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).