Where have I been?
Get ready to travel the country, because in my life, I have lived all over this crazy map.
I was born in Michoacan, Mexico a long, long time ago, way before they had color on TV’s (but they did have TV’s!). I speak a little Spanish, un poco, and am trying to learn it again.
When I was three years old, I moved to a small town in New York called Ossining. The claim to fame there is a State prison. We did not know anyone in the prison, but some of our bus drivers were guards. I remember our bus driver Eddie. He was a pretty cool bus driver and never treated us like we were in a yellow prison.
In fifth grade I moved to Chicago. This was pretty tough because in fifth grade, you turn goofy and the rest of the world is even stranger. Moving at this age made the first year very hard, but I grew to like it (good thing too, because I lived there until I was twenty-three!). I went to New Trier West high school, and decided that I really wanted to start living like a grown-up, so I graduated early and started to work. My first job after graduating was being a “Bun Girl”. I served hot rolls to dining customers dressed in a costume from the Jamestown era, including a little, poofy hat. Not really what I was hoping grown up life would be–I moved on to work at a health club, leading exercise classes. I walked around all day in a black turtle neck leotard and black footless tights. Did you know it can get to a hundred degrees in Chicago? Grown up life was a little harder than I imagined! I worked there until I started college.
Off to Bloomington, Indiana I went– for three years and then back to finish school in Chicago, where I got my first-official, real grown-up job. It wasn't too long before Hollywood came a knocking– but not for movies. I moved to Burbank, California to work for Columbia Pictures Home Video in the marketing department. Video was brand new at that time. The idea of video was actually laughed at when it was first suggested at a record convention. (Yes, records are what I use to play on my stereo, not compact discs!) Now look where video is today. My point, though I’ve drifted, is don’t laugh at anything. Just smile and nod your head. At Columbia Pictures, my job was to design and create displays that went into all kinds of stores. I won two awards for doing this, and then went on to start my own company.
I stayed in Los Angeles for thirteen years, and won three more awards. I met my husband while traveling to meet a friend of mine. It was love at first sight. We married and a couple of years later, we moved to Tennessee. Kick off your traveling shoes and sit a spell. (That’s southern for kick back and relax).
Where am I now? I still live in Tennessee on a lake where we can walk out and hop into a boat, or just drop a line and fish. We aren't alone. Besides three kids, we have eight pets. Four of them are cats: Slippers and Miss Priss, who we rescued from the streets; Camo and Isis, came to us from a rescue shelter. We also have three horses: Bear, Sundance, and Pepper along with a mule named Brimfire. Last but not the least of our crew are two dogs named Sally and Dude.
Here is where I am staying unless I get the call to come and draw in your town!
