Author Archives: Catherine Brunelle

And Counting! 32 Life Lessons on my 32nd Birthday

Posted in Bumpboobs, Fun, Life, Love by

Today I turn thirty two. That sounds pretty darn tooting good, doesn’t it? I want to make this occasion with a short blog post. Here I am at thirty two. Just past evening last night (or today, I guess), Zsolt asked me about my sixteenth birthday. What was it like? he asked. For the life of me, I can’t exactly distinguish it from my seventeenth birthday. All I know for sure was that I had watched The Sound of Music too many times and had this picture of sweet sixteen involving dancing around a gazebo on a moonlit night singing “I am sixteen going on seventeen.”

32 years old birthday

One thing for sure, I feel more sure of my self sixteen years later after having turned sixteen. My self-confidence isn’t perfect, but somehow, through some miracle of life, I’ve managed to connect myself with the very best of people who are fantastic and supportive and such good friends (which includes my family). When I walk down the street in my bright red trousers, thick pink glasses, rainbow hat and polka dot jacket, I feel beautiful. (Sixteen year old Catherine would have never left the bedroom, let alone the house, in that outfit.) And I have a more secure sense of myself.  Okay, I’m still a bit of a drifter, but at least I know what I like and don’t like in a very clear way.

Okay, it’s 6 AM when I am writing this, but here goes nothing. For my 32nd birthday, here’s a list of 32 things I’ve learned over the years. Damn, this is going to be a long list!

1. Good people are worth investing in, and they’ll invest in you too.

2. Walking down the street in red trousers with pink glasses, a rainbow hat and a polka jacket is the best way to dress.

3. When it comes to Love, don’t settle. Love is far too important to settle.

4. The best way to become anything is to start by admitting it aloud. For example: I am a writer. I am also an entrepreneur.

5. Birthday are always better with cake and a loud round of Happy Birthday.

6. The outside often reflects the inside. To feel better, clean something.

7. If you expect to work with amazing people, you will end up working with amazing people. Like love, this is an area where it’s not worth settling.

8. 6 AM is not a good time to wake up and make a list.

9. School is great, but travel and adventures are better.

10. Hollandaise sauce is really easy to make – use a double boiler, but don’t leave the top pot directly on the steam. I hold with a mitt and lift to control the temperature.

11. Everyone is normal in their unique way.

12. Successful people are great people. There’s no use in being intimidated or thinking they see themselves as better. They are hard working and have tapped their talent. Better to learn from them than be insecure.

13. Assholes aren’t worth more time than it takes to read this sentence.

14. Holy hotdog, am I seriously only on number 14? Okay, I have learned not to make a list at 6:15 Am.

15. The best way to travel is by boat – big, luxury boats. It’s beyond first class.

16. Everything is easier the fifth time you do it. Keep going.

17. Say hello and smile.

18. Even hot guys can be nice guys. I’m thinking of my husband here, who was a jock and who I would have never gone near when I was sixteen because he is far too good looking.

19. Being invisible can have its advantages, but damn, it feels good to be seen.

20. Life won’t unfold as expected, but fuck that – chase after your dreams. Even if the road to realization doesn’t go as planned, you can make it there nevertheless.

21. Sometimes it is useful to know that we are a tiny spec of life in this infinite expanse of space, and when you zoom away from Earth we literally disappear into the nothing because there is so much out there. I’m not saying we are not important, I’m just saying that when life feels unfair, it is good to remember the vastness of what is out there – and how “unfair” probably isn’t a concept in space.

22. Everything you experience will leave an impression.

23. I should really be in bed right now.

24. Things can and will get hard. But not always. And often times they get better. It’s a bit of a cycle.

25. Once that really big thing happens to you in life, you can never go back to the way you were before. It’s like #22, but a thousands times that. It’s okay to cry for the loss.

26. Some people will find you intimidating.That is both reasonable and bizzare, but maybe it means you are doing something right? I don’t know. Check back with me when I am forty and making another damn long list.

27. Hope is important.

28. Paprika – it’s an under appreciated spice, but so totally worth your while.

29. If a guy ever wants to “save you,” run in the other direction. (Unless you are hanging on the ledge of a cliff or something similar. I am more talking about that desire to fix what is not broken)

30. Feminism is good. There are many things that are good – Feminism is one of them. (I realized I was a feminist around the age 16 or 17, and it surprised me.)

31. When you wear glasses, people assume you are smart. If you stand straight, people will assume you are confident. If you smile, people will assume that you are kind. There is a trend here.

32. Every birthday matters.

Bonus Lesson:

You can always go back to bed. 🙂 I will see you later.

 

 

 

A Nice Little Life

Posted in Bumpboobs, Canada, Fun, Life, Life despite cancer, Love by

Life has been nice these past 2 weeks. When I think back to this time last year . . . well, let’s not do that right now. Instead, let me tell you just a little about how awesome it is to take a holiday for real.

First some friends got married. Oh my goodness, that was lovely. Funny, I can remember going to a wedding last year and feeling a strange moment of . . . something. But this time it was far more about laughing with friends, and hearing touching speeches, and seeing a very happy couple united. So that was the start of the good times. Right after the wedding, we took off for a cottage.

"Photo booth"

“Wedding Photo booth”

My parents rented a beautiful cottage not long ago up at Lac Blue Sea for about 6 days. They invited all of us to go up and stay with them at the cottage for some R&R. There’s zero internet at the place, and that’s really good since the only time I seem to stop working is when I literally cannot access my work. So, we went to the cottage and unplugged.

It was fantastic. From kayaking to beautiful food to swimming at dusk, to pretend cottage shopping, to multiple cups of tea, to laying on the sofa reading books, to playing board games, to laughing, to napping . . . it was heavenly. Last year we went to the very same place, and Zsolt and I spend some time at this place last autumn as well. It’s a good place – a very good place.

But it doesn’t stop there. As you may know, I pushed my scan back this year. It took some juggling, but we got there in the end. So, for Zsolt’s birthday – he turned 33! – we celebrated his birthday. He received many video games that I hope he one day plays. . .

(We are playing The Walking Dead together at the moment, a game produced by Telltale Games and based on the comics The Walking Dead. It is seriously intense and emotional stuff – but also fun since we’re really playing together. He kills the zombies while I hide in the other room, and I help him solve the not very difficult puzzles. Also I choose the responses in the dialogues, and Zsolt kills more zombies and shoots stuff in general. Good teamwork.)

Zsolt had some special birthday waffles, and then we just hung out the entire day. It was honestly a bit of a knackering day since we also left the cottage that afternoon, but it was a happy day nevertheless.

Then yesterday was Canada Day. It was so, so, so good. Last year had the weight of a hundred bricks on my chest. This year we were so busy going downtown and snapping silly photos, meeting friends, eating awesome food and watching fireworks, that I hardly had time for heavy emotions.

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And then on Saturday it will be my turn to have a birthday. Thirty two years old J I’m so freaking happy about it that I could just cry all over this keyboard.

The week following will be, very likely, a challenging week. I’ll have a CT scan, and then wait another week for results, and then . . .I don’t know. I could cry all over my keyboard thinking about that too – but would much rather not at the moment. For the time being, it is far better to enjoy the summer weather and summer mode of life.

It was a good decision to push back the scans. This has been a beautiful time.

First Book Signing EVER Recap post!

Posted in Fun, Life, Novels and Stories, Writing by

Well – that was interesting!

This past Sunday took me over to Kanata (part of Ottawa) for a book signing event. Though when I say event, I really mean a wooden table, my books and a sign. But since this was my first book signing ever, I suppose that could merit ‘event’ status. Why not? 🙂

Book Signing

As I said, it was interesting. I feel like the occasion took part in three stages. Here they are:

Stage One: A throwback to preschool.

I arrived at the bookstore with my laundry basket full of book signing stuff – big sign, extra books if necessary, stand for the big sign, some quotes, some business cards and . . . no pen. I forgot the pen for the book signing. My mom dropped me off, and we decided she ought to stay for a cup of tea for a little while. So while she hooked us up with the teas, I set up my table.

Chapters was really good and put the signing table right at the front of the store. You really couldn’t ask for a better spot. So that was lovely.

We sat at the table and drank our tea. A few folks came up and one women actually recognized the book from the newspaper! She bought a copy for her daughter who had just given birth. I think that is awesome. Eventually my mom was like, “time for me to go…” And I was like, “NOOOOOOOO” because it feels soooooooooooooooooooooo awkward to be at the front of the store looking at people pass by just hoping someone might toss you a smile. It’s really uncomfortable stuff.

Ten more minutes tick by, and finally I said okay, she could go. Not that I was literally keeping here there – but I mean like she could go as in, I realized it was time to grow up and harness some courage.

So, mom left.

Stage Two: Alone.

After mom left, I was at the table sitting down and sipping on my tea. It continued to be weird. People walk into the shop and will either 1) make eye contact, smile and immediately move away, or 2) make no eye contact and keep a wide distance.

One lady asked if Claire Never-Ending was a kid’s book, which is totally understandable since it’s a fun cover. I’m going to try changing it – even if I do love the cover. She’s my first, and will always be remembered. I’m debating between three possible options for the next cover: random woman absorbing the world type image, random woman looking pregnant type image, or random connection to ancestry type image. I say random because it’ll most likely be stock photo – though I’ll carefully pick it.

Anyhow, it was a really painful hour. Weird-o-rama. However, I did sell a copy of the book to two ladies – a mother and daughter (the mom was 92) who were both named Olive. Apparently the name doesn’t go very far back in the family, but it does extend to cousins across the world. Cool.

While waiting for the agony of a book signing to end, Kevin and his daughter popped over to say hello. Kevin dropped off the copy of his book I’d asked for, The Novel Writer’s Blueprint, since I’m hoping it will help me kick some butt with my writing. And Lori popped over too with her two girls. Lori and I were in the photo collection Faces and a Cause shot by Lou Truss. She’d come all the way across town to buy two of the books! So, how is that for awesome? It was a delight to see everyone.

But then they left, and I was alone again.

Stage Three: Stand UP.

This is when a lady named Karen took her shift at the book store. She was working at the front of the shop greeting customers as they browsed the aisles. Karen came over to my table as I sat there feeling uncomfortable.

“You’ll never sell anything that way. You have to stand up.”

“Oh?!”

I stood up.

“Yeah,” she tells me. “You have to stand up and say hello to people. Have you got anything to give them?”

“I’ve got these?” I showed her my business cards that look like book.

“Bookmarks! Great, ask if they want a bookmark,” she suggested.

“Ok.”

(Of course this wasn’t our exact conversation – but it’s the gist. Karen also introduced me to another fellow who worked at the shop, who was, apparently “as shy as you are!”)

Chapters

So, I stood up and handed out ‘bookmarks’. The first person I offered a bookmark to rejected the offer with a decisive “no.”

“That’s okay, you asked her and that’s what matters,” encouraged Karen.

I did. I did ask her. She said no, and it didn’t physically hurt me. Besides, honestly, if someone doesn’t want the bookmark, it saves me one bookmark for someone who does want it!

For the rest of the time I was there, I was literally springing bookmarks on people. They would be whizzing by, and I was like “HEY YOU! TAKE A BOOK MARK!!”

(Well, okay, I was more like “Would you like a bookmark!!!!?!!!!!”)

Some people said no. But, several people said, “okay,” and of those a handful of them stopped to actually ask what the book was about, and of those I actually sold about three copies. And all of that happened in about 30 minutes of standing and throwing bookmarks at people. Imagine how it would have gone if I’d been doing that the entire time?

. . .

THEREFORE, it was a very worthwhile event. And standing up to launch bookmark assaults on customers felt far better than sitting down and hiding behind the pile of unsold books. It was still awkward, but it was good awkward. It felt kinda . . .adventurous.

So, good first signing! It was scary, and I reckon they’ll keep being scary but at least I know I can (at least) stand up and say hello. Maybe one of these days I’ll wander into the aisle and chase potential readers through the book stacks. Maybe…

And that is the story of my very first book signing event. Thumbs up for learning.

 

P.S. I used to work at that Chapters for about three years. Back when I met Zsolt and kept flying between Canada and Hungary, they essentially funded the plane fare by allowing me to pick up work whenever I was back in Canada.