Jo Lee Robinson:
CLASS OF 1986
Cary High SchoolClass of 1986
Cary, NC
Broad Run High SchoolClass of 1986
Ashburn, VA
St. Mary's College PreparatoryClass of 1986
Raleigh, NC
East Cary Junior High SchoolClass of 1983
Cary, NC
Seneca Ridge Middle SchoolClass of 1982
Sterling, VA
Jo Lee's Story
See my Facebook (dot com) page for more info:
My ID is 585058373 or look for Jo Lee Robinson
Hello and welcome! Thanks for looking me up!
I really should do a BLOG of some sort to help with the catching up. I've been busy looking for friends on Facebook, and it's strange to try to think of the relevant things that have happened to me
I was born a poor black child in a log cabin I built with my own hands...
Wait, that's too far back.
Grab a cup of coffee and sit back. You may want to read this in several sittings!
Born in Atlanta. Moved to Sarasota, Florida. Moved to Dale City, Virginia. Moved to Cary, NC. Moved to Sterling, VA and began life as I know it. I made a bunch of great friends at Sugarland Elementary, Seneca Ridge Middle School and then I moved from DC back to Cary, NC around 8th grade when my father got transferred to Research Triangle Park, NC with Burroughs Wellcome Pharmaceuticals. (Later Glaxo Smith Kline).
It was just about the time AZT was invented, and he was the Sales Training Manager - lots of work for him to do, and lots of neat Science Fair projects for me. I went to East Cary Jr. High and Cary High for about a year. I loved being a part of the Cary High School Band as a drummer. Talk about precision. They did Rose Bowl parades, Gimbal's (Macy's) Thanksgiving Parade in Philly and won about every competition they entered. Loved doing Drama, Key Club, French Club and Quiz Bowl. But I eventually went to St. Mary's College for the rest of High School. I graduated High School from St. Mary's College (they had a two-year high school and two-year college program) in Raleigh.
I continued doing theatre all through high school and college at the rate of about one to two shows a year in local community theatres. Had a shot at off-Broadway, but fooled around too long with my resume and photos to get them in on time for the director who was interested. All is well that ends well.
I graduated from Carolina ("GO HEELS!") with a double major done in three years in Journalism/Mass Comm and Speech Communications with an emphasis in Political Speech (important for later) in 1989. Went to DC and worked for family friend as a Realtor. Left after he sexually harassed me. Went to West Africa as a French-speaking Computer Consultant with the Southern Baptists.
I loved it there. The people were so amazing. I was in charge of payroll and helped film a motion picture for the Southern Baptists called "La Solution" - everyone there, of course, speaks French, but add in a little Djoula and some Wolof, and it makes it more fun. I worked with a village called IHRO that had some of the most loving people and adorable children you've ever seen. I had a tough time with Office 2.0 and a single PS2 that wanted to choke and cough with its USB port that had 8 things attached to it. But I managed to set up a database for them, and work in their music studio helping locals record their original music to sell on cassette on the street.
While I was there at the beginning of the second year of my two-year term, A professor of mine from Comm. Poli-Sci asked me to finish a computer program I'd started for him as an undergrad. He wanted to write a book to go with it (it simulated Senate elections in a fictitious state). He had left UNC-Chapel Hill and moved to UNC-Greensboro where he was now the head of Comm Studies."Come, get your MA, no GRE, and you'll be done in 2 years," he said. I left Africa, went to UNC-G. Finished the program. He wrote the book and I got a mention.
I was about 3 months from finishing Grad school and I went to a party where I met a guy from Microsoft ... Microsoft? On the East Coast? Yup. Product Support in Charlotte. Microsoft hired me with a "now or never" clause and I let grad school unfinished and started Product Support on March 23, 1994. Met a man at MSFT. Married him. He got transferred to Seattle t...Expand for more
o start Testing software at headquarters and I came out here as baggage. Still making a paltry 20K in a city that eats that for breakfast. No increase in salary. I was divorced (4 months later no kidding.)
Played around for about 2 years doing local theatre and playing in a medieval group called the Society for Creative Anachronism that I'd been sorta playing around with since college. At Microsoft, I moved into management. Then, I met a wonderful guy in Microsoft Product Support out here who was also a manager. We were both arguing over window seats for our teams. (It rains so much, the sun is quite coveted even from a cubicle.) Steve and I married in 1997. He joined the Air Force National Guard the same weekend I told him I was pregnant. My very difficult pregnancy was spent with a hubby at boot camp, tech school, etc. He came home and 6 weeks later, we had our wonderful "Callie Jean" on September 11, 2000. (10lbs 1 oz. 22 inches long).
On Callie's first birthday, of course, the planes hit the World Trade Center and Steve was sent away for a year. With the stress of management (now in the online MSN Games group - I was the Content Manager and had writers/editors/artists working for me) and Steve gone, and a toddler and a lead in a musical play... I woke up one morning unable to move without crying in pain. I found out it's called Fibromyalgia and it's a real central nervous system disorder with lots of little subtleties in your internal bits that become evident as time goes on. Your body basically says, "Enough! I quit!" I continued having intractable migraine headaches and chronic fatigue. My system shut down. I became anemic, my sleep apnea doubled in severity, my muscles, internal organs, and general health took a severe nosedive. So, I went on disability in March 2002. I have been slowly recovering and trying to do a little more each day. It sucks not to be able to walk some days, and yet others, I can take my two dogs out to the park. It's strange. STRESS KILLS!
I have been getting interested in making beaded jewelry on days I'm out of bed. (That's 2-3 of every 7 at this point) I've also started having Beaded Jewelry Making parties for girls, Girl Scout troops, birthday parties and even morale events for women at their workplace. I just have to rest days before I do the event to make sure I have the energy for it. Check out my web site for my business "Hand Maiden Gifts" - handmaidengifts (dot) NET.
My family remains on the East Coast in North Carolina. His family is about 3-4 hours South of us, so we've been doing things on our own up here, and relying on our church family to help us.
I still loved doing theatre! I did Pippin 5 years ago and played Leading Player. It was a hoot! I've also done Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, Nancy in Oliver!, Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, Arbiter in Chess, Rosa Bud in Mystery of Edwin Drood, and several years of a local and travelling original production of "A Christmas Carol." But, of course, that was BEFORE getting sick. I still think about doing theatre, but it's beyond me at this point. I get winded THINKING about standing up sometimes! :) I do get to sing first soprano occasionally in my church choir (of over 100 members! It's amazing to be part of a group like that.)
I hope that you're doing well and that everything in your life is going great! Take care of yourself! And yes, keep in touch! It doesn't have to be the same novel that I just wrote, but by all means, I'm looking forward to knowing what's going on! Thanks for finding me on Classmates, I mean, without that first crucial step, we would never have connected! As I mentioned before, I'm also on Reunion, but I keep most of my info up onFacebook. My ID again is 585058373 but just search for Jo Lee Robinson, it's easier! Come in for a visit!
Talk with you soon!
Jo Lee Credle Robinson
Remember - handmaidengifts (dot) NET
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