google-site-verification: google935433b691795853.html KRISTY BERRIDGE: 2020

Saturday 12 December 2020

What are 15 things no one knows about you?

Sometimes it’s nice to do a little get to know me, especially for those of you that are new to the fictional world of Kristy Berridge. Like any writer, I’m full of a bit of drama and have a decent flair for the theatrics on occasion, but for the purpose of this blog, I won’t go into the details of my side hustle selling kidneys on the black market.

Kidding. So here are fifteen things you may or may not know about me.

  1. I never wanted to have children, but I now am the proud owner of a bouncing baby boy. We call him Archibald or pain-in-the-ass for short šŸ˜Š
  2. I prefer to wear dresses over a pair of shorts – I have a giant ass and sometimes it’s too hard to squeeze everything into certain fabrics.
  3. I love to eat breakfast at any time of the day (cereal and fruit, not eggs and bacon).
  4. I can’t let anyone stack my dishwasher – That shit is like a game of Tetris and no one can conquer the gaps like I can with plates and spoons.
  5. I don’t eat any meat or fish, but do like the occasional bit of cheese.
  6. I don’t like exercising at night or any time after lunch – It’s just cause I’m lazy ...
  7. I hate it when people are on their phones during social occasions – i.e.: out at dinner, family BBQ etc etc.
  8. I absolutely hate coriander.
  9. I used to rub a pair of satin boxer shorts to go to sleep right up until I moved in with my husband 7 years ago – My best mate made me throw them out. I’m still hating on her for that.
  10. I don’t believe in writer’s block, just shit ideas.
  11. I need to be around nature, without it I perish – A tad dramatic, but mostly true.
  12. I’m still annoyed and frankly amazed that no one has invented calorie free chocolate yet (one that doesn’t make you shit yourself).
  13. Ironically, I’d rather read a health and wellness magazine than a novel.
  14. I wish I’d become a spy or a secret agent so I could kill assholes in the name of government service.
  15. No matter how far or wide I travel, it’s never enough for me. I think I’m a gypsy at heart.

Kristy šŸ˜Š

Saturday 21 November 2020

Small steps that lead to a healthier you!

 

I’m never one to consider myself a health and wellness expert. I completed a one-year stint in nutrition and then dumped it in favour of focusing on my writing. Perhaps that might not have been the wisest choice considering I’m not snorting cocaine off the backside of a hot Spaniard on my forty-foot yacht in the Caribbean.

But, one year and a keen interest in nutrition and health does equate to hefty opinions. And small steps are the key to a healthier version of yourself regardless of the self-imposed qualifications.

Heath doesn’t equal skinny. Health comes in multiple packages and it’s important to recognise all of them. A healthy mind driven by focus and meditative healing can be just as beneficial as six gym sessions and drinking green smoothies. Granted you can’t meditate your way to a leaner physique, but as I stated, health isn’t just about physical appearance.

Drinking more water and staying hydrated equals sharper cognition and better internal functioning. Sleeping more or resting when tired helps the body to repair and recover when needed. Taking up a physical activity, even if it’s a sex marathon, will help to keep obesity levels at bay. And of course, taking the small step to ingest more nourishing food options not only keeps the waistline down, but helps you poop better. And who doesn’t want to poop better?

Small steps, small changes. They all add up to progressively bigger results. Don’t stop proactively walking towards a healthier lifestyle just because the journey may seem too far.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Sunday 15 November 2020

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, otherwise known to the masses as OCD. I’m not certain if I’ve ever met anyone that needed to turn the doorknob seventeen times before exiting or if they need to tap their mouth three times before answering a question, but what I am quite certain of, is that every single one of us obsesses over something that needs to be done a certain way.

For example, I HAVE to stack the dishwasher without assistance. This doesn’t mean for a second that it runs more efficiently, but I do get a kick out of ‘Tetris-ing’ the shit out of every cup and plate to fit my entire cupboard in there. Thus, if the hubby even attempts to put a spoon in the knife compartment or a bowl in the plate rack, I tend to have a mini meltdown.

Crazy, right?

There is no rhyme nor reason why we do these things. The dishwasher would not be damaged if my hubby haphazardly stacked it or even put it on half empty, but my brain can’t handle the inefficiency of his efforts. Not technically and OCD tendency, it’s still a task that must be completed to my overly high standard.

Does anyone else tend to mark these psychotic tendencies down to OCD?

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 7 November 2020

My Biggest Pet Peeve!

Can you really narrow down your biggest pet peeve to just one thing? I know I can’t. Perhaps that’s because I’m too tightly wound, a giant prick or maybe there are just one too many things that really piss me off.

Most people can identify the one thing that really does annoy them more than anything else. It could be that someone is talking over the top of them, nose pickers, slow drivers or even assholes that wear active wear in the grocery store. There are a multitude of things that we as a human race do on occasion that irritates the person or people closest to us.

For me, though it may not sound too far out of the realms of relatable, my biggest pet peeve is my husband. Not him physically or even personally (otherwise I wouldn’t have married him), but his ridiculously annoying habits.

He walks all manner of debris over my freshly cleaned floors. He never hangs up the bath mat. He throws his clothes next to the dirty clothes basket and he steals my Tim Tams. He panics over the most random and easily resolvable situations. He’s on his phone all the time and he makes suggestions rather than just outright telling me what he needs or wants.

Truly, the list could go on and I’d hate to see what really irritates him about me. But as you can see, not one particular thing peeves me more than another. I’m just that A-typical personality that’s hard to please, but rather ‘pleased’ the hubby still loves me despite me undoubtedly being his biggest pet peeve too.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 31 October 2020

Do we really care about others or is it just pretend?

Do we really care about others or is it just pretend? An interesting thought and one surely as varied as the billions of entities living on this planet.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that 95% of us actually do care about the other people around us. It might not be expressed in the depths that you care for a family member, your spouse or child, but if we didn’t care to some extent then social niceties would have become extinct long ago.

Yes, we are raised to stand for the pregnant lady on the bus, let the elderly man have your seat on the train or let the person busting for a pee behind you go into the public restroom first. These are our social graces and the small measures of kindness that we can impart so easily on a daily basis. But, caring about others can be a deeper, more personal thing. Caring about others can be as simple as smiling at a stranger that seems down in the dumps, helping your neighbour to mow their lawn when they’re unable to or sharing a sandwich with a co-worker without food.

These are mostly acts that we enact regularly and without thought, but imagine what else we could accomplish if we cared just that little bit more? Could we end poverty? Could we stop world hunger? Could we lessen depression by knowing there is always someone who cares?

The truth is, there’s so much more that all of us could do to show that we care and improve upon. Whether we have it in us isn’t really the question, but whether we care enough to do more is the real crux of the matter ...

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 17 October 2020

Secrets to putting up with annoying habits.

I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules or even solutions regarding how to endure bad habits, especially from those you love, but you can choose how you react.

Bad habits belong to everyone. I myself have chewed my fingernails on and off since I was nine years old and have never really been able to stop the digits from entering my mouth over the course of every single day. I also jump in on family and friends and finish their sentences if I feel it’s taking too long to get their point across. I’m impatient like that.

But, when it comes to the bad habits of those around us, it’s easy to nit-pick at their failings rather than take a massive look inwards. For example, my hubby is amazing in so many respects. He’s kind, protective, intelligent and often quite thoughtful, but he can also leave the wet mat on the bathroom floor which tends to drive me batshit crazy. He also never hangs his towel up straight, never makes the bed, throws his dirty clothes next to the laundry basket rather than in it and uses every cup, plate, bowl and spoon in the kitchen rather than re-cycling.

I’ve truly thought about murdering him on many occasions, but instead of committing myself to life imprisonment, I decided to alter my perception of his bad habits. Because let’s face it, nagging never changes a bloody thing. First off, I had to decide if the wet floor mat was that big of a deal when I have plenty of other dry ones in the cupboard. Could I scoop up the clothes and pop them in the basket as I walked past and we have a dishwasher so is it really a drama that he empties the cupboards?

The answer was staring me in the face. His bad habits are bad habits that I’ve imposed upon him. He was quick to remind me that I cut my fingernails on the couch, never put the rubbish out and force him to eat vegetarian when he’s a carnivore. The point is, our perspective interprets what is and isn’t a bad habit and although some things simply annoy or aren’t that good for us, how we react to each and every situation depends on whether or not it’s bothersome or not that big of a deal.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 10 October 2020

What I would love to learn how to do?

Did you ever have a goal or ambition or dream of something that you would love to do? Well, I’m not really that person. Sorry.

I have ideas and generalised life targets, but nothing I truly ‘love’ to do. Sometimes I wonder if that’s sad that I don’t have anything in my life that I’m truly passionate about, but I figure since I’m well-rounded enough to enjoy multiple different things, that it’s okay not to love just one individual thing to the extreme.

For example, I enjoy writing and often find it very cathartic (if my newborn baby isn’t screaming in the background like he is right now ... BRB)

Right, so I also like to exercise and eat right because it makes my body feel good and helps balance any negative emotions that may be festering in my mind. I enjoy reading health & Fitness magazines when I get a spare minute (if I get a spare minute. No one tells you when you have a baby that you’ll never get a spare minute again ... )

Anyway ... I adore catching up with my closest friends and family and I like to travel more than I like to eat peanut butter, but are these things something that I would love to do? Would I love to learn a new language? Would I love to recycle more? Would I love to stop my hubby from farting in bed? The answer is yes, but I don’t necessarily love these ideas enough to make them happen which brings me back to the original notion that you need to be passionate in order to execute.

Does anyone else feel like passion evades their drive?

Kristy šŸ˜Š

Saturday 3 October 2020

The invasion of the Coronavirus


The invasion of the Coronavirus. It is an invasion, right? No one knows for sure how it might have cropped up other than a theory that perhaps someone ate a bat from a wet market in China.

Ugh...

I don’t want to start in on the sanitation implications of that alone, but irrespective of where this virus came from or how it might have gained momentum, it is an invasion. It has invaded our lives all across the globe in some of the worst ways possible. Our everyday freedom has been quashed, jobs have been lost, economies have taken a nose-dive and lives have been lost ... a lot of lives.

But despite this invasion to our privacy, work, home life and friendship circles, it has birthed a new generation of inspiring change. Never before has creativity been fostered so endearingly from kids creating crafts, people generating a side-hustle income or businesses adapting with new products and innovative ideas.

Take the extreme loss of life out of the equation and is being invaded all that bad? The environment is thriving, people are more connected than ever before and creative productivity has soared to inspirational heights. If you haven’t been touched by the impact of death or financial hardship, then this invasion has proven significantly effective in rebooting our way of life.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 26 September 2020

Men's rights from a woman's perspective.

Men’s rights from a woman’s perspective ... well ... this depends entirely on which woman you ask, right?

If you ask a mother about her son, then perhaps his rights as a young boy don’t translate to reality in a situation where being young implies lack of ability and developed intelligence. But, if several years go by and that same boy becomes a man, makes a life for himself and is sensible 90% of the time, then perhaps a mother would view her son’s rights as legitimate.

If you’re a scorned woman with a rocky past with men, then any right that a man might have may feel like a huge loss or a decline in women’s liberation. The scars of a personal past may impact on what you may now feel a man actually has a right to say or do. This can lead to bias and unfair categorisation of men in general.

A wife’s perspective on the rights of her husband may be forged through time and incidence. For example, that 100cm television he bought with the electricity money or the day he forgot half the groceries and purchased a slab of beer instead may in fact limit the rights of a husband in a wife’s mind. On the other hand, trust and loyalty can walk hand-in-hand where rights are thought equal as division of jobs, child-rearing and housework become fair and equitable.

In the end, no matter a woman’s role in a man’s life; be it wife, friend, sister, stranger, lover ... the rights of another human being should never be stifled, ignored or eliminated because of the bias of the past, present or possibility of the future. Men’s rights are just as valid and relevant as any woman. No one individual should define what another human being is capable of or entitled to ... that’s just not right.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Sunday 20 September 2020

Are secrets important?

I don’t think that there’s a soul on the planet that can admit to telling the truth 100% of the time. But whether or not you tell the truth or constantly lie is not in question. The question is: Are secrets important?

I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to this. A secret can hide a million bad things, prevent drama, create drama, but it can also protect. So, are secrets important? The word important denotes vital or even necessary, but a secret is just something you don’t say out loud. The truth is, would a secret ever really bother you if you never even heard it?

Hmm, something to ponder.

I think secrets are somewhat healthy and normal. No one ever truly reveals every single part of themselves and no one is ever that vulnerable. A secret doesn’t have to be a way to shut others out, protect the nation’s interests or be used in spiteful circumstances. Sometimes a secret can be to keep a surprise from a loved one, it can be that whisper of loving emotion that you’re not quite ready to admit or the white lie you may say to uphold another’s mental health.

Secrets aren’t important or necessary, they’re simply a part of human nature, a chance to hide what we don’t yet want known. Does that make them important? Well, I think that’s up to the individual to decide.

KristyšŸ˜€

Saturday 12 September 2020

Anything is possible. Or is it?

Most people love a good scapegoat or excuse don’t they? It gives those without drive a reason to say that something might not be possible. They can then hinge their lack of accomplishment on some invented reason as to why a goal simply cannot be met. I’m certainly no stranger to this, I constantly procrastinate and invent excuses as to why I can’t do something.

But does this mean that anything isn’t in fact possible? Hell no. It just means I’m lazy - Hella lazy sometimes.

Anything is possible if you decide that it’s a goal worth attaining. Want to lose weight? Go on a diet and start exercising more. Want to get a degree? Work your ass off, study and apply yourself. Want to buy a new car? Save up and get the damn Ferrari. Want to learn to dance? Enrol in a class and practice. You get my point, right?

Any goal is possible – possible meaning ‘able to be done or achieved’ – but only with the application of dedication and drive. So, although there might be some things that aren’t realistically possible to achieve such as visiting the moon or becoming a porn star, that doesn’t mean the journey to TRY and POSSIBLY attain those goals isn’t worth the effort.

Holding hope in the face of adversity builds strength of character. But don’t ever say that something isn’t possible. Anything is possible with the right attitude and productivity.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 5 September 2020

Alone, lonely or just being alone


Since the Covid pandemic hit the globe, the act of being alone or feeling lonely has come under the spotlight. Although every Country’s restrictions may differ, here in Australia we’ve dabbled in social distancing and full isolation in an effort to stop the curve. Whether these safety measures are proving successful or not, being alone has become a part of everyday life for some.

Isolation has forged new avenues of creativity in the form of communication, causing many to flourish in business, professionally and personally. Can we honestly call ourselves lonely with greater access to community and audience than ever before? What if you’re a bumbling idiot regarding technology or don’t have access to the web? Should we not consider this minority group cut off from everyone at risk of being lonely, not just alone?

We need to remember that we didn’t always have technology. We used to communicate via phone or drop in on our neighbours and friends. And, in this time of social distancing, it only takes a second to wave at the creeper across the street or write a letter to the old woman with no family in a nursing home.

Covid shouldn’t have made us better at making money and utilising technology. It should have made us humble and more considerate of those around us.

Kristy šŸ˜€ 

Saturday 29 August 2020

I love listening to ...


It’s a bit open-ended, isn’t it? You can love listening to a whole host of things; Your favourite song, the sound of someone else cooking dinner, rain landing on arid earth or the gunfire crack of a bullet aimed directly at your pesky ex.

Whoops, just kidding, but there are so many things that you can enjoy listening to. As humans, we truly are blessed to be open to the sounds of nature, music, conversation and laughter. But, for the purpose of this blog, let’s touch on my favourite sounds so you can get to know a little more about me ... Kristy.

My favourite song to bliss out to would have to be Etta James’s ‘At Last’. Whenever I hear this song, everything is a-okay in the world no matter what. Billy Joel’s ‘Uptown Girl’ has always made me want to mop the floor and Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’ just makes my head bop like a dashboard hula girl.

My favourite way to wake up each day is to hear the sounds of the birds chirping outside our window and hopefully the toilet flushing so I know hubby’s getting up to feed the baby (wishful thinking on my part there). I also love the sound of the kettle boiling, knowing that a hot cup of tea is headed my way.

I love the sound the rain makes as it comes across the mountains and pelts down upon the asphalt outside. I love the sound my hubby makes when he snores and the newborn gurgles from the cot at the end of our bed. I love the sound of my family’s successes and the happy chatter of friends. In fact, it’s becoming glaringly obvious that I enjoy listening to a lot of things and thus I’m grateful that I can.

What do you enjoy listening to?

Kristy šŸ˜€



Saturday 22 August 2020

What no one tells you about Pregnancy

I couldn’t help but dabble in this subject matter for the blog. I gave birth myself just over three months ago and everything is still fresh and raw in my mind. Plus, my latest novel (currently in the editing process) is a continuation from 100 Days of Happiness and a delightfully honest foray into pregnancy, birth and all that shite no one ever tells you about. So, I would say this topic is epically timed.

What no one ever tells you about pregnancy is that there’s only a fifty-fifty chance you’re going to love every second of it or wish you’d castrated your partner before his super sperm had done its job. Me being the latter, I’d felt that pregnancy was like being part of a hostage situation. No one tells you that you’ll lose the real-estate on your bladder and have to move full-time onto the porcelain bus and no one tells you that the first three months you’re shelling out cash for endless tests just to make sure you have a healthy human instead of a mini ape growing inside you.

What else does no one tell you? That your favourite Cuppa Joe may suddenly be removed from palatable substances you used to consume, your farts could end the world and every single day is a ‘fat day’ ladies. I should go on to mention that also, no one ever tells you how much labour will actually hurt. Imagine a Mack track ramming head first into a sewerage pipe and busting through the other end. Do you think there’s any damage after that? Sure, there’s stitches, blood, a giant gaping hole for future sexual exploits and probably a case of your insides trying to escape through your cervix. Nice, huh?

But on a lighter note, what no one can ever explain or tell you about pregnancy is how much you will love that little stow-away the second you lay eyes on him. And, despite all of the reasons mentioned above to book a full hysterectomy now, every single second of trauma will be worth it.

Unless of course the little bastard screams incessantly and never lets you sleep ...

Kristy šŸ˜ƒ

Saturday 15 August 2020

My First Date

For any of you that have read my illustrious book ‘100 Days of Happiness’, you’ll know I’ve had quite a few dates in my time. My hubby still calls me a dirty whore in jest, but the truth is, it’s like buying ice-cream isn’t it? You don’t know exactly what you want until you’ve sampled at least a few of the, right?

Right.

So, I can’t exactly talk about ‘My First Date’ since I just mentioned there’s been a few.  What I can talk about, is the varied array that have occurred and the reasons why a first date doesn’t necessarily equate to a memorable experience, but rather, a reason to move forward, push the eject button or evacuate completely.

My very first date occurred when I was eleven years old. We’d gone to the movies with his family and mine as a part of a charity event and consequently been watched by said parents incessantly. I think we may have touched fingers at some point, but that was it. Exciting stuff, right? Definitely a reason to evacuate completely.

For ‘First Date’ number two, I would have been sixteen. This was the prelude to my first marriage and my then husband-to-be. I should have pushed the eject button then and there considering he showed up wearing all red; red jeans (I hadn’t known there was such a thing), red joggers and a bloody red shirt. He looked like a piece of fruit.

Several years on and I was divorced and back on the dating scene. So many men and so little time, right? Not exactly, but the first dates were thick and fast and nothing to write home about. Some guys smelt like they had an aversion to soap. One guy had gnarly toenails, another’s breath smelt like a brewery. Another thought ‘snot shots’ were a sport, another enjoyed sex with himself more than me.

The only memorable first date I ever had was with my current hubby. I know I’m supposed to say that, but it’s the honest-to-God truth. He wasn’t a weirdo, was and still is extremely intelligent, sometimes funny and he thinks smart, independent women are a turn on. He was a diamond in the rough to be sure, especially at my age where the fish in the pond have generally already been caught.

So in essence, a first date really doesn’t mean too much. It’s more like a job interview or a sampling of the pre-referenced ice-cream before buying the popsicle. It’s a chance to test compatibility and longevity. And, if all else fails, a chance to have a few minutes of fun! So, crack on with your first dates and chalk them up to experience, but don’t take them too seriously unless the flavour sitting in front of you is the one you want to eat for the rest of your life.

Kristy šŸ˜€

Saturday 8 August 2020

The Male Guide to Female Communication

Okay, so this is a tough one to communicate period because there is no right or wrong answer to this and certainly no two females on the planet are exactly alike. Likewise, no couples are the same nor are the males trying to determine what weird and wonderful things fly through the female brain.

It is safe to say, though, that women do give off signals that are often missed or completely misinterpreted. For example, when we’re trying something on and we ask you what you think, we’d actually like you to give us an honest response. Not, ‘You look like a fat whale in that,’ kind of honest answer, but the sort that shows you’re actually trying to help us determine whether or not to buy and or wear the item of clothing in question. If we do happen to look like Moby Dick, it’s best to control your repulsed fascial features and simply say, ‘Hmm, I don’t think that’s the right choice, maybe try ... (offering an alternative here is gold).’

Not so complicated, right?

There are about a million other examples of where communication between men and women break down. Who does the housework and what percentage is fair? Did she just fake her orgasm? Maybe I shouldn’t have bought that boat with our life savings without consulting her first. She won’t notice if I start wearing her lingerie or that I left our kid in the school parking lot for three hours, will she?

Soooo many situations in which communication can break down. So, the question is, how can men better understand how to deal with the female psyche? Well, the truth from my perspective is that you’re completely fucked. Most of the time we have no idea what we want until we want it, so it’s virtually impossible. What I can say, though, is that better led communication comes from knowing the other person in the relationship. What makes them happy? What pisses them off? If you can find a way to read her body language before the shit hits the fan, you’re onto a winner.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I’m certainly no relationship expert. Six years later and my hubby still leaves the wet mat on the bathroom floor and throws his clothes next to the laundry basket instead of in it. He’s about a second off getting a crowbar to the face because that’s me communicating regularly with words regarding exactly what I want, but the truth is, he chooses not to listen. Thus, a male guide to female communication is a waste of time if you’re not willing to read the fine print.

We’re all gonna do what we want to do anyway, right?

Right.

Kristy šŸ˜€


Sunday 2 August 2020

How to go from Overwhelmed to Motivated!



How to go from Overwhelmed to motivated? Well, this is a matter true to my heart right now and I implore you to stick with me on this as opposed to dialling child services.

My hubby and I recently had a little boy and although he is the light of our life, joy of the world, beacon of ... yeah, you get my point, right? We love him, but sometimes we debate about putting him in a cardboard box and posting him to Alaska.

I’m kidding of course, but when all he does is sleep through the day and stay up all night, it tends to grate on your sensibilities. So, as you can imagine (since I do the night shift), I can become incredibly overwhelmed at 2am. With little to no sleep in my pocket, looking down into the beady eyes of my wide awake infant forces me to find some sort of motivation not to glue his eyes shut. Yes, we expected this to happen. Babies can’t sleep all the time, right? I mean they have to poop at 4am and wee on your nightgown post shower or spew on you right as you put them down for that seemingly unattainable sleep, but come on ...

Being overwhelmed is part of the job description.

So how do you get motivated?

Well, you may think I might be motivated to push our son under the bed until morning in the hopes I can’t hear him under there, but on the contrary, I consider the ramifications. No, not child abuse allegations (although my headspace undoubtedly deserves it sometimes), but the ramifications of simply not being motivated enough to enjoy this moment of fleetingness. He won’t stay an infant forever. He will soon become a toddler and start sleeping through the night, then a young boy who picks his nose and sniffs his bum. Then of course he’ll be a teenager and I’ll probably want to kill him all over again.

The point is, motivation doesn’t have to be a gimmick or an affirmation to pull you through a task. It can simply be the idea that you’ll miss just one perfect moment amongst the clutter of imperfect ones – the reason I keep my eyes open at 2am ... just in case he smiles.

Kristy šŸ˜Š


Thursday 23 July 2020

A Love of Reading.

                                                                        

My love of reading started when I was a young child, I was read to often. Not only that, my brother and I were encouraged to read as much as possible, we might not have had all that we wanted, but books were plentiful.  

However, the very best stories were those told to us by our Nana. She would tell us the most captivating stories from her head, not a book…imagine pinching yourself to stay awake just to hear more, but eventually succumbing to sleep with visions of heroes and heroines. Our stays with our Nana were memorable and long lasting and her ability to weave magic into each of her stories is something that I have tried to pass onto my children.

I guess depending upon your personal preference, fiction or non-fiction can either whisk you away to exciting places with your imagination or tantalise and stimulate your synapses mentally. The point is, are we encouraging our young ones and others to read enough to keep the brain matter growing? There are some book lovers who are, but it is not enough. It seems that people read less now and prefer instead to watch TV or play on their phones.

There are so many benefits to reading, it can develop our minds, help our children with language skills and a good book can open up dimensions of thoughts as you try to connect events, emotions and experiences of the characters that you read.  The tragedy today, is that we have a huge number of Australians that lack the necessary literacy skills they need to function in life and work. Many young people that I have spoken to cannot speak properly, they don’t read, they cannot string a sentence together and worse still, some cannot read.

What is the matter with us? Our children are born ready to learn; a wonderful opportunity exists for parents today to better equip their kids before they enter their school years. Read, teach and encourage a love of books, you will be guaranteeing them success for their future, don’t make them struggle in an already difficult world.

Stephanie

Monday 6 July 2020

Baby Shower

Baby Shower

Today was supposed to be our little one’s baby shower. I was supposed to have my son tucked away safely inside while devouring tasty treats and sipping non-alcoholic beverages with friends and family.

Instead, were cuddling our son close to our chests in the neonatal ICU, merely grateful he’s alive and doing better after being born nine weeks premature.

At first I was disappointed that this little milestone celebration had been cancelled, not only due to Covid19 but also because of Archibald’s early arrival. But then I realised, as I kissed his little face and breathed in the smell of his baby skin, how lucky we are to have this time with him instead.

I guess I don’t have a moral to the story or some poignant words of wisdom, but I can say that despite circumstances being what they are, I couldn’t be happier to be curled up on an armchair with my adoring husband and baby, spending quality time together as a family.

How are you spending your day? 

Wednesday 3 June 2020

Introducing:

                   Archibald Thomas Frederick Muddock       
Shaun and I would like to finally announce the birth of our son: Archibald Thomas Frederick Muddock, born May 16th at 5:30 am, weighing 1.8kg and born 9 weeks premature.

Little Archie has had quite the ordeal so far. He was whisked away from Shaun and I only seconds after he was born and transported straight to the Neonatal ICU. In the last 5 days, he's been intubated, placed on CPAP, moved to High Flow and now he can finally breathe on his own with a little help from some caffeine.

He has an umbilical line that gives him fluids and antibiotics and feeding tube inserted straight into his little tummy through his belly button.
Shaun and I wanted you all to know that we appreciate every single ounce of love and support, but hope that you understand that at this moment in time, while Archie is still fighting to survive, that we can't focus on much more than him.

Naturally we want to see our family and friends, but if we have a spare second, we just want to be with our son.  We hope you all understand and appreciate how much we already love and need our little boy to be safe and sound before we worry about ourselves.

Tuesday 28 April 2020

Hi everyone,

It’s finally here … THE DELIVERED!

The Delivered is the final novel in the series “The Hunted”.

If you are interested in the paperback version, please copy this link: amzn.to/2SPnc5p and paste it into the address bar in your Internet browser.

If you are interest in the eBook version, then copy this link as above: amzn.to/2UWnTwz

I promise this delivers an exciting conclusion to this marvellous series. A little taste of what to expect within the book…

Life is a swift lesson, one that Elena Manory has finally begun to understand and one that she willingly gave up in the name of love.
She’s now in Purgatory, confronted by the demons of her past and the possibilities of her future, forced to choose between her soul mate and a twisted version of the life she has left behind. But the world of her past has been ravaged by war, the Vampires and werewolves forming an unlikely alliance in the face of so much adversity. Too much has changed and Elena is not only uncertain of herself, but the expectations of others and the role they expect her to play.
 Will Elena stand by her decision, follow her heart and spend eternity in the arms of the one she loves? Or will she fall back to earth, stand by her brother’s side and win the ultimate battle between a life worth living and a life worth changing?

Don’t miss the opportunity of obtaining this book, you won’t be disappointed.

Enjoy – Stephanie