Official "Meet and Greet"

My name is Nancy and I live in Mokena, IL which is about 50 miles southwest of Chicago. I work in downtown Chicago for a law firm. I do accounting. I am currently single and have a 9 year old son, the love of my life. You will often find me hanging out at the singles board here, love that site. I too have a dog that I rescued from a shelter. I have a 4 year old golden retreiver/chow mix that my son named Sunshine. This is a great post and it was nice to actually "meet" all of you!! Nancy

Hi my name is Melissa. I'm from Des Moines Iowa, and I'm 24 years old. I work for Citimortgage and have for 3 years. I'm married and have been for 5 years. We have a 5 year old daughter named Ana. I would like 1 more child but want to wait at least 2 years. I love animals too. I had an Akita but gave it to my dad because I moved and couldn't bring him with me. My dad lives on a farm and he has room to run there. I have 6 brothers and sisters and 5 step brothers and My dad has a baby on the way due in March so I will have another baby sister in March. My daughter will have another baby Aunt. I'm from a big family. The ages are from baby on the way to 28 years old. (my older sister). Wells that's about it about me. Nice to meet you all!! Melissa 337/247/170 5'11 down 90 lbs

It's wonderful that most of us are animal lovers, and that we go out to shelters and the humane society to adopt rather than the puppy mills ... which is just horrible to me!! I always wanted to volunteer at a shelter, but I get too emotional seeing all the animals, and I dont know what their future holds and I cant take them home with me!! So, I make monthly donations to help! BTW, I'm glad that alot of you responded to this post ... this is such an awesome way to get to know each other, rather than the occasional support post here and there!! I personally dont know anyone that is going through the same thing I am, so having your support and advice, really helps me through this and I really appreciate it!! THANKS, YOU GUYS ROCK!!!!

Hi all! My name is Darla, and I live in Detroit, MI, with my hubby, David, and 9 fur-kids: 7 cats and 2 dogs. We lost our Springer on July 4 of this year and still miss him terribly! I work for an automotive company as a Senior Cost Analyst for Chassis. I am currently attending the University of Phoenix for a dual Masters degree in Leadership and Education (online instruction). David and I are avid hunters and am looking forward to firearm deer season that opens November 15. In my spare time I love to read, knit/crochet and go to the casino!!! Darla

Hello, my name is Brandy and I am not an alcoholic. oh sorry. wrong intro. My name is Brandy I just turned 31 last month. I don't want to get any older. I have a hot husband that I have been with for 13+ years and we have been married for 9 years on Halloween. (yes, i got married on Halloween!) I have a beautiful green eyed monster of a little girl who is 4. My little 3-some family means the world to me. And I also have a dog who I love and I saved about 12 years ago. I am and have been a hairstylist for 13+ years. I love doing hair... it is the best job. I get to make people pretty and chit chat all day long. I have thought about going back to school for a while to maybe learn about interior design. That is one of my passions in life. I love pretty things wether it be homes or hair. hehe. My favorite things are my daughter, my husband, my home, my job, my friends, throwing parties, decorating my house, hockey, loud music, and smirnoff ice. Brandy

Hi Great post Marilize Ok here it goes My name is Pam (yes I am one of the many Pam's that had surgery in July) I am 49 and will be hitting the 1/2 century mark in a few months. I am married to my high school sweet heart 25 yrs (we have been together for 34yrs) We relocated to Houston via Florida and are both originally from Long Island New York. I work for the company I left in Florida at home doing spread sheets and accounting odds and ends. I have 3 children Daughter 23 Son 21 and another daughter 9 (yes all from same hubby) I also am raising my 3 yr old grand daughter. (That was not in my plans at my age but this is what god put at my door step its a very long story) We also have a shepherd mix Rocky who we got from the Humane society 14 years ago. He is not doing too well. He is an old guy and suffering of old age. He will be 15 in February and I am lucky for every day we still have him. hugs Pam

I LOVE This! Thanks Marlize!

Hey Hey... Im Tiffany....I live in Toms River, New Jersey. I work as a legal secretary. Im 31, (ugh...sounds so damn old). I live with my boyfriend of 5 1/2 years and my two dogs Zeus (aka Quimby) the rottweiler, and Carmella, our daschsund. We also have two cats, Chloe and Mac. We adopted Mac from the local ABC (Animal Birth Control). Someone found him wandering around a McDonald's scrounging for food. (that story breaks my heart). Now he's a big fatty. Odd, I think its so cute when animals are fat, and here I am a big ol beast trying to beat the fat. Anyhow, thats my story...kind of boring....but anyway, thats it.

Hello Everyone, What a great idea Marlize! It was fun reading everyone's greeting. My name is Lisa Jensen and I live in Albany, Oregon. (The Great Northwest, too!) I have the coast or the mountains about an hour away either direction. I love it here! I am 36 (eek!) years old and I work in the R&D department of Hewlett-Packard. (Been there for 10 years now). I'm a Process Technician; I work with the engineers to put together experiments and write them up for the operators to work on. I then pull the data from them; and various other tasks. It's a fun job, and keeps me occupied - mind & body! The days go by fast sometimes! I am married to my high school sweetheart. We have been married for 17.5 years, and together 19.5. We have a 9 year old son, Kristopher. (We waited awhile to start our family.) He is our pride & joy! (We cannot have any more. But that's okay, as DH & I are outnumbered as it is with just one! ) DH is in school now after getting layed off last year. He is going for a computer science degree. (It's the field he worked in. Didn't need a degree when he first started working in it, but they are a lot more picky about that now than they were then!). He is doing very well and I am super proud of him. My main hobbies are HORSES (and anything horse related; a lot of the reason I wanted this surgery (besides my declining health, that is)), reading (mostly sci-fi/fantasy), music & live music (the heavier the better! We LOVE going to concerts!), gems (collecting, mostly. I would like to learn how to cut my own gems & make jewelry), and all the outdoor stuff, like hiking & camping. I would like to get into backpacking. I think that would be such fun! And it would be cool to learn about the outdoors. Like living off the land kind of stuff. That would be so cool! We love the coast; one of our most favorite spots to go! Once DH gets a job after school is done, we would like to travel a bit more than we used to. Going to amusment parks, and points of interest across the Western United States. I've not travelled much at all, so I'm really looking forward to that. Especially since I'll be so much thinner! (It feels so weird to say that!) We have monthly poker parties at the house. That has been way fun to do. I've been thinking about getting in to scrapbooking. I'm not terribly creative, so I'm not sure about that one. It looks neat, though! Yikes, this certainly turned into a book about me!! Sorry about that! I like to talk, can you tell? I love this group. It has been so wonderful getting to know you all, and helping each other. I have gotten such great support from you! Thank you so much! {{{HUGS}}} Take care, and have a fabulous weekend! (We're going out tonight, so I'm jazzed! Lots of cool live music! ) Lisa 360/345/256/160

Hi, I'm Maria and live on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska (about 30 miles outside of Fairbanks and 90 miles south of the Arctic Circle). I'm originally from a small town in Indiana. I'm 37 and happily married to my high school sweetie (actually jr. high for me and high school for him). We have been married for 20 years and together for 24. We have two wonderful sons ages 20 and 16. And not ready for grandkids any time soon (need some me time)! My husband has been active duty Air Force for 20 years so we've lived a little bit of everywhere. I began working for the Air Force as a civilian in government contracting just over 5 years ago. Our family is completed with an 8 year old Golden Retriever, Katy, who was rescued from the humane society. This surgery is the fourth best thing I've ever done for myself (the first was marrying my husband, the second and third were having my sons). Great thread! Take care, Maria