Dear Christian Readers of my Blog

Dear Christian Reader, 

Welcome to my blog; I'm glad you are here.

I have spent a great deal of time planning and preparing my blog.  My blog's name is one that I thought long and hard about.  I realize that it turns many people away from my blog simply by it's use of the word atheist but many readers have been absolutely fine with it.  And, to be honest, I prefer that the people who read my blog be the type of person who is fine with the word atheist.
I have used the word atheist advisedly and deliberately.

Of course I do, because I am a strong atheist.  I am an ethical atheist.  I am an ethical person who strives to be extremely authentic.

But, you know, there is more to me than being an atheist.

I am also a very devoted parent to two children who are the absolute center of my life.  I am the partner of an astonishingly empathic, wonderful man.  I am an educator at heart.  I enjoy foreign film, romantic film, historical fiction film, documentaries.  I love to read and to write.  I enjoy photography.  I love nature:  trees, birds, insects, plants, shells, beaches, mountains, all things, and I love to learn more about nature.  I love learning about various cultures.  I love nothing more than to submerge myself in other culture with regards to music, art, film, clothing, food, traditions, sights and smells, authors, etc.  I am an absolutely unimaginative cook.  I love nice, clean, line-dried sheets.  I love insipid, teen tv shows, I barely "decorate" except for family pictures.  I go nowhere without my camera.  I talk to everyone and converse easily with strangers.  I prefer Pepsi to Coke.  I brush and floss my teeth at least twice a day.  I prefer going barefoot.  I love 70's music.  I enjoy seeing live music.  I love museums.  I am pretty funny with a quick mind and wit.  I value the history of my extended family.  I am far too sensitive, still.  I love all colors of green, a deep and rich red, periwinkle, and pale yellow.  I have a huge love for the Brisbane area and love exploring the many suburbs.  I am the oldest daughter.  I prefer being hot to cold.  I love watercolor and Sharpie Marker.  I would rather eat out.  I love a nice pot of tea.  The number 17 is very special to me.  I listen to NPR whenever possible.  I am the child of divorced parents.  I am the stepparent to two amazing people.  I am sister to four step sibs.  I get eczema.  I love jazz and R&B.  I like to bike ride.  I am an amateur astronomer.  I enjoy learning about rocks and minerals.  I am phobic about fire and fireworks.  I am a birthparent to a daughter who is 29 years old.  I love to travel.  I go to yard sales every week back home.  I have a dreadfully hoarse voice when my allergies act up.  I have a bad memory.  I use the same password on everything so I don't forget it.  I admire wisdom and compassion.  I have taken up embroidery since coming here to Australia.  I am from Illinois.  I am great at mimicking speech and dialects.  I can comfortably talk in front of a crowd.  But I am uncomfortable when around snarky women.  I was in therapy for about ten years.  I am neither Democrat nor Repubican.  I have a masters degree.  I have worked in many different fields.  I love the autumn.  I love my mother.  I have been married for seventeen years and together with my husband for over twenty years.  I am a very fast reader.  I enjoy writing poetry at times.  I create my own memes.  I enjoy Pinterest.  I donate lots of money and time to causes that mean a great deal to me.  My husband had to add the category Donations to our yearly budget.  I love giving gifts to people to let them know that they are on my mind.  I love driving.  I have lots of travel planned for the upcoming year.  I enjoy crayons and coloring.  I enjoy talking about books.  I enjoy teaching language classes in our homeschool co op.  I am often not well-liked in large groups of women.  I put up a gorgeous Christmas tree each year.  I sometimes yearn to have a large fish tank.  I have good friends in many places in the world.  I love to snorkel.  I have some amazing friends.  I love reading comments on my blog and often wonder why people don't leave comments.  I am currently watching an English series with Elizabeth called "House of Eliott."  I have the BBC series Pride and Prejudice memorized.  I have very straight hair that doesn't perm.  I have extremely wide feet.  I love hydrangeas.  I don't care for most things Disney.  I love to doodle.  I have a fairly reliable internal compass.  I have a Nook with about fifty books on it.  I took clarinet lessons.  I took disco dancing lessons in the seventies with my best friend Karen.  I felt invisible in high school.  I have green eyes.  I drive a minivan.  I love Thai food.  I am a creature of habit and I also love to try new things.  According to Kiersey-Bates, I am an XNFP personality type.  I have read many of the classics.  I kept a diary/journal until I was about 25.  In my head I type out what you are saying as I listen.  I love the smell of chlorine and honeysuckle.  I remember my vivid dreams.  I love seeing shows on stage.  I enjoy hockey and baseball.  I wear sunglasses most of the time while here in Australia.  I love Scrabble.  I do what I call Social Worker's Math, or mental math, quite well. I love popcorn.  When driving I will turn down the music and the A/C when I am lost.  I love learning about the human brain.  I have one ear double pierced.  I prize family pictures and heirlooms.  I despise debate.  I spell extremely well.  I have been to at least half of the states in the USA.  I don't care for most 90's music.  I would love to take a submarine waaay down in the ocean, yet I think I would get fairly claustrophobic.  I have been spelunking and repelling.  I don't drink alcohol more than once or twice a year.  I am generally outside of the cool kids.  I sleep on my side and I snore. I have been taking an antidepressant for about twenty years, changed my life.  I don't really care for theme parks and roller coasters.  I prefer a bath to a shower.  I love the scent of plumeria, or as it's known down here, frangipani.  I love the beauty of India and love Bollywood.  When I read a blog post, I almost always leave a comment.  I am on the dang computer too much.  I am working on having my  own picture taken more.  I am a happy person.

So, I hope you can relate to me in some way.  I hope you find a reason to stay. 

And you are welcome here.

Welcome to readers from Canada and Latvia!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:  Being Alive 
Or you may enjoy reading:   Song for You   
Or try this one:  In the Name of Transparency:  Negatives of Homeschooling