Comments:
I met my DH (who is from Philadelphia and was in the Marines) in college at IUP in the fall of '84. We had to cancel our 1st wedding date in February '91 because it was the day the ground war started in Operation Desert Storm. (His unit been called up over the previous Thanksgiving weekend.) I wouldn't wish the experience on anyone and feel much empathy for the families enduring this hardship now!
We finally married 8/31/91 and settled in Philadelphia where I finished my BS in Accounting at West Chester University of PA and also passed the CPA exam on the 1st try. I worked for a public accounting firm and volunteered as a Literacy tutor. I was paired with a woman who was in her 50's, a hardworking, loving, beautiful woman who had raised a family, and yet never learned to read! Helping her learn was very rewarding!
In 1995 we moved to wonderful, sunny Florida. First we lived in Orlando (Disney anyone?) where we could see the space shuttle take off from our front door! I worked for the Expressway Authority as an accountant and Asst. Manager for their electronic toll customer service office. Our electronic toll "E-Pass" was one of the 1st in the nation before the EZ pass that you all use up there on the turnpike now.
Then we had our wonderful boys, identical twins, and I was able to logically convince my husband that it was more cost effective for me to stay home that put two babies in daycare. I then spent my time enjoying my boys and I used my accounting skills as treasurer of the local MOMs Club and helped them raise lots of money for charity.
In 2002, our beautiful daughter was born. Seeing her grow and discovering who she is has completely convinced me that boys and girls (and men and women) are NOT the same. The sexes are definitely born with certain "wiring" and I am so glad I get to experience both! I love her sweet kisses and dances and artistic flair and how she tends her "babies" and her stuffed "pets" as much as I enjoy her brothers' light saber battles, lego building, and learning about volcanoes and geckos!
In 2003 we moved to Pembroke Pines (between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami) just 2 miles from the edge of the Everglades (alligators, and snakes, and bears, oh my!). Big news in the paper this week was a sighting of a black bear roaming across the street from the elementary school. Don't think that would happen back in Lebo!
My boys are learning FL state history this year in school (and me with them!) and I have been reminicing about all the history Pennsylvania holds and how I learned it in school in Mt. Lebanon (Ft. Pitt, William Penn, Ben Franklin, Liberty Bell, etc.) We will have to plan a "history" trip to Pgh. sometime.
I volunteer in all my kids' classrooms and with the PTA. I grade 5th grade math papers (and I am not always "Smarter than a 5th grader") which are way harder than I remember doing in 5th grade! In fact, most of the projects and assignments my kids do in school, I don't remember doing until Jr. High. The workload is huge! Does anyone else think this? Is it the same everywhere? I also present the PTA program "Meet the Masters" to all 3 classrooms. I go in to each class 7 times each year with 2 art reproductions and give a talk about the master artists who created them. I tell them about any related art concepts and we discuss, compare, and contrast the artworks. Then I lead then in a related hands-on activity. The students learn art appreciation and history and I am rewarded big time by the excitement I see on their faces when I come through the door to present!
Last year we bought an RV and are enjoying lots of outdoor life and weekends away as a family. My husband and I are beginning to panic that we only have about 5 or so more years before our boys may rather work or spend time with their friends than vacation with their parents. So we're trying to pack it all in now! Time goes too fast!
We have 2 pets: a mini Australian Shepherd named Oreo who loves to "herd" the kids where he wants them, and a very cool Crested Gecko named Rusty that belongs to one of my sons. He eats live crickets and hangs by his tail from branches or uses his cool suction-cup toes to climb and stick to glass. Who knew that the crickets would be so loud at night that we woud have to keep them in the garage! My other son is campaigning to get a snake, but I'm not so sure about that.....
Aside from volunteering, overseeing homework, RVing, and moderating the general chaos that 3 kids and 2 pets create, we are also active in Boy Scouts and Brownies and the kids do lots of activities - tae kwon do, dance, gymnastics, swimming, soccer, football, and baseball, tutoring, and guitar lessons (not all at once of course!). Whew! I get tired just thinking about it!
Ok so that's my life to date in about 5,000 characters. I enjoy reading about Mt. Lebo classmates, even though I am terrible at keeping communication with anyone. So I am glad this website is here and I hope lots of others will post!
