hula hoops and hampster wheels

Soooo main character Gladys has some details,

She's a nurse at a small town hospital --- think Winona or Princeton or something equally as small. She loves her job, but she's not the best at it, she klutzy and is alway knocking over bed pans, running into wheel chairs and basically any inatimate object found on earth, and she's known as The Bruiser when it comes to drawing blood and inserting IVs. But she's great at listening and caring for people and she's smart when it comes to working in the field -- she just lacks finess.
She a little chubby -- think size 12, which is really not that chubby morelike standard -- but you know everyone thinks in terms of the size 0 -- per societies lame, yet perpetual shove of unrealistic-unhealthy ideal down the throats of the american public at large -- ok off my soap box -- so she's not Barbie, probably Barbie's opposite, she's shorter - 5-4 ish , (in my book that's tall!) brown curly hair that -- (has a frieghtful reaction to humidity) modest bust size, she's not ample, but she's not concave (all though, that could explain her klutziness?) She likes to run and go canoeing on the river, but refuses to do aerobics cause the thought of spandex freightens her. She has blue eyeballs and a cute nose. Her overall appearance is that of everywoman -- not a super model , un-super model, tv star, heck she's not even an anchorwoman -- but then again she wasn't beaten with an ugly stick either.
She lives alone, ok she has a pet --- a pet rabbit, FooFoo who is always escaping, hiding and destroying but she loves him and so she tolerates his quirks. Her home is a quaint house, she had a hypochondriac of a patient leave it to her in her will, the woman had ailments miles long and no family to tell them to so with her frequent visits to the hospital Gladys and Ruby build a friendship as Ruby lives vicareously through Gladys tales of an almost-but not quite 30 something. But as funny as some of Ruby's ailments or suspected ailments are -- she gets ill and passes and she leaves her small stucco home and tacky furnishings to Gladys. And Gladys misses her - so she leaves some of the furnishings including the pink bath room as Gladys left them. She tries to bea good homeowner --- but she has a several disastorous episodes, but with the help of her new friend Louis who happens to work at the local lowes/home depot/ menards/ hardware/ lumber / home improvement extravagza store.
She's dating -- she's had a series of boyfriends - dates and flirations but everything seems to back fire -- until she meets mystery man --and decides to give up on the whole love thing all together. or alternatively -- she falls in loves - puts a picket fence around her tiny home and grows cabbage patch kids... haha ok just kiding. Ok so I don't know how the love life is going to play out exactly....
She's got the best friends -- Fran, Leila, Delaney they plan a trip to go to Seattle for some ridiculous coffee bean enthusiatist hobby she has. They have mini- adventures annually and Gladys' friend Delaney sends a scrapbook to her each year. She has friends from town, friends from the hospital, friends from college and childhood friends that pop in and out of Gladys life -- but on a daily basis she feels a little alone -- since she's not married, not putting up the white fence and not poping out babies -- this is why she enjoys the company of Ruby so much -- because she's old and alone -- and aside from being a little medically confused she's had a great life. But Gladys still likes to live vicarsouly through her friend Sheila and her tormented marriage... Roger and his litany of boy toys, Anna and her swelling baby belly and pastel addiction. And of course several other people and almost cliched situations --- I know this part needs work.

But it's progress so far even if it is all rough and somewhat scattered.