My name is Patsy and I live in Portland, Oregon. I have two daughters, Teri and Cindy, who are with me in the above picture. I will be posting photos and writing stories about my entire family. Occasionally I may include comments on articles I’ve read that I find interesting. . . if I find any.

A few years ago, I decided to do something I had always wanted to do. Make my own greeting cards. I’ve always loved cards – the crazy ones as opposed to the sentimental kind that could make a person cry. My daughters, Teri and Cindy, thought it was a great idea – anything to keep me happy and out of bars or the local Wal Mart. That was no problem as I didn’t fit the profile of the typical Wal Mart customer – I didn’t weigh enough. Thankfully, bars don’t have the same customer profile..

Cindy came up with the name for my cards – “I’m A Patsy – Gotta Problem With That?” after we had discussed it over wine which helped the creative process. I used family photos on the front of the cards, and Teri and Cindy helped with the written text inside.

It was a long process, but I finally had enough cards to sell to stores. Teri was living in Manhattan at that time, and somehow landed me an appointment with a card shop in the World Trade Center. I was thrilled! I went to New York and we showed up at the store with my album of samples. They loved them and gave me an order. I felt like Sally Field at the Oscars!

As everyone knows, that didn’t turn out too well, and things didn’t get any better here in Portland. I realized I couldn’t compete with the large companies, so I was forced to give up my dream. But I became bored and missed the creative process I had enjoyed with the cards. I couldn’t see getting involved in committee work because, let’s face it, any committee is boring. I wouldn’t go back to college as I had already done that, and the stand-out memory of my experience there was going to my morning shorthand class wearing a raincoat over my pajamas -- and chewing gum. My teacher didn’t object to the pajamas, but the gum definitely had to go. I figured I was a little too mature to do that again, so Teri mentioned a Blog and thought that might be an idea for me. I could post the cards and also write a little story about each of them. That sounded like fun to me and I wouldn’t have to do any committee work for it. I could sit on my couch, watch old re-runs of “Law and Order” and be creative as hell. What a wonderful world!