Kathy from Valrico, Florida, USA

Hi Kathy! I'm glad you liked the Egypt photos. Wagdy took us to the Khalili Bazaar. What an experience! It was very crowded so I didn't buy anything, but it was fun just walking around. Wagdy found a nice place there to have lunch. The carpet school is where children learn a trade. They go there after a half day at their regular school. I was absolutely amazed at how fast their fingers fly and what beautiful work they do at such a young age! The guards on the ship were not there the whole cruise. Just a safety precaution, we had one on the bus, too.
My beautiful grand daughter is 19. She is going to nursing school in Ft. Worth. She is a very talented dancer. At the moment she is in Russia with a church youth group volunteering in an orphanage. I also have a 16 year old grand son (Melissa's brother, Bryan)He has just finished finals (he tells me he did well)and is looking
for a job for the summer. He is into martial arts and would like to have a career in the Navy after college. The family was here in the area until my son was transferred to Texas. So the kids more or less grew up here. I visit them several times a year. I'll get more pictures up eventually! Take care....

Hey, I turned the page for you!
I meant to say how wonderful your YouTube is! What an inspiration! We hear so many bad things about young people, it is so great to hear (and see) the good. Thank you for posting it.

Hi Kathy just saw your question to eaa when I dropped into her page! Thought I'd be a busy body & answer it for her! Broome is in Western Australia 2.175km (1351miles) north East of Perth. they dive for pearls off shore at Broome!

not 2point175 kilometers, 2,175km. It'd probably take a few days to drive it!

Hi Kathy, Broome is in north west of Western Australia. Caversham park is a little ways out of Perth W.A. The large sand dunes are on Tassie West coast. Glad you enjoyed my photos. Thanks for dropping In and adding your comments.

Hi Kathy, hubby and I have had a few trips to W.A. We have a son that moved over there after leaving school [His footy skills took him there] In March this year he took the plunge and married his long time girlfriend. So my family headed over there for the wedding and a holiday. our Broome trip was three years earlier [ our son's 30th birthday]

Kathy, thank you for visiting. You are gracious to acknowledge our shared grief after such a flawed response to a moment of unshared grief. I find delicate behaviors that clamor for consensus immediately exhaustive.

In this instance, and more to the point of this post, I couldn't agree with you more that Tim Russert's appeal was grounded in integrity, love of family, and life. In the very finest sense, he was "real."

His son, Luke, shows great strength and promise. He's got it, girl--the gift and product of fine parenting and Irish pride. This young man has clearly inherited a truly magnetic, warm human spirit. And he's not alone. Maureen demonstrates remarkable strength in the face of tragedy too. God bless them.

And, God bless you too Kathy. It's nice to share thoughts with you again.

KATHY, yes, the blood tests were over quickly, I got home to my wonderful coffee, and no sweet then, but made up starting that noon onward. We shared a dessert at our lunch out, hubby brought in a huge rich chocolate birthday cake and Then a lemon layer cake appeared! I am putting cake in the freezer for later! Two days of dessert is more than enough to celebrate a birthday!

for visiting my page to wish me a Happy Birthday. All the wishes from all over the world sure did add to my wonderful 3 day celebration.

Hi Kathy Thanks for your message and sorry it as taken so long to reply.
I see that you have a love of birds from the top of your page I keep all sorts of animals from a parrot to a 90 year old tortoise the parrot is a African green tamerin which as a red scull car and red socks.
I also have a pond in my back garden (In america you call them back yard) with around 200 fish from carp to rud and stickle backs.
You where asking where in England am i from well iam in grantham which is in Lincolnshire and the birth place of Iassacc Newton & Margrat Thacther.

Hi, Kathy,
Thanks for the welcome. I live near Kalamazoo, but am originally from Livonia. My brother is a U of M grad. My daughter will be staffing at a mock legislature camp this summer in Lansing www.SSI-online.org (though someone with A2 attachments would likely find it too politically conservative )
We've been right past Valrico en route from Arcadia (through Bartow) to the Florida State Fair in Tampa. Also saw manatees at the power plant observation area in the Bay area that trip. We don't get to Florida nearly often enough, but went regularly for awhile when my husband used to attend business conferences in central Florida.
I know so many people who live in MI but visit FL. It's funny to meet someone who's been on the flip side of the north-south route.
Oh, and my husband's uncle used to live in Whitehall then sailed his boat through the Great Lakes and down the Atlantic seaboard to where he lived near the Palm Beach area for awhile -- but then he moved to South America and then to Nashville and now he's off to D.C. Whew! I've lived mostly in Michigan all my life. Guess that's why I've enjoyed the Florida trips so much!

Kathy -
Came back this morning to show off your painted bunting to my family. We have 2 or 3 breeding pairs of indigo buntings on our property this spring, but we've never heard of a painted bunting. Spent a lot of time googling both buntings and the lazuli variant and learning about all of them.

I know where Valrico is because I looked it up! I didn't know where it was to start, but once I saw it on the map, I knew it was a place I had driven past.
My daughter at SSI is almost 21. She attended 3 years as a student and this is her 3rd year as volunteer staff. Some of her best friends are people she's met through SSI.
This week she gets to help with the SSI Business Track, something she's not yet done. She's a college student working on a business degree, so this should be a nice new experience for her. She learned a lot about community-mindedness from going to SSI. She ended up job-shadowing our State Representative and doing a one-year mentorship program with him because of SSI. (Indirectly because of SSI, she also ended up as 1st Runner Up in our city's festival queen contest, but that's a different story. lol)
My other two daughters are 18 and 8. We are a homeschool family, so we are constantly curious and I'm often googling places and things I'm exposed to through this site and sharing them with my family.
It's very nice to meet you. Let's keep in touch. Do you usually do all the Sudoku puzzles each day? I'm trying hard to crack the Toughs. The Hards go pretty fast for me.

Hi Kathy. I haven't ignored the question about where the Tiger Temple is but I've only had short talks to my son when he's rung in. He'll be home on Wednesday so I try & get more details from him then!

Hi Kathy - I took a look at your pictures. That was fun! Thanks for sharing them with us.

Kathy, your video story of the baseball game and the sportsmanship shown is awesome. I wish that all children who compete in sports, and all of their parents, could see this. Thank you for sharing it!

Kathy, A great YouTube of sportsmanship in Baseball. (We are Aussie baseball fans)Thank you.

Hi Kathy! On the soapstone choice, we were adamant that our countertops not have any shine ... since we're doing an old-fashioned, "English-looking" kitchen. Soapstone, while not the most economical product, requires little care, just coats of mineral oil in the beginning. If it scratches, you can easily sand the scratches out and reapply oil; the scratches disappear. Hot pots can go on it (not that we're going to put ours there). We chose a slab with very little veining, and in awhile, I'll be sneaking downstairs to have a peek while the guys are installing. I'll let you know in a few weeks' time if I'm still in love with them, but I'm sure we made the best choice for our kitchen.

Me again, Kathy! Yes, we love antiques and have a house full of them, nothing too ornate ... we're great fans of the Arts and Crafts movement. But our antiques are a mix of everything. I seem to have amassed quite a few Spode plates which I've scattered around the place, and I'm sure a few will find their way onto my kitchen shelves. And by the way, the countertop is now in and my gosh, it looks wonderful! The guys oiled it up and I can't stop touching it. There's a barely discernible seam, which is another nice feature. I'll do my best to post some photos as soon as this is all over with. Meanwhile, I hope you have a terrific meeting with Shosho and I sure wish I could join you! Take care and keep me posted on all the Valrico goings-on ...

Hi Kathy: Re travelling... I think I would like to go to Portugal but just thinking about it. Maybe back to England to see a dear old friend. Alas, I'm sooo busy here, its finding the time... 'Aint life great'...

Hi Kathy. my son's back from Thailand safe & sound and I found out where the Tiger Temple is: a place called Kanchanaburi (he thinks that's the correct spelling!) & it's about 2hours West of Bangkok!

Kathy - In answer to your question on my page: Jaime and I were married in Park Ridge, Illinois, at my mother's apartment. The reception lunch was at the Marriott. I still have the receipt: 21 lunches (Beef Stroganoff) - $80.25; 5 bottles of wine - $25.00; 1 wedding cake - $25.00. Total: $130.85 + $6.95 tax + $20.85 Service Charge = $158.65 grand total!!!

Hi, Kathy! No, I don't have the dress any more. Not long after we were married, I shortened the dress (remember the days of mini dresses???) Anyway, when mini dresses went out of fashion, I got rid of the dress. So much for nostalgia!!!

Hiya, Kathy! Not to concerned about the comments on jokes but I have to say this - I've seen some of the Silver Fox's stuff and it makes me look like a choirboy......

Enjoy your meeting with Shosho.

Super pictures of your meeting with Sharon. Wonderful that you had your grandies there as well!

for posting the photos of Shosho and Brandon. Wonderful memories are made this way.

Hi Kathy,
Thank you for the welcome. I tried to leave my mom a love note and it said I had to become a member so I did.

Great photos with Shosho, Kathy.

Hi Kathy...I enjoyed the pictures of Sho Sho and Brandon. Its great that you were all so involved with the grandies....so much love was evident.
I'm still looking forward to the day when you and I get to meet...I loved your comments about those you have already met. It seems that all of the sudoku meetings have been good.

Kathy - have a great trip! Where in Michigan will you be? Also, when do you go to Fripp? Any chance you can stop on your way up or back for a get-together?

Have a great time, Kathy. Family reunions are such fun!

Kathy, I'm not sure which "little" pictures you're talking about!!I can see the photos of Shosho & Brandon on your Flickr page. Do you want one of them on this page? Just do what you did to get the bird there. If you want to keep the bird as a small picture as I do, when you've copied the URL of the new photo go to the update details page, paste the URL, but before you click the button to renew the picture click & drag the old picture into the "HomePage Text" box! Then click "Check Flickr and You Tube codes" box then "Update Details" Then you'll get your new picture with old one as a smaller one up the top. If you add a lot you'll eventually get a message saying "home page text is too long", so just click on one of the little pictures & delete it! Does that help? You're probably on your way for your holiday by now!!!!

Kathy, Ive just found your question on Flickr! Both Jonquils & Daffodils belong to the Narcissus family which is part of the Amaryllidaceae family. Ian is one of our River friends. There are some photos of him at dam clean up & a few other things, but no close ups at his request.

Have a great trip. I'm waving hello already. Welcome to the Gerald R. Ford airport in western Michigan! Smooth sailing on the Elly. Enjoy the beautiful lakeshore and sand dunes and Lake Michigan.

Bring sweaters and long pants and jeans for the evenings. Overnight temps have been dipping into the low 60s.

Kathy, we had a very windy tennis match today, but it has blown all the cobwebs out of my head & I've finally realised what you meant & you'll be well & truly gone by now! The big picture of the bird belongs in the photo stream & the other set at that place. The only way to change is to change the bird to one of shosho with or without Brandon, then it will show one of the other pictures!

PS Did you know that if you click on "kathyfl1946" you go straight to the last photo you've uploaded?

Kathy, Our train trip was fine - we drove both cars up from FL. Going through Washington and Baltimore tandem was stressful but we made it here and it is beautiul. Have played two wonderful, cool, and hilly golf courses since we got here. Hope your trip was a good one. Has your brother (? who built the sail boat)read about the Chinese algae bloom at the Olympic sailing event? It sounds horrendous. Didn't see Wimbledon - wish I had. The Williams' are amazing though. Stay well and enjoy your travels.

Kathy, I'm glad you liked the music. It seemed appropriate. Ouima's tragic news about Sully shocked and saddened everyone. I am just heartbroken for her and the family. Just the day before, I was feeling so happy for her because the surgery went well and she was in such good spirits. So, so sad.
I understand what you are saying about a happier family reunion. My family went through the same thing several years ago when my mother passed away. The next time everyone got together was much more relaxed and fun. I'm sure this is true for all families. I'm glad you had a good time. Take care...

Yes, Kathy, we all felt the same way.
I read the news and cried out loud.

Thinking of you.

Hi Kathy. Welcome home. Hope you had a great time.

As you probably noticed it took me a little while to realise where the little photos were!! So who's the DU now!