My Inner World

When I found out I was pregnant on Munchkin, I told Paddy I was going out to get myself two new Billy Connolly DVD's. The way I figured it, once contractions started, I was going to throw on Mr. Connolly and laugh the baby out!
My intention was to not watch the DVD's until that time. But, Mr. Connolly is irresistible. They were viewed several times before her due date. In the end, I was in hospital before I even got the chance to watch them once contractions started. I adore the laugh out loud, belly shaking inducing qualities of his shows. Billy Connolly's World Tour DVD's are a must have, but his "just" Show DVD's are treasured possessions of mine, too. There are still a few on my wish list. I get a little "Happy"-buzz, every time I find a new one.
If we are lucky enough to become pregnant again, I will be heading off to the shops with the same declaration as last time! I swear, Billy should be required viewing in the delivery room. (Wonder what Billy would have to say about that!!)

For your viewing pleasure: (Beware, he is fond of the F-word, but look past that, he's Scottish! ;) )

Tuesday Morning, I arrived in to work to a find blast from the past in my inbox. An English lady living in The Netherlands, that I used to be friends with, is coming over to Dublin for a week next Sunday. She was a member of the motorcycle club I was involved with. We were very close from when I was about 17 until I was 21. I would go over to her apartment for dinner, we would have loads of fun on Rallies. Spend Birthdays, New Year's Eve, Days at the beach, shopping at IKEA together.
She's about 12 years older than I am, but I was always very mature for my age and it was never a problem. This was the lady that pointed out to me that there were jobs in UPS in Ireland. The lady that organized a surprise party for me at the town bowling alley, I had NO clue! ;-)
She was a good friend.

When I was living here for about three months. She came over to stay with me. Other club members were in the country, too. She didn't want to go and see them, I did. And I was nasty to her. I don't remember exactly what happened. But I do remember getting very annoyed with her. I thought she was being very childish for some reason and I snapped at her. This startled her as I had never done that to her before. The situation became very awkward as she was staying with me in my house. Later, I met her at a rally in Germany, and it became obvious that some real damage had been done to the friendship at that was the last time I spoke to her. Almost 5.5 years ago. Thinking back on it, I regret the course our friendship took, all those years ago. Whereas I believe a friendship should be able to handle a few knocks, I do admit that I could have been a lot more diplomatic. I definitely should have handled things differently.

I have tried to send the occasional e-mail, but they were not well received, or so I thought. The e-mail this morning said when she would be here and asking if we could meet up.

I am delighted at this and treasure the idea of being able to apologize in person.

This week is shaping up pretty well!

On Monday night, after dinner, we sat down with Paddy's mother. We had decided to talk to her about our plans of trying for another child. This was not an "asking permission" conversation, but rather a: "Here's what we are planning, would you be willing to care for a second child of ours?"
As per my last post on the subject, if the answer had been "No", we would have had to make other plans. Which most likely would have involved moving to a different country as Ireland is just too expensive. We simply would not have been able to make it work here, had my MIL said "no".

So, we sat down. Paddy starts taking deep breaths, opening his mouth and... not saying anything. This gave me the giggles and there we were, like two little Toddlers with a secret. It was too silly, and I Could. Not. Stop. His mam started to give us the "one eyebrow raised" - look, so Paddy had to come out with it. And before Paddy had even finished his first sentence, she answered: "Yes, no problem".
She answered quickly, genuinely and without hesitation. Turns out that she was kidding for the last three years when she was saying that she would not take care of another baby before we had our own house......
One part of me was upset, that she had let us get so worried about this when she was only joking but the other (bigger) part was just so relieved! She said Yes, before she knew what our alternatives would have been. We did not want her to feel blackmailed: "You say yes, or we move your granddaughter to another country!"
The choice had to be genuinely, completely hers. And it was.
Later, she asked what we would have done if she had answered differently. When we told her, I could see that she was startled by it. And the relief, that we were in fact, not moving now, was clearly visible on her face.
When we left for home, Nannie scooped the Munchkin up in her arms and said "You are not going to the Netherlands, are you, Honey?" To which she replied "No, silly Nannie, I am going to my house!" Queue giggles all around! :-)

When I was driving home behind Paddy and Munchkin, I had butterflies in my stomach. We are really doing this, we are going to try for another child!

Wish us luck!