Having wound through the briers of being Momma to 10, observing the birth of a child after burying her, teenagers, being a ghost writer, draft editor, retail manager (read salaried babysitter), paralegal, election commissioner and entrepreneur (thrice over)...Here I am.

Read my autobiography in Who & What is Helium for the expanded story on how a poetry assignment started my extended writing career. (Link below in favorites.)

My work can be found over Helium in a wide-ranging span of channels, but primarily Parenting, Relationships, Hobbies, Home & Garden, Computers, Jobs & Careers and Personal Finance.

Published clips available upon request:
Benefits of donating your used car
How to distress wood or metal for that antique look
Antiquing wood using a crackle finish
Tips for polishing antique wood furniture
Money-saving tips: How to cut your driving expenses
Biography: Lucille Ball
Baby sleep patterns

Citizen Journalist by-lines available on OneWorld.net and Yahoo! News.

I lost my original publishing forum in the dot com bubble burst (not to age me or anything). There, I had three weekly columns and two daily columns. That just left me with ghost writing for two newspapers in Louisiana.

Now, I enjoy being the Senior Site Steward for the channels of Creative Writing, Food & Drink, Sports & Recreation, Style & Beauty, Parenting & Pregnancy and Autos. Contact me on the Parenting Steward page, if you are interested in joining any of these teams!

I am also the Site Steward for Helium's Parenting & Pregnancy Channel. Feel free to visit the Parenting forum to drop suggestions for titles you would like to see or to see what the newest buzz is!

Parenting is a channel that needs and caters to parents, non-parents, adoptive parents, adoptees, teens, grandparents, fathers and more! Drop by and see if we have a topic for you! Take a stand and join a debate!

When I have free time, I design and make jewelry, autism awareness items and cell phone charms. Visit Virginia's Dream. My husband and I have a full line of gifts and collectibles- something for everyone on your gift list. Contact me through Helium for a gift card on your first purchase!

Verbosity and vocabulary are the words my children know. Specificity is the rule, and they can spell it. Without my adored husband, Russell, I would be a complete loss.

Photo is in New York.

Read with a sense of humor.
Live life to the fullest.
Never argue with a toddler.
And you know you are in trouble when your 4 year old tells you it is ALMOST impossible to flush a grapefruit down the toilet.

*Use the link for Parenting Steward to contact me about anything!*

My passion is ...

knowledge of useless facts.

I know too much about ...

children.

My parents always told me ...

to be honest.

My childhood ambition ...

was to be a rodeo clown.

My favorite memory ...

childbirth, a lot of times.

Why I write ...

Everyone needs help sometime.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Law & Order.

My first job ...

was in an amusement park.

My best moment ...

I have had many.

My inspiration ...

There is no "me" in "Momma".

Business > Business News & Issues How are people in your part of the world coping with the increasing cost of oil?

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Rising oil prices are isolating rural America. Small town way of life is in the throes of death.

Rural America is known for long-time residents who rely on slow rising gasoline prices to reach the supplies they need to sustain itself from month to month. The rising cost of oil is crippling these towns.

Kershaw, South Carolina is a prime example of a rural town of 2,500 residents. They travel once or twice per month to neighboring cities to buy the items not available in the small town. Many commute to the city to work.

Workers are moving closer to the jobs. Sheila Hinson, loca...

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