Spring is definitely in the air!  Mostly in the form of rain. It just won't quit. We were going for a record of the most consecutive days of precipitation, but then we had a small break. Small. Still not enough time to really get out and do serious yard work. I still have half a pile of mulch in the driveway. And the bushes are growing so fast, they really need trimmed before we put down any more mulch. At least my grass patch has taken off in the front yard.

So has the wildlife. We have a new baby bunny in the backyard. And my bluebirds returned, made a nest in their box, laid eggs, hatched a few baby birds and they have already left the nest. And then they started all over again. As soon as I cleaned out the box, they were busy at it again. I keep them happy with a bird feeder full of meal worms. It is fun to have them in the backyard.

And there were plenty of outdoor activities scheduled on the weekend. Not much fun in the rain though. I wanted to attend the Wine in the Woods event on Sat and Sun. I would have loved to sign up as a volunteer. You only have to work 4 hrs and then you get a free tshirt and tickets to enter and taste wine for free on the following day. We used to go when it was a smaller and cheaper event. Mostly to picnic and listen to the different bands playing while drinking our own good wine that we smuggled in while the kids ran around blowing bubbles with their bubble guns(sound familiar Mark?). Tom really hates Maryland wine though(tastes like fruit juice). So he had no interest in going  and working the event, and I could not talk anyone else into joining me. No one wanted to volunteer. And my friend Gloria who would have gone with me was still working out in San Francisco on a nursing job, so I had to pass. Not so bad though since it poured for 2 days. Then there was the Preakness Horse Race on Saturday. Another muddy mess with alcohol. And sadly the Kentucky Derby winner, Nyquist, did not like the mud either and he lost the race. Exxagerator won and now is off to Belmont, NY. Everyone was hoping for another American Pharoah, the winner of the Triple Crown last year. I did not realize that they host multiple horse races during the day leading up to the big event. 2 horses actually died earlier in the day-1 horse had just won its race, took a photo and keeled over from a heart attack! Another horse broke its leg and had to be put down. Rather intense. There was also the Hot Air Balloon Festival at which Scott's Boy Scout Troop volunteers to work in celebration of the Preakness weekend kick off. Scott and I have helped out for the past couple of years assisting with handling the balloons and folding and unfolding them. Unfortunately, Scott already had several other events and work scheduled during the volunteer hours, so we did not attend this year.

Our family has all been pretty busy lately. Allison is happy to be home and decided to do a major room clean out. More stuff for me to sort through. She was pleased with her grades, As and Bs from Spring semester. And before she headed home from school she took part in a campus wide convocation honoring all the students with high grades and awards including her induction into Business School NHS. She was also glad to hear that her upcoming summer internship was officially approved for her class requirement. Now she just has to meet with her boss, Jeannette, to set up her summer work schedule. In the meantime, she is enjoying her time off and we are enjoying having her home.

I especially enjoy having Allison around. Not just for her lovely company, but she certainly comes in handy for all those extra errands. She has been so helpful in running Scott around to some of his appointments, like the dentist or guitar lessons, boy scouts. She even cooks and cleans! I think I will keep her!

Tom is also happy to be done with his last class. He's thinking of taking the summer off so he can start working on writing a paper for his last professor. He was asked to contribute a chapter to the professor's book. I don't think it pays anything, but kinda cool to have your name published!

Scott in the meantime is busy trying to keep his head above water as the school year winds down. He finished standardized testing, only to start preparing for High School Assessments. He will take a government and biology test and probably an english test too before the year is over.  He is also trying to finish up end of the year projects. He built a crazy marble sorter in Engineering class and he has finished all his readings in English,  ending with Animal Farm and now the class is busy working on writing their own graphic novel as the next assignment. He loves that.  We also enjoyed attending his end of the year Robotics dinner at the school. Last year we were all invited to one of the coach's house. We ordered pizza, brought cookies and watched the 'kids' run around the backyard. It was very nice. This year they reserved the high school cafeteria, ordered lasagna and we brought cookies. They also passed out certificates, introduced the kids and their roles on the team and then brought out the robot so we could see it in action. The Robotics team also plans on running a summer Robotics camp at the high school which Scott was interested in, but it looks like they will be having it when he is off to boy scout camp. He is also looking forward to summer boy scout camp in July and plans on taking Horse back riding and driving around on an ATV.  He said he thinks his butt is going to be very sore!

Last weekend Scott was scheduled to work quite a few hours as well. On Sunday, the weather was wet and cold, and Allison asked if we could join Scott at the roller rink and skate while he was working. I haven't been on my blades for over 2 years, even though I help out with the GS roller rink event every year. I used to have time to skate. Not so much anymore. I was surprised to find out that my old blades are a bit too small. I've only had them for 20 yrs! I bought them before Allison was born and used to wear them playing roller blade hockey in LA with Tom and the neighbor guys. So Scott rented me some bigger skates and my feet were happy. After our skating session, we picked up Mom B and brought her home for dinner. Allison treated us to her recipe for salmon. Mom B especially loved the fresh corn on the cob.

Since the weekend was mostly cold and wet, Tom decided it was a good time for Scott to start his Eagle project.  Scott had Friday off for a teacher instruction day, so Tom decided to take Scott to Home Depot to buy wood and screws to try building a prototype of the handicap accessible gardening planters for my nursing home. The project has not yet been officially approved, but our Activity director at work was desperate to have something to transplant her strawberry plants. The old planters were falling apart. Tom figured even if the project did not get approved, it would still be a nice donation. And they need to make a prototype anyhow to test it out and finalize the cost. So they spent Friday shopping for supplies and all day Saturday out in the rain building the planter. It turned out very nice and on Sunday morning Tom loaded it onto the back of his car on a rack and we took it to my nursing home. We had to drag it through the hall and out the back door where we transplanted the strawberry plants into the new planter. It was a very muddy job. We cleaned up a portion of the patio and moved the old, rotten planters out of the way. So far it looks and works great for wheelchairs. Now Scott just needs to have his project approved by council. Tom hopes he can be done by the fall. He still needs to do some fundraising and have some scouts help him with the build for supervision purposes. I think Scott was just excited to start something. Tom too. And much more interesting than building benches like the other scouts  have been lately.

Tom and I are also interested in a bit of remodeling at our house. We would like to have our Master bathroom remodeled. We have been wanting to pull out the old garden tub and put in a large, walk in, tiled shower. I contacted a company and one of the reps came out during the week to give us an estimate. We liked what he had to say, but plan on contacting a few more companies to get some competitive prices.  I also dragged Tom off to an Estate planning meeting at a local Assisted Living Facility near my mom's place during the week. I thought Tom needed to listen to all the financial recommendations I have been looking over since taking over my parent's finances. I also thought I might learn something new. Not really. But we enjoyed a nice dinner from Mission BBQ. And Tom and I opted for a tour of the Assisted Living Facility to compare for my mom. We decided we like the place she is in now. Her place seems more friendly and family oriented. This other facility was quite big and had a lot of amenities, like a built in movie theater, it's own medical center where mom's doctor is located, an attached nursing home and larger apartments. But I still like the warm, friendly feeling at her Sunrise apt. I think she would get lost in this other place. Mostly I just wanted Tom to start thinking about getting a will, advance directives and estate planning in place for our family. Especially since Allison will be turning 21 this summer! 21!


Scott with his prototype handicap accessible garden planters at my workplace.