Shabby Chic

During my “staring at my BB (blank blog) stage” I accessed a few established blogs to see what other people were writing about. Can’t say that I became immediately inspired by the ones I checked out. It may have been just my bad blog choices. Not that the writing wasn’t good, a lot of it was. I think it was more the subject matter that caused me to click on down the road. Perhaps, because I no longer have small children to talk about. I don’t know. Frankly,I’ve never really liked children that much, other than my own. I realize that most civilized people expect women,to like children. To admit that I don’t may not reflect well on my nature. In my defense I do like puppies and kittens. Trust me, I have a good and loving hearty damn it! Also, I might add that if asked, my daughter Lauren would tell you without hesitation that under the right circumstances I am very capable of being a real mother. So there you are. Anyway, as a result of this maternal deficit I was not transfixed by tales of other women’s adorable, or not, rug rats.

That it not to say that I won’t relate enormously embarrassing childhood stories about my grown-up girls. I will of course. But that falls more under the category of me being a real mother.

What I did pick up from other bloggers was the bio thing. Seemed like a good idea for you to know a little something about Shabby Chic. I had planned to do that first. Seemed like an easy way to start. After all, most days I remember who I am. But then life or rather death intervened and I jumped head first into the Passing Words piece.

Now I will go back to the beginning.

My name is Susan. I am a 57 year old white (whoops should I say Caucasian? I can never remember) woman. Anyway, my skin is white - mind you, not as white as my daughter Lauren’s - she damn near glows in the dark (that is her Irish father’s fault), but white nonetheless.

I am separated ( 4 1/2 years and counting) from my husband/partner of 27 years. I do not live alone. I share my domestic nest with 2 persian cats. I used to live in this same cozy space with 4 cats and 1 dog. Knowing that I was precocious as a child, my friends accepted my herd of animals as my getting a head start on senility.The passing of 3 of my old room mates have made me seem somewhat less eccentric to the general public. Proof positive that appearances are usually deceptive and not to be to be trusted.

I was born in Canada eh, raised in Toronto and have lived in the States, LEGALLY for the most part, since 1981. To say that I was raised in Toronto is not entirely accurate - I was raised in the burbs -Cooksville back then, Mississauga now. Toronto just sounds sooo much better (read more sophisticated and interesting) and frankly, how many of you would know where Mississauga is. How many of you could spell it?
Hell, many Americans are not even sure where Canada is. I feel I should fess up to being a Burb Baby as it may, down the road, explain to you some of my social shortcomings. So there you have it.

I graduated with a BA in English and History from the University of Western Ontario in London Ontario. Why that particular double major? My mother wanted me to be a teacher. She somehow knew that her youngest daughter, would at some point, be in need of a stabilizing influence in her life. Upon hearing this from my caring and wise mother, I nodded pleasantly and after graduation went directly to Europe for a year by myself. That would not prove to be the last time my mother was appealed by one of my decision.

In 1981 I moved to Houston, Texas and lived there for 10 years (we can talk about that weirdness later). In 2001 we moved to Corrales, New Mexico ( a funky little rural Spanish village that hangs delightfully off the north west end of Albuquerque)and lived there for 13 + years. Presently, I am living back in Burbville, in the west end of Albuquerque. Yes, you’re right, there’s a story to that as well. Life is a roller coaster and apparently someone reserved the front car for my exclusive use.

I have been self-employed for most of my professional career - do not read unemployed into that statement. Since 1981. I have been a partner in a variety of oil field service/production companies. Why a variety you may ask. Are you paying attention? Remember the roller coaster comment a couple of sentences back? For the past decade I have run a oilfield service company in West Texas. I choose to run it from the Land of Enchantment rather than Midland because, although I may be a little crazy, I’m not crazy enough to live in Midland Texas. Toronto and Texas may start with the same letter but the similarity ends there.

Generally, when I tell people what I do they look at me strangely and say something like “That’s an unusual business for a woman. How did you get into it” I wonder if they think I’ve had a sex change operation or if my marriages have been a pathetic cover for some kind of dark less traditional lifestyle. Who knows? When asked, I look directly into their suspicious eyes and say ” It just appealed to my feminine side”.

In 2004, having been separated from my husband for 1 year, I decided to try being more professionally independent from my ex by taking a real job with an outside entity(my ex lived in another state, but was and still is my partner in the company). At the time I really didn’t mean it - I mean why would I want a real job? I hadn’t worked for someone else since I was 30 years old for God’s sake!!! So I talked about the idea to some of my friends and that was it. I didn’t send out resumes or make any other sincere effort at job hunting. I just talked about it. What’s the harm in that? My friends had never taken me seriously before. Why would they start now? I figured I was safe.

To make a long story short I ended up getting a 2 1/2 year gig working for the Attorney General of New Mexico on her executive staff. Lesson: be careful what you blather about. People just might take you seriously. I became one of her speech writers and handled a variety of grunt type work. Prior to this experience my major outside interest in life had been business. After this gig I emulated my college days and ended up,once again, with a double major: business and politics - the incestuous cousins of the national family we call America.

I am happy to say that I am now back to having only one job - running my strange company and dabbling in the occasional political project. I am happy as a tick on a dog (disclaimer: this is a folksy Texas saying - although I freely admit to being a dedicated capitalist,I do not mean to describe myself as a bloodsucking insect that happily tortures man’s best friend. Remember I love puppies- for verification of this, if your eyes haven’t totally glazed over by now please reference paragraph 1 of this blog.

I spend my days in my snug nest office, doing my work, talking to myself, talking to my cats and now talking to you. Let’s see how interesting a conversation we can have together. Write comments to me. If you’re feeling nasty you are welcome to leave me a scathing critique of my writing ( I’m tough enough to take it and if I prove not to be there are pharmaceuticals for that). If you want to talk about anything at all jot it down on a comment and we’ll go at it. Let’s get busy. Let’s get interesting.

Til the next time.
Susan the Shabby Chic

Where women are free to be themselves, together.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, December 16th, 2007 at 2:52 pm and is filed under The Business of Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.