No, wait! You are not welcome to my family. They're mine. I've worked hard to capture them, build their cages and spend far too much time protecting them from poachers. You can't have them.

What I meant to say was welcome to the page about my family. That's better.

My wife, Patty, and I now reside in a little community outside of Portland, Oregon. We come from opposite sides of the globe: Patty is originally from Formosa — that's Taiwan to your youngsters — and I am from Oregon. Neither of us speak any Chinese dialect. Which causes confusion in Chinese restaurants.

But we come from parents that had the same values, same life's goals, and the same views on life. We are both adopted; she was raised by a couple from the South (specifically Texas and North Carolina) and I was raised by wolves. Actually, ducks... University of Oregon Ducks!

We became friends immediately and have remaind so for the 31+ years we have been together.

---

The Tale of Patty and the San Jose Guest Room
We used to have a nice, big guest room (12 x 24-feet) with a sewing machine in it. Then it became an arts and crafts room that managed to still allow for a guest bed. Now there isn't even a bed in it. It's filled with yarn, fabric, knitting and sewing machines, video tapes and books. And computers and printers and such.

In 1993, Patty took good advantage of being laid off of her job after ten years at Apple Computer, by using the time to rediscover sewing and knitting and to discover other crafts. To support her habits, Patty continued consulting at Apple, doing everything from program marketing to online customer service.

Within a couple years, the sewing room sported more square yards of fabric and more miles of yarn than most stores. It was still technically possible to get into the room, but cat swinging came to an abrupt halt. As did the concept of putting a guest in there. Practically every square foot of wall space featured shelving or storage cabinets on it.

---

The Tale of Patty and the Oregon Guest Room
Patty decided on our moving up to Oregon that she really needed three things to support her crafty habits: one room to be her home office, another room for just her craft things and a third room for storage of her yarns and fabrics. Luckily, this house has 4 bedrooms. We get to have a master bedrrom, a guest bedroom and separate rooms for her office and crafts. So, what about the storage room? Easy. The 'bonus' room over the garage features a pair of 6 x 22 foot side rooms.

Patty gets all her craft needs met, and we get o have a (fairly) sacrosanct guest room. Ta-da!

---

Over the years Patty has also done some work with a growing internet software and service company called Open Door Systems, Inc., providing marketing and office support. Now, she works a grueling 20-40 hours a month for an internet marketing company creating email informational and marketing materials.

Oh, and more that eighteen years ago she became a FileMaker Pro database Queen and Guru.

You'll need Quicktime installed in your browser to view this

During our now 30+ years of marriage she has never aged — some sort of arrangement with a portrait in our attic I believe — and we have managed to become closer and closer with each passing year. While we have avoided having a succession of ungrateful little imps (read that: children) running around, we have had five dogs in our lives, usually two at a time. Click here for some information on our current and previous children, Jake and Mandy.

By the way... here is a picture of me having a bad hair day, surrounded by a previous dog, Cody, and the late and missed Mandy who seem intent on finding out what I might have just eaten. Cody also make a terrible pillow in case you were wondering.

I won't try to recreate Patty's website here on this pitiful site. If you want to know more about us, our hobbies, and have the opportunity to go through thousands of pictures of us, our dogs and our friends, then please click on the picture, below:

Or...click here.