Here are quick links to my various passions. I'll be adding photos and additional information about them later.

Husband Paul
Daughter Jennifer
The Grandkids
Cats
House
Politics
The Middle Ages
Art
Music

Fontzilla's Alter Ego

Oh, so you want to know even more about me, eh? Okay. I have many passions, but a handful of them are more important.

There's my hubby Paul, who I adore (don't tell him; it will only go to his head). For the majority of our marriage, we literally spent 24/7 together as we ran our own business, too. For the last couple of years I've had to work outside the home and miss seeing him all day long. People often ask how we can spend so much time together, but for us, it's easy. He's my best friend, my playmate, my everything. Paul's an excellent computer programmer, a terrific comedian, and all-around handy Mr. Fix-It.

Then there's my one and only offspring, my daughter Jennifer. She was simply adorable as a child, but the teen years were definitely a challenge. We got through them though and she's turned out just fine. We're both very proud of her. Jenn served in the United States Navy, achieving the rank of 2nd Class Petty Officer before her discharge and coming back 'home'. She's got brains and beauty and I love her dearly. In October 2008, she married Josh, and their family has grown to include three daughters!

My daughter's eldest is Alexis, born in October 2001. In February 2010, she was joined by Amelia, then March of 2011 saw the arrival of Avery! Yes, I'm much too young to be a grandmother. Lexi's been an absolute joy and is quite a fasion plate (she loves designing outfits, too). Her mom was the same when she was a little girl. Amelia is growing very fast and is scary smart! She's taken to learning like a sponge takes to water. Avery is the daredevil of the bunch, enjoying climbing on everything she can reach. On my YouTube channel, I have lots of videos of the grandkids.

I best not forget my kitties. Now that my daughter has grown and gone out on her own, they're my babies. Sadly, cats don't live as long as we do and I've lost many during my adult years. There was our black boy Chessie (aka Pookie) who died when Jenn was away at Basic Training (2000). We kept it secret from her until graduation. He'd been our kitty since she brought him home, held in the skirt of her dress, as a little girl. Then we lost our sweet Siamese Tiki (aka Weasel) in 2006. She died suddenly and much too young compared to our other cats. We lost our grande dame, Sanibel (aka Splatties, for her grey tortie coat) in 2008. She was 17+ years old. In 2009, we lost Gizmo, a huge, gorgeous silver tabby who was quite smart. Like his 'sisters', he died from kidney failure. When we lost him, that left us with just Skeeter, a Russian Blue. Sadly we lost him in 2014. Currently we share our home with two kitties. After Gizmo died, we adopted a Siamese kitten to keep Skeeter company. ZuZu got her from that classic Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life. She's the first kitty we ever purchased from a breeder. Up until now, we'd always had strays and rescues from local shelters. ZuZu is absolutely adorable, but was quite the handful in the beginning. It had been a long time since we had a kitten in the house! When Skeeter left us, she needed a playment, so it was back to the shelter and we adopted Booger, a tabby with splotches of white. Believe me, he's aptly named! He's very affectionate, but a complete Booger Butt!

My house takes up a good portion of my free time. I confess I'm addicted to DIY and HGTV… much to my hubby's chagrin. Our house was originally built in 1959, was added on to over the years, and before we bought it, was horribly mistreated as a rental for over 20 years. In the first four years of living here, we had to replace the roof, have gutters installed, replace the entire central air conditioning system (including the duct work), and replace the hot water heater. Sheesh! Ever since we bought this house, I'd wanted to remodel the tiny kitchen. The proverbial last straw fell in 2007 and we embarked on a major remodel. I won't bore you with the gorey details here, but if you want to learn more, and see the photos tracking the progress from start to finish, check it out here. You'd think I would have learned a lesson after that, but no, we moved on to remodeling a bathroom; you can see that project here.

Here's a hot topic: politics! I admit I'm unashamedly patriotic! I love this country (America) and stand by her. I'm a Conservative. I have been since I was in high school and first learned what the two parties stood for. While I disagree with a few planks of the Republican Party, overall I feel it's best. I firmly believe in the Constitution, personal responsibility, smaller government, and a strong defense. If you're of a like mind, you'll probably enjoy my tribute page to Liberty & Freedom.

Beyond my immediate family and work, I do have a few other interests. As this site clearly illustrates, I love letterforms and the printed word. I'm also a big fan of the Middle Ages. I spent several years with a re-enactment group known as The Free Companions in Virginia. We had tons of fun, but also performed educational duties at schools and events. I studied costuming and made several for myself and others. Heraldry was another passion during this period. I even achieved knighthood in the group, as Dame Anne-Gabrielle Arbalastier.

Art is a long time passion. I'm partial to the old masters like Rembrandt, DaVinci, and Michealangelo, but Vincent Van Gogh holds a special place in my heart. I've been to many U.S. museums, but my favorites are the National Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Chrysler Museum (in Norfolk, Virginia). Some day I hope to travel to Europe and visit the Louvre and others.

Music is another passion. I've long wished to play the keyboard/piano, but never got around to learning. I can pick ever so little on a six-string guitar, and I used to play a dulcimer, but mostly I enjoy listening to music. Don't ask me to name a favorite performer — I couldn't even name a favorite style of music! We have about 500 CDs and they range from AC/DC to ZZ Top. In between, you'll find classical (Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart mostly), folk/accoustic (John Denver, Harry Chapin, etc.), dance (lots of 70s and 80s compilations, Average White Band, Michael Jackson, George Michael, etc.), pop (Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Phil Collins, Hall & Oates, etc.), easy listening (Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Frank Sinatra, etc.), rock (Led Zepplin, Yes, Kiss, Kansas, Jethro Tull, The Who, Boston — this list could go on forever; it makes up the bulk of our music). Thanks to listening to Absolute Radio online at night, I've picked up a few newer favorites — Snow Patrol, Elbow, Muse, Keane, Stereophonics, Nickleback, just to name a few. These days, I've been enjoying the acapella group Pentatonix. I've done several pieces highlighting music. You'll find them here. Be sure to scroll all the way down to see them all.

I'm also a big fan of movies. My husband and I once worked for a video distributor — they sold previously-viewed movies to mom-and-pop style video stores all across the U.S. Working there, we started our quite large movie collection. Unfortunately, that was before DVDs hit the scene. We've since replaced almost all of those with DVD versions. Of course, now there's BlueRay, so that's what we're buying as we add titles. As with music, our tastes span a broad range. You'll find classics like Casablanca and Singing in the Rain, tons of science fiction, lots of action, horror, comedy, and some dramas. At last count, we have over 600 movies. On top of those, we have complete series sets for: Monty Python's Flying Circus, Outer Limits, Firefly, and Babylon 5. Like with music, I have a page dedicated movies.

     
Site first created: 8/1/02
Last updated: 7/18/17
© 2002-17 Nancy J. Foster
 
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