A to Z Blogging: A is for About

"It's all about ME!"

I have always heard that if you want to begin writing, you should write about something you know.  I have a wide and varied range of interests and experiences, so this A to Z adventure is going to reflect various aspects of who I am, what I like, how I believe and what I know (or think I know, anyway!)  So, let's get this party started!

A is for About
My name is Tracy, but online I am orneryswife, or to some relatives and friends I am tm. I also answer to Mom, Aunt Tracy, and Grandma, depending on who is speaking to me.  I won't bore you with the twenty or so nicknames Ornery has for me, some of which I answer to...

I am 53 as of this writing, and I live in a suburb of Tulsa, OK. Ornery and I met at Oral Roberts University in 1977, married in 1979, and promptly began our family.  He is still the man of my dreams, all these years later.  More about my best friend in later posts.

A few years old photo of Ornery and Me, but still one of my favorites!

Elizabeth joined our family in 1980, and Ryan in 1986. Their spouses are Michael and Ale, respectively.  Ryan and Ale (short for Alejandra) have two children that I refer to here as the M & M as their names are Micah and Makayla.

Michael and Elizabeth live in Tulsa. He is a computer programmer, she works for a manufacturing company at international shipping.

Ryan and Ale live in Navarre, FL.  He is a Staff Sergeant in the USAF at Hurlburt Field, she works at a call center.  Micah just turned 3, Makayla will be two in November.  Of course we believe they are the most beautiful and brilliant children ever hatched. :) 

In our 33 years of marriage, I have only sporadically worked outside the home part-time.  Lest you think I have ever been "just" a stay-at-home mom, let me disabuse you of that notion right away.  While I have always been a homemaker by profession, I homeschooled both kids, Elizabeth grades 2-10, Ryan all the way through.  Along with that came all the usual volunteer opportunities at church and youth organizations such as Scouting and sports leagues.

Additionally I assisted in coordinating three homeschool support groups and did the newsletter for those organizations for several years.  I taught seminars to beginning home educators, hosted/organized two large area events--one for Homeschooling Middle School and High School--and produced a Vacation Bible School that the church was still talking about 10 years later.

I have worked in a variety of part-time jobs:  fast food, university law library, machine operator for evangelical association, cashier and cooks assistant, secretary/receptionist, retail department head and cash office manager at Hobby Lobby.  My last actual paying gig was at a scrapbook store, and while I suppose I did earn a wage, all the money went right back to the store since every new box I opened held so many treasures I "needed" to have for my own!  I have also been in a lot of MLM/Direct Marketing businesses; Advocare, Amway, Arbonne, Pampered Chef, Tupperware.  I have an Etsy shop where I sell my handmade items, although the stock is pretty low right now since we have been working on a property to rent out.

I adore being a homemaker, especially the freedom to pursue a variety of interests and do tasks when and how I want, rather than at the behest of another.  Ornery has always provided well for us, and I keep his world running like a well oiled machine by handling all the details.  I especially like making any place we live into a home.  Painting, decorating, gardening, organizing, cooking, cleaning--they all fit together to make my days halcyon.  While we don't watch TV (no, not at all!) we both enjoy reading, and I like to write, craft and paint, and Ornery has recently taken up wood working as a hobby.  (My part in that is coming up with projects!)

This post is the first of 26 to appear in April for the AtoZ blogging challenge.  This blog hop was founded by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/ and I wanted to be sure to mention how glad I am for his vision and willingness to oversee this blog hop for the third year in a row.