Monday - Carini, Capaci & Terrasini

Monday

So after a good nights sleep, Monday morning arrived as per normal on our first day on holiday we go and suss out the local places, the beach etc.  We first found the local supermarket in Carini, it was quite an experience because the locals can spot the tourists a mile away, and the first thing you get asked when you speak English is "Americano?" seems like Sicily only know of one English speaking country in the world and this is America, do you think this might have anything to do with the Mafia?  But it was great fun, what would normally have taken about 10 minutes in our grocery store back home, took over an hour.

 In the supermarket each section e.g. Fresh Fruit is run by a person and you have to tell her what you want, she then wraps this all in a bag and puts a tally slip onto it.  But while she is doing that she is helping you to say the items in Italian and in return you have to help her with the English word.  Most of the younger generation are learning to speak English in school, but a lot of the older generation would not know any English at all.  Then it was off to the cold meats & cheese counter, and we had to wait in a queue which took ages, because the guy behind the counter is having a conversation with each of the customers.  Then off to the Fresh meat counter, where the gentleman is so friendly and tries to sell hubby some kind of sausage that looks a bit like boerewors, and to top it he cuts each of us a small piece to try (RAW), of course being polite we eat it with long teeth but Em just says YUK and spits it out, not to offend him I buy some mince meat which I need anyway, a couple of days later when I went in to buy mince he actually took a prime cut of beef and minced it up for me.  Anyway it turned out that this old guy new a little bit of English because he lived in New Jersey in the United States, so I had to hear his story before I could leave, it would have been rude to walk away.  I wondered there and then if he had any connections to the Mafia, you know having been in New Jersey?

After a little shopping expedition, we dropped our purchases at home, made a sandwich and then headed down to the local beach in Capaci.  I didn't check the brochure but we could have had access to a private beach, the local beach was filthy, litter everywhere which did not stop little Miss Em, no sooner had we stripped down to our costume and we were running in the Ocean, sand and water everywhere.  Em always looks for other people to play with, and headed down the beach to befriend 3 boys, she had great fun playing with them and although they could hardly speak any English they all got on really well and understood each other in child language, the two young boys took a shine to her.  It turned out they were from Milan and on holiday, with their mums as there were no sign of any dads.  I told D this is because all Italian men have affairs once they are married, so the mums and kids were sent on holiday while the dad was with his mistress (only kidding).

After her swim it was a promise of ice-cream and her first or was it the second Italian Gelato since we arrived.  Actually D & I had the nice Gelato and Em settled for a yukkie factory made one, which she never did again that holiday.  Then of course we had to sit near the "boys" which resulted in them taking many pictures of us and vice verso.  We left with promises of meeting them again on the beach, but which never materialised.

Once home Em was in the bath to get all the sand and sea out of her hair, while mom made a pot of Spaghetti bolognaise and then it was off to bed, or did we watch friends in Italian first?  Can't Remember...

Wait I almost forgot, before we went home, we took a drive along the coast into some small villages and ended up stopping at the sea front in Terrasini outside the archaeological museum.  D & I had a coffee and Em wanted a ride on one of those machines that cost money.  While I was watching her and drinking my coffee an Italian guy who heard me speaking English, started chatting to me he then invited Em to the park to play with his daughter, turns out they recently returned to Sicily after being away for 10 years.  Em went and played with Melina while D, this guy and I had a conversation about Florida in the States where he had lived for the past 10 years.  I think he was quite grateful to have other English speaking people, as was his daughter who now had to adjust to life speaking mainly Italian and nothing else.  When we left I felt quite sorry for them, but I guess we all have choices in life and theirs was to return to Sicily to their family.

From Island to Island

So where do I start ... we had an awesome week in Sicily and escaped the really bad weather in Ireland.  Although Spring had arrived the week before we went away, apparently it was taken away the Monday after we left for Sicily and on the Tuesday they had snow.  Must admit I saw something on the Italian news about an Atlantic cold front but it engulfed the whole of Europe and left the Southern parts of Italy alone.

Day Light Saving

It just so happened that our flight was leaving on the Sunday morning that the clocks were changing as well.  And the flight was at 6:50 so I booked the taxi for 7:00 a.m. before we went to bed at 10 p.m. D changed all the clocks in the house to an hour forward and we both changed our mobile phones as well.  I set my alarm for 3:30 so that I could have a nice shower and not rush.  I woke at 2:00 a.m. as this always happens, and then went back to sleep at 3:30 the alarm went off, I got up got showered and got D out of bed.  Once I was dressed I went down stairs to put the kettle on, only to see that the clocks on the Microwave and the Stove both said 3:00 a.m. which was not possible because my alarm had gone off at 3:30, which made me realise then that the mobile phone time changed automatically and was another hour ahead, so in fact I had gotten up at 2:30 and not 3:30, oh well, we phone the taxi and told them to come earlier may as well get to the airport.

Sicily - Catania

Our plane was delayed so by the time we touched down it was midday, the ride coming in was very bumpy and not pleasant at all. But the view of Etna was stunning, we would try and get to see her.  By the time we got the car and found our way out of Catania it was almost 2:00 p.m. but time didn't matter anymore because now we were on holiday.  The Sun was shining and it was probably in the 20's - hot for someone from Ireland.

Palermo / Capaci

We had rented an apartment in Capaci, a nice very reasonably priced apartment.  Driving into Palermo was an experience, it made me thing of Egypt because I had heard how unruly the drivers are, well this was the same, drivers making 4 lanes out of 2.  We managed to find Capaci where we were to meet the owners parents which we did and they took us to the apartment, there was not much time to do anything so we unpacked and went to find a supermarket to get the basic essentials.  By then we were all hungry and found this delightful pizzeria that had the most divine Pizza's they had a Calzone pizza that tasted like the Gino's Calzone pizza from oh so long ago.  It had been a long day, so after our pizza it was back to the apartment to sleep.

Happy Birthday to me ....

My birthday card!

Good Morning

Today!

20 Things I am greatful for ... (Living in Ireland)

Looking for a job at the moment is proving more difficult than I imagined, so I have decided to do a post on things that I am greatful for, to put some kind of perspective on the fact that I don't have a job.

1. I have a wonderful family
2. I have left my Sat Nav in the car overnight and 24/7 for the last 2 years and it has not been stolen, I have even left the car unlocked on several occasions over night.
3. I get to pick up Em from school every day.
4. I have wonderful friends
5. I have a house, car, family, friends, food and everything I need.
6. I am able to walk to loads of places without fearing for my life.
7. I was brought up in a home with 2 parents who never divorced (although sometimes I wondered why they ever got together in the first place).
8. I can use public transport.
9. I walk around with my handbag open and more often than not my purse is lying at the top (little bit careless I need to start being more careful).
10. The only reason we have a house alarm is so that our insurance cost is not so high.
11. When I let the house alarm go off accidentally, the police came round to check if I was okay even when I told them it was a false alarm.
12. I can withdraw money from the ATM without having to watch my back.
13. When Em is a bit older I can allow her to go into town on her own using public transport
14. I able to decide where I want to live
15. I have a warm bed and clothes
16. There is money in my purse and my bank account (not a lot but it's still there)
17. We are all healthy and don't have any disabilities
18. We can go on holidays
19. I can laugh at myself, especially now that I am Irish
20. I am greatful that I have things to be greatful for and that I can blog about them.

K.K.K.K.Kisssssssssssssssss

Are you old enough to remember the C.B. days as in Citizen Band radio, 10-4 Good Buddy, okay so I am giving away my age, I was in high school when the CB Radio was all the rage, my eldest sister who was working at the time, very kindly helped me to buy a CB Radio and get and aerial up, or wait that was some guy I met on the CB radio who came and put up an aerial for me because he developed this huge crush and wanted to talk to me 31, that's 24/7... and later stalked me for a while.

Yes, I think I was 15 or 16 when I first got the CB radio and all my girlfriends had one too, the first thing was finding a "Handle" (something you call yourself not your real name), I have no idea how it came about but I was given the handle "KISS", my other friend was "Golden Earring" and the one who named us called herself "Twinkle Toes".
The CB radio proved very interesting and we met some interesting characters through it as well, also a few boys I dated (hope hubby isn't reading this). We would arrange an "eyeball", which was a meeting to see if you liked the person, because more often than not you would be flirting with someone over the radio and when you met them in real life they would be aaaa yuck, the face for radio type person ... lol. One of my first boyfriends Michael I met over the CB, he lived in La Rochelle and was in the army at the time. Then there were the friends I met, Ivan and Andre both from the south - for the life of me I have no idea what their "handles" were, and Clifford was the guy who stalked me.

Once you bought your CB you had to go to the post office and get a license because if you were caught transmitting without a license of course there would be a heavy fine, and sometimes you were asked your license number over the airways, I still remember mine was ZRAM678 which would be called out as Zulu, Romeo, Alfa, Mike 678 - it was so cool learning all the new lingo.

Breaker, Breaker if you wanted to interrupt a conversation, then you would try and find a clear channel to talk to someone on, and if your aerial was strong enough late at night you could talk to people in different countries around the world. I think CB radio became very popular in South Africa after movies like "Smokey and the Bandit". It also died out very quickly, like most things did in South Africa at that time. Things would be a big hit and then suddenly they would be so un-cool and then it would be over and out!

Well the reason I started this post, is because hubby got tickets to go and see KISS and I said I would go with him, now our friend Lynn is coming over from the UK and going to see KISS with us ... which suddenly reminded me of my CB days. Hopefully the concert is good, because they are also getting along in now, but I will let you know how it goes.

Roger, Over and out, good buddy! Mwah!!!  (Who the hell is Roger?)

Glee FlashMob - Dublin, Ireland NPAS

Here is a street performance by the NPAS group where Em does her Speech and Drama:

Thought for the day

Don't let someone become a priority in your life when you are just an option in their life.

Relationships work best when they are balanced.

Don’t make a promise when you are in joy

Don’t reply when you are sad

Don’t take a decision when you are angry

Think twice, act wise

Don’t go the way life takes you.

Take life the way you go

And remember you are born to live

and not living because you are born.

Bollywood Comes to Dublin

Em wanted to take part in the "Art in Action" performance this year, which is held on the Bank Holiday week-end in June, her birthday week-end.  She has practice every Thursday after school until 4:30, and has come home with a CD that she needs to practice to the songs, here is the performance from the Movie that she will be dancing to, I must say I think it is really good.

Scottish Technology

After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, Irish scientists

found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years and came to the
conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more
than 100 years ago.

Not to be outdone by the Irish, in the weeks that followed, an English
archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet, and shortly after, a story
published in the Sassenach Morning Herald read:

"English archaeologists, finding traces of 130-year-old copper wire,
have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech
communications network 30 years earlier than the Irish".

One week later, the Banffshire Courier in Buckie, Scotland, reported
the following:

"After digging as deep as 30 feet in his field near Enzie,
Banffshire, Jock Broon, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he
found absolutely f@*k all. Jock has therefore concluded that 130 years
ago, Scotland had already gone wireless."

Shout out against crime in South Africa

We can only hope that this hits home, what a BRILLIANT re-mix and Video, makes you proud to be a South African!

Happy St. Patricks Day

It's not Junk, it's ART!

I had to capture this line my 6.9 year old daughter spun me last night.  I was busy getting the recycling together as today the bins get fetched, and I picked up a empty roller towel card board thingie that my daughter had wrapped in foil as she wanted to make a sword and show her teacher.  I let her have her amusement and then thought I would just toss it in the bin.  As I was going through the lounge with all the recycling, she saw it with my pile and said "Hey, mom you can't throw that away!"  and I said "It's Junk it's going in the bin" to which she replied:  "It's NOT junk, it's ART!!!!"  Well I guess that told me, I will have to start looking at junk in a different way now!

Greystones

After Emily's exam we headed off to Greystones where we took a walk, and then had lunch at the "Beach House Pub", here are some photos.

Happy Mothers Day

Mothering Sunday ...

It's mothers day in Ireland tomorrow and Emily just gave me the BEST card in the world ever!

Sicily

I have just been onto http://www.accuweather.com/ to check out the weather in Sicily for the next 15 days, and boy now I can't wait to go, it is mainly dry and partly sunny but the tempreture is up in the 18's and higher - An Irish Summer!  Roll on Easter.

Always Remember

Still Snow on the mountain 07032010

Honey you didn't believe me there was still snow on the mountain, check out Owens website:  http://owenhiggins.xanga.com/, here is one of the photos that Owen took.

Egoli

I happened to go onto SA Rocks and watch the Final episode of Egoli, frankly I was quite surprised that they would have it embedded on the internet and you wouldn't have to pay to watch it.  Oh my goodness it brought tears to my eyes, kowing that this was one soapie I would follow religiously when I was back home.

Random thoughts I've had today

1. 
   
   
   If your friends don't phone you ... phone them
2. 
   
   
   I really think that Italian lady what's her name ... Angie bolan, was the one who tried to kill Julie in Desperate housewives
3. 
   
   
   Gabie and Carlos should be taken out and shot ... (Desperate housewives again)
4. 
   
   
   I really do need to do something prodcutive instead of sitting by my computer
5. 
   
   
   Sleepover ... midweek ... mmm .... not such a good idea but let's wait and see what happens
6. 
   
   
   What are we going to do on Paddy's day ... maybe we should just go to the parade
7. 
   
   
   It's cold, my feet are cold ...
8. 
   
   
   I can't wait for Sicily
9. 
   
   
   Must call my sister some time
10. 
    
    
    Where is Gwen?
11. 
    
    
    Mafia Wars is becoming boring now ...
12. 
    
    
    Time to make dinner

Toxic Friendships

You know how often you look for a word to describe something and can never find it, well after reading my new favourite blog, Ches said his 2010 is "For me, this year has been about 5 very important positives and life changing experiences... 1. Finally ending some toxic friendships, and finding great new ones."

And that is so true about my "positive" year, I have been on this positive drive since the end of last year, you know new beginings and all that, it started when we got back from our round the world trip, I decided that I need to rid my life of things that bring me down and some of those were "Toxic" friendships, wow it feels so good to use that word!  And I did, that is end some toxic friendships, I am now so much happier with my life and myself.  Woman can be evil and now I know that woman can be TOXIC too!!!  Bored woman I have found are dangerous woman too, so never let your mind be bored.
 
I have also found some great new ones, this is my year!

Bloggers

Just stumbled onto yet another awesome blog, I wonder why I can't write like other people is it because my blogging is just too personal and too close to my heart? ParkLife Blog is about an ex Game Ranger who has moved to the city and his experiences living in Jo'burg and is so funny that I just want to keep reading, his experience of the Jo'burg police pulling over a taxi driver this morning and locking him up is well worth a read.

And another blog I love reading is a Canadian girl who is living in Dublin and studying at Trinity college, she writes about her life in Dublin, I just want to read more and check each day if there is update, again I wish I could write like this.

Today I was actually contemplating writing my own book, but I honestly don't know who would read it, I can hardly get anyone to read my blog, so who would read my book? I think these thoughts came from me getting an email from a publishing company in South Africa, a retired Brigadere General from the South African Air Force is writing a book about all his rescue missions, and of course one of them was the Oceanos.  Well they asked me to write a short description on the book for the cover, not sure if it will get onto the cover but there is nothing like hoping.

Paula Banks

I am always fascinated by the beauty of Nature, and when people can capture beauty in a photograph it amazes me, I love Nature and would love to be able to take photographs like Owen Higgens and Paula Banks.  I happened to come across Paula Banks website which you can look at under my "Blog List", here are some of her photographs:

© Paula Banks. Photo used with permission

We got it ...

We finally received our brand spanking new Irish passports, whilst sitting at the computer yesterday, the post flap on the door opened and 2 big brown envelopes fell to the floor, I looked over my shoulder to see what was there and said to myself could it be, no ... yes ... you see, I had taken them in on the 10th of Feb and the lady said to me they would be ready on the 23rd if I wanted to fetch them, or should they post them, I said post.  Then after I finished my contract last week, I wished I had said yes I will pick them up because now they would probably take and extra month to get to us.  But lone behold, they were obviously ready on the 23rd, posted out and arrived the morning of the 24th.

So in order to initiate them and make sure they work properly, we have booked a short break to Sicily at the end of March, should be fun!

SA Budget Speech

This cartoon from Jeremy Nell and other Zapiro cartoons have been doing the rounds on email, thought this was very funny!

As week-ends go ...

So I finished up work on Thursday and no sooner was I socialising, Kelly came round for tea on Friday morning, and after she left I started the chores I would normally reserve for the week-end, shopping, washing etc. Luckily Em was at the after school centre for the midterm break, so I could get things done.

Saturday D took her off to Drama, she has her 3rd speech and dram exam on the 14th of March, it's quite a big deal because the examiners come in from the Irish examination board to listen to them and then mark them. So after she got home and had lunch we all went off to Marley park, where she met up with her "boyfriend" Sonny, and then to Joe & Carla for a wonderful curry dinner as a Thank you for helping them move at the end of January.

Sunday we awoke to a dusting of snow on the ground and cars, but loads of snow on the mountains. D had to go to work, so Em and I headed over to Nutgrove as she wanted to buy a sword with her few pennies at the Euro Saver store. We then went to pick up a well deserved cappuccino for mom and then went to Eddie Rockets so Em could have a milk shake, after that we walked the drinks off along the canal.

It was bitterly cold but the walk warmed us up, on our walk we found two memorials set up for different people who had drowned in the canal, quite sad. Since we moved to Ireland 9 years ago, there have been a number of deaths in the canal, mainly guys walking home from the pub who have been drinking and fall in. As we walked down the canal, we came across a derelict building that said "Murphys Undertakers" and I wondered if the undertakers were there specifically because lots of people drowned in the canal at one stage?

Further down is a bridge I drive over often, I really didn't realise how old the bridge is, and hopefully it doesn't get washed away in the next storm we have. Then it was home to get Em ready for going back to school on Monday.

Enya - Only Time

New Adventures

Em is at an Art in Action Spring break camp this week, D drops her off early in the morning and then she doesn't get picked up till after 5 pm.  They are having so many great activities, yesterday the went to a nearby beach to pick up shells, they are making photo frames, they also had to take in cereal boxes and toilet roll holders and stuff to build a robot.  Emily had such fun yesterday she was so hyped when she go home, she also wolfed down her dinner, veggies and all that she would normally pick on.

Today the went to the park and made pancakes in the afternoon, the rest of the week includes, baking, a visit to the Library, movies a party, photography, oh and making tie dye T-shirts.  With all the activity I so wish I was a kid again.

With her being at the camp I also get a few hours after work to myself, so today I had made an appointment at the beautician and hairdress for 4 o'clock.  So what to do with my time before that, well I took a drive into Greystones and what a lovely drive, I am dying to take Em and D, as you go down the hill into Greystones the view of the Bay and the sea is absolutely beautiful, especially today because it was sunny.  My car then got a wash and I even managed to grab a coffee at Ina's before heading off to the Hairdressers.

Good Morning

Next Stop ...

Well my three month contract is coming to an end on Thursday, which means I would have been there for six months. It's funny I think I felt more part of this company than I ever felt with any company that I worked for on a permanent basis before, the longest I worked for a company was over seven years and I never ever felt like that.


It was possibly due to the fact that it was a small company with no more than 25 staff members including the two directors. From the time I started I was made to feel like one of the family, everyone was just so nice to me and I was even invited to the Christmas party event in the country. I have loved each minute I have been there and even though it was only 6 months I feel like I have been with them for years.

I would have probably stayed on, had the company got another big contract, but at the moment there is nothing on the cards and other companies are not spending money. But the director did say that if anything came up I would be the first person they would phone, and of course I know he will give me a good reference should I need it.

One thing I do know is that I have made some really really good friends in the short space of time I have been there, and have already been invited on their next night out for drinks. Dianne gets back from South Africa the last week-end in Feb and has already said we must get together, and Yvonne is going to meet me at Dundrum for coffee on the odd occasion and of course I will pop into the office.

So what to do, well I decided I am going to take a few weeks out for me (with hubbies permission of course), I have a few ideas I want to get off the ground and also market my company (which is me) and get a web site going as well, so I am going to be busy busy busy with lots of positive things. And of course since telling everyone that I am finishing up on Thursday I have been inundated with lunch dates.  Some of my friends I have not seen since before Christmas and some new friends I have made.  I am also meeting the HR director from the last company I contracted for, to do a catch up with her, they have something going down in the Camens at the moment, so need to find out what it is, maybe I can get an assignment there - as Em says PLLLLLLEEZE do you think hubby would let me go, I don't think so!

If I had the money I would love to go to South Africa for Easter but it's not going to happen, so I guess I will just have to enjoy spending the time with Em here seeing as she is off for two weeks at Easter.

I have tried to be really positive since the beginning of the year and it is paying off. The other day a friend who moved away, tried hard to bring back negative thoughts and anger about some people, and it worked for a while and then I thought to myself – I don’t want to go there anymore – I have so much left to do and give in life that negativity is just going to get in the way of that, so from now on I am just going to lay low with people who are trying to rub their negativity off on me.

So here’s to my future whatever may happen!

Valentines Day ...

Well what a week, busy busy busy ... Monday I stopped in at Carla to drop off a snow suit for Xavier, then Tuesday I had to get passport photos done, pick up Em from Swimming and go off to the Garda station to get my passport application and photos signed by a Garda, then Wednesday off to the passport office, then picked up Mercia from her hotel and we went shopping in Dundrum, lunch at Siam Thai and then rushed off to pick Em up from School and back to the hotel for coffee and only got home at 5:30pm. Friday Em and I went to Mercia's hotel and Em swam, then we went down to the Vertigo bar for a drink and waited for D. M & P are heading off for a jaunt around Ireland so we said our good-byes and headed home, bunged a quick pizza in the oven for D & Em and I settled for Salad. 

By Saturday when I sat down to watch the rugby, I was so exhausted I fell asleep during the Ireland / France match. 

Today was valentines day, and Emily was just so hyped up about it being Valentines day, she made sure that her dad bought me Roses which were really beautiful, and she asked Granny Yvonne to buy me a present too.  She is so cute at the moment, anyway I booked tickets for The princess and the frog, which was a perfect movie for Valentines day a Disney Love story.  Met Mandy, Lisa and the kids and then we all went off to watch the show, after the show we made our way to Granny Yvonne and Grandpa Bob for Lunch, which was awesome and then home to all the chores.

What a week ...