4 Things

I've been tagged by Andrew over at 42 Year Old Loser... (it's no longer called that, but it's like that in my links and since I still can't figure out that nifty highlighting trick that's how you'll have to get to him if you so choose to do so, and I would advise that you do.)

So anyway....

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. underage babysitter
2. bookseller
3. observation monitor (pretty much paid to sit and read)
4. nursing attendant

Four movies you would watch over and over again:
1. It's a Wonderful Life
2. Stand By Me
3. Some Mother's Son
4. Fried Green Tomatoes

Four places you have lived:
1. Sutton Coldfield, England
2. Birmingham, England
3. Edmonton, Alberta
4. ummm....slightly further northwest in Edmonton...can that count?

Four T.V. shows you love to watch:
1. CSI
2. Without a Trace
3. Gilmore Girls
4. Amazing Race
Yes, I am pathetic. I could name more.

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Ireland
2. France
3. Disneyland
4. The Canary Islands
I am not counting England, as it was more visiting than vacationing.

Four web-sites I visit daily:
1. Google (I have no choice, it's my home page)
2. For Better or For Worse
3. BBC UK
4. Aston Villa

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Enchiladas (but only my own..they are delicious)
2. Spaghetti
3. Salsa Salad
4. Chicken Wings

Four places I’d rather be right now:
1. Vancouver
2. Disneyworld
3. Belfast
4. Melbourne (as of next Friday anyway)

Four people to tag:
1. Eric at Terminal Dysfunction
2. Boliath at In My Head
3. Emma at Welcome to Melancholy (another one with a new name)
4. United Irelander (just because I'm making it a habit)

Stephen Harper and Gay Rights

Towards the end of the election campaign Stephen Harper said that having a free vote on the gay marriage issue was not at the top of the priority list, that there were many other issues to be taken care of.

Yesterday, it was said that he will open talks on this issue. The first big announcement. Gay marriage. Nothing about health care, child care, education or military spending. But gay marriage.

Do we not have bigger fish to fry in this country?

What's next? Women lose the right to vote?

Didn't I say we would be taking a step back? I think I did.

This pretty much sums up my week

Where is the moment when we need it the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion's gone away
And I don't need no carryin' on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You're faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life's been way off line
You're falling to pieces everytime
And I don't need no carryin' on

Cause you had a bad day
You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don't know
You tell me don't lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don't lie
You're coming back down and you really don't mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day
-Daniel Powter
"Had a Bad Day"

A parental lack of support

I'm not sure what the deal is with mothers. I am pretty sure they are put on this earth to support your decisions to the best of their ability. Apparently, my mother does not realize this.

She is not at all happy with our decision to have Saoirse go to Australia with her FATHER. It does not seem to matter what Saoirse's feelings would be, or what William's or even mine are. In her her mind, what we are doing is just plain wrong.

"I couldn't let her go, Emma, but that's just me."

As much as I love my mother, I will be quick to point out that I did not once nominate her for a mother of the year award. She is acting as though I am a terrible parent for allowing my daughter to be with her father.

I have already said I hate the idea of her going, I cry whenever I think about it. But the reality is I would still have to work if she were here and getting her into a daycare would be impossible because of my hours. And if I did manage to find child care she would be spending most of her time with strangers. Plus I would be stressed and as people may have realized I do not handle stress very well.In Australia, Saoirse will be with her dad and his family. There are 3 kids near her age, and plenty of older cousins to enjoy her.

Of course, it is not only my mother who has said "I couldn't do that." My friends Nancy and Andrea also said it. Others haven't said it, but I am sure thought it. My friend Shelley was fantastic and said to me that really, it would be quite selfish to not allow Saoirse to go with William as the "sun rises and sets on him." Which is very true and works in a vice versa situation as well.

I do feel like I am doing what is best for not only Saoirse, but also for William. I know how much he hates being in Australia and with Saoirse there with him, he will be able to create good memories of that country. Yes, of course I will miss her, more than I can even imagine. I just have to look at it like it is a long holiday.

Election Day...Part 3

Well, it's not terrible. I mean, I'm not bawling my eyes out or anything.

It's a Conservative minority, which really sucks, but not as badly as a majority would have done.

There are a few negatives. Anne McLellan lost her seat in Edmonton Centre, so Alberta is all Tory blue. I don't think they say Tory anymore, but whatever. I can if I want.

Hmmmm, I can't think of another major negative, excepting the Conservative win, which I already covered.

So here are the positives....
-Paul Martin kept his seat in Montreal.
-In Canada's 3 largest urban centres (Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) the Conservatives did not win a single seat (at least not as of the time I started writing this.) You see, people from other countries, we are not all racist, bigoted rednecks.
-The Bloc lost one seat, maybe two.
-The Liberals and the NDP together have 11 more seats than the Conservatives.
-The only policies the Conservatives will be able to pass are their more liberal minded ones.
-It shouldn't be a very long minority. I would hope that the first time they piss off the Bloc, the three other parties unite and give them a vote of non confidence. I really can not see the NDP supporting them for too long, and it would just be a sore point for the Liberals if they had to.

Of course, I could be all wrong, I'm not a political person after all, and perhaps the Conservatives could go on for ages and then win a majority.

I just don't think Canadians are that stupid.

You see what 5 minutes can do?

How the tides have changed and oh, so quickly.

Conservatives 64
Liberal 57
Bloc 16
NDP 15

I had to change those numbers as I was typing...64 for the Conservatives, 62 Liberals.

Bastards!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Election Day...Part 2

I know you are all counting on me to provide you with your election results.

Here we are then:

Liberal 40
Conservative 16
NDP 7
Bloc 2
Green nada

This is just Atlantic Canada and the odd Quebec and Ontario ridings. It looks OK for the Liberals thus far, but this is just the calm before the storm of Western Canada. The Conservatives did not do as well as they expected to do in Atlantic Canada, but as long as they do well in Ontario they will be fine. And Alberta will go all Conservative, so will alot of B.C. and Saskatchewan. Bastards, the lot od them.

The election has nothing on this news

Today we received a letter from Citizenship and Immigration informing us that William's application to extend his visitor's visa has been denied.

It says "You must leave Canada on or before the expiry of your current document or, if your document has already expired you must leave Canada immediately. Failure to do so could result in enforcement action being taken against you."

It also said "...I am not satisfied that you meet the requirements of the Act and Regulations."

Who is this "I" that gets to decide our future? I called Immigration after we received the letter, to find out why exactly he was turned down. It turns out that we did not send in proof of financial status. The problem is the application never asked for proof of this. It simply asked to explain how he would support himself. And this we did. We included all income received into this house, and even included outgoing expenses, just to show them that we could survive quite nicely. I also wrote in a letter that he was the main caregiver for all three of the children, not just Saoirse.

Well, apparently they don't give a fuck. They don't care that without him being here, I can't work as Saoirse does not qualify for daycare. It is funny to me that this country will let in all manner of people, provide them with a monthly allowance, and a home and not let one person who will not cost them a penny stay for an extra six months.

So he is off, probably in the next week or so. We are applying to get a passport on an urgency basis so that Saoirse can go with him for a few months. And there's a whole other story. I hate the idea of not seeing her for 3 months, but I equally hate the idea of him not being with her. Saoirse loves him like no one else, I could not keep them apart. He already missed out on 6 months of her life, I am not willing to ask him to lose out on anymore.

We will have to decide in the next while what we are going to do. If he can't live here, we may go to Scotland. Of course, that brings its own problems. It's a good idea in theory, but there is another father involved, Taylor and Liam's dad. Chances are he won't want them going to another country. Liam would be all for a move, Taylor not likely.

Life is just a vicious game, I've decided.

Election Day...Part 1

Well today's the day.

When I pick Taylor and her friend Ashley up from school I will pop into the gym and make my mark.

I have approximately 4 hours to change my mind about who I will vote for.

I feel physically ill. I am dreading tonight.

I will watch the results at 7 on CBC, because Rick Mercer will be on and at least he will make me laugh a wee bit, when really all I will want to do is cry. I'll do a bit of channel surfing to, between CTV and Global and maybe even City, just to get Edmonton results. But the main event will be CBC.

I will post after all the results and after I have had a good cry.

Fecking Conservatives.

Tomorrow is the day of doom

I am not looking forward to tomorrow, not at all.

It is election day. The day that the Liberals will be knocked out of power by the very frightening Conservative party. I am not foolish enough to believe that the Liberals can pull even another minority win off. I can only hope that Stephen Harper and his right wing buddies will NOT win a majority.

I am afraid of what will happen to this country if they win. Let's face it...these are for the most part still people with Reform party ideology. Including Harper. I do not believe that a person's politics can change so drastically. I just think that he has been told to shut his mouth. This is stil the man who, five years ago, wrote that Alberta should have plans to separate from Canada. This is the man who will reintroduce the right (or lack thereof) of a woman to choose what happens to her body into Parliament. He will have a free vote on the gay marriage issue. These are in my mind issues that have been decided. He has no right to bring us back into the past.

Tomorrow won't be the only terrible day, the next few years look like shite. I'm not going to enjoy living in a Conservative province in a Conservative country. At least I live in a Liberal municipal riding. Not that it really matters.

Ha! Finally I'm first in something!

According to Vital Statistics there were no Saoirse's born in Alberta in 2005, down from a record high of 4 in 2004. In fact, as far as I can see 2004 was the only year Saoirse was used in this province.

I tell you, 3 too many people read Morgan Llywelyn and Roddy Doyle. It's a crying shame.

I wonder if these other 3 girls have their name pronounced correctly, unlike my Saoirse. Because I had heard the name in 3 different ways and because I could not choose between the two I liked, William chose the way we pronounce it. So we say it like "Sore-sha" instead of the proper "seersha". Although quite often I find myself saying "seersha" so I am sure the poor child will have a complex and not know her proper name.

I did ask every single Irish person I know how they said it, including my dad (a so called gold medal winner in Irish, spent every summer in Donegal speaking Irish and nothing but Irish) and the majority of them said it "sore-sha". Except for my neighbour, the eejit from Ardoyne, who said "sar-ese". Honestly.

One day, I might get over this. Just not today.


In other baby name news, Emma was number 1 for the third year in a row and Ethan was the number 1 boy's name for the fifth year.

"Two Things"

Lucky me, I've been tagged. Here goes:

Two names you go by: It's hard to make a nickname out of Emma. I do get called Em, and in Grade 5 or so, we made nicknames using chocolate bar names. I was M&M due to the m's in Emma and my last name starting with M. Today, 3 people call me Mummy and most others call me Emma.

Two parts of your heritage: Irish on my dad's side, English on my mum's.

Two things that scare you: Spiders and horror movies. I had to ask William because I couldn't think of anything!

Two of your everyday essentials: My debit card (when there's money in the bank), a hug and an "aaahhh" from Saoirse.

Two things you are wearing right now: What an odd question. An Old Navy long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans.

Two things you want in a relationship: honesty and acceptance.

Two truths: I am not very accepting of who I am and some days, I really am a terrible mother.

Two of your favourite hobbies: Reading and stamping. Yep, I'm a loser.

Two things I want really badly: For William to be able to live and work in Canada. And a mini van.

Two places I want to go on vacation: Ireland (was there any doubt?) and Scotland. Scotland is the only part of the British Isles I have never been to, which is very sad considering I spent almost every holiday of my life in the place just south of it. I suppose I should have said Australia, but you know, the spiders.

Two things I want to do before I die: Attend the weddings of my children (this includes the possibility of one of them marrying someone of the same sex) and travel across Canada.

Two ways I am sterotypically a "chick": What is a sterotypical chick anyway? Let's see...I cry at Hallmark commercials. I cry alot actually. What else? I have no idea. Oooohhhh, I talk too much. Is that a girl thing?

Two things I am thinking right now: That I must soon go to bed. And that if the Conservatives win I am liable to have a breakdown.

Two people to tag: Well, Eric's out since he tagged me and I think people may be sick of being tagged by moi. I know UI said something negative about memes so just for that I will tag him. And how's about whoever else wants to.

Do you believe in ghosts?

William and Taylor were watching Ghost Whisperer the other night when Taylor asked William if he believed in ghosts and said to him "My mum has seen a ghost!"

This is true. When I was about 6 I woke up in the middle of the night, looked down my bed and there was someone who looked exactly like Old Mother Hubbard from that nursery rhyme. I could see my Holly Hobbie wallpaper through her. I was terrified, even though she was not frightening looking. I was also in a dilemma as to how to get out of my room because I had to pass right by Old Mother Hubbard and my 6 year old self was quite terrified that she might make a grab for me. I sat there for what seemed like hours but I am sure was only seconds before I made a run for it down the hall to my mum and dad's room. "Daddy, Daddy there's a ghost by my closet!" I said. "Emma get back to bed." He was always great in a crisis, my dad. My mum got up, took me to my room and turned on the light to prove there was no ghost. I didn't believe her and ended up sleeping between the two of them, running any potential plans my dad may have had to get lucky.

Well, that's what you get for not taking a six year old seriously.

He also did not take me seriously when I awoke him when I was 9 and told him that the picture of Mona Lisa that I had foolishly insisted on purchasing at the Louvre was following me with her eyes. He was quite pissed off that he had to get out of bed to take the picture down. But by then I was 9 and no longer had to sleep in between my parents. On the floor was fine.

Note that it was my father who first told me that ghosts were real. He told me that when my granda was in the RAF, he woke up one night to see his mother sitting on the edge of the bed and she said to him "Don't worry, Tootsie, everything will be fine." Now I have no idea why my granda was called Tootise, but that's besides the point. Later that day my granda heard that his mum had died during the night. I always thought that was a bit freaky, but never doubted the truth of it.

If any of you people laughed at me for having Holly Hobbie wallpaper, remember that I was SIX and it was 1980. If anything, I was cutting edge.

A bit of trivia

How smart are you people? Let me see.

What are the only 2 EC countries without an official minority language.

Enlighten me with the very genious of yourselves.

Roy Keane so does not suit green

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I heard Roy Keane had lost his first game as a Celtic player. I was amused that Keane wasn't all that, but sad that Celtic lost. To Clyde. That's a bit hard to take I think. There was a picture of him the next day in the paper (yep, occassionally we get a bit on Scottish football) and he really did look terrible in that colour. For someone who looks rather cute in a touch of Celtic green see this lovely girl below.









This dress caused great distress for the child's father who is not at all a Celtic fan but as it was a gift from his sister, he has consented to allowing the child to wear it. But he'll never be the one to put her in it.

Next year, I'll probably get payback and one of her gifts from Scotland will be a Rangers' kit.