Self-Portrait Challenge: Introduce Yourself, Week 4

The Story of Deb Three weeks ago, on The Story of Deb: Episode One - The First Ten Years, I began my introduction for this month's Self-Portrait Challenge. Two weeks ago, I continued the story with Episode Two - The Teen Decade. And last week, found the exciting story of Episode Three - The Roaring Twenties. Now, to continue my (increasingly extended) introduction, Red Shoe Ramblings is pleased to present: Episode Four - Thirty Little Secrets (Ok, honestly there are probably NO secrets below, never mind 30 of them, but if I have to have this song stuck in my head, then you do too!) When we left The Story of Deb last week, J and I had just purchased a "unique fixer-upper opportunity" (name that movie!) and remodeled it completely. (Someday I really must tell that whole story - but not today.) We lived in that house for five years while doing homey, nesting sorts of things like acquiring pets and planting gardens. It was during this time also (in my early 30's) when I spent a few years working as a receptionist for a group of Veterinarians. I ran into some interesting characters in that job. And sometimes the pets could be strange too. But when I was 34, two things happened at pretty much the same time that caused us to make a big life change. J decided we lived too far away from the area where his job was based and wanted to be closer to that part of the state without actually living in the city, and my mom was diagnosed with cancer and I decided I wanted to live closer to her so I could spend more time with her. So we ultimately made the move from extreme southern Kentucky (near the Tennessee border) to northeastern Kentucky (near the Ohio border). We decided that if possible we wanted to build, so we went on a search for land. Eventually we found the land we were looking for and made the move to the spot where we now live, somewhere between Middle-Of-Nowhere and Holy-Crap-Are-You-Kiddin'-Me, Kentucky. We rented an old, run-down trailer, pulled it onto the property, and lived there for six months while we watched the house being built - and in some cases helped build it. One great thing about having gone through a remodel was that it told us exactly what we were willing to do again in order to cut the cost with some sweat equity and which things we absolutely were willing to pay someone else to do. (For the record: I will gladly wire phone jacks, but I don't do drywall.) (It seems strange to me to see that last photo now, because we've made changes since then, but that's pretty much what it looked like on move-in day.) While I had started making quilts a few years before this, it was during my 30's that I really got into it in a big way, including making friends who were quilters. I also ventured into Cyberspace for the first time in my 30's, which is how I met one of my best friends, Morven (who is now back in New Zealand, land of her birth...sob!). Oh yeah, and after spending most of my life with hair that was anywhere from shoulder length to waist length, it was during this decade that I had it all chopped off and went short for a while! That last pic is me with my friend Marge's daughter, Amy, wearing construction paper hats we made together. To be honest, I can't remember why I pulled that pic to share. Sometimes my thought processes mystify me. I'm sure I had a very good reason. Heh. I got my wish of being able to spend more time with Mom, as I visited almost every week during her last 5 years. She died when she was 62 and I was 39 - way too soon. I still miss her. Looking back, somehow my 30's seem to have been both rather quiet and full of change. Life can be weird. I hate to end this chapter on such a down note, but really, that's how my 30's ended....on a down note. But things got better again, just wait and see... To Be Continued Please join me next week for "The Story of Deb: Episode Five - Forties Fun!" (Photos above are clickable if you want to see them larger in a new window.)