Three Years and Counting

Our little online journal had it's third birthday this month. Wow... I never would have thought that I would have had so much to say. I've been sitting down and going over some of the archives... And I am really surprised by how much I had forgotten about! I still can't believe that people would actually come here and read all of this... Much less that we would have had our 12,000 visitor this year. Thanks for checking in with us.

----------------------------------------------------

Here are a few stats from 2006:

Top visitors by country:
5374 -United States
220 - Ireland
76 - Spain
49 - United Kingdom
34 - Germany
22 - Canada
21 - Korea, South
18 - Japan
14 - France
12 - Netherlands
9 - Philippines
8 - Uruguay
5 - Thailand
5 - Australia
5 - Brazil
4 - Switzerland
4 - Singapore
4 - India
3 - Sweden

Why are all these people not leaving a pin on our guestmap?

----------------------------------------------------

Our top visitor came to the site 311 times!

2nd place came: 304 times
3rd place came: 271 times
4th place came: 262 times
5th place came: 230 times

Anyone want to confess? Who has been coming every weekday? This makes me feel like I should update more often!

-----------------------------------------------------



This graph shows the unique visitors by day/month for 2006. A unique visitor only counts once even if the same person visits the site several times in one day.

Today's Random Pic...

In The News II

The last couple of weeks have been especially brutal. The weather here has really been unrelenting, and there has hardly been a day where we have not had gale force winds, freezing rain, so much hail that it looks like snow on the ground, or some combination of all three. I know that the bad weather made the news in the states... Only because of the boat that has wrecked off the English coast. To be honest with you... I am a bit peeved that the US news only talks about the bad weather hitting "England". What about poor Ireland & Wales - both of which get the brunt force of the storms before England does. Ireland especially has had a hard time with the storms. In one week here three fishing vessels sunk off of the Irish coast with many of the men lost at sea. The weather has been so bad that the search and rescue boats and helicopters were not able to go out and search for them for a week.

Things now - thankfully - have calmed down. In fact, we are having spring-like weather. It is as if someone flicked a switch and turned off the clouds! February 1st is the first day of spring here... And we are so grateful that it has come a bit early this year! The farmers have been working hard to bring up all of the animals from their winter fields... And we have discovered our little road alive with new cows, horses, and that same ol' donkey that wakes me up each summer's day!

Ah... how I've missed that old donkey!

Today's Random Pic...

In the News I

I have to start by saying that I am not a big fan of the reality TV show "Big Brother"... but it really has people talking around here. The British reality show (which has been spun off in the states) is on the air almost all day on one of many channels. There are shows where people sit around and talk about "Big Brother" and there are even updates on the radio. For those of you who have never seen the show... the show is based around a small apartment where contestants are locked away from the world and are filmed constantly by hidden cameras 24hours a day. Big Brother is the show's producer who controls the actions of the contestants. He prepares games with rewards, security from the outside world, and a place to privately confide to Big Brother's camera. Currently there is a Celebrity Big Brother being broadcast. The celebrities are: Derk (aka Face from the A-Team), Jermaine Jackson (From the Jackson 5), Shilpa Shetty (an Indian movie star), and eight other British stars that I had never heard of before. Now... you might be asking - "Why is everyone talking about it?". Well, There seems to be a bit of racism going on in Big Brother's House. Several of the British girls have ganged up on Shilpa and are harrassing her. It really echos something that you would see on a playground. Bullies picking on the new kid. The amazing thing is that these are adults who have singled her out for no apparent reason other than the fact that she is different. The crazy thing to me is that these are people who were at one time famous and have come on this show to be in the public spotlight once again. Talk about doing something to ruin your career! As I said in the beginning... I am not a fan... but it does have people talking around here.

Today's Random Pic...

Eyes Wide Open

Have I told you that I don’t like to shop? I mean it…. I really hate to shop… I don’t even like going to new places to eat because that means I have to look at a menu and pick something that I might or might not like. My theory is: “find something you like and stick with it”. Dee has given up on making me shop. She is content to let me wander around book shops and to let me go out picture hunting while she does whatever girls do when they are shopping. Now…All of that to tell you this:

As you know – I have been sick all week. It gets worse. Not only am I sick… not only have I lost my voice… not only have I a runny nose and runny eyes… I broke my glasses. Yep…. The pair of glasses that I have had for almost 5 years now (remember – I don’t shop for new things). So… I had to brave the city today in my weakened and blind state on a quest for new glasses. I went to the eye doc and had the exam… and if I was not blind enough they put something in my eye that tinted everything a yellowy green color…. I was then escorted upstairs to the magical room where 50,000 pairs of frames were kept. Ok… not quite that many… but it felt like it. I had a very nice man from Africa help me look for the perfect pair… he would tell me: “No… those are too small for your head!” I kept wondering if he was really saying that I have a big head……. But overall he was a big help. The second he gave me some space I called Dee and asked her to run over and help me. Thankfully…. She did come. She rescued me from the endless big head calling / eyeglass fashion show. I hate to think what I would look like without her advice.









Don’t worry! In the end… I got two new pairs of glasses… and yes… they look almost identical to the pair that I broke. I’m telling you: When you find a good thing stick with it!

Today's Random Pics...

"Signs Around Town"

TRADITION....

There is a wee tradition here that we have grown to love. Each Christmas Day the whole town where we live gathers down at the beach to raise money for a charity. Everyone leaves their presents, turkey dinners, and fire places to come to the little stretch of sand and rock for an excrutiating - self inflicted - time of torture. Yes... A swim in the 37 degree North Atlantic Ocean! (Now doesn't that just scream Christmas!?!) In the past Dee and I have been very happy to go down and watch/laugh as people zoom down the rocky shore... Across the dark sand.... And then fling themselves into the crashing waves. This year, however, a good friend talked me into taking the plunge with him.


It was a brisk 45 degree morning with overcast skies and a good Irish breeze coming off of the water (If you have ever been here you know what I mean). Dee went down in her winter coat and hat... And our friends (R&B) helped with towels and cameras as I quickly changed on the beach and then shot out into the water with my friend. To be honest with you... I didn't really know what to expect. I knew that it was really cold outside on the beach, and I knew that the water was going to be cold... But I HAD NO IDEA IT WOULD BE THAT COLD! The moment that I hit the water my body went into panic mode. I instantly could not catch my breath. In fact - I almost could not breath at all. We took a few quick moments in and under the water and then I quickly ran for Dee and the towel that my friend was holding. Here is the strange thing: After I came out of the water, my body temperature had dropped so much that the temperature on the beach felt like a summer's day. I had thought that I would just keep on running to the warm car... But in reality I was very content to stand on the beach talking with my friends in just my swimsuit.

I can now say that I am a member of the polar bear club! It was a blast! I really enjoyed participating in a local tradition... I think that I might do it again next year............ But we will see.


On a totally unrelated note... I currently have a cold.

Today's Random Pic...

"Making Music"