The post where I answer all TWO questions that came my way

Granted, it was the fourth of July and I imagine many of my American friends had the day off from their lovely jobs where they get to blog. So perhaps more questions will be asked. We shall see.

Beccy (I totally knew I could count on Beccy to ask a question!) asks: ...If I were coming to Canada to holiday tell me why I should visit your part of the country (besides meeting you of course)?

I could just lead Beccy to these two posts written about Edmonton, one that she has read and one from my first month of blogging. However, I can also add to those by saying the following: -you wouldn't have to pay for a place to stay because of course you could stay here. You may want to do the cooking though, I am quite terrible at it.
- If I recall correctly, Ben likes snow. We have lots of it. Lots and lots and if I could give it away I would do so. So if you were to come to Edmonton, even though it is no where near the mountains, you could take Ben skiing, snowboarding, sledding, skating and whatever other winter activities it is that people who like winter partcipate in. Me, I would go skating in the mall. Why skate in the cold when you can do it in warmth? So what if people stand around watching you and laugh when you fall? At least I assume they laugh. I've not been since I was about 11 and my shoes were stolen and I had to walk home in neon orange socks. It was 1984.
- I'll once again point out the festivals mentioned in the 2 other posts. Summer really is the time to be here. Much fun.
- And I know you said you would need to see more than just a mall, but seriously if I were to see it for the first time I would be pretty impressed. There's a water park, the previously mentioned skating rink, an amusement park, minitaure golf, Kidtropolis (which is a mini city for kids, complete with a news station and cars to drive), a dinner theatre, bowling and if it rocks your boat there's even a shooting gallery. Plus there's shopping. And who doesn't love to shop? And the Canadian dollar is worth nothing compared to the Euro so you're getting good value out of your money. Plus, Ireland is freaking expensive and Edmonton...not so much. And Alberta is the only province that doesn't charge a Provincial Sales Tax. So you get a really, really good deal. Minus the cost of flying of course.

Did that sell you? Probably not, I'd rather be in Dublin myself!

The second question was asked by Alissa, and Chas wonders the same thing. Alissa said I would like to know just why your ex is dying at such a young age, and what part he has in Taylor & Liam's lives. And since we're talking about him, why didn't it work out to begin with?

This is a long, long one. He has Type 1 M@chado- Jo.seph disease. I've never read up about it on the internet until tonight, and I rather wish I hadn't. I have always known it was a genetic disease, and that there is a 50% chance of my 2 oldest inheriting it. I did not know until tonight that with each generation it has an earlier onset and a faster progression. The thought of Taylor or Liam with this diesase breaks my heart. Everytime one of them trips or falls I wonder if it is a sign. To know that they could get it and die before they are 40 is beyond words. I really would suggest reading the link, but to those of you who don't essentially it is the degeneration of the cerebellum leading to the inablilty to walk, talk properly and see. H was diagnosed 10 years ago this summer. He had to go to a specialist in Ontario for a diagnosis. His father dies when he was very young, in a car accident, but was obviously a carrier of the disease.

The first time I had any inkling that something might happen to H was when I had my first doctor's appointment when I was pregnant with Taylor. I was talking to his mum on the phone and mentioned that they had asked for a family history. Expecting to hear the normal things like diabetes and cancer, I was a little surprised when she said "Oh, there is some disease that run's in H's birth father's family that only affects boys where they end up in a wheelchair. We were really worried until H was 17, but he was checked out and is fine." Uh, yeah, not so much. I hold a lot of bitterness to his mother for this. She never gave H the proper information and as he said himself he never would have gotten married and had children had he known. I often wonder what Taylor will do when she is tested if the result ends up being postitive. Will she marry? Will she have children? Will she finish university? We were going to have her tested when she was 6, but she said she would rather wait until she was older. 14 or 15, she said at the time. She is not very good at dealing with her father's illness and I guess if I were to look at it through her eyes everytime I saw him I would wonder if this is what was in store for me. I wouldn't want to see my dad either in that case.

Taylor and Liam are supposed to see him once a week. Taylor usually tries to aviod going. Liam is pretty good about it. He used to live not far from us and they would see him whenever they wanted and would stay with him if I worked nights. Two years ago, his sister asked him to move in with her and her husband. This was a huge mistake. She lives on the south side and really asked him only to help her with rent. She charges him $600 of the $1000 he receives monthly. Plus, I was just informed by H's mother that J, his sister, also receives about an $1800 tax refund because of him living with her. In this same converstion I was told that J refuses to do his laundry and he has to skootch down 2 flights of stairs to do his own. He is currently on a waiting list for a home. When he moved in with her, she said she would pick the kids up every Friday and bring them home on a Sunday. That didn't last very long as she eventually told me she wouldn't have them at her house anymore because they weren't doing all the chores she required them to do (dishes, cleaning their dad's bedroom, doing his laundry and taking her then 4 year old son outside with them whenever they went out.) They were 9 and 10 ffs, they could hardly be expected to clean their dad's room and the urine bottles that went along with that job. And his laundry! Seriously, children that age do not need to know that their dad can't always make it to the bathroom on time.

I think H and I never would have worked out, even if he hadn't gotten sick. When we first split up he said it was because of his illness, and I said no, that is what kept me with you for so much longer. Had I been in love with him I could have seen this through, no matter how terrible it became. But the reality is that I never was in love with him, there were times I didn't even like him. I knew on my wedding day that I shouldn't go through with it (how cliched is that!?) but I did out of, I think, fear of being alone. I was (am) such an insecure person that I thought I would never find anyone else and I was destined to be on my own. In reality I was only 20 and probably needed to be on my own. I met him when I was 18, moved in with him 2 months later, and was married within 13 months. I gave up a year living in Belfast. Foolish, foolish! It gave me Taylor and Liam though, and they are worth everything.

I think this has officially reached longest post ever status.