tree luee dee

about me

My name is Terry and I got my "chef" name in an unusual way. My real name is Teresa and my middle name is Louise. Then in 9th grade when I made my confirmation (Catholic, of course), I chose the name Donna as my confirmation name. To this day, I have no clue why I picked this name. I don't know anyone named Donna, I have no relatives named Donna, there were no actresses or singers at the time named Donna. Aren't confirmation names supposed to mean something?! Gee, I must have been really "deep" as a 9th grader...lol. Well, it must have been fate adjusting my name so I'd eventually get a ridiculous nickname. Anyway, as most people know, in highschool friends are notorious for giving each other nicknames. One night at a party back in the 70's my friends started playing around with my name and someone says...."Hey, we'll call her tree for Teresa, Dee for Donna and Luee for Louise. Hmmmm, I wonder what they were drinking (or smoking) that night...lol! So, to this day, I'm 43, and I'm still tree luee dee to my old posse.

I've been married to my DH for 20 years. We met at work in 1980. My recollection of our first date is that the waitress took one look at him and yelled out, "Oh my gosh, he looks just like Jesus!" At the time he had long hair, a beard and a mustach. I mean, come on, how could I have refused a second date with this "holy" man...lol. Our picture is posted on my personal page, and he no longer bears any resemblance to "The Man". We have two incredible boys, Mickey 18 and Billy 14. The oldest is a freshman at Bowling Green University and is interested in Sports Management. He had a wonderful opportunity this summer. He actually got to work for the Cleveland Browns down at the Cleveland Stadium. My youngest, Billy is in 8th grade and recently got his first job (he's only 14). He's going to be one of those people who will be able to buy a house "cash" directly out of highschool...lol. He definitely did not get that from me.

It says to mention my pet peeves. I'm warning you...they are weird, very weird. The first is I CANNOT HANDLE, TOUCH OR USE A WET WOODEN SPOON. Just thinking about it give me shivers all over. Even as a kid I couldn't even eat a dixie cup at school because of the wooden spoon. Hmmmmm, and my next pet peeve is I HATE the windsheild wippers on my car. Everytime they go back and forth they go.....brrrruuummmpp, brrrruuummmmpp... So, if you were to lock me in a car with faulty windshield wippers and fill it with wet wooden spoons, well let's just say I'd mentally be as alert as oatmeal when you let me out....lol. Just a weird, totally, non-interesting fact about me.

A few years ago I found out that I have lupus. I had been "suffering" for about 10 years and it got so bad that I couldn't breath correctly, couldn't walk, couldn't move, you name it, I couldn't do it. Thankfully, I found a doctor who correctly diagnosed me....a woman...gee a woman figuring out what a hundred men doctors couldn't, go figure...lol! My family has been very supportive and patient with me, but I am crawling the walls because there is so little I can do without getting exhausted. I am desperate to learn a new craft....crocheting, knitting, cake decorating....anything. Reading has definitely been a refuge for me, because when I'm immersed in a book, there is no pain, just a wonderful story. So, realizing that this was a way to escape the pain, I became obsessed and bought literally hundreds and hundreds of books from people on line. I met one couple who had a used book store and they would send me a box of 50, 60, or more books for $5.00 and they wouldn't charge me shipping. Bless those wonderful people. However, I will never, ever finish all these books in my life time.

I used to work at a real estate company for 13 years, and there were over 100 Realtors and then the support staff. It was the best time of my life, and the four girls I worked most closely with are as close to me as sisters. Monday would roll around, and I would jump out of bed and think "Yes...another wonderful week!" I started out in 1989 answering phones and ended up becoming the "marketing person" for our office. I created postcards, flyers, brochures, etc., for the Realtors to send to their prospective customers. I started to create all the contests the office had for the sales people and I began to plan all the parties and events. Eventually I even found that I had a love and a passion for creative writing. A few things I wrote were published in a local newspaper and other things were published by my company and used internally. It's funny, all these years I guess I just "had the words" and they were waiting to come out. Now there's no stopping me...lol. I have been writing some short stories in my spare time (which is all the time...lol)and who knows! While I can't work anymore, my dear, dear friends call constantly and we get together as often as possible.

Anyway, I'm very new to this board and have "fallen in love" with every aspect of it. How incredibly cool is it to have thousands of wonderful chefs at your finger tips! I've been on the chat room a few times and really, really enjoyed that. I'm looking forward to getting to know more people and to settle more comfortably into the wonderful land of zaar.

Kit's Zaar Stars

Favorite Foods:

Well, as Oliver Twist once said, "Food, glorious, food. What wouldn't I give for...that little bit more...that's all that we live for". In our house, food is definitely the tie that binds. My creativity is definitely spurred by my desire to please my family and friends. Cooking to me is being creative, it's a release, a pleasure and a joy.

The reason I have "watermelon" as my icon next to my name is because I am a watermelon junkie. It all started when I was pregnant with my second son (14 years ago). I could not eat enough of it. Then one day my grandparents come over to see me. Knowing that I am craving watermelon constantly, they bring me a half of a large melon from the store. Now at this point the normal host or hostess would have cut slices for everyone and had a nice chat, but nope not me. I got a spoon, sat on the couch, rested the watermelon right under my huge belly and just started scarfing the whole thing by myself. At the time I didn't even think twice about it. However, soon after that, my grandmother must have told that story to every person she knew. She told me that when they left my house that day, they laughed their butts off all the way home. And yes, to this day, I'll still sit on the couch with a half a watermelon and eat to my heart's delight. My family will just look at me and roll their eyes, but hey you don't mess with tree luee dee when she is eating watermelon....lol!

As far as the other food groups go, I really do love almost anything. One of the few things I dislike are....mushrooms (I know I must be nuts, but blech!). I've never been a big fan of salmon or many types of fish (unless it's totally coated in beer batter..lol. I do like shrimp, but that's it for the seafood family. Oh, and here's the kicker, I hate coffee. I know...I must be a mutant, but for caffeine, I'll take a diet pepsi anytime.

And last but not least, I truly want to thank the originators of this board. It's really been a haven for me and is so nice to have found a nice "safe" web site to visit often.

And to all my new and up-coming friends...my best to you and happy holidays.

tree luee dee

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