Happy 4th of July week, 2018

  Allison was off to work at GS camp for a few days. It was a short week, and she helped out with traditional camp activities-hiking, swimming, canoeing, archery and arts and crafts. Again we had an extremely hot week and Allison started feeling ill in the middle of the week. Fortunately she only had to work a few days and was home by the 4th of July.

Tom also returned home from Salt Lake City for the week. I was still employed full time with my current company, but had a new manager. I was able to take off the 4th of July, and get the paid Holiday (yeah), but my new boss asked if I could work that Friday anyway. So I really worked a full week. I did enjoy having the Holiday off though. In the afternoon, Allison and Cookie joined me for a visit to my mom's apartment. They had entertainment -a singer in the lobby. We brought mom down and we all enjoyed the music, including Cookie!  And Allison finally got to see Grandma's new apartment!  I didn't realize Allison had missed all the moving excitement over the months while she was at school. In the evening, we decided to have neighbors over for dinner since we have not had a chance to chat about everyone's summer activities. So we cooked up some ribs and
corn on the cob and had an enjoyable dinner. We had an early dinner so that we could have time to catch a local fireworks show. Turns out Allison and I were the only ones interested in watching fireworks, and we decided to attempt to catch the show at our local mall. They shoot the fireworks off over a nearby lake, so we parked in the mall lot and walked over to the lake and sat in our chairs in a perfect spot. We did not have to wait long, although Allison was a little jumpy as some kids kept shooting off loud firecrackers nearby. Everything turned out terrific and we got to see a wonderful display. And we even managed to handle the traffic coming out of the event with no issues. Usually Tom likes to avoid these activities because the traffic and crowds are such a problem, but it worked
out fine. Then on Saturday, Allison and I had the opportunity to enjoy another fireworks show after attending a local festival at one of the shopping centers. We had great seats and sat on our camp chairs snacking on our picnic food and ice cream for dessert which we bought at the nearby CVS pharmacy before settling in to catch the fireworks. Again, no problem with parking or leaving the event. We took the back roads home and a lot less traffic. It was a very pleasant outing.

And since I still had my full time job with benefits, I had Scott make a dentist appointment for his regular check up with our favorite dentist. Currently she does not take Tom's dental insurance, so we may be shopping for a new office.

On Friday , Tom and I decided to take Cookie to our Wine Bin in Ellicott City for Yappy Hour. Since the big storm and flood over Memorial Day, crews had been working in Olde Ellicott City to open up a few shops, including our favorite wine store. This shop is located at the top of the hill, so a lot less flooding. The owner is a Michigan State Grad and used to be head chef at a local restaurant until he opened his own wine shop. He also does quite a bit of charity work, and every month has Yappy Hour-wine tasting with your dog! Then a portion of the sales for the night goes to local animal shelters. Also he brings in booths that sell items for pets as well. We wanted an excuse to check out the improvements in the town as well as to enjoy taking Cookie out for an outing.
This storm caused quite a bit more damage to the town then the previous flood. The main street had not yet been opened, but we were able to walk around a portion of the town checking out the recent damage and current repairs.

On Sunday,   Allison decided to complete her last week of work at GS camp, even though she had been ill each week she attended.  She just really wanted to participate in the rock climbing that was scheduled for that upcoming week if she could.  And she wanted to spend time with her camp counselor friends. Also, this would be the last time she can work full time at summer camp and she was hoping they would retire her camp name, Dragon. So off she went.

And so did Tom(again) to Salt Lake City. Big project. Scott meanwhile finished his pet sitting jobs for the week. Turns out the woman he was working for in the neighborhood had just moved from Michigan! Of course, Scott did not have a big discussion with her, but he did mention he was going to Western Mich this fall which had started the conversation. She was just getting used to the area. Maybe I will have to look her up!