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For the love of words
It’s no secret that I love words. As a kid, my parents nicknamed me “Chatty Kathy”, but I was just as much at ease with my pencil and notebook as I was chattering away at the dinner table. I think I get this naturally. I’ve written before about how my Grandfather helped me write an April Fool’s story for a friend, and my Mum writes a column for her local newspaper. As I grew older, my pencil was replaced first by a typewriter and then a computer, but for me wordplay has always been a means of telling stories –… Read more…
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Luck, lemonade and a bit of siding
There but for the grace of God go I. Those words echoed through my mind all afternoon a few Saturdays ago, as I took part in a Habitat for Humanity build project.It was a good day. My colleagues and friends had stepped up to help me meet – and exceed – my fundraising goals and I spent the day exercising my construction muscles by putting siding on a house that would eventually become the home of an underprivileged family. It felt good to be doing something purposeful and constructive, and to be giving back. We had stopped for lunch, and former recipients… Read more…
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Pokeman redux
For the past month, I’ve been treated to a rerun of Pokemon, thanks to the youngsters temporarily living in my house. Their father knows just about as much about Pokemon as I do, so we smile and shake our heads as the tales pour out – character names, adventures and evolutions. It’s been a sweet return to the days of young affectionate boys. Mine are long past the age of snuggling and hugging in thanks for simple everyday things, so I’m enjoying the affection. I had the privilege of taking the younger of the two to his first day of… Read more…
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Boys, boys, boys!
I think my neighbours may be whispering about me behind my back. It’s a bit scandalous. Last week, a man and his two sons moved into my house…. My own boys are off to their university lives. The younger is safely ensconced in his university dorm, making new friends and grabbing life by the tail, experiencing the joy being on his own for the first time. The older has moved into a new apartment with old friends, probably feeling like he’s back home as he enters his third year of post-secondary education. So this fall was going to be a… Read more…
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Recapturing Christmas
It gets harder every year. With every season that passes, life gets busier. There’s more to do, more to deal with, more chores that need to be done, more activities that kids need to be shuttled to and from, more stress at work. It gets harder every year. Gifts and gadgets on Christmas wish lists are more techy and more expensive. With family becoming more spread out, it’s harder to stay close and to know what is the right present for the right person. Commercial Christmas songs ring out and decorations appear in the stores earlier and earlier, starting the… Read more…
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And now for a commercial break: a little personal PR
Don’t change the channel; this commercial break is a good one! You know that little frisson – that thrill – of excitement you get when something goes well? The kind where you feel just a little invincible?It’s been a good month. Why? Nothing huge – just a bunch of little things, but ones that add up to more than the sum of their parts. And it has me feeling pretty positive about life. Early this month, son #1 was moved back to Ottawa for school. It went smoothly. He’s living in an apartment with friends this year it was only a few days… Read more…
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A time to think … and a time to act
Over the last couple of days, I’ve spent a lot of time in my car. Taking my eldest son back to University required a 5 hour car trip (well, the first leg was closer to 6 ½ with construction and traffic) with him – and another one back alone. I really like long car trips with my kids. They’re great times to delve into the “deeper” conversations that teenagers do NOT want to have when you can make eye-to-eye contact. On this trip, we talked about his summer camp job, his aspirations to move up further in the camp management…
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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…
