I am independent, independent woman! I was actually feeling rather independent already, even though I grumbled a while ago that I was not. Of course you get used to things and I had become accustomed to walking to the shops, walking to the next town and it was all actually pretty darn fine. Then Malcolm bought me a car, now it is even better! I can drive further than the next town, go and do grocery shopping while the kids are at school, fetch them if they are sick, if it is raining, freezing and when it is dark. I have a dinky little Honda jazz and she is so cool!
Now I actually got the car on the 2 November and then I got sick and could not drive around in my new toy because I was in bed for 3 days with tonsillitis! I had decided to fight the germs woman to germ and sadly I had to call in the reinforcements on Thursday when I woke up in severe pain and could not even TALK, can you imagine...not being able to TALK? I have never wanted pills so badly in my life, I could not get to the doctor quickly enough. Of course once I allowed the army into my body via little blue capsules they defeated the enemy and by Saturday I was happy again. Jessica proved to be a real trouper through my whole "ordeal" and made lunches for school and helped cook dinner and gave up her bed for Malcolm, so that he would not get sick and she slept on the futon mattress on the floor in her room.
We still had a quiet weekend pottering around the house and on Sunday we all went out for breakfast and then off to the shops to buy the required jacket for the coming foul weather. Malcolm and Jess found what they were looking for and Kirstin and I are going to test our SA ones for a while longer and buy later if necessary.
We have also decided that the kids can each get a hamster...probably madness mixed with a tiny bit of begging from our wee one, but at least we can still go away for a weekend and the hamsters will be fine. Of course the kids trawled the yellow pages and the Internet for pet shops and for information on what type of hamster to get. I personally know that Kirstin was keen for a Molly 2, i.e. another dwarf hamster but she went through the research with Jess nonetheless and killed a tree by printing said research.
Jess is definitely getting older and wiser because unlike Kirstin she did not argue with me when I said that I know the day will come when I will be telling them to clean the cage, play with the hamster etc. She sat there very quietly a tiny smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, ah well, at least she knows I can only say I told you so to Kirstin.
As far as settling down is going....Kirstin HATES Dublin, yes with a capital everything and Jessica LOVES it. I know that Kirstin will eventually come around, and even though she says she hates it, days go by where we have no complaints and she happily goes to school, comes home and plays with Sophie, her new neighborhood friend. She will NOT use the Irish “words” like 'grand' or any of the other quirky things they say, like “Please may I have one of THEM sweets” , Jess of course merrily uses the colloquialisms with abandon. I am getting on with it, enjoying the freedom and the ability to go for long walks and Malcolm and I love the fact that we can leave the kids at home for a while and go out for a meal or to the local for a drink because they really do feel comfortable at home alone. I am also looking at joining a hockey club as I think that will also help me settle and meet new people. I certainly do not regret moving here, but I do miss the familiar and my friends. Malcolm is also happy to be here, work is much busier and he is enjoying having something to do. He would still look at moving around, if the right opportunity presented itself, but he has said that if we do leave Dublin it will not be to return to S.A.
Phew, that is an update of all things Rule for now, sorry that I have been so slack with my posts, no excuse really.....I guess the problem with blogging is that I do not really know whether my posts are being read by friends, it is not like email where you get an answer! Then I did get a mail from Lizle, she had been on the blog, and that spurred me back into action, so thanks Lizle, it was a gentle prod to keep going, one that was sorely needed!
mind 
boggling.
Remember those U-G-L-Y hamsters the kids got 2 weeks ago? Well now we have oh about 7 hamsters. Yep Jessica chose a hamster "with child", or should I say children? They were born today and discovered about an hour ago, tiny, tiny little pink things. I have even tried to take pictures of them and if I was successful I will add them to this post, little Miss Techno genius over here has not learned how to upload pictures from the camera to the computer, got to make Malcolm feel useful and powerful, you know the whole hunter gatherer protector thing? Do you know that if pappa hamster was in there with her she could be having her next litter in 20 days, the saying should be "Life's a hamster" not life's a b*tch. But Pappa hamster may be her brother, we really do not know, eeuww. This will cause another set of problems as of course with in breeding we will have deformed hamsters, oh please please don't let that happen. Also we have to separate the males from the females at 4 weeks, can you believe it, breed like rats they do. He he. After this litter my job is done and I think Kirstin can chose a female from the litter and the pet shop in Blackrock can take back the male that they assured us was female. I should have listened to Kirstin and Jessica, after checking out the Internet they insisted that Kirstin had a male hamster. I decided to chance it as they do live in separate cages and we keep them apart. I have learned my lesson, female + female = no more hamsters. I have just removed the cage from Jessica's bedroom as she and Kirstin are going to be exhausted tomorrow from all the peaking. I made the image small because in my experience if you click on the image it will enlarge. When I add large pictures clicking on the image does nothing! I refer to Miss Techno genius status for any further enquiries
Kirstin went to play at Ciara's house 2 weeks ago. Ciara has hamsters. Kirstin came home asking for a hamster, Jess started asking for a hamster. Now they both have hamsters. They have driven me up the wall asking when the hamsters will be at the pet shop, we had put our names down as the girls want dwarf hamsters and none of the pet shops had any. Yesterday I got the call, 2 female dwarf hamsters were available. They had both saved their money, they want them, they pay for them. The cages are pretty cool, tunnels, wheels, ramps, a platform and the little house with a window and door...the hamsters are U-G-L-Y. They are albino hamsters, they have pink eyes. I like the grey striped dwarf hamsters but the kids see inner beauty better than I do, obviously. I think they look a lot like rats, the other dwarf hamsters resemble chipmunks just a little. Which would you prefer? 
Oh well, the girls are thrilled and they have paid for and will care for their furry bundles of joy so who am I to compare?
