I love these posts!

I am Vicki
I have been at the KT for years...maybe since '93 or so. (I took a short time away and then came back.)
I will be 51 this year, but feel about 39.
I was born in South Dakota and raised there until I was 8 years old.
Moved to Fairfield, Iowa and lived there from 8 years old until I was 20.
Moved to Las Vegas, Nevada at 20 years old and have been here ever since.
I have been married to my DH for going on 15 years.
We have two boys, Kiel (pronounced Kyle) who is 23 and Kelly, who is 20.
I love antiques, photography, riding my quad, vacationing in Montana, cooking and being with my family.
My MIL lives with us...she drives me crazy and sometimes DH too. (I won't go into detail...you don't have time. LOL)
My Big Sister lives with us...until she gets on her feet.
My oldest DS lives with us.
Our house is full.
DH, Big Sister and I all work in party rentals. DH and I have been in it for 15 years. With 13 of those with the company we are at now. DH is the GM and I am the OM.
We plan to retire in Montana and I can not wait for that day to come.

My name is Gayle.
I will be 60 on my next B'Day. (OMG! Did I just say 60?)
I live in a very small town near Houston.
I live now in my Mother's House I inherited.
I'm not Married, but have a Main Man (Dean) that lives with me and 3 wonderful Dogs.
Dean is a retired Judge and never let's me forget he knows when he is right. (We don't do much arguing, because he mumbles "overruled".)
We have a Motor Home and Jet Skis. But, we are getting were it is to much work getting on the road these days..
Dean has 4 Adult Children, 4 GC, and 2 GGC.
I have 2 Adult Children, and 2 GC.
He loves my Kiddos and I love His.
I volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
I am in early stage Diabetes. Which I hate! All my favorite foods are on the no no list.
I'm a tad overweight since retiring.

I live and have lived all my life in PA. Married for over four decades and have two adult kids. ..a son who has a daughter and daughter who has a son. The two grandkids are identical looking. I live in an 1830 Federal farmhouse on 1/2 acre . It had been a working 6 acre farm till the 1920's when it was subdivided. My fur kids are Ziggy, the wonder dog who is a Sheltie/Boston terrier mix and smart as a whip, Lily who is a nine year old tortie, Nellie and Annie, mother and daughter torties, Phoebe , a Russian Blue, and Big bad Henry a three year old 22 pound gorgeous grey tiger. All are rescues. I love them to death. I have perennial gardens, vegetable garden and two koi ponds. One pond is a small concrete built in 1920, the other built 5 years ago to house my monster koi who are the size of a big cat. I have been a member of GW since 2001. I love to read, and attend all uber athlete GS's soccer and baseball games. I have collected antiques since the 70's and have nothing in my house, except for appliances and upholstered pieces that isn't from 100 to 200 years old. I have a degree in education but never used it. Husband's is in forestry and he worked for PA government for decades and is retired and golfing. .

My name is Joyce.... jel48 is part of my email address and somehow I just went ahead and registered on GW using that. I wish I'd used my own first name.

I live on the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's UP. That's that little tiny part way up north that sticks out in Lake Superior. I moved here June 2008. 3 weeks later I married Gary. Gary is my third and LAST husband! Between the two of us, we have 6 children (ages 14 to 32) plus he has 3 stepkids (besides my kids) and I have 2 stepkids (besides his kids). Complicated to keep track of. My own kids haven't presented me with any grandkids yet, but Gary has eight.

Gary and I share a birthday on Feb 20th. He just turned 51 and I just turned 54. We love that we were born on the same day of the year. How unusual is that?

Before Michigan, I lived in the Rochester, MN area for 14 years, and before that spent the rest of my life in Nebraska (where I was born) and Iowa.

I work from home, doing software support for IBM. For the most part I absolutely love working from home, although there are also a few (very slight) drawbacks.

My favorite activities are gardening (both flower/ornamental and veggie), backyard bird feeding, photography, 4-wheeling with my family, camping, and other summer outdoor activities. I enjoy antiquing and garage sales.

Winter outdoor activities that I like are driving to the video store to rent movies :-)

I could go on and on I guess, but I don't want to keep anyone reading all night.

It's nice getting to know all of you better through this thread.

Joyce

My names Deb.
I've lived all my life here in Panama City Florida. Except the 5 years in Tallahassee Florida the first years of my marriage.
I don't work outside the home. I've been married 26 years this coming April but have known each other all our lives.
We live on 3 acres, I grow over 200 antique roses. I love to quilt and crochet. Have made hundreds if not thousands of doilies/tablecloths and bedspreads since I have crocheted for over 45 years and I'm only 50 years old. Mama taught me to crochet before I could even read books.
David(hubby) and I have one daughter, Jessica. She is 22 years old, soon to be 23. She moved this past summer to Phoenix Arizona to attend Graduate School to get her Ph.d in Bio-Chemistry. Jessica is the apple of our eye! We are so very proud of our baby girl.
Right now all my roses are either in bloom or about to burst into bloom. My yard smells soooooooo good!!!
We have one kitty cat Maxwell who is 17 years young. Max is very spoiled but we love him so.

Deb

Ed grew up on a farm about 6 miles from current home on what was Uncle's farm prior to his death, now owned by a sod farmer.

Dad had trouble breathing, moved to sharecrop in Saskatchewan just after World War II, when I was 17, grad. Univ. and Seminary, became liberal Protestant minister United Church of Canada (Presbyt., Method., Un. Ch. Christ type), Board World Mission sent me to Korea to help a few of hundreds of thousands of refugees get back on their feet. Huge job.

A gal named Sue from Iowa State had the misfortune to meet me at Cornell in '58, we married in Korea after she grad (hosp food service) ... we were together 11 years, apart 35, she took early retirement, fortunately, from 20 yrs. head food serv. local psych. hosp.: died at 66 of colon cancer - fortunate to have had a ball for 10 years.

She got mini dachsie, had 3 over the years.

I recently acquired/fell heir to (usually about 3 - 5) barn cats, a couple of which I can't pet.

Son born Korea, now crowding 50, never married or seemed int. in females (or males, that I know of) till recently ... has found a widow with a couple of (on their own) young ones.

He needed eye care, we settled in Canada, was minister in Muskoka, near London and in Huron County - but clergy ("didn't get divorced!"), 35 years ago, so career change.

Personal financial advisor 25 years, sold mutual funds 1 year, then sold no financial products - no conflict of interest.

Also worked shipping clerk, school bus driver, bartender, door-to-door sales, supply teacher in school, security guard, ??

Daughter trained hotel mgmt., never did it, helped raise funds for local abused women's shelter, has been career coach for sev. yrs., counselling people after lay-off, downsizing, etc. ... recently in AZ, where she bought a condo.

I've lived in 22 places during my 80 years, now thankful to be enjoying good health ... of body and, more or less, mind and spirit.

Volunteer income tax prep'n., raising people's spirits, reading, listening to radio (often late at night, when national radio carries prog. from national radio of half a dozen countries - interesting ... world traveller for free!)

Love to bug the (mainly females) on KT.

Enjoy your spring weekend, everyone.

ole joyful

ronf here. My real name is Ron. (big imagination)
I'm 53.
I grew up in southeastern Minnesota on a dairy farm, went to the Uof MN and got a degree in horticulture. I've worked in the hort industry my whole life.
At age 29 my wife and I pulled up stakes and moved 1500 miles to Silver City, New Mexico where I worked in grounds maintenance for the next 16 years.
We had 5 kids. When our daughter was 15 and the boys were 12, 10, 8, and 3 I lost Mary to ovarian cancer. Cancer sucks.
A year later our family was made complete once again with the addition of Sue, who posts here occasionally as bigbaby.
Eight years ago we moved back to Minnesota and live on the farm that I grew up on.
Just the youngest one is left in the nest now.
One grandaughter, who was 4 on Tuesday.
In the early Spring I walk across the road and work at my brothers greenhouse. In the Summer and Fall I have my own landscaping business.
I love container gardening and bonsai, backpacking and photography.

Next.

Ron

I'm Brenda (aka Country Bumpkin'. I'm 58yrs. old and I've been at the KT since the day Spike opened the doors!
I lost my husband,June 21,2009. We would have been married 40yrs. last Oct.26th.
I have a daughter that lives in GA and 5 grandchildren (3 boys and 2 girls) and a son, Andy that lives with me.
I also have a Shih Tzu named Jasper and a cat named CeCe (I've posted CeCe's story here before). He's a pretty unique kitty!
I work (when I get to work) and Candle Shop and love my job! I ALWAYS smell good!

Kathy G in MI here!
I've been 61 for all of 5 days! Only 360 to go til Social Security!
DD, DSIL and 2 grands live in Wisconsin.
DS's #1 and #2 live in the Ann Arbor, MI area.
DS #3 and DDIL live in Ohio with youngest DGD.
I love to read and sew.
Managed a Halloween store for 11 "seasons", that was so much fun, got to dress up for work!
Worked at Joann Fabrics for 10 years.
Have been doing theatrical costuming for community theatre for about 25 years.
Like to quilt too, tho not so talented at it.
DH retired in 2006 and we moved to the cottage on the lake in up north MI.
I check in at the KT at least once a day. So many nice people here, lots of cyber friends.
Right now DH and I are in Florida, head back to MI on Saturday. Sure do miss my house!
Kathy G in MI
Oh my, how will I fit everything into the Jeep for the ride home?! "No dear, I didn't buy much at all!"

Hi, I am Jean from Saskatchewan
As my sign in says I love to sew but quilt mostly now.
We farmed for 30 yrs and being a city girl it was a challenge but I loved every year of it.
We have been married 43 yrs in April and have 1 DD not married and no grandchildren. She shares her golden "Hudson" and feisty cat "Samantha" with us whenever we miss having pets.
I started popping in at KT about a year ago and really loved the pictures you post.
I can tell some of you have been here together for a long time and that there is great friendships here.
DH and I are retired, he putters and I quilt. LOL We both enjoy gardening and I volunteer with our Hospital Auxilary.
Jean

Mary AKA "gneegirl".
Native Washingtonian (DC, that is), which is hard to find. Most people in DC are transplants. The hospital where I was born is now a radio/TV station. Gee, I should be in Communications. I actually was majoring in Communications, but the Allied Health part, to become a Speach Pathologist working with developmental disabilities in children. Family got in the way of completing that - my biggest regret is letting it, as I wish I had kept with it. Now I live in MD, about mid-way btwn Annapolis and Baltimore.

Mom was a Nurse Practitioner in College Health Nursing and then in occupational health, working at the National Gallery of Art, where we met Prince Charles and Lady Di!. My DD actually shook hands with Charles. Di was stunning. Dad was a bio-chemist that did a lot of work with Malaria. Sis and I would go with him to check on the Monkeys and Mice in the labs in the middle of the night when he'd get a call that one was sick. Boy, they get better treatment than human patiients! I travelled with family when 9, cross-country in a no-AC car, and had snow-ball fight and sat on Santa's lap while wearing peddle-pushers, in the middle of July (at Pike's Peak).

I'm a Contracts Manager - 25yrs+. Love the work but would love to start a new career. Don't ask because I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
I have 1 sister, 2 HANDSOME nephews that have contributed to my 4 neices/nephews. One neice was born 6wks early, in January. My Sister LOVES her grans, but she has to share them with me. My one and only passed away at the age of 18 so I won't have any of my own. But, that gives me permission to "adopt" everyone else's - LOL.

Let's see, I'm divorced - probably due to my DD's accident, but ex and I are very close now. That's great because all of our neices/nephews are great friends - that way even without our being involved. They met in schools. We all are pretty close. Ex and I had a trucking business that he still operates. I still do some of the business end but not as much as i used to - too many regs and requirements these days. It's no fun anymore. Things I like - anything having to do with being outside - especially driving/riding around. I love to decorate, as in staging, but don't enjoy crafting/sewing and that type of thing. I would rather tear down, and/or build. I love RE and could probably do well in the industry, but haven't because it's too cyclical for me to keep food on my table -especially right now.

I joined GW about almost 2 years ago when looking for info on a mini kitchen remodel. It's been great as I've moved from Kitchens, to Appliances, to the Single Life, and now to the KT. Many I consider special here. So much normal life here and everyone's story is different. So much love; so much pain; so many tears; so much laughter; and so much information. And yes, we all seem to get along, even when we disagree. The best thing; I still have a billion Christmas Cards from all my KT friends - thanks everyone!!

So, that's a little bit of me. What about you - NEXT...

I'm Barbara from Newfoundland, Canada
I'll be 61 next week
Retired junior high school teacher and have been retired for 9 years.
Married to DH for 14 years, no kids
We have a sweet and gorgeous 2 1/2 year old Golden Retriever, Henry
I enjoy reading (in 3 book clubs), gardening, quilting, cooking, and just getting together with family and friends for a glass of wine and a chat.
Volunteer with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.
I am a member of the St.John's chapter of the Canadian Federation of University Women.

I'm Orie from North Carolina. Originally from Cuba, moved to the U.S. in 1962 (Miami) and then to N.C. in 1995. We have all our family back in Miami and visit sometimes, they visit a lot! I've known my husband since the age of 13... We've been married almost 24 yrs. now. We have one DD, age 13. Wish we'd have had more, maybe a boy.... didn't work out that way. We love to travel and visit National Parks. I enjoy reading, traveling, scrapbooking, gardening, cooking and collecting cookbooks. I worked as a Physical Therapist Asst. for many yrs. For the last 10 yrs, I've been working with my best girlfriend in a Montessori school. She's the lead teacher and I assist. We teach ages 3-6! Really enjoy it. Our family has a wonderful, temperamental 7 yr. old orange tabby named Sundance, Sunny for short. We love all animals. Would love a house full but have no time to take care of them. We keep busy with our DD's soccer schedule. She's excellent and she'd play 24-7 (actually, it feels like she does!). We remodeled our kitchen 1 1/2 yrs. ago and it's gorgeous. Got lots of help from the kitchen forum. It's how I started here! I love watching Seinfeld and Raymond reruns. I also enjoy HGTV and DIY. I'll watch a couple of reality shows... NEXT!

I'm Linda, born and raised in Memphis, Tn.
I'm 61 years young
Moved to Mississippi in 1996 with my second husband.
Retired from Kellogg in Dec. 2007 after 37 years
I have one daughter, 43
2 step sons and 2 step daughters
10 grandkids from age three to twenty five
DH and I adopted my youngest niece who just turned 13
We have three sweet dogs, one of them, the great dane, is destructive, but sweet. On the positive side,he's two years old now and is finally getting past some of the destructiveness ( I don't think that is a word )
I love gardening, not so much the work, but the results
I've been catching up on scrapbooking that I started 12 years ago...almost done YAY!!!!
I used to do many varied crafts, but gave them up because of working lots of mandatory overtime. I don't know if I still have the interest in all those crafts or not. I'll find out when I finish the scrapbooks.
I love working Sudoku puzzles and crossword puzzles.
I also love feeding and watching the birds in the back yard.
I spend a lot of time taking our niece from activity to activity.
It's nice to learn about my fellow KTers

Linda

I'm Tina, from Kentucky.
Will be 49 on July 4th.
In April Bob and I will have been married 24 years - 2nd for both of us. We each have 1 son from 1st marrige.
We have a 9 year old grandson from my son, and an 8 year granddaughter from his son. Grands are THE best.
Bob and I own and run a machine shop. 2 years ago I left a 14-year job I hated to become more active in the business and it has worked out great for us.
We ride motorcycles for relaxation and enjoyment. Yes, I have my own, a Kawasaki Vulcan 800, and I love it!
I enjoy sewing, machine embroidery, candle making,and making attempts at flower gardening. We are going to try vegetable gardening this year.
In December 2008 we lost our 19 year old kitty, then 7 weeks later we lost our 18 year old kitty. We miss them terribly and it feels so strange to not have any furbabies now.

I am Trish- born and raised in California, now a happy southerner in South Carolina. I am 43, married to my DH for 15 years. We have two kids still at home, our baby is a junior in HS. We are kept by 8 cats and 5 dogs. We have a small house on 2 acres of land that we rent. We want to buy someday but have not found our dream place yet. I work for a Rose nursery in the upstate, I can actually walk to work. I am an office manager but can do a little bit of everything including running a tractor. I cross stitch in my spare time which I have now that my boys are older and rarely home! I love stitching garden themes, cats and fantasy. I don't garden as much as I should at home since I spend so much time doing it at work. Most of the roses I have purchased over the years are all planted at the nursery. I read close to three books a week- the library is a favorite haunt. I choose one shelf each time I go- I read a little bit of everything that way. I usually have music playing where ever I go. I listen mostly to old rock and country these days, but I grew up with jazz as my father was a jazz musician. His father was a big band leader.

Trish

I'm Suzan from British Columbia. Born north of Toronto, but moved to BC when I was small. Have lived in various BC locations over the years.
Have been around this site since 2001, initially the Craft Forums. Didn't participate when it was a paid forum. Don't do much crafting anymore so mostly just hang around the table here.
Work in Property Management, have also worked as a banker(hated that but stuck it out for 12 looong years), managed a restaurant and assisted manager in another one, managed a dollar store, owned my own bakery way back when.
Have one daughter, no grands yet but hoping one day to have some I can spoil rotten. I have one brother who I am very close to and one sister who doesn't associate with us.
Have one cat who rules the roost, love all animals and if I could ever afford it I would have an animal refuge.
Love reality shows, trash to treasure projects and reading.
Hope to travel more in the future, haven't been to anywhere exotic except Hawaii years ago.
Suzan J

Lydia from Missouri
Born in 59
Married to DH 21 years
1 beautiful DD
1 half Corgi mix dog
2 cats
I am a stay at home Mom (even though DD is off at college). I used to sell a lot on eBay but am starting to prefer Craigslist. I like to scrapbook, decorate, do trash to treasure projects and shop for deals.

Hi, I'm Ya Ya. I'm 59, married and have three grown children - DS - 40, DD - 36, and DSD - almost 34. We have seven DGKs, ranging in age from 22 down to 8. I'm a retired teacher and enjoying junking, photography, reading, etc. Twinkie and I have been married 21 years. (My 2nd marriage, his 3rd).

I love animals and have two cats, Petunia and Fuzzy and one spoiled dachshund, Roxie.

I've met several KTers and have been on this forum for several years, just not as much lately as I used to be. Life sometimes gets in the way! LOL

Next?

Although my name is really Rosemary, by the time my parents brought me home from the hospital (a month after birth) I was called Mary Gail.

I was born in Duluth, MN 80 years ago. My father was in the Coast Guard and my mother was a school teacher.

I have three daughters, three granddaughters, 16 and 22 (sisters) and one 28, and a grandson, 23. My husband was 6'8" tall and two of my daughter are 6'2". Two of my granddaughters are 5'11", but the third is just a little over 5' tall, short people on her father's side and her mother was the shortest of my daughters, 5'8".

My husband died when my girls were 10, 12 and 14. I worked as a legal secretary after his death and have been retired for 13 years. I lived in Wisconsin most of my life, but now live in Indiana with my oldest daughter and her husband.

I am an avid reader. When I'm reading or watching TV, I have a little 12 year old Dachshund curled up next to me. The family claims I stole their dog.

I'm Susan, and I live in the same Southern Ontario town I was born and raised in. I'm 49 years old, and have been married for almost 29 years, but we lived together for a year before that.

I'm a social assistance administrator and my husband is a senior technician in the plant where he works. I was working when we started going out, then I went back to school while working, and being pregnant. I moved through a few jobs while raising the kids, always trying to balance improving my career and being there for all the kids' games and activities.

I have two children. My 27 year old daughter lives alone in her house that she bought when she was 23. She is a development chemist, and she only lives one block from us. My son is 23. He is still in university, as he completed a college program before university. He also has a rental property that he bought two years ago. He works, and he volunteers as a basketball coach. He is also an official BB referee, which he spends a lot of time at. Last night he announced that he is thinking of moving out. That came out of nowhere!

I have two chihuahuas who are my babies. I have a greenhouse and I like to garden. Sometimes I quilt, but I go in spurts. I would like to travel more. Oh, and I love to make Sunday dinner. It's informal, but I love having people over on Sundays.

Kathy and I live on Whidbey Island. DH is retired Navy, we have 5 children, all grown.
We now find ourselves helping raise our Grandchildren, but do plan on packing up the RV and going on a 2 year road trip before we are too old to go!

My name is Pauline and I have been in and out of these forums since before Spud (I think that was his name) started charging a fee. I don't post much so I am not well known.

I am 64 yrs. old and was born in Connecticut to a Texas born mother who went back home. I lived 45 years in Houston, Texas and currently live in Tyler, Texas where I moved when I married my junior high sweetheart in 2000. Between us, we have 4 children and 7 grandchildren, none of whom live in Tyler but rather in Dallas, Houston, and Tennessee. Our babies in residence are two beautiful Shelties.

I am retired after working 25 years as a legal secretary and my husband is a retired electrical engineer. I do a lot of gardening. When my children were young, I did a lot of needlework, but I don't seem to do much of that anymore even though I think I would like to. Recently, I have taken some classes in jewelry making which I enjoyed. But, there again, I don't seem to be staying with it.

My favorite forums are Cleaning, Decorating, Organizing, Perennials, Texas Gardening and, of course, KT.

I am looking forward to meeting some of you as you pass through Tyler.

Everytime we do these kind of threads, I feel like I have a very boring life compared to most here.

I'm 65 and retired, but not in a good way..took early retirement years ago due to health and life's never been the same.

I have a son living in AZ and see him and the grands on a very irregular basis.

Have great grands in Oregon I've never met (including 8 month old triplets). They are from my grandson who was my late daughter's only child.

Animals are my heart and after having many, it's now just me and my teenage cat..my little soulmate. :)

If we weren't having this blizzard today, I'd be at my neighborhood pub tossing back a few with my buds (will not drink alone). Guess that's a good thing; I have enough vises as it is.

I'm in my 7th year of colon cancer remission and that's a very good thing. :)

I was born in Ohio. My parents lived in New York at the time but my grandmother thought there were no good doctors in New York so my mother took the train back to Ohio and I was born there. Have lived in NY and Connecticut all my life. I am a widow, lost my husband seven years ago. We had been married 51 years, still miss him. We had four children, three boys and one girl. My daughter still lives with me but she travels all over the world for her job. I have six grandchildren. I like house plants and have rebloomed several orchids. I love the Kitchen Table.

I have loved hearing from all of you. But Mary Gail...for some unknown reason you have touched my heart! Your husband was tall! I am only 4'10...my sister is 5'5, my Mama is 4'8 and Daddy was 5'11. He was the tall one of the family..LOL

Nice to meet you all!

Deb

I'm the central Texas Jaybird. I've been at the KT since '99, but lurked during the pay period. I don't usually have much to say, but I really enjoy checking in once or twice a day. I have met several KT'rs and am looking forward to a visit soon on the "Texas Tour".
I am 62 and work full time. I am also Minister of Music for an Evangelical and Reformed church.
DH and I have been married for 12 years...2nd time around for both of us. Between us we have a bazillion kids, grandkids and greatgrandkids. There is rarely a dull moment in our lives!!
Our boss is a 2 year old kittie that thinks she is Queen and we should not only bow down, but cater to her every whim!
GneeGirl, I understand about being a D.C. oddity. I was born in W, D.C. and get lots of comments on that fact!!

I am Lois from North East Iowa.

One of the older K T members at 77.

Divorced after many years of marriage.

Have 3 grown children, 2 sons and 1 daughter. Am thankful to have 5 grandkids and 2 step grandkids. 3 of the grandkids living close to me were active in track, cross country and basketball and I really enjoyed going to all the events that I could. Now that they are older I miss that.

I did have a perennial garden which I have decided to give up. In the spring I get really excited and then as the season goes on the weeds start growing and between the heat and mosquitos I usually give up. I'll just stay with my Clematis.

I have a great group of friends and being bored is not part of my vocabulary!

Such interesting stories. Let's hear some more.

Hello EVERYONE!

I am nola_anne. Live in Ohio...used to be on KT a hundred times a day in 90's...saw some of you off on your trips to Disney but I, for one, stayed out of trouble (or blamed it on someone else! LOL!) At one time (when there was a fee)we adopted or were adopted by someone on the KT and country bumpkin adopted me -- I was thrilled to stay on board...thanks again, country!

When I went to work full-time I only came here to read and rarely posted. Now I am 'retired' at age 62 and have been doing nothing (not even the dishes or laundry) for the past few years! Oh, my!

My latest pre-occupation is creating and collecting ATCs --ART TRADING CARDS (ACEO-Art Card Editions and Originals.) They are art of almost any media or style on 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches cardstock. That is the only hard, fast rule...LOVE THEM!

I am married to a great guy, have a blk. lab mix named MILES and several barn cats (that just came to us--like weeds do) and one tabby house cat that lives in the bedroom and hasn't come out since I re-married almost 2 yrs. ago.

My daughter-in-law is Mickey15 and my sister is renie50. We met tammy from ohio -- what a pleasure she is --- filled with LIFE and we met her DARLING Daughter at the same luncheon, too, a short while back.

I think I've said 'nuff--maybe I'll start posting again, but I can't do it without a cup of coffee first!

Cherrio!

nola_anne

I am Tammy from MN. I am 43, married since 1996 with 2 children 10 and 7. I have a fashion degree, cosmetology license, and also a degree in nutrition and have worked in the same dept for 26 years doing baking, clinical nutrition, and foodservice management. I am also part time instructor for a local college teaching dietetic students. In my spare time i love to do crafts and sell on ebay. Also love to cook and bake and hope to own a cafe one day. My husband is self employed and drives truck for a living and is also a volunteer firefighter. I was diagnosed in July 2008 with stage 3a colon cancer and am currently undergoing chemo and hope and pray I am cured.

I am Carol, a fourth or fifth generation.....I say I am fourth but my sister says fifth.
I have been married to the same guy for over 46 years and we are still in love.
We have three kids, one of whom is an angel. He died when he was seven on the same day Elvis died. Steve is 44 and has been married for six years to a beautiful, inside and out, Japanese woman. They have two really beautiful children, Jake, age 2 and a half and Mio, who is almost six months old. They live in Tokyo and we are hoping to meet Mio soon.....hopefully in Hawaii.
My daughter, Susan is 42, not married but with SO and has been for 15 years. They were in high school together. They had a cat who recently died and they are getting over a broken heart. He was almost 15 years old.
I am a retired RN and DH is a retired wholesale liquor salesman. We love to travel. He plays golf as often as he can and I stay home and work in the yard, which I love. I also love to cook, read and take pictures of flowers and places we travel.
I have been at the KT since it started.....a long time ago.
My friends and family are finally starting to realize my KT friends are real people!

Marilyn from s/e Texas...near Houston and Galveston. I have lived in this area my whole life...which is 62 years. I have been married to my childhood sweetheart for 43 years...but just a few days ago, was the date that we met...March 25, 1959. We were 12 years old and I wrote about it in my diary.;) Fifty years...that's a long time!

My husband was a commercial shrimper for 45 years, but it had been going downhill for several years, so he went to school and got his tow boat license and started over in a new career...actually, except for the Army, his first real job. Now he is a pilot on a tow boat. A pilot is a little different than a captain. You just drive the boat. Captains drive and do a little paperwork, but pilots are paid more. Go figure. But, I'm not complaining. It is just good that he has a regular job in these tough times.

We have one daughter, who is 28 and lives and works in Houston. She lives with her boyfriend of 7 years, and at the time, no plans to marry and they don't plan on having children.

I don't have grandchildren to spoil, but I have pets. I have 4 horses, 2 dogs, a duck, a hen and rooster, a feral pig, a bunch of fish, and a lot of cats...somewhere between 25 and 30. Live on 50 acres, no near neighbors, on
Chocolate Bayou. I rehab wildlife, mostly possums and right now I am raising about 30 baby possums, plus have two mothers with babies, a few non releasables and one recovering from being hit by a car. I also have a crippled squirrel. Yes...I am busy! :))

I love to work in the yard, collect old and odd stuff...especially kitchen related things and about a gazillion more old things. I love nature and I feed the birds and squirrels and raccoons here and have a "pet" armadillo that I raised and released and he lives somewhere nearby, because he is here every night.

We just bought an early 1900's farm house to have it moved to our land, and looking forward to fixing it up.

I've been at the KT since '99.

If I don't already know you...pleased to meetcha!

Truly great Get to Know responses.
Thanks to all who cared to reply.

Anyone else?

Hi! I'm MaryAnn. I live in the small town that I was born in. It's about one hour from San Antonio. I'm the same age as Happy Go Lucky Gayle and Yaya. I can't bring myself to type the number because I can't believe that I'm that old! LOL I still think I'm in my 30's.
I am happily married to Jammer (marriage #2) and I have 3 sons and 3 grandchildren. I would rather be out riding on the motorcycle than just about anything else I can think of. I also love doing anything computer related and reading books. I love being part of groups. I am close to many of the "girls" that I went to school with. We call ourselves the Nixon Yayas (thanks to our KT Yaya for the idea). I also meet with two friends every week for breakfast. We refer to ourselves as the Nixon Breakfast Club. A good friend and I started the GRINS book club and we meet once a month. I'm blessed with a great family and many wonderful friends.

At last count I have met in person around 39 KTers. I will be doing the Texas Tour with Nita in April and look forward to meeting more and reuniting with others.

After a lifetime of great health, I have been battling cancer for over a year now and have so appreciated all the support, cards, etc from members here.
I've been here at the KT since around '98 or '99.

Hi I am 72 and have lived in Kansas since we moved from Oklahoma in 1950. I am a widow with two grown sons. I am a homemaker only working when both boys were in school and I was bored. I collected dolls for 20 years. Married for a second time for 33 years. I love exotic travel, been to Africa twice, Peru twice and my favorite US vacation was a bus trip of the Pacific Northwest. We flew to Vancouver B.C. where the bus picked us up. We spent a couple of days in VC, then started down the coast to northern California. I really love Vancouver, Washington and Oregon, would love to move there, but alas I would be a pauper. Very expensive places. I also like reading, bird watching, video games and working on the PC or should I say Playing with it. I was here a short time before the split. I just about gave up forums, but I drop in from time to time. Love the PC Help forum.

Lulie- Real name Ruth. When I was a baby, my grandmother called me her "Little Lulu". It stuck.
Born and raised in Louisiana
Married in 1972
Had 2 wonderful children. Lost Christin in 1998.
My son and family live around the corner from us.
Have two grandsons and one granddaughter and one stepson
Retired teacher
Husband retired also
I do commissioned oil paintings
I just finished co-authoring a book with my daughter being the main character. Will be on sale soon.
Title of the is book, "CHRISTIN"

-nickname JO-57 yrs young-born and raised in ND-moved to SD 10 yrs ago-have been a cook in a restaurant for at least 35 yrs- now at a small town of 700 people-live in a town of 60 peopleand love it-had nine brothers and sisters,oldest passed away 20 yrs ago from pancreatic cancer at age of 40-my mom passed away in May of 1998 from pancreatic cancer, we only knew it for less than a month and my sisters was about 3 weeks.-I love to read and do soduko puzzles, crossstitch, attend the catholic church regularly-We have been married 35 yrs,have a DS, 30 who is married and adopted her 3 children,they live in ND-we have a DD,22 who is married and lives in Michigan, she has a DD who is 1 1/2 and is expecting another daughter in May. my husband drives a blade for the county. 4 years ago I had a complete hysterectomy and they told me I had the really early stages of cancer but I never had to go through cemo or anything because they were sure they got it all. Some of my brothers and sisters and my dad and I are going to be in a pancreas screening study to see if the cancer might be hereditary because we were always told it wasnt but now they think it maybe is. We also lost my mothers sister to it. I feel very blessed with my life though. Sorry this is so long but I couldnt stop after I started

Donna, 71, live in So. Central Missouri, moving here from Ca. over 25 years ago. Have lived in Id., Fl., and Mn.

Don't remember how long I've been at GW, joined when it was pay and was looking for garden information. Mostly on the Farm and Junk forums for several years until I found the KT.

Married to DH for 48 years, the 14th of this month, first time for me, 2nd time for him.
Have step daughter,turns 50 this year, married and living in Birmingham with family of DH and 4 girls.
DS, 45, married for 4th time living in Ca. He has a DD that is married and has 3 children and lives in GA. Also, a DS going to college near St. Louis. Has two step children also, still at home with him and his wife.
DD 43, married with three girls, oldest is in RN training after graduating last June.
Youngest DD is 38, married with two children and lives in St. Louis. All together have 13 grandchildren and 3 greats.

Went back to college at age of 45 to get my RN license. Had worked as a Psychiatric Tech. for over 15 years previously at state hospital in CA. Retired 3 years ago from the local Public Health dept. in our county. Actually, I helped get it up and running some 22 years ago, they did not have one previously and finally passed a mill tax to start one. I stepped down as Adm. about 3 years before I retired, worked halftime as RN.

I have a small thrift shop that I run 4 days a week, gives me a legitimate reason to go to yard sales and flea markets. I don't make much but gives me some extra spending money. We own the building so just have the utilities and upkeep, no mortgage payments, and it's on the highway about two miles from our house. My DDs bring me their stuff they are getting rid of and I sell it for them and give them the money. They don't have to have a yard sale and it gives them extra money they can always use.

We live on a 140 acre farm, and DH still raises a few head of cattle and puts up hay. We have about 11 head of cattle, 4 horses (belong to GD), two dogs, 3 indoor cats and about 8 or 10 outdoor, feral cats, that aren't very friendly. Have managed to get two of them spayed and trying to catch the others.

I like to raise a few flowers, read, crochet, knit and dabble in a few other things.

Didn't mean to make this into a novel! Have enjoyed reading what everyone has written.
Next.....

I am Bobbie. I will be 53 in May. I live in Massachusetts, now in the house that I grew up in with my six siblings. My 26 year old son lives with me. I have two cats and a dog. I have been single for 18 years but my ex is my best friend. I am an Accounting Specialist, not to be confused as an Accountant. Currently, unemployed. I love to cook, I used to sew quite a bit. I lost both of my parents to cancer. My mom in 98 and my dad in 01. I have been here since 98, mostly lurking but checking in almost daily. I have a DBF that is a musician he lives in NH so we travel back and forth quite a bit.

What a great thread.

I am extremely private and won't reveal too much about myself online at all - but I do love my dog, have been transplanted from the deep south to the Pacific N.W. and enjoy gardening. Am on the back side of 50, retired from the work force though my one and only husband still works for the government, was a military wife for more than 20 years. Have one grown son - live a very quiet life, we always have.

I became a member of Gardenweb when all it had was these forums: Annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees.

Really!! That's all it had at one point! It's hard to believe, isn't it?

But I learned so much from those four forums, it got me started on gardening.

Thanks all!
Great getting to know everyone!

lianne here, found the kt way back in '96 (13 years?!) and rather prefer to lurk than post, unless i manage to take a decent enough photo for public view

met dude in '91 and married him in '97, he has a wonderful daughter who has given us two beautiful granddaughters, ages 7 and 3...i hit 50 a few months ago and dude is recently 59

we moved from jersey to pa in '04 and began deconstruction to rejuvenate our house...in january'08 we both became unemployed and have, so far, been unsuccessful in changing that status -- i envy those who haven't been touched by this "recession"...we were able to pay for the property outright so, thankfully, we don't have a foreclosure hanging over our heads and as long as we can sell something or borrow/beg/steal the funds to pay the taxes, we won't lose it...we had begun deconstruction/rejuvenation which has come to a halt while we live with my parents doing work around their place and we do what we can on our house

jan'08 found one of my sisters (the middle daughter) with multiple myeloma leukemia, the prognosis was poor, sister di and i didn't match her for a transplant but they actually found a 10point donor match and sister jo went ahead with the transplant which occurred on may 29th... everything that can go wrong did and on august 5th 2008 she left us...she was a year and 11 days younger than me and called herself my "little pister"...i still can't believe this has happened...when i least expect it with a breathtaking punch, reality hits me in the gut and the waterworks start, whether i'm at home or at the grocery store, and frankly, i don't care who sees me cry...her boyfriend wanted to know if he'd be over her in a year, oh how i wanted to tell him Yes! but that would have been a lie...at the six month mark i myself realized i had to stop feeling sorry for myself, get back in the game so to speak -- and darned if my mellow dude with the enviably low blood pressure doesn't go and have a major heart attack! on friday the 13th no less...with no insurance we're going thru the demeaning process of applying for aid which i'm sure we won't get since you have to have some sort of income...his meds cost $200 a month (hurray! for the usa)

in between heartaches i enjoy reading mysteries and short stories (here's to keeping libraries open!), photography with my nikonD70 that i don't know how to utilize properly and probably never will (every time i talk of selling it dude gets mad at me so i keep plugging along), finding new recipes or ways to better the old ones (especially now that dude says he'll eat broccoli! and he's not afraid of herbs'n spices), bird watching, gardening (winter tomatoes are so gross!), watching episodes of my favorite britcom: last of the summer wine...if i owned a pub those boys'n gals'd have a reserved table :o)

Oh, summerwine, I am so sorry things have been bad for you. Hopefully soon things will get better. I too like the old Britcoms. I can't find them too much on television any more. Here's hoping the future looks brighter for you both.

Sue

Hello, I'm Cheryl - don't post much but lurk a lot. I turned 55 in January. Married to a great guy Paul and we celebrate our 27th wedding anniversary on 3rd April. We have 2 sons - Matt is 35 (I was a single parent when I married and Paul adopted Matt) and Craig is 22. Matt has been married to a lovely girl Susan for 7 years - no grandkids yet and Craig still lives at home.

I was born in Sydney and lived there for 28 years until I married and then due to Paul's work as a bank manager, we have moved around quite a lot - which I hated. He is now on long service leave pending retirement and we have moved to Maitland - a town about 200 kilometres north of Sydney. We now have our own home and called it "Dunmovn" - as I am so over this house moving!!!! I haven't worked outside the home since I married in '82, but I now have a job working 2 days a week in the office of a motor bike shop - it helps with the finances.

I love to read, use the computer (get onto KT a couple of times a day), quilt, be with family and friends and I enjoy being at home.

Next......

Hi! I'm Monica from Southern California, lived here all my life.

I wandered over here from the Pool & Spa Forum. Been lurking for a while but decided to come clean!

Married for 19 years, stepdaughter 26, daughter 11 and son 5. Work full time in Community College (not an instructor). Keep busy with church, kids sports, volunteering, and I squeeze in bootcamp type workouts 3 days a week.

Looking forward to participating in discussions and getting to making new cyber friends!

ttt
Anyone else?

Thanks all for sharing!

I'm 47 and DH and I will celebrate our 20 year anniversary next month. We have 2 girls (16 and 12) and 1 boy (10). We also have a dog, Sparky, and 2 cats, Sophie and Trevor. Trevor was diagnosed with kidney problems in December and we now have to give him fluids under the skin twice a day, but he's doing great and doesn't look or act sick at all! The kids are in elementary, middle, and high school which complicates things! The day goes quick after dropping everyone off at school and trying to get stuff done before the first one comes home a little after 2 pm. I noticed some of the KTers from years ago have new names-maybe I should take notes to keep everyone straight! DS went to a school roller rink party tonight. It looked like fun to skate, but I have a torn ACL (that doesn't bother me) and thought maybe I shouldn't try it. I'd like to though. Maybe I could with a brace so it doesn't bend way the wrong way if I fall. I secretly want roller blades-must be great exercise-I never see anyone heavy roller blading! Who at the KT roller blades?? Lately we have been taking our bikes to paved bike trails. One day it was windy and I was getting a little tired and thought about Moni crossing the COUNTRY so I just kept pedaling wondering how she did it day after day. She had a great blog too. Anyone have the link to post for others? I could prattle on and on but I just noticed I have to get up in 5 hours! Yikes-time for bed.

I was wondering the other day, about how many people might be part of the KT. This thread should give me an idea.

I joined the KT last fall I think, after asking a question, and I got so many helpful responses, I thought "Gee what a friendly group of people." So here I am.

I'm from Southwestern Ontario, I live with my sweetie, for the past 6 years.(I call him DH here, just for ease of describing him). We've both had previous marriages and in our 50's.

We live with 3 fantastic cats, all with very different personalities. He wasn't much of a cat person, till he met me, and 1 cat eventually grew to 3. Darn Humane Society! LOL

My favourite hobby is vermicomposting, and did I tell you that we live in an apartment? Along with the cats we share the apartment with several thousand worms in the spare bedroom. I love these little guys, and "DH" is very tolerant of them.

My nickname is actually an acronym for "just another shi!!y day in paradise"!