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The glamour of business travel
I don’t know who it is that spreads the wicked rumour that business travel is exotic, but if it’s supposed to be, I’m clearly doing something wrong. Admittedly, my travel is is usually little and too far from glamorous places. A night here or there in small-town Ontario, or if I’m lucky, to another province, all I get. So what could possibly go awry?Plenty, it seems. I don’t think I’ve had a single excursion out of the office without a story to come home with. One evening at a conference, I was woken by someone slipping a piece of paper… Read more…
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Filling the metaphorical bucket
A Facebook friend recently drew my attention to a New York times piece by David Brooks, who wrote about his moral bucket list. As I read the opening lines and paragraphs, a chord was struck. Brooks writes about meeting people who do valuable moral work and that despite achieving a reasonable level of success in his career, he hadn’t achieved the generosity of spirit he wanted to – resume virtues vs. eulogy virtues. Ding, ding, ding. Bells went off in my head. My own midlife crisis (and maybe this entire blog project) is born out of that same feeling – that I want to be… Read more…
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Decisions, decisions – and none of them mine…
My son called me from university before the school year ended in April. He was very excited – he’d found an apartment. Plans were afoot with new friends he’s made this year to live together next year. In fact, they plan to move in together in May and sublet if necessary. All that remained to be done was the official paperwork He’d thought out how much the next year of school would cost, had estimated high and had a plan to cover the part over and beyond what I can help him out with. He was proud to have done so,… Read more…
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Cooking up new adventures
There are cookies in my kitchen. Peanut butter cookies. And last week there were cupcakes. Blueberry cupcakes. The week before that, the smell of fresh brownies nearly drove me to distraction. My daughter has recently discovered baking and she’s treating us to an array of mouthwatering goodies on a continual basis. Now, far be it from me to complain about this cornucopia of sugary confections, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain my willpower and refrain from gobbling it all down. For years, my young Ms. Baker has talked about becoming a biologist when she grows up. It’s morphed over… Read more…
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Life has no reset button – or does it?
I read a blog recently from respected Canadian business man, Peter Aceto. The president and CEO of Tangerine Banking argued that there’s no “reset” button in life. I have to respectfully disagree with him.While we are all a product of the experiences we have in life, there’s no rule book that says those experiences have to define our future. We can reset, reinvent ourselves and rechart the road ahead. In retrospect, I think what Mr. Aceto really meant that there’s no chance to have a “do-over”, and in that, he’s right. We cannot change the past. The decisions we’ve made and the experiences we’ve… Read more…
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Of moors, magic and martians
When I was a young girl – no more than eight or nine – my grandparents came to visit in the spring. This was a big deal. My parents had immigrated from England in the mid-60s, part of the exodus of recent science grads looking for a better life in Canada. We didn’t see my grandparents often, so each visit was a treat. As a grownup, I realize it must have been difficult for my mother, seeing her parents only every three years or so, but those infrequent visits have left indelible memories with me. My grandfather was special. Looking back at him with… Read more…
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Your children are not your children
A few weeks ago, my daughter’s choir hosted a treble training festival for several other children’s choirs in southern Ontario. They’re always great events, when these well-trained choristers come together, work with a guest conductor and finally, hold a joint concert where they raise their voices in song and raise the rafters of whatever church has been borrowed for the occasion. The kids work hard during that day, as evidenced by the 87 pizzas we the 150+ choristers put back for dinner! But that’s not the point of this story. I like to sit quietly in the back while the (mostly)… Read more…
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Almost there…
Something happened this week. It’s as if a switch got flipped in my brain. I feel optimistic about things for the first time in a long time. The beginning of spring – a little late this year! I don’t know whether it’s because of the time change, which has meant lighter evenings, or the psychological boost that comes with the arrival of the spring equinox. Maybe it was the realization on Friday that there’s actually something growing in my garden, despite the snow which hasn’t fully receded yet. Could it have been the chatter at work, and the Facebook postings of Iranian friends… Read more…
