From one NYer to another - Welcome, Arlene! I enjoyed reading your intro and posts!

Arlene - working again! I really love "I Found Them!" - I can understand why you picked it as your avatar!

Masaki

Thanks Denise and Masaki. :)

Welcome Arlene..looking forward to meeting you in the very near future. Cruise or no cruise.

Andi

Andi, I'll see you and Doug on Saturday. :) I'm looking forward to it too.

A very belated welcome Arlene! I know you guys will have a great time Saturday! Many of us will be with you in spirit!

Arlene - a late welcome from me as well. And, I visited your website. Lovely work!

Hi A and welcome! Just spent a little time on your site and I must say that your work is incredible!

Thanks for sharing.

R

Arlene,
Your work is beautiful!

Arlene: How do I find your art website?? Joanna

There is a link in the Profile to the site.

Thank you Marcie, Donna, Robert and Ronnie

Greetings to all!! Very new at this - so please forgive my errors!! Anyway - I'm a very good friend of Col Wes & Ida, and he told me about this great website. So, I decided to try it out. I am one of the lucky ones - retired, but was unfortunately medically retired from the Army after 24+ years (Ida and I went to Officer Basic Course together). (I actually signed out of the military on Sep 10, 2001 in Wash DC, and was on my way to the Pentagon to turn in some official paperwork on that fateful morning - but decided to enjoy the "first day of my new life", and played tennis instead. Never did make it there, for obvious reasons!! Fate, Karma - whatever, but my nine lives are going fast.
I discovered cruising that year - going on my first cruise to the Greek Islands (on First European's Mistral)in Oct 2001 (which was a bit unnerving - but I wasn't going to let them ruin our lifestyles!!) and was definately hooked. I then turned my family onto this new wonderful venue - and have cruised to the Caribbean & Alaska several times (travelling on Holland America, Carnival, Celebrity and Crystal). Couldn't understand what took me so long to go cruising - but since I'm rather athletic, couldn't figure out what I would do on a cruise for a week!! Boy was I wrong!!!
I'm hitting one of my major Birthdays this year - so I'm celebrating all this year, and then will start my next life in style. I was born & raised in Wis, but now live in Granbury, Tx (just south of Ft Worth) in a nice gated community so that I could play a lot of tennis & golf. I also love to ski, travel, snorkelling/scuba (have to get recertified), horsebackriding, ah - just about every sport (if I'm able to do it!!) I'm a twin (my name is Marie Anne - hers is Anne Marie - just to add more spice & mystery as identical twins!) - or Mom was still "high on some good meds" when she named us. I try to live my life to the fullest - for I learned quickly (especially in the military, as I was in back-to-back conflicts!!) that life is far too short, so enjoy it for all it's worth. I try to stay & be positive, for I feel that why would anyone drag yourself down by being negative - and am always trying to find that silver lining in dark clouds. I feel very fortunate that I've had my family and friends always there for me thru thick and thin - thus I love meeting new people!! Especially a great group like this!!! :lct:

Welcome, Ms Marie! Any friend of the Colonels...
Looking forward to your posts.

Hear, hear!

Masaki

Marie, I can't wait to meet you on MUSH and I bet you are going to fit right in here!

Marie, nice intro...love your ten gallon hat too..r/wes

Marie: Welcome - glad to hear you'll be on Mush - Joanna

Welcome, Marie! Looking forward to reading lots of posts from you on LCT.

Marie,

Welcome to the LCT family. Looking forward to your posts. Glad to have you on board.

Betty

Welcome aboard LCT Marie.
Hope we get to meet on "MUSH"

Marie, it is so go to meet a friend of Wes & Ida. Welcome to this fun, informative board. Can't wait to hear all about your MUSH cruise plans. And I LOVE your picture!!

Marie - thanks for introducing yourself and let me add a warm welcome to LcT. Hope to meet you in person sometime and I look forward to your posts. Cheers, Anne

Welcome to LCT and hope to meet you on MUSH as well!

Welcome Marie :) What part of Wi were you born in?

Hi Marie....so glad you decided to join the fun of LCT! It's nice to get to know you.

Hi Marie, welcome to LCT. Hope to meet you on MUSH. I love your philosophy on life - same as mine! Thanks for introducing yourself to us.

Marie: Tony is from Greenfield, WI outside of Milwaukee -

Hi Marie,

You have a great outlook on life! Welcome,

Wow - thanks everyone for the welcome!! Makes one feel definately a part of it all!!

Ms Marie:

You're retired from the Army, the Colonel retires in July and I wanted to say how much I appreciate people like you who make/made their career protecting us.

One doesn't get rich financially from being in the military but the friendships, traditions, history, honor and service are priceless.

Well done and welcome aboard!

Cheers! Ray

Marie, Ray said that so well. I am in such awe of those who serve or have served our country. We all owe so many thank yous to each & every one of you!!

Marie,

My husband grew up in Green Bay and his family had a summer place on the water next to Gerhardt Miller. His mom is buried there, so we still make trips up there.
You make number three of Packer fans on this forum. We have been blessed enough to be season ticket holders, although we don't make it to many of the games.
Is Granbury any place around Dallas or Houston?

Ms. Marie, welcome to you! I'm from Dallas but have visited Granbury a number of times. Lovely little community. And we've also visited Sturgeon Bay! Door County is one of our favorite places, one not known much by people in this area. Oh, and by the way, I'm not a football (read Cowboy) fan, so your "secret" about being a Green Bay cheesehead is safe with me!

Loon!! Ah, yes - Gerhardt Miller - in fact, I have a wonderful huge print of his hanging in my hallway as well - it was my Mother's (who has since passed away), she and my Sister (she also has a large one) are great fans of his! Beautiful pieces - and to have had the summer place on the water - phenomenal. I grew up in downtown Sturgeon Bay - had to walk to school (not a lot of fun in the wintertimes!!) And to be season ticket holders - you must be very popular when you don't use them!! My sister has been on the list over 20 years, and she's moved up to wait probably another 15 or so!! Granbury is actually about 40 miles SW of Ft Worth - and, being retired, I travel quite a bit (especially in the summer when I escape this heat!! This Northerner is still not acclimated!!)

A belated welcome Marie! Great to have you here and I love your outlook on life! Have fun - there are wonderful folks on this board!

Ray/Cyndi:

You're kind thoughts are TRULY & GENUINELY appreciated, and I know I speak for all of the military. Having grown up & entered the military close to the Vietnam era - those sentiments were quite the opposite, and one hesitated to acknowledge that we were even a part of it. Despite what I put my family through (especially my Mother) after being a part of "Back-to-Back" conflicts (Panama & 1st Gulf War - 2 Xmas's in a row in hostile zones!), I sincerely felt proud to serve a nation that continuously gives us so many wonderful opportunities and freedoms, and yet always tries to make a difference for others around the world, altho at times it doesn't seem that way. You make it all worthwhile, because folks like you do care - and do recognize and value all that we have in life, and what others sacrifice for the privileges we sometimes take for granted!! Thank you for taking the time & effort to let other know - you have no idea what that means for those that do give so freely, for we never hear it enough in today's world!! :hello1:

Hi Ms Marie,

I am a child of the Vietnam Era. They were turbulent times. My former husband served in the Navy as a Corpsman attached to the 3/9 Marines at Con Thein, Hue and Khe Sahn. My father served in Korea. We owe our freedom to those who have served this country in both war and peace. Welcome Home to all of you and Thank you.

WOW, Marie - that is so very touching!!!

Hi Ms Marie- Welcome

I am also from Wisconsin- have lived all my life (46 years) in Oshkosh. My husband is from the LaCrosse area. We go to Door County occasionally (has gotten extremely expensive)- even stayed at a great B&B in Sturgeon Bay for one of our wedding anniversaries. I am also a huge Packer fan. Do you think Brett will retire this year? We will be on the PG in March at the same time as Wes and Ida- plan on renting a car with them in Moorea.

Kim