Greetings dear friend!,

Today is one for the blog history books! At least my own personal blog history book! Everyone has one, don’t they? No? Well, I’m excited to be launching the first installment, of my first-ever blog series, entitled…

Pretty fun, huh? There will be 8 weekly installments, written by 8 of us. These are women I’ve been following for quite a while; all of whom I’d like to know better. I’m talking about the real life joys and challenges, woven through our daily lives. By the way, I had to laugh, when coming up with the series title, because, no doubt, there will be some of you that will say to yourself, “Am I really interested?”. For the rest of you, here goes!

1. Being a mom has always been my favorite, most challenging job in life. I never knew that the early years would be so hard and wondered how my mom ever handled having five of us. I didn’t marry until I was 32 and had my son, when I was 34, followed by my daughter at 37. I’ve learned so much from them, including the potential for love and the need for humility.

2. Mr. Wonderful is my second and last husband. We recently celebrated our 13th anniversary! After a challenged six year first marriage that ended in divorce, with a one and a half and four and a half in tow, I spent five years, “finding myself” and navigating life as a solo parent. Just about the moment I’d given up on finding “true love”, along came Mr. Right, aka “Mr. Wonderful”! He put a big smile on my face and more love in my heart. The kids weren’t too sure about someone upsetting their apple cart, but it all worked out.

3. We’ve lived in our home for ten years, the longest I’ve lived anywhere! My dad was an Air Force officer, so I was born in Japan and moved every two or three years, until I was twelve and he went to work in the business world. To this day, I love moving into a new house and putting my “stamp”on it!

4. I’m the middle of four girls and one boy. My siblings and I are well into middle age, hanging on for dear life!, and we still live pretty close to one another. We were raised in a very competitive family environment, but now that both our parents are gone, there’s no need to continue that foolishness. We were also raised Carholic, which I still practice today. For me, it’s more about my ever-growing relationship with God than a religion. He offers me a wonderful, supportive foundation in my life, that I can’t imagine being without.

5. While I have close friends that I interact easily with, I’m more of an introvert than an extrovert. If you put me in a room full of people, I’d immediately look for the one person I know. I love time with good friends, yet I’m very content, keeping busy all day on projects, by myself. Don’t get me wrong. Life is still richer with connections, which is why so many of us value our connections through blogging. I know I certainly do!

6. My daughter is gay and fabulous. Like many of my conservative friends, I used to think that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. Then, last year, she shared the news with us. (we weren’t terribly surprised, by the way.) now, there’s a new “spin” on this political “hot spot”. Now, it’s personal. I don’t care if they call it marriage, but a gay person’s commitments should be just a valid as a heterosexual couple’s commitment. As they say, “until you walk in their shoes…”.

7. I’m ambitious, hard working and competitive. I’m always striving to grow and improve as a businesswoman, creative soul and human being. I’m “down to earth” and my friend says that I “say what she thinks!”, if you get my drift.

8. I’m afraid of old age. While I’m blessed with good health, the prospect of looking old has put me in the hands of a plastic surgeon once or twice. I’m sure there’s more of that fun in my future! And the thought of being dependent on others or facing pain on a daily basis, as my parents did, seems unthinkable. It all reminds me to enjoy my “golden years”…right here, right now!

(With my sisters in Baja, Mexico, last November)

Well, there you have it. No mafia members in the family, or bodies buried in the back yard, but I hope you feel like you know me just a little bit better, even across all the miles!

Smiles,
Barbara