So I spent my Holiday week at home with my shingles taking lots of medicine 5 times a day. I was supposed to be resting according to my doctor and I never got a chance. Instead I spent the whole time cooking and cleaning(and Christmas shopping!).

Even though we did not end up hosting Thanksgiving dinner as planned, we still ended up cooking quite a bit of food to take our neighbor's house for dinner. We had planned on having our next door neighbors who hosted Turkey Day dinner last year. We figured we owed them. Instead they ended up traveling to Ohio to visit family. So at least I did not have to do massive house cleaning. But I managed to get that in as well. Since we were home and the weather was gorgeous over the Thanksgiving weekend(temps hit the 70s), we spent a lot of time outside. I was busy putting away FAll decorations, Halloween decorations and raking tons of leaves. I even recruited SCott to fill the wheelbarrow and dump the leaves for me. I thought I would get a jump on spring cleaning. Then Tom spent the weekend putting up lots of great Christmas lights. I also spent quite a bit of time cleaning out the closets and dropping off kids clothes to the resale shop. It is a very busy place there at this time of year with the holidays just around the corner, so it is a good time to sell outgrown clothes, shoes and toys. I also needed to pick up a few items for Scott since he was the one that did most of the outgrowing this year!

I also spent quite a bit of time at the grocery store picking up supplies. We had dinner with neighbors that recently moved back to our area and a few friends of theirs. We ended up supplying the turkey, stuffing, crab dip appetizer and cranberry sauce(made from scratch). And since we love the leftovers so much, I ended up making double recipes so we could enjoy our own Seitz casserole(turkey and sausage stuffing mixed with gravy(Yum). So I had a lot of different grocery stores to stop into since many were already out of Turkey day supplies the weekend before. So as I said, I spent a lot of time shopping, cooking and washing dishes. At least I enjoyed the Macy's Day Parade while I was cooking. I did not enjoy the Lions Football game. I did enjoy the company of our friends and playing with their new talking phone at dinner. And I was too exhausted to stay up and watch the Ravens Football game. I was sound asleep by 9pm. So Happy Thanksgiving to everyone that I missed! The kids kept themselves busy taking Cookie on a long walk around the lake in the park that backs up to our friend's house. That and video games kept them busy during the day.

We opted not to go out early in the morning on Black Friday to shop. Tom does the majority of his shopping on line anyway. We did make it a quest to find a new pull out couch/sectional for the basement to replace the broken set. We were in a hurry to get something in stock since my parents talked about visiting at Christmas. We did lots of online searches and spent a lot of time stopping into furniture stores all last week. We settled on a system from LazyBoy and then my parents announced that they probably would not be visiting at Christmas after all. So back went the couch system on Sunday night.

We decided we probably needed the extra funds to put towards fixing our roof as we discovered a large leak somewhere up there. Next week's project is to find a roofer. Preferably before any more big rain arrives.

On top of an already tight schedule, we had to get Allison to work on Friday and Sat. and I had a few more Cookie Booth sales this past weekend. At one point I was manning the cookie booth all alone(high school girls are way too busy). It is a good thing I am still cute cause I can certainly sell cookies. I plan on having one more booth sale next weekend. Thanks for the cookie donations Grandma and Grandpa Bozyk! We should be dropping off donations to the military for Christmas next week for shipping. Allison also still had deliveries to make of her own-she just hasn't been around enough to drop off all the cookies and desserts and pizzas she sold this Fall! Things are a little more relaxed now that Field Hockey is over.

Allison had half days of school last week, but it did not keep the teachers from loading up the time with lots of tests and homework assignments. She thought she would have it easy over break, but no such thing. Even Scott was busy with homework. And when he wasn't doing that, I kept him busy working on his Dog Care Merit BAdge for scouts. He had a scout meeting(finally he could go) last week but gymnastics was cancelled. Same with Allison's piano class.

And it was helpful being off work to pick the kids up from school on their half days, especially since it was raining at the beginning of the week. I ended up waiting for Allison for 1.5hrs in the school parking lot while she finished up a math test and met with her Field Hockey coach.

Poor Scott spent most of the holiday weekend searching for a friend to go rollerblading with at Allison's rink. Unfortunately, most of Scott's buddies had all headed out of town to visit family. And on Sunday we celebrated Scott's 12th Birthday! He started the day by serving mass(very entertaining since they began the new wording). FYI-we don't like it, but nobody asked us. WE THE PEOPLE doesn't count for much. Same in Girl SCouts when they changed our whole program and got rid of all badges. Don't bother asking us what we like-we just pay for everything and volunteer to run the programs(for free). Anyhow, we certainly enjoyed the new CAtholic phrases like "consubstantial". I prefer Constantinople-it flows better but doesn't really fit. After I screwed up Scott by telling him it was time to take up the bible for the opening prayer(the priest already had the bible), it was time to go home. But instead we headed off for our yearly family Holiday portrait. We had to wait over 30 mins for the crying babies to get their pictures, and then we took Scott out for Birthday lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger. He got a huge free birthday ice cream dessert and we enjoyed pumpkin and candy cane milk shakes. He preferred an early celebration so he could go home and play his new video games. So besides Christmas shopping I had to do Birthday shopping(whatever Tom did not get online) and gift wrapping. 

And I will be off to work again next week(and at least I should not be contagious).

Scott says Thank You to all of you that sent Birthday cards and money. He has been having a good time shopping at Game Stop!

Kathleen

So we made it back to Baltimore late Sunday night. Tom and SCott were busy trying to celebrate my birthday. They had spent their time over the weekend shopping and cleaning. Needless to say, Sunday was too late. And the week wasn't looking very good either.

Scott still had one more week of his semester left and the teachers made sure to fill his evenings with lots of tests and homework assignments. He has been so busy with schoolwork, he has not been to boy scouts or gymnastics for about 1 month. Allison on the other hand was trying to get caught up with the 3 days she missed. You would have thought she had been gone for months rather than days.

ON top of that, I was driving to work one morning and it started raining and when I turned on my windshield wipers they didn't work. The wipers were not even touching the window! I know Tom only took my van in for an oil change so I couldn't imagine how my wipers were damaged. Tom could only think that the automatic sensor on the blades went off when they sent the car through the car wash after the maintenance check and oil change. I had a lot of fun flying down the 70 freeway without seeing where I was going at 65mph. So I knew I had another extra task to my already full plate-taking my car in again for repair.

I also noticed that my rash was starting to blister and actually become painful, so I made myself a doctor appointment for Friday morning(my only free time). I was starting to get suspicious that this rash was more than bug bites.

Tom had headed off to Charlottesville, so I was doing double time like getting Allison to piano and studying with Scott. Before he left though he managed to squeeze in my birthday dinner and ice cream cake along with some fun presents. I especially wanted a fold up wagon for our outings-one that folds down in the car(so I can stuff more stuff inside) and then have a way to haul my stuff! Like when we go camping, or to a lawn concert or to the beach. As a matter of fact, I saw these wagons when we were at Hilton Head. I would like to retire my Fisher Price wagon since it takes up so much room in the van. So now I can. Tom also invested in a new rolling cooler(also for camping, lawn concerts, etc). Detect a theme? On the lighter side I got a Christmas stories book and a black pearl necklace and earrings. I already spent plenty on myself with the trip to Houston and my silver charm bracelet and lots of GS souvenirs. At least that part of my birthday was fun!

As I mentioned a few blogs back, getting older can be tough. Things start to fall apart and change on us(usually not for the better). I still need to shop for new eyeglasses and I am afraid to eat a banana now(choking incident). So of course why should I be surprised when the doctor told me I had shingles at my appointment Friday morning. Shingles is basically chicken pox for old people. It pops out when your immune system is compromised, like if you have HIV/Aids or are being treated for Cancer, or if you have been under a lot of stress! Imagine that! So I have been banned from work until after Thanksgiving break. Even older people don't want to catch this from me. I have to take lots of drugs for 10 days before I can go back to work. Needless to say, work was not happy. We are already down one therapist with a broken foot(she has to stay off her foot for 4 wks). I was planning on working overtime this holiday(help pay off my trip). Seems like God had other plans. Instead I am sure I will stay home and clean(some break!).

I did try to get my windshield wiper replaced. I don't think the dealership believed me when I told them it must have been damaged in the car wash. They said if that had happened, it probably would have been torn off completely. I asked them how else it could have been damaged during an oil change(no answer). So I think they believe we broke it. Tom had to bend it back in place and they said it needs readjusted but not that way. So they ordered me the part and now I have to take it in again next week for repair. So much for a simple oil change.

I didn't let my illness slow me down. Now that I was on drugs I was feeling better and I had a great time Friday night playing Bingo with the high school moms. This was a fund raiser for Allison's school's sport teams-Longaberger baskets and Vera Bradley bags all stuffed with expensive stuff. I love Bingo but it does not love me. I needed you there Laura-you always win something! Allison was there but not playing-she was working the concession stand for volunteer hours for Nat Honor Society. I had a lot of fun and did not win one Bingo prize-although everyone around me and the ladies I came with all won big prizes. Until the very last raffle ticket was drawn and I actually WON! And I thought my gift was terrific-about $300.00 worth of restaurant gift cards. Something our whole family could use and already did this past weekend.

We certainly were using them at the Qdoba Mexican restaurant while selling GS cookies at our booth sale over the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. My scouts are all so busy doing other things, I only had 3 helping on Saturday, and just Allison on Sunday. She had to work SAturday and sing at my Nursing Home on Sunday. She sang with our Girl Scout choir for a Christmas/Holiday concert. She was also able to count her time for volunteer hours for NHS. So at one point I was selling cookies on my own(people noticed)! In between selling cookies, Allison was studying and doing homework. But we did take time off on Saturday night along with one other scout to go see the new Twilight movie(we really enjoyed it).

So now I have to stay home for a week. I guess I will enjoy the vacation, but I know I will spend all my time taking medicine and cleaning the house(not to mention cooking for Thanksgiving dinner)! And they think stress causes Shingles! Imagine that!

I hope you enjoyed a few of the photos Allison took at the GS Conference last week. She got a nice shot of Katie Couric, but my shot of Robin Roberts came out blurry(right before my camera battery died!).

And she managed to get a shot of the Bozyk family having dinner on our first night in Houston. Thanks again Dan and Dave and family for a wonderful visit. I know it was short, but it was wonderful just seeing everyone again. And an added bonus seeing Sheila's parents and Sandra's sister during my visit on Friday.

Kathleen

Looks like I survived long enough to join Allison on our trip to Houston last week. Needless to say we had a wonderful time, but it was a lot of hard work too. Primarily for Allison. We traveled to Houston TX last Weds to attend the Girls Scouts of the USA National Convention. The Conventions are primarily for the Board Members running the entire organization, so I usually don't attend. But this year they added some courses for GS Leaders. Primarily, Allison was attending as a delegate and she had to go to the daily meetings and vote on new proposals. I also signed her up for a few seminars. The classes I wanted to sign her up for were full-they were on interviewing and writing college applications. Instead I put her in a Research and Development class which she thought would be boring. Turns out the person teaching the class was one of the cast members from the PBS show ZOOM which we all enjoy. Allison was thrilled and enjoyed the class. Much better than the presentation from NASA she went to (Allison is certainly not interested in zooming into space!). She was just keeping a friend company during the presentation. So the information was great, but the entertainment was even better. Katie Couric spoke at our opening ceremony, wearing an old GS uniform like she had growing up in Arlington VA. And Robin Roberts from Good Morning America spoke at our closing ceremony. There were lots of performances, one being Sarah Bareilles.(Sp?) and a bunch of up and coming singers. WE had a big dinner party on Saturday night. The girls had their own entertainment and a new boy band-Mindless Behavior. They opened for Justin Bieber and Janet Jackson. Allison wasn't really into 13 and 14 y.o. boys singing rap, but she loved the games and Wii dance. Our party consisted of good but incredibly loud music so you could barely talk to anyone, good food but no tables to sit at and a limited number of chairs and a big Birthday cake(which they ran out of) to celebrate our 100th Anniversary which will be next year-2012 The Year of the Girl. They did manage to pull off a wonderful fireworks show outside the convention center afterwards(little scary I thought with the drought and all) but fun. I actually think I enjoyed the big GS sing- a- long most after the party. About 8 GS adults had brought along their guitars and we sat around a hotel conference room singing. It was like having a campfire without the fire (but the lights were on). I finally pooped out around 11pm.
I couldn't believe how tired I was every night. We did do a lot of walking though. On our first day there we walked through downtown Houston and had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Allison and I haven't been to Houston in about 5 years so it was a special treat to see my brothers and their families. ON Weds night Allison and I joined them all for dinner at one of my favorite Houston restaurants-mexican. WE got to visit with Dan and his wife Sheila, her parents, and their two kids Caroline and Clayton. We also met with DAve and his wife Sandra and their two boys Christopher and Nicholas. Their daughter Sarah is away at LSU. Poor Allison was so exhausted she would have rather gone back to the hotel and gone to bed. We had to get up at 4am that morning to get checked into the airport by 6am. Which we did quite nicely. She also still had quite a bit of homework to do since she missed 3 days of school. I personally had a great time that night. I also spent Friday afternoon at a Christmas Bazaar shopping for gifts with my brother Dave. I managed to pick out some fun items for myself including some silver charms and a new bracelet. I really couldn't haul back a bunch of breakable Christmas decorations(and I really don't need more!). Dave and I also enjoyed sampling food items from all over the country and Texas, like Pecan Pie and were surprised to see a company there from Michigan selling cherry jams and salsa, etc. I figured I can get that stuff in Michigan! After walking around for several hours(and looking at most everything) we headed out to lunch(yeah more mexican). Then it was back to DAve and Sandra's to see the kids, the dogs and the sugargliders. And the house which I hadn't been to since they first bought it 5 years ago. They had purchased the house and then moved to London before we could get down to Houston and visit at that time.

I opted to leave Allison downtown Friday evening. She was trying to get a bunch of girls together for an outing to the Galleria Mall. Allison was hoping to go ice skating as they have an indoor rink. However, our hotel did not have a shuttle to the mall, and the taxi would have been too expensive for all the girls and adult supervisor. INstead they had dinner at the steak restaurant at the hotel and went swimming in the hotel pool. (Not only was the entire trip paid for by Girl SCouts for the girls to attend, they were also given $200.00 spending cash which came in handy for meals and souvenirs). Meanwhile, I stayed with my brother Dave and had dinner with Dave and Sandra and Christopher at their house. Nicholas went out to dinner with his girlfriend and her parents for his girlfriend's birthday. It was odd seeing Nicholas driving by himself since Allison and Nick are the same age, but Maryland's law is 1 yr later for a driving permit than Michigan and apparently TExas, and Allison is still working towards her driver's license.

We enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood with the dogs and a visit from Sandra's sister too before Dave drove me back to the hotel.

Saturday Allison was busy in meetings and I spent time on an outing to the local park inside the HOuston beltway, Memorial Park. I visited an arboretum where local girl scout troops had designed rain gardens and put up a water cistern for times of drought. Dave had already pointed out many marked trees in the park that have to come down since they died in the drought this summer. The arboretum had girl scout troops planting new rain gardens and they gave them some seeds to take home and plant themselves. I picked up an activity patch and some Texas coneflower seeds for myself. I also enjoyed spending time in our Exhibit hallat the Convention Center buying 100th anniversary shirts and pins, patches and GS shirts for Allison and my uniform along with checking out all the activities and programs available for Girl Scouts all over the U.S.

We spent our last day(which just happened to be my birthday) at the closing ceremony and went to lunch at a restaurant in the local aquarium in downtown Houston. The restaurant had large tanks full of salt water fish, and some plastic decorations that made you feel like you were underwater. The food was great and the atmosphere was even better(it felt like Sea World meets RAinforest Cafe). A nice treat for my Bday. Afterwards we took a quick train ride through a shark tank before heading back to the hotel and then the airport. WE didn't get home until 11pm. Allison was busy trying to catch up with her homework in the airport and on the plane. She had to unpack and repack for school the next day.

We had also been busy monitoring the status of her Field Hockey team. On Monday before our trip, her team won the first round of the state Semi Finals. They made it to the Finals game on Saturday Nov 12th. Unfortunately Allison was in Texas and missed the game. Turns out the team lost in double overtime. She was sorry she missed it, but she did receive a personal trophy for the semi finals game. She also finished her first semester, and considering she had a very busy start of the school year, she managed to come out with A's on her report card.

Scott and Tom meanwhile were holding down the fort and Tom managed to help SCott get through all his assignments and study for tests as he still had a week to go in his semester. I had spent the weekend before trying to help Scott get ahead with a few of his school projects due at the end of the week. They celebrated Scott being done with his first semester by going out to see PUss in Boots which even Tom enjoyed, and driving up to Hershey for a Hockey GAme(sold out as usual). I think they got the last two tickets. Tom even sat in the dealership for me and got my oil changed on the van(boy did I appreciate that!).

The only thing I did not like about our trip was that I brought home a very strange rash on my abdomen and trunk which is very itchy. I was a bit worried about bed bugs. Guess I will find out at my doctor appointment next week.

I decided it is too hard getting old. My eyes have gotten worse, I practically needed a tooth reconstruction last week since I had a chipped tooth and an old silver filling that needed replaced, and on top of all that, I spent SAturday afternoon at the hospital ER when I had a choking episode while driving to the Girl SCout headquarters munching on a banana. The doctor said it was possible I had an allergic reaction as my throat seemed to tighten up, my blood pressure soared and I thought I was going to pass out while driving down the beltway! I had the girls at the GS store ring up my patches to swap in Houston before they called an ambulance. After a breathing treatment I was feeling much better and Tom came to pick me up. He had to run and take Allison to work while I was checking into the hospital ER, and then he had to run and pick her up.

In the meantime, he was trying to cut the grass since we missed out last week, and waiting for a garage door repairman. One of the garage door cables slipped and Tom said the door could have come crashing down on me! Oh what fun I have had this week!

Tom ended up leaving to get Allison and I met the repairman when I pulled in the driveway. At least I did not have to worry about making dinner since we were invited to the neighbors for my birthday. I was just glad I felt well enough to join them all. And our door is repaired. And I am still breathing. And my tooth doesn't hurt as much. But I still need to get glasses! And the ER at Sinai is very nice.

We had started the week off on a busy foot since Monday was Halloween. The kids were upset that it was a school night since we only let them stay out until 8pm. And our neighborhood was packed with kids. Scott's old friend Sammy came to visit, but got to our house around 7pm so it was a quick tour around the neighborhood. Scott and Allison also enjoyed passing out the candy just as much as trick or treating. Allison really didn't go begging, but walked around with a few of her younger friends.

After a holiday it was back to reality. SChool was very busy this past week as Allison finished her first semester. Scott still has a few weeks to go but is just as busy.

ON top of all that, Allison's Field Hockey game had their county regional playoffs and ended up winning! Now they are on to the State Finals with a game on Monday. The principal came out and presented the team with a plaque after the game and a photo opp. We are kinda secretly hoping that the team doesn't play in the last State Final game since it is on SAturday the 12th of Nov., and Allison will miss the game as she is going to be in Houston for the Girl Scout National Convention. So added wins meant added practices.

Friday both kids were off for the end of semester(just Allison though, as SCott was off in conjunction with the county schedule). She had a field hockey practice early in the morning so I had to drop her off and pick her up. They have to practice on turf since that is where the finals are held and that is a park too far from our house to walk. IN the meantime I was trying to serve breakfast at a local Adult Day Care program for our Dragon Boat team. I was able to make a few egg/sausage casseroles and pick up some french toast casseroles from other staff members at work to drop off, but I did not actually get to stay and serve breakfast since I had to pick up Allison. Then I needed to drop off GS cookie money at the bank since the Cookie Company was making a withdrawal that day. I also had to get Allison home to change and take her to work for the afternoon at the skating rink.

While Allison was working, I took Cookie to the vet. She had another ear infection. Now they recommend treating dogs for one month, once a day. The vet said Cookie has had the average amount of ear infections so not to worry too much. She was miserable though during the week. Tom woke me up around midnite as she was crying and scratching her ear and shaking her head non stop. Poor puppy. I got her to calm down a bit and go to sleep after I squeezed a few left over drops of ear medicine in her affected ear. I also saved myself a few bucks on her vet visit since I had a vet referral coupon from a fellow GS leader who is also from Michigan, a big Euchre fan and who bought a CAvachon puppy for their family after meeting Cookie. Since I had a coupon I also stocked up on Cookies heart worm medicine.

After the vet it was time to pick up Allison. I fell asleep in the van waiting for her. She was 30 minutes late getting out of work. It was a day off of school for all the kids and 200 skaters showed up. Allison was the only staff member that showed up too! She had to run the rink all by herself, including supervising 2 birthday parties! She was exhausted.

After I got her home, I got dinner for the kids and then sent Scott off with Tom to gymnastics and Allison and I went to GS choir rehearsal for the night.

No wonder I fell apart on SAturday!

Sunday we took it easy getting packing done and laundry done and shopping done. I have been trying to get Allison to buy some Khaki pants for several years now for her girl scout uniform and she has been fighting me all along. She has to wear khaki pants and white shirts for her uniform so we were off to Kohls. I also took SCott along to get some supplies for his Health Class project. WE did very well considering all the other projects we had to work on that day and Allison actually found some pants.

I also took some time last week to attend an open house at the Community College in Allison's place. She was too busy. They have an Honor's program which assists students into transitioning into a 4 year college after earning their Associates degree. Allison is interested in teaching and could earn her Associate's degree for Maryland. She could also earn a scholarship through the program and use the funding for a travel learning opportunity or put it towards school. It was a very nice presentation-the auditorium was packed and afterwards they had a reception with questions/answers. I did a quick run through on the munchies and asked my questions and headed home. Scott had to miss Boy Scouts that night since he had several big tests the next day.

So I am going back to packing!

Enjoy the Halloween photos-me as a fancy witch, Scott in his Morph suit, Cookie as a pumpkin at home and Allison as a witch in the Haunted Hayride and dressed as a sorceress Halloween night. I also added a photo of the winning Field Hockey team at Regionals. Allison is on the left in her goalie outfit.

Happy Snowtober! Last SAturday our Girl SCout Troop was supposed to be standing in front of Pizza Hut selling Girl Scout cookies. However it was snowing, sleeting and raining all at the same time so I made an executive decision and decided no one wanted cookies that badly. As a matter of fact, most people did not leave their homes. They even had to salt the roads. And SCott made his first snowman of the year! Afterwards, Cookie ate it.

Instead we spent the day cleaning and setting up for our traditional Halloween party. This party was a bit different however since I did not invite the entire neighborhood. Tom had his first surgery experience on Friday and I was not sure what shape he was going to be in. I did not want the masses(especially all the little kids) running around destroying the house while Tom was feeling miserable. Last year the weather was nice enough to let all the kids go out and play, but this past SAturday's weather did not allow us to host the party in the yard, or even in the garage. So instead I invited 6 families which meant about 24 people rather than the 50+ that usually show up. It was just the right number of guests. It allowed me to host a few games, primarily a round of Pictionary. No one except Tom and I had ever played(and it is not Tom's favorite game). He was the timekeeper. Also since he really couldn't talk. And I did not really play since I knew all the answers. The theme was The TOp 50 Scary Movies and it was a fun and rather interesting time. Surprisingly, the tweens were the biggest help. Although most of them have not even seen these movies, they have all heard about them(or maybe have seen clips). Thank you internet. I know they have seen worse. Anyhow, we had a winning team that were treated to candy bars. And of course we gave out a jar of candy corn to the guest who guessed the closest number. And naturally lots of good food. It also got us in the mood for Trick or Treating on Monday.

Friday I had some errands to run in the morning before taking Tom in to have all 4 wisdom teeth pulled at noon. He was done in an hour, but still really out of it. I dropped him off in bed with lots of Coke and Vernors since he wasn't feeling well. He has never been put out for any type of surgery and he said the gas they gave him first made him feel dizzy and sick to his stomach. We guess they gave it to him to help calm him down. It took several days for him to start to feel better-less dizzy. He actually stayed home on Halloween day and slept.

While he was recuperating at home Friday night, I had picked Allison up from a Field Hockey game-her team played twice that week and won both games. So now they are in the County playoffs. I had to rush her home and pick up SCott from school and rush him home and get them and my girl scouts over to a Haunted Hay Ride. This year instead of riding on the wagon we were participating in the actual show! We received an email from our local Farm Heritage Museum looking for volunteers and a chance to earn Volunteer hours which some of the girls need for NHS. I brought 7 kids and 2 adults. They had specific costumes for us to wear. Scott was a zombie, Allison and I were witches. Scott was out in the graveyard scene chasing around one of his girl scout class mates, Allison and I were in charge of a cauldron filled with bones and a smoky skull. When the wagons came by, a spotlight came on and we went into action. Allison and I chased down the wagon and asked the guests to join us for dinner. One guy accepted my offer(I guess). I couldn't hear much with my wig and hat pulled down over my ears. It started to sleet around 9pm, so they shut down after about 100+ people went through. We were supposed to run until 10pm. I was happy to quit-it was getting cold. Afterwards they treated us to hot dogs and hot chocolate. Quite an interesting experience. If we had time, we would have gone back for the kid friendly session on Sunday afternoon, but the kids had lots of homework and studying to do. And Allison had to work at the Skating Rink-she had to go in early to help set up for their Halloween Session. She even got to wear a costume. SCott wanted to go, but we had already spent too much time partying over the weekend. I think I should hire Scott out to the neighbors-he helped clean, cook and decorate the house for our Halloween Party on Saturday night. I couldn't have done it without him!

I also had to leave work early on WEds to get my eyes checked. I hadn't been to the vision clinic in two years and I had a slight decline in my vision. I needed to get them checked since I am now supposed to wear my glasses when I drive. I could have figured that out when Tom and I were driving home from the Octoberfest the weekend before and neither one of us could read the exit sign. Even with the help from the GPS it is hard to tell if you have reached your turn. Anyway, we ended up getting off at the security enforced NSA exit(not good). I was just happy to be able to merge back onto the freeway. Guess glasses would help both of us!

I needed my eyes checked since I had to get a new driver's license. So Friday morning before I took Tom in for his surgery I was off getting a new license. I wanted to make sure I had the new license before we travel to Houston since it expires on my birthday on the 13th.

I also spent the week picking up food orders and dropping them off, including GS cookies and the fund raiser food items that Allison sold for Prom Tickets and Field Hockey. Feels more like Christmas!

At least we did not have to mow the lawn! Then again, we did not even have to shovel snow!