Happy Birthday Mom Bozyk! Hope you are having as wonderful a day as we are here in Baltimore! It has been a gorgeous last weekend of summer. We are actually near 80 degrees, 10 degrees above normal. The warm weather hasn't been helping Tom grow his grass seed however since it means he has to water, and that is not his norm. He has been hoping for rain and we did get some last week. Along with a small thunderstorm late at night that woke everyone up. That was the same storm that kicked up tornadoes in New York City. It just has not been enough rain to get all the grass seed growing. It was enough to get the ground wet so I could finally transplant some little trees including my baby cedar I brought back from Michigan and a pine we received on arbor day a few years ago. Both were big enough to plant where I don't think someone would run it over with the mower(again). I also put a rosemary plant in my garden that I got from Matt Wagner as well as filling some big pots with mums and pansys for the fall.
We also spent our Saturday cleaning house and decorating for the fall since we hosted a wine tasting dinner party for Tom's work group. He has been promising his coworkers a wine tasting party for the past two years. We had quite a bit of red wines we moved from LA 14 years ago that we figured had reached their prime and needed opened. Tom was certain most of the bottles had gone bad and was pleasantly surprised to only find a few bottles had turned to vinegar. This was pretty good I thought since our wine has been moved from LA as well as transported up to Boston and back over the past 14 yrs. I was busy cleaning and cooking all day Saturday. I decided to throw a pasta party since I figured it was an easy way to feed a lot of people without a lot of hassle, and it certainly works with red wine. I had a big pot of spaghetti with red sauce and Italian sausage as well as cheese tortellini and vodka cream sauce. Then I just tossed together a green salad and fruit salad. I was surprised that people did not eat as much as I thought they would. We ended up with about a dozen people and one little toddler girl who fell in love with Scott. We also had a few appetizers that included homemade salsa(Tom's contribution). I wanted to use up the tomatoes that I picked from my plants along with some we got from Matt and Di. Tom's salsa was a big hit. So was my spaghetti it seems, but I did have to monitor my cooking since one of the guests was unable to tolerate olive oil and lately that is an ingredient in almost every recipe, especially italian food!
So while Allison and I were busy preparing food and putting out fall decorations, Tom and Scott were off practicing Boy Scout skills. We had a full Pack meeting Friday night(I was nominated to take Scott while Tom ran Allison to her piano lesson). The boy scouts already have a full schedule for the fall. Tom and Scott spent the morning learning camping skills from a boy scout troop. Scott especially enjoyed lighting the propane stove. This is Scott's last year as a Webelo and he will transfer to a Boy Scout troop next year.
Our house seemed to be party city last week. We also hosted the first Boys Only Monday Night Football. Unfortunately for Tom, some of the Dad's were left watching their little boys and they all ended up at our house. Tom said they don't seem to grasp the Boys Night Out concept. Such is the life of modern man. No matter, I ended up cooking Brats and hot dogs for everyone. And a few moms stopped in to pick up the little ones and stayed for a glass of wine and chit chat. So fun was had by all and the Ravens who were playing last Monday got the win(but it sure was ugly). And we all stayed up late for the whole game since the kids didn't have school on Tuesday(election day). Too bad Sunday's game didn't turn out any better. And we couldn't split our time between the MSU game and our wine tasting party, but it sounds like it had quite the exciting ending(with a win for MSU-we'll take it).
It is nice that Allison was able to stay home on Tuesday and watch Scott for us. However, she did have an early morning Field Hockey practice so Scott had to entertain himself for a few hours until she rode her bike back home. It was convenient for me to drop her off at the high school in the morning for practice since that is where I vote. I managed to get in and out in just a few minutes. Tom didn't think he could vote as he is currently registered as an Independent, but the voting poll volunteers told him he could vote a modified ticket(limited number of constituents) or the Democratic ticket(does that make sense?). I guess my mom must be rubbing off since I gave Allison a quick review of what was going on in local Maryland govt and her HS govt teacher mentioned how impressed he was with the insight of his students. Allison surprised him when she mentioned he must be an Independent since he also spoke of the difficulty he had when he went to vote Tuesday morning. She was also able to explain the purpose of the primary.
I got the lowdown when I attended Allison's back to school night. It actually wore me out running from one end to the other, each session lasting about 5 mins and 7 sessions total. the school building is going through a lot of renovations, but I think everyone would have been happier with a whole new school. The hallways and stairwells are still too narrow. You can't go up and down the stairs without getting bumped by the doors or the people coming through. I got a basic idea what Allison goes through and the chance to meet and greet her teachers. Even if the building is not the greatest, I was just happy to see that the teachers all seemed excited and committed about their students and their jobs. Tom missed Back to School Night since Scott had gymnastics and a whole lot of homework.
We did get to watch one of Allison's Field Hockey games on Friday afternoon(a tie for the girls). We missed their Away game on Monday but Allison did not get to play either game since they were very tough teams and the coach used the more experienced goalie for both games. No matter, Allison is still enjoying herself(as well as the pasta parties and goody bags the girls share) and learning lots, and getting some exercise.
Her game on Friday afternoon was early so it was nice that Tom had his day off. We even got to have a lunch date, but it makes it difficult for me to get my work done. I did manage to schedule Allison for driver's training next summer! However, a new law was passed in 2008 which requires the kids to take a test and get their driver's permit before going behind the wheel with the driving instructor so it seems a bit silly to take the class when the kids can go online, read the material and take the test on their own! No matter, I am insisting that someone(besides the parents and the computer) provide some type of driving instruction.
I also had to take time off work early last week for the kids dentist appointments. I am so glad neither one had any cavities. It also gave me extra time to run errands and shop for our dinner party.
Good luck with your dentist appointment Dad Bozyk. And Happy Traveling to Mom and Dad Seitz as they migrate down south to Florida for the winter. Enjoy your trip to Dubai Mark. If you are mailing out any souvenirs, we'll take a camel(no goats) and maybe a little sand. Love from Baltimore, Kathleen