Flowergardener

I'm a 57 year old woman who has been legally disabled for 14 years. I do not like to 'play that card' to receive any kind of favors from society. In fact, my situation has been that when society finds out that I AM disabled, they're overly critical with outdated views of what a disabled person should look like and act like.

I've been divorced for 25 years, and have a 29 year old son, 9 year old granddaughter, 5 year old grandson, and another granddaughter that's 1 year old. The picture is my family at Thanksgiving '07. (I'm the one in my favorite color-purple!)

Yes, I'm a red-head, and so is my son. Adam's shade of red is a dark auburn, just like my mother's hair. I know, he looks like a cave-man in this picture! It's the very first time in his life he's ever let his hair grow. His wife and I love it, because it's thick and wavy, (like mine), and we constantly tease him.

I consider myself NOT photogenic, a stark opposite of my son. I'm very very picky of any photo that is taken of me, as 9 times out of 10 it does not reflect how I want to be viewed! I'm also picky about my hair, but I thought I would insert the below photo to show you at least my hair!
If I ever get a recently taken photo of me that passes mustard, I'll certainly start using it here at Squidoo :)

I've inserted this photo, along with others of my hair on my Hair Vitamin page, and explain it as reflecting how my hair looks after being washed and air-dryed for 3 hours; and not combed after drying. and ooo yea, I'll be getting those grey hairs covered soon! Both my sister and niece are licensed beauticians, and can't believe I still have any hair left (been covering that damned grey now for about 10 years, by myself, sometimes hap-hazardly missing spots)

Ha Ha Ha, and yes, I do have arms, (thank you God). I just thought they looked fat in other takes of this photo, so I hid them! I am 56 now you know! I've kinda lost those buffed muscles.

That reminds me of when I just came back to Iowa after being divorced. I started working in my Mom's restaurant/bar. More than once I saw men's eyes widen in surprise as I served their meal, asking me if I 'worked out'. The answer was truthfully 'no'.

When you're looking at lenses throughout Squidoo, the above 2 photos will signify me. My Aunt in Florida made the Godsdaughter image for me back in '97 for one of my old websites. 'Godsdaughter' and 'IamGodsdaughter' are titles I currently use and have used in the past for emails, accounts, and websites.

Since I'm known here as FG, Flower, or Flowergardener, I thought I'd make me a new image with my very favorite gift to receive; the purple rose. I actually wanted to name my business The Purple Rose, but thought that Garden Creations would better encompass anything I wanted to try my hand at.

State Track 2 years for the 100 and 200 yard dash.
#1 Ranked District Running Back.
#1 Seeded District Wrestler @171 lbs.
Quickest career wrestling pin = 17 sec.

Me and my bud have been thru some tough times. I divorced his father when Adam had just turned 4, and Adam never had a man's influence while growing up. I've never re-married.

Well, as you can see, he didn't turn into a sissy 'mama's boy'. For those that don't know, hand-fishing is done by diving and reaching under the water and using your hand as bait when you find a probable hiding spot of big catfish. Then you have to wrestle the fish and capture it while it is biting down on your one hand.

I can still remember taking him to the little pee-wee wresting practices when he was 7, drawing and scribbling furiously the wrestling holds, so we could practice them at home.

Another fond memory is catching and practicing baseball together when he was 9; I received a stunned look of shock from him after I threw him a hard fast ball and burned his hand. (he didn't think his mama could throw that hard, he-he)

I was left with valve damage to my heart from Rheumatic Fever at 9 years old, so when I was in school, my parents didn't let me participate in sports.

My childhood memories are of horses, simply because that's all I was allowed to persue. While my siblings learned how to ride a bicycle, play baseball, volleyball, basketball, and actually anything that my father categorized as 'physical', I owned, rode, and trained horses.

I stood up to my Father, and everyone else when I reached my Senior year in High School; and against everyone's wishes, tried out for - and was chosen - for a Cheerleader of B & G Basketball, Football, and Wrestling. I can still remember coming home and telling my dad that I won. His reply was 'no you didn't, you cannot do that. You go tell them all tomorrow.'

No one, including me, knew I had any physical talents apart from riding horses. I had to participate in the yearly physical fitness program in High School or flunk Gym; during my Junior year I ran the 100 with the 3rd fastest time of the females from the whole school. Every one else on the list with great recorded times was in our Track program! I did just as well with the recorded times in my Senior year; but I had already pushed my limit with my Dad, so I couldn't join the track team. I was a Cheerleader, and that was it...and my Dad hated every moment of it.

I had never played baseball until after I graduated school and joined a women's softball league. Couldn't hit worth a darn, but boy get me on first base and I would steal all the bases around the diamond, and sometimes even steal home base! I learned many years later, after my Father had passed away, and from my old 'coach', that my Dad had taken her aside when I first started and asked her to please keep an eye on me....if I seemed like I was getting tired...to take me out of the game. What a precious memory. Of course if I would have found out about it at the time, I would have been angry at him.

Giving birth to a son when I was 27 years old gave me a chance to experience a second childhood, and try to do some of the things I didn't get to do the first time around. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and treasure every moment.

I think I'd like to treat this lens as a kind-of 'blog'. It will be a place where I can put my most recent things. I have to update it anyway each time I complete a new lens, so in that way it will be a handy way to put new stuff out too.

I found Squidoo June 9 '07, which also happens to be my late Father's birthday. From that date to 30 days later, I made 30 lenses. I now have somewhere around 90 lenses completed (can never say for sure, as the total changes all the time!) I'm starting to see a pattern, I'll get up to around 100 lenses, then start giving some of them away, selling some, or just deleting them. I've done this 4 times; (delete, or give away lenses) I get to 90+ and drop to the low 80's, then build new lenses. Usually I've got the total back up to 90+ in 1 to 2 more months.

Out of curiosity I just checked my 'transfer' page on my dashboard. As of today (June '11) I've given away 13 lenses and 1 group, sold 7 lenses, and I'd have to guess at how many I've deleted....probably 45.

The thing I really personally like about Squidoo is that it gives me a chance to earn money, which is always lacking for senior citizens and the disabled. I am praying and working towards being self-sufficient and off of an income from Social Security.

I haven't always been disabled, even tho I've had heart damage since I've been 9. I've only been disabled since '97, due to a cracked spine with all the other physical things that entails; (discs, stenosis, & nerve impingement) and a mental breakdown. As I get older the list grows larger of my disabilities. Now I feel the pain every day of arthritic knees due to a head-on car accident, arthritis in my back, knees, ankle, and hands, bursitis in 1 hip, and P.A.D with intermittent claudification.

My career was pretty extensive. In the '80's they used to call working anything on the computer as a 'computer operator', of which I put my time into. I've many years experience as a cook, waitress, bartender, state licensed insurance rep for life, accident, and health, customer service, asst. bookkeeper, veternarian assistant, house cleaner (business), truck dispatcher, cashier, factory worker, and human resources specialist.

When I became pregnant (planned), my family was worried that I wouldn't be able to survive the strain on my heart during childbirth. (no need, as it turned out, had a cesarian, which had an enormous amount of problems itself)

I'm 23 years older than the amount of years my dad lived.

In my younger years I was well known for my dancing, ability to fight, and hot cars, like a 62 corvette, 66 mustang, and 70 gto.

Actually had a warrant for assault/battery. Knock-knock on the door, originating from the hospital. The other incidents were never recorded.

I survived a fatal (to the other person involved) head on collision at 18.

I still own all my teeth, although most of the front teeth had to be filed to even them up from chips, and all the back on top and bottom were shattered and capped from the accident; which also left me with a scar from my hairline to my eyebrow on my forehead, 2 damaged knees, and tears when I dwell on it.

The scar has pretty much faded after 39 years. I was told they had to scrape the paint from the '57 chevy's steering wheel off my skull before stitching me up, and my head and body broke the steering wheel in 2 places. The red eye in this pic doesn't show my hazel eye color, which is dark green and light brown.

At 20 yrs. old, after being engaged 3x and 'promised' 2x, I burned my bridges and moved 1600 miles away, knowing no-one, with $500 in my pocket and a semester of college paid for in Ca.

I've been raped. Twice.

I've been beaten (by a man) and abused mentally.

I stayed in Ca. for 11 years, came back home to try to pick up my pieces with a divorce and a child.

I've been bankrupt.
I've spent days/nights in a 'shelter' with my child.
I've spent time on a corner selling homemade crafts for money.

I am a prize winning pool player.
I am a prize winning shotgun skeet shooter. (12 ga.)
I am a better shot with a .243 and 30-06 rifle, successfully hunting deer for many years.

I love to fish.
I love the ocean.
I love the mountains.
I love nature.
I love animals.
I love flowers and gardening.
and most of all - more than my own life - I love my son.

I sometimes get nostalgic and sad, wondering why I've had to spend the better part of my life without a partner; but I end up with the conclusion that my life is in Gods hands, so I just try to 'go with the flow' as best as I can.

I have an 9 year old Granddaughter, Arissa Matesse, and a 5 year old Grandson, Kael Mitchell, and a new Granddaughter Maggie Mae, that's now 1. Arissa has my curly/wavy hair and exact eye color. Kael's looks are always changing from resembling either his mother or father. Maggie is starting to get a touch of auburn in her hair :)

if you look very closely, you can see the hint of my forehead scar. my eyebrow that is on your right hand side, on the inside edge towards my nose, you can see an indent and a bit of a line. The scar runs from that indent up my forehead to the part in my hair.

After 13 years together, my Son and Beth have decided to 'make it legal'. For those of you that have been waiting, here are a few pics!

The Wedding Party

Adam taking Me and Beth's Mother to our pew

Me and Marilyn lighting our family candles

Adam and Beth lighting their unity candle from the family candles

Adam and Beth praying

The Bride and Groom

Adam, Beth, and Kael

Mr. and Mrs. C

Mother and Son

Dancing at the reception

The Mom's attack before everyone gets out of the Church

The Wedding Party

Me, my mother, my daughter-in-law, and my grand-daughter in my backyard flower garden

Grandma, Great-Grandma, and Maggie Mae

My favorite pastime, just chillin'

Man's Religion has failed me many times.

Man's Many Sectors of Churches have failed me many times.

My faith in God, His Holy Word, and the Holy Spirit have never failed me.

I created the Audio Bible and Bible Study lenses for others that want to learn from God's Word. Not interpretations of what man thinks God's word is.

God's Word / The Bible and the Holy Spirit are my teachers, preachers, pastor, and Father.....not man.

I didn't become a Christian until I was 32. I was baptized many years later in the waters of the Pearl Harbor Bay, Hawaii.

Check 'em out if you get a chance!

Please do enjoy your visit, and if you find something that interests you and you'd like to comment on it, there are 'guestbooks' at the bottom of most of the lenses.

The Group That's Home To My Health Lenses:

Flowergardeners Herbal Medicine and Herbal Remedies

Flowergardening is my true love. Working and being in my flower garden is my therapy. I've written more about it on the 'My Flower Garden' lens, which by the way, was my very first lens here at Squidoo, and remains the lens closest to my heart, as it shows a lot of my personality and lifestyle. The page has also had the distinction of spending 112 days on Squidoo's Top 100 list.

Just because the following lens doesn't have it's own category doesn't mean it's not important to me! Whew, I've got a bunch of WIPs I need to get going on and showcase here!

I own 3 dogs, or probably a better way to put it is 3 dogs own me. I've always been an animal lover, and used to own, train, and ride horses. Hard to comprehend, since I could not be active in sports? Well, my Father was under the impression that being with horses wouldn't be too strenuous on me, so while my other siblings got to play baseball, volleyball, basketball, swim, and ride bicycles, I had my horses.

I didn't know at the beginning of creating lenses here that I'd end up with so many pertaining to dogs; they just kind of flew out of me.

That link below of Dog Medicines and Their Side Effects? That little bugger, to the best of my knowledge, has not had even 1 afilliate sale, BUT it had been ranked in Squidoo's Top 100, and on the list for 519 days.

Did you know that there are more than 600,000 lenses at Squidoo? Dog Medicine Side Effects has ranked as high as #3. It has also held the #1 spot in the Animals & Nature category.

That poor lens has been put thru the wringer. After creating it, Squidoo had to change their spam filter to stop all the crud that was being created. Dog Medicines and Their Side Effects got caught in that filter, and kept getting caught each time I updated it for the period of nearly a month. THEN a lensmaster decided she didn't like it, and proceeded to vote down the star ranking, post an ugly comment, and complain about it on our forum, calling me a snake-oil salesman.

I'd like to also add that neither one of them got to the Top 100 listing from being LOTD, or secret lensmaster buddies giving them stars, visits, and comments.

I'd like to thank the following friends who posted on our forum about the integrity of my work while I was being called a 'snake-oil salesman':

- - -

- - -

-

Yep, some of the names are the same as 'My Squidoo Friends' listed lower on this lens! The friends listed here stood up for me in our forum specifically because of the attempt to publically flame my Top 100 lens and my reputation.

This was a different saga than my first trolling experience, with the names of my friends listed lower.

Dog owners and lovers characteristically treat their pets as humans, and love them deeply. I happened to notice that a place I'm afilliated with had a couple of companies that had gifts and collectibles pertaining to each dog breed, and the creative ideas took off like rockets.

It took me quite a bit of time to create these lenses, as the ideas came faster than the implementation. If you check out one, you'll see why; they're chock-full with cool dog stuff.

After many days of compiling the top rated books available, I created:

Emotional Healing / You Can Heal Your Life Self Help Books

Self Help Books For The Broken Heart

Words Of Wisdom / Self Improvement

Self Improvement Books

Stress Management Self Help

For A Bit Of Fun, Check Out The Best Selections Of:

Personalized Aprons For The Kitchen

Funny Aprons For Men and Women

and Funny & Great BBQ Aprons

I am an avid flower gardener, with over 2k square feet of flower beds. My main Flower Garden Page is right here on Squidoo, but I also have the following 2 pages showcasing some images of this year's blooms:

Are You A Flower Gardener? I Am!

More Of My Flower Garden Images

I have a bit of an eclectic and sarcastic sense of humor, so I relieved my pent-up emotions by creating:

Sarcastic and Funny Life Quotes and Sayings

As a dog owner, I'm concerned about dog health, so I created:

Dogs and their Worms

My Squidoo Friends

These dear people have made friends with me, comforted and encouraged me by posting on our forum while I was being trolled-upon by a respected lensmaster, and are who I consider caring, honest, and loving people.

To publicly thank them, I've inserted their names that are linked to their lenses. If you get a chance, please do visit them!

- - -

- -

- -

- - -

- - -

I do have many other friends here at Squidoo, but the links are here and farther above because these people have went out of their way to publicly show they cared.

Squidoo has helped me change my life in many ways. A few of which are income, giving me an outlet for my creativeness, and being able to help people.

As you can see from the above links to my pages, my interests and passions run towards natural health, dogs, flowers, gardening, and being a Christian.

Throughout my lenses, you'll catch pieces of my personality by my writing style, sometimes throwing in a weirdo word, habitual comment, or period 'saying' every now and then.

I have tried to stress through many pages my desire to help people. Sure, I love the money I'm able to make here, but I will not; absolutely will not - create junk pages to lure away someones' hard earned money. As of 8-27, I've decided to take off my monthly earnings from this page. I truly am happy that I've motivated those who've commented, and encouraged them, showing that success with Squidoo can be accomplished. My main 2 reasons for removing the stats are the realization that I was just feeding my ego, and the occasional retaliation to our rating system of my lenses by jealous and immature people.

I diligently research every topic I have with the desire to save other people's time. The natural health products I offer are from quality reputable companies, and I truly believe in them, and a healthier lifestyle without synthetic drugs.

I've achieved the Squidoo title of 'Giant'.
Giant Squid? What's that?
My Giant Squid status was earned 2 1/2 months after I started here in '07. Squidoo ran a contest trying to find the lensmasters with 100 or more lenses. At that time, not many lensmasters met the criteria, so the total was changed to 50 lenses. Squidoo HQ then personally reviewed each of the 50 lenses for quality, and in September of '07, they awarded the lensmasters who made the grade. There are originally under 60 Giant Squids in the 1st group of Giants, (Sept. 07), but HQ has implemented the award again, and we're now getting ready to welcome the 7th or 8th (can't remember!) class of Giant Squids.

I've also attained 5 lenses in the Top 100 list, and normally bring into Squidoo 8,000 to 10,000 visitors every week, (with 70 lenses!) with an all time high of 13,000 visitors in 1 week,

For my guest Debbie: