Hello

Let's start from the beginning!  I am the daughter of a barber/artist and beautician/"la-machine".  My father thought he ruled the family, but my mother did the ruling!  My dad had a budding artist hidden inside himself for 50+ years.  My mother was always incredibly creative and pumped out clothes, blankets, gifts, and food for all; thus her nickname of "La-machine"!  Somewhere between the both of them, I inherited an insatiable desire to be creative in some way.  I don't have one particularly impressive creative skill but dabble in a bit of everything.  My current creative outlet (besides this website) is in my neighbor's woodworking shop making a table base for a 60" round glass-top dining table.  I owned a store in Saratoga Springs called Lumber & Lace.  It was a gift and home decor shop in the Wilton Mall where I sold handcrafted gifts and items to beautify a home.  I crafted some of the wares, some were made by talented local artists, and some were brought in from shows across the U.S. It was a fun job and was probably the only one I have had that truly made my heart sing!  So why am I still not a store owner?  Well, as fun as t was, there was not enough money to support the space in the mall for a long period of time, especially when Old Navy moved in next to my space!!  So up to this point, I graduated with a computer programming degree, managed at BJ's Wholesale Club, and owned Lumber & Lace.  What was next?  My husband at the time, and two boys had to move and with the move came another new career!  I studied hard and received a license to sell property/casualty insurance.  With my husband, at the time, in insurance too, it gave us something to talk about but boy was it a party killer!!!  "So what do you do?" ..."I sell insurance!"...."Well, nice to meet you"....and my new friend was on her way....WAY away from me!!!!  I didn't stay in this work long, I discovered that I hated the word "no", so I changed course.  For a while, a friend of mine and I created party invitations and other stationary items. That was fun and profitable but my husband's job put us on the move again.  Gotta love insurance!  We looked at our moves as adventures though as we packed up the kids, said goodbye to friends and welcomed the next chapter in our lives.  This next chapter was unexpected and certainly not welcomed but nonetheless, it was in our lives path. 

         We came to Connecticut when the boys were in their early teens.  Soon after we became settled, made  some great friends, melded into our local church, and felt home again, my husband was diagnosed with stage IV cancer and was gone four months later. I am sure I don't have to explain, but this was like having the rug pulled directly out from underneath you.  We floundered a bit and that period of time shaped us for the rest of our days.  My boys and I moved on as we were expected to do. I met a wonderful man that is now my husband and he pointed me in the direction of the local college.  Before I knew it, I was a new person.  New career as an oncology nurse, new husband, new town, new home, new car, new dogs, new attitude!  Don't get me wrong, I loved my life before our tragedy, but when given lemons.....  So here I am!  I am not too sure about the short haircut and my "John Lennon"  spectacles, but all in all, I am thankful for my new beginnings and what life has to offer.  

      As for volunteering, this is not completely new to me.  I love to do good deeds, make others smile, and share what I have.  I am on the executive board for the Central Connecticut Chapter of Oncology Nursing Society, I have visited Nicaragua twice to do medical mission work, and have volunteered at the soup kitchens and food bank here in Connecticut. Thank you for showing interest in this site, I'm honored to have your attention for the moment.  We have so many good people on this earth; this is a place to meet them and share all the good stuff!