Brief re-opening...

So I post because I spent a few days in Ireland, visiting Cork and Galway, and I want to thank everybody I saw during the trip.

Galway was nice.
It was as if time had stopped. The only thing that had changed was Dean's belly, really (she looks gorgeous!). Well, and everything else, but it didn't matter.




But I must say it was inmensely depressing in Cork.
There were highlights, of course (they should know who they are).
But it was a "let's close up this episode" kind of visit, and I can't say I enjoyed the feeling.




Yes, this is going to be just this abstract.

Anyway, now.
Maybe you remember I mentieoned in my last post that I had writen something, that had become obsolete, and that I had left it back somewhere?
Well, I found it. I read it. I am going to post it.

And the I will close down the blog again until further notice.

Cheers to the readers :)

Pet Turtles

It's been around ten days that I actually left Ireland but I never got to write a (temporary) goodbye post.

I actually hand wrote along, detailed text on my last Sunday there after saying "bye" to R., explaining everything I felt and why I did so, planning to post it here afterwards, but everything changed so much on the next day that both my feelings and my plans became suddenly obsolete. So that text is somewhere in a box at E.'s house now (thanks for that again ;) )

So just to explain: life's a bitch, and I had to leave Ireland. I won't post hereuntil I go back, or at least until I've got some information regarding when I'll be back (end of the summer seems most likely now, with hopefully a visit before that, maybe in June).

So yeah, I terribly miss everyone, blah blah blah, but I'm doing ok(ish) here anyway, blah blah blah, see you soon.

It's hard to find a moment just quiet enough to write in this life of mine...

So what's happened since I last blogged?
Lots of stuff, really.

Things are getting very Christmassy around.
I spent last weekend in Dublin, with a bunch of people from D&D, and it was absolutely brilliant even though I didn't have the chance to hang out with L., E., or N.; But I met some really lovely people! I specially want to mention V., 'cause she's great fun, and we even went shopping together yesterday evening!*. Before that, we had had lunch in this place called Lost Society. This is important because it's in this shopping centre somewhere around Grafton Street (but not the one at the end of it... maybe it was in Powerscourt street? whatever. Just somewhere there.) and very place was packed but this restaurant was like... completely deserted, but the food was nice, and the decoration, brilliant. Seriously, check it out!
We did that after the sketching-in-the-museum-with-an-orchestra thing, and I need to say, that the museum part was very nice (it was in the Dublin City Gallery), specially Francis Bacon's studio, kinda shocking!

Because my checkout time had been 10am, I went for a walk (and breakfast) by myself before meeting up with everyone else for the gallery. I was disappointed to find the Ha'penny Bridge Café closed down, but I found another cute little place just around the corner, by the Grand Social, called something along the lines of "The Traditional Bakery Café", and it was basically that, but with seriously good prices.

I had gone to bed early the previous night because, even if I tried to hang out with all the different drinkanddrawers from different places, I had come out of Dr. Sketchy's with a terrible headache. I've got to say, that even with the peculiar choice of music and its volume, I found it very enjoyable! I was a bit lost because I hadn't done any life drawing in an awful long time ("Ein? This? A pencil? How does one hold it? What does it do?), but I think it was brilliant practise! I did feel more confident as the poses went by anyway!
Oh, and congratulations to E. for her cupcake! Those looked veeery yummy!

Before getting there we had only all gathered together, had a craftsy dinner in a fancy place (to fancy for crafts, probably, but... who cares... right?) and checked in in our respective rooms in respective ho(s)tels. And this is when I re-thank E. for allowing me to keep her room thus making the trip possible for me. Seriously, she's awesome in too many levels.

Related to that above, and before going on to the rest of things that have happened since October 6th, I want to thank everyone who was concerned for the fact that I didn't have the money to go to Dublin, and offered to help me, including, but not limited to, my parents, who are awesome, S., C., P., and R.

Now, before last Saturday, in the last 2 months I... decided to move, found a house, moved**, had several rows this the letting agency, got my cat to be a cat, got another cat (I love you Crowley!) had S. and S. over for Halloween/M.'s birthday, dealt with several friends breaking up with their partners, reorganised my room 3 times, had my credit card eaten by Isis (dogie) and, oh, yeah, most recently, had another baby dog adopted by my housemates.

Anyway, a piece of music for ye:

*Don't you worry, we'll be buying fancy dresses in Brown Thomas any day now...
**I'm living with L=Dean and B now :)

Can you believe today is Arthur's Day?

That means I got to Ireland tomorrow.
A year ago tomorrow, i mean.
On the 28th of September, anyway.

It doesn't even seem like too much time. My life here has changed that much over the past 12 months, and it feels so settled now, that it is hard to believe it has only been a year since I landed in Cork airport for the first time.
And tomorro has taken so long to come...

I cannot even relate to what was my life last August, to what I used my time for and to what I thought when I closed my eyes before I decided to follow M.'s steps and come, as aupair, to an area at the eastern edge of West Cork (AKA "Farran". It may ring a bell to you. There are some Woods there.).
Of course it never occured to me to go anywhere else but to Inis Fail*. Only the other day my mother was retelling the story of how at 9, in summer, I started learning Gaeilge because I had decided that I would live in Ireland when I grew up.
And here I am.
I tend to think that deserves one big loud FUCK YEAH!
It just takes too much effort to be loud sometimes.

[Will be continued...]

Experience has proved that it works both ways

"And when you think things can't get any worse, they do" is a very recurrent sentence in this world an dI have found myself saying it several times on previous stages of my life, and I was just thinking that sometimes, we fail to notice that it works both ways.
So, yep, the main theme of this post is "And when you think things can't get any better, they do", in which "things" stands specially for "people", as horrible as that may be :P.  Long story short, I love my friends.

Right now, I mostly love how they keep susprising me.
Do you know that sensation, when you are surprised? Do you know how your world suddenly expands itself a little further? Do you know when that expansion actually happens because of, not only yourself, but someone else who's there to help you discover stuff? Have you ever felt the warmth in your chest, and a smile you can't stop showing up on your face?
Well, the whole week has been like that for me.
I thought it would end with the Rocking chair but that was actually only the begining.

The actual, planned, surprises are a big part of it but that is not all...

Sometimes it is just discovering that those heroes, those people you can't help but look up to, are also human and suffer the same fears and anxieties you do. And finding out that they actually like you an denjoy your company.

Others, it is the choice of words your friends make to comunicate with you, the extent to which they adapt their discourse to make you as happy as possible.

Somethimes is people being sincerely thankful that you had them over.

Or creating a mess by crafting a box into a puppet-thetre-fort, an dthe fun on thinking every detail of it.

Seeing how people really thinks of you and pick the most propriete presents for them to give you, presents you love yourself and that will always make you think of them.

Realizing someone is whistleing in your living room and enjoying the sweetness of the sound.

Being wished "Happy Birthday" in a whole lot of languages.

Listening to people you love share their dreams and hopes with you and eveyone else.

Discovering how eager some people are to see you, when you thought they weren't really.

Hearing about some of all the planning that has been done so that everything turns out perfect for you and being able to emphatize with the excitement and anxiety felt by others for your sake.

And all the rest of the tiny details, every single one of them. They make the sun shine on a cloudy sky.

The best part of getting a Rocking Chair or your birthday is that it comes unasembled, in a gigant box, and that your friends got it for you.

And seeing the poor post man breathe "in through the nose, out through the mouth" with his head tilted to the left as he decided how he was going to get the package into my house, when I hadn't seen the package yet. adn then see him get a big box that just kept coming of the van as if it was never going to end.

Also, seeing as the box landed that a drawing of its secret surpresive contents that I wasn't allowed to know off was on it, and having M. at the other side of the phone and laughing at her for that but also being unable to believe that they had got me a Rocking Chair. And yes, it is the kind of Rocking Chair that beats the rules of capitalization.

Staring at the aforementioned postman with a look that clearly said "that thing still need to be moved into my sitting room" ans seehim walk away, and look at the box that barely fitted in the corridor. Being able to actually get it down without much difficulty.

Leaving the box and the house to themselves and going to pick m. up to help her walk her not-so-new bike home. Discovering it is a Lady Bicycle that beats the rules of capitalization, green with an actual basket, and that people are not allowed to ride it if they are not wearing a flower patterned summer hat.

Getting to the obvious conclusion that people who can get the biggest box ever down a stairway can get a Lady Bicycle up a stairway.

Opening the biggest box ever to find that, appart from the promised Rocking chair it also has The Biggest and Most Awesome Piece of Cardboard Ever in it. and deciding what to use it for even before further exploring the box.

Most of all, discovering that the footstool that accompanies the Rocking Chair is nothing else but a Rocking Footstool!


And it went on and on, really.
Such a Capitalization Rules Beating Morning, it was!


And apart from everything else, I get to build a fort out of the box =D


So, basically, thanks to everyone for making me feels this happy (you can ask M. about my actual level of happiness, she should be able to describe it quite well). Seriously. I think you may get some benefit from visiting a shrink, all of you, but you are most certainly awesome friends.