Getting to Know Me

I've been hesitant about writing this first post. I've never written anything in a blog. In fact, the only thing I have in my own blog is it's title, Charlotte Butterball (explanation later). Since the bee is a new adventure for me I figured it's time to start a lot of new things, at the age of 56.



I grew up in New York City and although I still love it there I don't know if I could live there again but now my oldest daughter Ruth (26) who just finished her Master's degree in Internation Conflict Resolution just moved there so never say never. She loves it there like I remember feeling about it. I've been married for 35 years which seems so odd to be so old. My husband (Jeff) and I actually met in high school through mutual camp friends and went to college and then graduate school together. I am a trained Social Worker with an M.S.W. and after working for a lot of different organizations in 1987 I decided to open my own private practice and I've been working as a psychotherapist since then. My husband is a Clinical Psychologist and we share an office together. People ask if that's difficult but there are days we hardly see each other and we have different clinical interests and knowing one another's habits helps. I forgot to mention that we have a one year old Westie named Winston. I always said I wasn't going to be one of those women who gets a dog when their youngest child goes to college but always having had dogs throughout my adult life when our sweet Kacie (a Bouvier des Flandres) died last summer I knew I missed someone greeting me at the door when I came home but after injuring my back in a car accident, a smaller dog seemed much more manageable. He is a little devil but he's very funny and he always makes me smile. Ruth got his brother, Louie a year before and we fell in love with Louie so deciding what kind of dog to get was easy. Watching the two brothers play is like watching two two year olds. Winston is definitely the pesky younger brother.



As part of his (my husband Jeff) training we have lived in a number of cities for short periods of time. We went to graduate school in St. Louis. He did further training in Seattle and Palo Alto. We didn't even know where Rochester was when he got his first job.here. People from New York City really think that upstate is anything north of Westchester. Rochester is 150 miles south of Toronto. We thought this would be a good first job for him , never expecting to stay more than a few years and we've been here ever since. It is definitely not New York City or Seattle (which I adored and still do) but it's been a nice sized city with a wonderful school system and affordable housing. A generally good place to raise a family. So here we remain until.... there is definitely a move somewhere on the horizon. Our youngest daughter (Hannah) who turns 21 in a few weeks is a junior at Emory University in Atlanta. She recently returned from spending her fall semester in Italy.



A few years ago anticipating "an empty nest" I took my first quilting class. It was about 20 levels too high for me but I then tried some baby quilts on my own. Being a perfectionist, it has been hard for me but now that exactness is no longer required I love picking out the different colors and fabrics and thinking about designs. I definitely veer towards the unusual colors and mixtures of fabrics. I promised I would not horde fabric like I've horded yarn in the past (I still knit but very slowly) but I've alread got a sewing room and Etsy has become a close friend. I was so glad to see that most of us seem to be at the same level with a few of us having more experience to help guide the rest of us along. I'm excited about meeting a new group of women at this point in my life and sharing our stories, pictures and quilts. I can't wait to start. I'm already thinking of what I want to pick for my month. Flickr has become my second best friend.

February seems far away but I know January will fly by and then we can start. I am so excited to see what every one else's tastes and interest are. I can't wait to get to know all of you.