I think pretty much everyone in the emetophobia community knows a fair bit about me. If you’ve listened to my “Emetophobia Help” Podcast or joined my Facebook Group (NO PANIC Recovery Group) or worked with me then you probably know a lot about my life story. So I thought it would be fun to just tell everyone a little bit more about me in this list of 10 weird and wonderful things.
- I’m a Curler. If you’re not Canadian, you may not be familiar with this sport or you may have thought it wasn’t a sport at all and I was talking about curling my hair. (It’s naturally curly if it gets long so I don’t generally curl it anyway.) No, my American and British and Australian friends – curling is indeed a sport. Next to ice hockey it’s Canada’s most favourite sport. It’s fun to slide down the ice either delivering a rock or sliding along beside one brushing it. I play Tuesday and Thursday and sometimes practice on Saturdays for 6 months of the year.
- I have 7 grandchildren (from 3 kids). They range in age from 24 to 6, with the smallest lot being 6, 8 and 11. They’re the closest cousins. My son has twins aged 15 and a daughter who’s almost 13 now. My oldest grandson is in university still.
- I had breast cancer at age 37. Kicked cancer’s ass with surgery, chemo and radiation and never looked back. I’ve been cancer-free now for 28 years. Woot!
- I’m a tech JUNKIE. I love all of it, and have become an Apple fan slowly over the years. I own an iMac, a Macbook, an iPad, an iPhone and an Apple watch. I love them all and I help most of my senior citizen friends figure them out. I built both my websites and I’ve been on many social media platforms since their inception. You heard that right! I was one of the first people to do Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. I’m also on Instagram now, YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. I love it.
- I paint old furniture. The piano in the picture I tried to sell, then give away and literally could not. Pianos are not in vogue anymore and the old ones are basically worthless. Once I painted it (as you can see in the pic) someone offered me $2000 for it. LOL. I kept it. I also paint and restore other old stuff. Some people would have my head for that but I found a community online so whatevs.
- My bucket list only has 2 items left on it: a) See the Northern Lights in dramatic colour from a northern community [I’ve seen them from my back yard but they’re not that spectacular] and b) publish a work of fiction. I’ve published non-fiction with 2 books and a book contract for another next year but I have 2 novels I really want to finish and pitch to an agent.
- I was a minister in the United Church of Canada (very left-leaning). I started preaching in 1976 all through university and seminary and graduated in 1989 from Vancouver School of Theology. I was a United Church minister until 2010 when my last pastoral act was to marry my daughter and her husband. I did another year of courses required for my therapist licensing and more supervision before starting my solo practice online on Skype. So I was way ahead of the Covid online therapist curve! Zoom today is miles better than Skype in 2011 that’s for sure. I’m still a religious person but I’m open to and accepting of all people regardless of religion or no religion so I don’t mention it much unless someone asks.
- I’ve done standup comedy. I went with my friend (a Presbyterian minister) to another city in another country to an open mike night. The audience laughed at his routine a little bit, and they really laughed at some of my stuff. I wrote a RomCom screenplay once, which is comedy, and some day I may just try to pitch it to someone. I was always the class clown in school and loved making people laugh from the pulpit each week, at least once anyway.
- I’m allergic to seafood. That’s right – ALL – things from the sea. If the fish swims upstream into a river I can eat it (like salmon) or if it lives in fresh water I can eat it (like trout). Everyone tells me I’m missing out but tbh it all smells absolutely disgusting to me so I guess that’s my body trying to tell me to stay away from it.
- I have severe chronic pain. Yes, despite my over-the-top love for work and play, most days I quit at 5pm and lie down on my bed (with my cat, Hershey) which is one of those electronic ones where the head and feet move up and down. Beds not cats. There’s a setting called “zero gravity” that’s the most comfortable. From my bed I can work some more on my Macbook, or watch TV or watch YouTube or mindlessly scroll through TikTok on my iPad. Every morning I wake up at 7, take my medication, and lie there with my iPad until breakfast at 8:30/work at 9.
So there you have it – 10 weird and wonderful things about me that don’t even involve emetophobia.