Retired IT consultant. Retired Hockey Mom. Retired Base Brat and Military wife. Lifelong learner. Writer.
Finally May. Still cool, and rainy, but the buds are visible now and although a bit later than usual, some dandelions are popping their brightness after the slushy gloom of early spring. As I start my reading this month, I pick something at random from the pile (come on, fellow readers, you know what ‘the … More 2025 May Read and Review
2025_April April, over already! The year is one-third done. That’s how life works, time runs in one direction. Except in good sci-fi, hey, that’s an idea for a next book to read! April was a dry reading month; actually only finished one book. Started another, but I’ll save that for May. Wondering what I was … More 2025 April Read and Review
Hard to introduce this essay, as it intersects with so many facets of my life. I originally wrote it for a story call about military children and their military generational traditions, but soon realized that it was about how military children fit in a bit sideways growing up in wider non-military families. I also noticed … More My (Non) Military Grandmother
Third month, 3rd installment of Stevie’s Monthly Read and Review. Back to finishing : March is living up to its reputation for wild weather. Snowstorms started the month, (yay, in like a lion, so maybe out like a lamb?), and today heavy rains expected. As is the river flooding probably this year. Not yet, more … More 2025 March Read and Review
2025_February – Yes, this is my back yard pathway right now. Snowy is the word. Second Installment of Stevie’s Read and Review. February is my second-least-favourite month, so thank goodness it’s short! (Nothing beats November for the blahs. Wait, you’ll see.) This year February includes a cruise down south. And reading, of course, always reading. … More 2025 February Read and Review
It’s the middle of January and snow is falling here in Aylmer, Quebec. My kids’ hometown. My fellow military brats understand that last, as in, moved so much while growing up that we don’t claim our own “hometown” (See Home. Again and Again about that.) I posted my 2024 Reading List recently, but am not … More 2025 January Read and Review
2024 Reading List Here we go. The years keep on chunking by. Luckily, so do books; reading them is one of the ways I spend my share of planetary turns around the sun. A pleasurable use, with never enough time to do it as much as I want. Like anything pleasurable, I guess! So here’s … More 2024 Reading List
You know you’re a military brat when… There are many ways to finish this thought. One way that I experienced this past week with my husband (and former brat himself, now a retired military veteran) while on a couple days getaway, is this. You are travelling, sight-seeing in a new area about a day’s drive … More You Know You’re a Military Brat when…
What is it about being 10-11 years old that is so magical? The older I get the more fondly I remember Goose Bay, Labrador. Here’s another excerpt about that favourite base (from “Camp Follower One Army Brat’s Story” by Michele Sabad : “Now, for me, Goose Bay, Labrador was awesome, no matter what my parents … More Goose Bay – Favourite Place and Time
Reading List 2023 January What is it about January? I haven’t had a good start to a year since 2020, and we all remember how that panned out. (For details from this author’s perspective on 2020, check out “Lost Year A Pandemic Diary”.) But back to this January of 2024. Not a good start due … More 2023 – Reading List
Stevie Szabad, Author 