Ski   here,   just   checking   in!

Hello! So glad to see you here, in my brain... Oh, well, maybe not literally, but it certainly feels that way from here!

This is your friend Sharonski, Sharonovich, Ski, or even Sk. My real name is Sharon Barbour, but when I was born it was Sharon Wyland. Then I got lucky enough to meet this guy named Camden Barbour and marry him!

I'm a beginning website developer, just testing the waters to see what works. Please forgive any glaring errors (like links that send you to a page that doesn't apply, links that don't exist yet, you know)......

Just two weeks ago tomorrow, the World Trade Center disappeared. I'm still in shock, I don't even think I could reliably tell you how I feel. Is there room for a thousand emotions in each of us? It sure feels that way. Let me just say that I hope you and your loved ones are okay since this happened, and if you've lost someone, know that I grieve with you for this most awful act. It's really too big to fully comprehend at this moment.

The most recent info is the newest trip we're planning, for Summer 2002, to tour the Laura Ingalls Wilder houses and museums! Alex just found the Laura Ingalls Wilder websites last week, and it has blossomed into the newest Odyssey for the Family -- this one won't be nearly what we did in '98 (how COULD it be?), but it'll be fun to be back on the road again.

In 1999 (last time I updated this) we went to my (gasp) 20th High School Reunion! Camden and I visited my Alma Mater in October, and we had the best time that's allowed! It was four days of nonstop fun, seeing all kinds of familiar faces and smiling so much my face STILL hurts. The flights from here to there and home again, that was a different story. Four and a half hours worth of delays, BOTH ways, we didn't get a break for nothin'. It all turned out okay though -- I would still rather have a fun visit and screwed up flights than the other way around. Now we're already looking forward to the 25th Reunion!

In 1998, our family's trip was the most exciting thing happening -- we took the summer off to visit friends all around America! Our son and daughter sat in our Ford Aerostar while we drove to friends' houses in eleven different states between June 15th and August 17th--LOTS of details on the links, as that trip is what inspired me to MAKE this website!

We had a few "re-routes" and re-schedules -- fires in La Junta, Colorado closed hiway 50, then the overheating problem we had in Kansas kept us there a few extra days and made us take a MARATHON drive from Ft. Smith, Arkansas ALL THE WAY to Atlanta, Georgia in one day. It can be done, but I don't recommend it. The fires in Florida were a bit daunting, but we bit the bullet and went to DisneyWorld anyway, and what a terrific time we had! We have now visited two additional Paramount Parks (at Carowinds in "The Carolinas", the North/South border goes right through the park! And in Toronto, Canada's Wonderland lives up to its name -- but we lost Alex there for way too long). We have also seen Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone Park, and so many other sights -- the kids have a whole new respect for their country!!!

And some more news, since November 1998, is that I've got Graves' Disease. There's really no reliable information about how you get it, but I've got so many of the suspected "triggers" it's really not funny. So far it's not impacting me much except I've gained even more weight (I can't believe it! I must've been too skinny in a past life) and I get very frustrated VERY easily. I can't decide if that's good or bad, since my OLD pattern was to take it, just take it, don't ever be angry. I think maybe the getting angry thing is actually more healthy. :-) I've been treated now and am on the other side of the hyperthyroidism -- feeling better each day and participating as an Assistant Facilitator on the National Graves' Disease Foundation online bulletin board. I can get you any information you may need on Graves' -- mostly because I've been there done that, but also because I know lots of people who've been through almost any possible circumstance. Check out their website at http://www.ngdf.org (a link is on my personal page).

Happy surfing to ya!

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