Jennifer Morash

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...

About a month ago, I announced that I had begun my second novel. Not only that, but I was going to finish it, or hit 50000 words before the end of November as part of NaNoWriMo. I did not. In point of fact, I stalled out about halfway through the month at roughly 20000 words and ten chapters. Technically, this counts as failure. I mean, I set a goal and didn't meet it. Now, I could hang my head in shame. I could take this as a sign that I'm not cut out to be a writer. After all, I wrote my first novel in less than a month. Sure, it was super short at roughly 35000 words in the first draft, but I finished it. (And, yes, the second draft is more than twice as long) I'm not going to do that, though. This little endeavour taught me a few important things. First and foremost, it taught me that this style of daily goal oriented writing simply does not work for me. The NaNoWriMo model gives you a daily suggested word count. It's not static, mind you. It is the number of wor...

About seven years ago, The Night Circus was released, written by a debut novelist named Erin Morgenstern. It seemed to come out of nowhere and exploded onto bestseller lists everywhere, and with good reason. It was magical. Ever since, I've periodically gone looking to see if she had released anything else, and to my chagrin the answer was always no. Then, in early October, while taking a peek at upcoming releases on Audible, Erin Morgenstern's name popped up. The Starless Sea was clearly not a sequel to The Night Circus, and thank goodness for that, some stories should never be added to. No, this was a stand alone once more. Not read by the immensely talented Jim Dale this time, though. I was simultaneously elated and nervous. I had been eagerly awaiting more from her, but it had been so long now that I worried the anticipation might lead to disappointment. And did Jim Dale's performance lend a magic to the first book that would now be lacking? Also... why did it take sev...

Last week, a new streaming service came on the market. Most of you have heard of it by now. I'm talking about Disney Plus, of course. As any of you who regularly read me know by now, I am an enormous Disney fangirl, so it is surely no surprise that I've been anticipating this one for awhile. I had that app downloaded the moment it became available - that was about seven in the morning, for me. Thank goodness it dropped on a day that I wasn't working. But is it any good? And is it accessible? Let's answer that second one first. The short answer is yes. The longer answer? Mostly. Now, let me be clear that my experience is only with the IOS app. I don't have any other devices, nor have I tried to stream anything from my laptop's web browser, so I can't speak for anything else. The app isn't perfect, but it's close. Nearly all buttons are labelled, which means that Voice Over (that's the iphone's text to speech native app) can read them. The in...

This week marks Remembrance Day. In fact, while this post won't go up today, it currently is November 11 as I sit down to write this. Additionally, here in Canada we recently held our Federal election. In the US, next year will see there own. What do those two things have to do with one another? Those fallen soldiers, and all those who fought and returned to us, did so to ensure our freedom. Freedom from oppression, yes, but also the freedom to do something like choosing our leader. Many gave their lives for that freedom. Many returned with scars, some visible and some not. For my own part, the veteran I was closest to was my great uncle Neil, who fought in World War II. Neil was a kind, gentle man who loved to make furniture. He also liked to talk. But I never once heard him talk about the war. He was proud of his work with the Legion, he participated every Remembrance Day, but he would not talk about the war. I've always thought that this fact told me all I need to know abo...