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Sunday, January 26, 2014

When you think of Ireland do you envision trees blowing sideways and sleet pounding your car, no neither do I. But, there you have it. Terrible weather but lots of friendly warm people. Hot coffee and an Irish version of fruitcake made the thoughts of bad weather go away. This fruitcake was soaked in good Irish whiskey which made it even better. Went to two churches today and the day went by quickly. We made arroz con pollo in a crockpot. FYI, it doesn't work. Should have been baked in the oven. Very mushy and a little disgusting but edible. Let me back up. Before the main event, Nicole had brought snails from France. Tasty little critters. One more week in the Green.
 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Here in Ireland with the Cammacks and enjoying this beautiful country. People are friendly and it green and cold, with lots of hot coffee and the best scones on the planet. I visited the Dunbrody, a ship that was used to transport immigrants to Canada and America during the potato famine. I crawled into the area under the ship where the steerage passengers spent 50 some days journeying to their new homes. It was miserable and damp and imagining the hardships of the starving desperate people left me feeling sad for their short lives.

Tonight we went to the new home of Rachel and Ben Miller, the Cammack's daughter and her husband. Noel and Heather showed up with baby Jewel. We ate tacos made from the corn tortillas I brought from California. Great food and great fun.

Leaving for Italy Feb. 2. and I'm already somewhat concerned about finances. Turns out for every dollar I spend I only get 60cents in the exchange, ouch. Still have lots of training and lots of work to do but trusting that it will all work out because God's on my side. :) Very excited about the training both in Italy and Romania.

Friday, January 17, 2014

Today was perhaps one of theeee craziest days of my life. I leave in less than 24 hours to begin my trip. Everything should have been finished by today but of course, it was not. Tax appointment today--didn't have all my W2s, signed blank papers and checks--I trust my CPA. Plus I don't have enough money to actually make stealing profitable. Visitors and lots of phone calls that I was actually glad happened but I began to feel like my head wasn't connected to my body. Packed my bags full of art supplies and goodies, only to discover I had left out most of my clothes out of the bag...oops. Repack in the morning because I couldn't possible manage it tonight. Clothes first, and then art supplies second, no make that third, my training materials are second. My suitcases are small so I will need to work harder at reducing bulk and extras. I could take larger suitcases but they difficult to manage and if I need to take the bus to the base, I have to be able to man-handle those bags myself.
See you at the airport.
Ciao

Thursday, January 16, 2014

There have been a few epic failures, as with all travel plans, but guessing these will sort themselves out along the way. Drove all the way to LAX to get my new passport retagged for Global Entry, only to discover their computers were down. Drats!!

Tomorrow my good friend Darles is driving  from San Diego to "hang out" and say good-bye. I got an e-mail from my new friends at CCTI hoping to talk and pray tomorrow as well. It's also the day to do my taxes before leaving town. The excitement never ends.

I have to say the last 2 weeks has been exhausting but soon I'll be sitting on a plane with nothing to do but relax, read, and write--heavenly. I had hoped to get some prayers cards out to friends and family but don't know if that will still happen. For those that have a prayer list, I appreciate your prayers and thoughts.

Next post will probably be from an airport. Until then, ciao