Christmas is coming

This is my first Christmas back in Ireland in a long time. I stopped coming after one or two trips with a toddler and a baby. It was traumatic crossing the Atlantic when the kids were so young. The last time I can remember a man on the plane advising me on the benefits of Ritalin and how it had changed their family life from a living hell to what did appear to be normal from where I was sitting. Did we consider it? I suppose we must have but I cannot remember. I remember very little from those ealy years when our boys came 19 months apart and Autism stuck it's head round our door.
I have postponed my jobhunting until after Christmas. Hows that for good old fashioned Irish procrastination. There is plenty of Christmas atmosphere about but no crowds in the shops. I think they all went to the States to shop and who could blame them. With the Euro being so strong and Irish prices so off the charts it wouldn't take a lot of disposable income to go to New York for a weekend and come out ahead. I think Irish people also shop early and like to get it out of the way if they can. I've taken my usual piecemeal approach and enjoyed it. Not being a big shopper Christmas is low stress for me plus I get to enjoy St Stephen's Day. Okay it's no big deal but lets acknowledge it's existence.
We went to Lissadell House a while back to see Santa. Lissadell House is the former house of the Gore Boothe family and was a visiting place for Yeats in his day. It was bought by a man with a large family and turned into a family home cum teashop\sightseeing place etc. Very nicely done but it must be a hole for money to be thrown into. The tearoom was lovely but the chimney was giving a little trouble and as we were eating our lunch the room started to fill with smoke. Cesar of course walked out in disgust while we all sat politely and wondered when does smoke become too much exactly. Finally I asked if it would be okay to move out to the other room and was informed that of course we could move to the salon. At this stage Cesar refused to eat anything and said that the sight of the poor stuffed bear cub and alligator was more than he could take. The lady told me that the chimney gives lots of trouble but only on certain days depending onthe weather. Anyway drama apart it was a nice outing and Santa and everybody was very nice indeed.
This is my first Christmas without my big bag of loneliness. I hope I don't miss it. Ho! Ho!

Wild Wet and Windy

I remember Billy Mulvaney telling me last Christmas how the weather was so wild that one could barely find the strength to get out of bed. He said slates were blown off roofs and the mornings were unbelievably dark. Billy is one of the most optimistic easygoing characters I know. I was amazed at the time because I was finding it hard to get out of bed in Maryland a place where the sun was always shining even if it was below freezing outside. We had our heat running non stop in the Winter and yet it was always cold when I got up in the morning. In the last year before we left America I could barely walk every morning so depressed did I feel. Only the determination to keep going because the bills had to be paid kept me rolling along. So when I thought about what Billy said I couldn't comprehend it. Now when I get up in the morning and it's pitch black and the wind is howling and the rain is lashing on the roof and the house is freezing because the heat was turned off from 10.30 the night before I know what he was talking about .But you know what, I don't give a fuck. I could almost skip down the stairs but lets not get too carried away here. This place is beautiful and there is no goddam traffic and my life is not so hard to live. Besides I can turn on the heat for a couple of hours though it has to be conserved as it is oil. I am happy. I am living. Poor Cesar does not feel so enchanted and the weather is really really wild.

Windy Days

While the wind has been blowing consistently since we got here, it excelled itself this last weekend. Wind does not bother me at all in fact I really missed it when I lived in the States but this was beyond amazing. We went out to Rosses Point on Saturday and did'nt dare get out of the car to walk on the beach. The tide was high and there was very little beach anyway. However wind aside, when electricity goes life changes. Our electricity went for th first time on Sunday morning and for the seventh and last time on Wednesday. Hindsight is so nice. This was tough. Lack of electricity always puts me over the edge. When it used to go in Kensington it used to drive me insane and my sister Fidelma in Leitrim said it rarely if ever went out there. I was extremely put out after the third or fourth time especially after listening to bullshit from the E S B. Blah Blah the storm, a bird etc. Our area was blacked out but we could see lights on the Bundoran Rd and Grange the local village was never hit at all. No matter, after Wednesday all was well or so it seems. The only thing is, it has been raining ever since along with hail and sleet and the rain is beating off the windows like you would never believe. Okay I had forgotten how bad it gets. I would still gladly f0rget but I have my husband's disbelieving face staring at me. Still Christmas is coming, the shopping has started and the lights are up in the town. The sun is not shining it is true but it is Winter and it is as graceful as it can get. The electricity is back apparently, the house is warm and cosy and we are blessed.

Job hunting

My work experience finished on Friday last. I was sorry to say goodbye to the staff at the fire station but am ready for a little catch up time. Life has been very busy with the 9-5 haul and the kids and their routines. We have been travelling uo to Mohill every weekend for a good while now. Mum has been in bad health for about 2 months and needs help with the house and with groceries. She is glad of the company and God knows after been away for 21 years I am very glad of the time we have together.
I learnt a lot at the fire station. I set up a database for some of the files and renumbered them, humble but not boring. It's a lively place with firemen in and out all the time. Bernadette procured an interview for Phil and I with the Co Council. If successful we would be on a panel of temporary people who fill in when staff go on leave. The Co Council is our local government and employs about 2,000 people. Lots to do so hopefully I'll pick up some work. I had no internet access however and no broadband at home so my blog hit the dust there for a while.
The weather has been very wild with plenty of rain and gale force winds. Our electricity went out two days in a row but only for a couple of hours thankfully. No matter, I am still very happy. If this is just a high from having moved home as has been suggested it's certainly lasting a while.
It doesn't feel like a high to me. It feels like a lost soul that found it's way and I feel thankful every single day.

Thanksgiving Eve

It’s Wednesday Nov 21 and tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Just a pleasant memory really though a very pleasant one. Thanksgiving really is one of the nicest things about America. Too bad it’s just a day and the day before the biggest shopping day of the year.
I was standing in the kitchen of the fire Station today at about 4 00.p.m as the shadows of a winter’s evening were beginning to descend. I happened to look out the window at the terrace houses of Riverside and there it was. Smoke puffing out of a chimney as jolly as you please. The fire was already lit and it felt so right to me and so rooted in my psyche. I felt truly thankful one more time.

The Fire Station

As I write this it’s Friday night and I have just finished my first week of work experience at the Fire Station. It’s only for four weeks. Working nine to five has been a little bit of an adjustment for me. While the work is anything but taxing sitting in the one place for chunks of time is a change and not leaving before or after but at five is downright strange. I have always worked harder but when I was done I was done and I went home and vice versa. Sitting at a desk reorganizing a bunch of files is a walk in the park for me though. Also boredom is not an issue. Cleaning the same places week after week sets a high threshold for boredom. The people I work with are just great. I am blessed with a very enlightened supervisor called Bernadette. She is informed, broadminded, intelligent and seems to have a very balanced disposition. How lucky am I? She is very enraging and helpful as I try to find my path in this New Ireland. If she is typical Ireland has come a long way indeed. She believes it to be the case and feels that everyone has the right to gainful employment within their community and a fruitful and fulfilling taxpaying life which in turn contributes to the social and economic health of the said community. Now how cool does she sound as bosses go. Of course she has been promoted out of the fire service and will be leaving in a few weeks but my stint will be up by then anyway. Did I mention the firemen? Doesn’t everyone love firemen and now I know why.
One of the women from my computer course is also on this work experience with me. In fact it was she who got the placement and got the second place for me. Her name is Phil and again I could not ask for a nicer work companion.
Rian has to go bed. Good Night.