Everyday Thoughts on an Everyday Life!

Yes, I'm still alive

2009-11-04T08:57:00.003-05:00

Don't think I've been taking to blogging as much lately - I guess my mindset changes on it all the time (never been a good decision-maker; a flip-flopper in political terms).

Anyway, wanted to mention that I'm currently reading/knitting/working/not doing much else.... Very boring life, but such is the way it is sometimes!! ;-)

I Thought My Father Was God: And Other True Tales from NPR's National Story Project by Paul Auster

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Borrowing this from the Enoch Pratt Library, and loving it - haven't managed to read it all within the 3 weeks, so will be renewing it on Friday (due date).

View all my reviews >>

Back to Reality...

2009-05-16T12:45:00.007-04:00

It's been almost 2 weeks since our return to Baltimore from our week-and-a-half long trip to Ireland, and am still feeling somewhat unsettled since our return....urgings to move back, and seriously starting to want to put a timeframe on it, so medium-to-long term plans would have to be made... We both had a great time, and it was great to meet up with family and some friends..... Stayed with my sister and family in Cork (my hometown), and met all the family, so C now has finally met them all.... Visited West Cork and Kerry, and drove so much to see what seemed like only one small part of the country. But it was worth it all....

So saddened at a life cut short

2009-03-21T11:39:00.003-04:00

I'm still with a heavy heart at the death of Natasha Richardson - not that I had seen too many of her movies nor seen any of her plays, but she's the wife of Liam Neeson, whom I'm a bigger fan of him than I realize (maybe it's the affinity of being Irish).... But I truly feel so saddened for him, and their children; he & Natasha seemed to have been so madly in love, even from looking at so many photos of them together, they're always looking so adoringly at each other; a rarity for an acting couple. Then again, they were never a Hollywood couple which probably explains a whole lot there too...

May she rest in peace, and sympathy, strength and love to her whole family.

Continued Hibernation.....

2009-03-01T08:13:00.003-05:00

...Just wishing the winter would be over, but at least it's only another month before we roll into April!! Never been much of a cold-weather fan, even though I was born in December!!

Just booked flights for a trip home to Ireland during the week, and the boy is coming with me...finally!! We've been together 6.5 years, and now that he's been divorced and the finances are looking so much better, it's time. And my nephew will be making his 1st Holy Communion this Spring, so we've managed to work our trip around that too. Will be there for a week-and-a-half, so should be a nice length of time... Must start discussing our plans for that time as to where we'd like to go/what we'd like to do/see, etc. Have to make the most of the trip! ;-)

Coffee Cake...Fresh-baked at Home!

2009-02-12T21:58:00.001-05:00

Much belated Happy New Year, and Happy Valentine's Day.......

2009-02-12T21:01:00.005-05:00

OK, haven't been blogging as much, as I think I'm spending waaaaay too much time on Facebook - can't help it, as it's too much fun to catch up with family and friends I wouldn't normally catch up with on a regular/semi-regular basis, and basically just fool around on the website....

Anyway, an extremely belated Happy New Year, and as it's 2 days before Valentine's Day, Happy Love/Heart Day too....am lucky to have someone to share it with, though we don't normally make a huge deal out of it. I did get a little spoiled last year, as I got some lovely gifts, but we had come out of a couple of weeks of a rough patch, so he was being ultra-good to me, which I loved!! We've gotten absolutely nothing planned, and I've decided to get in early, and spent tonight baking a coffee cake, and so far it's coming along fine. It's a new recipe I'm trying from Delia Smith's "How to Cook" book, and am hoping it'll be a keeper - coffee cake is a big comfort food for me (my mother bakes a really good one, and she also has a great chocolate cake too, both with butter icing). I did check with the boy recently to ask if he liked coffee cake, and the answer was very much in the positive!!!

I've been doing a bit more cooking in the New Year, and that was somewhat intentional - not so much as a New Year's Resolution (of which I don't have any), but just a new intention; we both want to spend less money on buying breakfasts/lunches/dinners, etc., so I'm trying to do what I can. Of course, I'm spending a lot more money on groceries that I normally would, but it would still work out cheaper on the long run. I still need to improve a lot though, as I'm not as far as planning a whole week's menu yet, so I have a ways to go. Soup seems to be my big thing (it's a perfect winter dish), and we've found a couple of good mushroom soup recipe, along with potato and leek, and carrot and parsnip soups, all from Darina Allen (an Irish chef).

Anyway, here are a few shots of the cake so far (it's cooling), and also a photo of the cake from the book - will add a shot later of when my version is finished, and hopefully, it'll looked good, and taste even better!! It doesn't look the most appetizing yet, but the cake should look better as a finished product.

I've not been doing as much knitting yet in 2009 - just some small projects over the holidays, and I knit a baby hat for a co-worker who had her first grandchild right before Christmas....... Hopefully that'll change soon, once some knitting motivation comes back; I'm such a hibernator during winter - sure wish I could be living in Florida, California or somewhere sunny from January - March every year ;-)

Anyway, 'til next time....

Continuing to enjoy the Christmas Hols!

2008-12-29T08:30:00.004-05:00

This year, with having been employed by my company for 5 years, I've now gotten a 3rd week of added vacation a year, so I've managed to set aside 2 weeks of it for Christmas/New Year's. Originally, I thought and hoped to have gotten back home to visit my family and friends in Ireland. Unfortunately, flight prices were just too expensive, and also, it worked out that my boyfriend didn't have quite the same amount of vacation time left to take off for 2 weeks, so hence our reason for staying put in Baltimore. We cooked dinner up at his Mother's place in York, PA (his hometown), so that worked out fine, though I have to admit, that I probably spent more time in the kitchen than I probably should have - I was a little too ambitious with the amount of side dishes planned, I guess, and couldn't organize myself properly to have himself come help me - my bad!! Anyway, it was still a lovely time....

Here's our Christmas tree, which I was very pleased with how it turned out. We moved into a new place together in October, and it's a very small Baltimore rowhome, and with space being so tight, we weren't sure about being able to accommodate a tree. But luckily, we found a 6-7ft tree, that was quite narrow, and it's worked perfectly for us!

Season's Greetings!

2008-12-22T18:57:00.004-05:00

I'm briefly coming out of Blog Hibernation - seem to have not been as involved in recent months, I'm guessing largely due to my fairly recent move-in with my boyfriend. We're renting in the south end of Baltimore City, and have been pretty involved in the move-in process with trying to sort through "stuff" (largely mine!), and where to accommodate it all in our small, cozy place.... It's been a more expensive move than anticipated between trying to purchase furniture for the place, as well as "fixing" the place up...yes, it is a rental property, and we're probably doing more than would be/is expected of tenants, but we're hoping/figuring it'd be worth it. And it works out we've had circuit breaker/washing machine/hot water heater issues, and luckily, our landlord husband-and-wife team have stepped in to fix the circuit breaker, replace the washer/dryer and installed a new hot water heater... All within less than a 2-month timeframe of moving in....more hassles than we expected, but we're working through them...

And then I celebrated a "big" birthday back in early December, and my mother and one of my sisters came to visit from Ireland for a brief stay. Worked out to be a wonderdul long weekend, and wish they could have stayed for longer, but so be it. I get to stay State-side for Christmas this year, though I had originally hoped to go back home..... Flight costs were just too prohibitive, and the boy doesn't have as much time off as me either, so works out that we stay here in Baltimore. We'll visit his mother in York, PA on Christmas Eve, and stay for about 24 hours, so that we can cook Christmas dinner there...... Should be nice, I hope - got the bulk of my grocery shopping done today, and must check on what else I may need....can't afford to spend too much more, but at least I have the main stuff covered (I hope!!).

Anyway, here's a few Baltimore Christmas photos from Hampden's 34th Street lightshow that's had every year here!

Patriotism

2008-11-04T15:34:00.002-05:00

Heard an article on the radio or maybe watched on TV recently (can't remember, but am suffering media-overload lately), regarding patriotism, and what it meant to be patriotic, etc. One viewpoint stuck, and that to be patriotic was to go out and vote. And that I did....! And so, even though I've never felt very patriotic towards any country before (and I can say this from having been born and raised in a country that is not the USA), today, I felt a little patriotic in being able to vote. So many others around the world don't have that privilege, so I feel very lucky.

Now, I'm wondering where to go to watch the results....it's going to be a very exciting night!

Moving, and exhaustion....

2008-10-12T08:18:00.002-04:00

It's been a full week since the boy & I finally moved all of my stuff out of storage, and the bulkier stuff out of my old place, and we're just exhausted...!! I finally managed to empty my bedroom, and dust/clean up/vacuum the space in my old place (not officially out of there 'til Wednesday, October 15th), so glad that's done, though I realize that I've still got my small Weber grill out on the porch. So I must contact my old landlady today, anyway, as it works out that we'll be taking her cat, Oliver, as she was at a point of sending him off to a farm, knowing that she'd have no tenant to really look after him properly. So, for the first time in my life, we'll be a pet-owner!

I'd take photos of the new place, but it's nothing but boxes right now, and just a mess. Having said that, it's better than what it was during the week, but will continue to improve once we figure out what goes where... We have to get rid of the Queen-sized bed as the staircase is too small/narrow to get it up there, and the bedrooms are too small for such a bed anyway. Small is the best way to describe the new place, so it'll be an interesting challenge to fit my stuff in. But then again, it'll be a good reason to get rid of stuff, so I'll be working eBay and Craigslist quite a bit soon. Could do with some extra income to purchase a full-size bed, and a new couch, so that'll be good!!

Anyway, off to have some breakfast....

Coming out of the woodwork, if only for a few minutes...

2008-09-30T22:19:00.003-04:00

Have been in blog hibernation lately, as there's been stuff going on - C's father passed away at the very end of August (same date as the passing of my own father, strangely/coincidentally enough), after a 3.5 year battle with lymphoma and pancreatic cancer.... So we'd been dealing with that for a little while through early September....

And over the past 2 weeks, I've been dealing with packing to move, as we've very suddenly found a place to move into together, having talked about it for far longer than actually doing anything about it.... As we're on a certain budget, we knew it'd be difficult to find somewhere, but we found a really cute, small, but cozy, 2-bed/1 bath townhouse rental property in Ridgely's Delight. Tomorrow is our first official move-in date, but as I had to give 30 days notice to my landlady, I won't be moving out until October 15 (at least officially), but I hope to have my stuff out of my current abode before then. At least by the w/end beforehand, which will be October 11/12, if not sooner, depending on how the bulk of my move will go this w/end....

So, I'm going through some busy times, in many respects, and so am trying to allow myself to get this one blog in before we say goodbye to September....

Later....'til next time, likely to be well after my move!

Camping Trip, and a finished Scarf!

2008-08-23T10:17:00.011-04:00

Just wanted to add a few photos of our first camping trip of the season, down at Point Lookout State Park, in St. Mary's County in southern Maryland. Apart from a brief, and very light shower, late on Friday afternoon, while we were setting up the tent, we had great weather all weekend. Couldn't have been more perfect for a mid-August trip - not too hot, and certainly didn't feel too humid at all. Maybe, our geographical location helped out some, as the State Park is located right where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake, so that did allow for a certain amount of breeze to help cool things down, even just a little. And there's a narrow stretch of beach on the Potomac River side that we were able to get to on Sunday morning, and got in for a couple of relaxing swims to help cool us down even further!!

The only major drawback was that C's back problems kicked in earlier in the week before we left, and still continue over 10 days later, so I'm hopeful that he'll get to a doctor like he's mentioned he just might do. He hasn't had his back problem checked out in years, and it could be worth a medical visit, but like so many men, he's never in a rush to visit a doctor.... But, this time, he may be forced to, so we'll see.....

We got to visit St. Mary's City, while we were in the locale, and even though it was a very small place, it was very scenic. We saw a wedding having been set up on the grounds of the Capitol Building, overlooking St. Mary's river (a tributary of the Potomac), and it was a wonderfully perfect spot. Hope the couple enjoyed their special day, as we did see the limo with the bride and her party arrive as we were leaving, but she got there at least 30 minutes early!! She must have been anxious to get that ring on her finger, though not that we saw her, as she stayed put in the car for a little while, and we weren't inclined to hang out and wait for her for half-an-hour!

And, I finally got my latest scarf finished too! We had a leisurely drive home, and drove around the campus of St. Mary's College, as well as stopping at a marina from where we recently had a great boat (a 40' Passport) donated to us at the
Downtown Sailing Center. We finally stopped in Annapolis for dinner, and icecream afterwards (a weakness for us both!). We went for what ended up being a very quick stroll, as C's back problem was too much for him to be able to walk around for too long. But being in the car for a 2.5 hour drive home, as well as some knitting time while we were camping, allowed me to finish my scarf. And here it is!

Keeping very quiet, and helping out

2008-08-14T07:53:00.004-04:00

Not that I've been so swamped this summer, but I haven't gotten to blog as often as I thought I would. Have had 1 sailing cruise so far this season, as well as a number of day sails out from the Inner Harbor, with more cruising plans for possibly September, and definitely October, and even into November! And we're heading off on our first camping trip of the season tomorrow, to Point Lookout State Park in St. Mary's County in southern Maryland. We've never been, and so are really looking forward to it.

In the meantime, for all you cat and pet lovers out there, please help out Anne with a neighbor's cat that she's had to take to the vet's - her blog would explain the circumstances better than I ever could!

An Interesting and Varied Weekend.....

2008-06-15T14:33:00.007-04:00

I had a 3-day weekend this weekend, as I had decided to give my boyfriend an early birthday gift (his birthday is not until 11th July) of tickets to see Alison Krauss and Robert Plant at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, an event we were both so looking forward to, and did very much enjoy. Excellent musicians and playing excellent music!! Loved it!

We were able to chill, relax, and hang out together for the day on Friday, and when we got home on Friday afternoon from doing some errands, he went online to check his email to get the news of Tim Russert's death. Needless to say, we were, and still are, stunned at the news. Neither of us are terribly into politics, nor even watch his show much (though I used to watch it a little more frequently when I used to live in DC), but we both really liked Tim Russert, who seemed so passionate about politics, his family, his hometown, his Irish and Catholic background, and had a great sense of loving life, and was living it to it's fullest. Such a genuine human being - and such a loss to have him taken so soon. May he Rest in Peace.

I got to head to Hampden for the Annual Honfest here in Baltimore, and had a great time. Wanted to visit Lovelyarns to participate in the World Wide Knit in Public Day, but I didn't get there 'til much later in the day, as I bumped into some sailing friends, some of whom I knew would be there, so I hung out with them for much of the day. But here is a taste of what I saw......

Finally left my sailing friends around 5pm or so, and finally got a little bit of knitting in. Luckily, got a call from the boy, who had been down at the DSC teaching sailing for the day, and he came up from the Inner Harbor with a fellow sailing instructor, and so we hung out watching and enjoying a band for a bit, and bumped into another fellow sailor with his lady friend, so that was fun. Good times with some sailors at a non-sailing event!!

Today, we went to Sunday Brunch at Ryan's Daughter up in Belvedere Square, as I wanted to celebrate Father's Day - C's kids are up in York, PA still living with their mother, and he didn't have plans to be up there today, so we had our own celebration here in Baltimore. He's playing golf this afternoon with a friend from an old job from several years ago, so he's having fun with that...... I haven't decided yet what to do with the rest of my afternoon, but I do have some grocery shopping to do, so will likely head to Trader Joe's in Towson.....and then decided from there what all else I'll do.

In the meantime, Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there - hoping it's a good one!

More Knitting, and Ouch at the Gas pump

2008-06-09T07:49:00.007-04:00

I'm addicted to the Ruffles Scarf Pattern from Pam Allen's Scarf Style book, and am currently in the middle of knitting my 3rd one in a row!! I took it with me yesterday to the LPGA at Bulle Rock Golf Course in Harve de Grace, MD - I was lucky enough to get free tickets from work, and my boyfriend and I were able to attend. We had a great time, even surviving the scorching heat, by using plenty of sunscreen, and drinking LOTS of fluid, mostly water....... And in between, I got the opportunity to work some more on my knitting....

On the way home, we had to stop for gas, as my tank was getting pretty empty (the warning light had come on, which I haven't allowed it to happen in months!), and low-and-behold, I spent $54 to fill up my car!! I was shocked a few weeks ago to have spent over the $40 mark (I think I spent about $44 that time), but I have never, ever, with any car I've had, spent over $50 before, so this is a first. And I don't consider my 2001 Mitsubishi Galant to be a gas guzzler either :-/ Thankfully, I don't own an SUV, and don't see one of those vehicles in my future......, but am wondering about how to work around the increased prices, as I'm sure many, many people are......

Made it to the MD Sheep & Wool Festival yesterday....

2008-05-04T11:23:00.006-04:00

...and didn't do any major damage, thankfully, so I was glad of the certain self-restraint! So much I would have loved to have purchased, but realize that I'm working on not putting myself into debt for the sake of having more "stuff", of which I have plenty of already anyway, and have yet to practice the art of simple living. Got to purchase yarn, of which I know I already have a pattern for (next step is to seek and find said pattern!), and another scarf pattern which will be great for skeins of yarn that I've no idea what to use for yet. And then there were some non-knitting purchases, like 2 hand-made soaps for a Gettysburg, PA-based pottery, a small basket from some locally-based ladies in MD, a magnet hook for my frig from a local lady who uses old spoons/forks/knives/utensils to make things with, some herbs in a bag for use as a moth-ball, a couple of wooden needles, and 2 notebooks for the frig (great to make lists/notes with)..... And here is a photo to show off all the products!

Looking forward to next year already!!

Finished Ruffles Scarf, and another one started....

2008-04-30T20:51:00.007-04:00

Finished my Ruffles Scarf a couple of weeks ago, and have started into another one, but will hopefully post pics of that at a later date......

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, MD....hopefully, I won't get to do any unnecessary damage!!

Springtime and an Addiction

2008-04-13T10:57:00.007-04:00

Am sooooooo glad the Spring is here, as I'm so not a fan of the cold, dull weather (though I think snow is fun, fun, fun!!). It's great to see the daffodils and tulips starting to bud and flower, and am excited to see the sailing season starting to kick off! Got out for my first sail of the season yesterday, and it was an unexpected invite, and very last minute too. Alas, no photos as none of us had our cameras with us, but it was so much fun all the same!

Anyhow, in the meantime, I've become addicted to the scarf I started knitting towards the end of our trip to Florida, and have been posting some of my progress on Ravelry which is a knitting website I've starting to use more and more in recent weeks, am enjoying it immensely! I won't get to enjoy wearing the scarf until next winter, due to the yarn being wool, but it's so colorful, that it'll help brighten up my winter!! Here is my latest photo of it's progress....

Settling back to life in Baltimore......

2008-04-02T07:58:00.004-04:00

Got back to my boyfriend's place in Gaithersburg on Sunday night after a long road-trip on Sat/Sun from St. Petersburg, FL, where we met up with friends from my Washington, DC days - can't believe that I know them for over 10 years now! Drove straight to work in Baltimore on Monday morning, after an early start (for me anyway) of hitting the road at 7am, and taking 1.5 hours to get to work - not a coummute I'd normally like to do!!

Anyway, am still settling back after a wonderfully relaxing trip, enjoying the beach, biking, golfing, chillin', and enjoying all the sunshine and the proximity to the surf!! Adjusting to dirty ol' Baltimore, and being back at work again is, ummmmm, interesting, as mentally, I'm still in Florida, biking down to the beach, and just hangin' out!

Here's a couple of photos of typical of our week......

By the way, Happy Birthday today to my older brother (who is back in Ireland with the rest of my family) - hope it's a great day!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! And a Finished Knitting Project too!

2008-03-17T07:41:00.005-04:00

Had hoped to post more stuff about my knitting, as I'm using this blog more frequently over the past year or so, but am so up in the air about what to write about, it literally seems to be more about whatever is happening the day that I decide to write in this blog.... Fairly directionless, I know, but tends to be how I feel that I am a lot of the time, which, of course, is never a good thing :-(

But, here is a toddler sweater that I have FINALLY finished over the weekend....it's the Boat Sweater pattern by Debbie Bliss, from a recent book (published about a year ago), and I can't remember the exact title of it, but it's something related to Family Knits (25 patterns are included if memory serves me right). I don't have my own copy of the book, as I borrowed it from the library, but copied this pattern, as it was the perfect pattern for me to knit for sailing friends who had a baby back last October. I wanted to get a nautical theme, and ended up deciding between this sweater, and another pattern, and this one won out on the day. I've figured that I really don't like sewing up all the seams, etc., so next time, I'll aim to do the seamless kind of sweater, by knitting in the round. I have a basic children and adult sweater pattern, that can be varied to spice it up. I'm not that confident in my knitting yet to vary the basic pattern too easily, but I knit with my Stitch 'n Bitch group on a fairly regular basis, that they could hopefully help me the next time I decide to tackle a sweater again!

Anyway, here are a some photos of Niko's sweater, which I hope to get to his parents this week, all going well (will be heading off to FL on Friday, so hence hoping to get it to them this week!)

And happy Paddy's day to all the Irish, and wannabe Irish, and anyone who is Irish just for this one day of the year!! Hope you all enjoy!

Another Vacation planned....

2008-03-06T14:46:00.003-05:00

Yes!

I got my vacation request for Easter Week confirmed by my supervisor today, and my boyfriend and I are planning to head to Florida for the first time since Christmas 2004. His parents have a place on the west coast, in an over-55 community, and because of their failing health, are putting their winter home for the past 20 years up for sale. I had been encouraging my boy since before Christmas that, if possible, we could/should try to get down there sometime in first quarter of the year, as a last opportunity to have somewhere to stay before it's sold to another new owner...

And, we finally got our ducks in a row since earlier this week, and along with my vacation approval today, so we're all set to head to the Sunshine state. My man just has to verify the dates with his boss at work, which is not a problem, as luck would have it! We've decided to drive down to save on flights and car rentals, so we must plan our route, but that's part of the fun....

But, Florida, here we come!!!

Total Eclipse of the Moon

2008-02-20T22:31:00.008-05:00

Just had to get out tonight to have the opportunity to see the eclipse of the moon which I had been hearing about, mostly on the radio on WYPR (88.1FM), my local NPR station here in Baltimore.

Included are a couple of my (very, very amateur) photos, which SO do not do the lunar eclipse justice, but you get an idea.

And it's a cold night here in Baltimore too - we got our 1-2 inches of snow had been predicted, so the ground was nice and white, though luckily, it didn't stick to the roads. Though that could be different in the morning, depending on the overnight temps, so we'll see what tomorrow's daylight brings.....

Trying to keep busy this weekend....!!

2008-02-03T20:37:00.000-05:00

I was seriously considering going on a hike today with the Baltimore Hiking Group of which I'm a member through Meetup.com. But by the time I got my laundry started, coffee/breakfast made and eaten, I just didn't have time to get up to the Gunpowder Falls State Park in time for the 10:30am meetup time, so I decided to take a day trip to Gettysburg, PA instead.

I have only been up there once before, and that was over 10 years ago, back in the Fall of 1997, so I figured I was way overdue a visit again! I had certain memories of my previous visit, which I did with 2 girlfriends at the time, but have since lost all contact with (they were from my Washington, DC days, which seems like such a lifetime ago!), so it was time to make new memories for myself. There were a couple of places that I remembered, which was nice, but even better was the fact that I didn't remember enough places from my last visit, and that I was able to create what seemed like a totally new first-time visit, though old memories of my life back then came seeping back, but that's how life is......

Anyway, I came back to Baltimore hungry, and took home some Chinese, and am now here online watching 60 Minutes on CBS, so it's sooooo not a SuperBowl night for me. I had been invited to a party, but am mentally not up for it, so I'm relaxing at home instead......

Here are some photos from my trip to Gettysburg today...... Must finish up here soon, as I'm pretty beat - the drive up and down to PA, as well as some short walks and hikes while in Gettysburg have taken more out of me than I thought, but hope that'll help me sleep better tonight!

A Little "Me" Time!

2008-02-02T22:49:00.000-05:00

Had my first weekend day to myself in a long time, and spent some time doing stuff only I wanted to do!!

Started off by having to bring my car in to have the front left tire checked out. When I got out of work on Thursday evening, I discovered (not straight away, unfortunately!), a fairly flat tire, but was lucky enough to have enough air in it to get to a fairly close gas station on the way home, and fill it up. Noticed by yesterday that it seemed to have had a slow leak, so took it to my "new" local car shop (recommended to me by Knitting friends from Stitch 'n Bitch group - thank you Sarah and Lynn!), where a nail was discovered..... Got it fixed in no time at only $15, to which I was quite relieved, as I was worried about the possibility of having to replace the tire. Due to still paying for my flight home for Christmas, and also the work done to the car right before I left on vacation, I really didn't want another added unexpected expense to add to the list!

Got to have a pleasant walk afterwards at a local park that the boy and I had talked about and make a slight attempt to walk around before (Wyman Park by JHU), but never really did, so today was my day to take that walk!! Seems to be the thing that I do when in times of "trouble".....

Got to my local Panera Bread (a few miles north of where I live) by mid-morning for late breakfast, and from there, I decided to head further north for some hiking (again, it seems to be the thing I do in difficult times!), and so I enjoyed that, and felt so much better for it. I've lucked out in the weather, as temps were rather mild today, with absolutely no rain, unlike yesterday, when it poured out of the heavens like it was going out of fashion!

Then I went window-shopping at a local mall, and managed to bump into a friend, which was always a nice surprise (2nd time that's happened so far this year, and I love it!!). Didn't get to hang out with her for too long (she introduced me to her daughters who were shopping in the store we all were at), as I had bought a movie ticket a half-hour previously, and the movie was starting 10/15 minutes from when I bumped into them, so ended up having a more rushed conversation with them than I would have liked........ But I did get to see "27 Dresses" which I thoroughly enjoyed, as I really needed to see a "girly" movie, and this was the one for me. Two movies at the movie theater in 2 weeks - not at all typical of me, but as it's winter, and the best time of the year to be watching/going to the movies, I figured, why the heck not?!!

Anyhow, got in a little bit of grocery shopping too, so felt good about that, but am now at a point of slowing down, as I'm getting rather sleepy - I did wake up very early this morning (around 6:20am!), but then again, I was falling asleep way too early last night (around 8:30pm - how sad on a Friday night!!). It was largely due to not having slept too well all week, so it finally caught up with me by week's end. I was glad to have finally gotten the sleep I needed, and did feel quite refreshed today, so hence that helped me feel pretty good, at least for the most part anyway!! Weird what some stress will do to you, but such is way of life sometimes.

Gotta take the bad with the good, and how one deals with the stresses/strains one's dealt with is a test of one's character. I have to admit to not being good at with dealing with life's knocks, so it's something I have to work on (along with plenty of other "issues" I feel I have!), as I "could always do better"!!! And with that, I'll say goodnight, as I really am starting to fade...... zzzzz-time is here, so gotta go!!

Rough Week

2008-02-01T05:06:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty rough week, both on the personal front and at work, and so I'm not in the best of sorts at the moment...... I'm hoping things will pan out for me sometime sooner rather that later, but it's hard going through these tough times, especially with what seems like so many negative things going through my head (and heart) right now.

But, as someone at work told me yesterday (and in the best way possible), just to "soldier on", so will do what I can, though at times, I just want to curl up and sleep, and hope it's all gone by the time I wake up. I guess I can keep dreaming.....!!

Oh well, such is life sometimes, and I'll just have to ride this wave out, and see where I land when all is said and done!

First Movie of the Year

2008-01-21T07:41:00.000-05:00

We finally got to see our first movie of the year yesterday, as we decided to head up to Hunt Valley to got window-shopping. The boy needs new hiking boots, as the pair that he's had for about the past 15 years finally fell apart last weekend (at least the left boot did - the sole finally broke away from the shoe while we were out for a walk in a local neighborhood, and luckily it happens on our way home!)....we found a new pair at a decent price at DSW, but will have to wait 'til next payday in the hopes they'll still be there. In the meantime, I was able to buy a new pair of slippers to replace the pair I had bought at DSW about 4 or 5 years ago, that have been showing their age in recent months. I am pretty pleased with them, and they were very inexpensive too! A photo is included to show off my new "furry friends"!!!

Anyhow, as it was so cold outside, and we weren't into doing too much window-shopping due to post-Christmas budget constraints, we decided to catch a matinee at the movie theater, and got to see "Charlie Wilson's War". We enjoyed it, and are always glad to catch a movie at the theater, as it's something we don't tend to do as often as we'd like to..... I just have to take more care in the amount of buttered popcorn I eat, as it seems to not sit as well with me the older I get :-/ But it was a fun time!

Snow....

2008-01-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

We've gotten our first snow of the year today, and were able to get out of work a little early too, which is always an added bonus! I had a hair appointment for this evening, and luckily they had called me right when I had found out we could leave work early, so I was able to get that appointment squeezed in, and still got home close to an hour earlier than I normally would have even left work. So that was nice. Unfortunately, I didn't have an opportunity to take any photos, but I'm hoping that there'll still be enough snow on the ground in the morning, that I may be lucky enough to take some then, all going well......

Changes....

2008-01-08T19:03:00.000-05:00

....I know there's going to be some changes (all good, by the way!!) this year, as I start to settle back to living and working in Baltimore again, and even though transitions are always unsettling, it's always good to make some changes, especially when way overdue......

Nothing negative in the works anywhere in particular, just very, very unsettled in one aspect of life, which is bothering me enough to get into action, though just one step at a time.....I'm not always the quickest mover in many respects, which is always a regret, but a side of me that I'm still dealing with and struggling to accept.

As "coy" as this post is, it's unintentional, but will probably come out later, whenever the (positive) changes do get to happen!!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post - am still in the process of recovering from jet-lag even though I've been back in the US since Monday; largely, I'm still waking up a little earlier than usual (around 6am yesterday and the day before, but have been awake & up since right before 5am this morning!) and hence, getting tired earlier than usual every night too (from around 9pm onwards). But such is life, and I'm hoping that I'll fully recover over the weekend!

Anyhow, had a quiet New Year's Eve celebration with my boyfriend. I slept for about 2-3 hours after getting back to DC late in the afternoon, and managed to stay up for another couple of hours, before my boyfriend sent me back to bed 20 minutes before midnight hit. Jet-lag at it's worst! I think I was brushing my teeth by the time midnight came and went, so not a huge celebration on my part! I had enough energy to go downstairs to have a quick "New Year's kiss" and headed right back to bed, and was out cold in a flash!

OK, off to get ready for work!! Later.....! And by the way, my trip to Ireland was a very relaxing, family-oriented trip, and I loved meeting my new nephew!! More news in a later post, I hope!

Getting caught up with the Holiday Shopping....

2007-12-18T08:14:00.000-05:00

.....and stressing out a little with not quite having gotten everything yet, and also with the financial strain of it all too... BUT, have also to spend time cleaning up my room, start packing, sort out some gift-wrapping, figure if I have a realistic opportunity to get 2 last items that I know I'd like before my return to Ireland for Christmas, and trying not too worked up about it all, as I'm starting to realize how little time there seems to be!!! It'll all fall into place, I hope!! Realistically, I'm not stressing out too much, but am just a little anxious about what it is that I think I'd like to get done beforehand....I'm also feeling down about my boyfriend not travelling with me next week, largely for financial reasons, and that's understandable, but I'm going to miss him so much, as I know he will me, but such is life. All will be fine, and I am looking forward to seeing my niece and nephews next week, and spending time back in Cork at Christmastime, which is the first time in 5 years that I've been home this time of year! Should be fun, I hope!

Changes of the Season and Christmas

2007-12-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

I've been enjoying the changing of the seasons as best as I can, and Autumn is still my favorite, and Winter being my least favorite. I'm not a huge fan of the cold, but I do love snow, so I'm continously conflicted, but such is life...

Here are a couple of shots taken from my bathroom (!!) window - one taken recently when we still had leaves on a neighbor's tree, and one taken just now, with absolutely no leaves.....what a difference a couple of weeks can make!!

And I've also been getting into the Holiday season, listening to Christmas music, doing some shopping, not doing very well at staying on budget, though my purchases are not altogether dreadfully expensive :-( I do love this time of year, though, except for the financial pressures, which never seem to fail me!! I've decided to include a photo of the Christmas tree down at Port Discovery, which I took last night. I was meeting friends at Howl of the Moon for the Happy Hour that a girlfriend had won, so it was nice to get down there for a couple of drinks! Didn't stay long, and was out of there not long after 7:30pm, but it was still fun! It's been a busy week, with having had birthday celebrations on Tuesday, and other holiday celebrations for the remainder of the week, but makes me appreciate the down time too, and I am certainly glad to have friends to do things with, unlike when I first moved to Baltimore in late 2000.

Well, I'm going to tidy up here, and get ready to head out to meet my boyfriend and other sailing friends for drinks and dinner, as I am getting hungry!

'Til next time!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-12-04T07:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday to Me,
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday,
Happy Birthday to Me!

OK, I don't normally 'sing' greetings to myself, but as I'm alone this morning, I figured I would..... Heading into the end of my 30's by celebrating!!

Quiet birthday celebrations over the weekend

2007-12-03T08:13:00.001-05:00

Spent the weekend having a fairly quiet time with my boyfriend, and hanging out with friends on Saturday evening for the Lighted Boat Parade in Baltimore's Inner Harbor - we hung out at Captain Larry's bar in Federal Hill after it was discovered that our usual haunt of Little Havana's was closed to the public for a private party. It was nice for a change to be somewhere different, and I like Captain Larry's, as that's where we went to for our friend's baby shower back in September, which was a great time! We also got for a short walk around Fort McHenry on Saturday afternoon too which was nice, though it was soooooo cold all day.

We had Sunday Brunch at Gecko's Bar in (Upper) Fell's Point yesterday which was our first time there in several years - a place kinda close to our hearts, as it was our first "unofficial date" together, though it was well before we started dating..... We wanted to take a walk around Fell's Point, but it was raining, so that detered us from hanging out for as long as we wanted to, but we did get the opportunity to hang out at one of the antique stores down there..... Fun times, and more celebrations tomorrow for my actual birthday itself - will be planning to be at Little Havana's, as our sailing friends have their social get-together's there on Tuesday nights in the off-season, which we're now well into the swing of....

Car break-in...

2007-11-12T08:04:00.000-05:00

To the idiot(s) (I'm being too nice....) who broke into my car on Friday night, thanks....! Just what I need right now is to spend extra money on fixing a broken window, and the after-effects of now not feeling quite as safe in my neighborhood.

Thanks for nothing....

California

2007-10-24T22:21:00.000-04:00

Am glad to note that the few family and friends living in Southern California have come out relatively unscathed from all the wildfires occurring there at the moment, so am feeling relieved for their sakes.....

Photos of my new computer

2007-10-22T08:05:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd post a couple of photos of my new computer - the lack of which had me out of the loop on and off during the summer, and definitely for the bulk of September. Am so glad to have a brand new machine! Am now in the process of trying to pay for it, and I've just sold a couple of items on eBay that I haven't used for ages (my old walkman, and an old Nikon camera that got water-damaged, and hopefully will be good for parts - they've both been purchased and paid for within the past day or two, so hopefully, these folks will enjoy their new purchases!).

Great news - I'm an Aunt again!

2007-10-12T07:39:00.001-04:00

Found out yesterday afternoon that my older sister has had her 3rd baby, a boy, as yet unnamed, who came in at 7lbs, 7oz. at 2:30pm local time (they're back in Ireland), on 11th October 2007. He follows his older brother and sister with honoring me with Aunthood again! Looking forward to hearing more about the little man, and getting photos and a name once they figure that out!!

Great to get some good news in the midst of some uncertainties elsewhere in my life, but nothing that time won't help in waiting to see where things go....... Hard to keep positive sometimes when feeling a little too anxious, so hence getting news of my sister's baby helps a LOT in relieving some tension!

Lack of Computer Access

2007-09-26T19:10:00.000-04:00

OK, so now my old laptop has finally bit the bullet as of a couple of weeks ago, so I now have no readily available internet access or computer usage, and so am not blogging as often as I thought I would get into, hence my lack of chit-chat and photo uploading.

We had a GREAT time at Elk Neck State Park - highly recommended for those who may enjoy camping. I'll try to remember to post photos, once I get my new Gateway laptop which is currently in the process of being ordered and sent to me - estimated arrival date 10/01/2007 according to their records. It was either going to be Gateway or Dell, and I did prefer the look of the Dell overall (and could get a corporate discount through work, but not a huge one, but every little helps), but the Gateway worked out to be ever so slightly cheaper, so money talks.... Hope I won't be extending myself too much by taking out this computer loan through my credit union, but it'll just be for a year, unless I can pay it off far sooner, which is my hope!!!

Anyhow, am at my local library, the Waverly branch here in Baltimore's Enoch Pratt library system, and it's just around the corner from home. Don't come here too often, as I tend to go to the Central library close to work on a regular basis instead.

Have only less than 2 minutes left, so must rush off!!

Going Camping!!

2007-08-27T15:05:00.000-04:00

OK, we're heading off on our first (!!) camping trip of the season next weekend for Labor Day weekend, America's unofficial ending of summer. We won't be travelling far, just up to Elk Neck State Park, which should take only about 90 minutes or so, so should make for an easy drive. A beach location was initially preferred, but due to our late planning, it didn't happen that way, and we lucked out in finding some openings still available at Elk Neck, right at the top of the Chesapeake Bay, and there's a beach of sorts there, according to it's map.

Camping became a new hobby last summer when I got involved with a local group, and I went on several camping trips last year - himself even came on a couple of them with me, until we went on our own last Labor Day weekend. That group has since disbanded, and hence I haven't been since, and as he isn't as into camping ("I'd rather be sailing"), he's still happy to appease by going on at the least the one trip together, just him and me!

Looking forward to being out in the woods/wilderness (or at least kind of, anyway!), and being close enough to the water too!! Will hope to post some photos of our camping trip too....

'Til next time......

Life as it is...

2007-08-01T20:01:00.000-04:00

Life too busy with everything and nothing recently, so haven't posted, but will try to get back soon!

Back from California....

2007-07-10T15:39:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been almost 4 weeks since leaving for California, and it's starting to feel like a mini-lifetime ago.....

I've been having problems with my desktop computer (it finally died, and have now had the hard-drive removed, and accessible through a piece of external hardware that my boyfriend purchased for me, and so I'm now in the process of wanting to sell it - it's served me well after years of use/upgrading/abuse, etc.), and my (very pre-owned) laptop is in the process of having it's battery replaced (found a great deal on eBay, and battery is already installed and working well), and am waiting for my other eBay purchase of a power cord to arrive before plugging it in and hoping the machine will finally work again!! I hope that it'll help me out for the next 6-12 months or so before I bite the bullet, and have to go shopping for a new computer... But, hence my delay in posting, or adding any photos to this blog.....I took about 400 photos between my digital and film cameras, so I continued to be my snap-happy self!!

Also, since getting back from CA, I found out my brother was in San Diego since late May/early June!!! It really ticked me off initially, as C & I were so close in deciding to visit there while we were in the L.A. area, but decided against doing so, in an effort to save some $$$. BUT, it worked out that my brother cut his summer short there, as he didn't really take to San Diego or the heat (he's a cooler climate guy, who prefers the temps. he's more attuned to in Ireland), so he came out to New York early last week, and I got him down to Baltimore on Thursday (thanks to a room-mate, L, who lives 50% of his time in Brooklyn, and 50% in Baltimore), and the brother stayed 'til early Sunday morning, when I sent him on a train to Southern Connecticut to visit our cousin and family for the day and subsequent overnight trip. He flies back to Ireland tomorrow, having gotten his break from the hometown boredom/blues/whatever he wanted to get away from for a while.....

Anyhow, must away with myself again, due to limited minutes on the Public Library computer.....

Will hope to be back sooner rather than later!

Sailing Raft Up

2007-06-05T08:02:00.000-04:00

Got to attend the 1st Friday Social of the Downtown Sailing Center last Friday night, and the Cruising Committee planned and got a raft-up together, and got to stay overnight. C is Boat Captain this year of one of the cruising boats, and has been very involved in working on Octet, a 30' Beneteau, and he's loving it. Having had his own boat for over 5 years, until donating it earlier this year due to time and financial constraints, he's able to continue his enjoyment of boat maintenance with this boat at the DSC.

Anyhow, we lucked out on weather, as it was a gorgeous night, dry (though humid), and we had a lovely sunset, and enough of a breeze during the night to make sleeping easier. Hung out for coffee on the Pintita, and generally had a great time!! Very exhausting being out in the sun too, as it can really drain the energy, as a nap was had later that afternoon.

Vacation plans....

2007-05-17T20:26:00.000-04:00

Finally, I've been able to make some vacation plans today that I'm really excited about!! Friends of ours are getting married in Laguna Beach, CA on June 16th, and I've finally been able to find flights at a really great price, but did have to be very flexible on dates. C and I are travelling from Wednesday to Wednesday, which kinda sucks in not being able to sandwich the week in between 2 weekends, and still having to take 6 vacation days off to accommodate. BUT, in flying from the east coast to the west for less than $250 roundtrip (inclusive of taxes!), I shouldn't complain!! We're looking forward to it, and have found not a bad price for car rental either. We're hoping to visit C's sister and family in Malibu too, and even create some of our own vacation elsewhere, but there'll only be so much we can do in 6.5 days too....especially as the wedding will be right smack in the middle of our week. We'll work something out to make the most our trip, and hopefully, get back for more, sooner rather than later!! And am also hoping to catch up with an old friend who's finishing up her PhD in Neuroscience at UC Irvine this year, so I really hope that pans out, as I'd love to see her and her new baby, who'll be about 9.5 months old by the time of our trip!

California, here we come!!!

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

2007-05-06T15:50:00.000-04:00

Got to the Sheep & Wool Festival yesterday as planned, and was able to meet my boyfriend's cousin, who I discovered a few months ago had been to it before, and was really wanting to go back again, but couldn't find any of her friends to go with her. So she & I met mid-morning, after both of us were delayed by either lack of getting out of the door on time (me!), or traffic delays (her!), but luckily, I was there before she was, so that made me feel so less guilty at being the late person (as would tend to be more typical...). I have to admit, time-keeping is not one of my strong points....a combination of the Irish in me, as a culture, we tend to be laidback in many ways, but I do happen to have my own casual sense of time too, which drives many folks crazy, but then again, I have certain (Irish) friends who are worse than I am, so that makes me feel a little better (only just a little though!).

Anyway, even though I had my camera with me, I didn't take any photos while there, as we were too busy browsing the stalls. We both really likes pottery a lot, and we both made small purchases from a local pottery vendor, Green Bridge Pottery, from Dayton, MD. We went to buy some organically made soap, which I wouldn't normally do, but it was top of the list for Ann to buy, and I'm looking forward to trying out my couple of soaps soon!! I did very well, and didn't buy too much yarn, and didn't use my credit card, so was very pleased. I am trying to cut back on spending, and adding more stuff to my piles of "fluff" that I tend to hoard, including yarns, books and supplies. My recent move helped me realize what a hassle it is to have too many things (necessary as well as unnecessary items!). I'm not disciplined to have come away empty-handed though! I surprised myself, by buying a hand spindle, which was a spontaneous purchase (which hopefully, I won't regret), but thought it'd be fun to try out. I was given a demonstration by one of the ladies at the place I bought it from, but will have to try it for a while, and see how well (or not!) I may get into it!!

Also, I bumped into a couple of folks I knew from a couple of knitting groups that I attend on either a regular or not-so-regular basis, so that was a really nice touch to the day too, as it's neat that I'm starting to get to know people who attend these kinds of events too, and who are just as or far more into knitting than I am!! I did bump into knitting friends last year too, but it's always fun to do so again.

I've included some photos of my purchases, which includes yarn from Tess Yarns from Maine and Dancing Leaf Farm in Maryland, my hand spinner, and some yarn for spinning with, mohair, kid mohair and dyed merino wool. Also, my pottery dish with one of my soaps, and a keyring which I though was cute - made from a teaspoon handle, and I also bought one for my boyfriend, as I thought they were so cute! Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of that vendor, as I really like their stuff - they took old cutlery, and made items like windchimes, plate-stands, pins/brooches, and other adorable stuff, and I foolishly never did go back to them, even though I was tempted to buy one of their windchimes. And they were very reasonably priced too. Grrrr....all I know is that they were amongst the outside North vendors..... And I bought a pattern for a cute sweater, too, which I couldn't resist!

Anyway, had a fun time, and was exhausted by days end.....got to meet my Sweetie and other friends later, but was too late to join them for dinner, but stayed for a drink, and my own quick bite to eat, and we came home early at around 9:30 - 10pm or so.

I was going to do the Chesapeake Bay Bridge walk today, but a combination of tiredness, plus the fact that they cancelled the event this morning anyway, due to high winds, prevented me from going. Now, I don't feel bad for not going...I'm hoping I can get to do it next year instead, all going well. And it allowed me the time to work on continuing to tidy up my room, and continue to purge items and paperwork and plenty of other stuff that I really need to get rid of. Spent a couple of hours this morning working on my floppy disks, transferring stuff onto my computer's hard drive, and deleting everything else, and so now I have 58 disks I'm looking to get rid of! I'm considering taking them into work and put them into the office supply cabinet for those folks who have a floppy disk drive on their computers to get to use, as I wouldn't like the disks to go to waste.... But then again, they may not be wanted there, so I'm not sure... I still have about another 30 or so disks to go through, on top of the others I went through a couple of weeks ago, and am glad to be getting rid of this stuff. Went through some paperwork and files, and have a full trashbag of crap, and will probably have more to come, at the rate I'm going!! Just need to get rid of my excesses, and learn not to get too attached to THINGS that I don't really need! I'm too sentimental for my own good, sometimes!!

Want to get outside today, as it's already 4:36pm now according to my computer's clock, and I haven't been outside yet, so I really need to get some fresh air....

'Til next time!

May Day, and Spring is Here!

2007-05-01T08:06:00.000-04:00

A couple of photos of my new place that I've moved to a month ago, and the old place doesn't compare to it at all, as this house and neighborhood are a HUGE improvement!!! The bottom photo is of the back of the house, and my room has the two dormer windows on the top floor (it's a semi-detached home, so the remaining windows belong to the house next door). The 2nd photo is of the porch, which I'm hoping to get out and enjoy using soon, now that the weather has started improving, though I get the impression that the current roommates don't use it much, if at all, which is a shame.

And then there's Oliver, the resident cat!! One roommate, Mike, has 2 of his own cats too, Nomad and Tattoo, but the homeowner, Michelle (currently in the UK with her English husband and young daughter), owns Oliver, and he's the most sociable cat..... I'm not a huge cat person, but I'm really starting to take a shine to Oliver, and he's crashed on my bed a couple of nights over the past couple of weeks, and I'm enjoying his company!!!

Anyhow, must get ready for work.... Happy May Day, and Happy Springtime!

What next.....?

2007-04-17T16:16:00.000-04:00

Just when things seem to be OK, Virginia Tech happens...... What is it about the Americans, and their freedom-loving ways, and their "constitutional right to bear firearms"...... I have to admit that the longer I live here, the more I wonder about this place, and wonder if freedom is really what they really think they have..... Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy living here 95% of the time, but that 5% of the time, I really wonder.......

On other things, am settling in slowly but surely to my new place, and I don't even miss my old place in Severn, MD at all..... Where I'm at is just so quiet (granted, I do get to hear more sirens, etc., but that may be more to do with living pretty close to Union Memorial Hospital too), and the room-mates are just so much friendlier..... Definitely worth the money I'm paying for the place right now, and am certainly enjoying it....

Work is a mini-state of turmoil, as layoffs were announced last week, and changes are still happening, and the ripple effect is still kicking in too.... I'm not worrying about it too much, as decisions are being made from NYC where the HQ is (it's a large, world-wide company), and if more jobs are going to go, so be it.....

Anyway, have finally gotten my taxes done, thankfully!!! Federal taxes are coming back to me, but I owe MD just a little bit, so it works out fine........ Just glad to have both sets of tax returns filed and finished with for this year!!

More later...!

Some photos...

2007-04-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

These were photos I took at my old place back on Valentine's Day - the day of the excessive snow, as well as the run-in with my former landlady... :-/ But it was such a beautiful evening, with such a nice sunset, I really needed some calming, and couldn't help but take these photos, and I've just come across them. Just had to share...

Changes continue to happen......

2007-04-11T20:11:00.000-04:00

Paradise is taking a break, and we're both fine with that, as we need our respective space....it's not easy, but under the circumstances, it's the best thing we can do, and take priority for ourselves first, and then each other.... Uncertainty is never fun, but taking time out for myself is nice too, so I'm feeling a little better because of that, and so is he...

Other changes are happening at work....impending layoffs are in the process of being announced, and we're not sure how things are going to pan out in our part of the company or even how things will be effected in our department. But, we'll find out more details in the next day or two, and I'm not going to, and can't, worry about it all, as it's something that's out of my hands, And as I'm doing the kind of work that can transfer anywhere (to almost any company at at geographical location), I don't feel tied or stuck to this company, so it'll work out fine in the end.......at least for me. I'm not one of those who is tied to a mortgage, or has a spouse or kids to support, so I feel I'm one of the luckier ones. Yes, I have my share of financial responsibilities like most adults do, but I'm less tied down, so if there's ever a good time to get laid off from a job, this is the time..... We'll see what way the cookie crumbles.....

And yes, I'm settling into the new place slowly but surely, and have put more stuff into storage, have a bag of stuff (largely clothes) now sitting in the car for Goodwill, and am finding space slowly but surely for my things I'm keeping. I've a few small things on eBay, and I've gone one item already being bidded on, so I'm excited about that..... I don't miss the old place at all, though I've had to stop by over the past couple of weekends (albeit briefly) to pick up a few things I've left behind by mistake. But I don't foresee any more visits back to Severn anytime soon, unless I'll be down at Arundel Mills Mall, which I'll get to every once in a while.....hey, we women like to shop!!! No photos to update yet, of how my room is getting cleaned up, but I may start reconfiguring how the furniture may work in this room.....or not, as the case may be.

Anyway, I'm tired, so will have to log off soon........'til next time!

Still unpacking... :-/

2007-04-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

Still have so much to get through, and have started a "Goodwill" bag of mostly clothes, and have put a few more things into storage since Sunday. Continued going through some kitchen stuff last night, as it looks likely that I won't need most of my own stuff, as there's quite a bit in the kitchen that seems to be for common use, so I am continuing to pack that up. Am looking towards the day that I move out of this place in Guilford, not knowing how long or short I'll stay, but am in no rush to go anywhere anytime soon!!!

Haven't been sleeping well either for the past couple of nights, so I'm feeling very exhausted as I write. Still continues to be trouble in paradise, and that's been mentally draining, so my sleep has been effected. That's all I'll say here about that for right now.

But, will be glad when I figure out what to do with my excess stuff, and at least get some of it cleared out, and minimize the amount of stuff in my bedroom, which is looking a lot better than what it was on Saturday!! I should take photos of my progress, even just for my own piece of mind!!

Anyhow, must get back to work, as I'm on a late lunch, and must return..... Traffic was a nightmare this morning with a combination of wet weather and some Motivational convention going on in town today. Marylanders just don't know how to drive in the rain, and Baltimore so badly needs to improve it's public transportation system.....sorry, but 1 lightrail line, and 1 subway line for a city this size just doesn't cut it...... The Baltimore buses suck too, as do the streets, which are covered in potholes, but I totally digress - another subject for another time!!

Must....get....back...to...work......

"The Move" is finally over!

2007-04-01T22:16:00.000-04:00

OK, am now finally, oh so finally, ensconced up here in my new place in the Guilford neighborhood in Baltimore, and am still in the process of trying to organize myself in my new place. The final end of the move happened on Friday, 3/30, and seemed to have gone well for most of the day. My boyfriend came with me to help me pick up the UHaul on Friday morning, a little earlier than planned, but that was fine, as it gave us the head start that we needed. Then packed it up with mostly furniture to bring to storage in Glen Burnie, then back to the house, to pack up the bed, and some other bits and pieces, and then up to Baltimore to face the real challenge of the day for the 2 of us, and that was to bring the queen-sized bed up two flights of stairs to my room :-/. We managed, but not without him indicating that the next time I move, he'll be busy that weekend!!!??!!

But got my man out on time to meet with his sailing buddies for 4pm, and me on my merry way to get gas for the truck, and to return it, which all happened by 4:30pm, grabbed food, and got home to eat by 5pm, and was totally anxious as a woman who said she'd call during the day to pick up a piece of furniture that I was getting rid of through www.freecycle.com hadn't called yet, and I really needed everything gone.... Called her at 5:40pm, and she was out to me in an hour, and the couch was taken by a guy who came out at 7pm that night, so I finally was able to get all the big stuff out of my way. Other folks had come out last Monday night to pick up other stuff I couldn't sell at either attempts at my yard sale, so that worked fine for me.

Only problem was that I still had a few too many "piddly" things still left in the house, and in between cleaning/vacuuming/straightening things up as best as I could, I found myself spending more time taking care of stuff than I thought it was going to take, so by the time my man got back at around 8:30/9pm, I was tired/stressed/wound up, and totally spaced out and on edge. Suffice to say, an argument ensued, and caused for a not very good night's sleep, and he left yesterday, not a happy camper......... Nothing like the stress of a whole move to bring out the "best" in a relationship.....! It's a downer on top of what was an almost smooth move out of the house, but luckily, I've had unpacking and further reorganization to keep me busy.

Also, managed to make it out for a hike yesterday afternoon at Patapsco State Park in Catonsville, though I was late for meeting my friends, and so hiked by myself, but met them afterwards, which was nice. Then other friends were having a BBQ later, so we got to join them......and then tonight, I got to meet with my Stitch 'n Bitch group (knitting and gossip, and gossip covers everything from local politics, work, kids/family, whatever's going on in our lives, etc.), so that was great to hang out with some women friends, and have a badly needed glass of wine...very relaxing.

Will be waiting with anticipation as to how my much shorter commute will be tomorrow - will be one of the many things that I will not miss about my old place..!!

Until next time, good night....am off to bed, as I'm sooooo tired!

What is it about Yard Sales??!!

2007-03-24T13:16:00.000-04:00

Well, I seem to be doing just a little better today, as by 1:15pm, I've had 3 people come by - since 9am!! At least I've made a couple of sales, one of them being my TV Stand, so I'm glad to see a bulkier item go, but would love to get rid of the few pieces of furniture - armchair, couch, 2 bookcases, hallstand, end-table, my bedframem and IKEA dining table & chairs. Another woman purchased some tupperware, and also my gas canister that I wasn't even planning on selling, but she noticed it, so I offered it to her for $1..... Hey, $1 in my pocket for something I probably wasn't going to ever use again anyway... I know March is not the best time of the year for Yard Sales in the NE or Mid-Atlantic area, but I really hoped that it may have worked out better today, but....

.....Per my boyfriend's suggestion, he's indicated I should probably aim to continue the yard sale tomorrow, as the weather is expected to be even better again, so I plan to do that........ Not that it's all about the money, as ultimately, it's not, but it'd be nice to get rid of even the "bigger ticket" items, if only to help to defray the expenses that I've had for the month of March, what with paying double rent for 3 weeks of the month, and my deductible on the car damage.... So I've added a new Craiglist ad, in the hopes it may help.

Let's just see how everything works out, and I'll just be glad when the whole move is over, as once my yard sale w/end is over, I'll be likely trying to coordinate with Salvation Army, or whatever other charity of choice can come by to pick up any pieces that are too large for me to bring over.... Then renting a truck to move the few big furniture items I have to move to storage or the new place in Guildford, or whatever.... All I know is that once I move to the new place, there'll probably still be stuff I'll want to get rid of, and maybe try to sell on eBay or else just give to Goodwill/Salvation Army/whatever charity of choice.....

Everything happens for a reason, even though we may not always know/like/understand the reason, but it'll all work out fine.....at least I hope anyway!!

Yard Sale Preparations

2007-03-19T15:28:00.000-04:00

OK - considering my first meager attempts at a yard sale never really had a chance - combination of lack of advertising on my part (Craigslist and word of mouth amongst friends) and bad weather that hit on Friday, and kept it cold over the weekend, didn't seem to quite cut it, and so it was a washout. No-one, absolutely not one soul showed up.... I felt bummed, but am glad that I'm around next weekend to be able to afford the time to try again. And this time, I really hope it'll be even just a little better.

For increased advertising, I'm now looking to the local City Paper, Pennysaver (depending on costs), Craigslist again, going to post signs in my local grocery store and library, as well as word of mouth amongst friends and co-workers (again). That and forecasts of far better weather (at least temperature-wise) over the weekend should very definitely help (at least I hope!!!).

Here's my updated ad in Craigslist that I posted last Monday night, followed by the one I've just posted this afternoon (almost identical, but different photos):

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/gms/292981285.html

http://baltimore.craigslist.org/gms/296747129.html

Posted a free ad through City Paper's website this morning to get in before their 12 noon deadline, and must get back to work to prepare some ads for my local grocery store & library....

Wish me luck!!

Things are coming together, I think!

2007-03-18T21:25:00.000-04:00

Well, yes, my lease was signed and deposit and rent checks sent, and finally arrived, with a slight delay, due to the US Postal Service in Baltimore working so wonderfully well (note sarcasm), and so I started moving some bits & pieces to the new place last weekend, though this w/end, I feel I've done diddly-squat... :-/ Such is life.....! The new place is another housemate situation (not perfect, but far better than what I have), and located very close to JHU, and so in a very nice neighborhood, and a monthly lease, so that works perfectly for me, as if I find that it may not work out, or if my circumstances change for whatever reason, just have to give my month's notice, and I'm outta there....

Attempted to have a yard sale yesterday (Paddy's Day), and didn't end up happening - combination of different things - didn't advertise enough, Paddy's Day and folks wanted to go out drinking (as if the Irish do nothing else but.....if only they knew!), and the weather was bad (icy snowy conditions, and high's of about 37F), not all conducive to folks wanting to go to a yard sale. Will aim to have it next Sat. instead, temps in the 60's!! Should make the world of difference I hope, and also to get more ads out there....

Got my car back this week too, finally, after the collision center was messing around with me since Monday, but it's nice to have my own wheels back again, and everything looking nice.....

Anyhow, I'm tired, so am going to close here, as I'm so tired, I'm getting cross-eyed....

Night, night....!

Seem to have found a new place to move to....

2007-03-05T07:27:00.000-05:00

.......but don't want to say too much for fear of jinxing it, as I haven't signed the lease yet. It's in Baltimore City, and found it a couple of weeks ago, and everything was right about this place, except for the timing of it. Owner wanted me to move in straight away, but I indicated that the earliest I could possibly move in was the w/end of March 10th, (on the basis my current landlady seriously wanted me out by March 14th), but that I could be where I'm at until March 31st. Well, as it now happens, I am at my current abode 'til March 31st, as I have a receipt to indicate as such, though my rent check hasn't cleared my account yet..... And this new place's owner now is offering me this place to move into next weekend, so has prorated the March rent for me......

I talked with my boyfriend about it, and he's indicated that I should go there, as all other indications were that it's a good fit; rent works out slightly cheaper and inclusive of utilities (unlike my current abode!), nicer house, far nicer neighborhood, roommates seem more civilized and quieter than my current ones, it's a monthly lease situation (perfect for me, as I really didn't want to be tied to an extended lease of any sort), so I've decided to bite the bullet, and pay double rent for the bulk of March. But at least it's one less worry of where I'll be on April 1st regarding an abode!!

Have also started putting some stuff into storage, and am looking at various items to get rid of and sell in a yard/moving sale. Have already sold a couple of pieces - my coffee table to my roommate, and the matching console table to a friend from a women's group that I'm a member of.... It's a start, and will have to decide on a real yard/moving sale some weekend during the month of March... It's slowly coming together, and I feel I'm in such a transition now, it's more stress than I'm comfortable with, but that's life too.....

I'm so thankful for my boyfriend, as he's been very patient and supportive of me, and knows work is a bit stressful at the moment too....... Also, I have to bring my car in for repairs this morning to the collision center where I got my estimate of damages done (one of my insurance companies preferred collision centers/body shops), and so I'll get a rental car from them, so at least all the paperwork can and will be done at the one place rather than bringing Enterprise or any other rental car agency and having to deal with them too.

It seems when it rains, it pours, but trying to look at everything going on in my life right now, I'm trying to look at things positively, and it's difficult at times, but these things are happening for a reason, and am trying to learn some lessons here.... I tend to be the kind of person who puts up with too much of what's not quite good enough for me for way too long, and for no good reason.....hence my living in a house with roommates and a landlady I never really cared for, for way too long - can't believe I stuck it out here for 2 years!!! Am looking to want to buy my own place, and figure that this year will be the year for some good changes!!! Keep positive, keep positive, keep positive........my new mantra!!!

Some Good News.....as minor as it might seem

2007-03-01T21:49:00.000-05:00

Well, between one thing or another, I now have until March 31st to move, so I'm glad to have an extra bit of time to get my stuff together.... If it had worked out the way my landlady had originally indicated, I would have had to have moved on March 14th, which may have forced me to scramble a little bit harder, but seemingly have it sorted out now to move at the end of the month. Suffice to say, that she's taken what will be the last of my rent payment to her (and my receipt says it all!!) At least the ball has started rolling, and I plan to start bringing already packed stuff into storage on Saturday morning, and at least I can move a bulk of my stuff at my leisure throughout the month, until I find a new place to live, the sooner the better of course. But I can breathe a little easier now that I know I have an extra couple of weeks, which I know will make all the difference!! :-)

Let me dance a little dance!!

Packing is going slowly, but it's getting done bit by bit..!

2007-02-22T15:21:00.000-05:00

Did some more packing last night, and a small spurt this morning, but am making progress. Really have to learn to let go of a lot of stuff, as I know I'll probably still end up moving with way too much stuff. Am going to try to make some more headway tonight!! Moving is such a hassle, but it's a part of life, or at least it is of mine right now!

Weird and busy week....

2007-02-21T14:29:00.000-05:00

Have just had a rough week involving a major run-in with my landlady, and suffice to say, without going into the necessary details, that I'm now looking for a new place to live. Have started packing up some boxes, and have put a "Moving Sale" ad in craigslist to try to get rid of some excess stuff that I don't need, and am now homehunting (to rent vs. to buy initially.....).

Also, my car was hit by some numbskull in a grocery parking lot in Gaithersburg on Saturday, and was rude, selfish and irresponsible enough not to leave a note, so am dealing with MY insurance company with having to have that fixed. Got the estimate of damage done yesterday and have approx. $1400 worth of fixing to be done, so the collision center will take my car on March 5th to start working on it..... At least I have rental car insurance coverage, so I will have a set of wheels to drive around for the week, so all is not lost...... Enclosed is a photo of the damage done.....what someone will do and not own up to. It's some small consolation to know that they must have done enough damage to their own car too (I hope!!). Such is life, and if it wasn't me, it would be someone else's car, as this kind of thing happens every day......just weird timing for me, I guess.....

Anyway, looking for a new place to live is going to be a great thing, as it'll at last get me out of a not very pleasant living situation, which I've just gotten too comfortable with for way too long (2 years too long), and I should have moved a long time ago, but didn't want to if only 'cos moving is such a hassle....... So am trying to keep positive about it too, as change is always unsettling, but in this case, it's a very good thing!!!

'Til next time.....!

Hiking seems to be my new thing!

2007-01-24T18:23:00.000-05:00

Have gone hiking 3 times since New Year's weekend now, and seems to be something I'm enjoying more & more..........here's a photo I took last Sunday down at the C&O canal in Potomac, MD where I met a sailing friend and went hiking with some of her friends as we did in Patapsco State Park the weekend before, but this time another sailing friend came along too, so we had a bigger group. And it was the first time hiking in the snow, though the drive home was a little scary......

Christmas Shopping........

2006-11-25T19:37:00.000-05:00

Got some done today, and it's great to be in the process of getting some shopping done, and FINISHED for some folks!! Not planning on doing too much shopping, as I want to simplify and stay within budget. Mainly, I shop for my nephew and niece, and then my boyfriend, and may get one or two items for his (grown) kids, and possibly something small for his parents if we end up going to visit them for Christmas. But at least I've now got "my 2 kids" taken care of, just have to giftwrap, box up, and mail the packages off to Ireland. AGAIN, I haven't planned it far enough in advance to send their packages via surface mail instead of airmail, so the USPS will be doing well by me again this Christmas. :-/

Started working on some of my boyfriend's gifts, and was seriously irritated when I got home this evening to find one of the items purchased was missing from the bag, so I'll have to go back to the store tomorrow or this coming week to pick up. Called the store, and they indicated it was fine to do so, as long as I have my receipt..........grrrrrrr....the guy must not have put it into the bag, as I looked all over for it (it's a small item - stocking stuffer, yet something I know he'll really appreciate). Such is life, I guess.........oh well.....

Am looking to cook dinner again this year for me & my man, as it went down so well last year, but this year, I'll have him help with the grocery shopping (i.e., share the cost of buying the food), and also help out in the kitchen. Last year, he was recovering from surgery that he had 5 days before Christmas, so I forgave him for not helping out too much, if at all!!!! It was part of my Christmas gift to him anyway! Depending on if we visit his parents, we can cook for them too, as they're both elderly, and in poorer health, and so neither cooks. So, we'll see if a visit to York, PA will be on the cards, but probably will happen anyway, even if just to visit with his kids. Will make up for the fact that I won't be making back home to Ireland (again!) to visit my family, as I have such little time off, and the flights are too cost-prohibitive at this time of year too. I'm hoping to make it home for Christmas next year, as I haven't been in Ireland for Christmas since 2002 (but have been home plenty of other times since, of course!).

Anyhow, must get back to chilling and watching some TV, and getting into some knitting tonight, as I haven't touched my needles and yarn in sooooo long!! So many projects, and they've been on the needles way too long, and something needs to be done. Will have to take some photos of finished projects, hopefully, I'll have some to post in the New Year.......

Nite, nite for now...........

2006-11-20T22:30:00.000-05:00

My boyfriend and I went hiking yesterday afternoon, at Seneca Creek Park, close to where he's found a new place to live - he'll be moving in a couple of weeks, which will end up being the w/end of my birthday (though my birthday itself falls on the Monday). He'll be living in Gaithersburg, very close to his job in Rockville, and he's excited to be moving out of where he is right now, as his landlord asked him to be out by the end of the year, as he and his wife are moving into the house, and they'll be using his room for storage space. He's just as happy to be leaving, as he was never crazy about the place anyway. I just am a little sad that he's moving further from me, but I think he'll enjoy the easier commute to work......... This is me at the park, checking out the map of where we hiked. It was a really nice place, and we plan to visit there again to go on some more hikes.... I'm looking forward to it, as I'm finding that I'm enjoying hiking, and I especially love doing it with the one that I love! The other photo is of Seneca Creek, and this is how close we got to it........ Lots of fun!

Photos to share - Baltimore's Inner Harbor on an early Fall Evening

2006-11-16T23:19:00.000-05:00

2006-11-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

OK, so it's been a year since I've set up my Blogging account, and I haven't had much activity in this past 12 months. I've been playing around with the blogger website over the past week or so, in an effort to familiarize myself a bit more, with layout, trying to add photos and any other tweekings, etc., but I still feel like I've a ways to go before being totally comfortable with bloggings, and the ins and outs of it.

In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to all Americans, as it is that time of year over here, and I'm looking forward to getting into the Christmas season, even though I won't be getting to visit my family in Ireland again this year, as it's not within the financial or time budget. I did get to visit home back in June/July though, which was nice, and will hopefully get back sometime in the Springtime if I can work it right......

Anyhow, am going to sign off here, as I'm tired, and haven't even managed to tune into ER tonight after all even though I had thought I would do.

Goodnight!

A quick check-in.......

2006-04-29T12:30:00.000-04:00

Just checking in again, very briefly; I'm currently recovering from surgery, but just for a brief few days (surgery was on Wednesday, April 26th), and am back to work on Monday. Am enjoying the few days off work though. Today is my 12th Anniversary of moving to the USA from Ireland, and can't believe sometimes, that I've stayed this long. Came from having won a green card through a lottery, didn't have a job at the time, and thought I'd try out living State-side for a while to see how I like it, and here I still am, 12 years later......... It's been a challenge at times, but overall, I enjoy it for the most part. As I get older though, there's more things about Ireland and Europe that I miss (especially being closer to family and friends still there), but I definitely don't miss all the rain!! I'm trying to organize a trip home very soon, but flight prices are getting crazier, so I'm trying to work with my NWA frequent flier miles, but haven't called the airline in a couple of weeks. Will have to try again very soon, before my family thinks I'm not coming back to visit at all!! I have a couple of friends who are talking about wanting to visit Ireland with me too, but will largely depend on if they have the time and/or money to travel....... Would be nice to have them come with me to visit, so I can be a tourist in my home country for a change!!!

Anyhoo, gotta go, as I have some other errands to take care of today!

Not much progress........ :-/

2006-03-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

Well, I haven't been doing much of anything with my blog since January, so I thought I'd go ahead and add something a little new. I've becoming more and more addicted to knitting over the last 5 years or so, even though I've been knitting since I was a child, and a lot of knitters have their own blogs out there, so I may end up chatting about that more and more........ And I'll throw in lots of other ramblings about lots of other stuff too, like sailing which I started learning back in the summer of 2001, and have continued to enjoy it as best as I can. And hiking, which I've just recently started doing on a (semi?) regular basis with a new group, and am enjoying the outdoors, but hating the fact that I'm so out of shape!!!

Anyhow, I could ramble on, but am really tired this evening, and gave up a night out of knitting with a new group of knitting buddies, and am feeling a little guilty, but really needed to get home to get some R&R..........before getting some ZZZZZZZ's..............

'Til next time, (and hopefully, it won't be so long!). Must get to purchase a digital camera this year, as it's been on my wish-list forever, but oh, which kind to get......that's my quandary!

Cheers!
Barbara

New to Blogging

2005-11-17T16:06:00.000-05:00

This is my first time to the world of blogging, and I'm hoping it'll be fun. I'm a little nervous about it, as I feel I've jumped in without knowing too much about it, so I hope I don't get myself into trouble with it!!!