Hi everyone!  It's good to be here - been looking around the site for awhile now after joining.

I'm Deb and am a 51 year old (52 in Dec) separated mom of four boys and two girls.  Their ages are 29, 28, 25, 23, 21 and 17.  They are the absolute lights of my life and I am very proud of all of them.  Never had a minute of trouble with any of them, however I feel a lot of that is due to the fact that I was fortunate enough to be a SAHM for 20+ years.

I live in small-town Nova Scotia and have been here for 41 years, having moved from Ontario with my parents when I was 10.

I went back to school (distance-ed) when I was 40 and took graphic arts and IT communications, which started my love of computers.  I have been working from home for three years as a virtual administrator in the finance and real estate industries.   I find as I get older I hate the cold of our Canadian winters more each year, so working from home gives me the opportunity to NOT go out in the cold if I don't want to - and the flexibility to care for my elderly father as well when needed.  He is a heart patient and legally blind so relies on me to grocery shop, cook meals, bank and get him back and forth to doctor's appointmens.  Working from home allows me to do this. :)

Some of my interests include music (I'm an obsessed Il Divo fan!), computers, cooking, reading and dollhouses & miniatures.  And more recently the Twilight series of books and movies.  Can't get enough of Edward and Bella!  lol  (probably my wanting of the romance in my life that I never had coming through)

I am happily single (separated 3 years)  It was a long and very rough journey after finding out about all his girlfriends during our marriage - but I'm comfy in my own skin for the first time in ages, have "found me" after so many years of catering to a demanding husband and six children and I'm  ready for adventure!

Hope to meet some new friends here.

Deb aka MaritimeMama

How did you get to where you are now?

A cheating husband (who you were blindly in love with) is a good start to getting your act together.  That whole fiasco quickly got my head out of my @ss I can tell ya!   It's been a rough ride but I survived it and am so very much stronger now that I know who I am.  I'm not just a mom, and I'm not just a wife and I'm definitely not some idiot who is going to sit back and be treated like crap.  It has also made me a bit bitter and very fearful of ever trusting a man again - but these are a couple things I'm working on.

How do you see yourself differently now than you did 10 years ago?

I thought I would be a wife and mother forever.  Of course I am still a devoted mom but my kids are mostly grown and don't need me as much as they used to.  My baby is 17 and will leave home next year for college - that might be tough, but I have survived much worse the past 3 years.  I haven't really thought much about how I see myself differently now than 10 years ago - have to give that some thought and get back here to post when I decide.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

More successful in my late-budding career - and probably still happily single - unless I meet a phenominal man.

My beloved Nana was my greatest role model.   She's been gone over 10 years now and I still miss her like crazy.  She was the one person in my life who loved me unconditionally, understood me and was always there for me.  She taught me love, and kindness, patience and gave me my moral background.  She was the kindest person I know - always the first one ready to lend a hand if anyone needed it.  She would have given a beggar her last bite of food if she thought he was hungrier than her.  Love you Nan ...till we meet again xo.