But what does it all mean..?

Now isn't that the question of the day...what does it all mean? I had thought that with my second-ever blog post, I would take a few minutes to explain just what the title of my blog means, for anyone who is not familiar with my love of all things celtic. But of course, as life would have it, the dawn of the day today brought a few twists and turns with it and now, I find myself with a few other things on my mind as well.

But first things first. As I mentioned in my last post, I have been pondering the creation of this blog for a few weeks now and in fact, there had been many times when I was more than ready to jump right in but as a certain person who sits across from me at work can attest, there was always one thing stopping me. I didn't have a name for my blog. Now at first glance, I will be the first to admit that this doesn't seem to be that big of a stumbling block. I mean, what difference does it make, really? "Just pick something," I would say to myself..and over the course of the few weeks that I thought about this, I came up with quite a few potential names, only to discard them just as quickly because they weren't 'right'. I think the whole root of this problem lay buried in the fact that I *really* wanted an Elvish name for my blog. Oh yes, I am a Lord of the Rings freak and pround of it (and for the record...we are called Ringers, not geeks!!) and as such, I thought it would be very cool if the title of my blog could actually be written in elvish. But again, that is much easier than it sounds.

So I hmmmed and hawwwed over it, racking my brains for what elvish words I knew that would make sense but still to no avail. It just wasn't coming to me. Now again, why is this so important, you ask? Trust me when I say that...I have absolutely *no* idea!! Most people who know me will be able to tell you that, for whatever reason, I am what one might call obsessed with naming things. I'm pretty sure that virtually every stuff animal that I have ever owned has had a name, my pet fishies had names (Pugsley and Sludge..hehe), my cars have all had names...and I won't even go into the internal debate that was waged when we got our Beagle, Jasper! But anyway, names have always been very important to me and so I knew that I needed to find just the right one if I was going to make a serious stab at this whole blogging thing.

So fast forward then to Friday night and there you find me gearing up for a Girls Night Out to celebrate the birthday of a friend. We went out to dinner and drinks and then some of us moved on to this bar to continue with the festivities. The bar we went to was called Slainte (pronounced Slawn-cha) and it was as I was sitting there on my barstool at the bar, discussing the many attractive attributes of the bartender with my friend, that it occurred to me....I love this bar! Slainte is a great place to be and...wait for it...OMG, wouldn't that just be the *best* name for a blog??

So yes, there you have it, yet another brilliant observation aided by the warming (aka:mind-numbing) effects of my good friend, Rye and 7. And so on Monday, when I *finally* got around to creating this blog I had thought so much about, I eagerly typed in Slainte as the title but at the last minute added Mhath (together, it is pronounced Slawn-cha Vah) because it still just didn't look right.

So after all that, am I going to tell you what it means? Yes, I am. Slainte Mhath is a gaelic phrase meaning 'good health to you', which seemed pretty fitting for here. And on an interesting side-note, Slainte Mhath is also the name of an amazing band from Cape Bretton that I had the pleasure of seeing when they opened for Great Big Sea one memorable night in Ottawa. What can I say...just one more reason for me to love the name! So there you have it...the long and convoluted story of how I named my blog.

Now, with that out of the way, I can concentrate on what has really been on my mind today. My mom called early this morning with some bad news..my uncle had passed away during the night from cancer. And isn't it kind of strange how even though you know it is coming, it still gets you like a blow to the solar plexus when it finally comes to pass. I have been pretty much a mix of emotions all day, each one vying for it's own turn in the spotlight and so tonight, I find myself just plain worn out. I guess if there is one good thing that has come of this along with the pain that is undoubtedly sure to come over the next few days, it is this: when something like this happens, it really has the power to make you sit back on your heels and take a deep breath of fresh air. Life passes us by so quickly that it is even more of a shock when something like this happens, simply because it literally makes you stop. You have no choice. And for a few days, a week, a month, whatever...everything becomes real again and you rediscover just how important things like your family, your friends, and your health really are. I guess that is where I am tonight. My family will be together this weekend for the funeral arrangements and to celebrate Easter and to me, that is more important than ever.

I also had an interesting experience at lunch when I was driving in my car that seemed perfectly fitting with the day that it has been. Driving home at lunch, I was flipping through the radio stations in search of something half decent to listen to when I came across "Time of Your Life" by Greenday, which has always been a very poignant song for me, and truthfully the song that I would want played for me should something ever happen to me (god forbid..sorry, not meant to be morbid). And then when I was driving back to work, I was flipping through the stations again and came across a song that was playing that I just knew couldn't be a coincidence. It was "Country Roads" by John Denver and that song is perhaps the one that I will always associate with going to visit my aunt and uncle when I was much younger. My cousin used to sit with me for hours and play that song on the guitar while we sang it together..and so hearing it today just seemed to be a fitting tribute to all that has passed. I'm not real sure what else to even say about this so I will end by simply saying this...Uncle Norm, you will be missed.