A Little Bit of Me

For all of my new friends out there let me give you a little bit of personal background. My husband, Tom, is a Shriner and we are very active participants in Shrine activities, raising money to support the Shriners Childrens Hospitals throughout the United States. You will see a lot of references to the Shrine and the things we do with our Shriner friends. Yes, he does wear the funny red fez with the black tassel; yes, he does participate in parades...he has a dune buggy and belongs to that group calling themselves the Desert Chariots. They provide parade transportation for the Divan (aka pres., vp, etc.). He also belongs to the Sandbaggers (golfers), the Director's Staff (the workers who prepare for events), the CIF committee (they raise money to support the building), and a few other things I can't even remember. We travel quite a bit and have been fortunate over the years to go on wonderful outings to Vancouver, Cancun, Spain, Jamaica, and many places within the US. I get to go along without having to do all the work.
For myself, I'm having angst this year. My husband turned 70, my baby turned 40, I'm getting ready to go to my 50th high school class reunion, and I'm going to be a great-grandmother. So what the hell happened!!!!! But life is good and I'm actually laughing at my angst. I have wonderful kids and grandkids. I get to do the things I enjoy best. I have terrific friends; and I have the best husband/friend in the whole world (celebrated our 47th anniversary this year).
I grew up in a small Kansas farming community and now live and survive in the large urban desert of Arizona. I hate freeways, you miss seeing "stuff". And people get on freeways and get crazy. But don't think I could ever go back to live in the midwest...too much humidity and cold weather for these bones now. I miss the trees and the rivers and am always amazed by them when we go back.
I have tried pretty much every craft style that has come along, and given up on most of them. Hated knitting, but love counted cross stitch. Can't draw a straight line with a ruler but I'm a "mad stamper"! Couldn't paint a picture but I know how to use markers and watercolor crayons. Love to read, write stories, talk too much, give unsolicited advice (and I try really hard not to do that). Hate talking on the phone, but love hearing from my kids and grandkids....thank goodness for emails now. Tried my hand at flower arranging; I'm okay, but I get bored. Did the whole plastic canvas thing but then couldn't figure out what to do with that stuff. Well, you get the idea. So I cleaned out the garage, donated nearly everything to a Senior Citizen Center and let my new love (paper stuff) take over. That's me.