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
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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
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
Friday, July 18, 2008
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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.
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.
- But why would anyone want to hurt the Taoiseach? That's just ridiculous.
- Of course there's security. See those two guys over there by the bar....
- 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.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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
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
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