Kathy from Maryland/USA

A belated for you too

Kathy
thank you for the birthday wishes for Graeme
he was very chuffed to get so many lovely messages.
pleased you enjoyed your birthday also

Dear Kathy,
Thank you! It's today! My original flower child is turning 68. Argh I remember the hippies were my age or a little older. I thank you for being a dear and wishing him a birthday wish! He's riding his bike for a 2 hour exercise riding from Torrance to Marina Del Rey about a 50 mile ride. It's not all going there and back there's a loop de loop somewhere in the marina that he does for fun.

Thanks for the warm welcome, Kathy. I'm a big fan of crabs (and Maryland, of course). There's a picture on my site taken on Assateague Island -- a very fun visit. Thanks to the lousy weather, we hardly saw any other people.

Thanks so much Kathy!

Kathy, I'm with you on the governor thing ... why these women feel they have to stand at their husband's sides for the sake of their political image is beyond me. What's wrong with coming out and saying that you're hurt, you're working through it in private and that your priority now is the children ... don't you tire of everything having the correct "spin"?

Kathy, A few years back my cousin's daughter with 2 children (5 & 9) - When her husband was cheating on her, gave him an ultimatum and he broke off the relationship with promises. Part of the ultimatum was if it ever happened again, the marriage was over. The marriage is now over - she didn't give him 3 strikes - he was out on his second strike. I say good for her - it was tough and the son was 12 and fully understood what happened.

One question that needs to be asked. If she continued to let him cheat on her, what message is being sent to the son and to the daughter. Maybe the reason she made the decision she made is because of what she saw as she was a child.

Her father (my cousin) went native while they were living in Micronesia another woman who had something like 7 children. Her mother filed for divorce and moved back to California with their two children.

While her mother got involved in drugs and alcohol, she allowed the kids to be a part of both grandparents lives. The maternal grandmother raised the kids through the tough times and they allowed my aunt & uncle to have them at holidays. They visited my cousin in Micronesia every other summer, he paid for the their trips there and later to Hawaii to be with him and his new family. Her mother remarried, years later and got clean. Both the kids grew up to be good now in their 40's. About 15 years ago, I told my cousin, when he was visiting for his grandson's birthday, that he needed to thank their mother for the great job she did in raising the kids. He did! My cousin and his wife were planning on moving to Hawaii and building a home there and homes for children - they were packed and ready to move, when he died in an auto accident. Since Micronesia is a matriarchial society - nothing went to his children. And even, though the kids paid their way to attend their father's funeral - his second wife has not even sent them a Christmas Card let alone answer any letters they have sent her.

It has been tough on my cousin's daughter, working and taking care of the kids. But, knows that she and they will survive, with the emotional support of her mother, step father, brother, father's brother (recently died) & wife, aunt & cousin (my mom & me). Her brother, now 40, last year married for the first time. I didn't think he was ever going to marry - wonder if his childhood created commitment problems?

What children see, affect them! It may give them hope, other times teaches them to continue in the paths of their parents, or other revolt against what they saw and refuse to let it happen to them.

Hello Kathy - I must apologise for taking so very looong to visit you and a very belated thank you for my birthday wishes. I only pop onto the site briefly as it's hard with family staying with me for a couple of months.
Hope all is well with you and your family.
Queen Anne

Hi Kathy,
Thanks for your encouraging boost in the form of the approving comment about my poem 'Enigma'. It is not surprising you had not seen it before as I had only just posted it to my gallery minutes before you read it. 'Jack Frost' is still 'the most recent' because I have just reposted that after correcting a minor format error. 'Enigma' is short and to the point. Science sometimes merely seems to expand the boundaries of confusion. That's not cynical - it's true !

Hi Kathy! Oh I've resigned myself to the fact that she would have to be committed months ago, the last time she ran off and ended up in the emergency room. It was trying to convince my dad that he could no longer care for her even with my help and my brothers' occasional help. I was getting worn out between work, my immediate family and my parents' care. But even with her at Clearview, my time won't be eased because I will still have to care for my dad and include regular visits to my mom.
But thank you for your kind words. Cyberhugs to you for your generous spirit and bless you heartily. Angels roam the earth disguised as humans and you are one of them.

The doctor decided to put off surgery until summer. I guess it will be alright, but I wish was over. Thank you for your concern.

for the anniversary wishes Kathy! It was nice to read the messages while waiting for hubby to get home (10pm on our anniversary)

Hello Kathy - Happy Easter to you and your family.

Have a Blessed Easter!

Thanks for the avatar intel. And please don't be embarrassed to confess to me. My vices and vagaries are legion.

Kathy - thanks for dropping in! And a belated Happy Easter to you and your family.
Gus has been a lot of fun - though we are sometimes a bit late getting him changed for one season or another.

Thank you Kathy for your welcome, and for the delicious crab soup. I've never tasted it before. Do have some of these chocolate gingers.

Thank you Kathy for your welcome and the delicious crab soup - I've never tried it before. Do have some of this chocolate ginger.

Thanks for your kind words in regards to my son. He's a great kid and much happier now.

Kathy, I believe that too, that they will greet us when we get over to the other side. I like the idea of all the Sudoku pets having their own special area to enjoy each other's company.

Hi Kathy - Thanks for stopping by for a visit! I am in the Cleveland area on the east side in the suburbs. What part of Maryland are you from? I lived there many years before moving to Cleveland. I imagine Shaw HS is much different than it was when you went there. Nice to hear from you!

Thank you, Kathy! Felt choked up reading your post. It's a wonderful feeling knowing that others have gone through the same and have sent encouraging words to help me through this ordeal.

Thank you for the birthday wishes and cake Kathy, I've had a lovely day with family & friends and it just adds something special to come here today and find all the lovely birthday greetings from so many people ♥

PS I'm going to Egypt in November, is it OK if I ask you a few (or 50) questions

Kathy - Nal is a wonderful photographer. I think it was her photos and so many others (like Ian) plus the caring shown by the fellow sudokuists when Nal's beloved Rocko died.

Kathy, thank you for the friendly welcome. I've come to believe this is a site that is really friendly. now i just have to figure out how to do these puzzles.

It's been a while since I dropped in (your birthday I think). So, I thought I'd stop by and say Hope all is well!

Awesome aging graphics, Kathy! What a kick!

Hi Kathy, I want to thank you for your special birthday greeting and welcome. I did just join, but I have been enjoying this site for years. Actually, my birthday is November 4th. I'm not sure how Gath came up with April 10th, but it did make for a very special day. The timing couldn't have been better. I guess even mistakes happen for a good reason. Again, thank you so much for your greeting and welcome. It was appreciated very much. Sudoku forever, Margot

Hello Kathy, and thank you for your kind wishes on my birthday! I did have a lovely day even though I had to work it! They gave me a birthday morning tea, with party pies even, and it was lovely to open my email and see all my wonderful messages! We had had my family party on the day before as my son came home for the weekend.

I saw on Wagdy's page, that you had a trip to Egypt. That must have been thrilling and such fun to meet up!! Thanks again Kathy!!

Hey Kathy and fellow Marylander - I am long overdue in visiting and hope that your welcome mat is still out for me. I come bringing crabcakes (my usual "page-warming" offering)- my mama's secret recipe - enjoy! We are very close to each other - I live in University Park, and worked (until 2 months ago) in Lanham. One of my top-fav restaurants is Grace's Fortune - I'm sure you know it well - lucky you to be so close to it! That same mall used to have Mare e Monte, a now-lost fav of mine - so we may have actually crossed paths!

Oh my - I got flipped to your last page when I posted my message and realized that 1) our birthdays are very close together (mine's the 10th); 2) I missed your birthday - so happy belated birthday dear Pisces ; and 3) I thank you for your good wishes sent on my birthday! If you go to my page, you'll notice I don't do much chatting - I get on the site only sporadically, usually play the puzzles and get right off - I may read a couple comments if I want addition info on the picture (like today's tough - I enjoyed your witty comment, and posted to that). But it also reminded me that I was waaaay overdue to say hey!

The last 2 paragraphs were missing:

Spread the cooked pineapple mixture on unbaked pastry shell. Pour cream cheese mixture on top and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Bake in a hot oven 400° for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 325° and bake for an additional 50 minutes. Cool before serving.

Kathy, thanks for stopping by, and I love crab soup! If you can share a recipe, I would be grateful, as I have never made the sinfully delicious soup.

Kathy, I must be dense today, but when I went to forum, scrolled down, did not see a receipe section (only fun videos, flash games was last). Thanks in advance for any other insight!

Loved your picture of the sand dollar. When we used to get those as kids on Sanibel Island, they were brown and fuzzy - of course the mom's bleached them out for us.

Oh Kathy, that was precious! I submitted the smilie immediately! It hits close to home because my oriental horoscope sign is the tiger! !!!

Hello Kathy, and thank you so much for the warm welcome and your compliments on my art work. I've driven through Maryland probably 1,000 times, on my way to NJ and back from here. It's a beautiful state. 4/18/08

Kathy, I have been overwhelmed by the kindness shown to me for my birthday. It really does make your day to find well wishers from all over the world have visited with such greetings.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

Thank you ... that is just the cutest picture.

Kathy, I have been admiring your smilies, you have found the mother lode of graphics. I enjoy looking for your posts to see what you have come up with next. My goodness, you have some that are so appropiate for the conversation! My question is, how do you KEEP UP with so many? do you have a search engine to find what you want on your smilies page :)

If you happen to find a graphic of a female riding a big lawn mower (not a tractor) could you send me a link or a copy? RED is there is a color choice, but I am not too picky. I looked for one all last year, and since I am cutting grass so much now that it is green again, I would use it a LOT .

Kathy...Great pix from Egypt....looking forward the rest of them when you get back. Hope you are having a great time deep in the heart of Texas!
Like Miz T, I also enjoy your smilies...I'd just like to know where you find them so that I can update mine. It's been hard to find any as nice as yours or Nancy's.