Paying it Forward

I was the second commenter on a particular post over at Lisa's blog and so my job is to "pay it forward." The first 3 people to comment will receive something homemade from me. Will it take me ages to actually mail it to you? Quite possibly, but let's have a little faith shall we? If I already owe you something I will send you two somethings. Your job is then to pay it forward yourself and send something to the first 3 people to comment on your blog post. Does the word homemade frighten you? Well, I am all for breaking the rules...pick up a wee something instead. (Personally I am rather fond of those $1.50 stamps from Michaels. I bet they are even cheaper in the States. Damn lucky Americans with all your cheap goods.)

Speaking of damn lucky Americans...why are there no Targets in Canada? Why do you get the cheese in a can (not that I'd eat it...but still! And now I hear you have cream cheese in a can!) Why do only you have that delicious smelling banana foamie hand sanatizer for kids? Why are books still way cheaper there when the Canadian dollar is going up, up , up and we should almost be on par? Why is there a conspiracy to keep the Stanley Cup in the States? Why is your football played on a smaller field than our football? Why do you have TIVO and we don't? Why did you re-elect George Bush? Oh, wait...that is so not lucky.

Tomorrow I might be able to post about the awful, horrible thing my son did today. And how he knew I was really, really, really mad because I did not raise my voice once. I did cry though. So did he. Twas bad.

Off to playschool

I had no intentions of putting Saoirse into playschool this year, I thought I would just leave it until next year. I started to think though that she really needs something extra, and needs to make some friends, besides just the ones on our block. I saw an advertisement in the community paper for the same playschool Taylor and Liam attended oh so many years ago. I asked my neighbour if her son Alex was going and she said yes, so I managed to get Saoirse the last spot in the morning class because of course she wants to go with Alex. Turns out Alex is actually in the afternoon class, which doesn't work for his mother and her job. She'll keep him in the class but I have to pick him up and she'll drop them both off. I don't know how long this will last. Saoirse isn't even allowed to start until after she turns 3, which isn't until November. Anyway, I am sure it will all be fine. She is so excited! And I signed up to be the room rep! Because I am a freaking eejit! Oh, and even though she's not allowed to start until November I still had to take 2 cases of chocolate almonds, one of which my mum sold at work today and the other is sitting in our house, currently with $24 worth of boxes eaten by us. So much for any weight loss this week. I have zero willpower.

Saoirse and I had this conversation about school and her backpack:

Me: Are you going to use your Curious George backpack when you go to playschool?
Saoirse: No.
M: No? Why not?
S: I'm going to use princesses. I'm going to use my suitcase.
M: You can't use your suitcase for playschool.
S: Yes, I can.
M: No, you can't.
S: Yes, I can. Daddy says I can.



Her mad face.



Sitting in the sink. She did just start out washing her hands.



Saoirse loves Liam's old play hard hat.



Sleeping on the sofa. Tell me how to get rid of the dummy without losing my mind.



I don't know why, but she insists on drinking from the kitchen and bathroom taps.



I screwed up. I didn't seperate my Facebook photo list from the blogger one. Too lazy to remove and it's not the worst picture of me, even if it's not great.



My aunt told us to delete this one, but one day when she is a teenager we may need to use it against her. We were at my brother's and she said "I feel sick" and ran to lean over the toilet. She was fine.


She would only wear these glasses upside down. Why? No idea.



We had just gone swimming and before I could dress her, she ran off to climb these steps. She wouldn't come down until I took her picture. 3 times.



My brother bought her this unicorn. She loves it, as it makes noise.



Fooling around at Uncle Thom's.


In the wading pool at Gyro Park, by far her favourite place in all of Nelson.



On our last night we went out to dinner at this funky restaurant with no menus. They made Saoirse and Sophie a cheese pizza, which she didn't eat of course. She survived on peanut butter and toast all week.



Wearing 2 hats.



Sunglasses at breakfast.

Because I haven't talked about Saoirse enough:
She has dolls from the Disney Store, one is Ariel and the other is Eric. (You know, from Little Mermaid.) Sophie has Sleeping Beauty but no Prince Charming. Saoirse makes Eric and Ariel kiss and sometimes Eric (the wee bastard!) even kisses Sleeping Beauty. If she sees us watching she stops and goes all shy. Today she was playing with Sleeping Beauty and she asked me to fix her crown. She says "Sleeping Beauty isn't actually a queen, she's a princess."
I say "That's right she's a princess."
You know why she's only a princess and not a queen according to Saoirse?

Because "Her doesn't have a man."

Oh my, how I laughed. That kid is classic. Or a throwback to the 50s.

Fun Monday and the book swap

Lisa is hosting this weeks Fun Monday and this is what she says:

I’d like to know more about you, what makes you tick. I’d like to know how you started blogging. Did you keep a diary under lock and key safely hidden as a child? Do you still? Do you share the same things on your blog that you would have, or do, in your diary? Why did you start blogging and why do you continue? May as well throw in any roadblocks you have run into while blogging. If you still have your old diaries we’d love to see them.

My old diaries and the corny poetry I wrote in junior high were all thrown away the day I moved out with my boyfriend when I was 19. I didn't need him reading that stuff. I should have known right then and there that we would never work out. If you can't trust your partner with your innermost secret thoughts from when you were 12 and 13 then you have a serious problem.

I started keeping a diary when I was about 9. I remember that diary well, it was one of those ones with a page for a day. It was fairly thick, but quite tiny. It had one of those locks that don't really lock. It was one of the gifts in my stocking. Here is quite possibly what it may have said (true story here!):

"Dear Diary,
Today in the line up when recess was over, Tony pulled my pants down. Everyone laughed because I was wearing underwear with 3 elephants on them. I went into the bathroom and cried"

God damn Tony Es.pirito. I've never gotten over that. Oh, and he used to call me stink bomb. God, he was mean to me.

I was not a faithful diarist, but I did always have a diary off and on until I was 21 and then, for reasons not to be mentioned, that final diary was thrown away. I meant to keep a journal when I went to Ireland in 2001, but I wrote in it exactly once. Before I left. I do still have a diary, two actually, tucked away in my pajama drawer. I started reading about blogs and in 2005 my first blog was born. It has exactly one entry and then I couldn't log onto it again and this blog was started. And here we are 2 years later. Today, this is my journal, it has been Saoirse and Sophie's baby record books and has even been a photo album, since I haven't printed a picture in ages.

Last week I wrote a post over at My 4 Kids saying what blogging has meant to me and being the lazy arse I am I will copy it here, with apologies to those of you who read it last week.

I started blogging just over 2 years ago. I was going to blog about motherhood, but my blog turned into my very own cheap brand of therapy, with a whole lot of fantastic people playing psychiatrists or just offering me a "Hey, I've been there and you will get through this." My house may be a little messier, but my sanity? That girl is intact. Mostly.

I have said before that I like my blogger friends better than the majority of my daily life friends. You are the people I tell about the troubles with my oldest daughter, who at 12 drives me absolutely mad. It is you that I sometimes tell about the fights with my partner. While I write for myself, I also write with the hope that someone will read my blog and know how I am feeling, or be sympathetic to what's been going on. Every once in a while a good kick in the ass works wonders too.

Once upon a time, I read a blog post that discussed whether or not bloggers could be considered friends. At the time, I thought "Maybe." Now, I think "Definitely!" No, I may not know most of you in person (although I was lucky enough to meet a blogger last week) and I may never have the opportunity to meet you (unless I win the lottery- then you're all invited to my new house for my very own mini blogher) but you are most definitely my friends. Surely a stranger would not send your daughter a gift for her birthday? A stranger would not send you an email telling you things she is not ready to put into her own blog. A stranger may tell you what you want to hear, but it is your friends who tell you what you need to hear.

So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the wonderful ladies (and a few fellas!) that I have met on this journey. I really do adore you all.

What I had meant to mention in that post was that the girl who asked whether or not bloggers could be considered friends said no, that they weren't. When she turned off her computer she didn't give another thought to the bloggers she had just read. I am the opposite. I wonder about how things are going with you, there are tons of you that I would love to ring up and have a chat with, I talk about you about other people. I wish you were all on facebook (hint, hint.) There have been a few bloggers that have clsed their blogs and I quite often wonder what happened to them and how they are.

Hmmm...not so sure I actually answered that Fun Monday question.

-------------------

Remember you have until Wednesday to sign up for the book swap! There are currently 20 people, though I am still waiting for addresses from 3 of you. For those of you who didn't read the other post, you simply have to send a book you have read and enjoyed or a book by a local author to the blogger you get. Or you can send a book to their child(ren) or both. Whatever catches your fancy. I did have the mail by date as Wednesday, September 5th but I think I am going to move it forwarda week as I completely forgot that we Canadians return to school on the Tuesday and I, for one, cannot think about more than one project! Those of you who have been reading me for anything longer than 2 weeks should know this to be very, very true!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Rachel
Happy birthday to you.

Be grateful that I am not there in person to sing, because my voice...it does some suck!

Hope you have a great day today!!

Fat Arse Friday

I'm sort of stealing this off of Ice Cream Mama, who was doing Fit Friday. Now she's pregnant and I haven't seen a Fit Friday update in a bit. I had to change the name though because I am so far from fit that to use that word would be quite wrong. I am currently in position of a rather vivacious bottom though, so this title will work for a few dozen pounds.

Unlike either Ice Cream Mama or CPA Mom I am not willing to divulge my current weight. It ain't pretty people, that's all I can say. So I'm just going to tell you my weekly weight loss. My goal right now is to lose 30lbs and I'll see where I go from there. I am giving myself 6 months to lose that weight.

This weeks weight loss: 5 lbs 10 oz.

Yay me! I don't know how that happened, I haven't done any exercising, just a lot of walking at work, and I haven't been great about counting points. But I'll take what I can get- next week I'll probably be up 4lbs.

Tell me why?

Tell me why my daughter, who was dry every night for 3 weeks, has peed in MY bed for the last four nights, forcing me to wash mattress pad, sheets and comforter 4 times?

Tell me why I have sex right around ovulation, stress out for 2 weeks that "oh my god, I think I'm pregnant, how the hell am I going to tell my mother" (because, you know, I'm 16) and then get depressed when I get my freaking period?

Tell me what I did to get the block's craziest person living right next door to me?

Tell me how it is possible that a grown woman can wear a size one when my 12 year old daughter, who is quite skinny, is a size 3?

Tell me why school supplies are so bloody expensive?

Do you want to know what I am doing tonight? Having my friend's son sleep over so that she can have "crazy monkey sex" with her hubby! We had a discussion about how hard it is to have sex when your kids get older. It's not the older that are a problem in my house, it's the toddler in the bed. Tonight when William was getting her ready for bed, Sophie was up there with them and Saoirse said "Let her sleep in our bed." Honestly. If that girl had her way, I'd be sleeping on the floor. Every night when I come up to bed she's either sleeping on my pillows or has her head on William's chest and her feet on my side. I get kicked and pushed all night long. I wonder if she would take Saoirse for a sleepover so I could have sex?

A summer swap package and a surprise received and a swap revealed

Last week, yes last week (I'm very slow you know), I received my summer swap package from BS. And I was quite pleased. Thanks BS, for making my day!

S- Sunscreen, sand from Bermuda (where BS had just gone on a cruise), shells and sand dollars.

U- drink umbrellas (not pictures, as they were quickly stolen by Liam) and glasses to go with them. And just because, a unicorn (which Saoirse has claimed.)

M- a magnetic memo board to keep track of all my summer activities

M- moisturizing aloe vera gel

E- Eucalyptus foot scrub and a pedicure kit to keep my "sandal" feet pretty (which was a great thing since I had just gotten a pedicure while on holiday)

R- refreshing rum drink recipes (which sound delicious) and Royal Caribbean postcards, as well as one of Bermuda (all claimed by Taylor)

Pictures? I have them but my computer has been shutting down all day and I can't download them. I really, really need a new computer. We just can't decide on a laptop or a desktop.

Because I can't download (upload?) I also can't show you the beautiful Guess skirt that la bella mammina sent for Sophie's birthday. She was thrilled to put it on, because it has a long pink ribbon that you are supposed to tie into a bow but of course she wanted to play with it. Saoirse also liked this skirt, she took a belt and tied it to the ribbon and made Sophie into her doggie and tried to pull her down the stairs.

As soon as I can down/upload the photos I will be sure to post them.

And on to the swap....

I'm a book lover. It is very rare that I do not have at least one or two books on the go in my house. I'll read almost anything. But not science fiction or fantasy. I do have some taste. No offense to you lovers of that genre. Anyhoo, sometimes I find myself wondering what you guys read, except for those smarties like Beccy who actually list what they are reading in their sidebar.

So here is my idea: send a blogger one of your favourite books or a local author. Or if your blogger has children/grandchildren you can send one of your favourite childhood books, or a book your child likes. You can buy new, used or send your own much loved copy. Don't worry about searching for something your blogger likes, the purpose of this is to introduce them to an author they may never have read or even heard of and to let them know a bit about you. What we read can say an awful lot about us I think.

You have until August 28th to sign up, and then everything should be mailed out by September 5. Email me at emmamcdonnell@shaw.ca (note that's .ca, not .com, it tends to throw some people!) with your name and address. Be sure to include your url and if you've participated in other swaps let me know who you have sent to before so that I can match you to someone new.

Hope lots of you sign up!

And the answer is...

The inquisitive Alissa asked how many people I've slept with.

And my answer is that I will tell if you tell. Of course, none of us will know if the other is lying, but I'll trust you. Because I'm a trusting sort of gal.


And quite a few people wondered what the big lie is. As I wrote that post I questioned whether I would be able to say what it was and I still don't know but even putting it out there felt somewhat liberating. It's had to keep things to yourself sometimes. As the very smart Catwoman pointed out, it is likely that people are assuming things that may be even worse. Though I don't know what could be worse than that. Although I do tend to justify it by saying it all worked out for the best. I think.

So what do you think that big lie is?

Oh and today I guest blogged over at Terri's, though I forgot to change the time and it actually posted with yesterday's date.

I swear to God tonight I am going to post about my summer swap gift and the upcoming swap that I am hosting. Are you in? It's all about books.

Fun Monday- Little White Lies. And some big ones too.

The host of this week's Fun Monday is Uncaringbear and she asks this of us:

Share with us a little white lie that you may, or may not, have gotten away with. Perhaps it's something more sinister than a little white lie - maybe even a deep dark secret that you've kept buried for years! All the better! Now's your chance to get it off your chest and confess: "Yes, I did eat that last slice of cheese cake", "No, I wasn't washing my hair that Saturday", "Those pants do make you look fat"!

So what to confess? I already told you that I quite often lie about how I met William, saying that we met in N. Ireland instead over this here contraption, with him in Australia and me in Canada. It still makes me shudder to say that, even though I know that really there is no shame in it.

As a teenager I was the queen of lying to my parents. I'd say I was spending the night at a friend's, when in reality I was at my boyfriend's, referred to on this blog as the German Bastard. Affectionately of course. I lied consistently from the age of 15-17 about whether or not I was having sex. Did my mother believe me? Probably not, she's certainly not as stupid as I assumed she was. I would have kept lying about that one too, but for the fact that I got pregnant at 17. I would have been one of those girls that hid my pregnancy for 9 months and then said "I don't know how I ended up with that baby!" I miscarried though and had no choice but to tell my mother as I had to go to the hospital for a D&C. I will never forget how disappointed she was in me. My dad still doesn't know why I went into the hospital. So not only did I lie about having sex and getting pregnant, I forced my mother to lie to my father.

These days I stick mostly to white lies, the basic "I am quite sure I emailed those school council minutes out to everyone" even though in reality I haven't even typed them up or "No, your ass doesn't look flat at all in those pants" even though it looks flat in every pair of pants this person owns. I also skew the number lower on the amount of people I've slept with. Not many people ask that question these days. Maybe because I'm in my 30s now? I don't know, it seems like as a teenager and in the early 20s it is a question that comes up often. William is the only person who knows the exact number.

And then there is the one giant lie that I have kept a secret for many, many years (although I did tell William in the spirit of no secrets and all that) that will hopefully remain a secret for many more years.

As I read other Fun Monday entries, I am quite regretting my choice of lies to tell. Am I the only awful blogger out there?

It wouldn't be a Saturday night in the ER without tears, a fight and the drunk who pees himself.

Work tonight was extremely entertaining. Will I be able to convey that? Probably not, but here is my feeble attempt.

The yelling- I'm sitting at the radiology desk (reading blogs, because that is what Alberta taxpayers like for me to do) and all of a sudden I hear this woman screaming bloody murder at someone. She was going on about a baby being born and how the people with her would never get to see it. And she was "fucking this, fucking that." Now, I swear, way too much, but never like that. Not screaming in public. I am sure that baby is going to have a fantastic life.

The making out- I went to go and get a guy to go over to CT. When I opened his curtain he and his girlfriend were on the stretcher making out. Honestly! What goes through people's heads? What makes a 40 year old man (and she must have been about 50!) think it is appropriate to make out in the freaking hospital? He looked like he had been in one hell of a fight, and how he even found kissing and all pleasurable is beyond me.

The Drunk This man was probably in his mid to late 40s. He came out of the bathroom and stood there, completely blocking my entrance. There was a feamle security guard with him. He was talking about his urine sample. Loudly. His jeans were buttoned up, but the zip was down and they were wide open. Like see it all open. And the backof his pants were soaked, which leads me to believe he had wet himself. Or he could have been sitting in the rain I suppose. The security guard says "Do up your pants." And he says "Why? You've got that hungry look in your eyes." Just the way he said it and her rolling her eyes in complete and total disgust had me laughing. The drunks at work quite amuse me, last week an old man sang some song that made me think of Baptist churches in the south. It was fantastic, but even I was a little tired of it by the time I had walked past him a dozen times, so I am sure his EMTs were totally sick of it. The one kept saying "Don't you know any other songs?" And he'd say yes, and then start that same song again.

However, were it ever my dad who was the drunk in the ER I would be very upset. Like murder him upset. Thank God I wasn't working there when that was what he was like.

The tears- It was a miscarriage and that's probably all I should say about it. It happens all the time, I know that, but there was something about this couple and her crying that will make them very hard to forget.

The crazy chicks The other day when I worked I brought a young girl over from the ER. She tells me it is her daughter's second birthday today and she wants to get home as she has left her with the neghbours. I ask what brings her in because I did notice that she had an ultrasound to check for internal bleeding. I assumed she had been in a car accident. No. The father of her daughter has been kicking her "down there" and then a few days ago she "got into a fight and this morning was in huge pain." Seriously, some people are just not ready to be parents. What was she doing out getting into fights? Anyway, she waits ages for her test. As she is lying there, a girl is brought out of the xray room and they start talking. I'm in and out, so not listening to their conversation and as I am getting ready to take the second girl back upstairs they exchange phone numbers. They are literally yelling their numbers back and forth to each other, since apparently yelling makes you remember things better. The girl tells me that her baby's father is the best friend of the other girl's baby's father, and they are both fighting with the dads. Then she asks me what her name is. I say her first name and she say "Oh, now I remember where I knew her from- I kicked the shit out of her once." Really, I say, thinking once again that some people REALLY should not be parents. The first girl (N) had tried to break into L's house so L beat up N and L's boyfriend beat up the guy she was with. Classy. I wonder if she will ever call her? And then this girl, L, asked me to send back up the porter who had picked her up because he was cute. And he is cute. (You can even see him on you tube- he's a med student and they did some song based on that Justin Timberlake song Sexy Back -or whatever it's called- it was quite good really, has even made it onto the news) Anyway I digress. He is cute, but she was...not so much. I did tell him though. I don't believe he took her up on the offer.

So much to blog about, so little time.

There is so much stuff I need to write about, but it seems that time flies away from me. Or I'm too lazy. Something like that.

Here's a sample of what may or may not come up in my blog over the next bit.
-An update on my one year old (She walks! She talks! She throws Holy Mary Mother of God temper tantrums! Every. Single. Day. She plays "Round and Round the Garden"! She gives hugs and kisses! She nods her head yes!)
-Sophie's first birthday, and the lack of a party. (Because I am a shitty mother, or because I have shitty friends, I am not sure who I feel like blaming. But those so called friends on facebook? That status update? It's for you. Not you bloggy friends. More bloggers said happy birthday to her than people here.)
-The fantastic summer swap package I received from BS. I would have wrote about it tonight, but I still have to take pictures. Tomorrow I hope.
-The totally insane 20 year old patients I dealt with at work yesterday. I figure if I don't use their names I can't get fired.
-My cousin's court case for throwing an alarm clock at her husband and her sentence. (No jail time, but can't leave Alberta for 2 years, will have a record for 7 and is on probation for 2.) Guess I don't need to blog about that now. But if someone could tell me what blog it was I read where the wife was arrested for that same sort of situation I would really appreciate it. I'm sure I linked to it from one of you people.
-How I need to update my blogroll, because there are so many more people that I read and how the guilt of not adding them is eating away at me. However, if it would eat away me until I was skinny? I would remove my entire blogroll.
-Some more of my trip to Nelson. See how quickly I abandoned that? But at the very least I have to write about my day at the spa, a gift for myself, my mum and my aunt from my brother.

And I met Joy today. And guess what? I didn't throw up! And I still loooooove her. She was fantastic, a great person to sit and have a chat with. I told Taylor, who was babysitting, that I would only be about an hour, but our coffee turned into over 2 hours. And really? I could have kept talking but I was worried that Liam the girls would be stressing Taylor out. But no, all was well, Taylor and her friend Connor had taken the girls to the park where they had a great time. And I had a lovely surprise soon after I came home- William and his friend installed my new patio door! It's gorgeous. I never thought I'd say that about a patio door, but it really is. And I took the opprtunity to throw away the old vertical blinds, which I am going to replace with curtains. They did however leave me the mess indoors to sweep up, and it was everywhere! The wood surrounding the old frame was rotten and just disintegrated everywhere.

I went off topic there. Back to Joy. She really is very much like she is in her blog, she even sort of talks like she writes, which I loved about her. If you read her, you should immediately know what I mean. So, Joy, I hope we can meet up again, and maybe even make some cards or something. Ha! That sounds so geeky. Wanna come over and make some crafts? Yep, I'm officially declaring myself as a loser on this here blog. But I know you all knew anyway.

The Art of Conversation

I don't have it. And usually I would say it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that I am super shy, or that I am no good at small talk. But on Thursday it matters.

For on Thursday I am meeting a fellow blogger, Joy from A Spot of T. Now for me this is the equivalent of Alissa or Catwoman meeting Dooce (who I don't read so can't link to. Not because I can't find out the link, but because I couldn't be arsed too. If you want to know where she is they both have her in their blogroll.) Because I looooove Joy. She is funny, but she also writes some very moving posts. She is a great mum.

I am very nervous meeting people for the first time. I feel physically ill. What will we talk about? Will she like me? What if she hates me?

Yeah, I feel like a teenager going on her first date.

I'm sure it will be fine. We are just meeting for a cup of coffee (or tea, as the case may be since a sip of coffee has never passed these lips) so surely I can find some things in my not so witty repertoire to discuss for 45 minutes or so.

But still...what if she doesn't like me?

Take my poll, why don't you?

Blogger has this new poll feature. So I thought I'd do one myself. I sort of stole the question from a Jodi Picoult novel (Mercy, in case you're wondering.)

It's all about sex. Shall I tell you why I chose those particular sports? Just in case you have totally different ideas of what the 100 meter dash might mean (and yeah, I put 10 in the poll. I am a loser.)



Hockey- a little bit rough, but always exciting.
Triathalon- more than one position, takes a while
Pairs Figure Skating- sweet, loving, almost always in sync
100 meter dash- over before you know it

Just so you know, I don't know who votes what. Which is a shame, cause I'm nosy like that. Tell me in the comments section if you want. I dare you.

I was going to continue enthralling you all with my trip to Nelson (you'd think I was climbing Mount Everest with the way I was going on wouldn't you?) but I got called into work so couldn't. Probably won't tomorrow either because I have to dedicate tomorrow's post to my baby. For my wee Sophie turns one tomorrow. Well, today since it's after midnight. I can hardly belive it's been a year. It's flown by. Well, except for the first 8 months where I wasn't allowed out of her sight. But since then, it's gone way too quickly. This afternoon I kissed my baby goodbye, tomorrow morning I will wake up to the sounds of a toddler. Sigh.

From this:


to this:

She had more hair then than now.

July 28- Radium to Nelson

When we woke up after a terrible night's sleep in Radium (Sophie fell off the bed twice- that girl moves a LOT!) we tried getting a hold of Thom to no avail. We decided to go out for breakfast and then head off, knowing we would meet up with them eventually. We met in Cranbrook, where we stopped at Payless to buy William some running shoes. Saoirse asked for about a dozen pairs, she loves shoes. I did get Liam 2 pairs, his back to school ones and a pair to mess about in while we were away. They were marked down from $50 to $5. A good deal I thought. And no PST. I forgot about the PST, which combined with the GST adds an extra 14% to most everything you buy. Except children's apparel apparently. We don't have PST in Alberta, so I forget how expensive things can get.

Sophie sleeping on the way to Cranbrook, it was a rough night.


Saoirse sticking her tongue out in concentration at an obviously vital part of Little Mermaid. Or Peter Pan. One of them anyway.



Thom wanted to stop at the Canadian Railway Museum. We did one of the 7 tours, the Trans-Canada Limited tour.


This quilt was made for Cranbrook's centennial in 2005. My picture isn't great, but up close that quilt was quite something...so much detail and history.


Walking to the train.


A poster advertising the Trans-Canada, the fastest train in North America in the 20s, going from Montreal to Vancouver.


Sophie hanging out in the day parlour car.


One of the restored beds in the first class sleeping compartment. Obviously, they didn't restore the blinds! The sink was really neat, they had separate taps for hot, cold, dental, and drinking water. By the 40s they were replaced with normal sinks.



During the Depression the trains were taken out of service and in the 40s were refitted. They painted over all the mahogny with this greenish paint. The museum has spent however many years restoring the train and searching for pieces. The picture after this one shows a restored wall. I did not include a picture of a sideboard in the diningroom, which I should have as the story behind it was interesting- it was found on a farm in Ontario being used as a chicken coop. If you did take a look at the tour link it is pictured in the left hand picture.




After Cranbrook, we made a few few more stops- once in Creston so my brother could buy some organic fruit and then at a beach whose name I can't remember Kook-something or other. Must look on the map in the morning. Sophie went nowhere near the water of course, she did however manage to open a can of pringles and eat a few before I caught her. This is the shirt I mentioned yesterday, the Cows play one Backyardigans.


Taylor in the water. I didn't realize how much in the shadow this pic is.


Thom and Liam.


After our beach stop, we drove to the ferry at Kootenay Bay. The Balfour ferry is the longest free ferry ride in the world at 35 minutes. We had a bit of a wait as we didn't get onto the small ferry so Liam and Taylor went down to the beach (I keep getting in trouble for using the word beach- William informs me that a beach is only a beach if it is at the ocean) with Saoirse. I discovered later that the water here was really warm as compared to the water in Nelson.


Sophie wore my sunglasses.


Our ferry, the Osprey 2000, coming in.


I love this picture of Taylor. Again, it's covered in shadow, I'll have to see if I can play around with that. But she looks so grown up. She is sitting on the top of my brother's truck. He was first in line and people stood in front of the cars to watch the view and some young guy was not watching the view, he kept turning and looking at Taylor. Yikes.


Mountains and water, mountains and water. I have tons of these!



All of them standing on the upper deck. Yes, my brother has tiger like stripes in his hair. He's a different soul, that boy. Wait until I tell you what he did for my mum, aunt and I. That's not until day 5 or so though. Stick around, you'll all be wanting a brother like him. Or you might want to kill him, which was my inital feeling.


Tomorrow: Day 1 in Nelson! Lucky youse again.