You've Been Gobbled: 30 things I'm thankful for.

1.  The Girl Scouts, some of whom were sporting enough to go along with my idea of making "You've Been Gobbled" posters at last night's meeting.  You're the best, people.

 2.  Peace signs on the sidewalk.

 3.  This sweet, sweet Karmann Ghia in Pilsen.  Apparently the owner's a jerk, but the car is divine.

 4.  Bun Length Wieners.  It's wrong on many levels, AND missing a hyphen, but also great.  Thanks again, Aldi.

5. The LepreCan porta-potty facility under the viaduct near our house.  We call that whole area the Poop Factory for no good reason.

 6.  Sexy Irish weather ladies broadcasting the weather in Irish.  Somehow made both weather and Gaelic seem sexy at once, quite a feat.

7.  Hardy Boys lunchbox.  I didn't even know they were Frank and Joe Hardy until our Joe came along.

 8.  People with the cleverness and manual dexterity to paint British flags on their toenails - and the cheek to do it a few days before we leave for Ireland.

 9.  Hammer toe diagrams at the podiatrist's office. 

 10.  This grandpa (big Devo fan) and his 8-year-old granddaughter, who he brought to the Devo/Blondie concert because her dad was sick.  I had bought five Devo buttons and offered them each one.  Grandpa was pleased.

 11.  My Irish condiment collection, featuring several varieties of brown sauce - and Marmite.

 12.  This gang of four.  And their Dad.

 13.  Coco, who was riding up Michigan Avenue with her owner loving the smells.

 14.  Disco ball at the Village Discount Outlet.  Too bad some of the disco fell off.

 15.  Fall color.

 16.  People having birthdays.

 17.  Another fantastic car I followed along Chicago Avenue on a Sunday morning.

 

 18.  America:  where kids can get handcuffs, army guys, marbles, ping pong balls, AND Play-Doh at the Jewel.

 19.  The giant rocking chair at Jonamac Orchard in Malta, IL, plus the amazing apple cider, pie, donuts, etc.  Oh, and the pumpkin cannon.  And the hay bale maze.  and the donkey, etc.....

 20.  The Girl Scout sleepover @ St. Ed's.

 21.  Breakfast where I work:  I usually take two hard-boiled eggs and either bacon or turkey sausage.  But there was one tiny pancake which I had to have as well.

 22.  The Patio Theater on Irving Park near Austin.  A genuine old-school movie palace.

 23.  Boy Scout Pasta Dinner with friends and family.

 24.  This Astronaut Santa from the Village Discount Outlet again.  I was too scared to buy him but he is recorded here for posterity.

 25.  Medieval Times.  Words fail me but I shall return.

 26.  Willis the Shark.  Yes, he is wearing a tux.  Courtesy of Madison.

27.  Margie, Jessica - nicely done. 

 28.  Psychedelic hands.

29.  YOU.
30.  The Universe.

pictures from Ireland 2012 - now with links.

Sorry about that. Tried to get fancy with the slideshows and it blew up. Here we go.

ins and outs
amusing signs and imagery
anarchy anyone?
dublin, parts 1 and 2
belfast
giant's causeway / dunluce castle
carrickfergus castle / mellifont abbey / monasterboice / carrick-a-rede rope bridge
derry/londonderry (site of bloody sunday)
grianan of aileach (medieval ring fort) / slieve league (1,291-ft sea cliffs, europe's highest) / caldragh graveyard (pre-christian pagan tombstones!)
ballyconnell / kinawley / county fermanagh
galway
killarney / kilkenny
clonmacnoise (largest medieval monastery in ireland)
glendalough monastery, county wicklow

Back from Ireland: Tip o' the neill to ya!

It's midnight Dublin time but we're back enjoying the cicadas of Chicago at 6pm.  Too many photos to show yet but a few impressions from the trip:

1.  Tons of tourists, largely French, German, and Italian.  Irish super-friendly.
2.  Hardly any Americans in Northern Ireland.
3.  Derry/Londonderry is an important place for anyone to visit who wants to understand Irish politics.
4.  The roads are as tiny as they say, but at least they are paved.  Sean did a heroic job driving.
5.  Best dairy products in the universe - butter, milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream.
6.  Sausages available as part of every full Irish breakfast, but where are the pigs?  We saw at least 50,000 sheep, about a dozen donkeys, but literally only two pigs.
7.  "Champ" = mashed potatoes, butter, salt, pepper, chives or green onions.  Too good for words.
8.  Slieve League: highest sea cliffs in Europe (1,291 feet).  Photos when I can dig them out.  Unbelievable.
9.  Also tons of medieval and megalithic sites.
10.  Much amusing signage and graffiti.  Again, hope to find all the photos we took of it.
11.  Surprising geographic diversity for such a small country.  Also an astonishing amount of water.  Also astonishing beauty around nearly every bend.
12.  Wheaten bread (extra-coarse whole-wheat/oat Irish soda bread) and Club Lemon became our car sustenance as we usually skipped lunch.  Wheaten bread produces a very specific and evil type of fart which cannot be replicated with any other food, sort of  like the smell of gym shoes gone wrong.  Very bad indeed.  But the bread is so tasty you just get up the next day and eat it again at breakfast.  The crazy thing is you can get this amazing rustic bread anywhere, even at their crappy little convenience stores.
13.  Tea.  Tea with milk and sugar, and wheaten bread with divine Irish butter.  The things they do well, the Irish do really, really well.  The Irish seem to like their tea incredibly strong, almost as dark as coffee, so 1-2 cups in the morning is plenty.

That's all for now....just to stay up a few more hours till bedtime (yawn).....

Ireland: a place for Hardy folk?

That question will be tested soon as the six of us plus Sean's mom get off the North American continent later today, for the first time as a family.

The plan is simplicity itself:
1.  Fly to Dublin;
2.  Rent minivan;
3.  Drive counterclockwise around entire country on wrong side of road (Sean will drive; I will probably knit.)

Sean has been planning the itinerary for months and has tons of great stops lined up.  Kid3 has commandeered the Nikon; I am intrigued to see the photos that come back.

While we're away, could somebody please run out and do school supply shopping for 4 kids?  All the college rule looseleaf will be gone by then, and no one beyond fifth grade wants the Cone of Shame known as wide rule paper.


Wish us luck (not the luck of the Irish, please) and we'll be back in action in a couple of weeks.