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About Gwen Harrison
You know, I could fill this page with a long, boring, narrative about all my experience, training, education, and yada yada yada. But I'm not going to do that.
Instead, I'm just going to give you links to my résumé and other relevant documents, which I've stored on Box.net. If you are interested in that kind of stuff, please feel free to review them all. That's why I put them there.
And if you're interested in me as a person, then read on to learn about who I am, my interests, my family, and other such scintillating information.
My husband and I have been married for more than 25 years. This is a first and only marriage for both of us. We are still very much in love, even though I'm still a neatnik and he still refuses to hang his bathroom towel straight. The good Lord saw fit to bless us with only one child, and how richly blessed we are. Being parents is one of the most wonderful parts of our lives. We both had to work while our son was growing up, but we always tried to spend time with him. We were involved in his schools, we took him fishing, and we helped him complete his Eagle Scout requirements.
Now that our son is grown up and has a life of his own, our "at home babies" are two dogs, two cats, and six chickens. No, we don't let the chickens in the house. In fact, they aren't really pets; they're' our egg providers. But the opposite is true of our canine and feline children. They are all allowed in the house, the smallest one sleeps in the bed with us at night, and all are thoroughly spoiled!
We live in Central Alabama, next door to the King of Tools. (That would be my Dad.) We moved here from Florida in 2010 and built a house on land that has been in my family for five generations. We're turning it back into a fully functional farm. The chickens are just the beginning. We have a big garden every year, I take the summer off from eBay, and we can veggies and fruit until we can't see straight. We plan to expand our chicken flock, add some guineas for flea and tick control, and eventually even venture into goat farming.
We call my Dad the King of Tools because he has all these carpentry tools that have been passed down from my grandfather and great-grandfather. Nothing fancy, and nothing valuable, just a number of well-used tools that each have an amazing story behind them. He even has the old Sears and Roebuck shotgun that my great Grandfather once brought to family gathering in an attempt to start a family feud (but that's another story).
Speaking of my Dad, he is why I sell on eBay and farm rather than working full-time in an office. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006, and needs my help with driving, shopping, and other activities of daily living. Working for myself allows me to have the flexibility I need in my schedule in order to meet Dad's needs.
My Mom lives near us too; she even helps me with my business. That can be tough sometimes because when it comes to work we're both stubbon, opinionated perfectionists. Sometimes we butt heads, but mostly we have fun. My parents are, by the way, divorced for more than 30 years.
My husband is from Georgia, and most of his family still lives there. His father is deceased, but he visits his Mother often, where he frequently runs into her siblings and sometimes even his cousins. He visits his father's siblings less frequently, but he keeps in touch with everybody through phone, email, and Facebook.
I just love old family pictures, don't you? Which brings me to my hobbies. I love doing genealogy research. My husband and I also enjoy reading, walking, day hiking, gardening, cooking, physical fitness, and spending time with family. My favorite reading subject is history, and his is sports.
We both believe that it is important for people to stand for something, to have something they believe in strongly that serves as a moral compass in their lives. That can be Christianity, Buddhism, moderate Islam, Agnosticism, Atheism--whatever you believe to be the right path for your life, and whatever leads you to respect the greater good more than your own wishes. For us all to get along in this world, we must understand that "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few--or the one" (Leonard Nimoy as Spock in Star Trak II: The Wrath of Khan).
Now for my husband and I, our moral compass is Christianity. But we're not going to preach you or try to shove our beliefs down your throat. In fact, unless you ask, you'll never hear anything from us on that subject.