Goodbye

Goodbye comes to our household more than I would like, and it always takes with it my handsome husband. It takes with it my security at night...strange sounds always sound scarier when you realize that YOU'RE the one who has to protect the family if anyone breaks in. Goodbye takes with it my desire to cook big meals (and Wes and I live for months on tacos, sandwiches, salads, yogurt, cereal and fruit) because Kevin's not there to ooh and aah over my latest culinary experiment, and Wes mostly throws it on the floor. Goodbye steals the warmth from the sheets at night and I always wake up cold. Goodbye brings tears to my eyes when I'm in the privacy of my own home and a "brave" smiling face when I'm not. Goodbye brings a flurry of activity and service projects to keep my mind occupied. It steals away late night conversation and cuddling.

Goodbye does give sometimes too. Goodbye lessens my ice-cream cravings (I only eat the stuff when Kevin is home). It cuts the laundry by a third. Goodbye gives me the car to drive around and see the countryside at will. Goodbye gives me stacks and stacks of wonderful email to read from my beloved (this is the very best part). Goodbye gives me strength (what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?). Goodbye makes me rely on God more than I ever would otherwise. Goodbye makes me patient.

Goodbye. An enemy and a friend. Dreaded, yet necessary. Goodbye, my offering to my country, unwillingly, but resignedly. Goodbye, my husband, my truest friend, I love you and I'll see you again.

London Shows

Ireland- March 3-7, 2009

Ireland. The Emerald Isle. This is a place we've both wanted to visit since, well, we've seen Tom Cruise fall in love with Nicole Kidman in Far and Away. Teri discovered that some of her family originated from Ireland and it added fuel to the fire. We booked our tickets, made reservations at a condo near Limerick and headed out to greener pastures...literally. I've never seen so much green in my life...and it was still technically winter in Ireland. In fact, our first day there, it snowed!

Kevin gave Wes and I the window seat, as usual. I've tried to let him sit there, but he never takes me up on my offer. Our first visions of Ireland were minutes before the plane landed. We decended through a thick grey cloud and suddenly, laid out before us was a vast patch-work of beautiful green land. We landed at Shannon and acquired our rental car...a tiny bug of an automobile (and boy, were we glad it was small on THESE roads!) and headed for our condo in Bodyke...a small golfing town in County Clare. I was smart enough this time to get an automatic, but it was still a harrowing experience sometimes. In Ireland, ancient stone walls line every road on the west coast. The vegetation then has covered these stone walls. So, it looks as though you are driving through cliffs of vegetation with zero mess-up room on either side. It was terrifying at first to be the passenger and see this 5-7 foot wall of green whizzing past your window, inches from the side-view mirrors. Kevin navigated the roads very well again...but agreed to drive on our next family adventure.

Since it was snowing when we got there, and since we were expecting our friends to arrive a little later in the after noon, we spent our first day, Tuesday, driving around the immediate area looking for a grocery store and an ATM. We found both of these just 10 minutes from the condo. We also found a yummy kebab shop that we visited a few times later in the week. After grabbing groceries, we headed back to the condo to start dinner for our travel weary friends. We ate and enjoyed...but we all went to bed early tonight. It was freezing and we were all tired.

Day 2 took us to the Cliffs of Moher. One of my favorite things to see. 200 feet of sheer rocky drop off into the Atlantic ocean. It was snowing at the condo, raining when we got to the Cliffs, and freezing cold in both places. The kids' lips started turning blue just minutes after starting the stroll along the tops of the cliffs. Wes's teeth chattered and his eyes watered the entire time. We kept trying to block the wind, but to no avail. If it were a sunny day, it would have been a lovely place to spend the day, have a picnic, and let the kids run around. As it was though, we had to turn in early to keep everyone from getting frost bite. So, instead we just ended up with a minor case of wind burn.

The rest of the day was spent driving around. We tried to see the small town of Doolin and catch some traditional Celtic music. Umm...that didn't start until 9pm. A no go with small children. Then, we wanted to know if we could catch a ferry to the Aran Islands. Um, they don't run the ferries until after Easter. The sea is too stormy. Then, our friend Shawn picked out a site in the Burren, Polnabronne, a 5,000 year old portal tomb in the middle of nowhere and we decided to go see it.

When we pulled up, after winding through some of the most barren (and might I say ugly???) landscape I've ever seen on some of the craziest roads I've ever driven, Shawn jumps out to look at the little leaning rock pile and says "Is this it???". He promptly hopped back in the car without so much as coming and taking a picture. His wife, Kim came with us to check it out. It was a pile of rocks. We read the signs about its history, and still weren't overly impressed. We snapped some shots, but ultimately, we were glad to head home.

Tonight we played games, ate Chicken Tikka Masala and had a good time. I was a wimp and went to bed at eleven. Everyone else was up way later.

The next morning, we split up. Kevin, Weslee and I went to the Eastern side of Ireland to see Bru na Boinne, another very old prehistoric tomb. It was ALOT cooler than the one the day before. We were glad we went. And, we got to tour a museum about the prehistoric peoples that dwelt in Ireland...how they lived, ate, worshipped. It was fascinating. Each year at the winter solstice, the sun shines through the portal of the tomb and lights the place up. Each year, hundreds of people put their names in a lottery hoping to be chosen to see the lighting of the tomb. We put our names in the hat...we'll see what happens. It would be cool to see, and it would be nice to get to see Dublin or some more of the East coast the next time. As it was, we spent too much time at the tombs to really see much of anything else.

On our way home, we stopped by Trim Castle. We stopped there mainly because of our good friend Elder Trim. We wanted to take some pictures for him and show him how important he was. :) A beautiful ruin of a castle, surrounded by a moat, I walked around it for over an hour taking pictures. On the hill top, where the ruin of the abbey was situated, you could see the entire town, the entire castle, and the rain rolling in in the distance. It was a lovely place to sit and think (which several University students were taking advantage of) or stroll with your dog or loved one or both. A peaceful place. But, as we learned more about the castle, it was anything but a peaceful place in its heyday. Trim was the stronghold of the Normans. It was meant to protect the Normans from the fierce Gaelic people. It was made large and imposing to intimidate the Gaelics...but it didn't stop frequent attacks. Because Trim was a center of trade, the Gaelics often attacked the surrounding people. I'm sure people weren't strolling around the castle with their dogs during those days.

Day 4 was my favorite day of all. We headed south in the rain to visit Blarney Castle and kiss the Blarney stone. Today had special importance for me because of who had built the castle. The Mac Arthur clan built the castle to control the southern portion of Ireland. My ancestors, the O'Sullivans were Lords of Beare and Bantry under the Mac Arthurs. They would have come to this castle to discuss wars, lands, and other governing issues with their king. I could imagine my ancestors in the great dining hall talking with other lords and ladies, in the guest quarters, and in the nasty indoor toilets doing their business (gross, I know)...especially when you realize that their "business" rolled down the side of the castle onto the ground below. As Wes would say...."Ewwwwwww". We climbed to the very top of the castle and hung upside down to press our lips to the famous Stone of Eloquence. I had great hopes for myself after kissing the Blarney Stone...but I will say, to the disappointment of many, it didn't improve the eloquence of either Kevin or I. Just minutes after kissing it, we were still our same sarcastic selves.

We spent some time roaming around the gardens, imagining what they will look like in the spring. The trees and shrubs were just starting to show signs of life, but it would be many more weeks before the full beauty of the place is known.

We spent the last of our day driving through Killarney National Park. I SO WISH it hadn't been so grey and cloudy today. The visibility was poor, but what we saw of the park was gorgeous. We went home to console ourselves with several hours of board games and fun with our friends, the Hatches.

The next morning, we got up and checked out of the condo and went our separate ways again. Our family headed to County Tipperary to see the Rock of Cashel, a medieval fortress/church set up on a hill. Weslee loved our visit to this place because he got to run around amongst the ancient tombs and crosses. Kevin chased him all over the place, threw him in the air, tickled him to death...and in general, made Weslee's day. I had a WONDERFUL time taking pictures. What a beautiful place. Black birds were swooping all over the place and flying around like a storm cloud above the church and tower.

We headed next to the 1848 Wartime Famine Museum. It was out in the middle of nowhere. We mostly went to learn more about the famine. It talked a great deal about the rebellions in Ireland that were exacerbated by the famine that brought thousands of Irish immigrants to the United States and elsewhere. I can't imagine living in such circumstances. We found out that while the potato blight hit all of Europe, the Irish were the only ones who faced a famine, because they were the only ones who's primary food source was potatoes...not wheat or corn. We also found out that during the famine, Ireland was still exporting millions of pounds of corn. There was enough food for all of Ireland's people...the gentry just prefered to line their pockets with gold instead of look out for the poor. It was a sad tale of the natural man overrulling the commandments of God.

After the museum, we went to Limmerick for dinner. We had hoped to eat in a pub...but apparently, the pubs in Limmerick are more like an American bar and less like an English pub where families are welcome and good, cheap food is served. The only family pub we found cooked American cuisine and charged an arm and a leg. We decided we'd rather have kabobs and ended our Irish experience. We headed to the airport to await our plane back home.

Our favorite things about Ireland: THE PEOPLE. Some of the friendliest people we've ever met live in Ireland. They mill about the towns in large crowds, talking loudly and smiling broadly. They are helpful, and not at all reserved and stuffy like the British. We also really enjoyed the roads. They were scary at times, but totally unique to Ireland. The rock walls and greenery hugging the pavement as it whizzes past your car were a sight to behold. And last, the company. The best decision we ever made was to make this trip with friends. We enjoyed seeing the sights with the Hatch's and playing board games until the late hours of the night.