Our elf, Christopher, returned on Friday and Mason and Max are SOOOOO excited! So far, Christopher has turned my entire inventory of LED "candles" on (so I had to buy more batteries!), has almost started a fire by roasting marshmallows in the middle of the night, took a ride on our ceiling fan, and used Mason's toy bulldozer to bulldoze an entire (brand new!) bag of gourmet (expensive!) chocolate chips... …
Unfortunately, we weren't the only ones who were doing their Thanksgiving shopping on Saturday... …
While my bedroom closet may be in disarray (that's an understatement!), and the laundry may be backed up for three days, I am very organized with regards to business, paperwork/bills and...Christmas. Yes, really. It's a bit of an obsession for me... …
I admit it is "chilly" here (by Florida standards) but it's nothing like our old friends in Maine are experiencing. Last week, they received 21 inches of snow... …
Our good friends, Scott and Kelly, arrived from Wisconsin on Monday. They are enjoying the warmer weather, despite the fact that it's chillier here than any early Florida November we remember... …
Ali and Justin's annual Halloween Party was Monday night and, boy oh boy, what a bash it was! WARNING! FEATURES OFFENSIVE CONTENT AND GROSS PHOTOS!…
In case I haven't gushed about him enough, I want to again tell you that Richard is the best husband on Earth! Each year, he lets me choose his Halloween costume and he never knows what he's going to be until Halloween.…
After another hot and humid Florida summer, things are cooling off and the snowbirds are heading…
We had a great time decorating the yard for Halloween! Max and Mason made some cute headstones out of cardboard. I told them to watch out for rain, and to bring them in if it starts sprinkling. Just 24 hours later, we had a major drenching and, well, it looks like we're gonna need more headstones! …
We returned from our vacation in Tennessee last week and it has rained here, heavily, every…
I finally gave in last weekend, and let the boys put up the Halloween decorations. The china cabinet is now full of my horror babies, faux fall leaf garlands are hung here and there, and skeletons, witches, and other ghouls grace every corner... …
Fall is, by far, my most favorite time of the year! Shorter days, cooler weather, and a crispness in the air that I wish I could bottle up and save for next summer! But, the best part about fall is our WritersWeekly.com fall 24-hour short story contest... …
We were in Georgia to attend the wedding of our friends Cole and Christy. This is the awesome wedding cake Ali made for them... …
We are on the road right now, heading to Georgia for another wedding. Yea!! That reminds me that I never posted a picture of the yarn painting I made for Matt and Sarah's wedding gift... …
Last week, I shared that our son Matt got married. This week, I wanted to share that our daughter, Ali, a pastry chef, made the wedding cakes (yes, plural). And, unfortunately, she asked me to help. Now, don't get me wrong. I love cooking with Ali. We have a lot of fun and she has taught me SO much over the years. But, wedding cakes are SO stressful. I mean...one little mistake and a catastrophe may ensue! …
Our son, Matt, got married in Maine last weekend. Here is my favorite picture of them... …
We are looking forward to escaping Florida's heat for few days... …
We went out to dinner on Saturday night, and were treated to a lightning storm that lasted our entire dinner, and an hour afterward as well! We ventured out on the pier after dinner to enjoy the show. Rather than describe it, I'll share some photos... …
When we got home, the boys excitedly went through the bookstore bag. Max grabbed MY book, and said, "Yea! You bought me Orange is the New Black!" …
Ali's future mom-in-law, Sharon, came into town again last week so we gals hit the road in search of the PERFECT wedding dress. I honestly thought we'd have to go to several stores over several days but, within three hours, Ali had picked the perfect dress! And, it was the very first one she'd tried on! …
The Summer, 2014 Short Story Contest IS THIS SATURDAY! Rather than sweating and getting a sunburn, spend the day in the cool air conditioning, and come play with us! …
We lost our beloved doggie, Percy, last week. We adopted him from the shelter for Frank, who was around 12 years old at the time. However, Percy attached himself to me. Frank didn't mind that his dog was protecting his mom. Percy followed me everywhere, even to the bathroom. He suffered from severe separation anxiety... …
On Monday night, we had just eaten dinner, and were watching TV when I glanced outside, and noticed this sky... …
It's hard to believe but Mason turned eight years old this week... …
Max (age 12) and Mason (who will be 8 this weekend) have attended one summer camp this month, and are already on their second... …
Many of you remember Matt, our (unofficially) adopted son who came to live with us many years ago. He worked for BookLocker and WritersWeekly for years and he still does ebook conversion work for us on the side. After college, he moved to New York to attend Columbia for his Master's. He then landed a super job in Boston doing actuarial work, which has always been his dream (yes, we don't understand that level of attraction to math, either, but he's happy!). Matt and his fiance, Sarah, who we also adore, were here over the weekend and we all had a blast... …
Our daughter, Ali, has been dating her soul mate, Justin, for more than three years now. Shortly after they started dating, they were in a bad car accident together and they subsequently recovered together at our house. They've been deeply in love ever since. Early Saturday morning, Frank came into our room, looking for my good camera. He said he needed to take some pictures of his medical records for his new job. I told him to just scan them. He said no, that was too much trouble, and left. I didn't really think much about it... …
I gave up, and finally visited a "sports medicine" doctor in town. Despite the fact that the Jet Ski wasn't even turned on, much less moving, when I fell off, they still let me come in. I have an MRI scheduled for this week. I'm still pretty bummed that I couldn't go kite surfing on Mother's Day but our beach vacation was wonderful, and so very relaxing! As promised, here are some pictures... …
I am on vacation, lying a beach, and reading one of the many books I purchased from Haslam's, Florida's largest new and used bookstore. Ah... Heaven!!! Will post some pictures next week! :) Angela P.S. I want to "follow" you! ANGELA ON TWITTER https://twitter.com/AngelaHoy ANGELA ON FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/angela.hoy.750 …
Richard, Max and Mason are taking me to St. Pete Beach for the weekend for Mother's Day. We're hoping the big kids can join us there for an afternoon. We have a house sitter to take care of the pets. I had asked for kite surfing lessons for Mother's Day but I'm still recovering from the sprained knee... …
Since I worked the entire weekend for the WritersWeekly Spring 2014 24-Hour Short Story Contest, we played hooky on Monday, and went fishing on Ali and Justin's boat... …
Last week, I told you how I sprained my knee but I couldn't tell you how. Now I can. You see, we were trying something out and, if we liked it, we were going to buy our adult children gift certificates for their Easter baskets... …
Richard and I escaped last weekend to Ybor City, Florida, which is known as "Tampa's Latin Quarter." We ate dinner at a Turkish restaurant. The food wasn't that impressive but the belly dancer was entertaining. The waiter told us the town would get more interesting as the evening went on. In his words, "The drunker they all get, the better it gets!" …
We LOVE manatees! The first wild one we saw in Florida was in our very own backyard, the day we closed on this house. We've had a special affection for them ever since. There are three at the local museum and Max and Mason love visiting them. Last Sunday, we had cabin fever so we threw on shorts and t-shirts (it was 90 here!), and headed north on I-75. Just half an hour away is the Manatee Viewing Area in Apollo Beach... …
I was kind of hoping one of our adult children would eventually buy a boat. Turns out my patience paid off... …
No, I did NOT run a 5K. Our son, Frank (age 21), did. Mason and I went with him and we had a wonderful time! I've never been to one and I somehow envisioned a couple hundred runners racing down a few downtown streets. I pictured myself sitting at the finish line to get Frank's picture as he broke through a yellow ribbon. I was SO wrong... …
Frank and I took off early one day this week, jumped in the kayak with our fishing poles, and paddled around the corner to the bay. Despite the tide moving quickly, we didn't get any bites - not even a nibble. However, Frank said we caught plenty of breeze and sunshine! The boats around us weren't having any luck either but the sea breeze was brisk, the air was warm, and the sun on the water was beautiful. We decided to do some exploring, paddling through a natural tunnel of sorts between the mangroves. When we emerged, we found a peaceful inlet with numerous very happy water birds of many colorful varieties. I was THRILLED to find a flock of my favorite birds, Roseate Spoonbills! …
I'm remaining pretty consistent with burning out a laptop about once every three years. I diligently back up my machine every single night and I double back up the accounting program info. On Saturday morning, my laptop started making a high-pitched whining sound. We figured out pretty quickly it was the fan. Since it was three years old, we decided to run to Best Buy for a new one rather than risk a meltdown during repair. Richard then spent the entire day (and several hours into the night) transferring all my programs and files. The result was I got the entire day off on Saturday... …
I had to run an errand yesterday morning. This is the high season here on Florida's gulf coast. We're overrun with snowbirds and we don't mind because their vacation dollars keep us from paying state income tax. During the high season, the traffic is pretty bad here so I was surprised when, pulling out of our neighborhood, there was no cars at all. I turned right, away from the island. About a mile up the road, I could see lots of flashing lights. No traffic was coming my way. They had the road closed down, and were forcing all the cars to turn around. I stopped at the light. My windows were open and a guy walking by asked, "What's going on down there?" I replied, "I have no idea!" …
Zach (age 27) has a new girlfriend! She's 29 years old, really friendly, and in advertising. We liked her immediately! …
Our neighborhood is having a garage sale soon and we definitely plan to participate. Last weekend, Mason asked me help him to clean out the closet. Yes, Mason is our first child who ever WANTED to clean out the closet! …
Frank (age 21) is in school, and wants to be a surgeon. He's been on the Dean's List since his first semester of college (he works very hard), is a waiter, and recently applied to volunteer at one of the local hospitals. On his first day at the hospital this week, he was offered a paying, part-time job in the surgery department! …
The rain and cold finally went away this week. It was 86 here yesterday! Unfortunately, Max and Mason both came down with a cold so they're stuck inside, sniffling, coughing, and drinking warm tea. Since I spoil them rotten when they're sick, I don't think they mind too much. The older kids say I'm going to turn them into little hypochondriacs. My response is, "I spoiled you, too, and you turned out just fine!" …
We haven't been going out to eat much lately. It's cold (definitely the coldest winter we've had since moving to Florida). It's rained more this winter than the previous two years. The boys have had a string of colds, like the rest of the kids in the country. Honestly, by the time the sun sets, I just can't bring myself to leave when it's so cozy inside. But, we did venture out on Sunday. We met Zach and his girlfriend for dinner at a steakhouse we really like... …
Ali was cleaning the bar area recently, and noticed droppings of some sort in a neat little pile in the corner. I assumed we had a rodent, and immediately chastised the cats for being lazy. I then picked up the phone, and called our organic exterminator. He said, "We don't do mammals." (Yes, those were his exact words.) He then referred me to another company. The next day, Joe, the mammal "and everything else" exterminator, showed up, and examined the droppings. He turned to me, and said, "That's no mouse, ma'am. Looks like you have a lizard, and quite a big one at that!" …
