A Return to Ireland

Day 4 in Ireland and we were up quite early as the sun woke us up at the farmhouse at 5:30 am. It drives me batty how it is daylight until 11 pm at night and then the sun is up so early. Kathleen, our host, had a nice breakfast laid out for us and we packed up our stuff for the day out sightseeing. We were the last people to be picked up from the farmhouses, so we didn't see the bus until 9:45 am. Off we went to Waterford.

Greg took a picture of the old boats in the harbor at Waterford as we came into town. It was another beautiful day weatherwise and the scenery was quite beautiful. As we were driving around the town, Jim was giving us a history lesson. The old stone walls that I took a picture of were some of the remaining wall fragments of the walls built by the Vikings in 1000 A.D. The Vikings were in Ireland for 100 years.


We arrived at the Waterford Factory and our first stop was the shop where you could buy all kinds of stuff. They also had displays on the various Waterford trophys that had been given out at famous golf tournaments. This was only a short stop before our tour of the factory.

We broke up into small groups for the tour. It was a terrific tour as we were very up close and personal with the workers. We got to see the entire process from the glass being blown to the finishing work and cutting done on the crystal. We learned that for every crystal trophy made for tournaments (tennis, golf, racing, etc.), they make 3 of them. One is the winner's trophy, one is a replacement in case something happens, and one is to keep at the factory for their showroom/museum.


From start to finish, Waterford does a good job of explaining the entire process. Even at the very end of the tour as we were headed out the door, there was one last demonstration by master cutters as to the cutting process. The apprenticeship to be at this level is very long.


As you can see, the kids liked getting to touch the trophys that were made at Waterford. Once our tour was complete, we walked over to the store for a quick run through again, but I didn't buy anything. I couldn't be bothered with shipping something back or carrying crystal throughout the rest of the trip. We did learn all about the logo for Waterford crystal - the seahorse.

Our next stop was the town of Waterford where we would have lunch and a short amount of time for shopping. Because we wanted to spend time walking around the town, we had a quick lunch at McDonalds. We visited a bookstore and a music store (where I bought my brother an Irish whistle in the key of C). Larry and Greg were still looking for a hurling jersey. Time went by pretty quickly and soon we were off to New Ross to visit the Dunbrody. More on that later.

Content Kitties and a Trip

Last weekend, after a relatively sleepless week, we got to see Casey and find out how she fared on her trip. We arrived on campus around 2 pm and found out from the crew in front of Robinson hall that there was a bus arriving within 30 minutes. As the bus pulled around the green, we hoped that Casey was on it. Not having talked to her since Tuesday, we were anxious to see her. The bus was met by quite the unique group of people but it was fun to watch. They enjoyed dancing and music before grabbing their packs and heading to the dorms.
It was fun watching these young adults have fun. Casey soon joined us and we were quite happy to see her. The house seems emptier without her jumping down the stairs, but I'm happy to see her with these new experiences.

The weekend was busy with getting her settled into her dorm room and making sure she had everything she needed for awhile. We went out to dinner on Saturday (Applebees) and lunch on Sunday (Liu Liu). I only teared up a little when we left on Sunday because she seemed pretty happy there and I was happy for her. Doesn't mean that I don't miss her, but I am excited to hear of all of her adventures. Notice the quilt on the bed - I made that. Unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to take a picture of it to add to my book of quilts. Guess I have to wait until it comes home next summer. If I remember, I will take a picture when we see her in 3 weeks for her birthday.

Finally, this morning I took these kitty pictures for Casey. I know she misses her Lucky and I want to assure her that he is doing well. He is getting lots of hugs and kisses which he hates, but also lots of petting.


I didn't take a picture of Kitty this morning because she was already back in bed when I had my camera out. I promise to add more Ireland pictures and continue my travelogue soon.

Goodbyes and New Beginnings

I was awake long before the alarm was supposed to go off. I have been dreading this day since Casey started kindergarten. Don't get me wrong - she is so ready for this new phase of her life. She has so much ahead of her and I know that she is anxious to continue learning all that she can. I just can't help but miss her because I could always count on her to give me a hug or a hand or an ear to listen to. I am excited and scared for her as she goes out into the big world. But I know that she has a good heart and a good head and is mature and able to handle what is put in front of her. I hope she knows how proud we are of her and what she has accomplished and what is yet still to be accomplished. If you are reading this Casey, I want you to know that the house seems a little less full tonight and a lot quieter. Oh, and I have given Lucky quite a few hugs already. We won't tell you who has been sleeping in your bed though!!!!

Greg started high school today! Wow, how did that happen so fast? He willingly posed for the obligatory picture in front of the fireplace and I even took a picture of him with Kitty. He had a good day even though he found out that he did indeed have summer writing assignments for Honors English. Guess what he spent hours doing tonight? He just finished and I promised him a game of cribbage before bed. By the way, he loves Mrs. Pittner and when I asked if he thought he might get involved with theatre, he said "maybe". Dr. Young came up and shook his hand today and Greg loved where his locker is - very convenient to all of his classes. He is such a great young man and I look forward to his own set of outstanding achievements. He is going to grow up so fast now.

I will continue the Irish journal next time. Until then, off to play cribbage.

An Irish Travelogue

Day 3 in Ireland found us in Kilkenney. The town of Kilkenney is a touristy area and there were many people walking about town. The town is full of narrow stone streets and beautiful architecture. We arrived at 11:30 am and had plenty of time to walk around the town and have lunch before our tour of Kilkenney Castle at 2 pm.
Our first stop was at the pharmacists to get contact solution for Casey. I had a blister so I got some bandaids as well. The bandaids are called elastoblasts and are so different from what we consider bandaids. Once our purchases were made we climbed a hill to a church at the top. This was St. Canice's cathedral and it was beautiful. It sat on the edge of town and even had a watch tower. That is my family looking down from the tower. My knee and my fear of heights prevented me from doing this. I sat in the church yard and looked at very old graves and Celtic crosses.
After this we walked back towards town stopping at the most beautiful church along the way. The stained glass windows were beautiful and we were able to go in and observe Mass there. Lunch was at Subway (don't laugh - it was quick and easy) and we were quickly on our way for more time around the town. There were street performers and a beautiful walkway along the canal. Around 2 we headed to the Kilkenney castle for our tour.
The Castle was over 800 years old and had been in one family for many years. The tour lasted about an hour and was pretty nice - couldn't take pictures though. Afterwards, we were all back on the tour bus and headed to our Irish farms for the evening. Before getting on the bus, we stopped and got ice cream from an ice cream truck outside the castle. The main type they sell is a vanilla soft serve ice cream cone with a "flake" in it. The "flake" is a rolled Cadbury chocolate bar that consists of flakes of chocolate. The "flake is about 2 inches long and stuck into the side of the ice cream. It was fantastic. Of course, we love Cadbury chocolate and that is the only chocolate sold in Ireland so we had it often.

Our drive through the countryside to our farm - Moate Farm - was beautiful. I have to say this over and over, I can't believe how our bus driver, Jim Lynch, made it through some of the narrowest roads I have ever seen. We were constantly amazed at his driving. Of course, he has been doing this for 31 years, so it was no big deal to him. His skill at backing up the tour bus was even more amazing! More to come later!!!

In other news, I am enjoying my job tremendously. I am still working out the kinks with combining home life and working. I am pretty tired at night and don't feel like cooking or doing much of anything. I know it will get better as things go on. I have to start doing more meal planning and home organization in order not to be stressed about things. Everyone is helping out with fixing meals, walking Kitty, and being supportive. Greg and Casey even had breakfast for me this morning after I came in from my morning walk. For them to be up at 9 am on a Saturday stunned me. It was such a nice treat and I just love these kids.

Tour of Ireland Continues

Love this picture of the doorman at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin. Loved this hotel and hated that we only spent one day there. The rooms were very elegant and the service outstanding. There was even afternoon tea in the lobby area. One thing that amazed me about Ireland was the toilets. Our toilets are oval shaped and rather long. In Ireland (everywhere), the toilets are round. Completely round and not very large. You really notice it the first time you see one because all of a sudden you have all of this room in the bathroom. Usually stalls in airports are tight squeezes - not in Ireland where the toilets are round and you don't have to move around it to close the door. COOL!!!

Casey is giving a funny look because as we were walking back to the hotel from Trinity College and the Book of Kells, we saw Dartmouth Road. It took us about 5 minutes to convince her to stand in front of the street sign. I have to include this picture because she couldn't believe we made such a big deal of it.
This is a picture of Ireland President Mary Macalease's (sp?)home. It is located in Phoenix Park in Dublin. It's hard to tell from this picture, but a light is always left on in the front window to guide Irish immigrants back home. Mary is the second female president they have had in row. She is well liked. I think the prior president was a Mary as well.

This is a picture taken from our tour bus on the way to Kilkenney on our 2nd day in Ireland. Everything was so green and uninhabited. All of us kept saying throughout the trip, that if this beauty was in America it would be surrounded by condos and expensive summer homes. We like to spoil beauty so that we can look at it. Here everything was so unspoiled and beautiful.

More Irish pics

Here are more pictures from our Ireland trip. After arriving in Dublin after a night flight from Philly, we napped at our hotel briefly before a tour of Dublin. Our first stop was a castle in Dublin. Mave, our tour guide at the castle, was great. This picture is the throne that was made for Queen Victoria. The legs were cut down to be very short to accommodate her short stature.

This next picture is the Pope's cross that was erected in 1979 for Pope John Paul's visit. A mass was held at this spot (Phoenix Park) and was attended by most of Dublin. The picture is slightly blurry because this is the only time we saw rain during the 10 days in Ireland. We had the best weather.

I took many pictures of the doors of Dublin as their colors were wonderful. Our tour driver told us that the doors were painted bright colors originally in defiance of the edict that doors be painted black in mourning for the passing of an English monarch (can't remember which one). The Irish, who didn't like being under English rule at the time, decided to paint the doors bright colors. The tradition continues today and everywhere we looked we saw brightly colored doors (all over Ireland).

This next picture is of Kilkenney Castle in Kilkenney. We had a nice bus ride their and explored the town and castle. The castle was over 800 years old and incredibly beautiful. The gardens and landscaping around the castle provided lots of places to sit and view the scenery.


This last picture was taken at the Choate farm in Kilkenney. We stayed at the farm with our host family for two nights. We were paired up with a couple from Massachusetts, Kristen and Chris. We hit it off immediately, and the proprietor, Kathleen, just assumed that we were all traveling together. Greg pulled out a wiffle ball and bat from his suitcase and we all headed to the cow pasture to play. Chris loved it and Kristen and I joined in as well. Brian, Kathleen's son, joined us as well and loved having the chance to play ball with us. He is a hurler and played competitively in Kilkenney.

More to come.

The beginning of our Irish trip log

Our first day of our Ireland trip was completely devoted to flying there. We left Sunday p.m. and arrived in Dublin at 8:45 a.m. The flight was on-time which was nice, but sleep eluded me on the plane. Arriving in Dublin was great, Casey pointed out the sun rising as we came upon Ireland (it was 1 a.m. EST) and that was pretty weird. We got our suitcases and headed to customs. To me it felt like the kids going to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts express as most people had carts loaded with luggage and were being herded into a single line.

CIE met us promptly and before we knew it we were on our way to the Burlington Hotel where we would stay the first night. We got our rooms and decided that a nap would be best before our tour of Dublin at 2.

That is just what we did and it helped a little. Following a hurried lunch, we boarded the tour bus for a trip around Dublin. Our tour driver and guide, Jim Lynch, was great. An absolute riot to listen to as well. Our first stop was a tour of Dublin Castle. It was okay, but we were still pretty tired and a castle tour was not the best idea. The tour guide, Mave, was very nice and informative, which helped.
As you can see from the picture, the kids were pretty wiped and didn't seem too happy about the tour. It was interesting though and, like I said, the guide was very good. One phrase used by the guide when discussing the fact that two people were supposed to get married, but the groom left the bride at the altar, she referred to it as the groom "pulled a runner." I loved that phrase. It turned out that the groom's friend ended up marrying the bride to avoid her embarassment and they had a happy life together. Neat story.

More to come another day.

June Catchup

June marked a big month in our house as Greg graduated from middle school and Casey graduated from high school. Let me back up one day and say that I had knee surgery on Thursday, the day before graduations, to remove a cyst from my knee. Of course things did not go as smoothly as possible as I aspirated something during the surgery and they wanted to keep me overnight in the hospital to check so that I don't get pneumonia. After 2 chest xrays, they finally let me go home even though I spent the entire day in the hospital.


Greg's graduation ceremony was at 9:30 a.m. and we enjoyed the ceremony. Greg got the Honors Geometry award for excellence. Christi was able to attend his promotion ceremony and hung out with us at the house afterwards. I got a little teary-eyed at Greg's ceremony as it hit me that he would be a high school student. After the ceremony, we went home and did some preparations for the after graduation ice cream party. Christi was a big help and it was so nice to just sit there and gab with her. She is such an important part of our family. Larry and Mark had gone to the Philadlephia A's historical society and out to lunch.


Casey's ceremony started at 7:30 p.m. and Larry and I had front row seats. The ceremony was fantastic and the school did a great job honoring each student. Casey's valdictorian speech was wonderful and she got applause during and after the speech. She was so polished standing up there. One of her teachers commented that "she taught her everything she knew" which Dani Buckman overheard and laughed about. Both Dani and Christi were able to attend the ceremony, as well as Chad. We were happy to have such special people join us. We had a "dessert party" after the ceremony which was well attended.

I was pretty wiped out, but the weekend celebrations were far from over. On Saturday, Casey and I went to Christi's baby shower at Dani's house. Their mom Geri was there and it was fun to see them. After that, Casey and I went to Casey II's graduation party. The boys went to the Phillies game that day. Boy was I ever tired after a busy 3 days. On Sunday, after Mark left, I basically crashed.

Greg celebrated his 14th birthday on June 20 and we had presents and cake and dinner out the next day. Greg was attending sportsbroadcasting camp all week at Villanova and having a great time. Hard to believe Greg is 14 and a freshman in high school. He gets taller every week and is handsome as ever. He is a great guy and has handled following in Casey's footsteps just wonderfully. He is going to go far in life because of his personality.

We had company from Maine - Reed, Erica, Tommy and Gracie.

They basically just used our house as a hotel, as they had other plans, but that was fine with us as it was just nice to see them. Greg and Tommy hit it off perfectly - 2 boys, lots of baseball cards, baseball games, and baseball talk. Gracie is still as cute as ever and it was nice to really talk to Erica and Reed. We met them again in Reading after they had left our house. We had gone out there on a rainy Sunday to stock up on clothing. We actuallly ran into them twice!



Finally we took a trip to the Jersey shore. The Flowers loaned us their beach condo in Ocean City and we spent the day on the beach and boardwalk. It was fun watching the kids ride the rides again after a 5 year absence from the Jersey shore. We ate pizza on the boardwalk and bought saltwater taffy and fudge. We all agreed, though, that we prefer the South Carolina beaches and trips. Just seems to be a different class of people.

Also, in June, my brother John celebrated his 50th birthday. I hope he is taking stock of where he is and what he wants to accomplish. I wish him well. I hope to see him on his trip back East.

A Busy Week in June

What a good week last week was. It started on Sunday when Larry and Greg went to tennis and then to Philadelphia to stay overnight for the 24 tournament the next day. This is a tradition with Greg and he wanted to do this for his last 24 tournament. They had a nice day and Casey and I went shopping and had pizza for dinner so we had a nice day too. Early the next morning, Casey drove me to the train station before school so that I could catch the train to Philadelphia to see the 24 tournament. I got there just as the tournament was beginning. Greg was in his lucky Scott Rolen jersey and ready to defend his championship from last year.


Larry and I watched as he went through the first round - it looked like he had really good competitors and it wasn't until we saw him counting his cards that we noticed that he had 2 and 3 dot cards which gave him enough points to win the round. On to the second round and he blew the competition away achieving 61 points. He was a silver medalist after 2 rounds. Next up the silver medalists (8 in all) were set up at 2 tables. Greg again won his table and received the gold medal. Larry and I were so proud of him and surprised at his success because he really didn't put much time into it this year as he wasn't sure he was going to compete again. We couldn't see him at the gold medal table as he was way across the room. Robert Sun, creator of the game, proctored the Platinum table. When the championship round was complete we watched Greg's face for some reaction. None was forthcoming so we just assumed that he was not successful. Boy were we wrong! Larry and I were standing there when they announced that the Platinum champion was a repeat winner. WOW - he did it. He repeated as Math24 Platinum Masters Champ. He was given a hard time when he went up to receive his trophy because he was wearing his Rolen jersey. They plastered a 24 t-shirt over his jersey for the pictures. Once again, we celebrated his success with a trip to Dave and Busters. What an amazing kid he is.

Casey had an awesome week too. The week before she had finally finished her graduation project with her demonstration of aikido moves. Katie C. helped her with the demonstration. She ended up with a 98 on the project which is fantastic because she had to do this all on her own because of scheduling issues.

Wednesday was the high school awards ceremony and once again Casey received her fair share of them. She received a few academic awards - Gifted, Science, and Spanish, a citizenship award, and her National Merit $2500 award. She was also the first and very surprised recipient of the Hillman Family Scholarship award in honor of their father, Mr. Hillman, the physics teacher who is retiring after this school year. It was very emotional for Casey as she loved AP Physics and the class inspired her to consider engineering at Dartmouth. Mr. Hillman was very surprised as well.

This week is all about graduation. Both Casey and Greg graduate on Friday. Hard to believe that Casey will be heading off to college and Greg will be starting high school. Where did the time go?

Dog Days of Summer

This past Memorial Weekend has been a hot one. It makes me realize that the hot summer days are just around the corner. It's funny how I don't mind being stuck in the house during the winter when its very cold and snowy, but I do mind being stuck in the house when it is only hot outside. I look out the window and see all of the yardwork that still has to be done. In the winter, everything is dead and dormant and the yardwork doesn't really call to me. This morning, I trimmed the front shrubs and boy was it ever hot. I had Kitty on the lead in the front yard and now 2 hours later she is asleep on the living room floor - too hot to gather up much energy to even jump onto the sofa. My outdoor work for today is finished because the temperature will be over 90 today. With cooler weather planned for the rest of the week, the work that is calling to me today, will just have to wait until then.

Memorial Day Weekend Already

Hard to believe that the unofficial start of summer begins this weekend. Memorial Day came up pretty quickly this year. With it brings the end of the school year which I am not looking forward to as much this year. Usually, I love the start of summer, because schedules are very relaxed and I don't have to get up so early every morning. This year it is a different feeling because Casey is graduating from high school and I know that this is her last real summer at home as school will keep her pretty busy. Greg is graduating from 8th grade and will be busy during the summers with sports and other activities. I'm feeling pretty old these days.
The school year is winding down as we are busy going to activities at school. Greg had his last band concert the other day and because he isn't doing band in high school, it is probably the last time we see him on stage playing percussion. Greg's baseball season finished with 2 tough losses, but overall it was a very good year. He really liked the coach and enjoyed playing. Casey is finishing her senior projects and winding down her high school career. As we are finishing high school, she is getting inundated with materials from Dartmouth and things to fill out and return. She is getting excited about college and I'm so happy for her. A lot of her classmates are staying nearby, and while I would like to have Casey around all the time, it is good that she is wanting to stretch her wings.

Here's to summer - hope it's an exciting and productive one.

My First May Post?

Wow, I can't believe that I haven't posted since late April. Things have been busy, but not that busy. April ended with a bang - Casey had her photo shoot for the Best of the Class at Longwood Gardens. It was a beautiful day and I got a bunch of great photos. While she was doing the filming and interviews, I was happily walking around the beautiful gardens and sitting and reading a book. She got a day off from school and I got a trip to Longwood Gardens. A side note, I also went to a Barnes & Noble in Delaware and read the entire book "Where Women Create" while in the store. It highlights female artists' studios and gave me a lot of ideas. I will probably buy the book the next time.

Greg has been busy with school and baseball. His team is doing very well and Greg is having a great time. He plays first base and bats second in the lineup. It's nice to see him playing and not having pain in his shoulder. He will be doing a few baseball camps this summer and may go to Boston with a team in Trenton. They will play baseball, see the Redsox, and visit the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Last weekend, Greg won the Bucks County Math24 Platinum Masters Competition. He is the defending Greater Delaware Valley champ and he won by quite a large number. Next up is the Regional Competition at the Franklin Institute in June. Due to funding issues, there is no state tournament this year. It's a shame because Greg has been to the state competition the last 2 years (earning silver medals) and hoped to end his 24 competitions with a state gold medal. He was lucky in that he was able to compete in 24 while it was a big competition.
I wonder about the future of it as the company focuses more on the online competition (which Greg hates doing). We are amazed at what he has done in 24 - 5th grade (Bucks County champ), 6th grade (3rd place Bucks County, Silver and Gold medals at Regionals, Silver medal at States), 7th grade Platinum Level (2nd place Bucks County, Silver, Gold, and CHAMPION at Regionals, Silver medal at States), 8th grade Platinum level (Bucks County champ, ?). What an amazing kid he is.

I had a wonderful Mother's Day with Casey and Greg (Larry was in Illinois). I was showered with gifts and had dinner at Don Pablos - a perfect day. The school year is quickly coming to an end and with it Casey's high school career. I am feeling older and older every day and have to work at slowing down so as not to miss a thing. I'm proud of what Greg and Casey have accomplished and am excited for them as they move to the next phase of their life (Greg-on to high school, Casey-off to college). I can only hope that we have raised them well and given them a sense of who they are and what they can accomplish. We are truly blessed.