This is me...TeaRoses&Lace ~ CLC

It took a while for me to find just the right niche after school. I married young, started a family. Had two beautiful children, a girl and a boy. Gave the smile and be happy mode a try. Decided that wasn't the way to go and knew I needed to start a new life for my two children and myself. I met my best friend and future husband, we dated, we married, we had a child, we became a family of five...and we go on from there....
I discovered I was meant not only to be a wife and mother, but also a very busy, well rounded career woman. It made me happy. Overall, I would say the most enjoyable and satisfying were the Substitute Teaching and Teacher's Aide positions that I held in the Northwood and Nottingham Elementary School's throughout my childrens school years, while still lending a hand at the numerous volunteer 'Mom' moments at various class activities. Most recently I served as Treasurer, Vice President and then President of my youngest sons High School Band Booster Organization.
I worked with my husband, as Manager/Bookkeeper, in his family's 140 yr. old Calef's Country Store in Barrington, NH for many years. I was also very much interested in town politics, as I had worked in the town offices since my junior year of high school until 1997 when I retired for the move to Florida. I became the first paid employee of the Town Of Northwood's Fire Department serving as Secretary for 15 years, working in the Fire Code Enforcement Office, and with the State Fire Marshal's Office. I was the Bookkeeper for the Fire Dept. Town Operating Budget Accounts for over 12 years. I was also a Firefighter, State Certified in Hazardous Materials Operations.
My husband was Fire Chief for 11 of those years. He has been employed for Circuit City for over 10 years, most recently he set up and relocated to their newest store in Cape Coral, FL. He hols the position of Operations Manager and consistantly ranks nationally in the top tenth of the company for many years, for which I am quite proud.
I am a full time homemaker living in Lehigh Acres, FL, with my husband William. We moved from Northwood, NH to Lehigh Acres, Florida in January of 1998. We moved into our newly built home in June of that year. We have a Florida house with New England/Victorian decor, antiques and all. The other day, a guest likened my house to a Victorian doll house. To me that was a wonderful complement!
Things that calm me and give me pleasure and contentment; making a pot of tea and sipping a cup of tea while reading a special book, or watching that favorite movie, the one pulls at the strings of your heart. Writing words upon a blank page gives me a feeling of accomplishment and worth that is totally unexplainable. One of my favorite places to feel the calm is when I am sitting on the beach, watching the waves, listening to them rush onto the shore, the sun setting gently, until all you see is the faintest colour of dusk. I love free floating in my pool and just looking up into the sky at the clouds. I often ponder what it be like to float among the clouds in the vast blue sky.
I enjoy an active interest in photography. Hardly a day goes by that I am not found without a camera in hand. I enjoy writing my poetry, bicycling, sewing, needlework and antiques. Anything Victorian era ~ dress, writing, pictures, books, etc. Hats....I just love hats, especially vintage, cloche, or widebrimmed! I wear them too!
My husband, William and I were married in October of 1984. We have three wonderful children. As well as two very finicky, but cuddly kitties, Casper and Cocoa.
Kristyl, 33, lives with her husband, Jim, in San Jose, CA. She graduated from Coe-Brown in 1993, then from McIntosh College in Dover, NH, in 1995 with an Associate Degree in Business Science. Her husband works for Sony in CA. After she graduated from college she worked in our family business, then moved to CA to work in a grocery chain out there. She met her future husband whom she married on Aug 1, 1998. She is now a full time homemaker, busily redecorating the house to sell and move to Florida and be closer to her family. Most recently she and her husband adopted a little puppy, Katie, which keeps them well occupied. I get so homesick for her! She calls her Momma practically everyday!
Justin, age 32, lives in Lehigh Acres, in his own home about two miles away from us. He graduated from Coe-Brown in 1995, then from St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY, in 1999 Magna Cum Laude with a double major in English and Fine Arts, and a minor in Speech & Theatre. He recently was an elementary/middle school drama teacher in Lehigh. He then got job as a certified framer for Michaels Arts & Crafts in Fort Myers. He has just recently been hired by a national Armored Car Service as a messenger and looks forward to his new job. He is most proud of the fact that he holds three black belts in the Martial Arts, one each in Aikido, Iaido and Karate. He also teaches martial arts for the county recreational programs. He enjoys a lot of traveling, participating and competing, as well as officiating in various state and national levels.
Josiah, 19, graduated from Riverdale HS, Fort Myers, FL in May 2007 and now rents out a room at his brothers house. He participated in Concert and Marching Band, Jazz Band and Indoor Drum Line throughout high school. He plays clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and xylophone. Mom sings, he plays, we make quite the duet! The newly formed Drum Line placed first in quite a few regional competitions and traveled to Dayton, OH for the World Tournament in April 07. It was a wonderful experience for him. He recently completed a Hospitality Course, for which he earned his Bartenders Certificate. He is enjoying a position in the Starbucks Company, which he holds the position of Barista and is working towards Shift Manager. I am told by his co-workers that all the customers rave about him!
Our children, although grown and on their own, readily join their Mom and Dad on family vacations. We all love to travel and we plan on at least one cruise or destination point a year for much needed and highly valued family time. We all just love cruise vacations!! We just returned from our most recent trip in early May, a cruise in the Mexican Riviera. Although we pretty much agree that the Caribbean is the way to go! Of course you can't beat home in New England to get back to basics, as well as family.
I grew up in Northwood, NH the eldest in a very large family, (the eldest girl in a family of six girls and two boys, and we are all Coe-Brown Alumni)! I feel blessed to have such a good relationship with my entire family. Each year I get visits from a few members of my family, it truly gives me something to look forward to. For me family is everything! We travel home to New Hampshire as often as time (and money) will allow. We just spent a a week and a half in July visiting family, while staying with my sister and her husband's home, my little neice giving her bedroom to us for the time of our stay. It was a great time, we so enjoyed the time we had with everyone.

Sincerest Best Wishes and God Bless
Cathy Lynn