FEBRUARY 16TH – MARCH 8TH
After the exciting first half of February, we decided to take it easy for the remainder of the month. The week of Monday the 16th February was just a normal work week. The weather was starting to noticeably warm up which was fantastic, and the days were also really starting to get longer. Nice, after such a dark winter.
On Saturday the 21st I had a home hockey game, so in the morning were able to do a few jobs that we had been meaning to get to. Unfortunately our car has a leak somewhere, and we had noticed that the floor was damp. So we took out the seats and fittings, and took the carpet out. To our suprise there were actually puddles of water underneath the carpet. So, we decided to get the whole carpet out, let it dry out, and try to find the leak when it rained. Once we had finished putting all of the seats back in the car it was time for hockey. We ended up losing 5 – 2, which was not too bad. That night we thought we had better do something, so went to the movies. Unfortunately Em got her preference for a chick flick, which was a terrible movie – we both regretted the choice!
On Sunday, I played hockey for the seconds' team. Again we lost 5 – 2. The exciting thing was that I scored both goals, which was good.
The week of Monday the 23rd was again work as per normal. On the Monday night, Em went to an Irish set dancing session, which she enjoyed. I was getting over another little bout of sickness, so gave it a miss. She went with a Catherine, a friend from work. She really enjoyed it, and found it a good workout as well. Soon she will be able to take a lead role with Michael Flatley in Riverdance!
On Friday night, the 27th February, we went out to Catherine and Daniel's house, to have dinner with them, as well as their 4 kids. We took out curried chicken, and although we ended up eating a bit later than expected, had a great evening. Catherine made dessert, an apple pie, and her first attempt at a lemon meringue pie (which was f.a.n.t.a.s.t.i.c!).
On Saturday I had no hockey game. We just stuck around home and again had a quiet day, after going for a run in the morning.
On Sunday, the first of March, we were greeted by a beautiful sunny day for the first day of spring. I played hockey for the seconds which was in Cork. Em stayed at home and had a nice relaxing day. Believe it or not, we actually won the hockey game, 7 – 2, and it should have been more. I scored a goal as well, which was great.
Unfortunately the spring weather did not last for long. Monday, the 2nd of March, it was raining. On Tuesday it started to get cold, and when I left work it started to snow in Nenagh. That night a hockey training it hailed and snowed for almost the entire hour and a half. On Wednesday morning, the 4th, we woke up to find a white blanket of snow. This was by far the biggest dumping we had had in Limerick. It was about 4 – 5 inches worth. Our housing estate looked great, with powdery white covering everything. We made a small snowman and put him on the bonnet of the car. Unfortunately we still had to go to work, so I dropped Em off, then had a slow trip to work. As I got closer to Nenagh I quickly realised Limerick had a much bigger dumping than Nenagh. It snowed all morning, but by the end of the day, it had pretty much melted away.
On Friday, the 6th of March, I was on the road for the day for work, which was bad planning on my part, because that night we drove up to County Down, leaving Limerick at 7pm. It was a 4 hour trip, up to County Down, which is in Northern Island. I had a hockey game up there on Saturday, which was a semi-final for an the Irish Hockey Cup, an inter-provincial championship. That night the team stayed at Banbridge, after getting to the hotel just after midnight. Em was named Number One Supporter and Team Manager (literally – her name was on the team game card), as she was the only non-player who made the trip up.
On Saturday the 7th, our day was very planned, and after a great breakfast in the hotel, we went to North Down, where the hockey game was. It turned out that it was a really good day – weather-wise and game-wise. Unfortunately we ended up losing 4 – 0, but that scoreline was flattering for them. After the game, as any hosting team does, we were provided with dinner at a local pub, then hit the road and got back at around 11pm. It was a lot of travelling to do in a 24 hour period, particularly as all of the travel was done at night time. It was a fun trip though. We were happy to get home and get some sleep.
On Sunday, the 8th, after a much needed sleep in, we cooked up some lunch and went out to Ennis to Dirk and Tina's house. They enjoyed the curry that we took out. After we ate, Dirk gave us a lesson on the van – all the knobs and functions - which was great. We filmed the lesson,so we can look back at how to do things – there was a lot to remember! The van does come with a manual, but it is written in German, which is not as useful to us. We both had a test drive – it wasn't nearly as hard as we'd imagined to drive a left-hand drive! The steering wheel is nearly bus-sized, and there's no power steering. It was great to have a little drive of our new companion. The visit ended a busy weekend, and we went home for an early night.
