Happy Birthday Linda Seitz! Happy Birthday Cookie Seitz! Two very special somebodies celebrated their birthdays this past weekend. One got a cake, the other a bone. Although Cookie also got into Tom's St Nick's Day stocking and ate up his peanut/yogurt mix. She is such a garbage hound! We celebrated her big day with a long walk. And then she tried to mooch food off Grandma. My favorite was when she kept trying to jump up on Grandma's lap when mom was taking her newly rented power scooter out for a test drive on the driveway. Cookie does love her car rides! No matter how small. Cookie turned 7 this year. I won't say what birthday Linda celebrated. (more than 7).

Mom seems to have taken to the scooter quite easily(although she still wants a car). I feel so bad. I took mom to the ortho MD last Thursday for a cortisone injection in her arthritic knee. Since we are going on a big trip, I wanted her to be in tip top shape(if that is possible for anyone). She has been going to PT 2x/wk which helps, but the cortisone shot can really  help with pain and swelling. She really had no idea what they were going to do. I did. I hear the injection is very painful. The MD told her she would hate him at first and then love him. It was true. She said her knee feels wonderful! And we were even able to go out to dinner afterwards.   On Friday I was busy meeting with her broker for end of the year business. On Saturday I took her to get her hair done, and then she joined us and our neighbors for a wonderful Holiday party at their house. I also picked her up on Sunday afternoon and took her to our GS choir performance at the B and O Railroad museum. She got to meet Santa and Mrs Claus and enjoy all the Holiday decorations. Afterwards I brought her home for a steak dinner.

Most of us here on the East coast are experiencing a heat wave! It feels like Miami! We hit temps in the low 70s this past weekend. Which made for a very nice party at our neighbor's house on Saturday. The food was incredible, the company terrific and the weather beautiful. It got cool enough in the evening to sit around their new fire pit on the patio,  chatting the night away with drinks and dessert. I felt like I was in an LLBean commercial. Our neighbors spent a lot of time putting up beautiful decorations both inside and out for the party. And of course I supplied the entertainment. We played Christmas Trivia. Boy are we a competitive bunch. I treated them all to candy bars for their efforts.

On Friday I had two parties to attend, but could only be at one. I picked the Bunco Holiday party. We had a white elephant gift exchange. I got a nice Margarita set complete with glasses and mix. I had picked the tupperware set, but being with a group of mom's with single college aged kids living in their first apts and needing gift ideas, it disappeared. (Still a little young for the margarita gift set). Next year Allison! I skipped the cookie exchange party. I was not ready to bake and besides, I have a cookie exchange party coming up this weekend with Scott!

He is winding down at school. Of course the teachers are cramming in lots of tests and assignments. He will be in school right up to Christmas. And he is getting ready for his school Holiday concert next week. Not to mention getting in some work hours over the weekend. And driving lessons when he and Tom have the chance. Plus he ran another successful boy scout meeting with a plumbing theme(yes there is a plumbing merit badge).

And Allison can't wait to get through finals! She will be done next week and then head home. She took a study break and made cookies and decorated a Christmas stocking. Very cute.

I am running around like a crazy person getting ready for our trip to Florida and getting ready for Christmas. I hope I make it!

Mom B and Mrs Claus

 Mom B has been a very good girl this year Santa!

 Mom B meets the North Pole!

 B and O Railroad at Christmas

 Neighborhood Party

Happy St Nick's Day! Tom and Scott and I enjoyed our annual ritual of opening our Christmas stockings on Sunday morning. St Nick brings our stockings early so that if we get any Christmas socks, tshirts, ornaments or jewelry we can wear it or display it before Christmas.  Everyone was very happy with their loot. Allison had her stocking early when she visited over Thanksgiving weekend. St Nick stocked her up with lots of goodies to help her through the upcoming Finals week. She will start with one of her tests this coming week and then finish up next week. She managed to get in a bit of celebrating at a formal party with her Ultimate Frisbee team this past weekend in between all the studying, and even got to wear her new dress.


My St Nick's Day gift was an evening out with our neighbors to see our favorite group, Straight No Chaser. They are the acoppella group from Indiana. They were in town for just one night at a sold out concert(again). Tom bought the tickets months ago. Sadly, one of their main singers was out on Paternity leave. We noticed. Although we really enjoy the group, having one member missing seemed to really affect the quality of the concert. We thought last year's event was much better. Although the concert was very good, it seemed a bit subdued. We felt like we should have been given a discount. But our neighbors really enjoyed it since they had never seen them before. And we all enjoyed dinner out beforehand. And I got a new tshirt, although no concert schedule on the back this time?

My weekend was also jam packed with scout activities. On Saturday morning, Scott and I got up early to volunteer at the Jingle Bell 5K Arthritis Fundraiser run. Scott decided to run again this year, so we signed him up at the walk up registration table. He seems to keep a consistent time of 34 mins. The run is a bit tough since it is around our local lake, very hilly and slippery as the path was very frosty in the early morning. Scott and I both helped direct traffic before the event. Mainly I just like checking out all the costumes (on both the people and the dogs!). And getting a free shirt for volunteering! Afterwards, Scott went off to assist one of the scouts with his Eagle project. By the time Scott arrived, all the boys that volunteered earlier in the morning had already completed all the work. So instead, Scott and Tom spent the afternoon practicing driving. Scott was almost run over by our neighbor's daughter as she was backing out of their driveway. And right after that, a mailman ran the stop sign on our street. Scott is learning at the Driving School of Hard Knocks.

After volunteering at the Jingle Run, I went off to the Baltimore Harbor to sing with the Girl Scout choir at the German Christmas Village. Our choir sings Christmas songs on stage for about an hour. I mostly enjoy shopping at all the booths and especially the tent full of German Christmas decorations. On Sunday I sang with the choir in the Baltimore Mayor's Parade. It makes for a long day-the parade is two hours long. You have to arrive an hour before the parade starts to line up. And then the parade starts at 1, but we don't actually start moving until 130 because of all the different entries. It is not my favorite parade, but they always need extra voices for the crowds.

Again I spent my Friday off work helping out my mom. This past Friday we started off with a PT appointment. Afterwards, I dropped into a medical supply company with mom. We are looking at getting a portable scooter to rent/purchase to help her get around this coming holiday trip to Florida. We were able to rent a scooter for now and are sending in paperwork to the insurance company to see if it will be covered. Then we were off to the bank, lunch and dessert at the mall, Christmas shopping and back to her apt where I spent 2 hours decorating for Christmas. I finally sent mom down to dinner and headed home quite exhausted. I still had enough energy in me to get in some Christmas shopping of my own at Kohls. Wow, what a jam packed weekend. We ended it off having dinner with our friends at their house. Of course Cookie was invited to spend time with their Cavachon, Ripley and we celebrated both of our boy's 16th Birthday party with a big ice cream cake.

I was just as busy during the week. Tom was off working in DC for the week. Scott and I had to throw together a boy scout meeting last Weds. His guest speaker got sick at the last minute, so Scott and I had to come up with a new plan. Scott asked one of the counselors to present the Art Merit Badge. She agreed and after her presentation we had a drawing contest. The boys loved it. When they were done and the awards given out, we asked the boys to make some Holiday cards. They also loved that! Overall, a very successful scout meeting which is Scott's current role as Sr Assistant Patrol Leader.

Scott in the Jingle Bell Run

 Waiting for the Baltimore Mayor's Christmas Parade/Hanging out with the Charm City Rollers

 Scott and Bryce celebrate their 16th Birthdays

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving! We had a wonderful holiday with all the family and guest. Allison came home from school on Tuesday night and enjoyed a long weekend with all of us. She had to drop off her roommate and boyfriend first, so she got home late. Plus she had a test in Finance that morning to get through and had to pack up her fish. Only 2 more weeks left for her in this semester!  I picked up my mom for dinner on Thursday and we invited our good friend John over for Thanksgiving dinner as well. The meal was a family project. Tom did the honors of cooking the 25lb turkey on the rotisserie grill. I got the stuffing put together on Weds night after work, and Allison cooked the loaded baked potato casserole on Thursday morning. Scott had salad and rolls. Grandma opened the cranberry sauce! John brought the wine. Pumpkin pie and pumpkin cheesecake courtesy of Costco for dessert.  All in all a very good meal and good company!  And it was the warmest Thanksgiving day I could remember. I ate dinner in shorts and my Turkey trot tshirt.

Allison, Scott and I started our Thursday morning by participating in the YMCA Turkey trot. Scott ended up running in the event and Allison and I took up the back of the pack with Cookie in tow. Cookie was sporting her pumpkin outfit while Allison and I had our turkey hats on! We brought a wagon for Cookie-she still has issues with her torn ACL in the knee(very much like our Joe Flacco, Ravens Qback). We tried pulling Cookie some of the way, especially up the hills, but she was not interested. She kept whining and jumping out. She desperately wanted to walk with us. Now she is paying for it since she is limping around the house.

Just like poor Scott too. He wore himself out this weekend with the race as well as rollerblading at work every day since Weds. And he got a whole year older this Friday. Happy 16th Birthday to Scott! We brought my mom over for his Bday dinner after picking him up from work. Allison made him a chocolate coconut cream pie(his request). It tasted just like a Girl Scout Samoa cookie. And  he was very excited to get a hoverboard,  It is basically a Segway without the handle, and he seems to have mastered it.  I am making him wear a helmet though, and he wants to see if he can ride it at the rink at work(not sure about that). He also wants to see if he can ride it to school(not sure about that either) The thing weighs a ton. He would have to haul it in to his locker. I am sure someone would think he was trying to smuggle in a bomb if he put it in a duffle bag to carry it around. And we think you need to be licensed to use one. At least he is covered with his driver's permit! We really don't want all the kids in the neighborhood asking to try it(don't want to be responsible for broken legs or clunked heads!) It takes some getting used to and good ankle strength!

We spent the rest of the weekend getting in some shopping. The family was off school and work on Weds, although Scott had to work at the roller rink and I was in at the nursing home. Allison did some dress shopping for an upcoming party next weekend at school with her roommate after dropping Scott off. And Tom treated everyone to a Hershey Bears Hockey game Weds night. They had a great time and enjoyed the overtime win. They did not enjoy the new high security screening before the game as they missed the first quarter standing in a very long line. Not sure how many terrroists have made their way to Hershey PA at this time. I stayed home and made stuffing after work as well as putting in my eye drops for pink eye and now rubbing on lotion to avoid getting scabies! We had a lovely scabies outbreak at our facility before the holidays. Never a dull moment!

Allison also spent the weekend getting caught up on some homework, and I put her to work helping me organize a computer photo slide show for my Dad for his memorial service this coming Christmas. Scott also had some homework to finish up this weekend, and even Tom had been on the computer completing online homework. Tom was recently in Chicago on business(glad he got home before the snow up there!). Now he will be traveling down to DC for the upcoming week for work.

On Saturday I enjoyed a special day with the family taking our Christmas photo. Afterwards we went out to lunch and to see the movie ending of The Hunger Games. In the evening, Scott went into work and Allison visited with her boyfriend Tyler and his family at his house. His family  put on a surprise  graduation party for him since he is a Senior and not interested in attending his school ceremony at the end of this winter semester.

On Sunday, Allison spent the morning working on her resume with Tom. She wants to send it in to Northrop for a possible internship next summer. She headed back to school after picking up her passengers for the return trip. I sent her off with an early St Nicks Day stocking as well as a few for her roommates. She also packed up a few holiday decorations for their condo. Scott was off to work in the afternoon after finishing up his homework. I dropped him off and then ran some errands, including having my new tires torque checked at Costco. Tom set up a few outdoor Christmas lights. Nothing too extravagant this year since we will be out of town. I also took down our Thanksgiving decorations. I was putting the candles in all the windows and noticed that a small lamp was left on in our spare bedroom. We had moved a pile of blankets off the guest bed to take it up to Allison's school condo and the blankets landed on the lamp. And they started burning! Along with the lampshade. Thank God I did not burn down our house!

Turkey Trot!

 We made it!

 Thanksgiving Dinner

 Happy 16th Bday Scott!

Unique gifts:
 Scotty O'Hotty Hot Sauce

 Hover Board

Later in the evening, we picked up Scott from work and then Tom and I enjoyed an evening out with our friend John and my fellow co worker, Ann. We headed to DC for dinner at a chinese buffet along with our neighbors and afterwards attended the Christmas Carol Dickens play at the historic Ford Theater where Lincoln was shot. John and I  attended the play several years ago along with Scott and Allison and thought it was an amazing experience. Tom was not able to come since he was traveling for business, So I thought he would enjoy this special program. I also gave our group a quick tour of the Lincoln museum in the basement during the intermission. They have the actual pistol that John Wilkes Booth used to kill Lincoln. And this time I noticed they have the suit Lincoln was wearing when he was killed, along with a blood stained pillow his head was lying on. They also had Lincoln's custom made size 14 shoes! And the actual theatre door to the balcony that Booth shimmied shut when he slipped in behind Lincoln.  And we got home in time for me to watch my recorded mid season finale of the Walking Dead.

All in all, a wonderful Holiday weekend. A big  Happy Birthday to sister in law Sheila Bozyk  who also celebrated her big day this past weekend.

I ended last week with a fun night of Bingo and then topped it off with a case of pink eye. Scott's high school had a fundraiser Bingo event. I have attended with the neighbor ladies for the last 5 years and usually come away with some type of win. Not so this year. But I had a great time. I just wish I had felt better.

Instead, I had to head over to the doctor's office on Saturday morning for eye drops. I was still busy filling up my days off with lots of activities. Again I had some financial issues to deal with for my mom on Friday(phone calls and office visits). I did manage to get to my water aerobics class though on Friday morning, even though my eye started burning.  On Saturday I was busy shopping for Thanksgiving Day dinner as well as buying new tires for my mini van. I left the van at Costco all day while I did some shopping. Tom picked me up and we had lunch together. We then spent the afternoon shopping until the car was ready. We started to pick up a few new Christmas decorations too. The Christmas Holiday decorations have sure gone up a lot earlier than in the past. I am still trying to enjoy the Thanksgiving Holiday! And Scott and I just got the Halloween decorations put away in the attic!

Scott was very busy with tests and projects since this was the last full week of school before the Holiday break. He is really looking forward to a break from school. He did get a small break last Tuesday when he participated in a field trip to a local computer company, Ciena, with his Robotics team. The group was treated to a tour of the company by the CEO, free lunch(designer pizza) and computer tote bags with polo shirts and pens.  He also managed to run another successful boy scout meeting. This week the theme revolved around music. He had the badge counselor for the Music badge and the Bugler. It made for an interesting meeting. He also attended a a planning meeting on Monday and volunteered on Thursday evening for their blood drive. I was busy making cookies to donate to their bake sale. Scott was also busy working this past weekend at the roller rink.

On Sunday I went in to work for a few hours to get caught up before the Holiday week. In the afternoon I picked up my mom for a hair appointment. Afterwards we went to church and then headed home for dinner. I also managed to get a few bags of leaves out to the curb. Most of them have fallen off the trees onto our lawn, so it keeps me very busy!

A very busy week. Just wish I was feeling a bit better. We are looking forward to seeing Allison when she comes home for the Thanksgiving Holiday! We are looking forward to participating in the YMCA Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving morning!

Happy Birthday to Me! I celebrated my big day on Friday the 13th. Actually, it was 11/13/15. A date that does not pop up that often(3 consecutive odd numbers). So it was extra special! Our family enjoyed dinner out on Friday night along with my mom at Olive Garden. I especially enjoyed my free pumpkin cheesecake while opening up my gifts. I also decided to throw my own birthday party and invited all our neighbors to join us for dinner out on Saturday night. Afterwards, we girls headed over to enjoy an evening of painting, cake and wine. I have been to the Painting Wine Bar before(painted in the dark when the power went out!). This time we took on Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night. (I think Tom enjoys the original better). But I really had a great time and enjoyed the company.   (And the presents!)

I was also looking forward to a bit of relaxation after spending the whole week with my mom in the hospital. She was admitted last Tuesday after throwing up(again). Looks like she has an issue with gall stones. She spent Tuesday night and most of Weds sleeping in the ER. Weds night she was admitted to the cardiac unit in the hospital for observation and then discharged Thursday night. It made for a very long week. Especially since I had two classes to attend on Thursday-one before work and one after. I had just returned home from a very long day and had to head out again to the ER. Fortunately she seems to be doing much better. Nothing really recommended for treatment. But now we know. I also spent most of Saturday at a class dealing with Alzheimers and dementia. It was a program put on for caregivers. Very nicely done. They served breakfast and lunch, I received a back massage and even won a gift basket! All in all, a wonderful (but tiring) day.

Mom was feeling well enough to join us for dinner on Friday night. On Sunday afternoon I picked her up after getting Scott from work. We went to church and came home for dinner(and more birthday cake).

Scott continues to stay busy at work on the weekends at the roller rink. He also is busy running the weekly boy scout meetings. And he had an added bonus of running a Video game tournament at his school on Friday night. The Business Club president asked Scott if he would help organize an event at the school. 60 kids showed up! Looks like it was a success. They are looking forward to working together in the future and running more tournaments. And then there is always school. He also squeezed in a dentist appointment and has been meeting with his robotics team. They are planning a Field Trip next week to a company that makes circuit boards.

I tried talking Allison into coming home and joining me in my painting class. But she was busy with another day of Ultimate Frisbee. I was surprised she could play since we had a very windy weekend. Scott even went out driving with Tom (on the freeway this time!). Scott was amazed how difficult it can be to keep control of the car in high wind.

And Tom headed out to Chicago on Sunday morning to work. At least his trip went smoothly. With all the chaos in Paris, the airports have been especially on high alert. Just glad he had a safe trip.

This was certainly an action packed week. I started Monday off with a phone call at work  from my mom's apartment complex letting me know that she was in the hospital. She had gone down to lunch and was throwing up. They were checking her out to see if she'd had a heart attack or stroke or was dehydrated. After spending the entire day with her in the ER and waiting for them to run lots of tests, they decided she had a stomach virus. They pumped her up with IV fluids just in case. I took her home, helped her get a shower, a sandwich and sent her to bed. They kept her locked up in her apt for a few days just in case.

As soon as I got home Monday night,  the phone was ringing. The boy scouts were looking for Scott for their Sr Patrol meeting. Back in the car. Scott has been running around about as much as I have. He did a terrific job running the Halloween boy scout meeting last week, and this week it was an Open House for the cub scouts with lots of work stations. I have been busy collecting permission slips and checks for the boys upcoming rappelling and zipline camping trip(which we are all skipping this year). Too many other activities. He also has to make phone calls and set up guest speakers for each meeting to present scout badges. It is keeping him on his toes. Plus his video club is participating in a county wide tournament at his high school this coming week. So he needs to send out fliers. And robotics is kicking it up a notch, planning each week in the evening for this year's upcoming tournament. He has also been working at the roller rink consistently every weekend and is really enjoying it. Oh yes, and in his spare time he does his homework. He is so happy to have survived his first semester which ended last week.

I also spent all day Friday assisting my mom with her finances. Pretty much every financial disaster that could occur did. I started the morning off with the IRA account for my dad from Charles Schwab. Mom and I had spent over an hour filling out paperwork two weeks ago to switch the account to her name. Guess it did not work. They screwed up the whole transaction and still wanted more ID on mom. After multiple phone calls(and advice from our broker), we straightened it out. Then it was on to their Huntington account. They just now switched the address(I requested the switch over a year ago). No one answered their phone. Next disaster. They have been overcharging my parent's account at the Sunrise apt complex. So much for automatic deduction. I was on the phone over an hour with their billing office. Needless to say, they owe mom quite a bit of money. And last but not least, we spent another hour at Bank of America, still trying to close out my Dad's account and switch it over to my mom only. Unfortunately most of these offices don't have the authority to do anything and the large corporation offices(mostly in Texas I found out) can't keep track of all the data. So you spend the entire day on the phone and pushing papers. Only a year and a half and I have not yet gotten my parent's business finished. Guess I never really will.

I was also busy making family dentist appointments and a PT appointment for my mom's arthritic knee.  At least I got in a water exercise class Friday morning. And I ended the day on a high note playing BUNCO with the neighborhood girls. On Saturday, Tom and I dropped Scott off at work and picked up my mom to go see the new James Bond movie Spectre. It is a full 2.5hrs long. Mom seemed to really enjoy it-it was loud and full of action. So it did not matter that she chatted away the entire movie. I don't think anyone could hear her! After picking up Scott from work, we all headed out for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. It was a great day to spend at the movies since it rained.

Friday the temp jumped up to 80! Tom was able to get outside and cut the grass and mulch the leaves. On Sunday I spent some time shoveling up the leaves while Scott was at work. It was a bit chilly, but very sunny. A good day to take Cookie for a walk too. Only after I did all my shopping errands. I am getting a head start on Christmas shopping! And I still have some Halloween decorations to put away and finish putting up the Thanksgiving knick knacks(before the Christmas decorations come out!). And our Girl Scout choir has started up another season of singing. I did not make the Monday night performance with the Pride of Baltimore Sweet Adeline singers. Fortunately they had lots of girl scouts singing. I have been too busy to make all the practice sessions too. I should be ok on the Christmas songs at least.

Another exciting Halloween has come and gone. I was busy running around last Friday and Saturday getting food ready for our neighborhood party as well as cleaning and decorating. I mainly spent Friday running errands for my mom(as usual). In the morning I had to meet with the estate planning lawyer to rewrite my Dad's trust. Afterwards I met with the broker to discuss the finances under the upcoming new trust. I finally made it over to my mom's apartment to pick her up for a hair appointment. When I arrived, I found all the residents sitting in the front lobby waiting for trick or treaters. There is a Goddard Day care program next door and the kids came over after their naps for trick or treating. There must have been about 50 or more kids! I think the parents picked up the older kids from school and added them to the toddler bunch. But the kids were so adorable! And the residents seemed to really enjoy passing out the candy and getting dressed up themselves. Mom was sporting Mickey Mouse ears. She had a lot of visits from Minnie Mouses!  After two hours of passing out candy, we were out the door for both of our hair appointments.

I decided to get my hair cut too. While mom was busy at the salon I finished running my errands. I picked her up and we headed home for dinner. I even put her to work helping me make chili for the party as well as an apple pie from the apples we had picked ourselves. Then I dropped her back home, only to pick her up on Saturday evening for our Halloween party. What a beautiful evening it turned out to be. We were running around the neighborhood in tshirts. I sent two small groups of guests out on a scavenger hunt. It was a great excuse to get out and see all the decorations and kids and dogs in their costumes. Our neighbors down the street had a bonfire in their driveway and were hosting a cook out. I was sporting my Walking Dead costume(the neighborhood kids thought I was Jack Sparrow the pirate). What do kids know. I was Michonne from the Walking Dead(she kills zombies with a ninja sword and has dreadlocks). I bought a wig. Everyone came to our party dressed in some type of costume. It was terrific. We ate tons of food and played Pictionary afterwards. Mom kept score. She said she just enjoyed watching all of us make fools of ourselves. We also had two cavachon puppies running around under our feet-Cookie dressed as a Ton Ton with Luke Skywalker riding her and Ripley borrowed our pumpkin outfit. They were adorable. Or as one guest pointed out, Cookie came dressed as Ripley and Ripley as Cookie(they really do look exactly alike). Anyhow, the extra hour came in handy on Saturday night. I dropped mom off around 11pm(10pm daylight savings time). And it was nice to sleep in on Sunday morning.

We were especially happy to have Allison home for the party. She spent the entire day playing Field Hockey at Uof Maryland. They were in the playoffs, but lost their 1st two games. So they were eliminated. But they were asked to play a 3rd game. Allison played incredibly well and they won. By the way, she was the only goalie playing for her team that day and each game is 1 hour long. They were asked to play a 4th game at 6pm and that is when the girls called it quits. They may have played all night and then would have had to play again on Sunday. The girls were exhausted and just wanted to go home.

It was so fun having kids at our Halloween party. It is nice that the different generations can hang out together and have a lot of fun doing so. Scott had tried to organize his friends in order to have another scary moviethon but last minute planning did not work out. They are rescheduling this coming weekend.

Scott was also busy working this past weekend at the roller rink, although he said it was surprisingly slow. Guess all the kids were off doing other activities. He finished his 1st semester of school on Friday and was so relieved to have a little break(very little). He still had lots of assignments to catch up on Sunday afternoon after work. He has also been busy running the boy scout meetings. Last week the boys enjoyed themselves with a costume contest and pumpkin carving contest. I picked up a few prizes for the boys and came dressed in my Star Wars skirt. (It glows in the dark!)  The scout leader and his wife were sporting their Star Trek uniforms. Guess we are all geeks! Scott is still trying to adjust to his new role as Assistant Sr Patrol Leader. Last week he had to run the meeting himself when all the rest of the boys came down with the flu. And he is still very busy keeping his video club running. I am also busy working with the boy scouts-attending the parents meeting on Monday and collecting money and permission slips for an upcoming rappelling and zipline camping trip.

Allison headed back to school Sunday afternoon(before it got dark). I packed her up with plenty of food and candy bars.

It was nice to end October on a high note. Last week was a bit depressing as I said goodbye to 3 wonderful people that recently passed away. On Thursday, Tom and I attended a wake for a good neighbor of ours-Paul Rehmet. He was in his late 80s. His wife Winnie is amazing and is staying on in their home. (must be that german heritage). After the wake, Tom and I decided to go out to dinner. I was also shocked to hear that the kids previous school nurse passed away last week-she was only 54. Not sure what happened to her. And then I received a phone call from my old high school pet store boss. Al and Bonnie informed me that our dear friend, Rochelle had passed away suddenly of a heart attack. She was 75 and living with her youngest daughter in Las Vegas. We used to all hang out together when I was in high school working at the pet store. And after going to the late Sunday mass, I was shocked to hear that one of my girl scout moms and fellow co leader was recently diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Not a great week.

On a good note, Congratulations go out to Tom for being accepted into an online University PhD program. He is studying Management and took his first online test this weekend. Only 3 more years to go! Happy Birthday to Stacey's husband Matt. Hope you all got to do something fun and special to celebrate. And Congrats to Eric and Sarah on the purchase of their 1st home! What fun!

Scott carves his pumpkin at Boy Scouts

 Lots of Decorations for Halloween

 Spooky house guests!

 Our spooky house

 Beautiful Fall Color

So we are getting closer to Halloween! I spent most of my Saturday afternoon out shopping for party items. We have agreed to host the neighborhood Halloween party this year. About 20 people. I told them to come in costume and I plan on sending them out on a neighborhood scavenger hunt. We will see how it goes. Meanwhile I had to start picking up food and am still trying to get the decorations down from the attic and put up. I am missing my assistance from Scott.

He has been very busy with school and scouts and work. His semester is ending next Friday, right before Halloween this year. So the teachers have all been scheduling lots of projects and tests. He is also extra busy with Boy Scouts since signing up for the Asst. Sr. Patrol Leader position. Extra meetings to attend during the week and lots of extra planning since they put him in charge of scheduling activities. This coming week the boys decided to have a pumpkin carving contest and talk about woodcarving. They are also having a costume contest, so I had to pick up some gift items for the winners. And on Saturday he had to attend an all day Leadership training event. He has gone to many of these programs, but they insist the boys keep repeating the class each time they sign up for a leadership position. He is also scheduled to work every Sunday afternoon so he needs a ride. I then need to make sure Tom and I are home to take him and pick him up. But we are working on that too! Tom started taking Scott out on the road to practice driving since he now has his driving permit. Scott has been very excited to start learning. Looks like we need to work on Stop signs!

Besides getting ready for the holidays, I have been busy helping my mom with her finances as well as making funeral plans for my dad. I have set up a church service down in Florida in Venice in Dec.-we used to attend Easter and Christmas mass at this parish. Tom's parents also are members of this church. The staff there are incredibly kind and accommodating. I have already worked out the mass, complete with readings and music over the phone with their volunteer coordinator. They think of everything.( Guess they have done this before). They even had a memorial mass for Dad already and put his name in their church bulletin. And if I wanted, I could have the whole service in Polish! Not that any of us would understand a word, but I think that is amazing. I did request an accordion, but I don't think they actually have anyone that can play. However, they do supply a choir and organist. Wow. I also had to settle on a cemetery which will be in Venice where most of my mom's family is buried. And then a place to have lunch and a memorial of our own after the ceremony-I plan on bringing lots of digital photos. Plus I printed up memorial photo cards so those need to be mailed out. And then there's the finances. I kept my mom busy all day Friday running to the bank, the broker's office and making phone calls. I still need to meet with their lawyer next week for their trust.  Lots of papers to sign and forms to fill out. And don't get me started about the bank. That is the most complicated, messed up service of all. Amazing how your life comes down to lots of forms.

I am also trying to keep my mom busy. She attends a program each week at our local Senior center, but I think I am going to bump her up to 2x/wk. We use a volunteer car ride program to get her around. There is a small fee for each ride, but the drivers are all volunteers using their own cars. What a great service. They also have outings each week to local restaurants with her facility. She has started attending regularly. Last week they went out west to Friendly Farms for a family style meal complete with fried chicken(mom's favorite). They also enjoyed the fall color on the long ride there and back. It has been rather chilly out here, we even had our first frost. A lot earlier than usual.

At least I managed to get my fall flowers planted and I was happy to get back to my swim aerobics class on Friday morning. Tom was  home on Friday which gave him time to cut the grass and put down the winter fertilizer. He also spent some time doing maintenance on the cars. And he drove over to Delaware on Saturday with our neighbor for an alcohol run at the Costco. They have great prices and don't sell alcohol in our Costcos in Maryland. We needed some beer for our upcoming Halloween party and our neighbor wanted to stock up for the upcoming holidays. We both enjoyed an evening out with our neighbors having dinner at the Ellicott Mills Brewery and watching the movie Zombieland on a big screen outside at the Wine Bin in their parking lot. The Wine Bin serves free popcorn to go along with their wine. Besides a few sprinkles, the night was very pleasant. I was surprised to see mostly adults there watching the movie. They have weekly movies all summer long and we have brought the kids and the dog. It is a kid and pet friendly wine store. And we especially like it because the owner is an MSU grad. He runs a lot of neighborhood activities and has fundraisers for local charities in olde town Ellicott City. We want him to have tailgate parties for MSU. Speaking of, MSU won again this weekend against Indiana U in the pouring rain. At least we have one team to cheer for since our Ravens have been very disappointing this year. We heard the poor UofM quarterback was getting death threats over last weeks unbelievable game ending. Shame on you Michigan. He can come play for the Ravens.

Tom and I were also out on the town on Tuesday night as we attended Tom's Northrop Grumman Leadership Award dinner at the Lord Baltimore hotel downtown. We attended an award dinner a few weeks ago at the Westin, but that was for local groups. This was for National groups. We sat at a table with several couples all from San Francisco. We also ran into Tom's previous boss who now lives out in San Jose, Karen Campbell. Tom often spends time working with Karen when he heads to the west coast. We would love for Allison to get a summer internship with Northrop and maybe even stay with Karen out in California. Tom got a big, glass trophy(he would have preferred tickets to Disney or even a day off work). And I took home the table flower arrangement(that was in a cinderblock base). I think Tom threw his back out carrying it out to the car.

Allison is still very busy with school and Field Hockey. She had two games last Sunday in Philly and will play today at Salisbury. Her season ends next Saturday at UofMaryland, so we are hoping she can come home for Halloween. As you can see, we all get into the spirit!

I have been busy doctoring the cat for the past few weeks. We found out she has pancreatitis. Apparently it is treatable in cats, but she was losing quite a bit of weight. She was fur and bones. Her appetite is back, but even pickier. She mainly will eat canned chicken now. But she also enjoyed pumpkin pie and muffins along with donuts. Chews right through the packaging if it is sitting on the kitchen counter. Appetite stimulants will do that!

Tom says the cat will outlive me!

So the football season has become very interesting. So far our Ravens are the worst team in the league. And MSU is pulling off some crazy plays to keep them winning. Tom and I couldn't watch either game-too stressful. At least the MSU game was a pleasant surprise-Sorry UofM. That game will go down in the history books. If you missed it, MSU scored against UofM in the last 10 secs of the game due to a UofM fumble to win the game for State. And the guy that did it played on a fractured hip. Had to get surgery at the Uof M Ann Arbor hospital Monday morning(very brave man).

Besides keeping up with the fall traditions-like watching football games, we have been getting into the Halloween spirit. I am slowly getting the decorations out. Mostly we have to be home to do that. Instead we traveled to Busch Gardens on Friday night to enjoy the Haunted mazes. We swung by Salisbury U to pick up Allison first. Scott was off on Friday from school so we had the extra time to get Allison. Sadly we missed Scott's Homecoming weekend. Last year his robotics team had a robot in the neighborhood parade that Scott helped design and build that threw candy at the spectators. This year the kids just put together a sling shot to toss out the candy. So we did not feel like we missed out out on too much. And Scott was not terribly interested in their high school football game or dance. Instead we had a wonderful time running through all the spooky mazes at Busch Gardens on Friday night. The park was busy, but apparently not as crowded as Saturday night. We met up with our neighbors that were spending their weekend in Williamsburg. They stayed over until Saturday but said it was even more crowded at Busch Gardens-traffic backed up on the freeway.  We spent Friday night at the hotel, but had decided to leave early and head back to Salisbury to drop Allison off Saturday afternoon. We had to take her car in to Mr Tire to check out the sensor that went off during the week. Fortunately it was only a loose sensor and not a flat. While they were checking out her car, we ran some errands and took Allison out to lunch. I insisted that the girls decorate their front door of the condo for Halloween.  Allison agreed to put out some flowers, a small scarecrow and spider webs. I also dropped off a few more apples and a bag of bread. Can't let the college girls starve. We had to get back to pick up Cookie from the kennel so we left early in the afternoon. .

Allison had homework to catch up on as she traveled to Philly Sunday afternoon to play a few Field Hockey games. They tied their first game and won the second against Drexel University. Great job Allison! And congrats on making it through midterms. (Midterms already?)

Big Halloween decorations!

 Allison and roommate Helena

 Outing to HollowScream Busch Gardens

On Sunday I was busy running errands after dropping Scott off to work. I picked up my mom so she could come along. We also stopped off for lunch. I  had some more paperwork for her to help me fill out for her finances. And we are still busy planning the funeral service for my father in December in Florida.  We stopped into the funeral home to pick up some prayer cards for my Dad that I had printed. There is still more planning to do and more paperwork to take care of-Tom helped me set up a new online payment system for my mom. It seems like it never ends!

Scott was very happy to take a break this weekend. Besides being busy with school, he had his video club and then had to help run the Boy Scout meeting as his new Assistant Sr Patrol Leadership position. And he attended a presentation with Tom on the Eagle Scout process Monday night. The Scout Leader was not too happy that he missed camping with the Troop this weekend for Weebelos Oree. Scott was not sad he missed it. Our temperatures dropped into the chilly 40s with our first frost of the year. There were actually a few snow flakes coming down when I picked up my mom Sunday afternoon! And we broke down and turned on the fireplace. Now that is cold! I did manage to get a few bushes trimmed, leaves raked, summer plants brought inside and Tom cut the grass in between Sunday football games. Time to get ready for another busy week!

We were busy again this past weekend. Scott had a full week of school and was busy with his video game club and his new role as Assistant Sr Patrol Leader for scouts. As his first official job he had Tom come to the scout meeting as a guest speaker. Tom introduced the Engineering badge with an engineering challenge. He asked the boys to build spaghetti towers. Whoever built the highest tower without it collapsing was the winner. I stayed home from the meeting last week so I could finish up my online scout Youth Protection exam. We have to get recertified every 2 years or the troop is not able to register. So much fun. I also had Boy Scout popcorn to deliver to our neighbors as it was sitting in the back of my van. And Scott started his Robotics club meetings last week too. Last year he helped design and build a robot for the Homecoming parade that shot candy out into the crowd along the route. This year we will be missing the High School Homecoming weekend as we are traveling down to Busch Gardens for the HallowScream event.

We also missed Allison's Homecoming this past weekend at Salisbury. We really enjoyed the Family event for the past two years, but Allison was not even going to be at school this year on Saturday. She had a Field Hockey tournament scheduled at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. So instead of not seeing her at school, we decided to see her at the games. I really missed attending the Salisbury Homecoming-the football game, free food, free entertainment, prizes, parade. But it looks like the event was not as extravagant this year(I think they are spending all their funds on the new library and football stadium). However, we did love driving down to Fairfax to watch Allison play two games back to back(both tied games). Their team only played George Mason U as Virginia Tech dropped out. Fortunately it was a sunny but cool day-nice to sit outside and watch Field Hockey. Afterwards we coerced Allison into coming home with us for an overnight. Tom promised to drive her back to school on Sunday. After the games, we grabbed some lunch at a Peruvian BBQ restaurant and then did some supply shopping at Costco before heading home. The kids offered to cook dinner on Saturday night while we watched a net flix movie, Interstellar. Long and preachy.

On Sunday morning, Allison dropped into the hairdresser to get a hair cut before Tom drove her back to school. But not until after I loaded her up with lots of Halloween goodies. As she and Tom headed out of the house, Scott and I were on our way to sell Boy Scout popcorn at Lowes. We had the whole morning to ourselves and managed to make a few bucks before I had to take Scott to work. After dropping him off I headed over to see my mom. I was trying to get her into the hairdresser as well for a wash and set. While she got her hair done I was able to run to the grocery store and pick up some items for dinner. We picked Scott up after work and mom came home with us for dinner. Tom was home in time to grill us some hamburgers and I dropped mom off at her doorstep after dinner before it got too late. I had plenty of time to get back home to catch the season premier of The Walking Dead.

Mom and I spent the  whole day together on Friday too. I still had more paperwork for her to sign that also needed a notary signature. I dropped into our broker's office in the morning to start the paperwork, and he then followed me over to mom's apt. to finish up. Almost there. I then spent a few hours helping mom reorganize her closets and dressers. I still had some of Dad's clothing to pack up.I even started packing up some summer clothes for our upcoming Florida trip in Dec. After running some errands, we stopped into the local diner for lunch. We got home in time to catch Scotty returning from school. We then headed over to the Pick Your Own farm for some apples.  Mom mostly spent her time taste testing the different types of apples while Scott and I ran through the orchard. Apple picking has become a lot easier now since the trees are grown dwarf sized and vine like. They also grow in clumps, so very easy to quickly pick a basket full. I love to pick enough for pies and snacking. Allison got a bag full and so did Mom. We also stopped into the main barn so Scott could pick up a strange looking pumpkin. He picked one out that looks like it is wrapped in peanut shells-very bumpy. And I had to pick up a corn stalk to start my fall and Halloween decorating. Although we do have a few homes in the neighborhood that already finished decorating for Halloween! I just run out of time!

Happy 31st Wedding Anniversary Mark and Linda Seitz! Wow do I remember that wedding! Or actually, do I remember the day after that wedding! What is really amazing is how young Tom looked in the wedding photo and the fact that Mark Seitz had hair!

Congratulations to Scott! On Friday he successfully passed his Drivers Training exam and now he is a licensed driver! In training. So now we have to get out on the road for some actual driving practice. He can't wait. I took him out to the DMV in Frederick on Friday afternoon(in the hurricane)since he was off school so he could take the written exam.

That was after I took the cat in for a yearly check up. And afterwards I had errands to run. But I did not have too much time since I had to get Scott to work that night. He has finally picked up some work hours as the roller rink reopens for the new season. He also went in on Sunday afternoon. He is really enjoying his new job(and making some money). He had a busy weekend and topped it off on Saturday with a trip to Hershey Park with his friends. They had the whole park to themselves as his friend's mom works for NSA and got tickets so it was closed to the public. We thought the park would be closed due to poor weather, but the storm had mostly ended. It was overcast and breezy, but the rain held off. So the kids were able to ride all the coasters and spent time in the video arcade. Tom even traveled up to Hershey in the evening with his friend John to catch a pre season Hershey Bears hockey game. It was open seating, so they enjoyed seats down near the ice. I opted to stay home and get some work done planning my Dad's funeral service and making travel plans. I was also feeling a bit worn out from my flu shot. As well as spending the day with mom Bozyk filling out more paperwork at the bank, sorting out her fall clothes and having lunch at the mall.  Mom and I also enjoyed some ethnic dancers at a local church during their European festival while waiting for Scott to finish up his work session Sunday afternoon.

We weren't sure what we were going to do this past weekend as a hurricane was headed our way. On top of the hurricane, we were hit with a Nor Easter. We had plenty of rain last week(be careful what you wish for). Fortunately, the hurricane missed the east coast, but the rain and wind kept us busy. They cancelled classes at Salisbury on Friday afternoon. Allison was well prepared with candles, food, water and of course, toilet paper.  There is more of a threat for flooding on the eastern shore. I hope our family friends the Dugans made out alright as they were attending an Elder Hostel trip in the same area. Allison was scheduled to travel to PA for a few Field Hockey games on Sunday morning, but the playing fields were flooded out and they cancelled their event.

I also had a scheduled play date on Friday night when I met with the neighborhood ladies for an evening of Bunco(dice game). I did not win, but enjoyed visiting and snacking with new neighbors. So it made for a very busy Friday. And on Weds we attended Scott's Boy Scout Court of Honor. Every quarter they have a small gathering of family and scouts to acknowledge the boy's recent accomplishments, like merit badges or rank advancement. Scott was the only one there from his patrol along with the patrol leader(glad we went!). They always have the fall court of honor outside with a bonfire and it was a bit chilly and very windy this year. Scott will be taking on a bigger leadership role this time as Assistant Senior Patrol Leader(good kudos as he works towards his Eagle rank).


I don't know who enjoyed Comic Con more last week-me or the boys. I was amazed by these two homemade costumes! (And I am proudly wearing my Walking Dead tshirt)

You can't go anywhere in America without running into a sewer cover made in East Jordan Michigan(this one is in downtown Baltimore). The factory is down the lake from my parent's previous house up north. I spotted this one while waiting to cross the street.

Another slow, quiet week in Baltimore(as if). Happy First Day of  Fall by the way. Our weather has certainly changed and the leaves have slowly been changing too. It is much cooler. Tom is happy to finally turn off our air conditioner and open the windows. We could use some more rain however. I want to put in my fall flowers and throw out some grass seed.

But I would have to be home first. I have been busy running around. Happily for a good reason. Tom's brother Mark was able to reserve a few tickets to see the Pope on Thursday when he visited DC from their Indiana Senator. The Pope was speaking to the Congress at the Capitol in DC. My neighbor Gloria and I took Thursday off work to take a train down to the Union Station and walked over to the Capitol building early Thursday morning. After a quick security check, we made our way out onto the front lawn of the Capitol. It was standing room only, but they had big tv screens set up to witness his 1hr  speech(in english) to Congress. Afterwards we were treated with a personal blessing from Pope Francis when he made an appearance onto a balcony out front. What an incredible experience. After his speech, he headed over to have lunch with the homeless at Catholic Charities. We headed over to have lunch at the Indy Senate office. The staff was very pleasant and happy to host us(even though we were not true Indiana residents). We chatted with the intern staff while munching on sandwiches and then made our way back home. The whole experience was quite exciting and moving. Thanks so much Mark for thinking of us! Tom actually had to pick up the tickets at the Senators office the day before and asked if they wouldn't mind our using them instead of Mark and Linda. They did not seem to mind. We would have loved to have spent more time touring the DC area while we were there, but a few of the nearby facilities were closed for security reasons like the Conservatory. Instead we decided to head back. I had a few errands to run at home that evening and with our hassle free train ride back to the car and drive home I still had lots of time to get things done! Not only did I get the grocery shopping done and cut the grass, but I had to stop into the funeral home to pick up my Dad's urn.

On Friday morning I had to stop into the broker's office to fill out some paperwork and pick up some paperwork for my mom to sign for their investments. All the paperwork now has to be in my mom's name. I was also informed that I should stop into the county courthouse to drop off my Dad's Will. I did not realize that the courthouse keeps all Wills. It was supposed to be a quick visit, but I ended up filling out paperwork for about an hour. I still had to go to work for the afternoon since I took off Thursday.

Saturday morning I was up early to see Tom and Scott off on a caving trip. Scott wanted to go crawling through the caves out near Pittsburgh. We all went a few years ago and Scott loved it. Instead of spending time camping, Tom decided to just drive Scott up for the day and drive back. Scott came back filthy-I don't think he left any dirt back in the cave! The boys go on a 3 hour crawl deep in the mountainside. Tom drove Scott back that evening since we all planned on a trip to ComicCon on Sunday. But first, Tom and I attended a backyard wedding for one of his coworkers Saturday evening.

While Tom and Scott were busy caving, I was busy acting as a tour guide for mom's friends, Gerry and Patrick Dugan. We had just seen them in Michigan last weekend, but it was their turn to come visit all of us. They were participating in an Elder Hostel trip to our eastern shore. They drove down from Michigan and decided to spend the night here in Ellicott City to visit with mom and see her apartment. I picked them up and we stopped into see mom's place before all heading out to lunch at the Rusty Scupper in the Baltimore Harbor. We all had a wonderful lunch while I shared a few historical facts about Baltimore. Then we took a quick drive through olde Ellicott City, although it was packed with tourists enjoying the Fall Street Festival complete with a Beer Garden and 80 performing bands on 4 stages(not sure where they put all this since it is a very small town!). But our guests loved their tour. I also stopped them by our house for a quick visit before dropping them back to the hotel. Later that evening they drove over to take mom out for ice cream near her apt. They planned on heading out early Sunday morning. We were just so happy to see them again and catch up on all their grandkids activities. Mrs Dugan reports that she and mom have been friends since they were 10 years old! A 70 year old friendship!

Comic Con at the Baltimore convention center was quite an experience as usual-more like Halloween for adults. Lots of costumes and Scott and Tom had fun digging through shelves and boxes of comic books. Scott wore his usual Sonic outfit and was asked to pose for photos. We also liked shopping for Halloween trinkets for ourselves.

Scott enjoyed a day off of school this week(another jewish holiday). It gave him time to catch up with some boy scout activities. He was able to sign up for an Eagle coach-first step towards completing a project. I hope to have him build some benches for our residents at the nursing home. We could sure use them.

Thank you for the beautiful flowers and memory angel in honor of my father(Susan and John Potts)

 My coworkers also sent a Peace Lily in honor of Dad B.

 Scott harvested a few watermelons from our garden this year!

 Off to see the Pope in DC!

 Early morning at the Capitol

 Pope Francis speaks to Congress on Jumbotron!

 A Blessing from the Pope(dressed in white on upper balcony)

 Best Friends(Carol B and Pat and Gerry Dugan)