Slacker

I am really slacking on these blogs lately and I apologize. So much as happened, yet it just seem so go by so fast that I don't have time to write about them. I've added a whole slue of photos to my Picasa Page so head on over there to see what I've been up to.

The winter is definitely upon us here in Dublin. It has gone from rainy to rainy and cold. For the last few weeks we've been waking up to a frost covered Dublin. It has been spitting snow a little, but from what I hear the snow is on it's way and should hit next week. Our quant little old house has now become a quant freezer box. All this weather makes for staying inside huddled in one room with a roaring fire, drinking hot chocolate/tea/bailey's coffee and watching movies - our activity of choice. When we're not doing that you'll probably find us huddled up in some warm pub slurping down some cold pints.

Work has calmed down quite a bit this winter as well, my work has been put back to a 3 day work week again with 3 weeks off for the holiday's. Some people aren't so happy with this, but I welcome the time off. I'll actually be taking a 4th week off as well as we're heading to Austria skiing on the 9th of January. I've been doing a few ski lessons at Kilternan on their dry slope. Just learning the basic's of skiing so when I get to Austria I'll be a step up on the other beginners. (you'll find some photos here.

Another fantastic thing that happened was Modest Mouse came to Dublin! I was quick on ticketmaster.ie at exactly 9am and was able to get tickets to the small venue before they sold out in less than 5 minutes. Jessica flew over from Dublin to see them with me. She arrived in the Saturday before (gig was on Tuesday) so we'd have a bit of time to hang out and she was happy to see a bit of Dublin again. So that night she got in, myself, mick and jess headed up to the Porterhouse North for a quite "welcome back Jess "pint. When we arrived I saw a few of our friends, what a coincidence! ... and then look a few more, wow they don't even know each other... why are they all here together? After about a 2 minute delay everyone yelled "SURPRISE!!!" and I quickly realised this was going to be more than just a quite pint. Mick had gone through months of organising a surprise party for me 6 weeks early as we are going to be away in Austria for my actual party! I definitely got a surprise. It was great to see everyone out especially on another crappy evening. On Tuesday we headed the Modest Mouse gig which was probably the best show I've ever been too. It was in a venue that only holds about 500 people. We had no problem standing dead center stage just in front of the guard railing. I sang my lungs out and danced my legs off, I had no voice and wobbly legs the next morning. Outstanding.

A quick rundown of some other things that happened. I got laryngitis, then I caught a cold, then I got better for a few days, then I caught another cold. I've basically been sniffling and coughing for well over a month now.

In between all that I've managed to do a few things. A group of us headed over to Lahinch, County Clare to go surfing. I was really looking forward to this but the stupid cold I had wouldn't allow me any fun. While we were there we visited the Cliffs of Moher where we experienced the true power of wind. Several people a year get blown off the cliffs and I always put this down to stupidity but now I realise you could be 200 feet away from the cliff and still get blown off if you're in the wrong area. Don't worry we stayed in the walled area the whole time, but at one point go smashed up against the wall and if it wasn't there about 20 people would have been blown over the edge. Scary! After we all decided we'd had enough wind we visited the Ailwee Caves where there was no wind and it stays at a constant 10°C. The next day everyone, including Holly the dog, went surfing while myself and Orla stayed on the beach and took photos. It looked like great fun and I'll have to give it a go sometime when I'm not sick.

Only 9 days now till we're off to Austria! Where I will attempt to ski. I promise I'll post up a blog when I get back. Hope you're all doing well.

Head on over to my Picasa page for photos!

Yes I'm alive!

I've just been very busy, or maybe very lazy, probably a combination of both. Too much has actually happened for me to remember. Our trip to America came and went far too fast. We had a fantabulous time. Four days in NYC with Aaron where we went to the National History museum and saw dinosaurs, went to the top of the Rockerfeller Center where Mick kept his eye out for his TV-Star crush (Tina Fey). We went up to the Top-of-the-Rock just as the sun was going down so we got to see the city with and without lights, absolutely beautiful both ways. We visited the Bronx Zoo on apparently what is the busiest day of the week and we ate a pound of cheesecake.

Then on to Oregon. We were picked up at the airport by all my friends and drive directly to the Concordia Ale House so we could get a pint of sweet, delicious, very much missed Oregon beer. This just started things off perfectly, I knew it was going to be a good trip. The next day, we headed down to Sunriver. This was fantastic as 13 of my friends got to go which is pretty amazing as everyone was able to get off time work or get babysitters and generally act like we were all 22 again. We all went out to the Lava Caves which were very different from the caves Mick and I visited in County Clare, Ireland, which were also very cool. I finally got to spend a bit of time with my mom and introduce Mick whom she'd heard so much about and finally got to met. I also got to spend some time with my brother which was much needed.


Back to Portland. We went for hikes in the Columbia River George, Kayaking with Jaimie's family on the Rogue River, Sarah's bachlorette party, walking around Portland, eating around Portland, Mick got to go shoot guns while I visited my fluffyfaced kitty cat. I took mick to the batting cages where he got to partake in the great aAmerican past-time of hitting baseballs. We got to spend a little time with my sister and my three nieces who are all so big now and so cute! We took the train up to Seattle and where we met up with Dominic and drank beers from our socks in the park. And then most importantly, I got to see my best friend in the world get Married. The wedding was fantastic, not a thing out of place, all was perfect. When Sarah and Morgan went off for their Honeymoon we watched after their house for them. They just bought a lovely new house complete with game room (pool and poker tables), a hot-tub, and koi pond out back! They really lucked out and so did Mick and I by getting to stay there.

Then before we knew it, it was time to go home. I didn't quite realize how much I missed everyone and Oregon until I was there again. It was so good to be home and be surrounded by all my friends and family. I miss you all and thanks for treating us so well.

Lots of love,
Judy

If you haven't seen em yet, more photos at Mick's Picasa:

American Holiday Part 1

American Holiday Part 2

Great weekend, baaaaaaad Monday.

On Thursday 10 of us headed west to Carrick-on-Shannon for the annual Shannon Cruise. Thursday night was nice and easy, we settled in for the evening and to enjoy a bbq on the docks. Friday was back to the river going at a top speed of 8mph! We stopped along the way for a quick dip in the cool (freezing) waters of the Shannon. There was only one fatality of Mick's new waterproof camera, which is probably still working perfectly at the bottom of the river. We sailed on and went to a pub beside the river for dinner, I had grilled Hake, which has topped my list of the best dinners I've ever had in Ireland. Back to the boat for some cards and drinking.



For more pictures go here.

Saturday contained more of the same intermixed with shooting scenes for "The Shannon Stranger II a sequel for the members of the Shannon Cruise from years back. We also had an important addition to the crew this year, Holly, the official boat-dog joined us. It was great having a dog aboard. On Sunday we lazily made our way back to Carrick-on-Shannon to head home. We had a farewell dinner at a local Italian restaurant and then I hopped on the back of Mick's bike and we were once again Dublin-bound.

And that's when thing's went bad. About 30 minutes into the bike ride my stomach started to feel queezy this was then followed by what mick could only explain as exorcist-style shenanigans including the worst stomach cramps I've ever felt (and never want to feel again). Long story short, at 2am we went to the emergency hospital where I remained until 2pm the next day. When I left they still didn't know what was wrong with me. I'm awaiting some more tests to come back from the labs. I'll then get antibiotics for whatever ails me. Most symptoms are pointing towards E.Coli which I could have got from something I ate over the last week or so. No one else from the boat trip has been sick so we're ruling out anything eaten then. I'm feeling much better today (Tuesday) and was able to eat almost a full dinner. I'll hopefully get lab results back tomorrow. In the meantime I'm confined from going to work as I may be contagious. All I know is that I feel better and it seems that whatever it was has passed. thank god!

Here I go again on my own...

Hi All it's been a while since i've posted and many fun things have come to pass.

I introduced Mick to Geocaching and it's our new favorite activity. It has taken us to mountains and castles and to lovely walks in the park. We've only done a few so far but plan to pick em up in our spare time. We had a week of absolutely amazing weather, got a sunburn and all, now it's back to a bit of rain and overcast. We took full advantage of the weather when we had it though, by going to beach, motorbike rides and bbq's a plenty!

We also celebrated mick's 30th birthday party (which is actually on the 12th, but due to a business trip had it early) traditionally over at Aslinn's house complete with bbq, bouncy castle and bone fire. It was absolutely fantastic. Then the next day we headed over to Trim Castle for a day in the sun among the ruins.

While we were busy doing this our flatmate sarah was busy moving out and getting ready for her move to Italy, so we'll be cat-sitting pebbles while she's away for the summer. It's nice to have a cat in the house again, but to be honest, pebbles is well... insane. It had to be said.

As for Mick's business trip, he's been called to Sydney Austrailia for three weeks. He's at the airport as I type this. I've moved from the thoughts of not wanting him to leave to just being plain jealous! I wanna go! I'm just trying to keep in mind that it's business and he will be working a lot. As well it's actually winter in Sydney right now so there won't be any fun times on the beach (just one's in pubs). He's promised we'll go back someday and i will hold him to that. I'll be using the next few weeks to get things done i've been meaning to do...not too sure what those are yet.

Oh I also passed my driving theory test last Saturday. Basically I've been driving for 12 years and I can legally drive in Ireland but I can't legally get insured which means i have to apply for my irish license before getting a car. However, actually obtaining a license is quite a lengthly process.
1. First I have to pass my theory test (done),
2. Then i've to apply for my provisional license
3. Next i have to take 6 driving lessons (up to 50 euro a session!),
4. Finally after 6 months i can apply for my full license and of course have to pass a driving test.

And of course each one of these steps costs money. I can actually get insured with only a provisional license but my insurance rates will be sky high!

There are a few things i'm looking forward to. I won't shut up about going to the states i'm very excited for that! I'm also looking forward to Mick getting home (I know... already??) then the day after he gets back we're heading to Claire and Mike's wedding up at Darver Castle which should be fantastic!

to view some of my latest shenanigans follow the link below.

Bits & Bobs 2009

If you didn't get the email...

I know what's been on all of your minds lately. When the heck is Judy coming for a visit??? We'll the time is near...well 3 months away. As an added bonus my amazingly awesome and handsome (and irish) boyfriend will be joining me. Clear your schedules for some proper Judy & Mick hang out time from August 27th to September 14th. Aaron we'll be in NY August 24-27 so prepare your couch/floor!

Oregon has a lot to live up to for mick, as you all probably know how I tend to exaggerate. We'll be looking for couches/floors/beds to sleep on and cars/vanagons to borrow for some short trips...so let us know if you have a spare.

We'll have 2.5 weeks to:
1. Go to the beach! who's in?
2. Maybe camping/rafting if the weather is as good as last sept.
3. Down to sunriver (Emily think i can rent the house again? not sure of the dates yet)
4. Up to Seattle for a day (DOMINIC!!!)
5. Drinking delicious oh so missed Oregon beer.
6. Sarah's wedding! (Sept. 6th)
7. Leah party? huh huh?
8. lots of visiting in between.

I'm a little excited if you can't tell. See you all in a few months.

Lots of love,
Jude

Damn Recession.

I finished my first full week back to work last week. I was actually suppose to be back to work the week before, but i fell ill with a case of strep throat which kept me home and in bed for the better part of the week. Not fun at all. Overall I'm, health-wise, i'm doing well now. I've still a bit of pain in my leg but I'm confident it's getting better all the time. I just need to keep up my swimming (2x a week), yoga (once a week) and physio exercises (5x a week). All that keeps me fairly busy.

I've also been toying with the idea of signing up with a softball team. But I'm not sure how the twisting of hitting would work with my back. Not to mention, I don't really have any sort of transportation and all the teams play outside the city centre. So I'll have to look into that a bit more, but i sure would love to play again. The subject of transportation has been on my mind a lot lately. I miss driving. I miss having the freedom to go anywhere I want whenever I want and not to rely on public transportation or the kindness of others. But I hate the idea of owning a car again, paying insurance and buying gas for it. The other option is to get a motorbike, it would be a hell of a lot faster to get through traffic, but i'd still have the gas and insurance to pay for. I hate traffic. What i really need is a flying machine—with no insurance and runs on water. :)

The recession is still going strong. I'm hearing all the time of people being laid off and businesses going out under. My job is going strong for the moment, everyone is working full time again and we're all working hard to keep it that way. However, 2 months ago one of my best friends, Guðrún, was laid off and she has now made the hard decision to move back to Iceland. There are no words to describe how much i will miss her. I'm sure it's much more scary for her, as she's lived here for 3+ years and has made an entire life in Dublin and the city attached itself to her heart as it has to mine. However, this will give mick and me a great opportunity to visit Iceland!

I'd also like to note that it has been 1 year and 5 months since anyone has come to visit me. I think it's time, don't you?

Well that's all from this side of the world. Hope you are all keeping well and drop me an email sometime!

Paddy's day and other miscellany.

Well not a lot has happened since last post. Paddy's day came and went. We enjoyed it by watching the parade from a rooftop on dame street where we had a fantastic view. I've mainly just been taking it easy. I went and saw the doctor on the 13th and he requested that I stay off work for another month! That was a bit of a blow, but I gotta do what the doctor says. The improvement in my leg/back seems to be going at such a slow pace I can't detect it, but the doc assures that it is healing normally. Over the last week I've been getting really stiff and it's hard to move, feels like i need a hip replacement. I'm hoping this won't last for too much longer. I'm swimming and just going for walks, but other than that, not much.

Any way here are some pics of what I've been up to.

Paddy's Day 2009 & other Miscellany

Catholic for a day.

So this week included Pancake Tuesday. In honor of the sacred holiday we made Blueberry Pecan Buttermilk Pancakes.


In other news my back/leg seems to be improving slowly. It's still a bit painful to sit for long periods of time but that also seems to be improving. I'm not getting as many pins and needles anymore either. I think I've finally seeing results and if I continue to improve I should be fine in a few months. And I'm okay with that!

Time

Well I'm 2 weeks post-op now and I definitely have not walked away "pain-free" as I was promised. It's a strange pain now, hard to explain. I still have twinges of sciatica down my leg and my feet have lots of pins an needles now which they never did before. I've called the surgeon to make sure all these symptoms are normal and that i haven re-herniated my back, however he won't be available for 2 days. So I just get to wait. Everyone made this operation sound so simple before i had it, but now i'm finding out it's not so simple at all and it could take me up to year to be back to 'normal'. which is frustrating for me because it's not what i was expecting. I'm not so sure I'll be able to go back to sitting at a desk for long periods of time as sitting hurts the worst. As you can tell my spirits are not very high at the moment and it's hard to just grin and bare it, but i'm trying.

In the meantime, i've passed the days by creating a new portfolio site and have opened myself up to freelance designing in my spare time. Take a look.

UPDATE: The doctor called back and said pins and needles are normal everything i'm experiencing is to be expected and he'll see me in two weeks. phew.

Home Again.

I'm back from the hospital and restricted to bed-rest for the next two weeks. Overall I feel okay, it's a little concerning because the pain I'm feeling now is identical to the pain I had before the operation. But the doctor has assured me that this is normal and the pain will go away. He described it as hitting your thumb with a hammer, once the hammer is removed the pain will remain for a little while. He said my nerves have basically been getting hit with a hammer for about 8 months now, and the hammer has been removed. So, it will be a only a matter of time before the pain subsides. This could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. I'm hoping for the 2 weeks...

I'm moving freely around the house, able to go up and down the stairs and walk around. If I stand up for too long I start to get a bit dizzy, think that might be from the painkillers I'm on. Speaking of them, it's sure noticeable when they start to run out the pain is back in about 5 minutes and i know it's time to take another dose.

I've to go to the dr. next week and get my clips (aka staples) out and then in two weeks I'll be able to go swimming again. Then in a month it's back to the surgeon for a check-up.

Mick has been amazing. He was at the hospital with me the whole time, staying all day until the nurses would kick him out. When I got home he had put together our new orthopedic bed so I can get some good rest, and I have.

I think the hard part is over, now I just get to lay down and take it easy at home and watch the snow fall.

Thanks to everyone for all the loving thoughts.

Here's a few photos from the last few days and of our new house!

Surgery and new house

Surgery

Sitting in my hospital bed after surgery, eating cookies. More cookies stat! Surgery went well, or so they tell me, I don't remember a thing. I woke up in the hospital this morning at 6 to the sounds of construction work next door. I got up to close the windows and looked out on a snow covered Dublin. That was strange. Shortly a nurse came to take me to get my back 'marked' for surgery. After he informed me i had my gown on backwards we headed down to get marked. After receiving a local anesthetic they jabbed some inked up needle into me which hurt pretty bad. After they finished my body thought it would be fun to pass out, all the blood drained from my face and my legs and arms went tingly. I didn't pass out completely but i managed to get all the attention of the nurses. ;)

They then put me on a trolly/bed and pushed me back up to my room where i got my blood drawn and awaited surgery. About 9am someone came and took me down to the anesthesiologist. Can't say I remember too much after that. Woke up, went back to sleep, woke up again and then was taken up to my room where mick was waiting for me. Dr. O'Neill came in and said that everything went very well and that my disc was 'very large' and i had very much reason for complaint. Well not any more!

I'll keep you updated later. Lots of love, jude

Birthday Road Trip

Well, I am now officially in my last year of my 20's. Wow. It's really amazing how life just flies by. Thirty will be here before I know it but I still feel about 23. I figure I better end the second decade of my life with a bang so let the shenanigans begin!

On the 9th I met up with Guðrún who was kind enough to share her birthday celebration with me. I was celebrating a little early due to Mick being away snowboarding and a pre-planed trip to see Jessica in Germany for my actual birthday. It was a good night we started and remained at the Porterhouse all night. It was great to be drinking Red instead of Coors Light for a change.

Then on Thursday the 15th I woke up at 4:30am to get to Dublin airport to catch my flight to Frankfurt Hahn. The flight was good until the end when we attempted to land but the visibility on the runway was at zero. We made one attempt but had to pull back up as we could see absolutely nothing but fog. From there we circled the airport for an additional half an hour and then approached from a different direction, success! After several questions in my extremely broken German I found the bus station and was off to see Jess.

Jess Greeted me at her house with a special birthday quiche, then off for a little nap. The next day we were up bright and early to begin our journey to Zürich. We drove straight through Germany and France and into Switzerland. Thanks to the superb roads the four-hour journey seemed only like two.

Once in Zürich we found our ridiculously clean hostel and began our exploring. Immediately we noticed how clean the city was too. Of course, most other European cities are clean when you come from Dublin but Zürich was immaculate. Shortly after we also realised how expensive it was! Two Corona's, one meal and one starter (split between the two of us) cost €50. This may not have been so bad if the food was good but it was possibly the worst Mexican food I've ever had. Imagine: Cool ranch Doritos with old El Paso Salsa on em with a bit of cheese and some canned guacamole and you can imagine my disappointment. In it's defense however, we probably should have gone for some traditional Swiss food instead of Mexican food...it's just hard for me to walk by those bright yellow and red signs that boasts such delicious cuisine and not stop. Oh how I'd pay for just one 7-layer burrito from taco bell...(yep, it's that bad).

We continued our tour of the old town and meandered down the many quaint ally ways, peering through expensive shop windows. The town was empty, surprising for a Friday night. Not finding much to do and the shops all closed, we headed back towards our hostel with the hopes of finding a nice little local pub to tuck into. Our hopes soon dashed. We asked several passerby's for directions, but they all replied that Zürich has no 'local pubs' and if we wanted a beer we'd have to head back to the city center...strange. Very strange. Defeated we headed for the hostel but soon found ourselves lost. And then... a pub — Hooray! We joined the six old men inside and stayed until late. Good conversation with Jess and good beer. A local man took a shine to us and told many stories in broken german/english, mainly about how he was from the Milkey Way system and broken memories of war. He explained that he has a storm in his brain that made it hard for him think (to me, he seemed to think far too much!). I believe he was just happy to have someone to listen.

Saturday morning we packed our bag and set off for the local flea market before we left town. We picked through junk for the better part of an hour, me buying a small bottle topper and jess a picture. Back on the road again and off for Strasbourg. Strasbourg was absolutely beautiful and much more 'realistic' than Zürich. We walked around the town for 2 hours and toured the town's gothic cathedral. We ate lunch and sampled chocolates. And then headed back for Homburg.

Sunday morning we lazed around and waited for lunch. Jess' mom made a traditional german meal of Klöße with sauerkraut and bacon sauce. Absolutely fantastic!

Overall I have to say I'm happy I got a chance to revisit Switzerland, but I can now say it does not live up to what I thought. Perhaps if I was extraordinarily rich and enjoyed the finer things in life I might move to Zürich, but for now I think I'll stick with this dirty old town.

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes. Love ya all.


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Germany / France / Switzerland