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