July 27- Heading out.

My brother, Thom, drove from Nelson on Thursday so that he could take Liam and Taylor back with him on Friday. William and I would go with the 2 girls and my mum, Uncle Ralph and Aunt Jacki were flying out on Sunday. We had breakfast at my mum's on Friday morning, scones made by Thom. It was a chance to see my mum's cousin Faye and her husband, who I barely talked to at all. Some of you may recall that I was worried they would not like Edmonton, but apparently they loved it. My mum had really talked it down (because that's what she does best) so I guess their expectations had nowhere to go but up. Vancouver, however, they were not fond of. It wasn't glitzy or glamourous enough. Funny, because it's probably a hundred times more glamourous than Edmonton.

Anyway, we had breakfast and headed out at about 11.45. Thom and the kids left about half an hour later. If it had just been William and I, or us and the 2 older ones, we could have done the 10 hour drive with just one stop for a meal and the bathroom, along with filling up with gas. With 2 little kids though, including one who refused to wear a nappy, we planned for many stops on the way. First up was an hour and 15 minutes in at Red Deer, where we stopped at the Wendy's in Gasoline Alley. We had decided not to take the main highway all the way to Calgary, but to turn off onto a secondary highway near Carstairs. The view is much nicer and it's not nearly as busy. This picture was taken soon after the mountains came into view, somewhere around Cochrane I think.


Saoirse was fantastic on the drive down- thank God for potable DVD players! We brought about 20 movies and she watched a grand total of 4 altogether (Cinderella once, Cinderella 3 once, Peter Pan a few times, and numerous viewings of Little Mermaid.) Sophie was, well, Sophie. Slept and cried. Lost her dummy and cried. Ate fruit snacks. Or so I thought until we took her out at one point and her car seat and shorts will all fruit snack sticky. We met up with Thom, Taylor and Liam in Banff, where we stopped at the Cows Ice Cream store and bought Saoirse a Lightning MooQueen tshirt and Sophie a Backcowdigans one. Too cute. This picture was taken in front of the Banff information centre. That's my brother on the right. And yes, I know Liam looks like a girl. Enough people point it out to me on a daily basis. But it's not my head of hair is it?


This picture was taken from Banff Avenue. At the bottom is a metal fence, the street was all torn up for construction work, so it was not visually appealing at all. Seems quite silly to do major construction on your main road during tourist season.


The next 6 pictures are from the Bow River, which was freezing. I sat on the bank with my feet and the water and had to take them out because they became so numb. This was our first indication of what Sophie would think of water in the week ahead...she hated it! Saoirse loved it though, once she got used to the cold.







After we waded in the Bow, we headed towards the BC border, and our destination for the night...Radium. Thom and the 2 older ones were camping, and we were staying in a motel. We arrived around 8, and Sophie did not fall asleep until 11.30. While I was trying to get her to sleep Thom, Taylor and Liam enjoyed the hot springs and William took Saoirse for a walk where she saw her first deer and a buck up close, just behind the motel. Thankfully, that was all they saw, Radium had had a few cougar sightings in the town earlier that week.


Later I will post about the rest of our drive to Nelson. Oh yes, aren't you lucky? I am going to do the full 10 days. I may lose readers by the end, but hey, I never go away.

I'm back

...and I'm not very happy about it. We loved it in Nelson (which is in British Columbia, for those of you who asked) so much so that we both said we'd love to live there. Would I really? I don't know, it's a city built into a mountain, and I am not in shape at all, as I discovered. My calves got one hell of a work out. But it is gorgeous. And I loved the pace of it, and the people and just everything. I could probably live without the smell of pot around my kids, but still great. If you ever get the chance, go.

I'm downloading pics right now, will go through them and torture you all with my poor photo taking skills. Lots of mountains and kids. Hairy, hairy legs on some woman. Food. Signs. If it was in front of me, I took a shot of it.

Congrats to Boliath on the arrival of her son, this past Friday, and thanks to Red Mum for emailing me and letting me know.

Off on holiday

Will be absent for a bit as we are off on holiday to Nelson...



...where we will stay in this house...


...hang out at beaches likes this...


...and parks like this...


...and will be considering coming back at Christmas for views like this...


We'll back Monday the sixth and then I have a few days to catch up on blogs before I head back to work. Remember, no popping out babies until I get back!

Potty Updates and other things

Hey I just noticed this is my 501st post. Crazy. I bet if I erased all the drafts it would bring me down to about 400. I should try that.

Anyhoo- I know you all were having difficulty sleeping because you were wondering if Saoirse was still peeing on my carpet and I can, with confidence, put your minds at ease and let you know that Saoirse is potty trained. Well, for pee anyway. For the most part. If she gets really busy she tends to forget that sometimes a girl needs to use the toilet. It was sort of a surprise, really. One day she went and we clapped and cheered as all good parents do, the next day I was sitting on the computer cleaning my house when she disappeared and the next thing I heard was her clapping and saying "Yay! I did it! Way to go!" And then she yelled out "I peed! I'm wiping my vagina!" and then she flushed the toilet, slammed down the seat, climbed up the seat, onto the counter and washed her hands. Which is more than I can say for her older brother.

Pooing in the toilet is a whole other matter. She doesn't. She could just have peed and five minutes later she will say "I shout! I shout!" Yeah, that's what she calls a poo. Damn William and his shites. I keep saying "You mean poo?" and she says "Yeah. A shout." Urgh. She had a great laugh tonight when I took her into the bathroom to take off ther pooped in panties and the poo fell on the floor. Oh, it was freaking hilarious. Not so much to her mother who had the pleasure of picking it up.

For those of you who were reading me when Sophie was quite little, remember when she hated her father and would cry the moment he held her? And I used to get called home from my stamping club (well, once) because she wouldn't stop crying? Oh, that's all changed. Now she is a great big daddy's girl and she cries when he gives her to me. As soon as she sees him she holds out her arms for him to pick her up and then starts waving bye bye to me. And she would perfectly happy to have nothing to do with me for the rest of the day. And she stopped breastfeeding. Why breastfeed when you can sit with your dad and have a bottle or a cup of milk? Plus it was really hot for a week or so there and who wants to be pushed up against their mum's boobs, sweating up a storm? Not my Sophie apparently.

And in just a few weeks she will be one. I could cry. There goes my baby.

And! I've barely even thought about her birthday! Damn this holiday and no paycheques in August. Her birthday's the tenth and we are going to have it 2 weeks later, on the 24th. On a Friday. Not even on the Saturday, because I can't afford to take another day off of work. I don't even think I am going to do grab bags, which will really piss off one of my friends. Oh well. On the actual day of her birthday we are going to celebrate it with just us and the 2 girls, as I want that first birthday picture on the actual day with the cake and all. Unfortunately, Taylor, Liam and my mum won't be home from BC until late that night. Ach well, I guess it wouldn't bother her not to have a party at all, it's not as though she will remember it. It would bug me and my scrapbook though.

And, in non child related news, due to my holiday I am going to miss the premiere of that Corey Haim and Corey Feldman show on A&E. So sad. I loved Corey Haim as a kid. A) because he was from Canada and B) because he is a December baby, like myself. And I thought he was quite cute in Secret Admirer. I wish I could find that movie on DVD. C. Thomas Howell! Corey Haim! Casey Siemaszko! My 11 year old self was in heaven.

Hopefully I will post before we will leave on Friday but if I don't get a chance I would just like to ask both Boliath and Stacey to not give birth until after I get back. Just being selfish, I hate not to be in the know.

Fun Monday- Best Friends

I've been absent from Fun Monday for a few weeks, but I could not resist this week's edtion, hosted by Willowtree, who requests this:

"Tell us about your best friend. Particularly things like: where you first met, how long you've been friends and why you think you are best friends"

I have a hard time with the word "best". I feel as though it has been years since I had a best friend, that when my school days ended so did the world of best friends. I am not a person with a lot of friends, probably because of my overwhelming shyness, and I would say I have many more acquaintances than friends. One thing I do notice is that the friends I do have tend to be very outgoing. The majority of my friends could talk to absolutely anyone and have a decent conversation, whereas I really struggle to find a single thing to talk about. Opposites attract, I guess.

My closest friend is Shelley, who quite often gets mentioned in my blog. She is Saoirse's godmother, and a nurse in the ICN at the hospital where I work. I didn't meet her at work though. I met her almost 8 years ago when Taylor was in 4 year old playschool with her youngest son Jeremy. I liked her right away, she was very friendly and outgoing. I don't think we became friends until closer to the end of the school year though. We used to talk about books, at the time I was working at Chapters, and we are both big readers. I lent her a pile of books and a lasting friendship was born.

So what can I tell you about Shelley? She is married to a great guy, Ed, and has 2 boys. She has 2 dogs and 2 cats. She has white carpet. WHITE. And you'd never guess that 4 animals and 2 teenage boys spend their days and nights in that house. Her house is so clean. And her boys, they do chores. She has many, many friends, many of whom she would call a "best" friend. Her friendships mean a lot to her. She is the one who arranges our twice yearly girls weekend away to the mountains that about 20 or so people attend. She has been a great friend to me. She is a fantastic godmother to Saoirse and "auntie" to Sophie. Normally, I am not keen on calling people you are not related to auntie, but she really is like a close relative to my girls. If something happened to me, I wouldn't doubt that she would remain a vital part of my girls lives.

Here is an example of how good a friend Shelley is: she has seen me in all my (non)glory. Oh yes, she was there during my labour with Saoirse. She was meant to be photographing the birth but then the c-section got in the way. There are not many people in this world I would let see my vajayjay but apparently she is one of them.

I could go on and on about her, but it is 12.30 in the morning and my thoughts are no longer coherent. I wanted to get this up now, as William is hope this week and will cast an evil eye on my blogging all day long tomorrow. I'll try and make this post a bit better if I get the chance.


I had to take a photo of this picture of Shelley and I that hangs on my wall. It is the only photo I have of just the two of us. I hate having my picture taken, due to my fat cow status, and Shelley is usually behind the camera. I do have a fantastic picture of her with her bra hanging on the wall behind her, I should post that one tomorrow. Anyways, when Shelley was a teenager she did this program called Katimavik, where you live in 3 different regions of Canada for 3 months each. The program celebrated it's 25th anniversary in 2002 and Shelley invited me to go down to Calgary with her for it. It was a great time, and to thank me for coming she gave me this friends frame with our picture taken that weekend.

Note 1: If you live in Canada and have children between 17-21, or approaching 17, you should seriously considering having your child be a part of Katimavik. It is amazing. I can not wait until Taylor and Liam are old enough for it.

Note 2 (and absolutely nothing to do with this post): It looks as though William might be heading back to Australia for a few weeks this autumn. The police have decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed with his abuse case against the doctor he had as a teenager, but the medical board will still go ahead with their case. So he needs to go testify. They would prefer to do it that way, but say they can also do it via video. William would prefer to do it in person, so tomorrow I have to call Immigration and see if he can leave the country prior to his permanent residency going through. The cost of it all has me freaked out, but I understand why he needs to do it like this. Blah to bad doctors is all I can say.

Trust Random Mommy to ask the sex questions

I absolutely adore Random Mommy. She's my sort of girl. Except thin with really great hair. But she's extremely open and I love that. And though I like to think I'm very open some of these questions frightened me. Like this first question:

1. How many one night stands have you had? One. Honestly. If by one night stand you mean never-met-before-never-saw-again then it is definitely only one.

2. What's your grossest habit? Other than cleaning my ears with a grip? I don't know. I used to be able to bite my toenails but I'm no longer so nimble. Which is probably a plus in that aspect.

3. Did you ever experiment with a member of the same sex? Only if being 10 counts.

4. What is your biggest pet peeve with strangers? With your spouse? People spitting drives me crazy. I wrote a post about it once after I watched a guy hoark his way down the street. I also said in that post that it don't compare to a guy in Dublin who blew a giant wad of snot onto the GPO without even stopping. Such sacrilege. I don't know how anyone walks the streets in that city, you're constantly stepping over spit. With William, it's got to be the toast crumbs all over the counter because for someone reason he refuses to use a plate. Or maybe that sometimes, in the morning, he doesn't lift the toilet seat and he sometimes sprinkles when he tinkles and guess who sits on it with the lights still off? Me. I've learned to always look and wipe.

5. Favorite band of all time? Such a hard question. I can tell you that when I got rid of my records, I kept all the Jesus and Mary Chain ones, even though I have them all on CD. I'm still stuck in the early 90s- I love the Stone Roses, James, Levellers, Wonderstuff. God, I'm really dating myself.

6. Person you wish you knew more about? Living or dead? Blogger or non blogger? I think I would choose my maternal grandfather who had such a difficult life. He grew up in a tenement in Birmingham and was really smart. He was offered a scholarship to go on in school but his mother said no because they needed his income. He never forgave her for that. He finally got a degree at 68. He will not talk about his experiences in WWII and I would love to just have him open up about that. The only thing I know is that he fought in Burma and was almost killed.

As far as bloggers go, I just want to know names. Not to go out stalking anyone, but because I feel like I know all this stuff about people, and not knowing names sort of makes it all seem somewhat false. And because I love names. I know it's smarter not to use real names, William is concerned about the fact that I have so much personal information on here and I have been considering moving to another blog and changing our names but it just wouldn't be the same.

Hmmm....that's only two sex questions. That random mommy really contained herself.

The post where I finish answering questions

I asked you guys to ask me questions and some of you actually did. Apparently I don't tell you everything. And it was so long ago now, and the guilt of not answering the rest after the first 3 is weighing me down. And there I was thinking it was just the fat that made me feel heavy.

Joy said this: "Tell me what makes you happy Emma. Tell me a little or tell me a lot. I want to know the things or people or places that bring a smile to your face."
Standard answer: my kids make me happy. Mostly. Some days, I want to murder at least one of them. Like today. I went in to clean Taylor's room because she hasn't done it all summer long and it is driving me absolutely batty. Thank God she was well on her way to Calgary because do you know how many dishes I brought out of that room? 6 bowls, 1 large spoon, 3 glasses and 1 travel mug. There is still a tea mug up there too. Had she been home I would have been screaming bloody murder. I think tomorrow I will take pictures just so you can all see how horrid her bedroom is. I've done it before and, unfortuantely, shaming her on the internet did not work.

Oh right, I was supposed to be talking about what makes me happy. ALONE TIME. Alone time makes me absolutely freaking ecstatic. What else brings a smile to my face? A clean house, my friend Shelley who is the most fantastic friend ever, the hill where my brother and I used to go sledding as kids (where I now take my kids when we are at my mum's), the poster of Giant's Causeway that I yet to have framed. But if you looked at the link is that not the most gorgeous spot EVER? I wish I had spent more than 15 minutes there.

Frannie asks what she says is a "light" question: "if you had more free time--- how would you spend it?"

I currently spend the majority of my free time blogging cleaning. Honestly. Which doesn't really make it free time at all. So my actual free time is spent blogging and reading blogs, reading and not paying attention to what I am watching on TV. Sometimes I even make a card or two. And, sometimes, when it's really and truly free time, I go out with a friend or two. But mostly I read blogs.

Lisa says "since I have a (mostly) food blog, I'll ask about the best meal (food, company, etc.) you've ever had. Details, please!"

I always loved childhood Christmas dinners. We'd get together with my dad's sister's family, who at the time where our only other relatives in Canada. It is amazing what you don't realize as a child- that my mum and aunt hated each other, that my mum was missing her family in England, that my dad spent the entire day drunk. We had the usual Christmas Day fare...turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, gravy, the vegs I never ate, trifle (ick!) for dessert. Odd that I don't remember the food better. I do remember my cousin Kieran doing a lot of cooking, he is a chef today and a fantastic one at that. When I was 13 my dad's brother's family moved to Canada, and the next year so did my mum's sister's family and Christmas was never the same again.

And M, the girl of many questions, asks all of these ones:

"What's your fave breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Beverage? Extreme detail please."

Have I never said how much I hate cooking? My favourite food is anything not made by me. I really do wish I could cook well, which automatically seems to lead to entertaining, but I just can't. My favourite breakfast is Sunday morning french toast made by William. If I'm making it myself- it's cinnamon toast with raisins or white toast (very lightly toasted, I don't even like a bit of brown on it) with strawberry jam. Or cereal. I love oatmeal, but here is how truly pathetic I am- I can't even make a decent bowl of oatmeal. I usually used the prepackaged stuff (maple and brown sugar if I could only choose one.) But I do love a bowl of plain oatmeal with sugar. My dad used to make me eat it with salt. I hated it until someone put sugar on it instead.

I don't do lunch. And if I do it's something boring. Chicken on a bun or something.

Dinner. With the heat around here, my current favourite is salads. Anything that does not require turning on the oven. And my favourite salad is a salsa salad.

Beverage. Tea of course. Hot tea. I always have to point that out because of you Americans who drink cold tea. I only drink the powdered sort of ice tea. And it's completely different that the iced tea I was once served in LA. Imagine my 14 year old shock when I discovered I was drinking cold tea with a lemon in it. I'm still not over it. And water. Again the heat. The pounds should be melting off my body with the amount of water I am drinking and all the crap that must be getting flushed out of my body when I pee 25 times a day due to all the water intake.

"Share your favorite pic of each of your kidfolk. One at any age. One current."

I'll have to do this later because I don't have any pictures of Taylor and Liam when they were little on the computer. And I have no scanner. I'll have to take a picture of a picture.

"How much cash is in your wallet this moment?"

There's a handful of change, but not a loonie or a toonie in the bunch. So almost nothing. If I had answered this the day you sent the question I would have told you I had $100, all in fives. My dad had just given me some money as he has been staying with me during the week for the last month (and I am so ready for him to go home!) Normally I will have a couple of small bills (5's and 10's) and a ton of loonies and toonies.

"Do you say 'eh' often? (I ask because I got into a discussion with a girlfriend of mine who thinks that Canadians don't REALLY say eh. But cod knows my dad and grandma and their family did...and I freaking do because I'm a wanna be. lol.)"

Sorry to disappoint but I don't say 'eh' at all. I don't know many people who do. I say 'aye' an awful lot, but I use that at the beginning of a sentence not at the end like one would use eh. I think eh is more of an east coast thing. Could be wrong though, I am going to have to listen to the Newfies around here talk. I'll ask William, his boss is one.

"Tell us more about that man who resides with you. The fullgrown one. Not the child. (though I realize the two terms can intermingle when discussing significant others.)"

I will direct you to this 100 things about William post I wrote last September. It explains him very well I think, and the only thing that is different than least September is that his sister who lived in Scotland now lives in Australia.

"When you were a child who did you think you would be at this age? Do you remember if you expected to be wed or divorced or with kids or such a freaking awesome crafter?"

As a child I thought I would go to University and become either a teacher or a forensic pathologist. I was a bit odd. I knew I would have kids, at one time I wanted 8 boys. Like I said, odd. By the time I reached high school and had to say where I would be at 21 I said I would be a single mother of at least one child. High hopes! I wasn't single, but I did have one child. I also thought that I would be working my way through school to become a social worker. I would still like to do that.

And haha! to the awesome crafter. In kindergarten I got in trouble for colouring a horse purple. I think that srifled any creativity I may have had. As I have said numerous times the majority of things I make are copied. Example to come in next question.

"Oh. Speaking of. Where do you get your inspiration for your crafts because dude. You have talent. And how long have you been such a crafty girl?"

I have the ability to copy, which it totally different than talent. I decided I would start scrapbooking in 1997 and to date I have maybe done 30 pages. Seriously. There is not a single page for Sophie. Taylor has a handful. Liam has a handful. Saoirse has 5. I did make a fantastic 8x8 album for my nan of her then 6 great grandchildren before she died, which is now in my possession. I really need to do more.

I started stamping about 2 years ago. I went as my friend's guest to a party, with the intent to NOT get into it. Went to another party. Then I was a hostess and had a great party, getting free stamps, 12 ink pads and $90 in free product. I did 2 years of the stamping club and now I am deciding whether or not to be a demonstrator myself. But as I've said I just don't have the ability to think up stuff on my own. I am much happier copying other people and I don't think that makes for a good demonstrator!

A couple of months ago, I made 2 clipboards for a blogger. I had started one and my friend came over and pretty much told me what to do with the second. She has ideas, I don't. Though frankly, I like the one I started on my own better. So maybe I could do it, who knows. But even the clipboard idea is borrowed.

A post of links

Taylor and Liam left today to spend a week with their dad and grandparents, who live in a small village just outside of Red Deer. Tomorrow they are heading down to Calgary and will be going to Calway Park. They have never been there before so should have a great time. Taylor hasn't seen her grandmother in about 4 years, and only saw her grandfather when he dropped off Christmas presents last year. I mentioned before that I have some issues with my ex MIL and this is one of them. When H and I split, she promised that she would have him and the kids for a couple of weeks every summer. This never happened. For the last 2 years she has invited them down for Christmas. Liam went in '05, and says he will alternate, but Taylor has chosen not to go. I bare some responsibility here- I could force Taylor to spend every other Christmas with them, and her dad, but I just can't do that when I am sure she would spend the entire time miserable. She was pretty good about going down this time, I hope it's going to go alright for her. Her grandmother also asked to take them back to school shopping, which is very kind but also has me a little worried. We have completely opposite taste in clothing, or rather clothing stores. While she is all about Saan and Zellers, I am and always will be an Old Navy girl. So I'll see what they come home with. Taylor and I have very different tastes as well, so chances are she will come home with something I am not fond of. Taylor doesn't really care how she dresses, and when I said she would need a lululemon outfit for school next year she pointed out that she doesn't even like lululemon. I mean seriously? What the feck? When I was 12, if my mother had offered to spend a lot of money on a name brand outfit I would have been in second heaven. I wouldn't have cared if it was the ugliest thing in the world as long as it had a great big Beaver Canoe (only Canadians will know what I am talking about I think)/ Polo/ Club Monaco/ Esprit symbol on it. So I guess it's good that Taylor doesn't care, but in the bitchy world of Grade 7 girls? I'm a little worried about her. (That reminds I have to write about her cyber bullying incident.)

Got off track there with all that talk about shopping. I have to talk about it, because I can not currently do it. We are going away in 10 days and I haven't put aside a penny. It's a good thing I have a good paycheque coming up. William was supposed to be paid last week but wasn't so his should be good too. So while we will have enough money for our holiday, I shouldn't just go out and spend my bank balance. Not so smart.

It's pouring outside right now, I am right next to the open window with the dead spider on the outer sill and it sounds so fanatastic. It's a heavy rain, I was expecting a thunderstorm tonight but it doesn't seem to be heading that way. I would love to go sit on the deck right now, I love rain on a hot day. Oh, I was wrong there was just a giant crack of thunder. I wonder if it is raining on Joy's end of town like it is here, she is the only person I know who likes rain more than I do. Hmmm...I suppose this means I should turn off the computer.

But first I have to tell you what I am doing on Thursday evening. I am going to Mamma Mia at the Jubilee. I am so freaking excited, because I am totally a child of the 70s and 80s and loved Abba. And even more than Abba I loved Erasure who did that whole Abba-esque album, and so of course I know the lyrics to every song on that one. I am going with my friend Shelley and Nancy and Shelley's friend Kate. We are going out to dinner before hand. This is big for me, other than stamping club I don't go out with my girlfriends much. My mum was actually supposed to go, but she is doing an Alaskan cruise with my aunt and uncle, as her cousin had to cancel. Lucky her, landing a free cruise. My mum's such a funny lady, she didn't really want to go because it was to Alaska. "I'd much rather go to the Carribean," she said. I didn't call her a total eejit, but I certainly thought it. It's a free trip to a beautiful area of the world. She's not a fan of snow, my mother, and isn't keen on seeing glaciers and icebergs. I received an email from my aunt tonight though, they are in Ketichikan and seem to be having a great time making my poor uncle slave for them. They are home on Sunday and then the cousin who had to cancel will also come to Edmonton. She left Vancouver the same day as the cruise for something that is going on in England I think. It was all very mysterious. She and her husband have never been to Edmonton, and I am not sure what they will think of it. They are jetsetters of a sort, and own homes in England, Paris and Dubai so I am not sure what they will think of this place. It's not exactly New York or London. Not even close actually. Hell, it's not even close to Toronto. I guess they are technically coming to see family not play happy tourists.

Speaking of stamping club (I was, ages ago, in a brief and unmemorable line about my lack of a social life before I went off about my mum's cruise) I am dropping my stamping club for the upcoming year. There are 2 reasons. Remember when I asked the question about ending a friendship and then never mentioned it again? The friend I was speaking of is in this club and it is really my last tie to her. We no longer live close to each other, we will not be attending the same school next year and I am just ready to let it go. I have really struggled with this, as she was a very good friend, in fact I had asked her to be Sophie's godmother. I don't know if it is me who has changed or herself. A bit of both perhaps? William thinks it is her, he thinks she has become very materialistic and that I am no longer good enough for her. And I don't know. I just don't know. I do know that she has been in our neighbourhood a couple of times this week, visiting her brother and sister in law and hasn't even popped over to say hello. Actually on Sunday she sent her 10 year old daughter over to ask if Taylor could babysit that night instead of coming herself. I don't know if I am reading into things, or if I am juse being silly. There is a lot more than I am not telling you guys, it's not really what I meant for this pointless post to turn into but it is a situation that has me feeling quite sad.

Anyway, the second reason I am leaving my stamping club is because I am thinking of taking the leap and becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator. Not to actually demonstrate, because I just don't have the ability, but for the 20% discount. If I find I am actually making quite a few things I might start a small club, but honestly the people would have to be hopeless (or at least have never stamped before) for me to come off alright. But mostly I want the discount.

And that's it for me tonight. It's still raining, not as hard as earlier, and there's some lightening and thunder-y grumblings. It has, however, become extremely hot. So hot I am sweating. Oh, too much information was it? Shame that.

Join me tomorrow (or rather later today, since it is now 12.30) as I finally finish the questions I was asked. Even M's 50 or so.

I never thought I'd say this

Ever since David Beckham sold his soul for millions of dollars to play with the L.A. Galaxy I have been dreading the arrival of himself and his skinny mini wife with the big plastic boobs. Dreading it because I don't want to see them on ET Canada every night (which shouldn't really be a worry since I'm normally watching Coronation Street at that time) and in my People magazine each week. Skinny people with big boobs annoy me. It's just wrong don't you think? Shouldn't chubby girls at least have the perk of being the only ones with big boobs? There has to be some benefits to carrying an extra few pounds (or more as the case may be) on your frame. Anyway, I don't like Posh. I don't like Becks. I've never liked him because he played for Man U, once stated as my most hated team in the Premier League. And though I was never a Spice Girls fan if I had to pick one to like it wouldn't have been her. (Since you want to know who I would have picked it would have been Baby Spice, for the wholly important reason that we share a name. Or maybe Sporty Spice, because of her kick ass attitude. But never Posh.) 'Cause you know, she can't sing. At all. And neither can I, but I didn't make a career of singly badly either.

So because I was dreading the arrival of Posh and Becks I was up in arms over this T.V. show, Coming to America. Seriously, said I to anyone who would listen, who in their right ming would watch this tripe. Who wants to see what this too rich, too stupid girl has to say?

Well, apparently I am not in my right mind because I watched this show. And wanted too. And at first I said "What an eejit!" And, then, when she was interviewing her future P.A., who she first insulted in regards to shoes (heels lengthen you, one should only wear heels, no one should ever wear flats she says to the girl in flats) and then jumped down her throat when the poor girl asked a question about assisting her husband I said "What a bitch", but later as she was talking to Perez Hilton I started to, oh my god, laugh at her. She's definitely got a self depreciating sense of humour, which I like. So I ended up discovering that she is not all bad. Even though she said $17 million is a lot of money for a house. Which it totally is. But not when your income is what I hear their's is. In that case it would be like William and I spending $3,400 on a house. And I don't know about you, but in my world that wouldn't even buy you a decent tent trailer.

You like me, you really like me

I've always wanted to say that. But since I am not Sally Field and I will never win an Oscar the chances of having a reason to say it are slim to none. Until I was given the Rockin' Girl blogger award 4 times. With 2 special mentions. Well, I'm calling them special mentions.




I was nominated by Terri at My 4 Kids who said this: "I think she rocks because, well she has 4 kids, that's one reason. Also she makes some pretty cool stuff, just check her out if you are not one of her faithful followers. (I totally love the idea of having followers. Not in a Jim Jones Kool-aid sort of way of course.) She sent me some cool handmade cards that I loved and just haven't had the heart to give away. For now they are on my desk looking like they were all given to me."
Joy at a Spot of T said this: "A fellow Edmontonian, Emma is one hard working mom who I wish would slow down and you know. Blog more. Because I'm a greedy soul and I like to read about her days and her life and most of all I like to see the gorgeous crafts she does."

Rachel at Crazy Is As Crazy Does said: "Emma is one of my fave reads! I love her openess and her honesty. I love that she freely admits that she sometimes has problems with her daughter instead of acting like her kids are little angels! She’s one rockin and funny blogger!"

Tonya at Mother's Journal also nominated me, but gave no reason as to why I am so freaking fantastic. My modesty may have something to do with it though. Seriously, this may go to my head.

In turn I am supposed to nominate 5 rockin' girls myself. Lots of the blogs I read have already been awarded so I am going to give this to 5 fantastic ladies who I don't think have yet been nominated, but who totally deserve it.

In no particular order:

Hoping at Making a Life: This is one amazing woman. She just gave birth to her first child, a beautiful boy and only a few days after his birth her husband had to leave for army training. Although William and I were apart after Saoirse's birth I definitely did not have the worries that she has. I have been reading Hoping since my pregnancy with Sophie and it has been both a sad and happy journey. I highly recommend going through her archives.

Chas at Sugar and Ice: I really admire Chas. She was a sixth grade teacher (I can not imagine spending 7 hours with 30 12 year olds, the one I have is more than enough!) but she will not be returning to teaching as she has decided to be a stay at home to her daughter. She is also amazingly talented and just did a post where she shows some artwork she has made for bloggers' children. I left a comment saying I would love to buy something off of her for the girls' room and tonight she emailed saying yes! I am so thrilled, because while I can make a passable card I have absolutely no drawing or painting skills. And hers? Unbelievable.

Girl From Florida: GFF doesn't read my blog, and except for that one minor point I have to say that this is one girl who really has it all together. Her husband has been transferred to somewhere where she can not finish her doctorate (she's a scientist) and so she has decided to go to nursing school and will even be teaching. So she will be finishing her PhD (and travelling to do so), teaching, going to nursing school and being a mother to her toddler. (I hope I got that all right...it's a bit overwhelming for me to even read.) I don't know what's going to happen to the very busy social life she has but I am sure she will find a way to work it all out. Me? I'd be a puddle on the floor. Oh, and for the bloggers I know who are foodies, so is she! Mouthwatering pictures of food abound in this blog.

Wendy at WeSnLaNi : First off, she's a scrapbooker. And I love scrapbookers. Wendy has the cutest kids and writes great posts about them. Her comments and her blog make me think she is generally a very happy person (she uses a lot of exclamations!)and her blog is always a pleasure to read.

Boliath at In My Belly: Boliath is one of my oldest readers. As in she has been reading me for a long time, not that she is geriatric. We started blogging at the same time and I came across her through the also fabulous Red Mum . Boliath is expecting her second child next month, and her Little Man is only a week or so older than Saoirse. And while Saoirse pees on the sitting room carpet, her son at least has the decency to pee in the kitchen which I would assume is lino or ceramic tile so fairly easy to wipe up. I have loved reading about Boliath's pregnancy, she has experienced some issues that I was lucky enough to avoid. (Roids! Yikes!) Oh, and she's Irish. And as Old Navy says, everyone loves an Irish girl.

A summer swap *EDITED*

Oops. I forgot that CPA Mom is password protected. If you are interested in participating in the summer swap email her at cpamomva@gmail.com. And hopefully she will share her password with you because her blog is fantastic. I only read fantastic blogs, you know. Here is what she said about the swap in her post:

I have an idea. Borrowing from the ideas of two fabulous ladies, I’d like to host a special Secret Swap Spectacular, with a theme! Risa hosts swaps that have themes. For instance, her last one was ParTea and everyone had to send a package with items that started with those letters (P, A, R, T, E and A). See her post for a detailed explanation. So tonight...I thought, why not have a SUMMER swap. Any one who participates will put together a package with “summer” themed items - one each for the letters S, U, M, M, E and R.

So who is in? Email me with your name and address at cpamomva {at} gmail {dot} com by Wednesday, July 18th. I’ll get out the swaps before leaving for BlogHer and you will have until Friday, August 3rd to get your package in the mail and report back to me when you receive yours.

So who's in? I definitely am and as I said in the now erased post S equals scrapbooking. A summer layout perhaps . Who knows? I can do a multide of things with that letter. I've figured out both my m's and even the u. I just thought of e as I was typing this and r shouldn't be that difficult, even though absolutely nothing is in my head at the moment. Hmmm. Will have to start thinking.

The story of William and I

I swear I'm not stealing off of That Chick and the 12 days of her and Jason. Catwoman asked me this question:

How did you meet William? Do you think the two of you will ever marry? Or have you sworn off marriage all together because of your first one?

and I hesitated about answering it right now during the 12 days because Chick's story is so freaking entertaining and she writes so freaking well. And if I had Chick's talent? My manuscript would be making its way to every editor's readers. Because readers? They make the publishing world move.

So on to the not very entertaining....

I lie quite often about how I met William. Because the truth totally embarrasses me. I met William in Yahoo Chat. I'm blushing as I write that. Literally burning up at that fact that I have just blurted it out to the world wide web that I met my partner on the net. Usually I say we met in Belfast. Which has a slight ring of truth to it as we did meet in the Belfast room. Pushing it? I know. But we could have met in Belfast had he been there a year earlier or myself a year later.

I really don't know why it bothers me to say we met through the internet. Lots of people do it. Some of my favourite blogs have met their husbands that way. But it does. So much so that my face is currently on fire and I am seriously considering deleting this whole post. But I won't because somehow I have gotten myself the reputation as an honest blogger. And I am, just I usually leave that out. But really? Most of you probably assumed it anyway, him being from Australia and me being from Canada. You know, if you bother to wonder about people.

So...I met him at 11.52pm Mountain Time on January 1, 2003. I totally was not looking for anything at that point in time as I had sworn off men about 5 months before after a very, very bad year. I did like him right away though, he was very sweet. Pretty soon, we decided to meet and see where it would go. He arrived here on April 16th. He was only going to stay until June but he ended up extending it to October. And being away from him for 4 months between visits was awful.

Those of you who were reading me last winter know that we went through a really rough patch. And I suppose that many relationships do have their trials. We managed to work through a lot of stuff and while we would never be anyone's version of a perfect couple I would like to think that we are quite good together. And let's face it...we make beautiful children.

Will we get married? I don't know. I mentioned once that I am still married. When H and I separated I really had no intentions of marrying again, I didn't think I would even meet anyone. When I met William there just wasn't the money to go ahead. I can do it without a lawyer, I don't believe there is anything to for H and I to have to work out, obviously I will have custody of the kids. In that case it will be quite cheap, only $285 to file the papers and my cousin will serve H for no charge. I would like to do this after our holiday, and get it out of the way. I need written proof of my full custody anyway to get Taylor into counselling. Since her father has never bothered to get me a letter consenting.

I don't know if William still wants to get married. He said to me once, when I hadn't filed for divorce, that he would never bring it up again and true to his word he has not. For the record, I would like to get married. I would LOVE to get married. I can not imagine any other man being in my life. William, as they say, is a keeper. Even if he does sometimes piss me off. I never piss him of course, I am as close to perfect as is humanly possible.

*****************************

Today Sophie is 11 months old. I know! Crazy, right? Wasn't it just yesterday that they ripped open my stomach and she screamed her way out? Apparently not, as she is a walking (well, one step at a time), talking (dada, mama, hiya!, bop [biscuit], ta [both thank you and here], eating (bloody everything) machine.

And in "How terrible a mother am I?" when a few people asked me today how old she is I said "She'll be 11 months on Wednesday!" Because for some reason I keep thinking she was born on the 11th. That was Saoirse. Taylor and Sophie- they are the 10th. Seriously. Tis terrible to be the fourth child. Off the top of my head I can not remember her length at birth and I forgot to write it on the calendar when her 5th tooth broke through. Sometime last week. Should I just pick a date?

Bailing on Fun Monday once again

I really don't like this working until 10.30 on Sunday night and going back at 7.30 Monday morning deal. It is so not working for my blog and I. Although if I manage to get them to pay me time and a half for it I won't mind so much.

So work is why I have not done Fun Monday. I meant to do it Sunday before work but we went to Wal-Mart in the morning and I cleaned in the afternoon. Yeah, that fairy is still in hiding. She must have a sneaking suspicion that the exhaustion from cleaning my house top to bottom might actually kill her. Technically it's still Monday but who's going to be looking for Fun Monday posts on a Tuesday? People move on. Unless they are reading Chick's 12 days of how she and Jason ended up together in which case you are dying to go back to her blog in the hope of an update. If you aren't reading it, go. Go now. I will wait.

See? Wasn't that worth clicking that link? Told ya.

I will do the questions that were sent last week, but quite possibly not until Wednesday. I have to do the grade 6 pages of the school yearbook, which is due right away and I have done NOTHING. Plus I have to work tomorrow and Wednesday. Seriously, I don't know how you people do it.

I'm going to leave you with a conversation Saoirse and I had.

Background: We are working on potty training. I haven't been overly fussy about it, I really don't want her trained until after we get back from BC because I don't fancy potty breaks every hour during the car ride. She often chooses to wear panties during the day and if she wants she can hold that pee for hours. (Of course, I assume she wouldn't if we were actually in the car.) But when she needs to go it's wherever she is.

Me (noting that Saoirse has not peed all afternoon): "Saoirse, do you need to use the toilet?"
Saoirse: "No, thank you." (She is nothing if not polite.)
M: "Would you like to put on a nappy?"
S: "No, no thank you."
Saoirse walks off the rug and onto the carpet.
S: "I go pee on the carpet."
M: "NO!!!!!!!" I run over and pick her up by the arm (I'm nothing if not gentle) and run through the livingroom, into the entryway and to the bathroom. I sit her on the toilet.
M: "We don't pee on the floor, Saoirse. We pee on the toilet. Okay?"
S: "Okay."
M: "Where do we pee?"
S: "On the carpet."

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.

Ratings and questions

I have lost my bloggy mojo, if I ever had any of it. I have a ton of stuff to post about, but absolutely no will to write it all out. Does anyone really want to hear about my 12 year old's fit about the fact that she is going to miss a birthday party that is being held the day we leave for British Columbia? And that she would prefer to miss a two week holiday with her all time favourite great uncle (and his wife too!) who are coming all the way from England, to spend 4 hours at a birthday party? I didn't yell, I totally understood where she was coming from. I really was 12 once. But I got a little pissed off when she said, 15 minutes after the inital conversation ended, "I never wanted to go to B.C. anyway!" And then she stormed out of the house when I told her to get off the computer. God, girls drive me mad. And I have TWO more. Woe is me.

Right. You didn't want to hear all that. So the point that was meant to be was that while I want to blog, and frankly my sanity needs me to blog, I just can't find it in me to do a proper post. It's been ages I think. So I'm opening myself up to questions (and please don't point out that I have like 20 interview questions to answer that I practically begged people to send me.) So ask me something. Is there something I haven't already told you a thousand and one times? I may get no questions and that would be okay too I suppose. Well no, not really, I am super sensitive and would take it as a sign that nobody liked me and would be liable to cry over my keyboard.

Judging by my rating, I'm willing to talk about anything.

Mingle² -

I really thought it would be the words fuck and blowjob that would get me this rating. Who knew crap was bad?