Nurse. Teacher. Crafter. Photographer. Canadian; I am a woman who wears many hats but what defines me the most, is being a New Zealander and a mother. — “Why on earth did you leave New Zealand?” This is often the first question I am asked after the inevitable clarification of where my accent is from — usually confused with being English or Australian; even after 25 years, I cannot shake it. I came to Montréal with my husband…

Dealing with an overloaded inbox — again — I just deleted over 900 email notifications from Medium. It stressed me out seeing such a huge number glaring at me every time I opened my laptop or phone. I had every intention of reading some of the stories; many were still bolded in black and had been sitting there…

You entertained me tonight 🙏 ❤️ — I’ve been remiss at reading my loyal followers' stories lately. ‘Useless’ would be a better description. It’s entirely my bad; there’s this thing called work that I moan about often; it’s highly annoying and interferes enormously with my writing life. …

Just one reason to love Spring — Today, I was driving home on an alternative route to avoid traffic when I noticed this incredible magnolia tree in full bloom. I knew it was there. I discovered it last Spring and had photographed it several times as part of my photo-a-day challenge. I didn’t slam on the anchors…

Don’t ignore milestones — Today was my friend’s birthday. The first one without him. It was another brutal reminder that Brad (name changed) is no longer here. We never necessarily celebrated the day in person, but I would call and sing Happy Birthday nonetheless. …