I spent the morning working while exchanging Whatsapp messages with our daughter. We were discussing details about the first part of our move to Georgia, which is in just nine days!! She and her family have missed us sooooo much since they moved and we miss them very badly, too! She is SO excited for us to finally arrive!

We’re leaving here on 4/10. We’re staying with our daughter and her family, and closing on our house on 4/15. We’re having it cleaned top to bottom on 4/16. And, on 4/17 (hopefully), the painters will show up. The house currently has interior walls that are painted an atrocious antiseptic green.

We’re taking UHaul #1 on this trip, and leaving our stuff in the basement. It’s not our everyday stuff so we can leave it there for a month or so.

After that, we will come back to Florida, and start getting ready for the final move. That means packing up dishes, closets, etc. We’re planning to leave Florida around the second week of May.

So, we’re going back and forth via text on Whatsapp, and talking about how excited we are, and how much we miss the grandkids, etc. She has been eagerly keeping up with every detail of our house hunt (including finding tons of homes online for us to consider), and of our home purchase. As a result, she has experienced the same emotional roller coaster that we have been on for the last three months.

So, that’s when Brian came up with THIS epic April Fool’s Joke! He threw the idea my way. I said, “Awesome!! But, she’ll never fall for THAT!”

He replied, “Oh, yes she will! Leave it to me!”

He asked me to forward him an old email from our realtor, which I did. He then went to work “doctoring” it up.

Rather than explain it, I’ll share the Whatsapp messages with you here, along with my conversation with Brian in parentheses: (Keep in mind, we are only 14 days away from closing on our DREAM HOUSE!)

Me to our group text (which includes all of us): I need to take the rest of the day off. I’m sorry.

Daughter: No problem at all!

(My phone immediately rings. It’s her. Clearly she wants to know what’s wrong. Brian and I start laughing. I don’t answer the phone.)

In the group chat, I paste the fake email that Brian created:

——– Forwarded Message ——–
Subject: From D. Hanson – Purchase of property
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 2021 15:10:16 -0500
From: D. Hanson <dhanson@[realtorofficeurl].com>
To: Angela Hoy <angie@booklocker.com>, Tiffany Owens <tiffany@[realtorofficeurl].com>

Hi Angela,

I’ve been notified of some unfortunate news. The sellers have opted not to sell the house for reasons their agent would not share with me. In fact, the agent was not very forthcoming with any information on the change of heart.

Of course, the pending purchase was under contract, and you can fight this. It will require you to retain a real estate attorney in GA. From past experience, I can tell you that this type of legal action takes about 8 months if the sellers don’t fight too hard.

That is option #1. And if you need help finding a real estate attorney, my firm can recommend a few in GA that we trust.

If you would rather avoid the legal process and expense, I’m ready to get started finding you more available homes in that area.

Sorry to have to be the bearer of bad news. I’m available any time if you want to call.

D. Hanson | Affiliate Broker

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Never trust wiring instructions sent via email. Always independently confirm wiring instructions in person or via a telephone call to a trusted and verified phone number. Never wire money without double checking the wiring instructions are correct.

Daughter: WHAT THE F**K???? 

(We got her! Brian and I start laughing HYSTERICALLY, and give each other a high-five! It worked!!)

Brian (replying to the group text after the phone stopped ringing): Her phone is in here…she’s in the bathroom. Hang tight.

(At this point, Brian and I are laughing so hard that I’m crying and he says my face is beet red. He tries to talk through his laughter, expressing concern that I might have a heart attack, which cracks us both up even more.)

Brian: Angie needs a few minutes. These people better be ready for war.

Daughter: I would be too!!!! WHAT THE HELL!!

Daughter: You could threaten to sue for pain and suffering too! WAY too late in the process! I completely understand, she can call me when she is ready. I called before I saw the email cause I thought something terrible had happened.

(Now, Mason in here and he’s laughing, too. Each time she sends another text, we all laugh harder!)

Brian: Let’s just give her a few minutes…..then we’ll call the realtor.

Daughter (the fixer!): Ok, on the plus side, this is 15 acres CLOSE TO ME!!!!! 😀 (She includes the link on realtor.com.)

Daughter: (too soon, I know… but I had to!)

Daughter: REMEMBER – EVERYTHING happens for a reason!!

(By now, we’re dying! I’m not sure how none of us wet our pants!!)

Brian: Yeah….not sure she’s ready for that yet

(This is when we pick up the phone and Facetime with her. My face is red and my eyes and cheeks are wet from laughing. She thinks I’ve been crying. She’s ranting about what happened when I turn the phone toward Mason…and he’s smiling. The lightbulb instantly lights up!)

Daughter: “I hate you guys!” <CLICK>

Yep! She hung up on us. That made us laugh even harder!!!!

I called her right back and she answered. She wasn’t really mad. She said she had been on the lookout for April Fool’s Jokes all day but we GOT HER GOOD!!!!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

The good news is…nobody has played a joke on me. Yet!

REMINDER: The WritersWeekly.com Spring, 2021 24-Hour Short Story Contest is ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY!

See the link below for all past topics and winning stories. Only 500 participants are allowed per contest so don’t delay if you wanna play!

WE CAN’T *WAIT* TO SEE WHERE YOUR IMAGINATION TAKES US!

1st Place $300 + a Book Publishing Package from BookLocker.com! (Value: $875)

2nd Place: $250

3rd Place: $200

+ 80 other prizes!

We’d LOVE to have you join us!! 🙂

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• POD SECRETS REVEALED! – “100% Royalties?!” Don’t Be Fooled! By Angela Hoy
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Angela Hoy lives on a mountain in North Georgia. She is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the President and CEO of BookLocker.com and AbuzzPress, and the author of 24 books.

Follow Angela: twitter | facebook | linkedin

Angela is the creator of the Original 24-Hour Short Story Contest!
Learn more here: https://24hourshortstorycontest.com/

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