About Me

I am a 49 year old single mom.  I have two wonderful chilren.  Heather is 22and a senior at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  Her younger brother, Bobby, is 19 and will begin at a vocational school shortly. I also have my son’s  best friend living here right now.  Makes for an interesting life.

Did I mention that I have two dogs.  Jean Luc a 12 year old Sheltie who is not bald and Andy an 10 year old mix of fox terrier and Jack Russel Terrier.  I also have a cat named Ducky.  Don’t ask how he got the name, but we usually call him Mojo Duck Duck – it seems much more masculine.  My daughter’s cat lives here as well, her name is Zoey and she is a Himalyan.

My ex-husband is my best friend.  He lives 4 houses away and is very supportive.  We make much better friends than we did husband and wife.  My mom still thinks we are nuts, but hey…  We have found that our relationship keeps the kids in line.  They cannot play us against each other because they know we make decisions about their futures together.  It works for us and I wish more people got over their anger for their kids.   

I am a software engineer who has migrated to the world of a software system architect.  I love my job and although I look at a good deal of code, I no longer code often.  At least I remember how. I prefer the excitement of changing projects.  The stress is different that the stress of getting a project in on time and with a great design. The sad part is that I am ultimately the person that takes the rap when a project with bad design is installed. Oh well.

I also actively volunteer my time to coach and judge high school speech and debate tournaments.  I love the National Forensics League which is the sanctioning organization for the high school activity.  I was involved in high school speech, was a college debater for both the University of Arizona and Fort Hays State University.  I judged at the high school level until I was about 25.  I came back when my daughter was a sophomore in high school.  Next thing I knew, I was on a bus headed for various high schools almost every Saturday during the school year.  I love nothing more than a good Cross-Examination (policy) debate round.  I like Lincoln-Douglas, but I love CX debate.  I have found that I really enjoy spending my time with teenagers who have a desire or goal to learn and improve.  These kids are truly inspirational.  I challenge everyone to spend some time with these kids.  I am always sad when my favorite kids graduate and move on to college, but I am always rewarded when they thank me for my time.  I thought I would step out when my daugher graduated, but instead, I find myself more involved.  It is where most of my time off goes.  I could not be happier.

I also bowl.  I have a passion for the sport, bu my knees have been an issue the last couple of years. I actually had a 300 on November 15, 2000.  It means my name is actually at the Bowling Hall of Fame in St. Louis.  That is exciting.   I am finding that my average is about 10 pins below what it was before my knee injury, but I am getting there after a 2 year hiatus.  A 185 is still respectable, but…