Blarney and Dublin

The next day of our cruise we went to the Blarney Castle. We docked in Cork, and took a bus to the castle. Of course, I'd heard of people kissing the Blarney stone before, and since we were there it seemed like the thing to do.

It turns out that this Blarney stone is at the top of a dilapidated castle, right at the edge, over a hole. To kiss this stone, you have to lean over backwards, at the top of a castle, over a hole. The stone is at the bottom, too, so you have to lean backwards, hold onto a rail, and lower yourself as far backwards as you can and kiss the wall.

There was a long line, and The Boy grew increasingly more anxious the higher we climbed. Neither one of us like heights, but he has me beat in the anxiety department. When we got to the top he wanted to go back, but since we'd climbed an ancient, small, and winding stairway that was full of people, there was no going back.

So we all kissed the stone and hopefully now are more eloquent and persuasive.

That day we watched the beginning of Bolt (so cute!), Enchanted, and Yes Man.






Day 4 was Dublin. By this time I'd devised the perfect breakfast, and I had it the rest of the trip. Their scrambled eggs tasted a little sweet, and I didn't like the omelets either. But every morning they served eggs over easy, so I'd go in and put some bread in the toaster, then get an egg and a piece of ham. When my toast was done, I'd assemble an egg sandwich and it was delicious. Sometimes I had the fresh pineapple too, as that is a treat.

They served some strange things for breakfast on the ship, probably catering to the many different nationalities on board. Some of the odder things were fried hard boiled eggs, fried rice, miso soup, fried liver, and cooked tomatoes.

I also made sandwiches for times we'd be away from the ship around lunchtime. I'd take a hard roll, cut in in half, spread it with butter, and insert a piece of ham. Yum!

Anyway, Dublin was MUCH bigger than I expected. I don't know why I expected it to be little, but it's a major city. We went to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells. It was really interesting. In the Long Hall upstairs they had an exhibit about Napoleon, which I also found very interesting.

We walked around the Temple Bar, which is a cool part of town. We went to the big park in town, an it was lovely and full of people. When we stopped to see the ducks in the pond, The Boy spotted a fox across the pond, sitting on a rock! When we were pointing it out to each other, a lady nearby said she lives in the area, and goes to that park every day, and she'd never seen that fox before!

When we went back to the ship, we grabbed a piece of pizza for my snack. One of our favorite things about the ship was the hamburger bar and the pizza station, which were open nearly all day on deck. We really missed them when we got back home.

That night we watched Hotel for Dogs.

Captivated!

That book turned out to be really good! I was taken captive for awhile, but it was worth it. Now I'm back to reality and will post more about my trip soon. I practically promise!

Guernsey

The first stop of our cruise was in Guernsey. I learned that there are islands in the English Channel, called Channel Islands! I was surprised to learn this, as there are islands off the coast of Ventura, California, that are also called the Channel Islands. Makes a bit more sense in the English Channel I suppose.

I was also surprised to see on a map that Guernsey is much closer to France than England - we could faintly see Normandy in the distance. But it was a political reason that they ended up belonging to England.

My In-laws had decided to rent bikes, so we ventured onto the island and searched for the bike shop. I was impressed with the island - it looked like Catalina's harbor, but with a lot of nice flowers. Clearly they take pride in their flowers!

It had been a long time since I'd ridden a bike, but I managed to avoid falling down! The Girl and my MIL both managed to fall into traffic (right next to the bike path!), and luckily I was not there to see either. I said a prayer for the Girl as she rode off without me.

K and I decided to ride over to the Castle Cornet, an old castle on the island. It was fun riding the bike there, as there was less traffic and it was much faster than walking.

We walked around the castle and got a really good view of the canon they fire every day at 1pm. Even tho I knew they were going to fire it, it still surprised me when it went off. I kindof screamed and took a less-than-perfect picture.

It was interesting to find that England abandoned these islands during WW2, as they were too close to France and too hard to defend. That must have been an interesting time to live there.

When it came time to ride back to the bike shop, I followed K into traffic and said a silent prayer for the best. We ran a red light in a busy intersection, and everyone was driving the wrong way, but I just followed him and we made it back without incident. Whew!

That afternoon and evening we watched BOLT, DEFINITELY MAYBE, ENCHANTED, and BRIDE WARS. For dinner I had ceasar salad, black bean soup, and tiger shrimp kabob.

I just bought a book about Guernsey that takes place during the German occupation, and I'm looking forward to reading it! It's called THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Schaffer. I'll let you know if I like it...

Family Cruise

Day 1 - Traveling and Waiting

K's parents decided to take the whole family (12 people) on a cruise to the English Isles to celebrate their 50th anniversary. They've been planning it for a long, long time. I was packed at least a month in advance, but I was still rushing around at the last minute until we left. There's always so much you want to get done before leaving for vacation.

Anyway, one of The Boy's friends drove us to the airport, in our own van, and that worked out nicely for us. At the airport it turned out my bag was 8 lbs overweight, so they asked me to put some of my stuff into another bag. Somehow in the midst of transferring things, my suitcase managed to get poured out onto the floor, but we were able to quickly scoop it all back in and nothing too embarrassing fell out. Whew!

The flight was fine. We'd stayed up late the night before, hoping it would help us fall asleep on the flight, but all it did to me was give me a headache! I didn't sleep much on the way there, which was only about a 10-hour flight. I saw some good movies - He's Just Not That Into You, Bride Wars (never quite saw the whole thing), New in Town, and The Reader. I think I missed something crucial in The Reader, tho, as I didn't quite understand the end.

Ten hours later we landed in London, where it was 7am! Going through customs, I was advised to put two perfectly good packages of beef jerkey into the "Honesty Bin" = which looked an awful lot like a trash can. So much for honesty!

I bought some coffee at the airport, and some wine for the cruise, as we were allowed to take a bottle each (adult). Then we were shuttled to a bus, then driven to the port about an hour away, then into a large waiting room for over an hour. Somewhere around 1 I think they let us onto the ship, and we made our way to our room.

I was pleasantly surprised to find our room and bathroom a bit bigger than the last (and only other) little cruise we took. We got settled and then set out to explore - getting some fries from the hamburger station on deck, and eating them beside the pool. Ah... heaven! We saw K's sister and BIL, KT and David, come out of the buffet, and we got to visit for awhile.

I told everyone to try and stay awake until our new bedtime, but the Boy went ahead and took a nap that afternoon. I think this threw him off for the rest of the trip, as he kept waking up at 5 in the morning after that.

Peanut RIP 7/7/09

We just got back from a fabulous cruise to the English Islands. It's a little overwhelming, but I plan to journal it all soon. Lots and lots of pictures.


For a long time I've been meaning to post about our cute little pets and their stories with us, but I still haven't gotten around to it.

Meanwhile, upon returning from our trip, we found that one of our two cats, Peanut, is missing. I did some pet detecting, and Peanut was last seen next door at 6am on 7/7. Peanut was our cat, but he was appreciated in several homes on this street.

Something happened that morning, because the cat two houses down became very upset and fearful and demanded to be let into the house. Its owner said it kept looking up and around, as if afraid something was coming to get him. So it seems that something happened that morning that Peanut did not survive. What with all the large birds and animals that come down from the mountains, it's a tough neighborhood for small animals.

We got home 2 days later. I feel sad that it happened while we were gone, but truthfully, our being here would probably not have made any difference. And it happened in the daytime, apparently.

Peanut was a cute cat. We got him at the pound when he was a little older than a kitten, but still pretty young. We got him to be a companion to Cosmos, a large black cat that we took in, but was in the process separated from another cat that had been a long-time companion. So we thought that Cosmos was lonely for a companion, and adopted Peanut.

Well, Cosmos could not have been more pissed off! He was completely offended that we'd brought in another animal, especially one as lively and playful as Peanut. Cosmos would come in and eat, but he refused to stay in the house and would NOT let us touch him in any way. This lasted for about 2 years.

Then we had to keep Cosmos inside for 10 days when he got injured, and after that he seemed to feel that we loved him again. After that he would come in the house and even stay all night. Sometimes he meows at us to pet him, which we sometimes do, even though Cosmos is HUGE and we are all scared of the size of his claws. Plus cats are liable to turn around and bite you without warning when you are petting them.

Well, like I said, Peanut was cute, but on the small side. He was playful and liked to tease other animals (including Cosmos and sometimes us) by bopping them on top of the head. He was very smart, and could open a screen door with his paw. Cosmos watched him do this many times, but never has had the idea to try it himself.

Peanut was also a great mouser, and often brought us gifts from nature.

Peanut was very affectionate too, until we brought home the dog, Gallo. Then Peanut got pissed off with us, and hardly ever came home or gave us affection anymore. The people next door really loved him, and I tried not to be jealous, as Peanut loved being a free cat and I think they gave him fish. If I didn't let him go out, he'd pester me and meow right in my face until I let him out.

In the last few months I'd tried to keep him in the house longer, and he got a little more affectionate with us. He got so he'd sleep inside for longer and longer periods of time.

I really miss him, and I wish I'd had more time with him.

I guess that's always the way.

June Gloom & Jazz Fest

June Gloom

1. I've never seen the clouds stay so low for so long out here in sunny CA. Last year, at the Boy's graduation, I almost melted from the heat! This year it's been cool, cool, cool.

Meanwhile, we're supposed to have a party in 2 days. Supposedly it's going to warm up for that day - I sure hope it does!

I've been really busy with end-of-the-6th-grade activities I'd volunteered for. Thursday we knocked out these Memory pages we'd made the kids. Friday I went with them on their 6th Grade Trip to go ice-skating and bowling. Whew! I had fun talking with the other Moms (OK, except one), but it tired me out!

It's also been gloomy because some of my favorite bloggers seem to have stopped blogging. I've tried to find others I like, but so far not much luck. Also, it seems to be re-run season on the talk shows, and there's been lots of reliving Thanksgiving and such. Yawn...


Best Day Ever.

2. Last Saturday we had another Best Day Ever. It started out with a nice, relaxing, romantic morning. The Girl's game wasn't until noon, so we all got to sleep in.

She was in kindof a bad mood, so I think it was good that the other team scored right away with a ridiculous mixup by our defense. That put us immediately behind and they played really hard the whole game. They had to win this game to have a hope for getting into the playoffs, so the coach was on them to be serious and play their best.

No one else scored in the first half. The second half, their goalie touched the ball outside the box, and since he was the last defender, he got an automatic red card. We scored with a penalty kick that was just under the pole. Then they got on a roll and scored 2 more times! Yay!

Then, near the end of the game, the Girl (who is sweeper) went for the ball but missed and hit the player on the other team, got an automatic red card because she was the last defender. At first she didn't even know, and the Ref had to tell her to get off the field! So her team had to play short, but the joke was on them because she can't make the next few games anyway. Ha!

We were still up 3-1, but the other team scored on the penalty kick resulting from the Girl's red card. Her team was still up by one, but went ahead and scored again for good measure.

For us it was a good win, a good game, and the Girl was laughing about her red card. Now she says she's gotten every color card.

Then we went home and got ready to go the the Playboy Jazz festival. I'd gone to Trader Joes and loaded up on hummus, chips, flatbread and pita bread. I made some ham and arugula wraps and some drinks, and then we hit the road. We were a little more prepared than last year, taking lots of food, jackets, umbrella, etc.

Like last year, we took the shuttle from the LA Zoo and it was great. It dropped us off right there, and we picked up our tickets and hiked our way to our seats. Our good friend Schlow was there, visiting from Philly. We saw the gang from last year, and it was fun.

This year we were sitting in the middle, so we had a great view of the Hollywood sign beyond the Bowl. After awhile we took a walk, and I discovered a path that leads to a picnic area that has a great view of the Observatory! Too bad I didn't take my camera on that walk.

The bands were great. Each band that came out seemed better than the last, although truthfully I enjoyed them all. When the Pete Escovedo Orchestra came on, his daughter Sheila E. was with them, and she played a little bit of her hit song (Glamorous Life).

People were throwing mardi-gras beads - I guess the Bowl sponsored that, because there were sure a lot of them. I never did need to put on my jacket. Near the end of the evening some guy gave me a glow-in-the-dark stick. I played percussion for awhile with it, but finally stuck it in my hair.

The last band was the Neville Brothers, and they really jammed out to songs like "Fire on the Bayou." It was so fun - good music, good food, good friends.

What more could you ask for?

Hot Dog Soup

The other day I accidentally made hot dog soup. Usually I pride myself in being a good cook, but this soup was ill-advised. I had purchased what claimed to be "Hot Sausage" , and thought I'd use it to make a soup like the sausage-potato soup they serve at Olive Garden. Then I discovered that our potatoes were no longer edible, and K suggested I use the rest of our uneaten mashed potatoes in the refrigerator. Anyway, I think the soup turned out ok except for the meat, which turned out to taste like spicy hot dogs! There was no getting around it - good soup, but hot dogs. I won't be making that again!

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1-800-Dentist

Commercials keep running for 1-800-dentist, quite a few during the daytime. I sometimes suspect my own dentist of being more interested in my pocketbook than my teeth, so one day I called to see if they had a dentist we could use. The guy on the phone (advisor) was extremely nice and asked a few questions about my preferences, location, etc.

"Well, good news!" he enthused, "I found a few in your area!"

"Great!" I answered, "Where are they?"

"One is in Beverly Hills," he said, "and the other is downtown Los Angeles."

Well, neither one of those are anywere near where I live! Who wants to drive 35 miles to visit the dentist? Or even 25 miles when I know there are probably 10 on the nearest big street alone! He claimed that there are only a few dentists who can meet the strict criteria of 1-800-dentist. (I'm thinking that means "dentists who are willing to pay the fee.")

But only 2 in the whole Los Angeles area?! Why even bother to run commercials all the time if there are only 2 dentists in all of Los Angeles? How can they afford to do that?

What about a smaller city or town? How far would they have to drive?

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Reality TV

I got a chance to be part of a Reality show today! They had asked for volunteers to comment on something in the show, and it was pretty fun. I had to be there at 7:30 am, which is WAY early for me, but I woke up excited to go.

It was interesting, it was fun. I can't tell you anything else about it or I could get in really big trouble. But if you see me on TV, let me know!

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Across the Universe

This movie was recommended to me by more than one person. I mentioned that we saw "LOVE" in Las Vegas, and one of my best friends lent me the movie to watch. We've actually had it a long time, so last weekend we sat down to watch it.

What the...? Parts of it actually made my eyeballs hurt! It was a really strange movie. Looking back on it, it may have stimulated my imagination somehow, but it wasn't an enjoyable process.

I've asked around, and people seem to really love it or hate it.

Decide for yourself, at your own risk.


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Lakers vs. Nuggets

My son walked out of the house wearing a Nuggets jersey today. Carmelo Anthony. I told him he's only asking for trouble, but he thinks it's funny I guess. I hope he makes it home OK.