Hi all. I also stumbled onto this site and considered just lurking but you are all so wonderfully compelling that I wanted to get involved. I'm in Florida also, so we are well-represented. I guess I was looking for information on women's issues when I came across this site. I'm in my late 40s and experiencing some of the things others have written about--wonderful changes in myself, turmoil in a marriage, kids growing up and having their growing pains...Not unusual stuff but hard to deal with sometimes.

I'm a university professor and I love to write. I write for work--publish or perish--but also for pleasure. I look forward to reading what others have written.

Someone remarked that things rarely happen by accident and I believe that, so I think that maybe this site will bring me something I've been needing, and I hope that maybe I can give in some way as well.

Welcome Lily......it is a VERY nurturing and supportive site so I have NO DOUBT that you were "led" here just as many of us feel we were. You can talk about anything and know that someone on the Forum can help or empathize or certainly want to listen at least! It's just a great spot.

Glad you are here with us. We do indeed have a growing Florida contingent....perhaps we should call Florida "Boomer Haven" ????!! LOL

Hi Lily, I have heard that the world of academia is publish or perish. All that research! What is your field? This site is full of creative women. You were accidently led to the right place! Love and Light, Lynn

Welcome Lily, what a beautiful name. You will love the humor, the strength and the sisterhood you will find here. We are all very different and yet so much alike in many ways. Thanks for joining us.

Hi Lily. Nice to have you in the forums.
Louisa

A warm welcome to you Lily. I also believe that things happen for a reason. What do you like to write about most? Our Florida branch of boomers just keeps growing and growing.Glad you found us.
chick

Welcome, Lily.........Florida rocks!
And for us boomers, it rocks even better in the winter time. (born and bred Bostonian here, with blizzard memories to prove it)
This is a great site, so enjoy!

Love your name! Welcome and keep coming back. You're gonna love it here.

Lily, welcome to the boomer site and waving at ya from Tampa too!

You were led to this site for a reason and it was to meet other boomer women and join in our chats. We're glad to have you here. Tell us more about yourself.

Lily, welcome. SOunds like you fit right in. lease come back often. HOw old are your children?

Hi Lily. Welcome to BWS.

Welcome Lily. I'll be in Florida next week on the 15th to bring my daughter down for college. She was going to attend Florida A&M but decided on Bethune Cookman for the full scholarship they've offered her for her journalism skills.

So, with all that said, if anyone of the Florida Boomers would like to meet for lunch, granted you're close enough to Daytona Beach, email me.

Welcome to Boomers! You'll love it.

Sheree

Yuhoooo....Lily, welcome! So glad to see you've joined. Now do tell...are you Florida born and raised? And the University? Course you might not want to disclose that tidbit. My Uncle was the Dean of Admissions at Florida State University. He's retired now.

Anyhooo...welcome, welcome. You're gonna love it here.

JJ - resident Queen and fluffy person.

Thanks for all the welcoming messages! I'll try and fill in some information about myself. I'm at the University of South Florida in Tampa and have a great job with great colleagues. My field is languages and teacher education. My research interests are bilingualism, literacy, and teacher development. I speak Spanish fluently and have conducted research in Costa Rica with women who were teachers and advocates for children. I love the research but I find myself bogged down with the academic writing, something I need to work through in the next couple of months.

On the other hand, I love to write more personal pieces and essays. I have a collection of essays I wrote during my 5 weeks in Costa Rica last summer, and I'm working on a novel with a friend--a looong-term project done for fun. I have some other essays I've written about different things in my life. Someday I'd like to look for publishing outlets. For now I write those for myself.

My kids are a daughter, 19, and a son, 13. The daughter has had problems with an eating disorder--anorexia--but seems to be coming out of it and is much happier than I've seen her in awhile. My son is in his last year of middle school and turning into a young man before my eyes. He loves computers and music. I love my children passionately. My daughter has been the challenge child but has so many wonderful qualities and a strength that she is only beginning to discover.

It's nice to be here. Thanks for the warmth!