Spring is definitely in the air!  Mostly in the form of rain. It just won't quit. We were going for a record of the most consecutive days of precipitation, but then we had a small break. Small. Still not enough time to really get out and do serious yard work. I still have half a pile of mulch in the driveway. And the bushes are growing so fast, they really need trimmed before we put down any more mulch. At least my grass patch has taken off in the front yard.

So has the wildlife. We have a new baby bunny in the backyard. And my bluebirds returned, made a nest in their box, laid eggs, hatched a few baby birds and they have already left the nest. And then they started all over again. As soon as I cleaned out the box, they were busy at it again. I keep them happy with a bird feeder full of meal worms. It is fun to have them in the backyard.

And there were plenty of outdoor activities scheduled on the weekend. Not much fun in the rain though. I wanted to attend the Wine in the Woods event on Sat and Sun. I would have loved to sign up as a volunteer. You only have to work 4 hrs and then you get a free tshirt and tickets to enter and taste wine for free on the following day. We used to go when it was a smaller and cheaper event. Mostly to picnic and listen to the different bands playing while drinking our own good wine that we smuggled in while the kids ran around blowing bubbles with their bubble guns(sound familiar Mark?). Tom really hates Maryland wine though(tastes like fruit juice). So he had no interest in going  and working the event, and I could not talk anyone else into joining me. No one wanted to volunteer. And my friend Gloria who would have gone with me was still working out in San Francisco on a nursing job, so I had to pass. Not so bad though since it poured for 2 days. Then there was the Preakness Horse Race on Saturday. Another muddy mess with alcohol. And sadly the Kentucky Derby winner, Nyquist, did not like the mud either and he lost the race. Exxagerator won and now is off to Belmont, NY. Everyone was hoping for another American Pharoah, the winner of the Triple Crown last year. I did not realize that they host multiple horse races during the day leading up to the big event. 2 horses actually died earlier in the day-1 horse had just won its race, took a photo and keeled over from a heart attack! Another horse broke its leg and had to be put down. Rather intense. There was also the Hot Air Balloon Festival at which Scott's Boy Scout Troop volunteers to work in celebration of the Preakness weekend kick off. Scott and I have helped out for the past couple of years assisting with handling the balloons and folding and unfolding them. Unfortunately, Scott already had several other events and work scheduled during the volunteer hours, so we did not attend this year.

Our family has all been pretty busy lately. Allison is happy to be home and decided to do a major room clean out. More stuff for me to sort through. She was pleased with her grades, As and Bs from Spring semester. And before she headed home from school she took part in a campus wide convocation honoring all the students with high grades and awards including her induction into Business School NHS. She was also glad to hear that her upcoming summer internship was officially approved for her class requirement. Now she just has to meet with her boss, Jeannette, to set up her summer work schedule. In the meantime, she is enjoying her time off and we are enjoying having her home.

I especially enjoy having Allison around. Not just for her lovely company, but she certainly comes in handy for all those extra errands. She has been so helpful in running Scott around to some of his appointments, like the dentist or guitar lessons, boy scouts. She even cooks and cleans! I think I will keep her!

Tom is also happy to be done with his last class. He's thinking of taking the summer off so he can start working on writing a paper for his last professor. He was asked to contribute a chapter to the professor's book. I don't think it pays anything, but kinda cool to have your name published!

Scott in the meantime is busy trying to keep his head above water as the school year winds down. He finished standardized testing, only to start preparing for High School Assessments. He will take a government and biology test and probably an english test too before the year is over.  He is also trying to finish up end of the year projects. He built a crazy marble sorter in Engineering class and he has finished all his readings in English,  ending with Animal Farm and now the class is busy working on writing their own graphic novel as the next assignment. He loves that.  We also enjoyed attending his end of the year Robotics dinner at the school. Last year we were all invited to one of the coach's house. We ordered pizza, brought cookies and watched the 'kids' run around the backyard. It was very nice. This year they reserved the high school cafeteria, ordered lasagna and we brought cookies. They also passed out certificates, introduced the kids and their roles on the team and then brought out the robot so we could see it in action. The Robotics team also plans on running a summer Robotics camp at the high school which Scott was interested in, but it looks like they will be having it when he is off to boy scout camp. He is also looking forward to summer boy scout camp in July and plans on taking Horse back riding and driving around on an ATV.  He said he thinks his butt is going to be very sore!

Last weekend Scott was scheduled to work quite a few hours as well. On Sunday, the weather was wet and cold, and Allison asked if we could join Scott at the roller rink and skate while he was working. I haven't been on my blades for over 2 years, even though I help out with the GS roller rink event every year. I used to have time to skate. Not so much anymore. I was surprised to find out that my old blades are a bit too small. I've only had them for 20 yrs! I bought them before Allison was born and used to wear them playing roller blade hockey in LA with Tom and the neighbor guys. So Scott rented me some bigger skates and my feet were happy. After our skating session, we picked up Mom B and brought her home for dinner. Allison treated us to her recipe for salmon. Mom B especially loved the fresh corn on the cob.

Since the weekend was mostly cold and wet, Tom decided it was a good time for Scott to start his Eagle project.  Scott had Friday off for a teacher instruction day, so Tom decided to take Scott to Home Depot to buy wood and screws to try building a prototype of the handicap accessible gardening planters for my nursing home. The project has not yet been officially approved, but our Activity director at work was desperate to have something to transplant her strawberry plants. The old planters were falling apart. Tom figured even if the project did not get approved, it would still be a nice donation. And they need to make a prototype anyhow to test it out and finalize the cost. So they spent Friday shopping for supplies and all day Saturday out in the rain building the planter. It turned out very nice and on Sunday morning Tom loaded it onto the back of his car on a rack and we took it to my nursing home. We had to drag it through the hall and out the back door where we transplanted the strawberry plants into the new planter. It was a very muddy job. We cleaned up a portion of the patio and moved the old, rotten planters out of the way. So far it looks and works great for wheelchairs. Now Scott just needs to have his project approved by council. Tom hopes he can be done by the fall. He still needs to do some fundraising and have some scouts help him with the build for supervision purposes. I think Scott was just excited to start something. Tom too. And much more interesting than building benches like the other scouts  have been lately.

Tom and I are also interested in a bit of remodeling at our house. We would like to have our Master bathroom remodeled. We have been wanting to pull out the old garden tub and put in a large, walk in, tiled shower. I contacted a company and one of the reps came out during the week to give us an estimate. We liked what he had to say, but plan on contacting a few more companies to get some competitive prices.  I also dragged Tom off to an Estate planning meeting at a local Assisted Living Facility near my mom's place during the week. I thought Tom needed to listen to all the financial recommendations I have been looking over since taking over my parent's finances. I also thought I might learn something new. Not really. But we enjoyed a nice dinner from Mission BBQ. And Tom and I opted for a tour of the Assisted Living Facility to compare for my mom. We decided we like the place she is in now. Her place seems more friendly and family oriented. This other facility was quite big and had a lot of amenities, like a built in movie theater, it's own medical center where mom's doctor is located, an attached nursing home and larger apartments. But I still like the warm, friendly feeling at her Sunrise apt. I think she would get lost in this other place. Mostly I just wanted Tom to start thinking about getting a will, advance directives and estate planning in place for our family. Especially since Allison will be turning 21 this summer! 21!


Scott with his prototype handicap accessible garden planters at my workplace.

Looks like the one thing my mom and I did manage to give each other for Mother's Day were colds! The weather here did not seem to be helping. We just kept getting rain. It was  hard to get outside and do yardwork and put down the mulch. I kept having to cover it so the pile did not wash away down the driveway!

And since the weather has been so damp, I have had more time to spend working indoors. I did manage to squeeze in a small garage sale a few weekends ago and sell off some of the kid's books and clothes/shoes they have outgrown. Plus I have had some time to start reorganizing the basement and spare bedroom. I took a break last Saturday and attended a Caregiver Support group event at the local community center. I received an invite to spend the day participating in free,  relaxing activities including  breakfast and lunch, a painting class with Mocktails(non alcoholic drinks while we painted with sponges, Qtips and toothbrushes), an aromatherapy class, a foot and hand massage(reflexology) as well as a doodling class called ZenTangle. Needless to say it was a very enjoyable program put on by our county employees that service the Seniors. I even took home some potted flowers. The painting teacher recognized me as Mom B's daughter since she sees her during Art Therapy class at the Sr Center every week.  I am looking forward to attending the same event held again in the fall.

I was also busy running Scott around to work. He barely had time to get all  his homework and studying done last weekend. He had to put on a Video Game Club Fundraiser last Friday right after school, and then participate in the final Spring Choir Event. It made for a very long day-from 7am to 9pm. He didn't even have time to come home for dinner. He just ordered a pizza with his friend Tori since she also assists Scott with the Video Club.  After dropping off his supplies for the Video tournament, I managed to pick up my mom and take her to the salon for a wash and set. Afterwards, Tom and I took her to dinner and then enjoyed Scott's final concert. The kids did a great job singing the music from Grease as well as a few formal pieces. Scott is just happy to be done with choir. I was hoping he would have been interested in traveling to New York to see The Phantom this Spring since the trip to Chicago was cancelled, or even traveling to Europe this summer to participate in performances in Italy, including one at the Vatican. But it is not his thing. He is just content right now to continue with his guitar lessons. He has also been busy taking standardized tests at school which are annoying since he is pulled out of his regular classes to take the tests. Besides the standardized tests, he is also trying to keep up with his regular classes and working on a write up for his Boy Scout Eagle project. He wants to make wheelchair accessible planters for my nursing home. He has already met with our Activity Director who is very excited about the idea.

He has also been busy working each weekend at the Roller rink. We all took a break and enjoyed dinner with our friends, Beth and Barry at their house on Sunday night. Even Mom Bozyk was invited along as well as Cookie! It was nice to catch up with many of our other friends/neighbors in attendance. Even Allison made it home from school just in time for dinner. She was so excited to finish up her finals on Friday the 13th!  And we are so happy to have her home. And our friend Gloria returned from a traveling nursing job in San Francisco. She is happy to have taken a permanent position near DC.

My calendar is quickly filling up for the summer and it isn't even here yet! Kathleen

Spring Concert/Scott's Last Performance

Painting class/Art Therapy

Hope you all had a Happy Mother's Day. And Happy Birthday to Mark Seitz! Ride any saddles?  And Happy Birthday wishes to my best friend, Laura H. I hope your mom is doing better and returns home soon.

Mom B enjoys a plate of Scott's chocolate spaghetti for dessert on Mother's Day!

I always think of Mother's Day as more work for me! Tom thought about going out for Sunday Brunch(on Friday). Pretty much everything was booked up, or no buffet brunch. We thought about going to the zoo-taking my mom so she could use her scooter. Scott had to study for tests and the zoo closed early on Sunday. I thought about taking my mom to a movie, but it was just too nice outside, and our family went to the movies last Friday. I thought about a picnic at our local vineyard, but again, Scott had to study. And I did not feel like packing a picnic lunch. And I tried to get tickets to a Mother's Day tea with a tour of a historic home, but again, that sold out months ago. And Allison would have loved to come home or have us visit her in Salisbury, but she is also busy studying, wrapping up her finals. Instead, she skyped me Saturday night so we had a nice, long chat.

So we opted to stay home and have a nice dinner after I picked up my mom (and her laundry). I chose the menu(mainly since I did the grocery shopping). We went out to eat for Easter brunch, so I thought we could use an Easter type meal at home: Ham and cheesy potatoes. Tom made the broccoli/cauliflower salad. Scott made the dessert. Chocolate spaghetti! I also taught him how to make cheesy potatoes. So we had a nice, quiet dinner and then Mom and I took Cookie for a walk. I walked, Cookie walked and Mom B scootered through the neighborhood. I then dropped her back off to her place.

 Scott had wanted to try a new food item-chocolate spaghetti which we picked up at a specialty store in Old Ellicott City on Friday night. We decided to catch an early movie to see Captain America: Civil War. I thought it was a very similar story line to the Batman/Superman movie. But the Tony Starks character is always fun, and we enjoyed Spiderman's guest visit. We then decided to go to dinner in Old Ellicott City. Scott's food experiment turned out quite well as the chocolate sphaghetti came with a recipe for raspberry creme sauce. It made it taste like a rich, chocolate mousse. Very tasty.

On Friday night I had wanted to stop into the small church, St Pauls, for our neighbor's son's confirmation. We weren't exactly dressed for church, and turns out, there was standing room only. Even for the close family members. I am so glad Scott had his confirmation this time last year in our big church. No problem fitting in all the guests, no problem with parking and we even had ArchBishop Lori from the diocese of Baltimore presiding over the service. We just had to  suffer through being hungry and the wonderful smell of the Boy Scouts fund raiser BBQ dinner cooking in the church basement during the service. Again, Thanks to Mark and Linda for visiting last year for Scott's confirmation and extra thanks to Mark S standing in as Scott's sponsor. Anyway, we helped our neighbor's celebrate their son's confirmation at a luncheon on Saturday. Complete with Mission BBQ!  Then on Saturday night we attended an engagement party at our neighbor's house for their daughter. She is marrying a man from France who was in town to obtain a VISA as they both plan on moving to New York after the service. So they decided to have a quick party for the two of them. So we spent the entire day partying and enjoying some wonderful food!

It was a pretty busy weekend before then. Tom and Scott managed to put down some mulch that I ordered last week. Scott also squeezed in cutting the lawn in between rainstorms. We skipped the April showers and they went right into May. I still have not put in all my flowers. Making sure it stays warm.

I have also been busy after work with a few projects. I sang at the yearly GS Board meeting on Weds with our GS choir. We usually sing a few opening songs to get the meeting started. The choir usually needs some help since most girls have a hard time getting to events during the school week.

So last weekend was a bit cooler and rainy, but Scott and I still managed to get out and do a bit of yard work. We put down some grass seed in an area that needed patching after a bit of raking. I also started to clean out the beds-mulch is coming. I picked up a few pots of veggies and a hanging flower basket, but nothing too much yet(still waiting for the weather to warm up and stay warm).

I think we were all a bit glad that we missed the Boy Scout Bike and Hike. While Tom and Scott were off to Boston, the scout troop went biking along the C&O canal. I hear they woke up to ice on their tents! And it drizzled most of Saturday when they were out riding/hiking. Tom and Scott returned rather late on Sunday night, so we decided to let Scott take another day off school to catch up on homework and studying. Turns out he was also off on Tuesday as school was closed for the primary election.

Tom took Tuesday off as well so he could work on his paper for school. He also voted in the primary. I had already voted early, and I took my mom over to vote Tuesday night at the high school next to her apt complex. Like it mattered. Looks like the country is in big trouble. At least it gives Scott something interesting to discuss in Government class!  And since he had some extra time off, he was able to do a little work on his last Eagle required merit badge, Personal Management. He even met with the counselor to mark off some requirements. Plus he has started filling out the extensive paperwork necessary for his Eagle project. Too much paperwork! I also caught the parent's boy scout meeting on Monday night. It comes in handy to turn in even more paperwork for upcoming trips. Scott is also busy wrapping up his last semester in school. He brought home another good report card(although Spanish is not his friend).

Allison and Tyler took a break and spent a day on the beach at Ocean City.

 The schools will not be done until June 17. We are behind by one week due to the snow storm this past winter. So the teachers are cramming in the last of their lessons. Scott was busy reading Catcher in the Rye, Animal Farm and Macbeth in English(he liked Animal Farm). Plus he will be taking Standardized testing for High School Assessments. All 10th graders have to pass competency exams in Math, English, Govt. and Biology to graduate. Scott is a year ahead in math, so at least he can skip that test. Makes for a very busy end of sophomore year.

On Sunday morning he attended a training session for the Church youth work group that he will be going to this summer in Pennsylvania. He is going to be assisting by rebuilding homes. I think the experience will do him some good. He also had some time to squeeze in a little fun by joining his girlfriend Tori at the ice skating rink Sunday afternoon. A little different than roller blading, which he did on Saturday afternoon. I dropped him off at work and picked up my mom to join me for a Women's Fest at the local community center. It was basically a bunch of vendors selling jewelry, clothes, or services for Seniors and women. Surprisingly, I was already familiar with most of the services(not really a surprise). Afterwards I took her out to lunch in the small town of Sykesville where I work for lunch at a local tavern. I also picked up an application to order my mom a free photo phone. It comes with large buttons and you put in photos of your family and friends, businesses, etc and you program in the phone numbers. No more dialing. She can dial the phone, but I thought this would be easier. I also decided to sign up for a free estimate for a bathroom remodel.

Tom and I have been discussing remodeling our master bathroom for many years now. We don't use our big garden tub, and we would like to pull it out and replace it with a walk in, tiled shower. That would be so much nicer. I was inspired by a few of my coworkers who have been busy putting in new, walk in tiled showers. Pretty much what we were looking at. Besides comparison shower shopping at work, we were celebrating OT month. We had a dessert luncheon one week, and a pizza party another week. So I thought we should do some work and I made a poster outlining our job, along with photos and I made an OT word search game for the residents, patients and staff to complete. If they finished, their paper went into a raffle for a scratcher lottery ticket as a prize. We had quite a good turnout, and maybe they all learned a little bit about what we do. (mostly eat I think). I actually dragged our blender into work so one of my patients could make a strawberry milkshake. Before that I had a patient making omelets. Next I will be working on mac n grilled cheese sandwiches. (I love my job!). So Happy OT Month!