I am back and I am alive

I felt since this is still viewable to other human beings, I should make an effort to update it again. A LOT has happened since June 11th (the last time I blogged....not just some random date that popped into my head...).

I went off to America (West Virgina, to be specific) and worked as a camp counselor (American spelling because I can't spell counselllourlourellr) and headed their drama department. To say it was a fantastic summer would be a great understatement. It was amazing. I have made friends for life and saw places and experienced things I never even dreamed of. Whilst I don't know if I will return next summer yet, I will treasure those memories forever.

I then travelled to Washington DC, Las Vegas, San Diego, LA, San Francisco before pit stopping in New York on the way home. I arrived back to rainy Ireland just shy of two weeks before college restarted.

Oh and between all of that I had a brief affair with swine flu!!!!! Well, type A flu at any rate which was never confirmed swine flu but my hospital in Dublin seem to assume it was as it's rare that one would just randomly pick up flu in the middle of the summer. To be fair, I was extremely lucky as whilst about a third of the summer camp turned into shivering, vomiting, zombie like children, I ran a low grade temperature twice, then got a dose (or ten days worth) of Tamiflu and I was as right as rain. Of course, naturally the story is a LOT longer than that but since I'm doing an update here and not a 'so then I went to the hospital where I was put into a hotel like room and had amazing and constant room service, an en suite, my temperature checked by staff but not like the people in "Grey's Anatomy" which saddened me somewhat but then again I was very much bedazzled by the fact that I had my own bathroom and a tv controlled by my bed so maybe the intern was having an affair with a consultant but I never noticed and oh yes I only had to fork over $3000 for the luxury but my insurance covered that except THEN I got billed an additional $260 dollars as a late fee when I got home and then I panicked because I feared I'd never be allowed set foot on American soil again but it was ok because the insurance stepped in and whisked it away' kind of update. (PS: How do people survive in that country with insurance is beyond me!) But I will do one like that soon.

And seriously, apart from that I've been *touch wood* very well. I blew my highest ever lung function a few weeks ago (105%) and have another clinic next week. I had to fill out a 'satisfactory scale' thing on the clinic the last day I was there, and I bet they were overjoyed when I asked for extra paper. Or maybe they just thought I was a bit sad since I'm sure most people just tick the boxes and get on with it. I chickened out handing it to anyone though so just left it on the desk and ran away so I'll be interested to see what they say!

So yes, my life these days consists of college with early starts, a broken car which fails to start, a mother with a broken foot (well it's better now), a design competition with the prize of going to Atlanta, Georgia in April, my new Internet radio which I listen to BBC radio on, my dog who I sat on yesterday and still feel guilty about but doesn't look *as* squished as he did (what can I say, a sandy coloured dog on a black couch can easily be mistaken for a corner cushion).

And that's it. For now.

This is a pic from the day we cycled across the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco to Sausalito and back.....16 miles. Beautiful!