The Busy Month of May!

Last Day of May.... and it has been a busy month....too busy to post and so much to post about..... May has been full of communions and it has really got Elena in the mood for dresses, tiaras and her own big day next year... From adamantly stating that she wanted her own dress to which I agreed she has since found Darrelle's communion dress and spent a day feeling like a little princess and wanting to dress for everyone who came to visit and is now adamant that she wants to wear this very dress and tiara and to which I agreed once more.. Am always on for an idea which will save some money!  and above all she looks gorgeous in it although it will have to be taken in....

Well May in Ireland is Communion Month and coming from a big family we generally celebrate one or many cousins' communions during this month....Next year there will be three in our family, Elena, Eoin and Fiadh.... what are the chances of having NONE of them clash?

This month so far we have had Alanna's , and that was some party.....We had such a good family get-to-gether over  the weekend and can you believe I haven't one photo to show for it.... had no camera so will have to try to get some of Declan's phone.... Sorry Alanna.... you did look beautiful...

Then the following weekend we had ......a problem...or should I say I had... My class at school had communion and it clashed with another very special communion.. my goddaughter's Lisa.... I agonised over what I should/could do as our school is very small and intimate, more like a little family really and it would be unheard of not to be there for their special day... despite the fact that we team up with another school and despite the fact that my jobsharing partner was more than willing and able to 'fill my boots' for the day.... After working behind the scenes for a few weeks and having EVERYTHING organised waaay ahead of time (unheard of in our school) where we are at our optimum at the 11th hour!) I plucked up the courage to appraise everyone of the situation and it was all ok...  I was free to 'not be there'... See, despite what I think I am not indispensable...!!

I went off feeling like I was playing hooky... and ...it felt good.... the hottest day of the year..... was going to be on time, (just brought Elena as Darrelle was involved in end of year orchestra parties etc and Declan opted to stay with her and Alex...) and we did make it on time... just.... thanks to some a..... over-relaxed driver towing a trailor with a bullock in it who liked driving on the white line and allowing a long convoy of cars and other vechicles to build up behind him  the WHOLE way... for 25 miles.... Please God let the motorway from Ennis to Galway be opened ahead of schedule!!

8 years ago one of my oldest friends did me the great honour of asking me to be godmother to her firstborn daughter Lisa and I still feel privileged and thankful as Theresa comes from a family of 10, 5 sisters and 4 brothers....We have known each other for almost all our lives and the funny thing is for the past 13 years our parents have lived across the road from each other....Theresa and I have maintained a close bond over the years... We met when we were 15 (in the last century!) when I worked with her sister doing kitchen work in the local hotel... One night Theresa came in to stand in for her sister and we laughed all through... We also got sacked..... well we didn't really.. many people got laid off that night....See, I was not indispensable then either!!!  So, a friendship was forged and the following Monday a bunch of us were to spend the remainder of our working summer in a caravan HANDstitching shoes for the local Dubarry shoefactory... (Dubarry of the famous DUBES to today's teenagers!) and listening to 2fm.... Great summer when you are 15... We laughed so much at the expense of our work productivity and paycheques... I remember we got 15 pence for each shoe and cashed the paltry sum of £2.36 one week....

But I digress, Theresa and I stayed in touch, moved onto different cities to study/work but our paths have crossed many times.... We were mad enough to jump out of a plane at 2,000 feet one year, think the parachuting was her idea!  (It was a one off!)... Three short years later we planned our respective weddings, herself and Ciarán beating myself and Declan to the altar by two weeks... However we managed to get ahead again when our first born arrived in the world two weeks before theirs so once again we embraced the different life events at roughly the same time and a friendship was cemented even further.... Most people who know me know that I value my friendships hugely and the friends I have made over the past years continue to mean as much to me today as they did way back... We may not keep in touch as much as we used to but we DO keep in touch and I see them lasting as long as I do.....

Hey! I thought I was talking about THIS month and communions....Back to Lisa....Theresa , you probably do know how much it meant to me and how privileged I felt to be asked to be Lisa's godmother when there were so many others you could have asked.....

Theresa & I... now she was not always this much taller than me, in fact she was not that much taller than me later on in the day when she took those VERY HIGH shoes off!!!

Elena, in the church with Lisa's cute little sister Brónagh... waiting for all the photos to be finished...

Beautiful Lisa on her First Holy Communion....

Elena and Lisa ... Elena fervently wishing that it was her special day...

The formal photos... Ciarán, Theresa, Eoin, Adam, Lisa & Brónagh...

The godparents.... with Lisa...

Note the lovely stone wall in the background...

Thanks guys for a great day....