Happy Spring! Lots of changes in the air, including several managerial layoffs at my Retirement community. My Rehab manager was let go after 10yrs at my facility. We are all still in a bit of shock. Fortunately our field is short on help, so she will probably not have as much trouble finding something else, but I don't think she had planned on looking for a new position any time soon. Neither did the managers in Security or Housekeeping, or the few other managers let go. Guess everyone is trying to cut corners.
Although that did not appear to be the case when I went out shopping for Tom's birthday and helping out the Easter Bunny with a few items this weekend. The mall and stores were packed on Friday. Guess if you're out of work, you have lots more time to shop! Just no money! Maybe credit then. I was happy to find the items I was looking for, and I am also trying to start some packing and shopping for our trip to Florida at Easter(just a few weeks away). Hard to believe we just finished with St Patty's Day. The kids were so excited to wear St Patrick's Day clothes. Scott had a shirt on that said "Don't pinch me". Of course, everyone wanted to pinch him!
I was also busy on Friday baking brownies for the Fish Fryday dinner that night. Allison and I served dinner too as volunteers. It was not as crazy busy as it has been in the past. And as soon as we finished up, it was time to take Allison to piano. She also had a sleepover with her girlfriend who shares her love for the Twilight series. The DVD came out at midnite, so I took the girls to a preview party at Borders Bookstore and at midnite they began to sell the movie. We didn't have any luck winning any of the raffle gifts, but the girls loved buying themselves Twilight paraphanalia at the bookstore including Sweethearts with Twilight sayings, and buying the movie on discount. Afterwards, the girls stayed up late watching the movie and eating popcorn. Good thing they could sleep in the next morning(before Allison headed off to karate). She learned how to drop people in karate by sweeping their feet-she had lots of fun!
Scott is having fun in his karate class too, as well as his gymnastics class. He really likes the rings. He had two classes this week to make up for being sick last week. At least he is feeling well again. It's a good thing too since we didn't give the kids much time off this weekend.
Northrop sponsored a night at the Baltimore Science Museum on Saturday. We had a fun time playing with all the hands on equipment and watching an IMAX movie on Beavers(nature's engineers of course!).
We had to get to bed early Saturday night since we headed off to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg on Sunday. They had a grand opening for season pass members. Tom and I decided to re up our 2yr passes, since I will be heading down to Williamsburg in June with the girl scouts and will probably stop in for a day at Busch Gardens. We also had the chance to see Jack Hanna in person and get his autograph. He is a very laid back kind of guy, very personable and very funny. He had great animal stories to tell, and funny stories about some of the shows he has been on like the David Letterman show, and Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader. He believes the kids are not really 5th graders, just short people from Yale. He begged us not to watch his episode(said he did not do very well). I was just impressed that he stood in line with us while we waited to get in his show and passed out his autographs. Smart guy. He has made a visit or two to Busch Gardens each year since they are big into Animal Conservation, but this was going to be his only visit this year. Meanwhile, Scott and Tom were busy riding all the roller coasters. F.E.A.R.-Forget Everything and Ride! Allison and I saw that on a tshirt at Busch Gardens, but Allison does not agree. She is not a daredevil like her brother. We did not get home until around 11pm, so we had our neighbors puppy sit in the evening. They enjoy bringing cookie over to keep their beagle company.
Speaking of puppy sitting, we solved our problem for our Florida trip. Turns out Tom was over near our friends from MSU, Matt and Di's house checking out a kennel and he stopped in to introduce them to Cookie. We have been having trouble finding a kennel that would take Cookie since she is so young she hasn't had her Rabies shot. Anyway, turns out that Matt and Di's dog, Elvis(a Wisla-looks like a hound dog) had just died that weekend. We knew he was sick with cancer, but he hung on for a month after he was diagnosed. But since Diana was feeling especially sad having lost her dog, she was very happy about the idea of puppy sitting. So now we don't have to worry about Cookie catching strange dog diseases since she hasn't had all her shots, and she won't get trampled by big dogs either! And maybe she will learn to chase chipmunks like Elvis did!
We hear Susan and John are visiting Mom and Dad Seitz in Florida this week. Hope they are all enjoying the weather and beaches. We can't wait to hit the beaches ourselves! We'll probably stop into Busch Gardens Tamp and Sea World, although Tom is very sad to hear they have discontinued the Hospitality Centers! Oh No, there goes an era of free beer and beer tasting school. The kids already miss the all you can drink soda and the Ghiradelli chocolates. How sad. Tom is not sure he will be able to handle Shamu without a free beer in him. How sad. I would think the new Busch brewery owners would love the extra business that seems to occur when you try their free beer. Guess Europeans don't believe in free samples.
Tom did win himself an award from Northrop for all his hard work in Salt Lake City last year. He is being honored at a Northrop dinner this Tuesday, however, Tom scheduled himself for a work trip to Salt Lake City this week! So he is going to miss his own award dinner. I will probably try to go for him if he tells me where and when the dinner is tomorrow. And if I can get the kids picked up from school and fed before I go! Guess I will be dining with one of Tom's bosses. Let you know how this week turns out! At least we're both still working! Kathleen and Family