Relaxing in Dublin

I went back to Dublin for 6 days on 10th August. I had planned to go back later in the month, but I would be meeting my colleagues at the end of the month. It worked out well as we could celebrate my dad's birthday while I was home. I stayed for the first part of the week with my sister, her husband and their two children - it was a real eye-opener on how to multitask! I thought I was good, but actually I think my sister might be better :o) It's funny how when you like doing something, you never need that much sleep. During the entire week I caught up with numerous friends and family members. Still didn't catch up with everyone, but then you can only pack so much into 6 days without being utterly exhausted afterwards. I was out late most nights and up quite early - not because I had set my alarm clock, but to the sound of my niece calling 'mammy, mammy', and hearing my sister going into her room to say that it was too early and she should go back to sleep for a bit longer. 30 mins later - 'mammy, mammy'. Ok, you can get up now. I know where my niece gets this from - my sister was always up at the crack of dawn and I would join her to watch cartoons at around 9am! It was great spending time with them doing normal, everyday things, as this is something which I won't be a part of while living abroad. The other great thing is Skype - I think I would miss a lot more if I wasn't able to see family and friends as often as I do. As I met up with different groups of people, it was so nice to catch up on what everyone is up to. I was also lucky to have met up with many who were just in Dublin for a short period of time, and would also be flying off somewhere else.

We had a Flanagan get-together on the Sunday - worked out really well and we spent the whole day outside in the garden. It was lovely catching up with everyone. Pity Dublin lost the match though :o(

I had a meeting in DCU on Monday afternoon and I didn't think anyone would be on campus during August. But I was pleasantly surprised when I met friends and colleagues, who were also having a meeting. The DCU Intergenerational Learning Project is really taking off this year, and will be working in collaboration with other universities. They are also getting their own space on campus - this is such a great achievement and I am very happy to hear of all the great developments - the hard work has really paid off!

Moving house is stressful. I was very lucky to be able to move my things into my parents house. But then I have to clear their house - I always underestimate how much time is required to do this task. I felt much better as I boarded the plane on Tuesday that their breakfast room is totally cleared, and the side entrance is once again in use. I put a lot of things in the attic - over Christmas I plan to go through the boxes of books - I plan to donate to friends or charity - and I plan to buy a Kindle - decision made :o)