Kind regards

So I've been posting mainly about our vacations and not so much about our normal day to day life.  We are settling nicely into our life in Ireland.  I was walking home from work today and I felt very blissful looking at my beautiful surroundings.  The weather has been getting colder and the days get dark at 5 pm now.  The weather is around 30 - 45 degrees F, which is quite a change to what I was used to in Florida.  I had been watching people around me on my way to work to see if they were wearing mittens  and finally just gave in because my hands were always freezing.  I have also started collecting scarves and I really enjoy wearing them, something I didn't get to do much in Florida! I'm starting to think I like colder weather as opposed to hot weather.  My tune might change as I get further into winter though - my Irish colleagues are always telling me to wait until winter every time I say the weather isn't too bad.  I have learned that you just agree whenever the Irish complain about the weather.

Our apartment has storage heaters in the living room and hallway, below is a picture of a storage heater that looks like ours.  We had quite a time trying to figure out how to use it.  The dials are missing in one of them so it was definitely a guessing game as to where we were setting the dials.  We finally got them to work but not quite to the level we need, so its still trial and error.  Supposedly its a cost effective way of heating your house.  Thankfully we do have double pane windows so it could be a lot colder in here.



















Work is getting busier and I'm surprised that it has already been 3 months.  I do feel like I am starting to know more people at work and it is less lonely. I definitely needed to give it time.  I made friends with another American in my company, her husband and her are doing something similar to Michael and I.  Its been refreshing to find someone else who understands and who I can vent to.

I wonder if I will start saying Irish phrases by the time I go back to the US.  I feel like it is inevitable.  I have started to sign my emails with "Kind Regards" since everyone over here signs it that way.  My "Thank you" at the end didn't seem as nice as Kind Regards.  Haha.
Other phrases that are popular are:
"I suppose"- usually in front of a sentence
"your man" - in regards to anyone that you know, might be related to, know about, ie. "Your man
                      Obama was in Nevada the other day."
"craic" - I don't think I could ever really pull this one off without smirking.  Irish like to ask "Any
               craic?" or say some place, even was "Good craic" when talking about good atmosphere or
              fun times
"Thanks a million" - they say that a lot
"Grand" - they will usually say that when you ask them how they are or to say, That's fine or that's great.

I've noticed I say "Is that OK?" after I ask someone to do something or give them instructions, people say that a lot too or they will ask "Are you happy with that?"  I always think, what would happen if I said, No, I'm not.  I haven't been brave enough for that.

New words I have learned from Connor's creche:

"Ladybird" - ladybug
"Mini beasts" - insects (how cute!!!!)

OK, well, enough of the language lessons.

I wonder who our next President will be. The absentee voting was very painless.  My Irish colleagues are so well informed of the President election that it puts me to shame.  They definitely keep up with American politics and news more than I think the regular American does.

Until next time!