Warning... this may include more information about me than you ever wanted to know.
1. I have been teaching at Pelican Elementary School longer than your fifth grader has been alive. Mr. Ivill hired me to be a teacher after years of being a parent volunteer. When my children were students at Pelican I absolutely loved volunteering in their classrooms. I enjoyed spending my days with the wonderful students and outstanding staff at Pelican so much that I decided to work there. And the rest is history...
2. I have been married to my husband for 33 years. I went to New Jersey to visit family for a week, totally intending to return to Florida. The day after I arrived my cousin and her then fiancée took me to the Seaside Heights with them. We made a "stop" along the way to pick up my cousin's fiancée's friend. I took one look at him and knew he was "the one."
3. I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters; One is a teacher at Pelican Elementary School and the other works in Hospitality.
4. I love New York! Call me crazy. but I do! From the Bronx to the Battery, from Staten Island to Queens to Brooklyn... I love the subways to the Top of the Rock. I love the sights, sounds, and smells of the streets; the sirens wailing and the yellow ones honking, the non-stop traffic, the busy crowds, the bright lights... there's no place I'd rather be (Well, besides being with your fifth grader).
I love to wake up in the city that never sleeps.
5. I love old movies; Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Fred & Ginger, Martin & Lewis, Frankie & Annette, Gidget & Moondoggie... but my three favorite movies of all times are:
Shawshank Redemption: I think Morgan Freeman is an incredible actor, and I love any film he is in. I'm not a fan of prison breakouts, but I am a fan of the movie's enduring power of hope, friendship, determination, healing, and redemption. Hope, more than anything else, drives the inmates at Shawshank and gives them the will to live. In his letter addressed to Red, Andy writes that “hope is a good thing,” which in the end is all that Red has left. My favorite quote is from Andy: "I guess it comes down to a simple choice, really. Get busy living or get busy dying." Shouldn't we all get busy living?
You've Got Mail: Who doesn't love Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? I don't just love this movie because it's set in the Upper West Side of New York City, it's because despite the bitter words exchanged between Joe Fox and Kathleen Kelly, NY152 and Shopgirl begin an electronic courtship. Who doesn't tear up when Joe and his dog Brinkley meet Kathleen in Riverside Park and Kathleen admits she had wanted NY152 to be Joe so badly, and they kiss.
The Proposal: Sandra Bullock is my favorite actress. And who doesn't love Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in this movie? The couple who starts off hating each other slowly and reluctantly warms up to each other during a trip to Sitka. When Andrew Paxton confesses in front of the entire office staff that he loves Margaret Tate and kisses her. Sigh...
6. Coffee reminds me of my mom: The months before my mom went to heaven she resided in an assisted living facility. She would often say. "I wish I had a good cup of coffee." That was my cue to go and get it for her. We would sit, silently, side by side and sip our coffee. I wish I could sip coffee with her now.
7. I'm a Cape Coral Native and a product of Lee County schools: I grew up a "Yacht Club" kid. When I was young we would hang out at the Yacht Club. We would ride our bikes all over Cape Coral, to Four Freedoms Park, Dairy Queen on 47th Terrace... We would pick up glass bottles along Coronado Pkwy. and return them to 7-11 for cash, and then we would use that money to buy candy and eat it while we walked home. I attended Cape Elementary, Cypress Middle, and Cape Coral High School.
8. I love all things Disney: pirates, princesses, theme parks, movies, songs, TV shows... you name it, I love it! My family and I are annual passholders and we try our hardest to get there as often as we can.
9. I love running: When I was a teenager I loved to run. Over the years I haven't had the opportunity to run between children, school, laundry, cleaning... recently I've started running again and I'm slowly gaining endurance and speed. I've participated in several runDisney and NYC run events.
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10. I'm adopted: I am blessed that my parents chose me to be their daughter. I recently found my biological father's family, they are AMAZING! The majority of my paternal family attended or attends Ohio State. My biological father attended The Julliard School in NYC. He performed in many Broadway shows and appeared in several movies, TV shows, and commercials. He also worked for a cruise line as a cruise director. My love for NYC and cruises must be hereditary.
Bonus Fact: I'm a 
junkie!