Jobs your dad has held

While sprucing up some of my websites about my background (important to do because it's information that people interested in hiring me as an editor often look at), I thought you might like to know what kind of jobs I've held. You can check out my resume online at anytime, but that just really lists the places I've worked.

Growing up, I worked on my parents' dairy farm. I milked cows and generally took care of the animals. I didn't do much field work; my dad and brother (your Uncle Chris) typically preferred to do that while my mom and me liked the animals.

In my junior year of high school, I joined the Army National Guard, which I stayed in until 1997. I served in an infantry unit, where I handled a number of different weapons from grenade launchers to machine guns. I rose to the rank of sergeant.

In college, I studied to be a journalist and a teacher (grads 7-12). Upon graduation, I worked as a reporter for a daily newspaper. After three years, though, I made a career change and went into teaching. I taught English and journalism, primarily the former, to grades 7-12, but mainly to eighth and ninth graders.

After seven years of teaching, I went back into journalism, working as a copy desk chief (we proofread and design the newspaper), as a editorial page editor (writing the newspaper's editorials), and as a managing editor (I headed both a weekly and a small daily newspaper). I also was the manging editor of a suite of business magazines in San Diego for a while.

After newspapering, I started my own business, which is what I do now: editing and proofreadingother people's books and helping them get publish. I also research and write my own books (mainly about hiking and writing), but I've also penned a book of poetry and a novel (both of which are coming out this autumn at the time I write this entry).

Do you like to write? What kind of job do you want to have when you grow up?