floaty

I am sufficiently tired to feel floaty.

Yesterday we drove down to Cork (it was a *beautiful* day, and a wonderful drive) to give the letting agency money and to get the keys. Upon getting to Cork, Ted wasn’t 100% sure of where he was, so he stopped so we could look at the map. At a glance, we couldn’t find a map. I said, “Are you sure you brought it?” He was sure. We scoured the car. No map. I said, “Not to belabor the issue, but are you sure you brought it?”

Well, he said, he’d gone upstairs to get it and had come downstairs with it. It did not, however, appear to make it further than downstairs. We found a parking garage and went half looking for the street we needed, and more looking for food. The latter we knew we could find in the city centre (an lar in Irish), so we went there, crossing Parliment Bridge on the way. We got a map and food and over food Ted studied the map and couldn’t find the street we were on *on* the map, but was pretty sure we needed to be quite a ways over that way (to the southeast, essentially). So we went out to head that way.

Halfway back over Parliment Bridge, Ted stopped dead. There, directly in front of us, at the corner we had crossed the bridge from, two blocks south from where we’d eaten, and not east at all, was the place we were looking for. *laugh* We went in and did the paperwork and stuff, and all was well. Except Ted had eaten fish pie for lunch, and it turned out to have shellfish in it, and he’s developed an intolerance to shellfish, so his tummy was all hurty. :( Poor Ted.

But despite his hurty tummy he said we should go see the house in Cobh so I could see where we’d be living, so we drove out there, and Cobh is very, very pretty. It’s got hills like San Francisco and the most absurdly beautiful church. Our house seems to be in a nice subdivision (housing estate), and it’s probably a 2 mile walk to the train station and another mile into town. I’m hoping to find a shortcut. I can hardly imagine there’s not a shortcut, and yet at the same time I would be completely unsurprised if there isn’t one. And we live near the top of a massive hill, so my, walking into town will be good for my butt. :)

I’m looking forward to exploring the place and seeing it all. Ted says he saw an ad for a yoga class, and there’s an equestrian center somewhere on the island, so maybe I could take riding lessons. There’s a pool in town somewhere, and the people at the Curves in Athy gave me the address for the Curves in Cobh, and given that you can sort of walk into any random store in Athy and find an ad for somebody giving guitar lessons, I figure I can probably find something similar in Cobh. And Cork’s a 20 minute train ride (after a 40 minute walk, if I can’t find a shortcut!) away, and I am *sure* I could find dance classes and Irish lessons there if I can’t find ’em in Cobh. And maybe there’s a photography club or a reading club or something I could join.

I’d be awfully surprised if I’m organized enough to do all those different things, but if I manage two or three of them, that’d be really good. Anyway, then we drove back and it snowed on us! Big fat snowflakes, though it wasn’t really sticking. When we got home we all walked down to the Italian place in Athy for a going-away dinner for Shaun…

…because he has decided that Europe is a place for him to visit, not to live. *sniffle* We’ve been living with Shaun the better part of a decade: we lived together in college from very late 1994 through mid-1996, and then he came to live with us in August 2000 when we were in California. So we’re very sad to lose him, but we hope he will be happy. :} We all got up this morning and went into Dublin so he could catch his plane, and now we have no Shaun anymore. :(

(He does, however, expect me to send him books when I get my advance author copies. *laugh*)

Ted and I went to “Last Holiday” (which was cute) since we were in town, then went to visit Mom & Dad and didn’t manage to see D&G and the little boys, which we hoped we’d arrange before this exodus to Cork happens. Deirdre says they’ll just have to come visit us in Cobh. :)

The house down there really is nice. The second bedroom is GINORMOUS, and we’re going to split it, half computer room and half guest room. I’m going to use the littlest bedroom, which is only large enough for a single bed, as my *office*. I cain’t hardly imagine having an *office*! That’ll be cool.

…in decidedly less cool news, it looks like my grandma, who has been fading for some time, is really going about the business of dying now. She is comfortable, she is content, she is ready, and I am very sad. We all may be going to a memorial service very soon.

I think I’ll go cuddle with my husband and watch a not-emotionally-taxing movie and go to bed early, for it is very, very tired around here.

BTW, thanks to everybody who responded to my last post about comics. I’m going to talk about that stuff some more, but not right now.

ytd wordcount: 74,200
miles to mount doom: 410