Roller Derby

This spring, one of my dear friends told me that she has was interested in Roller Derby. This summer, she told me that she was going to try out for the team and that she made the "you get to practice with us" "team." She seemed to really enjoy it and invited people out to watch a match last Saturday.

Since I had no idea what this Roller Derby was, we decided to go and check out what our friend was so interested in. So, in Roller Derby, the women skated around a track. There was one person who could get points by passing members of the other team. Another person set the pace for the rest of the skaters. Basically, it was contact roller skating around a track. It was really fast moving and has a lot of rules about how you can block and such and at any given time, there were usually at least 2 people in the penalty area. I didn't really understand all the nuances but it was quite impressive to see these women's skating abilities. It is something that we'll definitely be doing again and maybe we'll even get to see our friend out on the track...

Seasons Changing

Lately, I have noticed many subtle signs that autumn is upon us and summer is a mere memory (although a good one). The mornings and evenings are cool and crisp even though the days have still been warm. I left work at 7:00 PM yesterday and it was dark! Part of that was a storm coming but it is definitely getting dark sooner and the light is fading. Earlier this week, I was looking around at the trees as I drove home and some of them are changing. I really enjoy this part of the year because it is so pretty. I just hope that the leaves are changing more and are pretty 2 week from Saturday. :)

T minus 1 and counting

Thursday was one month before the wedding! We are now less than one month out. People keep asking me if I'm excited and I really don't know. I don't like that every spare/down minute, I am thinking about what needs to be done. We have a long "to do" list that is getting managed but it is still longer than I would like. I am really glad that we are here to do these things because it would be hard to do some of this stuff from a few thousand miles away.

Recently, we have gotten a lot done. I have tried on my dress and had a fitting (hopefully the only one), one of my bridesmaids got fit at the same time and the others have appointments for fittings. We have booked the rehearsal dinner location. Today we did a few reception decorations. I also finished one of the bridesmaids' shawls and am about 1/4 the way done with the second. I still need to weave in ends and block the third one that is done but that shouldn't take long...

Anyway, soon, we will be married and off to New Zealand! I'm so glad that John is researching and planning the honeymoon! Actually, he has been amazing through the whole process and has been doing more work that I have been for the wedding planning/tasks.

So, am I excited? I guess so. I am more in awe that we are getting married in less than a month! I don't think it will really sink in until I walk down the isle and see all the people in the church there for us.

So far behind...

So 2 weeks ago today was my birthday. To honor the day, a group of friends went to a beer garden for dinner and drinks and just enjoying the nice summery weather. On Sunday, I got many presents from John. He took me to a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant that I had always wanted to try but thought was too expensive. We had a lovely dinner and a lovely bottle of champagne.

This year, I got some wonderful presents. John got me two knitting books, a couple of New Zealand books, and wine from our favorite winery in Italy. The wine took some research because it is not easily available here. We got it easily in Dublin, but here, not available because it is a small cooperative of growers. Anyway, he did his research and found a place in the area that could order it and made it happen. It also just so happened that the wine was from the year that we went to the Italian Alps and saw the winery! The day after my birthday, I made a nice dinner and we enjoyed some wine in the Waterford wine glasses my parents gave us as a wedding present.

John's sisters were also good to me. One sister got me a chocolate cookbook. Another got me a gift basket of fruit English Muffins, coffee, and and jam. We are enjoying it a lot.

So, all in all, it was a lovely day. :)

Just what I needed

Since we moved back, J and I have been trying to schedule a weekend together. Well, yesterday, I took the train up to see her. I decided to take the train because it was only an hour (versus an hour and a half drive) and it was close to the price of driving, and I could knit on the train, so it was an easy decision for me.

Anyway, I got up to where J lives yesterday afternoon and neither of us had eaten, so we settled in, J walked her dog, and then walked to get some late lunch/early dinner. We headed a restaurant on the river, didn't get service, and headed inside. We had good food, a bit of conversation and then back to her house. We were both exhausted so she made cookies and we just hung out the rest of the night and went to bed early.

Today, we got up, went swimming and relaxed in the hot tub, and then went to brunch. After brunch, we hung out on the roof top terrace of the building until it was time for me to head back home. All in all, it was a very relaxing girly weekend, just what I think we both needed.

Pineapple Downside Up Cakes

John's favorite cake is Pineapple Upside Down cake. When looking for things to register for the wedding, I saw a pan that makes mini cakes in the shapes of pineapples and immediately registered for it (as well as a cast iron skillet to make the cake in). Well, at the shower, I was very happy to unwrap the pan and it was given to us by one of John's siblings. His brother then gave us a tin of pineapple to facilitate making the cake. :)

John was so happy to get this pan that one day while I was at work and he was cleaning and putting the presents away, he decided to try out the pan. Below is the making of the cake, as taken by John.

The left over pineapple turned into his dinner.








His trusty beer was his baking assistant.













Then he waited patiently for dessert to be ready.








And finally his efforts were rewarded. :)

And the cakes were tasty. We think we can find a better cake recipe (we used the one that came with the pan) but I think that we are definitely up for the challenge.

Warning: political post

This is an election year but we will be on our honeymoon during the election. It will be quite interesting to hear the results and election coverage from half a world away. For the first time that I can remember, I really care about a candidate. Now, I have always had a preference and hoped that the "other candidate" didn't win but I was more voting against someone than for someone.

This year, I care. I care deeply. I care enough to want to donate to a campaign for the first time. I respect the candidate even though he is a politian. I am also watching the political rhetoric and choices for VP from the candidates. Obama chose Biden, who has been in politics for ages (too long, I think) but balances any perceived in-experience on his part. Today McCain announced his choice, Palin. She is a young candidate who has been governor for two years. Therefore, she also balances him in the opposite way. No matter who wins, history will be made with this election and I find that really exciting.

Lately, I have started reading Ravelry's political message boards. I checked out the McCain supporters group to see what they were saying about Palin and if they thought she could help McCain get former Hillary supporters to vote for him. What I found most interesting, though, was an idea to make her a community blanket. One of the supporters is going to sew all the squares together that other supporters have knit or crocheted. In contrast, the Obama supporters are knitting and crocheting things to donate to homeless veterans. While I like the idea of cooperative knitting, I don't think that supporters would be making a male VP (or presidential) candidate a blanket.

If women want to be treated equally, we should treat each other equally. By immediately doing something nurturing for a candidate and not doing this for other candidates, these people are saying that the woman is different. That does not help the cause of equal rights for women. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it is great that these supporters want to show their support. I just question if it really helps the bigger cause of equal rights/perceptions of women. Or maybe that isn't really the goal here...

Showered

A couple weeks ago, my sister generously hosted a bridal shower for me. For readers not familiar with this tradition, the guests to the bridal shower bring presents for the bride, aka shower her with guests. The tradition started when trying to build up a woman's dowry before getting married. Sometimes women have multiple showers. The relatives of the couple may have showers, work, friends. John's mom, niece, and sister-in-law came to my shower in addition to some of my aunts and cousins. J also came (remember her?). I felt so bad for J because she got a speeding ticket on the way!

The shower started off with a few bridal shower games. We played a word unscramble game, got points for various items being in our purses, and my sister asked me questions to see if I answered them the same way that John answered the same questions. We then ate a light lunch and I opened presents! Most of the pictures were taken by J.

ETA: the KitchenAid box contains an ice cream maker. :) I already had a KitchenAid (John was very nice to me one year for my birthday)

Sunny summer

A month ago (where did the time go?), Aileen came to visit. While she was here, I took her to multiple yarn shops (with some major stash enhancement) and to explore the city. The day that we went downtown was sunny (but hazy) and hot. As we walked around the city center, I was reminded of how interesting the architecture is here. I had forgotten how varied the buildings are, and yet they work together well.

I have to say, it is wonderful to have a summer again. Last summer in Ireland was so rainy. Even during the nice summers in Ireland, they don't compare to summers here. However, now the sun sets sooner, there is a chill in the air at night, and autumn is coming...

Where's home?

Periodically, people ask how we are settling in after our move. People often ask how it feels to be "home." This is something that I have been giving a lot of thought to lately. See, when Aileen came to visit, I found myself referring to Dublin as "home." I did this without even thinking. For example, when we took her to an "Irish Pub" for dinner (for the humor value since it is NOTHING like an Irish pub), I looked for the bathrooms and upon finding that they were downstairs, I thought, "oh, they're downstairs, just like at home." My next thought was, but I am home. I also referred to Dublin as home during conversations with her. I thought is was maybe because she is from Dublin so it made sense. When talking to my sister this weekend, I also referred to Dublin as home a few times. This seems to be happening more since we've moved, rather than less. I'm not really sure what this is about. I wonder if it is because we aren't truly settled yet (and I don't think we will be for a while). We haven't "laid down roots" yet.

Anyway, these references and my thinking has made me wonder, what is home? Where is home for us? Do we have one? Dictionary.com has 31 entries under the search home! The one that I think is at play with me is this one: "the place in which one's domestic affections are centered." See, we have multiple places with "domestic affections." Does that mean that we have multiple homes since I don't think there is one place where the affections are "centered?" The old saying says that "home is where the heart is" which means that, yes, I have many homes. One is where I grew up, another where my sister lives, another is Dublin, and finally where we are currently living!

Beer!

Some people comment about how everything is bigger here. Well, it is! In Dublin, our refrigerator was the size that students here use in college. We managed fairly well but wished that we had had more freezer space. Overall, it worked well for us because then we couldn't buy too much stuff.

Well, now we have a massive fridge! I know it is a standard size one but we just can't fill it. I know that they run better if they are full but it is just too big for the two of us because I am trying to only buy what we need so that we don't waste food.

So, this weekend, we drove about an hour to have dinner with my brother. After dinner, we realized that we were in the "the state of beer" and there was a big grocery store near the restaurant so of course we had to look for the beer that we can only get in the state. I think that we may have gone a bit overboard but at least now the refrigerator is full!

Any guesses on how long it will take us to drink it all (and yes, there is more in the door)?

Busy Weekend

It seems like we've been quite busy since we've moved back. If we aren't visiting people/collecting stuff, we seem to be organizing the house. I am really glad that I have Mondays off, too. However, my Mondays seem just as busy. During my commute, I often wonder where my time is going. I just don't know. All I can say, it isn't spent knitting (well, unless it is Tuesday night).

This weekend was no exception. I got a wonderful evening to myself while John went to a barbecue place in the city. On Saturday, we woke up, hung up art on the walls and then went shopping for more house stuff, like picture frames. We also had a pre-marriage counseling session and then went to a party. The party was good since we got to meet new people and see people that we haven't seen in a while. It was strange for us, though, that we left a bit past midnight and more than half the people had already gone home. We then dragged a friend to a "post drinking" breakfast place and finally got home about 2:30 AM. We haven't been out that late since we left Ireland. It was really nice to be out late! (bonus points if you notice what is different about me in the picture)

Sunday morning, we got a phone call at 10:00 AM from my brother asking what we were up to since he was going to a Renaissance Faire and would be about an hour from where we live. We already had lunch plans and I went to a movie with a friend in the afternoon. We then went up to have dinner with him and went shopping afterwards (that will be another post).

On Monday, I had an eye appointment at 10:00 AM and then we met with the caterer in the afternoon and did our weekly produce shopping. This weekend, Aileen is in town (she arrived today) and we should have another fun, busy weekend!

Accents

Since moving back home, people have told me that I have an Irish accent. Now, I know that I don't have a full on one because people in Ireland told me this all the time. :) When we moved back, I heard the accent a bit but now only hear the local accent in a few people.

A couple weeks back, Aileen called me from her sister's. It was so good to hear from her. I miss my friends in Ireland so much. Anyway, while talking to her, I heard her accent for the first time. I never noticed that she has a bit of a Dublin accent (sorry Aileen). A while ago, someone from Ireland called to talk to John. Again, I heard the accent. I have to say, when I hear it, I get a bit of a pang of "homesickness." I miss that accent and really look forward to Aileen coming to visit next weekend!!!!!

Public transport?

So I was driving in my car this morning thinking that I should look into public transport options to get to work so that I could knit on the train again. I miss my knitting time and really haven't been able to get much done. Silly long hours.

I was listening to the news and then on comes a piece about public transport. Apparently, because of the increased petrol/gas prices, more people have started taking public transportation. Therefore, the trains are more full. The mayor's suggestion to fix this problem: take out some of the seats on the trains so that more people can stand and fit! Of course people are upset by this idea because they want seats on the rush hour trains. I also wonder why they can't add more trains because there always seem to be a lot of trains sitting around in the exchange areas when I'm on the train.

While I'm on the topic, last week, I heard a piece on the radio about the mayor's idea to help the buses. See, there is a common problem of bunching (which I learned is a bunch of the same route coming right after each other). The mayor's suggestion to fix this problem is to put GPS in all the buses and then have someone in a remote location watch to see the spacing between buses. If the buses get bunched, he suggested sending someone out in a car to tell the drivers to wait and fix the spacing issue! Why can't they use a 2-way radio instead of adding to the traffic congestion?????

So much planning!

The big wedding planning is done and has been for a while. Now, we are getting into the details and I am starting to feel the stress. I have started dreaming about things to do for the wedding. I can feel my stress level/tolerance for things decreasing. John has told me that I have "bridezilla" moments when people disagree with me. Luckily, they don't last very long. :)

Anyway, last week, we got our invitations. That started the stress of realizing that we didn't have that many addresses and now have to print the addresses on the envelopes (we have horrible hand writing). We have gotten most of the addresses so hopefully we will just take some time each day and get them done so that we get get them mailed in a timely manner. This weekend, we also figured out some decorations for the reception and did more on our wedding registry. I know that things are getting done but there are a lot to do still...

"Cabin" fever

Tomorrow is the 4th of July and we get a long weekend! Since I work Tuesday through Friday, I have 4 days off!! I am very excited for the long weekend since it has been a bit over a month since we moved back and we haven't gone anywhere. This week as I was driving to work, I realized that it has been a month and we haven't even thought about a vacation or a long weekend away! It has been a bit over a month since I've been on a plane and I'm getting itchy.

Tomorrow we are heading out of the area to go to John's brother's house for a picnic and fireworks. It will be nice to be away but I'm getting itchy for a "proper" weekend away (no, family doesn't count as proper time away). We'll have to figure one out soon. Maybe August. I don't know if I can go until our honeymoon...

A new local?

This weekend, we decided that we needed to explore our new area a bit. So far, we've been going to places that we know and mostly driving there. So, John had the suggestion since it was a nice evening to walk into the downtown area of our new town and see where we could find to eat. He knew of an "Irish bar" that wasn't that far away and off we went.

After a 15 minute stroll, we were at the pub and sitting outside in their "beer garden" area looking at their menu. I smiled at it since they had two Irish dishes on it: a full Irish and fish and chips. The menu was very beef heavy with only one chicken dish (besides a couple salads). We ordered home made mozzarella sticks as a starter/appetizer (very tasty) and John also got Guiness cheese soup. That was very rich and since it had a lot of sausage in it, I let him eat more of it. I had a chicken sandwich for my main and John had a Paddy Melt. They were tasty and the best part was that they were served with chips, not fries! I was very happy about this since I was missing the Porterhouse chips.

I don't think that they had dessert, but we were too stuffed to get it anyway. However, the chips made me miss sticky toffee pudding (I need to learn to make this myself).

We'll definitely be heading back there.

Slipping back...

OK, I like to shop. However, during our time living in Ireland, I really tried to not acquire too much stuff (besides yarn). We made a few lifestyle changes that I hoped we would continue when we moved back. For example, I like the idea of getting the food you need for the week and going each week to the grocery store (for fresh stuff anyway) and walking to places and taking public transportation. I liked not having a car.

However, upon moving back, I now need a car to get to work. Well, unless I want it to take 2 hours to get to/from work that is. The public transport system just doesn't work well for long distances (and we didn't want to live in area where my new job is). :( I do take public transport whenever possible to places, though. I don't mind taking it and I then John can have the car some. However, I feel us slipping back into driving places, even when they are walking distance away.

Since we've moved back, we've been in major acquisition stage. I don't really know why or how this happened, but we ended up buying a lot of stuff. I needed new clothes for work (I didn't really have summer clothes since Ireland doesn't have hot summers). We also needed bookcases to store all the books that we'd put into storage and have now gotten back. But we have bought loads of other stuff, too. Today we went to one of the ultimate mass buying places that probably don't exist in Europe: a discount warehouse. Everything is big in this store. Everything. I got two 72 ounce bags of chocolate chips and a 2 pound (I think) bag of M&Ms. We also got tortilla chips that came in a package about twice the size of the "normal" here which is about twice the size of those in Ireland.

After we checked out, we thought about how we would store everything that we just bought. I was happy that our refrigerator is probably about 3 times the size of the one we had in Ireland and we have probably about 6 times as much storage space! Everything really is bigger here...

Knit in Public

June 14 was World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIPD). In honor of the day, This is Knit sponsored a photo scavenger hunt and graciously let people from outside of Ireland participate in a separate competition for a smaller prize. So, I got my list of items to photograph as well as the points assigned to each item. I then proceeded to get caught up in life and 3 days before the pictures were due, I decided that I should get in gear and try to take a bunch of pictures of my knitting in public.

On the Friday before WWKIPD, we went to dinner and it happened to be sunset when we were done so I made John take a picture of me knitting at sunset near the parking lot of the mall where we had gone to dinner. I then made him "go for a walk" by the lake where we took a bunch more pictures. After going to the lake, we decided to head to the local coffee shop (another of the challenges) and I hit the photo jackpot! See, one of the items was to take a picture in a coffee shop. Other items on the list included taking a picture with a customer at the coffee shop and taking a picture with coffee shop employees. So, we were sitting having our drinks (I had tea, John got a milkshake) and in walk this group of teenagers. I was quite happy that they seemed like a fun bunch because taking pictures with teenagers was involved in 3 of the challenges! So, I approached the group and explained my mission and they happily let me take their pictures. When I also explained it to the staff, they told me that they were also teenagers!

On World Wide Knit in Public Day, I ended up not going to the event here but instead had to take public transport down to a salon that I had gotten some face soap at to exchange it. I then attempted to make my way to Lorna's Laces to try to take a photograph there. I took the train to the exit Google told me to take and then walked to where their website listed as their address. It was a house! I was disappointed because I wanted to get bonus points of having a picture with my knitting at a yarn dyeing company but now I know that they do not do tours for the public and their mailing address is someone's house.

Anyway, this week I got an email telling me that I won the international part of the scavenger hunt so soon I will get some lovely hand dyed yarn from the Dublin Dye Company! These are some of my favorite shots for the contest. And if the staff member from the coffee shop finds this post and responds, yes I will make you a hat.

I wanna Wii

In May, John and I went to a game night at my friend T's house. We spent the whole night playing various Nintendo Wii games, including the Wii fit. It was so much fun, that I decided that we should get one. John has talked about wanting one for a while as well. So, I decided that I should get us a Wii for when John moved home. Easy, right? Well, not so much.

I went around to the major stores that should carry them one day. Nobody had them. One major electronics store said that they were going to get a shipment in for Sunday morning and to come about half an hour before the store opened to get in line to get one. So that Sunday, which was the day John was coming home, I went to the store at 9:30AM and sat in my car waiting for the store to open. There were a couple other people waiting as well for the store to open. When it opened, I went in and asked if they had gotten the shipment of Wiis. The guy at the desk said that they hadn't and that they don't get shipments in on Sundays unless and it would be in their store ad if a shipment was coming in. So, no Wii. I then went around to more stores searching. Still no Wii.

Since I couldn't get him a Wii, I decided that I'd make him cookies as a coming home present. I didn't have any ingredients so I stopped at the grocery store and got what I remembered needing and continued shopping. Finally, I gave up on the Wii search and went home to make the cookies. Problem was that 1) I didn't get everything I needed and 2)because it was summer, the chocolate chips turned into a smooshy melted mass! (no leakage, though)

The following weekend, I went up to my sister's to collect some stuff. While there, we checked the ads and the same major electronics store had Wiis and Wii Fits in their ad! So, I consulted with my sister and we discussed which store had the best chance of having the best shipment and what time we needed to be at the store. So, we got to the store about 40 minutes before it opened and we weren't the first people there! We got in "line," pulled out our knitting/crocheting and sat outside the store for about half an hour before employees came to give us our vouchers for the product we wanted. So, about half an hour later, I was the proud owner of both a Wii and a Wii Fit. We've been having fun using them, too. The Wii fit is so much fun and I am actually "competing" with John to try to get top scores (normally I don't care about such things).