#FirstDate #FirstDates #FirstDatesIRL #Dating #Kilkenny #Christmas #Festivus #WhatsTheKraken #Recipe #LEGO
December brings the end of 2022 – the best year since I moved to Kilkenny. I started a business with a good friend (Spiel.ie), got to visit my family, and most importantly – I’ve gone on my last first date!
The holidays are crazy for everybody, and it was no exception for us either. We did get around to see a few friends, but we didn’t do as much as we wanted to do – does anybody ever?
One of the things we did do was taste some Irish Whiskey at Christy’s Bar. Two Stacks had just released a Special Edition Whiskey that had Christy’s Bar on label of the bottle! I’m not a Whiskey fan, but I thought I’d give it a shot. 😉
It rarely snows in Ireland, but any snow is more than I ever got in Southern California. It didn’t snow in Kilkenny so far this winter, but it did get awfully frosty on a few mornings. Jeanne and I took Brownie into Kilkenny Castle Park on one of those below freezing mornings.
I really love the holidays. I really do not love winter in Ireland. So, I do my best to focus on the good and ignore the bad. This means decorating the tree early, buying countdown calendars filled with sweets, and celebrating not only Christmas but Festivus too! I was introduced to Festivus (via Seinfeld) by Jean. I liked that I was able to enjoy another holiday at Christmas Time, without any commercialism. So, now I’ve introduced Jeanne to Festivus. She seemed to like it for the same reasons but also because I created a new drink – What’s the Kraken?
Ingredients:
- 250 ml Kraken Black Spiced Rum
- 500 grams Fresh Pineapple
- 250 grams Frozen Pineapple
- 250 ml Orange Juice
Directions
- Combine ingredients in a blender, and blend for about a minute or until you have a nice slushy consistency.
- Pour into a festive glass.
- Imbibe liberally!
As great as 2022 was, we both got COVID… Twice! Yes, Jeanne got it for Christmas, and I got it right before New Year’s Eve. Ah well, a rotten way to end the year, but at least we got to spend it together. We may not have been able to see any friends or family over Christmas, but we built LEGO, played Board Games, made a jigsaw puzzle, watched movies and had good times. I’m excited to continue having good times with Jeanne in 2023 and beyond.
I hope you’ve been entertained by this little blog. I don’t really see a need for it going forward, but I may make an occasional update – we’ll see. Congrats to you if you have also gone on your last first date. Good luck to those that are still going on First Dates or might need to in the not too distant future. I hope this blog has shown that anything is possible if your try, try, try (55 times) hard enough. Finding Jeanne has definitely been worth the wait. To all that have made it this far, I wish you the best in 2023 – HAPPY NEW YEAR!
