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Who SJZ...aka Suzi

sjz

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
1,173
Ok, I''ve finally read everyone else''s bio, and I think I''m finally ready to share mine. Beware...what you are about to read is probably pretty boring compared to the rest of you, but here goes anyway...

I was born in the ''60''s and grew up in a small midwestern town. As corny as it sounds, my childhood was very Norman Rockwellesque. I was surrounded by family...grandparents, aunts and uncles, various and assorted cousins, and a brother and sister who also happened to be my best friends (still are!). My mom was a "homemaker" who took care of us, our house, our pets, and was a wonderful cook! I have such good memories of fried chicken, chocolate cake, and fresh baked bread. My dad was a regular 9 to 5 guy who cut the grass on weekends, played baseball with us and took us fishing. I still throw a mean spit ball to this day thanks to dad! See? Boring, isn''t it...lol.

I grew up as a very musical child. My parents started it by giving me a little child-sized baby grand piano when I was still a toddler. I used to put on "concerts" for anyone who would listen. When I was 8 years old, I started taking piano lessons, which continued for the next 8 years. I started playing the sax when I was 10. By the time I was in high school, I was a regular band geek! I was in a concert band, a symphonic band, a marching band, two jazz bands, and during the summer I made money playing in an "adult" concert band and as an accompanist for various musicians. I also dabbled around in a few garage bands as a keyboard player...but that was mostly to get picked up by guitar players and drummers...lol. But my heart will always belong to my saxophones.

Art was also one of my passions. I took many art classes, and competed in a few art shows and competitions. I actually won a few prizes and had one work published! As I came to the end of my school days, it was time to decide what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I had to go to college so that I could get a real job someday!
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Everyone pretty much expected me to enter a fine arts program and major in eithr music or art. But deep down inside I had ANOTHER passion...

I was always fascinated with the healing arts. As a kid, when I wasn''t practicing or taking music lessons, I would often spend hours at the library reading books about people such as Marie Curie, Louis Pastuer, Florence Nightengale, Joseph Lister, and the like. I had always felt drawn to helping people and making a difference. I wanted to be a nurse!

So, I shocked pretty much everyone from my family to my teachers to my music instructors and applied for nursing school. I figured I would always have my music and art, but I would regret it forever if I didn''t pursue this calling. Near the end of college, I met my first husband. I graduated first and got a job working in orthopedics, while he finished his degree. As soon as he graduated, we got married. Soon after, I found out that I was expecting our baby! I was over the moon. When he was born, I really thought I was looking into the face of an angel. I had everything I''d ever wanted. Or so I thought...

Just after our son had his first birthday, my husband left me for another woman! I was 24 and she was a 19 year old divorcee that he met at work. I was devastated! My son and I briefly moved back home with my parents, but I soon realized that I had to go on with my life, and make a home for my little boy. So I got a job working at my hometown hospital in the ER. My ex went on to marry his now pregnant 19 year old girlfriend, and I resigned myself to being a single mom, and raising our son by myself. I wasn''t exactly happy, but I was doing OK. I had a good job, I bought a small house near my parents, and I had plenty of friends. I even had an occasional date or two now and again.

One day, the hospital where I worked hired a new doctor to work in the ER. He was a resident just finishing up his last year, and was looking to moonlight on weekends for extra $$. He told me on our first date, that the minute he walked into the ER and took one look at me, he thought to himself "that''s my wife!" His premonition turned out to be right! We hit it off right away, and soon started dating. Within six months, I was totally head over heels in love with "Dr. Z". Apparently, he felt the same, because soon we were engaged, and nearly two years later to the day I became "Mrs. Dr. Z". The best part was that he loved my little boy Nick just as much as he loved me! I really got lucky, didn''t I?

2 years after we were married, we added to our family. Our daughter Laura was born. She was immediately nicknamed "space monkey" because she had jaundice and had to be wrapped in a special blanket of ultraviolet lights for several days, which kind of make her look like some weird monkey from mars or something. But she grew into a very beautiful girl! She is now 12 years old and is a sax player, just like her mama! She is also very much the little athelete and plays basketball and softball. She wants to play college ball someday in either or both sports, and she hopes to be a vet when she grows up.

5 years after Laura came into the world, we had another son, Adam. He is 6 years old, and goes to kindergarten now. His nickname is "dangerboy". I don''t think I need to explain that one, do I?
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. He wants to play the drums in the worst way! He has all sorts of percussion instruments and drives me kinda nuts with all of his "music". My oldest, Nick, is now 18 and getting ready to graduate from highschool. Where does time go? I don''t see him much, because 3 years ago he went to live with his dad in Indiana. I''m hoping to see something of him once he finishes school. HA!

I gave up working at the hospital after Adam was born, and for the last 6 years I''ve been a stay-at-home-mom. So now I''M the one baking the chocolate cake and frying the chicken for MY kids. I am enjoying it quite a lot. It also gives me lots of time for my music. But I still miss being a nurse. I''m thinking of joining my parish nurse program at church for the time being. I hope to go back to the hospital one day, but for now I''m happy as I am. My husband is a full time ER doctor still, and works a lot of long hours. But he''s also happy doing what he does, and that''s what''s important.

For a girl with a boring life, this was a long story, wasn''t it? Thanks for all of you who took the time to read it. Now you know a little more about me.

Suzi
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Here''s a picture of me, taken last week just before a play I was involved with. I helped with the music. Hubby didn''t think to get a picture of me with my sax, dang it!

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Sorry about the big pictures. I can''t seem to resize them. You''ll all probably think I''m the jolly green giant''s sister now! Anyway...here''s Dr. Z...

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My oldest, Nick.

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This is a picture of my gorgeous daughter, Laura. She had a small part in the play I was playing for. It was the King and I, she played Phra Alack. This is her in her Siamese makeup.

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And last but not least...my baby! Adam is in makeup, because he had a small part in the play, too! He was one of the royal children. It''s funny how they made a blonde haired, blue eyed little boy look sort of asian! Make up can do such wonders!

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Thanks for sharing your story with us, Suzi.
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You have a beautiful family!
 
Date: 4/21/2005 10:29:52 AM
Author: Patty
Thanks for sharing your story with us, Suzi.
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You have a beautiful family!
Thanks, Patty! There is nothing more that I love more than showing off my kids! Here''s another picture of my daughter the basketball star!

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And here''s "dangerboy" in his soccer gear.

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Great life, sjz. Thanks for sharing.
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I noticed the fairy you have as your avatar. It looks like an Amy Brown, right?

DiamondLil
 
I realize in the light of day (I posted my bio late last night) that I never shared with you all how my love of jewelry (specifically diamonds) started! How silly of me...lol. I started very young, sneaking into my mom''s jewlery box to try on her "pretties". I must have still been in diapers, because my mom LOVES to tell this story about how she kept some of her jewelry in a drawer on her dresser which squeaked very loudly every time it was opened. One day she said that she heard the squeak of the drawer, and came looking to see who was into her jewlery. When she got to the bedroom, all she saw was the open drawer and a wet spot on the carpet in front of the dresser. Apparently, when the drawer squeaked, it scared me and I peed my pants! This was in the days before disposable diapers obvoiusly...lol. I don''t remember this incident, as I was too young to have functional memory banks back then, but I do remember in later years figurging out that the "trick" to getting that drawer open without the squeak was to open it verrrrrrrrry slowly.

Both of my grandmother''s had extensive jewelry collections. One grandmother had so much jewelry that she had to have several large jewelry boxes and an armoire to hold it all! I would spend hours whenever I went to either grandma''s house going through their jewelry boxes and trying on their rings and bracelets. I started pestering my mom to get my ears pierced when I was about 6 years old, because one grandma used to tell me stories about my greatgrandma having pierced ears, and all the pretty earrings she wore. My mom finally relented when I was 10 and let me do it. Back in those days (the early ''70''s) not that many little girls where I lived had pierced ears, and there weren''t mall stores and piercing shops on every other corner. So my mom bought me a pair of 14K gold ball studs, and our neighbor lady came over and had me hold an icecube on my earlobes until they went numb. Then she stuck a potato (no lie) behind my ear, and pierced my lobes with a big old darning needle! It''s a wonder I didn''t get gangrene and loose my ears! My mom did have the sense to clean my earlobes every day a couple of times with alcohol until they healed. I was quite the celebrity in my school for a while, since I was the only girl in my fourth grade class who wore earrings!

My first "real" ring was a garnet ring that one of my grandma''s bought me for my birthday. It was yellow gold, with 3 marquise shaped garnets (my birthstone) set in a bypass setting at an angle. I loved that ring! I still have it, too. I''ll have to try and get a pic of it and post it here. When I first started earning my own money babysitting and beanwalking, the first things I spent my money on were earrings and watches. One of the few fights I ever had with my sister growing up was over a pin that she borrowed without my knowledge and lost! I was so broken hearted
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Both of my grandmothers have passed away, but I inherited some lovely pieces from both of them. Many of the pins, earrings, and brooches are costume, but very elaborate and high quality none the less. I''ve seen similar items in antique stores and at auctions that go for quite a chunk of change over the years. I have also inherited some lovely jewelry from my MIL. My mom has a HUGE jewelery collection which includes quite a few nice diamonds that my sister and I are going to inherit one day, but hopefully that day will be many many many years down the road. My husband is also very generous, and has indulged (and allowed me to indulge myself) in some very pretty and often unusual items.
 
Date: 4/21/2005 1:33:45 PM
Author: diamondlil
Great life, sjz. Thanks for sharing.
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I noticed the fairy you have as your avatar. It looks like an Amy Brown, right?

DiamondLil

Yes it is!
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Oh, and BTW...that print is called "Wild Violet".
 
Hey, I did the ice cube/potato behind the ear method of ear piercing too!

Actually, my friend Diane did it TO me, lol.

I let those holes close up at some point and got my ears repierced in a mall years later.

The first holes were never quite straight.
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Date: 4/21/2005 2:15:49 PM
Author: Patty
Hey, I did the ice cube/potato behind the ear method of ear piercing too!

Actually, my friend Diane did it TO me, lol.

I let those holes close up at some point and got my ears repierced in a mall years later.

The first holes were never quite straight.
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I was lucky, my neighbor lady did a good job of centering the holes and getting the very straight. I never let them grow shut, and that is still my main piercing to this day. Later, when I was in my thirties, I decided to get a second pair of piercings higher up on my lobes. They weren''t even and they were too close to the cartilage and they HURT! So I let them grow shut. A couple of years later, my husband bought me the first pair of diamond studs, so I went back and had the second piercing re-done. It still wasn''t right, so I let those holes close up, too. About a year and a half ago, I decided to try ONE more time, and this time one hole was perfect, but not on the other ear. You''ll never guess what I did? I repierced it myself! I didn''t use an icecube or anything. I just took the piercing stud which had a sharp point on it, sterilized it with alchohol and boiling water, and stuck it through where I had marked it. It hurt like the devil! I still can''t believe I did that. I know better, but I was so frustrated about not being able to get the darned piercings right, that I decided that I couldn''t do a worse job myself...lol. It actually healed up nicely, and I wear my diamond studs in my upper holes all the time, but I rotate what I wear in the lower original holes, depending on my mood.
 
Bravisimo!! I love hearing stories of Stong Women!!!
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I think I posted this somewhere else, but I love your avater.. Wild Voilet.. I have Wild Violet and Shy Violet framed and hung above my bed.. Both sides of me, the wild and shy..... above my bed... hmmmmmm...
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LOL>>>>>>

It is wonderful to hear your story. Awesome Awesome!!!
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Date: 4/21/2005 2
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0:31 PM
Author: sjz

Date: 4/21/2005 1:33:45 PM
Author: diamondlil
Great life, sjz. Thanks for sharing.
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I noticed the fairy you have as your avatar. It looks like an Amy Brown, right?

DiamondLil

Yes it is!
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Oh, and BTW...that print is called ''Wild Violet''.
Love them! I hand painted fairies on the walls of my daughter''s room, and she has this print on the wall.

DiamondLil

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wow- what a story. And not boring at all.

Thanks for sharing. Your children are beautiful.
 
You have had a neat life and your kids seem wonderful! Gotta get a picture of you playing your sax though!!!!

My Mom is a nurse too - when the kids got in trouble, she did all the fixing up herself - nothing like getting stitches without any anesthesia to teach you not to do THAT again! I''m lucky enough not to have ever been in a hospital except when I was born and Mom says that was close - only about half an hour before I popped out!

How neat that after putting up with all the residency years, etc, that you ended up with another Doctor. Talk about karma watching out for you!
 
Oh man, I just got woozy thinking about you piercing your own ear!

My ear holes looked even from the front, but the one did not go straight through. So when I would try to put an earring in and I''d push it straight back, I could not get the back to come out the hole. So then I''d have to fish it around in there, trying to find the back opening! Sometimes I could feel the earring end but there was still a little flap of skin over it. About this time, I usually passed out.
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Letting them close up was a best thing on my part.
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Date: 4/21/2005 6:54:42 PM
Author: Patty
Oh man, I just got woozy thinking about you piercing your own ear!
Oh the pain ... no wonder why I don''t have pierced ears.

Suzi, love your story ... have to agree with websailor here and would like to see a picture of you and your sax.
 
awwww! what a great story! You are beautiful, and so is your family!!
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Thanks for sharing with us!
 
What a beautiful family you have sjz. Loved reading all about you and your struggles and triumphs. It was inspiring to say the least, thanks for sharing!!!
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