March 4-March 10

Scott is home on Spring Break!  Unfortunately, we are all working this week, so our family is not very entertaining. Tom even had to fly to Wisconsin for the week for work. Tom will look to see if anyone wants to join him on his trips. Not this one. Scott just left the cold tundra of Kalamazoo and really did not feel like going back. And it was even colder in Wisconsin!  No thank you! Maybe if it was a trip to California.

 Scott did not travel to any fabulous destination-except home. He was very happy to just be home for the week. I was sorry he did not have warmer weather, but compared to the weather he has endured in Michigan, this was downright balmy!  We had weather in the 40s during the day, but no snow. As compared to Michigan which still has snow on the ground.

As it was, Scott had a paper to write over break. He also had some physics homework and an engineering test to study for, but decided to wait to get back to school for that. He did get his paper written and turned in online, so one less thing to worry about. And I put him to work hauling my snowmen up to the attic. Time to put away all the winter decorations! He also helped out by grilling dinner! Yeah!  And Cookie appreciated extra walks during the day. I even made him a dentist appointment so Tom took him over before leaving for Wisconsin. It is a bit limiting when you don't have your car. Scott decided not to work at the elementary school this week. He did not have his car so it was bit difficult getting around(and a bit too cold to ride his bike).  Plus he did earn some extra spending money while at school working on graphics for a video gamer. He actually got paid for his work that keeps him busy during some free time!  So on Friday he spent the entire day with a high school friend, Matt. Mostly playing video games and Tom had returned home Thursday night, so he made them both a steak dinner. I was holding out for seafood. Tom was so excited to have visited Wisconsin with the opportunity to pick up some summer sausages. He brought several back and hung them around the kitchen to dry. Unfortunately he hung one off the back of our kitchen chair and Cookie managed to jump up and reach it. She ate the whole thing! Currently she looks like a fuzzy sausage herself!

We celebrated Lent this week on Weds. After evening Lenten mass, the kids put together fish tacos. They turned out very well. The day before we celebrated Fat Tuesday, AKA Pazcki Day!  Fat little polish powdered sugar covered donuts filled with multiple fillings, like cream, raspberry, apple, etc. Sadly the grocery stores were all out of Pazckis on Monday evening when I stopped in, so I opted for a King Cake instead to take into work. I had told my coworkers all about King Cake and Pazckis and thought they would enjoy a taste. As it was, I kept bringing in bags of Hershey candy brought back from the Park. The King Cake is popular in New Orleans-basically a cinnamon streudel with frosting or colored sugar. Our bakery even had the plastic baby Jesus to put inside. If you find the plastic baby in your cake, you have to bring the cake to the next party! Everyone seemed to enjoy a piece of the King Cake but the baby was a bit too big to hide in the slices. So he is just sitting on my desk now!. I even sent a King's Cake to our friends who watched Cookie over Christmas break from a popular bakery in New Orleans-Gambino's. The cake is baked in an oval shape to represent the Unity of Faith, the frosting/sugar is purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power.

On Friday since Allison had to go to work, Scott was busy visiting his friend and Tom was just getting home, I decided to attend an OT class on Vision. It was very helpful and I liked that work paid for it!  And since Scott was busy visiting with a friend, Allison decided to attend a Dungeons and Dragon game party with friends.

On Saturday morning I took Cookie into a follow up vet appointment for the last of her vaccinations and to have her ear checked. The vet added a long acting medication into her left ear which has been getting infected on and off since last March. She even had a procedure for a deep cleaning last year and was put under for it, but the infection keeps coming back. This time the vet gave me a special medication to clean her ear out twice a week. Hopefully it will work once and for all. Besides the ear infections, and occasional issues with her leg joints, she is in very good health for a 10 year old pup!( I missed a year someplace and thought she was just 9 on her last birthday). How quickly they grow!

After her appointment, we decided to catch one last movie while Scott was visiting.  He really wanted to see "The Lego Movie" and Tom and Allison wanted to catch the new Captain Marvel film. So we all went to the movies and split up. I watched "The Lego Movie" with Scott.  All of us enjoyed our movies. (Tom still owes me a movie). That night we had our neighbor Dan over for drinks to catch up. His wife Gloria is still in Florida working in Boca Raton. Dan will be visiting her soon, and when her contract is up, they will both drive back to Maryland.

On Sunday it was time for Scott to head back to school. Spring Break was over! His flight left early in the afternoon, so we all drove him to the airport and dropped him off. He left after our rain and before a snow storm in Grand Rapids. He was home in plenty of time to pick up some dinner, open his suitcase and get started on some studying. We packed a small vacuum cleaner in his suitcase to clean up his carpet! I wonder how many vacuums the TSA find in traveler's suitcases. He wanted something better to clean the salt and dirt from his carpet. Apparently the dorm vacuums that you check out at the front desk are loud and don't clean very well. Grandma's little canister vacuum worked well for Allison at school and now we pass it on to Scott.

After dropping off Scott at the airport, Tom, Allison and I went out for lunch at a nearby japanese fast food restaurant and then home. I picked up my mom and took her to the hairdresser and then we had dinner at our house before taking her back to her apartment. Before she left I had her help me make some banana muffins too.