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JANUARY 2003 LET'S HEAR FROM You WHITCHUIlcfl-STOUFFVILLE Whitchurchâ€"Stouflville This Month believes your opinions are important, and encourages you to voice your comments or concerns in a Letter To The Editor. We accept all letters, but only publish letters which have been signed. We request you include a phone number (not to be published) tor verifica- tion of the letter writer. While Whitchurch-Stouflville This Month reserves the right to edit letters, due to content or length. in most cam letters will be published as written. Fax your letters to: mm or o-mall to: Wail-senatorall.com . or mail to WSTM, Kate Gilderdale, 6111 Main St... Stouflville. om., L4A 3R4 The former Heise family home with its distinctive round balcony on the second floor was built for Jacob Heise who was in the lumber business. This Stoufiville landmark is located at the northwest corner of Main and William St. Note the bicycle leaning against the veranda. In 1991, the stalls at the rear of the house were converted into a coach house. Dr. Carol A. Benin Dr. J. Martin McDowell Optometrists Historic photo submitted courtesy of Whltchurch-Stouffville Museum Eye Baggy §tquffville Whflciurdl Stouflvifle Tfiis Monti Is on the web look for us each month at: mstouflvllleonllnenom 6085 Main Street 905 642 3937 MOLLER INSURANCE Home fir Auto Call and Compare I 905-642-2745 64 Sandlford Drive, Unit 1, STOUFFVILLE Now I realize why We never lived up to my potential. I don‘t have a lifestyle coach. This stark reality hit home while I was reading about Cherie Blair’s personal guru. an exâ€"stripper who not only helps to get the British P.M.‘s wife on the front page of the newspapers, but also persuades her that tottering about in pointy-toe white shoes after Labour Day. or indeed at any time. is not a fashion faux pas. And Cherie is just the tip of the iceberg. Just about every celebrity interviewee these days waxes lyrical about his or her lifestyle coach, an accessory which has overtaken the Hummer as the single most important must-have item for any self-respecting professional. When I typed 'lifestyle 'coaching' into my search engine. it came up with 10|,002 sites. The Spencer Institute based in - you guessed it - California, was firét on the list and its definition of a lifestyle coach was someone who "will assess and align their client's goals, beliefs. values. morals, and support system. The coach will create a plan of action while guiding and motivating the client to reach set goals." Kind of like motherhood, really. except a whole lot more lucrative. because this kind of 'expertise' doesn't come cheap. The average lifestyle coach earns $350 US. per client, per month. based on a modest four 45- miniIte telephone sessions The only way I could afford that kind of money would be to give up eating or become a lifestyle coach myself. 1 According to the Spencer Institute I've got the qualifications. In answer to the question "Who can be a coach?" comes the inspiring news that "Personal trainers. masâ€" sage therapists, counsellors, business‘professionals, social workers and those with life experiences to share will all make excellent life strategies coaches!" By my reckoning, that would cover roughly l00 percent of the human race. Better still, I could be earning 580,000+ US. per year just for helping people "restructure their lives and gain control of their future." The trouble is, control over my own life is one commodity I seem to be sorely lacking, and in any case, what I really need is someone with animal life experiences who can supply lifestyle coaching for our frolicsome felines. Poc and Spasm. Ever since he was a kitten, Poc has had unfortunate predilection for liberating items of clothing from the laundry pile, dragging them upstairs between his teeth and distributing them in unexpected venues. lust the other day, a visitor to Chateau Gilderdale was somewhat taken aback to spot a pair of men's underpants languishing seductively under the coffee table in the living room. It's not very Martha is it? And while Poc decorates the old homestead with bras and iockstraps. Spasm amuses himself by eating the heads off flowers and plants. Whenever one of our friends generously brings us a beautiful azalea or hyacinth, I am obliged to place their offering on the very toiS‘ of the kitchen cabinets, where I then for- get all about it until a dried-up brown leaf flutters onto my head several weeks later. Our animal companions‘ other annoying little habits include chewing through comâ€" puter cables, shimmying up the curtains at warp nine and engaging in the Cats' Christmas Olympics. which involves knocking off decorations one by one before down- ing the entire tree. creating a small lake in the dining room and apoplexy in Mr. Wallethead. Anyone who' 5 thinking of acquiring a pet would do well to consider the wise words of Ogden Nash: The trouble with a kitten Is that/Eventually it becomes a cat'. A California State Of Mind "WHITCHURCH-SI'OUFFVILLE THIS MONTH' - 5 l‘la carte