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My sad, sad attempt to temporarily give up tech
Back in mid-July, I mentioned that I was going to try and go on a short holiday without any devices. It was only a few days, after all, so how difficult could it be? Apparently, harder than I thought! With my iPad and computer safely stored at home, I headed out for a few days of peaceful solitude, interspersed with some of the best theatre Canada has to offer. My phone came with me for safety, and just in case there were emergencies at the kid’s camps. All sound and vibration was turned off and the plan was for it… Read more…
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Anne and Maud
Not Anne, but my favourite and well-worn LM Montgomery books Anne and Maud – what “real” Canadian girl doesn’t already know where this blog post is going just by those three words! This is a modern-day story of a number of things that had to fall into place to make magic happen. Canadian school girls grow up on Lucy Maud Montgomery’s wonderful Anne of Green Gables stories.And while personally, I was more partial to her Pat of Silver Bush stories, Anne Shirley, with her carrot-red hair and imagination was always a wonder to me. When she smashed a slate over Gilbert… Read more…
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Bursting with pride
This weekend, my house got eerily – but excitingly – quiet.You may remember that my eldest son is at camp all summer as a counsellor. This weekend, the younger two headed off to their camps as campers, leaving me with almost no responsibilities for two whole weeks. So why am I so proud? Raising kids is hard – trying to make sure they’re well-read, well-mannered, well-fed and generally kind, feeling individuals is a herculean task. But every once and a while you have a spectacular day when you realize you’re doing an okay job – they really are turning out… Read more…
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Celebrating gold
For the last couple of weeks, anyone who knows me on Facebook has been subjected to a barrage of posts and photos of my daughter’s choir, which picked up both a silver and gold placement at the World Choir Games. To say I was a proud “choir mum” was a bit of an understatement. But today, my family is celebrating a different golden accomplishment.Fifty years ago today, my Mum and Dad tied the knot, back in England. My parents won’t let me throw them a lavish party – or any party at all – and they don’t want gifts. But… Read more…
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About leaning in, thriving, and not having it all
Last year, like many other professional women, I’m sure, I read Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, from cover to cover trying to learn from her spectacular success as Facebook COO. After all, she has a demanding job and a family. How does she do it? And was there anything in there that I could adapt for my life? I even participated on a Women in Nuclear panel discussing the book alongside some other senior women in the industry. Like them, I definitely recognized myself in some of the traits Ms. Sandberg describes as holding women back in the workforce, how the… Read more…
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And just like that, he’s off
And just like that – he’s off. Well maybe not just like that. Let me back up a bit…. It’s been a whirlwind of activity at my house this past week or two. Family photo shoot first. My sister-in-law gave us a wonderful Christmas present of a family photo shoot with a wonderful local photographer, which we finally used to take what I hope turn out to be a marker of a magic moment in our lives just before my first little bird fledges. Of course, I wanted to make sure we looked cohesive as a family, so some frantic colour-coordination shopping needed to… Read more…
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A house divided
It was with a great deal of fear and trepidation that I went to my church’s special meeting earlier this spring. We’re a church clearly at odds, and this meeting was the culmination of a lot of whispering, letter-writing, finger-pointing and probably wrongdoing – on both sides. After a long and impassioned speech by the current minister, and some questions from the congregation members who were assembled to vote, it was decided by a relatively slim majority that the congregation would terminate our relationship with the current minister. I wasn’t wrong to be fearful. There’s a long story of how we got… Read more…
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Finding teachable moments
We’ve all said it. We’ve all had the frustration of having it said to us. “Just let me do it myself – it’s easier than explaining it to you.” It’s not easy to let go of something want done “just so” and to realize that in the long run, you’re better off investing the time up front.One of the things I’ve truly enjoyed through my career is nurturing and mentoring young people starting out. I think it’s important to take the time to invest in their progress. Yes, it is often easier to just do a task yourself, but when… Read more…
