Christine Gust:  

Life Married Nov. 1999. Daughter born Feb. 2004 - every day is a treat. She's just turned 4, learning to read. Most people guessing her age put her older, or are confused by her ability vs her size. Takes after her mommy! Most current life challenge is a homeowner's insurance matter - the adjuster apparently confused an entire water heater appliance with a rupture in a length of 3/4" polymer pipe situated 42 linear inches from said water heater. Ah well, at least she didn't confuse the elements - she still hit 'water'. And once THAT'S out of the way, we have to dicker over the definition of 'sudden'. I think I'm up to task on that. But I've already got the former letter of denial with this gross misrepresentation if this has got to go to superior court. woo hoo. Writing was (and IS) my life's passion, and while I'm not paying my bills with it, I do a fair amount of it, and will focusing such efforts extensively regarding the matter noted above, you may be sure. School If I knew then what I know now... well, I'd do a lot of things differently, who wouldn't? But not everything. I'd still have sung in the choir, because I derive great enjoyment from still being able to sing reasonably well - well enough that coworkers tell me, "Wow! You can sing!" these days (not really, I'm just not tone deaf). I'd have worried less about my weight -- how many women do YOU know who can say that after 20 years and childbirth, they have the same figure they had in high school?? hahaha. (Only if you REMEMBER me from back then will you find that as funny as *I* do!!) If I could go back, I'd work harder at math -- I got stuck with a teacher who just couldn't get through to me in Geometry; but I dropped it and retook it with another teacher and had a 110 point average. I then got stuck with the same (original) teacher for Trig, and I basically just dropped math entirely. I never particularly understood engineering, but I have a much greater appreciation for its complexities now, based on where I work. I can still remember 3 pieces of advice from Mr. Dick, history and economics: "don't bathe the morning that you intend to garden... the perfume in your soap will attract bees to you." Second piece of advice was "Never give a sucker an even break... just a wooden nickel and some purple prose." And lastly, "Only dumb mice find free cheese... usually in a trap (even Italian... or spanish mice)!" (I imagine Mr Dick wrote "Italian" a lot, based on the presence of young Mr. Benedetto! But no, that wasn't the case with me at the time...) But WOULD I go back if I could? No, can't say I would. (Not high school, anyway... 23 or 27, though? In a heartbeat - those were FUN years!) I figure it was that road that got me where I am today, so why fault it? The passage of time inevitably rebalances things. My youthful screwups were lessons to learn, that I needed to learn. Have I complied with the wishes of all the people who signed my yearbook advising me to stay as sweet as I was? Yes and no. I now possess a tough side to balance the sweet side. My life seems to work better this way; there's very little strength and resiliency in sweetness, and life demands it. Yes, I can be a very nice person. I haven't lost that. But I have now matured and possess a better sense of when being very nice is called for and when its not. I'm more dynamic. And I'm happy about that, it's a true skill. Many people are of the opinion that 'one interface fits all', and that's not true. Let's think of it as my 'true spots' are that I'm a nice person who is fully capable of being A GOOD DEAL more authoritative. College College... wow.... Okay, that about covers it. Only other thing to say was I majored in Playwriting/Screenwriting, which probably comes as no surprise to those of you who remember a little 'story' passed around when we were in the Academic Center, courtesy of my proofreader Gladys Morales. I remarked to a recent Classmates contact ...Expand for more