What is your occupation?

I thought since we were all getting to be such good buddies, it would be nice to know what we all do during the day...either working inside or out of our homes, and a couple of other questions to get to know each other better. Answer only if you want! 1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? 2. Are you married and how long? 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? 4. Do you dare say how old you are! My answers: 1. I work in Boston for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Division of Unemployment Assistance. I process unemployment claims for the folks getting out of the military and am the Disaster Assistance Coordinator for the Division. We just recently had a disaster declared because of the floods so I am busy! I worked for 30 years in Tennessee for the same agency and have worked here for 4 years...6 more to go and I am retiring! I work from 6:30 a.m. till 2:30 p.m. (commute from NH - so miss all the traffic!) 2. I have been married a "glorious 6 years" to the most wonderful man. Believe it or not was married 30 unhappy years in TN and divorced and married again in 2000. Have never been happier in my life and this WLS is only going to make my life "almost" perfect! 3. I have 2 children - son 32 and daughter 25, and 3 step children, step-daughter who is 32, step-son who is 25 and step-daughter 20. I have one granddaughter - age 2 1/2 and two grandsons due - one in June and one in September! My son and oldest step-daughter are having the boys this year! 4. I am 55 - going on 35!!!! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and thank you to all veterans (present and past) and their families. Take a few minutes and give thanks for all our veterans who do what they do for you and I. Barbara

Barbara, I was just wondering this exact question yesterday, how eerie to see it up on the board this morning! 1. I'm a stay at home mom and spend my day wiping, cleaning, playing, bathing, grooming, teaching and cooking with my little people. A couple of days a week I also babysit for my friend's daughter (since she was 7 weeks old and is now 2) while she and her husband work. 2. I've been married for 8 years (on June 6th), together for 10 to a man named Tom. We met in college, fell in love and he's shown me the world, literally (we lived in Germany for a few years). 3. I have two little ones, a 5 year old son Tommy and an almost 4 year old daughter Abigail. I don't know how they grew up so quickly, I still see my tiny little babies in their faces. They are the light of my life and I can't imagine it without them. 4. I'm 29 now but the roaring 20s will soon be over for me. My birthday is at the end of August and I'll have packed 30 years under my belt. Still feel like I'm 20! Growing up I thought 30 would feel so *old*! Who knew you stay the same inside! Our Memorial Day will be filled with thanks and appreciation from me. We have had our ups and downs with the military itself but the soldiers and sailors are like gold. So precious.

1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? Administrative / customer service field. I am currently unemployed. Have since surgery been doing work with a temp agency. I quit working at the end of 2005, with surgery pending. I was struggling with having the surgery, it was always on my mind, wasn't feeling well and work was just getting ridiculous. They kept taking on more and not getting enough people to do the work. Isn't that how most places are? LOL I worked most days 11 hours and it just all was too much. Something had to give and we decided it was my job. Things have been fantastic since! 2. Are you married and how long? I'm confused. You said you were married to the most wonderful man. How can that be? I'm married to the most WONDERFUL man!! LOL We have been married 2-1/2 year. This is our first marriage both and sure hope it's the only one!! 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? We don't have any children. Decided not too when we married since I was so overweight and an 'older' woman. I sort of regret it now, not getting any younger. And now with the surgery I've had thoughts again of hmmmm, maybe next year if the docs don't think it's insane. But I doubt it. We'll just keep geting cats I guess. LOL We have 3 furry children. 4. Do you dare say how old you are! I am 43, turning 44 in just a few short weeks. Hubby is 33, Can we say woohoo Ruth!! LOL Part of the reason I chose to finally have the surgery. As the years passed I was feeling worse and worse. Up until a few years ago, my weight never held me back, but it was getting not fun last year to not have energy and want to go out as much, just too much of an effort. I wanted to be here a long time to share my wonderful life with my WONDERFUL husband!!

1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? I am a Graphic Designer and I am about to finish up my Bachelor's degree in Web Design and Multi-Media. I do a little freelance from home right now. I work full time outside the home as a Pharmacy Tech until I finish up school, I have a degree in graphic design but the job market here is slim and very competitive so I am waiting for my Bachelor's. I work M-F 7:30-4:00 2. Are you married and how long? I just celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary last Friday, been together for 6 1/2 years to my hubby Jeff. 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? I have one little boy named Joshua who will be 4 years old on July 3rd! He is my world! 4. Do you dare say how old you are! I am 32

1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? ---- I work for JP Morgan Chase in the home equity industry, nothing thrilling. Mon-Fri 8-5pm 2. Are you married and how long? --- Next month EJ and I will have been married 5 years-- that 7 year itch is coming! LOL 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? --- No children, I have PCOS and have suffered through infertility our whole marriage so far. 4. Do you dare say how old you are! ---- I am 24

1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? I am a auditor at a small medical group in the high desert of CA, I work 40 - 50 hours a week mostly looking a print out reports and trying to find errors to fix (unfortunately I find too many), then at the end of every week I'm in charge of running the checks and getting those to the mail room. Work Monday - Friday sometimes on a Saturday. Prior to WLS I was more into my job, since, I've realized I have to take more time to take care of me, get to the Gym, eat right, etc. Not sure my boss likes it too much, but she's great and does seem to understand. 2. Are you married and how long? Been with the old man for 10 years now, just got married this last December 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? 3 children - daughter 26, daughter 25, son 20 / 4 grandchildren - Damian 4, Connor 2, Maxx 10 months, Reagan joining us this August. 4. Do you dare say how old you are! 44 years young! I was planning a trip to Egypt this year for my birthday, but have been spending all my money on the grandkids. I think next year will be better, I'll be over 1 1/2 years out from WLS and better able to plan my eating on a foreign country trip. Thank you to my very special Veterans, my husband (Vietnam) and my stepson who is getting ready to be deployed to Iraq for the 2nd time. To all the Veterans past and present including my Grandparents, may they rest in peace, we do Remember you and thank you for your sacrifices.

1) Im the manager of my home, the superviser of food, the cashier, the computer operator, the laundromat, the dishwasher, the housecleaner. In other words, Im the mom. lol I dont work, unless you want to count being mom/wife a job. Actually, its the most rewarding job I could ever hope for! 2) Been married for 14 years and counting. 1st marriage 3) I have 2 wonderful boys, age 13 and 5. Yes HUGE age gap, but Ive seen bigger! lol Neither kid was planned, so there it is. 4) I will be 33 in 24 days. Courtney

I was thinking these same things only a few days ago! Great minds and all. 1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? I have been a SAHM for six years now, since my husband joined the military. To get out of the house I do work on a subsitute basis at the local school district in the food service department. Since I work on call I don't have set days but when I work I work from 9 am to 1:30 pm - perfect hours for a mom with kids. 2. Are you married and how long? I have been married to the most wonderful man in the world, Paul, for 6 years in September. We married in 2000 after dating for 2 years. We met on the internet and this is the second marriage for both of us. 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? I have an 11 year old daughter from my first marriage and I have two wonderful step-sons ages 12 and 14. 4. Do you dare say how old you are! I dare, I dare! I'm 33 and will be 34 on November 3rd of this year!

1. Hmmmm, profession. I'm almost scared to say. I'm a much disliked insurance agent. Yes health insurance. I handle both group and individual health insurance and I love my job. I set my own hours (which normally run anywhere from 30-50 hours a week) and I love seeing my clients. Being your own boss has it's advantages and disadvantages. My pay reflects how much work I put in each week and the benefits suck!! 2. I'm married to my best friend. We were friends since I was 15 and didn't start dating until I was 20! We only dated 6 months then got engaged then married 6 months later while I was still in college. As of July 31st it will be 7 years of marriage! 3. I, like Darlene, have PCOS. I went through 10 rounds of clomid, 2 IUI's with injections, and 3 IVF's. We were starting on our fourth IVF when we decided having a child didn't mean I had to have it. We adopted our son Micah from Russian and brought him home September 2004, he was 16 months old. June 7 he will be 3 years old and it feels like he's always been here! We do not want to have anymore children and have always said we only wanted one. 4. I am 28 years old. It's nice to learn about the people I have been talking to for months! SLM

1. What is your occupation and what days, hours do you work, how long have you worked? I am a Pre-School teacher. I keep busy busy busy!! =) I have worked at my current school for almost 3 years now. I enjoy it, although somedays I wanna scream! 2. Are you married and how long? I have been married for 19 years!! We got married soooo young. 3. 3. How many children, grandchildren (ages?)? I have 3 children. Brytnee will soon be 18, Justyn is 15, and Makenzee is 5. 4. Do you dare say how old you are! I'm old although people never think i'm as old as I am. People ask if Brytnee and I are sisters and the answer is always YES! haha. I'm 37.