INXS

I took Taylor and Liam to see INXS last night. It was a fantastic concert, though not entirely child friendly. Alot of swearing on the part of J.D. Fortune, and a few refrences to pot, with a blatant bit of smoking shown on the big screen. Thankfully, it went right over the heads of my two, who just assumed it was a cigarette. The swearing did not. The first time they heard the word "fucking" I could see Taylor's head swivel around to look at me and I think Liam's eyes lit up. He kept track of how many times that word was said. Honestly, you'd think the kid didn't live in a house where it was said everyday.

Having seen INXS twice before, in the days of Michael Hutchence, I would say that J.D. Fortune more than holds his own. He sounds enough like Michael Hutchence that you know it's INXS, yet different enough that he makes it his own. He's extremely sexual, another thing that went over the head of my kids. I'm not sure how he made it through the night though, as he had a brace on his leg from an injury at a previous concert. He was very, very energetic, and was apparently on stage against doctor's orders.

Here's the thing about taking your kids to a concert though. You become a totally different person. I am sure the three women in front of me did not appreciate me at all. They came in part way through the opening act (Scott Stapp, formerly of Creed, more recently of Kid Rock porn) and immediately started taking out those glow in the dark bracelets (you know, the ones that are big at elementary school dances) and using them as earrings. They started out as a group of 4, but ended up down one. I think the fourth had a breakdown, she was crying as the countdown to INXS was on. Anyway, as soon as the band came on they were up and dancing in front of their seats. They decided to go into the aisle, where almost immediately an usher told them to go elsewhere. So they did. And for about 45 minutes I had a great view. Then they came back- minus breakdown girl- and sat down. Then when "Need You Tonight" came on they jumped up and started dancing. Which is fine, people, don't think I am a total loser. Normally at a concert I would just get up myself as the rows in front of me did. However, the people behind me were not going to stand. After 2 songs, they sat down. Perhaps they heard the person behind me who told them to sit down, I don't know. Within a song they were back up so I tapped one on the shoulder and said that it would be nice if they acknowledged the 3 little kids behind them, who could not see a thing. "Come on, it's INXS; you have to dance." I said "I'm 7 months pregnant and I have no plans on standing behind you for an hour." Frankly, I have managed to avoid varicose veins through 34 months of pregnancy, I'd like not to risk it in the remaining two months. So they moved. Behind us, which was more than fine with me. I have nothing against people getting up, but honestly, show a little respect for the people sitting in the rows behind you. Either that, or buy floor seats or ask for the last row in a section. I was fully prepared to stand for the encore, and I believe everyone did. Except for my two, who were both sick, and by 10.15 tired.

Hmmm...as I re-read this, I realize I'm a bit of a pain in the ass. Ach well, it was still a good concert.

Missing Home

It is silly to consider a country that you have not lived in since you were 3 to be home and yet that is how I have been feeling about England lately. I miss it something terrible. Is it the nearness to family or the ability to just hop on a plane and go to Dublin or Belfast or to take a train up to Glasgow? Mostly family, I think, but the travelling factor is a huge plus.

My mother is talking about moving back in a few years and that has made parts of me want to go back as well. Although she would live in the south, where most of her family is now, I think I would want to go back to Birmingham, or to a small town near it. It amazed me the last time I was there how much that city has changed. When I was little I hated how dirty it was, how very crowded the city centre was. It's still crowded but I no longer hate crowds, and it is not the dirty place it once was. Okay, still dirty compared to a Canadian city, but not half bad on an English scale.

I know that this is just dreaming. I know, in reality, that Birmingham, or any other part of England, would not work out for our family. It would be very difficult to move an 11 year old girl and a 10 year old boy to a different country, especially a 10 year old boy with dyslexia. We have in the past talked about moving back to some part of the U.K. if William is not allowed to stay here. With both of us having British citizenship it would be much easier than going to Australia. I believe, though, that William will receive permanent residency in Canada, and so England becomes just a place that we will visit.

Although with 4 kids, what are the chances we could ever afford it? Thank God for family living there, at least we'll save on hotels!

Some sad news

Today I had a phone call from my mother to say she had some bad news. For a second I thought she was going to tell me my grandad had died as this was around the time the family in England normally gives her a ring. No, it wasn't that though.

"I just had a call from Mr. T.M.... Mrs. T.M. has been given 3-6 months."

A month or so ago, my mum had a call from Mrs. T.M. (the mother of my friend Janine who has been written about a time or two in this blog, also Taylor's godmother.) She asked my mum to go for a walk and then told her that she had just been diagnosed with stomach cancer. They would consider operating, but if they were unable to do so, they would give her about 18 months.

Now, my only experience with stomach cancer was back when Taylor was in 4 year old playschool, back in 2000. Her favourite friend was a little boy called Sam. Sam had an older sister and a baby sister, born the prior November. He had a lovely mother and a very nice father, who taught high school. Sam's father was diagnosed with stomach cancer at the end of February, was operated on on March 10 (I will always remember that date because Sam was at our house for Taylor's fifth birthday party) and died on April 26. So fast, and he was only 36. I think about that family often. Sam went to kindergarten and Grade 1 with Taylor and then over the summer they moved away. Sam had a lot of difficulty in school after his dad died, and I hear he is now in a program for troubled kids. His mother, always somewhat fragile, spent time in a psychriatric hospital. That's all sort of moot, the purpose of this paragraph was that he passed away after only two months.

Anyway, back to Mrs. T.M.... my mum was told today that they opened her up and closed her right back up again. She was asked to go visit her on Tuesday when she comes home from the hospital. All three of her children were with her today. Janine is apparently devastated. Am I not a terrible friend? I had not called her at all, until today when I left a message. I just don't know what to say. At one point in the phone conversation Mr. T.M. said "We hope to spend another Christmas with you." My mum cried when she told me this. Since we were teenagers, Janine has spent almost every Christmas with us, as her family celebrated on Christmas Eve. In the last 5 or 6, her parents have joined us and for the last two, we have had both her sister, who lives in B.C., and her brother come as well. I said I hoped that they were all there, even though it would be a very sad day. I can no longer imagine Christmas Day without them.

It's all very sad, and I feel terrible for the entire family. What do you say to someone who knows her mother is going to die?

...and on to the Stanley Cup we go

The last time I wrote about the Edmonton Oilers they were in the midst of the first round of the playoffs against the Detroit Red Wings. They went on to win that series in six, something that very few people expected and certainly not the Red Wings themselves. It was the San Jose Sharks in six the next round as well. The Oilers came back from being down 2-0 to win the next 4. (Side note...did you know Dublin has a twin city in San Jose? No, neither did I.) Tonight, the Oilers beat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 5. Ach, sorry I forgot they are now called the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. It was a great win tonight, a close score of 2-1, with most of the last 4 minutes spent shorthanded.

I tell you all this because the majority of my readers come from outside of Canada and unless you're in Anaheim (and even then) I am not sure that the average American could give a flying puck about this particular series in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Oilers were presented with the Clarence Campbell trophy for being winners of the Western Conference. This is something that has pissed me off for years, and what took me away from hockey, this Americanization of the most Canadian game around. I will never understand why they had to change the names of the conferences and the divisions. It used to be the Campbell Conference and the Wales Conference. Now it's Western and Eastern. The Oilers used to be in the Smythe division (is division even the right word?), now I don't even know what they are in. Northwest I think. Anyway, I rant. You don't care, so tell me to shutup.

The Oilers will go on to play either the Buffalo Sabres or the Carolina Hurricanes, Liam's favourite team. Either or, I think the Oilers will take it.

I'm Back....

Hello, people. I am back. Not that I was ever gone mind you, I just suddenly developed an aversion to spending great amounts of time blogging about my rather unexciting life. Plus I was busy. Plus, everytime I would go to blog I would visit a few blog first and then spend too much time doing that. Plus, I feel guilty when I am on the computer not designing the school yearbook I am supposed to be designing. So all those pluses equal one lazy Emma.

So here's a few updates for those who care, and those who don't but have nothing better to do:

Yesterday was my last day at work. I decided that for my sanity and the well being of this future child I had better call it quits. If you've ever read my other blog, you may know that I have had high blood pressure and very bad headaches, especially while at work, and add this to the fact that when I work a weekend or a stat I work with one to two complete and total buck eejits which just puts me in a bad frame of mind in general. So Monday was a stat (Victoria Day to all you non-Canadians) and the girl I was working with did 6 patient runs to my 39. Needless to say, this had me in a very bad mood and when I went to work on Tuesday I told the gal who communicates to my boss that I was done for, and I would finish out this week. It was a full 40 hour week so that should help a bit with the mat leave. I won't get very much, as I think I'm only at about 750 hours, but even a little is better than nothing at all. So that's me free as a bird until next May! Yay!!!!!!!!

William, who is not legally allowed to work here, is helping out a friend with his construction business, so it will be just me and Saoirse during the day. That will be so odd, since last July it has either been the three of us (or the 5 really, during holidays) or just William and Saoirse.

We're moving! I can't wait. Currently we are in a 3 bedroom and at the end of July we are moving to a 4 bedroom. This works very well for me, as we will now have 2 full bathrooms plus one washroom, and I will no longer have to take a shower amongst all the toys. In fact, other than bathing Saoirse and the baby I will not step foot in the kids bathroom, not even to clean it, that is going to be the reponsibility of the 2 oldest. My only dilemma is how should I decorate it? With one boy amongst three girls I can not do anything to feminine. I want to avoid themes (aka Spongebob) and we had a fish theme a few years ago. So what to do? I saw a duck shower curtain that I loved, but I think Liam would hate it. What else about my new house? It has a partially finished basement and Liam says he would like to sleep down there, so I may manage to get a scrapbooking/computer room. Otherwise, the computer will be in the living room and the scrapbooking stuff will be in the the master bedroom.

William has taken over coaching Liam's soccer practices, as 2 of the coaches have apparently lost the plot. One freaked out about our manager saying that he wasn't teaching them anything and the other I saw on the psych ward this week. Not as a visitor, but as a patient. So since the main coach is a coach in name only, she has asked William to help the kids out. At least now, they have proper practices, not just kicking the ball at the net.

And that's that. I hope I have sufficiently bored you all enough to cause you to visit again soon.

I love personal questions.

1. Grab the book nearest you, go to page 18 and line 4.

Beneath the tree lay a pit where Dekanahwideh threw the... from the Story of Canada. I am not reading this, but it happens to be right near the computer because Vicki's sister Billie chose to do a report on Canada, and Taylor thought some of her books might be of a help. The book I am currently reading says 'For Jaysus sakes, girl,' Sheila said scathingly, 'there's a (war on.') Ah, British wartime fiction; ya gotta love it.

2.Stretch your left arm out. Can you catch air?

I can. With the right too.

3.What is the last thing you watched on T.V.?

If it was the last time I watched and actually paid attention, it was the hockey game on Friday. Otherwise, it was Coronation Street this morning. We are 9 months or so behind. Janice had her shaved because of lice.

4. Without looking guess what time it is?

Just before 1.

5.Now look at the clock, what's the actual time?

12.58.

6.With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

The Honeymooners is on in the livingroom, there are kids outside. Other than that nothing, as my lot are over at the waterpark.

7.When did you last step outside? What were you doing?

3ish yesterday, I took Taylor to a birthday party. Taylor's gift was the birthday girl's favourite, her mother told me she announced this at the party. I found an MP3 player on sale for a great price. Might pick up a few more for gifts. Walked in the door at 5.30 and haven't left since.

8.Before you started this survey, what were you looking at?

I was on Tonya's blog to get the questions.

9.What are you wearing?

I'm still in my pjs.

10. When did you last laugh?

This morning, at Saoirse, who was running around with a laundry hamper on her head. Must post the pic of it.

11. What is on the walls of the room you are in?

One of those photo collage things. A shelf with a crystal cookie jar on it as well as a ceramic jug. A clock. 2 calendars. A picture of a mural from Belfast that says "Free Ireland." A picture of a girl climbing on her brother's back to steal cookies from the cookie jar (it reminded me of Taylor and Liam when they were little.) A corkboard with school notices and a picture of Saoirse at 2 days old. 3 drawings by Liam.

12. Seen anything weird lately?

Ummmmm...no not that I can think of.

13. What do you think of this quiz?

It's alright.

14. What is the last film you saw?

In theatres it would still be Pink Panther from Liam's party in Febraury. At home, I watched the Snapper not to long ago.

15. If you became a multi millionaire overnight what would you buy?

My dream house with my dream scrapbooking room. A house in Australia and one in either England or Scotland, or if I was really lucky somwhere in Cork. A house for my mum in England. I would bring William's family here for a family reunion.

16. Tell me something about you that I don't know.

You don't know that I think I have slept with too many people. Well, now you do. But only William knows the exact number.

17. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

I suppose with my multi millions I could make a break in child poverty, at least in Edmonton.

18. Do you like to dance?

As long as no one's watching.

19.Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

No imagination required. Taylor Elizabeth Jude. Taylor after my grandparents who had no sons, Elizabeth after my ex's grandmother and Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jude after River Phoenix. Sorry to all who have heard this before, as well as below.

20. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

Liam Seamus Forrest. Liam I picked at 14. Seamus after my brother, whose middle name is James and Forrest was chosen by my ex as it is a family name. Not his family, mind you, but his stepfather's. If I had had my way it was going to be Padraig.

21. Would you ever consider living abroad?

Sure, I already do. But I would move back home. And probably move right back to Canada, lol.

22. What do you want God to say to you when you arrive at the pearly gates?

"Emma, you're such a nice old lady, that I came to meet you instead of St. Peter."

Being a girl in the 70s (or the early 80s in my case)

I got this email and I had to post it (without pictures, because bugger if I could figure that one out) as it really did bring back alot of memories...Holly Hobbie wallpaper and a Christmas party my dad's club used to have for all the members children at which I had just turned 9 and yet I received a gift for a 6-8 year old which just happened to be a Strawberry Shortcake game. To this day I hate Strawberry Shortcake and I have yet to totally forgive my father for this debacle. I will tell you why...the 9-12 year olds got walkmans and I got a friggin' Strawberry Shortcake game!!!!!!

I am assuming at least a few people reading this are near my age, and I should hope it inspires only fond memories.


If YOU WERE A LITTLE GIRL IN THE 70'S ...


You had that Fisher Price Doctor 's Kit with a stethoscope that actually worked.
(I did!)

You owned a bicycle with a banana seat and a plastic basket with flowers on it.
(Banana seat, no plastic basket)

You learned to skate with actual skates (not roller blades) that had metal wheels.
(I did, and at the roller rink I would always request David Bowie's Modern Love and everytime the bastard would play Let's Dance or My Little China Girl.)

You thought Gopher from Love Boat was cute (admit it!)
(He was a okay, but I really liked the doctor. I had a thing for doctors back then- I also had a huge crush on Doctor Baker from Little House, at least until Willie got older.)

You had nightmares after watching Fantasy Island.
(No, but it was an odd show.)

You had rubber boots for rainy days and Moon boots for snowy days. YEAH! ~ You owned a "Slip-n-Slide",on which you injured yourself on a sprinkler head more than once.
We always had roober boots, but I never had moon boots. In the very early 80s though, I had the rubber cowboy boots. V. tacky.)

You owned "Klick-Klacks" and smacked yourself in the face more than once.
(Yep.)

You had either a "bowl cut" or "pixie," not to mention the "Dorothy Hamill". People sometimes thought you were a boy.
(When I went to England when I was 9 my great uncle asked "who are all the boys?" I was the only girl. Have yet to forgive my mum for that one. Again, this was the early 80s not the 70s.)

Your Holly Hobbie sleeping bag was your most prized possession.
(Had the bedding and the wallpaper, the paper dolls and those stick ons, a bunch of knick knacks and a light shade. No sleeping bag.)

You wore a poncho, gauchos, and knickers.
( I remember the knickers, they were green and from Marks and Spencers. I wore them on St. Patrick's Day.)

You begged Santa for the electronic game, Simon.
(I did, but can't recall getting it.)

You had the Donnie and Marie dolls with those pink and purple satiny shredded outfits.
(Nope, that was before my time.)

You spent hours in your backyard on your metal swing set with the trapeze. The swing set tipped over at least once.
(It did!)

You had homemade ribbon barrettes in every imaginable color. (Oh yeah!)
(Don't recall those...yarn ponytail holders I remember.)

You had a pair of Doctor Scholl's sandals (the ones with hard sole & the buckle). You also had a pair of salt-water sandals. (is this an east coast thing??)
(No Doctor Scholl's sandals...do you think my parents were made of money? If salt water sandals are jelly sandals I had numerous pairs.)

You wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder really bad; you wore that Little House on the Prairie-inspired plaid, ruffle shirt with the high neck in at least one school picture; and you despised Nellie Olson!
(I did, I did and I did. I was once Laura Ingalls for Hallowe'en.)

You wanted your first kiss to be at a roller rink.!
(No I was too young... my first real, proper kiss was on a canal boat in England with an "older" boy. Ach, the memories.)

Your hairstyle was described as having "wings" or "feathers" and you kept it "pretty" with the comb you kept in your back pocket.
(Like my daughter today, I was not a big fan of the comb, hence the reason my mother kept it short, but yep, I had wings.)

~ When you walked, the "wings" flapped up and down, looked like you were gonna "take off"
(Usually too short.)

You know who Strawberry Shortcake is, as well as her friends, Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie.
(Damn that Strawberry Shortcake.)

You carried a Muppets lunch box to school and it was metal, not plastic. With the thermos inside!

You and your girlfriends would fight over which of the Dukes of Hazzard was your boyfriend.
(The dark haired one- was that Bo? I never did like blondes.)

YOU had Star Wars action figures, too!
(Nope, totally my brother's domain.)

It was a big event in your household each year when the "Wizard of Oz" would come on TV. Your mom would break out the popcorn and sleeping bags!
(I remember the movie, I don't recall any great excitement.)

You often asked your Magic-8 ball the question: "Who will I marry. Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, or David Cassidy..?"
(Again, before my time.)

You completely wore out your Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Fame soundtrack record album.
( I did love the Grease soundtrack, but never had it. In the late 70s I was still listening to Disco Duck on my little Mickey Mouse record player. Note: this is my second Disco Duck reference in this blog.)

You tried to do lots of arts and crafts, like yarn and Popsicle-stick God's eyes, decoupage, or those weird potholders made on a plastic loom.
(Tried and failed.)

You made Shrinky-Dinks and put iron-on kittens on your t-shirts!
(I did make Shrinky Dinks, but iron on kittens...come on!)

You used to tape record songs off the radio by holding your portable tape player up to the speaker.
(I think I may have.)

You had subscriptions to Dynamite and Tiger Beat.
(Never heard of Dynamite, but I did read Tiger Beat and Bop and all. But that was in the days of Corey Haim and Sean Astin and the lovely River Phoenix.)

You learned everything you needed to know about girl issues from Judy Blume books.
(I loved Judy Blume! Taylor has all her books now, along with a copy of Letters to Judy that I received one Christmas. It's a bit dated, but really kids questions don't change that much.)

You thought Olivia Newton John's song "Physical" was about aerobics.
(Maybe I was smarter than the average 7 year old. Or it could do with the fact that I had older cousins.)

You wore friendship pins on your tennis shoes, or shoelaces with heart or rainbow designs.
(Definitely the shoelaces.)

You wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer.
(No never! But I used to watch it every Saturday. I wanted to be an American Bandstand dancer.)

You drowned yourself in Love's Baby Soft - which was the first "real" perfume you ever owned .. .
(My cousin had that.)

~ you glopped your lips in Strawberry Roll-on lip gloss till it almost dripped off.
(I did have the lip gloss.)


I tell ya, the bloody memories.

The Census and the Taxes

I received my completed tax return for 2005 the day before it was due, and I have yet to send it in. Why is this? Am I to cheap to spend a dollar or so mailing it off? Do I keep forgetting about it? Sort of. The truth is I am very lazy (as I have mentioned many times) and I just can't be arsed to sign the bloody thing and walk over to the post office to mail it. You'd think I would have sent it that day, as I did go to the post office to get a money order but my brain can not process two tasks at the same time. I looked at it today and thought to myself "I must sign this." but just did not get around to it.

And I should send it because I am due to get back just over $1200, which will probably go right onto my student loan, but I can hope they actually send it to me. Plus both my Child Tax benefit and my GST are due to go up in July (odd, since I made more money last year than I did the year before, which is really odd because I sat on EI for 9 months...not because I am too lazy to work, people, but because I had a baby.) I also need to send it in so that I can claim my piece of the Harper government pie..$1200 per year for each child under 6. It's a foolish waste of money, but I shan't complain. I'd like to meet a single person in this country who could afford to stay home on $2400 per year or pay daycare.)

That same week I also received my census. I was very excited by this, because I absolutely love census time. I love telling people my business. I was hoping to get the long form again, but no such luck. I really, really, really loved the long form. I told a lie last time, which was that I could speak Irish. A small white lie, really, but I speak it better than I speak French. I can speak bits and pieces but my pronuciation really sucks. Which might just explain my daughter called "sor-sha" instead of "seer-sha" mighten it?

I have a problem though and that is that I can not fill out my census. I can not fill it out because William is both a B and a C. (You might understand that if you had a copy of the census in front of you.) He's not yet my common-law partner, as we have yet to have lived together for a consistent 12 month period. However, his legal address is in another country. It is all very confusing and I know that if I were to call I would be told to include him under C or not at all. Sadly, my census is going to be returned with me looking like some sort of hussy, with 3 children with 2 different last names, neither of which match mine. Even sadder, I've given permission for my census results to be reviewed by future generations in 92 years. "So that's why Great Nanny was so fucked up" my future great great grandchild will say of her great grandmother (either Saoirse or Taylor, take your pick.) Wee bugger.

Saoirse at 18 months

This is Saoirse in the bath last night, on her 18 month birthday.

I took her for her shots yesterday, she was great, she cried when the needle went into each arm, but she got over it pretty quickly. She is doing everything the average 18 month old is doing, she says alot more words than what they say is normal (only 5!), she can kick a ball forward, responds to directions and so on. I had the nurse check her for lice, there seems to be a bit of an epidemic where they were in Australia, but all is fine. Thank God, because that would freak me out. I have to take her to the doctor about her big toenails; they are ingrown and the nurse thinks they might have to be "released." I have no idea what that entails, if there is a bright soul out there please enlighten me. Other than that and her eczema, everything is great.

So I have to write some of the things that she is doing, more for my own needs since I have packed away her baby book. If this bores you senseless, I apologize; but really all you need to do is hit that next blog button.

-When you ask for a kiss she sticks out her tongue and opens her mouth wide.
-She also sticks out her tongue and makes a panting like noise when she sees a glass of coke. (Which she is absolutely not allowed but that her father will sneak her sips of.) She calls coke "oke"
-The first words she says in the morning are "My dummy, my dummy" in the expectation that you will look around for her dummy and give it to her. If she has not lost her dummy she will crawl onto her dad for a cuddle. Her dummy is the bane of my existence.
-She is perfectly willing to have her hands washed, but not her face.
-Some of the words she says often are book, look, read this, what's this, who's that, tee (for Taylor), da-da-da-DAD, Saoirse. No is neh and yes is yeh. She says plenty more, but apparently my brain is in slow motion.
-She always knocks at the door when we go to a friends or come home.
-She screams bloody murder at Liam if he sits in one of her chairs or gets to close to William.
-She absolutely loves to be outside.
-She climbs up her slide, rather than using the steps and then slides back down.

There is plenty more of course, but she is trying to push open the screen door to get outside, so that is my hint to go.

18 months today!

Saoirse is 18 months old today. It is hard to believe she has been in our lives for a year and a half. We have enjoyed every minute of it, she is a pleasure even when she does not want to be one.

I'd tell you every word she can say and if she weren't crying over frozen bread right now, I would do so. I may have to come back to this post later, after the 18 month shots are done. I will also post a picture of her, as we have found an unused memory card for the camera.

They're back

William and Saoirse arrived home on Sunday afternoon, along with William's neice Vicki, who is visiting for 2 months.

They surprised me at the airport because I foolishly forgot that people with strollers do not come down escalators. So there I was waiting for them, right near the doors, while people from 3 flights walked past us. (Yes! Three arrivals at once at Edmonton International! But don't get excited, we don't actually have international flights these days, they were from Calgary, Vancouver and Abbotsford. Nowhere good.) Anywho, I was wondering where the hell they were. Had I totally missed them? I called my friend Shelley who I could see wandering around baggage claim. As I was talking to her I turned around and there they were. I hung up on Shelley, and I think I started to cry. Saoirse came to me for a second and then put her arms out to go back to her dad. I was prepared for this so it wasn't too bad.

Now it's as though she hadn't gone away. Still a daddy's girl, but willing to come to me if she absolutely has to. Some things never change. She does not seem much taller to me, her hair is a bit longer and a bit blonder. She says a lot of words with that funny little accent. She also understands English words better than their Canadian counterparts. Nappy instead of diaper, pram rather than stoller, lift instead of elevator. Funny how Australians kept the English words while in North America everything became something else.

I love to just sit and watch her. She is so very amusing. Toddlers have such a zest for life. I had Candy's son Ethan over yesterday and they played so well together and considering they are 18 months apart I was very impressed.

She is awake now, and William has gone back to bed so I am off.