Vacation

We got back today from a literal whirlwind 16 day vacation!  I meant to blog beforehand to tell my 4 readers that I'd be leaving and I never had a chance in those last frazzled days.  And then I wanted to be that person who's able to upload their pics and blog while on vacation so they're not so overwhelmed upon their return but of course that seemed impossible.  So I'm here to briefly report that I'm back, before I post several other blogs this week!  (Hopefully.)

So where'd we go?  I'll tell you.  On Friday, July 26 we jetted off to Berlin for a week to hang out with my bro and sis and bebe, who are there doing some PhD research for the latter part of the summer.  While there, we also took a little overnight trip to the cute German town of Dresden to soak up some air conditioning, rich German food, and history.  After an amazingly fun filled week of the cutest bebe niece you've ever seen and delicious food and German beer and sibling frivolity, we left on Saturday, August 3rd to go to Dubrovnik, Croatia to meet some of our best friends from home for a dream vacay!  This Croatian adventure has been a dream in the making for well over a year and the fact that it actually happened shocked and thrilled all of us.  After a week of once in a lifetime experiences, we got back to Ireland on Friday, only to immediately hop in a car bound for Limerick for our first Irish wedding!  These Irish people mean business and these soirees usually last until 6 or 7am.  We desperately tried to last until 3am, got up for a quick breakfast at the B&B, and now...we're home.

We truly had the best time these past two weeks.  We are emotionally and physically drained but it's all worth it for the good times we had and the great people we had them with.

BUT (and there's always a "but" with me, isn't there?), if I'm being real, I...don't wanna be back here.  The thought of returning to Dublin while in Germany and Croatia filled me with dread.  And I think it's more than the average "I'm sad vacation's over and I don't wanna be back in the real world" thing - it seems to have taken over my brain more.  And it's not that I hate Ireland or my life here - quite the opposite - and I'm not sure where else I'd rather be.  Not in Dallas.  Not even necessarily in Croatia or Berlin either.  Just not...HERE.

It may also have something to do with my job stress and the 500+ emails I have waiting for me that I've refused to check until today.  Whatevs.

This wonderful vacation also gave me a lot of time to think about things; things like the future, what's going to happen in a year, how much time we have left, or don't have left as it were, and...I'm just being an angsty teen as per usual.  Which is mostly the theme of this blog: travel, food, drink, and angst.  I'll write more on that later but for some reason I felt inclined to discuss this yuck feeling I can't seem to shake today.

But now, I shall get in bed and dream of crystal clear water and holding Annie in my lap and kissing her cheeks and won't think about what lies ahead tomorrow, next year, or any other time, and just attempt to take each day as it comes, rejoice and be glad in it.

Goodnight!