Great signature line, Carol! Quick learner, girl!!
Interesting to me that some of your responses on this thread are from old timers whom I know very well, and some, like Beth, are new like you. This is the joy of this forum. We can relate so well to the difficulties of being where we are when we are new, and we can look forward to the joy we see in other's journeys that are of a longer duration.
Mike Fisher writes beautifully. He has his personal story called The Long Road - if you look that up in the search feature at the top, you will find it. It is truly volumes of feelings from an extraordinary man. He comes to mind because I just read his latest post. There are so many wonderful stories here....stories from which I have learned so much.
Eric (OsoDelDesierto) is someone whose story is fascinating! He and I are close personal friends - a wonderful man, intense and committed to this journey. He looks like a movie star...<sigh> He approached me as I boarded the ship in December for the T-T cruise, and spoke to me. I had no idea who he was. I had his "fat" picture in my head. When he told me, I hugged him so long and so tight and just couldn't let him go. I will never, in fact, let him go.
Corrine, who responded to this thread calls me her mentor. I'm flattered and humbled by that, but in fact, we have been there for each other from the moment we met in the early summer of 2007. We have been very close since then, on and off this board. She lives in WA state. We met in real life twice - once in Washington before the cruise, and then spending a glorious week together in Miami Beach and on the ship.
There are a lot of people here that have traveled my journey with me, and for whom I am very grateful.
Carol, take a lot of pictures of yourself now, from all angles. Take your measurements now. ALL of them, including upper arms, thighs, etc. These will be tools for you as you go along your journey. I couldn't stand the camera early on, and this was a mistake on my part.
xoxoxo