Watch out Tiger Woods! - Take 2

Watch out Tiger Woods!

So, I learned how to play golf today! Well, sort of... Not for REAL, but close enough. We went to the Pitch and Putt which is pretty cool for beginners cause you lean how to really swing a club, but the holes are anywhere from 50-80 yards to the pin. You only need two clubs: a pitching wedge and a putter. There are 18 holes, and the whole thing took us about 2 hours. Loved it! I must say, Shane was a good coach. He taught me how to keep my left arm straight, tuck my elbow, and "let the club do the work." But as you'll see in the videos, I still have some practicing to do before I'll be ready for the 2009 LPGA :-)

Fleadh Cheoil

That's Irish for "Music Festival" and it just so happens that the National Irish Music Festival took place 30 minutes from Athlone in a town called Tullamore this past weekend. Shane and I thought it would be a good cultural experience, so we jumped in the car (I got to drive!) and we headed East. Tullamore is another quaint little town with coffee shops and boutiques up and down the main streets. The festival takes place literally in the streets, so you could be walking down the sidewalk and all of a sudden you hear these sweet angelic voices singing Irish folk songs a cappella. I loved how so many of the performers were kids - anywhere from 8 to 18 years old. Although it rained on and off, the people didn't seem to mind it (and neither did we). Check it out...

Flip Flops

Well, I finally became Irish and exposed my toes in flip flops today. Since it IS August, you'd think that wouldn't be such a festive occasion. But we had an absolutely gorgeous day, and I tried to spend as much time as I could outside. I started off by packing up my sketch book (Thank you Gianna) and walking down to the river to "sketch" like those artsy people do. Unfortunately my skills are less than inspiring, so after about 30 minutes of looking at my page (which looked nothing like the scene I was trying to draw), I called it quits. On to something I do slightly better... buy more stuff for the house! Shane is going to kill me :-)

Look how blue the sky was on this beautiful day in Athlone. I also added a few more photos to the "Our Apartment" photo album so you could see what the complex looks like on the outside.

And the adventure begins...

We’re really here! Living in Europe. It only seems half real. Last night we slept with our Delta eye-masks on to shield the early morning sun which shines bright as noon at 6am through our bedroom window. Ann, our land lady, is making lined curtains for us, but they won’t be ready until later this week. Just so happens that the street we live off (the main street that goes through town) just yesterday became a one-way road. Talk about timing. Unfortunately for Shane, this has quadrupled his commute time to 20 minutes with all the traffic. Needless to say he is not happy about this and is considering getting a bike. His office is literally 2 miles down the main road. Once Shane headed out, I closed the door to our apartment and thought, “now what?” So much time, so little to do. Wow, don’t think I’ve ever thought that in my whole life. So I began to walk slowly through each room in our 1500 square foot apartment. Shane has already developed a semblance of a “system” for where things should go and what space should be designated for what. Not surprising. Actually, it’s kind of relieving not to have to decide all those things on my own. Plus, he is very efficient by nature, so his systems just make sense. The kitchen cabinets and drawers had sticky notes in them. “Cups” “Plates” “Tea and Coffee stuff,” etc. Thanks Shane! That makes it easy. Once all my boxes arrive, I’ll know exactly where to put everything! Speaking of boxes, they should get here by Monday assuming all goes well with the Customs Agent in Dublin.

So, after I took a few deep breaths in each room, I started to clean. Learned how to work the vacuum cleaner, swept, and made our bed. Is it weird that I spent 10 solid minutes making the bed? No rush. Every piece of sheet and blanket pulled and tucked just right. My grandmother would have been proud. Then I experimented with the combination washing / drying machine. Definitely did not recognize any of the symbols on that puppy. Do I put the detergent here or in there? Which knob do I press? Oh crap, I poured the powder down the wrong hole. Will it still wash? And what about the fabric softener? Well, after an hour and a half cycle, I opened the machine to the steamy smell of clean white laundry. Perfect! And those clothes were hotter than those white pre-dinner hand towels they give you at those Japanese Steak House restaurants. Of course they were still steamy and needed more drying on the rack. That’s one big difference about living here. No such thing as “dryers” as we know them.

What else? I checked the mail, filled out some paper work, took a stroll to the post office which is just over the bridge and did some reading next to the balcony off our bedroom. Today was a typical Irish day in terms of weather. Light rain for about 20 minutes around 11am. (Just as I walked outside to by the bank and the convenience store). Good thing I was wearing my rain jacket. Then it got sunny and warm for most of the afternoon. By the early evening it was breezy and overcast.

Shane got home around six and we took a walk to the Athlone Town Center Mall for dinner at To Go which is similar to a “Le Petite Bistro” in the Perimeter Mall foodcourt. We shared a meal: chicken, ham (which they call bacon), and mozzarella panini, a carrot, feta, and olive salad, and potato salad. All very good! And then we walked to the Centra (the convenience store) to try Shane’s favorite treat… the Galaxy bar. Vanilla icecream on a stick covered in buttery milk chocolate. I now know why it’s his favorite. We walked with our icecreams to the Tesco which is the 24hour grocery store. More like a mini walmart though cause they had everything from pajamas to TV monitors. Oh, and food of course. I had made a list, but in classic Melissa style, I left it at the apartment. So we walked through the store aisle by aisle picking up a wide assortment of things from wall hanging studs to tea "biscuits" (which are we know as cookies). It was really fun seeing all the new and different products and brand names. There is this white chocolate and hazelnut “duo” spread that I am going to go back and get one of these days. 75 Euro later, we had our cloth bags full (4 to be exact), and we strapped them over our shoulders for the ¼ mile walk home. I could get used to this! Lots of walking, smaller packages which makes for less trash, no driving, not to mention no job. I spent an hour making playlists in my itunes library. I never would have done that back in Atlanta - no time. Now I listen to all my long forgotten songs as I clean my countertops. What could be better?

Well, that about sums up my first day. I think we are going to like it here. This view shows our side of the river. Our apartment building is just beyond the bank.