• Welcome sign in the woods, dawn

    Empty Nester, Full Heart: How to Make This Chapter Yours

    August 28, 2025

    And may include bigger closets! My youngest is off to college, so my nest is officially… empty-ish. I’m not sad about “no longer being a mom” as that job is forever mine. And I’m definitely not in the “phew, I’m done, go solve your own damn problems, kiddos” camp either. It’s more like a shift: a new season of cheering on my mini-adults… while remembering to show up for myself, too. Now I 2,000% will be threatening (lovingly) to turn their bedrooms into my extended closets. Their trophies and school knickknacks can stay, but only as quirky and cool dividers between my shoes and boots. Thanks for the suggestion, S’MAC’! You…

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  • Cartoon girl with speakerphone and images coming out

    How To Get What You Want: The Power In Asking

    August 26, 2025

    It’s Time To Say It or Stay Stuck. Though I was never a shy kid, it still didn’t mean that I always asked for what I wanted, at least not up front and clearly. I 100% shook my head and bawled tears in my mum’s kitchen at the myriad of colorful and flavorful foods I refused to eat for no good reason. Yeah, I absolutely did that, but let’s press on, shall we. But when I did ask for what I wanted, it worked out more often than not. Now, with my daughters, I realize what I wish I’d practiced more myself: always asking. Emphasis on the ‘always’. Of getting…

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  • Shadowy sax artist in venue

    The Time I Lied About Loving Jazz

    August 21, 2025

    (A short story by Irene B.) The Trio House Presents: THE JAZZ SETFriday, April 25 – 7 PMFeaturing Lonnie BassettePerformances by Joel Hicks, Joy Bailey, and The PriseTicket: $125 – Limited VIP Seating AvailableMystery Guest: The One… The Only… Corinne had stared at the flyer, laptop, phone and now back to laptop, for the past three hours. She was half-dressed, hair and makeup done, in her bra and camisole, trying to figure out what to wear.  The flyer hadn’t miraculously changed and still advertised The Jazz Set at The Trio House, on Friday, April 25th: Lonnie Bassette, Joel Hicks, Amber Bailey, The Prise. The Prise, spelled with an S not Z. Special…

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  • Staying Grounded in “The Gap” Between Now and What’s Next

    August 19, 2025

    There’s that odd and uncomfortable space between your current life and the life you’re still chasing — and sometimes even between who you are and who you know you could be. And I don’t mean you’re ready to trade in your life as a GenXer, corporate baddie, whose kids are grown and almost flown, to become Dr. Jean Grey from Marvel. Able to read people’s minds or control their thoughts. While that does sound delicious, it’s not the direction I’m headed in. I’m talking about that gap, that itch for the ‘things’ you continue to want to grab a hold of and run with, to stop it from slipping away.…

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  • Notepad with What's on your bucket list, but bucket list is crossed out and Thimble List! is added. Yellow question mark to the right of the pen.

    Is Your Bucket List Staring You Down? Try This Fun, Easy, and Realistic One Now

    August 14, 2025

    The Thimble List! Your Shortcut to Life’s Magical Moments. I recently scrolled past a Pinterest blog post, one of those surprisingly good ones, and it stuck with me. A woman in her mid-40s admitted she’d only completed maybe 10–15% of her bucket list. She didn’t share the whole thing, but most of it was travel-related. One entry really got me: Meet up with old Uni friends I haven’t seen in three decades. Well, mine hadn’t been that long, but still, it had been too long. And I meant to save the post, of course. Didn’t. Can’t find it now. Bloody annoying. But the funny thing is, by complete coincidence, I’d…

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  • How To Easily Get 100 Grams of Protein a Day

    August 12, 2025

    Without Those Chalky-Tasting Bars You Pretended to Like And all you really want to nosh on are more carbs. And by ‘you’, I definitely mean me. I’m just a grown, “Big Age” woman trying to do all the ‘things’ in my second chapter. I keep active regularly, but I’m not training for the 2032 Olympics, and yet somehow, I need a billion grams of protein a day to do this without my entire body breaking down like a rust-bucket banger. OK, maybe it’s 100 grams. What’s a few extra zeros between friends? An initial Google led me to the discovery of protein-rich ice cream, and me wondering how? Does the…

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  • We’re Gen X and We’re Not New–We’re Just ‘AI Social’ New

    August 7, 2025

    Not too late either. Just starting from experience. We were here before Google. Before TikTok, Instagram, all the ‘GPTs,’ and every one of those terrifying “Just wait for it…” jump-scare Reels. We made the wickedest, flyest mixtapes. Ensuring the room was more silent than a baby gnat’s fart while holding down the clunky play + record buttons simultaneously, then easing off the pause with ninja-like precision. Today’s young’uns can’t imagine that kind of timing or level of dedication. From Mixtapes to Memes: Digital Life and AI Lingo After 40. Amazingly, we survived the plethora of disks. Floppy, hard, and CD. And no one could tell us that a strategic blow…

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  • Corkboard with blog post reminders pinned to it

    How to Make Sure Your Blog Post Is Really Ready to Publish

    August 5, 2025

    The Checklist, and Those Final Touches, When You’re Missing A Glamorous Content Team. You wrote the post. Chiseled your content. Verified your verbiage. And drizzled in your dazzle. Amazing. Now what? Well, before you hit publish and realize the scroll-stopping title you swore was it — “Bestest B’Day Swag Ever” — scores a shady 43 out of 100 (so low, not even your Grandma will see it, and she’s been waiting), run through this checklist to make sure it’s polished, connected, and ready to do what you need it to do. Aka, reach and work for your readers. We humans, while creative, colorful and clever, can be a little… umm, clunky at…

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  • How a Better To-Do List Keeps Morning Stress Away

    July 29, 2025

    Why the Right Planning Matters (But Not Too Much). This might be a long one, bear with me. But it’s a good’un, and I wanted to be super clear. I’m a big planner, sometimes an over planner. But learning how a better to-do list keeps morning stress away has changed the way I start, and run, my day. And it’s not because I love it so much, that I can’t bear not to do it, umm… no, it’s because I need a solid focus for my day. Every day. Living a rigid life is not for me at all but when I wake up and am getting ready for the…

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