by Heather Plett | Jun 7, 2006 | Uncategorized
I live…in a simple bungalow with an attached garage full of bicycles and a red car in the driveway.
I live…with my husband and three daughters.
I live…just a block from the mighty Red River.
I live…within easy walking distance of a grocery store, a drugstore, a dollar store, a bank, two gas stations with convenience stores, a GREAT wine store, Licks ice cream, a poster store, and a few other stores I’ve never been in yet.
I live…in the shade of a giant maple tree.
I live…within easy biking distance of St. Vital Park, where there’s a duck pond, a boat launch where we’ve put our boat in the water, and lots of picnic space.
I live…in a house with ugly multi-colour carpeting in the basement, and a kitchen that’s too small for a family of five.
I live…next door to a bunch of university football players who are polite and friendly and don’t party too much.
I live…a 2 hour’s drive from the farm where I grew up and the cemetery where my dad is buried.
I live…within easy biking distance of Ten Thousand Villages, the best store on earth.
I live…across the street from a housing co-op and the daycare centre my kids don’t have to go to anymore.
I live…just a 5 minute drive from the edge of the city and open sky and prairie fields.
I live…in the province where I was born.
I live…in a country that is known for its politeness, its cold north, its peacekeeping, and its multiculturalism.
I live…about 10 blocks (which is much too close) away from a shopping mall.
I live…in a house with a rotting deck and a play structure that’s almost too small for my children.
I live…within biking distance of my church.
I live…in the house with the wooden deck chairs in the front yard instead of on our deck, because we like to sit and watch the world go by.
I live…close enough to my sister and brother-in-law and little niece that we get to see them every week.
I live…further away from my brothers and their families than I’d like.
I live…closer to my mom than I used to, but further than I’d like.
I live…far from where my mother is right now.
I live…close enough to Marcel’s family that we can see them nearly every week.
I live…in a bedroom that has one dark burgundy wall, and three white walls that I wish I’d painted burgundy too.
I live…just far enough from my office that I get a good workout biking there.
I live…across the river from the University I attended nearly twenty years ago.
I live…with contentment and enough of almost everything.
I live…in a country where my children can grow up without fear or discrimination or poverty.
I live…in a world that’s getting smaller, but that’s big enough to offer me lots of places and opportunities to explore.
I live…in a house that’s never quite as clean as I’d like it to be, but clean enough to be comfortable.
Where do YOU live?
(Seriously… I’d like to hear about it. Consider this a “meme” and do it on your blog and then leave me a link. Don’t worry, Hope, I haven’t forgotten about your tag. 🙂
by Heather Plett | Jun 6, 2006 | Uncategorized
Well, since Marcel is so bound and determined to have a good attitude about all this, I guess I’ll just have to quit sulking and move on. Yeesh – he takes all the fun out of my petulant mood. (Yes, for those who asked, there’s always next year. But at 41, prolonging your education – and subsequent return to work – for an extra year just seems too long to wait.)
Instead of stewing in disappointment, though, I’ll turn to lighter things and give you some of the pictures Michele requested. We had an exceedingly delightful walk along the lovely Seine River. Along the way, we saw lots of wildflowers, a couple of deer and even a fox. The evening was capped off with a fire in Michele’s backyard. Ah, what a way to relax with a bunch of beautiful women. 
On Sunday, while we waited for Marcel’s grad to start, the girls and I did a little more wandering – through downtown Winnipeg. Our favourite part was a photo shoot by the fountain. Maddie was particularly delighted whenever the fountain went shooting up toward the ceiling. (I threw in that last picture because I love the way the light shines on her hair.)
by Heather Plett | Jun 5, 2006 | Uncategorized
After the emotional high of yesterday’s graduation, we got bad news this morning. Really sucky, energy-draining kind of news. Marcel didn’t get accepted into the Education program for the fall. That’s always been his plan – get a 3 year History degree, and then a 2 year Education degree so he could teach High School History. Now the plan has hit the rails.
I’m flabbergasted. I never even let myself CONSIDER the possibility that he wouldn’t get in. I was sure he had EVERYTHING in his favour. He’s mature, he’s male (they always say they want more male teachers), he’s got good marks, he’s dedicated, he’s got lots of experience with kids, he’s French, he had amazing reference letters from highly respected people… I just assumed that would put him leaps and bounds ahead of the average “fresh out of high school” university student.
But apparently I was wrong. Turns out they only let in 5 history students, with a GPA of 3.7 and higher. Did they not READ his portfolio? Doesn’t a 3.2 GPA, after 22 years out of school count for a whole lot more than a 3.7 right out of high school?
Not only that, but it turns out that the integrated students – those who start off at the beginning of their university education taking both their BA and B.ED simultaneously – are a shoe-in regardless of their marks. In other words, if he’d started that way, he would have been fine and wouldn’t have had to compete with the 3.7 and above crowd. But no one told him that when they gave him the option of doing it separately or simultaneously. (And I was there during his initial interview, so I KNOW they didn’t tell him.) He chose the separate option because he was also a stay-at-home dad and couldn’t afford the extra classroom time the integrated program would require. So he gets dinged for his dedication to his kids.
I’m just getting more and more mad as I write this. I think I’ll write a nasty letter to the university. Anyone want to join me? We’ll start a “get Marcel into Education” campaign. He’d make a GREAT teacher. It’s hard to believe he won’t get a shot at it.
by Heather Plett | Jun 5, 2006 | Uncategorized
For three and a half years now, I’ve been sleeping with a university student. Scandalous, eh? What’s a mature woman like me doing hopping into bed with a student? It gets worse… that student fathered my children! And I’m not the least bit ashamed of this love affair.
Well, the truth is, this particular student is one year older than me, and today, he is a graduate. Yes, I’m married to him, so no, it’s not an illicit affair. He is my beloved. I’ve been married to him for nearly thirteen years, and I intend to stay married to him for a whole lot longer.
To the average observer, this might seem like just an ordinary graduation, ending with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in History. But let me tell you, this is no ordinary graduation. Few people attend their first graduation at forty-one years of age – with a GPA of 3.2.
But that’s not all… this graduation represents so much more than three and a half years in school. This graduation represents a great victory. Victory over so many demons of the past. Demons of self doubt and fear. Demons of anxiety disorder and depression. Demons that made him drop out of school before he made it to high school. Demons that made him try to end his own life.
I can hardly describe the wave of emotion I felt as he walked on stage and accepted his diploma. I am so incredibly proud of him – this man that I love so deeply. He’s living out his dream, and teaching his daughters that it’s never too late to “go for the gusto”. He is my hero, and I’ll keep sleeping with him for a long time, even if it means he’s a student for a few more years and I don’t get to retire yet. 🙂
I love you Buddy. 
by Heather Plett | Jun 2, 2006 | Uncategorized
With the advent of Spring, thoughts turn to new birth – flowers in the garden, puppies on the lawn. All around me, people have one of two thoughts on their mind “what can I buy at the garden centre today?” or “oh, I just LOVE my little pet”. Yup, even in the blogging world, I’m surrounded by people who are either plant lovers or pet lovers, or (cringe) BOTH. Even my friend Michele, who, though I knew she loves to garden, I was SURE would continue to be my compadre in the “don’t want a pet” category, has fallen head over heels in love with a puppy. She’s even become a POSTER CHILD for petlovers everywhere. Yeesh! I have been abandoned.
I am neither a plant lover nor a pet lover. Well, that’s not entirely true, I do love plants, I just don’t particularly like to plant them, prune them, weed them, water them, or worship them. I like plants that grow green and lush on their OWN accord with no input from me. It’s why I live in a house with huge maple trees all around it – no work on my part, and they look fabulous.
Sometimes I think there must have been a flaw in the gene pool that I got neither plant-loving nor pet-loving genes. But then I just have to remind myself that bbb (my big brother) is on my side, so the gene pool essentially got cut in half on that particular gene. Don’t you DARE fall in love with that puppy, bbb, that you have the AUDACITY to let into your house or I may never speak to you again!
My friend and colleague Dan tells me that kids who grow up with pets grow up more well adjusted. So, in other words, I’m cheating my kids out of their adjustment, and they’ll probably need therapy. Dan also has an organic farm, so he heaps the guilt on on BOTH counts. Did I just call him my FRIEND? Sheesh!
Fortunately, my husband and oldest daughter didn’t get the genes either, so I’m not outnumbered in my house. So far, we haven’t had to give in to the pressure from the other two girls to get a puppy, and when Julie needs a gardening fix, we just send her to her grandparents’ house.
Sometimes I wonder… do I lack compassion if I can’t get all warm and fuzzy about a pet and I’ve killed more house plants than most people ever own? Am I a cold fish? Am I stunting my children’s growth by passing on my cold-hearted ways? Oh, the guilt. (What’s a mom without a healthy heaping of guilt?)
Seriously though, I will embrace my gene pool, I will stand tall and proud in my uniqueness, and I will not let all this plant/pet craziness beat me down. You have your plants and pets to connect you to Spring, I have my bike rides down river pathways and, starting this weekend, sleeping in a tent! I LOVE sleeping in a tent!
by Heather Plett | Jun 1, 2006 | Uncategorized
Marcel’s cousin Leon is a long distance truck driver. He told Marcel a great little story that I can’t resist repeating.
He was having breakfast with a fellow truck driver somewhere down in the States not long ago. When they got up to pay for their meal, they were told it had already been paid for. When they asked by whom, the cashier pointed to a woman sitting alone.
It turns out this woman used to be married to a truck driver. When he passed away, she sold the business, but she wanted to find some way to give back – or perhaps “pay it forward”. So every Sunday morning, she goes to a truck stop, picks out a random table of truck drivers, and pays for their breakfast anonymously.
Isn’t that a great story? Just think of all the neat little stories that are floating out there in the cosmos because of her acts of kindness.
