Hey there and thank you for joining me for another episode of YQG In Bloom.
My name is Tracy Martens and I'm your host today.
And I have with me Jill Moiseick who is mom said duck if you follow her on social media.
Hey there, how's it going?
Good Tracy, how are you?
I'm doing good.
Now as a mom we all say more than duck most of the time.
So what made you start mom said duck?
So mom said duck is like a really serendipitous story and it's kind of a long one so bear
with me.
But so in 2018 I went on a maternity leave for my son.
It was my second, it was our second.
And everything was great.
You know all was well.
I took an 18 month maternity leave and then when I was returning to go back to work five
days before I was returning to work I was told I no longer had a job to go back to.
That the woman who replaced my maternity leave would now be taking over my position.
And so I was obviously in shock.
It was I was kind of like climbing the corporate ladder at that point.
I was ready to kind of get my you know take off my yoga pants and put my big girl pants
back on kind of thing have adult conversation again.
And instead I was just sort of you know at a halt and I had to sort of just stop what
I was doing and kind of move backward in life kind of thing where I thought I would be moving
forward.
And so after I found that news out I am a really emotional person.
I'm a really passionate person by nature.
And so I it wasn't like I chose to let myself feel the feelings but I cried for five days
straight.
I cried.
Blame you.
It was it was horrible.
It was really crappy what happened right.
And so for five days I cried and then eventually kind of started coming to but what was interesting
in the moment in the literal moment that I found out that I wasn't going to be going back
to my job.
I knew that the only experience that I had was in what I was doing labor relations HR
but I knew right then and there that I wasn't going to go back to that.
I don't know why I just had this feeling in my gut that you know we live in excuse me
in Windsor you know there's lots of opportunity for that kind of thing didn't have to be with
the same company was it but there was the thought of me going back into labor relations
HR just in time unionized environments all this kind of stuff made me physically sick
to think about doing.
And so I just I was like okay I'm going to listen to my body I'm going to listen to my
heart and I'm just going to kind of let it guide me.
And then so of course you know after five days I started kind of like venturing out
into life again and all this kind of stuff and I was kind of like pushing through and
whatever you know.
And then kind of like looking around at different things I could do you know in my next phase
of my life because I knew that I wasn't going back to what I was doing before.
And so my mom actually came over to my house and she threw a book at me a book that I had
written when I was a little kid and I was like what is this and caveat to this story
is that my mom didn't keep anything of mine from when I was a kid anything like it's like
I like lived in like black and white photos time like there's no photos of me as a kid.
And so the fact that she had kept something of mine I was like amazed by this.
Why did she keep it or did it get just stuck in between something no idea.
So and like it's so funny because my husband's mom has like kept everything like to this
day she'll still give me things that looks like my like little guy did it kind of like
yesterday kind of thing like it's so well kept and then meanwhile I have nothing you
know.
So it's kind of something I've always sort of teased my mom about.
And then so she threw this book at me and she's who I get my sarcasm thermos so she literally
just tossed the book at me kind of thing.
I'm like what the hell is this thing.
So she's like I don't know it's something that you wrote when you were a little kid
she's like it's pretty good you know read it.
So I read it and I was like oh my god this book is really good it's called What's Good
for a Ten-Year-Old.
And it was a book that I had written and I had drawn pictures for and it was a rhyming
book and it was just like so good I just couldn't get over how good this little book was and
I had written when I was ten.
Well what okay I'm gonna stop you there.
What was good for a ten-year-old.
It was you know it's funny it's like all stuff that it like I included my fan like my mom's
one of twelve kids and I'm really close with all of my cousins and stuff like that and
so the whole book related to things around my family which was really cute too.
So I was rhyming names with rhyming things with my aunts and uncles names and my cousins
and all that stuff.
It was really cute yeah.
And then so yeah so she so I'm reading this book and I'm just like amazed that I had written
this and like a caveat to this is that I had always said that I don't have a creative bone
in my body always that's like a tagline so anytime something about art comes up or whatever
I'm always like I don't have a creative bone don't ask me I don't have a creative bone
in my body always what I said.
So then I'm reading this book that I wrote as a ten-year-old and I'm like hold on a second
I do have a creative bone in my body it was just I was a ten-year-old when I you know
when when I was still kind of created or thought that I was anyway you just forgot you were
I forgot or like it had gotten beaten out of me at some point over the course of my life
something right.
HR will do that.
Yeah yeah exactly yeah.
So yeah so then from there I just like that whole day I just like kept like like locking
myself in the bathroom going to my bedroom like reading this book over and over I just
like couldn't get enough of this book.
So the next morning our little guy Edison he was about yeah like I don't know around
18 months two years old somewhere around there and so he was at my at our bedside and so
I pulled him in bed with us because of course he comes to mom's side not dad's side.
Always.
Right and so I pull him in bed with us put him between us and then he falls back to sleep
my husband's still sleeping and as he's falling back to sleep I sleep I was massaging his little
toes and so I was massaging his toes and I was thinking to myself I wonder if I could
create a little poem about his body like I had written in this book kind of thing this
little rhyming book that I had written and then so sure enough I came up with this poem
that I had written and it was like good I was like oh that was pretty good that was pretty
cute and clever.
So then I wrote it grab my phone from my bed stand you know wrote it on my phone and then
my husband woke up and I was like I read it to him like what do you think and he's like
that was pretty good it's pretty cute and I'm like oh my god it was really cute right.
So then I just couldn't stop telling everybody about this poem and I was reading it to anybody
who was listening like walking to the street like you want to hear this this poem or you
know like kind of thing and then so from there after about a week or so it was like all of
a sudden I'm like just like sitting at the table with like an old laptop and I'm just
I just started writing poems and so I like you know after probably two weeks or so I
had like three or four poems and after a month I've got so after like a few months I've probably
got like 30 of these poems and what I'm realizing is that they all relate to being a mom and
they're all very sort of poignant poems and so they're just sort of like day to day kind
of frustration type stuff about being a mom type type poems and so it was just kind of
a fun funny thing to do whatever no big deals I guess it was kind of like a release I didn't
know I needed something like that right and so now fast forward my husband and I are going
to get some last minute gifts for our kids for Christmas my mom came over to babysit for
us it was when Moxies was still open must have been their last season and so instead
of going shopping of course we went to Moxies and grabbed a drink instead sorry mom and
so while we're there I said to my husband what am I going to do like what do I do I
don't know what to do who am I kind of thing you know I was kind of like I'm realizing
at this point like I who I was was my career and yet I didn't even like the career I was
in like that's just this weird that's the worst thing yeah it really is and so many
people I feel like after that happened to me I'm realizing more and more people have
this sort of it's the pre-midlife crisis it is I call my quarter life crisis it's true
well I was like I'm 40 now so it was like it was probably I was 35 when it happened
I find between 31 and 35 is a very weird transition where it's like I'm not that kid anymore
but yet I don't feel like an adult but a yeah and you're just trying to find your place
right you like realize that life is going to go on forever and that kind of thing yeah
so anyway so we're sitting there and we're having a drink and I said what am I going
to do and so my husband said well why do you try to pursue these poems and I'm like what
do you mean he said so I work I work out with this person who calls himself a creative coach
why don't you meet up with them so I ended up meeting up with this person at anchor coffee
house and we and so I was chatting with her and she read one of my poems and started laughing
because it was talking about poop and diapers and whatever and corn and my kids poop and
all this kind of weird stuff right which and so she was laughing and she's reading she's
like oh my god this is like so different or whatever you know so I'm like I don't know
what to do I'm not I've always said I'm not creative I'm definitely technologically unsavvy
if that's a word so she's like here's what I think you need to do you need to start a
newsletter you need to you know go on your Facebook tell everybody you're starting a
newsletter see if people will sign up and then decide how often you think you can write
a poem and so I said I think I can do one every week because at this point I'm like
just right and like crazy so I decided to come up with something called Fresh Poem Friday
and so every Friday for the past four years I've been sending out a new poem to my Fresh
Poem Friday subscribers and that's been wonderful and lovely and it's been great and I've had
such wonderful feedback and all that kind of stuff but over the course of that I kind
of realized like something was missing this was during the pandemic now and so I was like
okay maybe I need to say like I love to say my poem so where can I say my poem so COVID
you know you can go and do anything anywhere and so I thought okay maybe I'll do a podcast
everybody's doing a podcast I'll do a podcast and so I started a podcast and recorded most
of my poems at MediaWorks Studio in Windsor and loved it like absolutely loved it every
time I got to go in and record poems I loved it and it was great and so I would put them
out and it was great and they live still on Spotify and Apple and all those places that
you listen to podcasts which is great but it was like there was still something missing
and I couldn't figure out what that thing was and then kind of like over the evolution
of the past four years I've kind of come to realize that what I think is missing or I
thought was missing was people, humans, I sort of thrive on people, other people's energy
and so I thought okay well maybe I need to say my poems to people so I'm like okay so
how can I do that well turns out nobody wants to hire a funny mom poet this is not a thing
yet.
Come on corn poop is right.
Right?
Yeah so I'm like okay so then I'm like okay so nobody wants to hire a funny mom poet
there so I had to kind of like you know trudge my own path or whatever so I'm like what can
I do and so this is going to sound so corny but I kept going back to I had this like little
note next to my computer at home and it said it was a Beyonce quote and it was build your
own stage and make them see you and so I kept saying that to myself how can I do this how
can I make people see me and it's not me it's my art it's my poems that I'm the most proud
of you know so I want people to see it and to hear it and so I didn't know what to do
and then so I kind of I thought okay well I've spent all my my family's money so far
on this how can I sort of like get some help with this because I don't want to put all
this time and money and energy into something and keep draining our our family's finances
for this what can I do and so I thought you know what the City of Windsor has this awesome
program through the Arts Arts Council Heritage Fund, the ACHF grant program and so I applied
for it and I figured because grant writing is sort of an art in and of itself that it
was going to be something that I wouldn't have gotten I would have kind of learned some
things things along the way and then you know reapply again but I ended up getting a grant
it wasn't for the full amount that I had reached out for but it was for half and I thought
okay I can do something of $2,500 and so yeah so then I thought okay so I want to say my
poems to an audience of people and my husband's office is actually right next to the court
his own theater and so and we actually purchased the space and so when we closed the day we
closed on that space I looked at him this was in 2021 and I looked at him and said I
like grabbed his hand walked him over to the theater and I was like you see that theater
and he's like yeah I'm like that I'm supposed to be there I'm supposed to say my poems there
this is why we got this space like that I'm a big believer in the universe and so he's
like yeah kind of like he's the grounded one I'm the floaty one you know kind of thing
and so he's like whatever you know Jill sure you know if that's what you want to do or
whatever so then yeah that's kind of how it how it worked so I got the grant and you know
asked Corta if I could go and do my thing there and they were happy to have me and all
that stuff so I'll be saying my poems on a stage two humans on Friday May 10th and it's
already sold out it sold out the day after you put it on Instagram which is amazing yeah
the very next day yeah now you said that you do poems every Friday how many people do you
have on your list like you really like goes up and it fluctuates right some people will
unsubscribe some people will subscribe kind of thing so it's about 250 right now that's
awesome yeah yeah for poems for you know saying duck instead of the big F blank blank blank
word you have to laugh or else you're gonna cry when you're a mom and it's a great outlet
for it you should be also a comedian that's sweet you you should I think a lot of those
stories would are really funny oh thank you yeah that's and that's kind of it is kind
of I've never really fit into anything myself with this mom said duck stuff and in fact I
kind of I was kind of like thinking about the path of like comedian as well and so I
really kind of immersed myself in the local comedian scene in turn a comedy scene in Windsor
in terms of like going to see shows and stuff like that and oh my gosh first of all you
actually just posted something recently you went to show at a dispenser oh my gosh why
can't I think of his Instagram handle I went there too oh the night that you did but on
a different night formerly petty Pete I yes I you know what I'm about I think is you know
what I'm about I think is this yeah Instagram handle oh yes dry dry Andre you know what
I'm about yeah yeah yeah yeah he's awesome so he's funny yeah so we've connected and
stuff and and he's been great and I actually met I met him through Osmosis Glow Shay through
Osmosis Glow who did the sign for my husband's office so you know Windsor so connected right
forward I think it's four degrees of separation or something oh yeah it's like one degree I
think in Windsor it is and so yeah so I started going to like shows and stuff and like was
just so impressed by the Windsor comedy scene and you have to get out if you haven't seen
a comedy show Windsor you have to go it's just slowly coming back because we used to
be huge and then it died down and now it's coming back again that we were here I had
no idea oh yeah we used to have a lot of a lot of fun back when I was young okay okay
well I'm so glad that it's back and anyway so I was going to see some of these shows
and I thought I can't do what they do like it's just like I'm trying to take the work
that I've done already and turn it into something and it just they go up there and they say a
bit and it's just like it's just like how they segue and stuff like that like I I I needed to test
the waters just to see what what they were doing to see if I could do it and it just didn't
fit but that's okay I think that I think that mom said duck is very much a crossover of
like poetry and comedy and spoken word and you know written word it's kind of like its
own mishmash of something and I've kind of come to terms with the fact that I don't fit
in and that's okay you know like it's my own thing and that's kind of maybe a good thing
are you thinking of writing it all into a book I am but because I write new poems all
the time it just seems unfinished like I feel like if I were to you know go through the
process of of doing that let's say it took a year or something well I've written several
more poems since right so until I tap out of that like I just don't have any more poems
to write or whatever the case is now okay we've talked about the the corn poop and the baby
toes and that what are some of the themes yeah so it's like it's like everyday stuff it's
like very general stuff or everyday very specific things so it could be something like mom guilt
or lying to our kids or you know or something as more specific you know more sort of micro
and dialed into like school lunches or poop diapers or you know stuff like that it's just
the same books yeah yeah yeah I when I when I get to that book part like I toyed with
that at the beginning because it was the most obvious thing but it just again I'm a big
believer in the universe of the if everything is kind of saying no then just move on and
kind of you know move on to the next thing and what's amazing about this mom's day with
mom said duck that's what my show is called in May at Corta is that it's the first thing
that I've done with mom said duck that everything's kind of like happening naturally and organically
and you know people are saying yes finally like I've been turned down or ignored for
the past four years straight and so like it's finally sort of like it feels like this was
the right next step so I'm super nervous I'm just as excited as I am nervous so I you know
I almost don't even know what to expect because I've never done anything like this before I've
never written poems leading up to this I've certainly never stood on this stage and said
poems to an audience of moms leading up to this so I'm super nervous but it's I think
I just need to sort of like you know take a big deep breath and this is I did this for
a reason this is I'm here for a reason I I created this event you know so I could say
these poems so just say I mean a lot of the people you're going to know and as you can
see by these little lights the lights on that stage are going to be much brighter so you're
pretty much going to see just your friends and family in the front and you're also a
priestess so you're used to talking to strangers and people you can do this yeah it'll be a
little different you know like I have to hold the crowd for however long you know I'm up
there kind of thing so although I'm saying this and I couldn't do it I actually you've
probably heard that the people's biggest fear in life like you know according to all of
these like stats or whatever is that number one fear is public speaking followed number
two by death so people would rather die public speech which I think is really funny and so
you know that's not me I've always I've always really loved public speaking I kind of you
know I find reasons to public speak you know kind of thing and so it's something I'm comfortable
with that I that I enjoy and so I just have to kind of lean into that and and you know
I think that we all have sort of different superpowers and stuff like that and so I think
that the fact that I enjoy doing that I just need to sort of lean into it these are the
conference I'm driving here like having these conversations in my head so if you went like
okay listen to all the like motivation podcasts there are you know you can do this yeah that's
where I am right now but that's okay you do whatever you have to do today to get there
me it's you know a bottle of wine and some stuff that I bought at the dispensary yeah
yeah well don't think that backstage I won't be like having shots and bring a few gummies
yeah that'll be for after the show but yeah for sure it's going to be great everybody
likes these kind of poems whether you're a parent or not everybody can relate because
we've babysat sometime in our life so the court is on theater it holds to about 90 hundred
people so it's fire marshaled for a hundred yeah and so there will be 75 ish people there
that night yeah I didn't want to be so proud that we were like sardine in there but yeah
but yeah that's a that's a perfect start and then it's gonna grow who knows yeah I don't
know I just I just you know my biggest fear is is death not even necessarily like you know
I'm actually excited to see that I believe in you know the other side and that kind of
stuff right and so I'm excited about about seeing the people that I've lost but I'm scared
to death of not living while I'm here and so I want to show my kids that you know things
can be scary and they can be hard and all these kinds of things but you can still do
it and who cares what other people think and you know and if you if I'm going especially
at you know my short court is on like you said I'm gonna know so many people there and there
are so many people that I don't know which is so fun to like I love that people scooped
up tickets that don't know me and I don't know them I thought that was really cool but the
fact that I'm able to sort of go out there and and do what I need to do and sort of rip
that proverbial band-aid off with my friends and family there it's terrifying because being
in front of your friends and family is almost harder but at the same time you know if I
literally fall or proverbial or you know like what do you call that you know you slip you
know you don't do as well that as you wanted to do that kind of thing at least you're you
know you're surrounded by loved ones who are gonna tell you you know you're they're gonna
tell you you're great anyways exactly which is you know maybe I'll need that maybe I do
you know maybe I do stumble and fall or whatever the case but either way it's it's something
I need to do for myself it's been in my heart and on my mind for a long time I finally just
got it out into the open when I went to Timber Plum Marquis Tuckett's one of her events and
I decided at one of her events I'm just gonna say out loud to these wonderful women who
are super supportive about my idea about saying my poems on stage at court I knew it was gonna
be a court because the office being there and stuff like that such a cool venue and such
a cool theater and so everybody I told that night they're like oh my god this is an amazing
idea you need to do it I need to know when tickets go on sale and da da da right so sometimes
you just need that little push to be like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna try this I'm gonna
do it so yeah and the first one's always the hardest for sure always the hardest yeah you
can gauge by the audience reactions which ones are really good and maybe put those side
it for a book or for another night and yeah exactly keep going yeah yeah that's that's
the goal like I mean you know I have to I'm going into it with a mindset where I'm trying
to give myself grace knowing that you know there will be things that I fumble and mumble
and all this kind of stuff but that's okay you know like that's like this is the first
time you do anything stuff like that's gonna happen so and that's okay perfect boring yeah
and then you're gonna have a ton of stuff to write about because your kids are still
growing up and yeah yeah you haven't even hit the teen yeah we haven't yeah there aren't
any poems yet about puberty or yeah any of these things yeah that's a whole thing unto
itself that's what I hear yeah so yeah yeah that's an and that's the thing about the book
too is like I just don't know when I'm gonna be ready yet so you know when I feel that
push or whatever then then I'll then I'll look into that but yeah it's just not there
yet but it's nice to have all those options whether you restart up your podcast which
I think is a great idea your your Fridays and Fresh Poem Friday yeah that's right yeah
Fresh Poem Friday I don't know why I want to call it free be Friday it is free they're
free so yeah that's probably why you're thinking start charging they're good yeah no you know
and that's the whole thing of it I think it's you know like after four years it's like I
feel everything has evolved so organically and naturally that after four years I felt
comfortable now charging people money to you know to support me right I've been sort of
you know they say giving away your gift give it I've been giving it away now for four years
and so it's like okay like I'm ready to finally you know not feel guilty I'm not I'm always
kind of like cringy about money money and me don't say I and so knowing that I've charged
people money to come to the show and that they've paid and all that kind of stuff there
there's been no guilt whatsoever about it which is which tells me I was ready to charge
money for the thing you know it's time yeah exactly which is good mm-hmm this is awesome
I thank you I'm really excited to see it now that I can go yeah yeah of course you're
totally right VIP baby yeah as I said she is also a barista at anchor coffee house I
know I was just about to say so yeah never mind it was gifted to me it was gifted to
me yes you can't say no to a freebie yeah yeah have you tried out any of the poems on
the people you work with oh the people that anchor is we could do an entire podcast on
how amazing anchor coffee house is like I when I reached out to them about working there
I knew it was a special place because you go in and just get a nice vibe yeah and coffee
is incredible food's great staffs always so sweet and kind and all that kind of stuff
I knew was special and then I started working there and I'm telling you we could do a whole
podcast on why they're so successful they're just they pour love into everything that they
do and it's just like it is such an honor to work there like they're just like the owners
all the staff like everybody is fabulous fabulous and so they're super supportive of mom said
duck in fact Rachel the owner and the brainchild behind which I love because she's a woman and
I'm like a feminist you know and so the fact that like you know all the meat potatoes of
this of anchor come from from Rachel and she asked me if I would do a little thing on their
chalkboard they have their little chalkboard thing there yeah a little thing for Easter
about scones and the Easter Bunny and stuff and so they're always you know she's a she's
a newsletter subscriber too and so and that was the other thing too when I I knew that
I didn't want to go back to my old life of HR and Liberalations and Corporate Setting
and all this kind of stuff I knew that whatever was next for me as it related to working was
going to be a place that I felt comfortable and that I could you know sort of hone in
on my mom said duck stuff not sort of hide it or shy away from it or something like I
would have had to have done if I you know we're back in like that corporate setting
or whatever so you know I made the conscious effort to to be in a place that I thought
would bring me peace and happiness and joy and love and all that kind of stuff and it's
been that tenfold by a landslide they're just the most amazing people and then I'm actually
the only one there who has kids and so my kids are like obsessed with anchor oh my gosh
it's so funny they're so cute and so they got to see the kitchen and all that kind of
stuff so it's been and my husband every time I work I pretty much he's in there you know
grabbing a coffee or whatever so he's kind of like you know part of the crew now and
stuff and like it's just such a oh my gosh it's like they've become like a second family
to me so thank you anchor love you guys being a barista is yeah you were a barista I was
yes it was a corporate Starbucks but I'll tell you one thing I loved it because you can be
creative and also just the amount of people it really helps you get over if you ever have
a fear of talking to strangers talking to people because just connecting with either
the same people every day the same customers and they really appreciate if you remember
them or getting to know the new ones it's a lot of fun and that probably helps a little
bit with the stage fright because you're always on to be honest with you that's like the thing
I found the easiest like that's kind of who I am by the way you're ready my my mom what
are you gonna say sorry I said me I'm I'm the complete opposite so that's awesome okay
I would never have guessed that yeah my mom my whole life I just grew up watching my mom
talking to strangers just everywhere we went it's kind of like a running joke she can just
you know talk to the wall and it'll talk back to her kind of thing and so I just grew up
seeing that and it was just sort of a natural thing I think for me to see and so I just
kind of grew up the same the same way and so that is just like that's my favorite part
that wasn't something I had to learn it was just like I was like this I mean like I'll
go in there and I mean sometimes that place is like lined up literally out the door and
I love that people wait in line to still get their coffee we'll have regulars at the very
back of the line who come in every day and they're and that just amazes me the fact that
they're there on a such a busy day and they're still willing to wait that says a lot about
the staff because I've I've worked at Tim Hortons I've worked at Starbucks and people
are willing to wait they don't care how long it is if they're going to get good service
and I think sometimes they care more about the service than what they do the actual product
and so if they're waiting out the door that's a combination of all of them because I've
been to Anchor Anchor has amazing beverages their pastries I try not to go in there too
much because they're just working there yeah I couldn't do it yeah but they are great so
that that is a testament to what a great place anchor anchor is they just every single good
thing that comes their way is like so so so well deserved and they're just so like such
great community people to community leaders and just you know other cafes open and they're
promoting the other cafe like what a flex yes you know like I just like you know Rachel
putting out all of her all of her recipes on her blog like you know like nothing sort
of is held to their chest they're just so very like oh it is appreciated and it's makes
them beloved in the city and quite honestly I like that about them the best is that they're
so supportive of everybody else in all the other small businesses whether the coffee
houses tea houses or smudge next door they're just one and supportive of all of their employees
oh for sure everyone in there is sort of creative in their own way and they just they just they
harness that so much it's just like it's just and it's it's everything so natural and organic
nothing is forced it's just who they are they're just such good humans it's just who they are
so I just feel so so so so so grateful and lucky to be part of that crew so it really
is a blessing that that job just went away so that you were able to find anchor find
your voice again in the poetic way and yeah it was hard for me to come to terms with that
yeah like I would good things usually are though yeah yeah yeah I like I refer to it
as like an acute depression I had like a cute depression for a short period of time because
of it I really I really had a hard time with it at first but you're right like I mean you
know I and but I even I knew I'm like okay whatever happens just let it sort of like
whatever sort of messages come from the universe or whatever just sort of take it and and run
with it and so and don't get me wrong there have been a lot of things that have not gone
well with mom said duck you know so a lot of things that I look back in those cringe
moments and stuff we have to be I really have to go through those yes cringy things those
things that you know give you a thicker skin to make it to the other side so it's true
change is the scariest thing and then like nothing comes out perfect if it comes out
perfect chances are there probably is something wrong a little wrong with it you're going to
stumble you're going to fall I've done it with this in every other career that I've
had in my 54 years and there's been a lot of them so I mean you're you're getting you
you're finding your grounding and you're getting to a really good place and now you're at the
court is on theater baby and when is that again so it's Friday May 10th yep and tickets
are sold out and it is the one and done show for right now yeah but yeah I'm going to reevaluate
afterward and kind of see you know how did I feel like you know this is also new to me
too right so I think this is what I want to do I'm I'm sort of leaning into the fear and
the excitement of it all and then you know who knows maybe I come out and go okay I did
not like that or whatever the case is I don't know I don't think that's going to be the
case I don't either yeah but who knows you know so I'm just I'm doing it I don't none
of us know what what will happen to us I actually just found out today that my little cousin
died last night yeah I was 26 years old yeah and so it was just kind of another reminder
of like you just never know you just never know and I just want to be able to to do this
I want to do this thing and and and get it done and and say okay I did it now what you
know kind of thing so and then yeah now that I have kids it's like I want I don't want to
just talk about stuff I want to show them and they're actually I I've been toying with
the idea of having them there because mom said duck is like it's talked about in my
house like it's like a pet like it's like it's so just part of it is a duck yeah well
a little story is that so my daughter's 10 my little guy's six and for the longest time
my daughter would say why did you call it mom said duck we don't have a duck we have
a cat why didn't you call it mom said cat and I would always be like Violet you're totally
right like what was I thinking why didn't I call it mom said cat you know and of course
it mom said duck if you type the effort into a text message it auto corrects to duck that's
where the name comes from because we say duck a lot won't wear mommy yeah for sure and so
yeah so it's just so much a part of our lives that and even like you know I was about to
write the grant I was about to sit down and write the grant and I'm again I'm a very passionate
person I feel a lot and so I started to cry before I started to write the grant because
I'm like oh my god am I really going to do this what if I get it like what if it actually
happens you know kind of thing and so I mean I'm not bawling or anything but like the tears
are kind of streaming down my face and my daughter looked over and said mommy are you
crying and I said yeah I'm crying so why are you crying and I said because I'm about to
do something really scary for mom said duck and I want to do it but I'm just really scared
about it and she said oh don't cry we're here for you oh yeah 10 yeah yeah well she was
nine at the time but yeah like and so just you know there there's so much a part of it
you know that it's like I think I I think as much as it may send them the therapy having
them there at the same time I think it's really important that they're there because kids
sort of get left out of stuff like that I don't want them to see the recording of it
I want them to see the real deal and feel that energy you know the stuff that you can't
see on this on the screen that you know you have to feel it see you feel it see that mommy
scared a little bit before she gets on and I think it would be good and you can also
say afterward this is what you do yeah yeah right and so like I said it may send them
to therapy one day but but it may not it may also give them the courage to go out and do
something really scary that's my hope that's my goal and so that's why I keep I keep thinking
that yeah maybe they should be there that night so an adult's only show mm-hmm there
will be booze specialty cocktails there that night yeah what's popping is what's popping
sorry is going to be donating a hundred cone popcorn things are little bags of popcorn
and there'll be a half of them will be blue and half of them will be pink we're gonna
have pink and blue drinks and wine and beer and okay yeah we're gonna very excited so
many giveaways there's like so many people who have agreed to participate in a giveaway
yes the last time I talked to you you were just starting to get that all okay yeah yeah
yeah so I'm actually leading up to the show I reached out to Molly made Windsor as part
of the International Women's Day giveaway and so I said would you be interested in oh
my gosh yeah Candice parent is her name so oh my gosh I would be totally interested let's
let's do it so we did that that was gonna be part of my show but I thought it's kind of
fun to do for International Women's Day what does mom want more than anything other than
wine maybe a clean house is a clean house right so so we did that so that was really
fun and then we've got Wolf and Rebel so any from Wolf and Rebel has given us a or
given me a gift card anchor coffee house is going to be donating something Angela Unholzer
and oh my gosh why can't I think of her she's a massage therapist on Ottawa Street she's
donating a free massage I've got like a special one that I'm not talking about to anybody
yet and that will be giving away so we've got lots of fun fun little giveaways will
be giving away that night too so if you snagged a ticket yay and if not make sure that you
do follow mom said duck on Instagram and Facebook and sign up for the Friday newsletters yes
and make sure that you follow her because we all need a little laugh we all are going
through the same thing in different stages of momhood yeah some people are just better
at hiding it or even life in general I mean life in general exactly yeah this is and I
think that's part of that's I think one of my superpowers too is I've always been vulnerable
I've always been willing to sort of tell the messy side of my life you know people it gets
me in trouble in terms of you know people will walk away and oh my gosh did you hear
what she said she did this or she you know she admitted to did it and it's like well
yeah but you did it too you just did it exactly I've kind of always that's always been like
a little bit of a catch 22 for me where it's like you know I I don't mind being vulnerable
to I am but it does you know people use it against you too so but I forget about them
you know I try to kind of keep stepping into positivity yeah I realize that you know that's
that's their thing they can kind of pretend that life is perfect in their Instagram world
that's just not and you know what at the end of the day they may not show it but they probably
are happy to know that yeah somebody else is going through it too they just don't want
it I think so and I think that's like the beauty of of social media too like you know
it's such a double-edged sword and I think that's my favorite thing about social media
is especially now that we've sort of like all realized like all these filters and all
this you know perfection is not you know blah blah like we've kind of all come to terms
all these things and it's like I think that's my favorite thing about social media is like
you read a quote or you you know like you see something or whatever and you totally relate
to it and you're like holy shit I thought yeah like I how do they know that you know
kind of thing and it's like so we've all okay okay so I'm normal turns out you know kind
of thing so yeah it's just it is nice and really unfortunately none of the filters makes
this look good I tried them and it's just really weird filters are so lame anyway don't
get me wrong I like to take a good you know duck face selfie here and there and throw
on a good Instagram filter but or what are you know snapchat so my favorite filters but
you know like it's just for fun I need to do Jake's uh filter here filters with the
big lips weekend Botox weekend killer yeah but Jill I want to thank you so much for stopping
in today and give us a little peek in here oh it's great and definitely make sure that
you follow Jill on mom's head duck and Instagram you have a website as well I do yeah I have
a website yeah Facebook and get in on her Friday yeah my Friday poems yeah I swear to
God I'm never going to get home Friday no it's okay yeah Friday's my favorite day of
the week so that's why when I chose to put out the poems I chose Friday because it's
always been my favorite day of the week still is and I just want to come up with something
cute and funny to to kind of like put it out there whatever so yeah that's where fresh
poem Friday came from but yeah excellent yeah follow me and and and get on the newsletter
and that's where you'll hear about upcoming shows because I have a feeling there will
be more so you have to you can't just be a one and done I don't know who knows maybe
you know maybe like you know you go you hit him hit him hard on the way in and call today
there we go you're way too much going on to to be a one and done thank you but again my
name is Tracy Martens and I want to thank you so much for joining me for another episode
of YQG In bloom make sure that you follow and subscribe like on any of our platforms or
YouTube have a good one.