No regrets

Do you ever think about what you wanted to be when you were a kid? Is it anything like the job you currently do? If not, do you ever see yourself doing what it is you thought you were going to be?

When I was little (like, really little) I was pretty fixated on the Peace Corps. I have no idea where this idea came from. I might have chalked it up to Dirty Dancing, but that movie didn't come out until we were on Hess Street (I remember the argument between Beef and mum and whether or not she would be allowed to see it.) That, and I distinctly recall telling my ECE teacher, Mrs. Settle (except with my lisp I pronounced it Mithith Thettle...) that I was going to go around the world with the Peace Corps.

Then in grade six, I decided to be a Zoologist. Mr. Grey asked us to draw ourselves 20 years in the future (pfft...) and to describe our lives as we thought they would be. I envisioned a very "green" house, complete with compost, veggie patch (I remember painstakingly drawing the carrots with dull crayons), and a wrap-around porch.

I was lost in high school. No plans. Panic ensued.

University. Developed a mild obsession with the Lonely Planet (and... le sigh... Ian) and decided (again) that I would travel the world as a tour guide, a boyfriend in every country.

It took seven years shelving books, six summers as a literacy worker, and a manager in a pear tree to convince me that library is as library does--and hence, a librarian was born. Although substantially more planted than originally intended, I do have plans for a veggie patch on my veranda (porch? deck? balcony?) And September holidays will take me somewhere... As for the boyfriend... Hee!

And for the record, I don't regret the decision, no matter how far from the original plan I've come.