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Well here it is on Friday morning. Except not really. I'm writing this on Tuesday. But you're reading it on Friday, so try to keep up. I may or may not have internet access right now, but one thing is certain: I am much closer to the Guinness brewery than you are. By now we've flown over the Atlantic Ocean and landed safely in Dublin, and we may even just be de-boarding our plane. With limited availability of internet access (we're actually fairly lucky to have B&B's booked with bathrooms in our rooms…), and an unpredictable schedule, I've asked some special guests to tell a few stories in my absence. It's kind of sad that posting will be more regular while I'm away from the blog, but such is life. What follows is my Mom's account of my birthday present from her and my Dad, on my 17th birthday. I have, of course, mentioned it in passing – but the story from her point of view should be pretty interesting.

Approaching Adam?s 17th birthday we asked him what he wanted more than anything else? he said? "to go skydiving"?. once I was revived from fainting, we started checking out the places around that would allow a 17 year old to skydive. The catch-22? The "tandem" diving was "more dangerous" (because of the weight) and you had to be 18, so he would have to do what is called accelerated free fall?. Whoa! Okay? This is where 2 professional dive instructors jump at the same time as you do, holding on to part of your jumpsuit ? and once you pull your parachute open, they let you go, and you ride down by yourself. Adam sat through a day full of class, learning what to do and what not to do, and finally, he was (hopefully) prepared to take the dive of his life? He was suited up?grandparents, parents and siblings in place to watch the plunge? as the small jump plane climbed in circles for about 20 minutes over Bennett Airport outside Salisbury, MD (where the other jumpers sang "happy birthday" to him!). Finally we saw tiny dots outside the plane and we watched and watched as the dots fell… and kept falling?.when finally we saw Adam! I kept saying "open the chute, open the chute!" What seemed like forever before the parachute opened, was probably about 10 seconds, but Adam describes as a phenomenal ride! Once under parachute, the jump instructor on the ground was instructing him to turn right or left or whatever (Adam had one-way radio attached to his jumpsuit) to direct him to the landing area. Adam was not a very heavy person, so the wind nearly carried him into a nearby cornfield! However, when all was said and done, he did great, and obviously, landed just fine. Naturally, the first words out of his mouth when he landed were ?CAN I DO IT AGAIN??