We decided since Christmas break was so short this year, at least for Scott and Tom, that we would schedule a mini vacation close to home. And of course we decided to include Mom B. Busch Gardens in Williamsburg has hosted ChristmasTown for many years now and we visited once before with Tom's parents. Last time we went it was very cold. We decided give it another try since they advertised it as "Bigger and Better". And because we have season passes.  So on Monday morning we packed up the van, dropped off the dog and picked up Mom B and headed out. We were in no rush and even considered dropping into the new MGM Casino that opened near DC. However, the traffic was so heavy our 3 hour trip ended up taking 6 hours! We stopped for some shopping and dinner on the way down to take a break.

On Tuesday the weather was actually in the 60s-a bit warm for this time of year. The park did not open until 2pm, so Tom and the kids got some early morning shopping done before we all headed over to the park. They really did a wonderful job on all the lights and the new shows. We enjoyed a mini musical version of Scrooge and a Jazzy, Gospel version of the Nativity. However, they had to cancel the outside ice skating show since it was too warm!  No matter, we had lots of time to walk through the park and take in all the Christmas lights, shop in the German Christmas village and eat way too much food, including Christmas Sampler plates of turkey, ham, brisket, ribs and chicken. Not to mention several different desserts including pumpkin and gingerbread cheesecake, apple strudel and of course decadent chocolate cake! And Allison tried Gluhwein-a warm, German wine in a small tankard.

Looks like it is time to get into the Christmas spirit! How quickly the year flies by and now it is December already. Tom spent most of Thanksgiving weekend putting up Christmas lights on the outside of our house. It was time to take advantage of the good weather. I have been busy putting away all the Thanksgiving/Fall decorations and pulling out the Christmas trimmings. I have also been busy Christmas shopping(when I can). St Nick's Day was just around the corner on Dec 6th. Our family (or I) decided to celebrate St Nick's Day with our Christmas stockings. That way we can get Christmas tshirts, socks, hats, jewelry, treats and ornaments and use them/have them before Christmas is over!

Allison was able to come home for the weekend again! This was a perfect time to hand over her St Nick's Day stocking, as well as the stockings I put together for her roommates. I also asked her to come home so she could attend the neighborhood Bunco Christmas party on Friday night. We usually have a White Elephant gift exchange instead of playing Bunco. Allison really enjoys joining our group and chatting to all the neighborhood ladies(just like her mother!). She was thrilled to pick out an old fashioned popcorn popper for our game-the kind with the crank handle that you put on the stovetop. Sister in law Susan Seitz makes the best popcorn in one of these contraptions and now Allison is excited to be able to do the same with her roommates! They all love popcorn. And I took home a festive set of Christmas candle holders. Overall a Win-Win for both of us. Although cash works too!

I had already started out my Friday with a party. I picked up my Mom early in the morning for a Christmas luncheon at her Sr Center. I was so happy to be able to attend one of her events with her. The program hosted entertainment before lunch-a retired group of singers that put on a program which consisted of songs from the WWII era. My favorite was "They're Either Too Old or Too Young"! Very funny. And the group of singers were very cute! Afterwards we had a catered luncheon from Mission BBQ and cake from a local bakery. I then dropped into the hairdressers for a haircut and for Mom to get a perm. Overall a very busy day.

But we weren't done. On Saturday morning the kids and I got up early to participate in the Jingle Bell Run/Walk which raises money for the Arthritis Foundation. Scott usually runs the event, but I walk. Allison has been nursing a sore knee, so she skipped the running too. So instead we all walked. We were making up for skipping the Turkey Trot this year.  And Cookie joined us! We dressed her up as a present, complete with a bow. But I guess she wasn't as cute as the other dogs and did not win the costume dog contest. But she did enjoy her very long walk around the lake(just like Thanksgiving weekend but with lots more people and dogs). And thankfully not too cold. Afterwards we tried to go out to breakfast at a local diner(I really wanted a big plate of bacon and eggs and hash browns). But all the local breakfast restaurants were packed, so we settled for McDonalds(not the same thing). We needed to get a few things done around the house before getting cleaned up for an evening out. Scott stayed home, but Tom, Allison and I headed into Baltimore for a concert that evening. Tom had purchased tickets for my birthday to see "Straight, No Chaser". The accopella group only puts on one concert a year in Baltimore as they travel all around the US. Apparently they have also branched out to Europe now. They are scheduled to perform in Paris. We have seen the group from Indiana U perform for several years now. They put on a fantastic show singing Pop songs, Christmas songs and songs they make up. All without instruments-just their voices. Last year one of the main singers was out with his wife while she was having a baby. We really missed his talent. This year he returned and the show was fabulous. We decided to introduce Allison to this incredible group. And we invited her boyfriend Taylor along since he enjoys concerts as well. And Straight No Chaser is enjoyable for everyone from little kids to the elderly. We invited Taylor to dinner, however he was out on a mission that involved cats during the day. He recently moved into his own apartment and was adopting two huge, fluffy black cats from his grandmother. Tyler actually rescued the pair as kittens 5 years ago at a local park and his grandmother has been raising them. She recently moved to a nursing home, so Tyler becomes the proud parent. So he had to travel down to his Grandmothers in southern Maryland for the day to pick up the cats and he couldn't make dinner with us. But he did attend the concert, and Allison got to see his new apartment(with cats). The concert by the way was Awesome! And Allison and Tyler are new fans of Straight No Chaser. We also enjoyed our dinner out at a new restaurant in Towson beforehand. It is actually a chain restaurant called BJs Tavern. Tom has eaten at this restaurant before in his travels and we also really enjoyed their food.  We are happy to see they are building the same restaurant in our area. We even got a free cookie and ice cream as first time customers(some of us) which we delivered to Tyler before heading to the symphony hall.

On Sunday I was up early again to participate in the Baltimore Mayor's Christmas Parade through the  historical town of Hampden to sing with the GS choir. I actually dread this parade-it is very long and hilly and usually rather cold. And last year they put a crazy lady in front of us. And this year it was exactly the same!  And they put the same crazy lady in front of us again! Our choir leads the rest of the Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops in the parade. This parade is a bit unconventional. All kinds of crazy groups show up-Roller Derby girls, Big Time Wrestlers riding on toilet seat bikes, and Darth Vader as Santa Claus at the end. And the current Baltimore Mayor did not even show up and neither did the Mayor-Elect. Plus all the bars are open so it is one big street party for the crowds. And I say the crazy lady was in front of us again. She calls herself the Green Angel and she wears a green dress with a white shawl and a halo. And frankly she looks like they picked her up off the streets(poor thing). Her tennis shoes are falling apart and usually untied and her hair is filthy(it's an OT thing). I don't know how she walks the entire parade route, up and down hilly streets. I get worn out! They usually have a parade worker walk with her. Last year she yelled at our group because we sing and it was drowning out her singing too. She had the parade worker carrying a portable microphone and speaker last year and kept holding up the parade to stop and sing to the crowds. The people seem to love her. I guess she has been walking the parade for many years-they even run out in the street to get a selfie with her! This year the parade workers got smart and took away her microphone, but she came over and yelled at our group anyway during the parade.  We just kept singing.  Did I mention she looks homeless and a bit crazy? I am all for her participating in the parade, but I wish they would let her ride on a float!  Away from us! I am hoping next year we consider participating in the Horse and Tractor Christmas parade in Lisbon, MD. We can deal with horse poop in the street-just walk around. It doesn't yell at you! Being a Girl Scout is a tough business. And naturally this year they put us at the end of the parade. So we had to stand around for 2 hours before we even started walking! It was a long day. And there is more to come.

On a personal note, we were saddened to hear of the passing of Tom's Aunt Mary. She was an incredible woman and very sweet to Tom and our family as well. She had been battling Alzheimers for about 10 years now and was residing in a nursing home in Richmond. The funeral was last weekend, and with all our prescheduled plans, we just did not think we could make the 3+ hour trip down and back to Richmond on Saturday, especially having to travel around the DC area. And I am sure we would have loved to have stayed longer to visit with all of Tom's relatives. Tom's parents were able to travel up from Florida and Tom's brother Mark and his wife Linda drove in from Indiana to attend the funeral. I'm glad part of our family was represented.

Meanwhile, Allison had packed up and headed back to school on Sunday afternoon. She was hosting a Frisbee White Elephant party at her condo that evening and needed to get back with her roommates to clean and pick up food for the party. At least she had some time to stop and do some Christmas shopping on the ride home with her roommate. She needed to pick up a dress for her end of the season Frisbee party(a formal affair). She is also starting to study for Finals and finishing up the last of her school projects and tests. Scott was busy at work and also has quite a bit of classwork to wrap up before the end of the year and Christmas break. Quite a busy time of the year!

Happy Thanksgiving! What a wonderful Holiday week. Our weather was beautiful. Allison came home on Tuesday evening. Scott had two half days of school and was off from Weds to Friday. So the whole family had time to spend together. And we certainly filled up our time with lots of activities!  I worked most of the week and Tom took time off. He finished his last class and was glad to have some free time with the kids and with his video games!  He did take Scott out for driving practice to a nearby church to drop off some cookies. Scott earned some NHS volunteer hours for donating cookies to a church sponsored Thanksgiving meal for the homeless. So he was doing a good deed and getting in lots of driving practice around some winding roads through the woods. Scott and Tom also took advantage of the good weather to put up our outside Christmas lights over the weekend before the rain. I see lights are popping up all over the neighborhood, along with a few Christmas trees.

I was sad to see all the Fall/Thanksgiving decorations put away. I think  Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. It brings family together, and it is fun to sit down to a big meal without worrying about the presents. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house for our family, along with my mom, our friend John D., Allison's boyfriend Tyler and his sister. 8 people fit very nicely around our kitchen table. Turns out Tyler's sister did not make it to dinner though since she wasn't feeling well. Maybe we'll catch her again some other time. Tyler would have been with his family except his parents had traveled to New Orleans to celebrate their wedding anniversary. So we were very happy to host and Tyler even baked chocolate chip cookies and made chex mix to go along with  our big dinner as well as contributing a bottle of wine.  I love having all the family helping to cook dinner. Tom was busy roasting our turkey on the grill. Allison and Scott were busy helping in the kitchen with loaded mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, crescent rolls, green salad and fruit salad.  Needless to say we had plenty of food. We had so much food for dinner, none of us had any room for pie! Instead, we enjoyed Tyler's chocolate chip cookies!

Our guests arrived around 2pm. I picked up my mom, and Tyler drove down from his apt. Since the weather was so nice, Tyler, Allison and Scott decided to head out for a hike around the lake at the local park with Cookie. They were busy working up their appetites. We opted out of the local YMCA Turkey Trot in the morning. I decided we would be too busy getting ready for our dinner guests. I made some hot crab dip as an appetizer to keep guests busy while everything was in the oven. The "kids" stayed busy with computer games and we adults caught up with football games. After dinner, Scott asked if we could celebrate his Birthday a few days early since we had so many guests. Scott wanted a pecan pie which he got with a singing birthday candle. However, as I mentioned, we were all stuffed so we just munched on the cookies while he opened his gifts. Scott was very happy with lots of computer gifts and video games. Of course I had to pick up some warm clothes for him, and Tom found some good luck math socks to top off his new wardrobe, along with a couple of Western Michigan shirts. Scott used some of his birthday money to purchase a large hamburger backpack. It's a thing. He needed something to carry all his video gaming equipment to school for his weekly club. We had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed topping it off with Scott's 17th Birthday celebration. I spent the evening putting away all the leftover food, making Seitz casserole(leftover turkey and stuffing with gravy) and relaxing on the couch with chocolate chip cookies! I tried to talk my mom into starting her Christmas cards, but she was too tired. I put her to work in the kitchen as well! Tom gave her a ride home later in the evening.

With Turkey dinner and Birthday dinner out of the way it was time to get down to enjoying a relaxing weekend. On Friday Scott had to work in the afternoon. I ran some shopping errands while waiting for Scott to get off work so we could go see the new JK Rowling movie, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Tom opted out of this movie. We enjoyed our big bucket of popcorn. On Saturday morning, Allison and I were up early to attend the Christmas Tree Festival with my mom. I was singing at the event with my Girl Scout choir. While I was singing, Allison toured my mom around the decorated Christmas trees. All the trees and wreaths have theme decorations, like Mickey Mouse or Maryland theme trees and then they are auctioned off. The proceeds go to the local Children's hospital. After I finished singing I joined Allison and Mom to tour the trees, gingerbread houses and gift vendors. We stopped for lunch and enjoyed a few more Holiday shows on the main stage before heading home. Later that afternoon after Scott got off work, our family went to see the new Disney movie Moana with Tom along this time. We liked the movie, but it was no "Little Mermaid" or "Lion King". At least we got another big bucket of popcorn!

On Sunday I dragged the family off for our Christmas photo. I know that is not how Scott planned to spend his Birthday!   But he was a good sport and we all had fun with our photo session. Afterwards we headed to lunch at BWs(Buffalo Wild Wings) to officially celebrate Scott's birthday. We then headed home to pack up Allison with lots of Turkey leftovers and plenty of snacks to get her through the next few weeks to finals. Meanwhile, we took advantage of the good weather to finish putting up outside Christmas lights and raking leaves! I discovered that not all the leaves blew away. Instead, I found large piles hiding under bushes. I am sure I will have many more bags to fill, but at least we can say we are done cutting the grass!(probably).

On a sad note, we heard from Tom's family that his Aunt Mary passed away on Sunday. Sadly she had been suffering from Alzheimer's for many years, so in some ways it was a blessing. Her funeral will be in Richmond VA next weekend, but we don't think we can fit the trip into our busy schedule.

It was time to get ready for Thanksgiving. I spent the entire weekend before the big day shopping for food! And Birthday gifts for Scott. Both events were quickly arriving. Before hitting all the stores, I took some time out to enjoy some of my birthday funds from Grandma and Grandpa Seitz. For the past several years I have attended the Basket Bingo event sponsored by Mt Hebron High School as a fund raiser for their  After Prom event. My neighbor friend Gloria accompanied me. We had something to celebrate for Gloria-she found another nurse manager position at a local out patient surgery clinic. Thank goodness. We had a wonderful time but sadly did not win a thing-not even a door prize! But I did drag Scott along as a volunteer to earn  hours for his NHS requirements. So Thanks Mom and Dad S for a great Bday gift!

I also managed to take Pickachu in to the vet for her 17 year old check up. She needed a rabies shot(although she never goes outside). However, you never know. We did have a fox in the garage! And I spotted a mouse on our back deck! The wild life is trying to move in!  Picka is still taking medication for her pancreatitis, and she has lost more weight so her fur started to clump. She weighs 6 lbs. The vet tech was able to shave off some large clumps of fur since I could not brush or trim them off myself. So Picka looks better and I think feels better, even though she did not enjoy her vet experience. And she let the vet know it!

I also attended a Boy Scout meeting for retraining on Merit Badge counseling. Scott has one more year of scouts. He has been trying to do the summary report for his Eagle project. Boy Scouts sure require a lot of paperwork! And no rest for the weary as he dove right into his classwork again for the second semester. He did bring home a pretty good report card, and was even chosen for Student of the Month! Congrats Scott. However, we did decide that he needed some extra help with his Honors Math class, so his new tutor started working with him here at the house. Shaun is a math professor from Towson U and also teaches at our local Community College. I think he will be a great help for the upcoming SAT and ACT as well as the next few years of calculus,  especially if we try to get it done before Scott heads off to college.

We all decided we could use a break though and Tom picked up a few tickets to the Saturday night Hershey Bear Hockey game. After Scott got off work, we picked him up along with our good friend John D and drove up to Hershey PA. The day had started off beautifully, warm and sunny. We were walking around in our short sleeve shirts in the morning. By nightfall we were driving through snow and sleet in PA. A huge front came through with a strong wind that blew all the rest of the beautiful fall leaves off the trees. Tom was very happy since he raked all the leaves off our lawn into the street and they all blew away! (Except for the large pile that ended up in our driveway). So now I have less leaves to rake. (as long as another strong wind doesn't blow them all back our way!). We hope  they ended up in some neighbor's yard that could afford to hire a landscape company to pick up all the leaves for them.

So we really enjoyed the hockey game(even though our Hershey Bears lost in overtime). They were playing the number 1 rated IHL team in the league from Wilkes-Barre, PA. So far our favorite teams just keep losing(except for an occasional good win like the Ravens over the Steelers!) And at least our drive home was a lot less snowy.

On Sunday, I picked up my mom in the afternoon as soon as Scott got off work and brought her over for dinner and a movie. We started watching Paddington Bear which was actually quite cute, but Mom decided it was time to head home before we finished.  Since it gets so dark early in the evening, she thinks it is much later and gets worried that no one will be up to let her back in since they lock the front door around 8pm. So we'll have to try and finish watching it on Thanksgiving.

Mom B got an early start on Thanksgiving dinner when she attended the Howard County Senior Holiday luncheon. Each year the Sr Center puts on a huge Thanksgiving luncheon complete with entertainment and small gifts for all the Seniors in Howard County. Usually several hundred people show up. She gets a ride from Neighbor Ride volunteers. This week, the Director that helped found the Ride program 12 years ago picked Mom up. Colleen took time to get a few photos with Mom B and enjoyed chatting about her  school teacher days. We are grateful for the wonderful resources and people that support the programs here in Maryland.

I celebrated my Birthday weekend with a cold! Not a lot of fun, but I still managed to enjoy my special day with the family. I started the celebration with dinner out on Saturday night in downtown Baltimore. We were headed to the Harbor to drop Scott off on a Boy Scout outing. The boys had the opportunity to sleep over on one of our historical ships, The Constellation. The 100+ year old sailing ship was active in the Navy during the Civil War and into WWI and WWII. The boys slept in hammocks down below. Therefore I passed on the experience, although I have enjoyed spending the night with Scott on various other ships in the harbor. Scott reports the experience  felt like a sleepover  in a museum.  But he says his favorite overnight was sleeping on the huge WW transport ship, The Brown also in the Harbor. I enjoyed that outing as well, especially since I had my own cabin that was heated! And the ship really was huge-lots to see.

After dropping Scott off Saturday evening, Tom and I headed to Morton's Steak House for dinner. We had a gift card to use, so we took advantage of the opportunity. I especially loved my Birthday photo and my chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream smoking with dry ice. And dinner was phenomenal too! I was just glad I could taste it through my cold. My Birthday celebration continued on Sunday, my actual Birthday. We had an early pick up time for Scott Sunday morning. After loading him and his gear into the car, we stopped into a new, local restaurant for brunch. I found the Iron Rooster online in a newly developed portion of the city along the harbor. The area continues to grow and develop, especially around the upcoming new headquarters for Under Armour. We were very impressed with the food at the small restaurant. They are known for breakfast all day and chicken and waffles. Scott tried the burger on waffles, Tom opted for the breakfast burrito and I stuck with Eggs Benedict on biscuits with chicken tenders. I must say it was quite tasty. We then headed over to the movie theater to catch Dr Strange. I was not really excited about seeing this super hero film, but it turns out I really liked it. And it was an excuse to bring home a big bucket of popcorn! We then stopped into Costco to pick up a big chocolate birthday cake, grabbed some chinese food and my mom and enjoyed dinner at our house with cake and presents afterwards along with Sunday night football. Overall a very enjoyable Birthday! And I am just glad I could still walk last week after the 6 mile hike across the Bay Bridge the weekend before.

Scott had a little break from school work after finishing up his first semester. He had two days off at the end of the term, however he had to work on Monday. And Tuesday was election day. What an interesting day that turned out to be. I was up late that night watching the election results, and so were most of our neighbors and coworkers. Even the students. It was certainly interesting and I know we were all very surprised to see Trump take the presidency(and all very tired the next day). Tom and I had voted early with no real problem. Allison put in an absentee ballot. I tried to take my mom out to early voting on the last day and there was a 1.5 hr wait. Forget it. I decided to try and take her to vote on election day and we were able to walk right in-no waiting. I think she enjoyed the experience and the quick outing with me on a Tuesday night. Although she already had a busy day  as I sent her off to Bob Evans for a luncheon with the Sr Center. Even mom was surprised to hear that Trump won. Who knew.

Scott was also busy putting on a Video Game Club fundraiser on Friday night before heading to work. He decided to use the hours towards his volunteer time for the National Honor Society. He has to complete 24 hrs of volunteer work this year to stay in the program, along with keeping up his GPA. So far his two favorite classes are his Engineering programs. He is busy learning about circuit boards and working on the Robotics program. And they are making sandwich cutters in the 3D printers. Thank goodness for engineers!

Allison has transitioned from her Field Hockey program to Ultimate Frisbee. She finished off her Field Hockey season with a small get together at a local bar after spending the day on an outing to Yorktown Virginia. Her roommate was on a historic Field Trip and invited Allison along to a visit to the new pre Revolutionary War museum. We have visited the area before since it is near Jamestown, Williamsburg and Busch Gardens. The girls report the museum is still in development, but they enjoyed their beautiful day out on the James River, having lunch at a local Tavern. The girls then spent the rest of their weekend at Towson University playing Ultimate Frisbee games. They slept over at one of the team players houses and went out to dinner. We opted to skip the visit to the Frisbee games even though Allison was in town. It was a bit too chilly to sit out and watch frisbee, especially with colds. Sounds like the team had lots of support however from other dedicated parents who brought lots of food for the girls.

Cannot believe we are in November already! Scott was off school on Halloween Monday and busy wrapping up his first semester with lots of tests and projects for the rest of the week. He attended Boy Scouts on Weds night to assist with an Open House event. His group was busy reviewing Knots with Cub Scouts. The Boy Scout Troops always host Open Houses to attract bridging Cub Scouts to join. They usually host a number of activity stations such as pitching tents, knots, dutch oven cooking, a craft and a game. This year the Troop added dart blowing to their list of activities!  Scott was also busy on the weekend with his work schedule, but he took time off to attend a Hershey Hockey Game with Tom and Allison.

I invited Allison home for the weekend. She had just finished her midterms and had a little break. We decided to travel down to Uof Maryland to watch the Women's Big Ten Field Hockey Tournament. Games were scheduled on Friday afternoon, so Allison was free with no classes that day. She drove from Salisbury and met me at Bobby Flays at College Park for a hamburger lunch before the games. We had a great lunch and then drove 1 car onto campus to the Field Hockey tourney. We arrived just as Uof Michigan took the field against Penn State. What an exciting game and a beautiful day to sit out in the very warm sun. We actually were getting sun burned! Good thing we wore short sleeve shirts. I had my MSU shirt and Allison was in her Salisbury Field Hockey shirt. There were lots of Michigan fans present, but unfortunately their tailgate party was a sad one as they lost to Penn State in the last few minutes of the game 1-0. Allison and I really enjoyed watching the girls play and Allison picked up a Big 10 Field Hockey tshirt on the way out. We decided not to wait for the next game which started around 4pm. The following Final games were scheduled for Sunday, but we had other plans so did not make that day. Turns out Penn State won the entire Tournament. We decided to head out Friday afternoon to try and miss some of the evening rush hour traffic back home. Scott was on his way to work, and Allison and I were headed out again to the monthly Bunco neighborhood event Friday evening. We packed up some appetizers and headed over to our neighbor's house. I always enjoy chatting with the neighbor girls-catching up on their activities and even doing a bit of networking. I was trying to hook up my neighbor Gloria, the nurse manager. Again she is out of a job when her new workplace decided not to give her the salary they originally promised and she quit. We were speaking to one of the guests, a local physician with a private practice to see if she had any job connections. Always good to ask. And the ladies enjoyed catching up with Allison and all of her activities. Most of us have kids in college, so it is nice to get their perspective on campus life, education and job hunting.  I was also busy shopping for a tutor for Scott's Honors math class. Scott was doing well until the last two big exams given right before the end of the semester that pulled his grade down. We tried to schedule a high school tutor for him right before the final test, but had difficulty with reliability on the two students selected for him. And my neighbor that teaches math at the local colleges did not feel comfortable getting involved with someone she knows too well. I tried to recruit her at the Bunco party.  So we will keep looking. Anyway, Allison and I also enjoyed our Bunco game, especially since I won!

I really needed a pick me up. I was not having much luck lately. Did you ever have one of those weeks where everything goes wrong? Over the last few weeks our Keurig coffee maker died, so Tom picked up a brand new one that also died. It looked like a coffee maker graveyard in the kitchen. We finally got one working again, (I need my coffee in the morning!) My dryer was acting up-I cleaned out the air ducts just in case and it is working again(thank goodness). My car alarms were going off-low air in the tires, noisy air filters, front power seat not working, interior lights not working. Fortunately turns out nothing serious or expensive. Even Allison had issues with her car-low air in the tire, and I found a nick in her front window that Tom was able to fix. Our trip to Uof Maryland was interesting. We got stuck on a parking curb with Allison's low riding car, we got stuck with a parking ticket at the Tournament and had to stop into the Campus Police station to fight it(worth the fight since it is $175!). Fortunately they dropped it down to $15.00. And it is not fun driving around the Uof Maryland campus.  I also left my credit card at Bobby Flays. The girl that took our order forgot to give it back to me when we were talking about parking on campus! So I had to drop into the bank on Saturday to pick up a new card. Annoying. At least the weekend turned out well after all.

Scott, Tom and Allison headed off on Saturday evening to see a Hershey Hockey game. They had club seats and all enjoyed the Bears winning game. I decided to hang back. I thought I needed the rest since I had an early morning on Sunday. I decided to participate in the 10K walk/run across our Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I have always wanted to walk across the Mackinac bridge but never had the opportunity. I was so surprised to hear my best buddy, Laura from Michigan recently walked the Mackinac Bridge. Great minds think alike. I decided before my next Bday that I would walk across the bridge. I joined a few fellow therapists and we headed out early Sunday morning to the Navy Stadium in Annapolis. We were shuttled over to the Northrop Grumman facility on the western side of the bridge where we were separated into large groups or waves. Since we arrived early we headed out before our scheduled time. The walk was 6 miles and my feet were pretty tired by the time we crossed the finish line. We got an amazing medal, our tshirts and some free snacks(sadly no free beer or food). We made the crossing in 2 hrs. A few of the other therapists actually ran across the bridge and then got stuck on the bus ride back for 2 hrs. The rest of us took a quick ride back across the bridge and stopped into the Macaroni Grill for lunch. We were starving! I couldn't talk Allison into trying the walk, but she can always sign up before her 53rd Bday! I am done.

Happy Halloween! We have been celebrating the entire month of October. Scott decided to invite a few friends over for a small party on Friday night. He just had a few friends over which made it easy to entertain. Scott  set up scary movies outside with our projector and they also played video games outside on the big screen. Beforehand we spent lots of time decorating inside and out. The weather was pleasant on Halloween weekend, but we set up our bonfire in the driveway just in case it cooled off in the evening. I bought the kids lots of Halloween snacks and treats, including the fixins for s'mores. The problem was, the kids did not want to spend time around the campfire when they could be playing games or watching movies. Next year we will have to  move the screen over to the garage door so you can watch movies and enjoy a bonfire at the same time!

 Scott was also invited to a Halloween Party on Saturday night and they enjoyed a bonfire while playing games and singing songs. Before the bonfire though, the hostess planned a Murder Mystery game for the whole group. They had to search for clues in the woods behind the house, and then solve a mystery. Plus they all dressed up in costumes and they served dinner to all the kids. They had a great time. And Scott enjoyed another opportunity to dress up as Dr Who. He also wore his costume to the Boy Scout meeting the week before, and dressed as Dr Who for the Homecoming week. He and Tom have discovered the wonders of the BBC Dr Who show and usually watch a recorded session before heading out to school early in the morning. He also got to wear part of his costume to work at the roller blade rink. However, the rink was a bit slow over the Halloween weekend. I think everyone was out enjoying the beautiful weather.

I  decided to have the neighbors over for a dinner party. We skipped the whole Halloween theme party this year and went with an Ocktoberfest theme instead. Its just that there were not as many guests available this year. Most of our neighbors were out of town, so it was a small group. Still more people than showed up at our house for a Walking Dead premiere. That was a Sunday night, so it made it difficult for people to drop in. I had to sit and watch the terrible premier of my favorite show all by myself(one of the main characters was killed and it wasn't pretty). So I invited neighbors over for pork and brats with homemade sauerkraut for dinner. And apple pie for dessert! Before the party I picked up my mom and left her at the beauty salon to get her hair done while I ran a few more errands before heading to our house for dinner. She seemed to enjoy the meal and the company and so did the rest of the guests.

On Halloween Monday the kids were out of school. Scott had to work at the roller blade rink which meant Tom and I had to take turns dropping off and picking up from work. He decided to spend his evening passing out candy and playing video games online with his friends.  When he got home from work we were busy setting up for the trick or treaters(turning on lights and setting up scary music and carving his pumpkin). It made for an entertaining Halloween experience. As one trick or treater reported "I Love Your Stuff!". And it seemed to work. We had 150-200 kids at our house! We kept count by passing out large candy bars we bought on sale at Costco. Kids usually came in large groups-10-12 kids at a time. We kept busy running to the door from 6-830pm that night. And since it was so nice outside, I decided to dress Cookie up in her Hot Dog costume and take her for a walk around the neighborhood to check out all the costumes and decorations. Cookie just loves being out with all the kids, and they all have to stop and pet "The Hot Dog"! I also stopped in for a drink with our neighbors. They put out a 6 foot, sound activated Frankenstein on their front porch that moved his arms and his eyes and bolts lit up. Very cool. They dressed their dog in a Taco suit! It was funny to see a Hot Dog and Taco running around the house. We didn't have a lot of leftover candy, but my co workers are always happy to help us finish up the leftovers.

Allison also had a chance to celebrate Halloween at school. She and her roommates carved pumpkins and made pumpkin cookies. She then convinced her boyfriend Tyler to visit and she and her roommate double dated to a Haunted House. Allison is actually the only one who really enjoys the experience. We introduced her to a Boy Scout run event in Delaware when she started college. The Cemetery House takes you over to an old abandoned house via Hay Ride. You walk through the fields, an old bus and then make your way through several out buildings until you walk through the main house. Lots of scary people in masks, lights, smoke and noise which can be very annoying, scary and fun. The group got the whole experience! During the day they enjoyed an outing to the local Salisbury Zoo for a round of Pokemon Go. Looks like they had a wonderful fall weekend.

So Allison was disappointed that she did not get to visit HallowScream at Busch Gardens. Tom was off work last Friday, so he offered to drive back to Salisbury and pick up Allison and head down to Busch Gardens so she could experience the Haunted Mazes. They arrived late in the afternoon, but had plenty of time to get dinner(more pumpkin cheesecake) and go on a few rides. It was quite rainy on Friday which helped thin out the crowds in the park. At least they were able to get in this time! And they had plenty of time to visit all 7 scary mazes before the park closed. They did have to pick up dry clothes though since it rained quite a bit while they were standing in line and they got soaked. But they both had a great time. Scott was a bit jealous, but he had to go to school and work. So did I.

I switched my day off work to help out another therapist with her schedule. So I took Monday off. Which made for a nice 4 day weekend. I did my usual Friday stuff(on Monday) -errands and swim class, but then I headed over to my mom's place to participate in a painting class with her. We had a great time spending a few hours painting a Georgia OKeefe Fall Landscape. I did not know Georgia O did landscapes. Apparently in her early years. I sat with my Happy Hour glass of wine and painted with Mom. It was a great afternoon.

Mom Bozyk's Masterpiece

But I had to get going since Scott had his NHS Induction Ceremony that evening. We decided not to drag mom along since the ceremony can run a bit long. There are several 100 kids that get into the National Honor Society(that is good). The kids need good grades and have to be very involved in extra curricular activities like sports, clubs, church and scouts. And Scott was at the end of the presentation since it went alphabetically. I was just surprised they did not mention his Scouting info, or Robotics since they mentioned it with most other kids. They did announce that he was the President of the Video Game club though. When Allison was inducted they had the kids light candles. Allison came close to be being burned as the kids held their candles while being squished on the stage. They opted out of candles this time. We celebrated afterwards with Sonic milkshakes. Now Scott has to keep track of his volunteer hours which is mandatory for the NHS as well as keep up his grades. He certainly has been working hard at his school work, volunteer work and his boy scouts.

Same with Allison. She just finished her midterms(very successfully) and she is already looking at registering for classes next semester. Not to mention registering for graduation next Spring! Where does the time go. She also wrapped up her Field Hockey season with a few wins. The team opted out of the season tournaments. It always lands on Halloween weekend and the girls had other plans. Looks like they had a rough ending though-their opposing team lost the goalie when a baseball hit her in the head at the field! Their game was scheduled next to the baseball field apparently, and while the visiting team was waiting to start playing, a stray ball hit their goalie in the head! Allison filled in as goalie for the opposing team for the first game, and then the other team played without a goalie during the second game. What a crazy way to end the season. Although the whole season had been a bit off. But she loves it. And now she can concentrate on playing Ultimate Frisbee.

Tom and Allison spent Friday night in Williamsburg and headed back to Salisbury Saturday in the morning. Tom got home Saturday night in time for us to throw on some warm MSU clothes and head over to the University of Maryland to catch the MSU/Uof Maryland game. I asked Tom to take me to the first game of Maryland's Big Ten debut two years ago and had a great time. This time, Tom opted to get tickets up on the 3rd tier to see more of the field. So I felt like we were out of the MSU Fan Zone, but maybe that was a good thing since MSU lost to Maryland! The MSU players are huge, but the little Maryland Terrapins ran circles around the MSU defense. And MSU just did not have a quarterback-every pass was dropped or intercepted. At least Maryland is a good host. There was big discussion about both teams on the bus ride back to the train station.  And since we live in Maryland, it always seems like a Win-Win situation no matter who wins the game for us.We are happy to see Uof Maryland doing well. Kevin Plank, President of Under Armour is busy investing in the school and adding a Sports Medicine program at the University. Half of the campus was tore up with new buildings. They also want to do more studies on the effects of concussions on sports players(ie visiting Field Hockey goalie at Salisbury). Kevin Plank graduated from Uof Maryland and decided to come up with more comfortable sports clothing during his student days at Uof Maryland while playing on the football team. He thought the cotton tshirts did nothing for him while sweating on the field, so he looked for a synthetic material. Hence, Under Armour was born and they are busy expanding here in Baltimore, currently building a big complex downtown in the Harbor. Lately our sports teams have not been doing well, from MSU to the Ravens to the Orioles who did not make it to the World Series. We had another cold football night game watching MSU lose but we kept warm with lots of hot chocolate(although they started selling alcohol at the college stadiums to try and cut down the binge tailgate parties). It was a bit too chilly for beer.  Hopefully we will have a better Hockey season!

Hope Matt Draper, Stacey's husband enjoyed his Birthday celebration this past week!

Uof Maryland Football Field
Uof Maryland vs MSU

Scott at NHS Induction Ceremony

Hey guys-Thought I would give you an update on Mom B. I just had her over to our house for chili dinner with cornbread muffins. I made some turkey chili with limited spice and put it over spaghetti noodles so it was not so rough on her stomach. Tom and Scott on the other hand dumped in lots of hot sauce and chili peppers and burned off their tongues!

I chatted via email to Mike a few times lately as there seemed to be a change in mom's behavior. Not for the better. Lately she has been saying that "Her Dad is coming to get her, that she spoke to him and she needs to go to Michigan. Her Mother is sick and she needs to go back to Michigan to help him out". Unfortunately people with dementia often speak of their Mom and Dad. Mainly because they lose the concept of time and often think they are younger and still have their parents. However, sometimes I am not sure if Mom B is actually talking about her Dad or her Husband. Hard to say. Anyway, she seemed more flustered lately, asking me to take her out of that "Rat Hole". She even walked to the front door one evening when I stopped in to visit after work, wanting to leave with me.

She got mad that I would not take her home to our house. But she calmed down pretty quickly. Anyway, Mike and I have been chatting about this newish behavior. (She was pretty upset when she lived at Regent St with Dad, demanding to leave). I spoke to the Head Nurse at Sunrise. I thought Mom appeared more anxious than usual. Not necessarily having more memory problems. Mike had inquired about medication for memory loss. There really isn't any cure yet for memory loss. Mom is on a patch for memory, but obviously it is not a quick fix. Instead, the nurse noted that mom has an order for medication for increased anxiety, and we decided to get her back on it. It may take some time to kick in, but I think she can use it. May be that since a year has gone by since Dad has died, she is feeling something is missing.

She has called a few times, and when I spoke to her she said there was something wrong, but she just couldn't figure out what it was, or why she felt afraid. So anxiety as a medical diagnosis can do that to a person. Make them more upset, agitated and frustrated and it is worse with dementia. I hope the medication helps.

In the meantime, I stopped in last Monday as I had to switch my days off. I joined mom at Sunrise for a painting event. We had a good time. We painted a Georgia OKeefe fall landscape. I did not know Georgia O did landscapes. Apparently in her earlier years. I also found out that Mom had gone to the local Pumpkin patch with the residents on an outing the week before, besides her weekly trip to the Sr Center. I think it is good to keep her busy and keep her mind off things she can't control.

Allison was in the middle of her midterms last week and requested a trip to Busch Gardens. She also wanted to enjoy the HallowScream Event-lots of spooky mazes to walk through at night.  She couldn't talk any of her friends into joining her(not fans of spooky stuff).  She was also looking for some pumpkin cheesecake. Tom, Scott and I had attended the opening weekend in September and had a great time. We were up for another visit. We drove to Salisbury last Saturday morning. Tom had gotten in late Friday night/early Saturday morning from a business trip to Chicago. His plane was delayed, so we got off a little later Saturday. But in time for a quick lunch with Allison in Salisbury. I also dropped off some Halloween treats for her and her roommates.

We arrived at Busch Gardens about an hour before all the Halloween events opened. Tom even let Scott get in some driving experience down the eastern shore. Scott also discovered the wonders of traffic jams. We sat outside Busch Gardens at the gate waiting to get in, but Allison heard through social media that the event was already sold out and the park was filled to capacity. We have season tickets, so we were not out any money, but we were out of opportunity.  We had to regroup. Allison found a substitute goalie for her Sunday afternoon Field Hockey games. We were going to drive back and watch her play. Instead, we headed to dinner Saturday night at our favorite chinese buffet and then the hotel for a pay for view movie. Tom was pretty much done for the night. The kids and I scared ourselves with The Conjuring 2 from Netflix. We decided to head back to Busch Gardens on Sunday morning. Even though the HallowScream mazes were closed, we figured we could get our fill of rides, decorations and Halloween shows(and pumpkin cheesecake for Allison). We had a great time running around the park with limited crowds. And we decided to try something new. They set up Escape Rooms in which you have to solve a brain puzzle to get out. We had 30 mins to solve the puzzle. I joined the kids for the challenge. Our theme involved assembling a puppet. We had a live actor in the room with us(crazy dollmaker) giving us verbal cues. We quickly figured out that we had to assemble a puppet, but there were lots of pieces all over the room. We kept assembling dolls and the actor kept taking away the pieces-until we found the pieces with clues attached. Ahha! We actually managed to locate all the pieces-body, legs, head and arms, but could not figure out the last clue-how to get out-when we ran our of time. We needed to place the puppet into his trunk(your'e kidding). We kept placing the puppet on the stage as the last clue described participating in the Final Show. Oh well. I thought we did a pretty good job considering you had to turn wheels to open hidden drawers revealing clues and doll parts, and we even found doll parts in the curtains and behind picture frames placed in the wall. The team reports it is 50/50 on who solves it and who does not. No matter, it was a fun experience to enjoy with the kids.

We did not stay in the park too late since we had a long drive back. It takes about 5.5 hrs from home to Busch Gardens via Salisbury. So we dropped Allison back off at school after going out to lunch, and then drove back home. We got back early enough for Scott and Tom to work on their homework. Tom is busy working on his online class. Scott is always just busy. His Video Game Club is up and running this semester. He is on a short break from Robotics before they get building for next year's competition. He did have another jewish holiday off from school, but was scheduled to work instead. And since Tom was in Chicago, it was up to me to leave work and get him to and from work. Fortunately it had been a slow week at work, so I was able to go home after picking up Scott after his shift.  And we are still busy with Boy Scouts each week. Scott is currently his Patrol Leader, so he just has to keep his group informed on any upcoming events that they want to participate in but it is getting harder for the high school aged boys to balance all their activities.  And for us parents to try and keep up!

Enjoying Halloween at Busch Gardens!

 We attempted to put in a garden this year, but it was mostly eaten by the rabbits and deer and squirrels! Last year we tried to grow watermelons and 1 rouge plant came up and gave us this tasty treat this year!