Nettle Sting

I forgot to mention the other night that I got stung by a nettle (?). I had never heard of them before and don't know if they grow anywhere around Virginia? Anyway, one night after dinner we all went on a walk and I went to grab some blackberries (go figure!) and next thing I knew, my arm had broken out in a rash. Its amazing that I hadn't been stung before then because its really everywhere! It was uncomfortable at the time, but was gone by the next morning. On the bright side, they don't have ticks here!

This week has been good so far. Today for some reason seemed like a long day, but that could be because it wasn't as pretty as it has been lately. On Tuesday Kieran took Eoghan to go 'baling hay' (another farming term), so it was just Katie and me all day! It was so quiet- we had no crazy two year old to entertain us! Yesterday was Kieran's actual birthday, so Gillian made a nice lasagna dinner and invited a few close friends over. Some of his family came over later for cake and ice cream. My goodness- I have never seen so many desserts! Eoghan and I contributed to the pile a little bit by making "buns" (cupcakes) and "rice krispie buns" (rice krispie treats) that afternoon. Needless to say, Eoghan's detox diet didn't go too well yesterday. Interesting little fact though- people over here make their rice krispie treats with melted chocolate instead of marshmallows! (they weren't as good either)

We had dinner at Auntie Marie's tonight and then I headed to boot camp. I missed boot camp on Tuesday, so I went tonight instead. It was nice because she had it outside. Its starting to get dark here really early, so I'm not sure how much longer she'll be able to hold it outdoors. There were three other au pairs there tonight (two from Germany, one from France) and they invited me to hang out with them this weekend. Not sure when, where, or what we'll be doing, but I figured it would be a very cultural experience.

Right now, Gillian and I are curled up by the fire downstairs. As much as I hate it being cold so early in the fall, I love having a fire burning!