Ireland (sigh).

My sister is going to Ireland next week, and I'm so jealous. I love Ireland and all things Irish. I get my Irish heritage from my Mother's side, my Great Grandfather came over from Kilkenney, and on Ellis Island he changed his name from Louis to Luke. There is a picture of the little cottage where he was born, on a shelf in my Mom's house. My uncles have Irish passports to make travel easier/safer post 9/11, and my Uncle Jack wears a kilt every Christmas Day. My Aunt Linda makes the worlds best Irish Soda bread, sooo good toasted with butter. She gave me the recipie when I got married, but I lost it and I'm too embarrassed to tell her. I have great pins to wear on St. Paddy's day which I got from my deceased grandma, I won't wear them for fear of losing them.

The music and sound of bagpipes brings a tear to my eye, we were supposed to have bagpipes at our wedding, but the retired cop never showed up. My favorite Christmas carol is "Fairytale in NY" by the Pogues, and my favorite love song is "Love you till the end" again, by the Pogues. If you've ever seen P.S. I love You, both of those songs are in the movie. GREAT movie, with two perfect examples of Irish Men, even though the actors who played them weren't Irish! On the topic of movies, I have two other favorites with Irish themes, "Patriot Games" and "Once." Oh, Once. Such a sweet story, the music is so beautiful, again, it could make me cry.

Recently my Aunt and Uncle were in Ireland, tracing the family tree (their favorite past time). Turns out we have a distant relative named Luke, who was married to an Eliza. My children's names!! It's crazy how history repeats itself, whether we realize it or not.

This is a picture of me in Dublin, next to Molly Malone and her cockles. This is a typical photo of me, my eyes are closed.