Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! We had big, huge thunderstorms which I drove through to get to Matt and Diana Wagner's house. I was driving over after getting out of work(yeah actually double time pay for holidays!). At least the kids got a chance to swim in the afternoon before it started-and we actually got in the pool again after the tstorms finished. It was just raining, but we were already wet! And Cookie had her first swim lesson-she looked like a drowned rat all afternoon. She also chased a few ducks that like to try and get in the pool. We are working on her hunting skills. She still has trouble seeing the squirrels though! Maybe cause she is so short. We all certainly had a great time, but needed to get home since everyone was back on work/school schedule the next day.
Allison headed back to school with a math final which she aced. After that it was just a few more assignments, and she was done by Tuesday. Weds the entire 8th grade class headed to Hershey Park for a day of graduating fun. Fortunately the rain and traffic held off and they all had a great time. Thursday the kids participated in a retreat for the day at our sister parish, St Paul(small church in Olde Ellicott City where Babe Ruth was married). Friday was the last day-the kids had a mass in the morning which I attended followed by the 8th grade awards. Allison won for going up and receiving the most certificates-about 9 in all. She has been involved in most of the afterschool clubs(scrapbook and crochet, writing club), as well as the Science Fair, altar server, safety patrol, NJHS, and she even won a certificate for highest grade in her math class this year-Algebra I, and her Religion class too. After their awards, the 8th grade headed off for pizza with their Kindergarten buddies, and then spent the afternoon playing outside games with the little ones. I of course hung around to help out. We were chased inside about 1hr early with another batch of tstorms. The kids were stuck watching movies the rest of the afternoon. That evening, fortunately it stopped raining enough for the entire 8th grade class to enjoy a pool party at one of their classmates house. The Dad is the VP for underarmour, so you can imagine the size of the house! Plenty of room for everyone. The kids had a great time, even in the rain. On Saturday we took Allison out to dinner for graduation at her favorite(and Scott's too)-the Japanese steak house. She even got a big(free) slice of cheesecake for her special day. Today we are headed over to a graduation brunch before Allison heads out to another graduation pool party. At least today is nice and sunny. She had an early start serving mass and was up late Saturday night since our neighbors dropped by to watch the Red Wings game(first win for Red Wings in the Stanley cup playoffs against Pittsburgh). Guess we are watching another game tonite. Allison will have to catch up with her sleep since she goes into school early Monday morning to practice for graduation. The ceremony is at 7pm this Monday night. Fortunately we have the dress from confirmation, and Allison was given a white gown last week. And yeah the shoes fit with no pinching. They had to practice walking up the aisles of church last week in their new shoes. So she is good to go. Now we just have to pick up a few presents for teachers. Scott still has another week and a half to go-he has been busy taking lots of tests the past few weeks too. I had my own assignment at work to present on Weds. I was asked to give a presentation to the Low Vision support group and another to our Independent residents at Charlestown. I asked the tv station to tape me so they could just run my lecture(save me having to set up two presentations!). I can always do a live interview with the tv station at a later date. Now I have to set up a lecture on What do OTs actually do? for the MDs. That should be more fun. As I said, we do not have a manager, and the administrators that are filling in decided I needed to round up more business, so they are having me market our out patient program. I really have enough trouble fitting everyone in my schedule as it is! Next week I am switching my days off so I can run Allison off to the graduation rehearsal and pick her up. At least we got her hair cut-now it is my turn! And someday we need to get the dog's hair cut too(she really does look like a mini polar bear). She also has an orthodontist appt next week for new retainers. Her old set doesn't fit anymore since she grew some new teeth and a piece chipped off the bottom. We are getting a new invisalign set made. And I finally located a dentist to fill the kids cavities-but they say nothing is available until after July 1! And then I need to get their physicals for summer camp.
Looks like Allison's class was officially cancelled-couldn't find two other kids to join, even though I emailed school and the girl scouts. I will probably have to redo her schedule-maybe a field hockey camp. She would like to try it out. She is still working on piano and karate. Guess the Vice Principal nixed her chance to play Pomp and Circumstance for the graduation ceremony. They decided they wanted her to process instead and they couldn't figure out how to squeeze it into their program. At least her classmates have heard her play it in class, and her school music teacher. Her piano teacher was disappointed though since she said Allison worked so hard and she played it so well. We will have to video tape that one and send it on.
I am also trying to pack up for a GS camping trip this weekend. It should be a lot of fun-we are staying at a Boy Scout camp and the theme is Oceanography. I had Tom drill holes in about 60 seashells for the girls to make little swaps(something with our Troop name on it and ocean theme). We will probably hot glue in some pearls and pin on our Troop name, or turn them into necklaces. And my coleader is tie dying shirts for us to go along with the blue denim hats I bought for us to wear(very ocean theme oriented). Each girl has an assignment to do beforehand too. Allison is in charge of putting together a story about Blue Crabs(yum)! We are actually staying at a boy scout camp and we will be spending a lot of time in the water. Glad to see the weather is supposed to be good. And I should be home in time for us to go to the Capital Jazz Fest!
So Happy Graduation to Allison! Tomorrow we will be at her school in the evening for the ceremony and then a reception to follow. Now if I can just remember to buy her a year book! Kathleen