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!