This is an introduction to me that goes beyond the stuff on my LJ user info page. I’ll try to remember to update it as things change. Remind me if I don’t, okay?
I’m originally from Gadsden, Alabama. My parents moved the family to Marietta, GA in 1971, back to Gadsden in 1974, and to Tucker, GA (another Atlanta suburb) in 1977. We’ve been in Georgia ever since. I spent a couple of years in south Georgia, but have otherwise lived around Atlanta for 27 years.
We seem to be related to the entire native population of Alabama and most of north Georgia, with mostly Scots-Irish-Cherokee heritage.
My parents are usually referred to here as Nana and Papa, which is what my daughter calls them.
I’m the oldest surviving child of four: Will, me, Wendy, and Matt. Will died (at 2) just before I was born, due to malignant hyperthermia that hit during a routine hernia repair surgery. Wendy is in education. Matt is a doctor. Both are married, and I have one nephew, also named Will.
I was raised as a strict Southern Baptist. I got over it.
I’m a survivor of childhood sexual abuse (not from a parent, thankfully).
I was a very successful student in primary/secondary school. I won’t say “good,” because I really had bad habits. I just happened to have a learning style that fits very well with American public schooling methods of the time, and I test well.
I had a National Merit Scholarship at Agnes Scott College. I attended there for one quarter, then dropped out to get married. I also attended Mercer University in Atlanta and Dekalb College (now Georgia Perimeter College) for a bit. I’m attending Southern Polytechnic State University now, working towards a BA in International, Technical, and Professional Communications.
Scott was my high school sweetheart, Scott. I was 18, he was 20. He was a religion/biology major at Mercer. He was going to go into youth ministry, then marine biology, then he switched to veterinary medicine. He was a youth minister for a time while we were together.
We were married in 1985, then had a low-drama divorce in 1987. No kids, no property, etc.
I began dating Ed in 1988. He’s a mechanical engineer.
Wayne (Katie’s father) and I met and began dating in 1988, and were married in 1989. Wayne had degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering. He did destructive testing, then was a quality engineer for a defense subcontractor. He died of leukemia in 1999. The chemicals he used in the destructive testing almost certainly contributed to his illness.
Katie was born in 1990. She’s my miracle Goddess-gift. We started homeschooling in 2000, and absolutely love it.
After Wayne and I were divorced, Ed and I got back together.
I was briefly married to Paul in the mid-90s.
Paul and I had a relationship that was open from day one, and Ed and I continued to date ’til a few months after sambear and I got involved. We’re still friendly.
Yep, that’s three divorces in by the time I was 30.
Sam and I met in 1998, and have been together ever since then. We’re polyamorous but were not actively so for about four years. We were a bit busy blending our families at the time.
Sam’s kids, Genevieve and Rowan, lived with us until 2003. They’re 13 and 16 now and live in northern California with their mother and her partner.
We were involved with another couple from 2002 to early 2003. I still miss her, and what we had together as a family.
After a couple of years of getting to know each other, Sam and I combined households with curiousmay9 in early 2004. We live in Castle Caritas.
I’ve been disabled by fibromyalgia, chronic myofascial pain, and arthritis since 2000. I didn’t accept it enough to start filing a disability claim until 2004. I still hate the “d” word. I’d been working outside the home since I was 11.
My professional background in software QA, technical writing, and the like. Before I got into tech stuff in the mid-90s, I worked in office management, medical transcription, accounting, banking, retail, and office clerking in an HVAC office. I was even a gas company dispatcher for a brief time. I spent five years working for a fundamentalist Christian foreign missions board, managing their self-insured benefits program. I started telecommuting in 1990, while pregnant with Katie. It’s still my favorite way to work.
After a multiply-convicted felon began stalking me and Katie in 1996, I got into online safety advocacy. I’ve done volunteer work with Working to Halt Online Abuse since 1997. I’m their executive vice president and webmaster now.
I’ve done interviews about online safety with various print and television media entities since 1996, including CNN, the BBC, 20/20, the Associated Press, US News & World Report, Oprah, ZDTV, Glamour, and Sveriges.
Our household includes 160 pounds/20 paws of critters.
Shelley, the tortoiseshell cat, is 15. She was mine ’til Katie was born and has been Katie’s cat since then. She considers Katie her kitten.
KG is a deaf 12-year-old cat and is all white. She acts somewhat autistic. I can’t remember how long she’s been with curiousmay9 but it’s been for most of KG’s life.
Sparks is an 8-year-old orange tabby. She’s the friendliest of the four cats, being a total cuddle-slut as well as a cat of very little brain.
Wizard, the grey tabby, is about 2.5 years old. He’s somewhat obnoxious. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was a tom rather than neutered. He has his sweet moments, though, and is the only cat I have ever seen play fetch.
Karli is about 2. She’s a Great Pyrenees/Akbash cross who joined our family in late summer of 2004. A friend referred to her as “an indoor pony,” but she’s not large for her ancestry. She’s also very sweet, allowing littluns to crawl all over her without complaint. The cats are her “herd” to protect, and she wants everybody who visits the house to stay forever. Barking at boojums is her favorite pastime.
So, those are the main not-on-LJ names you’re likely to run across here. And way more than you probably wanted to know about me!
