by Heather Plett | Mar 22, 2006 | Uncategorized
I like magazines. Or at least I WANT to like them. Especially when I have to spend alot of time in airports and airplanes where I have a bit of time to read, but I’m not really focused enough to get lost in a book. That’s why it’s so frustrating for me to stand in front of rows and rows of magazines in the store and realize that there is a dull and predictable sameness to them. I suppose they’re not ALL the same – I could pick up Popular Mechanics or Motorcycle Repair – but those that are marketed for women sure look homogenous to me.
Seriously. Here’s a list of the headlines you can find on the front of almost every woman’s magazine:
“Spice up your love life”
“The diet that will change your life”
“Dr. Phil’s relationship tips”
“Tips for managing your household budget”
“Fashion feature – clothes for the real you”
“Simple exercises to fit into your busy day”
“Five meals you can make in under half an hour”
If I were to start a magazine, I would call it “Smart Woman”, and this would be my list of criteria for its contents:
– There would only be ORDINARY women featured on its pages. NO airbrushing
– There would be NO fashion tips – or if there were any, they would include SENSIBLE SHOES
– There would be smart articles for women with IQs higher than Paris Hilton
– Dr. Phil would NEVER be quoted. NEVER.
– The word “diet” would be banished from the pages. Anyone who dared to use the word would be forced to do penance by eating the whole magazine, cover to cover.
– The index would be easy to find – on the FIRST page (now there’s a novel concept!), not buried in the middle of sixteen pages of advertisements
– There would be book recommendations by ordinary people, not those who’d been courted by big publishing companies
– There would be less assumption that women are self-centred, egocentric airheads and more assumption that they are smart and worldly-wise, caring about things like the environment, the millions of people dying of hunger and HIV/AIDS, and the world outside their walk-in closet
– If there were any celebrities featured, they would be the people who had shown strength in the middle of adversity, lived a moral and ethical life, made a difference for social causes, or proved that a marriage and family can stay together even in Hollywood – REAL inspiration
– It would NEVER mention anything about the assumed battle between stay-at-home moms and working-outside-the-home moms because it would assume that women are REALLY smart enough to respect each other’s lifestyle choices
– In every issue, it would include some piece of writing that was of literary value – a poem, essay, or short story. Again, it would assume that women are smart enough to want to read that kind of stuff.
– It would also include artistic images – photographs taken by someone other than the fashion photographer, paintings, etc. There would be visual surprises throughout – things that made you just stop and stare at a page for awhile.
– It would not assume that EVERY woman is interested in scrapbooking and stamping
– Some of the recipes included would be about SLOW cooking, not just about FAST cooking
Anyone want to subscribe to my magazine?
by Heather Plett | Mar 20, 2006 | Uncategorized
Sunday morning at church, I was in the middle of a conversation before the service began when I felt a little hand slip into mine. It was a familiar hand, but an unfamiliar gesture. My heart skipped a beat when I realized it was my little Maddie, just turned 4, who’d slipped her hand into mine. For no particular reason, she wanted to hold my hand. It caught me off guard.
If this had been either of my other 2 daughters at 4 years of age, the gesture would have been familiar and expected. But this was Maddie. In her 4 years of life, she has RARELY slipped her hand into mine.
She’s my little independent one. She likes to cuddle now and then, but it’s usually on her terms and it’s rarely because she needs me. Or anyone else, for that matter.
From a really early age, we saw the confidence in her. She “made strange” only 2 or 3 times in her life. She went happily off to nursery, barely looked back when first dropped off at a babysitter’s, and told her Daddy quite emphatically that he shouldn’t hang around long on her first day at preschool. When she hurts herself, she runs to her room to cry, and doesn’t even like it when I go to try to comfort her. “Go away,” she has told me, on many occasions.
She has always assumed people will like her – probably because they usually do. She knows how to charm people. I’ve often commented that if I don’t keep an eye on her at the beach (or other public place) she’ll happily adopt another family and go home with them. Many times, at the beach or park, she’s made herself at home with another family, plopped herself down on their blanket, and shared their snacks. She doesn’t even cast a backwards glance to make sure we’re a safe distance away.
She’s quite convinced that now that she’s 4, she can stay home by herself. Once, when Marcel had to drive me to church, she was emphatic that she’d stay home alone. We played along, got in the car with the other 2 girls, and drove down the road, as she stood at the window and grinned. When we back-tracked and went back to get her, she got mad at me for coming back.
She has a certain quality that draws people to her. When she was smaller, strangers were forever showering her with gifts. She’d go out for coffee or breakfast with her daddy, and almost inevitably someone in the restaurant – a waitress or another patron – would give her a stuffed toy or colouring book. I always worried that this would start going to her head, and she’d become one of those annoyingly precocious kids, but I don’t think she has (perhaps those of you who know her think otherwise?).
She’s an imaginative and fanciful child. She has invented more imaginary friends than anyone I know. She creates little scenarios for all of her imaginary friends, as well as her dollies and bears. Since she discovered the wonders of the digital camera, one of her favourite things to do is videotape herself singing and dancing. It’s quite entertaining when I download the pictures and discover what she’s been up to when no one was watching.
I sometimes wonder if her confidence comes from being so surrounded with love all her life. Being the child who follows a loss has its advantages – we treasured her more than we probably would have otherwise. She was also a bright spot for my mom (and the rest of us) when my dad died. Plus, she had the advantage of always having a stay-at-home parent. Her daddy dotes over her and she gets his undivided attention more than her sisters did.
She’s four now, and yes, she has a bit of an attitude (oh – she’s far from perfect) and she’s a little bit spoiled (yup, it comes with the territory when you’re the youngest), but she continues to delight and amaze me. I hope her confidence carries her through life. I hope she will always be surrounded with love. I hope I get to watch her grow into an amazing, confident, and beautiful woman.
by Heather Plett | Mar 19, 2006 | Uncategorized
I’m home – have been since yesterday afternoon, but I’ve barely had a moment to catch my breath since then. We babysat little Abigail last night, and today I went shopping, cleaned the house, went to watch Julie’s last skating lesson, cleaned the house some more, hosted Maddie’s birthday party, made photo shirts for the party girls, and, last but not least, made four big pans of lasagna for potluck and party tomorrow. I’m exhausted.
There are lots of posts swimming around in my head, but I’m too tired to entertain any of them right now. Here are some of the things I may blog about in the next couple of days, if I can get around to it. (Tomorrow’s another busy day, so it might not happen.)
– Maddie’s birthday post. She turned 4 today. She had her first friends birthday party. My big girl.
– My trip pics. I covered quite a few miles on this trip – a road trip across part of Alberta, and then a couple of days in Abbotsford, surrounded by the mountains.
– Observations in an airport. Airports are the best places to people-watch.
– My idea for a new magazine. After staring at walls of magazines in various airports, trying to find one that would interest me, I decided I might have to come up with my own.
– What it’s like to walk into an auction mart that’s so much like the place Dad spent 25 years of his life that for a moment I could barely breathe.
– The story of the 8 year old boy who decided to give away $236 because he heard stories of hungry children.
Yes, I’ll try to find some time soon, but right now my brain needs a little rest. In the meantime, here’s a little taste – the morning view from the house where I stayed in Abbotsford – taken just before we left for the airport yesterday. Can you imagine waking up to THIS every morning?
by Heather Plett | Mar 15, 2006 | Uncategorized
Next time you go on a trip, REMEMBER to read over your itinerary carefully ahead of time. Don’t just check the time of your flight. Check the date. Make sure that, if you THINK you’re booked on a flight on Monday morning, you don’t show up at the airport early only to be told you’re REALLY booked on a flight for Sunday, the day before. ‘Cause if this happens to you, you’ll be really, really bummed. Especially if it’s 7:30 in the morning, you can’t reach anyone in your office or the travel agency, or the people who are supposed to pick you up in a few hours.
And if it happens to you, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
And that’s all I’ll say for now. I ended up in Alberta, all-be-it at a different city than I’d planned, but I’m here, some appointments could be arranged (yes, I made it onto the evening news in Red Deer), and now all I can do about it is laugh.
Tomorrow I fly to Abbotsford. Yes, I checked the date. I am DEFINITELY booked on a flight to Abbotsford tomorrow.
Sweet dreams.
by Heather Plett | Mar 12, 2006 | Uncategorized
I’m heading west again. The fourth time this winter. (It’s been a bit much, but the staff situation has been resolved, so it should slow down after this.) I’ll be in Alberta and B.C this time around. (Sorry B&S&D&L, no stops in your neck of the woods.)
In Alberta, I’ll be spending a bit of time with the new staff I hired – just getting them a little more oriented. Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be on TV in Red Deer – talking about what’s going on in Kenya and what we’re planning to do about it. The food situation’s pretty severe there right now – another dry year after about five dry years in a row. I think of the people I met there last year, and my heart aches for them. I wish the rains would come.
On Wednesday I fly to Abbotsford to attend a major fundraising event there, and meet some of our volunteers. This is my first trip to B.C. in this job.
Four nights away, and then I’ll be home again. Since last year’s three week trip, the kids barely bat an eye over four nights. They don’t love it when I’m away, but they’ve gotten used to it. It helps that Marcel’s home with them – there’s stability in that.
Now I have to go finish the laundry so everyone has clean clothes to wear while I’m gone. And then I’ll ice the cupcakes for Maddie’s preschool birthday party on Tuesday. Fortunately, I’ll be home in time for her birthday on Saturday.
I probably won’t be near a computer much. I’ll catch up with you all later. Cheers!
