I have four wonderful children who aren't really children anymore! I have two adult daughters and two adult sons. I have two beautiful granddaughters and a wonderful grandson. They are the most important people in my life.

My hobbies are reading, cooking, working out at the gym, bowling (Check out this site:http://www.topendsports.com/sport/tenpin/physics.htm ), playing board games, watching movies,riding my bike,  hiking, camping, and acting in the community theatre (Check out the GAFT website http://www.gladwin.org/GAFT.htm.) I recently picked up a new hobby that I am still trying to learn; I am learning how to play pool, it's fun. I found a cool link that helps me to understand the science of it. Check it out: http://www.mrfizzix.com/billiards/). My favorite times are when all of my children are together in the same place. It's hard to get us all together because we all have very full lives with a lot of places to go and people to see.

I love to read. Some of the books that stand out in my mind from my childhood are: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter , Contact, The Old Man and the Sea, and Of Human Bondage. As an adult, I like to read murder mysteries with a forensic twist such as those written by Robin Cook, Tess Garritsen, Karin Slaughter, and Patricia Cornwell. I also like non-fiction books about the outdoors and amazing adventures.

I love to cook. On the weekends we try to have an international day once in a while. Sometimes we end up going to a Chinese buffet instead of cooking, but most of the time we try to prepare an international dish or two. I can't decide if I like Mexican food, Italian food, Chinese food, or Greek food the most. I'm sure that one of them is my favorite. I guess I just like food; it's a good thing I like to exercize, too!

Some of the major personal goals I have are: to earn my doctorate degree (I'd love to be "Dr. Ruth" someday), to learn other languages and modes of communication, to write a book, and to travel the world. I am currently working toward my Phd in Clinical Psychology at Walden University (check out his link: http://www.waldenu.edu/ .)

Here are some pics of my favorite times and people:

My parents, Bob and Sue celebrated their 50th annniversary a few summers ago. They are generous and hardworking people. I admire them for all that they have done and continue to do for their family and their community.

My daughters are both graduates of Beaverton High School. I am very proud of them. Erin is a student at C.M.U. and works part-time. She was recentley married to Alan and they have a beautiful daughter. Emily is a very busy mommy also and is a certified nursing assistant.

These are my wonderful and talented sons:

Steven plays the electric guitar, the bass, and the trumpet.  He loves his skateboard and hopes that our town will build a skate park of its own soon. He is my guitar hero. He is involved in band and quiz bowl.

James plays the saxaphone and the keyboard.

They both sing very well, also.

My son James is a talented poet. You can read his works by visiting http://allpoetry.com/Poets/autopsy%20report. He is also a very good actor; one of his accomplishments is his role as  Buddy in the play "The Diviners."  He has also played the role of Doody in our community theatre production of "Grease." James is involved in quiz bowl, choir, band, and forensics all of which he qualified for state competition in this year. During the Summer of 2007 he played Sancho Panza in the GAFT summer musical "The Man of La Mancha."  He played the role of Dr. Scott in "Whose Life is it Anyway?" during the Fall of 2007. His most recent role was J.C. in "Nunsense II." His Forensics piece this year is from "Sweeney Todd."

We like to get together with other family members and hang out:

We have four generations:

My grandaughter is so sweet!

She is the next Karate Kid!

She loves her mom very much and so do I.

I hope that she learns to love to read. Her mom is giving her a good head start.

Everyone visits sunny South Carolina and our family there each summer.

South Carolina is a very sunny place.

Isn't she a funny bunny!

We love to hike. There are beautiful waterfalls all through the mountains.

Sometimes we see things that can't be found in Michigan. This Copperhead is an example. If you see one in Michigan, beware,Copperheads are poisonous. Some people say that they have seen these snakes in our state; however, according to most books, Michigan is not within the range of the Copperhead habitat.

Chrissy Sue and Matias have moved out of my classroom. Chrissy Sue had 2 babies on Sunday, December 11. They were adopted by students who went through an adoption screening process monitored by Mrs. Jessup and her family.

Mr. Nippers lives at my house; he is very cuddly. We named him Mr. Nippers because when we adopted him he was a little wild and liked to nip at people. He still will if he doesn't know you very well.