On the road again!

Well here we are once again. Feels a bit strange since we haven't done the travel thing in so long but we are starting to relax and get into the holiday mood.

Ok so at the moment we're in Belfast and about to go out and look around a bit. We arrived in Dublin and after picking up our car drove up through Navan (looking at loads of interesting places on the way) and arrived here yesterday. So far the weather has been changeable but mostly sunny!

From here we go north along the Antrim coast and then down the west side via Derry, Dunfanaghy, Westport, Galway, Dingle Peninsula and then back up towards Dublin by way of Cork, Kilkenny and a few other smaller villages. Dublin itself we're saving for a long weekend later in the year which gives us more time for the rest of the country this trip.

Probably the most impressive place we've been to so far is Bru na Boinne a group of neolithic passage graves some 5000 years old. Older than Stonehenge and so fairly impressive!! And gives you a real perspective on your life and what you leave behind.

Have taken loads of photos already but unsure how to get them in here....hopefully will work that out soon. Post again soon.

Flip Side

So the other day I was feeling rather weird-ed out with the whole finishing work thing. And this week has been full of the weird feelings so it wasn’t without reason that I came up with the “10 things I won’t miss about work” list. However it didn’t cheer me up like I thought it would and instead left me feeling a tad angry…as all those annoying things do.
Over the course of the day the angry feelings subsided and the melancholy feelings resurfaced causing me to think about those things that I would miss.

There’s a lot to be said for working in such a magnificent city. I know it’s just work and a city is just a city and I don’t pretend that it’s not got it’s down side. But despite all that, underneath the day to day stuff is a feeling that you are somewhere special, somewhere where anything can happen and probably already has.

Ok, ok that’s not to say I couldn’t find the same atmosphere anywhere else but you have to admit that places like London have certain magic to them that other places don’t.
I’m hoping I haven’t wasted the opportunity. I’m hoping that I took advantage of it and revelled in the experience. I think I did some of that. I think also I wasted many moments being caught up in the every day work life as I would if I lived somewhere else. With any luck the next place I work will be twice as exciting!

10 THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT WORK

10. The trains. I know…it’s a love to hate them type of thing but they are clean (mostly) and run on time (mostly) and its kinda fun…in a weird and Kathie like way!

9. The walk to the station. Some mornings it was a struggle but mostly I liked starting my day with a walk. It made me feel active and fit...even when I know I'm not!

8. Buying a packet of chips (crisps) off the guy in the store down the road from the station for .1p cheaper than at the station!! Hehehe it’s the little things that are the most satisfying.

7. Being part of the gang on the train in the mornings. We might not know each others names but we’re united by a common sleepyness and resent new comers and loud talkative people!! (it is 6.30am after all)

6. The coffee machine. Oh I know it’s bad and (I was well and truly off the stuff before I started here) next week I shall have some withdrawal fun but until then I shall continue to make my way to the kitchen to press a different button each time. Espresso, cappuccino, choco creme, black/white with milk/sugar, tea..........Come on folks…they have Hot Chocolate on tap!!!!!!!

5. Borough Market! Two words, one great big lovely market full of yummy stuff!

4. Um hello…the pay packet!!!

3. Seeing that lovely old lady the Tower Bridge every day. Really going to miss this.

2. Being employed. Call me old fashioned but work gives me a sense of purpose and a feeling of worth. I’m not defined by my work but rather supported by it. It stretches my brain and makes me be grown up sometimes. Plus I enjoy it…mostly.

And the thing I'll miss the most???

1. Two hours a day. What would you do with two hours a day? I read loads, studied, planned travels, examined recipes, thought about knitting, wrote lists, watched people, listened to music (both mine and other peoples) and slept among other things. It was great…and I don't know what I'll do now that I wont have that ‘spare’ time anymore.

shakin the blues

Even if it is my last one for a while there’s something about Monday mornings that makes you want to bury your head in your cereal and hope that it all goes away.
But it never works and so here I am sitting at my desk trying desperately not to go and get a coffee (I’m weaning) and wondering how I’m going to get through what will probably turn out to be the longest week in the history of very long weeks.

SO I figured I’d cheer myself up with a list (I love lists) and here it is!

10 things I won’t miss about my work

10. Annoying accents in the workplace (all day…every day!)

9. People drinking on the trains…I know they look similar but trains are not pubs.

8. RSI, bad back pains and blurry eyes…hazards of the trade!

7. Those strange office folk who don’t clean their cups and are proud of their coffee rings…it’s not a mark of how dedicated you are it's just gross

6. People who go to the toilets to talk on their mobile. (Am I the only one to find this weird? I mean surely there are better places)

5. Business men who will shove you out of the way in a queue but insist on holding open a door for you when you are 20mts away forcing you to run so that they can be polite.

4. Really short evenings…by the time I get home I have only 3-4 hours before I SHOULD be in bed. (eat, shower, TV…there’s no time to do anything useful)

3. Them wot stole my bin (see earlier post)

2. Paper cuts on my nose from free papers being shoved in my face outside the station.

1. Other people’s music as heard from their mp3’s on the train. (even good music is bad when heard through other peoples headphones…either get some real speakers so we can all hear it or turn it down….I said turn it down….I SAID…Geez what are you deaf???)

Hit the Road Jack...

Well after welcoming all the good folks I know to the blog on Wednesday it seems kinda timely to share some news. It’s nothing we haven’t done before but that doesn’t make it any less nerve wracking as we up sticks and hit the road once again.

YUP it’s travel time!! (who else just started singing that MC hammer song?)

We’ve handed in our resignations, finished our contracts, cleaned out our lockers and handed in our ID passes. We've packed our bags, watered the plants and turned out the lights!

It’s been a decision this time, made bigger and harder than it would normally have been by work issues and stuff. But mostly, I think by the fact that we’re a little older now and love our comfort zone dearly!! (see earlier posts)
There's a time issue as well as we don't want to be away forever and the most difficult thing has been balancing what we want to see with how much time we want to be away.
However in the end we decided to just do it and to hell with everything else. After all what’s life if you don’t get out there and live it occasionally?

So…we finish work on the 13th July and take off for three weeks in Ireland on the following Monday (16th). Full itinerary to follow soon but it’s going to be great and after all the stress of deciding to go, we’re starting to really look forward to it and relax with the idea. Provided I can find internet connections along the way you guys will hear about it as it happens. I’m not sure about photos yet but fingers crossed I can post a few from the road.

There’s definitely and absolutely more travel planned after that but I do like to leave an audience wanting more…

Out of the blog closet

Once upon a time I used to have a web site that I kept updated with our comings and goings and travel plans. It was largely so friends and family around the world could keep in touch.

However it was quite hefty on the maintenance side of things and quickly became more of a chore for me than anything else. Eventually I stopped updating it…at the time fully intending to revamp and remodel. However in the end it was much more fun to do other stuff and live my life and so the website died.
But my desire for an online presence didn’t and the search for an alternative began. Somewhere where I could share my life and thoughts with people and display the photos of places we’ve been.

I looked at many different webpage sites, packages, formats and templates and they all shouted “maintenance” at me. (strange thing to shout huh!) It became clear I was looking in the wrong place and eventually I turned to the blog world.

I was not convinced it was for me. I tried a few out. I almost liked some of them and then I stumbled across blogger. It wasn’t love at first site but I was intrigued and since then it’s grown into a kind and generous friendship where they do all the work…and I do all the blogging!! And you gotta love that.

Although I was able to post photos into the blog the sheer number of photos we take meant that it wasn't a pratical way to display them. So I set out to find me a site for the photos that was when I came across Smugmug whom I love with an all abiding passion! They rock.

So there it is…one blog, one photo page and no maintenance!!!! Sounds like fun huh!

You might be wondering why I’m going over all of this. Well…I’ve just let all those friends and family in on the blog secret and I figured I'd explain a little of how it all came about! Now everyone I know is aware of this place of mine…no pressure huh!

Welcome guys, have a look around...hope you like it!

Recurring Dream

Truly this is what blogs are for.
To learn an exciting piece of news and then share it with the world. Well.....I am so excited I think I might POP! I have just got tickets for Crowded House in December.

YAY!

I remember listening on the radio to their farewell concert and thinking that things would never be the same. (Incidentally I also thought I was a teenager when this occurred…hmmm apparently not!)

Anyhoo things are not the same...they are better...cause I have tickets!!!

I love tickets