April 30-May 6

Early Monday morning we were all up and out the door. Mark and Linda were headed back to Indy. Allison and Scott  headed  to school and Tom and I headed to work. It was a very busy month!  And now we finally made it to May. But things have not been slowing down.

Allison was back at school for a few days. She headed back home however at the end of the week for our GS camping trip. Both of us have been busy the past couple of months participating in a planning committee for the annual Spring GS jamboree at the Conowingo GS campsite just north of Baltimore. Allison volunteered to run the Archery station and I was assigned to Arts and Crafts. We did not come up with the theme or the activities, so we just had to show up and work. The jamboree theme was Maryland, My Maryland. So food and activities all centered around our state theme. Allison and I packed up and arrived at camp around dinner on Friday the first weekend in May. Allison made me a great name tag with my camp name-Petoskey. Still working on training the staff on how to pronounce it and what it is. So far I just get called "Michigan fossil".

We did not have to help with registration, so we set up our sleeping arrangements in a big cabin-air mattresses on the floor and enjoyed some pizza and salad for dinner. I was pretty pooped out and took a nap on a couch until the Volunteer meeting. The committee goes over everyone's weekend chores, including the parents that attend with their girls. Then I was actually ready for bed. But first I spent some time proofreading one of Allison's final papers.

On Saturday morning we were up bright and early to help serve breakfast. After we ate we headed to our stations. I was the supporting staff for the Arts and Crafts activity leader along with a younger scout, but I felt that I did all the set up and organizing. I laid out our station outside the Arts and Crafts station on a few picnic tables and ran around collecting all the supplies. I was so happy I packed my portable wagon. Allison used the wagon at scout camp last summer and it was dubbed "The Dragon Wagon" since Allison's camp name is Dragon.

For our Arts and Crafts station we made up small screens for the girls to paint on. In Baltimore, screen painting was very popular as there was no air conditioning in the row houses. In order to maintain some privacy while keeping the windows open, owners used to paint their screens. Now it is considered a Folk Art form. The girls had a wonderful time painting all day. We rotated 7 sessions throughout our day with 12+ girls in each group and a break for lunch. We started at 9am and finished at 5pm for dinner after clean up. I was so glad I brought my portable wagon. It came in handy transporting items back and forth from the main dining hall like the paint and water jugs. After the girls painted their screens, we hung them on a clothesline to dry. It was a bit rainy all weekend, but we managed to get through the day's activities without a big rainstorm.

The girls rotated through a whole day of Maryland themed activities like jousting with pool noodles(jousting is the Maryland state sport!). They played Maryland BINGO, did a gardening service project and learned about native Maryland plants, went on a nature hike, as well as participating in a few fun activities like archery(Allison's station), rock wall climbing and playing dodge ball(GAGA ball). Our food was Maryland themed as well, including Berger cookies and lots of snacks covered with Old Bay Seasoning. Our camp cook even took a shot at making Smith Island cake-a 7 layered cake with fudge frosting. Yum. We certainly had more than enough food to eat.

The rain picked up in the evening, so the bonfire was moved inside. The girls had the opportunity to put on skits and make s'mores before bedding down. Allison and I were pooped out and skipped the bonfire. Instead we played cards and I did some more proof reading on her school paper. We both called it quits(we should have brought a puzzle!). Allison was worn out from a full day of archery-she ran the station all by herself. On Sunday morning we stopped in for breakfast, packed up our camping gear, cleaned up the cabin and headed home. It was so nice to take a shower!

That evening the kids asked if we could go see the new Avenger's Movie. Tom had to skip the outing since he was also working on his last paper for his class. We were just happy to get into the movie. Lately all the shows have been sold out, especially on opening weekends. And we really enjoyed the show, but as usual, we have to wait for part 2. There is always a part 2!

Allison and I were sorry we missed the Mexican food for Cinco De Mayo however. But Scott and Tom had the opportunity to wear their May the 4th Be With You shirts they got in their Easter baskets that weekend. And Scott had Friday off work since the catholic schools were closed that day.

April 23-29

Finally the big weekend for Scott's Eagle Court of Honor. I had spent countless hours beforehand researching Eagle ceremonies, typing up the program, recruiting readers for the ceremony, sending out invitations and assembling decorations including photo collages of Scott's lengthy scout career starting with Cub Scouts in the 1st grade! It was quite the project! But I really think it paid off.

We were so excited to share the experience with Tom's brother Mark and wife Linda. They arrived on Friday afternoon. I made a ham dinner for Friday night-a belated Easter meal for us. I was planning on a full house for dinner, but turns out Scott was working on a television taping with his classmates and went out to dinner. Allison was not coming home until Saturday morning to join us. She had an end of the season Ultimate frisbee potluck on Friday night. But she was able to join us for the weekend.

On Saturday after Allison got home, we all decided to take a day trip up to Gettysburg. Tom purchased bus tour tickets of the area. The tour company spent two hours driving around the park and explained the multiple day Civil War battle. We have all visited the park a few times, but this was the first time we had the event so well laid out and explained. I would still like to go back and spend time touring the new Visitor's Center. It is huge and they recommend a few hours to explore the place. We really ran out of time and energy to take it all in! And it had just starting raining hard after our bus tour wrapped up.

We drove back home and went out to dinner. It started sprinkling a bit in the afternoon, but it did not really interrupt our tour as we hopped on and off the bus to tour the park firsthand. So we made it through our tour before any heavy downpours. As usual, our local restaurants back home were packed on Saturday night along with kids out for Prom night,  and we had to wait awhile for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. That night, Scott was off to celebrate After Prom with his classmates! After Prom runs from midnite to 430am. Just a little busy this weekend. Scott was happy to drive himself to After Prom at our YMCA(and so were we!).  He really enjoyed spending the night participating in Bounce House obstacle courses and Dodge ball, as well as attempting to eat all the free food! Scott actually designed a Don't Drink and Drive poster for the event that won second place in a county wide contest that provided $500 towards the event! Sadly he did not even get a free tshirt or gift card for his efforts from the event. But he still had a great time and came home and slept in preparation for our Eagle event in the afternoon.

Tom, Scott and Allison meanwhile spent Sunday morning with Mark at our local park. Allison and Tom took Cookie for a long walk around the lake while Mark got in a run. I had to pack up my van with items I was taking to the Glory Days restaurant for the event in the afternoon. I had some more running around to do before the big day too. On Friday I had to drive about 40 mins to pick up a special cake from a coworkers sister. Faith is a baker and over the years we enjoyed some of her cakes and cupcakes brought in by her sister at work. So I thought it would be fun to have a custom Eagle cake. I also picked up some cookies and cupcakes from Sams Club just in case. So Friday I was off to pick up the cake, along with a quick visit to check on my Mom. On Saturday morning I was picking up the cupcakes from Sams Club before our trip to Gettysburg. On Sunday afternoon  I had to pick up my Mom. She has been living in her new apartment now for 1 week. She still had not been given a shower, and her laundry was piling up, and I had not been successful in getting her into the onsite hair salon. I spoke to the nurse and she immediately got up and gave Mom a shower and washed her hair while I picked out some clothes. I got mom dressed, curled her hair a bit, put on her makeup and away we went! We had to arrive early to set up the room.

Glory Days restaurant has a banquet room with tables and large screen tvs. They were able to turn off the music and tvs during the event. Although the guys asked that the tvs go back on during dinner so they could catch up the NHL! We set up a podium and a display table, dessert table. Glory Days set up a buffet table with chicken tenders, chicken pasta, burgers and fries, and steamed broccoli along with a soda bar. Everyone on our guest list arrived, about 30 people which included neighbors and scout members.  We had the ceremony before dinner and everyone did a great job. The food was very good and plentiful, and I thought the cannoli Eagle cake was especially tasty. Although some people were happy with the cupcakes and cookies. Turns out the Scoutmaster and Asst Scoutmaster got a sneak peak at Scott's cake since they are friends with Faith's dad. He was asking about the Eagle ceremony since he knew the men were involved in scouting, and turns out he had a photo of Scott's Eagle cake. Small world! Special thanks go out to Mark and Allison for participating in the readings and taking photos!  I had Allison read a poem about Eagles for the ending. The poem talks about the fact that when storms are near, eagles rise above them. I thought it was very appropriate for our event. And so now Scott joins a special group of Eagle scouts. (He would have been approved as an eagle scout without the ceremony, but I thought it was a nice way to celebrate the event). Most members just have their ceremonies at the church. But I heard it was hard to find an available date there to book the room, as well as the added issue of getting the food delivered or picked up and served. It was so much nicer to have someone else do all the food prep and most of the clean up. Thanks also to Linda who helped set up and clean up our decorations!  I think everyone had a good time. I just wish I could have had more time to chat with everyone, but Mom was getting ansy so I dropped her

back off to her apt and got her ready for bed. Then I was ready for bed! It was a very activity packed weekend. We just could not squeeze in the new Avengers Movie. As if!

April 16-22.

Finally we reached the big day! The day Mom Bozyk moved into her new apartment on Friday April 20. On Saturday, Tom was able to help out with a few items. Scott and I had picked up Mom's large screen tv to bring home a few days earlier from her old apt, and Tom brought over a smaller flat screen and was able to hook up an antenna for free tv in her new apartment. If not, cable is $75 per month from the facility. Tom also hung some pictures and set up the phone system. But the biggest project I needed help with was Mom's bed. I had bought her a beautiful twin bed with under mattress storage unit and a storage headboard. I was a bit worried it would be too high for mom, so I bought a bedrail to assist with getting in and out. However, it still seemed a bit too high and I worried about her all night. So on Saturday, Tom pulled the drawer unit out from under the bed and he and Scott attached a twin frame to the headboard. Much lower to the ground so mom could climb in and out. Sadly we lost the extra storage, but now I don't have to worry about Mom falling while getting in and out of bed!

The apartment looks great! Mom really likes it. She seemed to settle in pretty quickly. She is used to the daily schedule of meals in the dining room and activities. She still thinks she can do everything herself though, but I put her on for weekly showers. I also spent some time speaking to the staff to help them to get to know Mom, like the aides, nursing staff and activity staff. I also sat in on a few different activities with mom including a prayer group on Sunday, and enjoyed a sing a long during Happy Hour on Friday. And since we finally moved Mom out of the Sunrise facility on Friday, we decided to move the rest of her items from her old apartment over the weekend. We three had it cleared out in no time. Some of the items are going into Mom's storage unit for now and a few more items ended up in the new apartment. All the staff at Sunrise were so sad to see Mom leave, however, most of them never really got to see her lately since she was locked up on the 3rd floor. Mom lived at Sunrise for 4 years. So far she seems to be very happy with her new place. Now I need to get her on schedule for hair appointments and participation in more activities in the building.

I was so busy with Mom's apartment, I missed one of our GS choir events-singing at a local nursing home. We were going to put on the GS musical again. I just could not get away from working at the apartment. I did take time on Sunday however to join the GS choir at an Outdoor Event after visiting with mom. We celebrated Earth Day by singing at the GS event near our house. I was asked to come early to help with registration for the event, but I just did not have the time.

Scott had a busy week at school, but enjoyed a free day on Friday when his Physics class traveled to Six Flags Amusement Park. It is tradition for the class to attend Physics Day at the amusement park and complete a physics worksheet as well as enjoy a day on the rides. Scott was expecting warm weather and a chance to hang out at the water park area, but it was still a bit too chilly for bathing suits

. He was also expecting to get home in time to go to work, but the class decided to stay late. No worries. His boss was quite understanding.

Besides moving Mom into her new apartment, I was busy organizing Scott's upcoming Eagle Court of Honor. Tom's brother Mark and wife Linda planned on attending and staying with us, so I needed to get the house in order too! Both inside and out. Tom and Scott also worked on a project that we started last fall-trimming branches off the large maple trees along the street. Tom wanted to get some of the large branches off that were blocking the grass from growing before they sprouted all their leaves. They spent a whole day trimming and cutting up a few extremely large branches. I then posted the pile of cut wood on our neighborhood website and it was gone within a few hours! Soon it will be time to cut the grass!

So when I last left off, April 9- April 15, my van was not working and parked at Mom Bozyk's Sunrise apartment.  So on Monday morning, Tom took time before work to call and meet a tow truck for my van. He had it towed over to the nearest dealership and figured it was going to be a several thousand dollar repair. Not an easy fix like a loose oil cap. Turns out, a seal broke on my oil filter that was under recall. Toyota never bothered letting anyone know I guess because they figured the vehicles would no longer be running after 100,000 miles. So fortunately for me, the repair was free, I got a free oil change and they also caught up with the repair on my power sliding doors which also were under recall. They kept my van for 3 days, so I still got it back before the weekend, and more apt moving scheduled for my mom!

Yes, another weekend in April and more moving into Mom Bozyk's newest apartment. On Friday the College Hunk movers arrived in the morning to start loading furniture. It only took about 2 hrs to wrap and load up all the furniture. Fortunately the drive was just across the street and then another two hours to put all the furniture back into the new apartment. They also helped me place the new floor rug that Tom had ordered and was delivered to our house the night before which we put down in the sitting room before bringing in all the furniture. I was very excited to see that most of the furniture fit into the new apartment. And it looks terrific!  I spent the afternoon with Mom B again, pushing small cart loads of clothing into the apartment. And I put Mom to work again hanging it all up in the closets! Plus we took some time to meet some of the new staff. Mom's move in date was scheduled for April 20th.

I could not spend the evening with Mom since I had scheduled an outing with our friends participating in Trivia Night at church. The church youth group put on a fund raiser Trivia Pub Night. You could have up to 8 people on your team and I was happy to see it did not take much to gather 8 participants together among our group of friends. Allison even came up with a terrific team name, Team Redundancy Team. We actually were one man short! Our neighbor Gloria had to work late, so I tried talking Scott into joining us. He was not interested in spending anymore time at the school in which he works, plus he had a television project to work on. So we only had 7 team members, but it did not slow us down. Turns out we had the perfect mix of trivia knowledge between us. And we were competing against more than 100 other people that showed up that night. Allison wished she could have come home for the event, but she was off to northern Maryland for a frisbee tournament. She enjoys playing Trivia night at the local University bars. Our game was set up very similar. There were two rounds with 5 questions each, all different subjects. You bet on your answers, and pick the amount depending on much you think you have the right answer. There are also bonus points. So we got through the first round, and during intermission we played a trivia game where we had to come up with the name of movies based on posters, and match cars with commercial slogans. They announced the leader after intermission, and to our surprise, it was our team! So far we had gotten most of all of the questions right, including 100% on the intermission quiz! Next we had round two, and again we were very successful! Just one more bonus question which none of us got right! So our Team Redundancy Team Won! I was hoping for a European trip, or large cash amount, but we had to settle on Starbucks cards. Second place winners got Subway. Not sure what 3rd place won(maybe they had to clean up the cafeteria!). Especially since they served pub food during the event. And cheap beer! So we had a lot of fun and came out victorious! I pat myself on the back and take all the credit for our win since I am constantly scheduling games during our holiday get togethers! And this was all on Friday the 13th! By the way, another reason for celebrating April 13th, Sarah Bozyk's Birthday!

On Saturday I spent the morning moving items into Mom's new apartment, including clothes. I had brought home all her dishes and cups and ran them through the dishwasher. I had things to move back to Mom's apartment from the garage and from her old apartment, as well as putting items in her storage unit. I was not able to spend the whole day since Scott and I signed up to attend one of his fellow Boy Scouts Eagle Court of Honor at the local church. We wanted to attend the ceremony to get some ideas for our upcoming event, as well as to support SCott's fellow patrol member, Nathan. We really enjoyed the ceremony and their food and I got some great ideas for putting on SCott's own ceremony. I borrowed some left over court of honor supplies, but I was going to have to work out a different system for some of the candle lighting ceremonies since the troop uses two very large boards and I could not transport them to the Glory Days restaurant where Scott's program was scheduled.

On Sunday I had a little bit of time to move a few more of mom's items to her new apartment. But then in the afternoon I was off to GS camp to sing with the GS choir. The choir put together an adorable musical based on the songs from Mary Poppins. It tells the story of the Brownies-little fairies that do good deeds and clean and tidy up the house. Fortunately I did not have to memorize any music, and just sang with the chorus. The little girls did all the work by memorizing the songs and lines. They acted out the story and some very dedicated parents made adorable costumes and props. And fortunately it was not a very long performance, only about 45 mins. I really could use a break!

I kept borrowing Tom and Scott when I could to help with the move and my van. But Tom was still busy with his latest class, and Scott is slowly making it to the end of school. He had his last NHS meeting that he needed to attend. He finished all his volunteer work, so no worries. They voted for next years board members. On Thursday, Scott and I ran off to the Mall for the County Schools Art Show. One of Scott's art pieces was chosen for the display at the Mall. I loved seeing Scott's work on display, but I really enjoyed the free cookies and juice boxes too! And dinner out with Scott afterwards!

Also Happy Birthday to Sarah Bozyk on Friday the 13th(a terrific number!).

So we all had Monday off(the day after Easter). We drove Allison back to Salisbury-she had class that evening. The trip back home is also like a mini vacation. We stopped in for lunch on the eastern shore on the way back. A small diner that Allison and her frisbee team hid out in during a tornado warning on their way to Virginia beach. We actually wanted to try the homemade pie, but we were still too stuffed from all the food we ate in Williamsburg! We also enjoyed watching the dolphins swim alongside the long bridge/tunnel that joins the eastern shore to Norfolk VA along our way.

We dropped Allison off to her place, drove home and picked up Cookie from our neighbors. Scott was off school until Weds and he had the whole week off work since the Catholic school was on Spring break. Tom and I were back to work on Tuesday. I actually was signed up to work on Friday to make up for taking off Monday.  On Weds we celebrated Tom's 55th birthday. I made him lemon poppyseed scones for breakfast and when we got home we all went out to dinner at his favorite italian restaurant, Maggiones. They had a special dinner combo-appetizer/salad, two meals and dessert to share for two(plus two dinners to take home!). And of course I had a coupon!  Tom opened a few small presents at the restaurant and he finished opening gifts when we got home. Tom's big gift was a toaster oven!  Scott mentioned that Tom was talking about wanting to try out a toaster oven since our regular toaster was starting to poop out. When Scott and I visited JCPenny they had a terrific sale on their appliances, so we picked one up. Turns out it is pretty fancy with a convection oven setting too. I just think it is hysterical that Tom wanted a toaster oven. I always think of that as an old person appliance. All the residents in the retirement homes I've worked in have toaster ovens. Now I feel old. Turns out Tom and Scott absolutely love the toaster oven. Even Allison has a toaster oven and she loves hers too! It really is handy-you can heat up your food without having to wait for the big oven to preheat. Comes in handy with small portions. And it makes great toast! Who knew. Old people must be smart!  The best part of being 55 as Tom's Dad pointed out is that now Tom can live in the Retirement community in Florida! However, I don't think he plans on retiring anytime soon. Currently he is very busy with his newest class(lots of busy work!).

It was nice to go out for dinner during the week. I had a very busy schedule planned for the upcoming weekend. I was starting the move into my mom's new apartment. And I was a bit concerned as I heard a clunking sound in my van when I hit the brakes driving to work. Tom said he would take a look at it, or run it up to the local garage for a once over. He did not get to it on Thursday, so Friday morning we dropped it off at Midas before I headed to work. They really did not find anything wrong with my brakes, so at least I felt more comfortable driving. I really needed my van for the weekend. I had scheduled the start of my mom's big move and I was using my van to move some items myself.

So on Saturday morning I headed to the new apartment to wait for delivery of a new bed and couch. A few weekends earlier I stopped into Bob's furniture and picked out a twin sized bed with extra under the bed storage and headboard storage. I also picked out a comfy couch to match her recliner chair. And Tom found a beautiful persian rug for the bedroom. I wanted to get one down on the floor before setting up the bed. Now we need a bigger one for the living room area. The apt has wood laminate and is a bit noisy, but pretty. I really like this apartment. Not as fancy as the Sunrise apt, but very cozy and quiet with a nice view into a courtyard. So the furniture delivery came around lunch. I brought Scott with me to apartment sit while I ran across the street and picked up a few of mom's clothes and lamps. I have also been downsizing her items, but there still is a lot to move.  I also signed up for mom's phone service with Verizon. Apparently now you get a box like cable to hook up your phone. And if you want more than one phone you have to buy another box. Crazy. Scott helped me sign up for the service. We headed home and decided to enjoy an evening out by seeing the movie "Isle of Dogs", a japanese anime movie. Allison really wanted to see it too, but it was not playing at many movie theaters over the Easter weekend. Scott and I really liked it, Tom was not very excited. It had a lot of famous actor voices, but the humor was a bit dark and dry. Not exactly a Disney special, although the dark side kinda fits the bill.

On Sunday I decided to move some more of mom's personal items and clothes over to the apartment. I bought some bathroom towels. Tom had put up the shower curtain and assembled the shower chair. The other apartment had many of these items. This apartment was stripped down to nothing. I also moved her dishes and glassware after bringing it all home and running it through the dishwasher. She has a small kitchenette, but I don't think I will add a microwave. She really did not use hers much in the other apartment. Mostly she kept unplugging it. Messes up the clock! Mom was a real trooper. I put her to work and had her pushing a small cart loaded with clothes and dishes to her new apt. She helped hang up clothes and I checked to see if she could get into the bed! It is a bit high-I think I will order a bed rail. She likes the apartment and the building. However, she thinks it is my apartment and that I am moving in! She keeps asking if Tom is ok with it and where is his bed.

Afterwards we picked up Tom and Scott and headed out to dinner to celebrate Tom's birthday with my mom. I also wanted Tom and Scott to help move some items out of mom's apartment, including the big screen tv. After a nice dinner out, we headed over to mom's old apartment to drop her off and pick up the large screen tv. However, when I pulled into the parking lot, Tom noticed smoke and oil pouring out of my van engine!  When we popped the hood, we noticed a large pool of oil in the bottom of the engine well. Crazy. Well, so much for moving the large tv. We dropped mom off to her floor, and then called an Uber ride to get home. Guess I was right about something not working in my van! I just can't believe no alarms or warning lights came on before this.

On a better note, a Big Happy Birthday also goes out to Sandra Bozyk!