petunialuvur

I look forward to learning from and possibly contributing to other members and so an introduction is necessary to building friendships. I am one of those shy people that finds it difficult to talk about myself so I will put my best foot forward and give you the run down. First and most important I have a beautiful, intelligent daughter who married the best son-in-law a mother could ask for. They both work hard and work smart. They are the only real family I have and that's ok because they are good to me, respectful and I love them dearly. Oh, I could tell you lots of great stories about the fun and sometimes stress of raising a daughter but out of respect for her privacy let me just say that knowing her has been the greatest blessing of my life.

I currently live on a small farm with Dodge (the gentle ram), and his wives Honey, Faith and Hope. They are hair sheep so no sheering is necessary but petting is expected. Matilda an Isa Brown is the only hen that survived the predator attack. If you ask her she's 2 but in actuality she is somewhere around 5. She is not lonely because she keeps company with the sheep family. Howard is the family cat, a orange tabby that has the uncanny ability to appear and disappear similar to the Cheshire Cat (Alices' cat). Finally, but no less loved, are the family canines. Batman is an 11 year old spunky chihuaha, you would think after all these years I would learn how to spell it, but I haven't. Anyway, he is a feisty little guy that thinks he is a Pit Bull. The only command he knows is to come when I call him, he doesn't sit, stay, roll over or any of that kind of stuff. He tolerates everybody else but he loves, loves, Loooves his mom. The newest addition is Mitto Del Nossi (Mitto for short) a big handsome, lovable, goofy Doberman. He does all the stuff, sit, stay, shake but only if you know German 'cause he doesn't speak English. What he does best is love. I have never known a dog so affectionate but that is the reason he would give his life to save mine.

Hopefully I have enough characters left to tell you about me. I believe in peace, love and harmony regardless of our differences. Yes, I am an aging hippy, we will not go into how many decades or the number of brain cells lost along the way.

For many years I worked as the production manager for a golf magazine. In all those years it never felt like work. I was always the first one there and the last to leave because I enjoyed it. It was while working there that I met Sam Snead (slammin' sammy), Hale Irwin and Jack Nicklaus (the golden bear). Sam was every bit the character you would expect and had a down-home kinda comfortableness about him.

I wanted to be my own boss so I started a print shop. One of my most frustrating yet enjoyable projects was a 200+ page History book of Cumberland County where I live. It was informative and the Historical Society provided photographs of the communities ancestors. My daughter who was 15 at the time made maps depicting county roads and travel routes for use in the book. When it was complete a copy was included in the Nashville time capsule, something Heather and I both are proud of. When desktop publishing became available in the home it was time to move on to a new career.

I worked customer service at a cable TV call center for 8 years. Trust me, when the cable goes out in the middle of the super bowl nice people can get very ugly. Due to my innate ability to handle angry customers with a smile I was asked to manage the center. I liked that job, it was a lot of responsibility and a lot of satisfaction. I was working there on 9/11 we had 27 employees crowded around the break room TV. We cried, comforted each other, and like many Americans, felt helpless. Amazingly, people who didn't have service started calling in to get information. They thought because we were their cable company we could tell them what was going on and they weren't wrong. We pulled together and got through the day. Eventually the company sold as cable company's often do and after 7 years in the industry it was time once again to move on.

I worked as an international customer service representative for 5 years. During economic decline cut backs had to be made most of my co-workers had been with the company 20-30 years. so naturally I had to move on. That is where the mini farm comes in and we've already visited that subject.

Maybe I am a little shy when it comes to talking about myself but once I start it's difficult to shut me down. I don't expect many will read all of this but to those who do my apologies for the lengthy intro.