Motivational Quotes Monday: In Praise of Our Pets

Happy Monday, friends!!! Can you believe it’s a bit of a SNOWY DAY in the Midwest?!? What happened to my glorious springtime?? Anyway, National Pet Day was trending on Twitter last week, and it got me thinking about our wonderful furry friends! Our pets are really more than our furry friends, though, don’t you think? They’re our family and we can’t imagine our lives without them!! Maybe I’m reflecting on the love of pets so much because next weekend marks one year since we lost Harry — he was, after all, the cat who changed everything! So in that spirit, here are five quotes all about the power of pets in our lives…

Pets Pets Pets Pets

When It’s Time to Spring Break (Yes, That’s a Verb)

Spring BreakThat’s right, friends!! I just used spring break as a verb in the title of this post!! And, honestly, I did so for one very specific reason…

One of the hardest parts of being a freelance writer is making a clear distinction between my professional and personal life. Because I essentially work from home, those two worlds tend to blend together and it’s not always easy to “turn off” the work part of my brain. How do you clock out and unplug when your work desk is also the kitchen table?

Janelle is constantly asking me, “Are you going to actually take the weekend off?” because there’s always something I could be doing. And, unhealthy as it may be, I usually choose to do that thing. So it means that I don’t have many clear-cut weekends, and this, well, only leaves me frustrated and feeling like I’m running on empty.

Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love freelancing, but since I make my own schedule, I’m not always the best at the whole work-life balance thing. I’m trying, though, to make more of a concerted effort to strike a better balance.

And guess what? There’s no time like the present, right? So I’m starting this week! I thought spring break would be the perfect time too — spring is in the air, the season of renewal and growth, and that definitely applies to mind, body, soul and spirit too! To work on ourselves, to make better choices, to take some time to just relax and unwind, even if it’s only for a little bit.

My mom is on spring break this week, so I’m taking the week off too. It’ll be hard not to think about writing, ideas, blog posts, pitches I want to send, emails I need to follow up on, how my inbox is getting so out of hand that it might crush me like an avalanche…

NO, NO, NO.

Come on, Melissa, remember to focus on the present. I know. The work will still be there when I come back next week. But just please, can someone make sure Trump doesn’t do anything too outrageous or something that requires me to come out of hibernation and write an op-ed? Thank you!

Spring BreakI hope you all take some time this month to sit back and smell the beautiful spring flowers starting to bloom. And be sure to send me photos if you do! My hair may be a mess in this photo and I may be stressed to the max, but it’s spring!!! I wore my favorite bubblegum pink sweatshirt on the first day of spring so I pop just like spring!!

As I’m writing this post, I can hear my mom listening to music in the bedroom and Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” came on. And I was immediately transported to all our days in Alabama, where we literally sat on the dock of the bay. That was our paradise and that’s what I want to feel again — those happy days of just “wastin’ time.” Maybe this week will be a good first step.

I’ll be back to regular posting on Monday, April 1st — ACK, that’s April Fools’ Day!! As always, feel free to connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin! See you there, friends! And, please, don’t forget to take some time for YOU… xoxo

In Which Mercury Retrograde Becomes My Enemy

Mercury RetrogradeDo you feel that, friends?? There’s a vibrational change in the atmospheric energy! Like the distant stomping of dinosaur feet in Jurassic Park, a disturbance in the force is afoot. Pun intended — see what I did there? I’d be laughing at my own joke if it weren’t for something very, very scary: Mercury Retrograde is trying to kill me!! And, even worse, it’s not over until March 28th…

Now, you all know that I pride myself on being a logical person. Gimme that science, please!! I may read my horoscope (heeey, fellow Leos!), but I generally take those predictions with a grain of salt. After all, it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus, right? Like, that mumbo jumbo nonsense doesn’t actually have any merit, does it?

And this Mercury Retrograde stuff? It’s all a bunch of hullabaloo about nothing!! Absolutely nothi…

WAIT, WHY IS EVERYTHING GOING WRONG???

Well, this, my friends, marks my very public acknowledgement that I’ve officially converted to the other side. In other words, I’m here to tell you that this Mercury Retrograde business is no joke!! Don’t believe me? Here’s a list of everything that’s happened (or not happened…) in the last few week…

•  I’ve been getting rejection after rejection. And in one stand-out moment, the rejection came after the piece had already been accepted.

•  My nerves and anxiety has been through the roof.

•  My mom and I have been extra emotional.

•  Janelle, who is the epitome of health, came down with a nasty flu this week and slept for two days straight.

•  Poor Stella had to go to the vet when we noticed she was limping (she’s fine, thank goodness!)

•  Trump still hasn’t been evicted from the White House. Though, to be fair, this isn’t really Mercury’s fault, as this has been an ongoing problem since 2016.

Whew!! Exhausted yet? Because I’m beyond exhausted! My favorite phrase lately is “I’m done!” and this isn’t something I say ironically or simply to be extra. Trust, I can be extra, but this situation isn’t one of them!

Oh, yes!! I’m very serious about this! Are you hip to the 411 on Mercury Retrograde?? It’s here to play and wreck havoc on every aspect of our lives, even if scientists say we shouldn’t worry about it. The phenomenon dates all the way back to the mid-18th century and occurs when Mercury appears to be moving “backwards.” But wait!! Apparently, it’s all an illusion to us Earth-dwellers, according to experts.

“Same thing if you were passing a car on a highway, maybe going a little bit faster than they are,” Dr. Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium, told Mental Floss. “They’re not really going backwards, they just appear to be going backwards relative to your motion.”

According to Newsweek, now is prime to lay low, even if this stuff is just an illusion. We should take our cue from astrology experts, who say that now is “not the time to start any new, big moves or ideas. This includes moving homes, getting married or signing any legal documents. They also advise it may be best to avoid jumping fully into new creative ventures.”

Mercury RetrogradeThat’s it! You don’t have to tell me twice! I mean, I even got out my healing crystals in an attempt to ward off that negative energy. I figure that it can’t hurt, right? At least, perhaps, I could use the positive energy of the crystals to blend with the negative energy, thus creating a neutral cease fire, if you will. Remember, I am spiritual now — so maybe it will work. Or at least make this last week of Mercury Retrograde somewhat bearable.

Either way, whatever this Retrograde future holds, knowledge is power! Here are all the dates that Retrograde will occur again from now until 2030. The least we can do is prepare ourselves — and maybe invest in some additional healing crystals. I’m personally a huge fan of the heart-shaped variety!! Healing and fashionable — what’s not to like?!?!?

Have you been experiencing the ill side effects of Mercury Retrograde, friends? How have you been dealing with it? Any tips you’d like to share. After all, we’re all in this together!! Here’s to calmer and more peaceful days ahead… xoxo

P.S. Do you read your horoscope? Are you a fan of zodiac tees and tattoos?

[Top photo via Astrology Zone]

My Father’s Suicide: On Revisiting Our Carefree Highway

Carefree HighwayOn Tuesday, my mom shared her wisdom on being a suicide survivor and everything she’s learned over the last 16 years. I still can’t believe that this week, March 10th, marked SIXTEEN YEARS since my father’s death. When I was thinking what to say about it on social media, one clear image immediately came to mind: Our carefree highway.

Let me explain.

I’ve shared this photo before, but it’s a really symbolic one. Here’s my dad on our last carefree family vacation, just 7 months before he died. So many of my favorite family memories were spent driving down the highway on those vacations, listening to oldies or Broadway soundtracks. On the anniversary of his death, I’m humming Gordon Lightfoot‘s “Carefree Highway” and thinking of him…

Carefree highway, let me slip away on you
Carefree highway, you seen better days

We had so many good days together in our little car, watching the landscape and scenery change outside the window, stopping at rest stops and enjoying lunches my mom packed. Life was good in that car. Everything was safe and I knew that as long as we were together, nothing could ever be bad or sad. For that moment in time, everything was right with the world.

Maybe that’s why I was thinking a lot about time this week. Time. It’s a strange, strange thing, isn’t it? March 9th was the night before my life changed forever 16 years ago. I went to bed excited to be on spring break from college. I woke up the next morning and my father was gone. No other moment splits my life into “before” and “after” as sharply; it will always be the dividing line by which I measure things

What I’ve learned over the last 16 years is this: Grief is like a river. Sometimes, it’s still waters. Other times, it’s a raging rapid. Part of the process, I’ve discovered, is learning to swim in both. It can be hard sometimes, trust me, but it is possible. And while my grief may ebb and flow over the years, the memory and love of my father will always be a constant. Maybe somewhere in some alternate universe, we’re traveling down that carefree highway, laughing and singing along to Broadway tunes… xoxo

Motivational Quotes Monday: On Keeping Memories Alive

Happy Monday, friends!! Is it just me or was this weekend’s time change particularly brutal?? I mean, I didn’t even make it to the library today! Maybe I’m also a bit drained from yesterday being the 16th anniversary of my father’s death. While it was a naturally emotional day, we got through it better than we have in the past, so that’s something to be thankful for, isn’t it? My mom and I will each be writing separate posts about it this week, but for today’s motivational quotes, I’d like to chat about the importance of keeping memories alive. I’m always so scared that I’ll forget my father, especially all the little things I loved about him, but having those moments to cling to has been such a comfort over the years. They’re a way to keep him with me, to remember the good times and to remind myself that the future is still full of good memories to be made. To that end, here are five memory-themed quotes to keep those memories flowing…

Memories Memories Memories Memories Memories