The spring clean out begins...

So we are nearly through the worst month of the year, and boy was it tough, with suffering from post Christmas blues, to realizing that I now need to diet. to dealing with the extreme cold it has been tough. 

January has always been a long tough month, but I only realized this year just how depressing it is, I think because i'm not working, and at home most days, it just seems longer, and every channel that you put on it all about "new year, new you" it gets old fast... 

So to keep busy, I started what we all do around this time of the year, "spring clean".  I started to clear out all the old rubbish from kitchen equipment to the clothes that have not been wore in years.. yes I went through it all, and anyone who has done a clear out, I mean a real clear out know the feeling that you get when you do this, it hard to describe, you just feel lighter some how. 

The problem is however that now I have all these bags down in the basement (i'm not going to say how many there is, lets just say there is enough!!!) , what to do, I could of course donate them, and I probably will with most of them, and then sitting down having a glass of wine watching Grey's last night I thought, what about a clothes swap party ( I know i thought of that while watching Grey's I blame the wine!).

I know that these type of parties were starting to get big in Ireland before I left, so I  thought that if it works in Ireland it will work here, (although I am sure that they are all over the place), now the only issue with this as my hubbie pointed out to me is that I was to clear out not get more stuff... but hey I love clothes..

So that's my next project... I'll let oyu all know how it goes..

Let me know if anyone else has started the big Spring Clear out..

US Immigration Overhaul

According to reports, President Obama Plans to overhaul the immigration system in one bill, this would  put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship.

You can read the full article here.

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Obama-plans-to-introduce-comprehensive-bill-on-immigration-

Miss America...

An Irish- American Girl from New York wins the Miss America pageant..

http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Irish-American-Mallory-Hagan-wins-Miss-America-pageant-186764321.html

The Emigration debates continues…

I thought long and hard about this post,  and what to write.  I was reading last week an article that was posted on one of the Irish around the world websites that I have I become a customized to reading on a weekly basis.  

The article is about a facebook page that was created that basically said that Irish people who emigrated are not welcome home, that because we left we don’t deserve to benefit from the turnaround when it comes..

This really upset me and I can only imagine that whoever created it for whatever reason has never experienced emigration (or maybe they have and it all became too much ) I don’t  know, all I know it that leaving Ireland, leaving my home, my family and friends was the most upsetting and difficult thing I have ever done, it still hurts today, missing family gatherings etc.. it is  never easy, but there comes a point when you have to ask yourself the question – what is best for my family, that is what I did . 

Ireland is my home, it will also be my home, and I will not have anyone tell me that I am not welcome back..  

I do take comfort from the fact that everyone that seems to have commented the page is disgusted by it and as angry as I am .

Happy New Year...

Just want to wish everyone a happy and peaceful 2013.  Thank you to all our followers for liking us.

2^nd Christmas here in New Jersey and it still is difficult being so far apart, but I guess the fact that my kids are young makes all the difference..

We did get a white Christmas, we had a little snow that didn’t last very long, but we had snow on Christmas Day, but the was more to come  a couple of days before New Years and nearly messed up my NYE Plans.. I say nearly but you do sometimes forget that living here things still move when it snows, I swear it was like it never snowed on the highways, so the dog went to the plush 5 star kennels and we jumped in the car and drove to Boston, on NYE, and what night we had it was good to be with some friends at this time of the year..

Oh and just so you know, January is just as bad here as back in Ireland.. cold depressing, roll on February.

Such a nice Story from the journal online

Irish grandmother gets green card

THE PLIGHT OF Irish people currently living in the US without a green card is a long-running issue but one nonegenarian woman living in Chicago could hardly have believed that it would be of concern to her life.

Josephine Stout, who only knew that she had arrived in Chicago from Ireland as a small baby in the 1920s, always believed herself to be an American citizen. However, her astonishing case has been highlighted by the Chicago Tribune – the paper ran a lengthy feature on her story on Christmas Day.  In it, author Dawn Turner Trice recounts how Stout only realised that she was in citizenship limbo when her daughter was murdered and Stout became responsible for her young grandchildren.

What followed was a 12-year battle to establish that Stout was a rightful long-term resident of the USA and entitled to the supports and help needed to care for her grandchildren. She had a Social Security card from her time working at a fur company from the age of 17 until her own children were born – but as it turned out, no proof that she was actually a US citizen.

The whole odyssey is worth reading here - it traces the journey needed to establish where Josephine had come from, how she had arrived in the US and whether her parents ever even became US citizens themselves. In the course of the investigation, Josephine discovers she was born in March 1922 in a poorhouse in Limerick but her parents managed to bring her on board with them on a ship bound for Chicago 18 months after her birth, set for a new life.

There is good news for Josephine – she was finally issued with a green card in September of last year, and on 13 December this year, had her application to become a full US citizen kickstarted. She should become a citizen within a few months.

Stout’s reaction? “I just can’t see how a piece of paper will make me feel more American than I already do.”

The last Few Months!

Ok so it has been a while since we posted, and while I could go into all excuses,  I think we just need to move on and start new !!

We like anyone reading this have just celebrated Christmas, this was my second Christmas here in New Jersey, it was still difficult, I’m not sure if you really ever get use to be away from your family ns Friends at Christmas, but and I know it sounds strange but you do take some comfort form the fact that you are not the only one that position.

Since the last post we have had to endure super storm Sandy, it was a really horrific time, and we where extremely lucky as we escaped with no damaged we just had power outages, but to look at images of homes floating out into the ocean and boats on the highways, you really are thankful.  I think for me never experiencing a storm of this magnitude (we have had flooding etc.. back in Ireland but nothing like this), I think that most heartwarming, and hopeful stories are of the donations, the volunteers and the togetherness that everyone one in New Jersey / New York showed, I have never seen anything quite like, and to still witness it 2 months after the storm, it quite remarkable. There where still people in the worst hit areas with not heat and yet volunteers were out in force on Christmas morning to make sure everyone had a hot meal and that all the Kids had a Santa visit.

We are heading to Boston for the New Year celebrations, and am really looking forward to it…