Another busy week. The kids are back to lots of homework, and Allison is readying for her midterms next week.

We took a brief break this weekend for some fun. Scott wanted to try out the Youth Ministry dance on Friday night rather than gymnastics class. Sadly, he is not into dancing but he was enjoying the youth ministry recreation room. He was having a great time with the pool table, fooseball and air hockey tables. However, they had to close it up when the crowd picked up. He ended up calling Tom to pick him up around 9pm.  I know since I volunteered to chaperone. I thought I should pick up a few hours so we won't be short at the end of the school year with our required 30 volunteer hours. Although I think we will be good since Tom appears to have his hands full with the upcoming science fair and his unexpected time spent with the Lego team.

On Saturday night, Tom and I went to a jazz concert with our neighbors. Before the concert, Tom and I decided to try out a new pizza place for dinner. They cook their pizzas in a wood burning oven over coals. I thought it was pretty good, but Tom was not so impressed. Of course, we both really miss deep dish pizza from Ginos in Chicago and the italian pizza from Downey California. Anyhow,  during intermission at the concert, everyone was busy checking football scores. What a weekend for sports! Baltimore has been busy getting the fans pumped by turning all the city buildings purple for Sunday's game. And now it looks like we will be playing next weekend too! Sorry Houston! Guess I will have to rehang the purple lights outside.

I was busy this weekend getting back to my morning aerobics class. Except now my Friday class is an hour and a half. I figured I can sure use the workout since I usually only get to the YMCA once a week. Afterwards though I took Cookie for a walk. Although the weather turned cold and windy, we still haven't had any real snow(thank goodness) so it is a lot easier to get outside for dog walks. It is just hard during the week when it is so dark by the time we get home(and even colder!). Hard to believe it actually got up to 65 last weekend!  I was out in the yard(raking leaves again of course) and putting away the last of our outdoor Christmas decorations. This week we have been working on taking down all the Christmas trees. We finally got our live tree out to the curb for pick up on Friday. It still smelled so fresh. I just dread hauling everything up into the attic(my hips and knees don't appreciate the small steps). So it takes awhile. Especially when I ask for help. Then I can't find anything once I get up to the attic!

On Friday, besides running errands, I was back to the doctors office. This time I needed to stop into the lab for my yearly blood work in the morning(you have to fast for 12 hours). In the afternoon it was Scott's turn for a physical and  few shots-he also got a hepatitis A vaccine(guess that's the norm now) and his flu shot. His poor arms haven't been too happy. But he did manage to survive his swim lesson on Saturday morning. He is in the pre swim team class this time at the Y. He really liked the class and the remodeling they did at this Y branch. I had to sign him up for another facility since our local Y swim classes fill up so quickly. He missed last week since he was at Lego club. Unfortunately, he will miss a few more since we have a lot of Scout outings planned. But he definitely can use the exercise and he enjoys it.

Tom took him to class on Saturday and I was driving Allison around for work. Her management group puts on a 6 week customer training program and she started classes this past Saturday morning. After her first class,  I had to pick her up, get her lunch and get her to work for the afternoon shift. She also had to work  Sunday afternoon. Scott and I dropped her off and then ran and did some errands before heading over to our neighbors for lunch and to watch the football game. We had some books to drop off at the library, so I decided to run in and check out our new library that opened in December. It is very nice and very modern. Even the book return scans the books as you drop them off and then prints a receipt if you need one. We did not have much time to explore, but I am sure we will be back. After watching most of the game, it was time for me to pick up Allison and then head to GS choir practice. Our choir was videotaping a few of our songs to apply to sing in DC this coming June at the Rock the Mall GS Event. Girl Scouts from all over the US and the world come together at the mall in DC for a huge songfest. We are trying for a spot onstage. And it looks like we will be singing the National Anthem at the Orioles stadium again this summer on June 24th during GS day! That was an amazing experience(and we get to do it again!).

So right now Allison and Tom are off to an indoor Field HOckey game and I am going to give Scott a spelling test. (Too sad to watch the Packers anymore). Looks like Allison had a rough 1st game-they haven't played in a few weeks or practiced. But I hear she was awesome in game 2!

The Baltimore Blog

Well we made it into a New Year! Tom and I were actually off work on Monday the 2nd. But the kids had to return to school. Only 3 counties in Maryland held school that day.  Since Scott is at a private school, they followed the county's schedule. So overall it was a very short break for Allison and Scott. And they were both busy with projects and schoolwork the whole time.

Since Tom and I had some time off on Monday the 2nd, we decided to try couch shopping again. The furniture stores had sales going on, so we visited one of the showrooms downtown Monday afternoon. First I had to watch the Rose Bowl parade. I wanted to catch the Girl Scout Anniversary float. The parade started out with a flyover by Tom's Northrop B2 bomber. It certainly looked beautiful against that blue, blue sky. The weather was incredible in LA on Monday. A nice day for a parade(wish I was there!). But the next thing I knew, the parade was over and I did not see any Girl Scout float, not to mention the City of Downey float(our old home town in California). They used to build the Downey float at my hospital. Turns out the National tv stations were limiting viewing time and they cut out those floats! Boy was I mad! I had paid for a flower to be placed on the Girl Scout float for each one of my scouts, myself and my coleader and I did not even get to enjoy the float on tv! I spent the whole day trying to find the parade online. Turns out they played the entire parade on the local LA news, KTLA and the cable HGTV network. Who knew. I never heard of parts of parades being cut out. There were certainly quite a few upset scouts not only from around the US, but around the world as this parade is broadcast around the world. And word had gone out for girl scouts to expect a float. I was busy reading all the comments online by upset women and girls. I am now trying to find a website to purchase a copy of the video. Looks like the Roy Rogers group has a DVD to buy.(For anyone that watched the parade, did you notice the horse on that float? How real it looked? It was the real, stuffed Trigger!) The dog was stuffed too! Gross!  At least I was able to buy a Rose Bowl pin and patch for myself and Allison for her uniform from the LA Girl Scout council. And the Downey float was very cool too by the way, complete with an operating volcano!

But after my disappointing parade, I was even more disappointed to see that our MSU football team was losing their bowl game. So that is when Tom and I headed off to couch shop. We actually found a very different type of pull out couch. ONe with a lot more support with a posturpedic mattress. Naturally, it was the only furniture in the store not on sale. But the salesperson gave us some big song and dance with his manager and decided to take pity on us and sold it to us for the sale price(about the same cost as the Lazyboy couch with less options and smaller, but a bigger pullout bed and more comfortable). So I won't see it until April. Lots of time to paint the basement walls and move out the old, torn couch. When we got back home, we were amazed to hear that MSU had actually won! At least my Mom and Dad had a chance to see the game.

On Tuesday we were all back to work and school. Scott and Tom headed off to the boy scout meeting. On Weds night I was busy with my Girl SCout Leader meeting. I had to take a few girl scouts with me as they were responsible for babysitting services that night. I had 4 scouts and only 1 kid needed watched. They did a great job. They were just happy to see each other, and begged me to go to the frozen yogurt shop afterwards. Even a few of the moms joined us. We ended up closing up the shop. On Thursday night, Allison had a piano lesson. Tom was busy studying for a science test with Scott.

All this week my parents have been at our house. Tom was waiting for a few more pieces of the computer  to come in the mail so he could finish assembling my parents new system. And he was trying to walk my DAd through the set up process. They were also waiting for good driving weather and there was snow out west on Monday and Tuesday. I was hoping we could have gone out to eat on Thursday night, but we were all so busy. Instead I grilled steak at home. Mom thought a restaurant couldn't have done a better job, but I disagreed since I was the one shopping, cooking and doing the dishes! I have never cooked so many big meals or washed so many dishes in my life! It was fun though sitting down to the table every night with a big group of people. Except the kids were feeling a bit strained since they are used to eating fast and getting to their homework.  I actually served dinner on WEds night but didn't  have time to eat until 10pm since I was off to scouts!

So Friday morning, Mom and Dad were all packed up and headed to Michigan. Tom set them up with the GPS and sent them on their way. They were full up with an extra rocking armchair we passed on from Mom and Dad Seitz, an extra large tv from our neighbors, a new computer system and a new metal wagon to haul stuff around the lake house. With a little effort, they made it home. Unfortunately, Mom seems to have developed a bad cold. But we loved having them visit. I had time to go over some paperwork with Mom and they both got me started on our family tree for my side of the family. I am sure my Dad was in heaven watching all the football games too. And Cookie loved having someone take her for a walk when we were all gone for the day. (Thanks Dad!). Friday I only had to work a half day, so Tom and I had a chance to go out to lunch and chat and catch up with all the activities for the past two weeks. Then I was taking Allison off to her yearly medical check up. She has a list of vaccines to get, so we opted for the Hepatitis A vaccine since she is working around so many kids. She still has one more shot to take in that series. We held off on the flu vaccine since she had a cold coming on and I didn't want her feeling even more miserable while she has to study for midterms.

Friday I had to go into work since the nursing home picked up after the holidays. Tom stayed home and sent my parents on their way. He also had received a phone call last Sunday night from SCott's Lego Club coach. She broke her ankle after being kicked by a horse while riding on vacation with the family in Costa Rica, so she asked Tom if he could take over. He held two meetings-one after school on WEds and one on Friday. They had a mad rush to prepare the team for the preliminary event scheduled on Saturday. Out of 22 teams, only 7 would be picked. Unfortunately, Tom found that the team was not completely prepared, and SCott was the only  one who knew how to program the robot to finish the task. So they lost some points for that, and for not being quite as sophisticated as some teams(optic laser lights included), but out of 22 teams, they came in 10th place! Not bad for a first time. The event lasted all day, and the boys were pretty pooped out. I stayed home and got Allison off to work after she spent the day doing schoolwork(getting ready for midterms).

ON Sunday we were flying out the door to head to DAve and Busters for Scott's birthday party. I attempted to schedule a party for him around his birthday on Nov 27th, but the place is so popular, they did not have any openings until Jan. 1st. I scheduled the party for Saturday but the Lego team had a competition. So it was set for Sunday. The kids(and a few adults) all had a great time playing unlimited video games and using their game cards to earn tickets to buy little trinkets. Scott brought home a new Dave and Busters cup and a huge stuffed pug after the kids pooled their tickets together to help him out. He also got a tshirt from D and B's. The kids barely sat down to eat lunch, and a few stopped for cake, but it was mostly a video game fest. Especially after we found out their unlimited video game cards were good all day. WE ended up spending the afternoon, until it was time to get Allison to work. Plus SCott still had some homework and studying to do. All in all a very cool birthday party. And Scott got plenty of gift cards! Enjoy the photos from the birthday party!

Baltimore Blog

Happy New Year! We spent New Years Eve near DC at the Gaylord National Hotel, touring the Ice Show. Down across from the Reagan National Airport they built a small town and large hotel a few years ago in what used to be swamp land. The Gaylord hotel is located in several large cities. It has a large atrium with small buildings and shops inside, all decorated for the holidays. They even have a large crystal Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling. The hotel faces the Potomac river. The weather was nice-near 60 degrees but a bit breezy. We stopped into Baja Fresh for lunch while looking out from our bar height chairs to the sidewalk and river before heading into the temporary tent that houses the Ice display. They also had an ice skating rink set up, and the kids wanted to give it a try, but we told them we would be happy to take them skating at the rink near our house. We did join our next door neighbors though and headed into the world of Merry Madagascar. All the ice sculptures were the animals from the cartoon movie Madagascar(lion, hippo, giraffe, zebra) and the lemurs from the island along with Santa and his sled. They actually hire ice sculptors from China to make the scenes which include lighting and colored ice. We decided we actually preferred the clear ice sculpture of the nativity scene at the end of the tour. And you really don't spend too much time in with the displays as the temperature is kept at 5 degrees! They actually pass out parkas to wear while you tour the display to keep you warm. We brought our own gloves and hats which made a huge difference. And Scott and Allison tried out the ice slide before heading home. I thought we would stay longer to see the laser light show in the hotel and the snowfall but it did not start until after 6pm. I also had hoped to do a DC drive by to check out the National Christmas tree, but Tom does not enjoy wandering around DC at night, so instead we headed home and caught the absolutely packed 515 pm mass. We were all pretty pooped out for the day and just barely made it to midnight to watch the ball drop in New York and the firework display in Baltimore on tv. I had Allison watch Jaws on Spike tv that night so she could understand all the shark displays we have seen at Universal studios and the aquariums. We fell asleep to the loud fireworks going off nearby at our Holiday Festival of the Lights display in Columbia. We celebrated the New Year with dinner on Sunday night with our neighbors Dan and Gloria and their kids. We had them and their family over for Christmas dinner and exchanged gifts. They are always very generous to our family and kids. Sunday night we enjoyed our champagne toast and a round of the Apples to Apples game.

Tom spent Sunday afternoon "undecorating" the outside of our house, taking down the lights. The weather was pretty mild, just a few passing rain showers. Meanwhile, I took my parents out to the Target studio for a photo session. I received a $50.00 gift card when we had our family Christmas photo taken, so I decided it would be nice to get a photo shoot of my parents and we three ladies-Allison, my mom and myself. While we were at Target, Scott was enjoying a play date with a classmate. His mom thought the boys could get together on Monday, but our kids will be back in school on Jan 2nd.

I can't believe how quickly this week has gone by. Monday afternoon my mom and I enjoyed antique shopping in Olde Ellicott City after dropping Allison off to work.


On Tuesday, we signed Allison up for an early morning drivers training class.  Allison  has 3 on the road classes to complete and already completed one class. This class was supposed to focus on parking, but after an hour her instructor said she looks good and he jumped to freeway driving. She will get one more class that focuses on freeway driving and then it is on her to pass her driving test. She is not eligible for the test until April. Tom took her out for a bit more driving practice and then we all hit the mall and saw a few movies. Tom and Scott opted to see the new Mission Impossible movie. Allison, my parents and myself all saw War Horse. It reminded me of Black Beauty except it took place during WWI.  We all enjoyed our movies, and we enjoyed using our movie gift card. Afterwards we stopped into dinner at one of the mall restaurants.

On Weds Allison was back to work. We picked her up and then all drove up to Hershey Pennsylvania for a hockey game(Tom and Allison's Christmas gift). It was Scout night and the place was packed. I had already picked up 4 tickets for our family and added on 2 more for my parents. Tom and Allison were very happy with their new seats near the goalie, two rows from the ice. The rest of us were packed in like sardines in the upper rows, but you had a great view of the entire game and we enjoyed our hot dogs and popcorn/drinks that came with the tickets. I also picked up a few patches for the kids for scout night.   The game went into double overtime with a shoot out with the poor Hershey Bears losing by a point. But Tom and Allison were very happy with the whole experience.

On Weds I was  very happy to see our roofers finally made it out to fix our leak. They were very behind with jobs since we have had a steady rain storm every week. They would have come on Tuesday, but you guessed it-it was pouring rain.  Fortunately it did not take very long, and the repair blends in quite nicely. The roofers mentioned that the roof was very wet underneath the shingles, so Tom and I were happy to get the repair done.


Thursday morning I was up early and off to the dentist. I had tried to get a tooth repaired-an old cavity refilled, but the tooth was still bothering me since November. The dentist felt it would benefit from a root canal which is what I had been thinking. So I was busy in the dentist chair for 1.5 hours. I felt better knowing that my procedure was successful. The dentist mentioned that he had been busy working on another patient with a root canal last Thursday when the power went out. That was when Tom was busy trying to clean and vacuum. Turns out a car accident took out the power supply to the neighborhood. I was glad it was not during my visit! While I was at the dentist, Tom took the kids to our new library. Allison was meeting with a fellow student to work on a chemistry project. Scott was scoping out the new building. Scott reports the library is very high tech. That afternoon Allison was busy filling out Thank You Holiday cards while I attached them to boxes of Girl Scout cookies. I scheduled a trip out to our Baltimore Washington Airport with my girl scouts to pass out our donated GS cookies to the arriving soldiers. Looks like the other scout troops had the same idea as several other troops showed up with cart loads of cases of girl scout cookies. (just a little competition). But this was the only free day myself and my coleader had available.  I also took my parents along to enjoy the experience. It was quite crowded and there were several boy and girl scout troops present. I had Scott come to represent his boy scout troop and he was asked to hold a flag along the exit route when the soldiers came off the plane with my coleader's son who is also a boy scout. Meanwhile, Allison and my coleader's daughter passed out boxes of cookies to the soldiers and family members. It was fun visiting during the holiday season as the airport had a beautiful Christmas tree set up and even Santa was there to say Welcome Home.We didn't pass out all the cookies, but I left the rest to be added to the goodie bags that the staff make up and pass out.

On Friday Allison was back to work. I dropped Scott off to the rollerblade rink with his friend Sammy for an afternoon play date. Meanwhile, Tom and I were doing a little shopping with my parents-returns and purchases.(Back to Costco!).


So we made it through the last week of 2011! We had a lot of fun, ate too much, worked on the Family Tree program on the computer and organized paperwork(birth certificates and baptismal certificates), and did a lot of running around.

Here's to a Wonderful New Year! Enjoy photos from the Ice show featuring the Madagascar characters, the Gaylord Hotel, church Nativity and the Airport-passing out cookies to the returning soldiers. The Baltimore Blog

Merry Christmas!  Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

My parents decided to make the trip out to our house after all. They drove out last Thursday with a slight delay in their trip as Dad exited the freeway a bit too soon. They were driving around in western Howard County in farm country. Fortunately they had their cell phone and were able to call and double check directions. Of course it was dark and raining. But they made it and we have been keeping them busy ever since.

Before they arrived we were busy preparing the house for their visit. Tom spent his first day off on Weds moving our spare bed down to the basement and cleaning/vacuuming. He also dragged our old hot water heater down to the street for pick up. I sweet talked the Monday Night Football guys into helping Tom carry it up the stairs and then called the county to have it picked up. We had to wait a whole month though until they had an open time to come pick it up. (And we are still waiting for someone to come out and do the repair on our roof). It keeps raining and we keep getting put on hold. He also spent a day assembling a new computer system for my parents. They have relied on Tom to update their computer systems and their last hard drive finally called it quits. Tom was not able to update it any more, so he ordered a new system. He also had to order himself a new monitor as his own quit on him too.

He had the day to himself as Scott was finished with school at noon and went home with his best friend Sammy. He stayed overnight since he is not going to be able to spend the holiday week visiting as his friend was heading out of town. I was busy that afternoon at my two work parties. Both my rehab department and the Home Health department which I cover for had scheduled their holiday parties on the same day. One was from 3-5pm and the other party was from 5-8pm. We saw patients in the morning, and then headed out for lunch at a local restaurant. I then left and headed to another restaurant for dinner and gift exchanges! I enjoyed chatting the night away with one of my old OT coworkers from St Agnes hospital when Tom and I first moved here to Maryland. She works part time at Charlestown, but I rarely get to see her, let alone sit and chat.

I was a bit upset with Scott's school since they scheduled his school holiday concert on Monday afternoon. Usually they schedule the concert on the last half day before break. Tom and I have not missed a concert since Allison started Kindergarten. This was the first concert we missed. Tom was just too busy on Monday, as was I at work and we could not leave for a 2pm concert. Scott was pretty much performing for the whole event as he sang several songs with the choir and he also sang with his class. On Monday night I was out hunting down a tshirt for him to wear at school with a Christmas theme. I could not believe how limited the Christmas supplies were this year. I finally located a Grinch tshirt in the mens dept at Kohls that was acceptable to SCott to wear on Tuesday for his holiday party. (I couldn't talk him into wearing the Christmas Story tshirt-I Shot My Eye Out!). Turns out he won a small prize for his shirt(complete with a blinking Christmas tree pin)! I also had to pick up some party supplies for his school party and a party at the Boy Scout meeting. And wrap up a few gifts for his teachers.

Allison had a full week of school and was busy with studying and homework every night. Tom got her to her piano lesson on Thursday night while I was waiting for my parents. . She also had the opportunity to play one of her Christmas songs at school in her piano class. The instructor held a small recital in the auditorium and invited the school administrators. Allison played last and everyone loved her version of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".

Friday I drove my parents over in their Explorer to Costco to fill up on cheaper gas and do a little shopping. I needed to pick up some dessert for Christmas dinner, but we also enjoyed sampling all the food items and picking up a few last minute Christmas presents. Tom had Scott off to his gymnastics class that night.  Earlier in the day, Mom and I got some grocery shopping done plus a few errands that I had to run-the bank, the post office and trying to get a photo copied for one of my high school buddies to send out her Christmas card.

On Saturday we had a few last minute grocery items to pick up, but mainly I was busy wrapping presents for Santa. I also made an early Christmas Eve dinner that we had at 5pm before heading out to the 7pm Christmas mass. We invited our neighbors to join us at the cathedral on the campus at my work place. We have a beautiful chapel, full of Italian marble and lots of statues and a very enjoyable Christmas mass with Fr. Leo. Our neighbors really enjoyed the experience. Not terribly crowded, beautiful music and beautiful decorations. I always enjoy seeing a few of my previous patients too. When we arrived home we had some dessert and opened a few gifts sent from friends and relative out of state. Tom then entertained the troops with "Its a Wonderful Life" while I finished hauling all the presents downstairs. I left the Santa job of placing the gifts under the tree for Tom. I was too worn out.

Christmas day the kids were anxiously waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to wake up. We finally sent Cookie down as a morning wake up call at 9am. After a quick breakfast(Scott learned how to make breakfast casserole) we dove into the gifts. Allison is so happy to have lots of items with her favorite cartoon character, Invader Zim. She plans on attending a comic convention next summer in LA as we are planning a cross country drive. So she received several tickets to the event. SCott is ecstatic with his IPOD and video games. Although he did receive some boy scout supplies-a new hiking backpack and tent.  I am looking forward to seeing "The Addams Family" musical and Neil Diamond next year as Tom picked up some tickets. Tom is looking forward to a family outing to Hershey next week to see the Hershey Bears Hockey game in his new Hockey sweatshirt.

It has been quite an interesting week. Sadly I heard that my grandfather(Carol Bozyk's father), Joseph Borg, passed away after illness in the hospital on St Nick's Day, Dec 6th. He was 98 yrs old. He would have been 99 on his Birthday on Jan. 21st. He was cremated and will be taken down to Florida with the rest of the family in the Venice cemetery along with his wife,(my Grandma), his mother and brother in laws and sister in laws.

If longevity is inherited, you may be reading my blogs for a very long time!

And looks like my parents were able to get some of their projects completed including having a new furnace installed in time to visit with us over the holidays after all! Yeah! Looks like we will be setting up a spare bedroom in the basement so they can have some peace and quiet (and have their very own bathroom with the higher toilet!).

I have been busy cleaning the house anyway since we just hosted the dessert portion of our neighborhood progressive holiday party. The past few years I talked the neighbors into having a Progressive Party where you split the courses in several different houses-one house serves appetizers and drinks, the second has the main meal and the third serves dessert. We also swap White Elephant gifts which can be anything(something fun, nice or silly). The first year we tried this game the neighbors seemed to have a difficult time coming up with gift ideas. They got upset if they were stuck with a silly gift. Now after three years they are really getting into it and the gifts get more interesting.(I am a little concerned about what our neighbors keep in their closets!)  Like the inflatable cooked turkey which was quite the hit.

Neighbors around the corner hosted the appetizers and drinks. This was the first year I got to go! Tom however had to pick Allison up from work. She was working a church party at the rink(lots of religious music!). Dinner was down the street. The hostess is very religious, jewish and directly from Israel.  She put a few restrictions on side dishes including no pork, no shellfish as well as no dairy products. That wiped out several green bean casseroles and mashed potatoes. Usually the hostess provides one or two main dishes and the guests bring side dishes, but since there were so many limitations, the hostess decided to do all the cooking. However, we all modified our dishes to fit the restrictions and we all brought food. So we basically had enough food to feed all of Ellicott City! Hagit our hostess had built a huge buffet table in the dining room, as well as a bar in the living room and set up two large tables in both rooms. We also had people sitting on couches for dinner and the kitchen counter was buried in food. And afterwards, everyone headed over to our house for dessert. I decided I did not want to get stuck with lots of leftover cake and pie, so I put out small portions. I did actually bake something myself -a rum cake. The rest included cookies, mini cheesecakes, mini red velvet cupcakes, mini eclairs and mini cannolis. Even though we were all pretty stuffed, everyone seemed to make a good dent in the dessert trays as well as finishing off 4 pots of coffee. All in all, another successful neighborhood event.

And we all needed some fun after a stressful week with  our next door neighbors  house being robbed.  Apparently the thief/ves tried a house around the corner, but the alarm went off. They cut through the woods and broke into the back of our neighbor's house and ransacked the place. They even found a safe and broke into it and stole the handgun inside. Just like the movies, they loaded up pillow cases and walked out the front door. We heard during the dinner party that a fingerprint was found and a person identified from Baltimore City. We will have to follow the newspaper and see if they catch anyone. They did pull over a pickup truck cruising the neighborhood and someone was arrested but not necessarily the same thief.  We keep up to date through emails in the neighborhood. Unfortunately the kids are a bit nervous now. The robbery took place at 11 am. It's bad enough we have had our cars broken in to, but it is a whole nother story when they break into the houses.

Other fun news, Allison and I went to the dentist for a cleaning and the dentist decided Allison could use braces again on her bottom teeth. I came away with a scheduled root canal. The tooth I had refilled has been hurting worse and looks like a root canal is in my future(a fun way to spend the holiday week!).

And the 6th grade Mom's Ornament Exchange party scheduled for Thursday night was cancelled due to lack of participation. Out of 64 moms, only 6 signed up! Guess everyone is busy.

I had plenty of other activities to keep me busy though. Allison and I had a follow up meeting(with pizza) on Monday night for the Girl Scout convention. Allison will be providing a power point presentation at the Board Meeting this spring. On Tuesday Tom got Scott to his boy scout meeting and Friday was gymnastics. Scott has been running a tight schedule as his Lego Team is trying to wrap up their project for a January tournament. Tom was brought in to the project and helped build a platform on Friday after school, right after he met with the Science teacher to plan next year's Science Fair. Tom is not so sure the Lego Team will be ready in time. They have been meeting extra before and after school, but they won't be working on it during break, and the tournament is just a week after they go back to school.Scott is in charge of the programming, and the rest of the team has not finished building their robot.

On SAturday Tom and Scott spent the whole day with the boy scouts at the Air and Space museum near Dulles airport by DC. The boys needed to visit a museum as part of their requirements for rank. Tom was a chaperone. We have only been out to the museum when it first opened. Tom was impressed with how much more they added. Scott enjoyed the flight simulator the most. You actually got to control this one.

I was back home with Allison, dropping her off at work. But first I took her early in the morning for a practice SAT exam. She has taken the PSATs but it does not include the whole test. They have added an essay portion to the SAT since Tom and I last took it. This was a chance to try the whole test and get feedback on how she does. She will be taking the test for real in the spring. She thought the math was fine, along  with the essay, but had a bit more trouble on the english. I'm glad she tried it.  However, we did miss the grand opening of our new library. We have been waiting for a new library since we moved here 15 yrs ago. It looks like it is a wonderful addition to Ellicott City.

I also stopped into Allison's school last week for a presentation on the internship program. Allison was accepted into the program this year, but really could not fit all the requirements into her very packed schedule. She was to intern with our Kindergarten teacher at Scott's school as part of the teaching program and as a class. (The same teacher Allison had in Kindergarten). She will also have a research project to complete. Our biggest drawback was that she could not drive and her time is limited between school and field hockey. She could not even get to the school long enough to complete her hours and then back to practice. So the instructor said she is welcome to complete the internship next year-she doesn't even have to apply again.  And hopefully next year she will be driving by herself!

OK. I have to go clean something or mail something or bake something or wrap something. Kathleen

Well it was no surprise to me that last week was terribly hectic. Tom was in San Francisco, so I had the kids to myself and another busy schedule. I was still very helping the kids with their homework and studies(mostly Scotty). Allison is pretty self sufficient. I was also busy helping St Nick pack Christmas stockings Monday night.
Tuesday morning the kids enjoyed opening up their stockings before heading to school. They always enjoy getting their yearly ornament. On Tuesday night Scott had a boy scout meeting. I tried to get him a ride but the family was held up at a end of the season soccer dinner. I couldn't take him since Allison and I were off singing with the Girl Scout choir at a nursing home and did not finish until 730 pm.
Weds was absolutely miserable. It had started raining Tuesday night and did not quit until Thursday. I had a GS Leader meeting Weds night and had to pack my car with lots of donated wrapped gifts for the kids at the Head Start program and the Family Violence Center. I had to wrap everything in trash bags to keep the wrapping paper from getting wet. I also had 3 donated cases of cookies to drop off for the US soldiers and made an appetizer to share for our holiday party. I had to load up my van and then help reload all the packages into another van for delivery. By the time I got home I was soaking wet from head to toe. And I had another GS leader angry at me since I said I would not take over our yearly rollerblading/skating event. With my girls graduating next year I don't expect to continue. She was not happy to hear I was not planning on taking over. And the weather was so bad, it started sleeting and snowing on the drive home, besides the rain blowing sideways. ONe of our new leaders even slipped and fell on the wet leaves in the parking lot in the dark and broke her casserole dish! She had to sweep it up with a flashlight. Girl Scout life is tough!
It gets better. When I got to work on Thursday I discovered that we lost another OT, this one due to a torn rotator cuff in her shoulder so she will be off work for several months. So I was asked to come in on Friday to work. I had planned on spending the day preparing for my Girl Scout HOliday party. I haven't had a meeting with the girls all Fall, so I had a lot of info to share, besides supplies to purchase for the meeting. I couldn't get out on Thursday night since I had to take Allison to piano. INstead I spent Friday morning at work. Then I had to run and purchase supplies and pick up the house when I got home. Allison arrived home from school and started putting up more Christmas decorations and helped lay out the supplies for our cooking session. When the girls arrived they were busy munching on goodies while I picked Scott up from school and dropped him off to gymnastics. We then spent the evening making chicken and rice casseroles and cookies for our Catholic Charity Homeless shelter. Afterwards I had the girls play Pictionary just like we did at Halloween, except this time they had to draw Christmas Carols. It was very funny. And they all got goodie bags before they left just as Tom was pulling into the driveway from California. I had him stop and give my co leader's car a jump before he stepped foot into the house since her key was stuck in the ignition the whole night and the lights were on and it drained the battery! I also made a list of jobs for him for the weekend which included getting my robot mop to work again and cleaning up the car oil from the drip pan that overflowed onto the driveway when it rained all day. I also gave up on his timers for the Christmas lights for the house and just plugged them directly into the outlets to keep them on. I think the house looks silly when half of the lights are lit and the other half is dark.
I was also disappointed that the roofers did not call or come out to do the repair work this past week. I imagine with the rain that they are behind in their work.
On Saturday I was busy working with Scott on homework projects while Tom took Allison to work. When she got off we went out to dinner with our neighbors and then headed to a US Army Field Band Jazz Holiday concert. The concerts are free and always very good. They do not always perform in our area as they travel all around the US and the world for that matter. Since we are so close to DC though we always seem to luck out. We went last year and always enjoy the concerts and we were not disappointed again.
Sunday was a big day of homework and Allison had another work day. She enjoyed the holiday party they put on that day and was glad she did not have to work the private party scheduled in the evening. She had switched her shifts since she had her End of the Season Field Hockey dinner. She was also very excited to receive her Varsity Letter in Field Hockey. Unfortunately we could not stay for the whole party as Allison and Tom had their first Indoor Field Hockey season. Allison had to get a goalie substitute for the first game but I rushed her over for the second game later that night. Tom is the coach and appears to have a very good team. They did a great job and won their game. I think one of the coaches plans on stealing a few of Tom's top players to make the teams more even.
  Here are some photos of Allison suited up for her indoor Field Hockey game and at the Field Hockey party after she received her Varsity letter. She is also posing with the trophy(on the ground) that was awarded the team for the State Finals for Outstanding Sportsmanship(a first for their school). Besides the Varsity Letters, many of the girls including Allison were also given certificates from the State of Maryland for high level academics(3.2 GPA or higher) while playing sports.  We have a lot of very smart girls on the team!
Now I have to get to those Christmas cards! Kathleen

So I am all done with my shingles medicine and headed back to work on Monday, but I was still itchy and sore. At least the blisters are healing! I don't look quite like a leper anymore. And after having a week at work where they were so short of help over the holiday, we ended up with too much help as the other OT with the broken foot was allowed to come back. Things were so slow I was sent to another community to work for a day. (Not my favorite drive since it involves the Baltimore beltway and of course it was raining that day which usually means slower traffic and accidents). But I am back. I couldn't even go to the Holiday concert at work at the nursing home that the Girl SCout choir performed. I just had to drop off Allison.
Instead I was able to participate in the Christmas Parade with Allison and the GS choir last Saturday. They used to run the parade in November and most of the time it was so warm we could just wear our short sleeved polo shirts. Not any more! Although the weather was quite chilly, at least it was sunny and not raining, snowing or sleeting! We haven't had too many chances to perform in Holiday concerts this season. We were not asked to perform at the Festival of Christmas Trees this year over Thanksgiving weekend. The sponsors like to vary the shows from year to year. And the malls are rather picky about who they have perform. Our best audiences are usually the nursing homes. As it was we only had 12 performers attend the parade, and most of them were very young children new to the concert and unfamiliar with the songs. Allison said she had to sing a few solo parts at the Charlestown concert since she was the oldest one attending(it's good for her ego!).
While Allison and I were busy singing, Scott and Tom enjoyed Breakfast with Santa at the school, and then went off to get our Christmas tree. Meanwhile I had to get Allison to work. I decided to drop into the GS store on the way over and everyone was happy to see I survived my trip to the ER when I had trouble breathing(that was the last time I was there). Turns out the girl that helped me was involved in a horrible car accident herself that same weekend. She was on her way to Pittsburgh and got caught in the sleet on the freeway. Next thing she knows she had spun out of control and was hit head on by an 18 wheeler! She says she came out with a lot of bruises and a new car. I know the feeling. We Girl Scouts certainly live life on the edge!
That afternoon I asked Tom to take my van back to the dealership to have the windshield wiper replaced after it was damaged during the oil change. After another 2 hour wait my wiper was replaced. Not so sure it is worth all the free oil changes at the dealership! By the time he got home it was time to pick up Allison from work. Meanwhile I spent my time studying with SCott for another full week of tests. And when we all were home again, we headed over to our neighbors for dinner. They missed us at Thanksgiving when they headed out to Ohio to visit with family. I was planning on having them over since they had us over last year, but they changed their plans. So they decided to invite us over to their house for a belated Thanksgiving dinner. It was wonderful all over again. And we got to share SCott's Snickers Ice Cream Birthday Cake for dessert since we were too full last weekend after our milk shakes at Cheeburger Cheeburger.
On Sunday I was busy working with SCott again on his studies as well as helping him work on a research paper on witchcraft and witches. The class has been reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond and Scott was assigned to write a report about the Salem Witch trials and the belief in witchcraft(rather sophisticated for 6th grade). Tom meanwhile was heading out the door to spend the week working in San Francisco. Before he left he put up the Christmas tree and the lights so we can decorate it during the week. I also spent some time putting together Christmas stockings for St Nick's Day which is on Tuesday Dec 6th. Many years ago we decided that St Nick should bring our stockings early so the kids could enjoy wearing new Christmas stockings, jewelry, or t-shirts and hang their new ornaments before the holiday was over. So far it has worked out nicely. (Except for the gift wrapper!)
Sunday night I had to pick Allison up from work, so Scott and I took a quick break to get her and I stopped into a local church for their WAlk to Bethlehem. They had reenacted the Nativity Story out in their parking lot with small scenes in which a guide walked you through and told the story. The kids especially liked the feisty pony they used as a donkey for Mary to ride on, and the cute goats standing in as sheep for the shepherds. The little kids dressed as Angels and singing were adorable. But the favorite was at the end when they gave us plastic gold coins to shop at their market. They had tents set up in the auditorium to look like a market in the middle east. Scott loved spending his coins on the snacks-dried fruit and nuts, bread and cheese. They also had basket makers, sandal makers and jewelry to make. My favorite was the basket of guinea pigs that you could feed. (I did not know Jesus played with Guinea Pigs!). I also especially enjoyed watching the Roman soldiers in their plastic skirts directing traffic with spears!). A nice break in the holiday rush!
on Friday morning I was busy at Target picking up St Nicks Day goodies since our Holiday family photos were ready. I was also picking up items for my Girl SCout Holiday party scheduled for next week. The girls are going to bake cookies and casseroles for food donations. (and have a bit of fun as well).
I had to rush home since I had contacted a few roofers during the week online and I made an appointment with someone to come out and figure out where our leak was coming from. Tom had stayed home one morning during the week and had a roofer come out, charge us $100 bucks and tell us we needed a whole new roof for $12,000! He said he could not do any less. I had a guy come out, find the leak and I signed a contract for repair and supplies for $1400. They will be out to put weather proofing in our roof valley where the leak is forming this week(hopefully before the next big rain). We were very happy to see they still make our shingle. I think we will put off getting a new roof on our next house!
After the roofer stopped by I had to load up my van for our last GS cookie booth sale. We set up outside Advanced Auto Parts which is conveniently located next to a bar/restaurant(which was very busy). Needless to say we had some great sales! While Allison and I were off selling cookies, Tom took Scott to gymnastics.
I managed to squeeze in a little fun for myself Friday morning when I attended the Mother's Tea at SCott's School. Each year the school hosts a light breakfast for the moms at school at a local restaurant owned by one of the school families. They have tea and coffee and pastries, bagels and usually door prizes and an ornament for each guest. I have been able to attend every year since it is on a Friday when I am not scheduled to work. This year a new mom took over and no more ornaments, and no fancy pastries. But it was still nice to catch up with the other moms.
I also took an evening for myself to get recertified in CPR and this time added First Aid with the scouts. Many events for scouts require a First Aider and I can no longer rely on my co leader to always cover for our events as she is extra busy these days. She is a nurse and is going to school to get her masters in teaching and working longer hours since she has two kids now in private catholic high school to pay for, not to mention college soon after. So I would rather be covered for all events myself.
We also enjoyed an evening at the local bookstore Barnes and Noble when Scott's school choir entertained us all with a holiday concert. The school had a fundraiser that evening and the teachers wrap presents for free. It is a good night to get shopping done, make some money for the school and enjoy hearing the kids sing. Tom stopped in briefly since he was off to his Monday night football game with the neighbor boys. I took the kids out to dinner afterwards to Pizzeria Uno since that was also a fund raiser night and I had a gift card from my raffle basket.
  Enjoy our photos of the Christmas parade with the GS choir, and the Nativity as well as SCott enjoying some goodies at their market.
A very busy week! But we'd like to wish Sheila Bozyk a
very Happy Birthday who celebrated on November 28th!