What the heck?!

colosseum in rome

Relax. Breathe. Have a cup of coffee. Things are evolving here at Daily Cup of Jo. The transition may throw you. Just remember: change is good. Embrace change. And keep in mind, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Have you seen the Colosseum? It’s still not done. I’ll be back shortly, with a real post, and deep thoughts. Looking for some now… … [Read more...]

Monday motherhood: Mom

I’ve been at a loss the last several days, even before Sandy Hook.  You see, my mom died a week ago, unexpectedly, and there’s no excellent way to cope with that kind of event.  My father died in 1997 and so my siblings and I are now part of the “Adults with No Parents” club.  It’s not a formal organization, nor even one anyone wants to join.  It just happens, like it or not.  Sometimes there’s anticipation.  Occasionally, we imagine that someday the folks won’t be around anymore.  But when it … [Read more...]

Ireland: leaving home, coming home

A part of me realizes that writing about the end of our Ireland trip means that it’s over, so I’ve dragged my feet sitting down and putting thoughts into words.  But I’m fifty now, a grown up.  Time to get serious.  Time to get back to our lives.  (What’s that?  You got serious at thirty?  Good for you.) Last we spoke, it was in Galway.  On first blush, Galway had more charm than Dublin, most likely because of its smaller size and location right on the bay.  Also, we were slightly lost on the … [Read more...]

Monday motherhood: Irish lassies at the Cliffs of Moher

“The holly green/ the ivy green/ the prettiest picture you’ve ever seen/ is Christmas in Killarney/ With all of the folks at home…” We couldn’t help ourselves, the husband and I.  Every tidy town in Ireland is in a nascent state for the holidays, but Killarney is fully there.  Yesterday, after a short hike to Torc Waterfall – stunning and loud, then Muckross House where we imagined ourselves living while Erin attends Trinity College, and then Ross Castle -- medieval and cold, all in Killarney … [Read more...]

Saturday café: Blarney, Kenmare, and the Ring of Kerry

When I think of Ireland, I think of green, and castles.  Outside of Dublin, on the way to Blarney, the green is everywhere.  But the castles?  It’s like heading to Maine and expecting to see lobsters by the side of the road.  It doesn’t quite happen that way.  You have to go off the beaten path just a bit to find towers and turrets made of stone. On our way to Kenmare, we stopped off in Cork just to say we did.  Fortunately, they don’t know about Black Friday (probably ‘cause Thursday was … [Read more...]

An Irish Thanksgiving

What’s an Irish Thanksgiving, you ask?  It’s when you’re forty-nine years old and the husband asks what you want to do for your fiftieth and you casually say something like, “We should go to Ireland.”  Then you forget about it because you have three children to attend to, among other obligations, and approaching the half-century of your life doesn’t seem like an actual event because you’re still seventeen, immature and oblivious to the process known as aging, even though it may explain the … [Read more...]