My Arrival
Thursday April 5th - Dublin & Portlaoise

Dublin Airport
I was absolutely buggered getting off the plane in Dublin Airport. I'd slept 4 interrupted hours on the plane between Singapore and London, but I was still very very tired. After a 13 hour flight from Singapore to London I despised having to board another plane to end my long journey, but it was well worth sitting out. Looking out of the window coming in over Dublin was just as fantastic as the last time I flew that path, the green grass and the rolling mountains took my breath away. I can't help getting that feeling when I see Ireland that way, it's completely amazing.

I arrived in Dublin Airport at 8.00am, which was a little early for Liam, but he managed to meet me at exactly the right time, dispite the fact that he'd stuffed up his alarm the night before. He'd forgotten that his phone was still in daylight savings time, and didn't realise until that morning, so he'd rushed to come and get me. The silly bugger. If he hadn't worked out what time it really was, he'd have been one hour late. I wouldn't have minded at all, though I was dying for a bottle of water.

Liam found me pretty quickly as I had just walked out of customs after collecting my suitcase off the baggage belts, and gave me a great big hug. He was pretty happy with himself for arriving on time, as he'd texted me earlier saying he was stuck in traffic. I think he was a bit worried that I'd be waiting on my own for a while, but it didn't happen anyway so it was all cool. We grabbed a bottle of water each and a chokkie bar for me and off we went....

Tallaght & Jeni's Abode
Liam drove straight from Dublin Airport to Tallaght where his daughter Jeni lives with her four boys and her fella's other two (sometimes). The road was a little congested with traffic, but it wasn't that bad that there were traffic jams. When we arrived at her new abode, Jeni gave me a welcome back hug and we all stepped indoors for a cup of tea. Little Troy was there to greet us with a cute little tooth growing grin. The poor wee thing has chest congestion and an extremely runny nose, probably part of a nasty cold for a ten month old. He's gorgeous though, and his Mammy's 'Best Boy'. I think the other three were in school, but Jeni's fella's boys were there, makin as much mischief as they like, as boys do. They're ok though, only annoying each other which is completely normal.

Jeni went to the shop and bought Liam, me and herself a breakfast roll each, which consisted of egg, bacon, sausage (and pudding I think) in a long hotdog style bread roll. They were really good, but the sausage was a little weird, I think they put some sort of herbs in them here. Something like Italian herbs because they tasted a little spicy.
I gave Jeni a few Australian animal books for the boys to read and learn about them. She said they're really into that sort of stuff at the moment, so I thought it was great. They'll get a lot out of them, especially if Leon's learning to read.

Home Sweet 2nd Home
Ahhhh such a relief to arrive in Portlaoise for a load of R&R! Liam helped me take my bags inside and I chopped all the plastic wrap off my suitcase. (I had it wrapped in Melbourne Airport so it was a little bit safer than just having padlocks on it.) The first thing I did was drape his quilt that I made him over the back of his couch. It looks absolutely gorgeous!
Liam headed out the back for some much wanted sunshine, and I went upstairs for a shower. By god I felt so much better after it! I hate going two full days without one, it's horrible. After dressing in nice clean clothes I joined Liam outside and we lazed the afternoon away.

After it cooled down outdoors we retreated indoors for some telly, and guess what...... I fell asleep in the chair! Well holy god! I was so tired, and I don't normally do that, I usually can't fall asleep anywhere but my own bed. I think I must be getting older. Either that or just jetlagged...

Friday April 6th - Neighbours & Shopping

Good Friday
Liam introduced me to Enda and Deirdre, his nextdoor neighbours who occasionally ask him to drop them to the pub or bring them home. They were off to France for the weekend and had asked Liam to look after their dog, Guinness. He's a huge black doggie with a leg whacking tail and a clothes staining slobber. Not to mention a ginormous fat tounge which is scary if he kisses you on the lips as he did to me when I said hello to him. I'm usually afraid of big dogs, but he's ok, he's just like my little peppa back at home, only bigger. He's a lovely friendly fella.

We went food shopping in the new Dunnes Stores shop in town, which was really cool. I couldn't find a lot to eat but I found some things I usually have at home. There weren't many brands I was familiar with, except they do have Kelloggs, Doritos and Pepsi Max here which is a bonus! Liam wanted to have a look in another new shop in town which contained items for your home and garden. He bought a flowering plant and I bought a purple furry cushion for my room (at Liam's).

Saturday April 7th - A Quiet Weekend

Motorbikes and Music
We mostly spent Saturday playing music on the keyboard, the tinwhistle and Liam on his clarinet which was loads of fun. It was a gorgeous sunny day, so most of it was spent in the backyard. There were a few kids on motorbikes zooming down the back road which kinda spoiled our peace, but they weren't too bad. They were only having fun, just as long as nobody got hurt, that's all we were worried about. I fell asleep in the chair again, and Liam taped my snoring, the cheeky bugger!