Grumbleeze

Asia from Asia's Life... I feel like I know you. When our children were small my husband worked too much too. In his case, he did construction work evenings and weekends. I was a fulltime mom and felt like the only parent. I usually had a board and oil paints on the kitchen table and made cutout dolls for the girls when I wasn't painting or cleaning.

My husband, realizing my whole life was kids, suggested I go to school at the local community college. Unlike you, I had to begin as a freshman. That was when I discovered I was not only a mom & wife, but a real person!

When our youngest was 4 and oldest 10, I got a job and Frank quit his extra job. Our kids had two parents. On my school night they had dad all to themselves. My job and school completed me. Rejoining the world of grownups was good.

With this new status, I quit the ladies' club I belonged to and quit all volunteer work that did not involve my children. Extracurricular activity for husband & I involved family... we helped out with Girl Scout activities. I taught catechism at our church. We attended school band events. Family dinners were a requirement... that time of day when everybody shared their activities. Of course as they grew into teen age, this part changed somewhat.

Summertime was vacationtime... just about every weekend. First we had a tent for camping. Then we 'graduated' to a previously owned houseboat... and enjoyed most of our warm weather activities on this floating cottage... fishing, swimming and sunning ourselves on the roof.

With these two jobs and our six children we were never rich and still are not... but we were content. We enjoyed our lives instead of always looking to the future when we would be able to enjoy.

As the kids grew up the houseboat 'grew' into a sailboat, which my husband & I sailed alone. We sailed on 3 of the Great Lakes... Huron, Erie and Michigan. We retired, sold that boat, bought lake property where we frequently get together with the family... and just last summer bought a pontoon boat (from one of our sons-in-law) My husband got involved in a computer club and encouraged me to join.

Now I'm President of that club... Saginaw Valley Computer Association... and he is webmaster and facilitates a special interest group. I sort of help him with the website at his request.

Last spring I got involved politically for the first time in my life... and I'm still not really a political person. I just got tired of the way a few people were changing my life and my home with their extremist viewpoints. That's why I created a blog called Tittabawassee River Voice and ultimately with the help of a few new friends, part of a grassroots resident group named after the website... TRVoice.

Now what was the question? Well anyway, there you are... more than you ever wanted to know. Bottomline is.... Life happens; live it and love it.