Anniversary!

It's a lovely day; it's been a lovely week, in fact. I've had a busy past few weekends full of visitors from the states; Liz and Vann on their honeymoon, and then Becca, stopping over after a work trip to Waterford. It was great to have visitors because I was feeling a little overwhelmed with the change. But since then, I've become much more familiar driving around and getting my bearings. Becca and I visited Cork City on Saturday afternoon, making the obligatory stop to H&M, so now I'm much more confident in spending the next 5.5 months here on my own.

I also cooked my first turnip this weekend, quite possibly the largest turnip on Earth, which Liz bought on last turnip-obsessed Sunday afternoon. It turns out it tastes delicious (even as a leftover) when cooked with carrot, then mixed with browned shallot and garlic, then garnished with parsley. I'm eating some now, in fact! I'm sitting on my patio, watching the boats in the river below, and enjoying the sunshine.

One item of note is that today is my 7 year anniversary with Lilly. I can't think of a better reward for 7 years than to be relaxing in the Irish countryside, eating turnips :) I brought in rice krispie treats to work today (a coincidence, it was to celebrate a co-workers upcoming maternity leave). The common Irish recipe is to substitute chocolate for the marshmallows, and so I was entertained all day with coworkers reactions and comments. Greg, visiting from the U.S., was the first to dig in around 11:30. Wim my Dutch coworker told me they were light and fluffy, and Will told me they reminded him of a pre-packaged Kellogs treat that comes in a metallic blue wrapper, and he offered to bring me one to try (he was serious). Being Irish, everyone was grateful I had brought something, even something so basic.

More this weekend, which is a bank holiday weekend. I'm definitely going to travel somewhere, just not sure yet where I'll go...