Pamela Allen:  

There needs to be another choice in the Q&A "What do you get paid to do?" question. I do plenty, but nobody pays me except my share from my husband's paychecks. I used to get paid for making dance costumes, front office work, working the accounts payable for a homebuilder, and as a secretary in the city Parks & Rec. dept., but I quit everything in the Spring of 1990, when I felt like I needed to be home for a while. And I did. That was the year of the first Gulf War, and our son, a Marine Corps Reservist, left in December. Before he left, he got married and I needed to be there for his wife. Also, our daughter had some medical problems that Fall, and she needed me. I never went back to a regular job after that, but I continue to do some freelance costuming for friends. For the last 17 years, I have made more dance and Halloween costumes than I can remember, baked more fantasy cakes than I can coun...Expand for more