I can't believe it rained all day. But that was not so bad. I had a lot of homework to do today. I was recruited to teach an OT class to the Girl Scouts at their summer camp next weekend. The girls are earning a Fine Arts badge, and I am going to talk to them about how OT's use arts and crafts for therapy. Allison helped me make a power point presentation today on the computer and I wrote out an outline. I also ordered some small plastic baskets for the girls to weave with yarn and beads(an old favorite at the hospital). We actually don't do as much arts and crafts anymore since hospitals have cut down on our spending budgets. The crafts usually end up with the Activity Therapists. But I am a traditionalist and I still love to do the crafts when I can. I even pulled out all my old craft projects that I made while I was in OT school, including the wooden box that I built and carved in my woodworking class. We also did ceramics and sewing, needle work and metal work, along with a weaving project on our own mini looms. Remember Laura? I also spent some time with Scott on his last book report. We finished his first book report last week when Tom was out of town. We had to make up baseball cards. This book report is going to be a letter, so we are busy getting the book read! Only two more weeks left of summer!
I was hoping Allison would be able to join me as my personal assistant next weekend at the Girl Scout camp, but she is probably going to be busy playing preseason Field Hockey games all day next Saturday. We missed the Pre Season tournament hockey games last year since I had already signed up my Girl Scout troop to attend the camping trip that weekend. This year I didn't sign up since Allison was busy with her Field Hockey and the girls actually earned all the badges they were presenting this year. So figures this year they asked me to help them out with one of the requirements. I wouldn't mind so much except it is about an hour drive to the camp in the late afternoon, early evening. I was looking forward to spending the day watching Allison's hockey games, helping out with the concession stand and then enjoying a pool party at Matt and Di's. Oh well. It's for the good of my profession and the GS organization. And I also found Tom's Eagle Scout medallion which was in the wooden box I made him! I have been meaning to place it in a case on display but Tom didn't remember where it went. Now we know.
So Allison started Field Hockey practice this Saturday morning. I went to an organization meeting for her on Friday afternoon and finished turning in all her paperwork, including her medical paperwork. I had to rush her over to her doctor appointment on Tuesday afternoon. We had several forms to fill out beforehand, and she was way overdue for a Meningitis vaccination. She is not terribly fond of shots, and while the nurse was busy giving Allison tips on how to deal with getting a shot(like singing a song or pinching her nose), she was already done! We also had to rush up to school Monday night to turn in Field Hockey registration paperwork-they need copies of the kids report card(need good grades to play sports), proof you live in the neighborhood to attend the school, emergency forms, mandatory concussion testing paperwork and the medical forms along with their yearly physical signed by the doctor.
Allison would have gone to the meeting on Friday, but I had her busy this past week in a prep class at the Community College for the PSAT which she is taking in October. It was a full week of math and english. She wasn't too excited about it on Monday morning, but as the week went by she actually began to enjoy the class and all the kids too. The math teacher gave homework every night, so it was a nice way to transition back into school which starts in two weeks for us. She also received a big workbook which will come in handy for review.
Scott was back at the YMCA camp-this past week's theme was pirates. I also signed him up for aquatics so he gets to swim twice a day, which he loves. Then on Friday, the whole camp set off for Cascade Lake-one of Scott's favorite outings. He loves it so much, he asked me to take him there in June when our air conditioner was out. His favorite activity is jumping off the platform tower. Even though the weather wasn't terrific, he spent the whole day swimming and jumping and sinking the rafts. Not to mention eating ice cream.
And I was back to my paddle practice this week for the Dragon Boat races in Sept. I didn't get to go last week since Tom was out of town and I had to pick up Scott from camp after work. We started practicing our race pace and starts and paddling the length of the race for endurance training. We only have a few more weeks left of practice. I was just happy that I wasn't too sore the next day and I don't get short of breath during the practice like my partner next to me. Guess those aerobics classes and my evening walk with Cookie helps out too. We had a full boat this past week so we had a better idea of how we all paddle together too.
We were also expecting visitors from Boston on Monday night, however, turns out they couldn't quite fit us into their schedule. They were traveling from Philly to DC and the timing just didn't work for them since we couldn't visit until after work. All that housework last weekend for naught.
Or at least I thought so. Until I mentioned to Tom that we should invite the neighbors over for an Outdoor Family Movie Night on Saturday night. Tom has been talking about inviting everyone over to catch a movie on his new projector. We decided on showing "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" and invited most of the families on our street. We ended up with 30 people in all(kids and adults!). It turned out to be an overcast day, but just perfect for watching a movie outdoors. Not too cold or hot, and Tom sprayed the yard ahead of time to cut down on the mosquitoes. We spent all day Saturday doing yardwork and more housework. I spent most of the afternoon edging the curbs and sidewalks around our house(it is not easy living on such a big corner) and I am still not completely done(especially since I do it the old fashioned way with a manual edger). But the ground was nice and soft since we have had so much rain this summer. Tom got the grass cut so I could set up chairs and tiki torches. Scott set up our Tiki bar and served snow cones and ice cream cones to the kids. He and Allison were busy making tons of popcorn on my air popper all day and cutting up veggies. I even sent them up to the grocery store on their bikes so Allison could test drive the new bike. Of course she loved it. Scott and I went riding a few times last week so I could test it out but sadly my hands still fall asleep. Even with the new specially designed hand grips. Allison may have just gotten a new bike. I may end up with her old bike that we got from Matt and Di.
So our movie night was a great success. We had way too many snacks and the kids actually sat quietly and watched the movie, along with some parents. And then some of us parents spent the time chatting. Our old neighbors were able to come, and they left their son Sammy at our house for a sleepover. We exchanged him for Allison who spent the night with their daughter at their new house. Neither kid got much sleep.
We also were visited by our new neighbors across the street who had just returned from a sailing cruise in Annapolis as they celebrated their parents 60th birthday(young ones!). They were busy all day constructing a new basketball hoop-they already had to borrow one of our hoses to fill up the base with water. It was quite the project as the neighbor brought in a contractor to help him assemble the contraption! Looks like the Dad is very sports minded-he was out in the driveway playing catch with his 7 yr old son at 7 am Saturday morning. I don't think Scott is going to be spending a lot of time over there. Organized sports is not his thing.
Anyhow, we had a wonderful evening and had to kick people out of our house around midnite. Then I foolishly stayed up to watch a movie afterwards. Late night for all of us.
Tom was also busy with a few extra projects this weekend-he changed out the brakes on his
Toyota Echo and installed a new radio. His old radio had shorted out and when he pulled it out he actually burned his hands. Guess he figured out why he was having trouble starting the car as it seemed to be drawing from the battery. He replaced the old radio, but now he needs to replace one of the speakers too. He also reassembled the handlebars on my old bike-he is trying a new style to see if it alleviates the numbness in my hands. And he had to replace a few light fixtures that seemed to have blown during one of our many power outages this summer. Fortunately we have missed most of the damaging storms in the area lately, but last Thursday we were under a tornado warning on my way over to pick up Allison from the community college. At least she had a place to go inside. Scott's group usually gets stuck under a pavilion. Tom was able to pick him up though before the storm rolled in.
We also took advantage of the tax free week for clothing and shoes and bought all of Scott's school uniform on Friday. I took him over to the uniform store after camp and had him fitted. I couldn't believe that he jumped from a 10-12 to a size 14 this year! I had to get him all new pants, dress shirts, polo shirts and gym clothes. At least it was tax free! And Tom took him out shoe shopping but we are still looking for an all leather slip on dress shoe. No time in the morning for pesky shoelaces! Allison tried to talk some of her girlfriends into going mall shopping with her on Saturday, the last day for tax free deals, but sadly noone was available. Probably better though since she was worn out from a morning of Field Hockey(lots of running). And she had an organizational meeting at church on Friday night for the Confirmation retreat. Surprisingly, we just couldn't squeeze in a piano lesson! And this is our summer schedule!
Scott decided he wanted to earn some money since there are a few new video games coming out in the fall, so he was busy making up fliers for pet sitting this weekend. Sure enough he got his first phone call and a job this week watching our neighbor's dog while they are in Williamsburg. Allison helped him out by taking their dog for a walk while I walked Cookie in between rain showers today. She had planned on going for a run, but it was just too wet today.
So two weeks and counting for us and it will be back to school! I am not ready to say goodbye to summer! Kathleen and Family