It's Like We Know What We Are Doing

I had my wisdom teeth taken out when I was 14. I don't remember much from the ordeal. I remember when they knocked me out, I was crying because I was scared. I remember when I woke up, I was crying. I've been told that as I was in the recovery room, they kept asking me questions. I guess this was to make sure they didn't dig too far up into my brain. Nurse - "What school do you go to??" Me (crying) - "West..." Mom - "No you don't. You go to East." Me (crying) - "East..." I remember being in the car, drooling blood all over my Les Miz sweatshirt (ahhh...the 90's). And then I remember not being able to eat and not being able to suck milkshakes through a straw. There was some talk about dry sockets that scared me to death. I didn't know what dry sockets were, but I could only imagine they would be bad. So I listened to the doctors. They know what they're talking about. I don't know anything. I...

September 19 2p - Irish Time. Somewhere over the Atlantic, pre-Lunch Service The wine has already been served. I'm pretty much finished with the whole food thing. I think I went through that in detail yesterday. During breakfast this morning, I could tell I was done. But the Stewardesses (ahem, Flight Attendants) are serving and I'd hate to say no. Oh well, bring the food on!! I didn't know how long our flight was going to be. The flight in was 5:30 or so. This one 8:20. Oy. The hope is I can sleep, but I do remember from the Moscow flight (leaving in the afternoon, flying through the day), I was not able to sleep...for long. I don't remember the pre-flight routine. I'm sure I know where the exits are or how to fasten the safety belt. I guess I shouldn't worry too much. Though we are flying over the ocean. I might want to know where the life preserver is located. Especially since I've been watching Titanic lately. Sure, we're on a ...

September 18 Uncle!! I warned Mom early on that the food would be my biggest concern on the trip. I knew it would be plentiful. I didn't comprehend how plentiful it would really be. Cause this is almost painful. I feel like I need to eat a largish breakfast, cause then I won't be hungry until lunch time. That usually works well. Lunch seems to always be four courses. Then dinner is about the same. This is too much food to eat for one meal on one day. We have been eating this way twice a day for six days now. I am looking forward to going home to eat like normal. I also pray that I can zip up my jeans when I get home. I'm about 50% positive I will need to wear a skirt on Tuesday... Today is our last full day in Ireland. I think we're ready to go home. Ireland is amazing. I really love it. The hardest part is being so cut off from the outside world. This is the blessing and the curse of electronic devices. WiFi was plentiful during the first half ...

(aka What to do in Dublin when you don't have a ton of time). September 17 What the Shelbourne lacks in warmth, it makes up for in breakfast. I was finally able to have my Porridge. I mean, I eat oatmeal all the time at home, but here I am in Ireland and I've had oatmeal that was just a little, meh. Today though...Porridge with Milk. Then, the cream to add on the top. Add a scone and some tea and I was a happy camper. Breakfast made up for the fact that I am (or we both are) an idiot. This morning as we were getting ready, I went to try to plug in the adaptor. It wouldn't fit. It seemed that the holes were just a smidge too small. Oh well, we had the power supply from the other outlet that used the US voltage. No problem. When we tried to plug in the flat iron, it didn't fit. I thought it was because the flat iron had one of the plugs that was just a bit larger on one side. We both started to panic, cause without the flat iron, we run into problems. ...

September 16 9a - Traveling through the Irish Countryside at high speeds We're an hour into our journey to Dublin. The rain has stopped and we can see the sights from the window of the train. Our car was supposed to be just our group, but a bunch of rowdy Irishmen are on here with us. They're cute. They're just loud and laughing and having a good time. It's nice to hear them chatting between themselves. Our group is mostly quiet. It seemed like many people went to the pub again last night and didn't get a huge amount of sleep. Good for them. I couldn't do it today. We had such an early wake up call that the wine from last night was enough for me. It was kind of sad to leave the hotel this morning. It was such a glorious place that no one can imagine the next hotel even coming close to what we'd experienced already. I am looking forward to a few things though. Mostly, I'm ready to do some wandering around Dublin. The hard part about the...

September 15 I puckered up to the Blarney Stone today, so I should be extra eloquent during this blog. Woo Hoo!! Luckily, this morning, I woke up knowing where I was. It was a better start to the day than yesterday. Unfortunately, Mom had a very hard time getting to sleep, so she was not feeling it this morning. We got a later start to the day. In all reality, this wasn't a bad thing. The bus left the hotel at 9a for the Blarney Castle, so we had plenty of time this morning. We learned our lesson about breakfast yesterday. Stick to what you know or like. You don't need to try everything. So I had the oatmeal, a sausage and a croissant. Perfect. We knew this would last us for a while and we didn't know when we were going to have our next meal. In theory, we'd have lunch around noon, but yesterday's early lunch made us pause. It's better to be safe than sorry. The ride from Killarney to Blarney was about one and a half hours. It was a nice en...

September 14 I woke up this morning not knowing where I was. That never really happens. Usually I have a vague memory, or I wake up and know I'm somewhere not normal. This time I really had to think about it..."Last night, I...no, there was no tequila involved...I should know this...". It finally dawned on me that I was waking up for the first morning in Ireland. Yesterday was hard because we really didn't do too much. We landed. We drove to Killarney. But in regards to activities, we hadn't seen anything yet. Today, we had high hopes. I sang the praises of the hotel yesterday, but the praises continue for breakfast this morning. They put on a fantastic spread for breakfast. I'm not a huge fan of buffet meals. They look great in theory, but in practice, you get a little bit of everything, then eat too much but not enough to actually sustain your hunger. I end up with 12 desserts/pastries, but not enough actual food. Today, I did a little bette...

September 13 The problem with the overnight flight is not being able to sleep. This becomes more of a problem when you land. There are so many things you want to do, but your body just can't keep up. I never really did sleep on the flight. I think I missed the Vegas Flight scene in Bridesmaids, so a tiny amount of sleep must have happened. The Delta people did feed us pretty well. We had our choice between chicken or pasta. The chicken was fine, but the wine was plentiful. They served us a breakfast a few hours later. Not bad. I was getting squirrelly near the end, though. I just couldn't get super comfortable. I don't know what I expect though...it's a plane...not a La-Z-Boy. We landed. We went through Immigration. We got some Euros. We met our group. All easy enough. I was thrilled to get a new page started in my passport. I liked that the stamp was green. Nice touch, Ireland. The trip from Shannon to Killarney took about two hours. We had a...

September 12 "I'm glad you sitting next to me. You're skinny." I could have kissed her. The hardest part about the day was waiting. We had to wait forever for the trip to begin. I guess traveling six hours ahead means you can't really leave at 6a and expect to get somewhere in an hour or two. It's not like going to Orlando. The day began with a small marathon of Little House on the Prairie. But that could be a description of any day, really. I don't know what it is about that show. I'm transfixed every time. But this isn't about Little House (though it was the episode where Laura and Mary go to school for the first time. And Ma makes dresses for the girls from the fancy fabric instead of making a lovely dress for herself). The day really began with a quick trip to Target. This is because I am a moron. I was all excited that my scarf, the scarf I wore throughout South America, went into the dryer and shrunk. Not cool. I wanted ...

The beginning of summer is always filled with such excitement. The cold of the Chicago winter is hopefully at an end (hopefully) and we want to see the sun. The allure of the outdoors calls to us and we do whatever we can to soak up the sunshine. The outdoor patios are full. The Farmer's Markets are crowded. The magnetic pull towards the pool is too strong to deny. Spring is supposed to be the time of new beginnings, but Spring has a tendency to not exist here, so Summer is where the slate is wiped clean. Anything is possible. I look back at my summer and I can hardly believe what was all done during these three or four months. I finally went to New York. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be (well, except for Times Square...shudder...). I ate at Next. Twice. I snuck in a quick trip to Seattle, met some Top Chefs and had my future read via Tarot Cards. I went on a 16 day adventure in South America. I've been thinking about the South Ameri...