Sunglasses, a date, and horizontal rain

I feel that I have been ignoring you all for the past few weeks, but I just haven't had the time to pop into an internet place to do a big posting, so here get comfortable because this is going to be a long one!
I'll start about two weeks ago. I decided to go down and stay with Olivia, who trained me in my new job, and her husband for the weekend in Cork. Before I even got there it was a bit of an adventure, getting a ride down with my boss. 4 hours in a car with the guy that pays the bills... and signs the checks...weird...but I survived and got to Olivia's in a fine form. Being Friday night we were both feeling pretty lazy so decided to stay in and have a few drinks. Her husband Alan abandoned us around midnight, but like troupers we made it till 2am and through around 11 coolers...I'm not saying how many I drank, but Olivia did drink more than me. We just goofed around, read magazines, listened to Jonny Cash, and danced. We also started to have a good time with some over-sized sunglasses, as you can see from the pictures. At one point Olivia even pulled out the camcorder, so there is actually live evidence of the night, but luckily the battery died fairly quickly, and we'll just keep our fingers crossed that the thing never comes to light.
The next morning both of us were not in our finest form, so ended up going back to bed and slept until mid-afternoon...it was lovely. In an attempt to see some of Cork before leaving, we dragged our butts out of the house and headed down-town. Cork is a really old sea-side city so has some amazingly old buildings. We just wandered around for a few hours, had some soup at the English Market (a huge in-door market...I was in love with it), then headed back home again to have a nap. I LOVE visiting Cork!
Alan, Olivia, and I all headed out for dinner in town then went out to have a few pints and play some pool. For anyone who knows me well, yes I did cheat...but I still never won! Clearly I need to work on my technique some more.
On Sunday we all slept in some more, I played in the back yard with Tyrone (the dog, who I was going to try and kidnap but didn't think he'd fit in my bag too well), then caught the bus back to Galway. It was a 4 hour ride, but thank god for my mobile which kept me sane.
The next week was pretty uneventful, except I did start my night class at the University. I'm taking 'The History of Christianity from Paganis to the Roman Empire'...it sounds scarier than it is...no exams or assignments...just a discussion class...I really enjoy it so far...we mostly talked about Greek and Roman influences on Christianity, and had a brief over-view of their histories.
Around Wednesday of that week I got a text from Olivia asking me what I was doing on Saturday night, and of course being Wednesday, I had no plans. She told me that she was going to set me up on a blind date with her brother who lives in Tuam (20 minutes outside Galway). I said sure and of course couldn't stop smiling for the next 3 days. And being me, I took a date as an excuse to go and get my hair done....that and I secretly have a crush on my hairdresser!
Anyway, so I met Jason (that's Olivia's brother's name...hence my date's name) at a pub down town, after getting reassured by Orla and her friend that I was going to be ok...and to text me if I needed out.
So off I headed with a description and a name. Olivia sent me a picture, but I didn't need it after finding out that Jason has red curly hair. I walked in and immediately knew who he was. We had a few beers (ok, a few more than a few) and talked and laughed and danced...it was great fun. Unfortunately I paid the price on Sunday when I woke up feeling like death because of all the beer, but even that didn't take the smile from my face. He's away skiing this week, but hopefully we'll get together again...just so funny!
This past week was unfortunately NOT my week. On Monday I forgot my wallet at home, on Tuesday I forgot my keys at work and got locked out of the house for an hour and a half, and on Wednesday I had to deal with a few irrate people at work. Thank god for the gym though. I went for an assessment on Tuesday night (with a really hot trainer from South Africa - god, I sound like a horny, boy-crazed teenager!) and Dan, my trainer, set me up with a plan for the next few weeks. So 3 nights this week I headed to the gym after work and sweated out all the bad vibes. Its so great to sweat!
This weekend is going to be a quiet one...I am just feeling a little run down at the moment and need to just chill out for a few days. I might head to London next weekend, but my Aunt Gail is coming in 2 weeks (WOOO HOOO) so I don't want to be tired for that. I also found out this week that Heidi is going to come for a visit too, hopefully in May after I get back from Spain...oh and Grandma has decided to come to visit too in the fall! So really my week wasn't too bad. Actually, it was pretty good!
Today is beautiful so I am going to wrap this up and get out there and enjoy the sunshine, as the past week I have met the true Galway weather...sleet, hail, lightning, horizontal rain, sun...and that was just in one afternoon!
Sending my love to everyone at home!