Author: Karen

I am an RN, Author, Coach, and Speaker. I write novels about relationships to help people find insight into their own. I guide people to create comfort, clarity, and connection in their lives. By combining metaphysical tools with over twenty-five years of nursing experience, I infuse the 'art of nursing' into my practice by providing partnership and resources help people compassionately honor their health.

Clear the clutter: get real

by Karen, posted in family, Midlife Crisis, my one word, no fear, relationships, writing

I'm still thinking about my New Year's Resolution: my one word that morphed into two words: Edit and Focus. After beginning the process of setting up a home office and the necessary decluttering that has come along with that, I am thinking it makes sense to continue the momentum that I've got built up and "take … Continue reading Clear the clutter: get real

Home Office: Post book purge

by Karen, posted in books, education, my one word, Work from Home

It took several days and lots of cold hard decision-making, but the purge is (almost) complete. It was interesting (and sad) for me to note that I had no less than 5 books about Simplifying My Life. We don't know when we'll be transitioned to working at home but we've pretty much been told to … Continue reading Home Office: Post book purge

Date night: afternoon movie

by Karen, posted in baking, Date night, family, friends, movies, relationships

We haven't had a babysitter in a while so we decided to watch a movie at home. Next up in the Netflix Queue was The Company Men. We found out about this movie from the preview of another movie (don't ask me which one).  I was surprised to know that it was a relatively recent … Continue reading Date night: afternoon movie

Setting up a home office, continued: the purge

by Karen, posted in books, my one word, Work from Home

I've been reading Mary Carlomango's book Live More, Want Less slowly over a period of months. It's organized into 52 chapters and my initial intent was to read a chapter a week (as the author suggested), then implement the "action items"  listed at the end of each chapter to help pare down my belongings, hopefully simplifying my … Continue reading Setting up a home office, continued: the purge

Date night at the Ogunquit Playhouse

by Karen, posted in Date night, family, local fun, relationships, Someone's gotta say it, tweens

Avenue Q opened up the season at the Ogunquit Playhouse this year. The show is sort of a perversion of Sesame Street that is funny as hell and certainly worth seeing. The night we went was during one of the Bruins' Playoff games (season ticket holders have only limited say over what night the tickets … Continue reading Date night at the Ogunquit Playhouse

Setting up a home office, Part Four: Flooring

by Karen, posted in my one word, Work from Home

We had a Berber carpet down in the room. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing except that it wasn't a wood floor and that's what we both really wanted. After we bought the house we planned to replace that floor at some point, and had been talking about it for about 5 years or so. We … Continue reading Setting up a home office, Part Four: Flooring

Setting up my home office, Part Three: Paint

by Karen, posted in Life in the cube, no fear, Work from Home

The walls and ceiling of the office-to-be are white, so at least it will be easy to cover. Earlier this month I went paint color shopping with my husband at Lowe's. I spent an hour browsing through all of the paint samples. My favorite color is yellow so that's where I started out, but then … Continue reading Setting up my home office, Part Three: Paint

Creating a home office, Part Two: Choosing a desk

by Karen, posted in quest for the best, Work from Home

Choosing the desk was the next step. I have to be ready when the tech person comes out to set up my computer equipment so I must have a place for them to set it up on! Finding a desk sounds easy enough on paper, doesn't it? It's not. Well, if your space can accommodate … Continue reading Creating a home office, Part Two: Choosing a desk

A (working) room of one’s own

by Karen, posted in family, good grief, Life in the cube, writing

As part of some, um, reorganization of staff at my place of employment, I have been given the opportunity to work from home. This will start on or before August 5, at which time Life in the Cube (as I've known it) will basically be coming to an end.  As exciting as this prospect sounds to … Continue reading A (working) room of one’s own

All things cupcake

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, friends, local fun, Midlife Crisis, quest for the best, restaurants

My friend Charlotte asked me a question today: " Who has the best cupcakes?" On the surface, it seems an easy enough question, right?  Wrong! I tried to apply my "Keep it simple" philosophy to this question but found I was not able to. I mean, come on! So here goes my attempt to answer … Continue reading All things cupcake