Biographies can be so boring unless you're an egomaniac. Then again, why do most people put journals and diaries up on the Internet if not for ego? =)

It would be pointless to try in one page to recapture my entire life. Perhaps here and there the need for explanation of events in my past life will become necessary, and if that happens, then I'll add the appropriate entries. For now, I'll try to give the overview.

I was born on August 26, 1965 in Corpus Christi, Texas, the oldest of what would turn out to be three daughters. My father moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area when I was just a newborn, to find better employment. (I think he's still looking!) My mother and I followed him up here when I was about two months old, and I've lived in the area ever since.

My parents' marriage was rocky from the beginning - hell, it was rocky when they were just dating! Truthfully, they got married when they did for different reasons: my father because that was the only way my mother was going to give up her virginity, and my mother because her baby sister announced her own wedding date and heaven forbid that she should let her little sister beat her to the altar. Thus, my grandparents had the honor of paying for two weddings about six weeks apart.

My father was what is commonly known as a "womanizer". His antics were legendary, though I've only recently come to hear about most of them. I used to be the quintessential daddy's girl; these days, I'm completely indifferent to my father's existence, and I like it that way. To give you an idea of why: when my youngest sister told him the surprising news that I was divorcing after nearly 15 years of marriage, his only comment was, "Oh, so that must be why she didn't call me for Father's Day." In other words, it's always all about him.

My mother has had a sad life, primarily (but not entirely) of her own making. To hear her tell it, her own father was such a perfect man that she could never find one to match up to him. Of course, I don't think she was looking in the right places, because after my unfaithful father, she seemed to only bring home drunks. She's now single, living with her four Schnauzers and a cat. She's a much better grandmother than she ever was a mother, but at least she recognizes that and doesn't try to defend herself for what she did or didn't do while raising me and my sisters.

My middle sister, Brandy, is no longer with us. She died in an automobile accident in 1992, leaving behind one son who was four at the time. Although I miss her, I think the greatest tragedy is that her son has no memory of her other than photos and home video. For the longest time, he thought that she had given him up to his father. Maybe one day he'll hear the story of how his father tried to take him from her and lost, only to finally win by her death.

My youngest sister, Stefani, is now 30 and beginning to wonder if she'll ever be married. Although for me, marriage was no picnic, for her, it will probably be different. She thinks she's too picky. Well, maybe. But more likely, she just hasn't met the right guy. She's such a social butterfly though that I'm surprised she hasn't nailed one down yet. =)

I have three sons. The oldest is now nearly 20, as I was a teenage mother. I never married his father, and I am thankful for that. The youngest two are from my failed fifteen-year marriage. They live with their father, not an easy decision but best for all involved.

I have a dog, Sasha - and three cats and two dogs who are no longer with me but still in my heart. Like my children, I love them dearly but they can be a pain. If I could, I'd probably take in more animals, but that's really impractical, not to mention expensive and messy.

I'm not unhappy about my divorce. I think I have always known it would end that way. Many times I have said that whether it ended by death or divorce, I would never remarry. That remains to be seen, as it is quite likely that was an unhappily married person talking, and not the real me. However, I did always have this image of myself living alone in an apartment somewhere with a little fluffy dog. Maybe I'm just seeking something I never had. What that is, I have no idea. It'll come to me one day, I'm sure.

I'm a natural redhead (though age has finally forced me to turn to enhancement techniques to maintain the color - it isn't working too well, though, as I seem to be more blonde than red these days!), a smoker, and a lover of books. I've been reading since I was four, which is good for the brain but not for the body. My cousins used to whine to my grandmother during the summer that I wouldn't go out and play with them because I wanted to read. I haven't changed much in that regard, except that these days I buy the books but seem to have no time to read them. =)

Career-wise, I finally am gainfully employed again after a difficult stretch where I had trouble finding a place I could tolerate. I think it may be because I am trying to make a living at something that I am quite good at but don't really have a passion for. (Then again, how passionate can one be about Accounting?) I had considered going to school once my divorce was final, but I don't know how practical that would be at this point. I'm not sure I'm physically and mentally up to working all day and then going to school at night. And then, of course, that leaves me with no time for dating or any form of a social life.

Not that I have much of a social life anyway. I pretty much have become a recluse since my last break-up. I work all day, then come home to spend most of my time either watching TV or fiddling around on my computer. It's going to be really hard to find love from that vantage point, so I need to do something fast before I'm too old and too tired to work at a relationship.

But for now, I guess I'm officially a spinster - although I think that technically a spinster is a woman who's never married or had children. I definitely feel spinsterish, so I suppose it's as good a label as any.

Still want to know more? The next entry contains a list of miscellaneous facts.