My Wandering Mind and Me

R.I.P., Our Fish Has Died.

2010-10-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

Treasure was his name, he lived with us for 6 weeks before being found dead one Saturday morning by my daughter.

SmelloTweets and Apple Pies

2010-10-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

I am such a big show off! There is a delicious apple pie baking in my oven at the moment and I couldn't stop myself from opening the kitchen window so that everybody in my street gets a whiff of what's cooking in my kitchen. If it tastes half as good as it smells, it will be the best thing I've ever eaten, nevermind the fact that I've used cheap Lidl ingredients with the apples sitting in my

Koran Burning, Are We Back in the Middle Ages?

2010-09-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

Anyone who knows me a little will be aware of my views on religion in general: the biggest scam ever invented by man. Crap, crap and more crap! The fact that I don't believe in God does not mean that I have dodgy morals (unlike some catholic priests and nuns who preyed on vulnerable children for decades, as we learned in the Ryan report not so long ago). When I heard that an American pastor

Thanking International Organisations in Advance

2010-09-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that New Zealand has just suffered a powerful earthquake in the last few days. This morning, I heard that the country has turned down offers of international aid; at first I was gobsmacked at these news, but after a while, I got thinking: if international agencies are willing to give a nice bunch of money at the drop of a hat, that's fine by me, if New Zealand doesn't want it,

Shrek And I

2010-07-03T04:12:00.000-07:00

So this is what I would look like if I was (were?) an ogre; not much difference with the real me, then.

C'est La Vie! (That's Life)

2010-06-11T02:51:00.000-07:00

Making strawberry jelly at 9:00am and hurrying to iron clothes while wearing a T-shirt that says C'est la vie, thinking of writing a blog post and if I'm very lucky I'll have time to vacuum the house and mop the floors before it's time to pick up my youngest daughter from school (I will have to go back later for the eldest because the school system in this country is completely out of tune with

Eurovision Song Contest: Is Germany The Only Country That Gets It?

2010-05-30T03:49:00.000-07:00

The Eurovision song contest was on last night. Every year, I say to myself: "No way I'm watching it!" and like every year, I end up watching bits of the Eurovision song context. I knew Ireland did not have a chance to win: they sent a real bore of a song which, to tell the truth, I could not stand listening to until the end, and the fact that they sent a previous Eurovision winner made them look

First Day At The Beach

2010-05-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

We have had hot weather for the last few days, at least by our standards, I know that 25 degrees celsius is a bit of a joke for most normal people out there, but we, in Ireland are all stripping off at the lightest ray of sun because we are used to getting crappy weather for most of the summer by now, so it is in our interest to make the most of the good weather when we get it. I have always

Teaching my Kid to Ride a Bicycle

2010-05-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish I had bought a tricycle for my eldest daughter when she was little. Her Dad did buy her a bicycle with training wheels when she was about 3 but it was a bicycle that would have suited a 5 year-old better (I must ask him if I can get it for my nearly 6 year-old). Anyway, to get back on the subject to teaching my kid how to ride her bicycle, she has no experience of pedalling and

Gerry Ryan R.I.P., But Enough With The Tributes Programmes!

2010-05-02T10:43:00.000-07:00

It has possibly been the biggest and saddest news in Ireland for 2010, even though this year is not over yet: Gerry Ryan, one of the most (if not THE most) famous radio broadcaster in Ireland, died at the age of 54. I understand that all of Friday's and Saturday's radio and television programmes talked about and gave tribute to Gerry Ryan but when I switched on 2FM this morning and the radio

Oh Oh Oh, I've Bought A Bucket...

2010-04-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am pretty proud of my new bucket, 2 people already asked me about it even though I don't usually speak with many people in general, but I must say that my bucket is very special indeed, it is actually an ash bucket with a lid, something I had been looking for in the shops for a long time. You see, I have a fireplace at home, and I like to light a fire now and then, especially now that I don't

When Is This Going To Stop?

2010-03-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

I am stuck at home most days at the moment, when I am not running to the doctor's as my two daughters and me seem to be taking turns at being sick. I guess I am lucky that I don't have an employer to answer to because, even to me, this looks suspicious: it started a few weeks ago when I had herpes in my eye; I could not do anything (I am just lucky my kids are able to operate the toaster, and

No Sick Pay For Me!

2010-03-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

I just got over a bad case of herpes in the eye; not that it's an excuse for not posting, but this is just to say that while I was busy trying to get to my doctor's and (the next day, because obviously the eye drops my doctor gave me weren't doing any good) the hospital's emergency department, I would have been better off just sleeping it off. So while I was recovering last week, I was also busy

Thank You...

2010-03-02T09:01:00.000-08:00

Thank you to the little son of a b%&ch who wrote rude words on the side of my car! I had realised that my car was very dirty (it comes from living near a dusty road) and that it really did need a wash but I couldn't be bothered doing it: I was l aways telling myself : "what's the point? It going to be just as dirty a few days later anyway!" However, coming back to my car with my grocery

Stuff That Scares Me: The Ice-Cream Van!

2010-02-21T07:20:00.000-08:00

It's almost funny sometimes when I think of things that scare me but really shouldn't. Take the ice-cream van for example: the first time I heard it I wasn't sure what it was (I grew up in France) so I looked out my window and I saw it: two waves of kids first running into their houses, probably to ask for money so they could buy an ice-cream, the second wave made up of the same children

Road Rage Rant: By French Woman Driver In Ireland

2010-02-05T13:38:00.000-08:00

The joys of driving in Ireland: talk about women drivers! I don't know what it's like driving in any other country (having moved here too soon after getting my driver's licence to have had a chance of enjoying French Road Rage - even though, if I remember correctly the words of outrage uttered by my Dad while driving, it's not uneventful) but Ireland has to be the worst. Here's an outlook of what

My Strange Kids

2010-01-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

"I'm not eating sweeties ever again because I want to get energy!". This, coming from my five-year-old, the same one who screamed at me for 2 hours yesterday (it may have been only ten minutes but it felt like two hours, she has very powerful lungs, that one) because I would not give her a "sweetie" before her dinner, sounds very strange. I give her about two hours before she comes to me saying

If You Can't Do Gross, Don't Bother Having Children

2009-12-20T10:24:00.000-08:00

This could be a post to deter teenage girls to become pregnant, but it's actually just one of my little rants. Anyway, here's how I spent my Sunday today (and the scary thing is that it's not over yet): 1- Got up early (too early for a Sunday morning anyway!) at 8.00 am so that I could bring my daughter to 10.00 am mass: I don't go to mass, but she wants to do her communion after her father used

Sweet Revenge: Would you Commit Insurance Fraud For Your Ex?

2009-11-26T03:03:00.000-08:00

My ex thinks we're friends. I don't. If we hadn't had kids together I would probably not even be talking to him but for the sake of the kids (and by order of the courts), he is allowed to visit the kids so I have to talk to him sometimes.I have just moved into a new council house so pretending that we are on friendly terms has guaranteed free labour from his part so far, like putting up curtain

We Kicked Your Ass Good (Now I Can Go Back to Not Liking Football)

2009-11-15T04:45:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of football (or sports of any kind) but yesterday there was a football match between France and Ireland. As a French person living in Ireland, I had to sort of follow it.Before I go on, I must admit that if I had been in France at the time of the said Football game, I would have supported the Irish, that's how much I don't like to be like everyone else: see a herd, run the opposite

Twitter Search For Celebrities

2009-06-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

I don't read gossip rags (I don't buy the newspapers anyway, why pay good money for something I probably won't even have time to read?) but there's something about the net that makes me want to reach out to people. And since I don't have many friends (who'd blame them? I'm so boring that not only I decided to freeze breadcrumbs last Sunday night, but I also thought it a good idea - at the time -

My Bright New Ideas (for the Irish Victims of Abuse in Clerical Institutions)

2009-06-05T05:08:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the Ryan Report describing how some children being placed (sometimes against the will of their families) in Irish clerical institutions and schools suffered physical, sexual and emotional abuse shocked a lot of people worldwide. A compensation deal was agreed in 2002 to indemnify the victims who came forward; this deal was supposed to insure that each victim received a handful of

Design Your Own Hell

2009-05-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

GothsCircle I LimboBill GatesCircle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy WindRednecksCircle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & SnowRepublicansCircle IV Rolling WeightsGeorge BushCircle V Stuck in Mud, MangledRiver StyxScientologistsCircle VI Buried for EternityRiver PhlegyasBernie MadoffCircle VII Burning SandsOsama bin LadenCircle IIX Immersed in ExcrementThe PopeCircle IX Frozen in IceDesign your own

My Secret Swine Flu Vaccine

2009-04-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

On the way to the shops today, I felt a bit of paranoia hitting me: when I do a bit of walking on a chilly morning, I sometimes get a bit of the sniffles and this was one of these mornings. I thought, as I was getting a tissue to blow my nose: "Oh no, now everyone's gonna think I've got this Swine Flu thingy!"As I saw some people looking at me funny (an old lady walking her dog even crossed the

I'm Giving Away 10 Free Gym Memberships!

2009-04-27T03:13:00.000-07:00

Who needs an expensive gym membership when you've got brillo pads?Yesterday I went to an open day for a local gym and the cheapest price for a single membership was €492 (off-peak hours only). I never intended to join, I just went for the face painting and the free funny-shaped balloons they were giving away to the kids. This morning, as I was scrubbing my bathroom with brillo pads, a thought