Published on October 5, 2005
We're relaxing (sort of) at my mom's ranch this week and visiting old friends and relatives. We're in town for my 20th high school reunion. That'll be fun. Since it's really hard for business owners to take any time off, I do the bulk of my work at night when we're visiting family and friends. It's quiet then and I can get a lot more done in a shorter period of time. Plus, I don't have relatives whining that I'm working instead of chatting... …
Published on September 28, 2005
We got pretty nervous when Hurricane Rita was taking aim at the Texas coast last week. We'd already turned around and driven back to Maine when Hurricane Katrina hit and threatened the gas supply. We finally got up the nerve to venture out again... …
Published on September 21, 2005
In the past two weeks, my laptop's hard drive had a meltdown, our main drive here at the home office died and our refrigerator broke. …
Published on September 14, 2005
We'll be hitting the road again next weekend, right after Zach's birthday. We feel the oil companies may have hyped the gas shortage and I really don't think it's fair that I miss my reunion when there seems to be plenty of gas... …
Published on September 7, 2005
We were pretty dismayed and spurred into action when we learned last week that there was an impending gas shortage. Let's face it - nobody with any conscience drives a 6-miles-to-the-gallon, gas guzzling RV across the country for leisure when other people need that gas to get to their jobs. …
Published on August 31, 2005
Since last week, Frank has been injured, we've seen a UFO (or maybe it was UFL?), we were unsuccessful at touring a winery, stayed at a really bad and very crowded campground, watched two rabbits fight, and visited the Henry Ford Museum! …
Published on August 24, 2005
Since last week, we've traveled through four states, toured a quarry, stuffed ourselves as an ice cream factory and visited the boyhood home of Laura Ingalls Wilder's husband. …
Published on August 17, 2005
The evenings are getting a bit chilly here in Bangor, Maine...and that's our cue to head south and west in an attempt to extend our summer by a couple of months! The RV is packed and we're leaving early tomorrow morning. Yeehaw!! …
Published on August 10, 2005
We took Max to his first carnival / fair last night. He could NOT stop talking about the "rowrrrr coaster!" …
Published on August 3, 2005
We've finalized our itinerary for our next big RV trip. We're once again taking our family and business on the road. We'll be running our business from campgrounds that offer wireless Internet access and have plans to visit most of our relatives and many old friends along the way on this trip. We're leaving Maine on August 19th. It usually starts cooling off in Maine in late August so we'll be heading west and south in just the niche of time! …
Published on July 27, 2005
Frank, age 12, who has always been the class clown (before we started homeschooling him anyway) has a very quick, very bright sense of humor. He can really keep us rolling most days. …
Published on July 20, 2005
We've having a big party this weekend and are really excited! Since Ali's birthday is three days after Christmas, she has a birthday party at the end of June each year, instead of December. We call this her half-birthday. This year, we were on the road in June, so her party is this weekend. It'll be a 70's theme and we've invited (gulp) 40 of our closest friends and neighbors. We even had to rent a big tent for additional shade in the yard. …
Published on July 13, 2005
I've been having a hard time keeping on task lately so we had a family meeting to try to get back on track with our work schedule. I am the children's primary caregiver in the mornings and Richard takes over in the afternoons. One problem we've always had is that, even when Richard's on kid-duty, the children still come in and ask me for things - i.e. "Mom, can you take us to the pool?"; "Mom, have you seen my robot?"; "Mom, do you think my favorite jeans are in the washing machine?" "Mom! Frank flushed my eye shadow down the toilet!" and "Mom, Max is giving Percy a haircut!" …
Published on July 6, 2005
Our Independence Day holiday was very relaxing. We took the day off, attended the parade and spent time with the children. Ali treated us all to homemade macaroni salad, homemade apple pie and homemade cake (God bless her) and she and Richard cooked hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. …
Published on June 29, 2005
We had a wonderful (albeit short) vacation that, sadly, ended on Monday. We stayed at four campgrounds in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. I didn't find much time to post to wirelesstrips.com on this trip. I did most of the driving and was really trying to focus on relaxation, not work. Driving a 32' RV is quite challenging on the back roads, and that's where most of the driving took place. I don't like to drive on freeways, so Richard took over when we did find ourselves on a big highway. …
Published on June 22, 2005
On Thursday, when Frank was about to leave with Zach for the dentist, I told him, "Tell the doctor to pull that last baby tooth. It's been hanging on for two years and you can't get braces until it comes out. It's time for those braces so let's just get it taken care of..." Frank's eyes got as big as pancakes and, before I could even finish my sentence, he said, "I'll pull it out myself!" and he ran from the bedroom. …
Published on June 15, 2005
Max (age 3 1/2) sprained his knee on Saturday. We think it happened when he was playing Toy Story (jumping while yelling "To infinity and beyond!). He was limping a bit on Friday night but woke up on Saturday unable to walk. It will probably be the most expensive emergency room visit in the family's history. …
Published on June 8, 2005
On Saturday it was in the 90's here. Ug! We've been in Maine long enough to become de-acclimated to hot weather. So, while cleaning out the garage that day, I was positively melting and had a heat headache for hours afterward. When Sunday rolled around and it hit the 90's again, Richard and Zach, resigned to their fate after listening to me whine for 24 hours, went into the attic and started the annual, laborious job of dragging down all the horribly heavy window unit air conditioners. It took another hour or so to get them installed (I was outside, dying once again while working in the yard). By the time it was all done, a big cloud came over the horizon. It was a fast-moving cold front and, on Monday morning, we actually had to turn the heater on! …
Published on June 1, 2005
We're having our yard re-landscaped right now and they're tearing up large chunks of grass for new flowerbeds. The digging and the rains (that are still coming every single day!) have created tons of MUD that has seemingly found its way into every room of our house, both on the wood floors and embedded in the carpet. Each time I get one spot off the carpet, another one appears. There are big people footprints, little people footprints, and even doggy and kitty footprints. I give up. The mud wins (sigh). …
Published on May 25, 2005
I think it's rained every single day for the past two weeks here (sigh). Our seedlings are bursting out of their little starter pots but we still can't plant them. The garden is flooded. Max is dying to play in the green grass...but it's not only wet, it's windy and cold, too. I'm begging Richard for a short reprieve...just a tiny RV trip before the official summer vacation begins. …
Published on May 18, 2005
When our three oldest children were little, I used to read to them at bedtime. Their favorite series was The Berenstain Bears. I think we owned the entire set at that time. Somehow, over the years, all but two of the books... …
Published on May 11, 2005
We bought Max a brand new bed of his very own (not a hand-me-down) last week. We went ahead and bought him a queen, thinking he'll be able to take it with him someday when he moves out. And, I wasn't too keen on having a bed that looks like a car or a spaceship (ug!) in our house. …
Published on May 4, 2005
We had a very exciting Friday night here! Just before bed, I heard water running through the pipes upstairs and thought one of the children was showering. (My brain didn't register that I'd never heard that water running upstairs before.) A few minutes later, Ali screamed, "Mom! There's something wrong with the basement!" …
Published on April 27, 2005
Growing up, my brother, Darin, had the worst allergies of anyone I knew. He was allergic to everything, from the annual Christmas tree (we had to stop buying real ones), to our pet pony (we had to sell him). Thankfully, I never had allergies as a kid. However, it's getting impossible to blame my annual spring sneezing and wheezing on colds these days...since there are no other symptoms. Richard, too, gets all stuffy around this time of year, though he didn't as a child. Unfortunately, it looks like Max has inherited our allergies, though quite early, at the age of three. …
Published on April 20, 2005
Late last week, we were starting to wonder if we'd ever get home. Between the heater leaking gobs of coolant all over the passenger side carpet, steam filling up the cab, being stranded on a highway median, getting towed, getting repaired, and then having the RV break down again the very next day, it was quite an adventure! You can read about last week's adventures in detail and see photos at: https://www.wirelesstrips.com Hugs to all! Angela ~Do You Remember... Doo Bee Doo...~ My next class, How to Remember, Write and Publish Your Life Story, starts on May 2nd! Classes are a LOT of fun and we have a ball sharing our childhood memories while using the course memory triggers to record our memories in chronological order. The class is easy and FUN, only costs $40, and runs for six weeks. To read more or to sign up today, see: https://writersweekly.com/wwu/courses/memories.html …
Published on April 13, 2005
Except for a severe storm that rocked the RV for hours, Navarre Florida was perhaps the most relaxing stop we've had while RVing. …
Published on April 6, 2005
On Monday, a toddler, tall for his age, was walking down the road toward the bay here (we're on Navarre Beach in Florida). A van drove right past him, steering around him, but didn't bother to stop. He kept walking and was obviously alone. Ali hollered to me and then went to the toddler, who was almost to the water by then. He walked right past several people on the beach and nobody noticed. He was almost to the water...and still, nobody noticed. …
Published on March 30, 2005
We are in Texas and were able to participate, for the first time, in my family's annual Adult Easter Egg Hunt (AEEH). There is one huge blue egg that lands the lucky hunter a very nice prize. The smaller plastic eggs are filled with candy, gifts, lottery tickets and even cash. There are prizes for finding the most eggs and the least eggs as well. …
Published on March 23, 2005
Well, we arrived at my family's ranch (named for my mother's cooking!) on Sunday evening and while the children have been hard at work caring for the horses, mucking the stalls, and hauling sticks and manure, Richard and I have been sipping lemonade on the porch and enjoying our "vacation." …
Published on March 16, 2005
My one trip to the physical therapist did the trick and the vertigo I reported last week hasn't returned. Yea! Richard is happy about that because he wasn't looking forward to doing all the driving on our Spring Seeking trip. Yes, we've once again taken the business and family on the road! …
Published on March 9, 2005
I've been having terrible episodes of vertigo. Some of them were so bad that I started avoiding driving. At first, I thought I had a brain tumor. I really, truly thought I did, until I remembered having the same thing a couple of years ago, but for a much shorter period of time. When I looked up my symptoms on WebMD.com last week, I found what I was certain the diagnosis would be. All my symptoms matched perfectly... …
Published on March 2, 2005
We are SO proud of our our son, Frank (age 12)! He received a $25 gift certificate to Amazon for Christmas and he's been hanging onto it until now. He brought it to me today and asked me to order him a bag of Owl Pellets. …
Published on February 23, 2005
Ali's basketball team made it all the way to the finals on Saturday...but they didn't win. It was a real nail biter and Ali was very happy to win 2nd place in the league. Zach's team made it to the semi-finals. Needless to say...we spent the entire weekend at the YMCA! …
Published on February 16, 2005
Last week, I purchased bathtub finger paint, window paint, red spray paint and glow-in-the-dark plastic stars. On Monday morning, while Richard had his head buried in his email, I wrote drew an A, a heart, and an R (A Loves R) in the bathtubs, on the bathroom mirrors, and on the windows in the house. When Richard was later on the phone, I wrote the same thing on the ceiling of our bedroom, right over his pillow, with the glow-in-the-dark stars. My last mission was to paint A Loves R in the snow out front and back with the red spray paint. Problem is...it was so cold that each time I tried to use the spray can, it would freeze up. I tried shaking it vigorously, but that just caused drops of red to splatter in the snow... …
Published on February 9, 2005
Warning: Don't read today's column if runny noses gross you out. …
Published on February 2, 2005
This week, I'm getting one of my Christmas presents - a trip to a small inn that has a fireplace in every room and great shopping nearby. Yea! There are lots of winter activities, too, so the children are very excited. We've already pulled out all the snowpants, waterproof gloves and extra socks. I'll be officially "on vacation" from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday. During that time, I'll only be online checking for emergencies. Hugs to all! Angela P.S. Want to read real query letters that landed these contracts? Woman's Day - $2,800; Redbook - $3,500; Ladies Home Journal - $3,000; DiscoveryHealth.com - $2,000; Lifetime Magazine - $3,000; Life Extension Magazine - $6,480; Natural Remedies - $11,300; and many more! See: https://www.writersweekly.com/books/1409.html …
Published on January 26, 2005
We had a humdinger of a snowstorm last Wednesday night! We were still trying to find the car in the drifts (okay, that's a slight exaggeration) when we heard about the "Blizzard of 2005" that was heading our way. However, that little weekend blizzard wasn't anywhere near the intensity of the Nor'Easter last week (for us, anyway). …
Published on January 19, 2005
We joined the local homeschooling 4H club last week and were pleasantly surprised to learn that not everybody in 4H is required to grow and auction off livestock! All humor aside, 4H is a great group and we made lots of new friends. The children loved it and can't wait to get started on some projects to enter in the state fair this summer. …
Published on January 12, 2005
Richard's grandmother has returned to Texas after staying with us for a month. We were very sad to see her go. She loved visiting...but she's in her 80's and "always cold" and wasn't too keen about our temps dipping below zero on most nights. On the two occasions when we did take her out in the snow (once out to lunch and to get her hair done and once to greet troops who were passing through the Bangor airport), she was terrified she'd slip on the ice and she shivered during the entire trip. But, she really wanted her hair done (you know how we women are!) and, being a WWII veteran herself, she was very excited about greeting troops who were returning from the Middle East. …
Published on January 5, 2005
The holiday mayhem has ended and we're breathing a big sigh of relaxation. While I do enjoy the holidays, taking down the decorations and preparing for a new year is very cleansing for my soul. We did absolutely nothing all weekend and it was heaven! I did cook a nice dinner on Sunday. I hated cooking years ago but now I find it very relaxing and, when I'm making something fun, it's a great outlet for my creative side. …
Published on December 29, 2004
We're officially "on vacation" this week, even though we're at home in Bangor. It was almost 50 degrees here on Christmas Eve and all our snow melted. We had our first green Christmas since moving here! Richard's grandmother is visiting from Corpus Christi, Texas...where they had four inches of snow. She said she should have stayed at home to get her white Christmas. …
Published on December 22, 2004
Well, it wouldn't be the holidays without a trip to the emergency room! On Sunday night, Frank said he was making a clay mold of his ear when... …
Published on December 15, 2004
The snow started a bit late this month in Bangor and I was starting to worry that I'd never get my "children standing in a snowstorm" Christmas card photo for this year! But, the snow did finally arrive and I rushed the children outside for their annual "hurry, Mom, before another snowflake lands on my eyeball" picture. …
Published on December 8, 2004
We were going to have Ali wait until Christmas for another kitty, but we barely made it two days. She was still grieving for Blotch last Wednesday night, even after we visited the Humane Society and picked out not one kitty, but two!! Richard firmly repeated, "No, no, no" to the second one, but he eventually sighed during my begging, rolled his eyes in defeat, and said... AND We put up our outdoor Christmas decorations and one of them, conceived one night when I had insomnia, has literally been stopping traffic. One driver even honked at me when I was getting the mail and gave me the thumbs up! To see a photo of what's causing all the commotion, click below. …
Published on December 1, 2004
Many of you have been tracking Blotch's progress since we learned he had an aggressive tumor (fibrosarcoma) in the sinuses above his left eye. Last Friday, I noticed something inside Blotch's left nostril and, by Sunday, it appeared to have made significant progress toward the opening. I realized it was probably the tumor. The doc told us that the tumor might break through and reach his brain, but we never thought it would grow the other way. I hoped the children wouldn't notice it, but Ali did and was distraught that she could actually see what was killing her best friend... …