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Hello! I'm Patricia, but my friends simply call me by my initials, PH. Several years ago I found some rubber stamps that accurately depict me in cartoon form:
I've lived in Virginia all my life. I grew up south of Richmond. I fell in love with the Shenandoah Valley when I was in college, and after I got married, I successfully talked my husband into moving there. We've been here for nearly 21 years! We have two sons – a college freshman and a high school sophomore. Both of them have been very involved with band at their middle and high schools – concert band, jazz band, symphonic band, and marching band. They are featured in my avatar. We also have a furry purrball called Lyric, who is about 6 months old. Sometimes Lyric likes to "help" me in my craft room:
I'm excited to be hosting an HYCCT challenge for the fourth year in a row! It's so much fun to be creating cards that can brighten a person's day. This year my challenge has a more personal note. It's dedicated to my mother and other cancer patients who have received, or are in the process of taking, radiation treatment. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago, at the age of 80. Thankfully, it was not very aggressive, and she responded well to the radiation. Mom's mother also was a successful radiation recipient, and she lived for 19 years following her breast cancer surgery before passing away from unrelated causes in 1993.
Random facts about me:
My dad was a farmer. Because he didn't have any sons, my sisters and I had to help him with some of the farm work. I learned how to hoe peanuts by the time I was 7 and was driving tractors the summer before my 11th birthday.
I started school right into first grade because the county where I grew up didn't make kindergarten mandatory until the year I was old enough for first grade, and my parents couldn't afford to send me to a private kindergarten.
DH and I plant a vegetable garden – peas, snaps, butterbeans, wax beans, and sometimes carrots and corn. What we can't eat fresh, I freeze so we can enjoy our home-grown veggies throughout the year. We also share some with my parents, who taught me these skills.
I don't make friends easily, and I've become increasingly more introverted as I've grown older. I prefer to stay home rather than go out and about. When I'm in a group of people, I'm always the one doing most of the listening and very little of the talking.
I enjoy most types of music. About the only genres I can't handle listening to are rap, opera, and gospel.
I don't enjoy talking on the telephone or shopping for clothes.
My sense of humor is pretty quirky, and it can frequently be snarky and/or sarcastic. (See my "location" as an example.) My younger son has inherited this from me.
Thank you to all of the participants in this year's Hope You Can Cling To challenges! Bringing cheer to others through our artwork is such a heartwarming way to make the world a better place.
Ahhh I do love a gardener! Carrots are tough here - our soil temps are too high generally, although some of our urban farms have perfected it thank goodness!
The introverted makes me smile - today on one of our news station's FB page was a story about the SWAT team being at a man's house because he "refused to come out of his house."
Well sheesh I guess I can expect the gendarmes any minute since I telecommute!
Introverts unite! But just for a little while and then let's all go home. ;)
__________________ Paula "The way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don’t always soften the bad things, but vice versa the bad things don’t always spoil the good things, or make them unimportant. - The Eleventh Doctor
Gosh, I could have added some of those random facts for me, LOL.
I HATE the telephone, always have done...DH loves it. Hour-long phone-calls with my dad are a real labour of love; my mother and I used to write old-fashioned snail-mail letters.
Gosh, I could have added some of those random facts for me, LOL.
I HATE the telephone, always have done...DH loves it. Hour-long phone-calls with my dad are a real labour of love; my mother and I used to write old-fashioned snail-mail letters.
My mom and I usually have a Sunday night phone call that lasts about 45 minutes. I hear you on the labo(u)r of love. During the week there's at least one joint email conversation that goes around with my parents and sisters and me.
Yes, my 85-year-old mom is not afraid of the computer! She mainly uses it to check email and, believe it or not, Facebook!
I know about the bleachers! My two granddaughters are band nerds, too! I'm headed out today for tonight's marching competition!
Good luck to your granddaughters and their band tonight! What instruments do they play?
Our competitions are always on Saturdays. Last weekend's was 3 hours away. It made for a very looooong day. It's unusual for us to travel more than 2 hours for a competition.
Younger DS is a percussionist. He plays bass drum 3 in marching band. He can also play B-flat clarinet and bass clarinet although he doesn't seem to like them as much as percussion.
Older DS primarily plays B-flat clarinet. At his band teacher's persistence, he branched out into alto clarinet, and I'm proud to say that he is a two-time All Virginia Concert Band member on that instrument. He also plays alto saxophone when needed for jazz band. He's tried trumpet, and then there was one messed up marching band season where he played bass drum 1. (Long story.)
We have a couple of band families at our church. As a swim mom I sit in a lot of bleachers but never in rain or cold.....usually it is like a sauna at the swim meets.
I loved living in VA though we were on the coast which is like a whole different state. I loved driving through the different regions of VA-just plain beautiful.
I've got a houseful of introverts (excepting 2) and I am DEFINITELY not one of them. It has taken a lot of growth for me to understand how they tick.
It was fun to get to know more about you.
One played a clarinet and was drum major last year. She has graduated and in now in collage. Her younger sister is in the drum line. She plays bass drum 1.
Their band is playing in 6 competitions this year. 4 on Saturdays and 2 on Tuesdays. It's crazy!
Sounds like band consumes your boys' lives like it does (and did) our girls!
One played a clarinet and was drum major last year. She has graduated and in now in collage. Her younger sister is in the drum line. She plays bass drum 1.
Their band is playing in 6 competitions this year. 4 on Saturdays and 2 on Tuesdays. It's crazy!
Sounds like band consumes your boys' lives like it does (and did) our girls!
What a neat coincidence - there are a lot of similarities there between our band kids and the instruments they play!
Our band participates in 3 competitions, an exhibition, and at the 5 home football games each year, plus the local Veteran's Day parade and Christmas parade. They also have a state assessment - which is where we're headed this coming Saturday.
Meet Your Challenge Hosts - PH in VA (Patricia)
