Who I am... What I'm About. An Ongoing Effort.

 
Early Years and Family

• My birthday is July 2... I was born in the Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA.
  
• My parents were John and Barbara.
  
• I have an older sister (Kathy), two older brothers (Pete and Bob), and a younger brother (Steve).
  
• Kathy has three sons (Chris, Sandy, and Mike); Pete has a son (John); Bob has a son (Bob, Jr.).
  
• All of my grandparents passed away by the time I was 13 years old.
  
• My paternal grandfather, Steve, was born in Greece. I wish I had learned to speak Greek.
  
• My maternal grandparents, Helen and Robert, I don't remember much about... in photos they looked like people I would have loved to know.
  
• My paternal grandmother, Margaret, always reminded me of an elegant lady. She was the last to pass on, and she died under suspicious circumstances.
  
• My first pet was "Fluffy" the cat, then we got "Taffy" the dog. They started a long line of pets (cats, dogs, gerbils, rabbits, and horses).
  
• I attended Prescott Elementary School (then East Scranton Intermediate, then North Pocono High School, and finally Marywood College
  
• My Father owned harness race horses. We spent most of my youth travelling to race tracks in the Mid-Atlantic and New England States. I have fond memories of these times... I loved being around the horses, and I enjoyed the "behind the scenes" events more than the actual racing. It sparked my life-long love for horses. We also used to visit the sites along our routes to the race tracks... I remember visiting "Storytown" in Saratoga, NY, and also Fort Ticonderoga, NY, as well as places in and around Boston.
  
• We lived in Scranton until the summer between my 8th and 9th school years, when my Dad bought land a few miles outside of Scranton in the country and built his dream home, along with a stable for our horses. I rode the horses as much as I could... I love it! I started riding lessons when I was in elementary school. We used to go on trail rides all of the time. I also used to volunteer at Rainbow Equestrian Center where I helped handicapped children learn to ride. I lost count of all the times I have fallen off or been kicked by a horse!
  
• My grandfather Steve started a restaurant in 1923, which he later passed on to my Father, and now my brother Pete owns it. I started working there when I was 13 years old. I was a bus-girl/dishwasher (we didn't have a regular dishwasher, so it all had to be done by hand!). Later I graduated to waitress. My entire family has worked there in one capacity or another! Right now, my nephews John and Mike are earning extra spending cash by working on weekends!
  
• My Father passed away in May of 1994. He died from complications from diabetes (renal failure). I spent alot of time with my Dad. I was devastated when he died. I remember the hospital calling us in the middle of the night, telling us that we should get there quick because he was failing. We sat in ICU's waiting room, because he had gone into arrest. Though I wasn't in the room with him, I can still hear the sound of the monitors as they went from the beeps of life to the flat, single tone of death.
  
• My Mom passed away last Christmas Eve 2001. Here's a link to a page in my journal. There are actually two postings about her that day. Please scroll down to read both.
  

posted by Margie (and Fae) at 4:18 AM

 

• I love walking through parks and public gardens.
  
• I like going to zoos and aquariums.
  
• I'm addicted to Pepsi Twist, even though I am not supposed to drink soda.
  
• I love cafe mocha... I'd love my own cappucino machine, so I could make my own!
  
• I would love to own a vintage Jaguar.
  
• Chris Van Allsburg is my favorite children's book illustrator.
  
• I love the work of N.C, Andrew, and Jamie Wyeth. Also: Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, Edward Hopper, Maxfield Parish, Louis Tiffany, Howard Pyle, Grant Wood, Janet Fish, Barbara Ediden, Edward Gorey, many early illustrators, and Matisse.
  
• I love Chinese food.
  
• I drank too much in college... now I hardly drink at all. I once drank over half a bottle of cheap Cortez tecquila...I'm surprised I still like tecquila! Now, I'm usually the designated driver, though I would really like to cut loose once in a while.
  
• I never took drugs.
  
• My astrological sign is Cancer. Though I am a water sign, I didn't learn how to swim until a few years ago, when Bill taught me.
  
• I love going to diners, drinking coffee, and ordering breakfast at all times of the day.
  
• The closest I have ever felt to God was when I stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
  
• I love Cirque du Soleil. I saw the performance of "O" in Vegas.
  
• I would love to go back to school and keep taking art classes... there is so much more I would like to learn.
  
• I love scented candles.
  
• I love looking at the stars.
  
• My ancestry is Greek, Hungarian, German, and Scots-Irish. One of my ancestors reportedly signed the Declaration of Independence.
  
• I love HGTV, FoodTV, and TechTV.
  
• I love animals. I'm a dog person, though I have had many cats.
  
• I used to be a veterinary assistant. My least favorite patient were ferrets, because they smell (and the musk stays on you for a long time! Phew!).
  
• I'm the only one in my family to move from our hometown. It's the same with Bill.
  
• I've been outside the country once, and that was to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls with Bill.
  
• I love butterflies, dragonflies, and ladybugs.
  
• I love Chinese and green.
  
• I'm addicted to lip balm.
  
• I'd love to live in a big city once in my life.
  
• I can read a cookbook like it's a novel.
  
• I always wear my seatbelt.
  
• I don't like pie.
  
• I'm not a fan of Dunkin Donuts.
  
• I'd love to visit the Mall of America someday.
  
• I try to treat others as I would like to be treated.
  
• I used to be alot more trustful than I am now.
  
• I think the glass is half full.
  
• I admire originality and quirkiness.
  
• I love Monty Python.
  
• My favorite Merchant Ivory movie was "A Room With A View".
  
• My favorite colors are violet, blue and green.
  
• I think sea horses are cool.
  
• I'm a pack-rat. I have to force myself to throw something away.
  
• I don't like Brittney Spears or any other "bubble-gum" pop. I don't care for rap or country either.
  
• I like Roller Coaster Tycoon.
  
• I like hockey and basketball.
  
• I hum when I am nervous.
  
• Bill taught me how to play chess, but he won't let me win.
  
• I like Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble.
  
• I hate math. I use the other side of my brain.
  
• My favorite salad is a Caesar salad.
  
• I love to bake cookies.
  
• I enjoy trying new recipes.
  
• Someday, I want a bathroom with a huge Jacuzzi tub... the kind where your whole body gets submerged.
  
• I love apples and oranges.
  
• I daydream alot... I think I have a good imagination.
  
• If I could have one superhuman quality, it would be the ability to fly.
  
• I talk too much.
  

posted by Margie (and Fae) at 5:16 PM

 
Interested In:

Art, colored pencil drawing, creativity, rstained glasseading, penpalling, cooking, bookstore, libraries, flea markets, yard sales, Ebay, rubberstamping, paper crafts, walking my dogs, shopping, decorating, music, movies, museums, gardens, photography, earth rights, animal rights, sketching, doodling, learning HTML, trying to learn how to use Paint Shop Pro, travel, and lots more

Collections

Teddy bears, postcards, snowmen, cookbooks & recipes, children's picture books, art books, stickers, glass, vintage Christmas decorations, fridge magnets, and marbles.

Likes

Long walks with my dogs, spending the day with Bill, cafe mocha, bookstores, funky artsy shops, fish, the beach, picking wild berries, Sanrio and San-X, fine crafts shows, Tech Tv, PopCap Games, email, snail mail, lemonade, Pepsi Twist, reading magazines, history, magic, faeries, mysticism, the changing seasons, people watching, NYC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, live auctions, going out to dinner, exploring new places, and teaching kids to draw.

Dislikes

Things that are too cute, the smell of tar, ignorant and/or stupid people, narrow-minded people, people who use the bible as a shield to hide their nastiness, clove, parents who can't control their children, people who try to profit from someone's misfortune, abusing animals, abusing children, cocky teenagers, and rude drivers.

posted by Margie (and Fae) at 5:05 PM

 
La-La-LOVE!

• I was a late bloomer when it came to love.
  
• I worked in the family restaurant until autumn of 1995, when I started working at Montgomery Ward's department store. A new manager transferred to the store. His name was Bill. The rest is history.
  
• We were married in a little chapel in Cade's Cove, in the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee. Yes we drove all the way to Tennessee. Long story short... at that time, Pennsylvania required blood tests to get married. Bill's afraid of needles. After searching the Internet, we found that most of the southern states don't require blood tests, and we chose Tennessee!
  
• Everytime Bill gets promoted with a company, we have to move. We have moved 8 times since we met, never leaving the state of Pennsylvania.
  
• Bill's a vegetarian. I'm a meat-eater who's trying to be a vegetarian. I just don't like too many vegetables!
  
• Bill's a big online gamer. I'm not very good at the games, but I like watching him play. I can't do the fighting, but I can help him solve the puzzles.
  

posted by Margie (and Fae) at 3:20 PM

 
Early Years and Family

• My birthday is July 2... I was born in the Mercy Hospital in Scranton, PA.
  
• My parents were John and Barbara.
  
• I have an older sister (Kathy), two older brothers (Pete and Bob), and a younger brother (Steve).
  
• Kathy has three sons (Chris, Sandy, and Mike); Pete has a son (John); Bob has a son (Bob, Jr.).
  
• All of my grandparents passed away by the time I was 13 years old.
  
• My paternal grandfather, Steve, was born in Greece. I wish I had learned to speak Greek.
  
• My maternal grandparents, Helen and Robert, I don't remember much about... in photos they looked like people I would have loved to know.
  
• My paternal grandmother, Margaret, always reminded me of an elegant lady. She was the last to pass on, and she died under suspicious circumstances.
  
• My first pet was "Fluffy" the cat, then we got "Taffy" the dog. They started a long line of pets (cats, dogs, gerbils, rabbits, and horses).
  
• I attended Prescott Elementary School (then East Scranton Intermediate, then North Pocono High School, and finally Marywood College
  
• My Father owned harness race horses. We spent most of my youth travelling to race tracks in the Mid-Atlantic and New England States. I have fond memories of these times... I loved being around the horses, and I enjoyed the "behind the scenes" events more than the actual racing. It sparked my life-long love for horses. We also used to visit the sites along our routes to the race tracks... I remember visiting "Storytown" in Saratoga, NY, and also Fort Ticonderoga, NY, as well as places in and around Boston
  
• We lived in Scranton until the summer between my 8th and 9th school years, when my Dad bought land a few miles outside of Scranton in the country and built his dream home, along with a stable for our horses. I rode the horses as much as I could... I love it! I started riding lessons when I was in elementary school. We used to go on trail rides all of the time. I also used to volunteer at Rainbow Equestrian Center where I helped handicapped children learn to ride. I lost count of all the times I have fallen off or been kicked by a horse!
  
• My grandfather Steve started a restaurant in 1923, which he later passed on to my Father, and now my brother Pete owns it. I started working there when I was 13 years old. I was a bus-girl/dishwasher (we didn't have a regular dishwasher, so it all had to be done by hand!). Later I graduated to waitress. My entire family has worked there in one capacity or another! Right now, my nephews John and Mike are earning extra spending cash by working on weekends!
  
• My Father passed away in May of 1994. He died from complications from diabetes (renal failure). I spent alot of time with my Dad. I was devastated when he died. I remember the hospital calling us in the middle of the night, telling us that we should get there quick because he was failing. We sat in ICU's waiting room, because he had gone into arrest. Though I wasn't in the room with him, I can still hear the sound of the monitors as they went from the beeps of life to the flat, single tone of death.
  
• My Mom passed away last Christmas Eve 2001. Here's a link to a page in my journal. There are actually two postings about her that day. Please scroll down to read both.
  

posted by Margie (and Fae) at 12:30 PM