Author Archives: Catherine Brunelle

Adventures of JUICING and BRUNCH

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BRUNCHToday I’m going to share with you an adventure in Brunch and Juicing. Okay, so that’s a bit less thrilling sounding than my Adventures of Claire Never-Ending, but this is real life baby, and real life only gets really dramatic once in a while. And thank goodness today wasn’t a dramatic sort-of day.

This morning I walked from my lovely apartment in Vanier to my brother and his girlfriend’s home. It was only about a 30 minute walk, but oh-my-god I was so knackered you wouldn’t believe it. For some reason, I’d had a pounding headache that started yesterday evening and lasted all the way through to today. But, there was no thoughts of cancelling the pre-arranged brunch. This was brunch, after all. No one in their right mind (or good bodily condition) cancels lunch.

So, I threw on my dress that Zsolt describes as a giant “Greek flag”, dark prescription sunglasses, too-big-but-I-LOVE-it fedora hat and turquoise scarf. Basically, I must have looked incredibly hung-over. But you know how headaches are, sunlight starts to hurt.

45 minutes later and I’m at their apartment. Don’t ask me where those extra 15 minutes of walking came from. I blame the exhaustion.

Knock on the door. Go in the apartment. Say hi to Bro and his lovely lady. Next thing that happens, I ask my brother to needle me.

“Needle what?!” You might be asking.

Needle ME. He is an acupuncturist practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine (and personal trainer too, as well as a Qi Gong teacher). Lately he’s been treating me to help with relaxation, because Lord, it’s stressful lately (duh). So he has me sit on the sofa and then starts sticking the needles into my foot. I’m one giant pain-baby, but it’s mostly okay. Not even needle pinches, but the ones that do fade away pretty quick. After it fades, you’re left with a strange feeling. I guess that’s the Qi working it’s magic.

Anyhow, we do that. And he needles between my feet, hands, and face. Then we breathe together. Meanwhile, his very lovely partner is in the kitchen preparing BRUNCH. In and out, he’s got me breathing through my belly. It’s good. I’m relaxing despite the headache. It’s very good . . .

Fast-forward thirty minutes: the needles are out and I’m downstairs in his garden cutting out pieces of organic kale and char for the BRUNCH and JUICING. We’re out there working, and suddenly I realized that my headache has dropped from a 8 to a 2 . .  . it’s barely there and getting better and better. So today is a special day, because today I’m admitting my older brother is right –there may be something behind his acupuncture work, and frankly, I’m amazed it dispelled a headache that was pounding all-night-long. (Much like some neighbours were doing as well at 3am with techno music blaring. But that’s another story. Zing!)

Anyhow: to my bro JP, thank you for the help.

New folder

After we gather the veg, (which my brother insisted we harvest with the intention of getting good mojo from the leaves) we headed up into the kitchen to join his girlfriend in the BRUNCH making.

I just freaking love BRUNCH.

Juicing

JP gets out the juicer while his girlfriend (who I should ask, I guess, if I can use her actual name sometime) starts making this amazing omelet thing with garlic shoots, goat cheese, fresh garden-grown tomatoes (I’m hungry again just writing this. Seriously. Food, please!) makes the food and checks the potatoes.

My brother is a juicing wizard. In goes the carrots, the ginger, the kale in bunches and the apples – out comes this glorious green juice. We drink it immediately and it’s so freaking delish. Maybe it’s a mental thing, but how can you not feel more healthy while downing that green JUICE?

And next thing the food is ready, we at the table eating, and Catherine is very, very happy.

Having started the day feeling exhausted, hung-over (without having drank or done anything fun the night before), and aching in the brain . . . it was just such a lovely time. It was such a lovely time, and I thought today I might share something entirely lovely with you.

So to JP and You-Know-Who, thank you so much for having me over for BRUNCH and JUICE!

Now in other news . . .

Amelia excerpt titleI’ve made the first excerpt PDF for you to read from my novel. The Kickstarter campaign doesn’t start yet, but I am collecting emails if you want to sign up to be notified. But in the meanwhile, give this a read and see what you think of the first Claire. Her name is Amelia Claire Earl. Enjoy!

Happy Bunny vs. Angry Bunny

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

Today is Sunday, and it’s a really beautiful day outside. We have lovely Sunday plans: farmer’s market in the morning, brunch with the family and then a friend is getting married – I’m entirely honoured to be invited to attend her incredible event. (While also thinking of another friend out west who was recently married, and wishing I could have been there.)

bunny

The past week has been hectic, with appointments flying out of the unicorn’s butt in magical rainbow bursts. Sorry, that’s weird, I saw a picture the other day and it made me laugh. But really, that’s just weird.

It’s been busy. I’m trying to implement some kind of push-back routine into my life, that involves things like mistletoe injections, coffee colonics, juicing, fresh garlic, Vitamin C IV treatments (more on that later), visiting naturopaths, going to acupuncture clinics, trying to connect with a social worker, and maybe even moving from my most loved apartment since the neighbour downstairs is a chain-smoker who won’t be stopping anytime soon.

So, we’re pushing.

One thing is different in me, so I’m going to talk about it now. I have been getting very angry. First I was(still kinda am) a little angry with Dr. Canada for his bleak perspective of this situation. Then I became very angry with my downstairs neighbour who won’t take his smoking outside. And then, I became angry with my upstairs neighbour who kept us up all night with moving and other loud activities. And then, I became angry on a friend’s behalf over something someone said, which I think no one else even noticed or would have cared about.

It’s not like I’m taking my anger out on these people. But Zsolt gets an earful.

And it’s not like I’m walking around angry every second, because there are awesome things happening too . It’s just that I get ANGRY quickly. My fuse has been cut very short. I suppose my ability to recover still remains, but it’s hard to shake off this deep bubbling anger – it’s like a lava that wants to explode and keeps looking for avenues of eruption. I’m not really sure where to direct the energy. Can I tell-off an innocent stranger, neighbour or doctor just because I’m a walking time-bomb of emotion? No.

So where does it go? I literally have no idea. Ideas are welcome.

But in the meanwhile some good things are happening too. The other day I wore an awesome outfit that included a green shirt, black skirt and a bright orange belt. I felt so very pretty, and that was a good help because it was also the day I went for the diagnosis. But even amongst that crap, I am pleased with that lovely outfit. (So you can see now how often I dress up:. not enough!)

Last night was a lantern festival here. It’s amazing to walk through the darkness and let your eyes settle onto these randomly glowing lanterns and light sculptures. I felt outside of myself and lost in that night-feeling. It’s a wonderful thing.

Blogging will be taking another step forward in this beloved neighbourhood, Vanier, where I live, and I’m so excited to be involved! More on that later.

And then just this morning my friend Ian Kirkpatrick said he’ll work on my book cover! I’m absolutely thrilled. We met Ian and his gorgeous/brilliant wife back when we first moved to England. Since then his art has seemed to explode in all kinds of cool directions. It’s wonderful to see your friends succeed.

Oh, and tomorrow I’ll be meeting with a very well established erotic romance author and friend to talk ebooks. Exciting!!!

I’ve started an email list for anyone who wants to be notified when my crowd funding goes live in September. Seeing the names pile up on that list makes me realize that this is real, and that is awesome. I want this to be REAL. If you want to read about the book, you can do so here (I’ll soon be posting excerpts). If you want to sign up for an email once we get rolling with the campaign, you can do that here too!

And now: Time for a farmer’s market!!

Not awesome news

Posted in Bumpboobs, Life by

I don’t have too much to say today. The news is as expected – the breast cancer has come back, and it is in my lungs. Dr. Canada was very kind and caring as always, but his message was a difficult one to hear. Essentially, he told me to get on it if I have any ‘big wishes’.

The cells appear to be weakly estrogen positive, which isn’t great news (it would be much better if they were strongly estrogen positive like the first time, but I guess it changed). But nevertheless, we will try turning off my ovaries for a couple months and see what effect that has. If the cancer is held at bay – then great! If not, then chemotherapy will happen.

But man, he paints a bleak picture. Basically saying how (which I already know) cancer can keep coming back approach after approach. He also said we’re going to have to depend upon future treatments that are being developed. So FUCK in a FUCK BUCKET because while that’s nice and all, “future” isn’t today, and today is when I could really use a cure to this disease. And then he was saying that when people have a ‘limited amount of time’ they don’t want to spend it being sick with chemotherapy. I hate to say this, but he doesn’t really sound hopeful, does he?

Don’t worry, I’ll get my positivity back. I have a disposition toward optimism.

I guess the good news is that today I’m not dying. Today I just have cancer. Right now I can breathe, and walk, and function – which means I can try every damn thing available (and affordable) to beat the fucker back. I’m going to see what happens with alternative approaches alongside the medical ones. Dr. Canada gave me two months before checking in on the cancer again, so I’m going to be doing my very, very best in that time. It’s literally the least I can do.

And today I guess we’ll lay in bed and cry a little bit. Then tomorrow we’ll get up, get going and keep pushing back. That’s about all I can promise for now.

I wish this could have been a post for miracles, but maybe they’re still working their way over? Who knows? Each day is a freaking miracle, that much I know for sure.