CURRENT MISSION

I enjoy meeting people from all over the world, sharing my table and knowledge of places to go and see in Northern California.

ABOUT ME

I have raised two great kids (a son 25, and a daughter 24), twenty-one foster children, and have remained friends with several families I've known since my early childhood. Meeting new people and sharing my culinary efforts when I travel or host gives me a lot of joy. Good company, a great meal, wonderful wine, and laughing out loud is what life is all about. My life before I had my children included quite a bit of traveling, a career in commercial interior design and outside sales in the sign industry.

PHILOSOPHY

You aren't lost if you don't know where you're going anyway...
If God gives you lemons, make lemonade...
Life is too short to go through it grumpy - Get over it!!!
If you spend too much time looking back into your rear view mirror, you might run off the road. So focus on where you want to go - not where you've been.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I'm looking forward to hosting people from all over the world and I'm very familiar with northern California and can offer great travel tips and suggestions of places to see, day trips, and out the way hidden treasures.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Just what my son tell me! So far anyway. I know that in my past life "BC" as in "before children" I loved traveling and meeting new people, experiencing new cultures and that was all even before the internet!!!

Interests

I love to cook, take road trips, and I enjoy taking photographs of people and flora. I also write poetry and short stories, draw and paint. Artistic - and like a sense of balance and order in my life. There are a few television shows I enjoy in the evening like "24", the Unusuals, and American Idol. I also love to show and go to garage sales.

• poetry
• design
• interior design
• cooking
• wine
• running
• traveling
• socializing
• garage sales
• painting
• drawing
• road trips

Music, Movies, and Books

El Cid, My Fair Lady, The Usual Suspects, Shrek movies, Action adventure/murder mystery movies. I enjoy music of all kinds except rap, hip-hop, and techno. Classical, Pops, show tunes, Pop, Classic Rock 'n Roll, Oldies, Billy Holiday, Dixieland jazz, and Country Western are some I enjoy. My favorite book ever was Les Miserables by V. Hugo, also liked Damian by H. Hesse and I love cookbooks.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The most amazing things I've experienced seem to be tied into "six degrees of separation". And thirty some odd years ago, I traveled throughout Sweden, talking to Arabian horse breeders about participating the following spring in Sweden's first national Arabian horse show.

Teach, Learn, Share

I love to cook and teach others how to cook simple yet nutritous foods. And I'm always open to learn new and better ways of doing things, whether it be the kitchen or on the computer. I love to share my knowledge of the northern California area and I'd like to learn about other places in the world that I will eventually visit. Having served as a foster parent to twenty-one children, I learned practical parenting and it is valuable skill, well worth sharing with those that are interested.