About Me

What can I possibly say about myself that is remotely interesting?? *g* Well, OK, I'll give it a go....

My name is Christina, though I am known to many of my Internet friends as "Stina" ~ this version of my name deriving from the fact that a 3 year old had trouble pronouncing the three syllables in my name complete with the "ST" so simply opted for "Stina", and it has stuck. Of course, I went through stages of hating my name, but I guess it's back to Christina.

I live in a suburban community in outer weatern Sydney, New South Wales (NSW) in Australia. I was born in Penrith and grew up in a place not far from here, where my wonderful parents still live.

I'm 3....er....35 as of last birthday which is New Year's Eve. No, don't say it ~ it's a horrible time to have a birthday. Everyone is too busy partying the end-of-year celebrations to remember someone they've known most of their life is having a birthday. When I was younger I remember I asked my mum if I could "move" my birthday to the middle of the year so people would actually be around to celebrate it! LOL Yes, I really did. Her answer? No. So, New Year's Eve is still my birthday.

I am in my second (and last) marriage to a guy who really is from Mars!! No, he's great....just on a different planet sometimes. Still, I wouldn't be without him. My first marriage was to a man I had met when I was 16 and fell head over heals in-fatuation with him! We married just after my 23rd birthday though it lasted just 15 months before I left him, thinking that if I didn't he might just kill me. I then moved interstate to Melbourne, Victoria, to escape the silent phone calls he kept making to me, and whoever he had watching me. He was of an Italian family and often said he had ties in the Mafia and would kill me is I left him. May not seem logical in hindsight but at the time it was enough to scare the heebee-jeebees out of me! And it was in Melbourne that I met my husband, Jeff. We married on 30th May 1998, and this year (2005) will be our seventh wedding anniversary. Most of my love and romantic poems are written for or simply dedicated to my wonderful husband.

My two greatest passions in life, apart from my hubby, are reading and writing. I started reading books when I discovered "The Famous Five" were actually novels when I was about 10. After completing many junior fiction mystery stories by the time I was 12 I had migrated onto Adult fiction authors such as Agatha Christie, Earl Stanley Gardner (Perry Mason series), Mickey Spillane (Mike Hammer series), and any other mystery novel I came across. By the time I finished high school I had read all 76 of Agatha Christie's mystery novels. I became hooked on Danielle Steel in 1996 and now have her whole collection, but my favourite style are psyhological thrillers and mysteries written by Val McDermid (author of "Wire in the Blood" later made for TV), Peter Robinson, Mark Billingham, Karin Slaughter, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Jonathan Kellerman, Faye Kellerman,James Patterson, Elizabeth George, Lisa Scottoline, Linda Fairstein, Minette Walters, Joy Fielding, Mary Higgins Clark....and the list goes on. I always have something to read!

My other great passion is writing. I have been writing since I was in Primary School when I was bout 10. I used to write short stories as I have always had such an active imagination. I used to tell people I had a "brother" in Burma when in actual fact he was a child my mum sponsored through Compassion. LOL I thought he was my kind of brother at the time. But poetry became my greatest passion, especially through High School. I had nothing better to do, learning was beyond me at the time because I found school way too difficult at that time. I was trying to do my Higher School Certificate (HSC) but I found I couldn't cope with the workload. So I spent most of my time writing poetry, mostly about teenage angst and love. Pretty awful things to look back at now. *cringe* It wasn't until I endured my first marriage that poetry became a real tool of expression for me; and it was then I really depended on its therapy. I wrote countless of poems during and after my marriage (mostly after as I couldn't risk my husband finding those kind of things written about him) which I found to be a great release for my pent up and confused emotions. When I felt ready enough, I began to publish my poetry on my first website, which in turn lead me to open an Abuse website called "Survivors by Choice ~ A Safe Haven from Abuse" which I intend to revamp very shortly. But my main focus continues to be on my poetry and the website on which I publish my works. My site has grown so much that this year I stopped updating my old one and opened a new one titled "Reflections....A Poetic Journey", which chronicles my reflections through verse from this year onwards. And it still proves to be great therapy when I need it.

I suffer from two disorders which are both incurable ~ Graves' disease and PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). In both cases its the symptoms that are treatable, and I have to bear the brunt of the rest of it. I also suffer from depression, a lasting result from my first marriage, and for which I am being treated to this day. Last year (2004) I went under the knife and had a thyroidectomy which was overactive (due to the Graves' disease), and my specialist assured me that I would begin to feel a lot better soon. ....I'm still waiting. If anything I am feeling worse. I am more tired and exhausted, and I find getting up before 10.30am is more than an effort. As a result of PCOS I have never been able to have children, and may never be able to, as this condition is the leading cause of infertility in women and not very well understood by many. We have a dog who is my child, and I love her to bits! She is a Staffordshire bull terrier cross Australian Red Heeler and she brings such joy to our lives. If I had my way I would let her live inside with us, but hubby says that a dog's place is outside....*sniff* I know she would sure love to share our bed!! In all, she has been great therapy for me and has gotten me through some rough times and heartaches.

I love movies, though I haven't seen any in a while. Too much time spent watching my programmes on TV, reading my many books, writing poetry or tinkering about on the computer or my website. I love many crime TV shows (who would have guessed?) such as all the CSIs, SVU, Criminal Intent, Medical Investigation, Desperate Housewives (which is on in 10 minutes....), Crossing Jordan, Cold Case, Without a Trace, Wire in the Blood (BBC), Waking the Dead (BBC), Silent Witness (BBC), Inspector Lynley Mysteries (BBC), A Touch of Frost, Midsomer Murders (what can I say? I love British crime and mysteries!!) and of course The Bill (another long-running British TV show)!!! Hubby and I love to watch real-life crime documentaries such as "Real Crime", "Body of Evidence", "The New Detectives" and "Medical Detectives".

I have just recently discovered cyber quilting how addictive and fun it can be! I have created a Quilt called "Addicted to TV Crime" because I am. I am gradually "sewing" together other online quilts as well, sharing them with my other Quilting friends from the two groups I am actively involved in ~ WOSIB and Garden of Friendship. So stayed tuned for more quilts in my Quilting Garden!

What else? I love Calla lilies, well all lilies really! Stargazers and all oriental liliums and Callas are gorgeous. I also love orchids and tulips. I'm not much of a gardener but in the last couple of years I have tried my hand at some form of it, as hubby does love the garden. I love beautiful flowers and plants and I get great joy out of watching them bloom. The oriental liliums have a beautiful fragrance when they are in flower and we constantly enjoy them. Jasmine and honeysuckle are two other favourites as well.

Hmmm....what else? That's about it, I guess. My poetry basicaly says it all about me; it truly is a poetic diary of my life's experiences. I hope you enjoy your journey through this ever-growing site! And check back often because I am forever updating.

Cheers
Christina

My hubby Jeff and I at Christmas 2004


Jeff and I May 2005


11th September, 2004
The day after I came out of hospital after my thyroidectomy was hubby's birthday ~ this is him pretending he had cut my "throat"! You can see it was still a little swollen from the surgery three days before.


Our Wedding Day, May 1998


To check out a little more "about me", please visit "My Quiz Corner"! And feel free to take some of them yourself ~ you might be surprised by the answers!