My mom bought me a keyboard that I hooked up to my 12 inch black and white TV 📺 ! I was 13 so 1983, I was super excited to play whatever game it was.
I do remember Pac-Man as being one of my first and favorite and there was Galaxy? That one is foggy. Pac-Man however is a legend! Then came Mrs. Pac-Man. It was a great time. Everyone gathering around the video game and cheering you on. Who’s gonna get the highest score and have their name displayed at the top!
I’m smiling remembering the excitement of the arcade and the fun it was. Simple, good, fun.
I do set goals but not in a way that I want to be somewhere in a few months, I want to make this much money by….or I will sell x amount of books by….I am someone who sees a vision and goes with it. I am not one to give up something I’ve started, if I get frustrated or want to quit. Quitting is easy, sticking to something that means something to you is also a goal and can be tough. Nothing good comes easy.
I am a competitive person in certain areas and do my best to do my best and complete what I started whether I am last or first. The completion is my goal. Once I have an idea or passion, I go full force, almost manic. I have actually questioned my mental health because of some of my past indulgencies. I can be so passionate about something try it then leave it. On to the next. I’ve had many jobs that I thought would be my career but I moved on to the next passion. So many opportunities that just didn’t fit for me. I do not look back and regret what I thought could of come from it. I move on. I take it as it wasn’t meant for me.
My goals in life are to be the best mom and wife. To be a friend that is there when they need help or an ear. I want to help other’s especially children. I want to have a welcoming home to make our guests welcome and comfortable when they visit. I want my kids to know they always have a door to walk through when times are hard. I want to listen more instead of talking or advising. Those are my goals.
Goals don’t have to revolve around money or success. Goals can be anything that makes you feel good about yourself. Even if you don’t meet your goal, be happy you tried. Do not set unrealistic goals that you know right off will be hard to complete. Take it one goal at a time. Have confidence in yourself
We started with AI a few years ago with our Google home and Alexa! It’s amazing and so beneficial. Turning lights on before we get home, being able to see who’s at our front door when we are hundreds of miles away, some people even have robots.
AI can be a great addition for some but if put in the wrong hands, just like anything else, it could be devastating. I’m sure you’ve all heard that AI could take out humanity in a decade! That’s only 10 YEARS! Then what? The world we know is done? We all die? The odds that AI will take out humanity is 10%. That’s higher than winning the lottery. To me, that’s scary. I guess it’s just as scary as a world leader having access to the nuclear button. Just one push away.
AI is happening too fast and is taking so many jobs from people, humans. How do we compete with that? What will we do if AI robots can do what humans do for no pay. How do we make a living?
Humans are still needed though to run and update these robots or AI, to oversee what is happening and make sure it’s done to code or download?
Watching the Jetson’s as a child and their flying cars and robots, it was just a cartoon and make believe. Not so. We are living in the Jetson’s time and it’s happening fast. Look how far and fast we have come since the internet became available to the public in 91′. So much access to everything in the world in seconds.
I do like AI for my home and I use it to help me with my business. It’s hard to picture a world with flying cars and robots walking down the street or in peoples homes doing daily chores. I think the future looks great with that but I am afraid of the bad taking the good and destroying everything we humans have built. I am afraid for our grandchildren and their future. If we don’t jump on the banwagon we will be left behind.
What’s something you’ve done that you never thought you could?
Art! I never pictured myself as an artist or someone that could paint on canvas.
Art was a class I didn’t enjoy in school but I picked in up in 2019/2020 during Covid 19. I started small. A picture of trees. Easy! As soon as I completed that I was hooked. Pinterest has been a huge inspiration for me and helped me develope the kind of art I enjoy creating and actually good at.
I’ve sold a few pieces which was exciting but I didn’t concentrate on making money from it I just loved creating and giving my friends and family a piece of what I created and they loved to hang on their wall. A bit of an ego boost! I am proud of myself for staying with my new found talent and learning new skills.
I’ve also become an author of childrens books which was never on my radar but fell into while creating art.
I wrote Mingo N Bumble while drawing a picture of a Flamingo and Bumblebee. I had to get a message out and do my part in society. Mingo N Bumble helps children see past the differences we all have. To help share kindness and friendship through support and being there for others.
I have another book in publishing. A sequel to Mingo N Bumble. “Mingo N Bumble meet Peli the Pelican.” Peli is injured and Mingo N Bumble help him get better and protect him while he’s recovering. I am really excited about it and looking forward to reading my next chapter to help bring change to the world, one story at a time.
Believe in yourself and you never know what can come out of something you’ve never tried.
Come visit Storyberry Books and help be the change.
Let’s face it, life has become more stressful in the last few years. Outside factors contribute to everyone’s stress. Especially in the last while, with food, gas, interest rates increasing and showing no signs of improving anytime soon.
Once you are home from work or whatever you’re doing outside the home, you come home to possibly more stress. It could be something as simple as tripping on the rug when you walk through the front door. All those stress moments in the back of your mind suddenly blow! Someone watching may think you need a bit of anger control but its the stress that we build up in ourselves that the smallest thing sets it off.
I used to hibernate my feelings and just pretend that everything was fine. It made everything so much bigger than it actually was because I wasn’t dealing with it. I drank, I stayed quiet, I hid, and I suffered and the people around me also suffered.
Today, I acknowledge the stress. What can I do about it? Can I control the situation? Is continuously thinking about it doing anything? Lastly, Is it my problem to figure out?
Stress can do so many negative things to our bodies and mind. It needs to be acknowledged and dealt with right away. It takes years off your life and makes you very unhappy. It takes away your potential and presence.
Let the situation come, analyze and move on. Talk to someone about it if its more serious. Use breath work to calm your nerves. Put your favorite music on if you can. Take 5 and remove yourself from the situation. Grab a pen and paper and write out what you want to say or do and tear it up. Sit quietly and release what doesn’t serve you.
Take what you can control and leave the rest. Don’t waste your life on stressing over things that wouldn’t matter a day or month from now.
Ahhhhh, a new day. My golden retriever Gracie is usually the one who wakes me in the morning by 7am everyday. Her stretches and cuddles as she groans and with a few minutes of belly rubs we make our way out of bed and to the bathroom. Brush our teeth and get her breakfast that she jumps around for. While she eats I prepare the coffee.
Gracie and I step outside to the fresh air while she looks for the kitty’s to chase off the deck, does her business and return indoors to get my coffee and her treat!
I enjoy watching GMA, Good morning America, even though I am Canadian, I quite enjoy their show. I relax while enjoying my fresh brew and scroll the world on my phone while Gracie lays at my feet.
9am we are up off the couch and get ready for the day. The TV goes off and the music goes on. I clean the kitchen, make our bed and do some daily cleaning. I then think of what I can do for the day thats productive and helps me feel like I’ve accomplished the days tasks.
I create reels and videos to promote my Childrens Book, I check Jetpack for our daily prompts and write.
I’m fortunate that I am able to be home everyday all day as I no longer work outside the home, so my mornings are very relaxing. Weather depending, the days are full of activities to keep me busy.
Mornings are times to be grateful for the day ahead and to be here with the ones we love ❤️
Good morning! Have a great day and Happy Canadian Thanksgiving 🍗🍂🍁
One underrated life skill is learning to pause before you speak. Its taken me a long time to master this, even if I haven’t mastered it at all.
I’ve always been defensive when I feel threatened or feel I need to get my point across. I’ve had a difficult time holding my words and patience. I’m a truth seeker and stand by honesty. I would call people out when they were wrong. If I chose to stay quiet, my face would say it.
As I’ve gotten older and understand what staying silent means, it’s shown me patience and strength and most of all peace. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or wrong. It doesn’t mean you have nothing valuable to say. Silence means listening and trying to see things from others point of view or just protecting your peace. Silence allows you to absorb the words or actions and assess them and either deal with it in a calm manner or not at all.
Silence is golden. Listening is a skill. The urgency to respond right away is also a skill that takes work.
My most recent practice is trying to stay silent when my daughter is complaining or discussing with me things in her life that feel utterly impossible. To me, it’s easy what to do and I try to help her and explain what to do but my advise is at time irrelevant to her. So, I must learn to just listen and say nothing. Simple words like, I understand or just a simple okay. I can’t give her the answers she is looking for so I must try to stay quiet but also keep my face in check.
Sometimes the best thing we can do for them and ourselves is pause and wait before we speak.
What’s a personal mantra or philosophy you live by?
The first time and place I heard it was in AA, one of our mantras.
“Yesterday is gone, Tomorrow is not promised, Today is all we have”.
It’s what I live by. I can’t do anything about yesterday, what I did or what I said, all I can do is learn from any mistakes I made and move on.
We are not promised to wake up tomorrow, it’s all up to the plan, yes, there’s a life plan.
Today, today is all we have. Focus on the day and control what you can. Be grateful for those in your life and the life your living. If you’re not happy with work, a relationship, then change it. Use today to change tomorrow. Don’t stress over things you don’t know the outcome. Don’t role-play in your mind all the what ifs. Live and like I’ve told my kids, “Just do the best you can.”
What’s a moment in your life that made you feel truly alive?
The moment I felt truly alive was when I gave birth to my first child. My son. He was/is perfect. His little 6lb body, his blond hair and the perfect human he was and became.
I was just shy of 23 and I was complete. I felt so alive and whole. I fell in love. I made promises to him that I would always be here and never leave him, to protect him and love and teach him everything.
I now had a purpose and I intended to do everything I could to help him grow into the man I was proud of and he could be proud of too. Of course we had our struggles, but today he’s 33 and is a father of 3. He owns his own landscaping company and is doing great! He is a wonderful father and husband, a hard worker with strong ethics. He is caring and thoughtful. He is smart and funny. He is everything I’d hoped he’d be.
My son (and daughter) has given me life and purpose. They are why I strive to do my best and lead by example. Why I stayed here on earth when all I wanted to do was leave. They are my life and what truly keeps me going.
How do you write what people actually want to read?
When I sit down to answer a prompt of the day or share an insight about something I am experienced with, I can only hope what I write people will read and it will help them or enlighten the readers. I hope what I write makes sense and resonates with people.
When I started this blog I wanted to share my experience with alcohol and how it changed my life for the worst. How it impacted my life growing up. I shared how and why I made the decision to give up alcohol. Writing is good for the soul and heals, it is sharing to get rid of the stigma and bring awareness to those struggling or ones that are co-dependant. Sharing our experiences helps make us feel less alone. It can happen to ANYONE.
I am also a children’s book Author and have written about acceptance and kindness. I wanted to write for children. To help them accept others that are different. We are all the same, we just may have different colored skin, we may have disabilities or we may just be shy and not able to make friends as fast as others. We all deserve to be treated with respect and kindness. Children are our future and we must teach them empathy, kindness and inclusion, especially in todays harsh world. Writing a childrens book was something that I never thought I would embark on. When I discovered my creative, art side in 2019, it led me to my book, Mingo N Bumble. A book for children talking about inclusion and acceptance and friendship.
The making of Mingo N Bumble
Writing has always been something I enjoyed like my diary, but as we age we let go of those things because we don’t have time or make time. When I write and share and recieve the comments that have helped people that is what keeps me going and keep writing.
I hope what I write people want to read and if I can help just one person, my writing is meaningful and helpful to that one. I am making an impact and that’s all I want to do.
I hope you’ve enjoyed your read and you keep coming back.
