Who is Behind the Blog Anyway?

It is about time that I introduce myself.  I tend to like to hide behind my family because they are way cuter than I am.  I hate to have my picture taken!  Let me say that again, I HATE TO HAVE MY PICTURE TAKEN!! I love being behind the scenes.  I am what you might call a control freak.  I am a professional perfectionist.  I have a masters degree in Young Children with Special Needs ages 3-7 (from a college in Massachusetts).  I adore babies, toddlers, kids in general.  I am scared of teens but love my daughter so much that I squelch that fear as much as I can.
I am all for marriage for everyone not just traditional couples.  My husband and I have been married for almost 18 years after being pen pals for 2 years.  We knew everything but nothing about the other person when we got married.  It has been quite a journey!  We have two wonderful kids, 4 cats, 1 beta, 3 guppies and one aquatic frog.
I adore Broadway!  Not just sweet Broadway, but controversial Broadway.  My favorite Broadway date is my daughter.  We saw Avenue Q together last spring and will see Spring Awakening in September.  I am a singer and so is she so we have a great time together.  She is a soprano and I am an alto so I generally have to do the guy's part but I am not complaining.  Not sure what I will do when she goes to college in a couple years.
I have a chronic autoimmune inflammatory condition that has kept me on medical disability for over a year.  I go to doctor's appointments all the time and still have no answers.  I have been on a steroid for over a year that has given me cataracts and put almost 100 pounds on my already super-sized body.  It is hard to be invisible when you weigh as much as I do. I have had one cataract surgery and will likely have the other eye done soon. (I am seeing the doctor today because I think I have pink eye!  YIKES, not what you want when you have just had eye surgery!!)

Me with baby Charlotte

Me with toddler James

I have a few favorite pictures that I generally pull out when people want to know what I look like.  This is how I see myself.  My kids and my husband are used to the way I look so I don't mind being myself with them.  My family, the one I grew up in, doesn't get to see me everyday, so I don't know how they see me.  I hope they see me through the eyes of unconditional love.  People who don't know what I look like and only know me from my blog or writing likely have a preconceived vision of what I look like.  I know I do it even though I try not to.
I feel guilty that my kids will not have lots of pictures to remember me by when they are away at college or when when I am no longer around.  James is so visual that pictures will be important.  I don't have pictures of me doing fun family things with the kids.  I do hate having pictures taken.  My kids are way more photogenic!! This is probably the last picture taken of me with my husband and James during his Halloween parade last year.  And so I am no longer invisible.  My secret identity has been reveled. I am a wife, mom of two, master's level college graduate, severely morbidly obese, professional protectionist  control freak who loves to laugh.  Nice to meet you!!

We fight for acceptance for our kids with Autism
I ask nothing less for myself.