Mr. Rude in Dublin...

this will be quick cause i'm lazy...So, we went to bloody Dublin last weekend...left on Friday night...came back on Sunday night...we toured Dublin on Saturday, then visited the GREEN part of Ireland on Sunday...we visited the Wicklow mountains, the Wicklow gap and then the towns of Glendalough and Avoca...then we drove by the seaside...it was definitely very pretty and green...the rain wasn't bad either...we saw sun both days and saw horrific rain both days...but that's dublin and ireland apparently...

sorry, no little green people at the end of rainbows...no pots of gold...

one of the highlights of the trip was visiting the St. James Brewery, the home of Guinness...the beer that i have grown to swallow pint after pint after pint after pint...Guinness folks is tasty...and has the same calories as any other beer...its not heavy as people say it is...and it has less bubbles...so less gas...so you can drink more...and its quite a pretty beer after its poured from a tap...very pretty...princess usually wants to slap me whenever i just stare at it bubbling up and settling...any guinness drinker would know what i'm talking about...

anyways, we are going to try a new thing by bringing mr. rude everywhere we go and taking one picture of him to memorialize the trip...no better way to remember Dublin than Guinness since it literally owns half the city...the picture here is at the Gravity Bar on the top floor of the storehouse in the St. James Brewery...great views there of Dublin...we get a free pint at the end of the tour...it was mid-afternoon...there were probably at least 200 people packed into that bar...and i pulled out mr. rude and M snapped the picture...quickly...

Mr. Rude.

Not much in common...chapter 1.

ok...so, here is a random difference why the only thing the U.S. and the U.K. have in common is kind of the english language...and i stress the kind of...

so, they don't sell these behind-the-head earmuffs here for some reason...i feel like i'm the only person in london that has worn them or ever even seen them before...i've been asked twice now by complete strangers in the last week where i got them...and i definitely get inquisitive looks...like these were some asian invention that i bought from the motherland...

the stupid part is that people wear such bizarre things on their heads...this place is weird hat central...seriously...some goofy stuff goes on people's heads to keep them warm...

why TKG02 is a bad influence...

and playing video games at work isn't a good idea when your boss is around either...

i8bigboobs (7:25:53 PM): YEAH, MY DAD IS HERE
i8bigboobs (7:25:59 PM): HE IS LIKE,..WHAT ARE YOU DOING
babar899 (7:26:01 PM): LOL!
i8bigboobs (7:26:07 PM): i SAID I AM PLAYING WITH _____
babar899 (7:26:18 PM): LOL!
i8bigboobs (7:26:19 PM): he is like what is with those balls
babar899 (7:26:20 PM): we are losers.
babar899 (7:26:24 PM): LOL!
i8bigboobs (7:26:26 PM): hahahaha
babar899 (7:26:30 PM): i am cracking up man.
i8bigboobs (7:26:33 PM): no he is angry
i8bigboobs (7:26:37 PM): I must go

weather is "better"

this is the only time of the year that the weather here is "better" than it is in Chicago...normal winter weather here resides between a low of mid 30s to highs of mid 40s...but actually right now and for the next few days, its actually in the low 50s...so its not bad at all...light jacket weather...no need for gloves or a scarf...and its never really that windy here either...i thought it would be windier, but much less windy than chi-town i've noticed...

the 'you know you've been with someone a long time when...' story.

quick story from our t-day in paris...

we got this museum pass, which allowed us to cut lines and skip admission at the majority of the sites in paris. we packed in as many sites as we could in the 2 days. on the 1st night of using the pass, our last stop was at the arc de triumph. we climbed and descended so many damn steps that day...the louvre, notre dame, and finally all the way to the top of the arc de triumph. it was evening by the time we got there, so we knew we'd get a perfect view of the eiffel tower and the beautiful scenery in paris such as this view:

From Paris!...part un

anyways, before we could get to the good stuff like this view, nature called. luckily in this location, they had restrooms at the top, next to each other . we split up, and of course, in all ladies rooms, there's a line. (why is this, btw?) so i'm waiting in line, behind this older woman, for the 2 stalls available. i never look anyone in the face when in the ladies room because that's just plain embarrassing for all involved. so i'm staring aimlessly around the restroom when all of a sudden...i hear this urgent sounding pfffffffft in a kind of crescendo, followed by a sound that sounded like a period. it was one of those 'i've been waiting a long time to let this one out' farts; like you could tell the owner was relieved to release. i thought in my head, 'was it the lady in front of me?', as i was all prepared to back away from the inevitable stench...however, in my aimless gaze, i started to look up at the ceiling. at the same time i was thinking, 'that fart sounded familiar...' and then i spotted it. the wall between the mens and ladies room did not reach to the ceiling, and i put 2 and 2 together and realized. 'omg, that was archie.'

when i saw archie, i asked, 'did you fart in there??' his first reaction? 'noooo' and shook his head. then he broke out in a proud smile and said, "you guys could hear that couldn't you. i could tell because i could hear you guys in the ladies room."

and that's how you know you've been with someone for a long time.

if you're interested, here are the full suite of pics from our t-day in paris:
DSLR pictures:
Album 1:
http://picasaweb.google.com/princessmyra/ParisPartUn?authkey=OxTshkjGSfU#
Album 2:
http://picasaweb.google.com/princessmyra/ParisPartDeux?authkey=5vDgHHO0WzI#

Point and Shoot pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/princessmyra/ParisWithOurPointShootCamera?authkey=6h6aMQFfJhM#

enjoy!

fancy schmancy pictures...

so, m and i went to the national portrait gallery for the first time...its in one of those trafalgar square buildings...anyways, we went there to see the special Annie Leibovitz exhibit...if you are breathing and are not blind, then you have seen her stuff somewhere...she pictures people like ansel adams pictures landscapes...anyways, the stuff was interesting i guess because she has basically taken pics of the most famous and powerful people in the world over the last 15 or so years...it took less than an hour to see the exhibit as it was just a few photographs in about six rooms...funny how expensive london is...we spent more at this mini exhibit than we did to see the entire louvre in paris...anyways, the rest of the national portrait gallery appears to be free...but we were not interested...enough culture for one day...

anyways, i watched the movie Elf when we got home...absolutely hilarious...and great christmas movie...