I watched a bird busy in the gutter of my home. After a while I realized that it was building a nest. My father was with me and said, in typical fashion, "Just wait until the rain comes." I asked, naively, "What happens when the rain...
I have been known to be somewhat stubborn about accepting that sometimes as much as I want it to my body just can’t do certain things. If I am injured and it's keeping me out of the gym or on the sidelines of a game, it is very hard for me to do.
Adam Kovac Adam Kovac, Special to Montreal Gazette Lisa Brookman is used to answering difficult questions. Brookman is a psychotherapist and co-director of the West Island Therapy Centre in Pierrefonds, where she often deals with issues of anxiety, depression and marital strife. However, it was her clients’...
For my 12th birthday, my grandfather held cheque in his hand. He asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. When I answered, “A writer,” he put the cheque back into his pocket. “Pick something that makes money,” he said. “What do you really...
A few months ago, I revealed my struggle with infertility. At that time, I was in the thick of it, immersed in the journey, filled with frustration, longing and impatience. I was doing everything in my power to take control of my situation; I radically...
In my life, I have always cherished my girlfriends and our everlasting friendships. Our friendships span from high school, university, old work friendships, and current close knit friendships, and even new friendships that arrive when you least expect them to. Some people can choose to have a...
[caption id="attachment_22031" align="alignleft" width="300"] Distorted[/caption] I gained at least 100 pounds during my first pregnancy. I stopped looking at the numbers on the scale at that point, so I’m not exactly sure of the final tally. Sadly, this isn’t an exaggeration. As one friend kindly pointed out...
Most nights I try to make it home for dinner. Family time around the supper table is extremely important to me. After all, they say (no idea who they are) families that eat together stay together.
[caption id="attachment_21847" align="alignleft" width="225"] Elana and her boys[/caption] Bouncing baby boy, husband, career, fabulous friends, devoted volunteer, and postpartum depression. You read that correctly, postpartum depression. I was scared, ashamed, and alone. I didn’t want my friends to judge or label me as weak. I was in denial...
We are a jewelry company based in Montreal, Quebec that is seeking your help to send emergency relief to Nepal! In light of the devastating earthquakes that have led to the deaths of over 3,000 people in Nepal and neighbouring countries, our aim is to fundraise...
It always amazes me that when people hear that I am a divorced single parent they feel badly for me. I mean, why do people have to “feel sorry” for those of us that are divorced? But as it happens, many people who hear that I am...
When Liz Wiener, co-founder of Wise Women Montreal asked me if I’d like to contribute to her blog, I was honored. I asked myself: what would be the best first topic for a mostly female readership? Naturally, I decided on my scrotum. I am going to...
Have you ever wanted to quit your day job to follow your passion but were too scared to do so? I started my real estate career 10 years ago, with no network, no experience, no mentor, 2 children under 3 years old and a husband who travelled for work. I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
We all have our ‘cold water place’. I go to mine often. Unfortunately as a child, I spent a lot of time there. As a nine-year-old dealing with a family divorce and all the shit goes with it, I needed a place in my head to go and...
I often get asked "what is a torte?" or "what's the difference between a torte and a cake?" Tortes are actually a type of cake, containing little to no flour, but involving some variety of ground nut. Tortes are almost always meringue based, meaning that you at...
[caption id="attachment_21139" align="alignleft" width="300"] From fandoms to discussions of hard news, users of Tumblr tend towards images, GIFS and brief comments.[/caption] One of my daughters was discussing some plans she had made with a friend, during which she realized they would have to change their meeting...
It has been coming up a lot recently that most marriages will not only likely end in divorce (as I have seen often) but that many people are not even interested in the commitment entirely. I was not always of the mindset nor was it a goal of mine to get married when I was younger, not even in my early 20’s. Truly, I had other priorities but I was not against marriage – just had no clue if it would happen to me. Once I hit 30, many of my friends began making it more of priority to find “Mister Right” and take that walk down the aisle. Although I was in no way an expert on the topic, many friends came to me seeking advice on their relationships – what I always said was to make sure love all of him and not just parts, because you can’t fix a man. To recognize that things change but can you change with them and finally, remember why you fell in love. It seemed like good advice. Many of those friends are still married.
A child in our community needs our help- A 7 year old boy named Jared, was diagnosed with DIPG (Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma) in November 2014. He has a tumor located in the area of the brain that controls breathing, talking, walking, swallowing, heartbeat and all...
Do you know someone who has decided to go on a gluten free diet? Do you get discomfort when eating pasta or bread? Gluten is a protein found in cereals such as: wheat, rye, barley, malt, oat and triticale. For most people, the protein goes in...
In life, there comes a defining moment in our lives when we are hit by “The Parent Bug".
I remember it like yesterday.
Many years ago, a close friend had just had a baby, and I was completely enamoured by the love around her. Her joy, her elation, her sense of completeness and protectiveness at this time of her life.
It is finally time to finish off this blog series on my renovation!!!!! I need to start off by apologizing for the delay of this post, but my son decided that he wanted to come into the world a little bit early, and since then I...
Winter is a difficult season to survive because it can seem to be never ending. Finally though towards the end of February, though the bitter cold temperatures persist, Quebecers begin to see a (desperately needed) light at the end of the winter tunnel. In addition...