A computer free day. Sort of.

I spend too much time on the computer. No denying it at all. I sacrifice housework in order to read all your blogs. So it's totally your fault that my house is a mess. Anyway, on Friday (before yet another big fight this weekend) I decided to go computer free until my house was lovely and clean. The main floor anyway, who goes upstairs? And we won't even talk about the basement, where my fear of giant spiders keeps me from making an effort to clean, sort and organize.

For your enjoyment I present you with "A Day in the Life of Emma, sans computer (mostly)."

7am. Alarm goes off. Girls (who moved into our bed in the middle of the night) awake. Force myself out of bed. Not a pretty sight, as there is a lot of rolling and heaving due to my newly bad, bad back- as compared to the old bad back. Do morning like stuff. Wake up Liam. Open Taylor's door to wake her. See state of supposed to be cleaned room. Cancel her planned sleepover for evening.

7.15. Do a load of laundry. Fold what is in dryer. Go upstairs to put away just folded clothes along with 2 baskets of laundry that were left prior to my going away 8 days ago. Apparently, am only one in family of 6 with laundry putting away abilities.

7.45. Give girls breakfast, make cinnamon toast and tea for self. Skim through newspaper.

8.30. Have wasted 45 minutes! (How, not sure as Edmonton Sun is little news and all car ads.) Do another load of laundry, fold another load.

9am. Do dishes.

9.15. Sophie says "Play me!" It's the first time I've heard that and how can one resist? We put together a wooden puzzle.

9.30. More laundry! Wash, dry, fold.

9.45. Sweep kitchen, bath and hallway. Prepare to mop (first proper one in ages, usually just cheat and use the swifter) by moving furniture and other stuff. Mop.

10.30. Clean out girls shoe basket and vacuum area rugs from kitchen and hall while waiting for floors to dry.

10.45 Clean bathfroom and scrub out kitchen garbage can. Question why people in family put garbage into can when there is no garbage bag. Why can they not get garbage bags out from under sink first?

11am. Talk on phone with friend Tanya. Multi task and put away the girls laundry and Liam's laundry.

11.30. Play "I got you" with Sophie. This consists of me grabbing her and say "I've got you!" and her saying back "No! I got you!" Have cuddle with Saoirse and read a few books.

Noon. Make lunch for William and girls. Visit with William for 20 minutes that he is home. Must have ate myself. Hmmm...can't remember!

12.30. More laundry. Wash, fold, dry, put away, does it never end?

1pm- Put Sophie to bed in my room. Talk to friend Jen while cleaning girls room.

1.30. Saoirse asleep on livingroom floor, cover with blanket. Do lunch dishes and dishes found in Liam and Taylor's rooms. Clean livingroom, minus vacuuming.

2pm. Am satisified with day's effort. Turn on computer. Twitter, facebook, a bit of messing around. Hear sound of running water. WTH? Look over at Saoirse who is peeing on floor in sleep. Has no panties on. Why? Dry her off, move to sofa, wonder how this doesn't waken her, scrub rug.

3pm. Get dressed. Shutup. I can stay in my jammies all day if I fancy it. Sophie wakes up while I am in room. "Mummy? Hi Mummy!" Come downstairs, Sophie sits with my while having a drink and we watch my beloved Eli Stone (the season finale which was taped while I was away.)

3.30. Taylor home. Calmly discuss state of bedroom. Talking to myself, I decide.

4.10. Leave for massive book sale at the Air Museusm.

4.40. Browsing books. Have all Irish novels I come across. Bugger. Desperate for new reading material.

5.30 In super long line up. Take some pictures, peek at some of my books.

6-ish. Pay $66.15 for 57 books! Wait for Shelley who is somewhere in the crowd. Start reading The Dress Lodger and realize have read before. Trade for Erma Bombeck.

6.20. Go for dinner.

7.40 Stop at scrapbooking store. Buy paper and supplies for 5 layouts.

8.30 Arrive home. Sort through books. Read girls a Dora book. Sophie throws up. William cleans inital mess up, and I scrub away at the leftover stain.

9pm. William puts Sophie to bed. Saoirse and I read books.

9.30 Go on computer. Saoirse falls down stairs. Not in bed, as she slept until almost 5pm) Saoirse falls down in livingroom. William takes her to bed.

10pm. On computer.

11pm. Do dishes for the third time that day. Clean livingroom and watch the last 2 episodes of Survivor.

1am. Go to bed.

There you have it. An almost computer free day in my life. Odd that the next day we had a big fight in which my love of the computer was mentioned. Hmmm. There's no pleasing some people. Will admit that he is partially right, but not completely.

It's time to face the truth

I have spent 31 of my 34 years living in the province of Alberta. "Albertan" has not always been a title I have carried proudly. In my teen years I had been known to say that I was British first, Canadian second, an Edmontonian third and an Albertan not at all.

Because Alberta and I? At total ends of the political spectrum. I have been left wing since I discovered the phrase "gay rights." Alberta has had a Conservative government since before I was born. And before that it was Social Credit. Don't let the word Social fool you, that government did not lean to the left at all.

It pains me greatly to say that I live in the only province that does not protect gay people in its Human Rights legislation. Thankfully, this is superseded by the Canadian government, who protects the rights of ALL Canadians, no matter what their colour, sexuality or religion.

It annoys me to no end that it is April 23rd and there is 2 feet of snow on the ground. Honestly, what the fagoozie?

I hate the name Alberta. I really do. I know it was named after Queen Victoria's daughter and I know that Canada was a part of the British Empire, but could they not have picked a better name?

I hate the mosquitoes that invade each and every summer, if only for a few weeks.

Anyway, there are things about Alberta that I most definitely am not fond of (but there are also things I love...the mountains, the free Catholic education, the one time "aren't you lcuky you live in the richest province in Canada?" cheque for $1600) but it is time that I sit back and say:

"I AM ALBERTAN."

And why do I say this?

Because William and I have joined the ranks of all road worthy Albertans and are almost the owners of a truck.




We are buying this truck off of my brother, who is off around the world on a 3 year tour. He's currently in Mexico and hoping to get to Florida soon- Hello Thom!- Although I really wanted a mini van the truck is a necessity if William is to become a sub contractor. So many thanks to my brother, who is waiting until William's permanent residency arrives and we can go for a loan.


I leave you with one of my all time favourite Albertans, Corb Lund and the classic Alberta song "The Truck Got Stuck."

English bloggers beware.

As all of you on Twitter know, yesterday my mother told me she is definitely moving back to England. She is going over in September to find an apartment (and to take a cruise AND to go to Dubai.) This is a move she has wanted to make for years but held off on as she worried about how I would do. Seriously. I guess she now thinks I am together enough or that I am a lost cause.

At first I was really sad about this news, for although my mum and I hit a rough patch earlier this year, the reality is I really do depend on her quite a bit. Free babysitting, free advice, answers to "how long do I boil an egg for" (yes, I really did call her with that question once upon a long time ago), she arranges to get my taxes done, she is the lender of money. Hmmm, no wonder she wants to move.


Trying to look positively at this news I realized it would mean a reason to go to England every few years. And do you know what that means? I can meet all my favourite English bloggers (and Canadians living abroad.) Happy days! Tiger Lamb Girl lives not far from the town where my mum will be living, Ms Cellania lives even closer. Ms Cellania is Beccy's mum and I can hope that visits to our mothers coincide. Suburban Mum, Hannah, Sally...I'd love to meet you all.

Yes, there are certainly pluses to my mum moving home in the next couple of years. Meeting bloggers is definitely one of them.

A weekend away

I had a great weekend away. For the most part. I'm very insecure, and those insecurities were out in full force this weekend. I don't think anyone else noticed, but I was certainly aware. I have yet to download photos of what I made, will try and do so tomorrow and will put them on the new blog. I only managed 30 cards and one project, though I did manage my goal of 10 scrap pages (although a few were from kits and therefore pretty much already done for me.) I did get pretty organized though, so have hopefully have made it easier to stamp at home.

Anyway, here's a few pictures.


Only 5 of us went out on the Thursday and we have great weather. We had heard that there was a snowstorm in Rocky Mountain House/ Nordegg but were lucky all the way out. We woke up on Friday morning to a lovely snowfall though. This was not so great for the other 9 girls who were driving up throughout the day though.


Along with the crafting and card playing there was some dancing. This is Kate, Shelli and Shelley.


There is always a bra situation at Goldeye! Normally they are hung over the fireplace, but this time Donna put Shelley's bra on over her shirt.


We always have a game before our Saturday night gift exchange. This time it was toilet paper brides. I thought Patti and I had done such a great job with our 80s bride (third from the left) and then I saw the others! Some people can work wonders with toilet paper. I was threatened under pain of death (not really) not to show the picture of the brides from behind as the bride on the right was in a thong. But I said that if my body looked liked that at 40 (or even now, at 34) I would have been walking around naked. As it is a thong has never even been near my butt cheeks, not even on days I know I am going to succeed in my ongoing quest to get laid.


Shelli and Shelley. I absolutely love Shelli (and I'm not just saying that because she knows my blog address) because she is so very funny. She can tell an incredible story. She is a home care nurse and we talked all about voiding. Normally this would not be a funny situation but listening to Shelli talk about having to tell 90 year olds how to do kegels and to make sure they are doing it right by inserting their finger was hilarious! I also learned how to make sure my bladder is totally empty to avoid any of those laughing so had I need depends moments. Lean to the left, lean to the right, stand up, sit down. Apparently I've been doing kegels wrong since I was 13 I'll keep doing them the way I do them though, because some of you long time readers may remember that I have a special talent. I guess that's what happens when you do kegels wrong.



There are more pictures on facebook. I'm pretty sure you can click through them on my facebook profile thingy on the left hand sidebar, should you not be a facebook fan. And what is wrong with you if you are not, I would ask.

Stuff I've been meaning to write about but haven't got around to...

Last Friday, Taylor and I were joking around and she said something sassy about me. I said "How can you say that to me, the greatest mother ever?" And because I am so not a great mother I couldn't even call myself that without laughing. I commented on that fact and Taylor said "You're better than a lot of other mothers." Yes, she did. I know. I almost died of shock. She did end it with "But you're not the greatest mother." Which is true. And hey, I'm better than a lot of other mothers. You take what you can get in this dog eat mother world. Coming from Taylor, who as you know I have huge issues with, is a big compliment indeed.

And do you know why I am a pretty good mother? Because I trust her. Oh, and I tell her grown up gossip. That she is threatened with death not to repeat. The thing is I do trust Taylor. She's a pretty good kid. So far she has been pretty open with me...I know what girls drive her crazy and I know which boy she likes. (A bad one, but of course...what is it with girls and the bad boy??) I didn't make her close her nexopia site, though I did make her lower her age by a year. "But all my friends are saying they are 15!" Yeah, I so don't care. I went over her site and her friend list, making sure she had no identifying items on hers. So many of her friends list their school. One of her friends has sxxi as part of her name, along with a suggestive picture. I told Taylor that if she were to do something like that her site would be down and the computer gone before she even had a chance to explain it.

Anyway, I'm a good mother! Happy days. However, her friend Dana has a great mother. She doesn't yell. I agreed with Taylor on that one, I said I would like Dana's mum to be my mum. They have a fantastic relationship, super close.

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This weekend at work I saw a picture of a dead fetus. I think it was about 18 weeks along and it was dressed in a gown. The thing was, it didn't look at all like a baby. It looked like a giant pigs foot. My friend who is in the know tells me that at that point, when they die, they do come out quite 'mushy'. It was still quite pink so it hadn't been gone long I imagine. Anyway, it was something I shouldn't have seen and I have literally being dreaming about it at night. I think it was the gown that did it. Otherwise you wouldn't have know that this was someone's baby that they had loved and were excited about seeing. It just made me very sad for those unknown parents.

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Sophie was stamping in a colouring book but when I came in from the kitchen she had stamped herself.


She even did a pretty flower around her belly button.


In other Sophie news, she sings bits and pieces of the song "Skinnimaridinkedoo" (however it is spelled). She kinds of hums to herself until she hits "I love you" and then at the end she goes "do be do be be do do." It is hideously adorable. Total personality that child.


This weekend Saoirse fell and scratched her elbow. She noticed it today. And freaked out. "I'm hurt! I'm hurt!" She made me wrap it in a face cloth and for about 2 hours she walked around as though she had a cast on. Wouldn't use that arm at all. Such a drama queen! I had a good laugh over it.



I'm all packed and ready to go for the weekend. I do have a suitcase in there but for the most part it is the all important crafting supplies.


And let's not forget the margarita mix and the vodka. Yum! I'm not a big drinker, but I will have a few of these over the weekend.


I've started a craft blog, which will have its first entry on Sunday night. As I said in the other post, I owe a few people some stuff, so they can take their pick of what they want.

See ya next week! Don't write too many posts, I'm already 400 down in Google Reader!

My Stampin' Up is here!

My Stampin' Up order finally arrived. I am dying to get into it, but am waiting until I have ample table space and 70 houts of craft time come this Thursday. Can't wait!

Happiness and the Enjoy Every Moment bundle, so the wheel was free.


Full of Life, from the new mini catalogue, and Smarty Pants. I saw a beautiful card using the sentiments with this one, along with the designer paper that I received below on another blog and I can't wait to make multiple cards with it.


In the Stars, from the mini.


Paper. Certainly Celery, a pack each of Earth Elements and Soft Subtles, a special on pre cut and scored Wild Wasabi, and my hostess benefit, the designer paper.


Chipboard. Lots of lettes, ginormous pieces and Simon Upper.


A square punch and the small star one along with some chunky glitter. I don't think my large star punch will make it before Thursday but I am sure one of the other girls who stamp will have one.


I have set myself a goal of 50 cards (many of which will be sent to bloggers, I am determined to ease my guilty conscience once and for all!), 10 scrap pages and 3 projects. It will be a busy weekend, and I am so looking forward to it!

Waiting

I placed a Stampin Up order last Wednesday and I was really hoping it would be here today. I am going away on my crafting weekend next Thursday so wanted to have all my project ideas ready, and I was hoping to cut the stamps out at work this weekend. Hmmm...might have to buy a new book instead.

Hurry up UPS!!!!

It was NOT an April Fool's Joke

Last week, I posted pictures of the terrible state certain rooms in my house were in. And though I did the work I was supposed to do my children most certainly did not. My plans fell apart. I was going to push them and I didn't. I asked them to clean their rooms and Liam did a fair job, Taylor cleared some of the mess that you could see from the door. Within a day or two though, the floor was back to being covered by clothes and other crap, including the bag of gargage she never bothered to throw out.

The whole purpose of posting the pictures on here was because those rooms were in such a state that I needed to hold myself, and Taylor and Liam, accountable. Well, Taylor and Liam could care less what I post on this blog. I, however, was pretty ashamed. I was supposed to post the results by Friday and really? Taylor and Liam's were still pretty disgraceful. I wish that post was an April's Fool joke but it so was not. I'm not sure if you guys are really gulliable or just didn't read the entire post. But I am glad that so many of you have proof that your house is cleaner than someone elses. I say that about my neighbour. Yes, it is true...there are houses worse than mine!!! But keep in mind that I didn't show you my main floor which is generally okay (and really good today because I spent my entire afternoon deep cleaning my livingroom.) You've seen my kitchen before, once upon a time. Picture my house that way, not the messy befrooms way! Please!

So on with the pictures:

My formerly messy closet floor. There are still 2 containers of scrapbooking paper and stuff I need to go through, but generally it's not too bad. Oh, and I never did get to the top shelves, but at least those containers are out of the way. Now that the floors in the closet are cleared, I am constantly finding the girls playing in there.


Liam's room. He's hiding under the blanket there, didn't want me to take a picture of his room which is back to being a mess.


Taylor's room. Yeah. I think it is worse now. They are off school early on Thursdays so I have said that if there rooms are not clean by Thursday evening then don't even bother asking to get together with friends over the weekend. I am sticking to this. I am not asking for the perfect bedrooms, I just want them to be reasonable.


The girls room. This room was cleaned before I even posted the original pictures and it has stayed that way. I go in everyday and have them both help me pick up whatever toys they were playing with. We have also taken down Sophie's crib and taken the toddler bed out of our room- finally! Sophie is sleeping in the twin bed as Saoirse wants the little one. Not that she sleeps in it of course.


A fairly clean closet. They have too many clothes, I think.


No more crib.



Taylor did clean the bathroom, and they have kept it pretty clean.


They are even wiping up the toothpaste in the sink. Or they aren't brushing their teeth. Probably number two knowing my two.


I really don't know what I can do to have the older two (especially Taylor) keep their rooms clean. I hope the threat of no friends over the weekend works. As for myself, I'm now following a cleaning schedule and so far it is going really well. If I know I have to clean the three bathrooms before I go out with the girs to the park or turn on the computer than I'll get going first thing in the morning. My problem is that I will fart around all day and get nothing done. I'm working on that one.

April Fools! ?

Did you notice the date on the last post? The post in which I showed you pictures of my very messy house?

Did you really think that was my house? Did you really think I lived in such a hovel? Do you really think I would show pictures if I did live in such a state?


Honestly people.

















I really do live in such a hovel. Well parts of it anyways. My daughter most definitely lives in a hovel like state.

And the pictures? Well, they are coming. When I've charged the battery and taken some photos. Prepare not to be shocked. My children? They are a great disappointment to me.

Shaming myself and those who live with me

How often have I complained about the state of my house on this blog? A dozen times? A hundred is probably more likely. I tend to blame my kids, but really whose fault is that my kids are lazy asses? Totally mine. I did not set chores upon my oldest early enough. I am not strict enough. And, quite honestly, I hate cleaning myself. Well, that's not entirely true. I like it when it's done. I like the results of cleaning.

Anyway, with it being spring break this week I decided that the kids and I were going to do a little (or a lot) of spring cleaning. So on Sunday before work I went through the house taking "before" pictures. Posting them on the blog ensures me that I will make sure you all see the "after". I don't really want to be known as the messiest blogger in the kingdom.

This is the kids room in the basement. I do have pictures of the rest of it (all my crap thrown everywhere) but this is Liam's focus for this week. In this picture he and his friend are on the Wii, totally ignoring the mess surrounding them.

In this room, there are 3 bookcases and the white desk. Yesterday, Liam sorted out the 3 bookcases and went through the rubbermaid containers. He threw away quite a bit and found half a dozen dishes. He'll finish it up tomorrow and then on the weekend William will move around the furniture so they have a bit more Wii-playing space.


This is my closet. It was so bad I could no longer walk in to it and instead of hanging clothes I was just putting them on the dresser. I cleared out the floor space yesterday, and got rid of a laundry basket full of clothes we no longer wear. I then took advantage of William's lack of clothes and gave myself a bit more space by moving some mine over to his side. I managed to throw away a giant black garabage bag of stuff and a large blue bag of recycling.


I still have to do the top shelves.



I told Taylor and Liam awhile ago that I would no longer clean their bathroom and that betwen them they could each clean it once a week. Apparently, they haven't bothered but at least I have proof that they are brushing their teeth.



Taylor cleaned the bathroom Sunday evening and after being sent up a second time to finish it properly by William I would say she did a pretty good job. The one thing she forgot to do is empty the garabage. I'm still waiting.


Liam's room. The floor is cleaned up, but he still has a lot to do.

Taylor's room. You've seen a picture almost exactly like this one before. I'll have to find that link so you can see that it has only gotten worse. She spent almost all day up there but I don't see much of a difference. She knows that her room has to be clean by Thursday otherwise she is missing out on going to a movie with a bunch of friends, including the boy she likes.


I put her laundry here for her to put away. This is probably about 3 piles worth, just gethering there. Waiting.


The closet floor. Sigh. You see where she gets it from, no?


I really have no excuse for why the girls room got so messy. I like to say that it is because I do the majority of my cleaning when Sophie is napping but what about the other hours in the day? This is a really bad example of the room, it has never been this bad before. There are toys everywhere, 2 baskets of laundry, clean laundry all over the bed and a basket of clothes that no longer fit Sophie. This room is all done, Sophie no longer will fall asleep on her own (what the fuck is up with that by the way!?) so when I got home from work on Sunday night I spent 2 hours up there and now it is quite lovely and just needs us to paint and get Sophie into a bed rather than the crib. My girls are growing up.







So there you are. A glimpse into my very messy house. See, I'm not lying in that tagline up at the top of the blog there. On Friday, I am going to a bloggers breakfast and/or lunch with some
of my favourite ladies and then in the evening I will show the "after" pictures. Though I did forget to take pictures of the before in my scrapbooking area. Take my word for it, it was worse than my closet and the girls room. Though not as bad as Taylor's.

Dumped for an older woman

No, not me. Though did you know that I am one of the few relationships William has had in which he is the older of the 2? Apparently he had a thing for older women.

Anyway, this little story is all about my wee Saoirse.

We have a neighbour who just turned 7 on Easter Sunday. Saoirse absolutely loves him. She thinks he is her BFF. Sometimes he will come to our door looking to see if she wants to come out and play on the front lawn, where there is a castle turret to climb and a few soccer balls to kick around. He is really good about including her when the neighbourhood kids are out and about.

So yesterday he comes over and asks if she wants to come out and ride her bike. (She just got a brand new princess bike. So cute!) It's just him and he will just ride with her between our driveway and his.

So she gets on her polar bear helmet (because the ladybug one is not good enough for a bike ride with Lachlan) and goes outside. I look out a couple of times to see her playing on the lawn while Lachlan rides his bike. Look out another time and there is our 5 year old neigbour Faith riding her bike as well.

The next time I look out Saoirse is standing looking out towards the road. I say "What are you doing?" And she says "Mummy, they are too far away." She knows she can not go down the road, she needs to stay where I can see her from the front door.

She then says "Lachlan went with that girl. I don't know her name." I say "That's okay, they will come back. You wait there."

Well, they didn't come back. I looked out a few more times, once she was sitting playing with dirt (yay!), another time she was chalking up the sidewalk, and one time she was just sitting there, pouting, looking off into the distance. I asked if she wanted to come in. "No, I'm going to wait for my friends."

Poor Saoirse! It's a lesson learned early. Boys are fickle!

(Note that I in no way blame Lachlan for leaving Saoirse. I mean, if I were a 7 year old boy I would much rather play with the cute 5 year old over the 3 year old who doesn't fancy washing her face.)

This is what happens when you ask a man

A few bloggers asked what for William's potato bread recipe.

Me: Some bloggers would like your recipe for potato bread."

William: Why?

I tell him my answer to the comfort food question.

William: Potatoes and flour.

Me: Annnnd?

W: That's it.

M: No measurements?

W: Whatever you want. Until it feels right.

So that's it people. Potatoes and flour. Mash potato, add flour, fry. No need for your bread machine. This is traditional fattening potato bread.

Now who wants his recipe for Scotch eggs? I'm sure he will be really helpful.

Answers to the rest

I started this post last week, on Thursday. Then I got bored of myself and stopped. That doesn't bode well for you does it? Hopefully, you are quick readers. Feel free to skim. I don't mind. I was going to come back to it later, but then I got into Scramble on Facebook. And holy Hannah, do I suck at it. It's almost as bad as I sucked at Scrabulous. I say almost, because I am about to win ONE LONE game and I think the gal I am playing against (a non blogger, you bloggers are too smart for me) is afraid to lose to a moron such as myself and hasn't yet finished the game.

Anyhoo...on we go...

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I've hardly set the world on fire here with my Q&A. But muster on I will, enlightening the entire dozen readers I still have. Bitter? No. This is what I get when I stop commenting myself. Obviously, I have a blog where I have to WORK for comments. And that's okay. Sort of. And you people who read me and don't comment even though I comment on yours? Start freaking commenting. As I always say to William, he of few compliments, people (read: Emma) thrive on acknowledgment. Which is a lesson to myself: start commenting on the blogs I read. Babble over.

Boufmom9 (she really does have 9 kids! Go watch the video at the top of the blog, it made me cry) asks what my favourite comfort food is, and to share the recipe. I don't really have one. Anything I don't have to prepare myself I suppose. William does make a mean potato bread though, and something about always reminds me of my Granny. Just an Irish thing I guess. I'd have to ask William for the recipe, though I don't know how many people would want to try potato bread.

That Chick asks why she gets so few comments which made go ha! Her last post had 48 comments before mine. So I suppose to her 20 looks like no comments. However, if you are one of the few people not reading That Chick I highly recommend her. Hope that sends one or two your way, Chick!

Tiger Lamb Girl (I talked to her on the phone the other day, I adore her, you learn so much more over the phone than you do reading a blog. And she has this lovely accent...a mix of all the places she has lived, I guess.) asks the all important question of pepsi or coke. We drink coke in our house, that is William's preference. I am not fussed either way and would buy whatever was cheaper if William were not here. Personally, I drink sprite zero.

Emily asks how we pronounce Saoirse's name. This is, I believe, my most oft asked question. We pronounce it incorrectly, as Soar-sha instead of the much more common Seer-sha. I call her by both, she answers to both and the other day when I told her I met a little girl named "Seer-sha" she said "Hey, that's the same name as me!" When she is old enough we will let her choose the pronunciation she wants. Though I do love the way Sophie says "Soar-SHA!!!!"

Catwoman is a woman of many questions:

Do you want more kids? Oh, such a hard question! I dooooo. I always say no, but the reality is I am so jealous of women the women in Labour and Delivery. I wonder if this is something that will eventually go away. Surely, once I am past child bearing age I won't have these yearnings. I would love a little boy. I'd take a girl too, though I don't relish the though of doing the teenage girl thing 4 times. If we won the lottery I'd get pregnant yesterday. I did tell William that if this job pans out then I would like another, but not until we are in a large enough house and by the time that actually happens I might be post-menopausal.

When are you coming to Dallas? When are you inviting me? Oh, wait I need a passport first. Damn, your government is some suspicious of us Canadians. Answer: when I have a passport and a plane ticket. Oh, and maybe I should wait until a Stars/Oilers game. That would be mucho fun. As long as the Oilers win of course. Do you have an in on tickets by chance?

Are you still in love with James Blunt? Oh, I am. I almost ashamed to admit it. His CDs are kept in the kitchen and I listen to them when I am doing dishes. Though as I said in a comment over at Joy's a while ago should I ever get to cross him of my imaginary list of people I am allowed to sleep with he is absolutely not allowed to speak. Sing yes, talk no. Have I shared my theory on English men with you?

How is the health of Taylor and Liam's dad? He has moved into long term care, he will not give me $75 a month towards Liam's $175 a month orthodontist bill and he thinks my children are selfish. Other than that he is fine. Hmmm, I'm coming off as bitter, and I shouldn't because really? he's their dad and he does love them. He was very sick in November and December but is doing better now. He's definitely in a better place than living with his sister that's for sure!

Do you think all these made up awards are killing the fun of blogging? Eek. I certinaly see the fun in it, but as one of those sensitive type bloggers I am all like "Hey, why didn't she give me that award? I totally deserved that award!" I mean, apparently my blog is not rated E for excellent like so many others. But whatever. I'm over it. I am. I swear. Awards are like comments I guess, just because you get a ton doesn't mean your blog is any better than mine. Maybe. Comments are way more fulfilling though, lest any of you think I don't want you to comment.

Backpacking Dad asks what my favourite ingredient is to add to soda bread. My answer is simple: none. No raisins, no nothing. Just plain with butter. Yum. Course I don't actually make soda bread. That would require effort. My aunt Marie makes fantastic soda bread. Though her tea is way to strong for me. Is it impolite to take the soda bread and run?

Some other answers to questions that came up:

A cuppa is a cup of tea.

A few people wanted the background to the fifth grade walk around Emma's house story. Honestly, I can't remember what I did to make the entire fifth grade turn on me. Probably nothing. I can not even remember who the ring leader was. It was either Margaret or Lianne. I was friends with both and one time or another they both turned on me. And you know they were just girls with that ability to make everyone else hate you. Today, I can look at it and say that they were the type of girls everyone was friends with but no one really liked. I hear Lianne is really nice now though. And I'm sure Margaret is too. I wonder if she is still a stripper?

International Answer a Question Day

Oh, if only I had the blogger power to create such a day! As it is, it's just lonely ol' Emma answers a question day. Sigh. No power, here. Hell, I can't even get my kids to clean their rooms. Pictures coming shortly. Seriously, I am once again trying to embarass my children (okay just Taylor into cleanliness).

Anyway...


Becca says "Tell us one choice you've made that you regret and one choice you wish had turned out differently." This is a hard one for me, becuase I try not to regret anything. There are things that literally make me shudder when I think of them (why, oh why, did I ever sleep with that particular eejit?) but I do believe that everything we do is a lesson learned. Like don't sleep with total morons. I do wish that I had worked harder in high school, instead of spending so much time focusing on a boyfriend who didn't deserve it, and gone on to University. But even that I can turn around and say yes, I might have ended up with a great career making good money but I would not have had the four children that I have today and may be working fulltime instead of spending the week with my girls. So long answer short... No regrets. And the same for things working out differently. When I was 19 I was supposed to go to Ireland for a year to work but I ended up meeting my ex husband. Had I gone I probably wouldn't have married him and had Taylor and Liam. So while I will always wonder what that year would have been like, I can't really be sorry that it didn't work out.


Random Mommy asks if I sent her the Christmas ornament she just received after much bitching about not getting it. And I say, no I didn't. But I do still have her unsent Christmas card. My bad. But everyone else I had an address for got one. I think. I hope.

Lisa Marie says "boxers or briefs?" I'm assuming she means on my fella and I tell you I would laugh hysterically if I ever saw him in briefs. So it is boxers all the way for both the boys in my life.

She also asks if it was me who was supposed to be doing the book reviews and yes, it was. I should really get that going. Sigh. So untogether.

Mum of 4 asks if William and I will ever relocate to Australia. Lately he has been really pushing the benefits of Australia by pointing out to me that the housing prices are much cheaper, the weather is better (but way too hot for me!) and that there really are not that many spiders. With his permanant residency so close to being reality I don't see a move happening, though if it hadn't of we were seriously considering a move to the UK, which would have been much easier as we are both British citizens. I don't think Taylor and Liam's dad would be very fond of me taking them to either place so we're pretty much tied to Edmonton.

Alix mentioned that she liked my new blog template and was it easy to do? Yes, it was easy even for someone not tech minded like myself. I just linked on a site, picked my template and they talked me through saving my old template and downloading this one. She also asked what moments I will always remember. I'll say the old standard answer of the birth of the 4 children and the first time I ever saw William. Another thing I will never forget is going home for lunch one day in the fifth grade and looking out the window to see all the kids from both Grade 5 kids circling my house in a threatening manner! It is amazing the power one child could have in turning an entire grade against you. I had to get my neighbour to walk me back to school.

I'll have to finish the remaining questions later, too many demands at the moment and a sink full of unwashed dishes!

Too close for comfort

I wasn`t going to blog about this, because I didn`t know this girl personally and I don`t really feel that it`s my place to talk about it. But this happened, literally, right outside my, and her, workplace.

Any readers from Edmonton and area would have heard about a nurse being murdered and her car set on fire. Her unit was so quiet this weekend, normally you hear a lot of laughter as they all sit at the desk charting, but there was not a smile out of a single one of them. She was a nice girl, never bitched about having to help us with patients as so many of them do. And she wore hot pink scrubs, there's not many that can get away with that, but she did.

The rumours, of course, are numerous. I had heard that she left work about a half hour early, claiming to be tired, that she had broken up with or was trying to break up with a boyfriend. What they have established is that she left through the main doors at 11 (which does not lead to staff parking, another rumour is that she was parked at the mall and you would use the main doors to get there). They say that her murder was not random, which leads me to assume that she knew her attacker. She was killed before the vehicle was set on fire, only a block from the hospital. The suspect ran out of the vehicle and headed west. Her purse was found about 6 blocks away. It is entirely possible that he ran right past my mother`s house. Scary.

Even though I didn`t know her personally, it leaves a terrible feeling. I can not even begin to imagine what her family, friends and co-workers are going through.