Spotlight on... KNicholls, aka Kathy Nicholls

Kathy joined Squidoo this past September and has at this time written 11 lenses. Her most difficult to write, and the lens that introduced me to Kathy was Survival as a Straight Spouse, a story that tells of her life and how she coped when she discovered that her husband was gay.

Kathy has written from the heart about how she dealt with this situation, she also provides help and information for others who may be going through this same thing. As she points out, there is no right or wrong way of coping when you find out your spouse is gay. There is only the way that works for you, and there is help and support out there for those who need it. Along with books that one can read, she directs people to the place where she found that help and support, Straight Spouse Network.

I predict that we will see many great things from Kathy at Squidoo.

Over time, I am happy to say, Kathy has found love and happiness once again in her own life.

Spotlight on... Victoria Twead

Say hello to Victoria Twead, Squidoo lensmaster, Englishwoman, Rocketmom, and published author. Vicky first joined Squidoo back in May of 2009 and immediately enthralled us with her stories. She and her husband had upped roots and moved from the UK to Spain back in 2004.




Her story about their first 5 years is a delight, and you can read about it too in her recently published book, Chickens, Mules, and Two Old Fools. I got my copy last week and laughed all the way through it.


Vicky is definitely a Squid to keep an eye on.

You can follow Vicky on Twitter and be sure to check out her web page where you can read excerpts from her wonderful book find Spanish recipes, and check out her blog.

Giants and Angels

It's been months since I updated, and so much has happened.

I decided to go for the Giant 100 club at Squidoo. At the end of September, I had over 120 lenses.
I was absolutely thrilled to find that I'd made it. I'd been selected. It is indeed a great honour to find out from others that they too think I have over 100 spectacular lenses. I work hard on every lens I write to make sure it it good.

In October, it was announced that new Squidoo Angels were being selected and I sent in my own application. So many worthy applicants. I honestly didn't expect to be chosen given there were so many others who would make great Angels.

You can imagine my surprise then when I found out that I had been picked to be an Angel.

That's right. I'm now a Squidoo Angel.

Hence, the image of the Temperance card from the tarot over to the left there.

I am coming to understand that as an Angel I must walk a balance. Looking not only for those lenses which are good, and deserving of the blessings of an angel, but also those that are not so good.

Lenses which aren't so good fall into two categories.

1. Just need some changes to improve and they'll be really good lenses. I am hopeful that I can give suggestions for improving these lenses to the lensmaster in question.
2. Outright spam and nothing could possibly make them better. These are the lenses that have somehow managed to slip through the filters used to weed out spam and "squiddon't" lenses. These will be dinged and reported to the Squidoo Management.

Sometimes, the trick is in knowing the difference.

I am now a Giant Squid!

I am absolutely thrilled! I made it. I am now a Giant Squid.

I don't think I could have done it if I had not been part of the RocketMom program. I cannot begin to tell you how much help and support and encouragement I got from all the women there.

Not to mention the lens ideas and the urgings to step a bit outside of my comfort zones when it come to writing.

All my thanks to the Giant Squid Organisers. To the greeters, and to everyone at RocketMoms.

You all are the best!

Use herbs to quit smoking?

As we move into the last week of the Giant Squid contest for June I am looking at all my previously made lenses and making improvements where they are needed.

I spent a bit of time last night going over one of the earliest lenses that I wrote How to Quit Smoking Using Herbal Tea .

Now, I've never been a smoker, but when my husband and I met he had a 2 pack a day habit. He knew he needed to quit, but just didn't have to incentive at that time.

One year into our marriage, that incentive came from 2 directions.

1. He started developing chest pains while going up and down stairs.

2. The dentist noticed a white pre-cancerous patch on his cheek.

Heart investigations all came back showing no problems with the heart.
The white patch was removed and was benign.

But, I put my foot down. He was going to stop smoking right then!

He was scared enough that he didn't fight me on it.

It wasn't easy. He had some terrible mood swings and even using the micro-tabs and other methods was finding it difficult.

I did some searching of my own and came across this herbal tea recipe that said it could cut cravings. I looked at all the herbal components, and agreed that it could be useful. So I started making it for him.

Each morning I would fill a 4-cup flask with hot herbal tea for him to take to work. Each evening he would bring home the empty flask.

He continued to use the micro-tabs as well. About 3 weeks after he started drinking the tea I asked him if he thought it was helping. His response was to tell me that while the actual cravings weren't any less, it was reducing his urge to kill. An effective stress reliever then.

Paul drank the tea every day for about 8 weeks until he felt that he didn't need it any more. He has not smoked another cigarette since.