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