It's raining snow and sleet

I knew it wasn't going to be the greatest of weeks when I saw the weather forecast Sunday night, but deciding to remain optimistic, I headed to bed early (around midnight) hoping for a restful night. Well I woke up well-rested all right, but not until 9:15, 15 minutes after I should have already been up. I failed to notice that when resetting my clock, the setting stayed on am when it was pm, so in the morning it was on pm when it should have been on am. Okay, no big deal, I tell myself. So I get up and go about my business, nice big bowl of oatmeal and some tea to keep me sane. Then I looked outside and the worst was happening, pouring rain. Now, don't get me wrong, it rains in Dublin like any other place but normally not until after 11am, I'm not sure why, but it just usually doesn't. So another bad omen to start the day.

But everything's fine and I make it to school a little worse for the wear and with only 12 minutes to spare. I hastily store my wet clothes, throw on dry jeans and a tee and amble my way into the classroom. Upon my arrival, some good news at least, we weren't going to have class but rather we were to have a guest speaker. (Who turned out to be amazing by the way, free ways to get your promotions across and the best ways to advertize yourself, great guy.) And the cherry on top was that class for next week was canceled due to the Easter Holiday. So I get a 4 day weekend. However, the teacher requested that we attend another class session next week to make up for the one we will be missing. I think to myself, okay, no big deal, I can manage that, a small price to pay. But no, both of her other class sessions are in blocks that I am already in class, well pooey.

I stayed after class for a bit to finish uploading Wicklow pictures, which was a great success by the way, and run into a group member of a project I was working on in another class. However, there is only good news to spare this time. Everything was a go for the meeting on Tuesday before class. Excellent. So feeling slightly giddy at this point, I then come to the crashing realization that I now have to put my wet clothes back on and proceed to bike back home, damnit. So I begin taking my clothes out and realize that I would be more soaked putting my pants back on than just leaving them off. So Kat in all genius-ness decides to bike home in shorts, in the pouring rain, when it's 34 degrees out...honestly, I should not be an adult sometimes. But all's going okay, other than the fact that my waterproof shoes are currently filling with the water and muck that is dripping down my bare legs and I'm practically frozen to my bike. Oh but it can't end there, oh no, karma has to come and mock me for wearing shorts. So I'm heading towards a narrow strip of road, minding my own business, going through a green light when a bus comes barreling out of no where to take up the lane and get ahead of me before the bike lane ends and he gets stuck behind me. And on his delightful way past, he has the politeness to not only almost knock me from my bike into traffic but also to splash through a gigantic puddle on his way, one that would surely have soaked me no matter what I was wearing. And thus my entire right side was submerged for a good 3 seconds in water colder than the Atlantic in February. Awesome.

However, I manage to make it home, unscathed though shivering and soaked, my boots squishing with every step and in my haste to become dry almost running down some lazy pedestrians who cannot seem to walk in a straight line. So I strip down to the bare essentials and hang all my clothes on various doors to dry off. I then continue to do my full workout, sopping wet, as I do not want to waste the cardio I had just performed. This endurance and perseverance has led me back to my 28in waist *sigh of contentment* I finally make it to the shower to wash off the grime that now coats my lower legs and spend at least 2 minutes of the shower trying to regain feeling in my feet...not a good thing for someone who already has poor circulation.
And thus ended a not so great Monday.

And today of course was Tuesday. My alarm went off on time, though I hadn't been able to sleep much, I got up just fine. I made my way slowly into the kitchen to boil some water and noticed it was particularly chilly in my kitchen. I looked out on to the balcony to witness for the 3rd time ever, snow in Dublin. It put an immediate smile on my face. I made my oatmeal and tea and sat down to read some Harry Potter before class. I was stalked online by a friend who was still up studying in the States (shout out to Casey) as it was 2am there. We chatted until I got ready for school and then it hit me...crap, I actually have to bike in the snow again.

So not exactly dreading, but not looking forward to it either, I donned my riding clothes, my shoes still slightly damp from yesterday and proceeded downstairs, hoping that it would at least stay cold enough to keep the snow as snow and not rain. However, no luck on that front. Half-way to school and it became sleet...so by the time I arrived to school, I was dripping wet and pissed off, going to a class I didn't care about and only bothering to come in because I had a presentation later in the day. So I once again, changed in the bathroom, leaving my pants out of my bag this time. When I got to class, I laid them on top of my backpack in the hopes that they would somewhat dry out before I had to leave again. But knowing how cold the classrooms are, I didn't have much hope. Class was a breeze, I cannot recall what I spend it doing but I barely took notes...don't worry, Mom, I learned most of it last semester.

So class ended and after a brief chat with my new Canadian friend and my group mates about our next meeting, I settled in to do some work. I had made contact with a company and was supposed to call for more information for a project I am doing. So I did all my background research, wrote my questions and compiled a SWOT analysis and then gathered my courage to call. No answer, no luck. Left a message. But fear not, I had a brain wave at this point, realizing that my pants were often more wet on the inside than the outside and decide to reverse them so that they might dry more efficiently. So that's what I did and hung them on the back of a chair, seemed to work too.

I then prepared for the presentation I was going to give in the afternoon and at 2pm, left one classroom for another to meet with my group and further prepare. The slides were edited slightly and the run through went smoothly. So we impatiently waited for the first group to finish, they did a decent job though not a completely original idea in my opinion. And then it was our turn. I introduced the team, the company, the product and its description. We described our protection and collaboration strategies, our financial outlook and our way to market domination. At the end of it, the professor seemed very pleased. Only a couple of questions were raised and he asked if we thought we might do it one day. We replied with a polite, it's possible, but not likely. He agreed that our idea was revolutionary and in this day's economy, a great deal.

And floating on air and smiling at my group, I left that class. I trudged to the bathroom to change once more and noticed that my pants were mostly dry. My shorts, however, not so much. But as they were only a little damp, I dragged them on and luckily had worn under armor this morning so I wasn't as shivery and then threw on my shirt and my mostly dried pants. When I walked outside, it was now freezing rain falling from the sky; wet but not overly so, just enough to make it unpleasant. But I made it home in considerably better shape than yesterday which was a good thing. However, I had to go back out in this dreadful weather because I was completely out of milk and bread, two essentials to my life. So I ran over to Dunnes, the next street over and quickly made my purchase and ran back home. I made a quick grilled cheese and soup dinner and then gave myself over to the shower to wash off the newest layer of Dublin Street grime.

I've been hoping for sun, but the forecast is calling for more crappy weather this week, as in all week...not a comfort. But I'm keeping my head up and trying to not let it get me down. Only 46 more days left in this beautiful country.