Author: Christine

Christine http://www.mombie.com I'm a writer/storyteller/director/creativity & lifestory coach with a black belt in ITF Taekwon-do. I read voraciously and I write like my fingers are on fire. I'm the founder and Co-Chair of the Association for the Arts in Mount Pearl and I'm the current president of the St. John's Storytelling Festival. I bake a mean chocolate chip cookie.

Lunchtime Monsters

Yesterday during lunchtime, I was feeling a bit tense so I tried the traditional remedy…

I drew a few monsters to help my brain relax and find a little breathing room.

A drawing of 5 monsters made by drawing a bumpy line and then dividing the line and the bottom half of the drawing into 5 sections.
Image description: 5 monsters created by drawing a single bumpy line, dividing the line and the bottom half of the paper into 5 sections and then colouring each section separately. The monsters are against a background of yellow lines. The first monster is red, with a tuft of black hair, has one eye and is wearing a blue pinstriped shirt. The second monster is purple with two eyes, a mouthful of tiny teeth, pointed ears, a pointy-tipped tail and is wearing a shirt with yellow splotches. The third is blue with black arms, three eyes, and a wide open mouth, the fourth is yellow with green polka dots and a ridge of green spikes in the back of its head. It is turned to the left so only its right eye is visible. The fifth monster is only partially on the page, has green skin, two eyes, and black horns and is wearing a red sweater.

Weirdness Abounds

A couple of weeks back, on a family member’s birthday, I made a mistake on the card I was writing for them.

(I often draw little cards for people and then write a message myself. This is partially due to forgetting to buy cards and partially due to enjoying the process of drawing one.)

I tore up that card (I was writing in marker) and I either threw it out or threw it in the recycling. I know I *should* have recycled it but if I was distracted, it might have gotten tossed into the garbage.

And I thought nothing more of it…until Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Khalee and I were walking along the sidewalk about 7 or 8 minutes from my house and I noticed a piece of paper with familiar handwriting on it sitting on a little patch of grass between piles of snow.

I picked it up to look closer and it was a piece of the torn-up, first draft card.

How did it get there?

Did our bag of recycling get torn and the piece of index card went flying?

Did a bag of garbage tear open in the truck and release this scrap of paper?

Did I unwittingly put the scraps in my pocket that day and then pull them out with my keys or my mittens as I was walking along?

All of these explanations seem unlikely (especially the last one) but clearly one of them must be true.

Otherwise we have some sort of time travelling/alternate universe/portal situation on the go and I don’t have the bandwidth to deal with that. 😉

Invoking Baking Magic

On Monday evening, a sick relative requested some chocolate chip cookies to help them feel better.

I immediately starting assembling my ingredients only to discover that I didn’t have any eggs or egg replacer.

After a quick google search I found that ground flax and water was a good egg substitute (let’s leave aside the question of why I had FLAX but not eggs – my kitchen is a mystery, even to me.)

I was finding the mixture a little dry so I put a little yogurt in with it (yogurt was another suggested substitute) and the cookies turned out grand.

I know these substitutes work because of chemistry and whatnot but I prefer to think that I just used a different spell this time.

Let’s go with that.

Chocolate chip cookies on a red plate
Image description: a close up shot of 8 chocolate chip cookies on a red plate.

After 10 days of writing…

I am reaching the point where topics are popping up for me, even when this app isn’t open. But even though the writing itself is fairly easy, t I am still finding myself a bit reluctant to write here.

I think it’s mostly because I am not sure what I want this blog to be about. But I also find myself thinking ‘Don’t write that here, that’s a post for your coaching blog.’ Or ‘That topic belongs on Fit is a Feminist Issue.’

I don’t necessarily put those topics in those places but I still don’t put them here either.

(This tells me that I need a ‘container’ for those ideas so I can easily return to them. I’ll have to create a file or something.)

But, for some topics, they are just too big to get into. They’ll take more time than I want to spend at that moment. Or the energy cost will be too high.

A container, metaphorical or otherwise, won’t help with that.

That’s going to require a different solution but I haven’t figured that out yet.

Anyway, the ideas are coming more easily so that’s one hurdle cleared in 10 days.

And once I settle on a topic of the right size and shape, the writing itself is pretty straightforward.

So, I’m going to label this experiment ‘so far, so good’ and carry on.

On Walking

When my kids were little, I loved going for a walk with them in the stroller.

I hated getting ready to go for a walk, all the hassle of snowsuits or sunscreen, but the walk itself felt really good.

Not only was I getting some exercise but I was being a “good” mom, making sure my kids had fresh air and that they had gotten out of the house and…you know how that virtuous feeling goes.

Pushing them in the stroller felt especially purposeful. I guess it was hard enough work that it counted for something in my brain.

When they got too old for the stroller, I still liked getting out for a walk, especially if we had a destination in mind. It wasn’t the same but it was still good.

When they got old enough I walked them back and forth to school. That, obviously, also felt purposeful.

When they no longer needed me to walk them there, I pretty much only walked when I needed to get somewhere and walking there (or home) was feasible.

Overall, I liked the *idea* of walking for exercise (and I love listening to books or podcasts while I walk) but I had trouble making myself head out unless I had somewhere specific to go.

But, once Khalee came into our lives in 2019, my walks had automatic purpose again.

On any given day, I might feel kind of meh about heading out for a walk, but I won’t let Khalee down.

Unless the weather is truly horrible/dangerous or I am very sick, Khalee and I bundle up and head out.

Sometimes it’s tricky to schedule that walk into my day but it’s always worth it. We both feel better afterwards (well, I definitely do and Khalee always seems relaxed after a walk.)

I still hate having to get us ready to go out though but at least Khalee doesn’t complain about it as much as the kids did. 😉