I'm a military brat - my father was in the Air Force for thirty years. This drastically shaped my life and who I am. I have two brothers and have never had children, but I'm a FABULOUS Aunt to my nieces and nephews. Just ask 'em! I satisfy my maternal instincts with my three cats and one dog. For me, this works.

I started first grade at the age of five at the Tehran American Elementary School in Tehran, Iran. I have very fond memories of Iran, although I was too naive to understand the poverty around me so these memories are seen through a child's eye. I completed my fifth year of school in Iran and came back to the World at the age of ten. And my what a different world it was! I can still remember my first taste of fresh vegetables (sliced tomatoes) and fruit (apples). Iran, a third world country then, was rife with cholera and the like, making it unsafe to eat the local produce so the only fruits and vegetables I could ever remember seeing or eating were from a can and purchased at the Commisary on Base. To this day I absolutely love fresh fruits and vegetables and can easliy make a meal of them.

After stints in California (where I was born incidently) and Virginia, I turned fifteen in a Gesthaus a week after we arrived in West Germany, in 1977. From Germany I was able to visit and spend time in Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland, France and Italy. I absolutely loved Europe and definitely will go back again one day to revisit the wonderful places I've seen and some I haven't ( hopefully the Tower of Pisa will still be standing). I would highly recommend a trip abroad to every American at least once in their lifetime. I was there for three of my four high school years and was sent back to the States during my senior year when I turned eighteen. It wasn't bad enough moving my senior year, I had to move FROM Europe TO Nebraska! Aaaagghh. Reverse culture shock ensued. I graduated and went to college in Nebraska and then moved to the East Coast as quickly as possible.

Now I live by choice in Virginia. I am a southerner despite all of my world travels because I was raised by a mother from Texas and a father from Virginia, both from the South. So I'm a southern American gal of Irish descent who has had the experience of being in the minority with regards to religion (Iran), language (Germany) and nationality (both) - and then later, sexuality (lesbian). This gives me insight not common in these parts. The military is also highly integrated so I never experienced segregation from other races. We were pretty much equally divided black and white, with a fair amount of Asians mixed in. I have never felt comfortable in an environment without a diversity of peoples and cultures. Nebraska always felt so odd to me because of its overly homogenous composition, both racially and culturally, and that's probably why I "beat feet" outta there at the first chance I got. And that's why I now live in Northern Virginia on the outskirts of Washington DC.

Oh, yes, and I'm a conservative. Get to know me before you hate me, though. I can bring something a little different to the community here. And I will always play nice...or at least I'll give it my best effort!