Just trying to catch up on the end of 2017.

December is flying by and we just keep getting busier and busier! A Big Shout out and Happy Birthday to Linda Seitz who celebrated her Birthday on Dec. 12th with a Holiday concert. How fun. Cookie also celebrated her 8th Birthday on Dec 13th!   We planned on taking my mom down to Busch Gardens for Christmas Town in Williamsburg, VA before Christmas. We figured we were going to be out of town for the holiday season and that it would be nice to spend some time celebrating with Mom B before we leave.

Allison was home and done with her finals. She did a fabulous job with her classes this semester and is currently a 4.0 student. She is really looking forward to having a break though. I continue to keep her busy with chores around the house, but also trying to get some of her medical appointments done before the new year. She scheduled a dentist appointment and another lab test for her blood work. But she was also looking forward to the trip to Busch Gardens. Last time she went, she was so ill she really did not enjoy herself. I was also happy to have her help put up some Christmas decorations. And Cookie is getting spoiled with a daily walk.

I also needed Allison's help to get my van to the tire center at Costco before our weekend trip.

On Weds my flat tire alarm went off. Tom wanted me to take the van into a local tire store because he thought it was a faulty sensor. Turns out I really did have a nail stuck in my tire, and the sensor needed replaced since it was corroded. Costco did both repairs and no charge since I bought the tires there! So Thursday morning Allison drove her car over so I could drop off the van, and then she drove me back home so I could get the Echo to drive to work. Then in the evening I had Tom and Allison pick it up since I was enjoying the Holiday Party at my mom's place. I had to get it fixed before the weekend since we were traveling with my mom and her scooter and it only fits on the back of my van. I also enjoyed the evening with my mom and munching on lots of turkey and ham. The facility always does such a nice job hosting parties. My visit also gave me the opportunity to pack Mom's suitcase. I have also been pacing myself on bringing her Christmas gifts. I picked up a few Christmas shirts and sweaters for her, along with some Holiday earrings and necklaces. She was definitely festive!

I was so glad I got my van fixed too. We really needed it for the weekend trip. I had a feeling I might have picked up a nail or other sharp object in my tires since I had been doing quite a bit of driving in the city recently with our GS performances. And my van tires get punctured quite easily. On Weds night I headed over to another Nursing Home near the GS headquarters to put on another Christmas concert for the residents after getting off work. I am glad I went since only 4 adults and 2 girls showed up. I think most parents were busy and could not get their kids there during the school week, not to mention more snow was on the way. Before I got home that night, I was driving through a blizzard!

I was just glad Tom and Allison made it home safely that night. They had traveled up to Hershey PA to watch a Hershey Bear Hockey Game and had a wonderful time. They thought it was especially funny when the Kiss Camera flashed on them both!  Tom gave Allison a quick peck on the top of her head!

On Friday we had another snow storm in the afternoon. We waited for Scott to get out of school and for the snow storm to stop before heading south. Turns out Scott got out of school a few hours early since it was a freezing rain/snow storm and the school district did not want to chance any accidents with the kids getting home from school.  Scott had already planned to take off work, but school was shut down anyway.

We picked up my mom around 7pm and headed down the road. The snow had stopped and the roads were fairly clear. We had all eaten dinner before the trip, and I had dropped Cookie off at our friends house early in the morning. We decided it was just easier traveling without Cookie for such a quick trip. We got to the hotel around 11pm and were all tucked in bed by midnite. I noticed however that my mom did not seem to be feeling too well. She had an upset stomach and a runny nose. I was able to give her some medication to keep her going over the weekend though and she seemed to do pretty well.

On Saturday morning she woke up very late. Around 10 am. Tom and the kids brought up breakfast, but everyone was anxious to get going for the day. The weather in Williamsburg was sunny and warmer, but not exactly Florida(as my mom pointed out!). The amusement park did not open until 2pm, so we decided to have lunch and catch the new Star Wars movie. What a disaster that turned out to be! We headed to the Movie Tavern in Williamsburg and got great seats for a great price. Everyone ordered their meals and settled in with a fun crowd to catch the newest movie in the Star Wars series. The movie started playing, but there was no sound! The management apologized and stated they would reboot the film. After another 20 mins, again a picture without sound. Now they were bringing out free popcorn and movie passes and calling the IT people. Still nothing. They were able to place 65 people in another theater, but we were out of luck. After waiting 2 hrs, with no movie to show for it, we left with a refund and no movie and an expensive lunch along with free movie passes and some free popcorn.  We did get a few photos of some Star Wars characters that were there for the opening.

No matter, we can catch it later. Instead we headed to the park. We all had a wonderful time  on a beautiful sunny day, strolling through the park, catching all the terrific musical shows like Scrooge and Gloria-Christmas carols and dancing. And when night rolled around we loved seeing all the lights throughout the park. Later in the evening, we stopped for dinner in Italy and an outdoor Accopella show and then decided to call it quits. It was getting incredibly crowded and a bit cold. And it looked like my mom had had enough. I think we all had enough, but we decided to try to get into the Star Wars movie one more time!

Tom stopped back at the movie tavern and I tried to use our free movie passes for the seats. However, they would not take movie passes for the new Star Wars movie. Unbelievable! Instead I asked Tom to drop my mom and I back at the hotel. She wasn't feeling so well, and I thought we'd had enough of a busy day. Tom and the kids however decided to chance it and went back to see the new Pixar movie, Coco. We had thought my mom would like it, but the kids said it was too sad and depressing and did not like it. Tom took a nap! Mom and I got tucked into bed and fell asleep watching The Peanuts Christmas shows.

So Sunday we needed to get up, dressed, eat breakfast and head out by 9am. I had to get back to Mom's place by 1 since our GS choir was performing there. We had no problem arriving before 1, so mom and I sat and ate lunch in her dining room before the girl scouts started to show up. Meanwhile Tom and the kids picked up Cookie and unloaded the van at home. Scott had a ton of homework to get caught up on, and Tom wanted to catch some football before we headed out for another Christmas concert in the late afternoon. Since we missed our Army Jazz Christmas concert, I ordered tickets for the Army Holiday Concert at the Lyric theater in downtown Baltimore.

We finished up our GS choir performance for my mom's place which turned out to be fantastic. However, when I checked my tickets for the evening concert-a free performance by the US Army band in downtown Baltimore, I discovered that I had overbooked my schedule! Their concert was exactly at the same time as our GS performance. So we missed the Holiday US Army band, but no matter, everyone was pretty worn out anyway. Instead, Allison came to pick me up and helped me do some shopping for Scott's adopted family. The NHS students at school all signed up to adopt  families for Christmas including buying gifts for the kids and collecting food items. Since Scott was so incredibly busy with his school work, Allison and I volunteered to do the shopping and the wrapping for him that evening. Everything had to be turned in the next day.  We had fun shopping for 3 little girls and wrapping all the gifts. It also made for a very long day(and weekend).

And as I was lying on the couch that night watching "The Sound of Music" I discovered that I was not feeling very well. 

Last weekend we had our very first snow fall of the season. What a wonderful way to welcome December! Snow can be fun, but it never seems to come at the right time! And this was not just snow, but ice and rain mixed in. It started on Saturday morning, so all events scheduled at the local schools were cancelled. The kids were bummed since they did not get their first snow day. But I was disappointed since I had tickets for the family and my mom to go hear the US Army Jazz Band play their Holiday concert at the local High School. They always do such an incredible job, and they play a 2 hr concert for free! Can't beat the price. So unfortunately, because they were scheduled to play at the school, and the schools were closed, the concert was cancelled. Oh well, it gave me more time to work on my Christmas cards.

And to get ready for the upcoming neighborhood Christmas party that night. We were to bring appetizers and side dishes, so I had some cooking to do. I also made a batch of Holiday Wassail-warm Christmas wine-in the crock pot which turned out to be a big hit on a cold night. Especially with the oranges, cranberries and cinnamon sticks.  We had a wonderful time visiting with all our neighbors, but the roads were slick getting home. I had hoped to take my Mom to the concert as well as the party, but did not want to risk Mom walking up frozen driveways or me skidding on the roads trying to pick her up and drop her off(especially after sampling the Christmas Wassail!).

The bad weather also kept Scott and I home baking cookies for his Cookie Exchange party with his elementary/high school friends. One of the girls has hosted a party for the past 4 years. I am always invited, although I usually have to run off to some GS choir event. So Scott and I made chocolate covered popcorn, cocoa spoons and oreo cookies and packaged them all up. Yum!  On Sunday afternoon we headed over for the party. I always enjoy catching up with the moms from the old school, as well as their kids future plans. We even exchanged contact info to see if the kids could get summer internships. Plus the moms are all so nice and exchange gifts! I can't keep up!And then I did have to leave for another GS choir event!

Our GS choir was invited to sing at a lighting ceremony in Mt Washington at the Johns Hopkins University. They actually light up an historical building-a multi story house in the shape of an octagon. I will have to check out its history. I really did not have time to talk to any of the staff. The building is attached to a conference center/hotel. Very nice, but very empty on a Sunday night. The staff did put out a Starbucks Hot Cocoa bar and cookies for the community, but it went fast. They said this was the most people they have ever had at their event. And they enjoyed our GS choir leading everyone in caroling.

I was also busy running around during the week. It was time to pick up our Christmas Photo cards at JC Penney. I invited Tom and Scott to join me for dinner. I had a gift card for Maggiones Italian Restaurant-Tom's favorite. We had a very nice dinner and got there just before all the big Holiday groups starting pouring in.  On  Friday I was running errands and spent the whole day Christmas shopping! What fun! Even Cookie got dropped off for a Christmas hair cut(which she needed badly). And Scott and I could not help picking her up a new bed for Christmas at the pet store(since it was on sale!). She's absolutely lost in the big, fluffy pillow!

We were also looking forward to having Allison come home. She finished a big final presentation on Tuesday night in Management and was busy studying over the weekend for her final in Finance(going to be a tough one!) the following week. Then she will be packing up and heading home for the Holidays!.

We started off last week celebrating Scott's 18th Birthday! We had eaten dinner together to celebrate Scott's Birthday on Sunday night at La Palapa Mexican restaurant. (Scott's choice). He enjoyed his Key Lime Pie slice with a candle after a big burrito dinner. We had opened his presents earlier in the afternoon-several accessories for his new car, a new video game, clothes and a Dr Who tv remote control in the shape of the sonic screwdriver. He just waves it at the tv to change channels and volume! But mostly he was hoping to get his car back  from the dealership. They have had it for several weeks working on all the repairs and waiting for parts.

On Monday, Scott's official Birthday,  we decided to go out for 1/2 off burgers at Glory Days. We also enjoyed cheesecake to celebrate his big day(his choice). And while we were at the restaurant, we looked into the possibility of setting up Scott's Eagle ceremony perhaps in January. Scott was also busy during the week working on a few big projects. He and his friends spent the weekend videotaping an educational commercial for his television class. They decided to do a short encouraging kids to quit smoking/don't start smoking. The principal really liked the video and may be using it for classroom education in the county. So their television teacher is encouraging their group to make another film. Now they are thinking about a short on parking skills!  And Scott was busy starting his physics project. Building a bridge out of toothpicks. He was following Allison's previous design as she was the big winner in her class for most structurally sound bridge design. After the kids build the bridge, they hook up weights to see which bridge is the strongest. Allison's design was the best in her physics class. So Scott is trying to follow in her footsteps.

On Friday I spent the whole day with my Mom. In the morning we both attended a Christmas party at her Senior Center. The staff put on a very nice party which included music/singing/entertainment and a very nice lunch. We even picked out a few ceramic art pieces from the Art with a Purpose class. Afterwards, Mom and I stopped into her storage unit and picked up her Christmas decorations. We headed back to the apartment and got busy decorating. I ended up leaving around 5pm. I was pooped!

On Saturday I opted out of going to sing with the GS choir at the German Village in Baltimore. Instead, Tom and I decided to drive to Salisbury to spend the day with Allison. She was stuck at school studying for her finals. She had a final group project on Tuesday night and a Finance final the following week. So she decided to stay so she could meet with her group to prepare for the presentation. We thought it would be fun to go out to dinner, do some shopping and drop off her St Nick's Day gift. We arrived in the afternoon and even took Cookie along for the ride. Cookie loved going for a walk on campus and dropping into Starbucks for a coffee to warm up.  We then let Allison open up her St Nick's Day gifts . And I couldn't help myself and I brought along her little dorm sized Christmas tree for her to decorate. We also visited Allison's repaired bathroom and replaced dryer. Yeah! Afterwards, we left Cookie in the condo since Allison's roommates were all gone for the weekend and we went shopping. We had a great time walking around the mall and I even picked up some new clothes for the holidays for myself. But we especially enjoyed picking up a set of antlers and a red nose for Scott's new car(when we ever get it back!) for his St Nick's Day stocking.

On Sunday, I was off again on a beautiful, sunny day with my Mom to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad museum, singing with my Girl Scout choir. I brought along a camp chair and a packed lunch for Mom and placed her directly in front of our group to enjoy an hour long performance. We had over 30 girls performing, and everyone did a nice job. And I watched Mom singing along with our group! It wasn't very crowded this year-we were the first group to perform that day. So most of our crowd were parents, but they seemed to really enjoy the music. Afterwards, Mom and I walked around looking at the small train sets with the little villages. We headed back to her apartment and spent the rest of the afternoon filling out her Christmas cards. We had a fun filled weekend!