Well it was no surprise to me that last week was terribly hectic. Tom was in San Francisco, so I had the kids to myself and another busy schedule. I was still very helping the kids with their homework and studies(mostly Scotty). Allison is pretty self sufficient. I was also busy helping St Nick pack Christmas stockings Monday night.
Tuesday morning the kids enjoyed opening up their stockings before heading to school. They always enjoy getting their yearly ornament. On Tuesday night Scott had a boy scout meeting. I tried to get him a ride but the family was held up at a end of the season soccer dinner. I couldn't take him since Allison and I were off singing with the Girl Scout choir at a nursing home and did not finish until 730 pm.
Weds was absolutely miserable. It had started raining Tuesday night and did not quit until Thursday. I had a GS Leader meeting Weds night and had to pack my car with lots of donated wrapped gifts for the kids at the Head Start program and the Family Violence Center. I had to wrap everything in trash bags to keep the wrapping paper from getting wet. I also had 3 donated cases of cookies to drop off for the US soldiers and made an appetizer to share for our holiday party. I had to load up my van and then help reload all the packages into another van for delivery. By the time I got home I was soaking wet from head to toe. And I had another GS leader angry at me since I said I would not take over our yearly rollerblading/skating event. With my girls graduating next year I don't expect to continue. She was not happy to hear I was not planning on taking over. And the weather was so bad, it started sleeting and snowing on the drive home, besides the rain blowing sideways. ONe of our new leaders even slipped and fell on the wet leaves in the parking lot in the dark and broke her casserole dish! She had to sweep it up with a flashlight. Girl Scout life is tough!
It gets better. When I got to work on Thursday I discovered that we lost another OT, this one due to a torn rotator cuff in her shoulder so she will be off work for several months. So I was asked to come in on Friday to work. I had planned on spending the day preparing for my Girl Scout HOliday party. I haven't had a meeting with the girls all Fall, so I had a lot of info to share, besides supplies to purchase for the meeting. I couldn't get out on Thursday night since I had to take Allison to piano. INstead I spent Friday morning at work. Then I had to run and purchase supplies and pick up the house when I got home. Allison arrived home from school and started putting up more Christmas decorations and helped lay out the supplies for our cooking session. When the girls arrived they were busy munching on goodies while I picked Scott up from school and dropped him off to gymnastics. We then spent the evening making chicken and rice casseroles and cookies for our Catholic Charity Homeless shelter. Afterwards I had the girls play Pictionary just like we did at Halloween, except this time they had to draw Christmas Carols. It was very funny. And they all got goodie bags before they left just as Tom was pulling into the driveway from California. I had him stop and give my co leader's car a jump before he stepped foot into the house since her key was stuck in the ignition the whole night and the lights were on and it drained the battery! I also made a list of jobs for him for the weekend which included getting my robot mop to work again and cleaning up the car oil from the drip pan that overflowed onto the driveway when it rained all day. I also gave up on his timers for the Christmas lights for the house and just plugged them directly into the outlets to keep them on. I think the house looks silly when half of the lights are lit and the other half is dark.
I was also disappointed that the roofers did not call or come out to do the repair work this past week. I imagine with the rain that they are behind in their work.
On Saturday I was busy working with Scott on homework projects while Tom took Allison to work. When she got off we went out to dinner with our neighbors and then headed to a US Army Field Band Jazz Holiday concert. The concerts are free and always very good. They do not always perform in our area as they travel all around the US and the world for that matter. Since we are so close to DC though we always seem to luck out. We went last year and always enjoy the concerts and we were not disappointed again.
Sunday was a big day of homework and Allison had another work day. She enjoyed the holiday party they put on that day and was glad she did not have to work the private party scheduled in the evening. She had switched her shifts since she had her End of the Season Field Hockey dinner. She was also very excited to receive her Varsity Letter in Field Hockey. Unfortunately we could not stay for the whole party as Allison and Tom had their first Indoor Field Hockey season. Allison had to get a goalie substitute for the first game but I rushed her over for the second game later that night. Tom is the coach and appears to have a very good team. They did a great job and won their game. I think one of the coaches plans on stealing a few of Tom's top players to make the teams more even.
  Here are some photos of Allison suited up for her indoor Field Hockey game and at the Field Hockey party after she received her Varsity letter. She is also posing with the trophy(on the ground) that was awarded the team for the State Finals for Outstanding Sportsmanship(a first for their school). Besides the Varsity Letters, many of the girls including Allison were also given certificates from the State of Maryland for high level academics(3.2 GPA or higher) while playing sports.  We have a lot of very smart girls on the team!
Now I have to get to those Christmas cards! Kathleen