Independent Woman

Since writing about our stress and my anxiety with Drew going to work and wondering what I'm going to do all day/with my life, I've gotten so many nice emails and encouraging texts and people telling me they're praying for us/thinking about us - and it means more to me than any of you know!  Especially because this appears to be something so small and minor that I'm stressed about.  I guess it was just a big change on top of an already bigger change and...we all know how I feel about change. (I hate it.) 

The first day Drew was at work went much better than I thought.  (And work went really well for him too!  More on that later.)  I'm not sure what I thought would happen...that I'd fall apart and run home and never leave?  Who knows.  But that didn't happen.  I wanted to go to this place called Penney's (no relation to the US Penny's but same type of store) to see what they had in terms of cheap stuff I needed, but it was in a shady area and I got scared and decided not to go.  I walked Drew to work in his sexy suit, gave him a smooch, and headed off - and changed my mind.  Who cares if it's in a shady area and you don't know where you're going?  You are a strong independent woman!  You can do this!  I went confidently in the direction of my dreams: to Penney's, to do some bargain shopping.  I made it their fine, wandered around, then walked over to the Grafton Street area to see what else I could find.  I got unbelievably lost and turned around for a good hour, not knowing where the hell I was, pulling out my phone every 5 seconds to check the map, but then putting it away so quickly so as not to look like a tourist that I'd forget where I needed to go like an idiot.  I basically walked all over the City Centre and found some new places that I'll probably never be able to get back to, but I remained calm, cool, and collected even though I was lost in the middle of the city.  What else did I have to do?  I bought some new Chuck Taylors, cause everyone wears them here, and I need comfy shoes and am sick to death of my Asics which go with NOTHING, and began the long day's journey into Ballsbridge for some lunch and relaxation.  I came back to the apartment and caught up on my corresspondence and watched some Irish television (found a new cooking show that I really love) and lounged.  First day alone: not so bad.  I can do it.

First day of work picture - sexy!

Monday night, Tracy invited us to a random meet-up group she found online, called New and Not So New in Dublin, for anyone and everyone who lives in Dublin.  My immediate reaction was to run and hide because that requires me meeting new people and putting myself out there, but Drew and I both know we have to do things like this and we have nothing to lose.  So we went.  We figured it'd either be a singles mixer or a huge group of losers, but it was neither.  It was at a fun pub near Dublin Castle (waayyy other side of Dublin from us), and it was the most eclectic bunch of people you ever saw.  Old and young, all nationalities, and lots of friendly people.  Which we found out after we stood by ourselves like dummies for a good 10 minutes wondering how to break into a group and introduce ourselves to people.  Tracy was there too and we all managed to hold our own individually, so that was good.  This group does meet-ups all different times during the week: they take trips together, have coffee Saturday morning together, do dinner every Wednesday night, drinks every Monday - they're intense!  I really actually liked the group and imagine that I'll go back to the Monday night activities more often.  Couldn't hurt.

Tuesday...was a different story.  I lounged around the apartment, did laundry, wrote some emails, did some Facebooking, looked at jobs briefly, and watched horrible Irish television and American movies on Netflix almost ALL DAY.  I FINALLY left the apartment at 3:30PM and wandered over the National Gallery.  Cool!, I thought.  I can be that girl that wanders around her European country all day and goes in museums alone to soak up culture!  Never mind my morning!  The museum itself was nice, but not INCREDIBLY impressive.  Turns out that Irish art is a bit depressing.  Surprise!  Famine, political strife, hardship...all depicted throughout that museum.  They had one section of just "European" artists (not Irish), and the high point for me was thinking to myself that this one particular painting looked like a Vermeer.  It turns out, it WAS a Vermeer!  I DO know some things! They had a few Picassos and a Van Gogh and some other impressionists, which I gravitate towards because I'm a cliche, and I left right around closing time.  I headed over to Drew's office to meet him and walk back with him, we got some drinks and tried some Guinness Pie and Bangers and Mash, and headed home.  

Today...it's 11:45AM and I got Drew ready for work and out the door and went back to sleep and just woke up 45 minutes ago.  And there's no telling when I'll actually get out of bed.  Today I'm planning on going to Lolly and Cooks for a scone and a hot cup of tea or something, and then to the Natural History museum.  And after that, I have no clue what I'll do.  If it's nice I would have no problem going to sit in the park and read my Kindle but if it's raining...no idea.  And that might be part of my laziness factor - I have nothing to do and no set schedule and no where specific to go so I just lounge around here at my leisure and leave when I want.  Which ends up being at the end of the day, having accomplished nothing.  Which doesn't necessarily make me feel worthless, just...lazy.  I was thinking about going running today but we don't get hot water in the middle of the day and that doesn't bode well for me and a shower afterwards.  Hmmm.  I don't know.  I don't know anything.

So despite the laziness that seems to be taking over, I'm doing ok and things are going well.  I'm not sure why I was so freaked out in the first place!  Probably because I freak out about everything.  Dangit.  But thanks to everyone who was supportive and encouraging and complimentary and gave me the confidence boost I needed!

Tonight, we'll have a special guest blogger, Drew Solomon, who will give us a fascinating look at his first few days of work.  You won't want to miss this!