Kate got into the enriched FLM (Francais Langue Maternelle). She was in classes with the same group through the five years of high school. She was in the band—she learned to play the clarinet.
1998 FLM
During these years of teenage angst, the Poirier’s didn’t go on many trips anymore. One trip to the Maritimes when Kate was 14 was the last trip they went on. They drove for hours and hours. They saw many sights—the ground really WAS red and there really WERE potatoes everywhere in PEI!. It was also in PEI that Kate experienced chicken-fish.
Chicken-fish is not a good thing. It is supposed to be chicken, but it tastes like fish.
“Dad, does this taste ok to you? I don’t think it’s quite right” Kate said, spitting out a bite and handing the sandwich to her father. He took a bite, obviously avoiding the chicken fish, and said that it was fine. Kate was hungry and, reassured that she was imagining things, ate the whole not-so-palatable sandwich. Maybe it was a special PEI way of preparing chicken. The people out there really did love their fish…
2000 Hopewell Rocks
Later on, the family was playing mini-put—one of the things that could really bring them together. Kate was decent at mini-put. She was great at figuring out the angles, just not as adept at actually hitting the ball. She usually held her own in a game of mini put though. The sun set but the weather stayed warm, so the Poirier’s stayed to play another round. It was after the last arms of the sun gave up trying to reach the sky and the stars had punctured the blackened sky that it happened. A gurgle. The another gurgle.
“I don’t feel so well…” Kate said. She was in her place, about to take her shot when… “I have to go. I HAVE TO GO NOW!” And then she ran, holding her club in her hand, waving it above her head at she ran to the mini-put office. It was locked. She banged on the door. Nobody came. She banged on the door again.
“We’re closed” a nice woman said as she opened the door a crack.
“Plllleeeeeeaaaaassssseee let me use your washroom!!!” Kate pleaded while doing a clenched dance.
Taking pity on the look of discomfort mingled with sheer panic on young Kate’s face, the woman let her in.
That was the closest Kate has ever come to sh**ting herself since she was in diapers. She has not eaten chicken-fish since.
*****
2000 Blue hair
Back at school after that summer, Kate decided she was bored. After a while, she convinced her mother to let her dye her hair. It was the lesser of the evils…she was not allowed to get a tattoo or body piercings, but hair grows!
Kate dyed her hair a lovely shade of blue. It was fun and it was different, and she loved it! That is, until it turned green. And then grey. As much as Kate adored her blue hair, it was altogether too much maintenance. After a few months of looking like a greying grandmother, Kate gave up and settled on a subtle purple that lasted much longer.
*****
In December of 2002, grade 11, Kate got her first real job that wasn’t tutoring: she became a Christmas elf at the Dorval Gardens shopping mall. She got to wear a costume, talk about Santa, and hand out balloons to kids who were captivated by the spirit and magic of Christmas.
2002 Christmas Elf
If only those children knew that Santa was actually a bitter, crotchety man who didn’t like to share his keys, even though he had the only set that could unlock the staff bathroom.
*****
Kate’s school years had been plagued by teacher strikes and “work-to-rule”. She missed out on countless trips and so many experiences that would have enriched her childhood experience. Currently studying to be a teacher, Kate knows that the only one these teacher tactics hurt were the students in their classes, not the government which was the cause of their problems. A 2001 band trip had been scheduled to Disneyland in Florida. Permission slips signed and checks ready to go, Kate was more excited for this trip than any other school experience—until the teachers decided to work to rule again, and the trip was cancelled.
Finally, in 2002, Kate got her band trip. Kate packed her bags, and off to Nova
2002 Peggy's Cove
Scotia she went. If all of the family vacations commenced with interminable car trips, this one was all the more endless. Luckily it was on a bus full of friends, so they could always find ways to pass the times—like discussing how creepy a mist filled town was and discuss how they were likely driving into a horror movie, or stick open pixie sticks into the noses of unsuspecting nappers…yet the drive was endless nonetheless. The main highway was closed, and the driver got lost. Eventually, the bus pulled over at a seedy gas station and everyone got off for a washroom and leg-
2002 Brewery
stretching break. The area around the gas station was a thick coniferous forest. Mist hung over the trees. The sky was grey and heavy, but seemed as though it would continue holding on to the rain, afraid of what the drops may fall into around the gas station. Eerie silence surrounded the group of teens, the only thing that could be heard for miles around was wind blowing through trees, pine needles bouncing off of each other. Interminable or not, Kate would rather be on the bus, driving away from here as fast as she could.
Once they finally arrived at their destination at 2 o’clock in the morning (they were scheduled to arrive by 7 p.m.), everything went smoothly. Kate
2002 Dinner
and her friends had fun playing poker in the hotel, wandering the boardwalk, going out to eat, playing at Peggy’s Cove The trip was a lot of fun, and Kate really enjoyed being out and about with her friends.
2002 Boardwalk
*****
Kate finished high school, like elementary school, being on the honour roll every term. Her prom was a good time, she loved being able to play dress-up again!
2003 Prom
2003 Prom with James and Peter
2004 Kate's piercing
That winter, Kate got her piercing. Hair no longer blue, she convinced her mother that piercings were even less permanent than hair dye, when you think about it. And so she got her eyebrow piercing. She loved it very much, it was just more jewellery that she got to wear. She would still have it today had it not gotten caught on her mother’s sweater one morning, and yanked too far out.
2003 Piercing
That piercing stopped her from getting a job at McDonalds that a friend was able to get for her. McDonalds had a strict no-piercing rule. Several friends tried to convince Kate that she would not find a job with her piercing, but she set out to prove them wrong. After landing her first full-time summer job at a daycare, working with five-year olds, Kate tried not to gloat as she spent her summer playing outside and going on field trips while her friends slaved away in the hot, greasy McDonalds kitchen. Not a parent had an issue with her eyebrow piercing, and the kids knew her as Kate with “silver and sparkle everywhere”.