I'll do almost anything to get out of the house lately. Not satisfied with having a double root canal recently - a welcome break from intense domesticity, truth be told - I'm fresh out of hospital following the zapping and extraction of a particularly pesky kidney stone. I was very glad to get the call … Continue reading Dinner In Bed, Happy Days
I Am
Phase 37 of 829
Well, safe to say the sun is helping. Today I think I may have moved into another phase. I don't believe it to be a completely new, or necessarily 'next' phase. It's just different. Phase 37 of 829, I'm guessing. If breaking an addiction takes 12 steps I can only imagine the number of steps … Continue reading Phase 37 of 829
Just Want Things To Go Back To Normal
It's Sunday today. Can you tell? Does it matter? The term on everyone's lips is 'groundhog day', and it's going to be groundhog day all next week and most likely many weeks for the foreseeable. It's like we've reverted to simpler times. In the late 1970s / early 1980s, my days were pretty much all … Continue reading Just Want Things To Go Back To Normal
What Would Granny Do?
On this day last year we, like so many others, made our way to a St. Patrick's Day Parade. We headed into Ennis, late because that's life with three aged four and under, and raced to catch the tail-end of our County town's big production. We had the badges and wore the bits and bobs … Continue reading What Would Granny Do?
Roisín & Mary Lou for Super Bowl 2021
I love International Women's Day. It fills me with all the feels - pride, solidarity, hope. In the early days it was a weird, cringe-worthy and condescending nod to the weaker sex. A bit of gas really. "Sure, every day is women's day", some of the lads said, "When is man's day coming up?" many … Continue reading Roisín & Mary Lou for Super Bowl 2021
It’s Healthy To Check In With Yourself
There's a film called 'Friends with Money' and in it Frances McDormand's character Jane stops washing her hair. It gradually gets pretty manky and her friends sort of notice, but don't mention anything. And just when it's getting really gruesome her kind husband gently suggests he might help her wash it. And she has a … Continue reading It’s Healthy To Check In With Yourself
If It Wasn’t For All The Stripping
From time to time you recall all the good things about being single and childfree. They are numerous. Especially on the days you climb the stairs - complete with hot water bottle because you have a head start on bedtime and you are intent on making the most of it, yes, that is my life … Continue reading If It Wasn’t For All The Stripping
Our Lights Were Out By 11pm
I felt a strange feeling brewing on New Year's Eve - and it wasn't Christmas-over-indulgence-related. More foreboding. Heavy. I felt grinch-like, throwing the eyes up like Ebenezer Scrooge any time I got a message of good New Year cheer. Bah, humbug. Our lights were out by 11pm. I was wondering if middle-age cynicism, which I'm … Continue reading Our Lights Were Out By 11pm
Take The Whole ‘Hashtag Blessed’ Thing
Today is Thanksgiving, probably one of the loveliest holidays there is. It has all the best elements of any celebration - food, family, friends, along with a big high five for all the good things that have come to pass. A day for genuine gratitude without the now-customary commercial highjacking, which is saying a lot … Continue reading Take The Whole ‘Hashtag Blessed’ Thing
There’s No Point In Waving At It
I wouldn't call myself particularly superstitious. And yet I think nothing of my ongoing salutations to single magpies. I don't do the wave. I have always felt this to be an affront to single people everywhere, reinforcing the ridiculous idea that those not-coupled-up are a bit odd and should be regarded as objects of pity … Continue reading There’s No Point In Waving At It