Signs of summer

I must admit, it really has been great fun being over here this summer. There is so much to do...or not. The flags at the beach have been flying yellow and purple for three weeks now: algae and jellyfish - yuck! But it's still so beautiful despite the little creatures that show up in the sand. Hub taught the little guy how to boogie board, which is a new adventure for the boy this year. The water is warm and the beach has lifeguards for the first time, so it's been less of a worry for us when we're in the water and the waves are kickin'. Truth be told, we don't make it down to the beach everyday like we would if we were here on a week's vacation. We've got this whole other "now we live here" sort of vibe going on and it's kinda cool. Getting to know the local shop owners and getting to know where to go for what. Feeling very blessed to have the opportunity to spend this much time over here in this beautiful place.

Love me some Edward Cullen

I'm reading like a total freak this summer. I have been devouring books. Whenever I get on a kick like this nothing makes me happier than finding an author that I can get hung up on. A few years ago it was Phillipa Gregory, author of The Other Boleyn Girl. I read everything that she wrote and became a huge fan of historical fiction, which had not been a genre that I had read much of prior to reading Ms. Gregory's books. When I had my abdominal surgery a few years ago a friend of mine gave me all of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. I read the whole series in the two weeks that I was recovering. Loved them, trashy and mindless though they were! This summer, my book club chose Stephenie Meyer's Twilight as our summer read. When our friend, Amanda, presented it to our group as "a Jr. Adult Fiction book about vampires" I was resigned to read it but not overly excited. Yeah, that was then. Let's just say that NOW I am completely hooked. There are three in the series and I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed these books. To distraction. Seriously. Reading while brushing teeth, reading while cooking dinner, reading while driving (gasp!), could not get through them quickly enough. I was riveted!!! The last book in the series will hit the book stores on August 2nd and the Twilight movie is wrapped and will be in theaters in early December '08. Don't know anyone who has not loved these books, so if you haven't ventured into the world of Forks, Washington and met Bella, The Cullen family and our canine friend, Jacob, you must do so!!! Check the books out here on the author's website: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilightseries.html and let me know what you think if you do have a chance to read one or all of them.

Always a bridesmaid...

My tennis partner and I and a few of our tennis team buddies played in a tennis tournament last month. It was a great experience, a fund-raiser for breast cancer awareness, called the R.I.T.A. Check it out here:http://www.the-rita-foundation.org/aboutRita.htm

Anyway, who ever would have guessed that Sue and I would have ended up playing in the final for the Championship? Too fun! It was very exciting and an absolute great experience playing such competitive matches all weekend. We lost in the final, however, 6-1, 6-4. It's okay...the girls we played were like, 25 years old and less than 100 pounds each. Total tennis barbie dolls (in a good way) and in great shape. We hated them (just kidding). Plus they were the winners of the tournament the previous year. Whatever. We were just glad to be there!!! After licking our wounds following our loss, we have decided to play in another tennis tournament in the fall:

The SENIOR-R.I.T.A.! It's put on by the same fundraising group but is for women who are 40+ years of age. Yeah, I like our chances against the older ladies. Since we are older ladies! Older, wiser, more assets, less fit. I'll let you know how we do.

First Communion

My goddaughter, Elena, made her first communion last month. She is pictured here in traditional "first communion garb" looking like a mini bride...so adorable. We had a fun visit to Orlando to hang out with Elena and her family to celebrate her special day. Does anyone remember their first communion??? I totally remember mine even though it was light years ago. My hair was super long at the time so my Mom (Mrs. High Maintenance herself) had to take me for an up-do at the local salon where her friend "Heidi the Horoscope Hairdresser" was put to work on creating something fabulous for my hair that would work perfectly with my veil. I had this whole Princess Laya braided hair thing going on. Very early-seventies. Interesting that my most vivid memory of the day revolves around my up-do. I guess I have always been all about the hair...

Glad grad!

So here he is, the high school graduate. He was very excited and so were we (relieved!). He is now the proud owner of a Macbook, his graduation gift from us. Yes, it's sad but true: I have total laptop envy and I'm not afraid to admit it. I'm often found looking longingly across the family room as he types away. It's killing me. Dying for a Macbook of my own. Love me some Steve Jobs. So anyway, he's with us for the summer, working in his Dad's warehouse and saving money to move out on his own in the fall. He looks so handsome and grown up in this pic, doesn't he?