About me......(updated 03-06-09)

Arc En Ceil (Rainbow)

UPDATE (03/09):  The story of me (see paragraph below):

This will definitely be boring, but.....I thought I'd give yall a little insight as to who I am. So, okay, who am I?

Well, I'm a 50-year-old female who is a daughter to my mom (who I tragically lost 09-13-04), mom to my kids, mawmaw to my grandbabies, and sister to my brother  :-) I was born in Shreveport, LA, on August 14, 1956, adopted by my wonderful parents in November 1956, and raised in Southwest Louisiana....my home sweet home! My childhood was pretty much typical....*lol* Just kidding! (This was beginning to sound like the psychiatric evaluations that I transcribe all the time *lol*)

I don't live life in the fast lane -- no drugs, no major drinking, no major partying, so I'm basically quite laid back and BORING *lol* Give me a break....the partying days are LONG GONE! Thank God! I really don't miss it at all. My two oldest daughters and I do go out occasionally, but it's only so I can see and hear my favorite band. My daughters had been busting my chops to go out with them since they turned 18, and I never would until recently (and that was only cause my favorite band was coming to town). We have a great time together and now Jeremy has joined us since he turned 18 :-)

There's rarely ever a dull moment around here, and I tend to stay rather busy. I have four daughters and one son.

My first job was in nursing (I was a CNA for three years, and I planned on going back to school to become a RN). This stemmed after my mom's mom suffered a stroke and lay in a comatose state for 10 weeks before dying. I had never touched a dead person until that morning :-( That experience told me I wanted to become a nurse and help people!

As fate would have it, that was not my true calling. My heart was just too big, and after losing one patient after another that I had gotten close to, it got the best of me -- the family's suffering really got to me even more.

Ironically, that experience made me stronger and gave me knowledge that I would be able to use in finding my true calling....the stronger part came when my dad was diagnosed with cancer, Stage IV, and I was able to be with him through it all and not completely fall apart. Without that experience, I don't think I could have stood by his bedside when he was dying and/or while he died :-(

The knowledge came about a year later when I was called in for an interview at a state owned hospital for a position called "Dictaphone Machine Operator II". When I arrived to the Medical Records Department of that hospital in June of 1981, I had no earthly idea that I was about to meet my true calling. After the supervisor explained what I was testing for, I sat down and transcribed a "discharge summary". It seemed to take me forever to type a half page, but I impressed Miriam to no end. I took my time to look up the correct spelling, punctuated correctly, etc. I was hired on the spot! Within six weeks, I was on my own, transcribing all sorts of medical reports, and I loved it! The title above was a "generic title", when the actual job title was "Medical Transcriptionist"!

So, needless to say, I'm a Medical Transcriptionist and have been since June 1981. I'm passionate about my vocation, and I strive to be a perfectionist in every way when transcribing my reports. This is a profession you have to be born with inside of you. It's challenging around every corner, always something new to learn, and never a dull moment. My job skills run through my body like blood. I love it!

For a few years now, I've been "self-employed", working by the line, i.e., the more I type, the more I make, and I doubt I would go back to an hourly pay ever again. I say "doubt" cause you just never know. Up until August 2001, I was working full time in the office, but I had always planned on making the transition to work at home. I finally did it, but it's split between the two. I work at home during the day (and rarely late night) and work evenings in the office (I have one account that I did not want to lose, so I have to work in-house to keep him -- hoping eventually to stay home period.). It's busy, but I love it. Working at home is FABULOUS!!!!! :-) I work my fingers off and stay tired, but.....I would rather stay busy than not have anything to do.

UPDATE 12-05-02: I made a strong career move in October--I am now working full time at home with one job and part time with another. The one account keeping me in-house died, so that did it for me. I left the office and came home full time. Since I lost that one account that I loved so much, it also meant losing extra money. So, I circulated my resumé and was hired immediately by a large national company, and I am working part time for a very large cardiology group in the nation (there are several satellite offices). I love it :-) It is a very complicated account and there was a lot to learn, but I was on my own after a month, and I'm slowly building up my line count each week as my confidence has built up tremendously. The work is fabulous :-) This means, though, that I work from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. between the two jobs with really only a half hour break in between and I don't have much free time at all. It's tiring and tedious, but it's something I had to do. My kids keep coming in my room to make sure I'm still alive!!!! No joke!

UPDATE 05-04-03: Guess who is back in my life? My one doc who had pulled his account. *lol* I knew he would be back. I just didn't know when. Things have changed, though. I'm not available to cater to him 24/7 like I used to be due to my morning job.

UPDATE 06-27-05:  I made another strong career move...I quit my part-time job and went to day shift on my full-time job.  I miss the extra money, but I love, love, love working morning shift.  I have TONS of free time now, and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

UPDATE 03/06/09:  Every picture tells a story, so they say.  Thus, I created the above story in pictures.  My life nearly ended 12 months ago when a careless driver crossed the center line right in front of us, and we collided head on.  My injuries were substantial.  I ended up in ICU for three weeks with one surgery after another.  I was in the hospital six weeks total then came home to home health.  I was bedridden a solid four months :-(  So much has gone on, that it's better if you just read my blog which you can find here:  Yahoo blog.  Go all the way down to the bottom and work your way up.  It'll explain it all.

Okay, so that takes care of my job! Well, one of them.....I don't make any money off the other job -- it costs me money! *lol* That would be being a mom! It's the toughest job in the world and quite often a very thankless job at that, but I really wouldn't have it any other way. I'm pulled in seven different directions at once most times, and I really love it.

As far my passions in life, see above...two have been discussed, and let's see.....

I'm a Kennedy fanatic -- Robert F. Kennedy being my hero. How I love him!

I'm a fanatic about those little creatures called chihuahuas, as well, and did have six adults (Theodore - Teddy, Chiquita - ChiChi, Hercules - Hercy, Angel Baby, and Tipitina (Tippy), Skye (aka Gizmo/Gizzy) and Rke (Ricky), and two new babies, Riley and Rainbow.  Sadly, Teddy, Chiquita, and Angel are in doggy heaven now :-(

I have a new love, too, named Sasha, a dachshund someone was going to kill and gave to me.  She's black with brown markings and just beautiful.  It didn't take her long to adjust to being loved and is spoiled beyond the realm of the word.

I'm a fanatic about rainbows, too. When I see one while driving, I will almost kill myself trying to follow it -- this is a dangerous passion *lol* I collect them in every way I can!

I'm definitely very passionate regarding music and movies -- can't get enough of either. I swore I would never buy into the DVD thing as I did with the CD thing in music several years ago, but I broke down and bought a DVD player and a hundred or so DVD movies to add to my enormous collection of VHS tapes...yes, just like I did with CDs to add to my cassette tapes (which are now collecting dust in the closet, and I'm praying the VHS tapes won't join them -- there's about a thousand dollars' worth sitting in the den). I can't get enough of movies or music.

As for movies, I'm highly into Matthew McConaughey--what a sexy smile and that Texas accent!!! I think I have almost all of his movies. I absolutely love Ed TV, The Wedding Planner, and How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days! Then again, I also love him in Boyz On The Side, Frailty, Contact, and A Time To Kill. This guy just has it all :-) I think he is my #1 favorite actor now!!!! Mark Ruffalo is another hunk that I just adore. I love a lot of his movies, but "13 Going on 30" really strikes out at me. Josh Lucas is yet another fabulous actor that I adore, and Sweet Home Alabama did it for me.  David Strathairn--what a hunk--is another big favorite of mine! My #1 favorite movie is "Passion Fish", and a close second is "A Map of The World" tied with "Evidence of Blood". However, I have 47 or so films he has been in and love him in all of them. The guy is awesome!!! He is just so versatile from playing a very sexy leading man (Rennie in Passion Fish and Jackson in Evidence of Blood) to playing a reverend (Simon Birch) to playing a bank robber (The Stranger in The Feud) to playing a dirt bag piece of scum (Joe in Dolores Claiborne) to name a few. The man has it all!! I've become a complete FANatic over this guy. I was on a Mel Gibson kick recently, and I think I've gotten just about all of his DVD's now, except Chicken Run -- which didn't appeal to me. The Leathal Weapon Collection did it to me! My son and I sat there one afternoon and watched all four without stopping. I was hooked! I regret buying the sequels in the Mad Max series. What a waste of Mel Gibson and my money! *lol* The original movie is fantastic, though. Forever Young and Tequilla Sunrise come to mind immediately in favorites! I was also on a Jackie Chan kick :-) That man is just AWESOME! He has it all, and I happen to think he's a great looker :-) I think my favorite movies are Rush Hour and Rumble In The Bronx! I also adore Ed Harris, and my favorite movie of his is "The Right Stuff" -- he was awesome! And, I also adore Robin Williams - do I need to say more?! The man is sooooo talented! Patch Adams is probably my favorite of all of his movies, then again, so is Mrs. Doubtfire! Kurt Russell is another favorite, but I'm not sure which movie I love best. Maybe Backdraft! I used to be hooked on Tom Cruise, but his latest movies really, REALLY stink, and I've grown bored with him! *lol* His earlier movies, Top Gun, Cocktail, and RainMan are my favorites! I have all of his movies -- even the sucky ones! Ryan O'Neal is another favorite, but my only real favorite movies are Love Story, Oliver's Story, and The Main Event! I also adore Danny Glover! Besides the Lethal Weapon series, my favorites are Freedom Song and Gone Fishin'. Another of my very favorite actors is Richard Gere. I am a fanatic about this man, too. He is just so fabulous. I have most all of his movies, thus far. I don't know if I can pick just one favorite -- it's just too hard to do :-) However, An Officer and A Gentleman and No Mercy immediately pop into my head! :-) And, still another of my very favorite actors is Gary Busey! I have loved him in everything he has been in, but my favorites are Carny and Eye Of The Tiger. He's fabulous :-) I absolutely love Collin Firth, as well, with movies like Hope Springs, What A Girl Wants, Love Actually, Bridget Jones, and Fever Pitch.  A new favorite of mine is Linus Roache, who recently portrayed my greatest American hero, RFK, on FX. The man was just awesome!!! I also adore Denzell Washington with my very favorite movies being "Remember the Titans" and "John Q". My two favorite actresses are Susan Ward (The In Crowd and Shallow Hal) and Reese Witherspoon with "Sweet Home Alabama" being my favorite of hers. I could not even begin to name some of my other favorite movies, as the list is endless! You can check out movies I own by following these links: My DVDs.

As for music, oh God! I have way too many favorites....my #1 passion is Cajun French, and I refuse to live without it!! My present day favorite is Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys. I also adore Jackie Caillier, Kevin Naquin, Bruce Daigrepont, Homer LeJeune, Jo-EL Sonnier, and Belton Richard to name a few.. Let's see, in other categories, I adore the 2006 American Idol champion, ***Taylor Hicks***, the Beatles and John Lennon, ***I also love John Denver***, Creedence, The Eagles, Styx, Phil Collins, Survivor, Tommy James and the Shondells, Percy Sledge, Otis Redding, Boston, Queen, ZZ Top, John Michael Montgomery, ****Collin Ray****, Vince Gil, Linda Rondstat, and a few hundred more. I have so many CDs that I don't even have time to catalog them *lol*

1-2-04: On 12-27-03, I was lucky enough to see and hear SRMP live and in person for the first time :-) What a night to remember! I'm still floating in the clouds!!!! To read more about that, check out my music page! I still can't believe I went out much less saw SRMP :-)

Oh, and my God, I'm very passionate about Louisiana, my Cajun heritage, and New Orleans!!!!! And, I'm passionate about my friends and my family!

A young wrestling fan :-)

As far as wrestling goes, (or should I rephrase that and say "as far as wrestling went"!), I was very passionate about it. My very first memory of wrestling was from well over 40 years ago -- Oh God! Does that ever make me sound O-L-D!!! It does especially since my favorite wrestlers were about the same age I was back then *lol* I remember going to the wrestling events with my dad and his brother-in-law, and I remember how passionate my dad was over it all. It rubbed off! What is it with little girls and their daddies?!!!! :-) I couldn't tell you the name of the federation back then, but I do remember some of the stars -- one was a big old bear *lol* That was exciting and awesome for a five-year-old kid to see! Okay, I remember this one tag team called The Hillbillies.....dressed the part from head to toe, too. Can you believe they had gimmicks even 40+ years ago?! *lol* Bull Curry, Sr., Tiger Conway, Sr., Bill Watts, and Fritz VonErich definitely come to mind, along with Nick and Jerry Kovak! The latter two were my idols :-) I can't remember why we stopped going there -- if they just quit coming around or what. I do remember my dad trying to catch an Alexandria program on Sunday mornings, and he would watch it anyway with all the static! The next thing I remember is going to the Civic Center to watch Mid-South and watching Mid-South on tv - sometime in the 70s, I think, (My braiin iis losing cells way too fast for my liking anymore *lol*)-- those were special times with my dad. He even watched wrestling on his "death bed" :-(

Ted DiBiase was the bomb back then. He and Paul Orndorff rocked the house and ruled the roost. They were damned good! I followed MS to Lafayette and New Orleans to boot! I didn't care how much it cost, I was hooked, and I was going! :-) Once in Lafayette, I saw Ken Mantell and Paul Orndorff together in the back seat of a car -- they were supposed to be enemies. I cracked up! My dad always said he knew it was all show and most of them were buddies, but he still loved to hate the bad guys :-) The funny thing is, I believed it was all REAL! *lol* MSWF was THAT good! Anyway, that particular day in Blackum Colosseum in Lafayette, I tormented Ken Mantell so much that he swung a belt at me! How I hated him! He was just sooooooo mean! *lol* I wish I could remember all my stories! We definitely had some fun! One of the guys I graduated with was at the Civic Center all the time, and back in May 2001 right before our daughters graduated, we sat together and talked about all the old times. My favorite memory of him is how he dressed like "General Skandar Akbar" every time wrestling came to town. It was hilarious! I know of no one who liked "Akbar" (or his cronies of Kamala, Kabuki, etc.)! He was always a heel, and we loved to hate him and torment him. *lol* Oh, and we saw great stars like Ernie Ladd and Andre The Giant :-) Andre was awesome to watch -- he was comical, as well. One night, in front of God and everybody, he pulled DiBiase's trunks down, and we got mooned *lol* Shoot -- my brain is down to half a cell now....how could I forget the "American Nightmare...er....Dream"...Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdock. Dusty and Dick were great together or as singles and big crowd pleasers in their time, but I liked Dusty back then but grew to dislike him a lot and still don't like him. There was only one time I "marked out" real bad for Rhodes and that was when Tony and Dusty were doing color commentary for the GAB in 1996 -- Chris Benoit and that nasty Kevin Sullivan going head to head IN THE LADIES' ROOM! That commentary is PRICELESS! The first time I saw it, I was laughing so hard I had tears running down my face and was literally falling off the sofa. My husband thought I was nuts, but he was dying laughing just the same *lol* If you've never seen that match, you are missing out! That was the funniest thing I've ever witnessed in the business! I've watched that particular match at least a dozen times :-)

If I can think of them....let's see...other stars were Junk Yard Dog, Buddy Landell, Jake Roberts, Jimmy Garvin, The Grappler I and II, Mr. Wrestling I and II, Mr. Olympia, Terry Orndorff, Tommy Rich, Steve Williams, Killer Kahn, Butch Reed, Killer Karl Kox, Frank Dusek, Johnny Mantell, One Man Gang, Chavo and Hector Guerraro, Buzz Sawyer, Lanny Poffo, Bob Roop, Dick Slater, Ricky Gibson, HACKSAW Jim Duggan, Gino Hernandez, Rob Ricksteiner (bka Rick Steiner), Brett Sawyer, that nasty Dutch Mantell person -- he was GROSS, Eddie Gilbert, "Flash" Borden (bka STING), his partner (I don't remember his "name", but he is bka The Ultimate Warrior, Jim Helwig), Marte Lunde (bka Arn Anderson), Tim Horner, Rick Rude, Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff, Krusher Krushev, Missing Link, Iceman Parsons, Dirty White Boys, Brad Armstrong, Jim Neidhart, Mike George, Tully Blanchard, The Samoans, Iron Sheik, Bob Orton, Jr., Brian Blair, Magnum T. A., Paul Ellering, Tommy Wright, Mike Sharpe, Matt Borne, Tony Atlas, Tito Santana, King Kong Bundy, Tiger Conway, Jr., and Chris Adams, to name a few. I know there were more, but I forget *lol*

I have so many fond memories of driving to Lake Charles for MSW :-) We always sat in the same place, my mom's sister, her husband and their friends always sat in the same place, and my dad's baby brother and his wife and son always sat in the same place. Whoever got there first would watch for the rest of the gang to get there. It was always like a big family/friend reunion :-) When MSW died, so did all those glorious times :-( Losing MSW was tragic :-( I never saw another live wrestling event after that :-( UWF rarely came around from what I remember. Hell, I don't even know if they did come here. I still remember the void in my life! I lived for those live events!

As far as WCW and WWF, well, I wouldn't give Vince a penny if he were on fire and needed to buy water, so I wasn't about to pay to see any WWF show, and WCW's shows locally were overrated, announcing big name stars, but those big stars never showed up -- just Saturday Night tapings or house shows with basically mid-carders coming around. I could not and would not pay $30 when I could see it on tv for free! *lol* My daughter enjoyed her one time WCW show and has not stopped talking about it since, but she went to see some of the guys there -- I wasn't interested at all. We never got a Nitro or a Thunder, and that stunk! They only came around once a year anyway! Wrestling in this area died back in the late 80s :-(

I managed to see one show in the Superdome, and KVE was there that night -- year '81. Well, they claimed it was Kerry, but what I saw was what looked like a fire ant in trunks! *lol* The ring looked like a match box! *lol* I was used to sitting front row and ring side, so that experience was a mind blower, to say the least. The Superdome is HUGE, needless to say! It had to be the great Kerry Von Erich, though -- only he came out to Rush's Tom Sawyer!!!! :-)

When Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton came around, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Man, those boys knew how to perform! Nobody brought the house to life like they did...not even when Kerry Von Erich rode into town! Their theme song was fabulous, too -- Rock and Roll is King by ELO! The next great tag team to appear were The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) who came out to Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. They were awesome, drew tons of good heat, and that Tommy Rogers was - whew - HOT! But, they were NOT The Rock n Roll Express! The Rockers (if I remember correctly, they were Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetti) came around, too, but still not Robert and Ricky! Of course, we had the misfortune to have to watch their opponents in Jim Cornette's Midnight Express (Dennis Condry - he made me sick - and Bobby Eaton - YUCK!). When Stan Lan, however, took Condry's place, hmmm.....I did a double take. The man was awesome :-) And, I definitely can't neglect mentioning The UNFABULOUS Freebirds - ugh! Michael Hayes made me nauseous! The ONLY good thing about them was their intro music, of course...Freebird by Lynyrd Skynyrd! When that idiot, Buddy Roberts, joined them, I just didn't think things could get worse, but they did *lol*

Then one fateful day in January 1984, my passion for wrestling grew stronger with the introduction of "a new kid in town". I remember looking at the tv to see what Boyd Pierce and Jim Ross were talking about, and the rest is history. It was none other than Terry Taylor -- oddly enough, thanks to John McAdams' collection, I have that program on vintage video :-) He is the one and only wrestler I have followed from start to .... well, hmm....I can't say finish/end. It ain't over! :-) He's wrestling again :-) Anyway, you get the picture....from the time he arrived in MSW to the time he went to the WWF to the time he went to the NWA/WCW to the present day. I missed WCCW, cause we didn't get the program, but thanks to some vintage video, I have been able to catch a glimpse of what went on over there. Anyway, my passion started to die out, and I quit watching -- mainly due to lack of time between raising kids and working. A few years ago, it all came rushing back to me when we happened to watch a Monday Nitro, and bam....hooked again for a time, and it was pretty great. Then WCW just totally lost me, and I quit watching -- until the final Nitro aired -- I had to watch that one! My son and daughters continued to watch, however. That is definitely all over now, and watching wrestling is definitely over for me, but my memories will live on forever. When I feel the need to watch, I pop in a video,and I tend to do that quite often -- from MSW to UWF to WCCW to WWF ('88-'90) to NWA/WCW :-)

Okay, that is all fine and dandy, but I haven't mentioned my very best and favorite passions, and they have brought me the most joy and love anyone could hope for. They are pretty much self-explanatory.......and here they are:

My beautiful granddaughter, Taylor Reneé, (bka "Tater Tot"), born 1-16-00, 
and my beautiful grandson, Collin Joseph, (bka "Lil Boogie" born 11-10-00 :-)

My beautiful new grandson, Brayden Shane, born 01-05-06 :-)

My beautiful new granddaughter, Kyleigh Marie, born 07/16/07 :-)

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