I often kid that I’ve had “many lifetimes”. I feel like I’ve done so many different things over the course of many years. I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, ex-Elementary art teacher, ex-Substitute teacher, web designer, ex-PTA President, ex-Baseball Association board member, ex-CCD teacher.. the list goes on. I like to think that these experiences have made me the person I am today.
I’m also a born and bred Connecticut Nutmegger who moved to the South over 20 years ago. There are things that I miss about New England, but I’ve never regretted our move. I love it here.
I’ve always been very opinionated and not afraid to express how I feel about a variety of issues. I’m a bleeding heart liberal and extremely anti-gun. I’ve been a feminist since my college days in the 1970’s.
Over the years I’ve volunteered for many organizations. The latest group that I’ve been helping with is Digital Charlotte . This organization helps bridget the digital divide in many different ways and in partnership with many different organizations. Through Digital Charlotte I’ve helped teach Digital Literacy with the Charlotte Housing Authority through it’s grant from Google Fiber, the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library through it’s Digi Lit program and I’ve helped distribute laptops to Charlotte Mecklenburg students with E2D.org.
The following is a video interview that Digital Charlotte conducted with me last year. The clips are from the Digi Lit classes run by the Char-Meck Library. The classes have been on hold since the spring due to Covid-19 concerns and I really miss working with all of the wonderful library staff and especially the students. Can’t wait until we can start up again!!
I’ve been a genealogist for many, many years. When I lived in Connecticut I spent a lot of time at the Connecticut State Library doing my own family’s history as well as research for others. There wasn’t a lot of records on line at that time. When I moved to Charlotte I started visiting the local LDS Family History Center and ended up volunteering there for over 7 years. I’ve done about as much as I can with my own family and have a lot of my information online here: MyGenealogyResearch.net. I still do a lot research for others. If you’ve been thinking of having research done on your family, let me know, I love solving puzzles and doing research. My “fees” are very very reasonable.
I’ve been a long time “fan gurl” for authors, actors and tv shows. One of my posts on this page is about when I had a major shift in my involvement in fandoms. I still love to “fan gurl” and am still involved with some fandoms. I just decided to leave the toxic ones.
My fangurling is how I got the “justmaryp” name. I used to run a couple of fansites for actors. I had social media pages for those sites and then I had personal social media pages. On the personal pages I figured that instead of representing a fansite..I was “JustMaryP”.
I am a reader. I never am “bookless”. I love to read and I make sure to find time every day to indulge. I mostly read historical romances. Mostly “Regency” era, but not exclusively that period. I also like a few paranormal romances. I don’t usually enjoy “contemporary” novels. The only ones I read are usually because they are also paranormals. I also love reading about places that I know well. My favorite genre mashup is “Regency era paranormals” ! I recently read the newest Nicholas Sparks novel, The Return, that takes place in New Bern, NC. Really enjoyed it.
Oh yeah.. I’m also a CRAZY CAT LADY!!
Here is a list of a few of my current obsessions.
- Historical Romance
- Sleepy Hollow
- Poldark
- Aidan Turner
- Downton Abbey
- Alex O’Loughlin
- Knitting
- Coloring