Happy Post Labor Day Weekend! Tom returned from Scotland with a very bad cold. He spent most of his time on the couch during the week. Except when he had to start working on his new online class for his PhD.He did bring home an awesome Scotland Starbucks mug(they don't make them anymore here in the US and we collect them from all the places we visit), so he had something special to drink his hot tea out of and thank Scotland for his cold.

Allison also started school on Monday the week before Labor Day Weekend. She had left back for Salisbury on Saturday afternoon after packing up provisions. She wanted to return to the condo and spend time picking up a few more perishable items and unpack her car. Much to her surprise, a new roommate also arrived to move in. Allison knew there was a replacement roommate already moved in for just a few months, Abbey. This was Cayley, a full time roommate which Allison was not expecting! She was not sure Cayley's loan went through or if she had time to fill out all the necessary paperwork before school started, or even before Sept 1, but apparently she was able to get everything in place to start on Aug 28. Cayley is a transfer student, a Junior studying Kinesiology, so she should be around for awhile. And both girls are interested in playing Ultimate Frisbee(a bonus for Allison). We are just happy we don't have to pay extra rent!  So Allison helped her new roommate move in(which wore her out) and spent Sunday resting up and actually starting some of her homework before classes began. The professors all send out their syllabus online before school starts so you can get a head start. Allison is taking 3 classes, all meeting at night from 6-9, M, Tues. and Weds. She was still waiting on her Accounting book to be delivered, so she really did not have a chance to get a head start on reading. Turns out the class was on Monday, but the book arrived after class. As it was, her Accounting prof would have liked to start class the week before. He was shocked to discover there was no class scheduled on the upcoming Labor Day!  He assigned homework anyway. Allison also has a Marketing and Information Systems class. She is happy to have all classes early in the week. She finished up on Weds night and came home Thursday for a long, holiday weekend. Turns out she needed to stop back into the doctor's office for another blood draw as they completed the wrong tests. Not exactly what she needed. But she was happy to have another break at home. Fortunately she was able to keep working on her homework as most of it is online. And it was nice and quiet at our house. She discovered her new roommate enjoys playing loud music on Alexa(and her roommate just discovered the joys of Alexa).

Scott still had 1 more week to go until school started. He was working on his math for the upcoming ACT. He also worked his last shift at the Roller Rink on Friday night(we think). They wanted him to come in one more weekend, but Scott was planning on starting his new job(again, we think). On Friday afternoon I took him for a fingerprinting screen for the After Care job. He also had to check up on his Catholic Church screening training which is still good until he turns 18 and then he will have to complete the adult training. So he just keeps gathering his paperwork and dropping it off at the school. Just no word on start date or schedule(or even if he is officially hired!). He was just looking forward to having a long break before school started. He even drove himself over to his friend's house one evening to start working on videos for their upcoming Television class. Scott really couldn't pick up his school supplies yet since nothing was posted. He did get his schedule which includes his last Engineering class where they spend the year working on a project, as well as working as a Teacher's Aide for one of the beginning engineer classes. Besides the Television class(he really enjoys making videos), he has Art 1, Math-Trig II/Pre Calc, Physics and English. He also enjoyed his last summer Boy Scout meeting where the boys have a giant water gun fight.

I enjoyed a picnic dinner at my Mom's place as they celebrated an early Labor Day Holiday. I also had a busy weekend scheduled. We were expecting visitors from California. One of Tom's previous Northrop co workers, Richard and his wife Debbie. They were in town for Labor Day Weekend to attend their daughter's preliminary program at Johns Hopkins. She is attending Grad school as a Research Biologist and they put on a "White Coat" ceremony for the new students. We have not seen Debbie and Richard for about 10 yrs. when they came to Baltimore and we visited Hershey Park.  We always have a great time visiting with them and were really looking forward to spending the day together. Unfortunately, the weather was miserably wet. We had planned on spending the day walking around the Inner Baltimore Harbor and a visit to Ft McHenry. But we did not want to walk around in the rain. And Debbie and Richard have visited the area in the past and had already visited our National Aquarium, plus lots of Smithsonian museums in DC which we also thought would be a good alternative. Really Debbie did not want to do a whole lot of walking since she recently had back surgery. We even offered her my Mom's scooter to get around, but we decided to just meet for dinner in Little Italy. Which worked out pretty well since Tom still had a cold and I was starting to feel bad too. We also discovered the two had turned vegetarian, so we needed to find something that fit their taste and they were waiting for their daughter to finish up some work in the lab. So they hung out in their hotel room during the day and we all met in the evening for dinner. They found an Italian restaurant which we had never tried yet. Their daughter's boyfriend also joined us. He recently moved from California having graduated from UCLA and was attending Law school in Baltimore. We had a great dinner and a wonderful 3 hr visit. And it was still raining when we left. They were flying out on Sunday with a stop over in Colorado to visit their younger daughter who had just started OT school. Yeah! Another OT in training.

I guess the visit took too much out of me. I caught Tom's cold and ended up on the couch all day Sunday and into Monday, Labor Day. I was planning on attending the Renaissance festival with Allison and Scott and his friend Matt. Instead, Allison drove the group and they had a wonderful time at the festival. They even dressed for the occasion, Scott in his kilt and Allison as a fair maiden.  Allison even ran into some GS counselor friends at the event so she gave them the tour and pointed out the best shows.  I am glad they had a great time.

We were also busy watching Hurricane Harvey while it barreled through Houston. I was very glad to hear that my two brothers, Dan and Dave and their families that live in the area were all safe and dry and with power. I got a few phone calls from family out of state and friends asking about the boys. And what a way for them to celebrate their 59th Birthdays!  Certainly memorable. Happy Birthday Boys!

On Monday I had planned on going to work, but since I was feeling so bad I decided to stay home. I had just enough energy to make a big batch of chili to pack up for Allison at school(she needs iron!). And I threw some ribs in the crock pot. We had already invited the neighbors over for dinner and everyone was coming!  At least they were all bringing side dishes, and Allison was a huge help and made a couple batches of brownies. Scott also helped out by cutting the lawn. And both of them ran errands for me all day. Turns out we had a great dinner and visit with the neighbors and of course Ripley, our friend's cavachon-a last celebration before the end of summer. I thought everyone would sit out on the patio, but there is just not enough space. And I decided not to bring my mom since I did not want her catching anything Tom and I were fighting. (The neighbors are a lot tougher). It was nice to hear about their trips to Hawaii and New York City. And it was nice to have Allison home since she did not have class on Monday. Instead she headed back to school on Tuesday morning as we all went off to work and Scott started his first day of school

!