Getting to know me.......

I guess I should start this thing out with a little backround about me:

Where I live:
On the face of the sun, otherwise known as Phoenix, AZ. I'm a native of this great city which has been over run by people from the other 49 states. Some days we natives wish they would all go back to where they came from. It sure was easier getting around before the big boom. My city perfected urban sprawl.....we are sprawled everywhere and we have very substandard public transportation so 95% of the population drives a vehicle of some sort. We have lots of road rage, red light runners and photo radar. I only say this because I have a 30 minute commute each way everyday and I'm sure this subject will come up sometime in the future. It is the bane of my existence. I hate the heat here but I don't like earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, humidity or shoveling anything so I stay here because the alternatives are not enticing to me. All in all it's an ok place to live but if global warming is real, we here in desert land are in real trouble.

My family:
I have been married to Dan for 28 years. He's a wonderful man who is the King of Procrastination. I bet you didn't even know they had a king for this special little group of people but they do and he lives in my house. He really is a great guy and I love him more than life itself but we all have our little flaws and that is his. This subject will also come up in the future, you can be assured. His job is in construction but his main occupation is board member and coach for the local girls softball league. He is a great dad and has been a little league and softball coach for the last 18 years. He loves it and the kids love him. Actually, he is obsessed with coaching and this too will come up in the future.


Now, I thought for a while about revealing too much about my kids because people say you shouldn't do that on the 'net. But since they are all adults and have most of their lives splashed all over Facebook and MySpace and who knows what other social networking sites, I don't think the little info I give here will really matter in the grand scheme of things.


Sarah - 24 - organized, opinionated, musical, creative, first born miracle

Decided she didn't like living in the desert so last year she moved to Washington, D.C. She works in convention services for a major hotel there and loves the city.....I'm sure she won't be coming back to this side of the country anytime soon. It does not make her mother very happy but I do understand and I love that she is having a great adventure while she's still young. I'm very jealous that she's living in such an historic and exciting place, that has great public transportation. She is sarcastic, witty, shares my love of reading and is a great listener and friend. I should mention that she has a lovely roommate named Andrea who was her college roomy and they moved together on this big adventure. I only mention this because apparently Andrea is very touchy about not being mentioned when I write about the family......


Stephen - 23 - quiet, sweet, compassionate, thoughtful, second born miracle

Still lives at home, doesn't drive, loves everything to do with sports, video games and movies. He hasn't quite figured out yet what he wants to do in life, but I'm sure he will. We car pool to work together which is interesting in the fact that we barely talk to each other the whole way to and from work. As we detest each others taste in music, he plugs in his ipod and I listen to my radio station and unless there is a baseball game on, that's how we spend our rides. He is a great help to me around the house and I really do like having him around. He joined a softball league this year which is great for him and gets him out of the house. He is a sports fanatic and loves watching all of them on TV. He is the consummate fan.....he loves his teams whether they are playoff bound or cellar dwelling...he cares not.



Beth - 20 - sassy, energetic, funny, spiritual, last born miracle

Where to begin.....this is the child that I knew from birth would be the one that either brought me to the brink of mental illness or put me in line for sainthood. I still haven't figured out which it will be yet. Currently she is on hiatus from school but she works like a fiend so I can't complain. She is working as a food server but looking for other opportunities. She loves playing softball and does so whenever she can. Recently she has found a fondness for tattoos which makes her mother crazy but I try to understand it's a generational thing and she's an adult and all of that. Just like when they're young, you pick your battles and this is not one I'm willing to lose her over. Most of the time she is a joy to be around simply because she loves life and everything in it and wants to experience it all at once. I wish I had her energy. She has made me laugh everyday for 20 years.

And then there's me....I will tell you that I work in a major inner-city trauma center. I schedule surgeries and do statistics for the department. That in itself is ironic since I was the kid who always said I would never have a job that required me to do math. Thank goodness for calculators! And that is all I will be saying about my job. I hear HR people troll the 'net looking for people's networking sites, trying to get dirt on you and that people have actually gotten fired for writing about their workplace. Now, the way I look at it, writing a blog or networking on a social site is the 21st century version of a coffee clatch (if you don't know what that is....google it). No one would come into your home, listen to you gripe about your boss and fire you for it. But because you choose to vent on the 'net....somehow they have the right. It seems kind of unAmerican to me, but then a lot of things seem unAmerican to me these days.....and that's all I'll say about that too. I'll try to keep religion and politics off this blog but I can't promise that if something really chaps my hiney that I won't talk about it. I digress ( I do that a lot, by the way)...when I'm not working I enjoy spending time with my family and I do have a few hobbies. I love to read and crochet. I also watch way too much TV but I justify it by crocheting while I watch and tell myself I'm not wasting time. I love baseball and hockey which kind of makes me sound like I have a split personality but that's the way it is. Oh, and I enjoy writing....hence this blog. More about that later......(yes there's more). And I have a tendency to be long winded but I think you've figured that out by now.

Pets:
Currently we have one cat named Sassy. She is about 11 years old and her name says everything about her that you need to know. Over the last couple of years we have lost several pets. At one time we had two dogs and four cats. But unfortunately they get old and sick and leave us. Sassy was our youngest pet so you can see it was getting to be that time. I am sad about their passing and I miss them but I'm not ready to replace them and I may never be. I'm not really a "pet person". The pets were always there for the husband and the kids. Of course, you can't help but get attached when something lives with you for so long, but I have to say that I don't miss having lots of pets. Who knows, when all the kids are finally gone maybe I will want one....but I doubt it.


Why I decided to start a blog:
As I said before, I love to write. I've been searching for an outlet and I guess this is it. I mostly like writing about my family and my life. I also enjoy writing about things that make me go hmmm......so you may see a lot of that here. I really admire writers like Erma Bombeck and Dave Berry. People who make what happens in everyday life funny and interesting. I would never, ever compare myself to them but they are who I admire and look to for inspiration.

And finally......

My theory of an alternate universe:
Somewhere around November 2008 I'm convinced we began living in an alternate universe. One where things that you never thought would happen...have. I have a few things to prove my theory:

1. We elected an African-American president. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, far from it. I'm just saying.....I never thought it would happen.

2. The Hyundai Genesis won 2009 car of the year......Hyundai?!?

3. Winter lasted far into spring in most places, despite global warming......

4. And finally, the number one reason I'm convinced we are living in an alternate universe: The Arizona Cardinals went to the Super Bowl and came within an inch of winning......

I think I've proved my point.......