One of the Ten on Tuesday

Today's list is Ten Things on My To Do List. And since it is 7:40 AM and I haven't showered or even started to get ready for work (scheduled to arrive at 8:30 - have a 9:00 meeting) I guess my number one item on the list is get off the computer & get ready for work. So the remaining Nine on Tuesday will be posted tonight after the UCONN Women's game....

Ten on Monday Night for Tuesday

This week I'm early - what can I say. No basketball is on tonight for one thing so I thought I'd get this written since the UCONN Women play tomorrow night. But I have to complain about something here - we UCONN fans are so spoiled- the local PBS station broadcasts all the games ( that the national network doesn't pick up) so we get to watch our Lady Huskies all the time. Except when they are on ESPN wrap - around tournament coverage like now. It is the weakest excuse for coverage that I have ever seen. The premise is they only show the "interesting games", not the ones where someone, say UCONN, is ahead by a bazillion points. So as a result I saw about 10 seconds of the UCONN game Sunday. And ESPN is so schizophrenic - they don't even show one whole game which drives me nuts. So I will watch whatever game ESPN sees fit to broadcast tomorrow & listen to the Huskies on the radio. But I DO know I will not have to watch Pat Summit and the Lady Vols - right Scaley??

Ok - per usual, in no particular order...The Top Ten Things I Like to Do On Vacation

1. Send postcards - I usually make a pretty big production of it, buy the postcards, go to a cafe or bar, have a couple drinks and write those bad boys out. They are fun to send and I would like to think the recipients like getting something in the mail.

2. Find the best local restaurant - you know the place that isn't in the guide books but the locals all go to. A local speciality is a bonus, as long as the food isn't some weird dish like haggis.

3. Go Go Go - I rarely have a whole relaxing vacation but enjoy seeing all I can.

4. Read some good books.

5. Go out to a cool bar late at least one night - easier to do back in my wild & wooly days but I still try to hang with the big dogs at least one night.

6. Buy something for myself that will remind me of the trip - doesn't have to be expensive.

7. Get some Christmas shopping done - I can usually find a couple cool things to buy for someone else.

8. Spend some time with the locals - hashing is a good way to do that.

9. Have one special night out for dinner - Hubby & I will splurge one night out, but I don't want to get too dressed up fancy.

10. Come home safely - the best way to end a great trip!

I gotta start reading my blogs earlier...

becuase now I should really be getting ready for work. This staying off the Internet at work thing is killing me - but it keeps me employed. So - I'll write more tonight - in between basketball games...

Well Oil Beef Hooked

Happy St. Paddy's day! My favorite memories of St. Paddy's day - well those I can remember, often involve hanging out at the Irish Cottage Pub in Delray Beach Florida. It started out as a little pub in an old garage. Small, filled with atmosphere & the closest thing to a "real" Irish pub that I had ever seen. We used to go there quite regularly on a Saturday night for dinner & traditional Irish music with Nico's Mom & Dad. Good food, good pints and fun music. The house band always sang The Old Shillee & that was usually a sign it was time to go home. One night, there was a girl visiting from NYC and she got up and sang Danny Boy - she was a student at Julliard and when she sang I understood what the big deal was about the song - there was not a dry eye in the house.

I also have awesome memories of our trip to Ireland with my Mom 3 years ago. One place I have traveled that I would go back to in a heart beat.

So enjoy the day - I'll raise a pint of Guinness to Sean & the boys for all the awesome memories - and the title of my post? It was featured on their St. Paddy's day t-shirts - say it with an Irish brogue and a twinkle in your eye- just like Sean used to do!

I love smart men!

This You Tube video is great! Thanks Nico's Dad for sharing!

Ten on Thursday

I know it is supposed to be Ten on Tuesday but I had the fear of God - actually of the unemployment God put in me today at work. Turns out some jackasses have been on the Internet at work for "inappropriate things" and now the whole company is on Internet lock down. I have been weaning myself & trying not to post from work but still jump on Yahoo & Facebook for seconds (really) before I remember - hey I don't get paid for this and get back to work. Well now, my really nice company is having to defend it self against the jack asses and you can get FIRED almost instantly for being on-line for anything not work related. So, as much as I love to check out what Shana or June or Carole are doing - I love my job even more. And trust me - I know what it is like to work for a total wack job at a job that made me so unhappy so am very thankful for what I have now - thus I may post at night & possibly not when I used to. But I can still check what's up from home & lucky you, faithful reader, I can blog from home as well.
So Ten on Thursday - Ten Things I Won't Miss About Winter.

1. Driveway drama - because really - how many times do I need to get stuck trying to go up my driveway?
2. Terrible drivers - not me of course - I learned to drive on the tundra of Montana - the driver's in CT - not so much....
3. Hauling up firewood - I heart the fire in the fireplace but hate hauling up the wood. We have almost burned through it for the year so that won't be an issue much longer.
4. Cold feet - because I don't have a decent pair of winter shoes or boots. So much for my wood smarts ....
5. Cabin fever - not too much of an issue this year as we ended up going out and about even if it was crappy.
6. Sunset at 4:00pm - how do those people in Alaska do it?
7. I guess the cold - but I will be begging for 20 degree weather in August.
8. Not being able to have a cocktail on the back porch - we love to sit outside and have a cocktail - it will be nice to do that again.
9. The snowplow knocking out our mail box - we still haven't fixed it.
10. Scraping the car windows - just thought of that one. Dolan - I think of when you first heard that sound when you moved up the New England and were staying at our house - too funny! The look on your face when I told you what the noise was - I'm surprised you didn't jump in your car and head back south!

Gotta got sit my ass on the couch and watch the UCONN men's game - the women were awesome & won the Big East - hopefully the men can do as well. GO HUSKIES!!

Friday Fill Ins

And...here we go!
1. Re-scheduling a meeting at work was my last random act of kindness.
2. Another place I love to visit is Seattle.
3. I used to suck in matters of the heart.
4. Coffee, tea or a mimosa? Mimosa please!
5. My friend Bucky & I have gone down separate paths - I miss her.
6. Our empty woodshed reminds me that there is plenty o' wood to split for next winter.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to drinking some nice wine from Argentina, tomorrow my plans include 6 hours of hospice volunteer training and Sunday, I want to sleep in!

It has been quite the week!

Ok - I'm not complaining - it just seems I have been crazy busy & since I am NOT going to post from work and I live with a gym nazi who makes me get up at 5:30AM and we went hashing in New Haven last weekend and UCONN has had some killer games and it snowed about a foot so I had to drink port....I just have not had time to blog. But fear not - all is well. Last week we went & saw my fav Fred Eaglesmith in concert at the First Baptist Church in Willimantic. That was a change form the usual bar we see him in or at least at a festival where we have a drink or two during the show. This was a fundraiser for a local meals program and it was GREAT!! But I have a whole post about Fred here. I took a photo but it's not very good - but you get the idea..Ok - now that I have uploaded it I see it's really dark. But it is not the last of the crappy photos from this post ..so read on or I should say on on...

We went to the 2nd Annual New Haven Haz Mat Hash on Saturday. It was good fun - we got to see a few old hash friends and meet some new ones including this guy - Hi - I'm Gay! in his hazmet suit and everything...

I was the designated driver so I did not have as much fun as Hubby but we still had a good time and I even managed to get talked into setting a run in the near future. So what is the New Haven Hash you ask?? It is such a long story & has been very well covered here so it is best to go read it for yourself. They are a fun group of people and I have been hashing for 16 years - it's nice to get back in the groove.....

Ok - to wrap things up, the Ten on Tuesday is Ten Ways I Can Make My Life better - I am loving my life right now but I will give it a shot - in no particular order....
1.Stop checking out a million library books at a time - too stressful to get them all read!
2. Finish Training Buddy's Christmas gift - really, like before next Christmas!
3. Keep running - it has been hard to get in this sort of good shape.
4. Donate some time to a charity because giving back is a win win for everyone. I should be done with my hospice volunteer training by the end of April.
5. Keep up my reiki practice - it's easy and I feel great afterwards.
6. Find time to meditate - easier to do when I worked from home but my days are overall so much better when I do it.
7. Be more patient with Hubby - but the man can drive me nuts!
8. Be more patient with me & appreciate the moment - sort of obvious I guess.
9. Get ready for baseball season - Go Sox! But enjoy UCONN basketball now
10. Get to bed now - 5:30AM will be here sooner than I think!