Comments:
Whew! Where to start? I went to the University of St. Thomas in Houston and then started moving-from Somalia, East Africa to Ponca City, Oklahoma to Midland, Texas, to Houston again and then on to Maryland. Mostly I've been a writer of some kind, depending on the year!--from technical writing to newspaper writing to an engineering magazine for Rice University to grant proposal writing. Since my move to Maryland I have worked for two wonderful nonprofits, first the (Holy Ghost Fathers and Brothers') Spiritan Foundation and now Partners In Care (www.partnersincare.org). I call myself the company beggar trying to keep us afloat writing grant proposals so we can continue to help older people with (no-cost) rides to the doctor, the grocery store, etc. and small handyman repairs. So if you became wealthy since last we met, please remember us at Partners In Care!-ha ha.
My husband Bill is not my first husband, but he is a nice fellow, an engineer for a company that makes dredges--for all those sheiks you see on TV who are making artificial islands because they have so much money they don't know what to do with it! I moved to Maryland in 2000 and miss my Houston friends and family very much, but Bill's sisters here have been wonderful to me.
When I'm not at work I usually have three books going-one on tape in the car, another on tape to exercise by, and another to read. Our state taxes are terrible but at three books every week or two, I'm getting it all back in books because the library is my second home. I love the fact that my work, my son's house, all the stores, libraries---really any place I need to go are three miles or less away. Washington, D.C. is only 30 miles away and Annapolis is only 15 miles away--an endless supply of things to do that don't cost anything.
I lead a very simple life on purpose. For example, one of the best birthdays I have ever celebrated was actually this year, and it had to do with the inauguration of President Obama. My son had a day off and I took part of the day off and just sat with him at his house--just the two of us watching history unfold on the television. (His girfriend was at work and Bill was also.)It was a very special thing to share, and we both felt it strongly. Afterward T took me for a belated birthday lunch. It may not seem like a big occasion for some people, but, as Tristan and I know, our favorite thing to do together is quietly and comfortably just sitting there "watching the grass grow" so to speak and knowing we are on the same wave length.
So basically I'm still kind of a nerdy bookworm like I always was, but with the addition of a son who has turned out to be one of the kindest people I have ever met. Oops-there is also Chad the cat, an ordinary gray tabby male whom I adopted at Petsmart, who has us completely trained to fulfill his every whim. I'm the alpha cat in this house, but that doesn't mean much! I call him "his majesty" most of the time for obvious reasons.
