Out blogged!

Well shackle me timbers, I've been out blogged by the best and the rest of 'em. Rocco and I travelled over the holidays, making blogging difficult due to restricted internet access, and now there's so much to write about that I haven't a clue where to start! How about I get the gist of the trip out there quickly, then resume regular blogging every few days? Sounds like a plan to me.

The trip:
Vancouver to Dublin via Heathrow on Dec. 15th for me. No problems on either flight and my plane for the long leg was fresh out of the box with fancy new interactive A/V features. Best flight ever. Cousins picked me up in Dublin but we had car trouble on the way to their flat, much hilarity ensued (on my part; they were rather more concerned and angry). One night in Dublin, to Cork for three nights with my aunt, uncle and another cousin. To Waterford for three nights with (you guessed it) another aunt, uncle and a cousin. Aside: I got conned into attending a full Catholic mass while in Waterford - the first time in about 15 years! On to Carlow to meet Rocco and stay with his family. Four nights there including the big C. A great time was had by all, too much food and drink, a rowdy game of Trivial Pursuit, one brother lit on fire, and a spoil-me-silly luxury bathrobe in chocolate brown received. From Carlow to Limerick for a night with friends and more family members; a night in Cork; a night in Waterford; finally back to Dublin for 2 nights spent with friends. New Year's Eve wasn't supposed to be a late one but 3am found Rocco and me spilling in the front door with only hours to pack, sleep, and taxi to the airport for our 9am flight to Heathrow, then on to Vancouver.

The recovery:
We are now happily detoxing and enjoying our new kitchen installed by the best landlords ever while we were away. They surprised us with a new fridge as well! Sophie seemed very content with her temporary accommodation at Miranda's and entertained us by running through every one of her regular routines within 20minutes of arriving home, e.g. I used to jump up here, and my favourite toy is this one, and my water bowl is here, and I like to hide in here, and I try to squeeze through here, etc. There was a promise of dog-like jumping tricks from Miranda and her mate, but we haven't seen anything of the sort.

The plan:
Rocco is back at work and planning to visit Toronto in February. I'm back to studying, preparing for comprehensive exams in late March. Hopefully some fun will be had between now and then, but I should mostly keep my head down and focus. We do have some reservations made for Dine Out Vancouver so there are things to look forward to. Some ski days have also been discussed, and hopefully we'll fit in a few days of snowshoeing as well.

Happy 2007 everyone!