Score card...for anyone who is new and needs to catch up...

Thanks to the fabulous Jason, http://www.jason-thejasonshow.blogspot.com/, I have a handful of new people looking at my blog. I would do pretty much anything to get them to stick around and continue to read my posts and I figured that it might make it easier on them if I made a cheat sheet so they would know who everyone is.

My story is pretty much on the intro on my page. I'm 48 years old, live in a little mobile home across the street from the ocean with my 5 cats. I'm a two time breast cancer survivor, a daughter, a twin sister, an aunt and a step mother. I love music of most genres and I like to read. I've been known to take some nice pictures, create a few scrap books and crochet a few blankets. I've been married twice and divorced twice. I'm dating the international man of mystery and he has turned me in to a wine snob. I've been to Europe 3 times in the last 2 years and I can't wait to go back. I'm short, I color my hair, and I'm on a never ending quest for the perfect chocolate martini. I like to play board games, go to concerts and hang out with my family. I've been known to dance in the grocery store just to entertain my nieces and I sing loudly in the car.

I have written about my twin sister, Tori. She has 5 kids and lives off in the desert with tumbleweeds and rattle snakes. She, too, is a breast cancer survivor. She makes me laugh more than anyone I've ever known and sometimes she doesn't even have to use her words to make it happen.

My sister's children:

Andrew: 25 years old. Used to live with me until he trashed my house and let all of my cats out during my last trip to Europe.

Paul: 22 years old. Diagnosed as "mildy mentally retarded with slight Autistic tendencies and extreme ADHD". Goes to work bright and early every day and loves to get his big $10.00 paycheck at the end of the week. (He's paid by the unit and he has a hard time staying on task.) He's about 6 feet tall and quite the handsome lad. He can't tie his shoes but he can kick your ass at just about any video game.

Rebekah: 16 years old, head JV cheerleader. Just got her belly button pierced. Wears a size 0 and doesn't seem to believe me when I told her that I wore a size 0 when I was her age and that she'd better appreciate it now because one day she's going to wake up and she'll be wearing a size 10 just like me and her mom!

Hannah: 12 years old, one of 3 7th graders on the Jr. high dance team. Received the principals award last week. (She's gotten it every year since she started school!) She is smart and sensitive.

Jake: 5 years old. A running ball of energy. He just started pre school and he couldn't be any cuter.


My daughter Amanda: When I married my first husband he came equipped with 2 little girls. Even though I treated them exactly the same from the moment I met them...one of them liked me and the other one didn't. Amanda came to live with us just a couple of days after my first cancer diagnosis. What I thought was going to be the biggest mistake ever turned out to be my biggest blessing. When I packed my bags to leave her father she packed hers, too. She is the sum total of my divorce settlement and I really couldn't ask for anything more. She is now happily married to Mike, gainfully employed and currently looking to buy a house. She suffers from bouts of "acute infectious colitis" and winds up in the hospital about once a year. The last time she was in the hospital she was in intensive care and had to have 5 transfusions. That was almost 7 months ago and we are hoping that she's seen the last of the inside of the hospital for a very long time.


My mom: My mom still lives in the house she and my dad bought in 1957. She doesn't take well to change. The neighborhood is less than stellar but apparently she likes it. She retired a couple of years ago and is enjoying doing her Red Hat things and playing card with her friends from high school. She and I go out to eat and to the movies and shopping all the time. We also take weekend trips together and we have a ball. Our next scheduled trip is a "turn-around" trip on a bus to Laughlin.


The International Man of Mystery or IMOM: I have been dating IMOM for 3 years. It will be 4 years in March. I have known him for just about 30 years and we dated before as very young adults. His work sends him to Europe so often that he keeps an apartment over there. He treats me like a princess and that's the way I like it, uh huh, uh huh. He has asked me not to write about him and I asked him to compromise...if I don't mention his name or show his picture ...would that be ok? Well, so far, so good.


My 5 Cats:
Lorenzo: 3 years old, deaf, big white boy. VERY talkative. Dave is his alter ego. (When he has gravy on his face he thinks he looks just like Dave Navarro of Alice In Chains fame.)


Ashleigh: 3 years old, petite, grey girl. Sister/wife to Lorenzo. Lorenzo adores her and falls apart at the seems when she gets out. She pretty much couldn't care less about Lorenzo. She is a lone wolf. She has ruined every screen in my house by clawing her way through them. She is now working on an escape route through the ceiling.


Elijah: 2 years old, small white boy. Elijah was born in the heat of the summer when Ashleigh was suffering from a major flea problem. I couldnt' use anything on the fleas so sadly enough Elijah had fleas, too. He got very sick as an infant and spent a few days in the hospital with "flea anemia". He lived through it but has remained very timid and baby like. He is a very sweet boy but Lorenzo picks on him relentlessly.


Mathilde: 8 months old, small white girl. She is very quiet and I've never seen her do anything naughty.


Nort: 8 months old, fat grey girl. Always doing something naughty. She gets away with murder because I almost lost her last summer. In a freak accident...Andrew bent down and picked up Nort and another kitty. The other kitty kicked up such a fuss that it made Andrew trip and on his way down Nort hit the edge of an end table. She was a very, very sick little girl for about 10 days. I thought we were going to lose her but she rallied. She has a little bit of a neurological problem that causes her to wobble when she walks but that hasn't slowed her down at all.


I think that is my entire cast of characters. If you have any questions...please let me know and I'll answer anything that I can.


Thanks for stopping by.....