Una's Adventures

We won!

2006-10-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'm in shock. A team I've played on actually won something. I think this is the first time in my life that I've won anything vaguely sporting....wooo hooo! For the past couple of months I've been playing in an ultimate frisbee league. Everyone who was interested signed up, and our dedicated league organisors attempted to make fair teams. My team, yellow, aka jaundice, went into today's semi-final/final blitz day with an un-beaten record, and managed to maintain it, even though a good few of the team couldn't play today. It's been a great way to meet more people, improve my fitness a bit and just have a laugh. I'm still in shock that we won, and have a cup to prove it:) Photos to follow...once I track down whoever had the camera.

We won!

2006-10-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

Wake up call

2006-08-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

I'm in the US at the moment. I spent the past week with my cousins on a tiny island on a lake in Maine, camping, swimming, reading plenty and catching a few rays (not quite as many as I'd hoped). We'd a really relaxing time, just enjoying the wilderness and forgetting about the outside world, as electricity, let alone mobile phone coverage or internet access was non-existant. I finally got to sleep in my 2 second tent, which passed the test of rain and wind. All very cosy.

On morning number 3 on the island (Tuesday) I was woken by a strange clattering noise outside my tent, followed by some snortting and heavy breathing. It was an animal of some description, and judging by the volume of the noises it created, it was rather large. From my vantage point, and perceived safety of my tent, I spotted something large, and dark climbing a tree near the tent where my cousin Kate and her two young nieces were sleeping. The snorting, heavy breathing and smacking of chops continued for about 30 minutes, without the creature moving. At this stage, my bladder was no co-operating, so I decided to risk a dash to the outhouse. As I got out of my tent, Kate whispered loudly, "Una, where are you going?! Can't you hear that? What is it?" I told her which tree it was in and that I would be back in 2 minutes. By the time I got back to her tent, she'd identified it as a bear. Now, with my lack of knowledge of North American wildlife, and general innocence (!) I thought it was something harmless like a .... beaver. No such luck. Our next decision was what to communicate to the two sleeping children. Our plan was to tell them exactly what was happening, act as if we were totally calm and get them up to the cabin where their grandparents were sleeping. Luckily that part went according to plan and they weren't scared, unlike Kate & I.

As you can imagine, the reaction of the cabin-dwellers was one of disbelief at first when they heard our news, but after they came down to see for themselves, they too were a little anxious. We spent the day on off the island and on our return Jack Black, as the girls named him, was still happy out, about 20 feet high in the tree. That night, those of us in the tented village slept in a cabin on the mainland, and the next morning he was gone. Our guess is that he swam over to the island in search of food, gorged himself on wild blueberries (one would imagine a bear that size would need to eat ALOT of blueberries to be full) and spent the day sleeping it off and chilling out in the tree, and swam off at night back to the mainland. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't too keen on sleeping in my tent on my own from then on, so moved in with Kate and the girls. I've a bunch of photos of Jack Black, so will post them in due course.

I'm in Boston right now, and will be here til Tuesday I think. From here I'll go to NYC to stay with another cousin. I'm really looking forward to seeing New York, I have never really spent much time there, so any recommendations are more than welcome!

Surfing

2006-07-15T09:45:00.000-07:00

I bought a surfboard at Easter, my first investment in water sports equipment of my own and have been attempting to surf most weekends since I finished my exams in May. I'm doing ok, catching waves and getting to my feet...briefly. Ciara and I were in Strandhill earlier but since the waves were tiny and few and far between, we spent most of the afternoon lying on our boards, gossiping and waiting for the odd wave or two. Thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, but conversation was a bit disjointed, one of us would be mid-sentence, spot a wave, turn and be off.

I've till the end of the summer to get better at this sport, since I'm hoping to get back into canoeing in the autumn once the rivers are up again. Or maybe I'll just invest in a winter weight wetsuit and surf. Hmm might be a bit chilly though.

Continuing the exercise related posts, I did a five mile race last weekend, with very little training. I managed to complete it in under 50 minutes, so I was pretty happy. There were about 2,000 people running through the Phoenix Park, so it was a good buzz all round.

Yellow

2006-07-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

What is it about disc teams that I'm part of and the colour yellow? I've just signed up for a summer ultimate league in Dublin, where everyone is assigned teams with different colours...and mine is naturally yellow. Urgh! Yellow looks brutal on me. My team in Manila went from black and red (perfectly acceptable) to yellow and black while I played with them. While it looked fantastic on the skinny, brown Pinoy girls, myself and the other white girl looked like bumble bees. But I guess the upside is that I actually have a yellow jersey to wear on Monday night.

I'm really looking forward to this league, it will be great to be part of a team again, to re-learn how to play and hopefully improve my fitness, not to mention meet new people. I think I know one person on my team, which is a start!

Action-packed Weekend

2006-06-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

I'm still recovering from an action packed weekend in Mullaghmore. I had a bunch of people down for the weekend, and we fitted in tons. Friday evening was nice and relaxed, Bairbre got there pretty early and had dinner ready for me (thanks babe!), we sat and gossiped while waiting for the others to arrive. Saturday morning proved an early start for Bairbre and I, as we had volunteered to help out at the triathalon that our sailing club had organised. Our job was to write on competitor numbers on all 350 odd competitors. It really wasn't a problem seeing fit men strip in front of us and to write on them with permanent marker! We then manned a junction for the run, stopped traffic and cheered on the runners. It was great to be part of it, but next year I'm determined to compete - 750m sea swim, 20km cycle and 5km mainly up hill run. Hmm I'd better get training. Don't know when the last time I cycled a bike was!

We spent the afternoon with Dad sailing out to Innishmurray, an uninhabited island 5 miles off the coast. It was wonderful to be on the boat again, I think it had been almost 3 years since I sailed with Dad. The views of the mountains of Donegal Bay are simply spectacular from the boat. It had been years since I was on Innishmurray, and the row from the boat to the island in a tiny inflatable with 4 others, was hilarious to say the least. My tummy still hurts from laughing.

We'd a really nice dinner at home on Saturday evening, and headed to the pub for a couple of beers and a little bit of dancing (just a bit, since only Karen would dance with me!).

I'm still feeling the pain from yesterday's activities - 2 hours of surfing on Tullan Strand. I bought my board at Easter but haven't had much opportunity to use it. I'm getting more comfortable on it, and more confident, but just need to put in the hours to get standing reliably. It's soooo much easier on the foam boards. But by the end of the summer, I'm determined to nail it. So I'm heading home again this weekend, for two full days on the waves. That is, if my arms have recovered from yesterday!

Spontaniety continues

2006-06-15T10:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday before lunch I was asked if I wanted to go to a black tie awards night...that night, to represent the company. I russled up a mate to join me a rocked up, not knowing anything about the event or who would be there. Some how we managed to be on the table with all the judges, right up at the front. Dinner was good, loads of wine, An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (Prime Minister) swung by, and I networked with a couple of prominent journalists. Not to mention the dancing and running into some old friends. It was a thoroughly enjoyable, and totally unexpected evening. But boy did my head hurt this morning.

I'm loving spontaniety at the moment:)

Loving disc again

2006-06-12T16:26:00.000-07:00

I haven't really played ultimate frisbee since I came back to Ireland from the Philippines. I didn't find anyone to play with in Galway, and since I came back to Dublin, I've been studying and the weather was pretty yucky. But for the past 2 weeks I've turned up at pick up with a bunch of people I don't know, and have really enjoyed chasing plastic again. Now I'm still brutal, in fact alot worse at the game that I was (not surprising having not really played for 2 years) but it was refreshing to play again, to actually make some passes and be part of a game. I'm looking forward to playing more over the summer, meeting new people and working on my fitness.

Freedom, surf & spontaneity

2006-06-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

Right, I finished my exams ages ago and haven't looked back since. Karen and I had a really enjoyable party in our place, and I must admit I found the next few days a bit stressful, difficult to relax and wind down. But I got over that all pretty quickly and found my evenings filling up with catching up with friends, walks on the pier in Dun Laoghaire and trips to the theatre. The past two weekends I've been in Sligo surfing, which has been really enjoyable. The weather has been fantastic for about 10 days, glorious sunshine (but not so many waves). Last weekend a crowd of us camped in Easkey, partied hard, enjoyed the sunshine and surfed. I felt like I'd been away for weeks.

Now the plan for this weekend was to go out in Dublin on Friday night, catch up with an old friend who has just returned from a years travelling around the world, then get up early yesterday morning to drive home to Sligo to surf. Well the first part of the plan worked swimmingly, it was great to see Mick and hear about his travels. Two of my friends were in the pub and were heading to Wexford (opposite end of Ireland to Sligo) for a 21st birthday, and they managed to presuade me to join them. It seemed like a fabulous idea at the time, but 3 hours later, when we were driving around the countryside lost and trying to find the party...we were more than a bit frustrated. In the end it was a fantastic night - new people, inflatable josting, beer on tap and dancing. I got back to Dublin about 3, so good thing there was no surf at home this weekend.

Spent this afternoon wandering around town (I think it was the first time I've been in town while the shops were open for about 3 months), eating good food and gossiping with Bairbre. All good:)

Half way through

2006-05-17T07:15:00.000-07:00

Right now I'm half way through my exams, two down, two to go. They are actually going a little bit better than I expected, in that I actually have something to say for each question... let's see how long that continues. I finish up on Friday and have an action packed evening afterwards, meeting Mom for lunch, getting my haircut and heading to the final of the Axa International Piano competition. I'm really looking forward to going to the concert, it only comes around every 3 years and my Grandma has been involved for a long time. Right back to the books, only 45 hours of cramming to go.

Cherry Blossom

2006-05-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

There's a tradition in UCD, where I studied, that is passed down from generation to generation, regarding a couple of cherry blosson trees between the Arts block and the restaurant. It goes something like this. When buds start to appear on the trees, it would be a good plan to start studying, or at least attend lectures. When flowers begin to bloom, find your way to the library and start studying. By the time the flowers are in full bloom, you really should be studying. If by the time the flowers are falling off the trees, you still haven't started studying...you'll be repeating those exams in August.

Now there's a cherry blossom in the grounds of my apartment block, which still has loads of blossoms. So I'm hoping the tradition carris over, and I've time left to cram, even though my exams start this day next week;)

Speaking of cherry blossom, I read a really interesting book a couple of year ago about an American (I think) English teacher in Japan, who hitchhiked from the south of Japan to the north, chasing the cherry blossom as it began to bloom. Really enjoyable, check it out, Hokkaido Highway Blues, by Will Ferguson.

Cherry Blosson

2006-05-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

Flowers make me smile

2006-05-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Mom bought me some fresia last week, all just about to bud. I've them in my room, on top of my bookcase, so when I'm studying I've something nice to look out, not to mention the fresh and energising fragance. It makes me smile.

I'm really happy in this apartment, for the first time in ages, I'm feel at home somewhere. I've bought some furniture, delph and have hung up various bits and bobs from my travels. It's a good feeling to have. Once the exams are over, I'm planning to get a window box of flowers for outside my bedroom window, get some more photos framed and do a spring clean on my wardrobe. Naturally after the wandrobe de-cluttering I'll just have to go shopping to fill it again;)

Playlist inspiration

2006-05-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

Right now I've 2,051 songs on my Ipod, that's 5.5 days of music. I've no idea what some of the stuff is, all taken on-board from some friendly suggestions over New Year. At the moment I haven't gotten into this whole playlist business, so am looking for suggestions how to start. I've all the usual suspects, a scattering of Irish rock, cheesy pop, golden oldies plus a bunch of movie soundtracks. So any words of wisdom? Since I'm walking most lunchtimes, I want to put something upbeat together, plus a party mix, and another list to chill out to.

Actually looking forward to going to work!

2006-05-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Monday mornings, or Tuesday mornings after a Bank Holiday, would not be my favourite time of the week, but I'm actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow. It's a direct result of being stuck at home all weekend studying. I'm really not cut out for hermitage. But at least I'm making progress with the cramming, still alot more to go. So I'm looking forward to catching up with the others at work, the banter and just having people around me.

Actually looking forward to going to work!

2006-05-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

Missing Diversity

2006-04-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

A Irish friend and I were discussing last weekend, how we don't socialise with as many international people as we'd like too. We've both travelled quite a bit, met people from around world, and enjoyed learning about other cultures and people, and are missing those experiences now that we are back in Dublin with the friends we've known for years. So since then I've been thinking about what non-Irish friends I see regularly here in Dublin, and to be honest, there's just 2, a Polish guy and an Indian girl, both of whom I know through @. So one thing I plan to do is try to get to know more people, both Irish and non-Irish, once the exams are over.

This weekend is a long weekend, the start of summer, and I'm stuck at home chained to the desk. Karen, my groovy flatmate, has headed off to the west coast armed with my wetsuit, to party with a couple of my friends. Another friend is staying in my house in Sligo and diving all weekend. I'm hoping this organising of everyone else's social lives will be repaid! I've got book and housework to look forward to over the weekend, perhaps with a run or two to break the cabin fever. Oh and sorting out a Skype account. Expect a number of blog entries as I avoid the books.

Finally online

2006-04-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

After 3 months of trying, 2 suppliers and endless phone calls later...I've finally managed to get broadband at home.

Apart from battling with telesales people, my life these past few weeks has revolved around study. My exams are rapidly looming, so I am attempting to be a hermit and chain myself to my desk. Not such an easy task, but in just over 3 weeks, I won't know what to do with myself I'll have so much free time. One thing that makes me smile most days is my neighbours, two little kids who's front door is opposite the window where my desk is. We have a short waving session almost every evening. They are really cute, not sure where they are from, somewhere in the Indian Sub-Continent. They prattle away in a language I don't understand, but smiles and waves go a long way:)

Under pressure

2006-02-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

To get this project finished, and now Digs is pestering me to post more on my blog. Do I need any more distractions...no! But I will try to post more often soon, getting broadband at home, which should solve my email and blogging issues at work. So watch this space.

Back in UCD - Eck!

2006-02-18T08:59:00.000-08:00

I pretty much lived in the library in my university (UCD) for my entire final year, which was a couple of years ago. Since then I've worked for @ , had a ball in the Philippines, wandered around SE Asia and had 2 "proper" jobs. Now I'm back in the same library, sitting in the same seat, working on a project for another college course that I signed up for in my "free" time. What was I thinking? Have I lost my mind? Anyway, it's brought back lots of old memories and in some ways I feel like I've never left. It's a bit eerie in a way. I've to finish the project by next Thursday, 8-10,000 words and currently on 5,800 of doubtful quality. Better get back to it!

Fabulous Dublin Birthday

2005-12-30T04:44:00.000-08:00

I thoroughly enjoyed my Dublin birthday Tuesday. When I initally heard that I had to work this week, I was not impressed, but the past few days have been fun and work has been quiet. Tuesday night was fantastic, Whelan's was rocking, with a live band, a bloke dressed up in a rabbit suit, tv and radio crews wandering around...not to mention Kiefer Sutherland (very small in real life). Now for those of you who have not experienced the wonders of this drinking establishment, it's a narrow, Irish pub, with an eclectic crowd and pretty good pints of Guinness (so I've been told, I don't drink the stuff). So having all these people wandering around, along with the regular punters, it was pretty hectic and fun. My crowd was a wonderful mix of college friends, @-ers, paddling buddies and a couple of my cousins. Luckily all got on, and we had a great night. However, it wasn't so much fun coming into work on Wednesday morning to a freezing cold office:(

Heading back to Sligo this evening for a relaxing weekend in Mullaghmore with the girls. Plans include a seaweed bath, walks on the beach, blasting out songs in Singstar and maybe the odd glass of wine.

On Monday I'll finally move into my new place in Dublin, which I'm really excited about. I'll miss living with my cousins, especially my aunt's fabulous cooking, but I've had enough of living out of a suitcase and need to get cracking on the study again. So lots to look forward to next week and year.

Hope you all enjoy the final days of 2005 and that 2006 brings you happiness, health and adventure!

Christmas Holidays & ramblings

2005-12-23T03:50:00.000-08:00

Today is my last day at work before Christmas and I'm heading home to Sligo as soon as I can escape. I've only been in the job for 4 weeks, so did not expect anyone to even know that I am here, but our advertising agency sent me a bottle of prosecco. Woo hoo! Looking forward to drinking it at New Year.

I'm really enjoying being back in Dublin, meeting up with old friends and family and just having options again. The job is working out well, I'm handling about 35 SKUs, there's a lot of work to do on the brand and people are nice. The best bit is that the office is locked up at 6pm. So I've no choice but to have a social life again. All good!

I've been staying with my aunt, uncle and cousin for the past 4 weeks, enjoying family life, homecooked meals and lots of glasses of wine. I'm moving into a new place, nearer work, at the beginning of January, which I'm really excited about. The room is fabulous, with a huge window and a fantastic wardrobe with loads of space for everything. My new flatmate seems lovely too.

So 2006, looks promising for me. I've tracked down a disc team in Dublin, should get another degree by May (if I set my mind to the study) and will actually have a social life again. Now all I need to decide is where I want to go on holidays. Hmm somewhere warm, with good diving. Any suggestions?

Happy Christmas to you all, if I'm not posting in the meantime.

Oh and if anyone is in Dublin next Tuesday 27th (Karola?) swing by Whelan's to celebrate my birthday.

No more lazing around...

2005-11-22T13:45:00.000-08:00

Cause I've been offered a new job! Woo hoo! So perhaps I wasn't totally insane to quit one job without having another one to fall back on. Back to Dublin, working with a team of marketing people, FMCG, and a tasty product. It's all falling into place. The only problem is...I'm homeless. So like Arthur the challenge is to find a funky place to call home and doesn't cost an arm, leg and soul. I may even start work next Monday, so watch this space:)

Insurance - it pays to shop around

2005-11-12T05:57:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I spent some time calling various car insurance companies getting quotations for my annual car insurance. The difference between the lowest and highest quote was nearly €500 ($585), which is more than the total amount of the lowest quote. Naturally I went with the lowest quotation, there's alot that I can do with €500! Unfortunately there has been alot of hassle with the paperwork, some of it my fault, but other mistakes were made by the insurance company. They then wanted to charge me another €132 as they had made an error in calculating the original quote. Not surprisingly I was NOT impressed with this, complained to the company and to the Insurance Federation...and the extra charge was dropped. Woo hoo! Like I said, some of the mistakes were mine...so I'm really delighted that I don't have to pay anything more. It certainly makes sense to shop around and to complain when they mess you around!

Babysitting rocks

2005-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was a little aprehensive about babysitting my cousin's 4 year old daughter. Well there was no need to worry, she's incredibly easy going and was just happy to play with anything I suggested. The fact that I had my Nintendo DS with Nintendogs (legacy from my last job with a toy company) made things just a little bit easier. Walking a computer simulated job in a cosy warm house versus battle wind, rain and cold outside...the computer wins hands down;) We really did have fun, playing number and letter games, running around the house and carving a pumpkin. I had forgotten how quickly kids can go from happy to sad to frustrated to happy again...all in the space of 5 minutes. It was definately a refreshing experience to be around her.