Since I'm new here, I could just be missing a thread with a 'who are you' theme.  I'm not seeing one so I'll start one.    Share a little about who you are using these questions…

1.  Where do you call home and where were you raised?

I live south of Atlanta Georgia in a small town with 80 miles of golfcart paths and a big lake.  We're surrounded by blackberry thickets,  old baptist churches and trees…lots of trees.  I was raised in Atlanta.

2.  Who lives in your home now (animals included) and who calls you mama? 

 My husband of eight years, my college aged daughter, a young lady attending ministry school at our church, two cats, Abby and Dark Kitty and three dogs, Sassy, Annie Fannie and Savannah.  I also have a son at Auburn Univ.

3.  What careers have you dipped your toe in?

After college I did computer programming at Delta.  Also substitute taught, owned a nanny agency, ran a pearl company and taught family budgeting.

4.  If you could invite three people from any time period to dinner…who would it be?

Jesus, Mark Twain, and Ronald Reagan.

5.  What would you serve at that dinner?

Fried chicken, milk gravy with the little crispies, buttermilk biscuits, sweet potato soufflet with brown sugar pecan topping, fried okra, sliced beefsteak tomatoes, banana puddin' and peach iced tea.

6.  If you'd known at the time it was the last time…what would have made you cry?

There was a time when I set my son and my daughter down, out of my arms, for the last time.  If I'd known it was the last time I'd be picking them up, I would have cried like a baby.  Also, the last time I spoke with grandmama. 

7.  Who was the most influential person in your life?

My Aunt E…short from Emma Lou.  She had dimples so deep you could put your finger in them and eyes bluer than the logride water at Six Flags.  She taught me growing older doesn't mean losing a youthful heart. 

8.  What makes you happy?

An open window with nippy fall blowing in, peaceful music filling the room and a hot drink.  Add my loved ones coming to dinner and life is full.

9.  What are your top favorite movies?

Fried Green Tomatoes, Braveheart, and The Notebook.

10.  What one thing have you learned over life that stands out as a key to happiness?

Let folks know you love them.  Share with them now what you would share at their funeral.  Don't hold back.  And….from my mama….it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. 

1.  Where do you call home and where were you raised?    Raised in Chesterfield, Michigan and actually purchased the childhood home from mom.  I have been here 48 yrs.

2.  Who lives in your home now (animals included) and who calls you mama?    4 Furbabies, 3 dogs and 1 cat, actually the cat is my hubbies. Edit to add: I forgot to put in who lives here besides myself, My husband, my sister and her grand daughter.

3.  What careers have you dipped your toe in?    I have been a factory rat for 29 yrs, on layoff status right now for the past 6 months. In august I finished a medical billing course from Ross Medical Edu Center (big mistake in choosing that school). I have worked in 2 group homes for mentally ill and Developmentally Disable people. I also did a 5 yr stint as a cashier in a gas station back in the early 80's

4.  If you could invite three people from any time period to dinner…who would it be?  Mary Magdaline (to get the truth from a womans perception), Merlin, Einstein

5.  What would you serve at that dinner? Butternut soup, Lobster Alfredo w/angel hair pasta, petite Filet Mignon, crisp french cut green beans, new potatoes that have been boiled in a chicken broth, and a chocolate Kaluha angel food trifle.

6.  If you'd known at the time it was the last time…what would have made you cry? What did make me cry; my father dieing from cancer

7.  Who was the most influential person in your life?  My husband

8.  What makes you happy?  My husband

9.  What are your top favorite movies? Down periscope, Hatari, The Quiet Man, Rio Bravo, El Durado.

10.  What one thing have you learned over life that stands out as a key to happiness? Others opinions of you don't mean a thing. In the long run you have to be statisfied with what you have done and the road you have traveled.

I love this, learning more about new friends! Thanks Dana!
Where do you call home and where were you raised? Rockdale, Texas. for almost 50 years. I am working at the hospital I was born in.

Who lives in your home now? Me, hubby John, son Jonathan 22, 13 yr old Tike chi/rat, Corene mama cat, Punk baby cat, and 70 chickens

Who calls you mama? Son and his girlfriend Tosha

What careers have you dipped your toe in? started working at 14 in day care, went to college for floral design, owned floral shops for slmost 30 years, tea room for 3 yrs, ER clerk/teck now, and am happier than ever before

If you could invite three people from any time period to dinner…who would it be? My beloved grandmother, my best friend Sally, I lost her in 05, and Jesus so we could have some wine!; What would you serve at that dinner? my grandmas bisquits and gravy, peach cobbler and ice cream, Sallys favorite. with yellow roses on the table.

If you’d known at the time it was the last time…what would have made you cry? Because it would be the last time. I cant even fathom walking away from someone knowing that it would be the last time. There are always “I wish I would have done or saids” But with Sally, nothing ever went unsaid between us. We always knew exactly how the other felt, because we always said the I love you and I miss you’s. But I know where she is and that she is happier than we can conceive. Because she told me so before she died.

Who was the most influential person in your life? Definately Sally, she taught me by her life example, the way she lived, what being a Christian for Christ was all about.
What makes you happy? Seeing others happy. my chickens, my parents healthy, babies smile, sunshine, rain, grace.

What are your top favorite movies? Spensors Mountain, On Golden Pond, original Parent Trap, Jungle Book, 50 first dates, anything happy and uplifting.

What one thing have you learned over life that stands out as a key to happiness? There is nothing on this earth that I cannot get through with the help of Christ.

Isn't it crazy Deb that you live on the Iowa side and have looked at IL all your life and I lived on the IL side and looked at Iowa the first 18 years of mine?

I used to sit in my bedroom window and watch the storms come across from Iowa.  But I was born in Iowa because that's where the hospital was.

:J

Grew up in Alabama, moved to cattle ranch in the midwest when we were married 30 yrs ago.  Five children, one in college, homeschool all of them from K to 12 grade.  12 horses, 13 cats, 3 dogs and a handful of chickens.  Cattle out the wazoo.

Majored in education, almost went to Auburn University to be a vet, sure would have come in handy on the ranch.

Happiness is family and animals, especially the horses.

1.  Where do you call home and where were you raised?

I live on a 7-acre farm in Calhoun County, WV.  We are two miles south of Arnoldsburg, my mailing address and the next nearest town. Arnoldsburg is so small that if you stand in the center of town and take one picture facing west and one facing east you will have a photographic panorama of the entire town. There were 1,078 residents of Arnoldsburg according to the last census. Calhoun County is a rural county north and east of the state capital, Charleston, and has a population of 7,582. The county boasts only one traffic signal, a blinking yellow caution light, and the light seldom works. We also have one of the last remaining drive-in movies in the United States. We don't have a McDonalds (or any other fast food restaurant) and the nearest “big” city is Spencer, 13 miles west of Arnoldsburg.

I was born in raised in Southern California by a dad born in Boston, and a mom from Charleston, WV.  My mother's side of the family has lived in and around Charleston, primarily in Kanawha, Jackson, and Putnam counties, since the 1850's and before. I may have been born in California but I was raised by West Virginia, so moving here was really like coming home.

2.  Who lives in your home now (animals included) and who calls you mama? 

I live with my partner of almost six years, Mike, and 28 chickens, 6 guinea hens…

… and 7 ewes and a Suffolk ram. Three of the ewes are Suffolks, a breed with dark legs and faces; I think the Suffolks are just beautiful. The other four ewes are such a mixture of breeds we just call them the mutts.

We have fresh eggs, and lamb in the freezer, a root cellar full of vegetables canned from our garden, and 24 jars of apple butter cooling on my kitchen table, made with apples from an old tree we found in our pasture.

Mike has three children, all living in California, ranging in age from 33 to 19, and five grandchildren ages 18 to 7.  I have one son, also in California. He was 38 in August. He's a financial analyst for Yokohama tire. He's not married, and I'm still waiting for grandchildren!

3.  What careers have you dipped your toe in?

My first job was selling Fuller Brush products door-to-door in my neighborhood. I had the usual assortment of jobs until graduating with a degree in accounting, and going to work for the Federal government as an auditor. I spent 8 years as a revenue agent for the IRS (yah, I know…) and another 16 years working for the Defense Contract Audit Agency, which as the name implies, audits defense contracts. I took early retirement at age 50 — the job is very stressful in good times, and in 2002 we were in a war. Even more stress. I enjoyed the job, but my health didn't

I'm also a CPA and I do accounting, tax and consulting work for clients via the internet, even though I’m supposed to be retired! I log onto a client's system from my hilltop in WV and work on their books from here. My two current clients are both from Southern California. They wouldn't have even known I moved unless I told them; even in California I only visited their business once every couple of years.

Mike closed his “brick & mortar” waterbed store in Fullerton, CA before we moved here last year. He has sold waterbeds since 1973 and still sells waterbeds and all the trimmings over the phone and via the internet. Anyone need/want a waterbed? He'll make you a good deal.

4.  If you could invite three people from any time period to dinner…who would it be?

That's a hard one, but very personal. I would have my family - my great-grandmother (my mother's mother's mother), from whom I took my inspiration to live a self-sufficient life on a WV farm. I'd also have my grandmother and my uncle - my mom's mother and brother. I miss them every day. These are the people who influenced my life and gave me the skills and the faith to live every day. They were my WV. I think they’d be happy I'm finally home.

5.  What would you serve at that dinner?

I’d have to see how much time I wanted to spend, but something simple so I could concentrate on my guests. I know I would serve vegetables from the garden (or the root cellar depending on the season) and maybe lamb or chicken from our flocks. I would definitely serve my great-grandmother’s Apple Butter Cake with homemade apple butter and black walnuts and raisins, and a cream cheese frosting on top. And ‘purple punch’ – a mixture of fruit juices, different every time we make it, but it always includes grape juice (for the color) and grapefruit juice (for the tang). It’s a horrible purple color, but we have half a glass of the juice, topped with ginger ale, and we think it is great. As an adult I can’t help thinking it would be good with a shot of gin, but I’ve been drinking it at holidays my whole life.

6.  If you'd known at the time it was the last time…what would have made you cry?

When I kissed my grandmother goodnight on New Year’s Eve, and got a phone call on New Year’s Day at 6:00 from the nursing home, telling me she had gone in her sleep. I still cry today thinking that I wouldn’t have left her side had I known. She wasn’t ill, and there was no way I could have predicted her death, but…

7.  Who was the most influential person in your life?

My grandmother was hands down the biggest influence in my life. My grandmother was the most loving person in the world, and always made me feel beautiful, even when I was a shy, chubby bookworm in braces. I never heard her speak a harsh word to anyone. She saw the best in everyone, and didn’t ignore the evil in the world, but didn’t dwell on it either. I wish I had a heart as kind as hers.

8.  What makes you happy?

I’m happiest when I’m in the kitchen cooking. I love to cook, bake and can. I’m the only one I know that actually likes peeling things, potatoes, apples – anything at all. It’s almost a Zen-like experience for me. I love to smell the good smells that mean my friends or family will have a meal to enjoy while we enjoy each other.

 9.  What are your top favorite movies?

The movies that touch my heart all have to do with relationships. I cry through each of these every time I see them.

‘84 Charing Cross Road’ (Anne Bancroft & Anthony Hopkins – a friendship develops between a New York writer and editor (Anne) and a British used book seller (Anthony).  it's based on a true story.)

‘Same Time Next Year’ (Allan Alda & Ellen Burstyn – Two people, both married, who meet by chance and develop a relationship that includes love, romance, sex, and genuine caring – They meet at a seaside cottage the same time each year, and don’t see or hear from each other at any other time. We see the world change over a span of 25 years through their eyes.)

‘An Officer and A Gentleman’ (Richard Gere & Debra Winger – what a pair! Determination and ambition, but love over all.)

10.  What one thing have you learned over life that stands out as a key to happiness?

My guiding principle – remember that life is not a dress rehearsal, it is the real thing.  Don’t live your life waiting for the “perfect” thing, relationship, circumstance, job, etc. while the present is here waiting to be enjoyed and appreciated.

Leave the toxic people behind.  Even if it means cutting ties with blood. Sounds harsh, but you have to put your children first and if toxic people make you miserable, then your babies don't have the best of you. And you're just…well…miserable. Hard to be happy in that state.

---

Amen.

Belladonna said:

I would love to cut ties with some toxic people…but unfortunately, that can't happen - my husband LOVES his family. We have had some rounds about his family, trust me. But, I only see them once a year…so I can't complain..but those few days, around a fiesty little “granny” can be LONG.

You can still “cut ties” - by not letting them get to you.  Life is too short.  You can be nice to someone and no matter how they act, or what they say - you control your response, yourself, and your thoughts.  Don't dwell on toxic people and situations - deal with them.  It isn't easy to learn - but having been burned multiple times over the years - I finally realized that I can let it roll off me - and laugh about it.  Always, always keep/maintain/have/treasure/or acquire a sense of humor!

WV Hills - loved your post - your pictures say you live in a wonderful place.  Good for you - you retired early enough to enjoy.  WOW - you love 84 Charing Cross Rd too!!!!  I love the time period, the rich texture of the relationships and how they developed over time.  I loved it when she sent packages to them in England with rations going on for them and how they all shared.  I loved that book store too.  so well written.  i have the movie.  i ordered it one day from blockbuster but I am sure you can get it on line too.  i did not know it was a true story though.  i thought it was so sad she had no moneyt to go meet him before he died.  alas - life is short.

Belladonna said:

I would love to cut ties with some toxic people…but unfortunately, that can't happen - my husband LOVES his family. We have had some rounds about his family, trust me. But, I only see them once a year…so I can't complain..but those few days, around a fiesty little “granny” can be LONG.

Sometimes it's harder than others.  I like Bee's suggestion.

I had to break contact with my mother. It's hard and I miss her like mad, but my step father is too toxic. I can't be around him.