Christmas Tag

Betony started and Jessica followed...so here goes mine!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your family and friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper stretches the surprise a little longer!
2. Artificial or real tree? I prefer Real - they smell so yummy
3. When do you put up a tree? I try for after Thansgiving - haven't done it yet though
4. When do you take it down? Whenever I want
5. Do you like eggnog? SUPER YUMMY!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? 10-speed bike & leg warmers (that went to my thighs!)
7. Hardest person to buy for? My Husband... hahahahahahahahaha If only I knew who he was it would make things SO much easier! ;D
8. Easiest person to buy for? Maddy
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Just a tiny one from the dollar store that I bought when I came home from my mission - I love it!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I like to mail cards but dunno what will happen this year
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hasn't happened...
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Miracle on 34th Street, Frosty the Snowman
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? October-December
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Not that I can think of
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas time? Grams' tradition: Fish & Perogies (you can either boil or saute them) on Christmas Eve. I also love Honey Baked Ham and Pecan Pie
16. Lights on the tree? White lights only
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night & It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Both can be wonderful
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Of course!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I have a Star
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Presents? Are there presents for me?
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercialization and shopping frenzy
23. Favorite Ornament theme or color? I love and collect Snowmen
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? A MAN

I Tag: Everyone!

Thansgiving

Whew, what an event! Thanksgiving this year was supposed to be a small (only me, Janet, Jessica and family) affair. It turned out anything BUT...of course it was wonderful. Mom and Papa were on a short cruise that docked in the morning so they were both able to join us later for dinner.

Kris and Christina decided to join us as well. Aaron was going to be in town after all, and Janet had an out-of-town friend visiting. We had dinner this year at Jessica's and she is so talented that she turned "not enough room at the table" into just enough! Aren't her decorations pretty?! Look for the pretty leaves on the tables.

Janet, Jessica, and I prepared the Thanksgiving meal this year (Christina made a yummy green bean casserole too!). Janet took care of the turkey and stuffing, Jessica got the cranberry sauce, made the rolls, a pumpkin pie and a chocolate-raspberry angel cake that really was super scrumpdiliumptious! I made the sweet potato casserole with yummy sticky-gooey marshmallows on top - they were almost completely gone by the time they made it down to my end of the table! I also made a new recipe this year - stuffed zucchini - aka zucchini boats. They were a big hit and super yummy if I do say so myself. I beleive this recipe will be a keeper.

I spent the day at Jessica's cooking and spending time with the kids. I got some really cute pictures of Maddy and Ruthie. Maddy was excited to be holding Ruthie...for about 3 minutes and then she was done! "Can you take Ruthie please? I'm done now" LOL She is a rip!

Big sister loves baby sister!

Baby Ruthie is such a doll baby...perhaps not at 3 AM when she's screaming to be held or fed or changed... but nonetheless...!

So after scrumptious food and dessert, we had some good times just hanging out together and enjoying the family time. I'm really thankful for the amazing family I have. I wish my whole family could live here so that we could have all us siblings and the kids together.

Later we had a Parcheesi battle - Janet came after me so out went Ms Nice and in came Ms I Shall Crush You. I won of course! taa-haa :-D

I really enjoyed having Joel and his family here for Kris & Christina's wedding. I'm thankful that they stayed at my house and for the chance I had to spend time with my nephews Josh & Blake and sweet baby girl niece Juliana. I cherish the smiles and cuddling seesions I had with Jules and the hugs I got from Blakers. I'm thankful for the conversations I had with Josh - he loves sharks! Who knew? I do now! I also really enjoyed the time spent with Joel and Andrea, especially the girls night out for Twilight!

I'm so thankful that I can realize and appreciate the great blessings in my life.

Ramblings from the OLD one

WARNING!!! Straight talk ahead...

Well I really can't believe how incredibly fast time flies. I'm feeling super old today. Yes, yes, everybody tells me that turning 35 is still young...well I sure don't feel it. Of course with me it never is about the actual age, but what I don't have in my life at this age.

Yes of course I'm happy with the things I've been able to accomplish in life. I've lived in several states, travelled to many places and have a great family. I've been blessed to have been able to serve the Lord as his emissary in the country of Ecuador as a full-time missionary. I was blessed to teach and love the people and learn a second language.

I've been blessed to work for a company that allowed me to continue my education and financially supported my graduate degree program so that I could earn my MBA.

I've been blessed to have been in a position to buy my first home earlier this year. Some may think I should have invested in a home earlier in my life but I have done so now and am truly happy with my purchase. I don't care that it is a 3 bedroom house or that there are those who think it is too big of a house for a single person to have. I'm just going with: "if you build it, they will come"...

I have been blessed with a wonderful family who loves me and I can feel of their love everyday. And while all of these blessings should be enough to make me feel whole or happy, I sadly am not. I hesitate to express my true feelings but writing is a release for me. I never thought that at my age I would still be single and without children. Yes I have 10 wonderful nieces and nephews but it is not the same. They don't call me "mommy". My mother was raising 5 children by the time she was my age. I know we've led very different lives but I can't help to compare my inadequacies. My sister who is 6 years younger than me has 3 children. While I am extremely happy for all of my married siblings and their families, I cannot help but feel terrible loss that I cannot share those same blessings. Kris was just married this weekend and while I am very happy he has been able to find his true love, I cannot believe he got married before me!!!

I was at a friend's baby shower a couples of weeks ago and there were maybe about 20 women there. As I looked around the room at the 15 or so women I did know and who are friends of mine, I had this overwhelming feeling that I did not belong. Every one of them have children (or are currently pregnant) and spend time together at playgroups, b-day parties for their kids, primary activities, etc and it made me so sad to think that I was not a part of the biggest part of their lives. As I was leaving, the host asked me, "Would you like to take some cookies home to your husband?" I know that she did not know that I was single and meant no harm whatsoever but while I'm used to similar comments, it felt like a knife to my heart. I would have loved to take some cookies home to my husband...if I had one.

I always thought I would be raising my children with my friends. My two best girlfriends each have 4 kids and it saddens me that I can't go through the same spouse/children ups and downs that happen in their lives. I'm rarely invited to hang out with my married friends and their spouses because they do the couples thing together and they probably think I would feel like a third wheel...and truthfully, I probably would! It just saddens me that I can't be a part of that world with them. I'm not quite sure where I belong.

I'm tired of hearing "your time will come", "this is your year", "there's someone really special being prepared for you", etc... I'm not having a pity party, truly, it's just that I feel such loss for some of the greatest blessings the lord has to give.

Another year gone by. Another year of being alone. Most times I feel like I'm standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming and no-one hears me.

I can only pray that I can find a fulfilling happiness and peace in the blessings I do have and not the ones I long for.

Happy Birthday to me.

Kris & Christina's Wedding

Saturday November 22, 2008 marked the day that Kris and Christina became ONE... Congratulations to the new Mr & Mrs Conte! We are so happy to have Christina in our family.

The wedding ceremony was held at Christina's church (Our Lady of Grace) in Palm Bay. It was a beautiful ceremony made special with Papa singing a couple of songs. Kris and Christina pledged their love for one another and truly I am happy for them both.

Here they are in their true fabulous personalities...! Taa-Haa!!!

There was the first dance... So Sweet!

The reception was so much fun! There was a lot of dancing going on! I do beleive I caught the bouquet! I beleive that for those who catch the boquet, they DON'T get married - I guess I'm just keeping with tradition...

It was really nice to be able to spend time with family on such a joyous occasion. Joel, Andrea and the kids stayed with me at my house and I really enjoyed having them there and getting to know little Jules since it was the first time I had seen her. She is such a sweetie! Just look at that face!

I know Papa was enjoying having his sister and brother here - just looks at these goofballs! What sibling love!

Well I wish all the love and happiness life has to offer for the newlywed couple. Congrats Kris & Christina! Mucho amor!

Tagged!

I was tagged by my friend Janet - she claims she meant BOTH Jill's, but I dunno!


8 Things I am obsessed about right now:

1. My nieces and Nephews

2. The Twilight Saga

3. Facebook

4. Upcoming B-day

5. Celebrating completion of MBA

6. Ice Cream Sandwiches

7. Getting my house organized (pics on walls)

8. Thoughts of never being a mom



8 Words or Phrases I use:

1. Whatever!

2. For serious!

3. I don't think so

4. Yep

5. Mmmmmm hmmmmm

6. Where you at?

7. I'm done with school!

8. What? or What you say? (thanks to Maddy) lol



8 TV shows you love to watch:

1. The Amazing Race

2. Survivor

3. Top Chef

4. Project Runway

5. CSI (LV & NY)

6. Criminal Minds

7. Heroes

8. 24 & Lost



8 Things I did yesterday:

1. Woke up on time (yay me!)

2. Went to work

3. Ate a peanut butter & honey sammich for lunch

4. Felt sad for my good friends Chris & Drew's loss of their mother

5. Had dinner at Chili's with friend

6. Watched Quantum of Solace at theatre

7. Got home late

8. Prayed



8 Favorite Places to Eat:

1. PF Chang's

2. Red Lobster

3. Del Frisco's

4. Tejas (Texas) de Brazil

5. Firehouse Subs

6. Roadhouse

7. Cafe Rio

8. Pizza Gallery



I tag: Mom

Christina's Bridal Shower 11-8-08

Well I'm a week late in blogging about my soon to be sister-in-law's Bridal Shower! It was a nice day with fun games. Here's the Bride-to-Be!

We played a fun game of dressing up a model as a TP Bride... Here are all three and my group (with Janet as model) won!

Something borrowed... a special gift from her mom to wear for her wedding day...

Nobody can ever take a clear picture when using my camera!!!! Grrr... oh well! New Sisters!

5 days and counting! Saturday we celebrate Kris and Christina as they become Husband and Wife!

Halloween 2008

Sooooo...... last night my sister Janet and I took Maddy and Thatcher trick-or-treating. What an event! Jess was still a little too sore to walk around with the kids after just having Ruthie a few weeks ago, so Janet and I walked the walk!



They looked so cute in their costumes. Miss Madeline was a (good) witch - Grandma Conte made her costume for her. She sure was rocking her boots!



Mr. Thatcher was quite the adorable (argh) pirate! Daddy gave him some facial hair to boot and my, my, my... too cute!



So I'm thinking that I may not do this trick-or-treat thing until I have kids (which at the rate I'm going may be never)! Just kidding! I was literally dragging Thatcher along while he stared in awe at everything and everyone around him! I kept saying, "walk Thatcher, walk"! I was afraid I was going to pull his arm out of the socket! Additionally, he just would not let go of my finger, so of course I had to go to each and every door with them...and then had to drag them both away! It was exhausting! ;P



But seriously, I had a wonderful time with them. They are just so full of life and have a desire to experience everything they come in contact with. There was this really big guy (teen) that had on camouflage, with twigs and branches covering him. He came out of nowhere and startled me so I said, "whoa! stealth mode"! So Maddy thought that was his name and she kept saying, "that Stealth Mode was really scary. Stealth Mode needs to stay away from us so he doesn't scare us"! Super cute!

Maddy was busy trying to keep her hat on because it was so windy. I told her it was a good time to jump on her broom and fly away but she was afraid she might fall off if she got too high in the air! taa-haa! Aren't kids great?!



I don't know how Thatcher was carrying his pumpkin full of candy! That thing was full and super heavy. He kept dragging it on the ground and slapping it against him and I tried to help carry it for him but he kept reaching his hand out and wanted to carry it himself!



I enjoyed raiding their candy after we got back to grandma and grandpa's house! Really, I only took ONE Reese's Cup and that was it (of course I did take three to go... shhh... don't tell anyone)!

Little Miss Ruthie was super adorable as a "leopard kitty" as Maddy called her! Here she is just chillin' with Grandpa Conte... All in all, great fun was had by all!

2 New Babies

This has been a blessed past couple of weeks. Our family has been able to welcome two new precious gifts into this world.

RUTHIE ADELE JONES was born 10/17 and...

WILLIAM LORENZO CONTE was born 10/21

Two new gorgeous babies to lavish loads of love upon. I feel so priveleged to have so many nieces and nephews. I wish they were all near me so that I could foster closer relationships with them. I am so happy for my brothers and sisters and the families that they have created. They are surely blessed. I hope they will always know just how blessed they are, even in the difficult "what?! I have 3 children? how did this happen?" stages of their lives. Whatever the hardships that come, to have an eternal spouse and children are the best gifts we can ever be given.

While I have not been thusly blessed, I am fortunate to have family to love and who loves me.

For my family... my cup runneth over.

An Auntie for the 9th Time!!!

OK! I am an Aunt for the 9th time! Hurry up Betony and give me my 10th!!!

Today was a beautiful (and LONG) day. My sister Jessica headed to the hospital around 6:45AM today to start the inducement process for Baby Ruthie. I headed there around 9 AM to help keep them company. I was hoping she would have Ruthie sometime in the morning... WRONG!

I'm sure Jess will blog about all the details once she gets home so I will let her tell the main story. What I want most to say is that watching a child come into this world is one of THE most AMAZING things you can ever witness. What an absolute miracle. I tear up just thinking about it. I wish so much I could experience the wonder of creating and carrying such a miracle; to actually feel life growing within...AMAZING.

Sooooo..... without further ado... WELCOME BABY RUTHIE ADELE JONES!!! This sweet angel came into this world at 6:11 PM, weighed 8 lbs 7 oz. and is 21" long. She is a bundle of absolute beauty. I can see both Maddy and Thatcher in her (her two siblings) but probably favors Maddy a little more right now. And her cry sounds just like Maddy...oh boy, another drama queen!!!

I got some really good shots of the birth but I will let Jess decide which "birth" pictures she wants to show everyone so keep an eye out for her update coming soon (probably Sunday or Monday). So for now, these will have to do!

Here's the big girl!




The "Thank Goodness She's OUT" Momma...



Happy Parents...



Gramma Conte...



Auntie Jill (she's looking at me!)



Auntie Janet



Happy Feet...Bye Bye for now!!!

Weekend Update

So I guess I better update my blog (or so my sister keeps telling me). Had to work last Friday.. :( My company decided to go to a 9/80 work week. so what that really means is that instead of enjoying half Friday's (working 7:30-11:30 AM), we now have every other Friday off... it's ok I guess (def better on gas savings) BUT it is soooo hard to work a full Friday!

So I headed to the beach after work on Fri to just hang out and watch the waves break. It is so relaxing. A storm was fast approaching so I was only able to stay for about an hour. My sister Jessica called Sat morning and wanted to have a girls day out (she's trying to stay active to encourage baby to come out).

So my mom, sisters, and I headed to Red Lobster for lunch. That was yummy. Then we went to check out Rocky's Art classroom at FAA and then to Barnes & Noble to see the display of artwork from his classes. It was pretty cool. We went back to mom's house (where papa tried to entice us to LEAVE - so sweet he is) and played a game of Pay Me (aka Nickel Nickel). I'm usually pretty good at the game but Janet beat us all! We won't speak of teaching mom to play and her "game playing" taa-haa! We love you Mom!!! Later we decided to go and see "Nights in Rodanthe" based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. Good movie but bring tissues!!! His books always make you FEEL a variety of emotions (usually sad), which is right up my alley.

So here I am at work. Jessica called this morning to tell me "today is the day"...we shall see - when will baby Ruthie be ready?! The race is on between her and my sister-in-law Betony. Their due dates are only 2 days apart (and Jess's was yesterday)! I haven't seen pics of Betony, but Jess has DROPPED so low, I don't know how she can move, let alone walk! Poor thing! She never dropped like this with Maddy or Thatcher. I sure hope today IS the day (anything to get me away from work)! tee-hee!

I'm trying to grow my bangs out and they're in the "awkward" stage now and it's driving me crazy! I still can't beleive I cut my hair so short (Amber should be happy :))!

Grrrr.... just grow out already!

IRELAND PART TWO

OK and now the continuation of my fabulous trip to Ireland! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PART ONE... SCROLL DOWN...

Enjoy!

Day 6:
This morning's drive took us to Limmerick where we saw King John's Castle and the Stone on which the Treaty of Limmerick was signed in 1691. Limmerick is the 3rd largest city in the Irish Republic with a population of approximately 70,000. The treaty was to allow those who were Catholics to practice their religion freely while at the same time swearing fealty to the Protestant king. This agreement did not sit well with British Parliament and they demanded that the King break the treaty because they wanted everyone to practice the Protestant religion. The King unfortunately did break his word and now the town is known as "The Town of the Broken Treaty".

Next we drove to Adare, which is known for its prize winning thatched cottages (see bleow for picture). We stopped in Dingle for lunch and went to a place called Harrington’s which is known for their fresh, cook-to-order fish & chips. It was raining (of course) so I stood in the line to order our food, which of course was backed up out the door, while mom went in to find us a place to sit. The fish was delicious but we weren’t left with much time to shop in this cute little town. I did, however, find a couple of bookmarks for my sisters in the shop across the street from where we ate lunch.

Upon resuming our drive, we saw some absolutely breathtaking scenery in the afternoon during our drive on the Dingle Peninsula, where the 32-mile Slea Head drive afforded us magnificent vistas of the Atlantic Ocean. We passed miles of sandy white beaches, which were the setting for the film Ryan’s Daughter.

There is a story about some monks that built stone beehive shaped dwellings to live in in order to pay a penance of some sort. The inside was large enough to fit their length lying down. Many of these still exist and we were able to stop and takes some photographs. It’s pretty cool to think about how long they’ve been standing there and that people once lived in them.

This land is so beautiful. I wish I could take an extended leave, move here and experience the culture more closely. The little I know about my ancestry helps me feel connected to this great land. Learning of the Great Potato famine of the 1800’s has been intense and quite emotional. Were my ancestors part of the land workers that were driven either to death or to the America’s for escape? The famine killed one million Irish through hunger and related diseases such as cholera. A million others emigrated during the famine, with millions more following them in the following decades. There are memorials dedicated to those who lost their lives to the devastation this famine brought to the Irish farming community.

Day 7:
I got a cold! The rain aggravated my sinuses and I was starting to become miserable, sneezing non-stop! Today, at the town of Killorglin, we joined the road known as the “Ring of Kerry” for a 100-mile coastal panoramic drive. There were beautiful seascapes, mountains dotted with brightly colored farm houses, along with grazing cattle and sheep. The roads were super narrow and winding. Mom and I were sitting in the front seats of the bus this day and were quite frightened at times. Our normal driver (Phil) had a rest day (by law) and so we had a local driver taking us around. I did not care for this driver at all! He jerked the bus around quite a bit and stalled 3 times.

One of our photo stops was the Caragh River. Oh this place was absolutely incredible!

We passed through Cahirciveen where Daniel O’Connell was born. He was a real supporter in trying to gain independence for the Irish Catholics. By the time he was born, his parents thought that they had enough children already and one more was just too much for them so his uncle (who didn’t have any children) adopted him. Can you imagine?! He was educated in England and interestingly enough, when he died, his heart was sent to Rome and buried there. There is a church called The Church of Daniel O’Connell, and it is the only Catholic Church in the world that is not dedicated to a saint. He once stated, “there is no cause in this world that is worth one drop of human blood”.

We stopped at a Cumakishda (sp?) which means “Bay of the Hidden Treasure” for more spectacular views. My goodness, but the land here is absolutely breathtaking. There have now been a few places we have visited where I could easily stay and live the rest of my life and be happy.

We then passed through the town of Sneem, which is known for its salmon fishing. We drove by a rock-hewn riverbed where the salmon can be seen jumping in the water. I took a quick shot while on the bus, but alas, we didn’t see any salmon jumping.

We stopped in Killarney at a place called the Avoca Shop and Café for lunch. The eating area was upstairs and there were floor to ceiling windows which gave us some magnificent views to enjoy while we ate. I had a delicious homemade tomato and basil soup with a yummy brown bread. For desert, mom and I split a super yummy piece of fresh lemon meringue pie. Avoca is known for their hand weaving but we will be in the actual town on day 8 to see the weaving and visit the shop.

We then traveled to see the Lakes of Killarney from "Ladies View". This name stems from the admiration of the view given by Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting during their 1861 visit. Here you can see three major lakes and the view is once again, spectacular.

We stopped somewhere a little further up for a group photo (I declined to purchase one) and were then given some time to look at and photograph more views of the Lakes of Killarney. I, however, noticed a pasture and some beautiful horses grazing. Anyone who knows me and my love of horses know that I headed straight there. There was a wire fence just beyond the wooden fence in which the horses were enclosed so I couldn’t really get close enough to touch them. There was one horse lying down and another one “pawing” him to get up. He finally did but you could then tell that he was injured because he was favoring his right hind leg. Poor baby, I wanted to go and find the owner straight away, but there were several homes in the area and the bus was getting ready to leave. Aren't they beautiful?!

We stopped a while later at a place called “Macken of Ireland”. They are known for their rare and interesting pieces of jewelry. I have been waiting many years to get my claddagh ring and really wanted to buy one while here in Ireland. I found a beautiful 14K claddagh set in the middle of a Celtic knot. It is really beautiful. I wasn’t planning on spending so much money on my ring... but I did! The other nice thing about this shop is that every design is made in a limited quantity, so I believe there have only been 100 pieces of the design I bought made. Hopefully the chances are pretty low that I will run into someone here in Florida with the same ring!

For dinner we headed into Tralee and then attended a performance at Siamsa Tire, which is Ireland’s National Folk Theatre. They have a different themed performance every night of the week and for Thursday (the day we attended), it was about the potato famine entitled “Tearman”. There was a live 8 piece orchestra to accompany the performers is song and background music. As we have been learning about the potato famine during the week, I was looking forward to the performance. There were no words spoken, songs sung in Irish (Gaelic), tap dancing, and movement. I wish I could have understood the words to the songs sung, but it really wasn’t necessary to understand because you could feel what was happening. It was a very moving and emotional performance. I could feel the emotion emanating from every performer and it touched my heart. It was quite intense and very sad. I believe 11.2 million people died during the famine. I cannot imagine what the people went through; to see their families and friends dying of starvation and disease.

Day 8:
Today we made our way over the Kerry Mountains and into County Cork. Mom has traced some of our ancestry to County Cork. We stopped in Blarney for two hours but it really wasn’t enough time. First, we headed to Blarney Castle to explore and kiss the famous Blarney Stone. It is known as the Stone of Eloquence and is supposed to give those who kiss it the “gift of gab”. I think I have that gift as it is, but of course you have to do it if you’re there! The stone is located at the top of the castle and there are approximately 200 teeny tiny steps going around and around super narrow stone stairwells (towers). I wanted mom to go with me so that she could take some photos with my camera. I really didn’t think she would do it (being claustrophobic and all)… but she did! She must really love me! I’m telling you, I don’t know who these people were building these steps for way back then but they looked like they were made for the “wee people”! We had to step sideways just to fit some part of our shoes on the steps! Every so often there was a “hole” in the walls that allowed a bit of light and breeze; I think this is the only way mom was able to make it, although she did confess to having a few moments of fright. She went ahead of me and all of a sudden I reached a point where the steps were no more and I had to climb my way up! Along the way there were some rooms labeled as bedrooms. Nothing like my bedroom! But it really did continue to make some of the books I’ve read come alive just a little bit more.

This is one of the dungeons!

Once at the Blarney Stone, you have to lie down on your back, grab a hold of iron bars on either side of you, scoot back and hang almost completely upside down to kiss the stone! It was kind of crazy. I think the picture of me actually “kissing” the stone is a bit blurry but you get the idea! Mom couldn’t quite do it due to her back problems (I don’t think she was too disappointed though)! I got some nice photos of the view from the top of the castle as well. I also got a shot of mom going back down (though those steps look a little better than the ones we climbed going up)!!

This whole process took us about an hour, so that left us only one hour to get back over to the Blarney Woolen Mills to shop and eat lunch. There are three floors to the Woolen Mills! I was able to find a scarf that matches my cool new hat. I was looking for a nice sweater or jacket but then looked at my watch and it was 12:25 (bus was leaving at 12:30)! Mom and I rushed to get in line to pay and then what happens? My credit card was declined! The employee tried it 3 times and it declined each time. Oh I’m getting really frustrated by this point. Thank goodness mom was there – she just put it on her card and told me to hurry to the bus and not let it leave without her. Mom ended up putting some of her items back because we were running so late. We didn’t even get a chance to eat lunch and my tummy was rumbling. I had a chocolate bar in my bag so we ate that as we pulled away from Blarney.

Our next stop was the world-famous Waterford Crystal Factory. We had a guided tour around the facility where we were able to see how some of the pieces are created. It was pretty cool. We watched this guy firing a piece of glass that was to be added to a pitcher as a handle. We then saw how the handle was attached and molded. It was really neat to watch.

The pieces here are quite stunning (both to the eye and the wallet). There was a piece dedicated to the heroes of 9/11 that was beautiful. There was a piece of a girl and horse that I absolutely fell in love with! We also had a glass etcher show us how the etching is done. Most of the positions in the factory require a 10 year apprenticeship and I can understand why! I posed with the guy who showed us a demonstration (and also created the seahorse shown in the picture).

I called my bank as soon as we got to the hotel to check on my account since my card had been declined. My account was fine; they were having problems earlier in the day so the bank disabled everyone’s cards for a few hours! I would have been soooo mad if my mom hadn’t been there to help me out – I would have missed a chance to purchase items at the Blarney Woolen Mills! Grrrr….

We stayed the night at a nearby seaside resort in Tramore. We took a walk down to the beach (Pebble Beach) before dinner and walked along the shore. We found some cool rocks to bring back and let our hands run through the waters of the Irish Sea.

After dinner we went to a local pub for some entertainment. This pub (Hayes) has been run by the same family for 300 years. The current owner took us on a little tour of the town and gave us some of the history.

There was a musician there (Richie Roberts) who played the guitar and sang. He had a great voice and was quite funny. He led us in some sing-a-longs, which was bunches of fun. Mom and I were sitting pretty much right in his face and he turned to me, asked me my name, held out his hand and then proceeded to pull me up from my seat to stand next to him. I was to be his “assistant”. All right – so now I get to be the celebrity! He pulled out a harmonica and told me that when he gave a nod, to hold the harmonica against the microphone and then he proceeded to play it and the guitar while I held it to the microphone. How fun! He called me back up later on to “assist” him in one more song. He played for about an hour and it was a great time.

Day 9:
This was the last official day of our tour. We traveled northbound through Enniscorthy, which is the sight of the final battle of the Great Rebellion of 1798. Next we were off to visit Ireland’s oldest hand-weaving mill at Avoca. I bought a scarf for my mom, one for me and then I got another one free (after buying two). We had a tour of the mill and watched one of the weavers at work. The looms are incredible and it was pretty cool to watch one at work and see the lines (threads) of material be fed through and pressed into place. I think he was using alpaca or mohair.

Back on the road we saw the beautiful Wicklow Mountains. Next we were off to Glendalough with its ruins of an Irish Christianity center of founded by St. Kevin (a hermit priest) in the 6th century. It was destroyed in 1398 by English troops. This ruined village contained a former monastery and grave sites. The location was sought out as a peaceful retreat by Saint Kevin because of its remoteness and serenity, but several men who wished to follow his teachings built a temporary place of churches and living quarters in the valley below the site of his house. This soon grew and became an important school.

There were some nice walking trails that led to the Lake. We walked one of them and had some really pretty views. Mom was climbing into the forests so she could get her photo with some big rocks and trees. It was pretty muddy and I was afraid she was going to fall! Silly woman!

We stayed at the Montrose Hotel for our last night in Dublin. After arriving at the hotel, we decided to go explore Dublin one last time before we had to leave. We took a local bus to city centre and walked around for a while. I really enjoy people watching and there are all kinds in downtown Dublin! We did a little more shopping (mainly just little trinkets and such) and then decided to have our last evening meal in Ireland. We found Gallagher’s Boxty House again and decided to end the trip the same way we had started it… with a yummy corned beef and cabbage boxty. We had quite the time trying to find the right bus stop, to catch the right bus, to bring us back to the hotel!

Day 10:
Up early for breakfast (6:30) and then off to the airport at 7:30 am. Our flight wasn’t until 11:30 but it was a good thing we got there early. It took us a while to get through check-in, security and processing our tax back forms. The sales tax here in Ireland is 21% (choke, choke). The only good thing is that American’s get the tax back. We had to get tax back forms from every place we bought something and then stand in 4 different lines at the airport to submit them. Such a pain but at least we will get it back (6-8 weeks I’m sure). The flight from Dublin to Atlanta was a little over 8 hours (I think I watched 4 movies – helped the time go by). After arriving in Atlanta, we had to go to the baggage claim area, get our luggage and then go through customs and re-check them! That took us a hour to do – super pain in the butt. The only good part of this day was taking a shower after getting home and crawling into my scrumptious bed! I do miss Ireland though – I am sure I will go back, especially now that I know which areas I would like to re-visit. ERIN GO BRAUGH!!!!