current city: Starkville, MS

living situation: Our home dwelling consists of my amazing husband, Shawn; our favorite (and only) daughter, Margaret Ann (Poo); our large and lovable great dane, Bubba; and our feisty jack russell, Jezebel. Our house is always chaotic and cluttered but we love it.

 occupation: I am still trying to figure this one out, but at the current time, I am working full-time for my father’s company. We are a municipal utility company, which means we dig ditches and put in water and sewer lines for cities. I am mainly in the office but would prefer to be out with the crews. I can drive a dump truck and operate an excavator and a front end loader. I am also the safety director and an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) trainer.

how do you structure your time and space? Basically, we do the best we can and some days better than others. Shawn is the director of bands for Starkville schools so this keeps him very busy in the fall and spring. I am in awe of his passion and drive, and the amazing job he does.  We are very fortunate that we live in a city that appreciates the necessity for music in education.

Margaret Ann attends daycare which is associated with the public school system. She loves her “school” and is such a people person. I work in Columbus, which is 30 minutes from Starkville, so I leave around 7 a.m. and return around 5 p.m.  I do have someone who comes twice a month to clean our home, or else we would live in a pile of dirty dishes, dirty clothes, and dog hair!

Tennis is my choice for exercise, socializing and competitive sport. I try to play twice a week. I believe that it is the competitiveness that feeds my soul. Oh, how I love to win!

using the metaphor of seasons to describe the phases of women’s lives,

-what are the particular challenges and highlights of your current season? We are busy just like other famlies. We provide a loving home, spend quality time with our relatives, and in the mean time, try to find some time for ourselves to rejuvenate our souls. I finally feel that I am moving away from the winter season of my life. 

-What season(s) preceded this one? I was sleep deprived, lost, depressed, and physically sick for about the first two years of Margaret Ann’s life. With love and patience and therapy, here I am: well, energized, and better equipped to figure out my roles as wife, mother, housekeeper, cook, and employee in the family business. I am usually a very structured person but have learned that if I quit trying to make everything perfect and be a supermom, life can be really fun. Do I accomplish this daily? Hell no.

favorite family activity/activities: in no particular order: riding four wheelers, watching princess movies (this is Margaret Ann’s favorite activity, which gives Mommy and Daddy downtime), going out to eat, riding trains/trolleys, watching daddy’s band

favorite solo activities: Spending time with good friends and drinking red wine, tennis, driving down Mississippi back roads, and going to Target. (Target is now quite a treat since my current city doesn’t have one.)

sources of inspiration: honest friends, good red wine, laughter 

best MakeShift moment: This is not a great MakeShift moment but I had the best intentions! The night before my daughter’s birthday party, I was preparing food, and we were anticipating the arrival of the “aunts” (my good friends) from out of town. I set Margaret Ann up with a rented movie and some popcorn while I washed grapes and ran around in the kitchen. After about five minutes, I realized I hadn’t heard from her in a while.

Well, I had rented Bambi.Yes I know it has a sad beginning, but I thought I had started the movie way ahead of Bambi’s mother becoming someone’s trophy. (I have since learned that Walt Disney has a tragic scene in all of its movies. Do we really need to have an evil woman or an absent mother to have a fairytale ending????) Anyway, I rounded the corner from the kitchen to see her in her chair, surrounded by popcorn and grapes, with huge tears streaming down her face. She looked at me and asked, “Why did Bambi’s mommy go away, and what happened to his daddy?” I just stood there with the holy crap what have I done look, but as I started to explain, the “aunts” swooped in the front door, and Margaret Ann’s sadness disappeared.

Sometimes, friends can become the MakeShift we need in our lives!

[if you know someone who would make a good “mothers of invention” feature, check out the nomination process detailed on the sidebar pages to the right.]