Kathie Blair:  

My Life, updated, 2010. I only have one cat now, a black cat named Shadow, who snores. She is a trip. My other cats lived long lives, as did my dogs; I still miss them. I quit smoking cigarettes February, 2007, and completely refurbished the house; it looks terrific. I've got all hardwood floors, had the walls and ceilings scrubbed down and repainted, and new flooring put down in the kitchen. You'd never know that I smoked in here for 30 years. Needless to say, this is now a non-smoking house. I have 2 ashtrays: one for outside and one for the garage (when it rains). I spent practically everything I had to get rid of the awful tar and stale cigarette smell, so, needless to say, the only way anyone will ever smoke in here again is if they buy this place from me!! I had a huge front window put in that lets in alot of light and faces South. My cat, Shadow, loves to sun herself there in mornings and my house plants love it. I retired due to chronic migraines and severe arthritis (thanks, Dad, for the migraines and thanks, Mom, for the arthritis). My doctor is leaning towards long term pain relief, and I am feeling somewhat frustrated. I enjoy playing Mah Jongg when I'm not having headaches; it can be alot of fun and also quite frustrating; keeps my mind working, though. My sisters live in the area, as does my son and his family. My mother passed away in Dec 2002 and my father is terminally ill, living in CA, so I call him or he calls me whenever possible. I have good friends and when I check out my yearbook, can't believe all the time that has passed. It goes so quickly as you get older; have been working on genealogy charts on both my mother's and father's sides of the family and found out many really great things. It keeps me busy and I have met some very nice people. That's about it except I hope to get back to taking long walks and riding motorcycles once the pain is under control. Life My Pets I only have one pet, now, a black cat named Shadow who has an eating disorder. My son used to have a boa constrictor named Marcus, a very cool and mellow snake; he left him with me and sold him a couple of years after he moved out. I used to take Marcus to local schools to discuss snakes and their habitat as well as the need to conserve and protect wildlife habitats. My Kids I got divorced after my son, Anthony, was born; he is my only child....I never remarried. He turned 39, which is unbelievable, January 2011. He is happily married to a cool lady with a son. He has no children of his own. He lives outside of Portland, works f/t and is a volunteer fireman. I'd been living w/my grandparents, was taken back to live with my mom & stepfather. As I was only 17, could only get a job with the State of Oregon, so went to work for Motor Vehicles as a file clerk and partied on Friday & Saturday nights. My parents always fought so I tried to stay away, saving as much as I could for school in the Fall, but my stepfather did some horrible stuff to my sisters and me & my mom finally sent him away right before Christmas 1969. I thought I was going to attend U of O but my mother needed the money so I just kept working and putting off school. A year later she decided to go back to him and none of us were invited, so we all got married in the winter of 1970 & I kept working, kept thinking I'd go to college later. I ended up divorced in 2/1973 with a one yr old son & living with my father for just a few months. I went to work at NASA Ames Reasearch Center in Mountain View, CA . I took lots of civil service tests and got good job offers, the best one as a Public Assistance Worker for Dept. of Social Services in San Jose, CA., which paid better than the federal gov't. Because of my income, I was able to buy a nice condo just before the prices ...Expand for more