Originally intended to simply focus on book reviews, over time, KaliDesautelsReads has morphed into its own entity.
I write about issues that are near to my heart, be they political, feminist, motherhood, mental health, or, as the title holds, books.
A thirty-something Canadian woman in my mid-thirties, I have been “super married” to my high school sweetheart since 2006, and together we have two crazy, clever, kind, hilarious, wonderful kids.
My first book – How Not To Blog: Finding Myself, One Post at a Time is available on Amazon (in eBook formats for you clever tech readers, and paperback for those of us who love that new book smell!)
I have tried a podcast – it’s still on Apple and Google Podcasts – but writing is where my heart is.
My life changed dramatically when my husband was diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer in 2018, and I am now a writer for a leading Canadian Cancer Non-Profit.
I am lucky enough to have a family that loves me and pushes me to be my best, even if it is outside of my cushiony comfort zone. I have a village of friends that nourish me, mentally, and spiritually.
Welcome to my thoughts. Sit down. Stay a while. Enjoy a cup of coffee!
My mom shared this quote with me this week, and it could not be more timely. Next Monday, I will be stepping back into my career and my life as not just a cancer patient caregiver. I will be moving forward with my life and trying to regain a sense of normality for myself and my family. Dave will still be in recovery mode, but now that we know the cancer is in remission, we can focus on the healing, and let go of the fear. We are not going backwards, so I am squaring my shoulders, facing forward and getting ready for the next chapter of our lives.
I am so happy to be taking a deep breath, taking stock of where we are and making a lot of what is next. Also, literally any tips on how to do this with poise and grace would be GREATLY appreciated! 💗
Find yourself a place where you can go to be centred. Find yourself a place where you can feel at peace. Find yourself a place where you can feel strong. Find yourself a place where you can sit with yourself in silence. Find a place where you can breathe. Find yourself a place where you can just be.
I am so grateful to have found this space this year. I am so grateful to have found a studio that allows me to feel completely at peace and to align my body and mind and spirit.
Sometimes the best way to spend the day is touring your own backyard. This weekend saw me with these 3 ladies, and my brother as the DD, touring the local wineries in the Fraser Valley – Blackwood Lane Vineyards & Winery, Glass House Estate Winery, Chaberton Estate Winery, and Backyard Vineyards. I still prefer white and pink wine, however, there is a particularly tasty $150 red wine at @blackwoodlane that I very much enjoyed. Between the giggles, the broken down van, the cheeses and charcuteries and my amazing husband driving out to rescue us when the van broke down, and discussing the pros and cons of backyard chicken coops, it was a perfect way to celebrate a birthday, a new job, a cancer remission, and the glue that holds everything together (@ddduperron – that’s you). If you are in the British Columbia Fraser/Campbell Valley Area, take the time to visit some of our local wineries. In BC, our wines tend to be on the dry side, due to the way that grapes are grown and the seasons and weathers in which they grow, but they are worth a try, and it is amazing to have the opportunity to meet the winemakers and gain first hand knowledge.
I cannot thank everyone enough for making my first days back to work awesome. I am so happy to be back, to have things to do, people to talk to, and ideas to share.
My wonderful Memere sent me flowers for the first day back, and today I completed my first task on track.
Aeryon Snoöze is a life saver! Between life as a cancer caregiver, a mama, a writer, and making time for my health, sometimes sleep does not come easily, so when I was asked to give Snoöze a try, I jumped at the chance! Heading into my second week on the all natural sleep aid, I cannot believe how well I have been sleeping, and finding no grogginess the next morning. As anyone who is under pressure knows, a lack of sleep exacerbates the stress, and when the quality of sleep suffers, our overall health suffers. Since discovering Snoöze, I have literally been having The. Best. Sleep. Ever! Full stop.
If you are looking for an all natural sleep supplement to improve your sleep heading back into the busiest mama season of them all (back to school!!), check out Aeryon Snoöze and use the promo code Shopandshout20 for 20% off this amazing product.
Have you seen When They See Us on Netflix? The miniseries by Ava DuVernay about the so-called Central Park 5? Last night this was my flu binge, and I have to say if you have not watched it yet, please, please, please do. These boys, Yusef, Kevin, Raymond, Korey, and Antron, deserve people to see what happened to them as young boys. Through watching this I felt anger at the system that is so racially charged that it was considered ok to beat young boys into confessing to something they did not do in order to make puzzle pieces fit where they didn’t in a crime. It makes me angry that a woman’s gruesome assault was not properly investigated, in order to fit into another what the so-called justice system wanted the results to be.
It is easy to be angry at the detectives, Linda Fairstein, and Elizabeth Lederer, for the injustices imparted on these boys. Full disclosure, I was so angry that I immediately signed a petition to have Linda Fairstein’s novels dropped from Amazon after watching the first episode. I was so angry watching this woman maliciously interrogate and destroy children in the name of helping women who are assaulted. I smiled to see that Elizabeth Lederer will not be teaching at Columbia Law this fall. But they are not the cause of this injustice. They the faces in THiS case of a system that is designed to place people of colour lower than white people. A system that is designed to allow assumptions to be made about the “type of person” who would attack a 28 year old white woman jogging through Central Park. A system that, even though these men have been exonerated, and the system exposed for what it is and who had caused these men to lose their youth, their ability to make a living outside of prison, to be locked in solitary confinement at age 16 to avoid being beaten and raped in prison, has still yet TO THIS DAY make a public apology to them. The President of the United States paid for an ad in the NYTimes at the time demanding that they bring back the death penalty to punish CHILDREN flatly refuses to apologize, because “they admitted it. So they did it” in the most pitifully ironic statement from that man.
If you haven’t, please watch it.
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Hello September! My sister and I were discussing recently how September feels like a new beginning , a new year and an opportunity to start fresh. Tomorrow, the kids go back to school, I will be back at work, Dave will be arranging a part time schedule, and we will reach the 11 month milestone since Dave announced his illness to us.
We are honouring this new beginning with fresh haircuts, decluttering the house, prepping a week’s worth of meals, and joyful anticipation of things to come.
Plans for this month include:
• F.I.T Lifestyle #LoseTheBoozeAndMove challenge
• Refocusing on my job
• The kids’ activities • Dave returning to work part time
• Yoga 3 times a week
• Train with @liznacc twice a week
• 7 hours of sleep
• More water, less pop
How about you? Do you see the emergence of Fall as a new beginning? How do you celebrate?
Saturday morning gym time for 3/4 of the Desautels. Training with @liznacc and @momentum.ninja has turned us into a sweaty pile of snuggles!
How are you spending the first weekend of back to school?? #sweatfest #sweatysaturday #training #ninjawarrior #smiles #familylife #familypictures #famjam #fitlifestylelosetheboozeandmove #naccfitness #naccfit #mommyandme #snugglepile #snuggly #partnertraining #septemberchallenge #september #backtoschool #kalidesautelsreads #unicornbabyshow
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My girl made me vegan cupcakes for my birthday from scratch. They turned out soooo delicious and I am so proud of little baker. She dreams of owning an industrial bakery and creating tasty treats for others to enjoy.
Whatever she decides to when she grows up, I am sure it will always involve being creative and making beautiful things.
2019 has sucked, but life is sweet. Earlier this year, when the third of 90 bazillion kicks in the teeth that 2019 has provided had occurred Danielle and I texted each other and said that if Dave survived his rectal cancer and Ty found a new job or started his company, we would get sucker tattoos together to show that we survived the year that threw us down the stairs and laughed as we smacked our heads all the way down.
Danielle and I have leaned on each other this year, even more than we usually do, and so, this week we went and got out suckers. Because 2019 sucked, but it was also sweet. Our suckers are full of meaning to us, including the blue cancer ribbon details, and remind us that once again – we survived this year, we can survive LITERALLY anything. (For the record, Danielle’s is identical, just bigger and in a different position.)
Kali J Desautels 