Here goes:  After graduating from high school, I attended Edinboro State College for 2 years as an art education major.  When I decided to get married, I discontinued my education, since I didn't have a lot of talent, and I didn't really want to be a teacher.  Rob and I got married in 1975 and moved to Johnstown PA.  We lived outside the city, in Richland Township for 3 years before moving to the rural town of Salix (population about 1000).  We have lived here for the past 34 years.  Everyone’s bio that I read seems to move around and travel so much!

In 1982, after being a stay at home mom for 6 years, I worked 2 years as a waitress in one of the areas finer restaurants.  My husband did not like the hours, so I worked part time in the billing department of a trucking company before moving to the safety department as an administrator.  I worked there for 11 years before taking a job at one of the more prominent Managing General Agencies (Commercial Insurance Wholesaler) in the country.  I started as a receptionist for 2 months), then moved to policy issuance and claims, before becoming a Commercial Auto Underwriter 3 years later.  I remained in that position until my recent retirement on 2/29/12, after 18 years with the company. 

Rob was selling the trucking company that he and my son started in 2004 (Synergistiks Inc), to my oldest son.  The trucks are all over the country, so maybe you've seen one.   That made it a 'no brainer', to retire, but it was hard to leave my 'other' family after all of that time.  In 2005 I had a massive (benign) brain tumor, so I appreciated that one never knows what will happen from day to day, and if I had the chance to retire early, I should take it!  I don't miss the stress of the insurance industry at all.

We like to fish, and for the past 10 years have been taking an annual trip to Marathon FL (middle keys).  We usually stayed a week or 2 at the most, but this year we stayed for 4 weeks.  We're already booked with a house for 6 weeks next year.  We rent a boat, park it in the canal in front of the houses we stay at, and weather permitting, fish about 7 miles off shore.  We love the Keys' clear water and layback life style.  We've caught a lot of strange fish over the years, and every year we try to learn a new style of fishing.  The biggest fish I ever caught was a 45 lb. tuna, 36 miles off the shore of Nags Head.  That was too much like work!  Plus, I got sea-sick on the ride out.  We also have a bass boat, and try to get out a few times a year.  Too hot right now to go!

My oldest son is now 36 years old, with 2 daughters (5 & 3 year old drama queens), and my youngest son is 33 with 1 daughter (14) and two boys (7 & 5).  My oldest grandson's baseball team just won 1st place in their league's playoffs on Saturday, so that is now over, and we move to all stars now.  He was very proud to make the 9 year old All-star team at the age of 7.  Both grandsons are very athletic (like their father), and my youngest grandson has a career ahead of him as a statistician for the pirates.  At the age of 5 he knows every player's number and everything about them and their performances.  He'll have no excuses if he claims he can't remember school work in the future.

I look at everyone's picture and I'm amazed how a lot of us have changed so much.  Some of you girls look exactly the same, and I've decided that's not fair.  Maybe it's something a 'Lifestyle Lift' could do for me.  Forty years goes by so fast!