Days 16 and 17 in Ireland

My days have begun to have a rhythm.  I wake up at 7:15 to feed the cows.  Once that’s done, we either take a drive or go explore a nearby town.  When we get back, we relax, whether that means reading a book, getting online or eating or all three.  I love having down time like that because it means I get to plan fun upcoming events, like our Holden Beach trip or our anniversary weekend or our wedding/honeymoon.  There are so many things to look forward to.  Later in the afternoon, I take Turbo for a long walk around the farm.  I usually play with Charlie, the dog, for a little while, too.  We then have more down time, and sometimes I milk at night, too, but usually I only have to do mornings or nights.  Last night, after we were done milking, Oisin, Peter’s 19-year-old son and I watched Hotel Rwanda.  The movie was so touching and inspirational that I immediately bought it from half.com and had it sent to my house.  It absolutely has to be part of my movie collection.  I then went to the pub with Gingie and Peter for a late night drink.  They both had pints, but since I don’t like beer, I opted for a Smirnoff ice.  In the United States, I would have been made fun of for being such a girl.  I did find out, however, that a pint of beer has the same amount of alcohol as a Smirnoff ice.  So, the next time I’m watching a basketball game and the guys make fun of my girlish drink, I’m going to point out that the alcohol content is the same as what they’re sipping.  I was very excited about that revelation.  Today the town we explored was Carlow.  Peter and I wandered around the shopping center while Gingie did work at her university.  I ended up finding the perfect dress for our engagement pictures, and it was on sale.  I am very excited about that.  Sometimes I feel like such a slob on the farm because I constantly smell like cows, wear jeans that couldn’t pass for clean, and sport a plain v-neck without makeup 98% of the time; so buying a dress was really a highlight.  For dinner, I ate popcorn, yogurt and cheese since I have to cook for myself, and I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  There is a lot of down time around here, but when we work, we work hard, and I love getting to catch up on all the reading I’ve been yearning to do for the last year.  At around 10:30, Oisin picked me up to go to a party for a girl who was turning 18.  I made him promise not to leave me during the party since I didn’t know anyone.  We were by far the oldest people there, and there were even a few pockets of 10-year-old girls wandering around.  Neither of us consumed any alcohol, him because he was driving and me because I felt so old, but we had a good time anyway.  Neither of us wanted to dance with 10-year-olds, so we hung out with a few of Oisin’s friends who were a year younger, and after awhile, we found the trampoline.  A trampoline should be a part of every party.  Jumping on it was so much fun.  I don’t think I’ve jumped on a trampoline in more than five years.  We then wished the birthday girl, who neither of us really knew, a happy 18^th birthday and left a little after one.  I’m not sure if we could be considered party crashers since Oisin knew a  few of the people there, and we didn’t do anything to crash the party, but since it sounds like more of an adventure, I’m going to say we party crashed.  I then crashed into bed as soon as I got back to the farm house.