Why "Pandemic Potpourri?" Well because it made me laugh. And alliteration, obviously. Plus, this episode is a bit of a mishmash.  I talk to my daughter Avery about her experience with her first Covid Vaccine. And then I talk (to myself and the dog) about what it was like giving birth during a pandemic... my son was born in 2003, during the SARS pandemic. I also share a bit about Avery's birth story. This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

In this episode I’m tackling the uncomfortable subject of perverts, stranger danger and sexual predators, with a specific focus on a very vulnerable population—the disabled community. (Avery doesn't participate in this episode, but she'll be back next week.) Protective Behaviours Program (Circles) Factsheet: Women with Disabilities and Violence Violent victimization of women with disabilities, 2014: Statistics Canada Abuse of People with Disabilities; Disability Credit Canada Violence against adults and children with disabilities: World Health Organization  *********************************************************************************** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and we're talking about...global accessibility in terms of our digital world. Why does it matter? And how we can make it happen? Rethinking The Term Hearing Impaired: https://bit.ly/3hFusPy Website Accessibility Checker: https://bit.ly/3hMqS5Y Audio Transcription: https://otter.ai This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Virtual School has been amazing and awful and amazing. Avery tells us what she loves about learning online and what she misses about being at "real school." Plus we talk tech and attending school from home. Webcams have been a gift. How could we possibly do online learning without them? But, webcams are also a hazard and I'll TMI you all about that.  Content Warning: There's a tiny bit of nudity. I mean, you can't see it, but I talk about it so... you have been warned.  This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Not to sound cheesy, but motherhood is a gift. And not one that everyone receives. Sometimes by choice. Other times, not. In this episode, our first "special" (we decided to level up for Mother's Day) I share some thoughts about my mom and what I learned from her, how I feel about being a mom myself, and what I hope (and fear) as Avery heads toward "mothering age." Apologies for the airplane flying overhead, the street cleaner driving by. Twice. And the unidentified clicking sound in the early part of the recording. 🤷‍♀️ In case you couldn't make it out, here's Avery's joke... What do you call a mom who can't draw? Tracey! This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

I wanted to call this episode, "Bad Moms Club" since it's about some of my less than stellar parenting moments. However, my pod partner Avery objected to the word "bad" so we settled on the abbreviation, BMC. Better than "The BM club" I guess. Haha! Who's the mature one in this podcast duo? Not me, obviously.  We're all doing our best. Some days we're crushing the parenting game. Other days, not so much. The point is, we all make mistakes or say or do things we're not super proud of. It's okay—parents are people too.  Content Warning: Adult only episode. One (tiny) curse word and a tooth fairy spoiler. This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Visit us at averybrightlife.com Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Come meet Avery's dad and find out what she loves most about him. Then Adrian and I participate in some awkward banter about waiting to find out who "caused" Avery's genetic mutation. Content Warning: We use the R-slur near the end of the episode. NOT flippantly or disrespectfully, but as part of an earnest discussion about language, and words getting lost in translation. Stay tuned to the end for Avery's robot joke.  This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Episode 3 is all about the D word. No, not disabilities. We're talkin' diagnosis. The day Avery was officially diagnosed with a complex and rare chromosome deletion/duplication was a very hard day.  In this episode I'll be talking about what our daughter's diagnosis felt like in the early days and how we feel about it today. I also touch on the somewhat sensitive subject of grieving the loss of the life you expected. What's with me and touchy topics these days?  Stay tuned to the end of the episode for some true life take-aways and a joke from Avery herself. Knock-knock... This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Why does the term "Special Needs" still exist? It's outdated. It's also offensive to the majority of the disability community.  This episode is about why the term Special Needs in unacceptable and what we should be using instead.  You can read my blog post on this topic and watch the "Human Needs" campaign video (mentioned in this episode) HERE.  Thanks so much for tuning in!  See you next Thursday for Episode 3! This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]

Here it is, finally, our very first full aVERY Bright Life (ABL) podcast episode! Apologies in advance for the 356 "uhs, ums, and so's." It's shocking how often we repeat certain words and sounds without even realizing it.  Avery and I had a blast recording this together (the editing wasn't as fun... but I'll get the hang of it eventually. And hopefully figure out how to get the volume right).  In episode 1 we talk about how this podcast was actually conceived six years ago (that's a LONG gestation period!) and why my old blog, Forever in Mom Genes, evolved into a new website, co-authored by my daughter Avery.  The episode begins with Avery sharing what she likes and what makes her unique. It ends with what will likely be a permanent feature called, "Avery says..." where she either answers some questions or shares something important to her. Today, she shares her daily mantra. 💕 Thank you for tuning in! We hope you enjoy this episode (and can get past how many times we bump the microphone or lose our train of thought).  See you next Thursday for Episode 2!  This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited (to the best of her limited tech ability) by Lisa Thornbury. Read more at averybrightlife.com. Come chat with us on social! Instagram: @LisaThornbury Facebook: aVERY Bright life (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Twitter: @LisaThornbury Questions or Advertising Inquiries: [email protected]