Abandon All Corned Beef and Cabbage Here

Lap top power adaptor...check!

Paddy's day survival...check!

Honestly, Paddy's day wasn't that much of a big deal around here this year. Nor was it last year now that I think about it. I think Americans hype it up to be a huge deal in Ireland. Sure we have our parades, our drinking, our time spent with friends, but mostly everyone looks forward to just having the day off. This year was odd considering it felt like a Sunday in the middle of the week. Mix that with crazy, day drunk Cheltenham fans and you get one beer drenched hump day.

We were very tame this year. We started the day off with a session at the gym (preemptive calorie blocker). Oh yes, we meaning the man and I. Going to the gym as a couple is a funny thing. We normally ignore each other for the hour that we're there. I don't want to see him grunting and sweating while lifting weights and he doesn't want to see me having an asthma attack on the treadmill. We go our separate ways. Him to the beefcake weight room filled with buff men in tiny shorts (it's a euro thing) and me to the girly cardio room where I pretend to work strenuously while nonetheless frequenting the bathroom every ten minutes to a) waste time and make my work out seem longer and b) to check my phone.

Ahem, sorry, tangent. Later in the afternoon we went shopping ultimately to find that most of the shops were well, closed. It was a holiday after all. I walked away with nothing (did I mention the shopping trip was for my belated birthday present?) while he hit a sale and scored a nice pair of new shoes. My bank account will thank me later. And I did get my present only a few days later. Everyone wins!

Our post shopping trip included lunch at a carvery (normally not a fan, but enjoyed this one as there was an option for a goats cheese salad) and later finally, the pub.

Ah sweet relief. We made it to the promise land of Paddy's day. The pub. The pub we went to just happened to be roasting a pig on a spit. Very Lord of the Flies, but very tasty indeed. They carved poor Porky around 9pm and gave out free pulled pork sandwiches. Forget green beer, forget shamrocks, and forget parades, when I can get a free sandwich from a pig that was roasted in front of my very eyes, I'm one happy Paddy's Day camper. I was skeptical at first, but if you don't look at the pig on the spit and just wait for when it's all cut up on the plate in front of you, you forget all about the native/barbaric pig on a rotating pole bit.

We stumbled home with full bellies and swollen livers and snoozed until morn, when we awakened to the reality that is Monday, er I mean Thursday and headed off to work with sore heads and all.

So, while Paddy's day was a semi quiet one, it was definitely a good one. And for any fellow Americans reading this I will leave you with one tip for a successful celebration next year:

It's "Paddy's Day" not "Patty's Day." Who is Patty and why does she have a day?

Slán.

Lap-topless Lament

My laptop needs to go to the hospital.

Well, not my laptop, more like my power cord. After years of being the frayed fire hazard that it is, the power adapter finally stopped working. I know you're probably thinking how stupid I am, that I'm putting myself and my housemates at risk with said frayed cord, but we have smoke detectors in every room. We'll be grand sure.

Currently I'm at the desktop. I have no bond with this computer. I miss my crappy, 5 year old monster lap top. One day we shall reunite. Hopefully this weekend when I can get to the nearest electronics store. No doubt that will take me 2 buses and a headache, but hey it will be an adventure.

Let's see. I probably shouldn't be trusted with this blog right now. I might run the risk of only complaining throughout the entire thing. Between turning 25, filing my US taxes as an expat, and dealing with my new found hatred for Cork public transport, I am not the happiest who in Whoville.

But, I'll press on. It's St. Patrick's Day on Wednesday and I have the day off. That could amount to one of two things, a beer day or a day in bed. Decisions decisions. Perhaps we combine the two? Yes? No?

More on that come Wednesday...