HOLIDAY HIGHLIGHTS

Almost every day, I wake and do some kind of writing. 

Eight days during the holidays, I did not.

It was WONDERFUL!

Friday, December 21st, I closed my computer mid-day and boarded a Southwest plane with my family.  (Love Southwest.  Love my family.)

We landed in Philadelphia and it took me 2.3 minutes to buy a soft pretzel and slather it with mustard.  Yum!

We stayed at Kimpton's Monaco Hotel.  LOVED THIS BOUTIQUE HOTEL!!!

Our view was . . .

Independence Hall

 And . . .

The Liberty Bell

That night, we had dinner with my Aunt Iris (Mom's sister) and my sister, Ellen, at The Dining Car -- a local landmark, where we used to live.

 The BIG SURPRISE happened Saturday.  We showed up at my husband's family holiday party.  Hubby hadn't seen his family in over two years.  No one knew we were coming.

"SURPRISE!"

It was wonderful.  Got to spend time with brothers-in-law, sisters-in-laws, nieces and nephews and their babies.

And, of course, Rose . . .

Sunday, hubby and I hiked across the city of brotherly love to meet our niece, Nicole, for brunch at Sabrina's Cafe.  Holy moly, the food was spectacular.  But the company was even better . . .

Then I finally got a tour of my cousin's bagel shop/restaurant -- BAGEL BOARD at 31 Bellevue Avenue in Penndel.  If you live in or around Philadelphia, you've got to grab breakfast or brunch there.  So yummy!  And check out their YouTube video and see Buddy, the Dancing Bagel.  Seriously.  A  dancing bagel . . .

Had a great time visiting my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Jordan and seeing my cousins Joel, Sharon and Brian and Brian's beautiful daughters, who I haven't seen in years. 

Here I am with my cousin, Joel, who owns Bagel Board . . .

And here's my Uncle Jordan in front of the shop . . .

The visit was over in a blink.  It was sooooo good to spend time with family and friends.

On Christmas, 2/3 of our California family visited.  Wonderful to see my sister Sherry and nephew, Ethan. 

We took Dad to Green Cay Nature Center to watch the sun go down over the edge of the Everglades. 

Dad, Hubby and Ethan

Green Cay

The next day, Hubby and I enjoyed an 11-mile bike ride at Jonathan Dickinson State Park.  We also climbed their lookout tower -- the highest point above sea level for miles -- at a whopping 86 feet. 

In addition to seeing family and amazing sunsets and the interior of many parks and bookstores, I read, napped and watched lots of movies in theaters and on Netflix (Silver Lining Playbook, Argo, 50/50, World's Greatest Dad, etc.)

IT WAS GREAT! 

Now, I have renewed energy to continue writing DEATH BY TOILET PAPER -- such fun to create!

Hope your holidays were happy and that you're feeling hope-filled and peace-filled for a remarkable 2013!

School Visit in PA, Surprise Snowfall and Something SCARY

You know your school visit is going to be fun when the principal introduces himself . . . and he's dressed as a scarecrow!

I had the pleasure of visiting with some of the students at Newtown Middle School in PA.

Big thanks to media specialist, Jana Bovino, for pulling this visit together on short notice.

And the talented Selin, who created this welcome poster:

Selin is on the right . . . Beth is on the left.  (I'll tell you about Beth in a sec.)

Beth is the reason I was visiting Newtown Middle School.  I've been friends with her mom, June, since high school.  Beth has been a BIG supporter of my books.  When she e-mailed to ask if I could visit her school, I replied, "I just booked a flight to the area. I'd love to visit your school!" 

And it turned out to be a delightful visit!

Here's Beth at home with her new guinea pig . . .

And Beth's sister, Melissa, with her new rabbit . . .

After the school visit, it was off to Penn State -- Happy Valley to visit another high school friend, Monica, and her lovely family.

Here's Monica whipping up something delicious for breakfast . . .

I woke Saturday to something I hadn't seen in THREE YEARS!

This Florida girl really enjoyed it.  I drew pictures in the snow and threw snowballs and caught flakes on my tongue, but mostly I enjoyed it from inside . . . where the fireplace (and dog, Cocoa) was.  

Then I found out something scary.  There was a BEAR on the deck during the night.  A BEAR!  Fortunately, I slept right through it.  So no photos of the bear or what it did to the bird feeder, while trying to get at the seeds inside. 

As if that wasn't scary enough, I flew home on Halloween with my niece, Nicole. 

THIS is what we saw at the counter at Southwest. 

Reason #5938 why I LUV Southwest!

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN PENNSYLVANIA

Went for a mini-adventure in Pennsylvania this past weekend. Of course, it began with a lunch of a Philadelphia soft pretzel and frozen custard at Rita's.

Then, as soon as I set foot in Tyler State Park, I was greeted by this sign . . .



Clever poster reminding folks to get outside. So, I did . . .

Tyler State Park

Had a great time with my friends Jeanne and Steve and their lovely children.

Jared, their youngest, and his faithful assistant, Max, are budding architects . . .



Their oldest daughter, Cara, woke one morning, laid trash bags on her bedroom carpet and worked for hours painting the barn behind their home . . .






Daughter Elyssa handed me a little clay doll she'd created. "It's Vanessa," she said, "from your book." Here's Elyssa holding Vanessa . . .

And because Vanessa is made from Sculpey clay, she was put on a cookie sheet to bake with the other clay creations the children made.

Vanessa had an unfortunate accident . . .




We couldn't figure out what had happened to -- gulp! -- poor Vanessa's legs, until Elyssa said, "Um, I might have, er, used Chuck E. Cheese clay on her legs."

No worries. The cookie sheet survived the melted legs catastrophe, Vanessa was repaired with Sculpey clay and now sits beside me on my desk.

When we weren't melting the legs off of clay dolls, we spent some time with friends doing what we do best -- the Can Can!

June, Me, Jeanne and Sandee

But the reason I visited Pennsylvania was to attend the lovely baby shower of our niece, Susan:



And here's the happy father-to-be, our nephew, Steve:


It was great to catch up with my sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, aunts and friends.

Leigh and Kim

Leigh & Kirk's cute, imaginative son, Matt . . .




And, of course, the dogs-in-law . . .

MacMuttley


Sydney Matilda

After the baby shower, it was time to "Get out!"so I hopped onto a Southwest plane. Even though I was one of the last people on, I ended up sitting in the first seat, first row with miles of leg room. If it were any other airline, I'd have been in first class. Flying with Southwest always feels like first class. They are all about great customer service and having a fun time. When it comes to Southwest, I'm always feelin' the LUV!



So, I leaned back, opened a good book (The Book That Changed My Life -- 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them, edited by Roxanne J. Coady & Joy Johannessen) and headed back to hubby, the kids and sunny South Florida.