About Me
I was born in 1959 in Silver Spring, Maryland to Harry & Mary
Simms. The only daughter of 3 children and the youngest. I've been
married for 16 years and I have 4 children and 1 grandson. No need to
get into all the semantics of past relationships here - just suffice it
to say I have 3 daughters (Kathleen 29, Kimberly 27, & Sarah 14) 1
son (Matthew, 11) and 1 grandson whom we are raising (Glen, 8).
I have a very interesting family - or at least I think so. We have our hands into a lot of pots at the same time and there are times I can't keep track of them all for all the confusion, which is why I started this blog - to organize my life you might say. What it becomes over time should be interesting.
I am also an artist and I paint in oils. You can visit my website at www.vaughnfineart.com. I've also been busy building a site for visual artists called Red Easel and you can find that at www.redeasel.com.
There is something very addictive about building websites. I had no clue what it was all about 3 years ago, but in that time I have built and sold one website that was a baby boutique, and since built 3 other websites and a few for some of my friends. I've taught myself how to do it and enjoy it a lot.
You might say I am a "chronic creative" since I have a habit of getting sucked into creative projects and then they become all consuming, sometimes at the expense of the laundry. I love to write (obviously), I love to paint, and of recent, I really love to play around with Photoshop and build website headers. I don't think it was my goal in life to grow up and build website headers.
I graduated in 1977 from Sherwood High in Sandy Spring, Maryland. I
attended Nova University in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in my late 20s
where I studied Pre-Law and then went on to attend Georgetown
University where I majored in International Law and Business. I hated
Economics and Statistics and was completely lost in Accounting. I
therefore dropped out to get married and have more babies since at the
time I already had 2 but had completely messed up the early years of my
life. Maybe that is why I was so confused in those classes. My mind
had a way of getting all wrapped around the axel in Georgetown. I was
much happier staying home, decorating, sewing, and being a full-time
Mom. Thank you Bob.
I have come to the conclusion (just this second as a matter of fact) that this blog is my mid-life crisis. I like beautiful things and all things pretty - even on my computer. So, as I get older and uglier, my work gets prettier and prettier. I suppose that is my balance. Unfortunately, my husband can't hug a pretty website, so he'll have to settle for continuing to cuddle with older, droopier, grayer, goofier me.
My husband's name is Robert. I call him my Big Bear. He is
definitely a Big Bear - he growls on occasion and shakes the forest
every night with his snoring. He walks around all day with a computer
in his lap (kinda like me right now when I think about it), and a phone
to his ear. Conference call after conference call and I wonder what it
is exactly that he does. He apparently, though, accomplishes a lot in his shorts in our home
office and must be doing something right because his phone rings all
day, he travels on occasion (not only in his shorts), and he brings home a good paycheck so that
I can stay home and take care of the kids and build all things pretty.
:) Geez I've got a good life.
I also homeschool my 3 youngest children. The 3 youngest being my daughter Sarah 14, Matthew 11, and Glen 8. They are so smart it makes me cry sometimes. They keep me on my toes and busy washing 200 loads of laundry every week.
My mother, Mary, is 84 and has lived with us for 10 years. I love her
dearly but she is the perpetual gripe. If she didn't have something to
gripe about or someone to piss off, she wouldn't have a purpose in
life. As she has gotten older, it has gotten worse. Fortunately, or
at least up to this point, she has a good memory, although her judgment
seems to have flown the coop. She is an old lady with attitude and it
isn't pleasant. Still, we love her lots and we are glad she is here
with us.
We moved to North Carolina in 2005 shortly after Bob's father passed away. We like it here but it is different in a lot of ways from Maryland where we both grew up. One thing hasn't changed though, we manage to always buy the house that needs drastic repairs, reconstruction, remodeling, and re-landscaping, and no sooner do we finish it all than we sell the house. No fun. This house in NC is no different, unfortunately, and part of the story here will be about our "Money Pit" and how disappointing it is that we didn't take out stock in Home Depot considering how we live there and keep them in business. I am so sick of living in a house that is torn up, upside down, sideways, and full of holes in the drywall from rewiring or re-plumbing that I have no idea what it is like to live in a finished house. Maybe someday before I drop dead I'll find out. Until then, I'll make this blog pretty, how's that?
Welcome to my story...
Susan
