back from the isle o' green

the first/last time I was in ireland was for the marathon in october. while I cannot negate the amazing experience that I had in dublin at that time, my most recent/second trip to the island was different in a good way. after a bit of himming and hawing on my end (darn money) and some good support from sinéad and alice, I made it over for tara & damon's wedding. the event itself was brillant; all of the components went off well and everyone, even mr. gibney, had a wonderful time. there was so much love, joy, and warmth between the couple that the layering of the guests' affection for the couple as a unit and as individuals was nearly overwhelming at times. being that tara & damon surround themselves with good people, everyone got on smashingly and really had a great time. (a very broad, general statement, I realize, but not in this case. I do think that everyone at the soirée had a great time.) there could have been more dancing, in my opinion, but let's be honest, I always think there could be more dancing. (and really, why not?) it did help that I had a fantastic salsa partner and that it was salsa that we danced solely. note to self: salsa much more.

in addition to the ceremony, what really made my few days (though it seemed as if I had been about much longer) quite grand was getting to spend oodles of time with some of tara's best mates. sinéad and alice are quite lovely and generous. it's good that I have similar people in the states, otherwise I may be even more inclined to ship myself to ireland straight away. *and yes, there is now some inclination to find a reason to spend more time on the green isle.*

in addition to spending a good amount of time with some great people, this trip has given me a marker for thinking of myself as an individual and given me a bit of space to compare october me and july me. I can't say that I am unhappy retrospectively with october me. but let's be honest, july me is much closer to where I want to be in my life. it's good to know in a comforting sort of way that I continue to change. after all, who wants to be complacent and stagnant?