Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Wow!
Right now I'm feeling like one of those people who go on a talk show and get an amazing, life-changing makeover.
 |
| (This is a reception, not a ball, but I'm so excited that it may as well be a ball.) |
I immediately messaged Jennifer, who babysits, to line up child care so I can go. To the ball. Like CinderCristi.
Let me back up to last night. I FaceTimed with my principal and the school board and it was hilarious that I think they could all see me, but I could only see my principal. And it was after midnight my time so I was super tired. It's always been early beds for this girl, but I tried my best to stay awake. About 30 minutes prior to my alarm, I fell asleep. Luckily I set three alarms. I'm pretty sure I rubbed my eyes like a wee baby the whole time. Hopefully I didn't embarrass myself too badly.
This morning Vivi was excited to get to school for the second day of World Book Week, which is an awesomely big deal here and really fun. Today an author/illustrator, Paul Howard, was reading and signing copies of his book! Plus today was swimming!
There was a bit of snow - check out how pretty the mountains look with their white blanket:
Food here is fresh and preservatives aren't used like they are in the States so I stop at Tesco regularly. Mostly I've eaten salad for dinners, but there was a chicken on sale and a package of root vegetables so I couldn't resist.
Guess how much the chicken cost.
No!
Guess again!
No! Even better!
I'm serious!
Can you believe:
I know!!!
The "after":
And it was one of the best meals I've ever tasted.
Monday, February 27, 2017
So little time
Last summer I got a lovely email from The Royal Oak Foundation highlighting properties I could visit. Additionally, I can get in to The National Trust properties!
Gorgeous! I want to go see each and every one!
Gorgeous! I want to go see each and every one!
Places to visit in Northern Ireland
Snooze
It was really easy pressing the snooze button this morning.
Tonight I'm FaceTiming with the school board in Lehighton so I'd better not hit snooze when my alarm goes off! I will speak with them at about half twelve my time. (Pretty good Belfast talk, huh?)
Drumroll...
That's right! My id! And I was able to log in to the computer! And I was able to access wifi!
Oh, what a beautiful morning!
As promised, I brought cake and lattes to the office fellas and I got this hilarious email from one:
I mean, come on, how can I avoid giving us sitcom titles?
Latte, Latte, Americano is still my favorite.
Then:
Celebratory lunch at The House:
That's ham and chicken pie.
That's Irish Stew. I can't get enough Irish Stew. It's really, really good. I also had vegetable broth, but vegetable broth here is a pretty heart soup. And it's always delicious. Belfast knows how to do food.
After doing some work, we went to pick up Vivian. By the Adelaide bus stop, James found a wallet in the gutter area of the street so we Google mapped the address and walked it over to him. It was a chance to see a part of Malone Road and some neighborhoods I hadn't had a reason to go to, so it was a nice glimpse of a different area. The man was happy to have his wallet back - he bikes and hadn't even known his wallet was missing.
On the way back to the apartment, Viv was struggling a bit with her backpack, so James offered to carry it for her. Then, of course, she skipped and ran and had tons of energy.
Now it's time to get a wee bit of shut-eye before it's time to wake up for FaceTime.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
A Titanic Sunday
Viv and I made breakfast; she is getting to be an expert egg maker and she even has her own style about it - she freshly grinds sea salt and pepper into the bowl or on the plate where the eggs will go so there's more flavor.
We cut up pears and apples and cheese and some yummy fresh.l bread we picked up.
What a rainy day! That means it was ideal for going to the Titanic Museum.
We took a cab because it makes more sense to go in a can with three people and be able to go door-to-door when it's pouring.
When we arrived there were all sorts of fancy cars and signs that it was a wedding informational event. I don't know if it's a good idea to get married at a place symbolizing something that sank, but to each his and her happily ever after own!
We meandered through the exhibit, which is part historic artifact/part digital/part awesome ride/part life size recrration.
Historic Lunatic Asylum. Um. What made it historic? It sounds ominous.
Heat views
This is a picture of Wish. You can read more here: http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/how-belfast-got-stuck-in-to-make-artist-jorge-rodriguezgeradas-wish-come-true-29669951.html
The Titanic tickets also cover a fee to visit Nomadic, a ship "parked" nearby. Walking along the dock, we saw this and wondered what it was.
Then we walked a bit more and read the explanation.
It is pretty impressive.
On the Nomadic were period costumes and they were a total hit. I must have watched Viv try on costumes for an hour. I watched group after group after group walk through, have a grand time trying on costumes and leave. My kid? Still costuming.
"I want to be mysterious."
The Michael Jackson version of a 1912 girl.
She posed like the pictures of passengers who rode Nomadic.
We went below deck where the engines used to be and watched clips from the Digital Film Archives. I recommend visiting the website - it has great historical footage and pictures.
It wa time to eat so we headed over to St. George's Market when Viv wanted a bap with sausage. It was hard to hear what she was saying because it was a little loud, but somehow the man (I can't believe I can't remember his name. I feel like a jerk. If you're reading this: I'm sorry! I'll find out when I see you again!) figured out how to make Viv what she deemed excellent. "This is excellent."
The sun came out so we walked most of the way home, but a bus was stopped so we hopped on for about 3 stops. A quick Tesco trip for more salad ingredients gave us some heavy bags, but only up the wee hill to the apartment.
This beautiful bloom made the walk all the more worth.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Tour - Take 2
With a visitor in town, it was time for the hop-on/hop-off bus tour of Belfast!
We went to breakfast at a place called Maggie Mays and had super yummy lunches. I had a chicken and mushroom pie that was sort of like chicken pot pie. Viv, per usual, had chicken goujons. I just looked up "goujons" and it means small edible. Makes sense.
I've walked by the BBC building I-don't-know-how-many times, but never saw this. It looks like it used to be a water fountain, but I could totally be wrong.
Hey! The bus tour!
I didn't get a good view of this mural on the first bus tour, so I was glad to get a better sight of it this time.
Stormont as the weather turns. A metaphor? When I talk to people here, they seem so casual when they say, "oh, the government collapsed." And I'm thinking they must mean collapsed like a stumble or scuff. But, no. They mean collapse. Once again, I turn to the BBC for clarification. If Direct Rule ends up being a reality, there are complicated ramifications, not the least of which is what's happening with Brexit.
We hopped off at St. George's Market where Viv was duly impressed by the fresh fish -- fresh from the Atlantic Ocean!
and I realized she'd never seen actual crabs before
This duo played all music I like!
We hopped back on the bus and James noticed these poles with wires heading in all directions.
and we saw TK Maxx (in the States it's TJ Maxx)
And we laughed about "Pound World" where everything is a pound. Hee! it's funny if using the American "pound" which is usually a sibling punching another sibling.
How I have I not noticed this before??
We cut through the Botanic Garden where I was happy to make a bad joke about this tree pining to be free.
and every time I walk by this fence that goes around the tree, I smile. Nature wins!
Oh, my God...look at this sign. omg...ohmg.
Vivi got a handmade tic-tac-toe game at St. George's Market and on the walk home I saw this x and o fence. Coincidence? I doubt it. I think it foretells I'm going to totally win games against my seven-year-old.
In the morning, the sun was out and I saw these pretty bloomers:
We went to breakfast at a place called Maggie Mays and had super yummy lunches. I had a chicken and mushroom pie that was sort of like chicken pot pie. Viv, per usual, had chicken goujons. I just looked up "goujons" and it means small edible. Makes sense.
I've walked by the BBC building I-don't-know-how-many times, but never saw this. It looks like it used to be a water fountain, but I could totally be wrong.
Hey! The bus tour!
I didn't get a good view of this mural on the first bus tour, so I was glad to get a better sight of it this time.
Stormont as the weather turns. A metaphor? When I talk to people here, they seem so casual when they say, "oh, the government collapsed." And I'm thinking they must mean collapsed like a stumble or scuff. But, no. They mean collapse. Once again, I turn to the BBC for clarification. If Direct Rule ends up being a reality, there are complicated ramifications, not the least of which is what's happening with Brexit.
We hopped off at St. George's Market where Viv was duly impressed by the fresh fish -- fresh from the Atlantic Ocean!
and I realized she'd never seen actual crabs before
This duo played all music I like!
We hopped back on the bus and James noticed these poles with wires heading in all directions.
and we saw TK Maxx (in the States it's TJ Maxx)
And we laughed about "Pound World" where everything is a pound. Hee! it's funny if using the American "pound" which is usually a sibling punching another sibling.
How I have I not noticed this before??
We cut through the Botanic Garden where I was happy to make a bad joke about this tree pining to be free.
and every time I walk by this fence that goes around the tree, I smile. Nature wins!
Oh, my God...look at this sign. omg...ohmg.
Vivi got a handmade tic-tac-toe game at St. George's Market and on the walk home I saw this x and o fence. Coincidence? I doubt it. I think it foretells I'm going to totally win games against my seven-year-old.
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