I am a 39-year old mom of 2 children.  Maryelise is 19 and a junior in college.  Our son, Joey, died this past April at the age of 29 during a training exercise at Fort Bragg.  He was preparing for his last mission before receiving his Green Beret.  We are heartsick and miss him so much.  I am a nurse practitioner, though I am currently not working outside of the home.  I love dogs.  We lost 2 of our dogs since June, but have 2 wonderful black Labrador retrievers, Squintz and Snookie.  They are like children to us!  I love to sew, play games on the Internet, and read.  I am also a freak when it comes to my iPad and iPod.  I take them with me whereever I go, along with my iPhone.  For Christmas, I want some Apple stock!  My husband has worked for the US Postal Service for 35 years.   He will be retiring in June.  We have been together for 16 years, married for 10.  He was my mailman and I fell in love with him. He is a wonderful husband.  My daughter is majoring in communications at Notre Dame College in Cleveland, Ohio.  She is a 4.0 student.  We are very proud of her.  She will be getting her own apartment for senior year.  She is more excited than we are!  I am having some empty-nest syndrome right now and have been sewing a lot.  I sew burp cloths, blankets, and bibs and donate them to local charities.  I love this site because of the mixture of moms on it.  I am also on the Board of Directors for The Mommies Network, which is another great non-profit Mom's group.  I'm trying to think of what else there is to say about me...I went to Kent State University and Case Western Reserve University.  I worked the majority of my career at University Hospitals of Cleveland, but also worked at The Cleveland Clinic and at a prison.  That was one of my more interesting jobs.  I volunteer my time for the Rainbow Bridge aninal site.  I am a grief counselor for people who have lost their pets.  I have made numerous friends from the site and am hoping to make friends from CafeMom.  If I think of anything else intersting about myself, I'll be sure to add it.  Oh, I love to play Wheel of Fortune on Facebook.  I am addicted!  Hope to meet you soon!  Marianne