Meow to the Meaye

This post has the potential to be the longest post ever...but, I'll try to not do that. As you know, I've been in the States for the past two weeks getting a few things finished up and visiting with friends and family.  It was a good time and I certainly miss it already. But, I'm back in Ireland now.

Yep, I, along with my two snuggle bear cats, made it back to Derry yesterday.  We made it alive and well...just a little emotionally disturbed.  Well, I speak for myself.  Charlie and Fox seemed to handle the move much better than I did.  Just ask the woman who had to sit beside me on my flight from JFK to Dublin.  The woman who had to listen to me tell her the story of how my cats were in the cargo and how terrified I was that they were going to die...of course I told this story as I had tears and snot running down my face.  God love her for not relocating to a different seat. 

Anywho, after eight months of planning, vet appointments, stress, worry and paperwork, the pet move is now complete and now I'd like to introduce you to my favorite letters:  E R L E I F. Well, they are actually my new favorite letters when they are put in this order: RELIEF.  Relief that the move is done.  Nothing left to plan, pack, organize or potentially kill (I was convinced my oldest ten year old cat was going to die during the move but he didn't). Glory glory.  I've not felt relief in such a long time it is quite a foreign feeling.  But, one I'm confidant I'll get used to in no time. 

So, now that the pet move is done, I'll share a funny story with you about the pet move from yesterday.  After Barry picked my up at the airport where I stood in tears and waited for him.  I told him I was sure Charlie was dead.  There was no way his old ticker could have survived a fearful flight like that.  He tried comforting me.  It didn't work. We drove to the veterinary office,while I cried, where my two cats had been transported to be examined by a vet.  We arrive at the vet office the same time as the truck carrying Charlie and Fox arrive.  We couldn't see them being unloaded, but we knew it was them.  We walk to the front of the building.  Barry goes inside to see if they are alive because I'm a basket case because I just knew they were dead...scared to death from the plane noise. Barry goes in alone.  I wait outside.  Here is the conversation that followed between Barry and the gal behind the front desk.

Barry: We are here to pick up the cats.
The gal:  Aye, they just arrived.
Barry:  Are they alright?
The gal: Aye.
Barry:  Are they living?
The gal: (a silent, confused paused) Aye.
Barry: They're not dead?  They ARE alive?
The gal: (in between giggles)Aye, they're grand.
Barry: Right then (exits the building to tell me to calm the f$"*& down.  They're not dead.).

So, then I cry in relief.  We get in the car, drive home and the cats are adjusting quite well I have to say.  Of course, a little Feliway pheromone diffuser helped but all in all everything is going well.  The cats are settling in nicely as you can see.

Charlie found a sunspot.

Fox likes his new sofa.

Now, they are just working on their new Irish accents.  Instead of meow, they will now say meaye. And, as for Barry, he is adjusting to having new fur babies as well. I told him it wouldn't be long before he'd be telling me stories about something that happened between him and the cats.  And, I was right.  Just this afternoon, he told me about something that Charlie did this morning while he was getting ready for work.  I've turned him already.  A cat lover he is indeed.

We made it!

Well, I'm back in Ireland with my two cats who survived the trip.  I was more worried than they seemed to be.  Charlie is walking around now meowing and checking out his new pad and Fox is curled up beside me.  I'll post some video and photos later but for now...it is nap time!

Second book signing was today

And, here are the photos.  This signing was at Taylor Books on Capitol Street in Charleston, West Virginia...one of the few locally owned bookstores.  I also bought Water for Elephants today to read.  I can't wait to jump in with all the recent hype over the movie. Overall, it went pretty well considering we've been hammered with thunderstorms like you would not believe these past few days.  Oh, and I've reached 50 followers.  Woo hoo!


Love seeing the book on the shelves!

This is one of the teachers at the elementary school I attended way back when in Racine, WV.

She was actually my brother's teacher.  He was the teacher's pet.  Still is...look at him.

 

Me and me Ma.

This couple bought the book to read for their upcoming trip to Israel.



Did I mention I like seeing it on the shelf?



Angry Birds and Awkwardness

Well, I made it back to the States late Thursday night and it's been go go go ever since I landed well, that is after they found my luggage and delivered it to me.  Sheesh.  I was so excited to see my cats and I have to say that I was quite disappointed in their not-so-happy-to-see-me attitude.  Perhaps they were just a little miffed that I left them for six weeks with the person that used to be their archnemisis a.k.a. my brother. They only had eyes for him when I landed.  Little shits. No worries though, once he left, it was all eyes on me again.  They'll be wishing they'd scratched my eyes out in just a few weeks when I put their butts on an airplane and move them across the Atlantic. 

A few things I wanted to do while I was back in the States was eat some Taco Bell (which I've done twice), drink some Diet Dr. Pepper (which I've done three times), eat some Junior Mints (scarfed down a movie theater sized box already) and catch up on my favorite television shows (almost done) and drive my car (done and I'm so over that already).

What I  can't seem to get over however is my new addiction to Angry Birds.  This is so unlike me because I'm not a game person, but these damned little birds get under my skin like a flesh eating virus and all I can seem to accomplish is trying to destroy these little egg-stealing piggies.  Oh, and I was recently turned on to the website Awkward Family Photos.  Oh dear lord.  Hilarious.  Check out this picture of Mommy-the-Poo and you'll see what I mean.  I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard at this photograph.  So, I have a feeling Angry Birds and Awkward Family Photos will play a big role in me not getting back my apartment security deposit since I can't seem to find the time to clean with these two things distracting me.  Oh well. 

More bloggy awards though.  Nabo from New Life awarded me another Versatile Blogger Award.  Thanks, girl!

Interview progress

Alrighty, bloggy folk...I think we have our questions for the interview with a shopkeeper a.k.a. my husband, Barry, post ready to go.  He is having a little case of the camera bashfulness so I will do the best I can do...and so will he.  So here are the questions.  Mollie...you have the most and I will make sure my huckster, er, I mean hubster answers them to the best of his abilities.  :) 

It may take me some time to get this posted since I'm leaving Thursday to go back to the States to finish up a few things and get my kitties.  I'm so excited to bring them over here but I'm soooooo freakin' nervous about the trip with them so lots of prayers for me and my kitties on April 28th would be appreciated.  And, so you know who you're praying for, here they are.  My Charlie and Fox Jeffrey.

Also, I've been given blog herpes (a term coined by Mollie at Ok in UK and now spreading like wildfire in the blogosphere...as herpes does).  Blog herpes equals a blog award.  This time I was given an award by Rachel over at The Mean Girl Diaries.  The Versatile Blogger award.  Thanks, Rachel! I'll do all the award rules and stuff later because right now, I'm too tired.  I've taught five Zumba classes in the past two days and need to pack a suitcase. 

And, I'm so excited that in a few days, I'll get to drive a car again and go to Taco Bell.  Fresco bean burrito, you're on my list...I'm comin' for ya!!!

What a Beach

We've had a few good days of warm weather and sunshine here in Derry so yesterday, Barry and I took a trip down to Buncrana Beach and Inch Island.  The water was still as cold as a welldigger's arse in Alaska but we just sat on the sand and soaked up the sun. 

When we weren't sitting on the beach, we were poking around in the water.  Which is where we found this thing.  What the heck is it??  If you know, let us know because we tried googling it but came up with nothin'.  It was dead...that is the ONLY  reason we got as close as we did to it. A marine worm?

Driving around Inch Island, we saw a few wittle itty bitty cutie lambs.  Aren't they precious?  I just wanted to pick them up and hug them...but...

I don't think mama sheep would have liked that very much.  She was very intimidating.

Then, we stumbled upon some ducks and swans.  They came towards us and I felt really bad because they thought we had food for them, but all we had was a camera.  Sorry birdies. 

An interview idea

I'm thinking of posting a video here.  A video of Barry...sort of an interview with the shopkeeper.  I think he has agreed to do it.  I didn't quite get a yes or no answer, but I think it was an okay whatever answer which, to me, means yes.  Sooooo, if you have any specific questions you are desperate to have answered about the life of me wee Irish shopkeeper, let me know and I'll be sure to include that in the video interview!  Keep in mind...it is a very small corner shop that sells things like newspapers, candy (or sweets...sorry.  If you're not sure what I mean by that click here.), soda (or lemonade as they would say here), cigarettes (oops, I mean fags.  Jeepers, my Irish accent is slipping today),etc. 

Let's make him talk.  :)

Our bathroom hates me

Photo:  Google Image Search

So, remember this post?  The one where I discussed our toilet shooting out poop water?  Well, it has sorta  happened again...but, fortunately, it wasn't poop water this time although it did kinda look like it.

Monday, we had an old water tank disintegrate and spill onto our bathroom floor from the ceiling.  A water tank that was so old and rotten,it basically fell apart.  And with this falling apart came a flood of brown water all over our bathroom floor.  Now, we knew it was coming because we had some fellas here doing other water related work that just happened to find the faulty tank, so we were able to get our new goods and my scrumptious new shower curtain outta harm's way, but it leaves me thinking...does the bathroom here really hate me?  I mean, there is no other explanation, right?  Barry has lived in this flat for YEARS and nothing like this has ever happened to him and I've been here for five weeks and we've already had a poop water incident AND a rotten brown water incident! So why does it happen after I get here and make it all pretty in purple? You can read more about the pretty in purple thing here.

Perhaps the bathroom doesn't like all the new changes I've put it through.  Maybe it doesn't like the color purple, although, I can't think of why anyone or anything would NOT like purple?  It's awesome. 

Now, the super shitty part about this, aside from the fact that I have to once again clean the bathroom from top to bottom to eradicate the brown, rotten water stains that have set up camp all over the floor, walls, ceiling and even our towels, is that because the tank leaked through the bathroom roof,it has fried our bathroom light!  So, that means until we get that fixed, at night, we have to use the bathroom by way of candlelight or a flashlight (or a torch as the Irish would say).  Which means I have no light when it comes time to pluck away my black chin hair stare at my beautiful reflection.

Oh, but the bathroom won't win...oh no!  I will come out on top and I will show the bathroom who's boss 'round these parts because tomorrow, I'm going to Pound Stretchers and I am going to buy more purple stuff including a purple toilet brush and toilet seat.  Ha!  I'll show you bathroom! 

On another note, I have to say thanks to Rachel over at The Mean Girl Diaries for her rave review of my book!  Thanks, Rachel!  Go check out her blog...she's a funny gal!

Oh yeah, and I did it again with the language barrier thing.  Check out this post or this one for other language slip ups.  I told someone the other day that they "cracked me up," which Americans would take to mean as you make me laugh.  Here, however when someone says cracked me up, it means that they've made you angry!!  Ooops!  I certainly didn't mean to say that!  I think I need a slang dictionary so I don't offend anyone.  

The pants fall down

So they do.  Today, I'll share a little embarrassing story with you.  You see, I have a favorite pair of Zumba bottoms I wear.  They are pink and sparkly and girly so, of course, I love them.  The only bad part about them is that they are a little big...but, they are spandex-y, so shouldn't be a problem, right?  Hmm...wrong. 

I've never wore these particular bottoms while teaching a class...only when taking a class.  These bottoms have a little problem with riding down while I'm moving around but since I've always been just taking a class and not teaching and in view of everyone while wearing them, I've wore them and allowed myself occasional moments to pull them back into place while attending Zumba classes. 

This past Wednesday, when I pulled the hot pink glittery spandex beauts from my drawer, my memory failed me.  I forget these lovelies like to work themselves down my booty when I'm wiggling and jiggling, so I put them on to go teach my fourth Zumba class here in Derry.  The class I teach while I'm being watched by many on a stage. 

So here we are...in the middle of said Zumba class and I'm quickly reminded of the looseness of my Zumba bottoms as I find them riding down.  I am constantly pulling them up in front of everyone.  Now, I don't get embarrassed usually straightening my clothing up while teaching a class...we all need to make adjustments at times.  And, I didn't this time either. So, of course, I had to occasionally pull my Zumba bottoms up at times just to make sure they stayed on.  No biggie.

However, my big mouth never fails me when it comes to embarrassing myself. So, when I was making my pull up adjustments, I kept saying, " Sorry, my pants are falling down."  I said this everytime I readjusted them because well, everyone could see me, so why not make a joke and a funny face while doing it and explain what I was doing.  The embarrassing part of this however didn't hit me until after class.  And I'm so disappointed in myself because I knew better.  I had been told this before, but for some reason, it never registered in my American mind.  So here it is...what Americans call pants, the Irish call trousers.  What Americans call underwear or panties, the Irish call pants.  So, basically what I was shouting out during my Zumba class was the equivalent to, " Sorry, my panties/underwear keep falling down." 

Lesson learned.  I'll never make that mistake again.  I just hope they knew what I meant. 

Oh, look...here's the culprit now.  So, we meet again pink Zumba pants...er, I mean trousers.  Dammit!