Welcome!
to my About Me Page.

Let me tell you a little bit about myself and my family!

I grew up in Sayville, on Long Island in New York State,
it was the greatest place to grow up.
My home backed a Flower Farm,
which was across from a string of 7 lakes
and is now a "Greenbelt Preservation Area".
Summer, Winter, Spring or Fall, nature was part of my life every day.

I had the perfect childhood. My playground was the woods.
One of the neighborhood mom's was a naturalist.
She taught us about the flora and fauna surrounding us.
We knew when to pick the wild berries, where to find the baby bunnies,
and how to shuck clams. Almost all year round
we were able to find a "snack" whether in the fields and meadows,
the woods, by a stream or at the beach.

The next great chapter in my life was HORSES!
Like all young girls I just LOVED Horses.

I was very fortunate that there was a family run riding academy nearby.
It started out very normally, I took weekly riding lessons,
but that just wasn't enough, I started hanging around and making a pest of myself.
Next thing I knew, I was cleaning stalls, dropping hay,
getting stinky and filthy and loving it!
Soon my skills progressed, both my riding ability and
my determination to learn all there was about the care and training of horses.

After about 5 years, with a steadily growing clientele,
the owners decided I was old enough and responsible enough
to start to give riding instructions.
I will forever be thankful for the kindness of that family
in making my dreams come true.

Through out my life there has been one constant.
That is my absolute passion for reading.
I read everything, bottles, cans, directions, but most importantly books!

I have a collection of computer books, how to do this, that and the other thing.
I knew that with three children I had to be as knowledgeable or more so than they were when it came to computers.

Now, I can combine my love of reading and indulge in my newest passion,
computers. The best part of computers is now I can read even more!
I have taken virtual tours through Indian Ruins,
viewed the Art in the Sistine Chapel,
and mapped a three week cross country driving trip.

To give you an idea of how long I have been on computers, my first purchased computer is an Epson 8086 and I think it had 20 megabites of memory. Not only have I learned basic coding and web design,
but I have taken online courses designed to increase my knowledge
and get an unbiased opinion as to how much I have learned.

Of course my About Me Page
would not be complete without meeting my family.

I was born in New York City but was only one month old
when our family moved out to the country.
Still to this day, I can get you through the city,
but I have no idea where anything is located in the Big Apple.

I am the oldest of two girls.
My sister lives in Arizona near my parents with her dog and horse.
My father is a victim of Alzheimer's and
we take it one day at a time. I am the last of all my relatives
to remain here on Long Island, or the Northeast.

My husband is also one of two, however he was the youngest of two boys.
His brother and family live in Kansas City.
It is up to us to watch that Nana and the rest of the local older generation
take it easy with their wild parties.
It seems that between 50th Anniversary Parties
and Surprise 75th or 80th Birthday's
they are constantly on the go.
The least they could do is bring us home a Doggie Bag!

It is amazing what being part of the "Sandwich Generation" entails.
In the last 8 years I have learned more about the Human Body
and Medical Red Tape than I ever wanted to know.

The ultimate joy of my life are my children.
My husband of 24 years and I have 3 of the best kids in the whole wide world.

My first born son is now almost 17 years old.
He is a gifted student with an IQ hovering around 142.
He is an award winning Computer Programmer,
and just returned home from 10 days in San Jose at the
National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology.
He is one of the lucky few that has known
what he wants to "Be When He Grows Up" since 4th Grade.
He is cute, kind and thoughtful,
he also promised to pay off my mortgage when he makes his first $100,000.

My second child, also a son, will be turning 11 very soon.
From the early age of 3 he was a Lego Maniac.
His big brother would let him play with his Lego sets.
By the time he was 4 years old, I watched him open a brand new kit,
that contained almost 200 Lego pieces
and just from looking at the picture on the box - NOT the directions -
he put together that spaceship in 20 minutes.
He is also a gifted student and, he also has been drawn to the computer.
His pleasure however is in writing stories
and then creating games to follow along.
Our School District offers a summer course in Robotics
that he will be eligible for next summer.
You can be sure he will be there
especially since it is taught using, what else, Lego's!

Finally, I got my wish and had a Daughter.
Oh, the old saying "Be careful what you wish for" is just so very true!
I love her dearly but I sure wish I was younger,
just so I could keep up with her.
She is beautiful, with hair to her waist,
huge eyes with eyelashes about 3/4 of an inch long,
and naturally olive tanned skin.
She is 8 (sorry, almost 9) but she thinks she is 20.
She talks about her 5 boyfriends,
tells me she is going to marry one of her oldest brother's friends,
and then proceeds to tell the boy's mother also.
She is very angry that I won't let her wear make-up or shave her legs.
But, she loves to do housework, loves to cook and bake, and
has Daddy wrapped tight around her little finger.
She tells me it is practice for when she is married.
The boys and I laugh because we haven't decided on whether
we will warn her prospective husband before or after the wedding.
At least after the wedding we can be sure she is driving someone else crazy.
I do not know what her future will bring,
but I can tell you she has a heart of gold,
and she is determined to set her own course.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know my family and me.

It was a pleasure spending time with you.

Thanks for stopping by.

I have found the best way to give advice to your children
is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.
Harry S Truman (1884 - 1972)

desalvo1@optonline.net