I live in Austin, TX  Colorado Springs, CO with my husband and four sons. Three of them are adults now, on paper anyway. We have three spoiled dogs who are their own girl pack and part of the family.

One of our sons has Down syndrome and is known around town as a hype man, a real party starter who must be on the guest list if you want to get the dance floor going. His twin brother has a heart of gold and is at college studying to be a speech and language pathologist. This has been a big adjustment for all of since he's the first to leave our nest.' Our eldest son has autism and now that he graduated high school, he is working on acquiring skills so he can find and keep a job. He is starting college in spring of '26 and we are all excited about that!  Our "baby" is turning 14 next month and has suddenly shot up about 6 inches since Thanksgiving. It happened to all the boys at this age but seems much more dramatic this time for some reason. 

     Life is never boring, on the contrary I can't ever seem to catch up. I enjoy local politics but national politics exhausts me, especially right now.  I was a public school teacher in Houston during my 20's and remain a huge supporter of public schools. I have stayed active in public education one way or another my entire adult life. I've done a lot of advocacy over the last 20 years, most of it related to special education and educational civil rights for people with disabilities. Texas has always been home and I've probably driven along every highway, farm road and mail route in the state. I love road trips, especially alone because I don't have to compromise on what's playing on the stereo and  it's when I do my best thinking. I have taught Texas history and read the books, seen the movies, visited the places and heard enough colorful stories from the liveliest of characters that I consider myself to be a "Texpert." This makes it all the more surprising and upsetting that we have moved to another state, something I never thought would ever happen.