“About Me”

Honestly, writing an “about me” page is a struggle. They’re either full of the kind of info you get in a Christmas letter, or they’re stuffed with fluff. My life is stuffed, but I wouldn’t call it fluff. So I’m going from having a puny little “about me” page to a GINORMOUS one!

Family

I do have a few things worth bragging about. I’ve been married since 1989 to my high school sweetheart (do the math; that’s a lot of years). We had twin boys in 1990 then added a girl in 1993 and another girl in 1997 (again, do the math; that’s kind of a lot of kids).

Lifestyle

I prefer a more laidback and carefree lifestyle (Bohemian or Hippie-like) pursuing self-fulfillment rather than money. Money is a necessary evil for sure, but I don’t think I’d be happy knocking myself out in a stressful 60+ hour per week career that required 4+ years of college to obtain just so that we could live in a huge house and have too many “things”. We already have too much.

As parents, we don’t impose a lot of strict rules. It may be pure luck, but all of our kids really are pretty terrific in my eyes. We’ve had no major teen drama or troubles, and the words “I hate you” are never shouted in this house. They are each developing into their own persons. I know a lot of people don’t agree with this parenting style, and that’s fine! They don’t have to – just as we don’t have to agree with theirs.

“The Resume”

I was a fairly bright student in high school but hated homework, so I didn’t have the grades to prove it. I had no desire to attend a 4-year university. I just wanted to start working in an office environment as soon as possible. So I chose to go to Sanford-Brown Business College for a 12-month computer secretarial course and went straight from there into a receptionist position at Comprehensive Planning Consultants, Inc., which was a financial planning company (mutual funds & stuff).

One year later, I left there to be a secretary at Emerson Electric Co. in their Armaments & Space Division. Another year later, that division was scrapped, and I was laid off.

Not to worry! With nine months of severance pay in my pocket (ok, I put it in the bank), I started another secretarial position the very next week at Chemtech Industries, Inc. I’m pretty sure that no longer exists either. When they were working on the sale of the company, I chose to cover my butt and find another job.

Here comes the glorified title … Executive Secretary (everybody “ooo” and “aahhhh” now – I know you’re jealous!) at Maverick Tube. That was acquired by a larger company but still exists in Chesterfield, MO. But that position was short lived because I chose to stay home with my babies instead.

Once the kids were all in school and at a fairly self-sufficient age, I dipped my toes back into the gainfully employed pool by taking a job at a brand new Michael’s Arts & Crafts store. My first month on the job there involved building the inside of the store from nothing and stocking the shelves. What a cool experience! Within a year, I had worked my way through three more titles there: Price Integrity something-or-other, Event Coordinator, and finally Department Manager (not to mention class instructor on the side). I had my eyes on Assistant Store Manager, but I started noticing some bad ethics with the manager at the time and second guessed that goal.

That was when I finally took a friend up on an offer to put in a good word for me at VRBO.com. I’m so glad I did! The company had been recently bought by HomeAway.com, and I had no idea how huge this industry could turn out to be (still don’t), but I’m enjoying the ride! The greatest part is that I get to work from home. This is the longest I’ve ever been employed at one place, and I can’t believe it’s been nearly four years already!

Hobbies

Scrapbooking came and went. Jewelry making is still a passion but sadly, I don’t do it enough. Photography is my biggest passion – so much so that I started and tried to build up my own photography business in January 2009 as a part-time job. I have decided to dissolve the business when the website and business license come up for renewal early in 2012. That’s explained here. It’s by no means the end of photography for me. Not a chance! It just means there will be a new direction not tied to marketing and bookkeeping. My photography blog will go on, though!

I think that’s more than enough info. Don’t you? You can figure out the many other facets of my life on the blog.