by Heather Plett | May 22, 2008 | Uncategorized
We’re getting a little impatient, but we’re finding ways to fill the time.
I’d almost forgotten what it’s like to have a 2 year old around the house. Just how many questions can one small person ask in a day? (I’m having flashbacks to my firstborn.) And did it REALLY take an hour to wash a few pots and pans back then? How did I ever get anything done?
Stay tuned for the arrival of Abby’s little brother…
And since you’re all good people, why don’t you pop on over to that blog I just linked, say a little prayer for the safe and happy arrival of little Jack, and then send him a welcoming postcard.
by Heather Plett | May 20, 2008 | Uncategorized
(I wrote this the last time my sister was expecting a baby. I was going to write something new this time, but when I read it, I couldn’t come up with enough inspiration to change it. So here’s to recycling – with a few changes…)
To Jack
I can’t wait to meet you
little one
I can’t wait to hold my cheek against yours
to kiss the top of your head
and let you wrap your little fingers
around my thumb
I wonder
will you be dark like your daddy (and sister)
will you have red hair like your grandpa
will your laugh ring out with delight
like your mommy’s
will you be effervescent and bold
like your sister
will you always want to play “would you rather”
like your cousin
will your compassion be your compass
like your grandma
I hope
you will be innocent yet wise
questioning yet accepting
compassionate yet strong
bold yet cautious
fanciful yet practical
cynical yet full of wide-eyed wonder
I know
you will be blessed beyond words
with
a daddy who will
adore you and spend hours just gazing at you
a mommy who will
help you dance to the mystery of life
and delight in discovering the world through your eyes
a sister who will
show you all the wonders of the world
and introduce you to all of her favourite people
a grandma who will
climb trees with you and
teach you about love
a mémère and pépère who will spoil you
cousins who will smother you with kisses
and lead you to adventure
aunties and uncles who will
fight over who gets to hold you
and be there for you ever moment you need them
I want
to watch you grow
to see you dance
to follow you for hours when you learn to walk
(especially if it’s at Folk Festival)
to hear you laugh
to be there when you need a grown-up who’s not mommy or daddy
to read you stories
and to see parts of the world with you that you’ve never seen before
I love you already little one
you will enter the world
surrounded and protected
by love
by Heather Plett | May 12, 2008 | Uncategorized
Almost 5 years ago, we were in a church hall in a town not far from here, celebrating my Uncle H and Auntie M’s 50th wedding anniversary. It was a pleasant summer day. Maddie had just learned to walk (well – run really – she rarely bothered to walk) and wanted to spend most of the day wandering around the reception hall. For awhile I took her outside so that she could walk on the grass. My dad chuckled at her and then offered to give me a break while he happily followed her down the hall. (My introverted dad usually tired of big gatherings, so I’m sure he was happy for a little break.)
It was a pretty ordinary day. We don’t see much of our aunts and uncles and cousins, so it was nice to connect with them. And of course it was lovely to spend some time with mom and dad.
That was the last time I saw my dad alive. It was the last time Maddie got to make her grandpa laugh. Two weeks later, he was killed very suddenly in a farm accident.
Another two weeks later, Uncle H, who’d just celebrated his golden wedding anniversary with his family gathered from all across Canada, dropped dead of a heart attack. We were back at that church for his funeral. And then two months after that, my grandma (dad’s mom) died.
This Saturday, sitting next to my mom, who has since remarried, I was back in that same church hall, sitting at approximately the same table, watching Auntie M get married again too. (It was also the same church where I’d helped carry my grandma’s casket to her grave.)
Sometimes it’s a little surreal how life shakes you up and rearranges the furniture.
by Heather Plett | May 9, 2008 | Uncategorized
With the global food crisis looming larger and larger every day, we’re issuing a challenge to people – eat nothing but the rations a person might receive in a refugee camp (or after being hit by a cyclone) for three days. You can read more about it here.
A daily ration is 400 grams of cereal (rice, flour, oatmeal, cornmeal, etc.), 50 grams of pulses (lentils, beans, etc.), 50 grams of oil, and 5 grams of salt. Plus water. Nothing else.
Do you think you can do it? If you follow the link above, you can find a video of a family that tried it.
Our family is thinking of trying it, but the girls are reluctant to do it while they’re in school, so perhaps in July. “But not during Folk Fest,” say the girls, “cause we HAVE to have whale’s tails.” Perhaps we’ll do it in the days leading up to Folk Fest.
Anyone want to join us?
by Heather Plett | May 5, 2008 | Uncategorized
Marcel is a teacher! He just got his first substitute teaching job today! He’s getting PAID to teach!
After 5 and a half years of university, lots of stress and agony, way too many assignments that I had to edit… he’s actually teaching!
He got thrown into the deep end today – teaching high school French Immersion (and two of his classes are law). Yikes! His French is a little weak for that. But the electronic “sub-finder” that called our house last night lets you either “accept” or “decline” and doesn’t give you an option for “wait a second – I have to call my husband home from his cousin’s place and let HIM decide.” So I hit “accept” and thus launched him rather haphazardly into his teaching career.
I just got an email from him saying he’s doing well and the students are quite well behaved. Whew!
by Heather Plett | Apr 29, 2008 | Uncategorized
Sometimes it’s the little things.
Whenever I leave for a business trip (like today), Marcel always calls a cab for me. I don’t know if I’ve ever told him how supportive and affirming that feels.
I guess this is my way of telling him.
I’d almost forgotten what it’s like to have a 2 year old around the house. Just how many questions can one small person ask in a day? (I’m having flashbacks to my firstborn.) And did it REALLY take an hour to wash a few pots and pans back then? How did I ever get anything done?