Well we just got through watching the Ravens again, but this time we did not get a win. Too sad. And we invited Matt and Di and family over again. This time Tom and Matt had a chili off. Last weekend it was brats and burgers, but this weekend we compared chili recipes. We decided we liked it best when we mixed both chilis together. So the chili was good, but the game was disappointing for us Ravens fans. We did enjoy wearing all our purple colors last week. Guess it is back to hockey games for now on.
I spent Saturday morning at the grocery store, pet store and bank while Tom studied with the kids. Allison has a week full of midterm tests next week, but she actually started with a few exams and essays last week. She wants to get Tom's help with math and science review before he heads off to LA next week. Mike can you visit with Tom for dinner Monday night?
I couldn't get all my errands done on Friday since I was hanging around the house hoping to hear back from the dishwasher repair company. Guess they never got in the new part since they never called me back. I also spent 3 hours at the allergist with Scott. His pediatrician has decided he has allergies and wanted him retested. So once again I let them poke him with all sorts of tree, cat, dog, mold, grass and cockroach venom which all came up negative. Then they had him do a computerized breathing test looking for asthma and decided his breathing was terrific. So after 3 hours we all agreed the poor kid gets post nasal drip and has sinus trouble and it is primarily seasonal and they put him on Flonase and his Qvar inhaler as a preventative. They want us to come back in 3 months to see if there is any improvement. I just wish his pediatrician would just give it a rest. She is bound and determined to diagnose Scott as having allergies. We went through all this testing 3 years ago, but I had to hear how kids change and that they have better tests nowadays(they don't). So far everyone is just trying to avoid getting the flu that is going around.
And we seem to be avoiding the big snowstorms(thank goodness). We had a bit more snow last week and another 2 hour morning delay. Once again Tom was able to drop off the kids. Thank goodness since I have been going round and round with my Human Resources dept at work. They changed my employee status and now wish to pay me a salary rather than pay me hourly. It is great in the sense that no matter how many hours I work a week, I will always be paid for 32 hours. It is bad because if I don't actually treat patients consistently then my productivity goes down, based on the hours I work, and it could have a negative effect on my weekly and yearly reviews. And I am not allowed to use my time off on an hourly basis, only 4 or 8 hour increments. The company actually is offering to pay me more and I am fighting it! After one week of having my say in meetings and emails I have decided to let them pay me more. Because Tom travels so much and the kids have such crazy schedules, or get sick or have snow day delays, it just worked better if I was paid hourly. Apparently corporate knows better than I do(the same company that went bankrupt last year). They certainly don't care about my personal life. I was most excited that I seem to have reclaimed my yearly bonus. They said I should have not received a bonus these past 6 years, and that I would be eligible for a bonus next year. I did not think that was quite fair so I said so. And they seemed to have changed their minds(I will wait until I see the check though). Work was a little crazy with Hollywood this past week too. It seems that Jada Pinkett Smith's grandmother lived at Charlestown and passed away last week. The family had the funeral at Charlestown last week. Jada Pinkett Smith(the actress/singer) is married to Will Smith the actor. We did not get to see any of them though since we hang out in the clinic in the basement. We just lost our parking spots. They had the ceremony and the reception at Charlestown so the dining room wait staff would have had the chance to see them all, and a few choice administrators. Never a dull moment at work.
And speaking of work, Tom will once again be heading out to California on Monday. And I was asked to work since the other 3 OT s all took off the MLK holiday. (See, I am a team player). Of course I don't mind-I get paid double time.
But with Tom gone, that means I am the only one home helping out with the midterm studying next week, not to mention a couple of big tests for Scotty, transportation and meals. Scott has a social studies test that is so big they have to schedule it over two days! That is just crazy. Tom also spent some of his time at Scott's school this week as he has been asked to run the after school Science Fair again this year. Tom has been putting in on for several years on his own through Northrop, but last year he just did not have the time. We have been hoping the school would take over. Instead, they just asked Tom to come back and run it again. He introduced the science fair to the 6th grade this past week, but with his traveling and the kid's school schedule he won't be able to cover all the other classes one week at a time. So the next time he talks to the school, they will put all the rest of the classes together. I am sure that will be fun. They decided to run the science fair before Easter break which seems a bit rushed to me. Oh well-not my project.
Allison and I also spent several hours on Friday meeting with a buddy GS troop to discuss the check in procedures and make posters for next weekends' rollerblading event. We will probably be helping on both Saturday and Sunday. Poor Allison was falling asleep during the meeting. So was I since I had spent the 3 hours at the allergists office and sat through Allison's piano lesson before our meeting. And Allison has not been feeling well(not a good time to get sick).
Plus she and Tom will be back to playing Indoor Field Hockey this Sunday night. At least she can sleep in on Monday.
Tom and Scott also spent most of the day working on Scott's Cub Scout Pinewood derby car. Scott really wanted a lego car, so Tom had Scott build a Lego car and glue it all together today. He had to use some pretty nasty glue, so Tom had him all covered up and kept an eye on him while he worked. On Friday they will attach it to the wheel base and check the weight. Tom doesn't think this car will win for speed, but Scott wanted to go for a "cool car" award. Who knows, it has a great design so they might win for speed!
And can you believe I already started signing the kids up for summer camp? Allison is scheduled for Drivers Ed and a Field Hockey camp in Philly. I put Scott in a few YMCA camps that are hosting the Legos club where they make robots and cars run by computer programs and all made out of Legos. He is also going to attend an Environmental Club at the Y. When you sign up early you get big discounts. Plus your kid actually gets in the camp! Most summer camps fill up right away out here.
I could use a few warm summer days right now. I just spotted a mouse in our attic. I don't know why we have a cat. Pika let the thing walk right by her. Tom is off to get mouse traps tonight. They love to sneak in when it is cold outside.
I'll let you know how I survive the week and how many mice I catch. Kathleen

Here is my catch up for the past two weeks!It is certainly hard to get back to the regular work and school week after vacation. We all had a hard time getting up in the morning after those late Michigan mornings. The sun did not get up until 8am there!
But we had to get back to studying and meetings. Except for Tom. Northrop decided to give everyone an extra day off on Monday! Lucky him. He took himself out to the movies since he had wanted to see the new "True Grit" movie all holiday week and he couldn't get anyone to go with him. He also had to stay home an extra day when our furnace blew up! The motor died one night and Tom said it made a huge noise! Scott heard it too. I was completely out of it and sleeping like a a baby and never heard a thing. Anyway, once again we were supporting the economy with our aging appliances. We had to have the motor replaced for $700. We were happy that we were under a contract with the furnace/AC company. We signed up when the air conditioner died last summer. We were due for a bi- yearly check up so they were able to come out the same day Tom called. Thank goodness and thank goodness they also had the part! Not only did the furnace need attention, but our new dishwasher decided to fail as well. Tom was trying to reset the controls to turn off the annoying beeping that it makes when the cycle is done. Next thing we knew, the control panel wasn't working at all. I had to have a repair guy come out on Friday, but he did not have the new mother board. So we are busy waiting for the part! At least the dishwasher still works so I can do the dishes.
Besides sitting around waiting for repairmen, I was busy attending meetings. I had a PTA meeting at Allison's high school on Tuesday night. I am on the Honor roll committee and we had certificates printed up for all the kids that made honor roll. They didn't have any recognition last year(the school is a bit preoccupied with remodeling). They used to have a small ceremony with cookies and punch for the honor roll students, but they have changed the grade points now and there are so many different levels, with so many more kids they just can't afford to host that big event with our small budget. We decided all kids would get certificates and the ones that make 4.0s for three quarters would get car magnets. And there went our budget. But we thought the kids should get something for all their hard work.
On Weds night I had a Girl Scout leader meeting. I signed up a few girls for a swim weekend at Splashdown. I spent two hours swimming laps in the pool while my 15 yr old girls hung on me(just like when they were little). We all took a few turns tubing down the indoor slide too. I was surprised that more moms were not in the pool with their girls. Only one other leader got in. I always try to participate in the events with the girls(no matter how big they are or how old I am!). I am also planning for our troop to assist with a rollerblading event coming up in a few weekends. And Allison and I were busy working on paperwork and forms for a few upcoming Girl Scout events that we had to apply for-one being a trip to Houston in Nov to the National Convention. Girl Scouts are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year. Another event involves high school students shadowing a female CEO for a day and then providing a presentation at our Distinguished Women's Award dinner.
Scott was busy writing an essay for a college scholarship on "What I want to be When I Grow Up". There were 17 entrants from Grade 4-8 at his school and they could only pick one. The principal went with an 8th grader. But Scott's essay on "I want to be an Engineer When I Grow Up" was very good. He did earn himself some free ice cream though for participating.
He also found out that he will be graduating to the next level in his gymnastics program. Finally.
And the kids got out of school early and had a late start the next day when a few inches of snow fell. Tom was able to do the pick up and drop off(this time).
We also spent our first full weekend at home undecorating our Christmas tree. The kids took down the decorations and Tom took down the lights and angel and hauled it out to the curb. I was surprised there did not seem to be too many live trees in our neighborhood this year. Tom figured we were very late in taking down our tree-I told him we were actually the first! I saw a few more go out on the curbs when I was taking Cookie for a walk. I did not think most people took down their trees the day after Christmas. there are actually still some trees up and lit in people's windows(artificial I'm sure).
We spent last weekend visiting with Matt and Di(our MSU buddies) while cheering on the Ravens football team to victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. We hadn't seen Matt and Di since last summer so we had some catching up to do. Diana has started running and has participated in a few races already. She is really enjoying it. We also found out that they spent Christmas in Michigan too in Canton visiting Di's sister. I don't think we would have had time to visit them there either since we were so busy.
I was wondering why we hadn't heard from Tom's brother Mark concerning the Raven's win. Especially since their team, the Indianapolis Colts lost last weekend. Turns out Mark and Linda were down in Orlando where Mark was busy running the Disney Marathon. Way to go Mark!
And a very Happy Birthday goes out to Grandma Seitz who celebrated on Jan. 6th.

Well the storm was heading our way and Tom almost pulled the plug on our trip to Michigan. The day after Christmas a huge snow storm was traveling up the coast, but as I pointed out to Tom, we were heading northwest away from the storm. So he decided to take my suggestion and we piled in the van and headed out. First the kids both served the 9am mass. I thought it was a very wonderful homily as our Deacon spoke about the holy family, and how important it is to spend time doing things together as a family.
We had no problem spending time together during our holiday week. After I convinced Tom and Mom Bozyk that travel was possible, we headed to Mich. We even took a brief stopover at our local outlets for a few gift exchanges and to pick up some snow boots for Scott. We arrived at my parents house that night.
On Monday we visited my Uncle Joe and Aunt Kathy(Mom Bozyk's younger brother). We haven't seen them in a few years, and not since Joe had his open heart surgery. We were also surprised to see my two cousins, Eric and Ryan, both MSU grads. Eric is currently living in Charlotte NC and was in town for the holidays. Ryan had to run back up to MSU to move out of his house and was heading for his new job in Chicago. We enjoyed visiting and Joe pulled Scott around the house on a snow tube behind their ATV. Allison on the other hand got to drive the ATV around in the snow. Scott also enjoyed sledding down onto their frozen pond. It was great to visit. We were sorry to hear that their chocolate lab Mattie is recuperating from surgery from cancer. They have taken quite a few trips up to the vet school at MSU.
On Tuesday we attempted to take the kids skiing with my OT buddy Laura, her husband Dan and their two kids, Brandon and Katelyn. Sadly, it was extremely cold and there was an unbelievable line so we decided to try for another day. Needless to say, the kids weren't too happy.
Instead, we all went bowling and had dinner at Dave and Busters while the kids played video games. We headed back to Laura and Dan's house on WEds evening as Laura bought Allison and myself tickets to see the Broadway play, Mary Poppins at the Detroit Opera House. I included a picture of Allison at the Opera House(incredible chandeliers, and they change the colors of the bulbs on the main light to match the theme of the holiday). We loved the musical-especially when Mary Poppins flew over the audience, and it was fun to head to downtown Detroit. I loved seeing the skating rink in downtown Detroit. We also enjoyed a traditional polish dinner in Hamtramack before the play. I loved the dill soup-the kids were not too fond of the sauerkraut though. And Scott can't figure out where the chicken went in the City Chicken(it is actually just pork and beef on a stick).
In trying to keep Scott in the snow spirit I took him to a sledding hill behind the local library and we took a few runs down the hill together Weds morning. Allison and Tom opted to hang out in the library and catch up on the internet and reading.
We spent the night at Laura and Dan's on Weds since it looked as if Thursday was the day to hit the slopes. Surprisingly they were calling for rain on Friday but drizzle starting on Thursday, so we took a chance. Turns out it was a lot better at the slopes. We headed to Mount Holly in Grand Blanc(Tom's old ski haunt). We skied last New Years Eve and had hoped to repeat the event, but the weather did not cooperate. No matter, Thursday worked well and we all had a great time skiing, although the slopes were a bit slippery and icy. After a full day we ended up having Coney dogs in Grand Blanc, Flint style.
Friday we spent the day shopping and had dinner at home with Mom and Dad Bozyk. Tom and Scott were fighting colds all week, so sadly Tom was in bed by 8pm. The rest of us stayed up watching movies and rang in the New Year's with sparkling cider. We will have to save the champagne for another night.
We decided to head back to MD on New Year's Day since the weather was good. We even stopped off at Buffalo Wild Wings in Ohio to catch the football games. I think we could have kept going. All the midwest teams looked sad-MSU, UofM and Wisconsin all lost their bowl games. I guess Ohio came out on the top.
It was good to get home and have a day before we started back to school and work. It gave me time to (yes that's right) do the laundry! I also had the kids busy working on reports. Scott had to write an essay for a school scholarship on "What I want to be When I Grow Up". Allison is busy working on some GS essays for upcoming events. She also had homework though that she was given over the holiday that she was working on. Tom meanwhile took advantage of the mild weather to take down all the outdoor Christmas lights. Looks like next weekend we will have to tackle the inside decorations.
So we'll be back to a busy week on Monday! Kathleen

Just catching up with my Blog!
MERRY CHRISTMAS! The presents are unwrapped, the Lego projects have begun along with playing new video games, and there is a light dusting of Christmas snow outside. We are actually under a Winter Storm Watch but most of it is due to arrive Sunday night, and they don't even know if it will blow off the coast and miss us altogether, or clip Baltimore as it travels towards New England. It is actually the same storm that drenched LA. Mike we hope you didn't have to put out sand bags! Looks like San Diego got hit the worst.
The kids were up at 5 am Christmas morning-Allison swears she heard "someone" up on the roof. We made them wait until at least 7am so we could make coffee before sitting down to open the gifts. At least we had a head start on the "prep" time this year. I wasn't up wrapping until 3am on Christmas Eve thank goodness. But I was just as tired.
Scott caught a cold this week and he had a small fever. Tom took him in for his yearly check up and they said he had a fever. I figured they'd skip all the shots, but of course not. Poor kid had a tetanus shot, a meningitis vaccination and his flu shot! I was a bit annoyed that the pediatrician hit him with all that right before Christmas. Although it didn't seem to slow him down too much(yet).
I spent most of Christmas day packing and doing laundry as well as cleaning up. I was actually raking leaves Christmas day! The weather was fairly mild so I also had the chance to vacuum out the van too before I packed it. Neither Tom nor I prepared for Christmas dinner. Tom went out to pick up something to cook for dinner, but came home with presents instead. I was so tired by the end of Christmas day I didn't feel like scrounging around to put together a meal. Tom thought about running out to the grocery store to pick up something to cook, but missed out as the stores closed early(I was surprised anything was open at all!). Instead, we all headed out for a Christmas Story ending and had dinner at a Chinese Buffet. I was so tired, I was falling asleep in my Won Ton soup. But at least I didn't have to cook!
We actually had our big meal on Christmas Eve with our neighbors. I still had a rack of ribs in the freezer that we didn't get to when Tom's brother Mark and family visited at Thanksgiving, so it was an easy dinner to put together. Everything in the crock pot and oven. I did spend Christmas Eve day getting haircuts for myself and Allison and picking up some last minute food items for dinner. I made Tom his favorite crab dip for an appetizer and we had baked potatoes and broccoli salad with our ribs. Tom picked up dessert at Sam's Club including Allison the Red Velvet Cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory which Allison and I wanted to try. Tom also picked up a Coconut cake for himself and Scott. We were in a bit of a rush since we were attending the 4pm Christmas Eve mass and Scott was in the Christmas pageant held 20 minutes before mass where the kids put on the story of the nativity and sang. We had to get Scott there by 3pm and the church was already filling up. Of course they also had two other masses at 4pm in the gym and cafeteria. Just getting a parking spot was a miracle! I was also surprised that Scott still wanted to be in the pageant since he wasn't feeling well. Both of his arms hurt so bad and he was still coughing. I couldn't even believe he made it to the dress rehearsal the night before since he had just come from the doctor's office. I was very proud of him. Tom got him a great beard for his costume as a shepherd, and he had a robe from another mom, along with a towel on his head wrapped with rope. To top it off, he carried his boy scout hiking stick. He made a wonderful shepherd, and he even had a small boy dressed as a cotton ball sheep! The kids did a great job. Tom did not even want to attempt the 4pm mass and crowds, but he said it was one of the best masses he had ever been to after all. Turns out they had a great jazz band playing the Christmas music, so it was very upbeat. Worth the crowds. And we really enjoyed having dinner and exchanging gifts with our next door neighbors that evening.
We were pretty busy right up to Christmas Day. Scott had a short week with a Christmas party on Monday and his Christmas pageant on Tuesday. Tom attended the pageant and then brought Scott home. The boys spent a few days doing last minute Christmas shopping. Allison on the other hand was busy with classes and schoolwork/tests right up until Thursday. We were certainly looking forward to a holiday break! The Seitz Family

This certainly has been a crazy week. My schedule was not very consistent at work or at home. First priority was purchasing and installing a dishwasher. Tom and I ended up with a stainless steel Bosch, actually an upgrade from our previous model, but I actually really liked my old dishwasher. No matter now, I needed to get a new one installed since we had a house full of people this weekend coming over for holiday parties. I ended up scheduling an install and delivery on Friday and the guys arrived at noon. By 1pm I was busy loading up the dishes and cleaning the house.
We had all our decorations up, both inside and out. We found a beautiful live Noble fir Christmas tree at Home Depot for a great price a few weeks ago and last weekend Scott got busy and helped me decorate it after Tom put up our lights and the angel. I love the way it makes the house smell. I am also putting the last of my Christmas and Chanukkah cards in the mail this weekend.
So we were trying to get ready for two parties this weekend. I had the girl scouts over on Friday for a holiday party and we earned a candy badge that I found from the New Jersey council. We talked about the history of candy making and chocolate, gum and the candy cane. Did you know the candy cane was a german invention-primarily used to keep the kids quiet during the living nativity. Those germans are so smart! We also talked about candy from around the world and its use for holiday traditions. After nibbling on pizza and taquitos, I had the girls busy making treats, eating chocolate fondue and we topped it all off with a pinata in the garage. I figured they'd enjoy smacking something with a stick! Our only disaster was our attempt at homemade taffy. It seemed to pass the taffy level and reached the rock candy mode. Oh well, we tried. Anyhow, it seems that the girls enjoyed themselves. Tom meanwhile had Scott to his cub scout holiday party at school. They asked the older boys to bring in their pinewood derby cars since the event is going to be early in January again this coming year. Tom got into a heated discussion with a newly appointed scout leader who claimed Scott's cars were illegal due to the width of the tire base. Tom quickly pulled up the BSA guidelines on his Blackberry and pointed out that all Scott's cars were designed and built within the requirements. Then they got into a "discussion" about the amount of work the boys do on the cars vs how much work the parents do for them. As Tom pointed out, some of the work with the radial and circular saws needs to be done by the Dad, but in Scott's case, he came up will all the designs. And he helped sand and paint and put graphite on the wheels to make it go fast. As I said to Tom, I think the idea is that the boys have a project that they can do with their Dads. It is as much the Dads event as it is the boys, and I think that is what makes it special. But of course, some boys get very upset when their cars lose. For several years, Scott was not even trying to win for speed, just looks. But the car designs usually took a winning place for time. This year Scott is going for "cool car" and designed a legomobile. Who knew some people take all this stuff so seriously. Again, what happened to the scout spirit?
On Saturday I was already ahead of myself with a fairly clean and decorated house which made it a bit easier to get ready for our neighbors and our progressive dinner party. The neighbors have been talking about another progressive party(travel from house to house for different phases of the party). As I mentioned, there are alot more kids on our street now and we all decided it was too much strain on the houses and the neighbors to host kids along with adults. So I made an executive decision and decided no kids at the dinner party and there should be a small kids party prior to the adult party. I also decided to nominate one of our neighbors to host the kids party. She was a real trooper and took on the task. As she just took on the role of GS leader for her daughter's Kindergarten Daisy troop, I reminded her that this would be great practice! I also tried to help out by providing some supplies for activities including sugar cookies and frosting and decorations, card making supplies and photo copied coloring pages. She also picked up some small craft items and made even more sugar cookies and one of the other moms provided pizza. I sent Allison down with Scott to help out if she could. I heard it was a bit chaotic, and a lot of kids showed up. I was just glad it wasn't my house! Instead I hosted all the adults for the main meal. Everyone that was able to get a babysitter came, which was surprisingly a decent number. We had about 24 adults that were able to come. I missed the appetizer house since I was busy monitoring the ovens, but most of the appetizers traveled to our house after an hour. We hosted dinner for about 2 hours-I asked everyone to bring a side dish which worked out well since I made a big ham and baked potato casserole along with crab soup in the crock pot. Dinner turned out well, except for my kosher neighbor who could not heat ham or seafood, just salad, and we then walked down the street to our third house for dessert and a white elephant gift exchange. I have been trying to explain this game to everyone for the past several years. It is slowly taking on amongst the neighbors. We swap nice or not so nice gifts, it is all a surprise. You can pick a new gift(wrapped) or steal someone else's gift after they opened it. The gifts can be stolen up to 3 times. Some neighbor's opted out of the game-they just can't handle the stress. Other neighbors only brought one gift per couple(we were happy to share some extra gift items). Anyhow, I ended up with a bottle of Biltmore wine and Tom stole a book that I picked. It was a lot of fun and my donated gift turned out to be the most popular-a box of GS thin mints, liquor chocolates and Godiva chocolate coffee. At the end of the party we all had to go find our kids scattered throughout the neighbor's houses. Allison helped watch 5 other kids. As the party ended we all decided it was a big hit and a great way to visit with each other. We even invited a few new neighbors and people that did not know each other so it was nice to spend the time getting to know someone who lives just around the corner. And the guys added a few new members to their Monday night football group. They especially enjoy sharing new brands of beer.
So today Allison and I went off to sing at my Nursing Home with the girl scout choir. Allison and I had to skip another event last week at a local nursing home next to the girl scout council office. High school has been keeping Allison very busy these last two weeks with midterms. She has school right up to the 23rd, whereas Scott will be done on Tuesday. And that is just a half day with the morning taken up by their Christmas pageant. So he just had a few quizzes to study for, but Allison has had a major test in every subject over the last few weeks. And to top it off, we had our first snowfall on Thursday afternoon. Just enough to shut down school early and close all the evening activities. I was supposed to head to my work Christmas lunch at a local restaurant Thursday afternoon and instead I had to go pick Scott up when school got out since aftercare was canceled. Naturally our boss decided not to cancel the luncheon, so I missed out on another party. How sad. And I even had to work through lunch that day since we were supposed to get off early for our holiday meal. I even had my gift to exchange for my secret santa, so I just sent it on with another therapist. I think I deserve a rain check on the crab cake dinner.
On Friday there was a two hour delay in the morning for school since the roads were very icy. Tom had been putting in late hours at work, so he had to get to work early and I did drop off before the dishwasher came. Naturally Allison forgot supplies for a govt project at home so I had to run back up to her school to drop off the items before running to the grocery store to pick up supplies for the two parties after I dropped Scott off at his school.
I was just elated that I had a car to drive all over town. I noticed a nail sticking in my back tire early in the week and Tom asked me to stop into Mr Tire to have it patched. Everyone was backed up in the evening, so Tom volunteered to take my car in first thing in the morning since his work schedule was a bit more flexible than mine. Not only did we have to have that tire replaced since the nail pierced the sidewall, but they discovered gashes in my other back tire, so I ended up with two new tires-Merry Christmas to me. We have decided that we are single handedly keeping the economy going.
I also left work early on Monday to go to the dentist(yeah no cavities). I was also hoping to take Allison and Scott on a fund raiser walk through our Symphony of Lights display with his school that evening, but the wind chill brought our temperatures down to 10 below! And since traffic was getting heavy, I figured I would not make it to the fund raiser event and then back to Scott's school for his Christmas pageant rehearsal. I decided since we were going to be home for Christmas, that he could help out with the Christmas kids pageant. Practice was at 630 for just 30 mins so they could practice two new songs. Scott is still in the school choir and they have been busy singing at the school masses, and will sing at the upcoming school pageant as well on Tuesday. So we skipped freezing to death Monday night. It was so cold here, a plastic soda bottle exploded all over our back porch. Cookie loved eating frozen ginger ale all week.
We also were planning on attending a few Boy Scout meetings this past week as Scott and his troop will be moving on to the next level in February, but they all rescheduled for open house events in the winter.
So another very busy week and only one more week to Christmas!. Allison has to make up a piano lesson since she missed last Thursday due to the weather. She will be busy right up until Thursday-she is a little frustrated since many of her private school friends are already on Christmas break. Right now she and Tom are off to the indoor field hockey game. Then they will have a break until after the holiday.
5 more shopping days until Christmas! Good luck! Kathleen PS Here are a few more photos from the Festival of Christmas Trees where Allison and I sang with the GS choir.

Yep, the dishwasher was acting up! As a matter of fact, it quit altogether. Tom and I spent Saturday afternoon dishwasher shopping. I had my Bosch dishwasher for 8 years-as long as we have had the kitchen remodeled. I really liked it and would have been happy to just buy the same one. But we couldn't find one. We did get an upgraded model on sale with the stainless steel front. I would have been happy to have the old black front panel again, but they did not have one in stock. We shopped around and ended up getting a good deal at Best Buy. They actually mispriced the unit and we saved an extra $100. We also got free delivery and connection although Tom would have been happy loading a washer into the back of the van and hooking it up himself. However, the dishwasher was at the warehouse so it would have been more running around and we were tight on time Saturday. Tom and the kids figured I needed a dishwasher as soon as possible since the dishes were piling up. They couldn't imagine we could survive another day without a dishwasher. Now I really can't survive without the washing machine, but I would have to haul clothes to a laundromat. And a broken fridge is way too inconvenient. But the family forgot about the old fashioned way of washing dishes. Tom wanted to know what I was going to do for several days without a dishwasher. I introduced everyone to the dish rack and Dawn dishwashing liquid detergent. Oh boy. Certainly, I will also be grateful for a functioning dishwasher. I washed all the silverware and cups before I ran out of dish rack while quizzing Scott on his vocab list Sunday night. Saturday night we were busy attending the Army Jazz Band free holiday concert. The Army bands travel around the US and often plan concerts here in Maryland since most are stationed at Ft Meade MD. We got free tickets along with our neighbors, so we all went out to dinner beforehand. Couldn't even have a relaxing dinner out as an older gentleman started choking near our table. Our neighbor is a nurse, so she jumped right up. But so did about 10 other people. Don't worry, he made it. And we enjoyed the concert at a local high school. Afterwards we all met for coffee and dessert, thanks to Susan Seitz. She sent us a great family gift of cheesecake and a ham. Susan it was all terrific, thanks. We had the ham for dinner on Sunday night which was perfect.
Tom and Allison were off playing indoor field hockey Sunday night so we ate dinner early. Tom made his debut as a field hockey coach. I got him into this volunteer position thinking all he had to do was show up. Little did we know that he had to attend a 3 hour coaching class last week as well as take a concussion on- line test, and turn in paperwork for a background check with references. And we still did not get a completed roster until an hour before the game. The manager who is a coach from a local high school did not obtain all the paperwork from the girls and I was afraid the team would not be able to play. The woman took responsibility and had all the girls meet an hour before the game to fill out the appropriate paperwork. Our team is a bit different since I asked the Parks and Rec. Dept if they could put together a team of odds and ends girls that did not have a full team. This team is made up of several different girls from several different high schools and several different ages. Usually one high school will have a full team, but Allison's fellow team players are all involved in different sports. Being a goalie, Allison was actually in high demand, but she stuck to this mismatched team and it looks like it turned out well. Tom and Allison came back Sunday night saying they had a wonderful time. Tom said Allison was outstanding and even was offered a goalie position with a traveling team, however they play weekly down in Rockville which is just a bit too much traveling for us. Tom said the paperwork all turned out and the girls are all very nice but they have no offense. Just defense and Allison. But Tom said it was fun. So seven more weeks to go, and Tom has a new job listing for his resume. That is if he actually reads the rule book sometime!
Earlier Sunday morning Allison and I were off selling GS cookies at my retirement center. We could not wait until the dinner hour(4pm) since Allison had some studying and homework to do. But we managed to sell several cases of cookies. I was hoping a few girls would show up that did not have the opportunity to work at other booth sales, but no such luck. I am scheduling a holiday badge party for the girls next week, and I am happy that most of them can make it. The girls just have crazy schedules and attend several different schools so it is very difficult to get them all together. We will be working on a candy badge so I have been busy gathering candy supplies and info.
Allison and I were also planning on singing at the mall with the GS choir on Monday night, but Allison had too much homework that night so we skipped it. It seems the public schools love to load up the school work before the holidays.We were also a bit tired since the kids got up early Monday morning to celebrate St Nick's day. St Nick fills our stockings on his special day. The kids look forward to getting hats and mittens, treats and Christmas stuff like their yearly christmas ornament.
On Friday I had my yearly check up in the morning. I was happy to hear I am A.O.K. I was not very happy that I got locked out of an exercise class at the Y beforehand though since I was 10 mins late. Instead I went home and took Cookie for a nice long walk. She loved it. Friday night Allison had to babysit, and I was out trying to get some shopping done. (Mostly for me!). I also had to get home since I was invited to a work dinner with the Home Health staff. I had a wonderful time-a great meal and they even bought me a present! Imagine that! This is the first time I have been able to go in 6 years.
So a very Happy Birthday goes out to Linda Seitz. Happy 28 Linda! (Just kidding).
I think I have to go wash some more dishes. I am starting to get dishwasher hands. Kathleen PS I sent photos of Scott's birthday cake with the photo of him doing the high ropes course.

Wow-I can't believe it is one week after Thanksgiving and now we are getting ready for Christmas. Tom and I attempted to put away the Thanksgiving decorations and put out the Christmas lights and decorations, but it just seemed too early. And too cold. Tom went outside after his brother and family left for their drive back to Indy. He decided it was way too cold and windy, so instead we enjoyed our MSU football game. Although it seems for naught that we won since it does not appear that we are going to the Rose Bowl. That stinks.
Last Sunday we were crazy trying to get our family photo done in the morning. The studio was one hour behind. We opted not to try and take a family photo with the dog, so our picture took less time. It was just the waiting to get our photo taken. Afterwards, Tom and I had to get ready to attend the Ravens football game. St Nick arrived early and Tom and I were sporting new Ravens sweatshirts, but it was plenty cold so we had to layer up(and we were still cold). I even picked up a Raven's santa hat to stay warm(worked great). I was mostly excited to get my photo with our mascot, Poe the Raven(as in Edgar Allen). And we met some cheerleaders and listened to our own drum concert at the tailgate party before the game. Tom had tickets from work so we enjoyed the free tailgate party beforehand. Meanwhile, I had to ask the neighbors to take the kids to church that night since they both were assigned to altar serve at the Sunday night 515 mass. Our neighbors kindly took them to church and attended themselves. Afterwards they took them home and fed them. Great neighbors. And we got home at a decent time.
On Monday, Tom was flying off to LA leaving from the DC Dulles airport. I was running solo and took the kids to Barnes and Noble bookstore Monday night for Scott's school fundraiser. Plus his choir was singing. Of course I managed to put him in the wrong shirt(we hid him in the back). We all bought a little something-Allison had some gift cards to spend on new books, and Scott used his Bday money to buy a Lego set. I also got some Christmas shopping done(and free gift wrap). Then we went to dinner at Pizzaria Uno with a gift card I got from attending camp with the kids and it was the school fundraiser night there too. When we got home it was time to study for the week's tests so we were up a bit late. Of course on Tuesday morning we had a big storm come through in the morning and we lost power at 5am. I wasn't sure if the power was out at the schools, but it came back on around 630 so we had to hurry to get showered and dressed and out the door, avoiding fallen tree limbs and sideways rain storms. The temps were in the 60s but dropped to the 40s by Weds.
On Weds night I had to squeeze in helping the kids with their homework before I headed out the door to my girl scout leadership meeting and holiday party. Thursday night I was invited to a work party but Scott had gymnastics that night, and Allison had piano. And Scott started feeling bad. He seemed to have a sinus headache coming on , so he ended up staying home on Friday. I left him for an hour to run up to the school's Mother's Tea. I usually go since they have coffee and pastries and door prizes at one of our local restaurants put on by the PTA for the moms. I really enjoy catching up with the school moms(and trying to win a door prize-no luck this year). But the pastries are terrific, made by a local bakery. I also had to pick up a few items for Scott to put together his goodie bags for his official kids birthday party scheduled on Sunday. Scott wanted a roller blade party and we all had a great time. I was especially happy to see that their bakery was able to make a birthday cake with the photo of Scott climbing through the trees at Northbay camp. The kids and parents also thought it was amazing.
Tom was able to get home on Thursday night from LA, but he had to go into work on Friday. He had a chance to see my brother Mike out in LA and take him to dinner and talk about job hunting. Mike has a few interviews coming up-Good Luck Mike.
On Saturday, Tom took Scott up to school for breakfast with Santa. Allison and I headed out to our annual White Marsh Christmas parade with the GS choir. At least this year, we did not get snowed, sleeted and rained on. It was cold but dry and we had a fun time. Allison especially liked book shopping at Barnes and Noble while we drank Starbucks and watched the end of the parade. When we got home I completely had forgotten that our old neighbor invited me over to her new house for a jewelry party. One of our neighbors makes her own jewelry-very nice and unique pieces. Especially since her husband travels the world and brings back different gems and stones from each country he visits. So most of the pieces are one of a kind. I decided to bring the kids with me so they could visit with their old neighbors. Scott was missing his buddy Sammy, and they wanted to explore the new woods and farmland behind the new house before it got too dark. Scott and Sammy came back in when they heard shotguns go off. I enjoyed visiting with all the guests and yes I broke down and bought a few pieces of jewelry too. Allison was excited to pick out a ring for herself for Christmas and I got a great bracelet with a wonderful magnetic clip.
And we keep working on the Christmas decorations. After Scott's birthday party on Sunday we stopped at Home Depot and picked up a Christmas tree which Tom set up. We are just waiting for the lights. We also had to pick up a new console for Tom's large screen tv that was delivered on Friday evening. He moved our previous entertainment center to the old garage/play space and set up the new system in the family room. It really makes the room look so much bigger. I just can't believe we fit the console into the back of my van(with a little room left over for the kids). Way too many projects. But I am sure we are not done. I noticed my dishwasher has been acting up.