October 8-14, 2018 Happy Columbus Day! (It's still a thing)

Tom, Allison and I were back in Baltimore after traveling to Western Michigan for Homecoming weekend with Scott. I picked up Cookie from our friends on Monday. She had spent the weekend with our friends while we visited with Scott in Michigan. Tom had a flight out to Scotland for work on Monday morning. He was going to come home at the end of the week, however, we had Tropical Storm Michael headed our way after slamming into the panhandle of Florida as a Hurricane. The weather was expected to change in our area on Thursday to Friday at the end of the week. So Tom decided to stay over the weekend and avoid any flight delays. Good thing he did since we had strong winds and rain come through overnight. And he enjoyed his free time-trying different beer at different taverns and catching the "Venom" movie. Fortunately, here at home, no trees down or loss of power. Not so good for those living right on the coast in the Florida panhandle. A neighbor requested books for a friend's 9 year old autistic daughter living in the Florida area since she lost her collection. I gathered some of Allison's old books to donate. Altogether, our neighborhood collected 170 books to send to Florida! I think this young girl could open her own library!

Speaking of libraries, my younger brother Mike is busy searching and interviewing for library positions, primarily in California since he owns a condo near LA. He was laid off after reorganization of the library system this summer and is currently looking for a new position, either in LA or possibly San Diego. He even tossed around the idea of moving to Florida, maybe even moving into the Bozyk house in Nokomis. However, the Florida house probably would benefit from a knock down/rebuild-an expensive and lengthy project. And Hurricanes like Michael are not a big motivating factor to move to those areas. (Although I think it may be fate since the names match!). I'd still take hurricanes over earthquakes! So no plans on that move, but never say never!  Good luck on you job hunting Mike.

I have also been busy job hunting here in Maryland for a new flexible OT position. I have not yet heard back from my previous facility for on call work. I decided on call work would fit my schedule better, so I started to interview with several facilities -mostly skilled nursing facilities. So far I have just been spending my time interviewing, then filling out paperwork-both online and paper/pencil, dropping off paperwork, visiting medical clinics for drug testing and physicals. But so far, no actual work. So I also decided to look into a part time Home Health position that popped up-providing OT services to patients in Assisted Living Facilities. I finally got in contact with the Human Resources staff to discuss the job, but am now waiting on another phone interview with the office manager. I am amazed at how long these interview processes are taking! So is Tom. We both agreed that I probably did not have to go back to a full time position, especially since I lost all my vacation and sick time from my previous job. But we decided the extra income is handy, especially for our entertainment and travel expenses. We both did not realize just how long the onboarding process was going to take. Usually I have taken jobs in larger facilities, or full time jobs that seem to move the process along more efficiently. Although, my last job took about a month before my start date. I actually have more job offers than I know what to do with, but mostly full time positions, or contract/travel companies that move you around every 3 months. I really prefer to limit the number of facilities I work in as well as making longer lasting relationships with the staff and less travel. So I have to keep from applying to multiple jobs, especially since I have already committed to several positions. Just not working! So as I tell Tom, I am employed, just not working! The health care field seems to be either feast or famine -there won't be any significant work, and then your'e swamped with a work schedule. It would be nice to have some work, but not too much as the holidays are coming up!

It is nice having a flexible schedule in order to run errands, visit with my mom, get work done around the house and travel. Although I think the housework and yardwork is killing me! I've already smashed my toe when I dropped a large heavy thermos on my foot from a kitchen cupboard. And I love doing yardwork, but cutting the grass, trimming bushes, digging plants and edging the lawn is taking its toll on my back and shoulders!  I am just glad I got all my yardwork done for the most part since the weather switched from summer to winter over the weekend!  I finally turned off the A/C, but Allison and I spent the weekend shivering since the furnace and fireplace need to be cleaned before turning them on. And Tom was away in Scotland! That was a job I did not necessarily want to take on.

There were several outdoor events going on over the weekend, but it just seemed a bit too cold to sit out all day. The Maryland Wine Festival was rescheduled for this weekend which looked fun, but not to sit outside all day in the cold, drinking cold wine. They had to reschedule the event when Hurricane Florence was expected to move through last month. Maybe next year. I decided to schedule an indoor activity with a previous coworker from my last nursing home job. Anne, a PT assistant, picked up a full time position in a smaller nursing home near our previous work setting. They are also looking for on call therapists, so I decided to apply to that position, mainly so I could see some of the old staff I used to work with in the last facility. I wanted some time to chat to Anne about the facility and the rehab department, plus ask her to put in a good word for me. So we had lunch together in a new restaurant in western Howard county since Anne had a birthday coupon to use! Afterwards, we decided to attend a Decorator Show House event in an historic victorian farmhouse nearby. Wilderness Farm was built in 1907 in the "wilds" of Howard County on 450 acres. Both families in the household were active in the Revolutionary War. The husband, Joshua Warfield was a Maryland State Senator and lawyer. He was known as a gentleman farmer. He and his wife did not have any children, so when Joshua passed away, his wife requested their nephew and his family to farm the property for her while building his own house next to hers. Mary, the wife lived out her life in the house, even had her funeral in the front entry way when she passed away in 1972 and the house was sold to another family that raised their own children at the historic farm. Currently, the house and 5 acres of land is up for sale. We toured the interior of the house where each room was decorated with sale items from multiple interior decorators. Everything was for sale, including furniture, rugs and artwork in each room and some of the pieces were even from the original home design, like paintings and furniture. Most of the artwork for sale was from local Maryland artists, and all proceeds for sales and admission to the house went to assist in the rebuilding/revamping of Olde Ellicott City after the May flood. The house had an amazing design with octagon shaped rooms, beautiful views of the local farmland and multiple levels to explore. There was even a baby grand piano in the front foyer where the nieces took music lessons from a Baltimore Peabody academy instructor in the 1950s. Anne and I enjoyed our tour and picked up a few art items-I nabbed another Ellicott City print to go with a small picture Tom got for me during the previous flood fundraiser, and Anne found a gorgeous amethyst Polish glass vase at the antique booth they set up in an old barn on the property. It was a very nice way to spend a Saturday, and very interesting to learn more of our state's history. Who knew this place was basically in our own backyard! 

Allison decided to pass on our outing. Instead, she dressed Cookie in her viking hat and attended the Mt Hebron high school parade through our neighborhood Saturday morning. Allison came home with a handful of candy and Cookie got her walk in!   On Sunday, Allison was hoping we could visit the Maryland zoo, but I had my first Girl Scout choir rehearsal that afternoon. It took up most of the afternoon-3 hrs! I had planned on picking up my mom for dinner at our house, but by the time I arrived at her place, she had already eaten dinner. So I spent some time visiting and dropped off some Halloween/Fall decorations for mom's room.

Oct 1-October 7, 2018

Still does not feel officially like Fall. Our weather has been wet, humid and warm. We have not even been able to turn off the AC yet!  Still gives me time to get some yardwork done, but not much.

And actually, this week we were preparing to head to Michigan to spend the weekend with Scott for Homecoming!  He seems to be adjusting pretty well to campus life-getting to classes, studying, meeting new people. Unfortunately, one of the worst things to adjust to is a bad roommate. Scott roomed blind and was hoping for someone compatible. He filled out a survey, basically looking for someone that had some of his same interests. He is living in an engineering dorm, so we figured that would not be too hard. Unfortunately, his new roommate turned out to be more interested in partying than in his studies. He was bringing friends over that would help themselves to Scott's drinks and snacks without asking, smoking/vaping in the room(non smoking campus), missing classes and generally more interested in the 'fun' side of school(drinking/etc) rather than the serious side of school.  Which made it rather difficult for Scott to focus on his own studies, and generally made him miserable. So he requested a single room since he did not really know any other students at this time to switch rooms. And surprisingly he was able to get a single room, just two rooms down from his previous room on the same floor in the same building! And at an affordable cost. So last week he moved all of his belongings to his own room!  And we'd all like to report that he is much happier! He can now study in his own room, does not have to worry about anyone taking his drinks/snacks, can actually turn on the lights in the morning when he is getting ready for his 8am Pre Calc class! And does not have to get up at 1:00am to let his roommate in because he forgot his key! A much happier Scott. And it looks like he is getting the hang of his classes, how to study and take tests and is able to take advantage of the free tutors available on campus. Especially for the math! He is also discovering that most professors do not speak clear english!

And since Scott had his own room, of course I had to pack a few more items to take up to him. Including some Halloween decorations. And some warmer clothes. Michigan weather changes very quickly- a bit like Maryland, although I would say colder in Michigan!  And it is only going to get colder!  For now, he was also still having warm days and using all the fans we brought. His dorm does not allow students to control the temperature in their own rooms, so we hear they are usually warm/hot-even in the winter since they turn up the heat.  So fans come in handy year round. Scott also had to keep a second set of furniture in his new room which was designed for two-so he had a second bed and desk. He decided not to loft the beds since he did not like climbing in and out of the bed, and his head usually hit the ceiling. I tried to talk him into lofting the bed halfway for more storage underneath, but he was quite comfortable the way he set it up.

So on Friday, Allison, Tom and I headed out on the road to Kalamazoo. We stopped along the way and picked up a Cottage Inn Pizza near Battle Creek. Scott and I had really enjoyed it over Labor Day weekend when I was visiting with my mom. I thought I would share the Hawaiian pizza experience with Tom and Allison. Plus Scott got the leftovers! We arrived in the evening and dropped all of Scott's items off at his dorm since we can't park at his dorm. I even brought my portable wagon to haul things up. We then took Scott back to the hotel with us for the night. Saturday morning we awoke to rain showers. We had planned on attending the Family Tailgate with brunch, but did not feel like standing out in the rain for hours. Instead, we headed to Scott's dormitory. We left our van at the hotel and had Scott drive since he had a campus parking permit. This gave us time to unpack all the items I had brought, including a large poster, a plant, string lights, clothing, bathroom rugs, a shelving unit, a floor lamp, bottled ice tea and Halloween decorations and snacks. Tom also hooked up a new keyboard for the computer. I also had to bring Scott another batch of antibiotics from the oral surgeon since he ended up with another infection from his wisdom tooth extraction. This time it was on the other side of his mouth, but I felt better having him take another round of medication. He definitely did not need an infection to spread in his mouth, especially while he was away at school!  We had fun rearranging Scott's dorm room(not sure he needed our help!). But when we finished, so did the rain and we headed over to the football stadium.

It was quite the hike! Completely on the other side of the campus, and it is amazingly hilly!  We decided to skip the parking and shuttle bus experience to the stadium. The tailgate party was set up in a parking lot overlooking the stadium. We grabbed some of the breakfast buffet and walked around the individual program tents. Each major had a tent set up with different games and activities as well as small giveaways highlighting their programs. We picked up Western cups, pins, stickers, chap stick, pencils and pens and I even grabbed a bracelet from the OT table at the Allied Health Tent. Scott also bought himself a Western Bow Tie at the Bookstore that was set up before we headed out for the football game.

Tom and Scott decided not to go to the game, but Allison and I wanted to attend. Allison had never been to a large campus football game before, with the marching band and huge stadium. So she wanted the whole experience, without the drunken student body. The game was sold out and I was really only able to get discounted tickets in the student section. Turns out, it was not overly crowded in our area, we had great seats and we got to sit mostly with parents. Looks like the students mostly stand during the games, so we were glad not to be in that area. Plus the rain stopped, although it was still humid and a bit warm. We both enjoyed the game, and Western beat Eastern Mich(close game though) while we enjoyed some Buster Bronco Deluxe Nachos!

The game let out around 3:30, and Allison and I called Scott to come pick us up on campus. He was a bit overwhelmed driving on campus due to the increased number of people walking around, some in the roads and some rather "happy" after their own personal tailgate parties.  But we made it back to his dorm room so we could leave him alone for awhile to get some work done on his own. Tom had been helping him with some research for a paper, as well as finishing up his own final class paper. Tom had been traveling the week before, and finishing up a paper for his class that he turned in over the weekend online. Tom also needed a new charger for his laptop, so he ordered one from Amazon and had it delivered to Scott's dorm. Unfortunately, the mail system is not the greatest at the dorms. The front desks are usually closed on the weekends! For Homecoming weekend, they had students manning the desks, but they were not allowed to access the front office where Tom's package was sitting on a desk in plain sight, behind locked doors!  So he borrowed Scott's charger, and Scott picked up the new charger the next day when they opened up the office. Oh brother!

 We left Scott to finish up some homework and set up his Halloween decorations while we ran some more errands. We were looking for a mat to place over the carpet under Scott's desk chair, but most stores did not have them or they were very expensive. We did have fun shopping for ourselves, especially at my favorite store, Meijers. And Allison stopped into Dunham's sporting goods store to pick up a new set of cleats for her frisbee games. We then headed back to campus for dinner at Scott's dining hall. The campus built a new dining hall replacing the individual dining halls for the 6 dormitories about a year ago. Administration decided they wanted students to mingle more and rather than separate them into individual dining halls, they opened one large dining hall with a small snack shop on the lower level. The new dining hall is set up with many different food stations, each serving different types of meals, like a food court. Even the seating arrangements, furniture and lighting are all different, to give you a different dining experience(homey vs restaurant feel). On Saturday night, Tom and Scott enjoyed the bratwurst meal for dinner, and Allison and I loved the stir fry where you choose your own ingredients and they cook it individually with a bowl of rice. And you can have as much as you want.  Tom especially enjoyed the marshmallow treats made out of Capt Crunchberry cereal for dessert!  After dinner we all headed over to the Ice Arena to catch the hockey game.

This was quite a different crowd-very rowdy. The ice arena is a bit small and was completely packed. Again we had tickets in the student area, but not as much space for seating. And the students next to our section stood the entire game, so it was a bit difficult to see parts of the game. Western was playing a preseason game with a team from Canada, and the students certainly enjoyed heckling them! Especially since we won!  Tom, Allison and I enjoyed the game, but Scott was not too thrilled. It was a bit too crowded, loud and difficult to see. So I don't think Scott will be attending the school hockey games. We would still like to see one of the IHL games-the K Wings play in Kalamazoo, just not that weekend. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and Allison and Scott had fun playing the new Mario Kart video game on the hotel tv.

On Sunday morning, we headed back over to the dorm for Jazz Brunch. The school had their band playing(very nice) while we ate brunch. Tom filled up on their pizza and the rest of us stayed with traditional breakfast meal. We also got to chat with the school Vice President who came by our table to say hello. Very nice woman. She got her PhD at Western in Education and a Masters in Psychiatry. She has to commute from Jackson Mich every day-what a drive-near Ann Arbor-over an hour drive. And we are discovering that highway 94 traffic that runs East/West across Michigan is not so fun to drive. Especially when we got into a traffic jam right before our exit to Western on Friday night. We let the VP know we were Michiganders and MSU grads, but currently living in Maryland. She let us know that Western is a pretty laid back campus when it comes to other universities-not so bad if you want to wear your MSU or UofM clothing there. Just don't show up in a Central Mich outfit!(big rival). We did see a lot of cars and people sporting stickers and shirts from other Michigan schools on campus that weekend.

After breakfast it was time for us to make the long drive back to Maryland. (of course after stopping into Meijers to pick up some more Vernors!)And Scott had some more homework to get to, so we headed out for the long drive home. We didn't see the sun that weekend until we got to Pennsylvania! Fortunately it looks like Scott is adjusting to Michigan life. He seems to enjoy all the chipmunks on campus!

And I finally joined Facebook! However, I only joined in order to sign up for the WMU Parent's page. It is a great way to keep up with campus events and get tips from the Western Parent's support group. They have a program specifically set up to assist new families and their students in navigating the university system. Plus it is a great way for parents to communicate with each other and give tips on the Kalamazoo area and campus living-like recommendations for student apartment complexes, services like auto repair, tutors, restaurants and transportation. We were hoping to link up with another Marylander but the closest I could find was someone on the Eastern shore. They bought their son a car as well, but they did not plan on having him drive home too often since it is an older car. So far the family has not connected with us for ride sharing.

Sept 24-Sept 30  Happy Fall!

Finally the Fall season has come, but you can't tell from our weather. We continue to have wet, humid and very warm days. Since I have been off work and searching for on call positions (or maybe even part time positions), I decided to take advantage of all this warm weather and get some grass seed on the lawn. Our lawn is just too big to seed the entire thing by hand. We would have to hire someone to plug and seed like the rest of our neighbors. Looks like September is the best time to do it, but usually Tom and I are just too busy to get to that project.  Lately Tom is just not around enough. We tried borrowing a rental machine from our friend Dan in the past to plug and seed the entire lawn, but it was very back breaking work with limited success. So I usually try to patch up one or two areas at a time each year.

This year I took on the very shady areas under our birch trees and cherry tree. With all the warmth and rain, the seed did very well. I just wish I could manage larger areas, but since I have to spread some dirt, seed and hay, it takes quite a bit of time, even for a small area. Plus raking up leaves, dead grass and twigs to prep the spot. I already have plenty of blisters on my hands! And since the ground was nice and wet, I took advantage of that to dig up 3 large bushes out front that up and died. I am hoping the replacement plants will do better-japanese fire plants with bright red leaves in the spring and bunches of white berries. At least they were not expensive!  The wet, warm weather also gave me time to plant some fall mums in the flower pots. Unfortunately, the warm weather also brought out lots of black snakes around our house. Cookie found a few sitting in the top of our bushes, sunning themselves on the deck. I also had to avoid a black snake while trimming the bushes since they seem to enjoy resting on the top of the branches in the sun. I also think it has been too wet for them too!  Sadly, someone ran over one in our driveway and lucky me had to clean that up. It's great to be home!  I have just been trying to get some of the big projects done before I start working again. Whenever that is. Also want to get the yard in shape before decorating for the holidays. I'm sure the neighbors will be putting out the Halloween decorations soon!

And speaking of Halloween, it sure felt like it at the Baltimore Comic Con!  Allison and I decided to go on Sunday. She has not been in years while she was away at school. Scott, Tom and I usually go each year. Tom had returned from a trip to Salt Lake City, but was on his way back out the door to Scotland.  In between he was busy writing papers for his recent class. He has only 2 more classes to go for his PhD and then he can start work on his Thesis!  So Tom could not join us, but Allison was very excited to visit. We usually just enjoy walking through the booths with items for sale, including comic books and tshirts, jewelry and posters of our favorite characters/super heroes. Allison was excited to find some Sonic earrings. I picked up a Pikachu costume(tail and ears) for when Allison and I attend the Zoo Boo at the National Zoo this Halloween(adults only event).   We also enjoyed looking through all the comic books-not the single books, but the collector books. Tom enjoys the super heroes collections. More expensive for the larger books, but you get more volume and half off the price at the convention. Plus we love looking at all the costumes that people wear to the event. Scott used to love dressing up and even participated in the costume contests in the past. Allison and I usually do not dress up but wear our favorite tshirts. I had on my Walking Dead tshirt and she wore something from something-I have no idea. She says it is from the Portal video game.

With all the video games, anime and Utube characters I am lost.  People bring amazing props too-like a remote control, life size R2D2. They also have guest speakers and panel discussions. We did not find any that greatly interested us, and we did not feel like standing in long lines to get an autograph or photo while paying extra. Will Wheaton from Star Trek and recently on The Big Bang Theory was there on Saturday. The only really big name headliner this year. Allison and I were satisfied with our shopping and sightseeing!

I did enjoy attending a japanese anime film with Allison this past week at the AMC theatre(with subtitles) called My Hero Academia. We tried to go on  $5 Tuesdays, but they were sold out. It was playing on a limited release-one week only and in just a few theaters. We got in on Weds night. The theater was packed-mostly with kids Allison's age.  Allison was excited to see some of the attendees at Comic Con dressed as the characters from this cartoon series. It was a lot of fun. Allison is also trying to get out and socialize with friends other than her mother! She attended a high school musical called the Fanatics with school friends. I had never heard of it, but I guess it is a very old musical that features the theme song, "A Time to Remember". Allison enjoyed it. She also caught up on the Mt Hebron Stamp project while visiting the school. Back in 2008, one of the art teachers started a project collecting used postage stamps in order to make murals supporting the message of Stamping Out Intolerance in remembrance of The Holocaust. The 9th grade English class always reads the book "Night"-a really intense book about the Holocaust, so in conjunction with the lesson, this art project  planned to collect 6 million stamps, the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust. Here in 2018, they have not yet met the goal, but the project continues yearly in the 9th grade art class.  Sadly, the Art teacher passed away from cancer in 2014, and the students prepared a Forever Stamp with her photo which they placed on each of the murals. So I happily continue to collect used postage stamps, especially from Christmas cards and drop them off at the school. I was happy Allison sent a photo of one of the completed murals hanging in the school hallway.

Allison also continues to play Ultimate Frisbee with the Northrop team, and has tried to attend some of the intern social mixers. She visited our newly opened Guinness Beer pub. The first Scottish pub and brewery opened in the US. The facility is beautiful, and the group enjoyed sitting outside on the patio in the evening, sipping Guinness. She is hoping to attend a few more mixers in the future. So far she is really enjoying her job, although Tom would like her to move to the larger Northrop facility near the airport where he is currently working-more people her age and bigger projects. She enjoys the work and the staff though at this smaller facility near my previous workplace. Good place to get her feet wet in the company.

Sept 17-Sept 23rd  Happy 83rd Birthday Mom Bozyk!

This week we celebrated Mom Bozyk's 83rd Birthday!  Tom was home from travels to Salt Lake City. Allison was off playing Ultimate Frisbee with the Northrop group on Weds evening.  I was going to take Mom B out for dinner, but thought it would be nicer if we celebrated at our house. On Weds afternoon I went to pick her up early in the afternoon for a hair appointment, however, the facility beauty shop had already given her a hair cut and style, as well as a manicure. Instead, we headed over to our house so I could finish getting dinner together. I had put a pot roast in the crock pot earlier in the day and just had to finish making mashed potatoes and broccoli for dinner. I also had picked up a chocolate Reeses Peanut Butter cake(yum!). Allison joined us in the evening for cake. I brought mom a bouquet of fresh flowers and the facility gave her a balloon during the day.  After dinner and cake, we opened gifts including some new shirts and pants. Mostly I had ordered Mom a new light weight coat for rainy days, as well as some new black sandals for summer months. And we topped it all off with some lottery scratchers(no winners-bummer).  On Friday, Mom and I had a lunch date after her cardiology appointment. I was happy to hear that her heart valve replacement, now at the 10 year mark, is going strong.We celebrated with burgers at our local Whole Foods grocery store and restaurant. It is nice to sit in their food court area overlooking a small lake by our mall.

I also get to spend some time with Allison in the evening after she gets off work. We both decided to continue to volunteer for the Spring Girl Scout Weekend Jamboree 2019. The committee had a meeting last May that we both missed, but now were able to attend together. The group decided on a Survivor Theme Weekend. Allison and I are thinking about setting up an Escape room(could be very simple with just a few puzzles to solve, containers to open. Maybe. If anyone has any ideas of activities for an Escape room or Survivor weekend feel free to share! Of course we will probably have a Wilderness survival first aide station, maybe a fire building station, discussion on edible plants, shelter building, and an appropriate clothing relay for outdoor weather like snow or rain. Anything that has to do with the outdoors. We also worked on our Logo for patches and tshirt design. It really is a great bunch of women to work with, and all volunteers!  And soon I will be busy with the GS choir season(don't think I can talk Allison into joining me for that program again though!).

And Allison had such a wonderful time at the Renaissance Festival the weekend before that she attended again-this time with her school friends. Most of her friends prefer to sit at the Medieval bars during the event. Allison decided to introduce them to other activities, including enjoying the shows and jousting, shooting archery and even trying their hand at axe throwing! Of course they did spend some time at the bars, although they usually put on shows and activities at those locations as well. Allison even participated in a beer stein holding contest(how long can you hold a filled beer stein with your arm outstretched without faltering). A good Octoberfest event!  Even though she could not hold the stein too long, she still won a beer stein for participating!  We also visited Old Ellicott City for the last outdoor summer movie at The Wine Bin. Most of the shops are still closed from the devastating flood in May, but a few businesses are still operating. We met up with our neighbors for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant before settling in to watch The Black Panther with a glass of wine and popcorn. Unfortunately, I was still not feeling well so I ended up leaving early.

Sept 3-Sept 9, 2018  Happy National Grandparents Day!

I can't believe it is September already! And after Labor Day! Put away all your white clothes!(Old rule).  Again, A Big Happy Birthday to Dan and Dave Bozyk who celebrated #60 on Sept 2!  Where did the time go?

Speaking of time, I was back home after my road trip with Mom B. I was busy doing laundry on Thursday. Tom was out of town, working in the LA area.  Tom and Allison held down the fort while I was gone. They decided to have the neighbors over for dinner on Labor Day. Turns out, Tom smoked a huge pork roast and then put it in the crock pot on low. Unfortunately it was not done by the time all the guests arrived for dinner, so they opted for bratwurst instead(still a very good choice!).  Now we just have lots of pulled pork in the freezer to eat. Less cooking for Allison and I! Tom spent a short week in LA on business and then headed home for a quick stopover before heading out to Salt Lake City the following weekend.

Allison has been enjoying her new job and has a wonderful work schedule, like Tom. They both get every other Friday off, and work an extra hour each scheduled day to make up for the time. It really comes in handy, especially when we travel. They don't have to use their personal time off for long, weekend trips.  How perfect. But on this particular Friday off after Labor day, Allison signed up for volunteer work at Northrop. The company has a committee that usually sponsors community or global volunteer projects. On this day, Northrop was filling small food bags with rice and dehydrated veggies/protein packets for the World Hunger Association. Family and friends were invited to help out, so I joined Allison at her work place to pack food bags. It turned out to be a lot of fun-the sponsor came in and played music while we worked at our stations. Several tables were set up measuring and filling the bags. Allison and I checked the weight and sealed the bags before packing them in shipping boxes at our station. It was a very well organized production line, and we packed approx 10,000 bags of food in 1.5 hrs. (We all got a little competitive during the event). Other Northrop facilities had hosted this program, so we were competing for # of bags packed and time. The organizer for World Hunger kept count and would ring a large bell every time we hit 1000 bags.  No prize, but we got a Northrop Volunteer tshirt and company photo op! And I got to see Allison's work facility(the non secret areas anyway!). This facility has a lot smaller group of employees, so we did very well for our limited number -about 30 people.

Sept 10-Sept 16, 2018

Happy Birthday Mike Bozyk! I think a great Birthday present will be a new librarian job! Make a Wish!

Over this past weekend Tom remained in Salt Lake City instead of flying all the way home and going back out west. Also, he decided to avoid any possible flight delays or cancellations that may have occurred in our area. We have had an incredibly rainy end to summer. Including the threat of Hurricane Florence traveling up the coast and affecting our area. Everyone was in disaster mode. Lots of airline flights had been cancelled down south, which affects our local airport, BWI in Baltimore as flights are rerouted. Even though they were not predicting a direct hit to Maryland, there was the threat of storms, tornadoes and flooding with downed trees and power outages, as well as flash floods along the coast or river floods similar to the disaster that occurred in Ellicott City in May. So Allison and I prepared the best we could by filling up gas tanks, charging phones and pulling out flashlights and lanterns. We often lose power with trees falling on the lines during regular storms, so we were prepared. Turns out, the storm moved inland rather than up the coast. Thank goodness for us, but very bad for the Carolinas. Glad to hear friends and family were spared in Charlotte, NC. Not so good for those on the coast dealing with flooding.

And we were not completely spared. We had quite a bit of rain from the storm during the week. None of us were able to get out and do any yardwork for several weeks because of the constant rain.  I did finally manage to get out and cut the grass in between rain showers. One good thing about all the rain is that the ground was soft. I had 3 large bushes that suddenly died in the front flower bed-not sure why. But this was a great time to dig them up and replace them. Also, I usually try to get some grass seed down at this time of year. Apparently September is supposed to be the best time for growing grass and I had a couple of large patches on the front lawn that needed it. So I spent time in between rain showers raking, spreading dirt and seed and hay to some very shady spots on the front lawn. I also took advantage of the rain and time off work to do some cleaning in the house. Allison and I took a bunch of her outgrown clothes to a designer consignment store, but they really only wanted professional work clothes.  They did purchase two of Scott's outgrown Columbia jackets, so Allison traded in the cash for some earrings and a dressy sweater for work. Good deal!

During the week, Allison has also been participating in Northrop Ultimate Frisbee. The games are scheduled every Tuesday after work, but not on rainy days. We took advantage of her day off Tuesday night for AMC $5 movie night and saw Crazy, Rich Asians. (chick flick and very cute and funny).

I have not been called into work at my previous nursing home as of yet, so I scheduled another interview at a nearby nursing home for on call work. It is actually owned by the same company where Mom B lives. Hope they send the paperwork soon to get started back to work! There are lots of opportunities out there, just want to find the one/s that fit my new schedule the best.  I also spend time during the week attending to my mom's business and well being. I had a 2 hour meeting with her broker to cover finances. And turns out the renter in the Florida house moved out, so now I am working on getting the house on the market for sale.

 However, on the weekend, Allison and I decided to make a go at the Renaissance Festival- in between rain showers. We all very much enjoy attending at least once a year, getting dressed up, laughing at all the shows, eating tasty treats and even doing some shopping! Last year Allison and Scott attended with some friends. This year Allison and I attended and had a wonderful time!  We visited on Sunday-a little less crowded and a bit drizzly in the morning. But not as hot or humid as it can be in August when it opens. Each weekend has a theme and this was Highland weekend so lots of men showed up in their kilts. I was having a great time sending Scott photos of all the different types of outfits to give him an idea of how to wear his kilt that Tom brought him back from Scotland on a previous business trip. I heard there was even a storm trooper in a kilt!  You certainly never know what you may see at the RenCen festival! One guest was even wearing a Star Trek shirt! Allison and I are purists and enjoy the medieval theme the most, although I did don a pair of fairy wings. Someone asked me if I was The Fairy Godmother! The Game of Thrones is very big as you can imagine, and therefore lots of  Dragon items for sale. Allison's favorite!  We spent our day eating our favorite snacks-crab dip on a pretzel with melted cheese and Old Bay seasoning, chinese food, fried pickles and topped it off with chocolate covered cheesecake! The food is not so medieval, but if it is on a stick and you can eat it with your hands, then it counts!  We also watched several shows including our favorite comedian jugglers, a comedy Shakespeare group doing Othello and something new, an acrobatic show on ropes/ribbons high up in the trees. And of course there is jousting!  Plus Allison loves to get in some archery. I picked up a few tapestries for my dining room wall and we called it a day!  A wonderful ending to the weekend-sure beats having a hurricane!

  However, on the weekend, Allison and I decided to make a go at the Renaissance Festival- in between rain showers. We all very much enjoy attending at least once a year, getting dressed up, laughing at all the shows, eating tasty treats and even doing some shopping! Last year Allison and Scott attended with some friends. This year Allison and I attended and had a wonderful time!  We visited on Sunday-a little less crowded and a bit drizzly in the morning. But not as hot or humid as it can be in August when it opens. Each weekend has a theme and this was Highland weekend so lots of men showed up in their kilts. I was having a great time sending Scott photos of all the different types of outfits to give him an idea of how to wear his kilt that Tom brought him back from Scotland on a previous business trip. I heard there was even a storm trooper in a kilt!  You certainly never know what you may see at the RenCen festival! One guest was even wearing a Star Trek shirt! Allison and I are purists and enjoy the medieval theme the most, although I did don a pair of fairy wings. Someone asked me if I was The Fairy Godmother! The Game of Thrones is very big as you can imagine, and therefore lots of  Dragon items for sale. Allison's favorite!  We spent our day eating our favorite snacks-crab dip on a pretzel with melted cheese and Old Bay seasoning, chinese food, fried pickles and topped it off with chocolate covered cheesecake! The food is not so medieval, but if it is on a stick and you can eat it with your hands, then it counts!  We also watched several shows including our favorite comedian jugglers, a comedy Shakespeare group doing Othello and something new, an acrobatic show on ropes/ribbons high up in the trees. And of course there is jousting!  Plus Allison loves to get in some archery. I picked up a few tapestries for my dining room wall and we called it a day!  A wonderful ending to the weekend-sure beats having a hurricane!