I'm so glad that I found you. I can't wait to "meet" everyone!

Hi Stormy,

Welcome to the best group of women on the net!

My name is Sherri and I a full time customer service rep for the power company and I write as my second calling. I have been published several times on the internet and in my local paper. I have been selling poetry chapbooks for the last year. I have 5 children and 10 grandchildren and 2 on the way. That's about it, welcome to the group.

Sherri

Hi,
Weocome Stormy. You will love it here.
Maggie

Yuhooo...Stormy, welcome! I'm the resident Queen here at Boomer Women Speak, as well as the leader of all village plundering, dragon slayings, moat cleanings, yada, yada, yada....

Let me know if I can help in any way, k?

Welcome aboard girlfriend...and post away!

JJ (Jaw Jaw)

Welcome, I read on your profile that you like writing poetry. There are several women in here who write and share contest information etc. Be sure to check the Women Writers forum.

Also, I saw you like to read mysteries. We're gearing up to read The mystery of David'd Bridge in our book club. IT was written by Pam Kimmell, one of our fourms members. Want to join us? We read and post about it in the Book Club forum. This si the second book we've read and will have the privilege of having the author among us.

Hi Everyone..

Thanks so much for the warm welcome..About me...Well,as my previous post said,I'm from NH..The "Live Free or Die" State. Picture an inmate stamping that out on our number plates day in and day out. I love to laugh and have a weird sense of humor or so my friends say.
Before I took an early retirement I was the secretary for the Psych dept...hence psycho secretary at a reform school. One day I answered the phone, really stressed out, by saying.."Treatment Department, Paula speaking, can you help me?" The attorney laughed and told me "You're beyond help but is Ms..there?"

While raising my sons, I managed to get a BS (now I can bs with the best of them) degree in Behavioral Science, and certify as a Child Protection Social Worker, Juvenile Justice Probation Officer, Domestic Abuse Counselor and a Social Worker trainee.Unfortunately, my health prevented me from working in my field.

Two "young" men call me "Mom" among other names. One's married and has 2 cats and a dog. The other is still single, tall, good looking and hard working (Ladies?).

Now, I fill my time reading, writing book reviews, reading, conducting an online trivia chat and dabbling in writing my own book. Oh did I say I'm an avid mystery reader with a vivid imagination which has produced some scary moments and some laughs in my house. Picture a 5 ft 2in woman with a maglight and a son creeping in the dead of night. I enjoy lunch with my friends, traveling and the ocean.

Hey..I hear you snoring..wake up!! I'm NOT that boring, am I?

Hi Stormy!
Welcome aboard! I am from MA! So not too far from you! You'll find this is a great forum and I know it'll soon be your favorite!

Stormy,
Tell us the story of the maglight and son...was this one of the scary stories in your life? Or mysteries? or laughs? Come on girl, give details!

JJ

Hi Stormy, I write Mysterys among other things but love reading them as well. This is my first day back, been under the weather awhile now but hopefully on the mend. Glad to have you here.I think New Hampshire is one of our most beautiful states, especially in the Fall. I have a friend there in Somerset.

Chatty, glad to have you back.

Love,

Sherri

Stormy, tell us about your online trivia chat.

I host for AOL's Personal Finance and my cohost and I do a trivia game Tues at 8:00 pm called "Double Trouble Trivia." Last week's game was "It Happened on the 4th of July." This week, we're taking a trip starting in Boston, then I may take them to New Orleans asking questions along the way.

I'm not quite sure what your post just told us.

You are a host for AOL's personal finance page?
That sounds like a cool job. Are you the one who comes up with the articles for that page?

You also do a trivia page for them? If so, is there a link? Can anyone play the trivia or just AOL members?

I'm Irish decent. What can be said in a few words/paragraphs usually prompts me to make it into a story.

The Maglight

"Mom, that was George. I've got to go. I'll pull your car around back before I leave. No idea if this is just a teaser storm or the real thing. The weather channel's predicting light flurries but you never know." Rob yelled after hanging up the phone preparing for another night of plowing or salting. Weather in New Hampshire is as unpredictable as a child.

Tearing my eyes away from Lisa Jackson's thriller, I reply, "Thanks, Rob. Don't need a present from the police dept. I hate the parking ban but I guess they need it with the narrow streets. Be careful. I'll be going to bed soon after a few more chapters."

I wonder, as I shut off the lights preparing for bed, what's on TV? Court TV always has a pretty good program.” Forensic Files" or Law and Order. Guess its the Files for tonight. Law and Order's a repeat.

What's that noise? Did I hear something? Sounds like footsteps on the back stairs. They definitely are footsteps. Oh my, the slider's being eased gently opened. That's not my heart pumping so rapidly, is it? That only happens in books. Whoever it is hasn't turned on any lights. Can't be Rob, he turns on the TV as soon as he gets home. Resisting the urge to jump up and yell, I lay quietly in bed. Maybe if I pretend to sleep, he'll rob the place and leave? God, how I wish I had Sam, my overly protective German Shephard. I'd never reach the phone in the kitchen to call 911 before my throat's sliced. Climb out the bedroom window? I'd probably get stuck and my butt would be displayed to the murderer. I could almost see the morning's headlines. "Manchester woman foils would-be murderer by getting her butt stuck in the window. Mr. X, laughing so hard, slashed himself before he leaves. Police followed his blood to a nearby home where he was apprehended splitting his sides still laughing." I could never die in such a compromised position. Get real, girl! Find a weapon, what can I use for a weapon? I can see the shadow growing longer and larger.The lamp like the do in mysteries? No, that wont work. My TBR pile of books will fall over if I try to unplug it. Besides that ginger lamp's base is too thick for my hands to grasp it. My hand in my pocket and tell him I have a gun. That wont work, no pockets and I'm shaking too much. Looking around, my eyes spot a mag flashlight between the bed and the end table. Oh so that's where I put it. I forgot all about it after last summer's power outages. My heart's pounding so hard, I'm sure the murderer can hear it in the other room. I wrap my sweaty hands around the flashlight and charge out of my room tripping over my carelessly placed shoes, right into the arms of the murderer.

All of a sudden the lights blaze. "Mom, what the heck are you doing with that flashlight?"

"Oh my God, Rob, I heard you come in, thinking it was a murderer, rapist or the very least a burglar. I could have killed you." I gasp trying to slow down my heart, breathe and talk at the same time. "I heard the footsteps coming up the back, and the slider open slowly. Then I could see a shadow by the bathroom door. You always announce your arrival by clomping the snow off your boots and turning on the TV."

"Good God, Mom. We got done early and I didn't want to wake you coming in so I brushed the snow off before I walked up the stairs. I'm going to bed after I take a shower. Next time I'll make enough noise that Doug will hear me in Concord. I'm going to bed. Mom, you've got to stop reading those books."

Great story stormy! I can soooo relate to that as I am single and my son, the one I gave up having stomach muscles for, comes in late like that and scares the beejeebies out of me...occassionally. I have him trained pretty much to make loud "son" noises now though. And ditto on the Court TV and mystery books...Glad to know it isn't just me! hahaha...

Okay, give us another one. I enjoyed that one so much!

JJ

What a story, mothers and our sons but bet we'd never have it any other way...

Great story, Stormy! My oldest son, now just 19, is always looking for opportunities to scare me-during the day. But at night, thank God, I ussually hear him come home and get up to check if it IS him. No huge scarees like that yet !

Hi...
Glad you enjoyed my story. He's 26 and a dear. He was trying not to wake me. I doubt if he'll try that one again. I have some stories like that one based on raising teenage boys as a single mom. Lot's of fun but.. they do owe me a lifetime supply of Miss Clairol :-) Argh!

Gosh, are all of you authors? Published?

Hi Stormy,

Glad to have you 'on board.' Great bunch of talented ladies here. I feel certain you will love it.

Dotsie, our leader, is a positive, creative and helpful woman. She encourages and helps all who attend her site.

Feel free to check out our individual webites; for some of us have contests and marvelous things to check out.

Uhoh...I know when I'm out of my element..I just saw Jawjaw's home page and all her talents..then clicked and saw Brenda's. YIKES..I'm so overwhelmed. The only public speaking I did was for college and I forgot the Governor's name. Well, not really but welcomed the previous one not realizing that the new one had take office. It was one of those required courses from hell as you had to write a hypothesis (Adolescent teenage males and eating disorders),research, create a survey, complete the survey by handing it out to your target group, grade the survey..then write the findings. After all that was done, a formal talk was presented to the college president, deans,faculty, alumni, classmates, and invited guests. Did fine..but welcomed Steven Merrill and not Jeanne Shaheen..oh well...

Hang in here Stormy. Not all of us have websites.
I loved your story and my 22year old loves to scare me too. He is a lot of fun though.
Maggie

Welcome Stormy! Loved your little story! Great bunch of gals in here, as you'll soon find out.

Moi? Poet, essayist, exercise teacher, jewelry maker and resident iconoclast.

and Meredith forgot to add we call her

"The Divine Ms M"

Because she is...simply divine! I highly recommend her jewlery and can vouch for it. I have bought several things from her. Loved them all.

Out of your element? Are you kidding me? NO WAY! This is a home for boomer women hon...some people have web pages, others don't...some people have full time writing careers, others don't...some people have their own business, others don't...some people love me and think I funnier than Lewis Grizzard or Erma Bombeck, others--well...others do too...hahahah...hey, it's my paragraph, I can write what I want...so there.

You are among friends here girlfriend...REAL women, REAL friendships. And it just gets better and better, am I right girls?

da Queen

hi...I'm a personal friend of Storms..She's selling herself short! Out of her league..yeah, my aunt Tillie!! She forgot to mention that one of her poems was published in a NH magazine on domestic violence. One hint..don't tick her off LOL..she's a firecracker. Just ask the school dept when they messed with her sons. Just ask the people, lawyers, judges, psychologist,psychiatrists, and co-workers who attended a Domestic Violence Conference. She had them in tears after someone made a snide remark.."Why do they stay? They must be stupid. I'd never stick around." Maybe if you ask, she'll share some of her poetry.

She also neglected to say that she received her degree while raising two sons, both labeled EH/LD which will set her off..Her fav quote is..Labels go on cans not people. Seems she also forgot to mention that while in school she had a TIA ( and Congestive Heart Failure and still graduated in the upper 10 percent of her graduating class. She joking promise that she'd dance down the aisle while singing "It's a miracle" during ceremonies and she kept that promise. She has a remarkable sense of humor which shows in her stories.

Just an example After she had the TIA, the doctor cautioned her to slow down. She still had residual paralysis that left after a few weeks of intense physical therapy, but mostly determination. The doctor told her that she was in denial and that in all likelihood would be paralyzed. Nope, she told the doctor, she's maybe in denial but she's not going to accept it. Not only did she return to her studies and take her finals, she managed a 3.5 on 3 particularly hard course.

LOL She'll probably kill me for saying this..God only made one Stormy and I'm proud to say "Thank you, God, for alloweing me to call her "friend".

You know what else? She must be a pretty special friend/person to have a friend step forward and share all of those amazing things. How cool!

Now we can add humble to her list cause she sure didn't tell it all, did she?

You go stormy...Now we know why you have the name stormy, eh? hahaha...

My guess is that the word "obstacle" isn't in your dictionary. At least not where it usually is...bet it is next to "opportunity."

Seems this boomer forum just gets better and better all the time.

JJ

Hi Everyone.
I just registered. Not sure what it's all about yet, but it looks like an interesting place. I don't know what all the icons mean yet. Hope I use them in the right places. I work full time and I'm also a freelance writer. Being a baby boomer, I write a lot of stories baby boomers can relate to.

Welcome Louisa, sounds like you will fit right in. Jump in whenever you want. This is the best group!

Sherri

Hello Louisa,
I want to welcome you to the best women's/boomer forum on the net. You will love it here.

Just start posting cause it doesn't matter if it's wrong or right! To borrow a phrase, it just is!

Welcome!

JJ

Hello Everyone,
Thanks for welcoming me to the site. I hope I'm doing the posting right. I'm still playing with the icons. Not sure what they are about, but they look like fun.

I'm a writer, also a full-time secretary. Baby boomer - married - two grown kids - three stepchildren, also grown - no grandchildren - no pets. I love to write, take photographs, and go to Disneyworld.

It may take me a while to get the hang of using this forum, but I'll figure it out.

Looks like you've figured it out. You're using icons faster than the average person!

Looking forward to hearing more!