Out with a bang
Final days in Belfast before the annual trip to the US.
Tuesday 12 Dec. we didn't have our final golf outing of the year due to rain. However we still had the best-costume contest. I wore a Brussels sprout hat, which was not enough for victory. But I love that we are a bunch of silly middle-aged women who don't take ourselves too seriously.
Thursday 14 Dec. into town for two Christmas markets (I've already been to three other markets!). I took Paddy with me so he was treated to real meat bratwurst while I had a vegan one.
Friday and Saturday were run run run. Wrap and deliver presents. Write and deliver cards. Sort out taxi for trip (I'm using a new app, requiring two visits to Fay next door for help). Clean house top to bottom in prep for house sitter. Put some food in the fridge. Get hair cut. Sneak in 9 holes b/c the club was miraculously open. Friday night was a Grinchmas party at the Banana Block. Hi Ali and Barb!
Too much? Saturday night was neighbour Andrew's 60th birthday. Christine invited over 100 people and had a pizza van, which was fabulous as, who has time to eat when running pillar to post? I was the first customer. I arranged for Paddy to spend Saturday night with Catherine, the house sitter for the next three weeks, so I could be up and away Sunday with no worries (other than a hangover).
Sunday departed the house at 6:45 a.m. in a taxi. Caught the 7:20 am bus to Dublin. Then the 11:50 am flight to Washington. Then a 5:30 pm flight to Columbus. Then a shuttle to a hotel and a night's poor rest – it takes me days to get onto US time, awaking at 2 or 3 am with little hope of a return to sleep. The trip was immensely tiring but it's always good to be home for Christmas.
Monday was the 3.5-hour bus to Marietta, near my mom's, where she collected me. Tuesday was lunch with her friends at a hotel. I worked for PRI Monday and Tuesday (mainly deleting old emails) to preserve two weeks off, which I hope to use this winter. Here we are after Tuesday's lunch.
Airplane viewing: You hurt my feelings (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Tobias Menzies) and Past Lives (two gorgeous Korean/Korean-American actors). Also three of five episodes of Chernobyl. Incredible how close we came to sealing our fate on this planet. At a faster pace than we have done since.
19 December