Just catching up with my Blog!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! The presents are unwrapped, the Lego projects have begun along with playing new video games, and there is a light dusting of Christmas snow outside. We are actually under a Winter Storm Watch but most of it is due to arrive Sunday night, and they don't even know if it will blow off the coast and miss us altogether, or clip Baltimore as it travels towards New England. It is actually the same storm that drenched LA. Mike we hope you didn't have to put out sand bags! Looks like San Diego got hit the worst.
The kids were up at 5 am Christmas morning-Allison swears she heard "someone" up on the roof. We made them wait until at least 7am so we could make coffee before sitting down to open the gifts. At least we had a head start on the "prep" time this year. I wasn't up wrapping until 3am on Christmas Eve thank goodness. But I was just as tired.
Scott caught a cold this week and he had a small fever. Tom took him in for his yearly check up and they said he had a fever. I figured they'd skip all the shots, but of course not. Poor kid had a tetanus shot, a meningitis vaccination and his flu shot! I was a bit annoyed that the pediatrician hit him with all that right before Christmas. Although it didn't seem to slow him down too much(yet).
I spent most of Christmas day packing and doing laundry as well as cleaning up. I was actually raking leaves Christmas day! The weather was fairly mild so I also had the chance to vacuum out the van too before I packed it. Neither Tom nor I prepared for Christmas dinner. Tom went out to pick up something to cook for dinner, but came home with presents instead. I was so tired by the end of Christmas day I didn't feel like scrounging around to put together a meal. Tom thought about running out to the grocery store to pick up something to cook, but missed out as the stores closed early(I was surprised anything was open at all!). Instead, we all headed out for a Christmas Story ending and had dinner at a Chinese Buffet. I was so tired, I was falling asleep in my Won Ton soup. But at least I didn't have to cook!
We actually had our big meal on Christmas Eve with our neighbors. I still had a rack of ribs in the freezer that we didn't get to when Tom's brother Mark and family visited at Thanksgiving, so it was an easy dinner to put together. Everything in the crock pot and oven. I did spend Christmas Eve day getting haircuts for myself and Allison and picking up some last minute food items for dinner. I made Tom his favorite crab dip for an appetizer and we had baked potatoes and broccoli salad with our ribs. Tom picked up dessert at Sam's Club including Allison the Red Velvet Cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory which Allison and I wanted to try. Tom also picked up a Coconut cake for himself and Scott. We were in a bit of a rush since we were attending the 4pm Christmas Eve mass and Scott was in the Christmas pageant held 20 minutes before mass where the kids put on the story of the nativity and sang. We had to get Scott there by 3pm and the church was already filling up. Of course they also had two other masses at 4pm in the gym and cafeteria. Just getting a parking spot was a miracle! I was also surprised that Scott still wanted to be in the pageant since he wasn't feeling well. Both of his arms hurt so bad and he was still coughing. I couldn't even believe he made it to the dress rehearsal the night before since he had just come from the doctor's office. I was very proud of him. Tom got him a great beard for his costume as a shepherd, and he had a robe from another mom, along with a towel on his head wrapped with rope. To top it off, he carried his boy scout hiking stick. He made a wonderful shepherd, and he even had a small boy dressed as a cotton ball sheep! The kids did a great job. Tom did not even want to attempt the 4pm mass and crowds, but he said it was one of the best masses he had ever been to after all. Turns out they had a great jazz band playing the Christmas music, so it was very upbeat. Worth the crowds. And we really enjoyed having dinner and exchanging gifts with our next door neighbors that evening.
We were pretty busy right up to Christmas Day. Scott had a short week with a Christmas party on Monday and his Christmas pageant on Tuesday. Tom attended the pageant and then brought Scott home. The boys spent a few days doing last minute Christmas shopping. Allison on the other hand was busy with classes and schoolwork/tests right up until Thursday. We were certainly looking forward to a holiday break! The Seitz Family

This certainly has been a crazy week. My schedule was not very consistent at work or at home. First priority was purchasing and installing a dishwasher. Tom and I ended up with a stainless steel Bosch, actually an upgrade from our previous model, but I actually really liked my old dishwasher. No matter now, I needed to get a new one installed since we had a house full of people this weekend coming over for holiday parties. I ended up scheduling an install and delivery on Friday and the guys arrived at noon. By 1pm I was busy loading up the dishes and cleaning the house.
We had all our decorations up, both inside and out. We found a beautiful live Noble fir Christmas tree at Home Depot for a great price a few weeks ago and last weekend Scott got busy and helped me decorate it after Tom put up our lights and the angel. I love the way it makes the house smell. I am also putting the last of my Christmas and Chanukkah cards in the mail this weekend.
So we were trying to get ready for two parties this weekend. I had the girl scouts over on Friday for a holiday party and we earned a candy badge that I found from the New Jersey council. We talked about the history of candy making and chocolate, gum and the candy cane. Did you know the candy cane was a german invention-primarily used to keep the kids quiet during the living nativity. Those germans are so smart! We also talked about candy from around the world and its use for holiday traditions. After nibbling on pizza and taquitos, I had the girls busy making treats, eating chocolate fondue and we topped it all off with a pinata in the garage. I figured they'd enjoy smacking something with a stick! Our only disaster was our attempt at homemade taffy. It seemed to pass the taffy level and reached the rock candy mode. Oh well, we tried. Anyhow, it seems that the girls enjoyed themselves. Tom meanwhile had Scott to his cub scout holiday party at school. They asked the older boys to bring in their pinewood derby cars since the event is going to be early in January again this coming year. Tom got into a heated discussion with a newly appointed scout leader who claimed Scott's cars were illegal due to the width of the tire base. Tom quickly pulled up the BSA guidelines on his Blackberry and pointed out that all Scott's cars were designed and built within the requirements. Then they got into a "discussion" about the amount of work the boys do on the cars vs how much work the parents do for them. As Tom pointed out, some of the work with the radial and circular saws needs to be done by the Dad, but in Scott's case, he came up will all the designs. And he helped sand and paint and put graphite on the wheels to make it go fast. As I said to Tom, I think the idea is that the boys have a project that they can do with their Dads. It is as much the Dads event as it is the boys, and I think that is what makes it special. But of course, some boys get very upset when their cars lose. For several years, Scott was not even trying to win for speed, just looks. But the car designs usually took a winning place for time. This year Scott is going for "cool car" and designed a legomobile. Who knew some people take all this stuff so seriously. Again, what happened to the scout spirit?
On Saturday I was already ahead of myself with a fairly clean and decorated house which made it a bit easier to get ready for our neighbors and our progressive dinner party. The neighbors have been talking about another progressive party(travel from house to house for different phases of the party). As I mentioned, there are alot more kids on our street now and we all decided it was too much strain on the houses and the neighbors to host kids along with adults. So I made an executive decision and decided no kids at the dinner party and there should be a small kids party prior to the adult party. I also decided to nominate one of our neighbors to host the kids party. She was a real trooper and took on the task. As she just took on the role of GS leader for her daughter's Kindergarten Daisy troop, I reminded her that this would be great practice! I also tried to help out by providing some supplies for activities including sugar cookies and frosting and decorations, card making supplies and photo copied coloring pages. She also picked up some small craft items and made even more sugar cookies and one of the other moms provided pizza. I sent Allison down with Scott to help out if she could. I heard it was a bit chaotic, and a lot of kids showed up. I was just glad it wasn't my house! Instead I hosted all the adults for the main meal. Everyone that was able to get a babysitter came, which was surprisingly a decent number. We had about 24 adults that were able to come. I missed the appetizer house since I was busy monitoring the ovens, but most of the appetizers traveled to our house after an hour. We hosted dinner for about 2 hours-I asked everyone to bring a side dish which worked out well since I made a big ham and baked potato casserole along with crab soup in the crock pot. Dinner turned out well, except for my kosher neighbor who could not heat ham or seafood, just salad, and we then walked down the street to our third house for dessert and a white elephant gift exchange. I have been trying to explain this game to everyone for the past several years. It is slowly taking on amongst the neighbors. We swap nice or not so nice gifts, it is all a surprise. You can pick a new gift(wrapped) or steal someone else's gift after they opened it. The gifts can be stolen up to 3 times. Some neighbor's opted out of the game-they just can't handle the stress. Other neighbors only brought one gift per couple(we were happy to share some extra gift items). Anyhow, I ended up with a bottle of Biltmore wine and Tom stole a book that I picked. It was a lot of fun and my donated gift turned out to be the most popular-a box of GS thin mints, liquor chocolates and Godiva chocolate coffee. At the end of the party we all had to go find our kids scattered throughout the neighbor's houses. Allison helped watch 5 other kids. As the party ended we all decided it was a big hit and a great way to visit with each other. We even invited a few new neighbors and people that did not know each other so it was nice to spend the time getting to know someone who lives just around the corner. And the guys added a few new members to their Monday night football group. They especially enjoy sharing new brands of beer.
So today Allison and I went off to sing at my Nursing Home with the girl scout choir. Allison and I had to skip another event last week at a local nursing home next to the girl scout council office. High school has been keeping Allison very busy these last two weeks with midterms. She has school right up to the 23rd, whereas Scott will be done on Tuesday. And that is just a half day with the morning taken up by their Christmas pageant. So he just had a few quizzes to study for, but Allison has had a major test in every subject over the last few weeks. And to top it off, we had our first snowfall on Thursday afternoon. Just enough to shut down school early and close all the evening activities. I was supposed to head to my work Christmas lunch at a local restaurant Thursday afternoon and instead I had to go pick Scott up when school got out since aftercare was canceled. Naturally our boss decided not to cancel the luncheon, so I missed out on another party. How sad. And I even had to work through lunch that day since we were supposed to get off early for our holiday meal. I even had my gift to exchange for my secret santa, so I just sent it on with another therapist. I think I deserve a rain check on the crab cake dinner.
On Friday there was a two hour delay in the morning for school since the roads were very icy. Tom had been putting in late hours at work, so he had to get to work early and I did drop off before the dishwasher came. Naturally Allison forgot supplies for a govt project at home so I had to run back up to her school to drop off the items before running to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the two parties after I dropped Scott off at his school.
I was just elated that I had a car to drive all over town. I noticed a nail sticking in my back tire early in the week and Tom asked me to stop into Mr Tire to have it patched. Everyone was backed up in the evening, so Tom volunteered to take my car in first thing in the morning since his work schedule was a bit more flexible than mine. Not only did we have to have that tire replaced since the nail pierced the sidewall, but they discovered gashes in my other back tire, so I ended up with two new tires-Merry Christmas to me. We have decided that we are single handedly keeping the economy going.
I also left work early on Monday to go to the dentist(yeah no cavities). I was also hoping to take Allison and Scott on a fund raiser walk through our Symphony of Lights display with his school that evening, but the wind chill brought our temperatures down to 10 below! And since traffic was getting heavy, I figured I would not make it to the fund raiser event and then back to Scott's school for his Christmas pageant rehearsal. I decided since we were going to be home for Christmas, that he could help out with the Christmas kids pageant. Practice was at 630 for just 30 mins so they could practice two new songs. Scott is still in the school choir and they have been busy singing at the school masses, and will sing at the upcoming school pageant as well on Tuesday. So we skipped freezing to death Monday night. It was so cold here, a plastic soda bottle exploded all over our back porch. Cookie loved eating frozen ginger ale all week.
We also were planning on attending a few Boy Scout meetings this past week as Scott and his troop will be moving on to the next level in February, but they all rescheduled for open house events in the winter.
So another very busy week and only one more week to Christmas!. Allison has to make up a piano lesson since she missed last Thursday due to the weather. She will be busy right up until Thursday-she is a little frustrated since many of her private school friends are already on Christmas break. Right now she and Tom are off to the indoor field hockey game. Then they will have a break until after the holiday.
5 more shopping days until Christmas! Good luck! Kathleen PS Here are a few more photos from the Festival of Christmas Trees where Allison and I sang with the GS choir.

Yep, the dishwasher was acting up! As a matter of fact, it quit altogether. Tom and I spent Saturday afternoon dishwasher shopping. I had my Bosch dishwasher for 8 years-as long as we have had the kitchen remodeled. I really liked it and would have been happy to just buy the same one. But we couldn't find one. We did get an upgraded model on sale with the stainless steel front. I would have been happy to have the old black front panel again, but they did not have one in stock. We shopped around and ended up getting a good deal at Best Buy. They actually mispriced the unit and we saved an extra $100. We also got free delivery and connection although Tom would have been happy loading a washer into the back of the van and hooking it up himself. However, the dishwasher was at the warehouse so it would have been more running around and we were tight on time Saturday. Tom and the kids figured I needed a dishwasher as soon as possible since the dishes were piling up. They couldn't imagine we could survive another day without a dishwasher. Now I really can't survive without the washing machine, but I would have to haul clothes to a laundromat. And a broken fridge is way too inconvenient. But the family forgot about the old fashioned way of washing dishes. Tom wanted to know what I was going to do for several days without a dishwasher. I introduced everyone to the dish rack and Dawn dishwashing liquid detergent. Oh boy. Certainly, I will also be grateful for a functioning dishwasher. I washed all the silverware and cups before I ran out of dish rack while quizzing Scott on his vocab list Sunday night. Saturday night we were busy attending the Army Jazz Band free holiday concert. The Army bands travel around the US and often plan concerts here in Maryland since most are stationed at Ft Meade MD. We got free tickets along with our neighbors, so we all went out to dinner beforehand. Couldn't even have a relaxing dinner out as an older gentleman started choking near our table. Our neighbor is a nurse, so she jumped right up. But so did about 10 other people. Don't worry, he made it. And we enjoyed the concert at a local high school. Afterwards we all met for coffee and dessert, thanks to Susan Seitz. She sent us a great family gift of cheesecake and a ham. Susan it was all terrific, thanks. We had the ham for dinner on Sunday night which was perfect.
Tom and Allison were off playing indoor field hockey Sunday night so we ate dinner early. Tom made his debut as a field hockey coach. I got him into this volunteer position thinking all he had to do was show up. Little did we know that he had to attend a 3 hour coaching class last week as well as take a concussion on- line test, and turn in paperwork for a background check with references. And we still did not get a completed roster until an hour before the game. The manager who is a coach from a local high school did not obtain all the paperwork from the girls and I was afraid the team would not be able to play. The woman took responsibility and had all the girls meet an hour before the game to fill out the appropriate paperwork. Our team is a bit different since I asked the Parks and Rec. Dept if they could put together a team of odds and ends girls that did not have a full team. This team is made up of several different girls from several different high schools and several different ages. Usually one high school will have a full team, but Allison's fellow team players are all involved in different sports. Being a goalie, Allison was actually in high demand, but she stuck to this mismatched team and it looks like it turned out well. Tom and Allison came back Sunday night saying they had a wonderful time. Tom said Allison was outstanding and even was offered a goalie position with a traveling team, however they play weekly down in Rockville which is just a bit too much traveling for us. Tom said the paperwork all turned out and the girls are all very nice but they have no offense. Just defense and Allison. But Tom said it was fun. So seven more weeks to go, and Tom has a new job listing for his resume. That is if he actually reads the rule book sometime!
Earlier Sunday morning Allison and I were off selling GS cookies at my retirement center. We could not wait until the dinner hour(4pm) since Allison had some studying and homework to do. But we managed to sell several cases of cookies. I was hoping a few girls would show up that did not have the opportunity to work at other booth sales, but no such luck. I am scheduling a holiday badge party for the girls next week, and I am happy that most of them can make it. The girls just have crazy schedules and attend several different schools so it is very difficult to get them all together. We will be working on a candy badge so I have been busy gathering candy supplies and info.
Allison and I were also planning on singing at the mall with the GS choir on Monday night, but Allison had too much homework that night so we skipped it. It seems the public schools love to load up the school work before the holidays.We were also a bit tired since the kids got up early Monday morning to celebrate St Nick's day. St Nick fills our stockings on his special day. The kids look forward to getting hats and mittens, treats and Christmas stuff like their yearly christmas ornament.
On Friday I had my yearly check up in the morning. I was happy to hear I am A.O.K. I was not very happy that I got locked out of an exercise class at the Y beforehand though since I was 10 mins late. Instead I went home and took Cookie for a nice long walk. She loved it. Friday night Allison had to babysit, and I was out trying to get some shopping done. (Mostly for me!). I also had to get home since I was invited to a work dinner with the Home Health staff. I had a wonderful time-a great meal and they even bought me a present! Imagine that! This is the first time I have been able to go in 6 years.
So a very Happy Birthday goes out to Linda Seitz. Happy 28 Linda! (Just kidding).
I think I have to go wash some more dishes. I am starting to get dishwasher hands. Kathleen PS I sent photos of Scott's birthday cake with the photo of him doing the high ropes course.

Wow-I can't believe it is one week after Thanksgiving and now we are getting ready for Christmas. Tom and I attempted to put away the Thanksgiving decorations and put out the Christmas lights and decorations, but it just seemed too early. And too cold. Tom went outside after his brother and family left for their drive back to Indy. He decided it was way too cold and windy, so instead we enjoyed our MSU football game. Although it seems for naught that we won since it does not appear that we are going to the Rose Bowl. That stinks.
Last Sunday we were crazy trying to get our family photo done in the morning. The studio was one hour behind. We opted not to try and take a family photo with the dog, so our picture took less time. It was just the waiting to get our photo taken. Afterwards, Tom and I had to get ready to attend the Ravens football game. St Nick arrived early and Tom and I were sporting new Ravens sweatshirts, but it was plenty cold so we had to layer up(and we were still cold). I even picked up a Raven's santa hat to stay warm(worked great). I was mostly excited to get my photo with our mascot, Poe the Raven(as in Edgar Allen). And we met some cheerleaders and listened to our own drum concert at the tailgate party before the game. Tom had tickets from work so we enjoyed the free tailgate party beforehand. Meanwhile, I had to ask the neighbors to take the kids to church that night since they both were assigned to altar serve at the Sunday night 515 mass. Our neighbors kindly took them to church and attended themselves. Afterwards they took them home and fed them. Great neighbors. And we got home at a decent time.
On Monday, Tom was flying off to LA leaving from the DC Dulles airport. I was running solo and took the kids to Barnes and Noble bookstore Monday night for Scott's school fundraiser. Plus his choir was singing. Of course I managed to put him in the wrong shirt(we hid him in the back). We all bought a little something-Allison had some gift cards to spend on new books, and Scott used his Bday money to buy a Lego set. I also got some Christmas shopping done(and free gift wrap). Then we went to dinner at Pizzaria Uno with a gift card I got from attending camp with the kids and it was the school fundraiser night there too. When we got home it was time to study for the week's tests so we were up a bit late. Of course on Tuesday morning we had a big storm come through in the morning and we lost power at 5am. I wasn't sure if the power was out at the schools, but it came back on around 630 so we had to hurry to get showered and dressed and out the door, avoiding fallen tree limbs and sideways rain storms. The temps were in the 60s but dropped to the 40s by Weds.
On Weds night I had to squeeze in helping the kids with their homework before I headed out the door to my girl scout leadership meeting and holiday party. Thursday night I was invited to a work party but Scott had gymnastics that night, and Allison had piano. And Scott started feeling bad. He seemed to have a sinus headache coming on , so he ended up staying home on Friday. I left him for an hour to run up to the school's Mother's Tea. I usually go since they have coffee and pastries and door prizes at one of our local restaurants put on by the PTA for the moms. I really enjoy catching up with the school moms(and trying to win a door prize-no luck this year). But the pastries are terrific, made by a local bakery. I also had to pick up a few items for Scott to put together his goodie bags for his official kids birthday party scheduled on Sunday. Scott wanted a roller blade party and we all had a great time. I was especially happy to see that their bakery was able to make a birthday cake with the photo of Scott climbing through the trees at Northbay camp. The kids and parents also thought it was amazing.
Tom was able to get home on Thursday night from LA, but he had to go into work on Friday. He had a chance to see my brother Mike out in LA and take him to dinner and talk about job hunting. Mike has a few interviews coming up-Good Luck Mike.
On Saturday, Tom took Scott up to school for breakfast with Santa. Allison and I headed out to our annual White Marsh Christmas parade with the GS choir. At least this year, we did not get snowed, sleeted and rained on. It was cold but dry and we had a fun time. Allison especially liked book shopping at Barnes and Noble while we drank Starbucks and watched the end of the parade. When we got home I completely had forgotten that our old neighbor invited me over to her new house for a jewelry party. One of our neighbors makes her own jewelry-very nice and unique pieces. Especially since her husband travels the world and brings back different gems and stones from each country he visits. So most of the pieces are one of a kind. I decided to bring the kids with me so they could visit with their old neighbors. Scott was missing his buddy Sammy, and they wanted to explore the new woods and farmland behind the new house before it got too dark. Scott and Sammy came back in when they heard shotguns go off. I enjoyed visiting with all the guests and yes I broke down and bought a few pieces of jewelry too. Allison was excited to pick out a ring for herself for Christmas and I got a great bracelet with a wonderful magnetic clip.
And we keep working on the Christmas decorations. After Scott's birthday party on Sunday we stopped at Home Depot and picked up a Christmas tree which Tom set up. We are just waiting for the lights. We also had to pick up a new console for Tom's large screen tv that was delivered on Friday evening. He moved our previous entertainment center to the old garage/play space and set up the new system in the family room. It really makes the room look so much bigger. I just can't believe we fit the console into the back of my van(with a little room left over for the kids). Way too many projects. But I am sure we are not done. I noticed my dishwasher has been acting up.

Here is my backed up blogs-sorry, busy working on Christmas letter. Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Birthday Scott(big 11) and Happy Birthday Sheila Bozyk(won't mention how old!).
We just spent a very enjoyable weekend with Tom's brother Mark, his wife Linda and son Eric. They also brought their small dog along, Rambo, which made Cookie a very happy puppy. She loved having her "cousin" visit and couldn't stop playing with him(even though he is 8 years older than she is). Poor Rambo was worn out. And they both spent the weekend fighting over the best spot on anyone's lap that happened to be on the couch or recliner chair.
You may have remembered that last weekend we were busy having pre visitor disaster as the washing machine died. We picked out a huge set at Sears and Tom stayed home on Monday waiting for them to deliver the new set and haul away the old. Of course they did not show up until 530 that night. I guess they had 30 units to install that day(busy weekend). As soon as it was set up, I got busy washing clothes. Tom was also nice enough to paint my laundry room walls since it had not been painted since we moved in 14 yrs ago. I wasn't too thrilled with his choice in color, a bit too lemony yellow for me. But it sure beats drab and dirty white. And it is so nice to be able to wash the clothes and towels again. I am still trying to decide if I like the new system, but I guess I don't have too much of a choice. I could do without the singing doors everytime you open the washer and dryer! One day I'll figure out how to shut that off.
We managed to get the house in order just in time for our guests to arrive on Weds evening. Allison and Scott were home all that day so they were on kitchen and bathroom clean up duty. Allison had two half days, and Scott had one half day so I had to ask the neighbor to pick him up from school since Tom and I had to work and drop him off at the house with Allison. It's nice that she can stay with him now and we don't have to worry about babysitters so much. We all had a very busy but short week-the kids had several quizzes and tests to squeeze in and both Tom and I were very busy since the week was cut short. Scott even got to sing at the school Thanksgiving mass with the choir. The group apparently sang a German Thanksgiving song(I can't get Scott to sing that one for me).
On Thanksgiving day Tom took Mark and Eric down to Fells Point near the harbor for a 7K Gobble Cobble run. Yes, we do have old cobblestone streets here in Baltimore. And I guess they are not too fun to run on especially in the rain and cold. The rest of us would have joined them if they had a fun run/walk scheduled, but this was the very first race and not so overly organized. Mark said he really enjoyed running around our inner harbor though. I have to agree that it is very nice.
The rest of us stayed home to watch the Macy's Day parade in the morning and were even able to get a little shopping done before dinner. We were all invited over to our neighbor's for dinner and I packed up some appetizers and the wine. We really didn't need to bring anything since they had so much wonderful food. Tom even made an extra turkey on the grill which came out terrific(and is already gone). We were shooting for some leftovers for the Seitz Casserole-turkey/stuffing and gravy all mixed together and very tasty the day after. I also had some pumpkin pies for us to enjoy. That evening, Tom and I took all the "kids" to see the Harry Potter movie. It was pretty intense. When we came out of the late movie at our outlet mall we were a bit surprised to see that they were opening all the stores at midnite. There were already people lined up at many of the stores. We strolled around the whole mall but opted out of fighting the crowds for shopping. Our kids were just excited to see what the Black Friday craziness was all about without having to get up so early in the morning.
And we enjoyed sleeping in on Friday. We did do a little shopping on Friday and had lunch at one of our favorite mexican restaurants in old Ellicott City. We decided to celebrate Scott's birthday one day early since our guests were leaving on Saturday. Scott even made his own coconut cream pie(it was tasty!). We made him wait to open most of his presents on Saturday, but Tom got him started with a new lego computer game. Meanwhile, Allison and I went off to sing Friday evening with the Girl Scout choir for the Festival of the Christmas Trees. Once again we got to sing holiday songs on the main stage for 45 minutes. It certainly got us into the holiday spirit. Enjoy the photo of one of the many Christmas trees.

Today Murphy's Law applied. Invite house guests over or plan a vacation or prepare for an upcoming holiday and one major appliance is sure to break down. Usually a major appliance that you use on a daily basis. For us it was the washing machine. Granted, we had our washer/dryer set about 20 years, and moved it to several different states. So it is not surprising that it finally gave up. In which case, I was more than happy to pick out a bigger, newer model. I just didn't put it in my cleaning and grocery shopping schedule.
Tom of course wanted to run out today, pick up a new set, haul the old set down the stairs himself and haul a new set up the stairs himself and of course hook it all up. Our laundry room is on the second floor so it takes a little more work to move anything up and down. At least our stairwell is straight up and down. And naturally we did not see eye to eye on the type of washer we should buy. I recently had some practice with the front loading washers at work as they are replacing all the old models in the residents apts with Bosch front loaders. I was not excited about the water that pools in the rubber seal of the door and molds and smells. Tom was not so sure this would be an issue, but I think he finally could see my point when I pointed it out to him at Sears as we were shopping for a new set this morning. And the salesperson brought it up too. Of course, that doesn't mean you aren't going to get a new, high efficient, low water unit(just in a top loading style). I was surprised to see that the majority of new washers no longer have the big agitator pole down the center. And they all use about 1/3 the amount of water. I am not so sure I like this new concept, but it does not look like I have much choice. I didn't even get a choice in color-they come in white. And I hear all the brands are pretty much made by one manufacturer(probably in China). The LG brand which I really liked in silver and a bit bigger washer did not have a rating yet and comes from Korea and I would have had to wait 40 days to get one through Sears(no way). So tomorrow Tom is staying home to greet the Sears people with my new Maytag washer and dryer. This reminds me of the time I went to get a new film loading camera and discovered that they only made digital. You even need special laundry detergent like the front loading(less water) and there is even a setting to wash the washing machine! (To avoid any possible moldy smells)
So it felt just like spring cleaning today. Needless to say after 14yrs in this house we had accumulated quite a few dust bunnies behind both units. Poor Tom is having a hard time breathing between all the dust and kitty litter he swept up and the dry leaves he mowed yesterday. Oh yes, he also told me we may need to shop for a new lawn mower next spring as our Lawn Boy seems to be dying as well. And of course there is the new flat screen television that Tom wants for the family room, which of course will not fit in our existing wall unit. Hence more furniture and appliance shopping come Black Friday.
Just more fun jobs to add to our "to do list". I also had to take Cookie in to the pet store to get sheared(her fur grows out just like a sheep). She looks about 1/2 her size with her new haircut. She needed a short cut since her fur starts to get so matted when its long-even with lots of brushing(which she hates).
Other exciting additions to our house this week included "my" new leather topped 'coffee table/foot rest' bench that I purchased about two months ago out of a catalog. This one has a hinged lid which is great for hiding all the comforters and remote controls. And it is so nice to have a coffee table again in front of our big couch in the family room. Allison was only one year old when Tom gave away my last coffee table for fear she would hurt herself on the sharp wooden corners.
So why all the cleaning and commotion? We are expecting Tom's brother Mark and wife Linda and our nephew Eric for Thanksgiving. They are driving in from Indy and Mark plans on participating in a 7K run near the harbor on Thanksgiving day. Good thing our neighbors invited us all over for dinner! We will probably still make our own Turkey feast(can't survive the day after without Seitz casserole). And you never can have enough turkey. We are looking forward to a wonderful visit.
I still have to squeeze all my patients in at work in 3 days though. It was a bit of a mess when I got back to work this past week(it always seems no one can ever do as good a job as yourself). But I was grateful for the time off the week before camping with Scott's school at Northbay. I still haven't had time to look over all the photos on line.
Allison and Scott still had plenty of schoolwork. Scott is finishing his semester and Allison is just starting a new one. We managed to get through an extra credit project on bats with Scott and he is busy reading two books for language arts class. Allison's English class has started on the Greek tragedies(always fun). Allison and I did take some time out with another one of my scouts to attend an arts and crafts class at the library. We were trying out bandana bags for next years Mall Sleep In, but I think this project is a bit too overwhelming to run for 1000+ girl scouts. So we will keep looking(but it was a lot of fun). And Allison and I actually made a bag out of two bandanas.
And Scott's cub scout troop had their pack meeting on Friday night. The boys packed 40 care packages for the US Troops for the holidays. I included the 55 boxes of girl scout cookies that were donated during our sale this year. I think Allison single-handedly sold about 47 of those boxes. I am certain the soldiers will enjoy their surprise.
So I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are certainly thankful for celebrating the holiday with part of our family. And I am thankful that I will be able to wash all the sheets and pillowcases in time for their visit(well sort of). Mark, pizza works just fine for all of us on Weds night too! Happy Turkey Day! Kathleen and Family (I also included a shot of Scott in his altar server garb after he just finished his training sessions this fall).

Oh Wow! What an incredible week I have had(plus I managed to squeeze in my birthday this weekend!). As part of my birthday gift, Tom bought me tickets to The Blue Man Group last Sunday night. He wasn't interested in going though, so I took the kids. I must say it was one of the best shows I have ever seen! I laughed so hard(of course the kids were embarrassed). But everyone else was laughing and cheering too. That's the whole point of their show. I thought they did more percussion type music(banging pipes and drums), but it is really quite a mix of humorous skits, including making fun of all our technology like cell phones and IPADS. I just wish I would have brought my glasses-I couldn't read all their text on the giant IPADS(we sat way up in the balcony section). So I missed out on some of the jokes, and the kids couldn't read it to me fast enough. I told Tom if we are ever in Vegas or on a cruise, he will have to go see the show-it was a lot of fun. And two hours long with no intermission! I did manage to get a picture with the kids and a blue man along with an autograph(a big blue painted thumbprint!)
Tom did join me however for a night out on my birthday to see the accopella singing group Straight No Chaser. I saw this group two years ago on the Today show and have been trying to get tickets to see their show ever since. The group consists of 10 college buddies from Indiana, so the the Indy Seitz family is very familiar with their talent. Most of the guys are from Indy, but there was one Michigander and a few from Pennsylvania. The intros went well until one of the Indy boys mentioned the Colts(as you may know, the Indy Colts used to be the Baltimore Colts!). We gave him a bit of a hard time. And the theatre had some trouble with their lights which gave us all an added laugh. I was just happy we got to see the group since they were only in town for one night. When they came through on tour last year they were performing in Alexandria, VA so we couldn't get down there to see them during the week. We even got the group to perform one Christmas song for all of us at the end of the show. Tom just couldn't believe how many people came to see them-the concert was sold out. They didn't even have to advertise-Tom just heard about them from some people at work.
Before the show, the whole family went out to dinner at the Crab Shanty(they already have the place decorated for Christmas!). Then we came home for cake and presents(yeah).
Today we have been spending most of our time at Church. Scott served his very first mass as an altar server at the 9am mass with Allison helping out. Even our Msgr acknowledged Scott at the end of the mass as serving for the first time with big sister Allison! Scott did a terrific job(with a little coaching from mom and Allison). Afterwards, we were busy selling Girl Scout Cookies at the noon and 5pm mass. We also sold cookies Friday night at Qdobas mexican restaurant. It was a bit too cold, but Sunday was a beautiful day to sell cookies.
Of course, it is not like I had nothing to do last week. As you may recall, I spent the week camping (in cabins) with Scott and his entire 5th grade class at Northbay. The camp is situated at the top of the Chesapeake Bay. I was responsible for 8 girls along with another terrific mom. We spent our days from Monday to Friday eating way too much terrific food(yes camp food), attending outdoor education classes-I now know a whole lot about deer poop and vultures, clams and pollution. We also had lots of opportunities for outdoor skills including zip lines, a giant trapeze swing and the high ropes course. I opted for the high ropes course and was very proud of myself for not falling. Scott had an incredible time. He even got to hold a snake which he really enjoyed. At night the camp ran shows talking about the evils of bullying and how hard it is to be a kid. The camp is offered to lots of inner city schools, so they usually get into heavy discussions about teen pregnancy, gangs, drugs and guns. Our school opted out of those discussions and instead went on night hikes to search for deer and astronomy lessons. Camp pretty much ran from 8am to 10pm. Needless to say the kids (and adults) were all pretty exhausted. I think I must have taken over a hundred photos all posted on snapfish. If anyone is interested, go to www.snapfish.com, user name grade5@resstpaul.org and the password is grade5 to view all of our photos. I myself have not had an opportunity to sit down and view them. I had more photos to download from my cell phone since I exhausted the camera battery after 4 days. And then I had to forward them to the teacher. I also forwarded a photo of Scott on the ropes course to put on his birthday cake for his upcoming roller blading birthday party.
Tom and I did manage to get a bit of yardwork done-cutting the grass and raking those darn leaves that keep piling up in the front yard. And I managed to get Cookie out for a nice long walk and a few playdates with fellow neighbor dogs(while I chatted with the fellow neighbors). Not to mention some homework that needed to be squeezed in. Allison finished her first semester and they did not skip a beat on getting started on the second semester. Scott is wrapping up his first semester. He was working on an extra credit science project on bats.
So now it is back to the usual busy work schedule. We just enjoyed birthday cake with the neighbors(can't eat it all ourselves). Thanks for all the birthday cards and well wishes from friends and family!

Happy Fall Back! Did you all remember to change your clocks back? I could have used the extra hour last weekend We survived trick or treating and had a lot of fun, even though it was a Sunday night! I took Scott around with another boy about his age, Jack and his DAd. Tom manned the house passing out tons of candy. And Allison took out a group of 8th grade girls(Jack's sister). We all went our separate ways and joined up again at our house around 830. I headed the boys over to our favorite haunted house. The family there buys huge pumpkins and carves them every year, and then they decorate the whole house, inside and out with great spooky decorations, including an actual coffin. They also dress up and put out snacks and drinks for the kids besides candy. It makes for a great rest stop before heading back to our house. We certainly seem to have the most traffic in our section of the neighborhood and the most kids!
The kids were able to get up and get back to school the next day though after sorting through their candy Sunday night. Scott had a break on All Saints Day as the whole school always has a 5K walk fundraiser in the afternoon. The money collected goes to our church run homeless shelter. And both kids were off on Tuesday for election day. It seems Maryland still has a strong Democratic party. And Tom and I were disappointed to see that Anne Arundel County decided to allow a slots casino to be built near the big outlet mall. Already they have announced the plans to close a nearby race track in Laurel since the slots won't be built there. We think it is a big mistake since the area is already overbuilt and crime has been increasing. But we had no say in the matter. We did vote yes for slots a few years ago, but believed they were going to be built at the racetracks(at least that is what they told us back then). Gotta love politics. Guess we'll see how the new Senate works out. There have been several interesting rallys down in Washington lately-The Daily Show had their own rally which our young neighbor went to last Saturday as well as Tea Party rallys and other Radio Talk show rallys, like Glenn Becks. I wouldn't exactly call them rallys-more like free political shows. And although they might be interesting to attend, having to deal with the crowds in DC is no fun. Not to mention the security issues. As it is, someone has been taking pot shots at the military buildings in the DC area lately. They figure it is a disgruntled veteran and it usually happens at night when there aren't alot of people around, but that is the worry that at some time, someone is going to get hurt or killed. Never a dull moment out here on the East Coast! It certainly is an interesting time for Allison to be taking government!
She also had Friday off since it was the end of her semester. Scott still has until the 23rd of November-his school extended the semester. So he still has some extra credit projects and book reports we are busy working on that are due before Thanksgiving. Allison did not get much of a break either since she still has some upcoming papers and exams. The two kids did help me out quite a bit by spending their days off cleaning up all the Halloween decorations. Now we just have to start bringing down the Christmas decorations from the garage attic!
We are also getting ready for our holiday shows with the GS choir. We had a big rehearsal on Friday night(we skipped the sleepover for the comfort of our own beds). Allison is also busy learning Christmas songs for piano. She even volunteered to learn a few pieces on the piano for the choir if we ever need backup(might not work in a parade though!). We do have a portable electronic keyboard though. She also had her end of season JV Field Hockey party on Saturday night. They did not have enough room to invite siblings, so I ended up going with her. It gave me a chance to chit chat with the other moms since I haven't seen them in a few weeks. Allison's team ended up with a non defeated season! 14 wins and two tie games. Next year she has to make Varsity or she doesn't get on a team. We were going to sign her up for winter indoor field hockey with her team, but only 4 girls could play. The rest play other sports. So we may try to get her on another team(people usually need goalies). And they have a team for the spring, not to mention summer camp which we will probably sign her up for in August. You have to put in registration by December to get in. This camp is in Philly. We opted for a camp here in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins, but we will probably send her to the away camp with her team next summer(better chance at making the Varsity team).
I took off Thursday to attend a class on fibromyalgia. My state now requires us OTs to be licensed every year rather than every two years, so I have to attend two classes each year now. At least work pays for it, and my day off. But since I was so busy with work, I ended up going in on Friday. And I usually end up running into one person I know at every class. I recognized a fellow OT that I used to work with , but did not realize she was the same person I spoke to at a high school Parent Teacher meeting. She has a son at the school the same age as Allison. She is heading up the committee for the National Honor Society and Honor Roll and I spoke to her after the meeting and had joined her committee! Somehow we OTs naturally seem to gravitate to each other, right Laura?
So tonight I am taking the kids to see The Blue Man Group-an early present for my birthday. It is a gift from Tom in that he does not have to go! This is primarily an instrumental and acoustic group-lots of banging on pipes and drums(and the three guys in the group have their heads all covered in a blue mask if you have ever seen them). Their shows are in Vegas and on cruise ships and tour the country(Tom says it is not the same original 3 guys which makes sense but made me feel a bit ripped off). But the kids and I have seen their concerts on tv and I have heard they are alot of fun to attend. So I am looking forward to it. Tom did compromise and got us tickets to see Straight No Chaser however next Saturday on my birthday proper. That is the acopella(no instruments) singing group from Indiana that I have been trying to get tickets for the past several years. They are just going to be in town next Saturday and I did not even see them advertised. Tom heard from someone at work that they were coming. So I am really looking forward to that show too.
Saturday morning I got up early to take Scott down to the Baltimore Museum of Industry for a Boy Scout engineering class. They are supposed to make a light switch, a bridge out of pennies, and build their own house. Unfortunately our leader got her museums confused and actually had us signed up for the National Building museum class in DC. No matter, they were running a boy scout class and were happy to accomodate us. We even had the boys start the class, but a scheduled troop showed up at the same time(with 3 boys) and refused to allow us to join their time slot. The woman scout leader was happy to share, but not the mother that attended. She said she was afraid her boy would get lost in the crowd(of 10 including our 7 boys) and refused to allow our boys to join them. I was livid, but I am not the leader. Our leader decided to back out and plans to reschedule. I just wanted to know what happened to all that crap we recite at scout meetings-for both the girl scouts and boy scouts about being a brother and sister to every scout. And since when do the parents make the decisions for the troop. I know I do try to please everyone in my troop, but it is impossible and you just have to make your own decisions as leader. So the museum instructor had to stop the class and pull all our boys out. We spent some time playing in the museum and I talked our leader into looking at another day since the program sounds terrific. (And so Tom does not have to teach again!). But how sad was that!
Almost as sad as me being nearly run over by a post office truck going 55 on a 45 mile road as he was rushing to the nearby post office to make his 5pm delivery time! He then decided to apparently give me a lecture for being in his way and stopped and rolled down his window when we came to the intersection. I decided not to give him the opportunity and hung back-I really did not want him going "postal" on me! Thank goodness people are so kind and considerate these days. I know they had a whole segment on the morning show asking if civility really is dead and why people are so rude these days. Our county actually made up magnetic bumper stickers last year calling for people to be more civil to each other! (You may recall someone stole mine off the back of my van). It certainly makes our jobs as parents even tougher to teach our kids how to be nice to one another.
So I have to go pack now. Scott and I are heading off to camp for the week with his school! He will be completing Outdoor Education and he is so excited to be going. I am chaperoning the girls, but I will be able to check in on him during the day and eat meals with him. Should be fun and exhausting(and another 4 hours of paid volunteer time).

Happy Halloween! We just survived another Seitz house Halloween party(just barely). I counted 34 people in our house Saturday night(kids and adults). I can certainly handle the adults, but the kids are a whole other story! We just don't have a big play place for all the kids, and we have such varied ages now in our neighborhood. Lots of little ones. I had some games planned, but it was so hectic we couldn't organize a single thing. Usually I like to keep the kids outside if possible so they can run off their energy, but it was a bit too chilly to hang out in the garage or the yard. We did let them run around the front yard playing tag, but the Halloween decorations seemed to get in the way(Scott laid out lots of extension cords). And I was just not around enough Friday during the day to try and organize activities as well as cook food and clean house. Even though it seemed crazy, everyone came and seemed to have a good time. Just a precursor of what is to come Sunday night with trick or treating! It certainly has been a busy weekend of Halloween fun. Scott had his last Halloween parade and party on Friday afternoon at school. Both Tom and I were able to attend, and I brought along Cookie-dressed as a pumpkin this year! I then stayed to help the class with games and their party. It was nice and sunny, but a bit breezy and cold. We still managed to get through some games outside and then head in for snacks and to watch The Great Pumpkin with Charlie Brown. After school let out I took Scott over to the local grocery store that had pumpkin decorating, raffles and games. Scott got a chance to show off his zombie costume. The librarian at school liked it so much she sent a text photo to her daughter in college so her friends in the dorm could all copy the outfit for a party they were having. Scott the trend setter! A few years ago he made his own Nintendo Mario costume because he could not find one-now we see lots of Marios, Luigis(his brother) and Yoshi the dinosaur. Scott is a man ahead of his time!
Speaking of time, mine was a bit limited last weekend since I was out with the Girl Scouts selling cookies at our first booth sale at Walmart all day Saturday. We did well and it was such a nice day to be outside(not like the past where we have either froze to death or been rained on). We sold about 150 boxes in 3 hours. We have two more scheduled booth sales planned. And Allison and I headed to the GS headquarters Tuesday night to attend our first Board meeting and enjoy the new headquarters Open House. Northrop Grumman donated $145,000 towards remodeling and adding technology centers for the girls. We skipped the ribbon cutting ceremony and went to look at all the new equipment and remodeled center-not to mention the chance to nibble on all the food made out of GS cookies! Afterwards, we sat through our two hour meeting to get caught up on all the new happenings at Girl Scouts. Allison is actually the board member and I am an alternative(for her). She sits in on two board meetings per year, and then they have an end of the year banquet. I would also like to nominate her to travel to the National GS meeting in Houston next November(it would be nice to have her trip paid for, and she could stop in and see her cousins!). And I certainly wouldn't mind joining her, but they have cut back on the number of people they are sending for free(recession).
Allison had a hard time staying awake for her meeting. She had a very long week of studying as she is coming to the end of her semester and had to take some midterms and high school assessments tests as well. This year is especially loaded with the high school assessments since she needs the English, Biology and Govt. assessments. Last year it was just English as she already passed out of the Algebra I requirement. She has also been trying to make up her homework and quizzes from the two days she stayed home sick. She still has one more test to make up. And we missed the form to order school pictures-she just showed up one day and they told her they were taking photos. Not even an email. At least she finally picked up her freshman yearbook from last year! Strangely the school decided to pass out the 2009-10 yearbook at this school year's Homecoming football game. We did not go, so no book. She finally caught the english teacher in charge of the yearbook staff so she could pick one up. And she also picked up her second volunteer hours form as she needed to document at least 3 more hours. She actually has over 60 more hours to log in for the confirmation retreats she did for the last two years. She recently turned in her paperwork for volunteering for girl scouts. All Maryland high school students have to put in 75 hours of volunteer work for graduation. With us it is just a matter of filling out the paperwork. She is looking forward to having election day off and this coming Friday as it will be the end of her 1st semester.
Scott is also looking forward to having election day off, but he is mostly excited about next weeks school camping trip. I took off a week of school to go with the class and get all my volunteer hours in for Resurrection. Of course, I went above and beyond and helped out with the Halloween party, and even took off work to spend Tuesday morning volunteering during the kid's enrichment program. The school gave the teachers the morning off to participate in planning sessions while the kids participated in enrichment classes in health and well being. We were supposed to have a career enrichment program, but they put it off until January. I had already taken the time off and I can get paid for up to 4 volunteer hours per month at work, so I decided if they needed me I would help out. (They needed me). We spent Tuesday morning rotating around classrooms every 15 minutes for about 2 hours to classes on nutrition, meditation and stress relief, Yoga and my absolute favorite, Zumba which was basically cardio dancing. The kids really got into it and we all had a good time. I also stopped in to school for a meeting with Scott's 5th grade teacher(recently transferred from the 7th grade) as well as the principal and vice principal. I was a bit concerned that Scott ended up with a low grade on his first science test that we spent 3 days studying for and wanted to know why all the kids were allowed test corrections to raise their grades. After seeing the test I was a bit surprised that they gave a standardized book exam which consisted of a 4 page test with essay questions worth 8points each. Scott lost all his points on the essays which involved 2-3 separate responses if you could figure out what they were asking! I guess the majority of the class was confused so the teacher had all the kids go back over their test and make corrections with their open science books during school. Scott managed to bring his grade up considerably which was great, but I just wanted the administrator to be aware of the class is now being run. I still don't think much will change. We all agreed that it is getting harder to help our kids with some of their homework-for example, the teachers assure me that the rules have changed for grammar since we were all in school! Unbelievable. Mostly I continue to ask for some type of review forms to help Scott study. It was a good meeting but I don't think his teacher is terribly interested in changing her ways or adjusting to new ways. It's going to be a long school year. At least we only have to be stressed out over Scott's schoolwork. Allison is doing great.
I know I shouldn't have taken down my MSU flag to put up the Halloween decorations. MSU football lost(but so did UofM). At least our Ravens came out on top last weekend.
Time to pass out the candy! Kathleen

Well you knew I couldn't have a boring week. Especially with Tom in LA. All of us were feeling a bit under the weather as we started the week, so by the end of the week, we were all dragging our feet. Tom went off to LA with a bad cold. He seems much better. Allison made it to Weds and then stayed home the rest of the week with a stomach ache and headache. Scott made it to Thursday and I then had to pick him up early from school in the afternoon. Scott could not stop coughing so they kicked him out of class. And he was not allowed to stay at the nurses station all afternoon, so I had to leave work and pick him up. I did get him a doctor appointment that evening though since I did not want him to stay up coughing all night. Instead we spent the whole evening at the MD office. Scott had been coughing all week, but it had gotten worse. Cough medicines just weren't helping(although the Vicks seemed to make a bit of an improvement rubbed all over his chest and neck with the tube sock wrapped around his throat). Anyhow, after chest xrays it was determined that he did not have bronchitis or pneumonia, thank goodness, but he does get an asthmatic cough. So once again we are trying the inhalers. They gave him a breathing treatment and his cough stopped right away. The daily inhalers still don't seem to be helping, but they also put him on a preventative inhaler twice a day which is working great. I was just happy to hear some of the older nurses tell me he sounded like he had croup. That is what I have been saying for years and the pediatricians pooh pooh me. Of course, the MD we saw Thursday night recommended using hot tea instead of cough syrups. Right. I am sure the school will take time out to make Scott some hot tea with honey and lemon. (Hence the inhaler).
So I kept both kids home on Friday to recuperate and regenerate since I know they have some big study weeks coming up. I wasn't doing too great myself since I seemed to have pulled my back working with one of my rather large patients during the week. And I haven't had any time to even stop into employee health to report it. Maybe next week(if I can still get out of bed!).
Allison just finished her Field Hockey season. She had two games-one on Monday, a makeup for last week, and their last game on Tuesday night which was Senior night. Scott was excited about that game since they had munchies for the Seniors(their last season).And we enjoyed watching the team jam pile on top of Allison and the other goalie at the end of their game. The girls went undefeated all season! I think Allison got sick standing out in the rain during their game on Monday afternoon. At least it was at the end of the season. She never missed one game or practice. And I spent Friday washing her uniform so she could turn it all back in. Except for the goalie equipment. She plans on playing the indoor Field Hockey which starts in December(just around the corner). For now she can concentrate on school(and start walking home). Last year she caught a bus ride, but this year there is a new driver and she was complaining that her bus was too crowded. Allison is supposed to be a walker. Well at least she can stay in shape for the winter season!
Besides doing laundry on Friday, I thought I would try working out the kink in my back doing aerobics. I also decided I was feeling well enough to cut the grass. Sadly, it all caught up with me on Sunday. I will just have to take it a bit easy and spend the rest of the day with the heating pad and Motrin.
I did get to vote for our Governor and Senators, etc on Friday though! I really like the new early voting program. I stopped into our Senior Center and actually had to wait in line for a change. Usually we vote at the high school and they fill the gym and cafeteria with voting booths, but the senior center was a bit smaller. And there were a lot of seniors voting. Imagine that! After voting I thought I would try and get my oil changed on the van. I had a coupon for oil change, tire rotation, inspection and car wash for 30$. Can't beat that! But of course there was a 3 hour wait at the dealership before they could start. So I made an appointment for Saturday morning. Big help that was. I still sat at the dealership waiting for the van for 3.5 hours on Saturday! At least I brought Allison with me so we could study for some missed tests and upcoming tests. Not a big thrill for her. She preferred flipping through the Martha Stewart magazine looking at all the clever jack o lantern patterns.
Scott has been so busy getting our house ready for Halloween. He started at the beginning of the month, and every weekend he adds on a bit more. We even stopped into Toys R Us after the doctor and picked up a Harry Potter lego set, perfect for the Halloween setting. Scott had a gift card from his last Bday burning a hole in his wallet and he is definitely hooked on Lego kits. He spent Thursday night assembling Haggar's house complete with a big spider. I had to add it to the indoor decorations.
In keeping with the Halloween spirit, I took my girl scouts on a Haunted Halloween ride on Saturday night. Allison has never been on a haunted hayride(and she seems to be developing an allergic reaction to hay like her father!). Not to mention that at the end of the hay ride they had a haunted maze. Also not her favorite. But with all the other girl's support she made it through without panicking. I especially like the fake wall of knives that they shoved at us! What fun. Afterwards we all all went out for hot cocoa and pumpkin cheesecake in olde Ellicott City. The girls enjoyed screaming out the window of my van trying to scare all the tourists on their ghost tours. Yes, olde Ellicott City is haunted. I took the girls on a ghost tour a few years ago and someone screamed at us and scared us all to death, so the girls wanted payback. We even had some parents join us on the hayride so with a beautiful warm evening and a full moon we all had a great time. We skipped the GS party on Sunday since Allison had a lot of test review to complete for the upcoming week.
While Allison and I were busy sitting at the car dealership, Tom and Scott went off to the WeebeloRee camp weekend. They did not spend the night in the tent since Tom got home so late from LA, but they did go up to the Boy Scout camp for the day to complete the scavenger trail. Good thing Tom is the boy scout pro since he had to help the Dad's and boys pitch tents and make fires. Scott and Tom were in charge of lunch prep and stayed through dinner, cooking their meal over the fire. Scott loved it. I did run him up to the Pack meeting on Friday night, but he was the only older boy there since everyone else had gone off camping that night. He was bored with the Fire and Safety discussion and the presentation by the firemen, but I enjoyed it. I also got Allison off to her piano on Thursday night after Scott's doctor appointment, but he missed his gymnastics. Don't think he could have breathed during class anyway.
So I broke down and invited the neighbors over for another Halloween party this coming weekend. They are all so excited they can hardly wait. Scott tossed a few more decorations up on the house. Guess I will be busy cooking and cleaning this coming week.
Never a dull moment around our house. At least Cookie is done with her ear medicine.
And congrats to Eric Seitz for running in his first 5K! Way to go Eric! Mark make sure you take good care of yourself! Congrats to our MSU football team-another win. And another win(barely, jeeze) for our Ravens. Makes for great football watching.
Kathleen and family

Wow-Another activity packed week! At least Tom was home this week to join in the fun. He actually missed out on a trip to Boston this Friday since we had already planned on taking the kids to Busch Gardens for Howl- o- Scream. Both Scott and Allison had the day off from school, so we decided to go down for the day to get into the Halloween mood. Scott actually started decorating our house the first of Oct. I thought it was a bit early until I took a walk through the neighborhood with Cookie. Seems like everyone is getting Halloween fever. There are lots of Halloween lights and spiderwebs up already. And I always get teased for decorating too soon-Sears had Christmas trees up this weekend! The power of the mighty shopping dollar. I am still just looking forward to Halloween. I love walking through the haunted mazes at Busch Gardens, but I have to go in alone. The kids are too scared. They just enjoy riding the rides and walking through the park, looking at all the decorations and keeping an eye out for the costumed characters jumping out from behind walls and bushes after dark. The park has a few great Halloween shows too. I think our favorite moment was watching live domestic rats run across a tightrope overhead in the French Quarter. The whole area was decorated with plastic rats. The story goes that if the only entrance(a pipe) to the catacombs, the underground tombs is ever sealed, devastation will come to Paris beginning with a plague of rats. So to spice things up they added a few live ones. We were just a wee bit nervous that some of them would not make it across and land on top of us!
We even brought Cookie along on Friday and checked her into the kennel at the park(not a bad deal for only $7.00). It beats staying in her cage at home all day or dropping her off overnight at Camp Bow Wow for $45.
That was not the only activity planned for the weekend though. Tom had to run the Cub Scout meeting on Saturday morning. He put on a presentation covering physics-lots of water and air pressure demos. He even picked up a few rockets to launch. While he was busy with cub scouts, Allison and I headed up to our GS camp to sing with the GS choir at the Harvest Festival. We did not stay long though since I took Tom to our gala at work on Saturday night. This year's theme was a Masquerade Ball-we had a lot of fun, especially playing blackjack most of the night. Rather than win money, you trade in your chips for raffle tickets. They also had a silent auction. Sadly we did not win anything, but we had a lot of fun trying. Plus it was a great excuse to get my hair cut and a manicure!
Sunday was study day, but Allison and I did have choir practice(the holidays are fast approaching). I also took Allison for a hair cut and to exchange the shoes I bought her last weekend. Naturally, the ones I bought were too small. We had to get a size 9!
I have to catch her when I can. She had two Field Hockey games last week, although 3 were scheduled. One was canceled on Thursday as it rained all day. Now she has two games this coming week and she is done. We also took her out for a Field Hockey fundraiser dinner at Pizzeria Uno on WEds night. I had a chance to catch one of her games last week, although I spent most of the time chatting with the moms. I referred my out- of- work nurse neighbor to one of the Field Hockey moms that is the Director of Nursing for the Genesis Nursing Homes in the Baltimore area. My neighbor Gloria has been a nurse manager for many years in many different surgical units, but she has not been too successful in keeping a position for the last few years. Facilities keep cutting back, positions are eliminated or reorganized. Anyhow, Gloria has an interview next week so I hope she gets some work. She was actually considering getting an apt in Philly and working there during the week and coming back on the weekends. Although they may not have a management position for her currently, the Director seems to be excited to bring her in on the floor and work her up. So sometimes you get more than you expected when your kids get involved in different activities! As a bonus, Scott sold over 30 candy bars at the game that night as a fund raiser for the school's choir!
And Allison survived her first PSAT this week. (I don't remember having to take them during school). Not only did she have the PSAT, but a few of her teachers decided to schedule tests around that day as well, so she was feeling a bit stressed. She was surprised that the actual test was so much longer than the practice tests and noticed that she ran out of time on each section. That's why we told her to take the practice tests! She will actually take the PSAT next year too as a Junior.
We also had parent teacher conferences for Scott on Thursday night. I was feeling a bit stressed about the whole event, and was expecting the whole 15 mins to be very disappointing as I have had some issues with the teaching methods and we have had some disagreements with Scott's learning style and skills. Turns out the meeting was very pleasant and surprising as both of Scott's primary teachers think he is just one of the best students they have ever had! One of his teachers even went so far as to thank us for sending Scott to the school(nothing like the parent teacher conferences we had in the past). I was mainly concerned about obtaining study guides to help Scott review for his tests. We found out that Scott was getting the info correct on his quizzes but losing all his points for spelling. Didn't know we had to worry about the spelling, but we are being more cautious. I still don't think they should lose points for spelling since the kids end up with Cs on the tests for losing just a few points, but some things are hard to argue. Usually at this level teachers just give the kids word banks to pick out the right answer, but Tom is just happy to see that Scott understands what he is learning. His teachers love his enthusiasm and participation(finally somebody gets it!). So Tom and I left the school with a whole new happy outlook. We still have to see how his tests turn out.
Hurray again for our MSU football team(another win for us, sorry Uof M). Sadly our Ravens took a loss to the Patriots this weekend. Tom will miss out on another guys night out Monday night football date.
He is once again heading off to California this upcoming week. He will be closer to LA however and will have a chance to stop in and see my brother Mike and take him out to dinner. Mike is still looking for full time work as a librarian in LA. At least he has some part time work to keep him going. I will be plenty busy again this week(once again wish me luck!). Kathleen and family

Since I am writing to all of you, I must have survived the week with Tom in San Jose(just barely). I only had to be about 10 different places at once. The kids are 1/2 way through their first semester so they sent out grades(just in case someone is failing something). So far so good but I am still having issues with Scott's teachers and spent many a morning emailing the school principal. I am working(again) on the issue of the teacher's providing a few study guides to the kids for their big tests so we parents can have some idea on how to help them review. It worked out last year so I am hoping for the best this year. Allison was a bit upset when she discovered one of her teachers had marked several of her assignments as missing(they weren't), but of course it pulled her grade down. After lots of emailing, looks like we got it straightened out. We also had some minor technical glitches that we had to work out on our own without Dad's help. Allison needed a movie clip for her confirmation weekend presentation(thank goodness for Blockbuster). She also needed to download a computerized scrapbook she had been working on for her child development class. She had a bit of a panic attack when we could not locate a zip drive for her to transfer the data to school. Glad I remembered to buy a few extra at the beginning of the school year. I also had her start the sample tests for the PSAT this coming week.
Along with the schoolwork we've had a lot of evening activities. Allison had two Field Hockey games this week. On Friday she played the whole game since the other goalie was off for the weekend celebrating her Bday. I don't think the ball ever came near Allison though and the girls won 10-0. Usually the score is around 2-0. She also had another Field Hockey pasta party/tie dye/ice cream sunday event on Thursday night. That was right after I picked her up from school along with her Field Hockey fundraiser food items that I have to deliver to my coworkers on Monday. Meanwhile I had to feed Scott and myself after I picked him up from school, then go back and pick up Allison from her (you know what)party so I could get back to Scott's school in time for a meeting to discuss the upcoming weeklong outdoor camp that I am also going to attend. And the meeting ran late since the powder puff parents were panicking about their kids going off on their first "sleepover" in the wilderness(with great cabins and 3 terrific meals each day). The main reason I signed up as a chaperone was to fulfill all our volunteer hours at once. So I snuck out of that meeting so I could get Allison to her piano lesson. And I even missed my dinner out with my Dragon Boat teammembers. Not only that but Scott missed gymnastics. Can you imagine! I suppose I could have asked one of the neighbors to help out, but it just seemed a bit too crazy.
It was a week of meetings. Allison had a pre retreat meeting on Tuesday night at church. And I had a GS Leader meeting on WEds night. It made for long nights and a bit difficult to squeeze in the homework. Scott finished up his altar server training this past week so I guess he is good to go. His first mass is scheduled in Nov.
Allison went away for the weekend to finally help out with the Confirmation retreat. She had a terrific time. Unfortunately she could not ride up with the other staff members to the conference hall since she had a Field Hockey game right when they were leaving, so I had to drive her up myself on Friday night. Scott ended up having a playdate at a neighbors house while I drove her up(about 2 hrs total driving time for me). Fortunately she was able to return with the staff on Sunday afternoon and when they got back they all went out for lunch. Allison said all her presentations went well, even one that she was asked to step in and cover and she had to make up the lines. I really liked her main presentation on Belonging-she and her partner worked in the story of The Ugly Duckling and they had the kids act out scenes. She has been working on this project since last Spring. She really enjoyed the whole event, hanging out with the other teens and even the 8th graders and she is already looking forward to next year's retreat.
Scott had his own busy weekend of fun. He had two birthday partys to attend. One was a Laser tag party and the other was his best friend Sammy's bday party at Medieval Times. Medieval times is an indoor dinner show with Knights and Kings and Queens, Magicians, live horses and jousting and sword fights. Food is all served without utensils(hands only) and each section of the arena gets to cheer on their own knight. Scott had a great time. I last had the kids there when my girl scouts bridged to Cadettes in 7th grade. They usually have specials on the tickets to get people in. So a rough weekend for Scott. Not only that, but we left him at the neighbors (again) on Saturday night-this time with a babysitter so Tom and I could go out to dinner with the parents. I had thought Scott was going to have another sleepover at Sammy's house after the party, but Sammy's mom was a little wiped out with pneumonia. So Scott spent another evening at the neighbors while we joined the parents at a local restaurant for dinner and to listen to a band which apparently consists of members of our neighborhood. The band leader is also our neighborhood association leader, along with his brother and 3 other guys(doctors) and one lady for good measure all from our neighborhood. They are all in their 50s+ and I hear from the band leaders wife that they no longer practice in the garage, but have moved down to the basement. They played a lot of James Taylor and the Beatles in honor of John Lennon's(would have been)70th birthday on Saturday. Tom of course thought it was all too loud for the small space. And it was loud which made it difficult to chat with our neighbors. I did get a few words in with the band leader's wife who sat right next to me. We were chatting about high schools and colleges-her college -aged daughter had also joined us. Her daughter was also a girl scout and we talked about her gold award and the newest changes in girl scouting. I didn't know we had so many talented people in our neighborhood!
Before we left for the evening though, Tom and I were enjoying an excellent MSU vs Uof M football game. Excellent of course for us MSUers. My flag is proudly waving in front of the house even as I type. Apparently MSU has not beaten Uof M 3 years in a row since 1965. Hey what is up with the map of Michigan and the Paul Bunyan statue? We also enjoyed watching our Ravens football team win Sunday(again) and Tom is very excited that hockey season has started-a great start for the Wings. I also tried to take some time and get my hair cut this weekend, but the girl that cuts my hair no longer works weekends. I need a haircut since our gala is coming up at work next weekend. Since I couldn't get my hair cut, I decided to spend my time dress shopping. I had as much success as I had last spring-nothing. The dress collection pretty much looked like everything I saw this spring, but less. Looks like I will just rely on my old dresses. I just wanted an excuse to buy a new dress. At least I get to wear a new mask as this is a masquerade ball!
I know I should have gotten my hair cut Friday, but instead I opted to take Cookie to the vet. She had a nasty looking ear and it did turn out to be an ear infection-her first, but I am sure not her last. She seems a bit off right now-I am not sure if it is the medicine. She gets drops in her ears twice a day for 10-14 days(just like antibiotics). She is just not her usual perky self. I decided to try and avoid the flu this year and finally got my shot at work. They have an incentive for employees to get their shot by giving out scratch off lottery tickets and raffling prizes each day. I did not luck out with my scratch off.
But I did get some good news about the chocolate cheesecake I donated to the church a few weeks ago for a fundraiser for our sister church in Israel. They actually had a judging contest along with the tasting, and my cheesecake won 2nd Place in the cheesecake category! So many thanks to Mom Seitz since it was her recipe that I used. She used to make this cheesecake for Tom and I. I have never made it myself, but thought this was a good time to try it out. I actually made two-one for us that I took to a neighborhood party and one for the . Everyone was saying how fantastic it was-but I didn't think it was as good as Mom Seitz makes it. I did use chocolate mint cookie crumbs for the base which did give it an extra zing, and then topped it with mint chocolate shavings and a few mint leaves from my garden. My creation even made the weekly newspaper as they listed all the top winners! I had to give it a description/name so since I used Ghiradelli chocolate, it was rightly named the Ghiradelli chocolate mint cheesecake. You can gain about 10lbs just reading this description.
So another extremely hectic week coming up. I am not sure when we will be able to slow down! Kathleen and family
Congrats on your new puppy Stacey and Matt. Thor is adorable. I am sure Cookie and
Thor would be great friends(cousins?).

Well we certainly have had an interesting weather this week! Last week we were in the 90s and had the AC on, this week was much cooler(and felt so great), but on Thursday we had a small Monsoon come through! Tropical storm Nicole from the Caribbean. Lots of rain and wind. Some school systems had to shut down for the day since roads were flooding and trees were falling on roads. There were also some power outages and tornadoes near Annapolis. Basically the whole state was under a tornado watch all day. The areas near the bay usually get the worse flooding, like Annapolis and downtown Baltimore on the harbor. We all managed to survive, and the two day rainstorm was great for Tom's new grass and my little transplanted trees and flowers. I was just glad the storm didn't keep my brother Dan from returning to Texas after a business trip this last week to Pittsburgh. Too bad he only stays during the week. We'd love to drive up and see him, although that is about a 4 hr drive. The guys have been busy traveling lately. Tom is off to San Jose, CA this week. Sorry Mike, I thought he was going to be in your area, but not this trip. In a few more weeks he'll be in Woodland Hills. And Mark Seitz recently returned from Dubai. Sounds like a fascinating place. I know Dave Bozyk was interested in a job position there.
I can't believe we are in October already. September was a very busy and long month. The next few months will be just as busy. Allison had two Field Hockey games this week. She played in only one, but Tom got to watch her make an awesome save in the goal. Her whole season will be over in just a few weeks. Because of all her games I had to change her piano lesson to late Thursday nights. She has been pretty pooped out. I also had to run her over to a tie dye party Friday night after her Field Hockey game for a Confirmation Retreat Planning session. The kids wanted to review their presentations that they will be putting on next weekend and make matching t-shirts. Allison volunteered to help put on the 8th grade Confirmation Retreat last year and loved it so she is doing it again. She is happy to know several of the 8th graders on this retreat. I also managed to squeeze in a GS meeting Weds night-not all the girls could make it, but half did and we managed to get some work done. We want to put on some Jr GS badge classes to earn money and work towards our Gold Award Requirements. We have high hopes of going on a big trip when the girls graduate from HS so we can use the money. We also ended our pre-order GS cookie sales. Thanks if you contributed. Next month we will be selling at the booth sales-Yeah Walmart is letting us sell again!
Scott is still busy with choir and gymnastics. He also spent Friday night with his buddy Sammy at a Kids in the Kitchen cooking class. The kids made their own pizzas and then watched Marmaduke while they ate their masterpieces. The boys really enjoy the class. Afterwards we picked up both boys so Sammy could spend the night. Scott really only gets to see him on weekends since they moved away. But since both of our kids were busy Friday night, Tom and I had time to go out to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. We got caught up on all our recent activities, but it was a bit hard chatting above the Mariachi band! It was nice to get out together. Tom had the day off but ended up going in to work to help out with a project. I also volunteered to work on my day off(I think that was a mistake). I spent most of my time trying to get help with my computer. We have old laptops at work and new software-the two just don't work together well. And since I travel all around the campus to see patients, I believe I have some of the biggest issues with the wireless system. Unfortunately, we are assessed yearly on our use of the computer for documentation and I always come up short. I knew I should have stayed home. I did opt out of taking Scott to the Boy Scout activity scheduled this weekend. The Boy Scouts are celebrating 100 yrs. of scouting this year. They have had lots of activities planned all year round, including this weekend. They scheduled a camping overnight at Ft McHenry(birthplace of the National Anthem). They had activities scheduled all day. I would have taken Scott just for one day, but the cost was a bit high-$40 per person whether you camped or not. I could see paying that price if we camped overnight since it included food, but not for just one day.
It was also Homecoming Week for the HS. Allison enjoyed the Spirit Week-the kids get dressed up with a different theme each day-Wacky Tacky Day, Color Day(each class wears one color), Costume Day(Allison had a witches hat and cape), Decade Day(60s, 70s, etc) and PJ day. I think that was their favorite. On Saturday, Allison opted out of the dance this year. Her favorite friends were not available to attend with her, and I did not want her going by herself. Instead we enjoyed the HS parade that goes through our neighborhood. It starts at Scott's school so we parked there and watched the start of the parade-less people. Scott's favorite part is picking up all the candy they throw. He decided he wanted to follow the parade, so I drove behind while he cleaned up the leftover candy. He actually filled two plastic grocery bags! The next thing I knew, we were driving in the parade! Allison had Cookie hanging out the window, and Scott popped back in the van and stuck his head out the sunroof! We had a great time, and a lot of people showed up since the weather was so nice. Last year it rained. We did not go to the football game. But speaking of football-Hurray for MSU! And amazingly, the Ravens beat the Steelers. OOOOOOH. Good football weekend for us. Tom will be sorry to miss his Monday night football game with the boys this coming week.
Tom left on Sunday morning. Allison and I had GS choir rehearsal Sunday afternoon. Scott was stuck with us, but he enjoyed hanging out at the nature center at the GS camp while we practiced. They have lots of turtles and snakes to check out. Afterwards, Allison had to serve at our new 515 Sunday night mass. Scott was scheduled to altar serve as well, however he has not yet finished the training. The coordinator wasn't paying attention when she scheduled him. He will finish his training this upcoming week. He started last week, but he missed the first meeting. Allison was busy filling him in on what he missed after Sunday mass. And I finished the weekend with lots of studying.
Congrats go out to my friend Laura and her family and their Polish Dance Group. The dance group was featured on the new series Detroit 187. After the premier, Laura had a party at her house for all the members and news channel WXYZ showed up to do a feature story. It was fun seeing Laura and family and their house on the news! Check it out on their website.
Congrats also to Mark and Linda Seitz, with the help of Dad Seitz and Eric Seitz bought, refurbished and sold the house next to Mark and Linda's place. Must be a great feeling to have that responsibility off all your shoulders!

Wish me luck with the kids this week since I am flying solo!