The countdown continues part 3

A day until William and Saoirse are home!

Less than a day actually. In 17 hours they will arrive in Edmonton. They left for Hawaii a few hours ago and will arrive in Vancouver at 11 my time tomorrow. Hopefully all will go well in customs there, it should, we purposely chose for them to land in Vancouver instead of Edmonton, as Edmonton's immigration must be bored senseless which then gives them the right to be complete and total arseholes. Apparently. Anyway, they arrive in Edmonton at 3.10 and I can't wait to see them come through those doors.

A Music Meme

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question. NO CHEATING. (Well, try not to)

How does the world see you?
That Girl and the Slow Train- An Emotional Fish

Will I have a happy life?
Everybody Needs a Gun- Energy Orchard
(Hmmmm...not really a good sign is it?)

What do my friends really think me?
You're the One- The Men They Couldn't Hang

Do people secretly lust after me?
You're Beautiful- James Blunt
(I'll take it that's a yes)

How can I make myself happy?
Miracle Drug- U2
(I cheated, my original answer was Crumbs From Your Table but, hey, it's the same album.)

What should I do with my life?
Kill With Me Tonight- The Devlins

Will I ever have children?
In a Day- Lir
(Obviously, I already have children, but I better not have that last one tomorrow!)

What is some good advice for me?
Shall We Take a Trip- Northside
(I could really use a trip, but this band and I are totally thinking of different kinds of trips.)

How will I be remembered?
Infinite Thrill- That Petrol Emotion

What is my signature dancing song?
Captain Kidd- Great Big Sea

What do I think my current theme song is?
When the Night Feels My Song- Bedouin Soundclash
(Sample lyric: And when the light has left/I am not sure of my every step/ Hey beautiful day, heyyyy/ When the night feels my song/ I'll be home, I'll be home.)

What song will play at my funeral?
Where are You?- Our Lady Peace
(That one made me laugh.)

What type of men/women do you like?
A Man and a Woman- U2
(Apparently, I'm not fussy)

What is my day going to be like?
The Rocky Road to Dublin- Sons of Maxwell

I had fun doing this. Some sort of go, some not at all, and some are just plain silly. But no worries people, I am not tagging anyone. Do it if you want to, but make sure you tell me.

Things learned about myself: I listen to alot of Irish and Candian bands (9 Irish, 4 Canadian, 2 British and not a single American) and even the CD player agrees that I should be on some sort of medication.

The countdown continues part 2

3 days until William and Saoirse arrive home.

I am not ready.

Rather, my house is not ready. I am more than ready to see them.

So tell me why it is that I am sitting at the computer desk rather than cleaning?

I can tell you. I work better under pressure.

I will spend my entire day Saturday cleaning and when I wake up on Sunday morning my house will look lovely.

It will.

It had better.

A letter to my daughter

I was cleaning up today (yes, I do occassionally)and I found a letter I had written to Taylor when she was 5.

I spend so much time bitching about Taylor on this blog, that I thought maybe I should share with you that I actually do love this child. If you have been reading me for awhile you will see that I briefly mention one of our constant problems.

Here goes:


12 August 2000
Taylor,
This week you learned to ride your bike without training wheels. You no longer have a bike, you always refer to it as a "two wheeler." You learned to ride your bike like you do everything else- on your own, completely by surprise. You came running into the house "I can ride a two wheeler! I can ride a two-wheeler!" How proud you were! I thought you were wrong, frankly, for just the weekend before when we went camping with Jeremy and his mum, you wouldn't let Shelley or myself let go of your shirt on Jeremy's old 12". And here you are now! I came out to watch you- you pushed your feet to start and then you were off, down the driveway, across the road, up and then down that driveway and back again. You fell once that night- a scrape on your chin and a small one on each elbow. Now I watch you and it as though you were born riding a bike. But that is the way you do things, Tay- nothing is ever halfway with you. It is all (riding a bike, reading) or nothing (cleaning!)

You are reading alot. You can pick a book up you have never read before and read most, if not all, of it. When we e-mailed Great Grandad to thank him and Great Nanny for the gifts they had sent back with Nanny you wrote that you could read, I believe, 11 books. How high that number must be now!

I love you, Tay!
Mummy

P.S. Less than a month until kindergarten- how quickly you are growing up!

Oh ye of little faith

So the Oilers pulled off a win 8 minutes into double overtime last night. It was quite exciting I must say. Towards the end of the first overtime it looked as though Detroit had won, but the puck had slid under the net. Those poor Red Wings, all hugging each other and happy. You had to feel sorry for them. Just a little. But not too much, that would just be wrong.

Next game's tomorrow. Can the Oilers pull off another win? Can they take this series? It's the number one team vs. the number 14 team. On paper, you wouldn't think it at all. They say though that it is often the team that wants it the most that wins. That has to be the Oilers. It has been sooooooo long for them. Certainly, the Oilers fans want it more than the Red Wings fans, if you judge by the noise in Rexall Place as compared to Joe Louis.

Still, no point in getting ones hopes up only to suffer crushing defeat. It's just that you sort of can't help it. It's been 16 years after all.

How I hate overtime

I am watching the Oilers/Red Wings game. It was fantastic for the first two periods. The Oilers were leading 3-1. And then there was a crappy, lacklustre third period for the Oilers. Sadly, Dertoit did not have a bad period. They scored 2 goals 18 seconds apart.

Feckin' bastards.

So now it's going to overtime. And I hate, despise, cannae stand overtime. It makes me nervous. It makes me want to throw up.

Because you know what? I knew the Oilers, a team that has not been in the playoffs for 3 years, winning two games in a row was way too much to ask.

Still, one can hope.

I have not been into hockey in years. Which is a shame, because it is a game I used to love. I used to be able to tell you the stats of every player on every team, back in the days when it was a decent 26 team league.

Today I couldn't even tell you how many teams there are...30? 32? I don't know. I don't even know who most of the Oilers are these days. In fact when Brad Winchester scored the winning goal in game 2, I was away from the TV and origianlly thought that Detroit had scored. Then I realized that the fans were not cheering. Who knew the Oilers had a player called Brad Winchester? Not this half arsed fan.

I think the main reason I liked hockey was because I was a teenager and men in their early 20s were pretty sexy, even with missing teeth. Especially the not very handsome but extremely sexy Kelly Buchberger. But let's face it- when you're in 30s (even if it is still your early 30s, thank you very much) men in their early 20s are no longer sexy, they are only boys. I was going to say babies, but that's a wee bit harsh isn't it?

My son, future Man U player?

Liam had his first soccer game today, after only one practice. They won 11-1. He played the first half out, and was in goal the second half. Which just happens to be when that lone goal for the other team was scored. But never mind, he did fantastic.

So I hear, since I was only there for the last 5 minutes, due to a meeting.

In the first half, he was kicked somewhere- my mother says the ankle, he told William it was the knee- and he had to be carried off the field by the ref, crying the whole time. Crying, and saying he wanted to go back on. Boys, I tell ya. They don't give up very easily. I always say that if Liam is crying you know he's hurt since he is usually very stoic.

Yesterday in practice, he did a signature Liam move- he took a dive. I have never seen a kid who falls as often as Liam does. Is it just clumsiness? Possibly partly, but no, I think he is watching too many Manchester United games on Saturday mornings. I've said it here before and I have no issues with repeating myself- Man U players dive alot. I mean, a whole lot. And I don't know why Liam bothers because it is very rare in U10 soccer that some kid will get a yellow card.

But keep it up, sweetie, one day you could be a millionaire. Or at least show them how to do it properly.

Sixteen Dead Men

15 Canadian soldiers and 1 diplomat have died in Afghanistan since 2002.

Unlike my feelings on the war in Iraq, I am not opposed to the war in Afghanistan. I am conflicted about it, though. What was started in Afghanistan by the Americans should have been finished before they ever went into Iraq. I'm pretty sure they were looking for bin Laden and I am pretty sure he's still out there.

Finish one job before you start another, that's my motto. (Not really, but if I were the head of the world's largest super power it certainly would be.)

It turns out that the Prime Minister's office is taking a lead from the adminstration to the south. They have decreed that the media can no longer show images of the soldiers' caskets returning home. Nor will Canadian flags fly at half mast for fallen sodiers. They will be homoured once a year, on Remembrance Day.

I am completely opposed to this. It has been suggested that the reasoning behind this decision is that Canadians may come to believe that "Afghanistan could become Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Iraq." I don't think so. What I do think is that the less we hear about these men is the less likely we are to remember what they are doing. There are not many people who become immune to death, so I don't feel that is a valid reason either. If anything showing the caskets arriving home should make us remember, and appreciate, soldiers who go into a foreign country in the hopes of making this world a better place.

I'm shocked that I also agree with Ralph Klein, who has stated that flags at the Legislature will be lowered to half mast when a soldier from Alberta, or who is based in Alberta, dies. Since there are 4 Canadian Forces Bases in Alberta, there's a pretty good chance that our flags will be lowered when a death does occur. Although I don't think CFB Suffield counts, I'm pretty sure it's all Brits these days. Hmmm. Must look into that.

Have you ever noticed that I get off topic very easily? I do this in real life as well, go from subject to subject and back again. Very annoying to the average person in my life.

Anyway, it is good to see that at least one political official is showing proper respect to our Canadian soldiers. And maybe even the odd Brit or two. (And don't point out to me that if they are now in Afghanistan they are no longer based in Suffield. I know that, I just had no way to end this bloody post.)

I'm an auntie!

Well,not really. I'm actually a second cousin but since the chances of my brother having children of his own that we know about is almost nil I'm taking what I can get.

My cousin Marcus and his girlfriend Sophie had a baby boy today, at 3.25 GMT. He is called Jacob Thomas Raoul. The Thomas is after my brother. For some reason, he is very well liked in the family. Raoul is Spanish for Ralph, who is the grandfather. There's not many who would call a child Ralph these days, but Raoul is not half bad.

Jacob has an older brother, Isaac, who was two in October and who was not at all pleased about the impending arrival. Apparently he did quite well though.

This is my Aunt Jacki's fourth grandson in 3 years, not a girl in the bunch. My mother got all the girls apparently.

I will meet all four in 2007, when they come to Canada to celebrate Jacki and Ralph's retirement. Nelson will never be the same after our lot is done with it.

The Countdown Continues

6 days to go!!!! And then my baby will be home. I am so excited to see Saoirse again. More new changes- she bounces up and down when her dad comes in from work, she can say her name and says "g'day", all with an Australian accent. I suppose that will go quickly and she will just have a regular old boring Canadian accent. You'd think we'd live somewhere good like Nova Scotia or Newfoundland to at least have something other than dull for an accent. Of course, I could live without the bad grammar that comes with being from Newfoundland. (And don't you try and deny it if you're from there, it's bloody terrible.)

Oh, it's also 6 days until William comes home which is also a fantastic thing. In different ways entirely.

A sign, if you take these things seriously.

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions. You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Unlike Boliath, I was happy to see that The European city I belong in is Dublin.

Not that I'd ever live there mind you. I don't have a fortune sitting in my back pocket to buy a house in Dublin or even a bloody paperback book. Have you seen the prices in that city? Living in Edmonton is cheap.

Plus there's the minor fact that William would not live in the Republic, and especially not Dublin. Ach well.

I would have been the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl, when I was 17 or so. Not so much these days. And the bike ride? Well, I've not been on a bike since I was 11 so unless I fancied falling a few times there'll be no rides through the old part of town.

If I ever end up living in Europe it will be somewhere rather unfashionable like Aberdeen or Southampton. No offense to anyone from those two cities. I am sure there are worse. Eastbourne, maybe.

It makes me think of a place to tell you the truth

Tom Cruise has had his baby.

I mean, Katie Holmes has given birth to Tom Cruise's baby.

Suri. Which is not a terrible name. By far, it is not the worst celebrity baby name out there. There's some kid somewhere named after a piece of fruit.

Suri, however, makes me think of Surrey, B.C. or Surrey in England. A perfectly nice name but ruined by the fact that it is a place. And in the case of the one in B.C., not a particularly pretty place. It's like Devon. Devon's not a bad name at all, but there's a town right outside Edmonton called Devon, plus there's a Devon in England.

Here, did the people who settled this bloody country not have the ability to come up with an original name? Excluding Buffalo-Head-Smashed-In-Jump or whatever that place is called, of course.

Just looked it up on the World Heritage site and it is called Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump. I may not know it's name, but I knew it was a World Heritage site. I'm not just a pretty face you know.

So back to wee Suri. We all know that's Tom's baby,not Katie's; after all, when was the last time you saw a picture of Nicole Kidman with Isabella and Connor? Well before Thanksgiving was the last time I saw one.

I wonder if she made noise during the silent birth. Although I did see him on Primetime Live saying that the mother can make all the noise she wants, it is people around her who have to be quiet. Which, oddly enough, I don't totally disagree with. However, that is not what John Travolta and Kelly Preston said. They said everyone was to be quiet. One of these couples really must brush up on their scientology lessons.

Somehow, though, I think those signs being taken into Tom's house were facing Katie during the birth, not the doctor or anyone else.

I give it another 6 months.

The lunch disaster

Once a month, 4 of my girlfriends and I go out for lunch. It was supposed to be to Julio's Barrio, but Candy, Fiona and I went there a couple of weeks ago and our 3 meals plus one child's meal came to almost $70. So we decided to be cheap and vetoed Julio's in favour of my choice, the recently rebuilt Cheesecake Cafe.

This may have been a mistake. We arrived just before noon and Bev and Nancy were already there. First sign of impending disaster: the terrible makeup job on our waitress. Sorry, are they only called 'servers' these days? I am terrible for keeping up with current lingo. Anyway, the makeup was really bad; tons of foundation that ended just before the jaw line without being properly blended. And cat eye eyeliner, I don't care if it's the style, it looks horrid. Unless you're, you know, a cat. For someone who does not wear makeup I am very judgemental about it.

Plus she was a bit of a bitch.

We ordered drinks and our meals. Fiona was the first in the bad books of our waitress for asking for 3 slices of lemon with her diet pepsi. Then Nancy said there's something in my drink. I said it must just be a piece of her lime. But then I made the mistake of looking at my drink only to see 3 little somethings floating in it. I fished them out with my straw and am still not sure what they were. She brought Nancy and I new drinks (probably with a wee bit of spit in them.) My friend Shelley joined us at about 12.40 and only 2 of us had our meals. Bev's soup had arrived, but she had to request a new tea biscuit as hers was rock hard. My meal was the last to arrive, due to the fact that they had to remake it before it even left the kitchen.

So while we are all eating, with the exception of Shelley who had only a drink, Nancy suddenly spits something out her mouth. It is a huge grip. Not a regular sized one, but the really big ones. (By grip I mean bobby pin for all you North Americans. You know, all 3 of you.) It was in her salad. I was dying laughing (but stayed totally dry for anyone who reads the other blog.) Needless to say, Nancy's meal was sent back. The manager came over and offered to buy her a piece of cheesecake. Shelley said "I should hope you are buying the entire meal." Which they did end up doing.

By the end of our meal, she wasn't even answering us when we said thank you anymore, but let's face it the thanks were few and far between. We had our cheesecake. I had turtle, it was delicious.

Our bill came to about $90. Now, I know Canadians have a shitty reputation for tipping. I personally don't know anyone who is a bad tipper, with the exception of my mother, but she's English so that really explains it all I think. The group I was with today, we are great tippers. But not for this one. I think there was a $5.00 bill left on the table at the end of it all. Which is sad, but she was a cow. And there was no service and isn't that what you tip for? Though normally I do tip whether it is good or bad service. But no longer.

At the very end of it all, Bev was talking to the manager who gave her $20 in gift certificates and said that that waitress has been an ongoing issue. So, um, fire her? It's not like the Chessecake has a union and she can grieve it until kingdom come. Honestly, if it weren't for those gift certificates we would never do lunch there again. Well, we won't, but we will do cheesecake.

Next month we are off to Dante's, where once upon a time a great big Jamaican man tried to pick me up, but I was very drunk and when I am very drunk I somehow pick up an Irish accent, so I told him I was off home to Belfast in the morning. However, we will be in the restaurant in the middle of the day, not the club in the middle of the night so I think I and any Jamaicans are safe from one another.

*I have just realized that as I was using a fake Irish accent, it is entirely possible that he was using a fake Jamaican accent. Damn. It was very good though, but then so is my fake Irish one, if I do say so myself.

11 Days and counting

There are only 11 days until Saoirse and William come home!

Do you know what this means people?

In 11 days, I will hold my daughter for the first time in almost 3 months.

In 11 days, I will be able to have a proper mother/toddler conversation since she is now talking way more than she was in February.

In 11 days, I will have sex again.

Yea!


Was that too much information?

A stroke of genius or a sign of the coming madness?

I have decided to humiliate my children into cleanliness. Not the bedroom sort (a lost cause, I have decided) but the clean person sort.

I have told them they no longer need to shower/bathe.

I, quite frankly, am sick of the fight that comes every evening before they are told to shower.

Liam: "It's Taylor's turn to go first this time, I went first last time."

The mother:"Taylor, you're to go first."

Taylor:" No, it's Liam's turn."

Liam:"NOOOOO....I always go first, remember you said Taylor would go first for a while."

Taylor:"I don't remember agreeing to that!"

On and on and on and on it goes.....

The mother: "THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! If you two don't care enough to get into the bloody shower when you are stinking without being told then NEITHER OF YOU EVER HAVE TO SHOWER AGAIN!!!!!! GO TO SCHOOL DIRTY!!!! I NO LONGER CARE!!! I'M SICK OF ALL THIS FIGHTING!!!!!!!!"

So I'm done. I don't care if they have black hands from the dirt, I don't care if they stink to the heavens. I don't care how dirty Taylor's nails are or that her hair may become greasy. I don't care if Liam goes to school with his hair sticking up all over his head.

I am hoping however, that they one day might. I am hoping that the first time someone says "Och, you smell" they come home and hop right into the shower. I even hope it forces them to use soap instead of just standing under a stream of hot water. I hope that one day maybe, just maybe, my children will appreciate that the fact that they have to take showers. I hope that humiliation works.

Please let it because I am not sure that I could bear the smell of them for more than a day, or the sand in the sheets, or Liam not changing his underwear. By the way, is it just my son who thinks he can wear the same boxers for 2 or more days? I cannot tell you how many times I have made him run upstairs to change when I see those boxers over his jeans.

**NOTE: I am hoping this works. I once went on strike and would not do laundry or cook due to their ungrateful ways. They ate sandwiches and kraft dinner for a week. The laundry was harder, as they both have tons of clothes. But eventually I wore them down. Can I do it this time? Stay tuned.**

So who would be in your top ten?

At my weekend away the other week (which was fantastic by the way, I did almost fuck all) we were discussing who would be in our top ten list of celebrities to sleep with.

Much like the Ross thing on friends a few years ago, when he laminated his list of who Rachel would allow him to sleep with, since you'd never actually run into these people anyway.

We were listening to James Blunt at the time, and discussing whether or not he is attractive. It's my opinion that if he were not newly famous most people would not give him a second glance. There is however something very appealing about him, the lips and the shaggy hair I think. And then you hear that upper class British accent and any desire for the poor man is suddenly gone. But still, I'd do him as long as he didn't talk.

And here's the very sad thing... I could not come up with 10 celebrities that I would want to sleep with. This either signifies my lack of knowledge of those with fame and fortune or it tells you that I have grown up and am quite satisfied with my partner. I mean let's face it, once you've gone Irish there's just no going back.

Which leads me to Bono. I did list him, just because I would like to tell him that he is crap in bed and now can he please stop going on about what a fantastic person he is? The only other person I could think of was River Phoenix, due to my teenage obsession, but he is long dead and I don't think corpses could or should count.

So that's it, I have a top one and once I get sick of that CD, James Blunt will be off my list as well, so really there are no freebies for me. Which is quite alright for the newly mature me.

Who Am I?

Oprah's show on Friday was about women who have let themselves go. Apparently to get themselves back they had to keep a journal about who they were. But they could not be about their titles or roles. So no "I am a mom, I am Catholic, I am a lawyer." Obviously you should realize I am not talking about myself there since I am far from a lawyer.

This must have been thought up by people who are not mothers. (Hello, Oprah!) Being a mother defines who I am, good and bad. How can it not? If you are a mother, or a father, and you can tell me that being a parent does not define who you are then I will tell you that you must be half cracked and really, seriously need to reconsider your said role as a parent.

To a lesser degree our other roles define us...the fact that I am Catholic has certainly fucked me up in some indescribable way. The fact that I have a shitty job tells me alot too, did not go to university being the main one.

But beyond my roles and titles, just who am I? Let me enlighten myself, but sadly probably bore youse.

I am moody.
I am a procastinator.
I am disorganized.
I am messy. (Only at home, at work I'm anal about my workspace.)
I am a yeller. (Falls under my role as mum.)
I am all bark and no bite. (Yep, I'll yell until the walls fall down around me, but there is virtually no punishment involved.)
I am terrible at anything math related.

For fecks sakes, have I nothing good about about me? Thinking....

I have threatened people who have hurt my children or their friends. (This is not a good thing, one can get in trouble for telling a 14 year old -even if she is bigger than yourself- that you will choke her herself if she says once more to a child that she will choke and kill him.)
I am shy.
I am quiet.
However, once I know someone well, I don't shutup.
I am selfish in certain areas of life.(Just ask my poor fella, it's a wonder he wants to share a bed with me.)
I am generally fairly positive. (I know, you'd never guess it by reading this blog.)
I am obsessive.
I am a reader.
I am a contradiction.

Surely, there must be a few positive things about me, but I am much too tired to go on. I have been up for an hour and I need a nap.

Freaking Taxes

I hate tax time, I really do. Not only do I realize just how poor I am but it also calls into play my very poor organizational skills. Most of my tax stuff arrived in January, however I waited until the beginning of March for my T-4 from the hospital. By the time that arrived, where was everything else?

It was not in the handy wee file folder entitled "Taxes" was it? No, of course not. That would be considered convienent.

I found two in the little metal tin where I keep months worth of bills, but I could not find the T-4 from my 5 week job in retail hell. I did eventually find it, in the yellow pages, only to discover that they only took $6.47 for income tax on $1600 earned. So any chances of getting anything back are now kaput.

I sent everything off to my mum who was going to get a friend to do my taxes. She was doing them online and required my pin number as well as my total from last year. Last year? That should be in a handy wee folder entitled "Prior Taxes" but was it? This is me, people, so of course it wasn't. I did find my pin number, which I placed on the kitchen table to give to my mother when I next saw her.

I never saw it again. I have no idea where it disappeared to.

So now someone else is going to do my taxes because I am not together enough to have everything I need and instead of being free it is now going to cost me to have this other person do my taxes.

And on the off chance I do get something back, it is all going to go to my student loan. That's $2700 in the last 3 years. And I still have $2800 to pay. Will it never end?

Tell me why....

Tell me why it is that a 10 year old boy can spend the entire evening with you and not say a word about what he needs for school and then when the bus is at the door suddenly says "Do you know where my recorder is?"

Why? Why couldn't he have said this last night when I specifically asked if everything was in his knapsack?

Children frustrate me. Have I said that before?

Tomorrow will bring me peace.

Don't get me wrong here. I love my kids. It's just that sometimes I need to get away from them before madness descends and my head explodes.

I am going away, as I wrote 8 days ago now.

I'm not leaving forever, though the way I have been feeling lately, sometimes forever would not be long enough. Liam is currently in my bad books for losing his new coat yesterday, a coat I spent a fortune on. Taylor is in my bad books for throwing a fit at her friends and then for getting mad at me because of it. Liam is currently earning his way out of disgrace by offering to clean the garage. He's a good boy, that one. Mind you, he will expect payment. Taylor is out looking for our neighbour's dog. She's a good one too, though I rarely say it. So maybe they aren't it my bad books anymore, but I still need this weekend away.

My stamping stuff arrived today, so I will be doing the birth announcements, plus I am going to do a scrapbook layout of Saoirse at the zoo.

Or I might do bugger all, an option that is looking exceedingly more appealing by the moment. The thing is I don't have a single book that I haven't read, though I did see yesterday that Marian Keyes has a new one out. Do I really want to spend $35 on a hardcover though? I'm hesitant. There's a Cathy Kelly I haven't read yet, perhaps I'll get her. Looks like there's a trip to Chapters in my near future.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, I will be back on Sunday possibly with some crafts done, a book read, and in a slighty saner frame of mind.

***UPDATE: The bloody Marian Keyes book isn't available here until May. In the good news department however, it will only be $22.99. Now it's been a long time since I worked in book retail hell, but are hardcovers getting cheaper? Paperbacks surely aren't. $12.99 these days, that's what you paid for a trade paperback in 1991. Feck, I'm old.

How do you assure the safety of 331 children?

Yesterday, a Grade 2 girl was sexually assaulted in the bathroom of her downtown school. (For those of you outside of North America, that would make her 7, possibly 8.)

It is believed that a man entered the school while the doors were briefly left open during recess, hid in a bathroom and assaulted the girl when she went, alone, to the washroom.

This has made national news, which is somewhat unusual. The same thing happened in a Toronto school in 2002 and now there is a province wide initative in Ontario to provide funding funding for all schools that want extra security. I do not know that this would happen in Alberta.

Today I received a letter home from Taylor's school, but not Liam's, in regard to this matter and how the Catholic School Board will be handling it. Will that be different than the Public board, which is what the school involved is? I very much doubt it.

Last year our school brought in a policy where all doors except for the front door are locked. This pissed off many parents who questioned how little kids would make it to the front door if they needed the bathroom. The doors were then left open during recess and lunch, which appears to be exactly what the school in question was doing.

So how do you guarantee safety for over 300 children? The reason they started locking doors last year was because there was an elderly man on the school fields approaching students, my son included. A few parents demanded fences around the perimeter of the field, with locked gates. This was an impossiblity as the majority of our grounds actually belong to the city and with soccer posts and baseballs diamonds, you can not deny the community access. As a parent, I was opposed to the idea of chain link fences. I felt more supervision was the way to go, it does seem to lack at times but I suppose teachers are entitled to breaks!

The letter that was sent home today states that "in response to this incident, all doors at our school, including the front door, will remain locked during the day until further notice." It goes on to say that we will be informed of any new details or additional security measures.

I am glad they sent the letter home so quickly, their response last year was slow at best. I am sad though to see that we live in a world where a school can not have an open door policy.

Much Music's VJ Search

Sadly, my plea for bloggers to vote for Nathalie seems to have fallen on deaf ears and only a few people actually did so. At least only a few of you told me you did. I also asked people I know and apparently I just don't know enough people. Most just said "What? What's a VJ?" Hmmm...maybe the people I know are just too old.

Tim, who was the last person eliminated, was the one that fans voted back on. It is now up to the fans to chose the winner.

So who do I vote for? Here's a rundown of the final four.


Nikki. The only female who remains, she certainly knows her music. But does she know anyone else's music?

Tim. The one who was voted back in. He's alright, but comes across as somewhat dense. How many times can one say 'like' in a sentence. He's not a 15 year old girl. Has an extensive knowledge of music.

Sean. He's a riot. I am not sure that I could listen to him throughout a show, as I am a voice person and his grates on me, but then so does Tim with his likes and Erik with his loudness. If he wins he would be Much's first openly gay VJ.

Erik. He's not half bad to look at, which is a plus on TV. But he looks an awful lot like someone I had a brief relationship with that ended very badly. Lesson learned- one should never sleep with their best friend. I can not vote for him for purely superficial reasons. Oh, and he's a cocky wee fuck.


I think I am probably going to vote for Sean, he makes me laugh and he does a great interview. So if you feel like adding to Sean's fortunes, vote for him here. Or vote for someone else, whatever works for you.

The coming of spring

I do realize that spring has already officially been here for 2 weeks. It's just that we had such a lovely winter and then at the end of February we were hit by snow and cold temperatures. There was a snowstorm the weekend before spring arrived, which made it very unspring like. However, the snow is almost all melted which has led to flooded sidewalks behind Taylor's school, which is the path I use to get most everywhere including the mall, work and my mum's house. That is the story every spring and I just can't get used to it. Nor do I enjoy the soaking wet shoes and socks.

There are a few other things about spring that I am not fond of including, but not limited too, the following:
-a messy entry way. No matter what, dead grass and dirt find their way in so that I am constanly sweeping and mopping. Thank God for the Swifter Wet Jet, which does a quick, if not very thorough, job.
-wet shoes. Due to the aforementioned flooded sidewalks plus kids that are drawn to every puddle they see, and are apparently too old and much too cool for rubber boots.
-dirty clothes. With wet sidewalks and patches of grass comes dirty cuffs on pants and along with my very uncoordinated daughter comes alot of wet arses. Does she sit in puddles? In the spring my budget for Spray'n'Wash increases threefold.
-dog shite. My most hated feature of spring. Due to the fact that people seem unwilling to walk in 3 feet of snow through the field they walk their dogs on the sidewalk, which I am quite alright with. What I am not alright with is not pooper- scoopering. Come spring that shite that has been long dry melts along with the snow into a diarrhea-like mess in the middle of the sidewalk. Yuck.

What I love about spring.
-Capris, capris, capris. What will I do when these pants go out of style? Taylor and I wear them all spring long. I wear them all summer too, because I hate my legs in shorts. Saoirse has a few pairs in Australia with her, and I bought her the cutest denim pair at Old Navy for when she gets home.
-the fact that the kids are outdoors. Although both Taylor and Liam are very slim, I do worry that one day they may not be. It is good to have them outside everyday rollerblading, riding bikes and playing road hockey. They hardly watch any T.V. come spring.
-shoes. Are the shoes not a thousand times better in the spring and summer than they are in the winter? I have a small shoe obsession and will be sure to buy a few pairs for the girls and myself. Liam could care less and William could care even less. I do however have an issue with men in sandals. It just does not work for me at all. Have I said before that I have a thing against feet. I really do. To the point that I can not buy a magazine if it has someone's bare feet on it. Exception to babies who have the cutest feet.

Although it looks as though there are more cons on my list, once we get past the first few wet weeks I absolutely love spring. I am even inspired to clean out my garage tomorrow because it is going to be a beautiful sunny day. Plus my friend Candy needs to use my freezer and I have to give her walking space. I can't expect her to jump over all the piles of crap I have thrown in there through the winter months can I? What sort of friend would I be? She could break her leg and sue me.

Two international bands play the Junos, both win record of the year...Conspiracy? I'm thinking so.

I missed the first hour of the Junos yesterday, and in doing so I missed the good hour of it. The second hour was pretty boring, with the exception of Michael Buble winning his fourth award of the weekend.

Yes, the weekend. I don't get that about the Junos...some of the biggest awards are given the night before. I understand having an event for stuff like best designed album cover, or sound engineering because what does your average fan care about those? But to give Group of the Year at a non-televised event makes absolutely no sense to me.

Things I Missed:
Bedouin Soundclash performing "When the Night Feels My Song", which I absolutely love.
Coldplay playing a Canadian awards show. Just what is this world coming to?
Nickelback. Not a big fan, but I do love "Photograph" and I bet that's what they played.

I did catch Hedley, with former Canadian Idol contestent Jakob making an absolute ass out of himself. And what did he do to his hand?
I also saw Michael Buble sing Home. He's a sexy wee bugger.
I had the misfortune of watching Black Eyed Peas, when I would have much prefered Coldplay.
Taylor was thrilled to see Simple Plan win the fans choice award but mighty disappointed that Pierre was not there to accept it. I would have loved Simple Plan when I was a teenager, I would have said that their lyrics pretty well described average teenage angst and parental misunderstanding.
If I were a man without a sex life I probably would have been quite thrilled at the sight of Pam Anderson's nipple. I am not a man, though, and I wasn't.

Coldplay and Black Eyed Peas both won for International Album of the Year. They say it's based on record sales and it very well may be but do you really think either band would have performed if they hadn't already known they were going to win an award? Maybe Black Eyed Peas would have, since they did play the Grey Cup but I doubt that Coldplay would have. They can go on about loving Canada all they want, but I don't buy it for a moment. If they loved Canada they would have played more than just three Canadian cities on their North American tour. Bitter? I am.

I also had a phone call immediately after Bryan Adams was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, asking me if he was gay. I only caught the tail end of his speech, so I don't know what made this person think that. And honestly, I have never thought about Bryan Adams sexuality. Maybe he is. Either way, he has managed to keep his personal life personal and I admire that.

This was also the first year that the Junos were broadcast around the world on MTV and VH1, so if you happened to catch it, you might be suprised to know that the lead singer from Heldley is straight. Never would have guessed it would ya have?

2 months down, less than one to go

2 months ago today Saoirse and William left for Australia. It has been the longest 2 months of my life. They will be home in a little under a month, on the 30th.

I worry that she will be shy with me. She won't talk to me on the phone, she always starts crying. Which breaks my heart, yet her father insists on giving it a go. I am prepared for the fact that she might not want me to hold her, and I know that once we have her home all will be fine. Well, back to normal anyway, where she cried if she was left with me. Oh yes, Saoirse is the ultimate Daddy's girl. The last picture of her and I together, taken the day she left, is one where she is sitting on my lap, but she is crying and has her arms held out to the picture taker, who just happens to be her dad.

Missing three months of a toddler's life means you have missed out on a lot. So many new things that she can do. She now says a host of new words, which will all be new to me. She walks backwards, and when her diaper is changed she flips over onto her tummy so William can give her bum a wee smack (!). She likes to be chased and at the park she climbs up the slide so she can slide down, by herself, she wants no help. Her fringe is now going into her eyes, and her hair curls over her ears. William asked me if I wanted him to take her for a haircut or wait until they are back. I asked him to wait for to reasons, one that I want to be there and two, that he will not take the right pictures of this momentous event. I have some lovely first haircut stickers for a scrapbooking page.

I look forward to having them home, to getting ready to move house, and having this new baby. It'll be a busy few months.

Good God, it was spotless for a moment

My daughter's bedroom is clean. Mummy clean. Because Mummy cleaned it. For 2 solid days. I cleaned and I threw away 3 of those big black garbage bags of, well, garbage plus a huge recycling bag of paper and cardboard and other junk that my daughter manages to squirrel away into corners. I moved her bed away from the wall as there was a tiny hole which is now gigantic due to her kicking it during her sleep. I moved her dresser into the corner and took out a desk with a bookcase on it.

And it's clean! At least it was. I went in there tonight and there were a few stuffed animals on the floor, plus a few more in the ceiling. Apparently she is decorating. So we'll see what happens tomorrow after school when she is due to give her room its daily 10 minute cleaning. If she can manage that, it might actually stay clean.

*I say the room is Mummy clean because that is a healthy spot right in the middle between Taylor clean (a demolition area) and Nanny clean (not only spotlessly clean, but with no personal effects either.)

I'm happy with it anyway. I may even take a few pictures to catch this moment in time.

Apparently I will never leave Canada

I have a slightly small problem. I have to renew my passport, as it well past expired but I cannot find my birth certificate. I am pretty sure it is somewhere in my garage, but finding it could take years as my garage is a catch all place for every piece of junk (and probably a few important documents) I own. I suppose I should just phone and order a new one, but you know what will happen then don't you? The moment that $22 or so is put on to the Visa, I will find the original.

Because I carry a British passport I also need to order a new Canadian citizenship card, which is highway robbery at $75. $75 for a piece of laminated paper. Insane. If I do not have this card, it is entirely possible that Immigration Canada may not let me back into the country. Which I said is fine with me, as long as they pay for my flight back to where ever I came from.

I had thought that maybe I would just order a Canadian passport instead, as it is slightly cheaper than ordering a British one, but it turns out that I still need that fecking card to prove I am actually a citizen.

So it looks like I will be staying put as actually doing anything to get a passport requires effort on my part. Here's hoping William and I don't have to move because I would really have to get my shit together.