ok, i know the stuff Lynn wants to know. i got my love for plants from my mother, who spent her entire adult life as a florist. i remember being young and hanging out in the flower shop my mom used to own. i would take the 'prayer plant' into the bathroom and turn the lights on and off, hoping to see the leaves fold up. yeah, i was a dumb kid and forgot a flashlight. lesson learned. from then on, i always had a love for plants. the same basically happened with fish. we got our first family fish tank when i was about 6 or so. i spent hours in front of it, watching the fish swim. not long after that, at the church carnival, my brothers (2) and i each won a goldfish. they were superman, batman and robin. hey, we were kids!!LOL well, mom, not realizing what she was doing, displayed them proudly on the nice, big console tv. needless to say, after school i was the one to inform mom that superman, batman and robin all learned the same, new trick. how to swim upside down!! i thin that was the day i decided i needed to learn how to care for fish my own darned self!! LOL when i was 13, i asked dad if i could get my own fish tank. i was told, sure, go get a job. and i entered the working world. that paper route paid for my first tank, and the rest, as they say, is history.

i have always had hobbies that challenged my creativity. i learned how to play a little guitar, i have done woodworking, including turning my own pool cues on a lathe. i even spent many years tattooing. that was fun!! oh my, the things i got to do and see while tattooing. definitely NOT pg-13....lol i also LOVE to cook and bake. and i am rather good at it there are only 3 things in this world where i have a bit of an ego. my tanks, my job and cooking.....lol but of all the "creative stuff" i have done, i was always drawn back to fish. well anything in a glass cage really. when i saw my first paludarium a while back, i knew it was my "calling". i get to use all the knowledge i have about aquatics, terrestrials and animals? i'm in!! i LOVE a good challenge, and have never backed down from one and i never will. so, if you ever want to get my creative juices flowing, just challenge me with something. i may pull it off, i may not, but i will give it my all.

one last thing. i want to thank ALL the people on the forum for being so kind and welcoming. that even includes the lurkers who never post. i belong to a lot of forums, but i spend the most time on this one, because this is like "home" to me. so once, again, thank you everyone!!

that's all for now, i need to hit the viv section to start a new build thread