I Caved

I did it, even though I swore I never, ever would.

I joined facebook.

I know, I know. I held out for so long, refusing to join MySpace, Friendster, or any of the other "online social communities." They're all so stupid I thought. They are for silly teenagers. Then I found out how many people I know who are members. THEN I found out that my mom and my boyfriend are "friends." Talk about worlds colliding!!! So I signed up. And I'll admit, it's actually kind of fun.

So like if you aren't part of facebook, you should like totally join and be my friend. Like.

Love, Kim

A Day at the Beach

Since my last trip to Boston it's been raining pretty much non-stop. According to the Irish Herald, "last month's rainfall showed that Dublin Airport recorded the highest level of rainfall ever for the month of August since records began." Clearly I picked a great year to move here!!

I’ve been working a lot and sleeping a lot lately. Ireland has great sleeping weather. For my birthday, Oran got me a day at the spa and he took me to see Riverdance in Castlebar. It was awesome. I pretty much have the best boyfriend in the world. I have his birthday present already and I think he’s going to love it. I’m so excited to give it to him. I wish I could tell you what it is, but on the off chance that he reads this, it will ruin the surprise.

Not much else is going on. Here are some pictures from a recent trip to beach with the dog.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Love, Kim

Happy Birthday Virgos!!!

I'm convinced that there are so many Virgos in the world (myself included) because when winter rolls around, people are stuck indoors and start to feel....oh, how shall I put this?....amorous. Especially after Thanksgiving when there's some down time before Christmas.

I don't really get excited about birthdays and have decided not to have anymore myself, but I don't want anyone to feel neglected. Also I'm lazy, so I'm hoping that if I say all my happy birthdays at once, I can be done and no one can say I forgot them. Except for the people I forget. Anyway, here goes....

Happy Birthday Lynne. Thanks for all the times you've played chauffeur and also for winning the stuffed orange monkey at the fair this weekend that I will give to Oran and claim that I won myself. Have fun in Vegas.

Happy Birthday Timmy. Thanks to you I will never think of IT Guys in quite the same way.

Happy Birthday Rob, even though you keep giving me more work than I know what to do with.

Happy Birthday Olivia. Thanks to you (and Finn) I don't get so lonely in my office.

Happy Birthday Ronan. Thank you for not making fun of Team Tragic every chance you get.

Happy Birthday Tamara. Portfinn would not run without you.

Happy Birthday Greg. You're probably the best bratty kid brother a girl could have, although between you and Charlie it's close. If I haven't told you lately, I'm very proud of you.

Happy Birthday Leslie. I miss you! I want to see pictures of those gorgeous babies of yours.

Happy Birthday Liane. And welcome to ACA.

And last but not least, to my "borderline" Virgo boyfriend, Happy Birthday Babe. You're amazing and I love you. And no, your present is not a boat, a motorcycle, or an iPhone. You'll just have to wait and see.

* * * * * *

Here is a little background on Virgos for the non-Virgos in the world who'd like to understand us a little better.

Virgos are intelligent, reliable, and diligent, although some prefer to call us obsessive, critical worry-warts. Lots of Virgos that are guys are not that happy that their sign is a girl so they lie and say they're Leos. I prefer to think of the man Virgos as Mangos.

LIKES - Books, details, and telling people that their sign is a pretty girl. Except for the Mangos, who tell people that their sign is a bulldog or piranha or something tough like that.

DISLIKES - Messes, pushy people, and dry frizzy hair with no bounce, vitality, or sparkling sheen. Also war.

MOTTO - Make the stupid people shut up.

* * * * * *

That's all for now. I'm off to bed for some much needed sleep. I hope you're all doing well.

Love, Kim

Butt Potato

I walked into the kitchen one day to find Ben and John laughing at something sitting on the counter. It turns out it was a potato they found. I'd like to think I'm a little more mature than two college boys, but apparently I'm not. Every time I see this potato I think, "ha ha, it looks like a butt," and I crack myself up...no pun intended.

It now has a place of honor next to the cappuccino machine.

Cousin Day

August 5th is officially Cousin Day.

Cousin Ben left on Wednesday to go back to TN. He is already missed...especially his cinnamon rolls and cookies. Aunt Kim taught him well!! Also, he was the only one that would play Scrabble with me. I suppose I could play with Oran, but he doesn't think it's any fun if you can't spell bad words.

As a final farewell, we deemed Tuesday Cousin Day and agreed to do whatever Ben wanted. He wanted to see the Cliffs of Moher and said that Tamara and JK could be honorary cousins, so the four of us set out on an adventure. It took us about three hours to get there and on the way Tamara got very car sick. Poor thing. The roads are very hilly and curvy, but I think it was Corkscrew Hill that finally did her in.

Here are a few pictures:






After the cliffs we drove to the town of Lahinch for dinner. We went to a Chinese restaurant and suprisingly the food was really good. I've had Chinese food in Ireland before, and it was just awful. (As an aside, I think it's interesting that bad food here is not described as "ugly," but good food is described as "gorgeous.") After dinner we went to an arcade and got sucked into this coin game where you had to put a coin in the slot and then try and get it to land in such a way that it would knock down other coins. Sounds kind of dumb, but it's really addictive. We didn't win any money, but we did get conned by a couple of "traveler" children who took us for almost 60 cents. I'll write more about the travelers in another post. They're a fascinating subject.

We ended the night in the resident's bar at a hotel in Liscannor playing rummy and making fun of absurd Irish things, particularly Irish signs. I think I'm going to do a post on that as well. They're ridiculous. Here's my personal favorite so far:



The maximum fine for not picking up after your dog in County Clare is €1904.61, or at today's exchange rate, US $2857.79. I can't even begin to fathom how they came up with that amount, but it cracks me up. Why couldn't they just round it up to €1905? or just call it an even €1900?? Did they do some study and find that the extra €4.61 was that much more of a deterrant?

Anyway, here's the link to rest of my photos from Cousin Day. I hope you all have a great weekend.

http://picasaweb.google.com/globalgiraffe/CousinDay?authkey=9N9dK7Q3js0

Love,
Kim

P.S. Happy 30th Birthday Michelle!!! I wish I could be there to help you celebrate. Oran and I will have a pint tonight in your honor!! I love you and I miss you tons.

Good Times

My latest trip to the U.S., like the one before it, was exhausting. I didn't have to do as much flying this time, but I did manage to get to three cities within two weeks. I spent a few days in the DC area visiting friends and running around like a lunatic in order to get everything done that I wanted. I got to visit Ragni and see her new baby, I had dinner with Kim and Jen, and even made it to the dentist. And of course as the Daly family pack mule, I shopped for all the things you can't buy in Ireland.

My flight home on Friday was uneventful, although I did meet an American woman who is married to an Irishman and is raising her children in western Ireland. She's been here for five years and has three small children. She had some pretty funny stories about getting adjusted that I could totally relate to. I arrived at Shannon at 6:30am Saturday morning and after a two hour drive home, I was beat. I slept for a few hours and then got up to help out in the kitchen. One of the staff has left for the season and Rory (the chef) is on vacation, so things were hectic. In case you're wondering, by "help out in the kitchen," I mean washing dishes. I'm not allowed to actually cook anything. Sunday I slept for most of the day thanks to a massive sinus headache, but I was able to help out again in the kitchen Sunday night and get most of the ironing done. Today I helped out with the morning clean up before heading off to work. I know it sounds like a lot, but I really enjoy working alongside Oran at Portfinn. It's hard work, but very rewarding. And I can honestly say, I never get tired of being around him! But alas, today I must get back into the groove of report writing and dealing with compliance emergencies.

I'm still waiting to get pictures from Audrey and Abby, but I will post them as soon as I can.

Love, Kim

Connemara Triathlon

http://picasaweb.google.com/globalgiraffe/2008ConnemaraTriathalon?authkey=mYnxxcFcrAc

Here are a few pictures from the Triathlon. My camera died right before the cycle started, so there aren't many, but I know Abby and Audrey got some good ones. I'll add those when I can.

Love, Kim

Team Tragic

I've been really, really busy this week...working all day, doing errands after work, trying to catch up with people, and then doing calls with a client in Hong Kong at night. It's nice to feel warm weather again, but unfortunately I'm cooped up in a conference room all day and can't enjoy it.

I will try to post some pictures tonight from the triathalon. Shockingly, we didn't win. In fact, we did so bad, the Portfinn Angels have been renamed Team Tragic, a.k.a, the Fallen Angels. We had fun though and have vowed to try again. Hopefully the Irish Coast Guard and ambulances won't be involved next year!

That's all for now. I've got three interviews to prep for and my co-worker has decided not to come in today. It's going to be another very long day.

Love, Kim

The Portfinn Angels

Hi Everyone!!!

Tomorrow is the big day...the Connemara Triathalon!! I've been "training" for a few weeks now. But before you get too impressed, let me just state now that I'm not actually doing a triathalon. I'm on a triathalon relay team and am only doing the cycling portion. Still, it's a 40k cycle and my goal is to do it in under 2 hours. Yes, yes, that's a long time, but a) I've had almost no time to train this week (more about that in a bit), b) the roads around here are extremely hilly, and c) I'm just slow. The team name is the Portfinn Angels. Oran's cousin Audrey will start the race with a 1.5 km swim, I'll follow on the bike, and another cousin, Andy, will finish off with a 10k run. Karen, Andy's fiance, was supposed to do the run so we'd have an all-girls team, but she had to bail. Mom made matching white hoodies with Portfinn Angel embroidered on them and I can't wait to see how ridiculous Andy Pandy looks in one. I'll be sure to post pictures. The weather forecast for tomorrow is 57 degrees and cloudy. Pretty much the same as every other day.

http://www.galwaytriathlonclub.com/

In other news, work is kicking my ass this week. I've been putting in a ton of hours and coming in early to accomodate a client in Hong Kong that insists on calling every morning at 10am Irish time. And of course I can't really leave before 10pm because that's only 5pm in the U.S. It's all very confusing. Today though, I will leave early and go home and eat a big pasta dinner, which I can justify because "I'm racing tomorrow." Ha ha.

Sunday I'm off to New York for a week and then on to CT for a week. I am really looking forward to some summer weather!! Hopefully I'll get a chance to talk to all of you while I'm there.

That's all for now. I hope you're doing well!!

Love, Kim

P.S. Congratulations to the Keller Family and the birth of their little girl, Annabelle!!

Party at the County Arms

Hi Everyone,

Oran and I received an invitation last week to attend a party "to celebrate the refurbishment and upgrading of the County Arms Hotel" in Birr, County Offaly. (Check out the website at http://www.countyarmshotel.com/.) The opening ceremony was performed by An Taoiseach Brian Cowan. For those of you that don't know, the Taoiseach of Ireland is sort of like the U.S. President. He's basically the leader of the country. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoiseach for some background.)

Oran is good friends with Connor, one of the sons of the Willy and Jean Loughnane, who own the County Arms. I met Connor last year when he invited Oran and me to the hotel to spend a weekend. It's a really gorgeous hotel and I'm a huge fan of Connor's. The fact that he and Oran are practically twin brothers has nothing to do with it I'm sure.

Anyway, it was quite a party. There were about 1,000 people in attendance and the Loughnane family were fantastic hosts. There was tons of food and drinks and live music. The most amazing part though, was the reception Mr. Cowan received. Honestly, I was expecting there to be tons of security and media, maybe even sniffer dogs and a few helicoptors. At the very least I assumed he'd arrive in a motorcade. But no, there was none of that. At 7pm, most of us were milling around in the front of the hotel when two Mercedes Benz drove up - right on time. Mr. Cowan got out of the first one and two security guards got out of the second one. That was it. He was met by members of the Loughnane family and posed for a few photos and then he walked around and chatted with people in the crowd. If you weren't really paying attention you would have missed the entire thing. Most people just looked over and said, oh, there's the Taoiseach and went back to chatting with their friends or looking for one of the girls with the trays of champagne. That was it. I was floored.

Here's a picture of his "grand entrance." That's Mr. Cowan on the left and Mr. Loughnane on the right.




Here's a picture of Mr. Cowan shaking hands with someone (he's the big guy on the right).



I made it a point to ask some of the people I met if this was normal, since I can't fathom President Bush arriving to an event without 20 secret service and every guest having been through a full background check. And certainly you wouldn't be able to just stroll up to him and ask him how his day went. Geez, did the Irish not hear about 9-11??

Besides laughter, here are a few of the responses I received.

1. But why would anyone want to hurt the Taoiseach? That's just ridiculous.
2. Of course there's security. See those two guys over there by the bar....
3. You Americans are so paranoid.

It was also explained to me at length that Irish people generally do not make a fuss over famous people and that when they do encounter someone famous, they usually make it a point to ignore them because "they are not better than you and me...they're just people." I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. It is so strange to live in a country that isn't obsessed with the likes of Paris Hilton and Brittany Spears. It's also kind of refreshing.

Here are a few more pictures of the hotel grounds. As soon as I get copies of pictures of me and Oran all dressed up, I'll post them as well.

Love, Kim

Portfinn Website

Hello all!!

So, we're working on our website. Check it out and let me know if you have any recommendations. (We already know we need to change the pictures of the rooms to some that are a bit more flattering.)

www.portfinn.com

Love, Kim

The fun begins

So...my stuff finally arrived last Thursday. I've been living with just what I brought in two suitcases for the last nine weeks, so I was thrilled. Of course at the end of the day we were left with stuff piled into every conceivable space and no idea where to put any of it. And with six people living in the staff quarters, you can imagine the fun. I'm reminded often by Oran and his mom that things "don't all have to be sorted in a day." Irish people say sorted a lot.

For the last week I've been very busy trying to get my new office set up, er, sorted. I'm not kidding, something goes wrong at least once a day. Yesterday I fried my American phone and had to go buy a new one . Things here are so much more expensive that the phone I paid $30 for in the U.S. cost me 60 Euro here. That's about $90. But hopefully after this week I can get into a comfortable routine and start being productive. (If I didn't already send you my number and you want it, just let me know. Thanks to Vonage, I have a U.S. number that works here, so my fans can call me for free.)

Today Olivia drove me to Sligo to pick up my new car. YAY!! It's actually a used car, the same color blue as the Jetta, a 2000, diesel engine with lots of miles, but it's safe and reliable and best of all, it's an automatic!! I know I've mentioned how harrowing the driving is around here, so shifting is just one more thing I'd rather not have to worry about. Oh, and another interesting bit of information....Sheep like to lay on the roads at night because it's warmer than the fields, which makes my evening commute a lot more interesting. I suppose I shouldn't complain though since I don't have to deal with traffic, the Beltway, or irate DC drivers. Also I saw four rainbows on the way home today. Four!! How many people can say that?

Everything else is going relatively well. Oran and I still really like each other, even though he can't remember to put the toilet seat down and I hog all the covers. He and his whole family have been wonderful at helping me learn my way around. For example, yesterday I was trying to make some soup, but there were only instructions for heating it in the microwave or the hob. I was at Oran's sister Maeve's house (where my office is) and she doesn't own a microwave (or a TV if you can imagine!) so I was left standing there wondering what the @%$* a hob is. Maeve had to explain that it's a stove and then show me how to use it. Now why couldn't they just write stove in the instructions?

That's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well and staying sorted.

Love, Kim

Photos of Ireland

Here's the link...finally!!! I'll add more photos over the next few days.

Love, Kim

http://picasaweb.google.com/globalgiraffe/IrelandAprilAndMay2008?authkey=g365vzSCut8

Quick Update

Eeesh, it's been a long two weeks. By tomorrow I will have spent more than 30 hours on planes in the last 15 days. That wouldn't be so bad if I was going to say, AUSTRALIA. After arriving in Boston on the 31st I've been to NYC, Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, and back to Boston. I have to remind myself each day what time zone I'm in. Ridiculous.

Just to give you an idea of how much fun it's been, yesterday I had a flight from Seattle to Boston with a connection in Newark. My Seattle flight was a few minutes late getting to Newark, but I still had plenty of time to make my connection. That is until we pulled up to our gate and found another plane there. We sat on the runway just long enough to watch my plane to Boston leave before we were finally able to get off. After much scrambling from one gate to the next and knocking out a few old ladies I was able to get on a 9:40pm flight (which was originally scheduled for 7pm, but was delayed.) I made it just before the gates closed, thank God, and off the plane took to the runway. Where we say for nearly 2 hours. This is because we were number 30 in line for take off. No, not 3rd, THIRTIETH. That seems like some pretty piss poor logistical planning to me, but what can you do. The airline was nice enough to give us water and TWO bags of peanuts though. I finally got to Boston a little after midnight, but of course my bags didn't make it. Lynne the saint drove me back to the airport this morning to pick up my luggage and she's driving me back to the airport again tonight. Anyone whose willing to drive to the airport and back three times in less than 24 hours deserves some kind of award.

I'll be back in July for more fun and merriment, but I'll only be in one city. If anyone wants to come to Florham Park, NJ, let me know.

I hope everyone is well. I'll post again when I get back to Ireland and send you the link to the pictures I keep promising.

Love, Kim

Lynne Rocks

I made it to Boston safe and sound. Lynne picked me up and took me out for Mexican food, which I've had to suffer without for six long weeks. I love Lynne. And there are no midgies at her house. It's heaven.

Love, Kim

Irish Things That Amuse Me

1. Sheep - They are knobby-kneed, cross-eyed, and easily the most ridiculous creatures on the planet. And they're everywhere. I love it!!

2. Eejit - Irish for idiot. Most commonly used when referring to other drivers on the road or the dog. For example, "Squire got his head stuck in the fence again, the eejit."

3. Squeezy Brown Sauce - It's not ketchup and it's not bar-b-que sauce. I haven't quite figured out what it is, although it is brown. Also, anything that comes in a plastic squeeze bottle here is preceded with the word Squeezy.

4. The way Irish people pronounce the word film, which is like 'fill-em.' The "m" is made into a secdond syllable. I can't convince anyone that there's an easier way.

5. Food is not described as delicious, tasty, or wonderful. It's lovely, gorgeous, or beautiful. This applies even if you're talking about lobsters or oysters, neither of which I think are particularly attractive.

*******

Two more days until I head back to the U.S. I'll try to call most everyone over the weekend, but feel free to call me anytime after 8pm on Saturday night.

Love, Kim

P.S. Good news...my stuff is scheduled to arrive on June 19th. I can't wait!!!

Argh

Five weeks...crap, that means next week I have to go back to work. Well, it had to happen at some point. My stuff still hasn't arrived, which I was really hoping to get before my first trip back to the States. It doesn't look like that's going to happen. Last I heard, everything made it to England, but now it's sitting at a port there and no one can tell me when it will be sent to Ireland. Very frustrating.

Speaking of frustrating...I met with an immigration officer on Thursday to begin the process of establishing legal residency. Here's how the meeting went:

1. I arrived at the Garda (Irish police) station 10 minutes early. The officer was able to see me right away. I thought, "Cool, I didn't have to sit here for two hours...this might now be as bad as I thought."

2. I spend approximately five minutes explaining my situation and what I hope to accomplish.

3. The officer tells me that he can't help me because Leenane is in County Galway and the garda station I went to was in Westport, which is in County Mayo. Nevermind that the immigration laws are not regulated by county, nor is there any difference in the forms I'll have to fill out or where they'll be filed. I have to go to a garda station in Co. Galway. So the beauracracy here is just as bad as in the U.S.

4. I leave the garda station 5 minutes after my scheduled appointment. Nothing accomplished.

Argh.

Friday morning Oran called a garda station in Co. Galway and was informed that I cannot legally reside in Ireland unless a) I'm married to an Irish citizen or b) I have a job working for a company in Ireland. I, however, have no intention of getting married in the next year and I already have a job, thank you very much. It's just not for a company in Ireland. ARGH

Some exciting news...John arrived this week. When Rory (Oran's dad) met him for the first time he said that John looks like Jesus. His nickname is now J.C. I think it's because he has long hair and is ridiculously nice. He's going to let Ben shave his head as soon as we can find a converter that works. I've bought three so far and not one of them works. No one can understand why. I even had to buy a new toothbrush because I can't charge mine without melting it. But about John's hair, I'll make sure to take before and after pictures.

That's all for now. I hope everyone is doing well!!

Love, Kim

P.S. The midgies are still the worst things on the planet. I hate them.

Midgies Are Evil

It's been an eventful week. The restaurant was closed on Monday so we decided to do a group camping trip. During the day Ben, Tamara, and I went hiking while JK and Oran went to the beach to set up the tents. After the hike we met back at Portfinn and all five of us headed out to the beach. We spent the evening playing frisbee, roasting marshmellows, drinking cider and listening to Metallica. It would have been a perfect night if not for the midgies. For those of you that don't know what midgies are, they are like mosquitos only they are very tiny and there are millions more of them. I hate them. I coated myself in bug spray but I don't think it helped.

On Tuesday we spent most of the afternoon recovering from our camping trip and opened for dinner Tuesday night.

Wednesday we closed the restaurant and had another day of unbelievably warm weather. Oran and I went on a 15 mile bike ride around Killary Harbour and to the Delphi Mountain Resort. They have a new spa there that just opened and I wanted to check the place out. Absolutely gorgeous!! I plan to become a regular as soon as they start offering pedicures.

http://www.delphimountainresort.com/about-delphi

After our ride we headed over to the local "cruise ship" that does tours around the Killary for the tourists. It's free for locals though and it was really very interesting. There's some amazing history in Co0nnemara and the tour really inspired me to learn more, particularly about the Great Famine. There's a hiking trail that runs along the harbor (which is actually a fjord) that's called the Famine Walk. One of the most memorable quotes from the tour guide was when referring to the famine he said "A million people went to the New World and a million went to the next."

http://www.killarycruises.com/

Wednesday night after our cruise Oran and I went to the Blackberry Cafe for dinner (it's one of the 4 or 5 places to eat in Leenane). It was a really great day all around. I think from now on Wednesday will be date night. Oran, I hope you're reading this!!

Thursday and Friday we worked. I'm actually starting to enjoy working in the restaurant, although I still can't carry more than two plates at a time (I spill) and nearly everyone wants to know where I'm from and what I'm doing in Leenane. That slows me down considerably. Also, I tend to get people confused and call them by the wrong name which horrifies Oran to no end.

Friday would have been a perfect day if not for the f%$#@ midgies. They are my new nemisis. They are worse even than the infinite roundabouts, which I will grudgingly admit are not at all complicated and kind of fun when you get the hang of them. Oh I can't tell you how miserable the evil little things make my life. My skin constantly itches when they're around. I can't get comfortable, I have no appetite, and I become a fidgety, whiny baby. Apparently they aren't a problem when there's wind and rain, but all this beautiful weather has brought them out in swarms. God I hate them.

Life is otherwise very happy here, although I miss diet cherry coke and the ability to order chinese food at 2am.

I have tons of pictures I want to share but I can't fit them all here so I'm going to put them online and post the link. Stupid slow Internet connection.

I hope you're all well.

Love, Kim

Driving Skills

I can’t believe I’ve been here for 3 weeks. Sometimes I feel like I just got here and sometimes it feels like it’s been months.

I’m very happy to report that cousin Ben has arrived safe and sound. He even survived my driving. I’ve actually been doing quite a bit of driving and I think I may have been a bit dramatic in my last post. It’s really not that bad. I’m getting impatient now to get my own car. I opened an account with an Irish bank and have started the process of applying for a car loan. If all goes well I’ll have a new set of wheels next week.

In other news, the weather here has been absolutely amazing…sunny and 70s all week. I even got a little color, although I know anyone that knows me well won’t believe that for a second. It’s not fair that all Irish people (even the red heads) tan better than me. And Ben is the tannest one here. Why didn’t I get those genes???

The last few days have been very relaxing and we’re expecting a very slow weekend. I think that’s because last weekend was a holiday weekend. But starting in June the season gets into full swing. We’ve got a chef arriving and another staff member who goes to college with Ben. That’s three Americans. As Oran would say, the damn yanks are takin’ over!! JK and Tamara are also here, so we’ll be fully staffed in a few weeks. Then the real fun begins!!!

Here are a few more pictures from my adventures this week:

This is me standing on the deck of Morrissey's, a restaurant in Doonbeg in County Clare. Our friend Hugh owns the place and we spent last Monday night there. Those are the remains of an old castle behind me. On Tuesday morning I picked Ben up from the airport and we went to the Doonbeg golf club for lunch. There's some amazing photos on the website. http://www.doonbeggolfclub.com/index.html

Random sheep in the road...I passed by them when I was driving back from the beach on Thursday with Ben. Usually Oran drives and he won't always pull over to let me take pictures (we'd be pulling over A LOT), but I can pull over as much as I want when I'm driving. Yet another reason I need my own car!!!

I took this driving back from Westport, where my office will be. Quite a different commute than the one I had in D.C.!!

Love, Kim

P.S. Congratulations Walker Family!!! I can’t wait to see little baby Logan. Please send pictures!! Also, Ragni, how on earth did someone so tiny manage to give birth to a 9 pound baby? You’re amazing!!!

A few pictures...

This is a view of Killary Harbor, which you can see from the dining room side of the house. (It's also my computer background).





Me and Oran standing outside the dining room and messing around with the camera....





Leenane Mountain - this is the view from the other side of the house.





BMW Bikes...there were a few hundred in the village last weekend.




Love, Kim

Week One Down!!

Friday, April 25th

Last night was the first really busy night in the restaurant. There was some sort of BMW convention taking place in Leenane and we had a house full of bikers. Irish bikers by the way are just like the ones in America. They spend hours talking of nothing but their motorcycles and they wear a lot of black. I think the BMW crowd is slightly more sophisticated than the Harley crowd though. I can't figure out how they spend all day riding in this weather...it hasn't stopped raining since I got here.

Tonight is going to be a full house and I'll be working in the dining room with Oran. So far I haven't spilled on any of the guests or broken any dishes. I'm rather proud of that. Otherwise, I really am a terrible waitress.

Love, Kim

Tuesday, April 29th

That's what I wrote last Saturday, but forgot to actually post it. Sunday and Monday were very lazy days, which I really needed. We had lots of sun and temperatures over 50 degrees...absolutely gorgeous. Oran and I went car shopping because we'll need a second vehicle when I go back to work. I told him I'd be happy with a little beater, but he wants something newer and safer that gets good gas mileage. Smart man. We went to the VW dealership yesterday and I may end up with another Baby B, although this one will be diesel, manual, and the steering wheel will be on the wrong side.

The roads around here are absolutely nerve-wracking, but I have been practicing. I've driven to the beach twice now and I'm hoping to be able to pick my cousin up from the airport next week by myself. It's at least two hours each way to the airport and I'll have to drive through Galway, which is very intimidating for me. I'll admit it, roundabouts are my nemesis. When I drove to the beach earlier today I had to navigate through a group of charging sheep and their lambs (it's lambing season, so they're everywhere!), a very feisty chicken that was giving me the stink eye, an old lady being tailed by two shady looking goats, and a group of backpackers. And the roads are very, very narrow. Can you blame me for being such a nervous Nelly!!

Wednesday, April 30th

Well, we found the car we want. It's a bright blue VW Golf and it's actually really fun to drive. Now we just have to figure out how to pay for it!

Love, Kim

Before and After

I'm sorry it took so long for this post. I have been really busy the last few days. Last night was the first night I got a really good night's sleep and I think I've finally caught up.

On Monday Oran and I went shopping in Westport, the closest town, and bought paint to redo the den and bedroom that will be our home for the next few years. The bedroom was a lovely shade of baby blue that kind of reminded me of Easter. Neither of us were huge fans. It was really cool picking out colors together...our first step in making the space "ours." Tuesday we got up bright and early (i.e., 1:30pm) to get started. As soon as we started taking stuff off the walls we realized that the layers of paint were so thick that it was peeling off the walls in sheets. I kind of thought it was wallpaper at first. Unfortunately, it meant that we couldn't paint until we stipped off all the existing paint. Here's what it looked like:

After several hours of stipping paint off the walls we were able to prime everything before we ran out of steam. Tuesday night Oran went to the pub to hang out with Johnny (you'll hear more about him) while I went over to Lizzie's house. She's my best friend in Leenane. You'll hear more about her too. Anyway, we ended up staying out way too late, again, so I still couldn't get on a proper sleep schedule.

Wednesday morning I forced myself out of bed at 10am. Keep in mind though, that's 5am EST. Around noon Oran and I were back in the bedroom to paint. And paint. And paint. I'm not kidding, it took four freaking coats of paint and we still weren't finished!! I thought it would take us a day. When we get our own place we've already decided we're hiring professionals.

So that brings me to yesterday. We finally finished the trim, the ceiling, and the closet. Here's what it looked like. I'll send a picture of the room when it's completely finished later. We're still waiting on a new dresser we ordered and our bed to come from the U.S.

Tonight is the first busy night of the season. The guesthouse is completely booked and we're expecting a full house in the restaurant. I'll be waiting tables tonight and tomorrow and I'll help out cleaning the bedrooms in the morning. It's a lot of work, but I'm really happy to be here and getting to spend time with Oran. Also, I figure at this rate when it's time to go back to work I'll be excited for the chance to finally relax!!

Love, Kim

I Made It!!

Well, it was a loooooong time coming, but I finally made it!! Both flights were uneventful except when one of my pens exploded and I was covered in ink. That was a fun mess to clean up. Also, I didn't get a single minute of sleep the whole night. When I got to Shannon I was so tired I could barely form a coherent sentence. I arrived yesterday at 10am Irish time (5am EST) and when I walked through customs, there was Oran with a big bouquet of flowers. Yes I teared up a little, but it may have been from sheer exhaustion. After we loaded my suitcases into the van (no easy task, considering stupid Aer Lingus charged me $100 for going over the weight limit), we drove two hours to Leenane. When we walked into the house, this is what we saw (a suprise from Oran's Mom):

Last night after the dinner service at the restaurant, which I slept blissfully through, we went to the village for a pint or two. It was absolutely packed. There was live music at Gaynors, a going away party for someone, and an engagement party for one of the locals. I'm pretty sure I met at least half of Leenane last night. I also met the two new staff members, Tamara and JK. Tamara is from Australia and is a fellow list-maker. I pretty much love her already. JK is her boyfriend from Poland. (I am dying to find out how those two met!)

Tomorrow Oran and I are off to Westport to do some shopping. We need to make our living quarters a little more "girl-friendly." I've already made a list.

Love, Kim

Moving to Ireland

I've been threatening to start this blog for months and at long last, here it is! As you all know, I'm moving to Ireland and I hope this blog will be a good way to keep everyone up to speed on all my adventures. Before I go any further though, I want to thank everyone that came to my party last Saturday (and those that were there in spirit). It was AWESOME!!!! I am a very lucky girl to have so many wonderful, generous (and, I dare say, attractive) people in my life!

So on Wednesday the movers came. One of them was this Russian guy who reminded me a lot of the IT guy ACA used to work with... very angry and looks a lot like Stewie from the Family Guy. The other two guys were scared of him I think. They worked really fast though - in an out in under four hours. My contact at the shipping company said everything should go out on Monday, which is great because it would otherwise sit there for weeks before they could fill another container. Today I turned in my cable box, had lunch with a friend, and returned the rental car I've been driving around in all week. A quick note about that...I was given a VW Beetle by Enterprise because it was the last car they had left. Did you know that you can fit five women and all their shoes in one of those things? Swear to God. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Also, Beetle drivers like to wave at each other. It's a little creepy.

Tonight is officially my last night in VA before I take up residence in Ireland. My flight leaves tomorrow at 7pm. I can't wait!!

Love, Kim