Blarney Boyfriend

(I don't think I ever really posted anything about my Ireland trip this past March. Well inspriation has finally struck)

Our day of driving through the BEAUTIFUL Ring of Kerry had been picture perfect. Bright sunlight, warm weather, birds singing, flowers blooming... you get the picture.

As our drive through the ring concluded, the weather turned cold and cloudy. This would make our drive to our final destination of Dublin all the more tricky. It would have been wise to just hit the road for Dublin, but our proximity to Blarney Castle was too alluring. We of course would have to take a slight detour to check out the castle and of course the famous Blarney stone.
The ominous change in weather should have tipped me off to what was awaiting me there.

We got into the castle grounds about thirty seconds before they closed. Rebekah, Stephanie and I made our way up to the top of the castle where the "lucky" stone awaited. I was determined NOT to kiss the stone for fear of catching a disease, such as herpes or scampis. (see previous post for more on scampis.) Naturally I was talked into it after all the trouble we'd gone through to get there.

The keeper of the Blarney stone helped each of us kiss the rock. We took pictures and made small talk with some other tourists. The three of us lingered slightly longer than the other groups there but eventually decided we had better get going. It was apparent as we were thanking the Blarney keeper and saying goodbye that he was perhaps a lonely man, as he chatted us up just a bit. At any rate we finally made our way down the treacherous castle steps.

All of that work had made us hungry. But where to go eat in Blarney? If only there was a local we could ask about a nearby restaurant or pub. Just about that time, Blarney keeper was seen just ahead of us, locking up and walking the grounds. I caught up to him as the other two finished taking a couple of pictures of the scenery.

Perhaps he mistook my running up to him as flirting...

Me: Hi again. Is there a restaurant nearby where my friends and I could get some dinner?
Creepy Blarney Man: (in thick Irish accent of course) Ah yer hungry now are yuh?
Me: Ya, it's been a long day and we still have to drive to Dublin so we were hoping there was a place close by.
CBM: I could make yuh some dinner.
Me: (fake laugh) oh that's ok.
CBM: I don't live far. You should have dinner with me.
Me: (awkward/creeped out laugh) no, that's ok.

At this point the other two join us.

Girls: What's going on. Have you figured out a place to eat?
Me: (trying to make the CBM's comments not creepy) Not yet, but I think I just got asked out on a date.
Girls: (laughing) oh really?
CBM: (talking to me) so you want to have dinner?
Me: (thinking I'd rather make out with the Blarney stone than continue this conversation) I don't think my husband would like me having dinner with another man.
CBM: So yer married?
Me: Yup. (show my ring)
CBM: What does yer husband do?
Me: (thinking- doesn't make his living by guarding a rock, that's for sure)

At any rate with the help of the girls I got out of that awkward line of questioning and were just about to leave... but not before Creepy Blarney Man asked...

CBM: Can I take a picture with yuh?
Me: Um, sure. Do you have a camera?
CMB: No
This is where Stephanie comes to the "rescue". How weird is it that he wanted
a picture on one of our cameras??
Steph: I'll take one of you guys.
CBM moves very close to me and says (I'm not making this up)
CBM: I'll make sure to keep me hands in me pockets.

And voila.


I had almost made a "what the heck is this creepy guy doing" face. I suppose it was good that I had not because immediately after the picture was taken he asked to see it.

Somehow we got outta there. I remember, as we were walking back to the car and talking about what the heck had just happened, wanting to look back to make sure he wasn't following us- but too afraid to, in case he was.

We ended up driving pretty far from the castle. We found a Domino's Pizza in a strip mall type of place. Our encounter there was only a bit more pleasant than Blarney Castle. They didn't have a bathroom there, and the pizza sauce tasted like the smell of horses. We ate our personal sized pizzas in our car, in the parking lot.

Hot Tamale Train

My favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance, ended this week. It's definately a minor obsession with Nathan and I, and by that I mean that we still have each episode on our DVR. One of these days I'm sure we'll learn some of our favorite dances from the show and bust the new moves out at a wedding reception or something like that.

Luckily the show is moving to the fall line up so a new season is not too far off. Since I was thinking about how much I like the show, I thought I'd take some time to expound some of the best parts about it (according to me) for you non believers.

1)The judges: Forget the bickering and snide remarks of American Idol judges. The SYTYCD judges are FUNNY,FUNNY,FUNNY and actually seem to like each other (novel idea) as well as the contestants they are critiquing (pretty sure I spelled that wrong). They are a breath of fresh air

2)Mary Murphy: She is one of the judges. Some people love her, some love to hate her. I'm in the love her camp. She is wild, she is crazy and she is LOUD!! The dancers live to be put on her "hot tamale train" which means nothing more than a lot of screaming from Mary.
She also reaffirms her statements a whole lot, which I find to be an addicting characteristic of hers, yes I do. :)

3)the DANCING: I've never been in a dance class. Well, aside from my brief stint as a flocorico (sp?) dancer back in first grade. My sister and I were the only white girls in the class. It was awesome. At any rate, I've always enjoyed dancing despite my lack of training. It is incredible to watch the creativity that goes into the choreography as well as the physicality needed to dance the routine. PLUS, I never realized until this show that dance can evoke quite a lot of emotion. Below is my favorite dance from this past season, titled "Addiction". In the dance Kupono is the addiction and Kayla is the addict trying to fight against her addiction. LOVE IT!



4) The group routines: When all the contestants participate in a dance it is actually good, not gag inducing like the American Idol sing alongs produced by Ford.

5) It's interactive: By that I mean that during the commercial breaks, it's hard to resist getting up to show off your own awesome dance moves, or at least your best replication of the dance you just saw... not that I do that.

So there you have it. You now have five wonderful reasons to check out the upcoming season of this wonderful show. You know I'll be watching... and dancing.

A lil goody

A portion of one of my favorite talks. Enjoy!

Words that make me cringe

Many of you know that I am a "word person". I don't sit around reading a dictionary or anything, but the more one gets to know me, the more one will find that there are several words that gross me out, or otherwise put me into hysterics when I hear them. Some I like to say to evoke a reaction from my friends, and some (mostly one) I can't even bring myself to say. Here they are in no particular order:

tender, loin, tenderloin (duh), scintillating, titilate, penetrate, moist, cockles,(Not sure how to spell it, but my mom is fond of saying the phrase "warms the cockles of my heart", which makes me want to puke.) barnacles, tentacles, scampi (sounds like an STD. i.e. "Joe has a raging case of scampi") and probably worst of all these is panties.

I could hardly even type it. I think this word sounds pornographic. It's disgusting. No daughter of mine will ever wear panties... she will wear UNDERWEAR!! Why do girls have to wear p------, but boys get to wear underwear?? I'll tell you why, because some pervert in the undergarment business created the word to get his jollies.
Some have said to me that since girls wear different types of under garments there needed to be a distinction. Therefore the p word and bra needed to be specific because underwear could mean either of the two.

That is a crock. I've never known a girl to refer to a bra as underwear. Ever. If there is anything I could do in this life that would make me feel like I was successful in some way, it would be to obliterate this word. Join my cause won't you? Admit it, you think it's a gross word too.

Baumeister v. Twilight Saga

I stayed away as long as a I could. Despite hearing the rave reviews from friends and family, I had refused to get caught up in Stephenie Meyers' books that form the "Twilight Saga". It was a little irksome when the young women at church gushed over the books. It was really annoying when the girls my age went crazy over the first movie installment. I was above it, and far too busy to read a book for teenagers... famous last words.

My sister in law is a major fan. Nathan reads a ton, especially when he travels. He was looking for a new book to read before he headed out on a business trip. His sister of course gave him the first two books of the series, along with her high recommendation and so he went on his trip with some reading material. I don't remember exactly how long he was away, but when he got back he had not only read the books she loaned him, but had been so anxious to continue the story that he purchased the final two books at the airport. Of course I teased him. :)

Since I had a lot of free time in my convalescent state at the beginning of my summer break, Nathan encouraged me to read the books. Thus begun my battle. I tore through the books. I knew I would regret reading them so quickly because I wouldn't want the story to end, but I coulndn't stop myself. I had become the person that had irritated me just months before- and I didn't care!

I watched the movie and hated it. Considering that the same actors are being used for the second movie installment, you'd think I wouln't be eagerly awaiting it's debut. You'd be wrong. I have gone crazy! One day I got on to youtube to see if I could find the trailer for the next movie. You'll want to watch it so you can appreciate this next part.


I also found a video of some girls watching the trailer on the mtv movie awards (where it was first shown to the public). It made me laugh sooo hard. I would never act the way they do (at least not in front of people j/j) but it is hilarious to see the level of fanatisism they exude here. In this video you can't see what they are seeing, which is why it is important that you see the real trailer before watching this. They REALLY like the part where the character Jake is shown sans his shirt. NOTE: If you want to avoid some bad language, stop the video at 3 mins.


In short, I'd say I have definately lost my battle with Twilight. I am now a loser fan anxious for the second movie to come out- which, I'm sure I'll hate :)