My Thoughts Exactly by Annette Kniola

So we think it's gets easier the older our children get, right? WRONG! I will start with a little background of my four boys and end with how it all stands today.  I keep going back to to time when I was a young mother with only one child.  That child, now my 19 year old Daniel. We lived in Aspen at the time and I will admit, it was a bit tough.  Daniel was born with a cleft lip and palate, so most of our time during his first 9 months was spent in and out of Denver Hospital with surgeries and then some.  What a toll that took on us but we were still very proud to have our new son.  But boy, was he a handful! A hellion was more like it. 👿 Soon after, we left Aspen and off to Orlando's Disney World. Yay!                                          ...

 "And what have you done?" I say that to myself everyday.  Especially when you have four adorable faces looking at you each and every day.  I find myself blessed more and more having four boys. And they are great kids, thankfully. So right there goes to show you, I have done alot, as have they. We are probably the luckiest family on Earth! I write today because this time of year it's amazing to see the spirit that comes out of them when Thanksgiving is over and Christmas season has begun. But nothing like getting half the Christmas decorations up prior to Thanksgiving. Lol!  Hey, there is alot I want to put out and between the knickknacks in the house and the lights outside, it takes a couple of weeks. As of today, we are pretty much done.Yay! Throughout this week, my boys have been putting their Christmas lists together.  I have asked them for weeks now and finally they are working hard at it. They getting a bit frustrated in the meantime too. Reason ...

Holy Smokes!  Has the campaign for our local candidates started or what?  Signs are out, meetings held, and flyers piling up in my mailbox.  Along with that, quite a few giggles too! I have been very quiet in the recent election because I am simply overwhelmed with my kids!  BUT, I certainly don't miss a beat when it comes to attending meetings and staying on top of the never ending games people play when it comes time to WIN an election.  And what they will do to win.  We have mainly 5 most important seats, okay 6 if you want to add the Presidential election. Well, come to think of it, really 8. Lol!  (Forget the Presidential. Hillary is going to win anyway). I want to bring in the Mosquito Control guys too.  Mosquitoes are a big deal lately and we need the right one for those seats. So 7 it is. (Confused yet?) :) The seats are for District 5 County Commissioner , Seats 1,2,3, and 4 for the North Collier Fire Commission, and...

To begin, let me just start with a little history. It was sometime around that Fall in the year of 2008 when everyone had their eye on the stock markets and the gross domestic product- GDP.  It was the first time the GDP dropped into negative territory in years, signaling a red flag(in my mind). So just being me and the way I am, I made a phone call to our Ameriprise agent about our 401K account. I discussed with her my concerns of a possible recession that analyst kept talking about, but no one really seemed to care. Apparently, Ameriprise didn't seem to care either. Why would they? Wasn't their money, right? I was told everything will be fine and not to worry. Well, I didn't care what she said.  I worried. So I waited. I simply watched how most of the U.S. kept enjoying life like there was no tomorrow. Driving around in expensive cars they could not afford, having parties in the their homes in which they paid an arm and a leg for, and being totally naive ...

I am very disappointed in Naples Daily News and how they are handling elections for Collier County Commission races this year.  We have 3 Commission seats up for grabs.  District's 2, 3, and 5.  And since District 2 has all Republicans, that Commission seat will be announced in the August primary. Now let's take a look at District 3 and 5.  We don't just have Republicans running for these seats, but both districts also have a Democrat as well. Annisa Karim and Tamara Paquette. The winner of the August primary will go up against these ladies in the General Election. So why am I so ticked off?  Because Naples Daily News keeps leaving the Democrats out of not only a survey that has gone out to only Republican candidates, but also holding a recent "Men's Republican Club Forum", and lastly, a very important Commission forum coming up August 17th.  Naples Daily News is hosting this forum and everyone in District 3 and 5 are invited, except for the running Democra...

M y Blog to End on NDN   June 28th, 2016 That’s right, my Naples Daily News Blog will be history. Which totally stinks unless you are a employee of NDN. So I wonder if they will hire me? I do find this all a total bummer. It was a great 8 year run for me and not having NDN as my backbone will be tough. Either way, I do not have a choice. But this new blogging platform they speak of, who will be the bloggers? Very curious. Thankfully since a couple of years ago, I have tried my best to transfer most blogs to Blogger. This will be my new site for all of you to bookmark on your computer if you wish to find me. I will continue to post my links on My Thoughts Exactly Facebook page and also on LinkedIn. Nice thing too, if you have a Google account, you can comment.Yay! This is the link; https://mythoughtsexactlybyannettekniola.blogspot.com/ This is the recent letter we received just to give you the gist of it. Hi everyone, The Naples Daily News was rec...

As I sit here writing this blog, there are three young souls out there lost in this world. I will use fictional names due to their age. Though I can’t say by the time I am done writing this, it’s going to be very private. Seems not to matter much to loser mommy. What does she care? This story in itself is nothing but sadness and consistent drama in the lives of these three kids. Allison, the oldest, age 17, just moved back in with her mom after living with my sister for a year. Within the first week, mommy dearest had her man friends over, and by retaliation on how her mother was being treated, Allison ends up being sprayed by alcohol. In the same night, loser mommy is tested to take off her shirt in order to go for a ride in a mustang. She adheres to his request in front of her daughter. They go for a ride. Second of the three is Trevor. One of the sweetest to be 15 year olds you could ever meet. This is a boy that will be someone when he grows up. I guarantee it....

June 9, 2016 It’s been 10 years ago today since my niece Ivy Rose died from an accidental drowning at the age of 3. And sadly, four years later, in 2010, her brother Willie dies on the exact same day. Below are their pictures and the story I had written about Ivy called Tragedy Never Forgotten. Four years later, I wrote about Willie’s death called Death Surrounds Me. You can find that link at the end of my blog. (I have not edited either story in any way). And to be honest with you, I can’t bring myself to read either one today. Not ready for a day of having to cry all day. It’s too hard. Rest in peace my sweet niece and nephew. Someday I will hug you once again. ~Aunt Nette TRAGEDY NEVER FORGOTTEN (2006) In the newspaper these past few weeks, the attention was brought up about swimming safety and how drownings have become a leading factor here in Collier County for children under five. I want to bring my family’s tragedy to light to emphasize how sa...

I say, “Whoa now!” We need to regroup here! To be honest with you, even being the Secretary on the Civic Association here at the Golden Gate Estates Civic Association, I feel like I am constantly blindsided by all of this new “pop up” future growth that is headed our way. Yes,I know it’s the inevitable and will take years if not more to complete, but where’s the heads up? Everyone knows how I work.  I am thoroughly involved and I want to spread the news!  I’m transparency at its greatest. But unfortunately out here in the boonies, we don’t have it. Which sucks! Just this past Friday in the Naples Daily News is the farming and mining land recently sold to some company by the name of Metro Exchange Inc. It was sold for almost $38.5 million and covers about 4 square miles. If any one keeps up to areas out here, it is called the S.R.846 that sits in the Rural Fringe. Which is north of the fairgrounds by a couple miles. I know it had been on the market for quite s...

May 6, 2016 Casey needs you! Casey is a little girl here in Golden Gate Estates who tries to go to school at Sabal Palm Elementary when she can, but most times she is unable because she continues to struggle each day. She needs you! Her family are friends of mine and thankfully Casey’s Mom is a donor match. We ask for support because Casey and her whole family have to spend over three month in California coming up soon. I have watched this little girl go to hell and back since the day she was born. I just hope this kidney transplant will give her a chance at a better life. As her Mom Sofia wrote; Casey was born on June 8th, 2007 with several congenital anomalies, the most serious one being renal dysplasia. She was born with only one kidney which was small, malformed, and had 30% function. Casey also had a large hole in her heart and bladder dysfunction. She has had 10 surgeries and many hospitalizations for infection since birth. She took up to 8 medicines a...

March 6, 2016 Yadda, yadda, yadda…  Yes, I can already hear my Naples readers squirming in their seats.  Lol! Whatever! I have been out for awhile for good reasons, but hell, I might as well come back with a…… Just can’t seem to help myself anymore with this insanity that’s going on daily over the news.  Yes, I am talking about the Presidential campaign. As most of you know, I say it like it is, and really don’t give a rats ass what most think.  Now mind you, we all have our differences in this world and I am very thankful to be very much a part of it, but this election is killing me!  I call it a Trump Virus and I want nothing to do with it. A virus is a small infectious agent(man) that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms (voters). Viruses can infect all types of life forms(Democrats and Republicans). I have had numerous thoughts and still see our world has alot of good in some aspects, yet poor in others....

January 29, 2016 Good Morning, I decided there were so many things to write about in our area of District 5, that I just figured I would write one by one about the many happenings.  Just so many!! As we all know, Commissioner Nance will no longer hold the post this come November and I am really concerned about who will take the helm thereafter. It’s actually freaking me out!  So I need to throw my thoughts out there and try to get some stuff moving along or at least let you know how I feel about them. First of all, I want that $3 million ATV money the county has been holding onto for much too long.  I wrote this post below on my Estates site this morning to all the community members.  My site is 1,624 members strong and growing every day.  Everyone wants to keep tabs on what the hell is going to happen out here and I do my best to let them know.  Here is the link if interested. https://www.facebook.com/theestatescommunitynaplesflori...

January 6, 2016  Happy New Year 2015!  (Yeah, I know it’s 2016 now. Duh! I  should have this written last week for goodness sakes!~  Lol!) Happy Valentines Day! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! April  Fools!  And Easter too! Happy  Mothers Day! Happy Fathers Day! Happy Fourth of July! Not a damn thing in August unless you celebrate watermelon and s’mores day.(So stupid). Happy Labor Day! And 9/11 observed. Happy Halloween!  Or Happy Birthday to me! (Same day). Happy Thanksgiving! Merry Christmas! There, all done.  Lol! This is the second year I have tried the old yearly recap and I like the idea.  Last years “2014″ was an interesting one and to be honest with you, each year will grow more interest I am sure.  Here is “2014″. http://kniola.blogs.naplesnews.com/?s=2014 I will start off with saying, “Holy Smokes!”  2015 was one helluva ride!  A very fun and interesting one as well.  And yep, s...