Hometown

Round Lake Hts, IL (near Chicago)

Places I've been

Springfield, and Lincoln, Illinois; Michigan City, IN

More about me

How do I condense a life into a few phrases?  I am a wife, mother, grandmother, 58 years old.  I have a B.S. in Mathematics, but no longer work as an IT project manager.  I now focus on enjoying my life with my husband, a retired police officer. 

I enjoy gardening, reading, sewing, painting, decorating--mostly right-brain stuff now. I am always teaching myself new things, from crochet stitches to upholstery and how to use power tools.

My greatest talent is that I am a quick study and somewhat open-minded.  My greatest flaw is that I focus WAY too much on details, sometimes missing the big picture.  My hope for the future:  get my husband to join me in my quest for health.  I am worried about him.  He still thinks I am just 'on a kick'.  Communication is so hard. 

My newest 'thing', besides becoming vegan and losing 45 lbs, is to do more volunteering.  In two weeks I will go on a 'build' with Habitat for Humanity.  I have recently returned to our Catholic parish where my husband and I met, and we are trying to get involved again.  I need to develop more 'social' networking and find a way to learn to make friends again.  The health questionnaire asked about how many friends I have made in the last year whom I see at least weekly.  I haven't had a friend like that since I was in college, except for my husbands.  I had five children, a full-time job, and a large home to clean.  There was never time for that.  But now there is, so I am going to learn to do this, through volunteering, I hope.  Looking forward to making 'friends' here, too. 

 

Activities

Catholic Church choir, gardening, cooking, reading SciFi, mysteries, global warming, politics, novels, health issues, upholstery and curtain-making, sewing clothing, photography (of my flowers)

Favorite Charities

Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity, Knights of Columbus

Favorite Music

Jazz, some Christian music, classical

Favorite TV Shows

BURN NOTICE, Monk, Inspector Lewis on Masterpiece Theatre, Ugly Betty, House, Bones, NCIS, Brothers and Sisters, Army Wives, Lost (if it ever returns!), 60 Minutes, The Ed Show, Rachel Maddow, Medium and Ghost Whisperer, Eureka!, Warehouse 13

Favorite Movies

Casablanca, Gaslight, What's Up, Doc?, Mamma Mia!

Favorite Books

Nights of Rain and Stars by Maeve Binchy, London Transport by Maeve Binchy, anything by Agatha Christie, The Assault on Reason by Al Gore, anything by Graham Greene, The Tailor of Panama by John LeCarre, Smiley's People by John LeCarre, Tom Clancy's military/spy books about Jack Ryan, The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., The Spectrum, by Dean Ornish, M.D. , Ending the Food Seduction, by Neal Barnard, M.D., You, the Owner's Manual, by Dr. Oz, Hubbard's Curve, author unremembered, Peak Oil? another one forgotten, Climate Code Red by Spratt and Sutton--really good, Three Cups of Tea

Favorite Quotes

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Drink deep." Robert Browning, "Learn something new every day" Martha Stewart, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"-Jesus, "True religion and undefiled is to care for the widows and fatherless."--James, the Bible

Favorite People

My family, of course, Mother Theresa, T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn, Greg Mortenson--mountain climber turned school-builder in Pakistan--what a saint!

Favorite Places

the beach in Michigan City, IN where I grew up, Kent, U.K.--so pretty, my backyard

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