Céad míle fáilte!

Sorry for the big delays in getting the blog updated.  Much has happened in the past two weeks, most importantly the Vances finally getting together on Wednesday, April 24th!

Both Liz and I agree that the journey here has been difficult  but little miracles have attended us along the way to which we feel supremely grateful.

Today we have a lot of work to do so I don't have time to elaborate, but in the past two weeks we've found a van, picked up the fam, and gotten nearly all settled. Today we're trying to get internet in the house (still, long story there, too), get Liz a cell phone, and then go grocery shopping for everything else we need that I wasn't able to get.

One chapter has ended and a new one has just began.

Both Liz and I have a ton of blog material we want to load up, and once we get internet in the house that will be a lot easier to do.  Bear with us, we're working on it.  Believe me, it's been ridiculously more difficult than I imagined.

But mostly I'm just glad we're all back together; a huge relief and a comfort.

More to come!

I'm Still Here!

Sorry about the infrequency of my posts, but I don't have any internet except very limited access on my phone and for a few hours on Saturday in the Raheny library.

In fact, today I don't have time to write much because I have to try to find a family van and get another Ikea run in because the FAMILY IS GOING TO BE HERE WEDNESDAY MORNING!!  WHOO HOO!!

Anyway, here's a long email I wrote to Liz a few days ago that sums up how things are going (certain sections redacted, of course!).  Once I get internet in the house I'll get back to regular updates.

Hey beautiful, how are you doing?

I'm writing you a nice long email, just like you asked.

I hope you got everything buttoned up at the house OK and made it safely back with the rest of the fam.

Thank you so much for all the hard work you've put into getting the house ready to rent. I knew it was going to be hard but I had no idea how hard it would be and that you would bear the large percentage of that burden yourself.

In some respects it reminded me of watching you go through childbirth. I knew it was right to have kids and that we'd love the baby and so on, but watching you lie in severe pain, screaming as the baby was delivered was nearly impossible to bear. Obviously,this isn't to that scale but I do feel similar. I want to help you, alleviate the burden somehow. Yet in the back of my mind I feel that this is good for us despite current pains. I hope you feel the same too, otherwise I'm in big trouble!

Regardless, thank you again, thank you, thank you, thank you. I want to make this up to you somehow so you are rewarded for the hard work and sacrifices you went through to get the place ready.

I was going to say that “at least the hard part's over now” but now then I think, well, then there's this to do and this to do. I was going through my list of to-dos--get broadband for the house, finish the kids' rooms, get all the furnishings, get the kitchen up and stocked--and making progress in all those areas, then I realized that even with those finished I still had to find a van (and how am I going to go see all these vans without having any transportation???), need to research schools for the kids and start dialogue, research health insurance plans for us and the kids. I also need to find a gym, and soon. My pants won't hold out much longer...

Anyway, in boring news, the landlord got the washer-dryer fixed so I've been going through and running loads in it. I've found that if the loads are relatively small and you set dry for 1 hour, the clothes come out nearly dry! I have no idea how much power this consumes, but hopefully not too much. Speaking of, I got a letter from the electric company and set our bill to be paid by direct deposit; otherwise they wanted a €300 deposit.

I also researched new cars and found a few that had potential. I emailed out to one dealership because they had a couple with potential. I'll probably hear back on Monday, I hope. It looks like we can get a pretty cheap ride for about 3 or 4 k, but it's these makes I've never even heard of like Citreon? Who even makes that? French? Anyway, I'm trying to stay clear of anything I haven’t heard of and going for Japanese or German cars.

Other than that, not much else going on here. I went to the library today and that's where I was doing my chatting with you and doing all my research on cars and Ikea. Later I walked around the corner and got a haircut from the local barbershop. Nice guy, and he did a pretty good job. I did walk over to the Nissan dealership right here in town but they just barely closed. Oh well, I think all of their cars were all brand new anyway. Did a little grocery shopping then headed home to continue my fun with assembling bunk beds.

Speaking of bunk beds, the kids really don't need the railings and ladders, right? At least on the girls room, I hope. I assembled it wrong and the grooves where they attach are all messed up. I'd have to completely disassemble it to get it right. And besides, when say these are cheap bunk beds, I mean it. I think they'll last 2 years tops, and the better not horse around on them for their own safety's sake.

I also reached out to the bishopric in our new ward to see if I could get a lift to church, but so far haven't heard anything. Hopefully they'll get a hold of me tomorrow so I can get some churchin' in me.

Then it's back to work on Monday! Work has been good, I enjoy what I'm doing, Colm is a good boss and everyone is super friendly. One downside to this place is its restaurant; it's pretty good and reasonably priced but I can see that even their 'salads' are pretty heavy-duty, so hopefully after a while I can build a routine where I only go down, say, once or twice a week, and then use my lunch hour for gym time which I sorely need.

Speaking of gym, I did go back into the Raheny gym to check it out. They have a pretty good setup but man, is it ever small, not just small,but packed with equipment. They have these stationary bikes nearly side by side so that riders are rubbing shoulders, it's that cramped! I walked over to the weight section and everything was all bunched up; it was made worse by the fact that there must have been 15 big dudes in there heaving and sweating all over the place. Man, I need some personal bubble space when I'm heaving and sweating. Proximity is great and price is reasonable, but I don't see how I can work it in, only on evenings and Saturday.

Well sexy girl, it's already time for bed.  Since you're in Virginia I'm going to send this email out to you and then get in bed and dream of you until I fall asleep where the dreams of you will continue.

Love you very much and I hope everything goes well for you and the kids.  I love and miss you all very much, and can't wait for you guys to get here!
 
LOVE YOU FOREVER AND EVER!

Small

Small.

If I had to use one word to describe Ireland, that's the word I'd use.

Ireland is a relatively small island nation, but that's not what I mean.

As I begin living out my life here day to day, I've started to notice things, and speaking in general, things here are small. Maybe not even small, compared to US equivalents, but more often than not, they're at least smaller.

My new home here is very nice, modern and comfortable. But big? No way. In fact, the basement in my SC home is bigger than this entire town-home but costs nearly twice the amount in US dollars to rent than my mortgage.

Take another example: cars. Almost no one has an SUV or a four door sedan. I've seen maybe two pick-up trucks while I've been here. A few more in the van category but the majority are small two-door hatchbacks, and I do mean small. It's no mystery why, either. The roads are narrow and the price of gasoline is sky high. It's not a bad thing, it's just an economic fact of life.

Homes are small, stores are small, computer screens are small. Household appliances are all smaller; in fact clothes washers are usually small combination washer-dryers (which don't work very well, everyone freely admits). Kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms and all their fixtures are small. Maybe that's why Europeans are generally thinner, they wouldn't be able to fit in their showers otherwise.

Now keep in mind that these are observations, not complaints nor criticisms. Like I said, things here are smaller in general mostly because of economic reality. I'm living in a big city, and big cities are expensive. Energy, raw materials, and space are all scarce resources.

But there's more than just economics. More importantly there is a general sense of 'this is all that I need'. Yeah, we'd all like to have the big bag of potato chips, but wouldn't this small bag suit you just fine? Speaking of, here you can buy a big bag of potato chips but it's just a big bag containing several smaller bags, perfectly portioned out for you.

Frankly, I think there are some good lessons to be learned about making do with what you need and not what you can have. I think there's something American about the idea of bigger is better. We tend to equate wealth and prosperity to the size of one's house, car, boat, property, etc. Food especially is that way for me unfortunately. Make mine a grande meal, thanks.

So small is the way it's going to be for a while, and personally I think this is going to be good for me.

In other news. . .

Today is Saturday and I spent a good portion of the day cleaning and organizing all the stuff I had been putting off.  Got a lot of things put away, cleaned, and speaking of small washing machines . . . I can tell this thing is going to be a source of contention.  It's not even a matter of its size, I just can't figure out how it works!  I've read the manual five times, I promise, but the thing doesn't seem to do what it says it's supposed to be doing.  I wonder if it's broken?  It certainly seems like it.

It was a really nice day out today so I went for a long walk around the neighborhood.  I also did some grocery shopping.  And in another sign my bachelorhood is reaching new lows, I bought some of these:

Yes, canned hot dogs.  So sue me.

I also got the privilege of lugging them home on foot.  I realize the next big to-do is secure some transportation, and soon.

Oh, yeah, and epilogue on my communication woes.  My phone's data is up and running again, and I've figured out how to turn it into a mobile hot spot so updating my blog is a lot easier now!  I was even able to listen to Conference, which I was really glad I was able to do.

Anyway, that's the day.  Thanks for reading!

Reconnected

(note I originally composed this entry yesterday, April 5th 2013)

Friday April 5, 2013

Technology seems to be against me lately.

Since my last post, I've worked my first four days at the office. I've also moved into my new home, and I've managed to make several other big steps toward settling down and further establishing the Vances in Ireland. Thursday night Colm carted me around to a couple stores where I was able to get the kids' bunk beds and a bunch of other very necessary household items. Huge relief. Very grateful again for his help.

Some things, like technology, have really put me back. I feel like I have really been sailing upwind when it comes to getting anything tech to work in my favor. Take for instance wireless internet. I sort of need that to keep my channels of communication via email, facebook, this blog, etc open. My cell phone does have limited capabilities in these areas, but when using a keyboard smaller than a post-it note, it makes typing anything longer than a few sentences a real chore.

And that brings up my next point: my phone has really been acting up. It seems to lost its ability to receive or send emails, facebook, anything else for that matter. It does get some web-enabled content, but it's very slow going. I had a sales rep take a look at it he fiddled with it and some settings on his side, and said it'd be fixed today, but so far, nothing has changed.

So I don't have any internet at home, and limited net on my phone. OK, then, first order of business is find home broadband service. Ah! Here we go, email them, setup a call back, and find out they don't serve my neighborhood. OK, second option: they serve my neighborhood but they have to have some sort of prior phone number for this house, which they don't. No number, no service. Third option as recommended by the letting agent, call this guy and he can hook you up. Oh, he says he'll look into it . . . on Monday. So my goal of getting internet in the house before General Conference is a bust. Without internet in the house or on the phone it's also going to be difficult finding anyone in the ward that could potentially give me a lift to the church building to watch it there.

But all is not lost! Just around the corner is a library which I hope has free wi-fi. An hour or two there will really make catching up to the real world a lot easier.

So enough of my technical difficulties.

Work; the whole reason I'm here; how is it? It's grand! And I mean that in a sincere way, too. There's really a lot to be grateful for, some minor, some big, but when I look at the net value, it's a huge positive.

First of all the people at the bank are super nice, much as everyone I've met while here in Ireland. The building where I work is pretty nice, although a bit 'close-in'. That's very typical European style, though really. It has its own restaurant, too, with a pretty good selection and surprisingly high quality. And the work itself? Well, I can tell there's plenty to do, but all in good time. I'm still fumbling around, and and already made my first few 'new guy' mistakes, but no one's yelled at me yet! Next week will really be telling as I will start participating more in some of the key benchmarking and validating work.

Now it's Friday evening and the weekend is upon me. Needless to say getting up and working every day has really put me behind in the housework. Tomorrow I have to start putting away all the clothes I unpacked, throw away a bunch of garbage, and try out the infamous European combination washer/dryer.

Ok, miscellaneous other things. I have found two new food loves: Milka brand chocolate bar with caramel creame. Oh wow, so good. Second, Cadbury Digestives. I have no idea on the name but it's like a chocolate covered cracker. Amazing. I guess while I'm at it I might mention that in a world of expensive food, baked goods like packaged crackers and biscuits (i.e. cookies) are dirt cheap and quite tastey. Another honorable mention is the Scottish full-butter shortbread fingers.

Other observations. Ireland doesn't really have a lot of selection when it comes to soda; pretty much Coke, Pepsi, and 7-Up. And I have yet to find root beer anywhere. There are a few local or regional brands but again, limited varieties and of course, pretty spendy for soda. BUT, many places have store brands and are really cheap, only about .70 or .80 cents for a two-litre. The best part is that it tastes pretty good, especially their 'diet' soda, but better taste overall than US stuff.

More to come!

Tomorrow is the Big Day

Tomorrow, Tuesday April 2, is my first day at work.


This day was spent preparing for tomorrow.  Three new suits.  Gym clothes out and in the gym bag.  Re-pack everything that I manage to pull out during my stay at the hotel.  Clean, organize, and start making arrangements to finalize the lease in Manor House.

Tomorrow is going to be a monumental day.


I was pretty nervous coming out here.  I was worried about trying to figure out communications, transportation,  immigration, and housing . . . but work. . . now that's some true gut-wrenching, fingernail clawing, teeth-gnashing anxiety.

Why?  It's always nerve wracking when starting a new job; not knowing anyone or having any sense of corporate culture or boundaries, or even if you're ultimately going to be happy at the new gig.

Now compound all that with the fact that I'm in a foreign country and all but sold my life in the US.  There really is no turning back.

Despite my fears, I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and reassurance.  Yes, it's going to come with its ups and downs, but in the end, this is where we're supposed to be right now, and there are great lessons and experiences to be learned here.  This is no accident.  Make the most of it.