“Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment” - Dale Carnegie

No that is not my laundry, but apparently even those who do have dryers around here, rarely use them.  Everyone that we have talked to hangs their clothes to dry and then irons them.  NO THANKS!  I will use my dryer everyday when we move into the house.

Since we only have the clothes that we flew with, we were badly in need of some laundry services.  The apartment that we are staying in for 6-8 weeks has a washer, but no dryer.  We immediately found a place to come and pick up our laundry, wash it and bring it back.  It was picked up on Wednesday at 9:30am, and returned on Thursday at 7pm.  Now, some of you may think that I am being a spoiled brat (go ahead) but at least you New York girls will get this.  It came back inside out, wrinkled, stiff and poorly folded!  And it was a lot of money! 

I have to admit that I am having some weak moments over here.  It has nothing to do with Ireland.  In fact, the people are generally so friendly and helpful, and even the weather has been amazing.  It's just the adjustment.  It's always hard to leave what you know and go to what you don't know.  Even when we moved from the West Side to the East Side I became frustrated as I tried to find my way around.  That was only made worse by the fact that I was 7 months pregnant with twins and starving all the time!  But I ended up finding my way and loving it.  I know that is what will happen here as well.  In the meantime, I look forward to getting a cell phone, car and the boys resuming their nap, which is more difficult than I thought.

It's hard not to think of my ancestors who left this country and others with much fewer resources than I have.  Or the decent, hardworking people today who are struggling to make it in a new place.  Tom's Great-Grandfather, Jeremiah Murphy, came to America by himself  in 1885 with nothing and started a harness-making business.  His oldest son was his apprentice, and the remaining 5 children all went to college- 3 of them to Ivy League Schools!

Don't worry,  I am not comparing myself to any of these people who have so many obstacles to overcome, but everyone has their own challenges.  I want give an honest account of our experience here, and besides, it's my blog and I will whine if I want to!