Hello, Ireland? It's Me Again.

In my last post, I mentioned that I've been dreaming lately of a cottage in Ireland (or something similar).  That thought eventually spiraled into me just thinking of Ireland in general, which obviously meant I then had to go through all of the pictures I've taken while there, which led to this post.

There you go.  That's how I create.  Just in case you ever wanted to know (but why would you?).

Anyway, when I was a kid, the final project for Mr. Cloud's sixth grade history class was to choose a country, any country, do some research on it at the local library--this was so way before the internet that it hurts my brain to even think about it -- and give a short presentation to the class.  I chose Ireland.  I don't know what made me choose this small spit of land halfway around the world -- I think it had something to do with a picture I saw once.  It just looked so beautiful, so far away, so green.

That assignment is when Ireland became my first Big Dream.  As far as I was concerned, Ireland (and eventually Cape Cod) was the only place I ever wanted to go.  Like, ever.

During the last semester of my freshman year in college, I noticed a study abroad opportunity in a department that I was considering majoring in.  The program, which would focus on human rights and history, would take students to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where they would stay at the local university, study The Troubles and travel around the six counties.  Quietly, without telling anyone, I applied to go on the trip.  A few weeks later, I got a phone call at work letting me know I'd been accepted.  I think I called everyone I knew and told them.

I took Nate back there a few years ago, though we spent most of our time in Dublin and County Clare.  I wanted him to see this place, knowing it would help him to understand just a bit more about me.  What that is, I can't tell you.  I still don't fully understand what draws me to this place time and time again.  But something does.  There are only a handful of places that I've traveled to so far that just fit, and Ireland is definitely one of them.  Why do some places call us more than others?  Why do we dream about them?  Think about them all the time?

If anyone has Ireland stories of their own -- or maybe places we should visit the next time we're there -- I'd love to hear them!

[Girl♥Health]: The Tough Decisions

Earlier this week I talked about how one of the focuses of my Girl♥Health plan for the next year is to build and nurture a healthy back.  I want to be able to move, to accomplish the goals I set for myself, to do what I want.

This was never more true than it was over this past Labor Day weekend.

On Tuesday of last week, my back went out again.  When it does this, there's little I can do besides be in bed.  I can't sit for long periods, I can't stand for long periods, I even have a hard time rolling over.  If the movement has anything to do with my hips, lower back, or my entire friggin' spine, chances are I can't do it.

The big problem was that Nate and I were heading to Seattle over the long weekend for a wedding.

Seattle.  My favorite city in the U.S.  College friends, old haunts, PNW weather, water, mountains, EVERYTHING I LOVE.

So you can see my dilemma.

Do I stay in bed, where my back can heal, where I'm not pushing it to do more than it can, where I can be comfortable and in as little pain as possible?  Where I'll also be alone and bored and without internet (it went out on Friday, not to return until Monday) or boyfriend?

Or do I chance it?  Do I pray that my back is better by Friday night, or Saturday morning at the latest?  Do I get on that plane, sit for TWO WHOLE HOURS, get out and leave myself at the mercy of the group, hoping that our collective itinerary has enough time built in for me to lay down regularly and stretch my back out before I collapse?

The smart, back-health-conscious thing to do would have been to wish Nate a good time, stay home and rest up.  Sure, I'd be miserable (I'd probably cry a lot, as I do), but it's responsible.  It's reasonable.  It's what an adult would do.

So.  What did I do?

...

I said, screw it, packed my bags, and hightailed it up north.

On a scale of one to ten -- one being the base level intelligence of a dirt, and ten being the base level intelligence of a baboon -- my decision to go to Seattle probably places me somewhere in the vicinity of -15.  Because, as it turns out, I have a slipped disk.

Let me put this another way.  I spent an entire weekend walking, sitting, standing, moving, NOT LAYING DOWN, on a SLIPPED DISK.

And now I'm in pain.  Staring at my ceiling.  Again.

But (and this is a huge but), I would do it again.  In a heartbeat.

Why, you may ask?

Well, because I have this to show for it:

Sometimes, it's just worth it, you know?

A PSA For You College Kids

Please note the Buster Posey bobble-head.  Go Giants!

Last week, things got a little out of sorts in my house.  I started -- for no apparent reason -- to feel cluttered.  Everywhere I looked, there was just tons of stuff.  Clothes I never used, files I never opened, papers I never looked at and books I never read.

It all had to go.

So then, (two days later) I'm sitting in a completely de-cluttered environment, staring at bags upon bags of crap I have to take to Goodwill, and I realize that most of this stuff is textbooks.

I have hundreds (thousands?) of dollars worth of textbooks that I'm just going to GIVE AWAY.

As someone who is at the mercy of contractual/consultant-based work, you can see why this might make me crazy.  Here I am, sitting on tons of money spent on things I will never use again, while I'm having trouble scraping together money to pay my bills.

Anyway, this got me thinking about college and law school, and how poor I was then, but how I didn't bat an eyelash at buying these back-breaking textbooks.  Wouldn't it have made more sense to rent those books like we rent movies?  Wouldn't I have saved tons of money?  Wouldn't I have enjoyed returning my Property Law textbook at the end of the semester and never having to look at it again ever in my life?

CampusBookRentals.com (the nice folks who asked me to talk about their service), where were you when I needed you?!

So, here is a public service announcement for all your college-goers: Rent your textbooks!  It makes so much more sense, right?  Go online, search for book, rent said book for however long you need it, save about 40-90% on the cost, highlight all over the book, and ship it back for free when you're done with it.  I've used it on more than one occasion -- once the agony of paying for books I'll never read again became too much to bear -- and it was all smooth sailing and pretty straight forward for me.

In the end, here is what you won't be doing three (or seven) years later: Running around your house like a madwoman throwing away everything in sight because your mountain of textbooks has driven you insane.

Learn from my mistakes.  And good luck this semester.


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[Full disclosure: My opinions on this blog are always my actual opinions.  But sometimes, because a girls gotta pay her bills, I do accept money or monetary goods in exchange for writing about a service or product I use and love, or that I'd like to use and love given the chance.  This is one of those times. Don't hate.]