One more week and counting(until Halloween). It finally stopped raining long enough for the kids and I to finish putting up Halloween decorations outside the house. But of course I had a big pile of leaves to rake up first. I was just glad I didn't have to shovel snow! The Penn State game in Harrisburg Pennsylvania had to cancel their tailgating parties since they had 9 inches of snow on the ground last weekend! We got swamped with rain-I see most of it came up from Houston-they had flooding in their area. At least it got warmer here. But as I said we missed out on pumpkin and apple picking last weekend cause it wouldn't stop raining and the fields were closed. I just managed to pick up some pumpkins for the kids and I to carve at the grocery store this weekend. A lot of places were already sold out. I had a tough time finding a corn stalk for my scarecrow in the front of the house. I guess stores are cutting back on inventory this year.
And just to make things more interesting, my company filed for bankruptcy this week! Of course, we employees found out from the Tuesday newspaper, the residents and the television news. We are always the last to know. Looks like I will still be employed(for now)at our retirement center since we were the first community and we are still running pretty strong. I am just not sure how it will affect all the other facilities. We were all interconnected, all around the US and now they are talking about each community being a separate entity. Apparently the real estate portion of our corporation filed for bankruptcy. They were several billion dollars in debt. Our turnover has been slow since the housing market took a dive and investments were lost. Not as many older residents were moving in and Erickson overbought and over built-too much too fast. Looks like the Erickson family is out of the picture. Fortunately my type of work is in demand in other venues, so I am not worried about having a job; I am just sorry to see the company take such a bad turn. It really is a good company to work for and a well meaning organization with lots of perks. But not any more. Although, the well meaning is still there. And of course the residents are still there, and they still need services. If I hear anymore I will keep you all informed.
While I was busy experiencing bankruptcy, Tom was off lecturing to students at MIT for their yearly conference. Sounds like he had a nice time.
We were busy as usually trying to run around and be in 2 different places at the same time. Allison finished up her field hockey season with 2 games early in the week. The game on Monday was a makeup for the rained out game the week before, and Tuesday was the last scheduled game. I was just disappointed(and so was Allison) that she did not get to play either game. I guess her coach is more concerned about her record. Both games ended in a 0-0 tie. Allison was just sad that the team did not congratulate her like they did the other goalie at the end of the last game. Anyhow, she kept the goalie equipment so she can play on a winter league. And now she has been taking the bus home after school instead of going to practice. We would still like her to keep up with some kind of training and exercise though since it has really been good for her overall health. Just running those two milers at practice is enough to kill ya!
Her school celebrated Homecoming this week. The High School kids got to dress up during the week, a different theme each day. I made Allison wear the viking helmet we bought at Busch Gardens on Spirit day(all her teachers loved it). We also enjoyed a pasta dinner at school on Weds night to support the school teams. We did not make it to the pancake breakfast on Saturday morning, but we did run out in the rain to watch the Mt Hebron parade go down our street. I am glad Allison is not in band! They were out marching in the pouring rain, and the big game was cancelled halfway through due to a thunderstorm on Saturday afternoon! They had to reschedule the final half for this coming Monday! We however were not at the game-Tom(back from Boston) and Scott had gone off for the day to practice rope tying and building shelters and bridges(in the rain) with the cubscouts. It was WeebeloRee camp weekend, but Scott and Tom did not sleep over.
On top of everything we were trying to do, we decided to all get sick this weekend too! Allison had it the worst, and then probably Tom. Doesn't look like the H1N1, but a good dose of a headcold and perhaps some stomach bug. Scott and I actually had the regular flu vaccination already, but not Tom and Allison. Allison is already overdo on some shots, including the menigitis vaccination. And they are offering the H1N1 flu shot at her school but she is too scared to get a shot there and she wants me to take her to the doctor office. I would still like her to get the regular flu shot first and then wait a few weeks for the swine flu vaccination, but I am afraid they will run out. And the little kids are getting the nasal spray which Allison would prefer but it is not being offered to kids over 12.
So Tom opted not to sleep in a wet, drippy tent all weekend and instead he got Scott through his Webelo requirements and came home.
Allison and I on the other had a great time enjoying The Fiddler on the Roof at our Hippodrome theater in downtown Baltimore. The original actor from the 1970s movie version, Topol, was touring with the group. Allison is not as familiar with all the music as I am, but she enjoyed the songs and thought Tevye was very funny, especially when he was talking to God. Now I want her to watch the movie-she is not so sure she can sit through another long production. This musical play was 3 hours long! Definitely got our money's worth on that one. We didn't have a break until 2 hours into the musical. That would not be so bad if the seats were a bit more comfortable. They are very small(historical site) and our seats were in a front row with a lovely bar directly in our sight of vision. I had to spend all three hours sitting forward on the edge of my seat to see the play. My neck got a bit sore but I loved the music anyway! Afterwards, we met Scott and Tom for dinner at Fuddruckers.
And then Allison was off to her homecoming dance with some girlfriends. Fortunately she had Sunday to get some rest and finish studying for the science test she missed on Friday.
Since the kids were not feeling well, I let them stay home on Friday. Instead, I went off to school in Scott's place. It was Grandparent's Day, so I went to Resurrection to help out. I spent a few hours serving coffee and donuts and then cleaned up afterwards. I have some lovely packets and magnets to send to our Grandparents who don't get the chance to travel here to Baltimore. Apparently there are some brave souls out there that actually fly in or drive from out of state to spend this day with their grandkids. I was happy to have had the chance to see how the program is set up-and find out that there are some pretty amazing grandparents out there including a few retired NFL players and lots of military, nurses, teachers and professors, even a couple that own a candy store. There are even some grandparents that are still working, including one at Hershey Park who sends lots of chocolate kisses to her family. Lots of history.
And speaking of History, thanks so much to Uncle Mark who helped us out with the Seitz Family History and Allison's project. Apparently we come from a long line of potato farmers. And surprisingly I seem to be the only one in our family that really enjoys potatoes-and I of course am not german. (The kids say they love french fries and potato chips but I said they don't really count-not as good for you).
Scott has enjoyed keeping in shape with his few gymnastics lessons that he started last week. I am just glad he can spend an hour each week doing flips and cartwheels. However, I'm not crazy that he is trying out the moves on the monkey bars at school!
He had another meeting of his environmental club after school this week and they had a guest speaker talking about pollution in the bay. They even tried out some experiments which Scott found fascinating(some of them involved chocolate syrup and simulated cow poop!)
On Sunday afternoon, the sun came out, the rain stopped, and I took Scott off to an outdoor Halloween picnic that one of the 4th grade class mom's put on for the entire 4th and 5th grade. The kids all played games, went on a trick or treat scavenger hunt, a hayride and ate hot dogs and hamburgers. The party was put on at a local farm where they run a summer camp and host special events. It was fun to get out for a few hours and let the kids run around. Not to mention the really cool jumbo inflatable balls that the kids kept running each other over with or climbing inside and rolling down the hills.
Since I took Scott to his Halloween bash, I did not get to take Allison to a girl scout party for older girls. Although I didn't get much of a response back from any of them. They all seem to be very busy with their new high school roles and don't have as much time to spend on scouts.
We did just get our cookie order in though so besides delivering cookies, we will be busy with our cookie booth sales. And Scott just turned in his cub scout popcorn order. So if you bought from either/both kids, thanks so much. And Allison had to pick up and deliver a food order that she obtained as a fund raiser for the field hockey team. She rode her bike off to school on Thursday afternoon, but her order was so big and bulky, one of the mom's offered to drive her stuff to our house and drop it off while Allison rode back home. I was very grateful since I couldn't text Allison to tell her I was running late from work(no battery in my cell phone) and Tom was still in Boston. Allison also started up her weekly afterschool babysitting again for our neighbor while she teaches piano.
So another slow week here in Baltimore. We are gearing up for a big day of Halloween fun this coming weekend. I plan on helping with Scott's school Halloween party on Friday(I sure am getting my volunteer hours in early this year!). We parents have to give 30 hours of volunteer work to the school each year. We are also trying to make an appointment to speak with the principal about Scott's teacher. I had a chance to chit chat with some of the other parents in Scott's class and the other 4th grade parents at the party today and noone seems very happy(we have two inexperienced 4th grade teachers). Well at least one taught 4th grade but that was 12 years ago and she didn't have to input the kids grades on the computer back then. I am just glad to hear it is not just us that are having some trouble with their teaching styles.
Well, it looks like I need to go now and help Tom clean up the play room cause the upstairs bathtub seems to be leaking through the ceiling. What fun!
Some day I will actually post some more photos with these updates, but I haven't had a chance to catch Tom for his technical help.
Have a great week! Kathleen and family