Well, we Raven fans don't have a whole lot to celebrate this past weekend. The Ravens took on the Indianapolis Colts last Saturday night and I'm afraid that was the last time we'll be wearing our purple jerseys for awhile. We did enjoy the evening watching the game with the neighbors. It is alot more fun when you have a whole room of people screaming at the television. Guess it didn't help since Ravens lost 20 to 3. And apparently the good luck brownies didn't help either. But I'm not going to get into any big discussions since Indy fans are tuned into my blog. We are however looking hoping for an exciting game between Colts and Vikings. Good Luck with that Colts! Favre was looking pretty hot in today's game against Dallas. Not that I got to see much of it. I was helping Allison review for her mid term HS exams last week. She has quite a bit of info to cover. Tom had the first shift with geometry and earth science. I was covering health and fitness. And Scott is busy memorizing the states and their capitols. We had to get most of Allison's studying in today though since she and Tom just went off to a 3 hour indoor field hockey goalie camp.
Allison started playing indoor field hockey with our local county Parks and Rec dept. this past week and she loves it. Unfortunately she has to share with the other HS goalie, but since they play for an hour each week, I told Allison it would be a good idea to have some back up just in case she gets sick or has to skip a game. And the girls take turns playing, so it gives each one a chance to rest a bit. It is certainly a lot more fast paced inside a gym then playing on a grass field. And our neighbor was hoping to recruit Allison for his Saturday morning league. So she will have a great chance to keep up her new found skill.
She also devoted a portion of her weekend to helping out with our church's confirmation candidates at their potluck on Friday night. The candidates and their sponsors all get together at church for a huge potluck and afterwards the candidates complete some educational and fun workshops. Allison helped the other high school peers put on the workshops. Plus she had a free meal out of it, but we did donate a pan of brownies for the event. Last year we went with Grandma Bozyk to the event and Allison really enjoyed all the games and activities and figured she could handle it again. This weekend the kids will be making their confirmations, but I don't think we will attend. As I recall, the church was packed for both services(there are so many candidates, they have to split them in half for two different masses). But overall Allison earned herself about 40 hours volunteer time which she puts towards her required service hours for high school.
So we didn't get to celebrate a win for the Ravens this past weekend, but we did celebrate a win for Scott and Tom! Actually, two awards for the Pinewood Derby Cub Scout car race held this past Saturday. Usually our Den holds their race in March, but this year they decided to bump it up earlier so the boys could show off their cars in February at the local mall during the Cub Scout Event. It did not give Scott and Tom much time to prepare. Scott designed a great lego car and Tom was going to attach it to the wooden base. It probably would not have gone very fast, but it would have looked cool. They have trophies for scariest car, most colorful, coolest, best design, most paint and funniest. But then I went and brought home a Pinewood Derby design book and after Tom and Scott leafed through it, they decided to ditch the first idea and go for a speed design. Tom cut out the design, and put on the wheels, Scott sanded and Tom gave it a gold paintjob. Anyhow, Scott's car came in 1st place for his Den, and overall took 2nd place in the championship race. So he brought home two trophies this year! Now Tom has become the official consultant for Cub Scout Dads and sons in the neighborhood and he has one a car sitting here in the kitchen that needs cut out for our neighbor's son. He doesn't have much time to work on it though since he is off to Orlando this coming week. So I know I will have an extra busy schedule coming up. He is taking some holiday time tomorrow to help Allison prepare for her upcoming tests. I will be busy at work on MLK day(double pay!).
Scott also had to work on his cub scout religious medal this week, meeting with our new parish priest to go over his completed workbook. The boys will be receiving their religious medals at Scout Sunday at the end of the month.
Welcome Home Uncle Joe! My uncle returned home from the hospital after open heart surgery. He needs to slow down a bit though. (if that is possible). I went and had my own heart assessment this past week-an ultrasound to make sure my heart valves were working properly. Looks like I got a good report card. And it was quite fascinating to watch and listen to my heart working. How amazing!
In world news, I am sure everyone is following the rescue efforts following the earthquake in Haiti. What a phenomenal task. Michael Bozyk, Dave Bozyk and we can all attest that any magnitude earthquake is no fun.
In local news, our Baltimore mayor was asked to resign after being found guilty of stealing gift cards for the poor, as well as the questionable act of accepting expensive gifts from local government officials for city projects. Rather than doing jail time, she resigned with an $83,000 per year pension. Who says Crime Doesn't Pay? There is a local group protesting, but I don't know how they'll do. According to exMayor Sheila Dixon, she deserves the pension after spending 20 yrs working for the govt. So another council member was bumped up into her place. We'll see how they do.
Stay warm! Kathleen and family

Wow! We just enjoyed another exciting Ravens Sunday football game with our neighbors-exciting because the Ravens beat the Patriots today. Last Sunday we watched the Ravens win as our neighbors joined us here at home for dinner and Good Luck brownies. The brownies seemed to be doing the trick. We borrowed the idea of the Good Luck brownies from Mark Seitz. Today we enjoyed Cincinnati chili/Detroit Koegel vienna hot dogs and of course, had good luck brownies again for dessert. So far the Good Luck brownies have been working for the Ravens along with the Colts! So next weekend the Ravens will be visiting Indy and playing against the Colts. How ironic is that! Guess both families will have to go all out on the brownies!
We managed to enjoy the game in between dropping off and picking up the dog from the Petco Groomers. She was beginning to look like a small sheep, so we took her in for a shearing. I couldn't keep up with cutting out the mats. So she got a whole body shave and she has just 16lbs left on her. She hasn't been cut since the end of August, so there was a whole lot of fur there! I hope she doesn't freeze now!
We also had an early morning start to the day since Allison served mass. She had two newbies serving with her and she did a great job directing the brothers on what do. And our neighbor's daughter was presented with a certificate and gift card during mass for winning a Knights of Columbus Christmas poster contest along with two other school aged children.
It made for a long Sunday since we were up late Saturday night having an adults only dinner with several neighbors. Our neighbors originally from Columbia South America wanted to have several of us over for a sit down formal South American meal. They hired a babysitter for the little ones, and we divided the girls and boys up with pizza at two other houses, then headed for dinner at the third house. Augustus made us beef tenderloin wrapped in salt and cloth soaked in water and cooked it over the hot coals in the fireplace for 30 mins. We also had a South American rice and potatoe dish-a little like a quiche. We brought hot, spicy appetizers to share including a favorite-jalapeno hot pepper poppers that I grill in a special pepper rack that I bought when we visited Dan and Sheila in Texas. As a matter of fact, the rack is in the shape of Texas! You have to clean out the jalapeno peppers, and then stuff them with cheddar cheese mixed with garlic and cream cheese and top the whole thing off with a slab of bacon. They are definitely spicy! Dessert was vanilla ice cream with coconut sprinkled on top and a tangerine/yogurt pie with crushed cloves. Overall a very enjoyable dinner and fun catching up with the neighbors on their holiday vacations.
In case you didn't know, it is still pretty cold in most of the US. We had a quick snow storm blow through on Thursday night so school was delayed for 2 hours Friday morning to clean up the 3 inches of snow on the roads. I had to take Allison and Scott in late while Tom headed off for a meeting at work. I also had to shovel the driveway and sidewalk before I dropped Scott off, but afterwards it wasn't too cold outside so I put away a few of the outdoor Christmas decorations as well as my fall flowers that I never had a chance to move after Thanksgiving weekend.
Scott's whole school week schedule was off since the kids missed their Christmas parties and Holiday concert before Christmas. They were supposed to do all of this before Christmas, but because of the 2 feet of snow, everything was cancelled and the kids missed 3 days of school. So they were spending the day on Weds this week making it up. I just wish Tom or myself could have seen the Holiday concert since Scott was singing with the choir. Tom had planned on attending before Christmas. Every class in school, from Pre K to 8th grade performs and the music teacher has really done a great job in the past with getting all the kids involved and teaching them how to sing a song or play an instrumental piece. And the 8th grade always reinacts the nativity scene. Guess I will just have to catch next year's performance. I wish they would start videotaping the programs.
Weds night I had my GS Leadership meeting. Our Service Unit manager is trying to recruit me for her position since she will be retiring next year. My girls will be done in a few years too though so I am not quite as interested. I was busy signing them up for a couple of upcoming activities scheduled at the end of the month including rollerblading and a orientation for our Gold Award.
At work my boss has me helping to redesign some seated exercise groups for the nursing home residents. Thanks for the chair exercise DVD Mom. Looks like the staff may be able to use it. I also picked up lots of info on the internet for other chair exercise groups. It is amazing what you can do in a chair-sounds good to me!
And Tom was busy this weekend helping Scott design his Pinewood Derby Cub Scout car. The Cub Scouts have races with small cars they design and build with their dads. Scott and Tom have won 1st, 2nd and 3rd place so far. Scott was going for a Lego design which he made and it looked wonderful, however, I found Tom and Scott a book on car designs at Michael's Arts and Crafts store, so they scrapped that idea and decided to go for a speedy car instead. The race has been moved up to this coming Saturday this year. For the past 3 yrs it has been held in March, so it does not give them much time to mess around. I also had to register the two of them for the Klondike derby- an outdoor winter course filled with different stations for scout tasks including reading a compass, tying knots, building shelters, and this year the boys get to race a sled! They have to get in their requirements to move up from a Webelos 1 to Webelos 2 before their Blue and Gold banquet this February. And the boy scouts are celebrating their 100th anniversary, so there is a lot happening.
Allison and I helped out the GS choir on Saturday morning at a singing workshop for leaders. We had 3 hours of fun singing a lot of crazy campfire songs. I can't remember all those crazy songs! But it was fun trying!

I am happy to report that my Uncle Joe Borg, Mom Bozyk's brother, had successful open heart surgery this past Monday at Henry Ford hospital in Detroit and headed home on Friday. Fortunately he did not need a valve replacement, but did have an aneurysm forming in the cardiac artery that was repaired. Just to keep an eye on things, I have scheduled an echocardiagram this Friday for myself since this seems to be running in the family. And I have also been diagnosed with a heart murmur in the past when I was pregnant, so it is probably good to have it checked out. But we are all happy to hear Uncle Joe is recovering nicely.

Well, I am off to work on next week's schedule. Try to stay warm! I hear it is getting so cold in Florida, the iguanas are going into hibernation and falling out of the trees! Think warm thoughts! Kathleen and family

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year! We just returned from a rather chilly visit in Detroit with my parents. Although Baltimore is not much warmer. We returned to some very gusty winds and cold air and our power keeps going on and off from the strong winds. But we are warm and cozy inside. We returned just in time to stay up late and watch the sad MSU bowl game against Texas Tech. Sad since MSU lost and sad because all they talked about during the game and half time was the firing of the Texas Tech coach(still can't quite understand the whole story) and the poor behavior of the MSU football team members that were suspended for fighting. Apparently they got into a fight after they ended their season with a loss against Penn State and following their end of the season banquet. Guess they felt they didn't have much to celebrate and instead 14 members lost their opportunity to play in a bowl game.
We did however enjoy our visit to Michigan after Christmas, although we had a bit of a rough time driving through Toledo, just south of Detroit when it started snowing and the freeways became rather slippery. We drove past several cars that had slid off the freeway in Ohio and Michigan. We were happy to have arrived safely. Next we tackled the snow and wind. First I had to hunt down some more warm snow clothes for all of us, but mainly for the kids. I discovered they had grown quite a bit since last winter and we headed off to several stores in search of snow pants and coats. Then Grandma and I took the kids over to the library where they had a sledding hill around the back. The kids really enjoyed sledding, but the cold winds kept us off the hill by nightfall. They both discovered that the old wooden sleds with the metal runners worked very well, even more fun than the plastic sleds.
We had planned on catching up with some friends from Maryland also visiting family in Michigan for a trip to the Henry Ford Museum, however, we ended up back at the library. We found out that we needed to close out and sign the paperwork for our home loan that was about to expire before the 1st of January. Fortunately, our loan officer was able to find a representative there in Michigan who met with us at the library on Tuesday afternoon to finalize the paperwork. So back to the slopes for the kids. It also gave us the chance to meet up with some MSU friends for dinner that night.
Weds we went off to the Henry Ford museum. We had taken the kids to Greenfield village many years earlier, but never went into the museum. It is mostly a transportation museum demonstrating how American culture has changed -they have a lot of old cars, campers, bikes, motorcycles, wagons, trains and historical pieces such as the chair Lincoln was shot in. Scott's favorite part was the visiting Lego exhibit from the Children's Museum of Indianapolis. He spent over an hour at the building table. We also took advantage of some free passes we received from the library for a tour of the River Rouge truck factory. The workers were off that day, but we saw several films-one on the history of Henry Ford and one that shows the whole car production process from pouring of the steel to assembly of the cars and trucks. The production film is a 360 degree 4D film to try and replicate the real process like I saw when I was a kid(but a lot less hot, dirty and stinky). Even though the line wasn't running, the kids got the basic idea with the films and the staff. We will have to take them back someday when the line is running especially to see all the robotics working. Afterwards we had to try out Cheli's Chili Bar(REd Wing). We thought it was ok, but we really miss Gordy Howes restaurant in Traverse City. He closed a few years ago and we are missing his all you can fish and chips and the penalty box. But at least Cheli's had the bubble hockey game which kept the kids busy while we ate onion rings and drank our beer.
Thursday, New Year's Eve, we were off to Mount Holly(Tom's old skiing hill) to spend the day skiing with my Wayne State friend Laura and her family. We apparently picked the best day-there was a light snow falling and all the hills were open and not crowded at all. Scott managed to try every one of them! Including the black diamonds! The staff reported that the place was packed on Tuesday and Weds. We actually had moments where we were the only skiiers on the hill. And a fellow skiier told me he lives in Toledo and he only brings his family to Mt Holly to ski rather than the other local ski hills. Guess we did well. And we all had a great time, right up to close at 530 for regrooming of the hills. We even had a taste of night skiing since they turned on the lights around 5pm. After a full day of skiing, we headed back to Dan and Laura's for some take out food and games until cheering in the New Year. That was more than enough activity for all of us. We dropped off to sleep before 1230 am in our friends finished basement.
New Years Day we all decided to head over to Dave and Busters to let the kids get some game time while we all had lunch. Then it was back to Grandma and Grandpas.
We hit the road again on Saturday and of course had a difficult time driving as we rolled through Pennsylvania. The big salt trucks were out and coating everyone's car windows while the strong winds were blowing snow across the roads. None of us could see because we all had the same problem-frozen windshield wiper fluid. Instead, all the drivers were pouring windshield wiper fluid directly on the windshields at the rest stops-including us. Thank goodness Tom had stocked up when we were shopping in Meijers.That seemed to do the trick.
So we are back in Maryland with a busy study day for Allison. The kids are back to school tomorrow and thanks to the snow storm before the holiday, Allison just tacked on another 3 days at the end of her school year. So she will be in school until June 22nd. And the winter season is still young! So no real snow here in Baltimore, but it is pretty cold this week. And today we have to cheer on the Ravens! It would be nice if one of our teams could win.
Hope you all had a great holiday! Kathleen and family

Merry Christmas! Just checking in early since I may get brave and tackle the shopping malls tomorrow morning. I was thinking of all those great sales I missed last weekend during our record breaking snow storm. We ended up with about 2 feet of snow in one day. The 7th biggest snow storm in December in Baltimore history. Now it is busy melting under all the rain. Tom spent the entire day last Saturday snowblowing our driveway 3 times and the neighbors two or more times. He had to take a break when the snow blower chewed up the neighbor's christmas light extension cord. But he was back out on Sunday for two more passes. Not to mention all the shoveling I had to do on the sidewalks and patio so Cookie could get out to go to the bathroom! Yes it was a whole lot of snow for use. Sadly Allison and I did not get to enjoy it too much since Allison had a whole bunch of tests to study for and a big paper to write. We spent our time indoors studying and typing. I also took advantage of some of the time to prepare for Christmas, although I was still up late Christmas eve setting everything up.
It turned out we spent a whole lot of time studying for naught. School was cancelled for the rest of the week. The kids now have a two week vacation. They spent the first week home with Tom while I went in to work. It didn't help Tom's schedule very well-he had some errands planned but did not get to keep to his schedule as efficiently as planned. And we really did not know if the kids were having school each day, so we kept up with Allison's studying. As I said, it was all for naught. So Scott managed to squeeze in a sleepover with our neighbor's son. And our neighbor's invited us over Sunday night for dessert, appetizers and champagne. They were heading off to Miami so we decided to try and get together for a pre Christmas visit and gift exchange for the kids.
And Tom was still trying to keep the kids occupied all week, so they ran off to the mall to pick up our family phot0s and caught the Chipmunk movie. (Tom slept and the kids thought the first movie was better). But I got my family Christmas photos and I started sending out the family Christmas cards this week. So if you haven't yet received your card, it is on the way. We were running a bit late this year since I decided I wanted a family photo with the dog. I had to locate a studio that allowed us to bring a dog and then there were only certain days and times allowed to bring in the dog. But it worked out well and the pictures turned out pretty cute. So look for it in the mail(along with my extensive yearly journal). And I still have some more cards to mail out this weekend. Tom was also busy sending out cards and gifts to coworkers this past week.
Our clinic was closed this Friday, but I am usually off anyway. We decided to catch the Christmas mass at the gorgeous chapel at my work site, the retirement community. We attended the beautiful mass on Thursday night at 7pm and had plenty of time to visit with our neighbors Christmas eve for dinner afterwards.
Of course, that meant I was up very late Christmas eve. And along came Christmas Day! The kids were very nice and gave us until 8am before dragging me out of bed to tear open the gifts. We managed to check out our stash and clean up in time to start cooking. I invited several families over to the house for dinner, so we all put together a potluck which turned out to be way too much food but delicious and a lot of fun. The kids even played a round of Scott's new Mario Monopoly game. Some of us would have enjoyed a drive out to historical Hampden for the Christmas lights, but the rain kept us away. Instead we sat down to enjoy Tom's Star Trek video.
So we managed to get in a few phone calls to most of you, unless of course your phone was busy, you weren't answering when we called, or you were busy talking to someone else. But we did dial everyone's phone today except Dan and Sheila who are in Missouri and Laura and DAn who we will hopefully be visiting soon in Detroit.
We will probably head out on Sunday if the roads look good.
So wish me good luck on shopping and my trip to the bank for a last Girl Scout cookie money deposit.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Kathleen and family

Global warming? I think not. At least, not in Baltimore. We hit an all time record for snow fall this past weekend-2 feet! It is insane. Of course, school is closed on Monday. The kids are ecstatic. Especially Allison since she had lots of tests and a paper due over the next 3 days. Scott just had a Christmas party and his school's Christmas pageant, so he is not missing too much. They will probably get to school on Tuesday, but noone has plowed our street at the end of the driveway yet. It started snowing on Friday night at 10pm and did not stop until Sunday morning at 2am. Tom plowed the driveway with our snow blower 3 times on Saturday and once on Sunday. I did the walks and patio so the dog could at least get out to go to the bathroom. They actually closed all the malls on Saturday and the airports too. The Chicago Bears were supposed to fly in on Friday night for the Sunday game, but missed their window of opportunity. Instead they showed up on Sunday morning and the game was pushed back from 1pm to 4pm. And it was to our advantage since the Ravens won! Snow and all covering most of the stadium. So tom will stay home with the kids tomorrow and I will be braving the roads. He did get out briefly Sunday afternoon to pick up a few items. I spent the whole weekend inside doing laundry, dishes and getting ready for Christmas. We finally got the tree and lights up! It sure feels like Christmas now. Even Michigan or Indiana doesn't have all this snow! We will have to go North to warm up!
It is a good thing Tom's parents visited last weekend. They were complaining it was cold last weekend! Ha! We even traveled south to warm up a bit(all the way into the 40s!) in Williamsburg, VA. We spent Saturday night at Busch Gardens for their first version of Christmas town with holiday lights and Christmas shows. It was a bit chilly and unbelievably crowded. It definitely got us into the holiday spirit. Our next door neighbors went down this weekend and said it was empty. I guess we picked the busiest night of the season to attend! And then we had a rainy day all last Sunday. We mostly did some shopping at the outlets. But only at the indoor stores(not many).
Tom's parents headed back to Florida on Monday. Weds night our family drove down to Annapolis to have our family photo taken with the dog included at JC Penney. So my cards will be a bit late this year but I think it is worth the wait. I will pick up the photos this coming Weds.
On Friday Tom and I had our work partys. It was a bit crazy around here since everyone was anticipating the big snowstorm. Baltimorons go crazy and buy out all the milk and toilet paper. And when Allison and I stopped into the grocery store Friday night after her piano lesson, sure enough all the milk was gone. So was all the red meat. I didn't check on the toilet paper(we have plenty since we shop at the club stores). I got a lot of errands run on Friday before my work party, but it was crazy out there. Lots of people, long lines and scary driving. And we still have one more week of shopping to go. I did get some shopping done on line thank goodness. But sadly I still need to stop into the mall. Oh no. I also discovered that Tom and I are hosting Christmas dinner, so I started picking up food items. And I am busy working this week. Tom thank goodness is off with the kids for the next two weeks. Hopefully we will make it up to Detroit next week for a holiday break since we are supposed to get more snow on Christmas Day.
The kids and the dog can't get enough. I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to go to work!
Merry Christmas! (One week early). Kathleen and family

So we survived Scott's birthday party last weekend. I even had time to stop into the mall with Allison so she could get a haircut and pick up a quick Christmas gift too.
We were hoping to pick out our Christmas tree too last weekend, but the weather was still pretty cold and wet. Tom actually picked up a tree for us this past week, we just haven't had the chance to put it up. I was busy running around throwing up a few Christmas decorations in the house. The kids managed to get their little trees decorated in the front foyer, and Tom hung up all his Star Trek/Star Wars collection on his new tree that he got on St Nick's Day last Sunday. We also enjoyed a free Army Band Christmas concert this past week-I picked up tickets for the family as a St Nick's Day gift. Something to get us all in the holiday spirit. The concert was held at the High School at Fort Meade and included the army band and choir together. Overall an enjoyable show(and did I mention free?!). Tom's parents were sorry they missed it. They arrived the next night for a quick weekend visit. We haven't seen them since we visited Florida in the spring.
Friday the kids had school, so Tom and I spent the day with Mom and Dad browsing the antique shops in Olde Ellicott City as well as stopping in for lunch. We did not spend much time outside since it was pretty chilly. Just a quick walk around the neighborhood to take Cookie out in the morning. That evening I dropped Scott off to a Kids in the Kitchen class where he made French Toast and Hot Chocolate for dinner and watched Night at the Museum II with our next door neighbor, Sammy. Allison on the other hand had a piano lesson. I also had to pack up the Girl Scout's goodies that they prepared the weekend before to be delivered to the hospital patients.
Saturday we all headed down to Williamsburg VA. We spent the evening enjoying the Christmas lights and shows at Busch Gardens. Still a bit chilly for the Florida people to be outside, but it got us all in the Christmas spirit. We stayed the night and woke up to a very rainy day(at least a bit warmer). This did not make for good window shopping weather in Historic Williamsburg, so after church, we just made a few stops into the Williamsburg Pottery Factory and the Potomac Mills Outlet on our way home.
Since we were out of town, Allison and I missed singing at the mall with the Girl Scout choir, and Scott missed his Cub Scout Christmas party. Too many activities and too little time! But I think we all rather enjoyed our trip down to Williamsburg. Scott definitely enjoyed the swim in the hotel pool.
Monday Grandma and Grandpa were back home in Florida(a whole lot warmer) after Tom dropped them off at the airport. We made sure to take advantage of Mom Seitz's sewing skills first and had her help us pick out and cut out some fabric to cover our kitchen stools. The old material was wearing off the stools, so we replaced it with a new paisley pattern(much nicer than the original). And we didn't have to buy new stools-they just look new. Thanks Mom! They look beautiful! Tom got them all stapled and put back together again.
We also celebrated two birthdays this past weekend-Linda Seitz had a birthday on Saturday(Happy Birthday Linda!) and our puppy Cookie turned one year old on December 13th! She's a big girl now!
So just two more weeks before Christmas and I still have a billion things to do. So that's all for now! Kathleen and Family

So last Sunday we were in tshirts and shorts, almost 70 outside and today we were freezing our tootsies off from our first snow of the season. Thanks Houston-we got all your snow! And lucky Allison and I got to march in it in a Christmas parade. We started off Saturday morning in a cold rainy downpour which quickly turned to ice and snow before we finished the parade. Thank goodness we were close to the front and only had about a 20 minute walk. But Allison and I were frozen solid along with the other chorus members. We were busy singing "Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow" while freezing to death. It was a bit festive though! And we got to walk back and see the rest of the parade and wave to Santa and Mrs Claus in their horse drawn sleigh. It did put us in a festive mood, albeit cold. We usually have this parade in Nov. when it is much warmer-there were times we wore tshirts. Not this time. I had hoped Tom and Scott would join us-it really is a nice parade. But since it was so lousy outside they stayed home. And sadly missed Breakfast with Santo since I did not sign Scott up ahead of time, thinking he and Tom would be joining us for the parade.
The drive back home was pretty horrible. I did manage to stop into Target on the way home though since I was already out. It was actually nice since the store wasn't overly crowded. The roads were very slushy and slippery so not alot of people left their homes. Not too great for the economy though. Nice for me however-I had to put together goody bags for Scott's birthday party today. He had a swim party at "Splashdown", a local swimming pool with indoor water tube slides, a rope swing and diving board. He had never been although Allison has been many times with the girl scouts. (Me too). The kids all had a great time today, and I even took Scott and Allison and two friends in early for extra swimming before their party was scheduled. The price included his food(hot dogs, chips, soda) plus a cake(custom picture-Mario of course) and ice cream. So I did not have to clean anything or set up-just show up and man the table and pass out food and goody bags. Besides Scott's party, I had my Girl Scout Holiday party on Friday night. We spent the evening making holiday baked goods for the local psyche patients, swapped holiday gifts and after a quick taco dinner, spent the evening having dessert at a local fondue restaurant, "The Melting Pot". The girls decided we needed to start a new tradition. They really enjoyed dipping brownies, rice krispie treats, cheesecake, pound cake, marshmallows, bananas and strawberries into tubs of chocolate. Who wouldn't love that! Plus it all fit into their cooking badge!
I got to spend some mom time during the day though when I enjoyed a morning out for Mother's Tea with the school moms. The school puts on an outing for all the moms each year at a local restaurant owned by one of the school families. They have coffee, tea and pastries, and bagels along with fruit and my favorite door raffles(although I did not win this year). It is a nice time to chit chat with the school moms. I look forward to it every year-and it is always on my day off! Although it didn't leave me much time to get the house set up for the Friday night meeting and start decorating for Christmas. Tom has the outside lights up but now we are working on the inside.
Actually we enjoyed St Nick's Day this Sunday with a visit from St Nick and stockings full of ornaments, gingerbread cookies and two new artificial trees for Allison and Tom to hang their ornament collections. Tom has a Star Trek/Star Wars/outer space tree and Allison has a cat collection. I get the big tree for my rocking horses and glass Christmas bulbs. Scott gets the kids tree(a collection of kids ornaments including Rudolph, Snoopy, Harry Potter and any other character they enjoyed). We had planned on picking up our live tree this weekend, but it was a bit too nasty last night. A good weekend to stay in and study with the kids(and wrap Christmas ornaments) but I did manage to spend some time outside with Cookie in the snow(which she loved!). She was busy chasing Scott down the small hills while he sledded with our neighbor. I had to give her a bath afterwards though since she had big frozen snowballs on her feet and could barely walk.
I was glad Tom made it home before the big snow. He was down in Charlottesville VA all week so I was juggling both of the kids and their schedules on my own. I had to get Scott to gymnastics and Allison to piano at the same time which as interesting. It made for a lot of driving last week.
I also had my own GS Leader meeting/holiday party on Weds night and had the kids help me out by making a dessert plate for the event. I also had to drop off shoebox gifts that the girls made up for kids at a local shelter for the holidays. Naturally on that night it was pouring rain which made it difficult to keep all the wrapping paper dry. We are almost done with donations. The school always puts on a toy collection as well as work. And we have already had a coat drive at work. Everyone is fussing though that donations are down quite a bit this year. Guess everyone is busy paying off their own debts.
We also had an appraiser stop by today since Tom decided to refinance our house and take advantage of the low rates. We didn't change our monthly mortgage payment, but we did knock off 4 yrs of payments. We are still waiting on our roof guy to replace our skylight-guess he is busy! Too bad we didn't discover the leak in the summer!
So Happy St Nick's Day! (December 6th). I am off to put out a few more Christmas decorations! Kathleen and Family