gift shop his parents chose to frequent.

After this short stop we drove a little while longer to a place my husband really wanted to visit.

Now, this place is not my cup of tea at all.  I hate sea food and they didn't have much of any thing but seafood. Food in Ireland was expensive and this place was extremely expensive, even their lunch menu.  Seeing this made my husband crabby which made him short tempered with me when I was trying to decide what to order for myself and for our youngest.  I didn't want him to have any shellfish because of his peanut allergy not knowing if he would have a reaction to the shellfish and it's not like there was a hospital around the corner. I had some kind of soup (not seafood) and our youngest had a glass of milk (poor guy).  The rest of them split mussels, oysters, seafood chowder, and crab sandwiches.

Here is our oldest trying the oysters

So, that's three quaters of the day.  I'm going to stop there because I have a ton more pictures to post and I'm sure I won't be able to post all of them within this post.  I'll finish the rest in a day or so.