31 May 2007

Drumroll please

So yes. Big news. Today I accepted an offer of a new job in Dublin and quit my job here. I finish up on June 29th and move home on July 8th.

It doesn't seem so big when it's laid out like that. But big it is! It's been some time coming but I am still shocked at how quickly things have progressed. Oran's been at home for a year now and I've said all along that I wanted to move home - just not without a job. Little did I know that I would get the very first one I applied for within two weeks of applying, and little did I know that it would be quite so amazingly brilliant as it sounds. In short, I couldn't have asked for more.

That said, I am gutted to be leaving Amsterdam. I had a minor meltdown in the middle of Nieuwmarkt yesterday evening as the enormity of it all hit me. I have been very lucky to have had the chance to live in such a beautiful city for most of my working life. I'm going to miss cycling to work with my ipod blaring, drinking and playing cards in the park on muggy summer evenings, deep fried bar snacks and a million and one other little things (I'm going to have to make a list, I think of something new every other minute). Most of all though, I've made some stellar friends here who've seen me through a lot and are going to be very hard to leave behind.

But, all good things must come to an end, and there are surely more good things to come. I can't wait to settle in to Dublin life again - it's a different city to the one I left five years ago. I can't wait to catch up properly with old friends I've been snatching snippets of conversation with on my all too short trips home. I can't wait to be close to family again and be able to pop up the road for a Sunday afternoon if the mood takes me. And most of all I can't wait to settle into all of this with Oran. I'm moving on up now... but first, I have a five week leaving party to plan. I'm going to make a list for that, too.

Ahem

Major news alert. More tomorrow.

(And no, I'm not pregnant!)

22 May 2007

Shiny

I am writing this from my new MacBook. I may never leave the house again.

Big exciting thing number one

I suppose I can talk about this now - it is happening in two weeks after all.

Flatmate Jenny is leaving. She's got a kickass job back in the UK and flies out on June 4th. I'm gutted to see her go, of course - she's become one of those friends I can't imagine not knowing, which is amazing considering I've only known her a year. Funny thing about living abroad, that - friendships seem to forge faster, which I suppose is because we're all in the same boat and a tiny bit desperate to meet new people. I imagine it's what dating feels like (having *cough cough* extremely limited knowledge in that particular area). On the other hand, in a place like Amsterdam, people come and go all the time, and it's an odd thing to have to adjust to. I didn't think it affected me much - we've had a spate of people leaving in the last year - but I think Jenny's probably the first really good friend I have here who's left. (I'm not counting Oran here, as I still get to see him regularly and we are actively planning to live in the same country again at some point in the future.)

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks between leaving parties and helping her pack and cooking a huge farewell dinner. The end of an all too short era, for sure. I'm still trying to sort out a replacement for her, but I'll probably be rattling around the apartment on my own for a couple of weeks after she goes, which hopefully won't push me over the edge...

10 May 2007

Evolution

Not only have I now mastered the Dutch art of cycling while holding an umbrella, I can now reach in my bag, root round for the umbrella, squirrel it out of its cover and put it up, all without stopping my bike. Handy.

9 May 2007

Surprise, surprise

The weekend went just as well as I'd hoped. Surprise 1: a guest from Amsterdam in the form of Ben. We didn't get quite the squealing reaction I'd hoped for, but that's partly because Oran's not really the squealing type and partly because he waited outside in the car so we had to knock on the window instead of bursting into the arrivals hall all jazz hands like. Anyway, good surprise, I had nothing to worry about, hurrah hurrah.

Surprise 2 turned out to be fun for all involved - we got in the car on Saturday morning and I told Oran to drive to Malahide marina. A bunch of his family and two of my sisters met us there for a Sea Safari around Dublin Bay. It was rip roaring fun - we were thrown around the waves in a giant rubber dinghy for an hour, taking in Ireland's Eye and Howth harbour along the way. We rounded off the day with a huge Thai meal in Malahide, and a beer tasting/beer drinking fest in Porterhouse North, where the two sets of parents met for the first time (oo-er) and much delicious fruity beer was consumed. Not too shabby.

It was weird having my own birthday bash this year - ours are so close we've had a joint night out for the past five years. This year, though, Julia booked a table for 10 at a really pretty restaurant, and we proceeded to eat rings round some delicious steak and frites and white chocolate mousse, among other things. Lots of lovely presents, too, including Yahtzee (yay!) and a very pretty summer dress (woo!) I completely forgot how wrecked I was from the red eye flight I took back here on Monday morning.

And now, I'm 26, and the week goes on. Lots of exciting things happening round these parts. All (well, some) will be revealed soon...

3 May 2007

Blogger's block

I've just posted a couple of hundred photos to Flickr of all the things I should have been blogging about over the past few weeks. There are also quite a few things I don't have photos of and wanted to blog about, and a few things I don't have photos of and don't want to blog about, and I suspect the latter has prevented me from writing about anything whatsoever. So in the interest of catching up, this was April:

- a very lazy Easter weekend (so lazy as to be completely unphotoworthy)
- The Shins (so so so so good, second favourite gig this year so far, Ben Folds just about hanging on to the top spot)
- CSS/Tilly & The Wall (crazy hulahooping tapdancing fun)
- a surprise last minute visit from Helen and a trip to Keukenhof (her first, my fourth)
- freakishly good weather, lots of time spent basking on my lovely balcony and even some gardening
- lots and lots of swing dancing. I can now charleston!
- Queen's Day, my fourth and the best by far. Less beer, more sun, less pushing through crowds and more orange.

And now, it's May. I'm heading home this weekend for Oran's 30th birthday party this Saturday. I have a couple of MAJOR surprises up my sleeve for him and I am feeling quite nervous - in over six years I don't think I've ever pulled a stunt like this. Hopefully all goes to plan... I feel a bit like Cilla Black and there'd better be a lorra lorra laughs or I'll be the one crying!

After the party it'll be a very quiet Sunday, then back here on the red eye on my birthday and straight into the annual embarrassing office cake ritual. Last year was the worst yet - I can't imagine this year will be much better but I'm buying cheaper cake this year in the vain hope that my discomfort might be proportionally reduced. We'll see how that goes...