... happy birthday Mr. President

Marilyn Monroe did not attend my party last night, but most of the people in Belfast that are quickly becoming good friends did. I was quite surprised because I have thought that I was just having dinner with Nuela Ni and her husband, but it turned out that all of the girls that I hang out with on Mondays and their significant others were there. It was a lovely restaurant. It felt very cottage like... with a warm fire that I really appreciated. It is starting to get cooler here. It was neat... you sit by the fire, enjoy a drink and they come and take your order... then when your food is ready they take you back to your table for your meal. The food was fancy...I had duckling... the guys had springbok, Sonia had lamb. It was all delicious. I am really enjoying all of their company. I feel myself with them all already. There was talk about maybe taking a weekend trip to Dublin as a group, which would be great fun, and they said we could go to the Guinness plant... which I think I ought to do to satisfy all of your Guinness curiosity! It really was a lovely evening. I was thankful that I didn't have to resort to a tub of ben and jerry's ice cream... and sappy music (cue..All by myself... don't want to be... all by myself--- anymore) sob, sob. Thankfully, life in Belfast is turning out to be quite good.
These are my new friends - minus Damien. He is the one taking the picture.