I think my car was stolen.

So this afternoon, Liz & I meet with the pastors of the Dublin Vineyard in the Liffey Valley Center…a shopping mall near where we are living. Had a great time & left very excited about what God is doing in Ireland and that we get to be a part of it.

After they left, Liz called the owner of the car we are trying to buy…then we decided we should buy some food for dinner. So we head to the grocery store in the mall (most malls here have grocery store inside, which when you think about it makes a lot of sense…) When we finish, Liz checks out and I head back to the car with Méabh…the plan is I’ll drive the car from where we parked to where the grocery store entrance is…so Liz doesn’t have to walk all the way back…I’m a nice guy like that.

The problem is, I get to the parking lot…and I can’t find the car.

I walk up the row it’s supposed to be in, and it isn’t there. So I start wheeling Méabh up and down the rows of cars looking for our rental car. In Ireland, unlike New York, a car’s license plate is permanent…it stays with the car, not the person… (I’d stick in some comment on NY charging you even to turn in your old plates…but my brain is too tired.)

In Ireland, the first two numbers on the license plate are the year of the car. Our rental says 12. Next comes one or two letters depending on which county the car was first registered in…Our rental is D for Co. Dublin. After that, are a series of numbers that may mean something…if they do, I have no idea what that might be.

So I’m walking up and down looking for a blue Audi that starts with “12 D” on the license plate. There are a lot of Blue Audis in the lot…& BMWs…none of the Audis say 12 D however. I’m starting to panic.

I’ve never had to report a stolen car. (I”ve never owned a car worth stealing). Do I call the rental agency and see if they have a tracer type of thing installed in the car? Do I call the Garda? No idea how this works. (but I did start thinking, at least I’ll have something to blog about tonight”)

Liz says she’ll meet me at the entrance where we first came in. So I go inside a bit…if someone else can take Méabh, I could look faster. Then I look around and start to retrace my steps…where did we meet with the Dublin Vineyard pastors when we showed up? Wait a minute…this is the wrong exit.

As I mentioned, my brain is a bit tired.

Updates on other stuff…

Housing…

Looked at two places today…the first one had a fly infestation. And a certain, je ne sais stink.

The second was beautiful…and in the range, we were thinking we could afford…I mean really beautiful…and everything is brand new…tags on the furniture new.

But, it is a hike to Clontarf…and to get from the house to the girls school would involve walking through some areas I’m not sure I want my teenage girls walking through after dark (remember, it gets dark around 4 pm here in the winter).

Still praying something pops up in Clontarf…

Car…

Trying to buy a Mazda 5…7 seater. Should work out okay…Hopefully, we’ll be doing this tomorrow.

Next Week…

On Monday I fly out to Boston for the Blue Ocean Summit. I’ll be meeting up with some people from the Ithaca Vineyard, and Hannah will be coming as well…so I’m looking forward to seeing her again & spending sometime with here.

On Thursday & Friday I’ll be in the Ithaca area and would love to connect with anyone whose interested…

Might even be getting my braces off…feel like such a teenager.

On Friday afternoon, Hannah & I head to Long Island, pick up Erin on Saturday & head back to Ireland on Monday. So, that adds a bit of pressure for us to have our housing stuff sorted out by August 14.

It’s kinda weird, but I’m already sad about having to leave here…even though we don’t have a place yet, it is really feeling like home.

But like I mentioned, my brain is tired…& so is the rest of me…time for bed.