June 12th, 2023
Happiness and Joy
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW How does needlework and quilting bring me Joy? In several ways: Tactiley — the feel of the cloth and thread in my hand and fingers brings me a sense of calm. Audibly — the sound of the pop of the cloth as the needle pierces the material from the […]
Read More
April 25th, 2023
Happiness and Joy
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW One of the gifts of my retirement has been my resumption of needlework — specifically embroidery and quilting. Since I fully retired in November of 2019, I have embroidered, quilted, or both, daily. Before Covid, I made two baby quilts for my young grandson (now 6 years old) and young granddaughter (now 3). As […]
Read More
March 19th, 2023
Happiness and Joy
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW I ended my last blog stating that I was going to use the following prompts to set my year of Joy. I hope that they helped you in January and February as they have me. Prompt #1: “What are you most proud of from 2022? Both my daughter (56 years […]
Read More
January 24th, 2023
Grief
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW I spoke often about grief and loss in 2022. I also covered journaling and the different types of journaling as the way I chose to listen to my inner self. I used it to figure out what was bothering me and what to do about it. This year I […]
Read More
January 6th, 2023
Communication Skills
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW In my last post I explained how an ordinary course of events – like traveling and not immediately being able to find something – can create much anxiety, even a panic attack – actually, a “Dyslexic Spin,” is how I label it. It is part of my lifelong learning […]
Read More
November 2nd, 2022
Member Articles
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW Recently, my husband and I were on our first vacation together in 3 years. COVID and my mother’s heart condition had kept us from traveling anywhere, especially together. So we started planning to go through Portland, Oregon to Sammamish, Washington, in the Seattle area, to stay with our […]
Read More
July 5th, 2022
Writing, Publishing, and Marketing
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW In my last blog, written just before my mother’s death on January 2, 2022, I wrote about the difference between using journals and diaries. At the end of the post, I said that my next blog would cover several different types of journals and how you can best use them. […]
Read More
April 4th, 2022
Grief
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” ~ John Lennon, lyric from “Beautiful Boy,” from his last album, ‘Double Fantasy,’ with Yoko Ono. My intention was to follow up on my last blog post by describing types of journals one could use throughout life. Then […]
Read More
November 26th, 2021
Communication Skills
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW In reviewing the blogs that I have written over the last year and a half, I have discovered they have some common themes. These themes are: – The Pandemic – Change – Loss – Grief In some of my posts, I have shared the thoughts and feelings I have […]
Read More
July 12th, 2021
Member Articles
By Trina O’Quinn for the NABBW All day, no — for many weeks — I’ve been ruminating on this song: “Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” I learned it almost 70 years ago, when I was a Brownie. Perhaps you once sang it as well… The question […]
Read More