I love children;  their innocence, their sense of wonder, their uninhibited laughter, their delightfulful imaginations, their ability to find joy in each moment. 

I enjoy intelligent, sensitive, well-written books; To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre,  Pillars of the Earth, The Kite Runner. More recently, I loved  Kathryn Stockett's' The Help', Dean Koontz's'Breathless" and for a guilty pleasure I enjoyed the entire Twighlight Saga. I have a new Amazon Kindle and I am rediscovering the joy of reading.

I like a few well written- and well-acted- TV shows;  The (now cancelled) West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, Boston Legal and Medium, The Mentalist.. and if I ever just veg out, I can spend a ridiculous amount of time watching HGTV.

I enjoy solitude, especially when I am working on a project.  I really like to travel; especially where there is a strong sense of history and beautiful scenery;  all of New England, Virginia, Oregon.  But the closest I'll get to camping is sittingnear the window of a hotel room.

     For 17 years I was employed by our city's school district, most  of the time as a sign language interpreter and tutor for hearing  impaired students in the middle schools and high schools. I  very much enjoyed working with and getting to know my  students!  It was always fun and I learned something new every day!
    In the time since I decided to no longer work outside my home, my main interest has been in computers!  The window to the world they offer is endlessly fascinating!  In 1997 I started this home page- Jan's Joyous Jungle-  as my first real computer adventure! I dove in head first, devoured every bit of online information I could find on creating a web site, and learned how to code HTML. I have to admit that I find it annoying that, after all my hard work there are now so many programs that do it all for you! 

I design websites for others-  both business and personal.  Click below  if you'd like more information about that...

On my main "topics" page, you will find a Sing-along Page with music to 100+ songs of all styles, displayed with their lyrics so that you can sing along with them! Some have melody tracks and others are strictly "karaoke" style.  Or, if you'd just like to sit back and take it easy, there is also a page of beautiful Mellow MIDI Music  that many people have told me they return to again and again.  It's hard to see how you could listen to these melodies without  relaxing!

You will find a page about "Our Travels", with links to pages about the places we have visited, and some pictures Bill has taken on these trips! There are links to other great travel sites, also. On my Things Remembered page,you'll find links to some we have loved and lost.

Of course, you'll get to meet our three daughters ...  Mindy, Amy, & Marci ... and
our five grandchildren.   While you are visiting those pages, you will find links to pages they have helped me build with their interests in mind!  One page is a  joyous memorial  for our eldest daughter, who died several years ago, and there is also a memorial page for our baby son. 

My daughters and grandchildren are so important to me, and now I see my daughters dealing with the same parenting issues that I dealt with when they were growing up. In view of this, I have put together several pages dealing with parenting. The first, guaranteed to touch something within you if you are a parent, is  "Becoming a Mother". Another favorite of mine is "How To Really Love a Child" which contains some fun and insightful writings I have come across... 2 of which were given to me by my daughter, Amy, herself a new mother. Another is "Spoiling... or Nurturing?" which deals with the decision of whether or not to pick up a crying baby or child. Another, "We Pray for the Children" is a touching writing (author unknown) to help us not forget children that do not have the advantages and love that we give our own children. Then there is a page of links to "Parenting Sites" with a brief description of what you will find on each. Throughout all the pages in "Jan's Joyous Jungle", you will find photos of my loved ones! 

NOTE:There are many more pages that I have not linked here, such as a number of thoughtful writings and quotes, kids pages, a page of real jungle sounds, "information" about dragons, and original short stories by my grandson Ryan, and some pages that are just for fun! So, be sure you start your visit from the  Main Topics Page  so you can see all your choices! After your visit today, please take a moment to sign my guestbook and give me your thoughts! I will be adding to and making additions and changes to all pages frequently! 
I really hope you enjoy your time here and that you will come back again! 

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