Another week of summer flew by and it is getting HOT!!!! Thank goodness Scott spent his week at the Y camp in the pool. He finished a week of aquatics and couldn't get enough swimming.
We spent last weekend away from home in Williamsburg and Virginia Beach, so it was tough getting started back to our busy schedule on Monday. Especially for Tom. He had a 6am flight to Detroit Monday morning. He spent most of his week at Uof M(sadly) working on his Black Belt Management Training Video. At least he made it back home by Weds. And his car battery finally decided it needed replaced. Glad we bought a new one. He had Friday off which gave him time to clean out his car, change the battery and give the car a bath. He also fixed one of my recliner seats in my minivan. Closing in on 100,000 miles and everything is starting to wear out, including my cup holder drawer. Sadly, we are thinking of purchasing a Toyota or Honda minivan since GM and Ford have decided to stop building cars people need or want. I really don't see me squeezing all my Girl Scouts into a mini coup! And we can't afford to fill up the gas tank in an SUV(sorry but crossovers aren't the answer either). Anyhow for now we are trying to keep my minivan in one piece.
This past weekend was fairly quiet until Scott decided to invite the neighborhood kids over for a water fight. Sadly, his best buddy across the street got sick and couldn't play, so we were stuck with a bunch of toddlers at the house afraid of squirt guns. And with the toddlers came all the parents. So instead of cutting the grass and planting my new flowering bushes, I was stuck entertaining the neighborhood kids with the sprinkler and chit chatting to all the parents. Not to mention passing out juice boxes and popsicles. By the time I went to cut the grass it was 7pm and my mower ran out of oil. Tom came to my rescue and bought more oil so he could finish up the lawn(while I made dinner-oh what fun). Tom did have enough time to grill my bratwursts though. Scott and Tom got smart during the day and hid in the house with the computer systems while the toddlers took over our yard. Tom was busy putting my parent's computer back together. Fortunately they will be back on line in West Bloomfield. Tom will be traveling to Mich this Thursday to pick up Allison from Camp Grandma and Grandpa. She needs to be back in town by Saturday for Field Hockey try outs. She has been busy running since they want the kids to run 2 miles for try outs. Not an easy feat here especially since the weather has been in the 90s. At least try outs start early on Saturday and Allison has been running up and down Bracey Rd. the past few weeks trying to get ready. She wasn't alone. I actually had time to visit the Y and get in a couple of aerobics classes! Although I also volunteered to go into work for a few hours on Friday afternoon right after I went to my doctor appt. I did manage to have lunch with Tom on our day off together-I actually tried FatBurger for the first time! This hamburger chain was in LA and out west when we lived there and I absolutely refused to eat at anyplace with the name FAT in the title. But I figured since I was going to aerobics class, I could give it a chance! This is the only chain in the east coast area and it is owned by one of our ex Ravens football players. I was pleasantly surprised to see they had veggie burgers and salad wedges(although I couldn't pass up trying the onion rings). Tom thought their hamburgers and onion rings were good, but I wasn' t terribly impressed. At least I can say I tried it. They claim to have the best burgers on the West Coast, but I always enjoyed Jack in the Box and Carl's Burgers or In N Out Burger when we lived in LA. So much for our fine dining. Tom and Scott and I did go out to dinner at the Mexican restaurant Friday night in olde Ellicott City(I gave up cooking for the day). After our Mariachi serenade we stopped into a new wine store across the street just to scope it out. Turns out the owners are from Ludington/Muskegon Michigan. And they went to Michigan State! Tom was wearing a MSU tshirt which tipped them off. The husband studied horticulture and decided to open the wine store after working as head chef at a local historic restaurant, The Elkridge Inn. After they found out we were MSU folk the wine tasting got more extensive! Tom bought a few bottles(nothing over $20) and I read that the owner donates 5% of each sale to charity. He also likes dogs and every third Friday of the month is Yappy Hour. Sample wine and socialize with your dog! His dog usually hangs out there at the store-(they even sell dog bones)- so we will have to introduce them to Cookie. And at the end of the month they have an outdoor movie night scheduled(serving wine of course). This outing motivated us to invite our neighbors over that night to sip wine out on our deck. Sadly they are moving to a mansion in western Howard county after it is built next spring. Scott will be very sad since this is his best buddy. I am sure there will have to be some commuting for play dates.
On Sunday, Tom had to drive up to Lancaster PA to oversee some lab work for his Salt Lake City project. Unfortunately he missed our visit with Matt and Di and Diana's sister Hillary and family visiting from Caton Michigan for the week. Scott and I were pretty happy to use their pool(plenty hot these days) and of course Matt cooked up a BBQ bonanza. Our evening was cut short however when their son, Nick had to take a trip to the Emergency Room. He had some minor surgery the week before and the incision opened up while he was swimming. They needed to get him back in shape since they were planning a white water rafting trip this week and a visit to Ocean City.
Allison meanwhile really enjoyed her sailing lessons this past week on Lake Charlevoix. Mom and Dad Bozyk took her every afternoon into Charlevoix where Allison learned all about wind and the weather, how to tie knots and most of all how to sail. However, I think her favorite part was learning how to fall out of the boat and how to capsize the boat so they can flip it back over. I told her I paid for sailing lessons, not swimming lessons! I saw some great photos of her too on Flicker. There is a photograher that takes pictures of all the kids at each session all summer long and sends them out on the internet. She definitely looked like she was enjoying herself. And on Friday they had a picnic dinner for all the sailors and their families. Mom Bozyk even won a raffle prize-2lbs of Michigan fudge! I am expecting my cut.
3 weeks and counting until school starts-we have already started purchasing Scott's back to school supplies. He is actually looking forward to school starting-I am not. Already I am swamped just in filling out Girl Scout forms! Back to my forms. Kathleen and Family