bluesgirly had a Friending Frenzy yesterday, and I picked up 34 additions to my Friends List. Thirty-four! I haven't checked, but I think that's more than I started with, in total! I'm feeling pleased and shy, talking to a bunch of new folk. Hi, all!

I've seen some of my new friends post an introductory letter and it seems like a good idea, even if some of my established friends include my husband and my mother-in-law, who was the one who got me to join LJ in the first place. Thanks, mom! I invite both old friends and new to skip this intro at their whim.

If I could have my way, my life would revolve around books, family, taking photos with a much better camera than the one I have, tweaking them with highly cool photo software, eating out for all meals, and sleeping in. I'd travel a lot, starting with Africa, and including all the places that the family would like to see. And I'd have a new set of sheets every day of the week - I like linens. It really doesn't take a lot to make me happy. My husband can do it with a smile and the words "Hey, beautiful"; or a good book can do it with a turn of phrase.

Life, though, as it is, makes me pretty damned content. I have a lot of time to read, a halfway decent camera, and there's lots of downloadable software for tweaking photos! I have a new laptop which has had me wondering lately what I need with people if I have a nice computer :D, and working part-time only means that I get a fair chance to nap. We eat meals in but they're usually cooked by my teenaged son, who's an excellent cook, and my husband smiles and tells me I'm beautiful a lot. I have three terrific children whom I'm proud of.

Diana is 18, she's leaving for university in the fall, which means I'm old enough to have given birth to a child who's old enough to move off to university. Ordinarily I honestly don't have problems with my age or aging, but this one's hitting me kind of hard. Diana's hard work, determination, gregariousness, and beauty should take her far in life. James is 16, sports-mad, plans to be a chef, and has his first girlfriend; his good cheer keeps the household happy. Aislinn will be 10 in a few weeks; she's brilliant and witty and as stubborn as both of her parents combined. John and I both think that we've done a good job of raising our kids. We also have a German Shepherd and a lizard who are something less than family but something more than pets.

I struggle, sometimes daily, sometimes monthly, with bipolar disorder; it's my bugbear and I despise it. Weight is another issue, but so much less so now that my parents are pretty much out of my life - which is another matter altogether. In my journal I talk a lot about books, about work, and about small things that happen that have made me laugh, and as I'm a new dog owner [we've had DJ for 2 months], I talk a lot about him, too.

And that's me and mine. Welcome to my journal! I look forward to getting to know everyone!