by Heather Plett | Mar 27, 2009 | Uncategorized
Even though the course is less than stellar, and I will not walk away with great inspirations about being a better leader to a remote team (like I’d hoped), I am still thankful for:
– a lovely conversation over pork chops and steak with a kindred spirit and fairly new friend
– an evening walk in the drizzly rain
– the B&B host who brings me tea while I’m sitting at the computer
– the two people I share breakfast with – the business man with a heart of gold, and the Spanish girl studying English as a second language
– the realization that I am a better leader than I thought because I already know most of the stuff I’m here to learn
– a wander in Kensington Market complete with a bowl of veg curry at the funky Urban Herbivore
– dim sum with one of my oldest (by that I mean “longest”) friends in the world
– the a-ha moment when I realized that I could do a better job of facilitating this workshop than the person who’s getting paid big bucks to do it
– an hour to waste time in Timbuktu, one of my favourite stores EVER
– an evening with a bottle of wine, two blue wine glasses, Wallace and Gromit, some cheap snacks, and my friend Laurel
– some funky doodle art – the only thing I seem to be accomplishing at the workshop
– thankfulness that I don’t have to make decisions like “whether to do off-shore outsourcing”, like one section of the workshop is teaching and like so many in the course have to do
– wandering into a Chinese bakery for a pastry and cup of tea, and realizing I’ve stumbled on the Chinese version of Cheers in the heart of Chinatown
– an hour in a comfy chair in front of a big window on the second floor of a bookstore
– wandering through the conservatory and breathing deeply of the many smells of green
– subways, cable cars, people watching, hustling, bustling downtown urban life
– birds on a wire, and other photo-worthy moments
– time to write, time to zone out in front of a television, time to wander
– watching a great movie all by myself in a cheap theatre
– looking forward to going home to my family
by Heather Plett | Mar 25, 2009 | Uncategorized
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this little fantasy. I’m on an airplane. I look over and spot someone reading a book or an article I’ve written. I lean over and ask them how they enjoy it and they wax poetic about the amazing writing before they spot my picture on the back of the book (or next to the article) and realize I wrote it.
It was one of those little stories I used to tell myself when I’d imagine what it would be like to be a REAL writer.
Though it wasn’t fully realized, that little dream came very close to coming true today. Several people were reading the Globe on the plane, and though I never spotted anyone reading my piece, I’m just going to let myself believe that they were reading it while I was catching a little shut-eye. Heck, I can even imagine that the guy sitting next to me wasn’t listening to the new U2 album on his iPod, but instead had downloaded the podcast so he wouldn’t miss one scintillating moment! Smile.
by Heather Plett | Mar 24, 2009 | Uncategorized
In a nail-biter that went into double overtime (and caused a few stress ulcers for the parents in the stands), Nikki’s team emerged with the city championship!
by Heather Plett | Mar 23, 2009 | Uncategorized
After the excitement of last week’s birthday and awards luncheon, we have even more excitement to look forward to this week. After a tense semi-final game on Saturday, Julie’s indoor soccer team made it into the finals. Nikki’s team had already made it, so this week, both teams will be playing for the city championships! Nikki’s game is tonight, and Julie’s is on Friday.
At first it looked like I would have to miss Julie’s game because of a flight home from Toronto, but I managed to change my flight (and am sacrificing the last few hours of the course I’m taking) just for the privilege of being soccer mom at the biggest game of her life (so far)! After living through Saturday’s game, though, I don’t know if my heart can take it. (Before becoming a parent, did YOU know just how emotionally involved a parent can get from the sidelines? It’s not just me, is it? Sheesh!) It turns out that 2 teams from the same club made it into the U11 finals, so Julie will have the pleasure of playing against her best friend (and several other kids she’s played with in the past). I asked her if they’d be on speaking terms all week at school and she didn’t seem too concerned.
By the way, I have a little free time in Toronto this week (and a couple of the people I’d wanted to get together with are away), so if anyone is in that area and is dying to hook up with me, let me know!
by Heather Plett | Mar 22, 2009 | Uncategorized
Normally I like living in a place with 4 distinct seasons, but after living through a long hard winter, my tolerance has definitely been tested. Spring couldn’t have come soon enough.
by Heather Plett | Mar 19, 2009 | Uncategorized
It’s a big day in our house today.
Maddie had a birthday…
And I got my award…
For those of you who are dying to see what a cheapskate can buy for under $65 (shoes and jewelery included)…
It was a lovely day, all in all. My presentation went smashingly well (despite the HUGE pressure of presenting in front of a room full of professional communicators), there were no technical glitches with the multi-media part of the presentation, and Maddie was happy with her pink cupcakes.
(I think I deserve Supermom of the Year award, too, for pulling off made-from-scratch cupcakes with pink icing AND sparkles for her whole grade 1 class! It’s probably a little guilt, though, for being in India over her 6th birthday. Oops – guess I just lost Supermom status.)
