My life has been twisty and interesting and wonderful and horrible.
My brain is busy and non-linear.
I like to write. I am open and vulnerable. I like to have honest conversations.
So the quick and dirty on who I am and where I’ve been…
Grew up in an emotionally unstable and unhealthy family. Learned crap self-care of body and mind. Got fat. Had a lot of anger. Was socially anxious, shy, good at school, fit the profile of one to be bullied but wasn’t. Am currently estranged from my family of origin.
Went to college for music ed. Planned to work until I got married and had kids. A lot of things changed in college. Tumultuous. Hard. So much growth. Grateful to have gone through it and not to go through it again.
Taught band and played trombone for a few years in NJ before moving to AZ for grad school. Wanted to go somewhere hot and far away.
Trombone became a lesser priority; at this point, I don’t play at all. But I AM learning ukulele. It’s a lot of fun! It’s been a long time since I learned to play an instrument just for fun. Also revisiting piano on my terms, not college’s terms.
People who say musicals aren’t realistic because no one breaks into song and dance like that haven’t spent much time at my house.
Since graduating, I got married, had a kid, divorced, got remarried. I lost weight, got strong, got into and out of triathlon, got into and a little less into running (half marathons are too far, but 5Ks and 10Ks are a good time), got into rock climbing. I also do some hiking and recreational biking.
In that same chunk of time, I went through treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma, became vegetarian, became a personal trainer, started and ended a health and wellness business, became a podcaster and a photographer, started a photography business.
In teaching, I have presented at state-wide professional conferences where I learned that I love public speaking, conducted 6th grade All State as well as several district honor bands, wrote beginning band curriculum, became National Board Certified. I’ve taught 4th through 8th grade band and orchestra, 3rd grade recorders, pre-K through third grade general music, elementary adaptive music, junior high music theory, 6th grade and junior high hip hop, was an assistant director in high school, and taught jazz history at a community college.
In the health and wellness arena, I have given clinics and workshops on a variety of topics, did personal training, ran a couple of boot camp classes, ran “make and take” classes on personal care and household cleaning products, did one-on-one fat loss coaching. Still have one training client and take the opportunity to do clinics, classes, workshops whenever I can.
I am fascinated by psychology and brain plasticity. I have benefitted greatly from EMDR. I am a constant work in progress and am transparent about my experiences with depression.
I love to play board games, some card games. Logic puzzles are a great way for me to clear my head. (So is running.) Jigsaw puzzles are the worst. I enjoy reading but don’t do it as much as I would like. I resigned from teaching over COVID concerns and am currently creating a product to help people help their people with cancer. Also working through the process of publishing a book I wrote in 2020.
And on and on, but that’s a good place to start.
Oh! And click here for the story of how I came to be known as Heat.