Hallowe'en

Ah, November...the first day of NaBloPoMo. Luckily, the month starts out after one of the biggest days of the year...Hallowe'en!


I was supposed to make witches' broomsticks for my treat bags for Saoirse's class but they didn't work out. As in, I cut about 5 bags, couldn't get them to look right and gave up. Plastic treat bags it was...


...but, hey, I made the tags. I even embossed. And I NEVER emboss. Becuase I tend to burn the paper. Shutup.


For playschool, Saoirse was Snow White. She was determined to be Ariel again but my friend Shelley picked her up the shoes at a garage sale this summer (they were in perfect condition, I don't think they had ever been worn and definitely not outside) and then Saoirse just had to be Snow White.


Sophie was going to wear a monkey costume to watch the playschool parade/concert but then I thought about this beautiful fairy dress my aunt had brought over from England for Saoirse. I added a pair of wings and tada...well, she's still Sophie with that grin. No sweet little fairy for me!


Some of Saoirse's classmates singing songs...


After a massive temper tantrum from Sophie over not wearing clothes under her costume we finally got out of the house. Here is my monkey with a stuffed pumpkin.


And here is my elephant taking a break.


I loved this yard! This coffin had some banging going on, and I was under the assumption that it was some battery operated thing.


My friend Tanya (dressed here as a hockey grandma complete with blue hair) was told she could try opening the coffin...


...and out popped an actual person. Tanya and I both screamed. We are such girls. (This picture was taken after his third pop up, I was laughing to hard to get a good photo. You know, after I was done screaming.)


I hestiate to wonder what this skeleton was meant to be doing when it died.


Some gravestones in the same yard.


Sophie, my neighbour Lachlan (Darth Vader), Saoirse, Tanya's girls Stephanie (Little Bear) and Samantha (Hannah Montana) and her son Tyler (as a Storm Trooper.) After we dropped Sophie at home Saoirse, Lachlan and I took a walk down to my friend Michelle's for her full size chocolate bars, stopping at houses along the way.


All in all, it was a great Halloween. Oh, and my other 2 children? The ones I seem to only mention in anger? They had fun too- Taylor and four of her friends went to a Farm of Fear just outside the city and Liam handed out candy at a friends. They are both on sleepovers tonight. No pics of them of course, I didn't even see Liam leave for school this morning and he went straight to his friend's after school. Taylor went as Bella from Twilight, other than some foundation to make herself pale and some glitter to "sparkle in the sunlight" she had no costume. She chose to be Bella over the others specifically so she wouldn't have to dress up. I so wouldn't have given her candy had she come to my house. Unless she sang for me of course.

The first haircut

At 2 years, 2 months and 2 weeks, Sophie finally had her first haircut! We had tried going last weekend and the girl said "If she's going to cry I can't do it." I thought "What? Don't most kids cry?" But whatever. Saoirse had her hair cut, Sophie didn't. On Friday we dropped Saoirse off at playschool and I said to Sophie "Would you like to go get your hair cut and then Mummy will buy you a bag of chips?"

Whatever works, people, whatever works. I am not above bribery.

As soon as we walked into the hairdresser's she freaked. "I'm not getting my hair cut! No hair cut!" I managed to placate her with some broken crayons and Happy meal toys (this is my salon- definitely not catering to toddlers!) while she gave a quick trim to some man. When he was done it was our turn.

Sophie wouldn't sit on the big cushion so I had to hld her in my lap. There went my plans for first haircut pictures.

She screamed, she cried, she yelled "NO!!!" at the stylist. She moved every which way even though I was holding her as well as I could. The end result is a little uneven, but at least she can see again.

Sophie in September:




Sophie yesterday:



Like I said, it's a bit uneven, but I think it makes her look sort of sweet, even if she was still mad at me in this picture and is giving me dirty looks.

To NaBlPoMo or to not NaBlPoMo

It's almost November. Can you believe it? I know, neither can I. Barely 2 months until Christmas. Yikes. I am the furthest behind in Christmas shopping that I have ever been. It's a bit frightening really. And I haven't even started making my Christmas cards! Good God, there will be some late nights ahead. The good news is that I have 3 new Christmas stamp sets. I know, I know. You are beyond thrilled. As you bloody well should be because if I have your address I am sending you a card. And if I don't have your address send it to me okay?

So have you noticed that my posts have been a tad sporadic? Once upon a time (or two or three times) I said that blogging reminds me of high school (so does plurk, twitter and facebook) and when I start feeling like I am reliving those days I have the need to do a runner. I was not a popular high school student and I am not a popular blogger. This is okay, mostly. But sometimes I feel like I am on the outskirts of the popular group just trying to be let in.

And then I realize that because I don't have the talent to be an A (or B, or even C) list blogger I would have to work to get there. And frankly? I couldn't be fucked. I don't have the time to comment on every blog, or even regularly read blogs. I don;t have the time, the energy, or the skill to blog everyday. I think it's great that people can do it, I assume they are either super organized or on speed or something. But I can not do it. When I was trying to do it I was sacrificing the things that are truly important to me- spending time with my girls, reading a good book, having sex, cleaning the house. Um, not that cleaning the house is important to me. But it certainly keeps the peace around here when it's clean.

I think I also forgot that I was blogging for ME. I began to want comments. I found myself competing with other bloggers to see who got more comments. Not only in regards to my own blog, but with others. Why does Blog A get so many more comments than Blog B when Blog B is so obviously the superior blog? Why have only a handful of people dicovered the sheer comedic genius that is Squishy Tushy? Why does Random Mommy not get 40 or 50 comments on her thought provoking posts? There are so many other bloggers I could name who are absolutely fantastic who do not get the credit they deserve. It took me some to relaize that they are not searching for it.

And I should not be searching for it either. Over the last year or so my writing has changed. It has become less honest, less me. Sometimes I hide things that I never used to hide. It has taken me some time to remember who the most important person reading this blog is- me.

So I am challenging myself to post every day in November. I may post a whole lot of crap. I may not. You can be guaranteed that shortly after midnight on November 1st, I will be posting Halloween photos. Whew. One post down, 29 to go. If I find that I am not posting for myself, if I am worrying about the lack of comments, about the fact that I am feeling guilty for not getting to blogs I enjoy then I am seriously going to have to reassess whether or not I should even be blogging. I many just have to open a document called A Question of Sanity and write it all out there.

See you in November. Or earlier probably. But only when my girls are in bed. And not on nights I would rather have sex. And not when I am reading a good book.

Lessons learned at work this weekend

It was Thanksgiving this weekend, so a three day work week for me. Normally, I am not a fan of stats, even with the extra pay, because it means I am missing out on a day at home with my lovely children (!) as well as a fancy meal prepared by my mother. Well, my mother is currently in England so no fancy meal and some of my children are slightly less than lovely these days so I didn't mind working this weekend. And sometimes? Work makes for okay blog fodder.

I learned a few things at work that I thought I would share with you.
I wrote the first one on plurk but in my ever so intelligent way I thought "Why share it with the 50 or so people who my come across it on plurk, when I could share it with my remaining half dozen readers?" Smart, that's me.

Lesson #1: Old men are pervs. Example number 1: I pick up a fellow who is the tender age of 80. His son is visiting and he is very tall. Not freakishly tall, but easily the tallest person I have seen who doesn't wear an NBA uniform. The patient himself is quite tall, and he tells me that his 3 sons are all taller than his 6'1", being 6'5", 6'6" and 6'10" (that would be the visiting son.) I say to him, "Your wife must have been quite tall also." And he says, "I put it all down to good titties."

Um, ewwwww?

Example number 2: I am walking into the ER and what do I see down the hall but a man sitting in a brod.a chair (a chair with wide padded belts that fasten up between the legs) having a wee wank! At first I thought he was just pulling at the blanket between his legs but when I walked by him about 5 minutes later he was actually playing with himself.

Again...ewwww.

Lesson #2: 20 year old girls can talk on the work phone, text on their cell AND study all at the same time. I worked with one girl for 2 of my 3 shifts who literally spent the entire time either on the phone or on her cell. How many times did I hear the story about her sorority sister buying her some amzing gifts? About 6 times, which was 6 times too many. What else did I learn about her? That she is voting only because her friend told her she should, that she missed a concert because she needed to study but that instead she talked with her friend until 4 am, that "dude, that is so dumb!" and that "dude, it was so great!", that she partied to hard but still would e went to an interview and that she thought the game the Oilers won, their first game of the season, was a Stanley Cup game.

Tonight I worked with another girl, who is also 20. These 2 girls are worlds apart. This one can carry on a conversation that does not take place on a phone and doesn't only involve talking about sororities, drinking and calling everyone dude. This one actually talks with me, and even though I rarely see her, I realized tonight that she knows the names of my kids, I don't think the other one even knows, or cares, that I have children. I always enjoy talking with her, even though our lives are completely different (she's a med student, off to work in Africa next year) we have a lot to say to one another. Shifts are never boring with her around.

Lesson #3: I am aging, and looking it. I think I have generally always looked younger than my age, but working amongst all these young ones has made me realize how very old I am. Today we were talking about schools it turns out that the guy I was working with went to the same junior high that my daughter goes to, that I also went to many years ago. For some reason this made one of the others ask how old I was and when I said my age she said "So you are older than my kids." Now it used to be that when I said my age, or how old my kids were, people would say "You don't look it!" or "You don't seem old enough to have a child of that age." Apparently I am that old. And I am old enough to have a child who is 13. What I am not? Is tall enough to have a daughter who towers over me a grand total of 4 inches. Okay, 5. Whatever. Can I not have that extra inch I have lied about for so long I actually forgot I was not that height until we measured me to see exactly how much taller Taylor was than I?

The point of this tale? People no longer tell me I look younger than my age. And when I look in the mirror even I think I look older. Blah.

Lesson #4: Nurses make a lot of freaking money. Whereas I was paid time and a half today, the nurses made double time. If they worked overtime today? They made double that. Imagine..$120- $160 an hour. Funny to think there is a nursing shortage in the province, where nurses are the highest paid in Canada, and amongst the highest paid in North America.

Lesson #5: Making out with your boyfriend when he is disgustingly dirty, reeking of drink, sick as a dog, lying in a stretcher in an ER hallway with EMTs around him and oxygen tubing coming out of his nose? Is not pretty. It is not pretty at all. I have seen some freaky ass things in that ER, but you, with your unlit cigarette hanging out of your mouth and your disgusting PDAs win the prize for freakiest of all freak asses.


And that in a nutshell was my Thanksgiving weekend.

I'm off to vote later today, as it is Election Day in Canada. Who to vote for? I am very torn. But that's a whole other post.

Around the world in 888 days - Leaving Los Angeles

My brother posted this as a note on facebook, and since he is not yet blogging (even though I harrass him every time we talk) I am copying it here. Hey, saves me having to write a post. Or think of one, for that matter.


It had been ten thousand miles, eleven weeks and one day since I had first had Brunhilda (his bike) on the road. South Carolina seemed worlds away from the Southern California I had just left that evening.
The sun was setting on the Hollywood Hills, as I was riding to the 101 to catch its north flowing traffic. I passed the boulevards Santa Monica, and Sunset. Narrow streets fronted by buildings of a far earlier generation, streets active with the to and fro of pedestrians. I thought with great favour upon my week in LA. The storied and legendary Los Angeles. La La Land. It is, for certain, home to many an angel, truly beautiful people who call it, and its pockets of cool community home.
I followed Cahuenga to its end, as it ingeniously snaked and turned to meet the 101. A week of blue skies I had had and the last of the sun tinged the edges of sky pink. I took in a big breath, again my love for Los Angeles affirmed. Descending to meet the traffic, to the right trees running along the curb and from it rose a plume of dust as a man with dirty matted hair kicked at the earth and released words, unintelligible, screaming first in a sharp falsetto than a deep baritone. I caught his eye as he turned to look at the line of traffic descending on the ramp - his young face yet to be ravaged by the trials of poverty and addiction. Two seconds was my window onto his world. With it he would be unto the end. A moment later I was laying off the throttle to join the long line of bright red lights braking themselves forward, six lanes strong, north on the Hollywood Freeway. The sky grew darker, a few exits more and the pace picked up, a Mercedes to my left, a long white stretch limo passes me to the right and I was leaving Los Angeles.

Help a gal (or two) out

So over at Burgh Baby, the entire month's ad revenue is being donated to the Flight 93 memorial fund. More money is made for each and every click of a page. And to make a bit more money for this worthy cause Burgh is hosting a contest in which bloggers have donated prizes.

There's all sorts of great stuff...gift cards, clothing, makeup, DVDs...and all you have to do is leave a comment saying what you would like should your name be drawn.

I did a little Second Cup shopping this weekend and picked up some white hot chocolate (the best ever!) and some English breakfast teabags. Since we hadn't opened anything yet, I thought I would donate that, and I will pick up some Tim Horton's coffee since people seem to like it. Not me, I'm not a coffee fan. Did you know there is even a Tim Horton's in Afghanistan? It is not only enjoyed by Canadian forces, but by all NATO soldiers.

I also have some cards I am willing to pass on. I was a little nervous when a gal who makes stampin' up cards put her name in for them because say she is absolutely amazing? There are couple each of the first two cards, and a quite a few of the final card...perfect for those little girl birthday parties!

So go on over to Burgh Baby, tell her you want my stuff so that at least I offer a little competition to all the great stuff over there. And, you know, so I don't look like such a loser.

Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers...

...I'm thinking that all you people shopping at the west end Wal-Mart yesterday have never had a child, or, judging by the age of some of you, you gave birth in the midst of the Depression and have convienently forgotten that two year olds are prone to temper tantrums. Of course, I forget that children "back in my day" were extremely well behaved and never, ever would have dreamed of pitching a fit in the midst of the super long Wal-Mart line. Or the local Hudson's Bay Company in those days I suppose.

But my two year old? She is prone to those tantrums. And quite honestly, I don't need to listen to your snide little comments. I don't need to feel your evil glare boring a hole in the back of my head. I don't need to hear from my friend that the guy in the line behind her said "She should just give that kid a sucker."

First off, I am not going to reward my child for having screaming bloody murder. As much as I hate the fact that I am making a store full of people listen to my child have a fit, I am not willing to give her a treat to make her stop.

And just so you know, she wasn't crying because she wanted some candy and I said no. She was crying because she wasn't allowed to run amongst the bras and panties. She was mad that I made her walk away. So mad she decided just to lie down in the middle of the aisle. Me picking her up and putting her in the cart is what led to her trying to scream the building down.

Yes, I know that girl can scream. It was in my ear after all. But you? Are no more mature than her with your holier than thou attitudes.

Not so sincerely,

Emma,
Mum of 4 (and just so you know, 2 of those 4 never had tantrums!)

How a miserable week ended well

This past week was hard. I always find September stressful, it seems like for every dollar we bring into the house I am required to spend 2. School fees, new gym uniforms, fundraisers, $73.45 dance shoes, indoor soccer fees...it's neverfreakingending.

But this September? Has been a bitch. She has kicked me in that ass one too many times. And this past week has been a nightmare.

Last week Saoirse developed a cold which turned into asthma. William was getting ready for work and we watched her struggling for breath as she slept. He said he was calling into work and taking her to the ER.

On the weekend, Liam's soccer team was in the Inter-cities. They lost their first game on Saturday morning. Liam was pretty down, as the goalie he felt responsible for their 6-1 thrashing (when in reality they still would have lost by 3 goals had he not let in 2 rather easy ones.) I told him he played a good game (he did! he made some amazing saves) and gave the usual rahrah statements. He got upset, William said something stupid, I got mad, William got mad...blah, blah, blah. They lost game 2 that evening and game 3 the next morning. They came in 4th out of 4 and yet they still got a medal. Copper. Who knew? I think it's pretty ridiculous myself. So did Liam apparently as he immediately gave it to Saoirse, who now has a pretty impressive collection of soccer medals. Two belong to her, the rest are Liam's.

On Monday William didn't go into work again. I had to go for a filling. Ouch.

On Tuesday William went into work and came home just past noon. I thought he was home early for lunch but it turned out he had been sent home "to cool down." Which worked out great for him, as the Liverpool game was on TV. For months William has been asking to change departments and has been getting the run around. That day they told him he could move in October if his attitude improved. I guess he got a little mad about this. I can't really blame him, they have sort of fucked him, and others, around. He was supposed to get a raise in April but didn't. They were told that when they did get the raise in would be retroactive to April. They then decided to do that just for people who had been there a year. William kicked up a fuss, as I think most of us would. He then found out that all new hires were being paid what they were. So it really wasn't much of a raise at all. Anyway, they didn't like that he was standing up for himself. Granted, William is not exactly the most tactful person out there so I can certainly see where they might refer to an attitude.

On Tuesday evening I had a meeting at the playschool. I thought it would be an hour. It was 2 and a half. I missed the early viewing of 90210 for goodness sake. I got home at 9 pm and Taylor was sitting at the computer and Liam was watching TV. The dishes from supper, 3 hours before, were still sitting on the counter and the table. I freaked. You know, I had just had enough. Do I really need to tell a 13 year old that I would like her to do dishes? I went on strike, in regards to anything to do with Taylor and Liam. I told them I wouldn't cook for them and I wouldn't do their laundry, clean their bathroom, etc... It is now Saturday and I have not cooked a meal for them yet. I did do their laundry today, forgetting that they were not in my good books.

He took a personal day on Wednesday. Silly. Saoirse had an appointment with a pediatric lung specialist. For the first time, I realized that Saoirse could actually die from this. Even though I have a cousin who died during an asthma attack I just didn't think of it like that. So he prescribed a nebulizer for her and the neds that go with it. We were told to pick the machine up at the pharmacy downstairs, as most don't carry it. I was cursing myself for not bringing my insurance card through William's work, as my coverage is 80% and his is 100%. So the pharmacist shows me how to use it and then says "$230. And it's not covered by Blue Cross." Huh? Insurance covers the medication but not the machine needed to administer the medication? What is that craziness? Well, payday wasn't until Friday and there wasn't $230 in the bank. I slunk out of the pharmacy with my head down in shame. Well, until I had to chase Sophie through a food court. Then I was just pissy.

Thursday morning William had a panic attack before going into work. (Have I mentioned boefre that he suffers from anxiety? He does, big time.) Needless to say, he didn't go in. Later that morning I listened to a message from his boss asking him to come in and talk. William, who must live in lala land, was under the impression all would be fine. I was a little more realistic. I was pretty sure he would be fired and if not fired, then severly reprimanded. Essentially what happened was he went in for this "talk" and his boos said "Here are your papers. We have just cause to let you go." By saying they have just cause they don't have to pay him a week in lieu of notice. And they do have just cause. He missed 4 out of 5 days. It doesn;t matter that he was one of the hardest workers they had. I would have fired his ass too.

So yeah...it was a shitty week.

But then... he called a company that had advertised in the paper that they needed installers. This is what William wanted to do at the company he was working with, and for some reason it never happened. He had talked to them on Tuesday, knowing that his days at Company A were numbered. He was asked to come in for an interview on Friday. And he got the job! They will train him for 2 weeks, they will build the rack he needs for his truck, they will even pay for the tools he will need and he can pay them back "$100 here and there." Because he will be a contractor, he will need a company. They gave him some ideas for that, and we have a few friends who have small companies, so we will talk to them. I'm very excited about this, I really hope it all works out.

Because if I have another week like this one? It won'be be pretty. Not at all.

An early conversation about boy parts...

Saoirse (2 months away from age 4): I don't like penises.

Me (good mother that I am): Oh, I bet one day you will.

Saoirse: You mean when I'm bigger?

Me: Yep, when you are bigger. Much bigger.

God forbid when she realizes what you do with those penises.

Random happenings in the neighbourhood.

*A couple of people asked for updates on the woman who coded in Labour and Delivery...she was in fact transferred to a major hospital in the city. (My workplace is not equipped for traumas...so if one gets shot they should hope that they don't get dropped off at our ER doors, which did happen a few weeks ago.) Oddly enough, I was talking to my neighbour who is a student nurse and I asked if she had heard about this and the woman was actually sent to her unit. Apparently she was in labour for some 30 hours, baby was breech and then they did the section. I find this a bit odd as we share the same doctor and I know my doctor would have been pushing for a section long before 30 hours had passed. I'm assuming the mother herself was insistent upon a vaginal birth, but I could be very wrong. Anyhow, hows this for a great big ouch- we all (well, the mothers amongst us) know how painful engorgement is...imagine engorgement right after your chest has been cracked open. Ow!

She saw the baby for the first time at 5 days old, they are both out of their respective hospitals and at home now.

*Proof that I am old before my time...I live right across the street from my community league hall. Behind the hall are some basketball hoops, where we quite often see teenagers hanging out. The other week though, a sports car drove up onto the grass and they blasted music while they played. I was annoyed, is it not bad enough that a fancy dancy sports car is there every Friday night to sell drugs? Do I now need to listen to rap while my girls are trying to fall asleep? And how disrespectful to drive up on the grass...honestly. Teenagers today. Tut tut, she says.

So I called the police. Not 911 people, I am not quite that pathetic. And I was placed on hold. I was on hold long enough that the car drove away and I hung up. Then on the Saturday at about 11.30 they showed up again. The girls were in bed, with their open window kitty corner to the field. The base was so loud that when I stood on my deck I could feel the vibrations. I was pissed off. So just before midnight I called the police. I was on hold for a few minutes and when the phone was answered I explained the situation. He asked my name and I said my first name. I can hear him typing away and then he says "Your last name is Mclastname?"

"YES!" I say, "How did you know that? That's from when I called in about the drug dealer isn't it?"

He says "Call display."

"Oh right, am I ever an eejit."

"Yep, we have all the latest technology."

Facetious bastard.

So he says he'll send out a police car and 15 minutes later I looked out to see police lights and heard the sound of silence. 15 minutes for a noise complaint? I was mucho impressed. I hope I didn't make them late for a stabbing or something.

A while later I see the sports car drive away and a few minutes after that the phone rings. It's a police officer.

I gave those boys a harsh verbal warning, he says. He told them that if they were caught again it would be about $1000 in fines. He says to me that they aren't even from here, they are from the south side.

"What were they doing all the way out here?" I say.

"That's exactly what I asked them, they said it's just a great set of hoops."

"That's fine and dandy, I have no issues with them playing there at all, we are always watching the kids (jeesh, I really am OLD) play, it was the noise so late at night that bothered me, my little girls are in bed."

"I totally understand," he says. "I can tell you that the young man in question has never been in trouble with us before, and that was evidenced by the tears in his eyes."

"Now you're making me feel guilty!"

And I did feel guilty, for a brief moment. But really? I like quiet late at night when the kiddos are in bed. It's bad enough that I live next door to crazy and am across the street from drug dealing luxury vehicles. I don't need to listen to rap at full blast at midnight.

Yep, I'm old. And grumpy. God forbid what I will be like at 75.

*Sophie turned two last Sunday. The Sunday 8 days ago, not just yesterday. I am nothing if not thorough when it comes to posting about my children's milestones. She had a great day, we went to see Sesame Street Live in the afternoon, and then we had some friends over for a barbeque. She received many lovely gifts, even though I said no gifts please! She ate an entire piece of cake and while she was eating it she wished me a happy birthday. I know! She is freaking adorable. I just want to eat her up, she is so cute and cuddly.

Shall I let you see for yourself, the yummy goodness that is my 2 year old? I've posted these on facebook, but apparently the only blogger that regularly looks at my photos is Squishy Tushy. And my mother, but she isn't a blogger and she doesn't comment either. She just calls me up and says "How could you post a picture of Sophie with a dirty face?" (easily...the child is dirty 2 seconds after you give her a wash) and "Take that picture of me down! I look awful!" Which reminds me...better delete that picture. She made me promise.

Oh yeah...the pics...


Well. There are no photos. Blogger is a bastard. I've tried downloading them twice and it hasn't worked. They are on facebook though, and if you don't fancy looking on facebook I'm pretty sure you can scroll through the teeny tiny album in my facebook profile on the sidebar. I mean, I honestly can not imagine that you would not want to look at pictures of my daughter. And then comment on her absolute adorableness and then lovely personality that just shines through.

*I received my book swap last week, from Beckie and let me just say it was like she knows me! Her book was the perfect choice for me. It was "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" by Maggie O'Farrell, an author I have read before and quite enjoy. I started reading the book that day, and finished it the next. From the first pages to the shocking last pages I loved every moment. It made me cry, and I love when an author has the ability to make a reader really care for the characters. I adored the character of Esme for both her quirky personality and her strength.

I highly recommend this book to any reader of fiction, I can guarantee you will have a hard time putting it out. It has joined my bookcase of "lend out, but never give away" books. Thanks, Beckie, for a great choice!

If anyone else has blogged about their swap please let me know so I can link to it.

Around the world in 888 days

(Otherwise known as "Meet my brother".)

I may have mentioned on here that my brother Thom is on an around the world tour, he started out in Mexico and then went to Miami where he purchased a motorcycle, had his wallet stolen, went to the Smokey mountains, went back to Miami, went on a cruise to the Bahamas, back to Florida and is now in New Mexico.

We have been conversing a bit on facebook and a few days ago I asked him if he was still in Miami, he emailed his answer to me and since he is a much better writer than I, and since I still have nothing to blog about (so not true, just one huge incident that has taken over my household and has left me totally drained, unable to blog about birthday parties and the events we have enjoyed in Festival City.) I am going to write his reply here. This was actually an email he had sent to friends:


"The eighth day of the eighth month of 2008 and finally I was leaving Florida. I had arrived that morning, Friday, from the Bahamas, hours it took to disembark the boat, not till two in the am was I off and through passport control, another three months stamped into my passport. I didn't make it far down the road, I pulled off and got a motel in West Palm Beach. I awoke in the morning at the Super 8, I opened the door to my room, number 108, to see a car parked next to my bike (Brunhilda) (Thom names all his vehicles) the last three digits read eight zero zero. The day had certainly begun auspiciously.

It was, again, a hot day, cycling through the information on Brunhilda's computer display I read the temperature at 96 degrees. An hour out of Orlando I could see that was going to change as I was driving right into a storm, the sky dark with black cloud, lit on occasion by a flash of lightning. The rain began to come down hard bouncing off the road a bolt of lightning hitting the median between the highway. I thought at first the shock on my hand was the electricity but convinced myself instead that it was just the pelting rain on my exposed hand. The heat of the day quickly gave way to a chill as my jeans became soaked and the singlet beneath my mesh kevlar jacket drew in water. I saw a bridge flying over the turnpike and considered seeking cover under it to put on my gortex underjacket. It came and went in a flash, hestitation determining for me to go on. I had come to expect these storms to last no more than an hour and riding at 80 miles an hour to move through them even quicker. This one was to last longer than expected, but eventually I could see light slowly show itself in a corner of the darkness, lighting white the spray coming high off the tires of the vehicles in front of me, turning vibrant the green of the adjacent fields. The rain ended and the pavement became dry, the sun broke through the clouds and I was assaulted by its heat. I was dry with in half an hour.

Cleared Orlando, rode the turnpike till its end the afternoon quickly fading into evening, north I continued. To my right I spied a massive roadside billboard '888 ADMIT IT' So true I thought. Above, written much smaller 'if gambling is a problem call' I couldn't help but chuckle. Saw the blue shield of the interstate with '10' emblazoned on it. I exited off the 75 the single lane splitting, green signs hanging above the road East to Jacksonville declared one, the other West to Tallahassee. The roadside artfully planted with palm and pine. I kept left following the road as it crested a rise and turned into the setting sun. 'Yes! West' cried my heart 'West'. (Yeah, he's a bit of a strange duck.)

I thought I would cut and paste this Em in answer to your question, No, no longer in Florida. Leaving New Orleans today for New Mexico a few days journey on soon to be in the deserts of Nevada for Burning Man."

I spoke to him the other day and I said he must blog this journey nad he said he will be, that as his next stop he hopes to take some of the emails he has sent and turn them into posts.

Just to take a moment to tell you guys a bit about my brother...he is my polar opposite. Outgoing, personable...if any one of you met him I can guarantee you would love him. He is a complete free spirit, does yoga and took a course qualifying him to teach it in Quebec. He's only a year younger than me, but has had so many more life experiences. He is an amzing uncle, all my kids adore him. He is beyond generous...before he left for Florida he bought Taylor, Liam and myself ipods. Instead of selling his truck to the highest bidder, he has left it with William and I to buy off him when William's residency finally comes through, and for less than he could have got elsewhere. He really is a fantastic person.



Does anyone know Florida well? I am sure this was taken in Key West.

The one where her mother laughs like a maniac

William picked me up from work on Friday night and when I came into the house Sophie wass sitting at the computer desk falling asleep. Her head would drift off to the side and bounce right back up. Oh how it made me laugh. So I grabbed the camera and filmed her.

Two things you may notice:

1) the noise. The TV is almost always on in our house. 99.9% of the time. No one was even really watching it, so you think we would turn it off. Or down at the very least.
2) The huge mark on my wall. Someone (and I shan't name names because it may have been me) smashed the chair into the wall and tore off a chunk of drywall. And someone one else (Liam) noticed a small chip in the paint and started peeling. Which led to eveyone else peeling. I think I am just going to get a roll of that textured paintable wallpaper to cover it.



All she wants to do is sleep... from Emma on Vimeo.

I'm pleased to note that my voice sounds much more like me than in the other video. Minus the slightly snarky way in which I ask Taylor what she is watching.

Fun Monday- My favourite photo.

It's been a long absence from Fun Mondays- most of them just require way too much thinking for my tired wee brain so I just don't even bother. I thought this one would be easy.

I was wrong. A favourite photo. It should be fairly easy. I've only been digital for 3 years and I have yet to figure out the ins and outs of the scanner so any picture prior to July 05 is out of the running. A shame really, because my all time favourite photo is of Taylor at age 1, in 1996. However, there are thousands of pictures from the last few years and tonight I am just too tired to go through them all.

However, as per aoj over at The Lurchers I will still show a favourite, albeit very recent, photo and tell you why it is so:

This is not a well taken picture. A little blurry, not a great shot, but the emotion behind this photo is something I will never forget.

I think I mentioned on here that Liam had a great soccer year, in fact his team will be in the Provincials next month. He was the goalie and absolutely loved every moment of it.

This picture is from the zone fianls, where they ended sudden death overtime with a draw, leading to penalty shots. Oh, it was nerve wracking! This picture was taken as Liam's team was up 3-1, and the other team was about to take their fourth shot.

I was nervous and excited and extremely frustrated as Sophie kept trying to run toward the road so I was holding a squirming toddler and trying to hold the camera steady.




Right after this picture the other team took their shot and Liam made a fantastic save. The picture immedaitely following this one would have been my choice as favourite as it was of the team running up to Liam and hugging him however due to the squirming Sophie, the photo ended up being of just their legs! Grrr.

Anyway, this photo will always be special to me... Liam in his beloved goal, helping to bring his team a gold in zone finals, which led to a gold in cities and hopefully will lead to a medal in provincials (though I'm not counting on one- their best player will be at a wedding in Saskatchewan and believe me when I say that they need him!)

Everyone has a story that can break your heart

Jaysus. Two posts. Two days. It's a bloody blogging miracle.

I've been working a few extra shifts over the summer and have had a chance to chat with a few patients. Normally I work only weekend evenings and spend more time reading than I do ferrying people around. I figure I made $120 an hour for the time I actually worked on holiday Monday, the great majority of my shift was spent reading and chatting with my workmates. Oh, it was a grand night.

So anyway, because I have done a few day shifts I have been going to the floors and sometimes you have to wait FOREVER for a nurse to stop charting and come transfer a patient. So I chat with the patients, or in some cases the family.

I always wonder what people, especially the elderly, did with their lives. Were they happy? Were they loved? Did they travel the world? Fight in a war? So many of our patients are Canadian by choice, what made them choose to move here? I am fascinated by personal histories.

While I was waiting FOREVER (okay, it was only 10 minutes) for a nurse to come and help me with a patient I started talking with his wife. She asked me my name and I said "Emma". She looked at her husband and smiled and he smiled back. I wondered if perhaps they had a daughter with the same name. But she said "When we were students Maine, Geoffrey and his friends always went into a certain diner and the owner would always be yelling "EMMA! Bring me a pen and paper!" She said that for years after, when he and his friends would yell that phrase out for no reason. Isn't it funny how hearing one word can make a memory come rushing back?

I asked her if they had just gone to school in Maine, or were they from the States. They were American and had decided to move to Canada in the late 60s as they were not happy with the state of civil rights at the time and were worried that their three sons would reach draft age should the Vietnam War go on. She said they had always loved Canada, and chose to come to Alberta as they had family in both Calgary and Edmonton and wanted to be near the mountains because they were avid skiiers and hikers.

I looked down at the husband who was no longer able to walk and I wondered how he felt. How does it feel to spend your life being active and able and now you are unable? It makes me feel I am wasting my life, there just is not enough activity in my days. I would rather grow old saying "I am so glad I did these things" rather that "I regret not doing more." It made me realize I really need to change my lifestyle.

That same day I went to pick up a 29 year old patient. She was blind and her eyes were quite dark and sunken in. She was mentally handicapped, I would think she was maybe at the level of a 5 or 6 year old. She was so excited to be going over to x-ray, where she would be "getting her picture taken." Her mum told me that she had brought her home from a home for handicapped children to die when she was 2 1/2. She said they didn't want to leave her alone in a home with no one. "And here she is, almost 30." she said. I wondered with the way she said that was she sometimes bitter that a child she was told would die was still alive. When you have a handicapped child, hands on parenting doesn't end. Did she ever wish she had never taken that little girl home? I don't know. I would like to think she does not regret a day, but she just seemed so sad when she said that.

I also heard, while I got paid to chat on Monday, that last week there was a Code Blue in Labour and Delivery (and hey, blogger that wrote out my entire post on her blog and "corrected the typos" on the mother who almost suffocated her baby, there were no typos in my post, we spell labour with an ou.) A mum had a section and had a pulmonary embolism. She had just had her fifth child and she was 26. I've heard two different endings to this story, that she was transferred to another hospital with a police escort (which is what I hope happened) and that she ended up dying while still in our hospital. I must remember to ask my mother for the update on that.

There are sad stories from the ICN as well, a baby born up north where the ultrasound missed the fact that he had a dia.phra@gmatic hern.ia, where the organs move into the chest cavity and the lungs don't develop properly leading to a lack of oxygen. Last I heard he was in a vegetative state. There was a newly adopted baby girl who developed meningitis, there was another baby sent home to die.

It puts my so called difficult summer into perspective. Sometimes I need to count my blessings, take a moment and enjoy how lucky I am.

Overwhelmed

I'm pretty sure I have a post or two with that title already...

So this has been a pretty stressful summer. How long until they are back in school? 3 3 1/2 weeks? It can't come soon enough. I am tired of the daily fights between Taylor and Liam, between Liam and Saoirse (why must he irritate her so? Now I see why Taylor used to get so upset with him- and there I was getting mad at her because she was the one always in tears!), between Taylor and/ or Liam and myself. I'm pretty close to the breaking point methinks.

This was supposed to be the summer that my kids grew up and took on some responsibility. I sat them down and we worked out a deal that they would do chores from Monday to Friday for $5 a day. Weekends they would have total freedom to do sweet fuck all and during the week they were to help with normal chores- cleaning their own bathroom, picking up the livingroom, dishes, etc. You know, the usual day to day stuff that normally only I do. $25 a week gave them the potential to earn $200 by the end of the summer for what should have been less than 30 minutes a day work.

And then there was babysitting. I had hoped to pick up and extra 3 shifts every 2 weeks. Taylor was babysit at $30 for a full day, $15 for a half. However, when you don't wake up until noon you can't really claim you are babysitting all day. (No need to call Social Services- Liam got up with the girls.) I ended up telling work I could only do evening shifts, which actually works out in my favour as I then get shift differential. More money, but no seeing Himself as I leave at 2.30 and he comes home at 5. Granted, that can also can work out in my favour, depending on one's mood.

Sophie is beating up on Saoirse. If you are not a regular reader of my blog, you may be unaware that Sophie is 21 months younger than Saoirse. If she wants something Saoirse has she will take it, hitting or pulling hair if she must. And hitting for fun. Not only Saoirse. Oh no, we have all had a Sophie smack across the arms, legs or face. We are not a family that spanks so I really have no idea where this is coming from. The kid spends half her day on the time out step. Or rather, she would if she listened to me and stayed in time out.

And yet sometimes? She is so freaking sweet. She is really affectionate and smart and oh, so funny. The other day she sort of slid of the chair and bumped her bum. She was naked of course, because why get dressed when you can spend the day running around without pesky clothing to get in your way? So she bumps her butt and says to me "Oh Mummy! I hurt my bum! You need to kiss (mwah, mwah) it better." And she turned around and stuck her bum in the air. She did make kissy noises too. How can you not laugh at that? So I kissed the top of a bum cheek and she said "Thank you Mummy! My owie's all better!" She speaks in exclamations, everything is so exciting to her. She also speaks in periods. "Give. Me. The. Phone. Right. Now." That's what I heard when I called home the other night and was talking to Saoirse. Bossy and not very nice on one hand, sweet and loving on the other.

It's her second birthday this coming Sunday. Being the fantastic mother I am, I have arranged nothing. No birthday party planned, I sort of mentioned to a few people that we may have a barbeque but have followed up with no one. We are going to see Sesame Street Live on the day at 1 pm so I am a bit worried that by 5 or so she will be an absolute bear as she won't have napped. And really? I know she's only turning two, she isn't going to care that no one is there. But I do, I care that there will be no family friends in the picture. I think part of the problem is that I have pushed so many people away and the ones that I haven't are all on freaking holiday and so there is really no one to invite.

And finally, (I could totally go on feeling sorry for myself but shall spare you) today we got a letter from Imm.igation Canada saying that William needs to have another full medical examination as it has been more that 12 months since the last one. Do you know why it has been more than 12 months? Because every freaking month CIC sends us yet another letter telling us they need one more thing. Last month it was yet another criminal record check from Australia, this one requiring finger prints. Well,f you fucking wanted fingerprints why did you not say that in the original bloody letter. We are on third Australian check. I bet the next one they send says they want one from Scotland for the brief time he lived there more than 10 years ago.

Another medical is going to cost us about $400. Not a great deal of money, but not money we have at the moment. It has been a really tight few months, and with over $700 in school fees coming up in September it is not money I see being available to us in the next few months. Then there's Christmas and in the new year William has to go back to Australia as the medical board has said they will close his case if he doesn't come back soon. And then there was the letter telling me I owe Revenue Canada almost $500 for overpayments on GST in 2006 because I had an unclaimed partner. Gov't of Canada agencies really must not communicate because if they did they would know that in 2006 William was not allowed to work in this bloody godforsaken country.

In good news, we had our first bloggers get together in ages, and this time a new blogger joined us. I loved meeting 'She' from The Screaming Pages, along with her husband Drew. I know a few other Edmonton bloggers and I hope they will join us in the future.