@ I'm an amateur cook with a propensity to collect cookbooks and fancy kitchen tools. I love baking most of all, and experimenting with yeast breads when I have a lazy afternoon. A long time ago, my mother-in-law told me to never be a "slave" to my recipes ~ and ever since I've been a daredevil in the kitchen, playing around with spices both exotic and aromatic.

@ I enjoy learning and playing violin with my daughter, and I'm an avid proponent of Suzuki method for teaching and learning and instrument. *update* My daughter has since surpassed my abilities in violin, but she occasionally humors me with a duet or two.

@ A new hobby I enjoy is geocaching with my family on hikes in the mountains. As I have said, my sense of direction is strangely lacking (considering I'm a geographer by trade), but my kids enjoy watching me wander around, looking for hidden treasures with our GPS receiver in hand.

In my everyday life I'm a cartographer ~ I design maps using GIS (geographic information systems). I feel extraordinarily blessed to have a part-time job I truly enjoy... When I'm not sitting at a computer or shlepping my kids, I'm busy being a wife and mother ~ the best job in the world!

Please write me with comments or questions: my.web.geo@gmail.com