Musings

So, we have had the annual Twelfth parades.  Called marches here.  Celebrating when a dutchman came and conquered the Irish for the British Crown.  This means locally that it is a "loyalist" and a "protestant" event.  There are organization and lodges all over that are into this bit of history and like celebrating it. See...N.Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom and loyal to the Crown.

So..they get pipe and drum bands together, and wear pretty sashes and carry large banners through local towns.  This is all known.  They do it every  year.  And every year there are problems.  You see, there is "the other side".  People...sometimes known as "republicans" or "catholics"... don't like the idea of the pretty bands marching through the towns one weekend per year. Or something.

So what's the deal?

A New Year

New Years tend to come with resolutions. We make them, and generally...we break them. So instead of making a whole list, I will just have one. To get things done. I will pick a thing that needs to be done, and strive to do it. Then, I'll pick another one. With a few underlying goals for the year, such as being a bit smarter about managing my diet and exercise, and putting away extra money for "treats". To accomplish the last I have set up a brand new savings account, just for the leftovers at the end of the month. We shall see if it works. But my first real "thing"...clean/organize my office. It holds some of the last remaining moving boxes, as I don't have as many closets here. It also holds everything else that doesn't have a "home", or I just don't want to deal with at any given moment. Company coming...all the clutter gets transferred to the office. It has reached critical.
But enough of that. Iain and I went to Wales over the Christmas week to visit with some friends. Avoiding the family pressures and stresses sounded like a good idea, and it also meant I was under NO obligation to contrive something for "Christmas".

We spent lots of time engaging in non-Christmas-like activities!

November ramblings

Well, once again I have neglected my blog for entirely too long. So after guesting at Mom's site, I thought I'd re-visit my own.

Fall is definitely here. I had to fill the oil tank in the backyard and turn on the heat. After a short visit to Inverness to visit Iain's great-uncle for my birthday, I came home and started the Halloween preparations. It's not a big deal here, but I still carve pumpkins and have a bowl of candy for any trick-or-treaters. This year's pumpkins were fun...Jack Skellington and the Flying Spaghetti Monster!!

Enough kids came to justify the candy, but there is still some left!!

hanging in N.Ireland

Hi all. Haven't blogged in a while, so here I go. My eyes are doing great. Left is still lagging, but they say it's normal. Go back in June for another checkup. The weather has multiple-personality disorder and no one seems to know if we'll get a summer. Last year summer was in April and April's almost over! It also happily adheres to Murphy's Law, for as I rush out to get the dog for a w-a-l-k before it rains, the sun appears as soon as we get back to the house.

Iain's due home in about a month, but probably will get home in time to unpack his stuff (IF it gets here in a reasonable time-frame) and repack for other courses. Mostly short ones, I think. Then is schedule is all up in the air, and we'll know more when we know more. In the meantime, I have been given the all-clear to "fall down" again so it's back into JuJitsu full-speed-ahead. And eventho I have 7 months before I test for my black belt (on Jason's birthday!), I am getting put through my paces. But, it's "use it or lose it" and I want to not have to THINK at the testing session and just "DO".

Oh, and Toe Socks are kick-ass!

Got Matzoh?

Just a note to say Happy Passover to everyone!

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