All that Jazz

I love this trend of talking about ourselves and being able to explore the people behind the stories. Kayleigh Fraser had this AMAZING idea, and we can keep it going! Here are ten things about me. Please feel free to comment with your commentary! Who else keeps thinking about the movie “10 Things I Hate About You” while writing this prompt???

1. I have worked as a nurse for over four years. The areas I worked in included ICU and ER. While I loved working in a hospital for many reasons, I ultimately decided to get into preventative care. During COVID, I worked in the ICU and still have PTSD from that experience.

2. I am an extrovert with introvert-like tendencies. I am excellent in groups, but I have a social battery that, when it runs out, I'm FRIED. Much like Kayleigh, I absorb people's energy, and I have to be careful about that. Hence, I couldn't be in trauma situations anymore, and I would cry every time I lost a patient. Every. Single. Time.

3. My husband and I are super into health and wellness and biohacking. We try all the products and theories on what to do for a more productive body, such as cold showers and peptide therapies. My current obsession is our new 8sleep, a cover for the mattress that regulates the temperature of your bed. Super high-tech. If you have questions about any biohacking-type things, we are the people to ask.

4. I LOVE music so much. I am not super musically inclined for instruments, though I minimally play the guitar and piano. I love to sing. My daughter and I sing constantly. Her two memorable bedtime songs are “You are My Sunshine” and a song I remember from Barney that she affectionately calls “I Love You Song.”

5. I play competitive tennis and practice 2/3 times a week. My husband is a tennis coach, and we both share a love for tennis that is simply divine. We are teaching our five-year-old, and she will probably be better than me.

6. My favorite trait for people is free will. One thing you may notice in my poetry and writings is that I commonly refer to people's decisions and how they must accept the consequences of those decisions. I’m incredibly open-minded and love to debate to know other sides of a person or issue. I wish more people could see how powerful we are as humans to make decisions and that we are architects of our universe; there is no right path. Follow your path!

7. I am making a writing course to help people write poetry. It will be self-led but with prompts and meetings with me. I know some people struggle with writing, and all I want to do is help and learn from others. I find that a course is a BEAUTIFUL way to make that happen.

8. When I originally signed up for Vocal, it was to keep myself accountable. However, being on the site, I want to be more involved. I want to collaborate and make more with others, such as my poems with Poppy the Poet and Real Poetic. They were a blast, and I loved seeing how they managed to work with me. The podcast was also a product of wanting to get more exposure for other writers, and I'm so glad Vocal has been a part of that process.

9. I rarely brush my hair unless it's a night I ask my husband to touch it for me. My hair is curly and kinky and tends to puff up like a poodle, so for the most part, I let it be wild. However, the feeling of having my brush is close to orgasmic, so it's nice when he brushes it for me.

10. Ten Things is a lot of things to write about myself, jeez. Last, my husband and I Co-parent our daughter with my ex-husband and his wife exceptionally well. We often hang out together at their house, and my ex-husband's wife is one of my best friends (she was even at my wedding to my husband!) I know many situations aren't like this, but I am fortunate and grateful to my blended family.

Well, that's what I got so far, maybe I'll write more. But for now, there's 10 things about me.