Is Everyone Going?

I feel (this is Lisa speaking -- I am encouraging Sheila to post, but she hasn't yet.... Look forward to that!) extremely lucky that we get to take this opportunity to pause our lives and spend some quality time with our family. Maggie is quickly approaching high school and we can feel her slipping through our fingers, wanting to spend more time with friends, and just being all-round busier. For the short time in Ireland it'll be just us and, at least for a while (before we figure out which hurling team we will be joining), we won't be bombarded with the usual activities (although I will dearly miss hockey--both mine and Johnny's). We recently were having dinner with Sheila's parents and I told them how grateful I was to them (and to my own parents) who gave us the opportunities to become who we are now--the sacrifices they made for our enrichments and educations--to get to the place where we could embark on such an adventure. Having said that there are times that I ask myself "What the heck are we doing???" My sister-in-law (mother-in-law to said Irish Gal) told me the other day that she wondered why they never took such a trip and I responded that they didn't because it was "expensive and terrifying!" Seriously. But I keep assuring myself that we could wait, we could save the money, we could take such a trip when we are older... When there is less at stake. But then, where will the kids be? In their own lives telling us they can't come visit... Too much to do, too much hockey to miss. Etc. Etc. No. This is the time to do it. This little pocket of time before it all changes. The funniest thing people keep asking me is "Is everyone going?" At first I thought they meant -- "will you be taking the kids?" To which I responded that Maggie and Johnny will be staying with them (whomever asked the question). But shortly after that I realized they meant Sheila! (Sheila is known for her dedication to work and, apparently, it was unfathomable that she would take a short break from it!). No worries. She'll still be connected via all the technology in the world. Just an ocean away.

Origins

About seven years ago we heard that Sheila's firm was going to enact a sabbatical policy. At the same time I had a friend at the university who would regularly take students to France and study. I got to thinking -- maybe we could do this as a family for a semester! Our plan was to take one semester off and spend it in France, to learn the culture and, hopefully, the language. The preschool where our daughter was attending taught French and she seemed to have an aptitude (if not an interest) in the language, so, why not? The friend of mine studying in France kept referring to what I heard as "Cannes" and so we dreamt of days spent on the beach, seeing indie movies and bumping into famous people. Until I actually got an email encouraging faculty to apply for short term positions in Caen, France. I quickly emailed Sheila: "Is Caen the same as Cannes" (I had, you see, never been to France in my life). "Um... No" She replied. We quickly realized (thanks to the Google) that while on the coast, Caen was not the experience we were going for.

A few years and another kid later, we attended my nephew's wedding to an Irish gal in Omagh Ireland and fell in love (she is pretty cool too).

We spent two weeks touring the country and adjusting our dream sabbatical to this small, English-speaking (read: easier for the kids to handle the adjustment) country that was home to not only our newest relative, but to both of our ancestors-my grandfather emmigrated from Ireland in the late 1915 (thanks to my cousin, Jackie, and aunt, Bev, for clarifying that fact for me) and Sheila's ancestors are from Galway (her name, there is Kirwan and can be seen on street signs all over the place because they were one of the original fourteen tribes there). From there on out it was just an idea until I got an email from University College Dublin offering me a temporary assignment to teach during the spring semester of 2013. This blog will chronicle our adventures and help us keep in touch with our family and friends. Céad míle fáilte!