Author Archives: iamkaren23

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About iamkaren23

I am a Canadian writer currently living in Aguascalientes, Mexico. When Glad Becomes Sad was published in 2009. Alive Again was published in March of 2015. Both are self-help books. I am currently writing fiction. The first book in the trilogy introduces the reader to a troubled child. In the second book he is diagnosed as being bipolar in his late teenage years. The third and final book in the trilogy follows his struggles as an adult. Estimated publication date is the spring of 2026.
Sep14

Thicker Than Smoke

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Thicker Than Smoke

It rained this morning. It’s a cloudy day. Smoke has rolled in from the wildfires surrounding East Wenatchee. But the air is charged with something far more potent. And it has felt that way since I arrived in May. It’s very different than the usual, and everyone is commenting on it.

The atmosphere here is tense and emotionally charged. And not in a good way. Uncertainty. Unsureness. Doubt. Ambiguity. Discontent. Vagueness. Anxiety. Fear. These are just some of the words people are using to describe it.

School has been in session for only a couple of weeks. There have already been lockdowns due to suspicious persons roaming nearby. Other states have already reported shootings. When I was in school it was accepted that the teacher was always right. By the time my kids were in school it had changed. The parents were always right, not the teachers. Today it seems like it has shifted again. The kids feel entitled and they are the ones who are always right. Unfortunately that only leads to more violence.

And then there was the assassination of Charlie Kirk this past week. Freedom of Speech is protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Just because you may not agree with the words of a speaker does not give you the right to kill him. This shouldn’t be a matter of Republican versus Democrat. This is man’s inhumanity to man we’re talking about . And Kirk’s murder was a senseless and horrible tragedy.

This morning at church the sermon was about the importance of prayer and forgiveness. If there were more of that our world wouldn’t be in such a mess right now. That’s right. The entire world. It doesn’t matter what country you live in.

And while we’re on the topic of church, I never cease to be amazed by the men who walk into church with a Bible in one hand and a gun in a holster on their hip. Or the women who carry guns in their purses. The church I attend now is a smaller one and I haven’t noticed it here, but when I went to some of the more mega-sized churches it was definitely noticeable. Of course I’ve also had the experience of being locked inside a Christian church in Mexico once the service began. All in the name of security. And scary.

That’s it for doom and gloom. I pray that this coming week is a peaceful one for everyone.

Sep13

When It Works

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When It Works

It’s a marvelous tool when it works. It enables me to write, work, bank, research and so much more. And I can do this from wherever I happen to be at the moment. But in order to do this, it requires a good internet signal with a secured connection as well as a variety of passwords.

I’ll start with the connection. In Mexico it’s an exercise in futility to do banking or make plane reservations between four and six in the afternoon. Otherwise I have a strong signal and encounter no problems. Where I am in East Wenatchee it’s a little more complicated. I usually have to reboot the modem at least once a day. And even then it can be slow.

Like this morning when I tried to do some banking. I couldn’t connect with my bank at all. I rebooted the modem. Then I was able to connect but it took forever to pay a bill. I postdated a payment this morning although payment isn’t due until sometime in October. That eliminates the frustration of not being able to connect or another slow connection closer to the due date.

Now on to passwords. I have pages of passwords.

It’s nice that some can be stored on my computer, but inevitably I’m asked to change them for one reason or another. Once again, that happened this morning. I’m thinking maybe because it was taking too long to log in to the website. And when I finally did get on the first time I couldn’t do anything so that my bank didn’t believe it was me. Until I reset my password.

Do you remember when you had to go in person to a bank to pay a bill? Somehow the inconvenience of finding a parking space and standing in line seem less frustrating now than they did years ago.

Maybe I’m showing my age.

Sep6

Take This Drug

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Take This Drug

The mountains have disappeared for a change. There are wildfires burning all around us. All we have are masks to protect us. Why isn’t there a drug to combat the effect of smoke on the body?

There are drugs for just about everything else. Hypertension. Memory Loss. Constipation. Weight Loss. Heartburn. Arthritis. Sciatica. Hair Loss. Depression. And those are just a handful of the commercials I zap through when I watch TV.

The side effects alone are enough to dissuade me from ever using them. But unfortunately many people tend to ignore the warnings and are only more than eager to take these wonder??? drugs. Especially when some doctors are more than willing to prescribe them.

Kickbacks. How tempting these are for medical professionals; far too often too tempting to resist. The result is that patients often take inappropriate drugs that may not benefit them or indeed may even prove harmful to them.

One of the most controversial regarding kickbacks is Ozempic. I personally have a friend who two years ago lost a substantial amount of weight. However she has found that not only has the weight crept back on when she discontinued the use of this drug, but other health issues have surfaced. This miracle drug has been around for approximately six years. Unfortunately, research regarding its usage, especially long-term, is just not readily available yet.

Seniors are especially vulnerable when it comes to the drugs which claim to improve memory. I personally know people who hungrily grab at the latest drug on the market in a futile attempt to improve their memory or to prevent more memory loss.

It is important to check with your pharmacist about how these wonder drugs will interact with the drugs you are already on for other health conditions. Your pharmacist is far more knowledgeable about these than your doctor. Seriously consider the potential side effects. They can prove to be deadly.

As for me, I will continue to zap through the commercials advertising all these products. These drugs have no place in my life.

Sep2

When You’ve Gone Through The Entire Alphabet

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When You’ve Gone Through The Entire Alphabet

It’s time to go back to Plan A, second time around. Or maybe it’s third or fourth time around. I’m really not sure. But I’ll have to see if this Plan A works out.

I had hoped to publish two books this summer. But it looks like it will be next spring. Far too complicated to publish in Canada while I’m still in the USA or in Mexico. And I’ve decided to go straight back to Mexico next month instead of taking any side trips to Canada.

And that’s okay. The third book in the trilogy will be ready to publish in the spring.

I did an interesting workshop online the other day. It was all about choosing titles for books. Right now I have a title carved in stone for the first book of the trilogy. Now I have some new ideas to toss around for the second and third books.

It’s September and the kids are all back in school. School Year’s Eve is over. And that date varied from state to state. Actually the term School Year’s Eve was a new one for me. I guess I watched too many TV commercials this year. That term was never around when I was a child nor when my kids were school-age.

It’s September and temperatures in the 100s are still in the forecast for this week. I hope I’ll still be around to see the leaves change color. Fall has become my favorite season.

Talk about plans changing……………..booking flights today was on my radar but Alaska’s website appears to have the flu today, or maybe it’s that new strain of Covid. Whatever. Or maybe someone up there doesn’t want me to book flights. Hmmmmm.

And now I’ll turn to a different type of writing. I need to make some notes to be read at book club later this week.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Aug29

Not So Typical

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Not So Typical

While this past week has been a busy one, it has also been not so typical. But I’ll start with the weather. Way too hot and way too muggy. It started early this year and looks like it’s still going to be around for a while. No rain in sight, not around here. But last night there were quite a few lightning strikes in other parts of the state that triggered wildfires.

The USA had issued a Level 4 Do Not Travel advisory a couple of weeks ago to certain states in Mexico, one of them being Sinaloa. It looks like this will be the second winter in a row that I will be unable to visit with my Mexican family in Culiacan due to all the cartel activity and violence. And I fear for the safety of my five nietos.

Here in Washington I met a woman when I was doing volunteer work. She is currently going through an ugly divorce and has decided to change her name. Okay, I get that. Once I’m legally divorced I also might do that. But I doubt that I’d turn it into a three day reclaiming celebration involving wineries and parties. And there’s also the matter of the invitation to attend the official hearing at the Court House in Wenatchee. Nope. That’s a little too bizarre, even for me.

Last night I heard from a long lost friend in Mazatlan asking me to transfer money to her Mexican bank account. When I lived in Mazatlan I had helped her out before with a few pesos from time to time. After all, we used to bake some awesome brownies together back then.

Here’s another not so typical. Linda and I went to Costco earlier in the week and I didn’t buy a single thing. No groceries. No clothes. Not even a hot dog. Very unusual.

I was sitting sipping coffee out on the patio at Weeds in Cashmere yesterday when I struck up a conversation with two women from Quincy. They had a beautiful, exceptionally well-behaved dog with them. I’d love to have a dog again. But then there is the matter of my constant travels between countries that pretty much rules out pet ownership.

The other day I went out to Lake Chelan with a friend from my writing group. Donna had grown up there decades ago and it was interesting seeing this area through her eyes. So many changes. Buildings torn down. High volume of tourist traffic. A street of condominiums where her grandparents’ house had once stood. Her childhood home gone. A very different view from the Lake Chelan that I’ve come to know in the past few years.

And now it’s Friday. I wonder if this will be a not so typical weekend too.

Aug23

More Memories

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More Memories

August 23, 2009. International Peace Gardens. Murals in Boissevain. Morden Corn and Apple Festival. I’m exhausted just thinking that I did all that in one day. Solo too. But people who know me are well aware that if I want to travel somewhere, I don’t always wait to find someone who wants to go with me. I just go.

I had always wanted to visit the International Peace Gardens. When I was a child, some of my friends went to a music camp there in the summer. I envied them. I actually auditioned, was accepted but never did go. My parents were not in favor of it. Growing up in the shadow of an older sibling, their expectations were that I would do what he had done. And attending this camp was never anything he had done. I think that maybe this contributed to my urge to be a non-conformist and somewhat of a rebel. At any rate, it has definitely influenced my determination to explore and seek adventure in life.

Here it is, decades later, and I am able to spend a few hours at the Peace Gardens. Aside from the beautiful flower gardens, I found tranquility in The Peace Chapel. There was a monument to 9/11. The Peace Tower and The Bell Tower were rather formidable. I hope that someday I will have an opportunity to revisit this area.

I drove through Boissevain admiring all the murals I’d heard about. And then it was time to lighten the mood at the Corn and Apple Festival, an event I’d attended on previous visits to Morden.

Since 2010, most of my August 23rds have been spent in Mexico or in Washington. But there is one August 23rd that stands out in my memory and it happened years before 2009, years before I had Facebook to remind me of memories. It was a celebration in Winnipeg that actually filled the entire weekend. It involved one of my kids and sadly many people who are no longer with us today. I do have photos that are backed up on an external hard drive. Think I might just go and check them out.

Enjoy your weekend!

Aug16

I Will Always Call Her Kimmy

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I Will Always Call Her Kimmy

When my daughter was born, I was surprised, no let’s call it shocked. You see, I’d had the same difficult pregnancy, had carried the same way and was positive that it was going to be another boy. I recall a nurse asking me what name I had chosen, and I recall blurting out Kevin Matthew. She reassured me that I had just given birth to a girl and that I needed to think of another name.

So I did. I called my daughter Kelly Melinda, at least for the first twenty-four hours. But then I caved. Family all chided me and said I couldn’t have a Kyle, Kelly and Kelsey. They all sounded too alike. Kyle was my son and Kelsey was my dog.

After a somewhat tense discussion, my ex and I decided on Kimberly instead of Kelly. Mara, her middle name, was my ex’s idea. He didn’t like Melinda. So now I had a Kimmy instead of a Kelly.

And it was all good until she announced that she wanted to be called Kim, not Kimmy. Okay, she’s in her forties now and she made this decision when she was only six or seven, but I still call her Kimmy. And when Kyle and I talk about her, it’s always Kimmy.

The other day I was doing a video call with my granddaughter Madeline. She pouted annoyedly and said to her mom, “Did you hear what Grandma just called you?” Out came the guns; once again my daughter criticizing me for calling her Kimmy. Apparently I’m the worst mom in the world because I still call her Kimmy.

I don’t care. Judge me all you want. It was hard enough giving up Kelly. But don’t ask me to give up another name. I will always call her Kimmy.

Aug7

Thursday Musings

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Thursday Musings

The other day I was talking to a friend about how our lives have changed since Covid. While I don’t hide inside, I don’t over program myself the way I once did. One activity goes on my calendar a day. Then whatever happens…well, it happens.

Today is August 7th and the activity on the calendar was book club. We met at a park near the Pybus Market in Wenatchee and had a lovely picnic. We had a beautiful view of the river and the boat launch which added to our enjoyment.

But the day was far from over. After a delicious lunch and lively discussion of books, Joanne and I were off to Cashmere. We volunteer at the library for kids’ events. Today was the party for the end of summer reading program. I helped the kids make party poppers. They then went to another area where they got to play games with their party poppers. There were also other tables with more crafts for the kids to make.

After the party, we wandered over to the Methodist church for a community dinner. I met new people and even invited one of them to attend the next meeting of our writers group in Wenatchee.

Last stop was Bath and Body Works at the mall in East Wenatchee. I love my Champagne Toast! It has replaced my all-time favorite of Warm Vanilla Sugar.

It’s after seven and I’m finally home. And it’s reflection time.

On August 7th, 1992 I lovingly held Kelsey in my arms when he took his last breath. He’d led a happy and healthy life until then. Although it’s been years, I still think of him often. And I imagine him surrounded by other furry playmates up in doggie heaven.

Jul31

Tsunami. Flash Flood. Cinnamon Buns. Gnomes. Costco. Yale.

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Tsunami. Flash Flood. Cinnamon Buns. Gnomes. Costco. Yale.

The week began with tsunami warnings for the coastal areas in Washington State. Flash flood warnings for the northern Cascades. Heavy rainfall in the northern part of the state. Hence the flash flood warnings. Hopefully no thunder boomers. Lightning tends to hit trees and start wildfires.

Tuesday morning. Stopped in at the Sure to Rise Bakery in Cashmere for a cinnamon bun. Strode down to the Spirit of America 9/11 Memorial for some quiet contemplation.

Gnomes. Cashmere is known for its gnomes. Pick up a brochure at the visitor center and go on a hunt for these creatures. I actually did that once. Now I just glance at them along with their cute little homes.

Did I say gnomes homes? On Tuesday afternoon I volunteered at a program at the library where I fired a glue gun for a couple of hours. Kids eagerly built homes for gnomes. This is an annual activity at the library that is always so well attended. There was an abundance of craft materials ranging from birchbark to feathers and everything in between. And these kids are all so creative!

I did it again. I signed up yesterday for another online course from Yale University. Psychology this time. The videos this week are all about the brain. Interesting and at the same time a little scary.

Extremely hot and muggy here in East Wenatchee. Rain early this morning. So far just isolated drizzle this afternoon. And the 90 plus degree heat wave is forecast to continue for another few days.

On a cloudy and gloomy afternoon it’s a good day to go out for lunch and then cruise through Costco. So we did. Fall clothes and Halloween decorations have no appeal to me, not where I go in October. But I do enjoy browsing. It brings back fond memories of when my kids and I used to decorate our house for Halloween.

Bye Bye July!

Jul28

Winthrop WA

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Winthrop WA

Winthrop is a delightful mountain town located in the Methow Valley. From the wooden boardwalks to the rustic storefronts, the downtown area has the authentic feel of a town right out of the wild west. The shops are filled with interesting souvenirs ranging from western gear to fridge magnets. The art galleries and the bookstore were also engaging.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at Three Fingered Jack’s Saloon, a midpoint of our stroll through the downtown area. We passed on the chocolate at the candy store as well as the ice cream. It would all melt far too quickly in the 90 plus degrees on this sunny Saturday.

Fly fishing, hiking and mountain biking are popular activities in the summer months. Cross-country skiing and snow-shoeing attract visitors during the winter months.

There are also a variety of quaint options for lodging in the area, many of which are located along the river. A short drive takes you to Twisp, a town that boasts a senior center and thrift shop as well as a marijuana outlet. Another short drive takes you to Pateros, another small town with a marvelous bakery as well as a waterfront park complete with boat launches.

I highly recommend this day trip. The scenery along the way is quite spectacular. Mountains, rivers and waterfalls. Washington is such a beautiful state.