Cats and Stress

Gotta love cats! I have four wonderful furry felines in my home. My Blue cat loves to sit in my office wth me while I write. When he's finished chasing the cursor around the screen, he usually sits in the window and naps, leaving me to get on with my writing. Stress like him I can live with!

Free Smiles

It's that time of year again, when hearts are full and pocketbooks are empty. But helping out doesn't always involve digging into your pockets. Try volunteering to man or woman the Salvation Army Kettle location. I did today for 2 hours and I will again on the 12th. I handed out free smiles to every person who walked by, whether they wanted to return one or not. My smiles didn't cost me a thing, and a few receivers mentioned how much they enjoyed my gift to them! I plan to hand out smiles all through the season, and maybe I can help lift spirits!

Thankful

Another new day, and I'm thankful I woke up. I'm thankful I was able to get out of bed on my own; I'm thankful for all of the gifts that surround me (family, love, pets); I'm thankful the sun is shining, even though it's nippy out there; I'm thankful for another day on this beautiful planet!

Depression And Coping

Fighting Depression


Always darkest before the dawn,
Isn’t that how it goes?
Life is blackness shrouding me,
More than anyone knows.

Torment carried in my soul,
Struggling not to give in.
Maybe I should tell someone,
But who - and where to begin?

How can I be that person?
The one who couldn’t cope.
Medication is a fix, not a cure,
But at least it gives me hope.

Genetically dealt a nasty blow.
Both parents brought the gene.
Blaming them wouldn’t help
And it would be so mean.

There must be more to life than this.
Somehow I’ll find my way.
I’ve come this far – I must go on.
Move forward every day!

- Annabel Sheila

Climate Change

It was eleven degrees celsius yesterday; t-shirt weather on December 1st! It will be warm again today. As I sit here and watch the globe warm up at an ever-increasing rate, I can't help but think back over Decembers past. Growing up in Newfoundland, I can guarantee we never saw warm temperatures and no snow! I realize there are sceptics out there who don't believe the planet is warming too fast, but I'm going to work even harder this year 2009 to do my part in reducing green house gases. I BELIEVE!

Paying With Cash

Hustling and bustling has begun in earnest! Hopefully people will be more cautious with spending this Christmas. The world is in such a financial mess. What ever happened to the "paying with cash" days? Those were the good old days. You got what you needed and no credit card companies were sucking the life out of you with interest on the payments you can't afford anyway. Eeesh!

Trying to make a difference

In our rapidly spinning world, sometimes we don't pause long enough to see outside of our own little circle. Guilty! However, in the fall of 2007 I learned some devastating statistics about the AIDS Pandemic in the Caribbean, that literally stopped me in my tracks. Children are living with AIDS, they are being born with AIDS, and they are not educated about the disease and its spread. I had to do something! And I did...I write lyrical poems/stories for children and grown-ups and have accumulated quite a stockpile of my work. I put together and illustrated a storybook called "Tell Me A Story" that I am using as a fundraiser for the Kiwanis/Unicef AIDS Project in the Caribbean. (The Caribbean has the second highest rate of AIDS next to sub-Saharan Africa.) The goal of the project is to raise one million dollars to help educate and protect the children of the Caribbean, so they may have a future. I am passionate about this project and spreading the word wherever and whenever I can.