Charity Marie Blogs!

#950625

January 28, 2019 at 7:46am

Prompt from Many people with mental illness struggle with personal control. From anger management to impulse control issues to a general lack of motivation, let's talk about our own control issues. Questions to think about: *Bullet* What are some self-control issues you've struggled with? Anger? Impulsive behaviors? Focus? Motivation? *Bullet* Are there any warning signs or triggers that you're going to have a lapse in self control? *Bullet* What actions have you taken t... [Read more]

#950580

January 27, 2019 at 3:32pm

The last few days have seen me mentally supercharged, as if by nitros oxide. It started Friday when I got diagnosed with bronchitis and prescribed a combo of antibiotics, steroids, and cough suppressant. Steroids always overstimulate me. My husband loves to say my brain is like a 16 core squirrel process but on steroids it becomes a turbo charged 32 core. I'm an above average intelligent woman but you give me a powerful stimulant, and watch out! In two days I did extensive rewriting on my... [Read more]

#950467

January 26, 2019 at 1:51am

The last few days have been super hectic as I prepare to start the new job on Monday. For some reason, suddenly everything has to be done right now. I'm still trying to put resources in place and find solutions for Libby. I've got leads coming from everywhere, for real estate, for writing, for my new job. It's rather insane trying to keep it all straight. Today I went to a local program for some healthcare and for $20 was able to see a doctor who prescribed me antibiotics, steroid... [Read more]

#950308

January 23, 2019 at 7:32pm

Today was, in a word, fantastic. I can't think of another word to describe it honestly. It started off with an interview with Vivint, a home security and automation company, that lasted an hour and a half as I connected with the regional manager on a wide range of topics, including Star Wars. I was hired on the spot for a sales position and am genuinely excited. They only have 5 agents in this area so I'm getting in on the ground floor so to speak. The expectation is I'll make 2-3 sa... [Read more]

#950260

January 23, 2019 at 12:43am

I guess I'm on a roll lately. I'm starting to feel a bit more like myself after having been sick so long. I have an interview tomorrow for a sales job. One of my real estate listings has two showings. I'm hopeful they go well. I really would love to sell it as that would set us up for the next few months. In addition to that, I wrote a new nonfiction article that I'll be pitching this week to a parenting magazine. It'll be my first mental health article. I'm hoping to... [Read more]

#950218

January 22, 2019 at 1:17pm

Last night was a low point. I have them sometimes, especially lately while I try to juggle being all things to everyone all the time. Sorry for the temporary pity pot. I did a good job of channeling all my energy into something positive so I finished a story, wrote some blog posts, talked on Discord, and late this morning I submitted to my first contest of the year. I submitted my short story, "Gone Nuts" to the Women on Writing quarterly fiction contest. I had to reduce the word count ... [Read more]

#950173

January 21, 2019 at 10:09pm

I'm not sure I know how to really express what today was. A bad day that ended with me in tears. My husband went to get a pizza and came home with a job application for the pizza place he visited. And somehow that triggered some really unexpected things in me. Three months ago I was working in a career for a law firm. I was successfully running a real estate business. Now, I'm putting in an application at a pizza place. Really? I have so much education and so much experience that it j... [Read more]

#950123

January 21, 2019 at 10:53am

Lately, I seem to be writing a lot more first person stories. I didn't even realize it until today when I was reading my recently finished short story I'm not sure why all the sudden I'm writing stories in first person. Is it easier for me to put myself into a character's shoes that way? Third person perspective is so much less limiting I think, so why am I suddenly doing so many stories in first person? Should I be concerned? Author Ingrid Sundberg really likes the... [Read more]

#950102

January 21, 2019 at 12:42am

Prompt: Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Let this quote inspire your blog entry: "Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service." Martin Luther King, Jr. There are so many ways to be of service. A million ways. We can be of service to each other every single day by looking for ways to serve others. I think our country has lost the passion we once had for serving one another. We're now focused on serving ourselves and won... [Read more]

#949989

January 19, 2019 at 11:23am

I've had three different interviews in two days. The first was on Thursday evening by a journalist for the Houston Chronicle who is writing an investigative report about a local mental health facility. She found me based on my review on Google. I read some of her work and she does an amazing job covering stories similar to ours so I sent her a ton of background information as well as my Wordpress blog. I'm nervous about it but excited too and hopeful to shed some light on the serious iss... [Read more]

#949782

January 16, 2019 at 2:57pm

I have been stricken with a terrible upper respiratory illness for the last eight days. It's just a cold (no fever), but it still sucks. I spent the first week unable to function. I lost track of days, laying in bed drifting in and out of wakefulness. It's amazing how much your body processes shut down when you're sick. I wasn't using the bathroom, didn't need to eat, all I could do was lay there and hope the misery would end. Multiple times I considered going to the ER b... [Read more]

#949166

January 8, 2019 at 2:10pm

How is your online persona different from your real world persona? How much attention do you pay to your personal privacy when communicating with others online? I believe my online persona is the same as my real world persona, although I imagine some of my natural warmth gets lost in translation due to the medium online. In person, someone can see my concern, hear my emphasis, and all the parts of my verbal communication whereas online it's left to the reader to understand it. My word c... [Read more]

#949064

January 7, 2019 at 12:03am

Prompt: Pick a title either (1) Happy Monday or (2) Blessed Monday and write about the reason Monday is either happy or blessed. Mondays are blessed because they end. Because they only happen once a week. This is the first Monday of 2019 and therefore it's doing double duty. Monday's are days when I have more energy because of the rest and relaxation (hopefully) of the weekend. Here's some tips to make your Mondays suck less. Tip 1 Many personal coaches will tell... [Read more]

#949061

January 6, 2019 at 11:23pm

You and several friends are marooned on a desert island. Everyone is looking to you to lead. What are your first actions? (List at least 2 please) I look around at the worried faces surrounding me. Ann looks a bit pale and a little green from being tossed around in the ocean waves. Nathan stands apart from the rest, looking into the trees. "We're stranded aren't we?" Jasmine asks. I clasp my hands in front of me. "I'm afraid so. Without a compass, food, or fres... [Read more]

#949055

January 6, 2019 at 10:23pm

Prompt: January 5 is National Bird Day. Do you have a favorite bird? If so, what is it? Why is it your favorite? If you don't have a favorite bird, tell us about the birds in your area of the country or world. Birds? Really? Okay, so I have a confession to make. I'm sometimes scared by birds. Not really individual ones, but you know those huge flocks of them? I saw this really creepy movie once which will remain nameless due to the chills the thought of it gives me and ever since th... [Read more]

#949007

January 6, 2019 at 10:50am

It might go without saying that I have a high stress but overall boring life. So finding a single event in a year that's newsworthy is... well, not really possible. And 2018 was a horrible, horrendous, awful year for our family. The bottom dropped out of our life and we've been trying to rebuild ever since. Here's a brief chronology of events: January 2018 - Admit my 10 year old daughter for mental health treatment for over 30 days. February 2018 - Husband left his job to take ... [Read more]

#948929

January 5, 2019 at 10:25am

Write about a time you learned something new. Use and highlight at least 3 words in your entry that are not part of your normal vocabulary and provide your readers with definitions for those words. I'm constantly learning. If there's one thing in life I've learned the most, it's that being educated has literally saved my life. Otherwise, I probably would have turned into some variation of my parents. When I was fourteen and in a group home while my father served a prison sen... [Read more]

#948875

January 4, 2019 at 12:16pm

Are you an introvert or an extrovert? How do you recharge your batteries? I'm an introvert by nature. What I mean by that is, if left alone and to my own devices, I would not socialize with anyone other than my immediate family. I am and always have been, more than content with my own company and interests. I have periods of loneliness but for the most part, people annoy me more than comfort me. And that's before they even say anything. I learned at a young age to be wary of ot... [Read more]

#948873

January 4, 2019 at 11:47am

High schoolers graduating this year, in May 2019, are as old as the first iPod. Make a prediction for how technology will advance in the next 18 years. Oh, my word. I'm getting so old. I'm already two decades older than a graduating high school student. I'm old enough to remember when the first iPod was released. But I don't feel old. Looking in the mirror is a shock often. What will that be like in a decade? I tremble to think of it. I digress. Age equals wisdom (I hop... [Read more]

#948693

January 2, 2019 at 10:37am

Oh man, I've already screwed the challenge up by missing the first one. How the heck did I manage that? Oh right, I was in a writing-related existential crisis. Nice way to start the new year - wondering who you are as a writer and if you're any good. So instead I spent the day in a pleasant Netflix-binging cloud of Queen of the South, my new guilty pleasure. That show is just fascinating. Talk about Goal, Motivation, Conflict. How they manage to make me root for and love these horrendou... [Read more]

#948686

January 2, 2019 at 9:36am

I would say my most memorable birthdays are probably bad ones. I don't have many friends and I'm a pretty simple person. I don't want to be the center of attention. It makes me anxious. A birthday, by its very nature, makes you the center of attention. So for me, a simple birthday cake, a meal, and a movie are all I really want. My husband is great at understanding this about me. My ex-husband, not so much. My ex-husband threw a party for me one year and invited a bunch of my busi... [Read more]

#948290

December 27, 2018 at 6:30pm

I've been doing this writing thing now for two decades. I started when I was 14. Teachers told me I was talented so I kept writing. I fell in love with writing, so I kept writing. My work got published, so I kept writing. Life got busy, but I kept writing. I went to college and kept writing. My work really started getting published in the last ten years and I won an award (which is still hard for me to believe). I had my daughter and kept writing. I saw trauma and grief and experienced horri... [Read more]

#948276

January 6, 2019 at 9:57pm

Write a gratitude list, at least five items, of things you are thankful for in this year. This is so hard for me because this year has been so incredibly hard. In order to understand you'd have to read . We've struggled so much this year. I have witnessed as my husband/life partner/best friend/my rock was brought low by unexpected disability and non-epileptic seizures. Those are seizures caused by your nervous system instead of the electrical impulses in the brain. They're ... [Read more]

#948039

December 23, 2018 at 11:36am

I've joined a new blogging contest for the month of January. I'm also in the I Write in 2019 contest challenge I'm hopeful that my schedule doesn't get so busy that I can't participate. Things have been very quiet in November and December, which has been nice. I'm just waiting for the real estate market to heat up again but even that shouldn't prevent me from being active on the site or doing my projects. It's all about prioritizing and time man... [Read more]

#947570

December 15, 2018 at 11:02pm

Tonight, I saw something I've never seen before. We have four dogs in our house but one of them, Max, has been with us for about three years as of this Christmas. He's a chow-retriever mix and absolutely gorgeous. He's the smartest and sweetest tempered dog I've ever known. And when I say smart, he can get out of cages, he can open doors, climb on counters to get to food, you name it. He's clever. But he's also got the best heart of any dog I've ever seen. I have no d... [Read more]