by Heather Plett | Aug 17, 2006 | Uncategorized
Just now, four-year-old Maddie, who was lying on the floor at my feet, looked up at me and asked “Mom, do you think the Lord (for some cute and comical reason, she always refers to God as ‘the Lord’) is doing a good job of looking after my brother and my grandpa?”
I hope so Maddie. I sincerely hope so.
I don’t know much about heaven. I don’t even know if I always believe that it is actually another “place” where people have any resemblance to what we know as people here and now. But I do know this… I like the thought of my dad hanging out with my son somewhere. I like to imagine them curled up on a couch somewhere having a nap together. I like to think about them looking for dandelions and frogs together. If I close my eyes, I can almost see Dad taking Matthew out to the heavenly pastures, putting him on the back of a horse, and leading him over the hills and through forest pathways.
Just giving myself permission to believe in this image gives me a little of the peace I need.
by Heather Plett | Aug 16, 2006 | Uncategorized
This morning, the alarm woke me at 6:20 a.m. I hit the snooze button. Nine minutes later, I hit it again. What I really wanted to do was throw it against the wall. After two and a half weeks of sleeping late, being lazy, and going to bed late, it’s not easy rolling out of bed and convincing your unwilling body to go to work.
Summer vacation is over and I’m back at the office. My brain is not fully engaged yet, though. I don’t want to be here. I want to go to the beach with my kids. I want to go for a bike ride. I want to have lunch with a friend. I want to take Maddie to the play structure. I want to read a book. I want to do all those things I meant to do on vacation but didn’t get around to doing. I DO NOT want to work.
During the night last night, Maddie moved from her bed to the couch. This morning, when I walked through the living room on my way out the door, I found her there sound asleep. A feeling of melancholy filled a familiar space in my heart as I prepared, once again, to leave my children behind and go back to work. I brushed the hair away from her forehead as a lump formed in my throat. I wanted to curl up on the couch beside her and lay there with her until she woke up and smiled at me.
It wasn’t the most memorable vacation. As I’ve said before, in fact, it was a tad disappointing. We didn’t get to go on a trip. We didn’t get to go camping because of Marcel’s dad’s heart attack. We didn’t even get to go on many daytrips like we’d planned. Yes, it was a let-down. It wasn’t the vacation we’d hoped for. That being said though, there are still so many good things that it WAS. It was…
– sleeping in late and getting up only after Maddie crawled into bed or Julie snuck into the room, jumped on me and said “boo”
– lazy afternoons at the beach with the girls and assorted friends or family
– long baths with Maddie and sometimes Julie (yes, sometimes all three of us are in there at the same time and it’s just an ordinary-sized tub)
– leisurely lunch with a friend
– late night movies with my siblings
– a picnic in the park with my family, followed by a soccer game and visit to the beach
– picking vegetables in Marcel’s dad’s garden with his family
– painting sunny yellow paint on the bathroom walls
– ice cream treats with friends at Bridge Drive-In
– hanging out at Linda’s pool
– fishing and canoeing with bbb, ap and family
– finishing a few projects I’ve been meaning to catch up on (like the wall-hanging/quilt I made with the fabric print I bought in Africa)
– dinner and the drive-in theatre with Marcel
– finding the time to read a book
– a lazy afternoon playing games at my Mom’s house
– lots of little moments with my girls
I want to make vacation last forever. I want to be available for spontaneous fun things that pass my way. I do not want to be a slave to my pay cheque. I want to sit on the lounge chair in my front yard and watch the world go by. I want to eat cherries in the park (without the wasps, of course). I want to be able to drop what I’m doing and go play in the backyard. I want to read another book. I want to sleep late. I do not want to be here, sitting at my computer, wishing I could be doing something else.
I want a life of leisure. Sigh.
by Heather Plett | Aug 13, 2006 | Uncategorized
(Click on them to enlarge.)
by Heather Plett | Aug 13, 2006 | Uncategorized
The bathroom is done. Yay! For a small room, it ended up consuming way more of my time then it should have. But at last, it is done. And it doesn’t look half-bad, now that all’s said and done – despite my lament about harvest gold walls. (It’s more yellow than this picture shows, but as you can see, not as gold as the toilet.)
And now, because you have all been so patient and understanding during my recent whiny posts, I give you… Decorating on a Dime – How to re-do your bathroom for less than it costs to fill your tank with gas. Trust me, though, I didn’t look like THESE renovation experts while I did it. What’s with those high-heeled work boots? Nope, my decorating clothing of choice is a twenty-year-old t-shirt with about seventeen layers of paint, and a pair of shorts that used to fit me – back before I had children!
1. Paint – as I mentioned before, if you’re not too fussy about the colour and don’t need more than one gallon, you can often find really good deals in the mis-tints shelves at your local hardware store. I also frequent Habitat Re-Store, the local store that sells second-hand building supplies in support of Habitat for Humanity. I got a $35 bucket of paint for $15.
2. Curtains – First of all, do what I did and root around in your basement. If you’re anything like me, you might have a cupboard full of fabric that you’ve bought over the years but never got around to using, and even a curtain rod left over from an old project. So the curtains cost us nothing. But even if I’d had to buy fabric, I would have checked the discount racks at the local fabric store. For a small window, it’s pretty easy to make curtains for $10. The only thing I had to buy was the funky pull-backs I got for $7.99 at JYSK. (Sorry – I tried to up-load a picture, but apparently Blogger only wants me to put one of them on this post.)
3. Countertop and sink – once again, before you go and spend big bucks for a counter top and fixtures, check second-hand places or look in the seconds rack at the hardware store. Our countertop cost only $65 at Habitat Re-Store. The sink cost us nothing as it was also hanging out in our basement (the former owners of the house left it behind). We just bought a cheap set of taps for $25.
4. Vanity – Instead of buying a new vanity to replace the very tired-looking oak cabinet in the bathroom, I just painted over it with fresh white paint. Voila! Looks like brand new! Make sure you use a good base coat and durable top-coat because it can get a little banged up over time.
5. Faux tile backsplash – This is my favourite tip for a cheap but attractive addition to the room. Because there was a backsplash on the old countertop, and it was hard to patch up the wall where the glue had been, I couldn’t just paint it. Instead, I did a faux tile thing like I’ve done in the kitchen in the past. It’s pretty simple. First you put on a base coat, then you tape in the “grout” with thin painter’s tape. Trowel on the plaster in a thin layer, and while the plaster is still wet, remove the tape. (It helps if you have a partner who can remove the tape while you plaster, because the plaster dries pretty quickly.) Once the plaster is dry, paint it with a sealing coat, and then you can sponge on top of that for a nice Tuscan villa look. It’s hard to make the tiles look smooth, but if you don’t mind the rough look (which I find quite appealing personally) it turns out quite nicely.
And there you have it. Heather’s feeble attempt to redeem her vacation by at least finishing a home decorationg project.
by Heather Plett | Aug 12, 2006 | Uncategorized
In case you wondered why I dropped out of sight for awhile – no there’s nothing major to report. Nothing terrible happened since my last post. Mostly, it’s just because my writing brain was not engaged. I kept telling myself I wasn’t going to post again until I could write something more cheery or at least a little thought-provoking. Well, neither of those things showed up in my brain, so here I am writing a nothing post just to catch up a bit.
Marcel’s dad is still in the hospital. It’s been a frustrating waiting game that feels less like a game and more like water torture. They do a few tests, they make you wait. They plan another test, cancel it at the last minute, and make you wait some more. They tell you the doctor will let you know the results of the test, and then they make you wait some more. In the meantime, all those fun family dynamics that are mildly challenging at the best of times, become accentuated under the stress and hours of waiting. Finally yesterday they found out that he needs surgery – probably a couple of bi-passes and valve replacement, though I don’t know all the details. Whether that means he’ll be discharged soon and sent home to wait for the surgery, or if they’ll keep him in for awhile, none of us knows. More waiting.
In the meantime, I’ve tried to salvage at least a little of this vacation and have done a few fun things with the girls – like go to the beach, hang out at a friend’s pool, go for ice cream with friends, and have friends over for a sleepover. I’ve also done at least one thing just for myself – I had lunch with a friend/mentor I haven’t seen in almost a year. Marcel and I also had date night on our anniversary – dinner at a nice restaurant and then a couple of movies at the drive-in (both mediocre movies, but still worth the night out under the stars). And I finally finished the bathroom re-do project (pictures will probably come later). So it hasn’t been a total bust.
Thanks to those who checked up on me. It’s nice to know you noticed my absence. 🙂
