Back in Belfast

Dear family and friends...

Well this is probably the first blog post ever without any photos!  I was going to send out an email but figured I would just post on here.

Just wanted to say we are home and getting settled in.  My 11:45 pm flight that was meant to leave Saturday night was 9 hours delayed!  I ended up landing in Dublin at 2:30 am Monday morning, then driving straight to Belfast from there.  So needless to say the jet lag was pretty rough the first couple of days but I'm feeling better now.

I've had my up and down moments-- the first week back is always hard.  I usually have my crying episodes the first few days and then I'm back in the swing of things.  We've been inside a lot due to this weather-- apparently I didn't miss much while in CA!  The month of July here was the 4th coldest ever on record, with a record low of -.6 degrees-- below freezing!!  Oh dear... poor Irish people.  Méabh is back to being bundled up, she's probably pretty confused at this stage.  :)

Update on Niall-- thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and concern... he is doing okay.  His broken arm is in a huge cast with a sling and is still very sore.  The other bummer is his left wrist is also still causing him pain which makes doing most things quite difficult.  He is eager to get back to work but unfortunately his company has not cleared him to check in again until next Wednesday the 12th (due to insurance and liability reasons).  It's easy to feel down about the situation but Niall has taken it in stride and we've both agreed this is a good time to stay productive and get more house stuff sorted.  So, yesterday we spent several hours going through more piles, boxes and bags that we had just put in a corner of the office.  I think today we may go get a few more things we need... like I've said before, it feels like a never-ending process!  I got to have a cup of tea and visit with my friend Sarah yesterday for a couple of hours which was really nice, and tomorrow I'm seeing Rebecca.  Saturday I'm playing in a beach volleyball (yes beach-- hello wind, rain, and frustration!!) tournament so we'll see how that goes-- I haven't played in so long!

We'll get some photos from home up on here eventually.  I miss you all already and feel so blessed to have had an amazing month full of summer sun, family and friends.  In the words of Dr. Suess... "don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."  Cheers to another fantastic CA trip in the books!

Lots and lots of love
xox