Definitely looking up

We have been having beautiful sunny days for the past three days. It gets hot enough where I can only wear a t shirt and jeans. It is very gorgeous and blindingly green when it is sunny.

Connor started a 5 day induction at his creche this week. On Monday it was for one hour, Tuesday 2 hours, Wednesday from 10-2, Thursday 10-4 and same on Friday. On the first day I stayed with him for 30 minutes and he cried and I left for 30 minutes. He was crying and hiccuping and shivering. I felt so bad. He napped on the walk home but would still sigh and hiccup every few minutes in his sleep. He was just used to having me with him all the time and probably got freaked out when I left. The next day I stayed the 30 minutes and he still cried but started walking around the room and playing with toys. Teachers said he cried for 30 minutes after I left and then was better. The next day he only cried for a few minutes. Today he cried but when I gave him to the teacher he stopped crying. I'm so glad he had already started to adjust back to daycare so well. I saw him on the playground yesterday and he was running around and talking and playing with the other kids. So proud of him.

I forgot to update last time that the shippers came last week Tuesday. I definitely packed way too much clothes. I'm not sure where I am going to put it all. When I look at the piles of clothes, it stresses me out. I tried organizing it yesterday but only made a small dent. I need more storage space.

Good news on the job front. I found out on Wednesday that my green card got approved and I am starting on Monday as scheduled. I am both excited and nervous. I went back to the GNIB office to get a new card and stamp on my passport as the one I had before did not allow me to work. I should not have jumped the gun and gotten the card before the green card. The guy was saying that he might have to charge me another 150€ for another card but then went to talk to his supervisor and they waived it since I just got my card less than two weeks ago. I was so grateful. When I went there wasn't even a line and the whole thing took only 45 minutes. The people at that office have always been very nice to me.

One contentious point is that I still don't have Internet. I am waiting for the equipment which they send by mail. Since there is no mail on the weekends here, it will be some time next week (hopefully). It's been so frustrating with no Internet at home. I am at the mall now typing. I will post a picture of the clock and skylight in here. Looks like a train station.

I am going to share a few pictures of Connor in Merrion Square, a picture of my Irish breakfast for 5€ at Killkenny department store on Nassau street. Love that place and price for breakfast., a picture with the view from Samuel Beckett bridge, look at that sky.

Ups and downs

It's been a busy and challenging week. I still don't have Internet at home so I have had to find cafes that offer free wifi. You usually have to buy something to use the wifi. This wouldn't be such a big deal as sitting in a cafe and drinking lattes sounds pretty nice and European but add a bored screaming toddler to that picture and it's not as nice any more. Connor only had so much patience for sitting quietly in a cafe. I also don't have a cell phone as I am waiting until I start work since my work pays for it. But then I have no communication without the wifi. The Internet company has said that maybe we will get the modem.on Tuesday.

I met with my company's hr on Monday to find out the issue with my green card. The issue ended up being with the information my company sent on the employer's information, not my information but now they have to resubmit my entire application and change things as now I am in the country. Because of this error and resubmission my start date will most likely be later. No one knows when my start date will be or if it will have to go through the four weeks again. It is very frustrating and I feel very helpless about the entire situation. It was not something that I submitted wrong but I feel like I'm being penalized for it. Sure, people think well what's the problem, you don't have to work and have more time with Connor. The problem is we already booked Connor's crèche (daycare) for July 30 and cannot move the start date for him as they have a waiting list. So even if I dont start work, Connor is still starting daycare. It is an expensive daycare and we did budget for two incomes. Which leads me to another thing, how slow the bank is. We just received our ATM cards in the mail but still have not received our pins so we can't touch our Irish money and still have to pull money out of the US. You really need to save your money if you ever make a relocation like this. It had been a week and a half at least now. Things are just alot slower here.

I didn't intend for this post to be so negative but these things are starting to keep me up at night. I hope the green card does not delay me for another month. You only get paid once a month here too which was strange for me to hear.

Last week Michael started work and he likes it. I had Connor all to myself and realized that I had just been following Michael around the whole time and not really looking at roads since I got lost so many times. I am enjoying my time with Connor and definitely feel like we are a lot closer. I could see myself being a stay at home mom now because he's so interactive. I take him to the parks everyday.

Yesterday there was a fair in Merrion Square and they had toys everywhere for kids to play with. Connor had a blast and loved playing with a stand up door.

We also went to Howth, a seaside town north of Dublin. It was 15 minute train ride. We walked up the cliff and down next to the water. It was beautiful but a hard climb. Not going to lie, got a little grouchy close to the top, but the walk on the edge was gorgeous. A definite must see. There was also a castle there. Here are pics from the week. Here's hoping to a spectacular week next week.

Home shopping

We spent the weekend moving into our new apartment. We went shopping at a few Dunnes stores and Pennys stores for little furniture pieces, area rugs and small household things like dish drainer, towel rack, and towels. Unfortunately the selection of household items at both stores was minimal. It was very frustrating going to all the stores and it not having what I need. We will have to make another trip to IKEA to get the remaining items we need. I do miss the selection and numerous stores I had in the United States.

Michael goes to work on Monday. It will be different with just Connor and I. I haven't been paying as much attention to all the streets as I should. Now I'll have to study the map and make sure I don't get lost. Especially since I still don't have a mobile phone. I am waiting until I start work as my Company will pay for a phone.

There is still a delay with my green card and my company will resubmit my application. There was some error in the employer data that was submitted. I hope my start date does not get delayed.

It has been very hard without Internet. Hopefully I will have Internet again this Friday.

Connor has started communicating more and will say yes or no if I ask him a question. It has really helped with the screaming.

2 day update

I was so tired last night that I took a break off from posting. Yesterday, we went on the Paddywagon tour to the Cliffs of Moher. It started from the tourist office at 8 am and we didn't get back until 8:30 pm. It was a great tour. I definitely recommend this tour company if you ever come to Ireland. The cliffs are on the far west coast of Ireland. Almost straight across from Dublin. We drove through Galway and county Clare and stopped at Corcomroe Abbey. The abbey was very picturesque and had tombstones and graves through out. The scenery on the drive was beautiful and green with sheep, cows and horses. Really, what you picture Ireland to look like. We drove on through the Burren. The Burren is all limestone with flowers and grass here and there. But does look
like a moon rock formation. The guide said this area used to be part of the ocean floor, many million years ago. We also drove next to the Atlantic coast. We stopped at the town of Doolin for lunch. We had a great seafood chowder with brown bread. After that we arrived at the Cliffs of Moher. The cliffs were spectacular. It was extremely windy, cold, and wet on the cliffs. Definitely an amazing site to see.
We then had a stop at Bunratty castle for pictures. As we were driving there were many old castle ruins in the fields. The guide was telling us about Ireland's history on the tour and it is amazing the hardships the Irish have had to endure. There was a lot of oppression from foreign rule and the potato famine was a tragic blow to the population.
Connor did good during such a long tour and we got a lot of compliments of how good he was. There were some
moments when he was bored and was crying. He didn't cry for more than a few minutes though. Tours are hard on him and Michael has promised we won't do a tour like this in a while.

Today we started moving things to our new apartment. We also went to the Dunnes department store and bought some towels and hangers. Our shipment will come in next Tuesday. We called for phone and broadband and the broadband won't be on until Friday of next week. I will have to find outside places with wifi. I can't believe Michael goes to work on Monday already. Time is flying by. Here are some pictures from our adventures:

Official tenants of Dublin

We signed our lease on our new apartment today!!

I'm glad I felt no regrets going up those stairs. The apartment is charming and we couldn't ask for a better location to our jobs, the city centre, shopping, and main Dublin attractions. I have a picture of our new place below.

After we signed the lease we caught Bus 140 a few steps from our new place and took it to IKEA. The total bus fare for Michael and I was 5.30 euros, which was much cheaper than a taxi ride. IKEA is north of the river Liffey, so it gave me a chance to see that area.

IKEA was the bus' last stop and looked just like the IKEA I was used to in Florida. We walked around the showroom to get ideas but ended up buying bedding supplies and child proofing supplies in the end. I really like IKEA's comforters and covers. We got a few pillows and sheets also. We bought a king comforter even though our bed is a double so I could have brought my comforter covers instead of giving them away. There are a few things I have been running through my head that I wish I would have brought with me. But it's not something you would know until you know the place you will be living in and can figure out what is missing. It was a lot of fun picking up things for our new apartment to make it feel like home. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately we were limited to what we could buy based on what we could carry - taking the bus and all. We also ate at the IKEA cafeteria, always a fun time. They include a free organic baby puréed meal if you spend 3 euros. So Connor joined in on the fun too.

I still need to buy a few more things to make the apartment livable and then we can move in. Tomorrow we are taking a day tour to the Cliffs of Moher so we probably won't move in until Friday. Our shipment is supposed to arrive this week too so I'm a little scared to see those boxes and figure out what to do with all the stuff. I definitely feel like we over shipped.but I can't wait to get Connor's high chair and crib!!!!!

Connor has been so chatty lately but I wish he would start using real words. I'm sure he will before I know it!

Another drizzly day

Today we went to the National Art Gallery of Ireland, another free museum. Connor was very talkative during the whole time we were there so we didn't really linger over any paintings. We also ate at Lincoln's Inn which is where James Joyce met Nora Barnacle. I'm not sure the significance as I have not followed James Joyce closely but I think this is something significant as they wrote it next to the name of the restaurant. I should probably start learning a thing or two about James Joyce as he has such a huge following here. I then met a new friend for tea, although we didn't really drink anything, just chatted. It was a drizzling day so we just had Connor play in the little gardens next to our apartment. I have been looking online for some moms groups but not really having much luck. I would like to have some sort of mom support while I am out here. Tomorrow we sign the lease on our new apartment! Excited but I hope we don't regret those stairs we have to go up and down everyday.

Eventful Monday

It was an eventful Monday for us. We went to the Bank of Ireland to open up a bank account only to be told that the letters from our employers were in the wrong format. They wanted the letters to be addressed to us rather than to the bank as a proof of our address. Michael and I had to both call our HRs and ask them to change the formats of the letters and we had to go to both offices and pick up the new letters. This process took almost our entire morning. As we were waiting we went to St. Stephens shopping center and went to Tk Maxx (nope I did not misspell it) to buy Michael a rain and wind proof jacket. We both got our new letters and went back to the bank to set up our accounts. It is much more formal here. I thought it was a lot of trouble for some minor detail and was very tempted to white out the address and change it to the mailing address myself. They did accept the new letters and we will soon have accounts.

We went to the corporate apartment to change as I had a meeting today with people from my new office. I don't start until July 30 but reached out to let them know I was here. I got a tour of the office and met a few people. I'm now excited and nervous at the same time of starting my new job. It is with the same company but a different country and culture to learn. I did find out I would my own desk which is exciting. It is a very bright and airy office. A partner I met with said there was some trouble with my green card and I might need to leave the country for a day and come back in. Not really sure what the problem is. One of the most frustrating things about this process has to be the green card approval process. We'll see what I need to do once I find out more details. Fortunately I am covered to work under Michael's green card but would like to have my own. Such a long drawn out frustrating process. I'm glad at least Michael's was fairly painless or we'd really be in trouble.

I am glad our new place is not in the same area as our corporate apartment. Our corporate apartment building is the gasworks building and while close to the google offices, it's not really close
to anything else. We have had to walk so far every day.

After the meeting, we took Connor to Merrion Square as the sun finally decided to come out today. He was chasing and yelling at all the birds until none of them would come back onto the ground. There was also another toddler that came up to Connor and pushed him but he said he wanted to give Connor a hug. Not sure what kind of hug that was but Connor was not hurt, just confused.

Ate at a Chinese restaurant in the area and that was it for today!

Some pictures from Merrion Square, the figure on the rock is Oscar Wilde, he was born in a house across the street from Merrion Square: