Annual Beach Trip

Last year my family started what is now a new tradition.  A long family weekend at the beach. It's a five hour drive from our home in North Texas, but getting four generations under one roof for even a few days is a nice treat.  

Since I love looking at the ocean, it's even more fun for me watching my grandkids run after the birds and splash in the waves. Both the house last year and this year are right on the beach but we all agree the larger and 'clean' windows on this house make the stay more comfy. This house also has more comfy sofas so there was room for everyone to watch tv without being in stiff chairs. 

Did I mention that the upcoming Honeymoon book has a reality tv show in the plot? The show is called Love On Deck - cute, don't you think? Nice thing about the beach is it helps inspire a book set on the ocean. Granted our Texas coast is nothing like the sandy beaches of the Caribbean, but waves are waves and peaceful is peaceful! LOL. 

Just for fun - here's the draft of the opening paragraphs - remember the Ummarino sisters?: 


     “For the love of all that is holy, please leave that turn of the century getup in the closet!” Josephine Ummarino, known to her closest friends as Jo, and to her oversized Italian family as Giuseppa, shook her head at her eldest sister. “What kind of a woman wears something like that to her one and only bachelorette party?”
     “The kind who wishes you’d stop treating this trip like a strip club training program and more like the fun girls trip it’s supposed to be. I mean, weren’t you the one who told Angie how much you loved the idea of an ordinary last-night party instead of a bachelorette party?” Mina, the soon to be bride, shot her youngest sister a piercing glare.
        “I did, but this is different.” Jo shrugged.
        Shaking her head, Mina rolled her eyes and blew out a frustrated sigh.
      “I still don’t understand why you couldn’t do your party at Uncle Vinny’s pizzeria.” Jo’s mom stirred the gravy she’d been simmering for hours. “He has a really nice room in the back.” 
      "Mom,” Jo tried really hard not to whine, but they’d explained to their mother more than once that a dark room in the back of their Uncle’s aging pizza parlor was not the send off to single life that she and Ginny, the middle sister, had planned for Mina. “You can’t compare Uncle Vinny’s restaurant to ten days on the azure blue Caribbean.”
       “You want blue?” Her mother waved a spoon at her, “Uncle Vinny can paint the walls.” Antoinette Ummarino turned back to her simmering sauce. “Blue is a nice color.”
          Mina shook her head at Jo signaling it was time to change the subject.
          Knowing her sister was right, Jo leaned into her mom and kissed her on the cheek. “We can have a nice rehearsal dinner at Uncle Vinny’s. How does that sound?”
          Her mother shrugged, but Jo could tell the woman was hiding a smile. “I’ll let him know.” A lazy grin erupted. “Maybe we’ll still paint the room blue.”
           Jo and the other sisters chuckled. “Blue is a nice color.”  
       
Also - do you have your copy of Owen? He's available now at all vendors and on my website at a discount! 
For anyone who follows my foot saga - there are still lots of pretty purples and greens lol, and I can actually walk around without an ankle brace most of the time. I consider that excellent progress! 

And now I'm off to write write write! 
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