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This weekend was a rarity for me being that it was a weekend off and I hadn't actually booked it, it was just the way my hours fell. I was certain this was some sort of error so I made as many plans as I could for the weekend just so I knew I could say with certainty that I had made plans when someone from work inevitably called me, asking me to work, I could say I had plans. In the morning I was going to meet some girls from Girl Crew, Art Beat in the afternoon followed by dinner then out to Thomastown to see a band that night. It feels strange to say my first outing of the day was coffee with strangers but essentially that's what it was. As I mentioned in the last blog post about this Girl Crew is there so women without a large social network can meet other like minded people for walks, coffee and nights out. Its hard as an adult to make friends because even if it was socially acceptable to approach random women who look cool if they want to be friends, most of us ar

A few months back I was working a late night and on my break I was flicking through Stellar magazine. That's when I came across an article on Girl Crew and realised I knew the girl who started it. I can't say I  know her well enough that I'll be sharing some of her winnings when she hits the big time but I am sure she would stop to say hello if she saw me in the street. So if you are unfamiliar with Girl Crew, here's a quick introduction. It was started by Elva Carri because she felt her group of friends was too small and one night she wanted to go out dancing but none of her friends did. So she set up a Tinder profile and changed her sex to male and changed the profile photo so it told other women she was female and looking for some friends to go dancing with. From there it has spiralled and women all around the country and indeed beyond are using Girl Crew to meet new people or to find a friend to accompany them on a walk, go for coffee or to a gig when thei

I am a grown woman and I am afraid of the dentist. I am not quite at the level of needing Valium to get me in the door but I am not far off. This would probably be reasonably okay if it was not for the fact that my teeth aren't exactly in fantastic shape. I have several fillings and one or two gaps, all several years old because I am not exactly a frequent flyer at the dentists office. I was also informed several years ago that I grind my teeth in my sleep and I started to do something about it but truth be told I let it slide and I can't say my teeth have gotten any better from the doing nothing. Usually I will find myself in a dentists office only when I am in a great deal of pain because the combination of a lecture on the state of my teeth, a certain degree of pain and then a bill that be nearly more upsetting than the procedure isn't exactly enticing. A few weeks back I started to get some pain in a tooth, one of the back teeth and I ignored it, like any adult woul

Starting out yesterday I couldn't have told you last night was going to be one of those epic nights I would be talking about for ages ( once my voice recovered) but those are the best nights, the ones you don't expect. I was working a good part of the day but I got home just before 5 and then I spent a while running around like  a headless chicken trying to get everything ready because I really wanted to catch some of Art Beat before going to dinner with himself. So I was pretty delighted with myself running out the door a few minutes later, dressed for the summer we're only starting to have.  It's probably a terribly vain habit to snap a quick picture on those occasions when I manage to juggle that combination of well behaved hair, nice make up and outfit I am not going to be pulling out of all night but I haven't managed to break it ( and I wouldn't hold your breath) I was really lucky with timing and the fact that Baileys New Street is only around the

Last summer, which feels like a life time ago now, I had a select number of set days off, a few days holidays booked and then I'd get my weekends off when the rotation came up. And oh man how I complained about it. Sure even if I'd had more days off, I didn't exactly much money to go places. This summer has rolled around and a lot has changed. I am not hiding in the dusty corners of the Bookshop wondering what the weather is like outside. I am working in lots of places with windows and even getting out in the sunshine as part of my work but even though I am working more flexible hours, and making a bit more money I don't exactly have  summer holidays planned. The uncertain nature of the work I do means that I am reluctant to make too many plans far into the future because I worry I might not have many hours when the time comes and will not be able to afford my very exciting plans. The problem for me right now is that I have too many hours and that comes with its own

Okay so perhaps there are worse girlfriends out there than me. Many wanton women having affairs or worse and I am not guilty of those level of offences but I have been drawn into working longer and longer hours and its caused me to disappear from my own life and consequently from my relationship. I started working in social care at the end of January, at first I eased myself in gently and even had weekends off but then I asked to be on call for relief hours and over the last few weeks I seem to have more than I can shake a stick at. Not sure why I would be shaking a stick at my hours but that's beside the point. I have discovered in myself a terrible inability to say no when I get called for last minute hours and this often means nights out are abandoned and trips out of Waterford are shelved away for later. In the bookshop I used to lament the fact that I was only off one weekend in six and it was tough to get away anywhere but not even when I do manage to be scheduled for w

This weekend I ended up doing a lot more work than planned but I decided it could still be salvaged. I could spend some time with my better half and work it was all going to be good. Its funny that while planning all of this I didn't really factor in the exhaustion that comes with being a work machine. It puts a bit of a dampener on socialising when you find yourself too tired to stand up. On Saturday night I had promised to go see Moscow Metro supported by Collides play Central Arts. My boyfriend had booked them and spent a good portion of Saturday organising background graphics for the gig. At least that's what I think he was doing. He called over when I finished work and spent most of the time shouting at his laptop. At 7 he headed off to set up and I made vague promises to follow him over while lying hidden under a blanket. The thing is that when I do make it out of the apartment, the gigs are always great. Stephen has a knack for finding really good bands so when I was

I am not sure if I mentioned it in my last blog post but this weekend was supposed to be my golden weekend. I had a full weekend off, even if I got asked to work I would say no and myself and Stephen were going to make exciting plans. I am not sure at what point this fell apart but somehow I found myself working on Saturday and Sunday night and twice on Monday. To be fair I knew about Monday but the rest can be put down to my inability to say no and an impressive lack of planing on my part. We decided to make sort of plans anyway. I was going to be home from work by 5pm Saturday and didn't have to leave for my next shift till 7pm Sunday so there were some possibilities available. Saturday night we were going to a gig and Sunday we were planning to head to Carlow Arts festival but then I got all spontaneous and said lets spend the day in Cork instead. To facilitate our mini road trip I packed all my stuff for work on Saturday night while trying to build some enthusiasm for leavi