39, married, 2 boys, 1 dog. 2nd gr. teacher. Yes, I know these are sentence fragments. I'm glad you do, too. Love to garden; perennials mostly. LOVE the beach. Must see the ocean every year or go insane. Cranky insane. Not postal insane. Just took up painting.Painted older son's room into rainforest: sky, trees, animals. All four walls. And ceiling. Like to sew; made 6 bridesmaids dresses for a good friend. 3 for women I'd never seen before the wedding. Fitted them through the mail.Like to do anything creative, and enjoy the creativity of others. Deviled eggs, dessert; anything on Allrecipes that has 5 stars, because I know it's going to be a hit! Grandad gave me his recipe for baked chicken and New England Boiled Dinner. Dad showed me how to fry okra without making a gooey mess.And how to make indian frybread. Mom makes a kick-butt potato salad. But most of what I know about cooking I learned from my inlaws. Sister in Law grad. from CIA and catered our wedding. Mother in Law is crazy talented. Like HGTV personified. A triumph for me is making something that both boys and my husband and I all like.So far, it's broiled flounder. And that's about all. My small one will eat anything as long as it's a chicken nugget. When I was 10, I was determined to surprise my mom with a birthday cake. I used a box mix that was banana flavored. Halfway through prep, I realized I had no shortening. My Dad's people are from North Carolina, and, Southern cooks that we are, we often cooked with leftover bacon grease back then (I know-yikes) so I knew it substituted for oil in some dishes.So I used it in the banana cake. I iced it and served it, but as polite as my family was trying to be, no one could get past the first bite. It was beyond words awful.