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Quote of the Month

"You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do."
Henry Ford, 1863-1947

(Feb. 1, 2007) Okay, I understand this doesn't look like much to anyone who get's snow, and, being from Midland, ON, the snow belt capital of Central Ontario, Canada, it may not look like much to me, but this is HUGE news! This is all we've heard about in Cornelius for the last 5 days. It's all over the news. The weather people are driving all over to 20 counties so show the accumulations all over the area! We have more here then the Northern areas! That never happens. As a matter of fact, the most snowfall ever recorded on this day in history was a trace amount in 1972 and this is the first snow in 3 years. No schools are open for at least 100 mile radius, any events have been cancelled and the multi million dollar brine machines purchased a few years ago finally have a chance to earn their keep! I had to post it, I may never see it again.

Just a couple extra pictures of the area as a reminder when I think I live in Shangrila, and it never snows, It really does. Do remember, click an picture on my pages and you'll get the larger 1000pixel version.

(Jan. 30, 2007)
This is by far the busiest month I've ever had! It seems since US Thanksgiving on November 25/06 to now I've been on the go. I still can't believe I had the time to put in the blurb on Vegas with all the traveling. Most of the traveling has been done by driving so their has been hours and hours of driving. I keep promising to put more details on trips in the news but I've been so busy, I'm not really sure when it'll get there, but eventually. I want to archive some of the older stories on the cover also, so I'll get there in the next couple months.

About now though! Wow! Niagara Falls, Canada with my nieces Ashley and Sarah at Christmas was wonderful. I rarely get to spend time with my sister and her family. It was so nice to have Christmas with them. We all stayed two days at the Super 8 tower in the Falls and Robin and I got to take the nieces on the Sky Wheel.

We went from Niagara Falls, ON back home to Cornelius, NC for a couple days for Robin to work and then we had to head to Richmond, VA for Robin's work. Since it was only 5 hours from Richmond to New York, Ny, we decided to go see the ball drop in New York for New Year's 2007. This was a nice idea in theory, but, well, lets just say I didn't really know what I was getting into!

Last but not least, when we arrived home from Vegas, earlier this month there was an email in Robin's in box from US Air for a very inexpensive Cruise on the Norwegian Majesty, out of Charleston, SC, on Norwegian Cruise Lines. How convenient, 3 hours away! We couldn't say no and as mentioned earlier we headed away on the cruise with my mom and dad. The highlight of the trip was the Shore Excursion with Fury Catamarans, snorkeling off Cozumel, Mexico and the beach. More details In Features, don't miss this if you're considering booking a cruise anytime soon.

(Dec. 19, 2006)
Wow, I'm back home! For my birthday on the 13th, Robin whisked me away to Vegas for four nights. That on it's own would have been a fabulous birthday but he topped that with a trip to the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam via bus, helicopter and boat on the 13th. Busy times coming up too. I'm off to Niagara Falls, Canada for Christmas, watching the ball drop in New York, NY for New Years and a one week Caribbean cruise booked for January 20, 2007. I'll get updates and pictures done in the news when I return from it all. I'm adding a blurb pictures from Vegas today.

(Nov 14, 2006)
Well I honestly have been soooo busy! Immediately after my last post, I decided to head to Midland (home), Ontario, Canada, to work for four months. I couldn't handle having none of my own money and I really wanted to buy a computer for my son Leonard, who graduated high school on Jun. 29, 2006. Robin traveled up for the graduation; we were so excited to see him get his diploma, in spite of how grumpy Robin was about putting on that suit! Len was my big incentive to go top up my savings actually. In spite of being through so much in the last two years, with having a baby and being seriously burned in a house fire right after she was born, he's all fine, and I'm so proud he stuck out school through it all and finished. He deserved the computer he wanted. Read on for more on my cycling, kiting, and travels in the last 6 months.

Just before I left I had the opportunity to head to Bike Week 2006 in Myrtle Beach, a fun 4 to 5 hour ride, we spent the day cruising and arrived at night! On the way we passed by Reid's Gold Mine, in North Carolina and had to stop in to check it out, picture above. A friend of my husband's from work came along with his then girlfriend and we all had a terrific 4 day weekend in Myrtle Beach. The weather was terrific and sights, if you love bikes. I'll make sure there's a news blurb on the trip up in the next few weeks.

I've done way too much to list it all on my cover page, so in the next few weeks I'll get several articles up on the news page. I've learned to fly a two line kite with my brother-in-law and brother. Both my brother and John were trying to talk me into taking up kiting which they took up this year. They introduced me to just the fun of flying a two line kite from the ground. They both have large kites for use with skis on ice and have been trying to learn to fly them with wake boards on water.

My oldest son, Shawn, finally bought a serious mountain bike and started cycling with John (my brother in law), myself and any crew that wishes to travel along. It's so nice to have Shawn cycling now and not just me! I saved enough to buy a new bike over summer; a Trek, Liquid 65, picture to come later. I'm actually heading to my first Dirt Diva's meeting tonight, so I'll have a group of women to ride with here in Cornelius.

Along with all I did above, I've done quite a bit since coming back home to Cornelius. Shawn drove home with me for a holiday. We took him to Myrtle Beach, where he rode the Pavilion's Roller Coaster, gone forever after this season, and then went gem mining at Emerald Mines in Hiddenite, NC. I've been to Greenwood, SC (found a scenic, though easy cycling trail there) and then Johnson City, TN, with incredible views through the mountains on route. My husband and I left there to head for beautiful Richmond, VA, where we enjoyed the 68th National Folk Festival from downtown Richmond. The day after Richmond my husband and I were invited to attend a small personal Everclear concert (there's a bit more to that story, for the news), in Portsmouth, VA. Finally we came home to Cornelius, where we managed to find time to see near by Medieval Festival (centaurs, chariots and all), visit Wheels over Time museum in the mountains, and have my mom and dad down for Thanksgiving (Canadian one). I'll have more on all of these in the coming weeks, in the news.

(May 8, 2006)
I really should up date things far more than I do! In the last year I've moved to North Carolina from the beach house I went to stay at last summer. The weather here is incredible. I have the best of all worlds in my opinion. The ocean is 3 hours away, the ski hills (Laurentian Mountains, with 1200 vertical drop to ski) are under a two hour drive. So far, crossing my fingers, I've maintained my weight loss and feel great. It's not so hard to be active where it never snows unless you head to the mountains to find it and it's 60 degrees F in town when you leave!

My husband took a position down here last April in Rockford, IL. I spent my two week holiday in July 2005 in Rockford with him and spent some time in Chicago. It took until September for them to permanently place him, looking after service in the Carolina's. He searched for a nice place to relocate and came up with a place in the Charlotte area, near Lake Norman to keep me near the water I sooo didn't want to move away from. I have some nice cycling trails down here and the water to go ride by each day, and I've maintained my 30 minute work out on the Urban Rebounder at least 4 times a week.

The traveling I've done is incredible. Very tiring at times but I've seen so much. I've been to Myrtle Beach 4 times, I've seen Nashville and gone to the Opry. On a side note, I'm not a country music fan, but it's well worth seeing in any case. I've been to Florida ( Fort Walton Beach), twice. It is by far the prettiest beach I've seen. The emerald coast has white, white sand with emerald green water. I believe it was even prettier than the waters in Grand Cayman and the Caribbean. I've been to Washington and had fresh seafood on to shores of the Chesapeake Bay (highly recommended). Too much to mention, you'll find pictures and highlights In The News!

The grand daughter came down for the month last month, with my son and his fiance. My oldest son, Shawn, is down this week for the week; he rented a bicycle and we got in a couple days of cycling. Alida (my grand daughter) is so adorable. She is 1.5 years old and pure energy. She burst into our bedroom each morning to wake us, climbed into bed and would point to the TV for us to put on her favorite show, the Doodle Bops. How things have changed since mine were little! We had no idea what "Bops, Bops" meant. Robin (my husband) and I spoiled her absolutely, incorrigibly, rotten. I'm sure my daughter-in-law hates us now! I'm adding links and pictures of our travels and goings on. This should update all for a while.

(July 2005)
I seriously can't believe it! I quit smoking a year and a half ago and promised myself I would lose the weight again if I gained any. I gained about fifteen pounds and thought I'd never lose it.

The first year I tried and had no luck. I took the Doctor's advice and waited a year to try again. Well that year was up December 24th, 2004 and it just plain seemed to cold to lose weight then. I waited until May 2005 and for the past 10 weeks I put my full effort in. I can't believe I'm wearing a bikini again!

I feel terrific, I've lost almost all the weight, I don't smoke, I feel fit, and I think I look better at 40 then I did at 30. Find the rest of the story and how I did it,

In The News.

(October 2004)
Check out the News page for the newest news in our family, Alida Catherine Parker has been born. Proud dad, Leonard, is below.

(January 2004)
In the News this month, did you ever wonder what a cruise was like? Check out the News link for pictures and information on what we did and where we stopped in the Caribbean West.

Costa Maya, Mexico is a beautiful new port along the routes of Cruise Liners. It sits amidst the Mexican Jungle with beautiful sandy beaches and quiet untouched rocky shores.

The rest of the story is In The News, pictures can be found in the photo gallery.

This Month

Updates - Jan. 30/07

Cruising; the Good the Bad and the Down Right Ugly - Read the features article if you're considering a cruise, know what you're getting into.

New York City New Year - Happy New Year 2007!

Daily Horoscope - It's in Entertainment

Newest Online Cassinos - If you're serious you can find on line games here.

IN THE NEWS

Wow Vegas, A Modern Wonder - What a birthday.

Richmond & Portsmouth, VA - What a weekend it turned out to be.

Len and Jo-anne Graduate- Definitely the highlight of my year was these two making it to graduation!

S.N.A.R.T. Group of Racers - Fun weekend, details in the news.

Natalie and Jay at Disney - A surprise visit to Florida for my niece and nephew, details here.

Holiday July 2005 - Rockford and Chicago highlights from 2005,click to go right to the story.

Skiing In North Carolina - Yes, there really is skiing here! See pictures, links to hill sites and more. Click to read.

Cruising the Caribbean - Nice cruise pictures and details.

Fit and Forty - How I did it!