Hello again from Limerick. This is our last night at the Hilton (thank God). It's a nice hotel, but we've been here 5 days. I am starting to feel the pain of hotel living. Yesterday, I took the car and went out to Bunratty, former castle home of the O'Brien clan. My cousins and Aunt on mom's side are of O'Brien descent, so I am unrelated, but felt proud to brave the winding staircases and explore the castle thinking of their reign and then on to the cheesy village showing "what Ireland used to be." I really enjoyed driving the car on the "wrong side," too. Even the roundabouts...
Last night, we went out to a Chinese dinner with all the Dell folks. I really enjoyed myself. There were about 40 people there and I met Dell employees from South Africa, Ireland, England, Scotland, England, Spain and the Netherlands. Hearing reports of a struggling US economy and daily experiencing here how weak our dollar is, it was especially eye-opening to think about all these people who rely on the U.S. and specifically good ol Round Rock Dell for their employment and all spend hours working overtime just like my man, but in different countries. Further, I especially enjoyed talking with the English Galen and Paul. Paul spent a year at Iowa State playing soccer... and has a son named Rhys :). Galen is a huge pop music fan and we bonded over our love of the sugary music. After dinner we went out to a bar with a bunch of the folks and spent way too much time talking about Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue and Posh and Becks. The world has gotten smaller, methinks. It's hard to tell where people are from over here. Everyone looks the same. By the way, we keep hearing the same 8 or so songs on Irish radio.... Not much of a selection They love some Rihanna, the tech version of "What Hurts the Most" and the new Kylie Minogue "Wow" especially. I wish our radio stations played more the sugar pop stuff. I've loved it ever since I was in Madrid. Anyway, speaking of small world, the Irish Times had a feature on SXSW this morning and the Irish bands playing there. It was pretty cool to see a little taste of home recognized in Ireland's national paper.
Peanut is doing great over here. He is a good traveler. I've been feeling pretty energetic and good overall. I feel a lot of pressure in my lower abdomen, but nothing like labor, so hopefully we don't have to worry about the baby being born an Irish citizen. Ironically, our hotel in Limerick is right across the street from a maternity hospital, though. My only ailment is that my acid reflux seems to be at an all time high. I can't eat anything without getting a burning feeling in my throat and I didn't bring enough Tums or Pepcid AC.
The U.S. needs to to work on being more "green." All the toilets over here have the knobs where you choose how much water you need.... There are also very few paper towels to dry your hands.... Everyone also uses the reusable grocery bags, which I did just buy a few weeks ago at HEB.
We are off to Kenmare and the Ring of Kerry tomorrow, before heading to Dublin for Paddy's Day. The Limerick staff loaded Mike up with some green plastic whistles, directions and boxes of chocolates. We are enjoying the hospitality.
I know I am a dork, because I will actually watch this on April 4.
shoes. I am officially there. I am pretty sure it has to do with the fact that it has not been a healthy eating week at our house. Between cheeseburgers, pizza and fried chicken salad to name a few meals, I think the sodium level has been at a recent high.
I have my first ever baby shower this weekend. I don't own any maternity skirts or dresses, so figured I should go out and buy a cute springy dress for the occasion. Something that says "bring on the baby" or the like. Sadly, my mall "cute dress" search did not go well. My stomach is sticking out so far forward that everything I tried on looked ridiculous. I pretty much look like I have a Thanksgiving turkey shoved up there. The side view is especially funny looking. Thinking about it, when you wear a maternity shirt, your belly looks huge, but at least you can balance it out a little on the bottom with pants that fit... When you wear a dress, however, it's pretty much an empire waist and then flowy fabric on the bottom, creating a circus tent-like look. Then, just to be cruel, places like Mimi and Motherhood smack a big bow right above your bulge to make you look like a wedding cake. So yes, I have no idea what I am wearing to the shower. Perhaps some nice pants? 
Mike and I leave for Ireland on Friday, so hopefully Peanut will not make his appearance there or he's getting an Irish first name. Declan? We really haven't put a lot of effort into this trip, but do know we will be taking our first weekend free to explore Dingle. Then the second we will do the Ring of Kerry and then head east to Dublin for St. Paddy's day. Dr. S. has cleared me for 1 pint in Ireland, so I plan on dividing that up into two half pints. One on the Guinness Tour and the other in a pub. Outside of Mike teaching in Limerick, we are staying at 3 B&Bs while we are there. Can't wait to explore small town Ireland in Dingle and Kenmare and then stay in our pub in Dublin. Yes, we are staying in a pub. That's what happens when you wait to make your hotel reservations only a few days before St. Patrick's weekend! Should be interesting! Can't wait to don my raincoat and experience Ireland's shamrock shores!