Page-A-Day Calendar

A secret apartment above a library, and in NYC no less?! Anyone else just find this to be the epitome of NIRVANA?!?

Sign me up, I'm selling my home and moving as soon as possible!

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Idaho - Ruskovich

Title: Idaho

Author: Emily Ruskovich

Genre: Fiction, Women's Fiction

Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library
 
 
What Its About:  
Ann is determined to figure out what happened. For years, she has lived with her husband Wade in his mountain home, teaching students to play piano and shaping their lives together. But Wade is slowly losing his memory to Alzheimers; and Ann is desperate to learn as much of his history as she can before she loses him.

Wade's previous wife Jenny is in jail for a horrific act of violence, killing her own daughter. And their second child has been missing since that day. Ann, who recalls her piano lessons with Wade prior to the murder, wonders if her perceived emotional connection to Wade led to this violent and evil act and cannot seem to let go the possibility that she was the cause of the event.

In many different voices, we learn about Ann's, Wade' and Jenny's lives and learn how Ann tries to take responsibility for the event, recreating Wade's life after the loss, and helping Jenny as well, whether out of guilt or responsibility.

The Bottom Line: 

If the reader is looking for some hard-core answers, you will not get them from this book. Some stories, experiences, cannot be explained and the events in this book are no different. However, the stories are so well written, the prose so fitting, that you are left not minding the loss. Rather, you feel like you got all you bargained for and more.

An exceptional story, well worth the read.

Finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? - 03/18/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.


Currently Reading

I've randomly found a few "trauma cleaner" videos on YouTube. They are NOT. PRETTY. But they do spark some weird...interest in the watcher. So I figured this is a good way to satisfy that interest, without the gore.

Just Finished

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Yea or Nay: Audio Books

There are many folks who love audio books and equally as many who just don't, for a multitude of reasons. Here are some thoughts...

Advantages

• Audio books are cheap, convenient, and portable. You can get them for a few dollars or grab them from your library. You can listen to them in your car, on your phone, working out, just about anywhere.
• Audio books can be shared over various electronics (computer, phone, iPod or iPad, etc.) and therefore require no carrying around of books or ereaders.
• They don't take up a lot of space, very convenient if you have a small apartment/home.
• They are eco-friendly.
• They are easier on your eyes.
• Narrators and authors can share audio books with emotion and pronunciation that you might misread (Hermione!). They can introduce new vocabulary or difficult names.
• They allow for a shared listening of a story, for example on a road-trip, which opens up opportunities to discuss with a partner.
• Audio books can allow readers to access content that is beyond their reading level. Children for example or making longer classics accessible for someone who otherwise couldn't get through them.
• Audio books teach critical listening skills.

Disadvantages

• Some people hate having books read to them.
• Initial costs. Along with a book file you will need to provide technology to play it (phone, computer, etc.) with speakers or headphones.
• No real way to mark or tag passages or save comments/thoughts on what you have read.
• You must actually be relatively tech-savy to get audio books onto your player, with any required apps, and then figure out how to access and play them. And, files can be lost.
• Audio books make you anti-social as you block out others while listening.
• If you are easily distracted, its easy to lose your place.

In my opinion...

Audio books are convenient, but they NOT reading (in my humble opinion). Just like watching a movie of a book isn't reading.

And frankly, I just cannot concentrate on the intricacies of the story, cannot visualize the characters or environments when someone is reading to me. And I am way to easily distract...




Nope, audio books are not for me!


What about you?

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Suburban Junkie - Jude Hassan

Title: Suburban Junky: From Honor Roll to Heroin Addict

Author: Jude Hassan

Published: Genre: Memoir

Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library

Recommended if you like: Memoirs, Family and Relationships, Drug Culture

 
What Its About:  
Jude Hassan was always a "good kid": good grades, involved in sports, close to his family. He had a lot to look forward too.  After moving to a new town however, Jude decides he wants to be something new, something fun. He wants to be popular. He wants to make friends and date girls and have a good time. Jude makes a new friend, a buddy who can hook him up with friends, girls...and drugs.

Peer pressure, naiveté, and curiosity lead Jude down a steep, scary slope. What begins as an innocent couple of drinks and tokes of marijuana turns surprisingly quickly to a heroin addiction. Within a few months, he is hooked and his perfect life has slipped away. 

Losing his parents trust doesn't reach him. Ending up in trouble with the law doesn't reach him. It's only by the sheet grace of God that Jude is able to get control, with the guidance and love of his dying father, as well as a burning guilt of what he has done and lost. 

The Bottom Line: 
A very interesting read. Hassan spares nothing in his honest and detailed explanation of how quickly drug use can get a hold of you and lead to poor choices, bad decisions, and loss of control. Some of the book (particularly how his mother spoke to him) felt a bit contrived, silly. Of course, I can't possibly know...but I chose to believe that he was rewriting her words for ease. But overall this book was well written. Worth a read.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? - 03/11/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.


Still Reading:

Yep, still reading this one. Its well written...but dense.

Up Next:

Not sure yet...suggestions?

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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and not so bookish bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise.




It's Friday y'all!

Tax season is upon us. Hubby and I have an appointment with our new tax-prep person next weekend. We had been using the same guy for years, but as we sold our condo this year we needed someone who handles the more...advanced tax issues, like capital gains. Blah! Oh well, the sooner it's over the better.

Hubby bought a new car this week, used as always. But he bought a Honda with only 40k miles, so we expect it to last him for years (assuming no major accidents). Hoping to pick it up this weekend.

The Nobel Foundation has announced that the Nobel Prize in Literature for both 2018 and 2019 will be awarded later in 2019. 2018's prize, as you likely know, was put on hold due to a sexual assault scandal.

Along with two kitties, hubby and I have a fish tank. At one time, our 55 gallon tank held quite a few fishies. We are now down to two fairly large babies. Unfortuantely, we discovered Wednesday the tank was leaking. Thankfully we were both working from home due to doctor's appointments. We rushed to get them switched to an emergency tank, but it will take a few days to get another tank we own set up and acclimated (its a bit bigger than this emergency tank). All this to say, my home is currently a freakin' nightmare with fish supplies and tanks laying all over the place. I know what my weekend looks like!

And the cats have finally discovered that we have fish... We had to surround the tank with boxes to keep the kitties short-term memory blank.

We finally got our snow day here in Boston. We got two storms this past weekend. The first was a big 'ole bummer. We barely got two inches. The second was Sunday night into Monday and was supposed to be six inches...we got fourteen. Yipee! Monday was a half day, but I worked from home as I needed to handle snow removal (hubby's still hurting from the accident and is PT bound).

Now that we've had our snow day, I am ready for summer! That's it. I'm good. Let's go with the sunny, warm days and vacation days off. And, of course, after months of abnormal 30-40 degree days, it's now 12-18 degrees EVERY DAY! March is acting like February. Pooh!

Remember this weekend is daylight savings everyone. I hate losing the hour of sleep, but I like the evening sunshine.

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Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore - Fu

Title: The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore

Author: Kim Fu

Genre: Fiction, YA Fiction
Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library
 
Recommended if you like: YA Fiction, Women's fiction

 
What Its About:  
A small group of young girls - Nita, Andee, Isabel, Dina, and Siobhan - set off for an overnight canoeing trip with their veteran guide. The guide opts to change the camping destination at the last minute, despite the dangers of doing so. Sadly, she passes away that evening while the girls sleep in their tents. The girls are left facing the most difficult and terrifying experience of their young lives. Stranded on an unknown island alone, they must find help or save themselves and in turn grow up quickly.

An exploration of how the event affects the girls’ actions and alliances during the trip, as well as how the experience shapes the rest of their lives via interspersed chapters of the girls, now women, experiences later in life.



The Bottom Line: 

I didn't love this story. Nor did I hate it. It was well written, entertaining. But it did not leave me with a wow-factor ending. Rather, it was more like a strong, but quiet whisper. Worth the read.

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5-4-3-2-1

Thanks Christine at Bookishly Boisterous for this idea. 

5- The Last Things I’ve Read

1. Work emails 
2. My page-a-day calendar, Sa Sartiglia (Oristano, Italy)
3. An article about what it would take to impeach someone...just research, ya know
4. Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
5. Facebook

4- What I Really Want to Draw

1. A landscape scene with a lake in graphite

2. A child's portrait with colored pencils

3. A tree branch with intricate bark and a pine cone, perhaps in tinted charcoal

4. An animal, in pastels, with distinct fur patterns that is good enough to inspire commissions (or anything good enough to inspire commissions, honestly)

3- Things I expect to be doing this weekend

1. Helping hubby car shop (his was officially totaled this past week when some guy rear-ended him)
2. Working on painting and cleaning our rental condo for a quick sale this spring
3. Hunkering down in the foot or so of snow we are expecting

2- Items I would like to eat right now

1. Homemade banana bread with nuts
2. The leftover Chinese food in my fridge right now

1- I want more than anything

1. Financial security enough to retire early and spend the rest of my days creating art, making music, and volunteering with animals. I don't ask for much, do I?

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Yea or Nay: Ebooks

For years I was always a hands-on book reader. I couldn't imagine choosing to read any other way. The feel of the paper, the smell of the binding, the "shopping" trips to the library - they were irreplaceable.

I have finally came to my senses. Yes, books are wonderful (I currently have hundreds in my shelf waiting to be read). But I have come to realize how much more convenient ebooks are for me riding the commuter rail to work every day. And, after several attempts (and purchasing a larger screened cell phone), I have gotten used to the change in medium and am finally comfortable reading ebooks on my phone or iPad.

Disadvantages

• No touchy-feels or smelly-smells. Ebooks just lack that special "bookness" we all love.
• Ebooks need to be charged. Books never run out of power.
• Blue light.
• After spending the day at work, my eyes are just tired of staring at a screen.
• Ebooks/Ereaders just don't look as pretty on the shelf as real books do.
• Ebooks are easier to steal in mass quantity. I mean, how many of us have never sold a traditional book at a yard sale, right? But someone could share an ebook file with countless people at once, a deterrent for publishers for sure.
• So many ereaders and file formats, which to pick? And the initial cost output is greater.
• And the learning curve of purchasing, downloading, etc.
• And files can get lost/erased. Try erasing a traditional book...no seriously, I'll wait.
• There is nothing like turning that last page and realizing you did it, you finished the whole book!

Advantages

• More eco-friendly. Save the trees! Minimize the pollutants and such from production! Minimize the paper sent to junkyards and landfills!
• Ebooks tend to be cheaper because of the above.
• Ebooks can be read in the dark...and your spouse thanks you.
• No need to travel to the store to purchase, just hit the power button and browse the library/online store - ease and eco-friendly!
• Ebooks are much lighter...ie you can carry thousands of book choices at once.
• Ebooks are alternatively-capable/disabled friendly. Those with sight impairments can increase fonts, those who cannot hold a traditional book and turn pages can often place a reader on their lap and touch the screen lightly to change pages.
• Multi-media. Gone are the days of black and white pictures, now we can include audio, video and internet links to increase the entertainment value of our books.
• Ebooks allow for quick and easy note taking, passage marking, and text searches (what did the author say about that topic or character earlier?!).

The hardest thing for me was to adjust to the new medium. But once I did it, I was sold. Now I am glad to read an ebook anytime. I do still buy traditional books and will, of course, continue to read them. But doing both has opened up possibilities for me and I always welcome new ways to incorporate books into my life!

What about you? Do you eread or not?!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? - 02/25/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Currently Reading	Finished Reading
	Nipping away at this one slowly...

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Christmas additions to the family...

The Holidays.

I don't tend to ask for books for the holidays. I use the library a lot (particularly ebooks on my phone). And, when I do purchase books they are usually from books sales, discount stores, yard sales, etc. To put it frankly, I'm cheap. I just can't spend full price on books, or anything really. Don't believe me, look back on my couponing blogs.

[And yes, I still coupon...not quite as much, but as much as possible.]

But every year, my family goes... "Uh, what should I get her?! I know...books!" Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining or anything. I'm a terrible person to buy gifts for...if I need/want something, I just buy it (you should have seen my Black Friday haul this year!). Sometimes those gifts are a home run, sometimes they are good "to be read asap" options, and other times they get put on my TBR pile "until I need something to read." But admittedly, I always cringe a little when a full-price book comes home.

What I got this year...

Great choices!

And:

HOMERUN!

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Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and not so bookish bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise.


1. For a short week, this one is dragging a bit...isn't it?! #comeonweekend!

2. RIP Peter Tork.

For those of you who are saying... "Who?" You might remember him as "the blond one".

3. If you work, does your company provide any staff appreciation events? If so...do they do it well? How important is staff morale where you work? How might you handle a substantial cut in support, but still having to serve the same number of people with an event that doesn't negatively effect staff morale (even if the balance of funds is being transferred to a valuable cause)?

Just asking for a friend.

4. The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation, in partnership with the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection at The University of Southern Mississippi, announced the winners for the 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award:

The 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award winner for Writer is:

John Sullivan , for Kitten and the Night Watchman

Illustrated by Taeeun Yoo 

Published by Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books

The 2019 Ezra Jack Keats Award winner for Illustrator is:

Oge Mora , for Thank you, Omu!

Written by Oge Mora 

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

4. Do you listen to the radio/internet radio at work? If so, what station do you use? I am still using Pandora, but wonder how outdated I am.

5. I definitely have to find a way to get more sleep at night. I am a bonafide night owl, who has to get up at 6 a.m. for my work commute five days a week. But even when I am wiped out, I still have trouble getting to sleep before about 11 p.m. Every day I am increasingly more tired until the weekend comes and I can sleep in to catch up. I'd be frustrated...if I wasn't so tired.

6. "Hate groups in US at highest level in 2 decades," according to an organization that tracks white supremacists and other far-right extremists. 'Nough said.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? - 02/18/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

Just Finished:

Currently Reading:

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Beastie Boys Book - Diamond/Horovitz

Title: Beastie Boys Book

Author: Michael Diamond and Adam Horovitz

Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library
Recommended if you like: Memoirs, Family and Loss, Celebrity Memoirs

 
What Its About: 

Always the idea man and motivator, Adam "MCA" Yauch expressed interest in putting out a Beastie Boys memoir prior to his death in 2012. Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "AD Rock" Horovitz fulfilled this dream for Yauch in typical Beastie fashion. Irreverent, fun and Beastie-like, this memoir alternates chapters including band narrative of Beastie Boys history and personal stories, along with copious photographs, playlists, song explanations, a cookbook, a comic strip, and more.

An homage to fellow Beastie Yauch, this memoir shares the story of how the Beastie came together in the 1980's, in connection with the hard-core punk and rap scenes of the 70's and 80's, and how they grew as artists and humans over the years.

Originally a three man/one woman band focused on playing hard core punk music, the Beasties found themselves leaning toward being more inventive and entertaining. Rap fit the bill. Def Jam Recordings, one of the premiere recording companies of the 70's rap scene with the likes of Run D.M.C. and LL Cool J, quickly signed them. With the guidance of Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin, the Beasties quickly shed their female member (a process for which they apologize) and became a hit.

Over the years, the Beastie's sound has grown and matured. Their original album, License to Ill, was an ode to the B-Boy life, with cheap references to women and violence. The 1990's brought additional albums and a great deal of maturity for the Beastie Boys, who actually apologized for previous lyrics and behavior. Adam Yauch was seemingly the most effected, finding a calm and peace in his life after hiking in the Himalayas and meeting some Tibetan refugees. He parlayed that brief encounter into a burning passion for Buddhism and the Tibetan cause.

This memoir is fun and games, yet let's fans know that it's OK to grow, mature, and become an adult while still "fighting for your right to party".

The Bottom Line:
I really enjoyed reading this memoir and learning more about their lives then and now. If you were or are a fan, this is a must read!

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Bookish (And Not So Bookish) Thoughts

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and not so bookish bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise.

1. Happy Valentine's Day - Hoping your evening is full of dinner out and romantic movies...even if you enjoy those things with your biggest fan, yourself! Hubby and I will do Valentines, and a late celebration of our 7th anniversary, tomorrow night. I much prefer my celebrations over the weekend.

2. Looking forward to the long weekend, how about you?

3. Heading to my parents this weekend so hubby can help with some computer issues. Then, we're all heading to Rio for dinner...

Rio Brazilian Steakhouse that is. Fabulous!!

I gave my parents an IOU for a family dinner and we are going to make it count...definitely wearing my stretchy pants!

4. A faculty member at the Conservatory, a professional in Alexander Technique, has offered to help me learn a few Alexander tricks that may help me alleviate some long-term neck and shoulder pain. I am hoping she has the magic trick as all previous efforts to find relief have failed (including actual physical therapy). I'll keep you updated!

5. I started using a Happy Planner this year and so far have kept up with it (despite my travels). I am still using my Google calendar, but am trying to focus on both creating a snapshot of weeks/months to come and creating a memory book for future years. There are so many planner videos on YouTube it's crazy. But I have quickly learned to filter what is useful, and what is too over-the-top for me, so that my time, effort, and results are in line with what I need and want. Is anyone else a planner person?

6. I find it interesting that some books take me a while to get through, even if I am really enjoying them, while others I just slice through like butter. My current read, Suburban Junkie, is flying by (two days in and I am about halfway done). Strange.

7. After 20-something years, hubby is exploring new work opportunities. His company has...let's be nice and not say "a policy", but rather "a history" of ushering older workers out the door. Recent events have looked uncomfortably familiar, so he is trying to open some doors. Wish him luck!

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Salinger 2.0 (19)

https://www.biography.com/people/jd-salinger-9470070

News agencies are reporting that J.D. Salinger’s son and widow will be publishing his past 50 years or so of unpublished works. According to his son, his father wanted him to "pull it together" and share it.

I enjoyed Cather in the Rye in high school but haven't ready anything else by him. Have you had the opportunity to read more? What are your thoughts?

I'm not sure if I should be excitedly waiting...or just mildly aware that this is occurring.

I guess time will tell.

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This Is Me - Metz

Title: This Is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today

Author: Chrissy Metz

Genre: Memoir
Rating: 3/5- Good. Read it, have a good time and move on. Or not.

Book Source: Library
Recommended if you like: Memoirs, Family and Loss, Celebrity Memoirs

 
What Its About:  

Alternating between autobiographical chapters and self-help essays, Metz shares her history from an unavailable father to meeting Oprah and getting a life-changing role on one of the most loved dramas on television today.

Growing up, Metz craved the attention and support of a father who walked out one day, leaving the family to struggle, and eventually established another family. Metz' mother worked menial jobs to support her family as best she could. Moving was common when rent was due. When Metz' mother remarried, she and her siblings moved into her stepfather's (and step sister's) home with hopes of a normal family life. But Metz was quickly labeled the odd child out (her biological sisters were older and younger enabling them to establish a different role in the family) and was often the brunt of her stepfather's abuse, both verbal and emotional. Metz searched for respite and found it in singing and acting. 

She eventually found herself faced with the decision to stay in Florida or to make the move to Los Angeles with some like minded artists.  She opted for change and made the trek from east coast to west coast. But performance opportunities are difficult for large woman to find in Hollywood. She took work in casting and struggled to make ends meet, supporting her husband's failing dream for years. After divorcing and facing dwindling hope that things would change, she admitted that to be successful, she had to actually be auditioning and trying to make her dream happen. She quit her job and put her whole heart into finding roles, until the dream finally found her.

The Bottom Line: 
Metz shares her story with such optimism and hope. She is an entertaining woman, on TV and in her writing. Her acceptance of herself, despite what culture tells her is beautiful, is awesome and her positive attitude about the future is invigorating. I enjoyed reading this very much.

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading - 02/4/19

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a place to meet up and share what you have been, and are about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment and er… add to your groaning TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started on J Kaye’s blog and then was hosted by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn here at The Book Date.

I am STILL...

Currently Reading:

This is due back today...must finish, almost there!

Up Next:

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Their back....

Nope, not the Poltergeists (at least, I don't think so)...

But Purely Vocals is back from Ireland and what an amazing time! Ireland truly is beautiful (I can say that now, because I have finally seen some of it).

We flew out Wednesday night, arriving early Thursday morning (they are 5 hours ahead of us) and headed to a friend's house for breakfast and some sleep. Thursday afternoon, we drove the length of the country from Dublin to Shannon arriving at Bunratty (Bun Raite) Village. We checked into our hotel and grabbed some dinner at a local restaurant/pub, ending the night in a bar singing with the locals - a great time despite the jet lag.

Friday we woke up to a free breakfast and then took a nice long drive in the mildly-overcast weather (the sun was peeking out) to an amazing beach, the pure power of which was truly mind blowing. The tide was in and the wave action was definitely far beyond anything we get here on the New England coast. We were told the surfing there is notable.

Cliffs of Moher, pictures do NOT do it justice!

We then drove a bit more, ending eventually at the Cliffs of Moher. What an amazing site, nature truly is magnificent! I have never seen anything like this, even in movies and I was wonderstruck. Scenery watching and drowsing off on our long drive back was followed by dinner and then our first performance, in the Sixmilebridge town courthouse, and another evening singing in a pub. Oy, it was definitely going to be a long weekend!


Saturday was a long, busy day of rehearsals and singing, three official performances that day  (two of which were in pubs, of course) and our big hour-gig in the Bunratty Castle Great Hall (we've moved up from the last visit when we sang, literally, in the dungeons)! It was an exhausting vocal day leaving us a little hoarse. But I did get some time to roam the grounds of the Bunratty Folk Park looking at the replica Irish homesteads and communing with the goats.


Sunday began with us filling in for another group, which pulled out of playing at the morning Catholic mass. Amazing Grace, as well as a few other pieces, received an overwhelming response from the congregation (which we are told is not known for any reaction to such performances let alone applause - kind of weird in a church though). They were truly gracious and literally sat through the entire recessional. I think the priest was wondering if they were actually going to leave.

The rest of the day we took some time to do our own thing. I choose to watch a few of the festival performances and then head back to my room and rest; I was exhausted. Jet lag is real, y'all! Dinner was a wonderful pasta and salad fest at a townhouse rented by a friend for the weekend. The evening was spent in the the hotel bar, yet again singing (hoarsely), as musicians from other groups joined us for a very cool, off the cuff, sing and play-a-long collaboration!

Monday dawned rainy and cold. After breakfast we headed out for some more site seeing, despite the weather. After a good drive we arrived at another well known beach, whose name I do not recall. We climbed our way down the pebbles, stones, and boulders of a beach to the water...just in time to be hit with a massive sleet and rain downpour, resulting in us clawing our way as quickly back up the beach as possible. On our way out of town we stopped to dry off at a lovely bed&breakfast's...you guessed it, pub, but this one was nearly empty and very cozy with a blazing fireplace (and no singing) for a wonderful bowl of chowder, Irish brown bread, and a cup of hot chocolate. Apparently Ireland has only pink and white mixed mini-marshmallows, who knew?!

Again, the evening was spent singing in a pub with the locals at the festival wrap-up party. We kept it to a minimum, given our worn out vocal chords and headed home early to pack and prepare for the drive back to Dublin Airport Tuesday morning. We arrived with plenty of time to check in, grab a quick bite and a cup of tea, and board the plane home. The ride home was a grueling 7+ hours, as compared to our just mildly unpleasant 5ish hour trip over. But I have to offer kudos to both pilots who delivered us safely to our ports. Thank you Norwegian!

I really despise flying... but boy-o-boy I've gotta admit this was worth it!! 'Til the next time ye Emerald Isle!

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