Hollie (aka me)

I'm 35 and I work in the IT industry - technical support to be precise. I've been a consultant for a long time which means I've had a job a year for the last 13 years. Sometimes I move on because of an opportunity, other times because of family needs and of course others because of differences of view between myself and my coworkers.

I like what I do. I find technology fascinating and I like helping people learn what they need to in order to do their job. I like when they ask questions, even benign obvious ones because then I can teach them the right way to do it. My favorite thing though is when someone I've helped then goes on to help someone else.

I can't help but bring my work home with me. In my spare time I play computer games and use social networking sites like facebook. I email about as often as I use my cell phone. I'm also tech support for any family members who provide the soda.

I have a terrible Cola addiction which I occasionally try to kick.

Speaking of kicking, I'm not doing a lot of that lately because I slipped and fell on the ice and hurt my ankle (well I broke it.) I tend to do that kind of thing. "Clutzy" would be putting it gently. My mom jokes that she should have named me Grace.

So that's one part of me. The other part of me is 'Hollie as older sister.'

I can't remember a time when my brother and sister didn't need me to take care of them. I'd always known that if anything happened to my parents that I would be responsible for them. I also always knew that someday they would live with me. Its weird to write but I say it out loud because I've come to realize most people don't think that way. I also had and have the dream of a family with children of my own but my brother and sister have always been a part of that.

I was married for six years, 2001-2007, and my sister came to live with me in 2004. When I divorced, I moved home and it became me, mom and Angie. My mom took over a lot of Angie's care while I was recovering from my divorce and then my dad's death. I even had a short relationship which took me to milwaukee for a few months. But home, with Angie and mom, was where I believe I was meant to be.

My brother is a recent addition because he was ill in April and it became clear there wasn't a place currently available that could take care of him that we were confident in. That's when I came back from Milwaukee and that's when we all ended up in the same house again.

I don't plan on spending my whole day, every day, being a caretaker for my siblings. But its absolutely a part of my life every day. I wake up early enough to hear my mom getting them ready and I help when she's running late or one or both is being difficult. On weekends, babysitting and lunch tend to be in my domain. The rest of the time, I'm just 'there', like the semi-traditional 'dad'. Which means I'm more of a disciplinarian than "Mama" is.