Just Me

  Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash As someone who is profoundly deaf, I have discovered one thing: If I want to drive safely and effectively, I have to stay focused on what is ahead of me. This is what I learned when I was learning how to drive. I read lips in addition to relying on sign language, and so if I want to know what someone is saying, I have to look at them.    This could spell disaster if I am driving, because that means taking my eyes off of the road. Not a good idea if I can’t hear anything! (Well, not a good idea, in general.) So I learned that the best thing to do when I am driving is to just stay focused on driving and not so much on having conversations while driving.    The thing of it is, though, is that most hearing people like having conversations while in the car. I have noticed that drivers are often talking with passengers while driving, and that people who drive taxis will often chat with their fares. In fact, as an author, I ha...

  Happy Halloween!   This month was quite a challenge for me on many levels. I was sick for weeks and that put a dent in my ability to write. Fortunately, I DID get some writing done. Yay! I also managed to finish writing the October ebook this month. Woot! I actually finished writing it today. What a nice way to celebrate Halloween! And a nice way to end a month. Now for NaNoWriMo!   My kids also had their birthdays this month. My oldest is now 21 and that was quite a change! I’m both happy and sad he’s 21 now. He’s just growing so fast! My youngest is now 15 and all he can think about is getting his driver’s permit.   This month’s books I read include books I finished reading which I started reading last month and books I read this month. The numbers reflect how many books I have read so far this year. I was very pleased to see that I have read over 100 books so far this year. Awesome! I think it surpasses one of my other reading challenges for a year...

  Several years ago, one of my kids, who was a teenager, asked me if I could help out a friend. At this time, this friend identified as female. This person was also sexually active (the two of them were the same age) and recently, this person had sex with their boyfriend. Unfortunately, the condom their partner wore leaked, and this person was terrified of becoming pregnant. This person DID NOT want to be a teen mom! They planned to finish high school and go to college. They had dreams to chase after.   So my oldest asked me if I would help them to get emergency contraception (EC). At the time, I was not well-versed with the law about this sort of thing, but I did know that ECs were available for free at clinics. However, I was wary of opting to help out, because I didn’t know if it was legal to do so. I didn’t know if it was legal to help a minor obtain emergency birth control. I also did not want to interfere in what should have been something that their mom would need t...