When our schedules permit and my beau and I are lucky enough to spend the nights together… it is skin to skin for us but when I am sleeping alone I either wear one of his Brooks Brothers shirts or flannel pj pants and an oversized sweatshirt in the winter. Summer… T-shirts.

Define success in your own terms and then do what you do best and give it your all. How was that quote?… The forest would be so quiet if only the finest singing birds shared their songs… not exactly how it goes but that’s the message. And I must agree with so many other wise women here… never become dependent on someone else for your happiness. Share your happiness, by all means, but remember that true happiness comes from within, not from “with him”.

No. I wanted to be a librarian and my high school guidance counselor told me there were no jobs for librarians. So… instead… I have been a clerk in a bank loan department, medical secretary, medic and respiratory therapy technician in the U.S. Army, wife, mom, sister, daughter, friend, clerk in the local domestic relations office, child care provider, and technology assistant. I am starting school in two weeks to become and echocardiography technician. Maybe some day I will be a librarian. I’m just busy trying on other hats right now.

Exercise! Without a doubt. I am highly stressed right now because my exercise capacity is extremely restricted while I recover from surgery. I know I only get one chance to heal correctly and I am following all the doctor’s orders but at the same time, I am not sleeping well and feel constant stress and tension in my back and neck and shoulders… my whole body! I can hear that aerobic class going on without me! The spring wildflowers are blooming beside the hiking trails and I am missing it! Perhaps I should try one of the other stress relievers on the list.

I think about my friends alot these days as I have spent the past six months divorcing, moving, enrolling in college, and having a hysterectomy. I really need my friends because my closest family is more than 80 miles away and that just doesn’t cut it when I need a half gallon of milk on a Sunday morning and am still unable to drive. For a while, a group of us would gather for dinner regularly and one by one members began moving away. Alas, one night I looked around and I was the oldest woman at the table. I was shocked by the seamless transition. It was painless for me and while some would have scourned at this new role, I wear it with pride. I can nurture them through the days that shall pass and encourage them to jump from the comfort zone. As women come and go in my life, I learn something from all of them and sometimes the lesson is how to become a better friend and other times it is how not to lose myself in the friendship. Remember Edith Ann - the best way to have a friend is to be one (help! - who said that?)

Wrapped in a sleeping bag under the stars with my man. I will probably fall asleep because I feel so completely relaxed and safe with him.

I voted for blow dryer because it is the one on the list I use the most, but the reality is that the great outdoors is my most heavily used beauty aid. A walk in the brisk winter air or hot steamy sultry summer gives me a glow that cannot be replicated in any purchased product. I’ve never worn lipstick or mascara or foundation. I think I bought some MaryKay blush once at a party when I was 20 something. I might have worn it twice.

Home relaxing and recovering from a hysterectomy (on Thursday). I had grand plans to get up and walk to the local sunrise services but pain was the early morning victor. After some medication I am now feeling better and hope to get out there and walk and perhaps catch a glimps of the rabbit making some late deliveries.

My daughter and I participated in the National TV Turn-Off week for many years. I was even part of a study where I went without television for three months. I believe Dr. Barbara Backer was in charge of that study. I could go the rest of my life without ever watching the tube again. (Now… my computer… that is a different story. I know there is a name for people like me… one who is always craving more information, wanting to know more about the migration of the sandhill crane, or how a GPS works, how many other books my latest favorite author has written, what did I just eat at that Chinese restaurant, etc…) My dream home would have no television.

Usually I have to pee but then the mind starts turning … did I remember to put the clothes in the dryer? Is he thinking of me right now? What kind of mood will my teenage daughter be in when we start our day? Where am I working today? Does that mean heels or flats? Or maybe… could it be??? YES! Casual day!!! Not much chance of going back to sleep if I wake after 4:00 a.m. so I might as well get up and start the day.

Just this past weekend, while this site was debuting, I was spending a weekend in the mountains with my first real boyfriend since my divorce. On the way back to reality (thankfully a three-hour drive) he reached over, held my hand, and told me how he likes me best when I am wearing my hiking pants and boots. It was freeing to be able to tell him, “That’s when I like me best too!” When I was growing up and trying to develop an individual personality, I didn’t look at fashion magazines for inspiration… I wanted to be those “mature” ladies in the LL Bean catalog who modeled in the wilderness. That was never going to happen in heels.