play a game and feed someone?

free rice

it seems legitimate. whoot! the internet isn't just crap.

goodurs gets spoiled

uh oh! i'm totally getting spoiled on my birthday!!

i just got my first present from canada and it's a travel edition of settlers of catan. how fun. gerry's reaction: now you can teach me how to kick your ass.

my next challenge is to find people who will play with us.

any offers?

let's get this party started

friday was my last day at work. so with some peer pressure i ended up having a going away party at the pub beside work on friday. i got shit-faced. and had a hard time getting to the store to get some stuff for dinner on saturday.

there were a few girls invited over for some dinner and games. we ate too much, gossiped too much about work, and i got way too many presents!

it was good, relaxed and fun. exactly what i wanted for this year.

friday we go to london for the evening. we'll be seeing Wicked and having dinner with rob. and there may be a few drinks and some shopping involved as well.

yay birthdays!!!

v is for visitors

it's been a busy couple of weeks since we stole gas.

we had visitors from canada for a week; jen and reid's visit started off a bit dodgy... their flight was cancelled and then the change of flight resulted in them arriving about 12 hours later.

on the sunday that they were here, we were going to go to clonakilty (famous for its pudding/sausage) and then to kinsale. on the road we decided to go to gugan barra to check out the wild sheep. it ended up taking us quite a while to get there, and once at the island, the car looked like it was overheating. turns out we'd some how run out of oil, and the radiator was overheating (oh, did i mention all this was in gerry's car and gerry was at home?). i left them to check out the church and the park, and was going to quickly nip to the next town and get some oil. the nearest town is actually about 15-20 minutes away, and not really desperate to sell oil. i went to the shop, they didn't have any, but were sure that the gas station would. after figuring out the exactly opposite directions, i found the gas station, and decided to fill up just in case, and then i was going to buy lots of oil there... i might have done too, if they sold oil. seriously, the only gas station for miles, and they don't sell oil... and had no idea where i could get any.

finally, it was suggested by some random person i asked on the street that i knock on the door beside the garage that had closed down. i did, and the guy kindly filled up the oil and i was happily on my way. until after i'd picked jen and reid up and we were making our way back home. the heating was going up on the car and we decided to pull over. luckily there was a grotto (a play to pray) on our way. we pulled over and filled up the coolant during a little prayer session that hopefully we didn't disturb too much.

the rest of the trip was probably less exciting for them, but involved lots of mario party and beer.

last weekend provided another full house with sinead, conor and their two kids. there was a spa day worked in there, some mississippi mud pie, and a bit of mario party. another good visit.

there are only 3 weeks left until i'm finished getting paid for work. then i begin my stint as a work-at-home partner. by that i mean, packing, cleaning, cooking and laundry. mostly packing i'd say.

i will also be in charge of preparing things to happen in canada... phone connection, internet, tv, car rental for the first week, etc.. i remember now that it's hard work moving countries.

not so goodurs

gerry and i were driving into town today, since we had to stop for gas, we were discussing the logistics of payment. i said that since i paid for gas going up to carrickmacross on the weekend, we should use the joint account. gerry said since i had paid coming back that the joint account owed me money. that's when i let him know i hadn't. he replied that he hadn't either, and that i must have in the shop. but i hadn't because when i went to the little shop near the gas station they said you had to pay at the gas station, so i assumed gerry had taken care of it at the gas station part.

nope.

we've looked up the phone number for the station that was a victim of our gas and dash. and called them to let them know we'll pay in december. he didn't seem too bothered to be honest. i'm the one who was like, do you want my name? and my phone number?

i'm a criminal baby.

stardust

see this movie. it's fun. it's well done. it's a good time.

the gift of confirmation

today we got gerry's passport with the visa. it's really official now. no more dreams about them sending us a letter to say they've canceled the whole thing because of an issue with his passport. no more driving home, hoping today's the day it comes. no more disappointment that it wasn't.

gerry can now get into and work legally in canada. how exciting? super.

it's done! it's over! it's final!

whoo hoo!

plant a tree

despite being sick, i managed to plant a tree today. :o) i think i should have donated it to the girl at work whose plants i was meant to water, but didn't cause i was home from wednesday to friday. oops. next one's for her.

before and in-between pics

as matilda says: it's long enough



matilda said her hand was shaking so it was hard to cut the first one.

looks like she managed to do it though.

there they are.

you might wonder why we didn't cut the front.

1. there are too many layers.

2. i needed to give the poor haird dresser something to work with.

long story made short

i can't lie... i was really nervous today about the hair thing. and i'm sad now. i shouldn't be, but i am. in fact, i really really shouldn't be. i should be happy and proud and whatever else happens, but i feel a bit anxious.

oh well... i feel better than if i had wuzzed out at the last minute. the before and inbetween pics will be uploaded once matilda sends them to me.

thanks for the donations... almost €300. horray!

not a great pic, but you can see the length - or lack thereof.
now you can see that it's cute.

sick hair

okay, once again, i'm sick. some coughy-chest thing going on. again. boo urns.

but i'm gonna tough it out, and go to work tomorrow for two reasons.

1. i don't get paid if i don't go, and this also affects the number of hours i get towards holidays.

2. tomorrow is the big hair cut. i had a really long shower today, washed my hair with care, and brushed it twice.

i've raised over 250€ now, which is super exciting. and hopefully tomorrow there will be a few more donations from work. whoot.

i'll post some before and after pictures tomorrow evening, after my proper hair cut.

Q3-2007

done! well, for me at least.
but, having been home for an hour, i'm still jittery and unable to sleep. took a magneleuvre, so i'm hoping that'll take the edge off in a few minutes.

i'm so wrecked, but my mind's still working on percentages and crap stuff like that. one more quarter-end until canada! since that one is also year-end, i have a feeling i'll still be jittery days after. oh well. that will really be the last one, then.

tomorrow? sleep. tv. dinner. movie. maybe reading, but i don't want to strain myself.

keep counting

well, only 4 days left for quarter-end. and then it's october.

october's big event is us having a whomping thanksgiving dinner... it will be a bit later than the holiday in canada, but the spirit of the event will still be there.

and then of course, there's november: birthday season!

after that comes christmas and year end.

then it's time to go.

we have so much to do, but gerry and i have both been sick lately. me with my never-ending gift from turkey, the mid-gastrointestinal infection (translated by the girls at work as pregnancy) and a cold. gerry with a cold, and now he appears to have caught my pregnancy and has been nauseous all day.

anyway, we have heaps of packing, and heaps of planning for our trip all the while playing more scrabulous!

sick @ work

went to work today. i probably should have stayed home. i was kind of out of it. hopefully i didn't book anything totally wrong.

with the help of some people at work, we've decided that i will make the hair-cut an event at work. on october 1, i will cut off two pony-tails of love. and i'm going to try to get cash from people at work.

keep you posted. ugh. i'm tired.

give it up

we measured my hair at work on monday, and it looks like it's long enough to donate 10 inches for a wig! how exciting!

the plan is to get a very tiny trim (just to make sure it looks really healthy, but keep it over the 8 inches mark). and then with the rest that's left over get a proper cut.

i was thinking of collecting some cash around work to donate to irish cancer society, and then i'll send my hair to canada. i'm not 100% sure on the collecting at work, but i feel like if i can make some cash to donate, then surely it's worth a try.

if you read this blog and want to give me money to donate, work away! if i go to work tomorrow i think i will send out the email... maybe other people will do it too.

i hope whatever hair dresser does it doesn't feel it's necessary to charge me for two hair cuts... maybe if i explain the situation they would be more lax. will keep you posted.

plan-it australia

plans for our trip back to canada are coming along well. we're fairly certain about certain aspects of the trip, but are booking nothing until we get gerry's passport back. despite being sick, i managed to get my sorry sweating body (why do i react to every thing with sweat? no idea.) to the post office. some things are worth getting more sick for, i guess.

(the part i haven't told gerry) i'm stopping work after the first week in january. i think we'd originally decided around the 10th but i'm going to need some prep time. there are always last minute things to buy, send and wax. oh... told my work i was leaving at the beginning of january. it went well the manager was glad for the amount of notice i gave, and that i was staying through year-end.

*huge relief* if you know me, you know i hate leaving a job. even ones that i hate, i find it really hard to leave.

so, plans are really coming together for our time here and our trip back. i have a feeling it's going to fly, and that there's a lot of hard work ahead and it might sneak up faster than expected. we've checked out some camper-van kind of things to rent while in oz. we're hoping for a bed/fridge/toilet/shower kind of deal. at first, we thought we would just stay along the coast, but plans may now include a road trip out to alice springs, which is pretty much the centre of australia. i guess i'd better get going on the music for Peas and Pip.

sleigh bells ring...

yesterday i had to de-ice my car before work. today i'm home sick with a sore throat and sneezes. we've increased the timer for the heating. i guess it's officially winter now. i'm gonna have to dig out the electric heating pad this weekend.

another member of the hoefer gainford clan

on wednesday we welcomed the latest addition to our iFamily. Pip is a lovely green iPod shuffle that's about as big as a large postage stamp. i used my connection at apple and got it at a discount, which was nice. i still love peas, my old school 15G iPod, but pip is super handy to bring to the gym. he just clips to my shirt and only has rockin' tunes. did i mention he's also a lovely green? nice and sort of metallic looking.

welcome pip! i already heart you... and your much more comfy earbuds.

it's on its way!!!

(so i'm cheating; i'm posting an email that anyone who reads this will already have. meh, get over it.)

guess what?

within 30 days, we will have the permanent residence visa for gerry! we just have to send his passport with some pictures and they put the visa in there, and send it back! whoot! they've even threatened us that we have to enter the country by march 13th, or we'll have to start all over.

what does all this exciting news mean?

on monday, i will tell my work that i will be leaving in january. it seems like far away, but this way gerry gets to spend christmas with his family, and i get to make enough money to pay for the traveling back to canada. so the plan is that i'll work a few days in january and then we'll take a few days to finish stuff up here, and pack and all that jazz. after that, it's off to carrickmacross and some time with gerry's family. we'll then head to thailand for a week, australia for 3 weeks (1 week at gerry's sister's place, and 2 weeks roadtrippin' up the coast to do some diving at the great barrier reef) and then we'll head to vancouver. after things are sorted there and we do stuff like do the interview, get a car, and get gerry a bank account, we're hoping to go to california for a quick trip, stock up on some wine and do some visiting.

any ideas on what to tell my work? :o) i'll be giving plenty of notice, at least.

so, for the next 4 months in cork, i am going to do the absolute most to enjoy the wicked friends that i've made here, (excited though i am to go back, i have met some super cool people i'm going to miss like crazy) really focus on the new yoga class i've signed up for, read lots, work hard, and try to make lots of money, all the while seeing the bits of ireland that i've marked in the lonely planet guide but not seen yet. oh and the packing up and sorting and selling and the rest of the fun stuff that comes with a move this big (mostly for gerry).

the time will fly, guaranteed. in a week it will be 2 years since i left - so much has changed, and i'm sure i'm included in that. i know our relationship has changed gerry... he doesn't pick his nose nearly as much now. well, he's cut down on the public picking.

that's us sorted, i guess.

YAY! i'm already teaching gerry canadian. he says: yay! maple syrup, pancakes, hockey, wayne gretzky, trevor linden, please and thank you. i'm working on the national anthem, as well as trying to get him to stop saying a-boot.

i can't believe this moment has come. ohmygosh. if anyone wants to visit ireland while i'm here, you'd better book your tickets!

i said, 'hey! what's going on?'

i've been working like crazy. working and playing scrabulous, that is! sometimes i win, sometimes i lose. but i'm diggin' it.

things are moving along in these parts. i've taken over the canadian market at my work. so now i get to say things like: happy labour day! but, it means that with the time zone difference, i'm busy like crazy. oh, and they get extra special treatment... which is fun for me to be honest, because i like to give special treatment! but it does take extra time and patience.

i guess i'm busy trying to travel too. gerry and i went to prague last weekend. it was great. we met up with sarah, louis, and katie. louis had some more gems of wisdom to be added to his previous classic, and my personal favourite of: god'll get him. and if god doesn't, i will. i'm going to dedicate a post to these. cause i love them.

anyway, back to prague. we did lots there, and even had a fancy dinner and saw a classical concert. what fun! on the saturday gerry and i were left to our own devices so we went to the castle, and found a great pub there. gerry was pretty much disappointed that he was stuck with me there, because he would have gladly stayed there all day and drank beer. i liked it a lot, he loved it a lot. the concept is great, they donate their profits to a local music school for the blind. i thought the atmosphere was great... communal benches and tables. very european.

good times in prague.