OK about me

[Guest guest]

Dear Shirley

thank you for your so courteous reply and I'm glad I did not offend

you.

> You have such a way with words - I wish I could write HALF as well

as you do - BUT I guess EVERYONE has their own kind of talent - it

would be a dull world if we were all alike.

If you started writing 10 pages at a sitting at 12 years as I did and

went on from there you might write like I do! practice practice and

slog depends what you want to slog at I think.

> I have been curious - your address has UK in it - Are you in the

United Kingdom or Russia?

I am on the borders of Wales and England. I live in a big forest

mainly oak tress in a big messy n cottage with husband ,

tall son, and four cats. One is very new a Siberian shaggy fluff who

occupies my left hand as I type.

> I would love to hear more about you - Shirley from Southern Illinois

OK you're about the 4th who asked so here you are.

I am 57 (early this month)

I became huge when I had two pregnancies very fast to get my enormous

10lb baby at 42. Then I got ill soon after and struggled back over 10

years from being bedridden. Got the weight off with 18 months

gruelling effort.

Was then invaded by child protection. This is a terrorist scenario

most people don't know about but it's becoming frighteningly more

common. You have very few or no rights at all - less than a criminal

investigated by police, and anyone's spiteful lies or a child

worker's personal prejudice can trigger it on to you. They don't

weigh evidence and they prefer to visit " nice " people who don't hit

them! rather than 'problem' families. This is called working on soft

targets.

We fought them off and after a year they finally admitted the

absolute rubbish at the root of it e.g son seen not wearinmg a T

shirt on a summer day in August!

But when it happened we couldn't know it was rubbish and they do have

that ghastly power to wreck your life and far too often they make

mistakes. The horror of it devastated us and the weight came back

with knobs on.

Currently 17st 12lbs (248lbs) but it's going again steadily. This

time I'm using sibutramine pills (medical prescription) to help

because I just couldn't face doing it all over again on my own.

Have always written screeds and screeds. I love wordsmithing and

finding the exact right word or word order is a pleasure in itself. I

have mainly written nonfiction but am considering more work on

stories. I write a lot of explanation and instruction as a teacher.

I run an online high school (live classes in chatrooms) and I'm

thinking of setting up my own obesity training courses online with

weekly chatroom meetings and a step by step training - this only

really became a solid idea after joining this group.

I have been a hippie, an intellectual, a businesswoman, a dancer, a

radical feminist, founder of a women's retreat, a champion of men's

spirituality, a priestess and national Pagan organiser, a writer, a

humanistic therapist, a home educator, a support worker for families

harassed by child protection, an online educator, PhD researcher,

director of an alternative school, and now perhaps an obesity guide.

Always a cat lover, for 20 years now a lover (who adores my

palaeolithic solidity rather too much! but he also helps me a great

deal). Most importantly I am Grand High Priestess of the cosmic

religion of my son's existence. He's very compassionate about my

raging hormones, patiently allowing worship to take place at all

times of day.

I'm not a mystery you see. Just an older active matriarch so by now

I've done a variety of things. A strong minded sometimes arrogant,

sometimes depressed, often workaholic lady who loves freedom and

wants her waist back.

Love

shan