Last Saturday night, we drove up to Anna Maria Island to see Ali and Justin. This time of year, the weather is perfect there, with temperatures in the 70's and a brisk sea breeze blowing. We slept with all the windows opened, and woke up the next morning to the sound of their neighbor's waterfall. Heaven! …
We recently hired someone to help with book formatting and I'm now able to find a few spare moments in the afternoons to get more involved in social networking. I've been spending time on Twitter and, if you're truly on there to read and not to just promote yourself, it's pretty addicting... …
When we moved to Florida, we decided to rent until we figured out where in Florida we want to live. We love Port Charlotte but we really have our heart set on the Sarasota/Bradenton area. So, we are now actively house hunting, which is so much fun! We considered renting up there instead of buying, but I really want to have a house that we can truly make our own with renovations and, most importantly, a large garden where we can grow lush, tropical goodies, like mangos and oranges... …
We took Max and Mason to a gathering of local homeschoolers this week. We met at a local community center and each child brought a book they'd recently read, and gave a short presentation on it. Max is reading a book of ghost stories. He was at first nervous, worrying that "no other kids would like scary stuff" but he felt better after a little girl got up and talked about a monster book. So, when Max took his turn, he was very relaxed and did a super job... …
After Ali and Justin's bad accident and long recovery last year, our move last summer, my car being totaled by Frank (age 19 - thank GOD he was not injured!!), our Thanksgiving family reunion, and, of course, Christmas, I told Richard that I want to spend January doing absolutely nothing at all. I need a month of nothing so I can de-stress - no drama, no injuries, no illnesses, no trips, no holidays, no nothing. That night, Frank backed our truck into a car in the bowling alley parking lot... …
Angela is on vacation, spending time with her loved ones. News from the Home Office will return next week. ADVERTISEMENT HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY! by Angela Hoy Using Angela's MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years, and record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook. Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography! **Also works for biographies and memoirs.** …
The halls are decked, the shopping is done, the gifts are wrapped and Matt will be arriving on Friday. We are so excited...!! …
I'm usually not a big roller coaster fan but I was feeling adventurous at Universal Studios last week and I asked Max (age 10) if he'd ride one with me. Richard has been having problems with his neck and Mason (age 5) was too small so I really needed to talk Max into riding with me if I didn't want to ride alone. He shook his head no. I asked him again each time we heard people screaming from the roller coaster. He kept saying no. We passed Revenge of the Mummy and we didn't know what it was but it seemed to be pretty popular based on the line. Max agreed to give it a try with me as long as we didn't sit in the first row. I explained to Max that the location of our seat was out of our control. When it was our turn, the lady working there said, "Row 1, please..." …
Max and Mason have been begging us to take them to Universal Studios to see the Jaws ride for as long as I can remember. We promised them long ago that some day we would take them. The other day, I just happened to be reading the local news, and noticed an article that said the park would be closing the Jaws exhibit for good on January 2nd. Ack!! …
It was a pretty hairy Thanksgiving holiday! Guests started arriving on Tuesday night, and left on Saturday. Ali and her boyfriend, both professional chefs, served up a five-star gourmet feast and we all later pushed back our chairs in gleeful, gluttonous agony. We also played some rowdy games of Rock Band for two nights in a row and that was a hoot! I had no idea how many talented singers we have in the family! …
Angela is running around like a turkey about to be plucked, hosting a crowd of 20 for the Thanksgiving holiday week. News From the Home Office will return next week. ADVERTISEMENT HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY! by Angela Hoy Using Angela's MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years, and record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook. Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography! **Also works for biographies and memoirs.** …
Next week, relatives from three different states will be converging on our home. We are VERY excited because chefs Ali and Mikey will be cooking us a five-star gourmet Thanksgiving feast! …
Ali and Mikey arrived in Florida late last week. They decided to live in our RV and travel to different nearby cities to look for jobs... …
Well, now all three of our adult children have been in major accidents. Frank is fine but he wrecked my Mustang and while we haven't heard from them yet, we're pretty sure it's totaled... …
We're on vacation so I'm going to post some pictures from our trip this week. …
Last week, it finally happened. My laptop was no longer getting power from the cord... …
We moved from Maine to Florida in July and we haven't seen Ali since we left. That's been very hard on all of us, especially me, her mommy. She stayed behind to finish out the season as a pastry chef in Bar Harbor. Now that the Fall leaves are blowing and the heaters turned on, the season is winding down and Ali, along with her boyfriend, Mikey, are preparing to move down here as well... …
We are getting VERY excited about our upcoming fall trip to Tennessee! We'll be gone for about 10 days and the cabin we found is not only very affordable but also has all 3 of our requirements... …
We moved to Florida and we LOVE it here. Problem is...fall is my favorite season and we're pretty sure leaves on palm and coconut trees don't turn red, yellow and orange. I read online that the mountains in Tennessee have beautiful fall foliage in October so we're planning a road trip there next month... …
Let me preface this by saying I am NOT a fan of amusement parks. A few years ago, we visited Six Flags in Chicago on a day when it was 112 degrees. Frank started vomiting almost immediately when we arrived and, of course, Six Flags would not give us a refund. We were out more than $300 and Frank was suffering pretty badly. He recovered very quickly once we left so we suspected it was the intense heat. On that day, I vowed to avoid amusement parks at all costs in the future. Despite my vow, I reluctantly told Richard we could visit Disney World at least once when we moved to Florida... …
This is an abbreviated issue because we are officially "on vacation" this week, at the Happiest Place on Earth (yes, Disney World). I'll post pictures next week. :) This week's Masonism: "Dolphins like it when you kiss them." Hugs to all, Angela ADVERTISEMENT HOW TO REMEMBER, WRITE AND PUBLISH YOUR LIFE STORY! by Angela Hoy Using Angela's MEMORY TRIGGERS, recall memories that have been dormant for years, and record those memories in chronological order in your memory notebook. Using the memory notebook as your outline, write your autobiography! **Also works for biographies and memoirs.** …
Max is turning 10 years old this week. We can't believe it! Where has the time gone?! …
After we moved to Florida in July, we discovered alligators living in the canal in our backyard, which was pretty cool and not totally unexpected. We've seen alligators off and on since then - infrequently enough that we all still come running when somebody yells, "Gator!" We give them a wide berth, however, because it's illegal to "molest" the gators and we don't want them to get too comfortable with humans... …
Max (age 9) and Mason (age 5), who are homeschooled, started their new school year on Monday and we are having SO much fun! While they learn traditional subjects, we try to make their lessons more fun by ensuring they revolve around a central theme each week - something they are very interested in. This week, it's sharks! Ever since we moved to Florida, they've been wanting to go shark fishing and they've been watching endless shark nature videos on YouTube and Netflix. Richard even rented Jaws and Jaws 2 for Max and I watched those with him last week, which was a hoot. At one point, Max asked, "Why did guys wear such short shorts back then..." …
After spending so much time sifting through and then discarding or packing all our belongings during the move, I told the kids we are going to stop buying them so much "stuff." I'd prefer to spend our money on memories (like day-trips, fishing, snorkeling - that sort of thing) than on material objects they're just going to throw away in a few months anyway. So, for Frank's 19th birthday, I sent him the link to a website showing hundreds of fun things to do in Florida... …
Frank, who turns 19 next week, is enrolled in a Florida college now, and is scheduled to attend his orientation next week. He is very excited and so are we! …
We're just renting for a year while we look for a place to buy so it's not really "our" new home but it sure feels like it after just three weeks! We're in a very quiet neighborhood that is only 10 minutes from the grocery store but about 25 minutes from the mall area...so, according to the post office, we're considered "rural"... …
Today's post is brutally honest. I hope, after reading this, you'll understand my need to share our experience. Did you ever make a parenting mistake so severe that it still makes you cry when you think about it? I made one such horrible mistake two weeks ago... …
We had an adventure on Sunday with a creepy crawly. We were at the gas station and Max, Mason and I were waiting while Richard was pumping gas. Max suddenly shrieked, "Tarantula!" …
We made it to Florida...four days early! After all the mechanical problems we had in the RV last week, we decided to get down as here as soon as we could, driving many more hours per day than we originally planned... …
Howdy, everybody! Today's issue is extremely abbreviated. We are on the road right now, moving from Maine to Florida, and we're experiencing a few, um, delays. We got separated yesterday and it took a couple of hours to get back together because one of us (okay...me) had driven 50 miles past our campground. We had to stay at another campground that was pretty far off the beaten path. Last night, I heard a funny noise and discovered the cat halfway out the bathroom window in the RV. Ack! I saved him and nobody has yet confessed to leaving that window open. While leaving that campground this morning on a dirt road, we got a flat tire, but didn't realize it until we were on the highway and the RV starting jumping around like a bounce house ride, emitting a strong burnt rubber smell. We managed to crawl to a service station for a new tire but then the hydraulic jacks froze up while we were there. That's where we are right now. Needless to say, we're starting to feel like we're filming The Griswold Family's Cross Country Move. :) So, we have only a couple of goodies for you today. …
As I wrote last week, cleaning out every room and closet in the house, and getting rid of so much stuff, has been incredibly therapeutic. However, I had no idea how good it would feel to watch complete strangers walk away with our old stuff, and have them all hand us money for it to boot! …
I'm not very popular at the "home office" right now. I told all the kids and Richard that, when we move to Florida, we are NOT moving all that food from the pantry. We are eating it before we leave. That also means no pizza delivery. Each night since then has been "fend for yourself night" at dinnertime and the pantry has gotten so depleted that we actually needed to go to the store yesterday... …
With a boy as adventurous and energetic as Mason, who will be 5 years old this month, it was only a matter of time before his never ending bouncing and running led to a BIG boo boo... …
Frank graduated with honor from high school last weekend. We are soooooo proud of him! He'll be starting his college career in the Fall. Since he now plans to become a doctor, it'll be a long college career... …
Only a month after our last snow, it got into the 80s here on Memorial Day so Frank ran to the store for a kiddie pool for the little ones. Boy oh boy, were they happy!! …
Last Saturday, I held fast to a pile of tissues while we sat the nosebleed section of the civic center, watching our two oldest children graduate from college... …
My mom, who lives in Texas, sent me a picture of her pond last week. It's almost gone, looking more like a large mud puddle than a sanctuary for sweaty farm animals. It's certainly not something their horses or even the local deer will be able to drink from much longer. In Maine, we have quite the opposite problem. Farmers are worried their crops will be ruined by all the rain we've been having. Whenever the sun does manage to peek out, we rush the children outside for some much-needed fresh air and Vitamin D, knowing they'll be stuck inside for days on end once another band of clouds approaches. The current forecast is another 10 days of rain...and the forecast only goes out that far so there could be more... …
I wanted to thank everyone who wrote in with opinions on safe (and unsafe) cities in Florida! I've made a list of the recommended city names that were sent in... …
A month ago, I wrote that we were considering becoming snowbirds, traveling to Florida in the winter. We are now seriously considering relocating to Florida and then RVing to the Northeast during the hot summer months. Why? Maine is absolutely gorgeous and we love it here. Unfortunately, the income taxes are ridiculous. Add in Maine's death tax (which can destroy a small family business), and the fact that Frank is graduating from high school next month, and it sure seems all signs are telling us to become backwards snowbirds... …
M's surgery was last Wednesday. He is recovering comfortably at our home. The first thing the surgeon (M's new orthopedist) said after the surgery was, "I sure wish I'd seen him two months ago. I could have done more for him." …
I'm writing this on Tuesday afternoon. M's surgery is tomorrow. If all goes well, he should be released sometime later that afternoon. We're going to head back to Bangor immediately while he's still a bit woozy from the anesthesia. You see, at this time of year in Maine, the results of the frost heave are quite evident. There are huge cracks and potholes everywhere, making for a very bumpy ride. When we lived in Texas, we didn't have frost heave and I thought the term referred to men up north who drank too much on cold nights. Anyway, if we get a hotel room after the surgery, not only would M have to navigate his walker on sidewalks and in the hotel lobby and hallways, but he would also feel the bumps in the road far more the following day. Ali is driving in tonight from Bangor after she finishes her last class. Richard will stay in the hotel room tomorrow with Max and Mason while Ali and I sit nervously in the surgical waiting room at the hospital. M is, understandably, very nervous. He's never had surgery before. I told him it'll be a breeze. The doctors and nurses have to do all the work, the family has to wait and worry for hours, and he just gets to sleep. ;) This Week's Masonism: "Mom, I'm almost five. I need a job." Hugs to all Angela …
It's definitely the flu season here. My neighbor said a local retirement home was discouraging visitors last week because so many of their residents were ill. Richard caught something last week, and then Mason got it, and then Max, and now me. I was sick two months ago and I coughed for so long (6 weeks) that they sent me for a chest xray, and put me on an inhaler. I tell ya, 10 days on that inhaler did the trick! However, I finished the inhaler just a week ago and now I'm sick again. Oh joy. …
Last Friday, on April Fool's Day, we got another 14 1/2 inches of snow. Sure, I go on and on about the glorious snow around Christmastime but it gets REALLY OLD this time of year! While my friends down south are talking about planting their gardens, we're still dodging falling icicles... …
Only a month ago, I told you about Mason (age 4) logging into ebay.com and buying stuffed animals for himself. Just last week, I told you about Mason terrifying us when he hid under the kitchen table, resulting in a phone call to 9-1-1. I probably should have given birth to this one when I was MUCH YOUNGER! Anyway, Mason doesn't yet *appear* to understand the concept of money, or buying, or anything like that. However, I think he may be practicing selective comprehension because he definitely does understand which buttons he needs to push on an iPad or iPhone with the end result being the mailman delivering a box to him... …
