In case you really want to know...

I don't have any GOOD photos of myself, so you'll just have to imagine Gilda Radner with Brook Shields eyes. I have brown eyes, brown hair, and light skin. I tend to burn, rather than tan, but I don't have freckles.A Lot of Jobs!!!... I've held many different sorts of jobs:

Student Live-in Nanny Cocktail Waitress Bakery Cook Pizza Delivery Driver Radio Disc Jockey Avionics Technician VCR/PC Repair Technician Office Manager Semi-Professional Musician (cello)

It seems like a long list, except, at times, I held several jobs at once. For instance, I started college at Hardin-Simmons University, a college in Abilene, Texas, that is a private Southern Baptist college, and therefore, expensive. I majored in Music Performance and had a full tuition scholarship. But, scholarships don't pay for food or a place to live, so I worked for two local symphony orchestras, a bar, and a radio station, part time, and as a live-in nanny to avoid having to pay dorm fees.REAL LIFE sets in...

Half way through my Sophomore year, I met a guy, fell in love, and got married. This was during the "Reganomics" years when the bottom fell out of the oil and technologies markets. We moved to Colorado, in hopes of better job opportunities, but it seemed lay-offs were everywhere. We held on for one year, and moved back to Texas. My husband joined the Air Force and we were stationed in Wyoming. With his steady paycheck, we started buying a house and adopted our first pets: Chani and Data. But, I still had a hard time finding work. I had no formal training and no\par marketable skills, so a year later, I also joined the Air Force. I wanted something like Biotechnology or Radiology; I got B-52 Bomb Navigations System Specialist...Yep! Aircraft Electronics! I guess the recriuter thought it was good enough for government work. What's the difference between Radiology and Radiation?Hard Knocks...

I was stationed in Minot, North Dakota. I learned how to fix computers, navigations systems, radar systems, and photographic systems (including VCRs). I was assigned Flightline Repair and actually got to work in the planes. I was finally happy with my job, but the career I envisioned was not to be. I was injured while working with a piece of equipment and had to spend the rest of my enlistment fighting for my job. I fought the Medical discharge, but was not allowed to test for advancement or reinlist. I was then an official Disabled Veteran. I got a job with the Department of Transportation as a Field Office Manager. My husband had removed himself from the Air Force and was working for Burlington Northern Railroad. He was gone all the time...we never saw each other. After nine years of marriage, we divorced.

New Love...

Somewhere, in all this mess, I developed a hobby for tropical fish. I had a total of 90 gallons of fishtanks, the prize being the 30 gal flatback half-hex in the living room, with almost every kind of tropical fish in them. I was constantly searching for out of the way, Mom and Pop pet stores to find something unique or supplies that were hard to find. One of these searches led me to Animal Paradise (now closed) and my first bird, Bert. He's a normal grey cockatiel who may be split for Lutino, I don't know for sure. About three months later, while having his wings and nails manicured, he fell in love with a cute little cinnamon white-faced female. I didn't want another bird, but every time we went in there, she was sitting patiently waiting for us. After 6 more months, I gave in and brought her home. I named her Earnestine, of course! So, now, I had a menagerie---Chani, the Momma cat, Data, the Daddy cat, Bert and Earnie, the Tiels, and several dozen fish. What did I do, you ask? I got another bird! Fred was/is a peach-faced lovebird. I kept him for several years, until a friend of mine started having problems with her female who wanted a "man", so Fred went to live with them. They're a happy pair, now, as are Bert and Earnie (and their 18, and counting, offspring).Beginning Again...

Life doesn't always go as planned. Soon after my divorce, the job with the N.D.D.O.T was completed, and I was out of work, again. I was 1500 miles away from family and alone (except for the animals). I decided to move, temporarily, in with my twin sister and her husband. She soon learned she was pregnant. Christopher was born exactly on his due date and has been a joy (mostly) to be around. One of the nice things about being a disabled veteran is the oportunity to train for a career that will work around your disability. I have started in college again, this time, majoring in Biology.

So here we all are. My sister is still going to college, after living through her share of Life's twists. I'm still going to college. We're both working and taking turns caring for Christopher. I gave away the fish when I moved. Chani and Data died in 1999, of lymphatic cancer, within about 3-4 months of each other, but there are new little pawprints on my heart, named Honey and Jack. Bert and Earnie are well married and act like it, and there's a new feathered friend, as well, named Leena, who is a Congo African Grey parrot. My sister has her own new additions, too: A Mollucan Cockatoo, named Timothy, (that I help her with) and another 100 gallons of tropical fish.My Hobbies

Besides my love for animals I have three hobbies to which I devote a LOT of my spare time. They are ...

Quilting Beaded Ornaments Crochet

If you made it this far, you must be a friend! Thanks for reading my tale.