What's with the animal faces? Like everyone, I am a multi-faceted being. I can be accused of any of these expressions - plus others I couldn't find images for, at any given moment throughout the day.
_When I was a kid, I played "Cops and
Robbers". I was always the “Robber”. Robbers had more fun. Robbers got
to be sneaky and clever. I liked being sneaky and clever. I also liked pretending I was some sort of animal. For my entire third grade year, I was a raccoon. And not just any raccoon, I was a fierce mother raccoon with super powers. I had anywhere from 3 to 6 kits and I fought off all imaginable dangers - mostly boys pretending to be wolves or cougars. In the fourth grade I was a sleek and powerful black stallion - the fastest anyone had ever seen. When I wasn't an animal I climbed
trees, built tree houses and played in dirt. The frames on my 'girlie' bike were always bent, or the tires flat because I rode it hard like a dirt bike. I had little
interest in dress-ups and no interest in Barbies.
The first thing I remember really wanting to be when I "grew up"
was a PIRATE - YESSS! Aaarrgh Matey! Then I wanted to be an astronaut - I
really, really did. I dreamed of it for years. I also dreamed of
being a journalist and author. My parents just hoped I'd be somebody's wife and a mother. It seemed no matter what I did, or said I wanted, it was
always on the "wrong" side of what people around me thought I should
want. Growing up was confusing for me. There came a point when I knew I'd
never be an astronaut (or a pirate - so sad), but my love for writing, for telling stories
and journalism has never waned.
Through high school I was either on the yearbook or
newspaper staff. I wanted to travel the world as a photojournalist for National
Geographic. I wanted to capture the stories I saw around me, meet new people, experience different cultures. I yearned for
adventure. Before I had a chance to chase the dreams, I fell into the greatest adventure of all - Motherhood. After a few years, I found myself a single mother of four. And single I stayed. I raised those four babies by myself. Three of those babies are now fully grown with lives of their own and babies of their own.
I completed two college programs. The
first for Graphic Design. Then when that wasn't enough, I went back to school to become a Massage Therapist.
Now that I'm down to just one at home, I am pursuing some of the dreams I'd previously set aside.
I'm currently working on several book projects and trying to wrap my brain around the fact my youngest will graduating from high school this year and soon may very well be on her own.
For now there are four of us living in this household - myself, my teenage daughter Piper (or Pip),Ginger our
Border Collie, and a personality packed Toad named Buntah. All female. For the most part we operate a drama free zone. Stress is a frequent visitor however. If drama does rear it's unpleasant head it mostly comes at us from an outside source usually from friends of my daughter who do have drama in their lives - mostly with boyfriends. Hmmmm . . . . . . . . . . . . . food for thought there, and with that I'll end this passage!
