Category Archives: Family

Rule of the Blog: Don’t Let the Blog Rule You

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I love my blog.  I love thinking about what I’m going to write; I love writing in the morning after I eat my omelet; I love looking through my pictures to pick just the right one to insert.  But lately, I have been noticing a strange occurrence that hasn’t happened to me since around 9th grade:  the incessant desire to have someone “like” my post.  Seeing that little orange square light up in the right hand corner, with a number, just waiting for me to click it and see the update.  Pitiful, really.  This really just comes back to a letter my dad wrote me when I was around 14…just be happy with yourself and make good choices, and don’t worry so much about what others are thinking.  Aaagghh!  Have I now reverted to middle school angst?!

Another interesting occurrence is happening also:  I am turning into Lisa Lyons, Roving Reporter.  Like the other day in the restaurant with the cracker basket episode.  I looked at the crackers, looked at my husband, and stated, “This would be a great blog!”  Then I ran out to the car, grabbed the camera, and began to take pictures like I worked for LIFE magazine or something.  🙂

People always say that writers need to live their lives in order to write about life; writers need to “write what they know.”  So it’s important to really live life and be fully awake to what’s going on around you.  But here’s the interesting thing…writing this blog has helped me to do this.  In writing about life and Ireland and music and God, it has made me infinitely more aware of what is going on around me.

All in all, I’m thankful for this blog.  I’m thankful that it’s helping me to wake up.  I hope that it might inspire someone else to do the same.  And yes, I’m still looking in the right hand corner for the lit-up orange “like” button!  🙂    Slainte, Lisa

Truth Vs. Beauty, or are they the same?

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The truth can sometimes be hard to face, and some would say, ugly.  Yet the truth sets you free.  There is nothing to hide behind, no deception, no unreality.  Truth is truth, and it’s real, and it never changes.  Our world is obsessed with beauty, with beautiful people, with trying to stay beautiful.  Yet the truth of who and what we are, of living life,  is beautiful too.  Because we’re all flawed people who are trying to love the best we can.  Here are some “truthful” pictures of old, broken down homes in Ireland, that some would call ugly and an eyesore.  Yet, to me they are beautiful, they have stories to tell, and they live as a testimony to the lives of those who passed before us.

Worn-out tower staircase

Abandoned Home or Inn, Gap of Dunloe

An old room with a view

I am challenging myself to look for beauty in the unexpected and the truthful places.  I want to be the kind of person who can see some good, even in the worst of situations.  Because I definitely would like people to do that for me.

Slainte, Lisa

A Basket of Crackers, Anyone?

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Life is funny.  And the strange, odd things that occur are sometimes the funniest.  Like yesterday, my husband and I went out for a nice lunch together at a nice Greek restaurant.  We order, and as we’re waiting for our meal, the nice waitress calmly brings our drinks, and a large basket filled up with saltine CRACKERS!  Now, maybe I’m not up-to-date on Greek tradition, but this struck us both as hilarious.  Here is the aforementionned basket.

Now that’s a lot of crackers to eat, unless you’re extremely fond of saltines, or you belong to a family of 18 people.  We started laughing, and couldn’t stop.  My husband who happens to love crackers, could barely eat them.

The child in the booth behind us began peeking around and staring at us.  We knew we had to pull it together.  Thank God for laughter; it was better than 40 hours of therapy and massage put together.    Here’s a new Irish blessing for you…May you have all the crackers you need, and never reach the bottom of your basket.  🙂  Slainte, Lisa

How to Not Look Like a Tourist, but Still Get the Picture

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One of my big things when I travel is that I don’t want to look like the typical “tourist”…different clothes, awestruck look on my face everytime I see a new thing, inevitable camera firing away at everything.  Yet, the more I think I about this, how can you avoid it?  I mean, you can try your best to dress similarly to the native population, and adopt similar cultural mannerisms, but you NEED the pictures.  When I get home, I get so much pleasure from looking at all the pictures again.  They capture the moments; moments that you might forget otherwise.  So the camera stays…they’ll just have to know I’m a happy tourist.  Here’s Amy with her Princess camera….she started young.  🙂

Slainte, Lisa

Leaky Shoes with a Good Umbrella

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There is an Irish proverb which states:

“It’s no use carrying an umbrella if your shoes are leaking.”

My dog Fritz and I are here to say that this is a very true statement.  I just attempted to take him outside for his morning walk in a steady rain that shows no signs of letting up for the next few days, according to the weatherman.  He looked at me at the doorway with the big sad eyes you see here.  He is part poodle, and has a distinct dislike of getting his feet wet.  I carried a big umbrella, and he pushed that little doggie body as close to my legs as he could.  But it was no use.  We both got our feet wet, very wet, and the umbrella just seemed silly after awhile.  Now that we are both drying off and gearing up for our next foray into the wild, I thought about other stuff, like how I try to make everything in my life seem good and dry and perfect on the outside, while sometimes my shoes, my foundation, my base is leaking.  When I lose track of the things that are really important in my life, like God, and my family, and my friends, and start just focusing on my umbrella of how the house looks, how many things I have to get done, my shoes are leaking, and the umbrella is rather silly and useless.

May you have sturdy shoes and no need for an umbrella!  🙂  Slainte, Lisa