I have much to be grateful for. I have a beautiful 10-year-old daughter, I have work that is meaningful, I live in Shorewood, WI near Lake Michigan (a very special lake for me), I have wonderful friends and communities I feel connected to. I love raising a child for so many reasons, but one is that I continually learn so much about my self and what I value the most. Some of the values I emphasize is the love of nature, the importance of volunteering and giving back to our community, caring about the environment, nurturing friendships and appreciating differences. I work at balancing the time we spend out in the world with the quiet times at home--reading, cooking together, just enjoying a fire in our fireplace. We have a good life. And it's missing the partner to share all this and more. I adopted my daughter alone as there was not the right man in my life at the time the maternal urge compelled me to become a mother. While she was very young I was in two one-year long relationships separated by a couple years. They were men with young children, and while wonderful for the family sharing, they were not right for me as a woman. Now I fully understand the difference and I want a man for me who also loves sharing his family and mine. It is easy to put aside one's adult needs as you raise your family but I no longer want to do that. I want to share all the levels of a relationship--mental, physical, emotional and spiritual. We need to share some interests but I also value independence and supporting each other's growth. Middle years are cool--we have some wisdom behind us and some clarity about who we are and what we need and want. Are you ready for this ride?

I want to go to a quiet restaurant where we can be comfortable and relatively private--some Japanese restaurants have those little separate rooms. That would be fun and I love Japanese food--amongst many other ethnic foods. I want to talk and look at you and watch you and hear you, really hear you. If the connection is there for us both, then let's go over to Lake Michigan and take a walk out on the pier and stay until the stars twinkle us toward sleepiness.