I've been a single mom most of my life, & now am facing my Sr yrs alone, unless you count 5 pets & 2 youngest kids who live with me, & only communicate to say "buy me this, I promise to clean my room". I haven't succeeded at doing what I wanted to do when I grew up, which was to be a wife & mother - how politically incorrect of me, a teenager of the 70's. I didn't burn my bra, instead I gave up college with future security & became a wife at 18 for instant security. I had jobs that didn't need a degree, then got a degree to teach & found I couldn't support my family. Now I'm in sales, telling myself it's only a stepping stone, I'll re-invent myself & make money doing what I'm passionate about. So after 6 yrs of watching TV & eating, waiting for prince charming to whisk me away into a state of marital bliss once again, I looked in the mirror & saw that I had indeed reinvented myself - a sad, tired, overweight, weak, over 50 looser. I ate several more gallons of ice cream & a ton of fries to celebrate my failure, & decided I had to lose weight or lose my job & company car & pay check that came with it. WW got me started, but after 3 weeks, my weight just fluctuated wildly. I joined AARP to get a hotel discount for my oldest child's wedding. Next thing I knew, I was reading about Carole - my hero! This can work! I've wrapped my mind around the fact that my weight & physical pain are directly related to the food I put into my mouth & time spent NOT moving my body. DUH! Food & weight gain, in my mind, had nothing to do with each other. Until the onset of menopause, I had no weight issues. No time for TV - married, raising 5 kids - his, mine, & ours- working as teacher, laundry lady, & cooking for a crowd daily. Then hubby went in search of greener golf courses & I couldn't figure out how to cook for us 3 who were wondering who the hit & run driver was that destroyed our family. That sad chapter had too many pages, because I am such a slow learner!

Interests:

Woodworking, muralist, Recycle Artist, which means I collect all kinds of junk with the possibility that someday I will make it into something useful and most of the time I do! Love to work outside in my yard, and right now I am trying to find more places to make ponds, and keep the grass from swallowing up my house. In south Florida, when it's rainy season, the grass needs to be cut again almost as soon as you've finished

Music:

I am hooked on Christian Rock, like Toby Mac, Casting Crowns, Steven Curtis Chapman, and too many to remember all the names. I am not that kind of person, that can remember song titles and who sang them. Just into listening and singing along in my car!

Movies:

I don't care if half my friends and family didn't like it, I LOVED "Mama Mia"! I love comedies and love stories. If I'm going to spend time away from the world, I want it to be in a way that makes me forget about the sadness and pain.

Books:

Right now I am reading Carole Carson's incredibly inspiring book called "From Fat to Fit - Turn Yourself in a weapon of Mass Reduction". As an extra bonus I won it and it's autographed by Carole! It's funny, candid and life changing and I recommend everybody buy a copy and read it! When I finish it, I'm reading it again and following her plan step by step, so forget trying to borrow my copy! I also really like Dave Barry, as a newspaper humorist and a terrific fiction writer as well - I want to bust a gut laughing and his way of expressing himself does that for me. On the spiritual side, I am also reading Max Lucado's "Cure For the Common Life - Finding Your Sweet Spot", even more inspiration to improve and change my life for the better!

Television:

Even though I know that television is "the work of satan" -(it is the scene of the crime when I look back to see where the majority of my "unconscious eating" occurred) - I must confess that I can not tear myself away from Mark Harmon and the whole NCIS crew! I was addicted to HGTV, but now I would rather be the one doing the home improvements to my home instead of being a spectator - burn more calories and get a remodel done too!