I can relax a little and not wonder what people think of me.

I can eye a good-looking young guy and not feel guilty because he's probably the same age as one of my sons.

I can refuse to change diapers and I don't have to worry about a crying baby.

I can look forward to having an empty nest soon and imagine what my husband and I will do with all our childless freedom.

I look for someone to talk to and/or watch a comfort movie. (Usually a musical, though I do like Hook.)

I've changed many things about myself since childhood, but most of my values have remained the same.

One is honesty. Lying was never tolerated in our family and my father, especially, could never bring himself to tell even a 'white lie.' When I taught, students frequently lied to me about all sorts of things, big and small. I never could ubderstand that mentality.

Another is family unity. My sisters and I fought, of course, but my mother always emphasized that we must stay together, in spite of our differences. Now, as middle-aged women, we are more different than ever. But we do all stick together, even when we strongly disagree.

My parents also taught us about God. I remember my mother's reminder that God is always watching me, so I shouldn't feel like I can do something wrong without someone knowing. She also taught me to pray and rely on God.

All these lessons, and more, have remained with me no matter what else was going on in my life.

Once I was in a life-threatening situation, when we were living on the outskirts of Bangkok, and our neighbor rushed me to the hospital. I could say she saved my life.

Many have enriched my life. My husband and my sons are at the top of that list.

And, of course, I have my faith.

I'm almost there.

I always wanted to be a novelist. With five published novels, I have reached that goal. But I want to go farther and become a well-known novelist.

I have ideas on how to get there. The main thing, I think, is to keep plugging away, word by word, paragraph by paragraph.

I enjoy the smaller pleasures of travel and have the patience for a long car ride. The changing scenery and the chance to spend time with my family make it great. I don't need a fancy hotel room and I've learned not to ask my boys (or my husband) to take in a museum. Our best family travel experience is hiking and exploring.

I love to travel. I wish I could do it more often.

Mostly my kids. The two youngest start school on Wednesday (I still can't believe my "baby" will be in 8th grade). Another son is starting college in two weeks. My 13-year old kept nagging me until we finished his school supply shopping, and my 18-year old also has a list. Phew!

I'm also working day and night on a manuscript. I tried to write this story several times before I got it right. A couple months after I thought it was finished, I realized the ending was all wrong. Today I finished rewriting the ending and started going back through again, looking for necessary changes. Soon I'll need to hand the manuscript over to the editor but, like a woman who cleans her house before the maid comes, I feel I need to clean up my manuscript as much as possible. The editor will have enough work to do, especially on some punctuation questions. I don't want to divert her from the story.

I have asked myself this before. Actually, I don't answer every question. If it doesn't resonate with me, I delete it.

No, I don't look at the answers of others first. (Well, I think I did that once, when I really didn't understand what was being asked.)

I do what I can.

If circumstances allowed, I would be a full-time activist. My first causes are peace and justice. I'm also "into" helping the environment, and have been since the 70s.

What with my family obligations, health, and other concerns, I can't just get on the bus and go where the action is. I write letters and (inconsistenly, unfortunately) I blog. I'm also raising my six boys to be activists. (Okay, two are pretty much raised already.) Imagine if I can multiply my efforts by six.

Books. For myself. For my kids. For my granddaughters--who are both under age 3.

I have shelves full of books but it never seems to be enough. Every book is different, after all.