Eternally Optimistic.  As an adolescent I lost my first potential boyfriend because his parents saw me standing on top of a picnic table reciting Whalt Whitman and forbade him to talk to the crazy girl.  It all turned out well in the end, as I found the love of my life, married him, and in 19 years he has yet to leave me for standing on picnic tables, reciting poetry.  My two fabulous teenage boys have long since learned to accept their quirky mother.  

Working with domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse victims as a profession, leaves me desperately needing an outlet for all the atrocities I deal with on a daily basis. 

 Writing, community theatre, scuba diving, reading, and scrapbooking provide me that outlet.  I wrote my first story in grade school about a bear named snowflake who was lost in a snowstorm. Don't worry snowflake was rescued, eternal optomist remember?  I have since learned that not all stories have happy endings, but I continued writing in some fashion or another as a student writer for my high school paper, news articles related to my profession in adulthood, Poetry for family and friends, and one story for True Story Magazine about my husband being a hero for which I received a whopping $100.00 for. 

I have a love hate relationship with the art of punctuation and I truly believe it is a talent, doing it correctly, that is.  I definately have the comma trauma syndrome and tend to over use them.  

 I just finished directing my first play at my Comunity Theatre:  "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."  It was a surreal experience for me, kind of like your first kiss, no matter how many times it happens again, there is always something bittersweet about the first one. I never thought I could direct a play, just like I never thought I would have the courage to post any of my writings, but if your reading this then I have apparently conquered that fear also.

  Next on my list is to go scuba diving in the ocean.  No big feat to most but I am terrified of sharks and from a small town in Missouri, where the ocean and sharks are only seen on the discovery channel.  I am scheduled for a liveaboard dive cruise with my husband and one of my sons this summer in the Bahamas! 

My favorite quote is

 "Life isn't about waiting for the Storm to pass....It's about learning to Dance in the rain.