: About Me

I identify first and foremost as a mother of three and a teacher.

I grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan (Canada) and attended a one-room school through grade four. I was already reading when I started school, so had lots of time in class to listen to what was going on with the older kids. I heard most of the story "Jean val Jean" (more commonly known these days as "les Miserables") read aloud four years in a row before I later studied it in grade eight. We had a fresh box of library books delivered to the school at regular intervals, and by grade four I was able to read most of them before they were replaced by a fresh box after a month or six weeks. For grades five through twelve, my siblings and I rode the school bus for an hour each way because our neighbor was the bus driver. This too was a good opportunity to read (when there weren't enough card players available for a game of kaiser), and by the end of grade twelve I had read everything in the school library , including several novels that were being banned from other libraries at the time.

Right after high school I did a biology degree, married, worked for a year, and went back to university for another year, followed by Teachers' College. I taught in the K to 12 public school system in Saskatchewan for five years before starting a family, and then stayed home raising kids for twelve years. During this time I operated a nursery school in my home for a few years and spent six years as a public school trustee. I spent almost a decade as student counselor at our local regional college, escaping from the stress of counseling for several brief periods by taking on term positions as an instructor and a program coordinator. When the colleges in the province partnered to develop an electronic student information system, I offered to represent our college in that project, after which I took on the newly-created position of registrar.

I currently work with my (second) husband, doing property development and social/economic development with First Nations communities.

I enjoy gardening, interior decorating, sewing, and reading, and recently, writing. Teaching is still my passion, so I often comment on Helium articles when I'm rating them.  I've sold a few articles and love the feeling of accomplishment that brings.

My passion is ...

teaching

I know too much about ...

disappointment/anger

My parents always told me ...

"Do it right the first time."

My childhood ambition ...

to be a teacher

My favorite memory ...

Make that plural: the joys of parenting.

Why I write ...

for pleasure (and ratings)

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

tv movies every evening (my husband's a homebody)

My first job ...

weeding the garden

My best moment ...

realizing that my son at age three had the most profoundly developed conscience of anyone I knew

My inspiration ...

my parents

Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: Solitude

18 of 140

Furnace clicking as it cools; Clock ticking; Computer humming; Muffled slamming of a truck door outside in the dark - All sounds that exist when I’m with him But don’t register Because his voice is so much more important Than the sounds of life around us. Street light glimmering between the slats of closed blinds; My stuff waiting where I set it, Not buried beneath his clutter. Peace. Not worrying about leaving space for his shoes by the door; Not waiting on edge for the phone to ring; Not anxious about waking him up by getting out of bed when I can’t sleep. Wondering if ...

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Writing:

Rating:

• Creative Writing Bronze
• Marketplace Premier Writer
• Marketplace Approved Writer
• 1Marketplace Articles Sold
• Helium Charter Member