cbialczak1971

Who I am (2019)….

I have been blogging now for a little over a year, my Blogging Anniversary was September 11th. Ironic to start blogging on such a historic day. Reading what I wrote on the first day of blogging, I can honestly say that my intentions, to get ideas out to people, is still a major motivation for blogging. I have found, however, other aspects of blogging that have become such a big part of my life now, I don’t know how I lived without Stine Writing before.

Back on my first day I wrote about how I am an author of four children’s books. Penelope, Penelope’s New Puppy, Penelope Picks her Pals, and Penelope Still Picks Suzie. These books were written for my great-niece Penelope. The best one is Penelope’s New Puppy! Penelope Picks her Pals is an alphabet and alliteration book. Many of the names used in the book are kids of friends and family members. Penelope Still Picks Suzie is about friendship, despite behaviors and judgement. When I first started teaching, I taught at a clinical day school for socially/emotionally disturbed children who had been outplaced from their home school after many attempts to keep them safe in a typical school. I found through that teaching that there are many parents who hear about “that kid” from their own kids. It is true. “That kid” does disrupt the class, draws extra energy from the teacher, makes learning more difficult, and makes learning that much harder. Although it is true, that kid probably carries around more baggage than the most f—-ed up adult! The last thing they need is total isolation. Am I saying they are wanted in a typical class? Haha, of course not! But when your child says that they are friends with “that kid”, it isn’t always so bad.

I continue to blog because I have made many connections, friendships you could say, with fellow bloggers. Not all of them, of course. I love to see the number of people following me increase but I still stand by my “friends” to keep me going everyday. I feel like if I was to travel anywhere in the world, I could ask one of these friends to see them and they would welcome me without hesitation! I, of course, would do the same.

Blogging has also been a place for me to better my writing skills, increase my writing tendencies, and read so much more than I ever have before. I write poetry now, which I never thought I was good at. A lot of it is silly, but much of it is true effort. I love writing my Cat in the Hat fanfiction poetry. All of my work is not for everyone but if it makes one person smile or think that much harder, then I did it!

Within my blog you will learn a lot about me. I lost my husband of 21 years in 2018, lost my 19 year old son in 2019, have a beautiful daughter who is 22, and have a boyfriend who has been solidly by my side for almost two full years. I love my dog and my guinea pigs. I draw, I build miniatures, I have an Etsy store (Stine Writing: https://www.etsy.com/shop/StineWriting?ref=seller-platform-mcnav), I make handbound journals, I crochet…the list sort of just keeps growing. I am “retired” from teaching, even though I am technically way to young to retire, but chose to do so after losing my son. Now I craft, I blog, and I enjoy the life that I now live.

I am grateful to all of my family, my friends, my fellow-bloggers, and everyone else who supports me and all I do!

Peace to you all!

14 comments

  1. It was nice to get to know you a little better. I’m sorry to read of your losses. I can’t even imagine losing my soulmate or son or one of our daughters much less more than one of my loved ones so close together. I’m glad you have your daughter’s support and your hobbies to help you deal with the grief. I know it’s still there and will always be apart of you even though times are probably a bit easier for you now. God bless you, my dear!

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  3. Hi Stine,

    Thanks for visiting my work. I have a few moments so thought I’d learn a bit about you. I liked what you said above because while I don’t have the poetry gene, I am driven and greatly entertained by reading, or creating and sharing stories.

    I’m not as new a blogger as you, but with about 5+ years into it, share many of your observations and values. This community has become very important to me and become a nearly daily part of my world.

    I don’t know how driven you are by short stories but most of mine fit into 10 minutes or less with only a few creeping up to longer sit-down and reads. i hope if you’ve not done so already that you’ll check out my story blog, see how I laid out my offerings, and explore my 3 collections. I don’t do horror or other dark topic but focus only on things that are clean and entertaining. In particular, you might enjoy some of my “I Recall” stories which are first person adventures that actually happened to me and are told through the eyes of a very young boy. My model puts the reader there right next to the adventure so they can be a lot of fun.

    Here’s the link to my site overview, but regardless of whether you come to visit, I’m so glad you took some time to read my story today. Blessings.

    About My Site

    oh – and I’m told that as part of my invitations, I should include a sample for new visitors to try out. The story below is from my very young days and is one of my all time favorites.

    The Giant Inner Tube Adventure

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  4. Thanks for the follow. I like the idea that blogging is to share ideas. That’s how I see it too. We do have a good community of bloggers and interacting with them is why I keep blogging too.

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  5. I am so sorry for your losses…such deep pain. I love your About…I too enjoy the connections I’ve made here since I began blogging in Summer 2011 (the current blog is newest/latest, the only one that I’m actually working 🙂 ) I met my best friend 10 years ago through our blogs–we’ve not met in person, but our daily emails sustain, support, entertain us both.

    Take good care, and I’ll keep you in my prayers. Thanks for visiting my blog so I’d know to hop over and meet you! 🙂 ❤

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