No title and basically no content either

by Heather Plett | Oct 16, 2007 | random

I have very little brain-space for blogging these days, but I thought I’d at least come on and tell you I’m still alive and mostly happy and I haven’t decided to ditch you for another set of blog readers on the other side of the proverbial fence. Here are a few random things you may or may not care about:

– I took Maddie to the cardiologist yesterday. She still has a slight heart murmur, which means she has a hole the size of a pin in her heart, but they assure us it will never have any significant impact on her life and there is no reason to worry. I felt a little guilty walking out of the heart clinic – most of the kids in there were regular visitors who really DID have heart problems (one had even had a heart transplant, and another had just gotten his wish from the Children’s Wish Foundation and all the nurses were doting on him) and here I was with the healthy kid who didn’t need to come back.

– There are about 30 people descending on me from all parts of the country this week, and I have to host them for two days of meetings and an evening banquet. I am SO not prepared. I feel completely scattered and disorganized. Fortunately, I’ve been doing this long enough that I’m pretty good at wingin’ it and I have enough “back-story” to remember that it’s often when I feel least in control that the results are the most positive and memorable.

– I helped put together a powerpoint for Rob’s mom (Michele’s mother-in-law) who died last week, and even though I hardly knew her, it was quite lovely going through her pictures and imagining what she was like as a young woman. She had the most beautiful, open, bold face in her youth. I think she would have been alot of fun to hang around with.

– I may live to regret it (if people start posting the kind of things on my wall that Joyce is collecting – yeesh!), but I joined Facebook. Okay, is it just me, or does it make you feel like you’re back in junior high when you have to ask people to be your “friends” and then you sit and wait to see if they’ll walk past your locker at recess and say “hi” even though they’re one of the cool kids and you’re SO not? I mostly joined so that I could hook up with the End Hunger Fast group that’s linked to our new website, and now I’m trying to figure out what all the hype is all about.

– Today is World Food Day. If you are so inclined, take a moment today to prayerfully consider the over 850 million people in the world who do not have enough to eat. Approximately every 5-8 seconds, there is someone in the world dying from hunger-related illness. It’s too much for the brain to comprehend, but as Mother Theresa said “if you can’t feed 100 people, then feed just one.”

What a week

by Heather Plett | Oct 1, 2007 | random

It has been a full and rather intense week – the kind of week that feels like ideas and events and experiences and emotions are tumbling over you so fast you barely have time to process it all and give meaning to it. Here are a few of the highlights:

– It was really wonderful meeting Brian McLaren in person AND spending a delightful evening and plane ride home reading his new book “Everything Must Change”. If you’ve been struggling with how your faith connects with the really big issues that are going on in this world – climate change, poverty, war, unfair trade, etc. – you really should read this book.

– Marcel and I attended the 25th anniversary celebration for our friends Steve and Nanci. I traveled to Ethiopia with Steve and Nanci (and produced a couple of videos with Steve, which I’ll link to soon) and it’s been really cool developing a friendship with them. There was great music being played at the social that night, the highlight of which was the reunion of Steve’s old band “Elias, Shritt, and Bell”. Their harmonies are truly amazing – kinda like Simon and Garfunkel or Crosby, Stills, and Nash.

– This week marked the seventh anniversary of the birth and death of our son Matthew. In what is becoming a family tradition, we celebrated the place he holds in our family’s story by visiting his grave and making a trip to Dairy Queen for some birthday ice cream sundaes.

– I attended this concert and saw part of the related art exhibit. About all I can say is “Wow!” If you’re in Winnipeg and you can take in the exhibit, you really should do so. It’s incredibly moving.

– I got to chat with Bob Bennett and tell him how much his songs “We are the Kings” and “We were the Kings” have meant to me. It was a brief conversation and I didn’t get a chance to tell him the story of how those songs served as a touchstone for me in Ethiopia when I found out my best childhood friend Julie’s father had died and I couldn’t be around to mourn with her. Perhaps another time.

– I also had a brief opportunity to talk to Carolyn Arends and let her know how her music had been my constant companion in the hospital during the three weeks leading up to the birth and death of Matthew. When she sang “We’ve been Waiting for You”, I wept, because that was the song that was the most closely connected to our waiting and longing for Matthew. She got a chuckle out of the story of how I listened to her music on the Fisher Price tape recorder a friend had brought to my hospital room.

– After being gone for most of the week, I took Friday off and hung out with my kids. We did a little shopping and went out for lunch. They’re at such a great age right now – they’re truly fun to hang out with and don’t require a lot of “caring for them” energy. We’ve had some great laughs this weekend, like when Marcel showed his age by referring to MySpace and/or Facebook as “My Face”.

– I had some of the greatest conversations with people this week. Some of them happened in Toronto, as I mentioned in my last post, but some of them happened closer to home. It was really fun connecting with a new friend – the mother of one of Nikki’s best friends – on her front yard. A conversation that started with the kind of sandals we both love wandered from there to fair trade, life changes, and the impact of losing a son. (Joanne, if you’re reading this – WELCOME!)

– I spoke in church this morning – something I truly enjoy doing. You know what they say about public speaking being one of the most common fears among people? Yeah, well I’m an exception to that statistic. It gives me energy.

– With all of these incredibly inspiring things swirling around me, the muse has visited and I’ve gotten inspired with a few writing and work-related ideas. I can hardly wait to get started. Now if only I can find the time.

I think I need a quiet day in a retreat centre just to process all of this.

Random, with pictures

by Heather Plett | Aug 17, 2007 | random

– We have an infestation of fruit flies. Yuck. They were already here before our trip, but they multiplied while we were gone – even though we didn’t leave any fruit around for them to feast on. They’re in every room of the house. Just now I washed my hands in the bathroom, and there must have been thirty of them on the mirror – perhaps attracted to the windex Marcel just used to clean it. I figured out how to trap them, and I’m sure I’ve trapped about 100, but there are at least that many more still in the house. I may have to look for more aggressive measures.

– Do you want to see an ugly case of poison ivy? No? Well avert your eyes then, ’cause I’m showing you anyway (and this is just his legs – it has spread to his arms and back too)…
– As part of our housewarming gift for ccap and her boy and Abby, we bought them each a special plate. Guess who gets each one…
– And here’s a picture of the happy homeowners… (here’s hoping ccap doesn’t hate me for posting a pic before she gets around to it, but I thought perhaps her downloading cord was already packed.)
– My friend Whippersnapper just stopped by for a little visit. She’s one of those rare friends that, after nearly 10 years of not seeing each other, we can just pick up where we left off and still laugh just as hard and be just as relaxed with as we ever were.

– My holidays are almost over. Bummer. They sure have been good though. And thankfully, I have a job that I never hate to go back to.

– Yes, I know I’ve still got plenty of hormonal years to deal with, but I’m quite enjoying my preteen girls right now. During the camping trip, I kept marveling at how much easier it was to set up and take down our campsite, because they were both willing contributors in the work. And this morning was cleaning day, and my basement is VERY clean and I didn’t have to lift a finger (or even nag). They’ve moved past that stage where you usually have to do a spot check and clean up after them.

– Speaking of cooperative kids, I think some of it has to do with the lack of TV-watching this summer (we extended TV-free month to two months). Every time we give up TV for awhile, I find I like my kids more. They seem more settled and less irritable. Plus they do more creative things. Sometimes I think we should give it up permanently.

– Tonight’s an exception to TV-free month. My two preteens have waited all summer for High School Musical 2. I would be the worst ogre to walk the face of the earth if I denied them that.

Wednesday wondering

by Heather Plett | Jul 25, 2007 | random

1. The next time I have to organize a big event where I have to schmooze/boss around politicians and other dignitaries, would someone please tell me I have a rooster tail growing out of the top of my head?
Oh and what’s up with that massive prom zit on my chin? I’m forty-one years old. Weren’t those supposed to stop coming around, oh, I don’ t know – about twenty-one years ago??

Just doing my best to stay humble.

2. I’ve never been one to get hooked on computer games or electronic games of any kind. Or any games for that matter. Sudoku? Boring. Solitaire? Oh I might be able to kill 15 minutes or so, but after you’ve seen those cards topple once or twice, who cares anymore? Crossword puzzles? I get frustrated after about the third word. Tetris? Once in a while, but rarely. So then WHY am I suddenly getting hooked on a word search game on a KIDS’ WEBSITE?? When Julie scored 48 points for a word, I just HAD to top her. Oh yeah – 57 points! But then it wouldn’t let me use a doozy of a word – warehouse – because it limits the words to 8 letters. What’s up with THAT? When I crashed and burned at level 7, I couldn’t rest until I got to 8… and then, wouldn’t you know it, the website announced a scheduled shut-down and then disappeared. IN THE MIDDLE OF MY HIGHEST SCORE YET! The audacity! I went to bed twitching and dreaming of words I could have used. (For those of you who are now determined to beat my score – sorry, you can only get on to Quizzy’s word search if your kid has a Webkinz toy and password!) Oh dear. Where do I sign up for Quizzy’s word search anonymous?

3. Did I tell you I joined a dragon boat racing team? Just for fun? Yeah, apparently I think it’s FUN to subject your body to an hour of torture a couple of times a week. And it’s FUN to suffer pain in muscles you never knew you had in the first place. And it’s oh so much FUN to have the steer-person yell at you “pull! hard!” just when you feel like you’re ready to melt into a puddle in the middle of the boat. Or vomit over the edge into the murky river water. Fun, baby. It’s fun. (In all seriousness, though, it really is fun. Watch for pictures after the tournament this weekend.)

Random bits

by Heather Plett | May 28, 2007 | random

I’m at home with a sick child this morning, so my mind has a little time to wander to random places…

– I’ve been thinking alot about the Ethiopian coffee ceremony lately. It’s a beautiful thing, where you watch them “create” rather than simply “brew” your coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker, but when someone roasts the beans over a small fire, grinds them with a well-worn wooden mortar and pestal, and brews your coffee in a elegant yet simple black urn, all while burning frankincense over a separate small fire, of course I couldn’t resist. I’ve been thinking about it, because it was such a simple yet profound example of “anticipation”. When we consume the instant meals and instant drinks we’re so used to in our culture, we forget the value of anticipation. It’s not just in the food we eat either. We want instant entertainment and instant gratification too. I want to concentrate on enjoying the anticipation. Unfortunately, my tendencies toward impatience and laziness get in the way all the time.
– I attended my aunt’s wedding this weekend. She is a widow who married a widower who was a close friend of her husband’s. I’m happy for her – this particular aunt has been through more pain than most, having lost 2 sons and a husband. A wedding like that takes on a whole new feeling, though, when you have been to a similar wedding where your own mother got married. I think I know a little bit about how their children are feeling. You want so badly for your parents to be happy, and yet you want to stomp your foot on the floor like a four-year-old and whine.
– I taught another leadership workshop this weekend. We’ve been working through the Leadership Challenge, and this session was on “Inspire a Shared Vision”. Someone asked “don’t you think it’s true that it’s virtually impossible to truly give birth to a fully formed vision without stepping away from day to day life for awhile?” Yes, I think that’s absolutely true. Just like giving birth to a child, our dreams need to be given time to emerge, even though the birth might be painful. When I was a young child in school, I used to get reprimanded for daydreaming now and then. Now, here I am, teaching a leadership workshop, encouraging adult participants to step away for awhile and do exactly that – daydream. Take THAT, Mrs. S – my daydreaming WASN’T just a waste of time!
– In preparation for the workshop, I re-read parts of The Path, a book about creating your personal mission statement and vision. I first read through that book and did some of the exercises it suggests about a year and a half ago. One of the exercises was to write “a day in the life” of yourself five years in the future. The author says she is always amazed how many people who do that end up very near to their vision five years later. When I re-read my own last week, I was pleasantly surprised that some of my vision has begun to come true. Facilitating this workshop on the weekend was one of the things I’d written in the vision, and in the past year, I’ve gotten to do several of them for a variety of groups.
– My sister bought a house this weekend. Their househunting process has caused me to reflect on why we ended up in our house. It is far from our “dream” house, but I have come to love it none-the-less. When I was crossing the street toward our house this morning, I had a little memory of the first sighting of this house and why I was drawn to it. We have massive trees all around the house. When they are in the majesty of full foliage (like now, which is right around the time of year we first saw it), the house (an average-sized bungalow) looks dwarfed in the middle. I kinda like that – it makes the creation of man look so insignificant when completely overshadowed by nature.
– A few years ago, I facilitated an eight week workshop on unleashing your creativity. It was one of the best, most inspired experiences I’ve ever had. More than one of the participants has told me that it has had a profound impact on their lives since. This weekend, one of those people released her first cd, and she told me that she would never have done it if she hadn’t taken my workshop. She said it had “given her permission to create”. Hearing that statement made me realize that I have a longing to do it again. I think I need to make that happen.
– Marcel had to prepare a presentation for his class this morning. As part of the presentation, he included 2 video clips showing positive and negative classroom management styles. We set up a “film studio” in our dining room – Marcel played the teacher, Nikki, Julie, and Julie’s friend played the students, I was the videographer, Maddie was my helper, and we all had a hoot!