Biography
I was born in the deep South, more specifically Alexandria, LA, into a military family. My mother often told the story about how I was born while my father was at a movie with my older siblings, "Yahoo, It's Yogi Bear!", which is dating me a bit, but that's okay!
I traveled the world a little, being married to a military man myself and I will often joke I am "... a citizen of the world." To be fair, though, I was raised in Ohio, where my parents' families are from originally, and I am a rabid Buckeyes fan. The fastest way to get a quip from me over the inferiority of one particular location is to tell me you are from Michigan originally. Rest assured, I will be the first one to say, "I don't care if Ohio State loses every game of the season, so long as they beat Michigan State."
As part of my travels, I attended Widener University, Chester, PA, for two years and Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, for another 18 months, majoring in English and minoring in Secondary Education. Following a transfer to Colorado, the university there saw fit to reduce me from a second semester senior to a first semester freshman via not accepting those courses that "...don't transfer from East to West..." such as Algebra, World and American History and most of my English classes. Throwing my hands up, I opted to enter the world with less than a BA in English and dared anyone to tell me I wasn't good enough!
I spent the next several years following my husband from Air Force Base to Air Force base until he retired in 1998 at which point we moved to Ohio, we thought for good. My first three years in Ohio were spent as a sports stringer and features reporter for the Wilmington News-Journal in Southern Ohio and have clips available though they are somewhat dated and my current writings are a better indicator of my capabilities.
I am the mother of one daughter and three boys, two having served in the Middle East at the same time from January 2003 until January 2004. My oldest, Matthew is no longer infantry but training to become an Apache pilot while my second son, Billy, is no longer active but is now a member of the Arizona National Guard. Our daughter is in Colorado raising our grandson and our youngest, Eli, is 15 going on 30 and anticipating the day he will be afforded some freedom in the form of a driver's license.
I am still married to my Air Force man though he is now retired and working for a major defense contractor that saw fit to remove us to Godforsaken Arizona, which offends the sensibilities of this "Damn Yankee". I simply cannot understand, after living here for since 2004, where in the grand scheme of things a rattlesnake fits into the world?
We now find ourselves settled and living in the Arizona Desert just 1 mile north of the Mexican border. My primary goal in life now is to figure out why it snows in Arizona.