Since I am writing to all of you, I must have survived the week with Tom in San Jose(just barely). I only had to be about 10 different places at once. The kids are 1/2 way through their first semester so they sent out grades(just in case someone is failing something). So far so good but I am still having issues with Scott's teachers and spent many a morning emailing the school principal. I am working(again) on the issue of the teacher's providing a few study guides to the kids for their big tests so we parents can have some idea on how to help them review. It worked out last year so I am hoping for the best this year. Allison was a bit upset when she discovered one of her teachers had marked several of her assignments as missing(they weren't), but of course it pulled her grade down. After lots of emailing, looks like we got it straightened out. We also had some minor technical glitches that we had to work out on our own without Dad's help. Allison needed a movie clip for her confirmation weekend presentation(thank goodness for Blockbuster). She also needed to download a computerized scrapbook she had been working on for her child development class. She had a bit of a panic attack when we could not locate a zip drive for her to transfer the data to school. Glad I remembered to buy a few extra at the beginning of the school year. I also had her start the sample tests for the PSAT this coming week.
Along with the schoolwork we've had a lot of evening activities. Allison had two Field Hockey games this week. On Friday she played the whole game since the other goalie was off for the weekend celebrating her Bday. I don't think the ball ever came near Allison though and the girls won 10-0. Usually the score is around 2-0. She also had another Field Hockey pasta party/tie dye/ice cream sunday event on Thursday night. That was right after I picked her up from school along with her Field Hockey fundraiser food items that I have to deliver to my coworkers on Monday. Meanwhile I had to feed Scott and myself after I picked him up from school, then go back and pick up Allison from her (you know what)party so I could get back to Scott's school in time for a meeting to discuss the upcoming weeklong outdoor camp that I am also going to attend. And the meeting ran late since the powder puff parents were panicking about their kids going off on their first "sleepover" in the wilderness(with great cabins and 3 terrific meals each day). The main reason I signed up as a chaperone was to fulfill all our volunteer hours at once. So I snuck out of that meeting so I could get Allison to her piano lesson. And I even missed my dinner out with my Dragon Boat teammembers. Not only that but Scott missed gymnastics. Can you imagine! I suppose I could have asked one of the neighbors to help out, but it just seemed a bit too crazy.
It was a week of meetings. Allison had a pre retreat meeting on Tuesday night at church. And I had a GS Leader meeting on WEds night. It made for long nights and a bit difficult to squeeze in the homework. Scott finished up his altar server training this past week so I guess he is good to go. His first mass is scheduled in Nov.
Allison went away for the weekend to finally help out with the Confirmation retreat. She had a terrific time. Unfortunately she could not ride up with the other staff members to the conference hall since she had a Field Hockey game right when they were leaving, so I had to drive her up myself on Friday night. Scott ended up having a playdate at a neighbors house while I drove her up(about 2 hrs total driving time for me). Fortunately she was able to return with the staff on Sunday afternoon and when they got back they all went out for lunch. Allison said all her presentations went well, even one that she was asked to step in and cover and she had to make up the lines. I really liked her main presentation on Belonging-she and her partner worked in the story of The Ugly Duckling and they had the kids act out scenes. She has been working on this project since last Spring. She really enjoyed the whole event, hanging out with the other teens and even the 8th graders and she is already looking forward to next year's retreat.
Scott had his own busy weekend of fun. He had two birthday partys to attend. One was a Laser tag party and the other was his best friend Sammy's bday party at Medieval Times. Medieval times is an indoor dinner show with Knights and Kings and Queens, Magicians, live horses and jousting and sword fights. Food is all served without utensils(hands only) and each section of the arena gets to cheer on their own knight. Scott had a great time. I last had the kids there when my girl scouts bridged to Cadettes in 7th grade. They usually have specials on the tickets to get people in. So a rough weekend for Scott. Not only that, but we left him at the neighbors (again) on Saturday night-this time with a babysitter so Tom and I could go out to dinner with the parents. I had thought Scott was going to have another sleepover at Sammy's house after the party, but Sammy's mom was a little wiped out with pneumonia. So Scott spent another evening at the neighbors while we joined the parents at a local restaurant for dinner and to listen to a band which apparently consists of members of our neighborhood. The band leader is also our neighborhood association leader, along with his brother and 3 other guys(doctors) and one lady for good measure all from our neighborhood. They are all in their 50s+ and I hear from the band leaders wife that they no longer practice in the garage, but have moved down to the basement. They played a lot of James Taylor and the Beatles in honor of John Lennon's(would have been)70th birthday on Saturday. Tom of course thought it was all too loud for the small space. And it was loud which made it difficult to chat with our neighbors. I did get a few words in with the band leader's wife who sat right next to me. We were chatting about high schools and colleges-her college -aged daughter had also joined us. Her daughter was also a girl scout and we talked about her gold award and the newest changes in girl scouting. I didn't know we had so many talented people in our neighborhood!
Before we left for the evening though, Tom and I were enjoying an excellent MSU vs Uof M football game. Excellent of course for us MSUers. My flag is proudly waving in front of the house even as I type. Apparently MSU has not beaten Uof M 3 years in a row since 1965. Hey what is up with the map of Michigan and the Paul Bunyan statue? We also enjoyed watching our Ravens football team win Sunday(again) and Tom is very excited that hockey season has started-a great start for the Wings. I also tried to take some time and get my hair cut this weekend, but the girl that cuts my hair no longer works weekends. I need a haircut since our gala is coming up at work next weekend. Since I couldn't get my hair cut, I decided to spend my time dress shopping. I had as much success as I had last spring-nothing. The dress collection pretty much looked like everything I saw this spring, but less. Looks like I will just rely on my old dresses. I just wanted an excuse to buy a new dress. At least I get to wear a new mask as this is a masquerade ball!
I know I should have gotten my hair cut Friday, but instead I opted to take Cookie to the vet. She had a nasty looking ear and it did turn out to be an ear infection-her first, but I am sure not her last. She seems a bit off right now-I am not sure if it is the medicine. She gets drops in her ears twice a day for 10-14 days(just like antibiotics). She is just not her usual perky self. I decided to try and avoid the flu this year and finally got my shot at work. They have an incentive for employees to get their shot by giving out scratch off lottery tickets and raffling prizes each day. I did not luck out with my scratch off.
But I did get some good news about the chocolate cheesecake I donated to the church a few weeks ago for a fundraiser for our sister church in Israel. They actually had a judging contest along with the tasting, and my cheesecake won 2nd Place in the cheesecake category! So many thanks to Mom Seitz since it was her recipe that I used. She used to make this cheesecake for Tom and I. I have never made it myself, but thought this was a good time to try it out. I actually made two-one for us that I took to a neighborhood party and one for the . Everyone was saying how fantastic it was-but I didn't think it was as good as Mom Seitz makes it. I did use chocolate mint cookie crumbs for the base which did give it an extra zing, and then topped it with mint chocolate shavings and a few mint leaves from my garden. My creation even made the weekly newspaper as they listed all the top winners! I had to give it a description/name so since I used Ghiradelli chocolate, it was rightly named the Ghiradelli chocolate mint cheesecake. You can gain about 10lbs just reading this description.
So another extremely hectic week coming up. I am not sure when we will be able to slow down! Kathleen and family
Congrats on your new puppy Stacey and Matt. Thor is adorable. I am sure Cookie and
Thor would be great friends(cousins?).

Well we certainly have had an interesting weather this week! Last week we were in the 90s and had the AC on, this week was much cooler(and felt so great), but on Thursday we had a small Monsoon come through! Tropical storm Nicole from the Caribbean. Lots of rain and wind. Some school systems had to shut down for the day since roads were flooding and trees were falling on roads. There were also some power outages and tornadoes near Annapolis. Basically the whole state was under a tornado watch all day. The areas near the bay usually get the worse flooding, like Annapolis and downtown Baltimore on the harbor. We all managed to survive, and the two day rainstorm was great for Tom's new grass and my little transplanted trees and flowers. I was just glad the storm didn't keep my brother Dan from returning to Texas after a business trip this last week to Pittsburgh. Too bad he only stays during the week. We'd love to drive up and see him, although that is about a 4 hr drive. The guys have been busy traveling lately. Tom is off to San Jose, CA this week. Sorry Mike, I thought he was going to be in your area, but not this trip. In a few more weeks he'll be in Woodland Hills. And Mark Seitz recently returned from Dubai. Sounds like a fascinating place. I know Dave Bozyk was interested in a job position there.
I can't believe we are in October already. September was a very busy and long month. The next few months will be just as busy. Allison had two Field Hockey games this week. She played in only one, but Tom got to watch her make an awesome save in the goal. Her whole season will be over in just a few weeks. Because of all her games I had to change her piano lesson to late Thursday nights. She has been pretty pooped out. I also had to run her over to a tie dye party Friday night after her Field Hockey game for a Confirmation Retreat Planning session. The kids wanted to review their presentations that they will be putting on next weekend and make matching t-shirts. Allison volunteered to help put on the 8th grade Confirmation Retreat last year and loved it so she is doing it again. She is happy to know several of the 8th graders on this retreat. I also managed to squeeze in a GS meeting Weds night-not all the girls could make it, but half did and we managed to get some work done. We want to put on some Jr GS badge classes to earn money and work towards our Gold Award Requirements. We have high hopes of going on a big trip when the girls graduate from HS so we can use the money. We also ended our pre-order GS cookie sales. Thanks if you contributed. Next month we will be selling at the booth sales-Yeah Walmart is letting us sell again!
Scott is still busy with choir and gymnastics. He also spent Friday night with his buddy Sammy at a Kids in the Kitchen cooking class. The kids made their own pizzas and then watched Marmaduke while they ate their masterpieces. The boys really enjoy the class. Afterwards we picked up both boys so Sammy could spend the night. Scott really only gets to see him on weekends since they moved away. But since both of our kids were busy Friday night, Tom and I had time to go out to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. We got caught up on all our recent activities, but it was a bit hard chatting above the Mariachi band! It was nice to get out together. Tom had the day off but ended up going in to work to help out with a project. I also volunteered to work on my day off(I think that was a mistake). I spent most of my time trying to get help with my computer. We have old laptops at work and new software-the two just don't work together well. And since I travel all around the campus to see patients, I believe I have some of the biggest issues with the wireless system. Unfortunately, we are assessed yearly on our use of the computer for documentation and I always come up short. I knew I should have stayed home. I did opt out of taking Scott to the Boy Scout activity scheduled this weekend. The Boy Scouts are celebrating 100 yrs. of scouting this year. They have had lots of activities planned all year round, including this weekend. They scheduled a camping overnight at Ft McHenry(birthplace of the National Anthem). They had activities scheduled all day. I would have taken Scott just for one day, but the cost was a bit high-$40 per person whether you camped or not. I could see paying that price if we camped overnight since it included food, but not for just one day.
It was also Homecoming Week for the HS. Allison enjoyed the Spirit Week-the kids get dressed up with a different theme each day-Wacky Tacky Day, Color Day(each class wears one color), Costume Day(Allison had a witches hat and cape), Decade Day(60s, 70s, etc) and PJ day. I think that was their favorite. On Saturday, Allison opted out of the dance this year. Her favorite friends were not available to attend with her, and I did not want her going by herself. Instead we enjoyed the HS parade that goes through our neighborhood. It starts at Scott's school so we parked there and watched the start of the parade-less people. Scott's favorite part is picking up all the candy they throw. He decided he wanted to follow the parade, so I drove behind while he cleaned up the leftover candy. He actually filled two plastic grocery bags! The next thing I knew, we were driving in the parade! Allison had Cookie hanging out the window, and Scott popped back in the van and stuck his head out the sunroof! We had a great time, and a lot of people showed up since the weather was so nice. Last year it rained. We did not go to the football game. But speaking of football-Hurray for MSU! And amazingly, the Ravens beat the Steelers. OOOOOOH. Good football weekend for us. Tom will be sorry to miss his Monday night football game with the boys this coming week.
Tom left on Sunday morning. Allison and I had GS choir rehearsal Sunday afternoon. Scott was stuck with us, but he enjoyed hanging out at the nature center at the GS camp while we practiced. They have lots of turtles and snakes to check out. Afterwards, Allison had to serve at our new 515 Sunday night mass. Scott was scheduled to altar serve as well, however he has not yet finished the training. The coordinator wasn't paying attention when she scheduled him. He will finish his training this upcoming week. He started last week, but he missed the first meeting. Allison was busy filling him in on what he missed after Sunday mass. And I finished the weekend with lots of studying.
Congrats go out to my friend Laura and her family and their Polish Dance Group. The dance group was featured on the new series Detroit 187. After the premier, Laura had a party at her house for all the members and news channel WXYZ showed up to do a feature story. It was fun seeing Laura and family and their house on the news! Check it out on their website.
Congrats also to Mark and Linda Seitz, with the help of Dad Seitz and Eric Seitz bought, refurbished and sold the house next to Mark and Linda's place. Must be a great feeling to have that responsibility off all your shoulders!

Wish me luck with the kids this week since I am flying solo!

Sunday turned out to be another rainy day, perfect for staying indoors and studying with the kids. It was also a much needed break from a hectic week.
Besides the usual piano lessons and gymnastics classes, Allison had two field hockey games. She finally got to play an entire game on Friday afternoon. That was because the other team was so bad, the ball hardly ever came near her. But no matter, she looked terrific out there in the 95+ blazing sun! We had a ridiculously hot week; we even had to turn the AC back on! Tom was afraid his new grass was going to burn out and I spent a lot of time watering my newly planted fall flowers. So the rain break on Sunday was a welcome relief.
We all had a chance to catch Allison's game on Friday and that evening I took her and our previous neighbor's daughter to see the new animated owl movie(the girls have read all the books). They loved the movie. During the day I was busy with aerobics and came home and spent most of the afternoon baking chocolate cheesecakes -one for a church fundraiser and one for our neighbor's Saturday night dinner party.
On Saturday, I had to drop off one cheesecake at the church and then I took Scott to an all day Cub Scout nature class on Forestry and Natural Resources at the National Wildlife Refuge. We had class from 10-430. Scott's favorite part was chasing the frogs in their pond. On Saturday night we headed to the neighbors for a dinner party. The weather was so beautiful we all sat out on the patio while a million children ran around in the dark! Scott was happy to spend the night at his friends' Sammy's house.
It was a nice break after a long week of studying for tests. I swear Allison had a test or quiz in every one of her classes on Thursday. She also had to squeeze in a babysitting session for our new neighbors. (She loves the kids). And on the night before the field hockey game she had another pasta party so we had to swing by Pizza Hut for some lasagna. She loved the campfire they had after dinner and roasting marshmallows.
It still feels like Summer and yet September is almost over! And we are only going to get busier as the year progresses!
We did not have time to catch the MSU football game but we heard we won! Yeah! And the Ravens did much better this week. Tom is still enjoying his Monday night football games with the guys. He especially enjoyed the game without all the kids running around!
Talk to you all soon! I have to go organize GS stuff(cookie sales are almost done). Then come the booth sales! Kathleen and Family

Happy Birthday Mom Bozyk! Hope you are having as wonderful a day as we are here in Baltimore! It has been a gorgeous last weekend of summer. We are actually near 80 degrees, 10 degrees above normal. The warm weather hasn't been helping Tom grow his grass seed however since it means he has to water, and that is not his norm. He has been hoping for rain and we did get some last week. Along with a small thunderstorm late at night that woke everyone up. That was the same storm that kicked up tornadoes in New York City. It just has not been enough rain to get all the grass seed growing. It was enough to get the ground wet so I could finally transplant some little trees including my baby cedar I brought back from Michigan and a pine we received on arbor day a few years ago. Both were big enough to plant where I don't think someone would run it over with the mower(again). I also put a rosemary plant in my garden that I got from Matt Wagner as well as filling some big pots with mums and pansys for the fall.
We also spent our Saturday cleaning house and decorating for the fall since we hosted a wine tasting dinner party for Tom's work group. He has been promising his coworkers a wine tasting party for the past two years. We had quite a bit of red wines we moved from LA 14 years ago that we figured had reached their prime and needed opened. Tom was certain most of the bottles had gone bad and was pleasantly surprised to only find a few bottles had turned to vinegar. This was pretty good I thought since our wine has been moved from LA as well as transported up to Boston and back over the past 14 yrs. I was busy cleaning and cooking all day Saturday. I decided to throw a pasta party since I figured it was an easy way to feed a lot of people without a lot of hassle, and it certainly works with red wine. I had a big pot of spaghetti with red sauce and Italian sausage as well as cheese tortellini and vodka cream sauce. Then I just tossed together a green salad and fruit salad. I was surprised that people did not eat as much as I thought they would. We ended up with about a dozen people and one little toddler girl who fell in love with Scott. We also had a few appetizers that included homemade salsa(Tom's contribution). I wanted to use up the tomatoes that I picked from my plants along with some we got from Matt and Di. Tom's salsa was a big hit. So was my spaghetti it seems, but I did have to monitor my cooking since one of the guests was unable to tolerate olive oil and lately that is an ingredient in almost every recipe, especially italian food!
So while Allison and I were busy preparing food and putting out fall decorations, Tom and Scott were off practicing Boy Scout skills. We had a full Pack meeting Friday night(I was nominated to take Scott while Tom ran Allison to her piano lesson). The boy scouts already have a full schedule for the fall. Tom and Scott spent the morning learning camping skills from a boy scout troop. Scott especially enjoyed lighting the propane stove. This is Scott's last year as a Webelo and he will transfer to a Boy Scout troop next year.
Our house seemed to be party city last week. We also hosted the first Boys Only Monday Night Football. Unfortunately for Tom, some of the Dad's were left watching their little boys and they all ended up at our house. Tom said they don't seem to grasp the Boys Night Out concept. Such is the life of modern man. No matter, I ended up cooking Brats and hot dogs for everyone. And a few moms stopped in to pick up the little ones and stayed for a glass of wine and chit chat. So fun was had by all and the Ravens who were playing last Monday got the win(but it sure was ugly). And we all stayed up late for the whole game since the kids didn't have school on Tuesday(election day). Too bad Sunday's game didn't turn out any better. And we couldn't split our time between the MSU game and our wine tasting party, but it sounds like it had quite the exciting ending(with a win for MSU-we'll take it).
It is nice that Allison was able to stay home on Tuesday and watch Scott for us. However, she did have an early morning Field Hockey practice so Scott had to entertain himself for a few hours until she rode her bike back home. It was convenient for me to drop her off at the high school in the morning for practice since that is where I vote. I managed to get in and out in just a few minutes. Tom didn't think he could vote as he is currently registered as an Independent, but the voting poll volunteers told him he could vote a modified ticket(limited number of constituents) or the Democratic ticket(does that make sense?). I guess my mom must be rubbing off since I gave Allison a quick review of what was going on in local Maryland govt and her HS govt teacher mentioned how impressed he was with the insight of his students. Allison surprised him when she mentioned he must be an Independent since he also spoke of the difficulty he had when he went to vote Tuesday morning. She was also able to explain the purpose of the primary.
I got the lowdown when I attended Allison's back to school night. It actually wore me out running from one end to the other, each session lasting about 5 mins and 7 sessions total. the school building is going through a lot of renovations, but I think everyone would have been happier with a whole new school. The hallways and stairwells are still too narrow. You can't go up and down the stairs without getting bumped by the doors or the people coming through. I got a basic idea what Allison goes through and the chance to meet and greet her teachers. Even if the building is not the greatest, I was just happy to see that the teachers all seemed excited and committed about their students and their jobs. Tom missed Back to School Night since Scott had gymnastics and a whole lot of homework.
We did get to watch one of Allison's Field Hockey games on Friday afternoon(a tie for the girls). We missed their Away game on Monday but Allison did not get to play either game since they were very tough teams and the coach used the more experienced goalie for both games. No matter, Allison is still enjoying herself(as well as the pasta parties and goody bags the girls share) and learning lots, and getting some exercise.
Her game on Friday afternoon was early so it was nice that Tom had his day off. We even got to have a lunch date, but it makes it difficult for me to get my work done. I did manage to schedule Allison for driver's training next summer! However, a new law was passed in 2008 which requires the kids to take a test and get their driver's permit before going behind the wheel with the driving instructor so it seems a bit silly to take the class when the kids can go online, read the material and take the test on their own! No matter, I am insisting that someone(besides the parents and the computer) provide some type of driving instruction.
I also had to take time off work early last week for the kids dentist appointments. I am so glad neither one had any cavities. It also gave me extra time to run errands and shop for our dinner party.
Good luck with your dentist appointment Dad Bozyk. And Happy Traveling to Mom and Dad Seitz as they migrate down south to Florida for the winter. Enjoy your trip to Dubai Mark. If you are mailing out any souvenirs, we'll take a camel(no goats) and maybe a little sand. Love from Baltimore, Kathleen

Today, Sunday, was such a wet, drizzly day.A good day to do homework and housework and stay indoors and watch football. Except that Allison had to get up early this morning to serve mass. She was quite surprised to share the job with another high school girl(the boy scheduled with them did not show up or get a substitute). Allison also had a pasta party Sunday night to get ready for their first Field Hockey game scheduled Monday night. The team captain invited all the girls to her house(italian family) so her mom could cook up an enormous batch of pasta-all kinds including meat and shrimp sauces. I was just excited to get a homemade cannoli when I picked up Allison! But Sunday was a far cry from the activities we participated in on Saturday!
If you may recall, I mentioned my plans to participate in the Catholic Charities Dragon Boat races on Saturday, and I did! I had to be to the Baltimore Harbor at 630am for registration and team photos and to watch the sun come up and freeze and drink coffee. Then our first boat race was at 815am. The race is across the harbor, the length of 4 football fields(wow)! Our time was not too bad-1min 48secs. We had 3 more races that day and our worst time was 1 min 51secs. The winning teams had 1 min 35 secs. We also had a hat decorating contest and a chant contest during the day. And there was a special ceremony for 9/11 and the mayor of Baltimore who was also paddling on a team made a speech along with a blessing from one of the bishops. It was a pretty warm day, and I ran out of the house without my sunscreen so I got a bit toasty. Fortunately, all the paddlers got free beer after the race so I was quite comfortable. And our Team Tent was pitched in the volleyball sand pits, so I felt like I was at the beach! It was quite an experience-I just wish the family could have made it. Tom and Scott were off hiking through the woods that morning with the scouts so they didn't get home in time. I tried to talk Allison into coming down with me at 6am but she preferred sleep(can't blame her).
She was just getting over the cold I gave her. She struggled through school last week with a stuffy head and upset stomach and lots of cold medicine. Fortunately she had Thursday off(jewish holiday) to get caught up on some rest and a ton of homework. The teachers sure have started out with a bang this school year. On Friday she had a quiz in every class plus homework that was due. At least they back off a bit on the weekends. There is just so much going on this fall-the English and Math teachers are trying to get the kids prepped for their PSAT test in early Oct(not much time). Allison did take some time out on Saturday to start selling Girl Scout cookies. She always does well on our street, even though we are surrounded by other up and coming girl scouts. People have been buying from Allison since she was little. So let us know if you'd like to donate some boxes of cookies to the US Troops-we like to donate them to the USO or drop them off to the soldiers at the Baltimore airport ourselves when the Troops come home.
Saturday night we celebrated my race with cheesecake at our neighbors house although I think I was falling asleep in my coffee. The kids were busy playing video games. A very long weekend.
I ended up working on Friday since I had taken Monday off. That made for a long day too. Tom had to get Allison to her piano lesson. I was supposed to go help set up our tent, but I just didn't get out of work on time.
We also visited Scott's school for Back to School night last week. Scott is in 5th grade and is very excited about this year. He is especially looking forward to a trip to Northbay camp for a full week of science and nature activities. I was quite surprised since this is the first time the school is sponsoring this activity and also since my company owned the camp! I have been trying to get the kids signed up there for years, it just never fit into our summer schedule. So naturally I asked for the week off of work to join them. I can use the time towards our mandatory volunteer hours at school and even get paid for part of the time from work for volunteering. I hope this is a good year for Scott. We are also getting back to his gymnastics and Cub Scouts. Next year Scott will graduate to Boy Scouts. Good thing I have lots of calendars, cause I am having trouble keeping up with everything!
A very Happy Birthday to Mike Bozyk! We hope you get a job offer as a birthday present! That would make for a special day!
I had to send this out late since I finally got Tom to sit down and help me download a few photos-two Dragon Boat pictures and Scott and Sammy at Comic Con. I will send more(if I remember the steps!)

Labor Day-I thought this day should have a blog all of its own. We got back from Busch Gardens early enough Sunday night to allow me time to do some laundry and read through the mail. I had to pick up Cookie from doggy day camp Monday morning, so not much sleeping in. She was very happy to be back home. Scott gave her a bath and I trimmed the fur around her face-she is growing in her winter coat already.
We all had big plans for the day-biking and swimming(Scott still wants to go tubing). We managed to do none of it. The kids had homework to finish and check. Allison had a few quizzes to study for and we just ran out of day. Frankly I was feeling worn out from my cold and the busy weekend and had enough to keep me busy with laundry and grocery shopping.
Scott decided to rearrange his bedroom and do some closet cleaning(he even pulled everything from under the bed!)
Allison also started some closet cleaning and checking on the fit of her winter clothes. We did not have much luck finding her a well fitting but not ridiculously overpriced winter coat at the outlet mall. We really don't want to spend over $100 for a winter coat that she will probably outgrow next winter. I am just glad I forced her to try on some pants. She outgrew all but 1 pair of jeans from last school year. And don't get me started on shoe shopping(no luck). At least she still has something to wear! It is a good thing most teenagers aren't too fussy about their attire(believe it or not). Most of the kids at her school usually look like they rolled out of bed and went to class in their pajamas or gym clothes.
I did get a chance to chit chat with my parents on the phone-they are up at the Lake House. And I want to wish my brothers Dan and Dave a Happy Birthday(cards are in the mail). And Tom spent the day laying grass seed on the front lawn.
So not a terribly exciting day, but I think we all needed some time to wind down. We skipped a visit to Matt and Di's house since Matt was heading out to Philly Monday night and Diana was recuperating from an early morning run-she is busy preparing herself for her first mini marathon. She did a run last weekend and decided to try for something a bit bigger-we wish her luck! I will be happy with my boat race.
Let you know how it all turns out! Kathleen and family

Wow, what an eventful week. We started it off with the first week back to school-Allison in 10th grade this year at Mt Hebron and Scott back at Resurrection in 5th grade. And all without Tom. He was off working in LA this past week. I was just glad he had the chance to take my brother Mike out for dinner a couple of nights and give him a job hunting pep talk. Mike sadly did not get the recent job he interviewed for, but things are tough all over. Don't give up yet Mike-you are just getting started.
Scott seems very excited about his new school year-sounds like they have some new programs planned. We will know more at the upcoming Back to School Night. Allison seems overwhelmed already, with back to school quizzes and projects, but so far she is keeping her head above water. We had to run out Monday night to pick up her school supplies-they don't tell the kids what to buy until they actually go to class. First we had a make up piano lesson Monday night since we were planning on being out of town over Labor Day weekend. Since we had such a late night I took the kids out to a chinese buffet for dinner. I think I spent the rest of the week filling out emergency papers and signing Policy and Procedure forms. I am trying to get a form signed by Allison's doctor allowing her to keep some allergy medicine with her to take before Field Hockey practice. We had one more grueling weather week-temps were in the upper 90s to low 100s this past week. They even called practice one hour early due to Code Red air quality. It may be that Allison has to leave her medication with the school nurse, but it would be better than nothing. Kids are not allowed to keep medication on them during school, even over the counter medication. They can be suspended if caught-even with something simple like aspirin. And heaven forbid they decide to share! Drug dealing at its best.
And speaking of weather, we also had our first hurricane of the season to affect our weather. Fortunately this one stayed far enough out on the ocean as not to interfere with our holiday plans. Thanks for calling Sandra to check up on us-we were headed to Williamsburg, VA when you called. We never saw a drop of rain. I think it helped keep the crowds down along the eastern shore(at least until Saturday). We had an incredible trip to Busch Gardens and the Water Park on Friday and Saturday. We arrived at Busch Gardens early Friday afternoon and there was hardly anyone in the park. It closed early-at 7pm, but since the crowds were so low, we were able to get on all our favorite rides without hardly a wait. We met up with our next door neighbors, the Zarlengas who were also vacationing there with their kids, Alex and Kelsey. On Friday night after the park closed we all went out for Chinese buffet(can never get enough Chinese food according to Allison) and then we stopped back at the Zarlenga's hotel so the kids could swim and we parents could have a night cap and chat. On Saturday we all went to the water park and had a great time. After wards we headed back into Busch Gardens for a British Rock Band Hermans Hermit concert with Peter Noone. For those like me not familiar with the band's name, perhaps you will remember some of their songs like "Love Potion #9", or "Do Wa Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Do(There she was justa walking down the street)", "Sea Cruise(Won't you let me take you on a Sea Cruise)"and "There's A Kind of Hush, All over the World, Tonite", and Tom's favorite "Henry the 8th". He also did a fabulous Tom Jones, Johnny Cash, Davey Jones and Mick Jaggar interpretation. And Peter Noone did a fabulous job entertaining all concert goers of all ages-by the end of the concert, he had little kids sitting up on the stage with him while he sat down and sang a song. (He also commented that it must be horrid being a teacher!). He had all of us laughing. And we were glad we got into the park for the rides on Friday since the place was absolutely packed by Saturday night. Our next visit will be for Halloween-they were already starting to put up the decorations.
On Sunday the kids had a quick dip in the pool before we stopped into the absolutely packed outlet mall. We were bargain hunting for school clothes and shoes(mostly for Allison). We managed to pick up a few things, but it certainly was crowded. We spent most of the day walking from store to store before heading home. Tom prefers to miss the Monday traffic rush, so we usually head back a day earlier. That way we have some time at home to work on projects before we all have to head off to work and school.
It certainly did not help that I caught a terrible cold this past weekend. It looks like the cold and flu season is upon us even before school got started. Our next door neighbor's daughter was ill with the flu last weekend, and residents at the Retirement center have been getting ill. We will all be in to the doctor's office soon for our flu shots(seems like we just got them!) And last season we had to get both the flu shot and swine flu shot!
I am not surprised I got sick. I really have been pushing my schedule. Last Weds I arranged to have Allison and Scott picked up from my neighbor after school and Field Hockey practice so I could get to my Dragon boat practice-the last one before our big day. And with the hurricane coming up the eastern shore, the water was very choppy. Plus we had a full boat and I was sure we were going in. I spent the whole two hours leaning into the center of the boat. Fortunately we stayed afloat, even though we took on quite a bit of water and we were all sopping wet. And lucky me, right after paddling for two hours I had to rush off to my GS Leader meeting. It was the first meeting of the year and I really did not want to miss it. I just sat in the back of the room with a beach towel wrapped around my waist. I wanted to make sure our Troop was registered since cookie sales start this Saturday, the 11th(hint hint). I already had one meeting of the girls and parents a few weeks ago at our house so everyone could fill out all the registration forms. I will be busy scheduling meetings for the girls from now on. And Scott will start Webelos II soon-next step is Boy Scouts.
So we are back to our extra busy schedules. I feel like I didn't get a break at all this summer-it just went by way too fast! Hope all of you can keep up too! Kathleen and family