.......HELLO AND GREETINGS FROM ORLANDO, FLORIDA!
FROM ME, JOANN!

AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, WE LIVE IN WISCONSIN NEAR MILWAUKEE, SO ***GREETINGS*** FROM HERE TOO! I FINALLY GOT FINISHED UPLOADING MOST OF THE PHOTOS FROM OUR MOST RECENT TRIP TO FLORIDA, IN NOVEMBER 2006 SO HERE THEY ARE! THEY APPEAR FIRST, BUT I ALSO UPLOADED SOME NEW ONES FROM OUR FLORIDA 2005 TRIP TOO AT THE END OF THIS "BLOG". A FEW FRIENDS HAVE ASKED ME ABOUT THE REPLICA CITY OF PORTOFINO BUILT IN ORLANDO, SO I UPLOADED A BUNCH OF PHOTOS OF THAT TOO! I'VE ALSO INCLUDED SOME PHOTOS OF THE PERSIAN KITTENS I RAISE FOR ALL YOU CAT LOVERS.

LAST YEAR WE VISITED "FESTA ITALIANA" IN JULY 2006, (A HUGE 4 DAY FESTIVAL AT MILWAUKEE'S LAKEFRONT, ) SO OF COURSE THERE ARE PICS OF THE TENORS WE MET IN CONCERT, ESPECIALLY FRANK TENAGLIA & AARON CARUSO. .. I WROTE A LOT OF COMMENTARY HERE ABOUT THEIR CONCERTS & CDs, IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED. WE WILL BE ATTENDING FESTA THIS SUMMER AGAIN IN JULY, AND THIS TIME WILL HAVE THE PLEASURE OF MEETING BOB DOLFI & MARLENE, WHO RUNS THE LANZA LEGEND WEBSITE, AND DAMON LANZA - MARIO LANZA'S ONLY SON STILL ALIVE, SO I KNOW I'LL WANT TO TAKE MORE PICS AGAIN, AND GET AN AUTOGRAPH!! I HAVE BEEN A BIG FAN OF MARIO LANZA'S SINGING MOST OF MY LIFE, SO THIS WILL BE A BIG HONOR FOR ME. THE LANZALEGEND PEOPLE WILL BE IN THE "OPERA TENT" AT FESTA ITALIANA, WHERE MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT THIS LEGENDARY TENOR WILL BE AVAILABLE, AS WELL AS CDs, DVDs OR TAPES, BOOKS, ETC. AND I THINK THEY WILL BE SHOWING SOME RARE ITEMS OF MEMORABILIA AND SOME OF HIS VARIOUS PERFORMANCES ON A SCREEN TOO. (MY APOLOGIES TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE SICK OF HEARING ABOUT TENORS, MUSIC AND MY OTHER HOBBIES!! BUT SERIOUSLY, IF YOU'RE IN THE MILWAUKEE AREA, TRY TO COME TO FESTA ITALIANA, ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIKE ITALIAN MUSIC AND FOOD, BECAUSE TRULY IT IS ONE OF THE BEST & LARGEST FESTAS OF ITS KIND IN THE WORLD! IT HAS ABOUT 10 STAGES OF MUSIC & FUN GOING ON SIMULTANEOUSLY ALL 4 DAYS! THIS YEAR THE DATES ARE JULY 19 - 22, 2007.

I HAD LOTS OF PROBLEMS GETTING USED TO BLOGSPOT'S NEW SYSTEM & GETTING THE BUGS WORKED OUT OF IT, BUT I FINALLY DID. ALSO, PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE DATES & TIMES, AS I HAD TO BACK-DATE A LOT OF POSTS SO THAT THEY WOULD APPEAR IN THE ORDER I WANTED. I ALSO JUST DECIDED NOW TO MAKE MY BLOG PUBLIC FOR EVERYONE TO SEE & COMMENT IF THEY WANT WITHOUT HAVING TO REGISTER OR BE A MEMBER. I LIKE TO SHARE MY LIFE, EXPERIENCES & FEELINGS WITH PEOPLE, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY, I GUESS. AND I LOVE WRITING TOO. I'M KNOWN FOR MY ENTHUSIASM AND PROLIFIC WRITING, SO PLEASE EXCUSE ME WHEN I GO OVERBOARD, & FOR ANY REPETITION HERE. I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT BLOGGING, I NEVER HAD A BLOG TIL I STARTED THIS ONE A YEAR AGO, AND I TEND TO TAKE AN ALL OR NOTHING APPROACH TO IT, GOING MONTHS WITHOUT ADDING ANYTHING. UNTIL A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, WE NEVER EVEN OWNED A SCANNER.

I RECOMMEND EVERYONE VISIT BEAUTIFUL FLORIDA SOME DAY - BUT NEVER IN THE SUMMER MONTHS - NOT EVER!! (SORRY IF I COMPLAIN A LOT ABOUT THE HEAT & HUMIDITY THERE, BUT TRULY IT WAS UNBEARABLE ON OUR 2005 TRIP, BUT NOT TOO BAD AT ALL THIS LAST YEAR IN NOVEMBER. THE HOT WEATHER IS THE ONLY THING STOPPING US FROM MOVING THERE TO BE CLOSER TO SONIA.

THIS PIC. WAS TAKEN JUST AFTER THIS REALLY COOL WHITE BIRD WITH THE L-O-N-G NECK FLEW OVER MY HEAD & LANDED BEHIND ME. WE WERE LUCKY TO GET THE SHOT OF IT BEFORE HE FLEW AWAY AGAIN. BEING A HUGE ANIMAL LOVER, I LOVE ALL THE NEW BIRDS, ANIMALS, UNIQUE SCENERY & OTHER ATTRACTIONS IN FLORIDA I DON'T GET TO SEE AT HOME. WE ALWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING SONIA & OUR SON-IN-LAW, & WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO MANY MORE TRIPS THERE. PLUS WE MIGHT TAKE ANOTHER TRIP TO ITALY & SPAIN WITHIN A COUPLE YEARS TOO. SONIA IS BEGGING US TO GO WITH THEM, BEFORE THEY START HAVING KIDS, BUT SINCE WE ONLY RECENTLY CONQUERED OUR FEAR OF FLYING 6 MONTHS AGO, (AFTER 20 YEARS OF GROUNDING OURSELVES) SHE MIGHT BE OVER-OPTIMISTIC. I HAD NO PROBLEM GETTING TO EUROPE BY AIR 6 TIMES IN THE 1970'S & 80'S , SO WE'LL SEE....
THANKS FOR VISITING OUR BLOG, AND BEST WISHES TO ALL OF YOU!!