Yes It Really Happened
Because life is nutty enough without needing to make anything up. Life stories, sharing, and always
08/06/2021
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/the-most-lovable-unlovable-dog/
The Most Lovable (Unlovable) Dog “Nicky” (Sir Nicolas Flamel Markley) – June 8, 2014 – June 1, 2021 During his almost seven years of being loved by his family (human and furry), Nicky tested the theory of b…
21/05/2020
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/wait-wheres-the-new-stuff/
Wait, where’s the new stuff? Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash For the quick answer on where to read new content, head over to www.ColleenMarkley.com, where you’ll find my author platform. There, you can enjoy my wr…
27/11/2019
Just in case anyone needs this.... I haven't had time to update it with my three recent favorite additions from friends: 1. Alphabetized the spice rack, 2. Went to the hardware store for Christmas lights the day before Thanksgiving, and 3. Wrapped the spare change into coin sleeves.
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/husbands-helping-at-the-holidays-a-primer-for-sanity/
Husbands Helping at the Holidays, A Primer for Sanity So a couple weeks ago we hosted 36 people for Thanksgiving dinner. It was quite a feat, kept me occupied for two weeks prior getting everything ready, and made me laugh and curse and laugh at how m…
24/10/2019
Research for writing:
Please share: avg # of days YOU missed from school each year, vs NOW - your kids (or nieces, nephews, etc) ... Bonus points for anyone remembering stories about the "perfect attendance award."
All theories and comments welcomed!
07/10/2019
THIS. Disrupt the feed... Fantastic four minute video on how to create positive influence via social media for our girls (and guess what? It would work for boys, and grownups too...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptr-VoXDMQ8
Disrupting The Feed - Social Media & Mental Health Research by The Female Lead and Terri Apter Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAekyuQo1JVqyl--CByRefw?sub_confirmation=1 Disrupting The Feed is a joint research venture between The Female Lea...
27/09/2019
In times of crisis you can always rely on the resolve of British humour...
19/07/2019
Writing about writing, again:
https://medium.com/writers-guild/lessons-learned-from-stephen-and-tabitha-king-88d90dc38de9
Lessons Learned from Stephen (and Tabitha) King - Writers Guild - Medium Inside My Writing Head, Again
13/05/2019
13/05/2019
I'm writing about writing again - this article was published on Medium in the Writers Guild.... would love to hear what you think!
Am I Not Good at Receiving Writing Feedback, or Afraid of an Echo Chamber?
https://medium.com/writers-guild/you-should-do-this-cc183c29519d
You should do this… Feedback or Echo Chamber?
30/04/2019
Blog update!
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/are-your-teenagers-making-you-lose-your-mind/
Are Your Teenagers Making You Lose Your Mind? How to Use A Pollyanna Parenting Perspective – Part One Teenagers are designed to make parents lose their minds. It is a developmentally appropriate part of their growth towards adulting, an…
09/04/2019
More writing...about writing! https://medium.com/writers-guild/my-writing-mind-week-two-9faeb2b1878a
My Writing Mind — Week Two Monday. My office space in our house does not have a door. Just an open doorway to the rest of my house where various humans and dogs…
What would you like to read about next? Please comment and VOTE! Having a hard time focusing on what to write next:
- Embracing the shallowness of retail therapy, complete with a list of (unaffiliated) favorite things
- Why I wish I had a vampire boyfriend (and how I decided to be my own superhero instead)
- Snarky remarks you too can say to your husband (and let me tell you how they worked out around here)
- A Pollyanna approach to Teenagers (the good, the bad, and the OMG)
26/03/2019
Writing about writing https://medium.com//inside-my-writing-mind-week-one-3772416aec4
Inside My Writing Mind — Week One Day One. I’ve decided to chronicle my writing process and thoughts as I continue to (try to) finish my second novel. I am watching my word…
22/03/2019
I am recovering from a sniffle. The hubby thinks he has the plague. This morning he coughed, sneezed, hacked, and wheezed, and then apologized for waking me up from his "near-death experience". This is a true quote, and made me think of this blog post: https://yesitreallyhappened.com/man-flu-shes-sick-hes-sicker/
Man Flu – She’s Sick; He’s Sick(er) You’ve noticed right? Or maybe suspected? That there is something drastically different between when a woman is sick and a man is sick? It’s OK. You’re not alone. Here’s what happens. To All Men. W…
16/03/2019
In case you missed this one, or needed a little boost for yet another holiday that requires parents spending extra effort entertaining kids...
https://medium.com//how-children-make-their-parents-insane-enough-to-believe-in-leprechauns-f51a0fb0d154
How Children Make Their Parents Insane Enough To Believe In Leprechauns * It’s really just a guessing game and a matter of time until every parent loses their sanity. I was privileged to watch it happen live in…
So while I'm totally thrilled how popular my latest blog was, somehow the traffic (or perhaps Venus and Pluto aligning) crashed my website. Working on pulling a back up now, as the last two years of blogs have all disappeared. Stay tuned...
21/02/2019
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/does-my-dog-really-need-anti-anxiety-meds-oh-yes-yes-he-does/
Does My Dog Really Need Anti-Anxiety Meds? Oh yes, yes he does. In the past year or so, I’ve written about food insecurity, gun violence, women candidates and elections, and legalizing recreational ma*****na. Right now though? I don’t want to say anything profo…
17/12/2018
In case anyone needs a little pep talk for this last week before Christmas.... And thank you Jen Moloughney for reminding me about this important Elf discussion!
An Elfolution — What we Really Need This Christmas – Colleen Markley – Medium Do you remember when the Elf on the Shelf first came on the Christmas scene? It was back in the day when small bookstores still dotted…
07/12/2018
05/12/2018
My experience at TedWomen, and what happened when I came back home...
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/tedwomen-showing-up-self-reflection-about-my-learning-self/
05/11/2018
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/i-am-woman-hear-me-vote/
I am Woman, Hear me Vote | yesitreallyhappened My great-grandmother was born before women in the U.S. had the right to vote. As soon as she was legally allowed to vote, she never missed an election. She’d walk from her two-family house on Exchange Place in Clifton and pull the lever for change and progress. Change was what got her the right to...
24/10/2018
https://yesitreallyhappened.com/on-grown-and-flown-and-americas-grow-a-row/
On Grown and Flown...and America's Grow A Row | yesitreallyhappened I’m so excited to announce that I’ve been published as a contributing writer to Grown and Flown! Yup. Like a real life writer. I’m a wee bit excited. I was recently making a joke about some remedial parenting I needed to catch up on before my kids are off to college, and a friend laughed …
24/09/2018
An Open Letter to Town Officials in New Jersey: Can We Have A Recreational Ma*****na Dispensary Please? Seriously. | yesitreallyhappened A (slightly) shorter version of this was published in NJ Spotlight, an award-winning editorial website that delivers news and analysis about politics and public policy in New Jersey, on September 21, 2018. You can read it directly on their website here. If you’re looking for the longer, fuller ver...
20/08/2018
http://yesitreallyhappened.com/backtoschool-time-to-panic/
Back To School - Time to Panic | yesitreallyhappened So last night I had the strangest dream. It was a combination of all my anxieties and stress about the end of summer and impending beginning of the new school year rolled up into one big mind mess. And it was kind of fun. I am a vivid dreamer, and my dreams are usually just …
24/05/2018
Why You Should Listen to Your Girlfriends (AKA “I Told You Something Was Wrong With Me”) Nearly five years of health-related nonsense left me depressed, anxious, over-tired, over-weight, and feeling defeated. Until I shared a glass (or two) with my girlfriends and they insisted that I …
I usually love words and writing them down. But today, in learning how to restore my blog (which disappeared, and currently just says PAGEOK, which is hilarious, because it is NOT OK), I learned how to use the following words in a sentence: "my hosting account was deactivated as I didn't realize that other domain name was the primary on the account and my blog was only an additional domain, so I need to add an SSH to my account (and might as well add an SSL since the browsers are changing the way they look at domain names in July) and that way I can use my JetPack plugin to restore my site from my last post back on April 2nd, and yes, thanks, I already have malware and SEO thru my premium upgrade and Akismet for spam although they really don't do much, and let's go with the 5 year registration for best SEO and discounts". Blog should be back up and running soonish. I'm gonna just have faith in that magical www...
02/04/2018
http://yesitreallyhappened.com/2018/04/galapagos-islands-machu-picchu-and-tp-my-american-inquiry/
Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu, and TP: My American Inquiry Here is my wish for today- I wish that we humans can realize that we have more in common with each other than differences that divide us – and I hope that we can figure out this out before th…