I’d love to say that I’ve always wanted to be a journalist, but it wouldn’t be true. Because of a decent voice and a love of acting, after high school I hoofed it to the big city where I intended to “make it.” Back then, I just wasn’t sure what “it” was.

While attending Boston University, I lived on the same dorm floor as Jason Alexander, better known as George Costanza from Seinfeld, which always impresses people. When I graduated, I received a perfectly useless degree in voice performance along with the confidence that comes from high hopes and no experience in the real world.

Twenty-five years later, I am convinced I have “made it,” at least by standards I consider important. I have a wonderful husband of 23 years and three terrific children. And, although I’ve never sung at the Met, I have continued to pursue music and theater as a hobby, both by performing and directing.

Other hobbies include the home improvement trap my husband and I have fallen into – a suck-you-dry activity that we’re sick of being sucked into. I also garden and my association with this paper began over a year ago with my weekly garden column.

Winning Family Circle’s Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine’s short story contest five years ago was pivotal in my decision to become a writer. My resulting freelance credits include a reading workbook, a national magazine article, and a home and garden humor column, still published weekly in another paper.

Now, as a full-time staff writer for The Lakes Region Suburban Weekly, my life is rewarding but extremely hectic. I have enjoyed meeting so many of you and learning more about your communities during my first two months on the job. I look forward to getting to know many more of you as I continue to cover Standish, Raymond, and the Lakes Region.