Jennifer Morash

Planning a trip to Disney World is fraught with all sorts of decisions. Length of stay, where to stay, to park hop or not. One question that I encounter over and over again in the various Disney advice groups I'm in - and trust me, it's a lot of groups - is this: is the Disney Dining Plan worth it? The answer is... complicated. But I'm going to do my best to answer it by looking at a few areas. Pure economic worth, budgetting worth, convenience and emotional worth. First, though, a few definitions. Quick service dining is what Disney calls fast food eateries. It isn't all burgers, fries and hotdogs, though. Some Quick Service  places are fancy, some are varied, some are exotic. Table service is your basic sit-down restaurant. The sort where waitstaff take your orders and bring your food. Buffets also fall into this category. Signature dining is high-end table service. It's expensive, and it's usually worth it, too. You might be surprised at the quality of s

Before we begin, I'm going to be using a specific story as an example throughout this blog post. That story is 'A Home For Christmas', and you can find it here: https://jennifermorash.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-home-for-christmas-short-story.html So, I've talked before about how I write when an idea occurs to me out of the blue. But what about when I sit down to write a story without first getting the inspiration? The process is quite different, or at least it was for me. First is the premise. Well, technically the decision comes first, but that is pretty self-explanitory, so we'll just take it as given. Now, premise and plot aren't the same thing. The plot is the story, the premise is the seed of the idea. I wanted to write a Christmas story, but I didn't want to write another version of a story we'd all read before. That ruled out Santa, elves, reindeer, angels, wise men, lost children, sentient toys/snowmen/nut sundering implements and all the rest. I

Welcome to the twenties. It's going to take me a long time to get used to saying that after a lifetime of associating "the twenties" with the 1920's. Still, here we are, in a year that still sounds like the date in a scifi story. It's a new year, and a new decade. Now, I don't really do New Year's resolutions. After all, if something is worth doing, it's worth starting when the idea occurs to me, rather than at a specific calendar date. But this does seem like a good time to assess my goals. It will come to no surprise to anyone that they largely revolve around writing. It isn't that I'm not invested in my massage therapy career, it's just that I'm quite happy with where I am in that spot. Still, keep reading and it might just show up. In the short term are my two novels in progress. I want to finish the first draft of my second novel, and that is my first priority. I'm not setting any sort of time frame for this, though I expec

Christmas is a time for giving. We all know that. But as you make your way to the tree to open gifts, or to the table for your Christmas feast, think about the story I have to tell you, and how sometimes the simplest gifts are the most profound. So settle in, all cozy in your Christmas jammies or resplendant in your holidayfinery, and enjoy a Christmas story. Tansin was cleaning, as she always did, in the wee hours of the morning as the family slept. Outside, softflakes were starting to fall through the darkness. The ground would be white by morning, though Tansin would tell that the snow wouldn't be deep. Heading into the living room, she stopped. blinking. There it was again. Every year at about this time, her family brought a tree in from outside and hug bright lights and shiny things from its branches. Soon, she knew, boxes all covered in paper and ribbons would start to appear beneath it. More and more would show up there for the rest of the month, until one night they'd

This has been quite a year. Some of it good, some of it bad, but on balance I would say more of it fell on the better end of the spectrum. Back at the start of the year, I had no idea that I'd be writing this, or that I'd even have a blog, let alone post to it weekly. I had no idea I'd resurrect my penchant for writing. Honestly, all that was really on my mind most of the time was planning my trip to Disney, with occasional thoughts straying to this novel idea that kept popping up to wave at me. Well, and the issue of recovering from minor whiplash and concussion, but by the time 2019 rolled into existence, that recovery was pretty well in hand. In February, I turned 43, but more importantly I took the vacationI had been planning; a mother daughter trip with my Mom and I to the most magical place on earth for a week. It was glorious. Rides were ridden, good food was eaten, and I even met a lovely lady named Pammie for whom I had recently offered to help run a Facebook gro

Massage therapy really is an excellent choice for a career. The job market is actually pretty good, particularly compared to some others, or at least it is in my little corner of the world. But what is it like, and what does it take to become one? First and foremost, a little disclaimer. While many of my readers are local to me, there are also a fair few who are not. Requirements can differ pretty widely, especially once you hit the global level. What is true for most of Canada is not true for the United States, the UK, Australia, etc. I will mainly be speaking to my own experiences here, you will want to look into how things work for your area. So, firstly, what is it really like? It is hard, glorious work. Massage therapy is one of those careers that requires exercise of both your brain and your muscles. Physically, it can be strenuous, especially once you venture into the realms of deep pressure. But you can't just turn off your brain and exert yourself, as you do need to fig