About Me

Like most people, I am very complex, so to write about myself gave me a bit of a pause. The things most people say about me are that I am quiet, always happy, and intelligent. My favorite things are playing with my kids, reading a good book, and building web pages. I also enjoy music, both making it with keyboard, flute, or chello and listening to it. My music tastes are eclectic. I like rock, country, jazz, techno, classical, and even some rap. My favorite drinks are coke classic and Mello Yellow. I don't normally sit through movies, but my favorite of all time is Matilda. I have a bunch of nicknames, but few that I encourage. Lil mama and widow are a couple of them. I technically have three parents. My mom, Jan is pretty awesome most of the time. Dad aka my step father, George is a gentle guide for me. Steve is kind and giving, but prone to mood swings. As you'll read later, I do not put any weight on the prefixes of families. Prefixes such as step and half are pretty much not part of my normal vocabulary. None the less, I have a half sister, who I grew up with and three step brothers, who are George's sons. I am pretty close to my brothers, the oldest and youngest especially, and I am super close to my sister.

Dancing has played a major role in my life, as has music.

My parents (mom and stepdad) were dance instructors and taught at area colleges and churches. As a child, I was taken to these lessons, to dance competitions Dad judged, and any other event where I could see my parents dance. Dad won dance competitions and was president of the Dallas Push Club for years. Mom and Dad were fabulous together.

My Granny and Granddaddy danced, too. In his day, Granddaddy was a terrific dancer. The best in North Dakota. He danced to Laurence Welk live. Even when, in poor health, Granddaddy could no longer walk unassisted, Granddaddy and Granny would dance.

My first kiss was during a school dance while I was dancing to Timmy T’s One More Try.

When I was pregnant with Devon, I’d turn up the stereo and dance. He’d start stretching and kicking and playing. When he was born, I gently waltzed with him to soft rock. As soon as he could walk, I had him waltzing and thrashing (quite a combo when he combined the two).

When Robert came along, he was less enthusiastic about waltzing until he had a partner his size. She was a my size Barbie. Robert loved fast dancing from the start.

Below is a pic of Mom & Dad Dancing

Awards/Associations
-Leadership Institute-El Centro College
-published poetry 1rst time-West Mesquite High

Sitting on the porch on a drizzly summer night, or even a stormy summer night, just talking or thinking is one of the most relaxing things I can think of. When I get stressed, that's where I go in my mind. The gentle damp, warm breeze carresses my face as I sit in a rocking chair with my eyes closed and drink in the serenity.

Rain in general is soothing to me. Day or night, soft or torrential, rain makes me relax and most of the time, lulls me to sleep. As long as I can remember, when I had trouble sleeping, Mom would put in stormy weekend and midway through the first song, I'd usually fall asleep. Stormy weekend has violins playing in harmony with a thunderstorm. Occasionally, a dog barks, rain taps a can, and a train rolls by. It's always been my favorite music.

I've gone to school for twelve years, off and on. I stopped highschool during the tenth grade, but went back, got my GED and started college after I had my boys. In those twelve years, I've had many great teachers, but a few stand out because of their influence on major decisions in my life.

The first is Mrs. Hart.

She taught Honors English at West Mesquite High. (GO WRANGLERS!!!) Although it must have been frustrating to no end to see bright student like myself blowing off life in general, she was great. She encouraged my writing even when I would ignore homework to write it. I guess I got intrested in the poetry unit and just stayed there instead of moving on to Shakespere with the rest of the class. She sent one poem I wrote to a local magazine. Suddenly, I was a published writer. It felt good when she asked me to read it to the class. I still have the article and the original with Mrs. Hart's comments framed on my wall. That was the day I decided to become a teacher and a writer. Mrs. Hart is the only teacher I have ever taken a picture of. During college, I kept her picture in the view window of my notebook and when things got rough, I would take it out and remind myself why I was there: To become as good a teacher as Mrs. Hart and hopefully repay her for all she did for me by doing the same for another child someday.

The second, I ran into in my first semester at El Centro College. It was my second semester in college and I decided to take sixteen credit hours. I had to have been nuts! The class was freshman Honors English. The teacher, Mr. Chambers. I have never been so challenged by any course. I realized right away that it was not the course, it was the teacher. His assignments required reflection and actual thought, rather than the usual regurgitation. The thought part was easy, it was the reflection that tripped me up. We had to write about ourselves; our religion, our place in the world, basically define and discover ourselves and hand it in at the begining of the next class. After that first semester with him, I took two more classes with him and I plan to take him for my last English class at El Centro. What I like most about Mr. Chambers is that he never hesitated to tell me when I had not written to my potential. When I turn something in that I think is awesome and I am told I have turned in better, that I am a great writer and good will not cut it when he knows I can do better, It feels great. I know I am a good writer, but sometimes, it's nice to hear it from a professional.

Then, there is Mrs. Jones. Mrs. Jones was also part of El Centro's awesome staff. She taught History. At first, I liked her because she remided me of my Aunt Minta. After that, I admired her for her enthusiasm and unconventional teaching style. She was tough, but she made it fun & renewed my love for history. Mrs. Jones' approach to teaching college students was great because she opened up the human side of history. We got to listen to the music of each period and try out their dances, amoung other activities that taught us how the people lived and made us care enough about the people to learn well what they were going through. I've never had history come alive like that before or since.

Another of El Centro's staff that influenced me was Dr. Page. I did not have Dr. Page in any classes, but I had the pleasure of having her council me several times and worked in her class for several weeks. Dr. Page is a tell-em-like-it-is kind of person. She doesn't sugar coat it, just tells you exactly how she sees things. I found it real easy to talk to her because I knew whatever she said was going to be the truth.

There are few things better than shucking corn and shelling peas. I know what you are thinking...You're thinking I've completely lost it, but hear me out. It is not the act of preparing the veggies that is great, it's the time spent working together with family, nothing to distract you or give you an excuse not to talk. When you prepare garden fresh veggies, you just seem to naturally talk and recite memories of other times together.