So I am slowly adjusting to my blood pressure med. Unfortunately, I still have some symptoms and I get very tired. Not fun. Especially since I always have so much to do.

The kids were off on MOnday for President's Day. Allison took Scott to a birthday party at Dave and Busters. While he played video games, she shopped in the outlet mall. Tom decided to play hooky and join her. They stopped into Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and the service was so bad, they gave them free meals. Afterwards, Allison took Scott to his Fitness Class at the YMCA.

I was busy at work. Since my blood pressure is stable, the doctor said I should go to work. Thank goodness for a change that I have to sit and type my notes. It gives me a break during the day. But it has been extremely busy all of a sudden, and I have been running to several different clinics on campus. It has been so busy, I volunteered to work extra on Saturday. I thought it would keep me busy while Allison was off working a double shift at the rollerblade rink, and Tom and Scott were off to a Boy Scout event.

Scott volunteered to help out with Tom at a yearly event, The Klondike Derby. The cub scouts and boy scouts follow a trail with skill stations along the way to complete like first aid, fire building, compass use, etc.  Usually it his held in January, but they had freezing rain and rescheduled. So instead we had non freezing rain all day. Scott and Tom were coated in mud. What fun for my laundry! Scott's troop ran a rope bridge that the boys had to cross(without falling off). Mainly Scott was earning some volunteer hours towards his First Class Rank. He was also voted Patrol Leader, so he has a Leadership class scheduled for next SAturday to help him get ready for his 4 month job. I then had him spend his Sunday afternoon working on one of his Eagle badges, Personal Fitness. He has to keep a 12 week journal of an exercise routine, so that is why he is going to swim and fitness classes at the Y. Wish I could join him-maybe when I stop feeling short of breath and dizzy!

SCott also kept busy on the end of semester projects. He just finished a presentation on chameleons in science-all about adaptations. And another presentation on deforestation in Social Studies. He was so busy turning in projects and studying for tests that we had to skip out on his boy scout meeting this past week.

I was busy with my girl scouts. I had the girls come over for dinner on Friday night and practice their craft project for our upcoming Mall event next weekend. This is the girls last time to stay up all night and socialize and help out the junior scouts with badges and projects in our Up All Night at the Columbia Mall. Years ago my girls signed up to run a badge table, but these days they spend time making crafts. The last two years they made keychains, so this year we moved on to weaving "Gods Eyes". So they practiced making several projects and then spent the evening watching movies. They wore me out and I ended up going to bed before they all left!  I had spent the day at my doctor appointment, took Cookie to the vet for more shots, and then cleaned the house and went grocery shopping. That was enough for me!

Sunday has been a bit more quiet. Allison is off to her Field Hockey games. Scott served mass this morning and we brought home a few to-go boxes of pancake breakfasts.  I plan on spending the rest of the night watching The Walking Dead and the Oscars. What a combo! I can't stay up too late. I need my rest to face my new boss tomorrow. At least I had an opportunity to talk to her when she showed up on Saturday to get caught up herself. I am trying to explain the purpose of a Home Safety Assessment to her(she's a Speech Therapist). She's a very nice woman, but doesn't have much experience with our out patient department.

A Wonderful Big Happy Birthday goes out to Caroline and Clayton Bozyk as they celebrated their 17th Birthdays this past week! Happy Birthday you two!

I found a new and creative way to spend Valentine's Day with someone you love. Tom sat with me in the emergency room at our local hospital monitoring my blood pressure and heart rate. Very romantic.

Last weekend during a dentist office visit I discovered that my blood pressure had shot up. I went to the doctor on Monday morning before work for a quick check up and my doctor decided to start me on blood pressure medicine. The medication was ready for pick up that night, but I decided to wait and take it when I would be off work on Friday. It had several possible side effects and warned that I shouldn't drive until I knew how it would react. Since I wasn't having any symptoms at the time, I thought I could make it to Thursday night before starting the medication. I made it to Thursday afternoon.

I was feeling dizzy and sick to my stomach and had the staff take my blood pressure. It was plenty high enough, so I decided to make a break for it and head home to my medication rather than try to get to our health clinic on campus. I took the medicine at home and called the paramedics to check me out. They said I looked like someone with high blood pressure and recommended a nap. I asked Tom to take me to the hospital that night however since I still wasn't feeling very well. Tom was certainly brave hanging out in the ER waiting room for 3 hours, watching the Carnival cruise ship dock and unload while people kept coming in the ER and coughing their heads off. They all got rooms. I felt like one of the cruise ship passengers. Tom and I  spent all 3 hours in the waiting room. It is not very easy to sleep on an aluminum/plastic chair. But everything seemed fine with my blood work and EKG, so they sent us home.

On Friday the kids were off school and Tom was off work. He and I were both busy trying to pack SCott up for his boy scout camping weekend. Tom ran off with him in the morning to buy new hiking boots. Allison was off to piano lesson. One of SCott's classmates also went camping and his mom came along so she gave Scott a ride to and from the boy scout camp(very helpful). Sounds like Scott had a great time with his new troop, but he is pretty tired from all the work they accomplished. He was working on 4 different badges, including a cooking badge. So he was up at 6am making pancakes for all the scouts!At least some of the program was held indoors in cabins since it got very cold on Saturday night. They slept in tents outside however, but they put them up under pavilions which kept the rain/slush/snow off and that kept the boys dry and much happier! Nothing worse than camping in the rain! I was also glad I did not sign up to help out. I spent most of the weekend in bed. And Tom just doesn't do cold night camping if he can avoid it. Now Scott has been chosen to be a patrol leader which will move him along in his boy scout rank. And Tom can help him out as the patrol coach.

Good thing Scott and Allison don't have school on Monday either. But they will still be staying busy. Allison had to work a couple of nights at the rink this weekend. At least she had Sunday to herself, and they cancelled Field Hockey for the holiday weekend. She is going to help me out by taking Scott to a birthday party at Dave and Busters on Monday while she shops. And then she is going to take him to his Fitness class at the Y.

It certainly is wonderful having another helper who can drive! While Tom and I were at the hospital, Allison took Scott to his swim lesson at the Y and joined one of her girlfriends in the free swim lanes as well. She had a good time. Wish I could have joined them.

I had hoped to make up for our lost Valentine's Day by going to see the Broadway play Flashdance with Tom. And even perhaps have dinner afterwards downtown. Unfortunately, I was having some weird side effects to the blood pressure medication and spent Sunday morning in the urgent care clinic. The recommendation was to stay on the medicine and go to the hospital if things got worse. I felt better about having a second look over before I return to work on Monday. My doctor's office is closed, so I would not have a chance to talk to anyone before going back to work, except maybe at the ER again(way too expensive).  We ended up giving our Flashdance tickets to the neighbors since Allison was too busy studying and Tom did not want to go without me, especially since I was the one who really wanted to see it. Maybe next time.I did get a cute valentine bracelet and some movie tickets from Tom. I picked up Super Bowl shirts for the whole family. Plus I got the kids popcorn buckets with microwave popcorn since we have all given up dessert for lent.

So I will head back to work on Monday. At least I don't have to get up early to take SCott to school. I asked the doctors and nurses what could have caused my blood pressure to shoot up so high so fast. The usual answer is stress! Gee, where have I heard that before? I am sure it has nothing to do with the two new supervisors we have at work! And yes, genetics plays a role in it too. This is God's way of saying "You are getting old!"  I did stop into work for a few hours on SAturday afternoon to catch up on some documentation that I missed when I ran out the door on Thursday. I was out with Allison anyway since we stopped into the Nature Center so she could show off her computer power point presentation about the bird program for Girl SCouts. She may present the program at our local library first as a school project. Good practice.

We did manage to celebrate FAt Tuesday. Happy Packi Day! (Packi=big, fat, jelly filled donuts or cream filled).  I was even more excited to find a Detroit made Sanders Chocolate Bumpy Cake at our local grocery store. It was my last hurrah before lent! And no, my blood pressure was high before the chocolate cake! And I think Allison was pleasantly surprised to have received so many cute Valentines from her Kindergarten class. She even got gift cards for Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks as well as boxes of chocolates. What a great gig! She also passed out cards of her own since I had so many leftover from their younger days. SCott's 7th grade class got a  cookie and out of uniform day.

I also had to go with Allison to the dentist for a panoramic xray to check on her wisdom teeth last week. I am getting tired of all the doctor/dentist appointments, but that is life! I will be back to the doctor on Friday for a blood pressure check and then Cookie needs more shots at the vet. What fun.

So we will try to have a quieter week(I hope). Kathleen

Just in case you forgot who won the SuperBowl-here's a little reminder! Even the dogs in Baltimore know how to play football!  Who let the Dogs Out!  Woof  Woof Woof Woof Woof



This has certainly been a much quieter weekend than we had last weekend. We could sure use it. We've all been a bit run down. Scott was so run down, he caught a bad cold and spent a day at home working on school projects. He had a yearly medical check up scheduled on Weds, so they checked him for strep throat before they would give him his vaccinations. Since it was negative, I had to run him back to the doctor's office on Friday to get his dose of vaccinations and the flu shot like his sister. He also had his boy scout medical form filled out for summer camp, as well as finishing a requirement for his Personal Fitness badge. 


Scott stayed home on Tuesday because he wasn't feeling well, but most of Maryland stayed home to attend the Raven's Victory parade. They filled up the seats and the football field at our M& T stadium. Over 100,000 people to cheer on the Ravens and view the trophy.   And there were not very many people around on Monday either as people were traveling back to Maryland from the Super Bowl. I understand my niece Sarah was on the field in front of the stage for Beyonce's show as her LSU sorority was invited down to be in the audience.

Allison was one of the only students in most of her classes as the Seniors decided to take advantage of the situation and take a Senior skip day(or two). It hurt most of them in the end as the teachers kept to their testing schedules. Allison said they spent most of the two days watching television though. They even set up a screen in the cafeteria to watch the parade during lunch. I think our family was one of the few people that actually went to work or school! We really did not think hanging out downtown looked like much fun with all the crowds and traffic. At least it was an easy commute!

Scott did not make it to too many of his activities last week including his swim lesson or his boy scout meeting. He did make it to his first Fitness class at the Y after school on Monday though. And he really was looking forward to going to school since his science class is busy making underwater robots. I was supposed to go into school on Friday morning and help build the robots. I was scheduled to help with soldering, however we had a school delay due to ice and rain in the morning. At least we did not have a repeat of the snowicane that Boston and the New Englanders had this past weekend. It was just like the snow we had 3 years ago. My arms are still hurting from digging out over 3ft of snow(38 inches).

So on Friday I missed soldering, but I made it to my dentist appointment to get a referral to an endodontist. I also got Scott to his doctor appointment for his shots and the dog to her vet appointment for shots as well. Meanwhile Tom was at SCott's school presenting the science fair program to the kids. At one point we were all at the school since Allison was doing her internship, I was picking up Scott, Scott was busy learning and Tom was busy presenting! I also had to squeeze in a GS Leader meeting on Weds night. I found out that one of the GS moms broke her wrist on Saturday night at our rollerskating/blading event but she did not tell anyone when she fell. I sure hate being a First Aider!

So the weekend was full of Allison working and Scott doing homework and projects, me filling out paperwork for summer camps and rebates and renewing dog licenses and a quick GS choir rehearsal on Sunday. Overall a much more relaxing weekend. And I managed to pick up a few Super Bowl tshirts for upcoming Valentine presents.

A Big Happy Birthday goes out to our nephew Eric! Is there life after 21?  Here's looking for another relaxing week! I doubt it. Kathleen 

WOW! It certainly was a big weekend for those of us living in Baltimore! Did you happen to hear that the RAVENS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!! Baltimore is having one big party! This is our second win and Tom and I and the family were around to enjoy both events. Guess we picked the right outfits for our Christmas photo this year. Naturally we hosted the Super Bowl party. I am just glad Tom was in town for the festivities this year. We had about 20 people over to the house Sunday night. Neighbors brought all their good luck charms including a stuffed Raven and purple flamingo, stop lights and blankets and Raven hats. The mojo seemed to work but it certainly was an intense game, especially in the last quarter. We even put down wagers on each quarter and a few neighbors walked out with a few more bucks in their pockets(just not us). And of course there was plenty of food. Tom and I had started cooking and cleaning on Friday. Chili and Brats were the hit of the night. Along with chicken wings of course. And so the Ravens won like they usually do-not necessarily pretty, but they came out on top in the end with some amazing plays and dumb luck. Apparently there is supposed to be a parade downtown on Tuesday, but some of us will be working. And speaking of work, and school-it was pretty tough getting up this morning.

Especially since the football game was not the only highlight of the weekend. On Saturday I took Scott and his friend Sammy skiing for the day. I was going to take them skiing for Scout Day but we could not get enough people signed up for the group ticket price. Since I already promised the ski day, I decided to take them myself. We drove up to Pennsylvania and had a great afternoon skiing, even though it was very cold. We have been having snow and ice on and off all week and the kids keep getting out of school early or going in late. It was plenty cold to make snow at the ski hill, but it is not fun having it blow in your face while coming down the mountain. Thank goodness for goggles. But it did keep you from sliding down the hill on the ice patches. Scott and Sammy were all over the mountain, including the black diamond and double black diamond hills. I stayed happy on the beginner and intermediate hills until it was time to go. And of course, just like last year I had to drive home through a snow storm. I had to drop Scott's friend off and almost slid into their mailbox turning into the driveway. At least I got us home in one piece. I was up late worrying about Allison and Tom.

They had planned on going to a Hershey Bears hockey game. Tom found some tickets online and had to meet the guy selling the tickets in downtown Hershey. Turns out Tom decided to skip the outing since it was snowing pretty hard Saturday night and he and Allison went to dinner and a movie instead. Of course they went to see a movie I wanted to go to, and had planned on seeing with Allison this week. It is a cute looking Zombie movie where the guy comes back to life called Warm Bodies. Tom was not interested and it turns out he loved the movie. Figures. I do have good taste in movies.

Instead of the movie, I ended up seeing the Broadway play Beauty and the Beast with my neighbor Gloria. And naturally the play was on Sunday afternoon. Can I squeeze anymore activities into one weekend? Yes I can. I had to take Allison to the doctor on Friday afternoon for her yearly check up. Poor thing was stuck with the flu shot, as well as her second Hepatitis and Meningitis injections. Then we went out to dinner before Allison had to go to work. At least she was able to take off work on both Saturday and Sunday. That way she had time to study and recuperate from all her shots!

So a busy weekend to end a busy week. I had to drop off the cleaning supplies at a storage unit after work that we collected from our Girl Scout rollerskating event last weekend. I also had a rescheduled Girl Scout meeting for our upcoming Up All Night event at the mall on Monday night. My girls are manning an arts and crafts table that night for junior girl scouts. Then Tom had to go to the parent's meeting for boy scouts. And we both escorted Scott to his Boy Scout meeting last Weds as he was taking Cookie along to complete his Dog Care badge. He had to demonstrate a few of Cookies tricks, along with wrapping a bandage on her foot and placing a muzzle on her mouth. She was a very good dog model and the Scout co leader was very impressed. Scott's new troop is run by a husband/wife team and Mrs Galloway is the counselor for the Dog Care badge. Scott finished working on this badge almost two years ago but could not find a counselor to review his work. Until now. Congrats Scott! He was also busy with his swim lesson last week and will start a Fitness class at the Y next week to use towards his Personal Fitness badge.

  I also had to put together a few salads for the Teacher Appreciation luncheon on Weds morning. Allison said the teachers couldn't get enough of my taco salads. I just love that Allison is always at the school-she was able to pick up my bowls, as well as her brother after school let out.  We are certainly going to miss her this Fall when she goes off to college!

We have SCott signed up for almost every Eagle required badge at the next camping weekend in February. Scott worked on a presentation for his Communication badge too this weekend. He is going to discuss highlights of the upcoming summer camp to his new troop when he goes camping in a few weeks. Scott is the only scout to have attended this camp-Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. So he made a power point presentation. And Tom even picked himself a Scout shirt and patches. So I guess we are official members now. Including the dog.

So it looks like we only have 6 more weeks of Winter according to the Ground Hog last Saturday. The kids are still hoping for some real snow days, not just delays.

Enjoy our Raven Fan Photos and Cookie goes to Scouts!