a chara...: November 2015

Blogonauts, are you still there? Or have you given up on our blog because we hardly ever post? Well I'm back to change that. What makes this time different? The small matter of putting my Masters to bed once and for all! Good riddance, education - you're overrated.

Yes, on Monday Nov 16th I presented the findings of my thesis to three external examiners followed by a period of interrogation, fulfilling the last requirement before I graduate. All that work condensed into just 12 slides. If you're at all interested I can send you a copy. But if you have any sense you won't ask.

And after all that, it all came down to this. Slide 1: Good afternoon....

Since that day I haven't known what to do with myself. Coming home from work in time for dinner, having weekends again, playing with my girlies. Of course I've still got the small matter of my job but in the context of the last year that feels like small fry. Having said that - I am enjoying it immensely. Yes, my company is circling the drain:

Down 70% in one year and running out of money

but I love what I'm working on. I feel very lucky. It's all public now so I don't need to be secretive anymore:

The Swedes want us to turn our best business jet into a military aircraft

I've also been enjoying more dates with my girlies! Our favourite spot, General Merchants, is costing us a fortune but I believe it's one of the reasons our marriage is on such a steady footing (is it bad to say this about a coffee shop?!)!

Méabh is not happy when her babyccino takes too long at GM!

And I now also have more time to dedicate to fixing Erin's kitchen dilemma. I've agreed the price and the date with the builder and we're now shopping around for the smaller details like flooring and heating. He will get some work done outside the house while we are down in Naas for Christmas and then start in earnest afterwards on the major stuff. It should all be done and dusted by Easter. It'll be a little disruptive in the new year but worth it in the end. Who wants to be the first visitors when it's all done?

Testing out the carpet! Unfortunately we were shopping for wood flooring.

Ok, that's my part for now. Formula 1 is on so I'm going to pass over to my wife...

Hi all, well I was hoping Niall might just keep going since you all like his posts better anyway. ;) But now he is having cookies and milk and glued to the Formula 1 so I'll say a bit more...

Winter has definitely kicked in here. It is freezing!! But, we can't complain too much because we had a beautiful Autumn season and after all it is nearly December so it was inevitable. We had our first dusting of snow last week up on Cave Hill (those of you who have visited can picture it!). Needless to say Méabh and I haven't taken as many walks as we normally would... not only are we frozen by the end of it, but it's really dark by 4:30 pm now so we're usually inside from the time she goes down for her afternoon nap.

On that note, Méabh update!

I love this girl!! She is so funny and makes us laugh every day. She's going through a bit of a tough time with the teething. :( She currently has a really runny nose and a terrible nappy (diaper) rash. Apparently Niall had the same thing when he was teething so she takes after her dad! She just isn't herself lately and has been up more at night. She has one tooth (bottom left) showing now and I'm hoping the right one will cut through soon. She turned ten months old about a week ago! Still no crawling-- she army crawls though and can get around surprisingly well that way. She is sooo squirmy and doesn't often cuddle or sit still for too long! She's a pretty good eater, I think overall she prefers the baby food from the jar but she's been good at eating what I give her-- she has some of our green smoothie every morning. :)

Niall update... as he said, his life is more 'normal' now and we are loving it. He is a pretty meticulous decision maker so all of our kitchen planning is taking quite some time, but I'm thankful that he does the research! A lot of you ask about his arm... slowly but surely he is making progress, he's been going to the gym a couple of times a week now which is a big deal. I'd say it will be quite some time before sports like tennis or golf are a possibility but he may be able to get back on a bike soon. ;)

For me, I'm doing well and despite the cold winter days feel like we are in a really good place now. I joined a crossfit gym and go 3 times a week... the main pull was the guy who runs it told me I could bring Méabh so it's great being able to go in the mornings with her and not have to wait until Niall is home from work to get out (which I probably wouldn't do now because it's dark and cold!). It adds structure to my week and helps my mood. My MOPS group has been great this season, I go every other week on a Tuesday morning... it's nice to connect with other moms. I still don't have a close mom friend but have been getting together with my non-mom friends and they all adore Méabh! Life feels full and the weeks are flying by. Hard to believe Thanksgiving has come and gone; on that note, I have to say I made my first turkey ever! Our homegroup had a big dinner together and I was in charge of the bird... I was actually really nervous but it turned out great and I enjoyed having the amazing smell throughout the house all afternoon.