grover

UPDATE: I had surgery about 6 weeks ago and am still having a lot of health problems. I had hoped to have my late swaps out by now but just haven't been able to. I haven't been at the computer either and I'm sorry I haven't given my partners updates. Thanks for understanding.

I live in Portland, Oregon and absolutely love it. I came here from Sacramento to attend college and never looked back. I adore the weather, except that lately the summers have been too hot. (If I wanted 100 degree weather I would have moved back to California!) I live with my husband Jim, we have been together for 17 years this March. I am very fortunate. Neither of us wanted to have kids so we have furbabies instead. We have always had cats but now we have 2 St. Bernard puppies. My friend decided to breed her dogs and had a litter in November. We were lucky enough to adopt Lucy so she is a year old now. They didn't get mom fixed in time so another litter came along in May and we were blessed to get Ethel. They are a lot of work but totally entertaining. We also have 6 cats. It's a totally crazy environment and the animals definitely have control of the house!! I have two things I collect - anything cow-related and anything Grover-related. I also LOVE purple!!

I don't really think of myself as crafty, although I keep trying to be. Mostly, I am a collector of crafting items. My two chosen hobbies are quilting and rubber stamping. I have not done much quilting in the last couple of years but that has not stopped me from collecting lots of supplies for them. This year I will be going to a quilting group once a month so I hope getting together with other quilters will inspire me to sew more. I am in a stamp club that meets once a month and so I have been busy building up my card supply and learning new techniques in the process.

I have always watched a lot of television. I think it stems from being an only child who didn't like to play with other kids much! I watch reality tv and dramas mostly. Although I do love 30 Rock and Modern Family. I like Biggest Loser even though I tend to sit on the couch eating ice cream when I watch it! I watched Survivor when it was first on and then quit but I did watch the Samoa version because my uncle's wife is from there and I wanted to see the island. I love Clean House because it gives me hope that there are houses as messy, if not more, than mine! As for dramas, I like most of the crime procedurals such as Law & Order, CSI, NCIS. I am also addicted to Grey's Anatomy and Fringe. On cable, I love Nurse Jackie, United States of Tara, Weeds, Dexter and True Blood. True Blood surprises my friends because I'm not really a vampire kind of person. Like I said, I watch a lot of television......

I have loved to read my whole life. My great-grandmother was bedridden and I shared a room with her when I was a baby/toddler. She used to read to me constantly and as a result I could read at the age of two. I am eternally grateful to her for that gift. These days I tend to read mysteries. I discovered Jodi Picolt about a year ago and so I've been slowly reading all of her past books. I'm a little strange about mysteries that are a series - I have to read them in order. I just read the first "Jack Reacher" novel by Lee Child and can't wait to read the rest of the series. I am fortunate to live in the same town as Powell's Books and love to visit the store whenever I can. It is truly amazing.

I would love anything with Grover from Sesame Street, dragonflys, cows, Saint Bernards, pretty paper, most any kind of office supplies, anything to do with rubber stamping, and anything purple.