Planning Birthdays and Vacations

I set up my official birthday invites on Facebook.  I really wanted to send invitations in the mail and even purchased an acceptable paper for the purpose, but when I started thinking about the whole informality of the events I wondered why I would even bother with it.  My Saturday, as previously discussed will be spent at the bar with friends.  I am not sure exactly which bar, though I wrote Max's Taphouse on my invitation.  I haven't really decided if I would like to base my celebration in Baltimore City or in Columbia.  They both have their benefits.  For example, parking will not be an issue in Columbia but there will be more options for spontaneity in the city.  I have the whole thing starting at Max's Taphouse in Fell's Point and figured we could stop at a few other bars before making our way over to Birds of a Feather.  Though we could just as easily start at Frisco Grille in Columbia and make our way over to the Aida Bistro and Wine Bar or Café de Paris.  Or we could head north a little bit and hit up some of the bars near dad's house.  Though I think the real issue is that I don't have a bar I specifically go to.  I go all sorts of places that other people frequent, but I haven't developed my own place.  Makes me wonder if there is something near my house that I could check out in the mean time.

As for Vacations - I just received my State Tax Refund and I'm putting most of it away for my trip.  I am also putting some of it away to purchase a Kindle and renew my passport before I go.  It looks like nothing has changed for my sister and she is still unable to go with me.  Things are not looking very positive for the Dads, either.  As of right now, I know I will use at least 6 days of PTO time this year; 3 days for the NC beach vacation with the family, 1 day for the NKOTBSB trip to Greensboro, 1day for the Friday before my birthday, 1 hour to pick mom up at the airport, 5 hours for the piano movers, and 2 hours for doctor's appointments already scheduled.  This should leave me about ten PTO days to use for various other things like my trip to Ireland.  I don't know that I could afford a long trip if I go alone; the hotel costs are more expensive for one person. So I may not use all of my remaining PTO.

I have three places I definitely want to visit in Ireland and the tricky part will be coordinating it by myself.  I am sure it will be easier to travel with just one person and I won't have to compromise on what I want to do on x, y, or z day of the trip.  But if there's a problem, I am the only person there to figure it out.