So we all had Monday off(the day after Easter). We drove Allison back to Salisbury-she had class that evening. The trip back home is also like a mini vacation. We stopped in for lunch on the eastern shore on the way back. A small diner that Allison and her frisbee team hid out in during a tornado warning on their way to Virginia beach. We actually wanted to try the homemade pie, but we were still too stuffed from all the food we ate in Williamsburg! We also enjoyed watching the dolphins swim alongside the long bridge/tunnel that joins the eastern shore to Norfolk VA along our way.

We dropped Allison off to her place, drove home and picked up Cookie from our neighbors. Scott was off school until Weds and he had the whole week off work since the Catholic school was on Spring break. Tom and I were back to work on Tuesday. I actually was signed up to work on Friday to make up for taking off Monday.  On Weds we celebrated Tom's 55th birthday. I made him lemon poppyseed scones for breakfast and when we got home we all went out to dinner at his favorite italian restaurant, Maggiones. They had a special dinner combo-appetizer/salad, two meals and dessert to share for two(plus two dinners to take home!). And of course I had a coupon!  Tom opened a few small presents at the restaurant and he finished opening gifts when we got home. Tom's big gift was a toaster oven!  Scott mentioned that Tom was talking about wanting to try out a toaster oven since our regular toaster was starting to poop out. When Scott and I visited JCPenny they had a terrific sale on their appliances, so we picked one up. Turns out it is pretty fancy with a convection oven setting too. I just think it is hysterical that Tom wanted a toaster oven. I always think of that as an old person appliance. All the residents in the retirement homes I've worked in have toaster ovens. Now I feel old. Turns out Tom and Scott absolutely love the toaster oven. Even Allison has a toaster oven and she loves hers too! It really is handy-you can heat up your food without having to wait for the big oven to preheat. Comes in handy with small portions. And it makes great toast! Who knew. Old people must be smart!  The best part of being 55 as Tom's Dad pointed out is that now Tom can live in the Retirement community in Florida! However, I don't think he plans on retiring anytime soon. Currently he is very busy with his newest class(lots of busy work!).

It was nice to go out for dinner during the week. I had a very busy schedule planned for the upcoming weekend. I was starting the move into my mom's new apartment. And I was a bit concerned as I heard a clunking sound in my van when I hit the brakes driving to work. Tom said he would take a look at it, or run it up to the local garage for a once over. He did not get to it on Thursday, so Friday morning we dropped it off at Midas before I headed to work. They really did not find anything wrong with my brakes, so at least I felt more comfortable driving. I really needed my van for the weekend. I had scheduled the start of my mom's big move and I was using my van to move some items myself.

So on Saturday morning I headed to the new apartment to wait for delivery of a new bed and couch. A few weekends earlier I stopped into Bob's furniture and picked out a twin sized bed with extra under the bed storage and headboard storage. I also picked out a comfy couch to match her recliner chair. And Tom found a beautiful persian rug for the bedroom. I wanted to get one down on the floor before setting up the bed. Now we need a bigger one for the living room area. The apt has wood laminate and is a bit noisy, but pretty. I really like this apartment. Not as fancy as the Sunrise apt, but very cozy and quiet with a nice view into a courtyard. So the furniture delivery came around lunch. I brought Scott with me to apartment sit while I ran across the street and picked up a few of mom's clothes and lamps. I have also been downsizing her items, but there still is a lot to move.  I also signed up for mom's phone service with Verizon. Apparently now you get a box like cable to hook up your phone. And if you want more than one phone you have to buy another box. Crazy. Scott helped me sign up for the service. We headed home and decided to enjoy an evening out by seeing the movie "Isle of Dogs", a japanese anime movie. Allison really wanted to see it too, but it was not playing at many movie theaters over the Easter weekend. Scott and I really liked it, Tom was not very excited. It had a lot of famous actor voices, but the humor was a bit dark and dry. Not exactly a Disney special, although the dark side kinda fits the bill.

On Sunday I decided to move some more of mom's personal items and clothes over to the apartment. I bought some bathroom towels. Tom had put up the shower curtain and assembled the shower chair. The other apartment had many of these items. This apartment was stripped down to nothing. I also moved her dishes and glassware after bringing it all home and running it through the dishwasher. She has a small kitchenette, but I don't think I will add a microwave. She really did not use hers much in the other apartment. Mostly she kept unplugging it. Messes up the clock! Mom was a real trooper. I put her to work and had her pushing a small cart loaded with clothes and dishes to her new apt. She helped hang up clothes and I checked to see if she could get into the bed! It is a bit high-I think I will order a bed rail. She likes the apartment and the building. However, she thinks it is my apartment and that I am moving in! She keeps asking if Tom is ok with it and where is his bed.

Afterwards we picked up Tom and Scott and headed out to dinner to celebrate Tom's birthday with my mom. I also wanted Tom and Scott to help move some items out of mom's apartment, including the big screen tv. After a nice dinner out, we headed over to mom's old apartment to drop her off and pick up the large screen tv. However, when I pulled into the parking lot, Tom noticed smoke and oil pouring out of my van engine!  When we popped the hood, we noticed a large pool of oil in the bottom of the engine well. Crazy. Well, so much for moving the large tv. We dropped mom off to her floor, and then called an Uber ride to get home. Guess I was right about something not working in my van! I just can't believe no alarms or warning lights came on before this.

On a better note, a Big Happy Birthday also goes out to Sandra Bozyk!