Thursday, September 6, 2007

Caption Contest Winner

Runner up in the caption contest 1:

Stephanie from Florida wrote:
"Does this buggy make my book look big?"

Nice job, nice use of buggy.

The winner of Caption Contest 1 though is Jim with:

"The book said there was a grocery store here??"

As promised, we offer you something like, but not necessarily, one of these:



Stephanie, if you want your runner-up award, leave me a comment and we'll work something out.

The last few days have been full. We listened to the weekly music session down at the pub two nights ago, where we unknowingly took some regulars' seats but they were nice to us anyway.
Yesterday a couple of positives stand out for me. The first was noticing how my dad buys, not just a cookie or bit of chocolate every day, but an entire pie. Wherever we are, he mozies away from us at some point to find a local bakery and walks out with a boxed pie.
Another stand-out yesterday was our Czech server at dinner finding out I am/was an ESL teacher and asking me lots of questions about grammar every time she passed by. She had this cute, very Slavic, way of asking things like "How do you separate the word sightseeing and why isn't there some general rule?" Talking to her brought back to mind what I like so much about that part of the world and also how much I miss teaching. It was fun to have a "light bulb moment" with a 'student' right there in a restaurant with Richard Marx and Journey playing in the background.

The last moment from yesterday was getting to hop the fence to view a national archeological monument. We'd driven all around Sligo Town to find the Carrowmore Graves (at least six thousand years old, and we Americans really dig poking about old stuff...well, not literally poking, but getting up close).

Our guidebook said it was open until 6:00 pm but when we arrived at 5:30, we weren't let in. The %&#@-er who was sitting at the door would barely give us a glance, not even when I went on my own, putting on my best sad face and sounding very pitiful, asking for "just five minutes" to see it closer (we could sort of see it across a fence).

As I was Charlie-Brown shuffling across the parking lot, head down dejectedly, a staff member meandered up to me and said quietly, "Don't mind him. I know why you're disappointed. No one's gonna stop you from jumping that fence right there in about twenty minutes when the door's locked and there's no cars in the carpark. But I didn't tell ya that, ok?"

As a result, we ended up having a really nice walk, with a couple of scrambles over the fence, and got some pictures, like here, where Ted truly gets born-again, Irish-style:


Lastly, we spent a good hour at Drumcliffe Abbey, the burial site of Yeats. Earlier in the day, we'd looked around the Sligo Town Museum, which has a lot of Yeats stuff (the technical term), including his Nobel Prize for literature. This is the best free museum I've ever been to. Plus, the lady working there was extremely friendly and knowledgeable and ended up giving me a really gorgeous poster about the Sligo area, all for free.

There I am in the Yeats graveyard, showing one of my hidden talents: a pensive, moody stare (which I have come to understand can be off-putting in social situations, making some think I am wallowing in misery...so I'm doing my best to work on improving my "American smile #5").
Good thing I'm married to someone with a wider range of facial expressions.

Until next time...

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

YAY!! I'm runner up??!! How awesome is that?! Thanks!!

I live in Iowa now, you might remember me from my previous offer, if ever you're in Iowa, you have a place to stay. And I'm sister in law to Amy, Silas's mama. Anyway, if you grab a little something extra and happen to feel the need to send it my way, I would love it. But just being runner-up is "buggy" enough.

:D More Southernisms to come later on, I'm sure. :)

Oh, here's one now. My granny could never just say 'yes'. Example, I say "Granny, can I have an apple?" Granny says "(Sigh) Ahhhhhh reckon" Translation: I reckon = yes. "Granny, when you go to town this week, can I go with you?" "(Sigh) Ahhhhhh reckon". At one point, I asked "Granny what does I reckon mean?" She just looked at me questioningly.

:) By the way, I love your moody stare picture. I understand! :D

Steph

Tara said...

it seems like Ted is doing a great job at blending in with his Irish surroundings...and don't you worry I love that pic of you, lets think of it not a pensive moody stare but as a pensive model-esque pose!

Anonymous said...

I love that your dad gets a pie everyday. Love that.

Great details about your trip and great pictures too. I think you look great!! And not crabby at all.

Drew Carey Show said...

Drats! Meant to throw in a witty caption, but didn't do so in time. Glad you guys are having such a great time on vaca! Drew and I are still waiting... over 11 weeks now... I'm getting a little nervous, since I'm supposed to be in NY the week of 9/17 -- and it would be a real drag not to be w/ Drewby when the referral comes... sitting tight though and enjoying the ride. Love Ted's expressions. He should really try to come out of his shell...

Anonymous said...

Hi Lori!

Here's my email.

stephiede910@hotmail.com

:) Thank you. I look forward to my little trinket. You're too kind.
Stephanie