April 29-May 5, 2019

Happy week of Cinco De Mayo!  Is it already May?  We celebrated the 5th of May with a Mexican dinner on Thursday, May 2nd. We invited our neighbors over for a mexican fajita dinner on the deck with spanish rice and of course, margaritas!  Our neighbor Gloria was back from Florida after finishing her 13 week nurse contract job. She was actually offered a permanent position in Naples and was very tempted to take it! She loves the area-guess they have some money down there.  She would be very happy to retire in the area, just a block from the beach.  However, her husband Dan is not ready to retire, and not very crazy about living in Florida. So instead, she took another 13 week job rotation but currently had time off to return home and spend time with family. Before coming home, her husband Dan traveled down to Florida for a visit and they traveled to Orlando to spend a few days at Disney's Magic Kingdom and Epcot. Then they traveled up to Ohio to visit with their family. So we were happy to spend an evening catching up since everyone has been on the road lately.

We decided to celebrate Cinco De Mayo early since Allison and I would be gone over the weekend(again).  This was the weekend of the Girl Scout Jamboree. On Friday morning Allison and I were busy packing up our camping gear. Fortunately we did not have to sleep in a tent, but I did pick up a few twin sized air mattresses for comfort reasons. I decided the big queen sized mattress was too heavy and bulky to haul, and this way Allison and I have our own mattress to sleep on. And I found a brand that is higher and easier to get on and off, plus easier to inflate/deflate. Besides our "camping gear", I also had Scott help me out with a few educational posters for the fire making station that I was helping with. Allison was running the slingshot station. Scott made some great campfire models and mounted them on a poster to give the girls a few ideas on how to build different fires as well as a poster on fire safety and the fire triangle/items required to build fires. Scott got a good start on the posters Thursday, so I finished them up on Friday morning. Allison would have done them, but we just seemed to run out of time after I decided posters would be nice. We headed out to camp  in the afternoon after picking up some dinner to take along. Allison still had to do some training on the use of the slingshots as well as set up the targets. The GS troops started arriving after 5pm.  The girls stay in tents, cabins and Yurts(large, one room lodges).  We really did not have any responsibilities on Friday night-just setting up our sleeping area.  But Allison volunteered to help make popcorn for a Friday night snack for the girls while they participated in a few "getting to know you" games and making name tags.  I sat through the adult orientation portion of the evening to help answer any questions from the Troop Leaders, and then it was time for bed. It started raining, and we even had some thunderstorms during the night. I was still glad we did not have to sleep in a tent! The girls were all brave and stayed in their tents! We had about 83 girls show up, ranging from middle school to high school. Our theme this year was Survivor.

Fortunately the rain stopped Saturday morning. We were up by 6am.  Some of the leaders stayed up late preparing for their stations which made it hard to fall asleep.  But we managed to get enough rest and were excited to start our day!  After breakfast, we went off to our separate stations. Allison ran the slingshot station all by herself.  I was paired with another adult leader to teach girls how to build fires. Their goal was to build a small fire and burn through a piece of string stretched between two small sticks. The groups ran from 9 am to 6pm with an hour lunch break. We were supposed to have an hour for each group of girls, but we had to cut our time down to 30 minutes since a group of leaders showed up that ran an extra station-low ropes. So in order to make room for their group, we had to share our time with the Orienteering station. We were going to have the girls build a fire and make firestarters using cardboard egg cartons, melted candle wax and cotton dryer lint. So we skipped the firestarter making which was fine since it was taking an extra long time to melt the wax(old candles and crayons) over a small burner. And unfortunately the girls were having a hard time finding dry kindling and tinder to burn in the woods since everything was so wet from the rain the night before and the drizzle during the day. By the afternoon, we had a few successful fires and the girls were so excited. (who doesn't like making fire?). Unfortunately we had to rush the girls, but at least some of them got to light a match for the first time.

At the end of our day, we cleaned up our mess, put out the fires, had dinner and headed over to the evening bonfire and entertainment. We got 30 minutes into the program(girls singing songs and putting on skits) when it started to rain again. I told Allison I did not feel like sitting in the rain for another hour, so we headed back to our lodge. We were ready for bed. Allison 's arms were killing her from all the slingshot activity during the day. We settled in with our books and began to fall asleep when the rest of the staff shuffled in. They ended up chatting until late in the night(with the lights on). so another rather limited, restless night of sleep. Guess Allison and I are party poopers.

On Sunday morning it was time for breakfast and a quick "Scout's Own" ceremony to reflect on the weekend. Allison and I were asked to sing a few songs(choir experience) outside near the camp pond, but it started absolutely pouring, so we cut the ceremony short. Instead we headed out in the rain to check out the troops(make sure the cabins were closed up properly and all the trash removed) . We also cleaned up our lodge area before heading out. Allison is quite used to the camp check out process. She is quite the leader role model!

We headed home to get some lunch and take some hot showers and a nap before getting a much deserved Mani Pedi in the massage chairs. Wonder what theme we will come up with next year.

April 22-28, 2019

So we were headed to Kalamazoo, Michigan on Thursday to pick up Scott and all his belongings. He was spending the week wrapping up his final exams. He was so ready to return home and be done with school!  Turns out he spent Easter weekend packing up his room besides studying.  The students were allowed to do some packing on Good Friday, but then the quiet hours starred. Scott was able to put quite a few things in his Jeep at the beginning of the week.

Before heading out, Allison and I had a Girl Scout camping meeting to start wrapping up the last minute items before our May Jamboree. Allison is also trying to squeeze in a few frisbee games in between rain. And since it was getting warmer and raining a bit more, everything really started to grow!  Scott was missing all the spring colors up in Michigan. They are a bit behind our schedule. As a matter of fact, Tom was able to put down some weed and feed before heading out on a few of his work trips. So now the grass was really growing, and we had to squeeze in our first grass cutting before leaving for Michigan.

So on Thursday we drove up to Kalamazoo. We arrived around 7pm, and one of the nice things about Michigan is that the sun stays out later. So we had some daylight left and decided to pack up the rest of Scott's belongings that evening. They only allow you about a 1/2 hour parking outside the dorms, so Tom stayed with the van while Scott and I started bringing things down from his room. Scott had everything packed up already, so we only had a few trips. Meanwhile, Allison was watching our Papa Murphy pizzas cook in the student kitchen. Scott had picked up a few Papa Murphy pizzas for our dinner and we were able to use the student kitchen to cook them to take back to the hotel. We had an early morning planned to check Scott out of his dorm room with the RA the next day.

On Friday morning, Tom and Scott headed over to the dorm early to clean and check out with the RA. Afterwards we all met up for breakfast at his dining hall. Then I noticed that my flat tire warning alarm went off in the van, so we had to drop into Costco to have it looked over. Fortunately, we were the first ones in the door and were waited on right away. Turns out my tires were fine, but the sensor was worn. They were able to replace it in under an hour while we did some shopping. The weather was a bit windy and chilly, so after having the car repaired,  we decided to spend part of the day visiting a local zoo near Battle Creek, Binder Park Zoo. I like using my Baltimore zoo card for discounts including 1/2 off on admission at zoos around America. Binder Park zoo was a very interesting place, with a small lake and boardwalk through a swamp. They had just opened for the season, and did not have all their animals out including the giraffes. We had to take a tram over to the hilly field where they displayed their giraffes, ostrich, antelopes and zebras. It was getting rather cold and very windy, so we did not spend a lot of time walking around the large enclosure. We spent more time peaking in the smaller cages of animals and reptiles and looking at the birds. Including quite a few peacocks that roamed the grounds. After lunch we headed back to campus with a stop into the local movie theater. We all were looking forward to seeing the new Avengers: Endgame movie. We figured if we tried to see it back home, it would be sold out. So we were very excited to get great seats in Scott's local theater before all the kids got out of school that day. And lots of popcorn!  The movie runs 3 hours, but it did not seem like a long running film. We enjoyed the whole experience. We then took a quick walk around Meijers(stocking up on Vernors ginger ale) and took back some sandwiches for dinner.

On Saturday we were headed down the road back home. We decided to stop into the Toledo Zoo on our way to Pittsburgh. We figured we could take 2 days to head back home, and Tom had made hotel reservations for us near Pittsburgh. We had taken the kids to the Toledo zoo when they were little, but neither one of them remembered the place. Neither did we!  It was on the way home, so we spent a few hours walking around the grounds looking at all the animals and their aquarium. It was a nice break on the way home. Afterwards, Tom and Scott even ran into the Libby Outlet glass shop to pick up a few drinking glasses when the guys get together.

We then all met up at the hotel north of Pittsburgh. Turns out it was right near my brother Dan's apartment and $12 Billion dollar Polyethylene plant  project. We were quite impressed with the facility located near our hotel. Unfortunately, we missed visiting with my brother Dan who was back in Texas at the time picking up Sheila from their house in Houston to spend the summer months in Pittsburgh. We will have to plan another trip back to the area to catch up with the both of them.

On Sunday, we drove back to Baltimore and got busy unpacking all of Scott's belongings. Before you know it, we will be repacking the van and heading back to Michigan! We were glad we left when we did since Kalamazoo had 3 inches of snow on Saturday night. But for now, Scott has a nice, long break until the end of August.

April 15-April 21

Happy Easter Week!  I ended up working on Easter Sunday. I was looking to take off the following Thursday to travel to Michigan to pick up Scott. He was busy wrapping up his last projects, papers and exams of his winter term. He would be busy taking his finals the week after Easter, and then would be done that Thursday. He had to be out of the dorm on Friday.

So my usual Easter plans with a big dinner and Easter mass were a bit off. Instead, we decided to have friends over for a big dinner on Saturday. I had bought a huge prime rib roast for Tom the week before, so we decided to pull it out of the freezer and put it on the grill for a wonderful dinner Saturday night. I was glad I put the roast in the freezer the week before because I discovered that Tom had plugged the freezer into the furnace, but he turned the furnace off that week. And it cut the power to the freezer! I had to run an extension cord to plug it in. I was a bit concerned that it had blown a fuse during a severe thunderstorm in which Allison and I had hunkered down in the basement for the night. Cookie gets too upset during tstorms and whines all night, so we pulled open the couch so we could all get some sleep. Tom was out of town that week so Cookie had noone to keep her company during the night(Tom is usually up late/early and playing video games or working on school work on his computer in the basement office). Anyway, I was glad to hear that the brand new freezer was just fine and only needed to be plugged into another outlet!

So we made a big dinner and had our friends Beth and Barry over with their sweet dog, Ripley. We also had our friend John come over for dinner.  We have been trying to get everyone over for months, but something always seems to come out(or someone gets sick!). We also would have had our neighbors, Dan and Gloria over for dinner, but Gloria is still working in Naples Florida, and Dan had traveled to Ohio to visit family. He had stopped by to wish Tom a Happy Birthday, but Tom was off to Rhode Island during the week for a quick work trip.    And sadly he informed me that their son dropped out of Grad school in Delaware. He decided the type of work in Environmental Legislation was just not for him. Although he currently does not have a back up plan. And Gloria went back to work primarily to help him out with the cost of Grad school. We are very happy that Allison is enjoying her work at Northrop, and Scott is very excited about the engineering program at Western. Except he is also looking forward to coming home.

So Easter Sunday Allison and I both went to the sunrise service at church(a first for us!). It was a nice, uncrowded mass. We both went to church early so we could both work that day and take off Sunday. We stopped for a quick breakfast at Einstein bagel and then changed clothes at home. I went off to work at the Rehab center and Allison was able to work from home.  But first we all dug into our Easter baskets! I did not make Tom and Allison search for their baskets this year. No time. They were both very pleased with their goodies. Tom gets a low carb basket, and Allison enjoys some dark chocolate treats along with a few healthy snacks to take to Frisbee practice. Scott would have to wait for his Easter basket when he returned home. I managed to get off work early enough to pick up Mom B Sunday afternoon and bring her back to our house for a late Easter dinner. Tom had put in a ham, and we had plenty of side dishes left over from our big meal on Saturday. So we enjoyed our dinner Sunday night before I took Mom B back to her apartment after giving her an Easter basket.

I had picked her up Friday evening as well to get her hair done, as well as mine. I wanted to get highlights and a hair cut, so we both went in since the hairdresser was closed on Easter Sunday. Afterwards I made our last Friday night fish dinner-I tried a new recipe out for salmon. Mom had cheese pizza since she is not a big fan of salmon. I was glad that I was able to get my shopping done on Thursday night after work. It gave me more time to spend with Mom since I will be gone the next two weekends.

Allison also had a special event during the week. She was invited to the Girl Scout Distinguished Women's reception as a former participant. The reception recognizes 5 women in management positions in the Baltimore area and they each host a specially chosen Girl Scout for a day at work. Allison spent the day with the owner of the Baltimore Chemical Company, Jeannette Partlow when she was in high school. She even did her college internship at the Chemical Company and has been good friends with Jeannette ever since. She was happy that Jeannette was also able to attend the event. Usually they hold the reception at a local Country Club, but this year it was moved to one of the hotels in the harbor. Allison said they invited too many people and did not even have enough chairs or tables for all the guests. But she said the food was wonderful and so was the view. And Jeannette gifted her a signed book on Leadership written by one of the national GS leaders who is currently in her 90s and still very active in scouts in New York. Allison is hoping to travel to New York with Jeannette for a luncheon to meet her, although we did get to hear her speak at the National Convention in Houston about 6 years ago when Allison and I attended as delegates. Allison really enjoyed the evening and was amazed at how many people she actually knows on the Girl Scout Board and that know her!

April 1-April 7

This is a busy time for Birthdays on both sides of the family. Dad Seitz celebrated his 80th Birthday on March 29!  Sandra Bozyk celebrated her Birthday on April 6th, Saturday. Tom's 56th Birthday landed on Thursday, April 4th. Unfortunately, he was not at home for all of us to celebrate that day, since he was in Northern California. Turns out though, he was able to catch an earlier flight and managed to come home Thursday night in time for dinner. We decided to celebrate his special day at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. I let the waiter know it was Tom's Birthday and they brought him a huge, deep fried ice cream chocolate ball with a candle(for free!). We all enjoyed digging in, although it was so frozen it kept slipping off the plate! And Tom split up his gifts starting on Saturday before he left Sunday. He needed a new GPS and wanted to take it on his California trip. So I had ordered one through Amazon and gave it to him so he could download new maps and such. He was very happy. Then when he came home we continued with gift giving on Friday. I ordered a few more items from Amazon that he had on his wish list-mostly electronics and chargers. But the other big gift included a compact, deep chest freezer for our basement. We have always wanted one since the fridge freezer does not work well for storing the large, Costco meat products which Tom enjoys grilling. We decided this would solve the problem. Fortunately, Sam's Club had the perfect sized freezer on sale and they delivered for free! So I save money and did not have to try and load it myself in the van(which would not work). And it was delivered on Friday when Tom was home to receive it. He was very excited about the gift and was able to slide it down the basement steps, unpack it and plug it in. Then he quickly started to fill it with tasty meat and his low carb bread! It's big enough that it has plenty of room to store lots of steaks and roasts, but small enough to fit perfectly in our furnace storage room.

So Tom was very excited with his Birthday gifts. In the meantime, I headed off to work again at the new facility on Friday, and was actually scheduled to work on Saturday at my full time job. I had two very long days at the end of the week. I was ready for a break on Sunday!

We had planned on taking Tom to a movie on Sunday morning. Allison and I were looking forward to seeing the movie "Shazam".  Tom was not as interested, and as it turns out, he decided to stay home and wrap up his last paper for a current class. Allison and I really enjoyed the movie, and afterwards I picked up my mom for a hair appointment and to join us for dinner at our house. Quite a busy week!

Allison has also been busy with her new season of Ultimate Frisbee. She even signed up for Saturday tournaments in DC. And when she is not playing frisbee, she is working out at the YMCA with her previous college roommate. Or playing Dungeons and Dragons with a counselor friend from Girl Scouts.  And she keeps up with volunteer work. She ran a paper airplane class for a middle school group of girls with the Northrop staff, and she continues to attend the Gold Award council meeting. Never a dull moment for Allison!

April 8-April 14

Monday, April 8th would have been Dad Bozyk's 84th Birthday. As I said, a very busy month for Birthdays. Sarah Bozyk Hudson enjoyed her special day on Saturday, April 13th! Happy Birthday Sarah! And Spring has arrived in Baltimore! Our blooming trees are quite beautiful-my mom loves driving around looking at all the flowers.

I was happy it warmed up a bit since Allison and I signed up for a Howard County Parks and Rec. paddling class on Saturday morning. We are signed up for one of their kayak trips on the Potomac river in June, but we needed to attend the class before the trip. I have actually taken the class in the past and also attended one of the kayak trips many years ago. This time Allison agreed to join me, and since it has been so many years since attending the class, we needed to do a repeat. Allison actually has not taken the class before, but she has taken several training classes with Girl Scouts. So on Saturday morning we headed over to the park. The instructor expected all participants to trial both canoes and kayaks. So Allison and I started with the canoe. Allison was not crazy about getting into the canoe, but actually enjoyed it. She has been in a canoe before, but most of the time she was either too little to paddle, or supervising Girl Scouts while they paddled. She was surprised how much she enjoyed the experience. I was just not too excited about the size of the canoe. It was not as big as my Dad's old aluminum canoe and the seats were a bit low. I have a hard time sitting down on the floor or low surfaces(bad hip). As it was, we had to load into the canoes and kayaks off a dock and I needed some help getting down on my hands and knees and crawling into the boats. I usually can step in the water and then step into the canoe or kayak, but this lake was a bit too deep for that. After an hour of paddling around in the canoe, along with a lesson, we switched to the kayaks. Allison and I had fun paddling our own kayaks and checking out the geese and ducks(not too close since they were busy nesting and rather grumpy). We also enjoyed searching out the turtles, and I was able to pick one up in the water with my paddle! We had a wonderful morning paddling around the lake in the morning.

Allison and I are also counting down to our upcoming Girl Scout Jamboree camping weekend in May. We had a planning meeting-only a few more to go. Allison will be running a slingshot station, shooting paintballs at targets. I am helping with the fire building station. Our theme this year is Survivor Weekend. Looking forward to spending time at GS camp.


That afternoon we headed up to Hershey, PA to catch a Hockey game. One of Tom's Birthday gifts. Our friend John joined us. Allison too since her Saturday frisbee game was cancelled due to muddy fields from the rain the week before. We had a great time visiting Hershey Candyland(a wonderful visit before Easter!). Lots of interesting new candy. And a very large Easter bunny. And the game was very exciting since the Hershey Bears won and are in the Caldor Cup Tournament!

Unfortunately the MSU basketball team lost in the last of the Final Four tournament. So we now turn our interest to Hockey and the Stanley Cup playoffs with our returning, winning cup local team, the Washington Capitols.

On Tuesday night, Tom and I enjoyed a date night and watched the "Shazam" movie since Tom missed the outing on Sunday. He thought it was better than he imagined it would be, and we had some tasty Shake Shack burgers afterwards. I was just a bit disappointed in our Tuesday night AMC movie specials as they raised the price from $5 to $6, and they now sell the large popcorn/soda combo with only 1 soda, not 2. I knew it was too good to last!