Well, I guess I have a longer road ahead of me trying to recuperate from this antibiotic, Cipro. I thought by one week I should be back to feeling well. Guess I was wrong. So far it has been two weeks.  I looked on line for any issues with allergic reactions to Cipro and was astonished to find so many complaints-and pretty much the same symptoms I have been having. Not to mention that some people complained of having symptoms for a year after taking the medication. I think that was more for the ones that were told to keep on taking the antibiotic even after they reported adverse affects. It seems their infections were worse and they did not have much of a choice. I just took two doses and am amazed at the affect it has had on me.

      Here I was again having to go home from work on Friday because the symptoms were so bad. I don't usually work on Fridays, but the kids were both off on Monday for Presidents Day and Allison was scheduled  to work and needed a ride. Also, I had promised Scott a play date at the rollerblade rink with his friend Sammy. So I switched my day off and was scheduled to work in two different clinics on Friday. I had parked in the back of campus, and by the time I had walked uphill to the other side of campus(about a 15 min walk outside), hauling my laptop behind me, I was out of breath, dizzy, and  nauseous. My heart was racing, my mouth was dry and my hands went numb and were shaking so I couldn't even type my notes on the computer. I started itching again and had muscle cramps in my legs to the point where I could barely walk around the clinic. I managed to treat one patient and told the staff I was done for the day and had to go home. I was just glad I was able to drive myself home.  I also decided I still can't handle caffeine which I had in my morning cup of coffee.  You are not supposed to mix the  antibiotic with any caffeine drinks so I still must have enough of this drug hanging around inside me to react again. I had to switch to decaf coffee for my morning breakfast which I seem to handle better.

        But once again I was very limited by what I could do for the entire weekend and mostly I slept because my head felt so foggy. I did manage to sit down at the computer and fill out a formal complaint to the FDA concerning my reaction to the medication. The pharmacy actually  provides you with the FDA hotline to report any problems. Most comments online report that Cipro ruined their lives. They report they were all healthy before they used this drug and that it is pure poison and most of the reports came from people in their 20s to 50s . So I am a little surprised that it is still being prescribed. Guess there are not enough people complaining yet. I just hope I never get Anthrax because that is the drug they prescribe!

      Fortunately we had a pretty slow weekend and Tom was around to play chauffeur. He took Allison to an SAT review session on WEds. night. Allison had taken a practice exam a few months ago, so they provided the results and made recommendations on how to take the test and boost your score(which Allison needs to do).  She actually did  pretty well, but would benefit from a higher score for college applications. I already have her signed up for a review course starting next week since she plans on taking the real test in March. By the way, the SAT comes in 3 parts now-Math, English and an Essay. Allison also  had to work  Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, so Tom was able to let her practice driving as he took her to work.  She also had a full day Saturday to get some homework done. Friday night we had a few girl scouts over to prepare for our Up All Night weekend this coming March 3-4 at our local Mall. My girls are manning a craft table all night long for Junior Girl SCouts starting at 10 pm until 530 am on Sunday morning. The girls have helped run this program since they were in 6th grade and they really have a lot of fun(then we just sleep the next day). They especially enjoy eating chinese food at 3am.

     Scott had his first Up All Night event this past weekend with the boy scouts, but he actually went to sleep around 3am. The boys were guests at a local firehouse and had a tour and then watched movies and ate snacks. Tom picked Scott up at 7am and he came home and slept until after noon. Sadly he missed his last swim lesson, and since I did not get a chance to sign him up for the spring session we found out that all the classes are full. (of course).  Scott had a pretty light weekend for homework and studying since he just finished his second school semester, but he still had a few projects and tests to prepare for next week. Tom also spent some time with him working on his Science FAir project.  I had him studying for his most recent novel, The Master Puppeteer. We had some cramming to do with his studies last week for a few tests since the semester was coming to an end. But it looks like he will be bringing home a nice report card once again, and he actually improved in several of his subjects. He is just counting the days until summer vacation!

  I did manage to get out with Allison for hair cuts on Saturday(I think I slept through mine!). February was hair cut month for the entire family, including the dog!  I was just very sad to find out that the woman that has cut my hair for the past 8 years just quit. And I can't get anyone to tell me where she went or if she is still even working. So Allison and I had to switch to a new stylist that has cut Allison's hair in the past. She was fine, but not like the girl I used to have. I also had to go back to the dentist last Monday to show them my broken crown. They were shocked as apparently this rarely occurs. Of course the lab did not keep the original mold of my tooth, so now I have to reschedule and have the whole process repeated after they cut this broken crown off(which is cemented to my original tooth). What fun I am having. I go back to start the process all over again this coming WEds. I also spent Presidents Day at the doctor's office to have Scott checked out since it has been several weeks since he wiped out skiing and he was still complaining that his chest hurt. Tom was concerned that he might have a cracked collar bone or rib. Turns out the doctor believes he actually bruised the cartilage by his ribs and sternum since nothing seemed to be helping for muscle pain. I also think he kept reinjuring himself with gymnastics and swimming, but the doctor felt it was more important for him to keep up with the exercise. So we are killing ourselves trying to stay healthy!

     I even managed to get Allison out Sunday morning before she went to work so we could shop for Prom Dresses at a  fundraiser sale for the American Red Cross at the YMCA. She has a short dress already purchased, but wanted something a bit longer. She found a beautiful fuscia colored, ankle length dress with a black cremlin skirt underneath. Unfortunately there were not a lot of dresses in her size, but it was fun to look, and she is excited about this dress. It is also a very good brand for a good sale price.  I  just found out though, that the the prom date is the same weekend I was going to take the girl scouts camping for a 100th anniversary event. I just crossed that off my list. Instead I may be staying up all night anyway that weekend since they have an Up All Night After Prom party scheduled there at the Y for the high school students following the dance and they are always looking for parents to help out.

     So I hope to survive another week!  Big Happy Birthday wishes go out to Caroline and Clayton Bozyk who hit the Big 16 this past week on Presidents Day!  And another Birthday wish to Susan (Seitz) who celebrates today!  Also, I mailed out boxes to Dan and Dave so keep an eye on the mailbox this coming week.

Kathleen

             I have spent the entire week detoxing from my Cipro antibiotic allergic reaction. I don't think my doctor was terribly happy to add "allergic to Cipro" to my medical record when I saw her last week. She insisted I have a stress test to make sure my heart was working properly. I was pretty sure all my troubles started when I took the medication, but I agreed to get the test.
I hadn't scheduled the appointment yet when I returned to work on Monday. According to the doctors at the emergency room, I was able to return to work on Monday. How wrong they were! I attempted to go to work on Monday. I made it to lunch. Of course my schedule had me running around to 2 different clinics as well as visiting a patient in their apartment. All that running around made me dizzy and sick to my stomach. I also checked my heart rate which was running around 106 beats per minute(I usually get to 82 bpm after an hour of cardiac aerobics!). Instead of heading back to our large out patient clinic, I walked right to my van and drove myself back to the doctor's office. They agreed my heart rate was high and still insisted I get my stress test done. They also told me to switch to drinking water only, and watch my sodium intake and no chocolate(it has caffeine).  I tried to talk them into giving me a leave of absence from work for the rest of the week, but they only gave me an excused day off for Monday(big help). I made an executive decision and decided to stay home on Tuesday. Mostly I just slept on the couch, but I did manage to get up now and again and work on the computer, throw some laundry in the wash, do the dishes and scheduled my stress test for Friday. Each day I felt a little bit better but I wasn't sure what my stress test would look like if I started my exercise level with a 106 heart rate. And how cruel not to be able to eat chocolate on VAlentine's Day!

                   Actually, Tom and I celebrated VAlentine's Day on the Saturday before. I had already purchased concert tickets, so I figured I could handle just sitting listening to music and eating munchies and desserts with our neighbors who joined us for the evening. Tom did buy me a black and white photo of birch trees with our wedding anniversary date carved in the side of one of the trees which was kinda cool. I had picked him up a dozen roses. But this was the first year that I really didn't have to go all out for the kids. Allison received a few Valentine cards and candy, but did not give any out. Scott's class stopped giving out Valentines too, but he did exchange a box of chocolates with our next door neighbor's daughter(same age).  She had him over last weekend for dinner and a movie! Her live in grandmother made them both dinner, and they watched "The Mask of Zorro".  I think this was Scott's first official date! Oh no, I am not ready for this.

               So Valentine's Day was pretty low key. I did manage to make heart shaped pasta and red pepper sausage for dinner, and Tom bought cannolis with chocolate sprinkles(which I couldn't eat until after my stress test). We did break down and made chocolate chip cookies with candy hearts just for ourselves(still couldn't eat them myself because of the chocolate). But they disappeared pretty fast anyway.

                   Tom helped me out on Thursday by taking Allison to a long piano lesson so she could make up for the one she missed last Thursday when I went to the hospital. He also had Friday off, and so did Allison, but she had to work. Tom ended up taking Allison to work and I went off to a very large hospital just north of Baltimore. I was hooked up to the heart monitor and met the cardiologist who ran my test and wanted to know where I was from(he recognized my midwestern accent since he was from Chicago himself). I did not hold it against him that he did his premed at Uof M either!. They figured I had been on a tread mill before, but I never actually had. (I don't trust them, and I would rather go for a walk outside than on a moving belt-plus I don't run). So that was a first for me. They keep increasing the speed and the angle of the treadmill though so you have to hold on. I finally asked to stop when he had me jogging on an incline-only because my arms were beginning to hurt holding on and my mouth was unbelievably dry that I could no longer answer his questions. He said my heart was in great shape and that I was dehydrated. So much for just drinking water! He told me to go home and drink Gatorade. I did get my heart rate up to 170 which freaked me out. He said it was probably due to the dehyrdation. So all weekend I have been drinking Gatorade and feeling much better every day! I am still a bit dizzy and itchy, but mainly my headache is gone. So in the words of Mark Seitz "Just say No to Cipro!"

               And speaking of medical issues, I would like to thank Mom Seitz for the great newspaper articles on shingles. I did take the most recent articles into my doctor and read the part to her that says the FDA has now approved the medication for those 50 years and older. She said it must have just been changed this year as Kaiser was still following the 60 yr rule. However, I am still too young for the 50 year old cut off. She said they can't just give me the vaccination-they would get in big trouble and it could actually be worse for me. So for all of you 50 and over, I would recommend checking with your doctor to see if you can get the vaccination. Not so sure if the insurance companies and medical clinics have caught up to the new age recommendations yet though.

               I had dropped SCott off to school on Friday before I went to the doctors. Scott had an outing that day to our local original church in Olde Ellicott City. OUr church is 90 years old-the original church of St Paul. Same place where Babe Ruth was married. They were celebrating mass there and also acknowledging the elevation of our Baltimore Bishop Edwin O'Brien to Cardinal in Rome this weekend. Cardinal O'Brien will be heading back to Baltimore to maintain his residency. He is the Bishop that oversaw Allison's confirmation. Since Scott is in the choir, they got the balcony seats and sang for the mass. Scott was in school, but Allison was off for Parent Teacher Conferences. Tom took her to work and afterwards they both went to see the new Chronicles movie. They both enjoyed it(about 3 teens who develop super human powers). While they were at the movies, I had Scott at gymnastics. Not so sure I should keep taking him though cause he is still very sore from his tumble while skiing and complains of his chest muscles hurting. Plus he has swimming on SAturday mornings. Tom took him to his lesson and then they were both off to a birthday party at DAve and Busters. Turns out the kids at SCott's birthday party had such a great time, they all wanted a Dave and Buster birthday too! That's both of my boys-trend setters. So Tom had SCott and the two of them were busy playing video games, but they took a break to eat at the new Wild Wings and watched the new Ghost Riders movie. Tom thought it was so bad, he fell asleep.

        Meanwhile, Allison had her last customer service class in the morning, and then I took her home to work on her modifications to her Girl SCout Gold Award project. She turned in her proposal last summer but it was rejected. She then had to meet with the teen advisor for recommendations on modifications. She finally had some time to sit down and type up the changes. The GS Gold Award board members only meet once a month, and sadly we missed the February deadline. WE will have to wait until March now to hear if she has the approval to rebuild a handicap horseback riding ramp. She also had to contact her mentor for Shadow Day. I was hoping she would be able to spend a day during her Easter break, but the woman CEO wants to meet in two weeks. She has a busy schedule planned for Allison including several federal meetings, a tour of the Chemical company, a visit to the shipping docks and a sales pitch.  She sounded very sweet-she was on the phone with Allison for quite some time, and even called back(before she headed out to Williamsburg with her mom). Allison was just concerned about getting done in time to make her SAT class. The woman assured her that they would be done before 6pm as she had her own Spanish class to attend. Allison is looking forward to playing hooky that day for the opportunity. Then in April she will attend the gala and have to present a report on the days events. 

           Sunday we spent the day studying with the kids while they worked on their homework projects and Tom and SCott started his Science FAir project.   Cousin Eric's photos on his blog of his trip to India came in handy since Scott is studying the history of India and it's origins in Hinduism. We love the sacred cows!

             I'll be off on Monday since it is President's Day and the kids are off of school. Allison has to work and needs a ride and Scott thought he'd schedule a play date with his friend Sammy and rollerblade too. I just hope he is up to it. Tom wants me to take him to the doctor to get an xray. Meanwhile I will be heading to the dentist in the morning to remove my broken crown. It only lasted a day and a half. I am falling apart!

                 And I see some of the daffodils have started blooming-about one month too soon! Tom wanted to know if it was St Patty's day next week(his internal clock is off too!).

Kathleen and family

So here are the last two weeks in a nutshell(a very big nut I may add!) First off, Happy Ground Hog's Day! Happy 6 more weeks of winter. I think I can handle this winter. We have just had a bit of dusting of snow and mild temps all Winter. The worst is the ice actually. Last Saturday I took the kids to visit the snow!  We headed to PA, about 1.5hr drive west of Baltimore to ski at Whitetail on Scout Weekend. Scott had his friend SAmmy sleep over after a 1/2 of school last Friday, and our neighbor's son joined us for his first time skiing. I figured this was the best time to go for him since he would receive a lesson. The hill was packed and everyone had a great time, but it started to snow big, wet flakes when we arrived. I was a bit worried about the drive home by myself. But it all turned out well. I knew it was time to go home when SCott wiped out, head over heels and complained that his chest hurt. I was simply wiped out. We skied from 10 am to 6pm with a lunch break, and actually had passes up until 10pm. I was just too pooped for more snow.

On Sunday I had to get Allison to work and Scott and I spent the day reviewing for a weeks worth of tests and getting his homework done. Then it was off to our friend's house for the Super Bowl game. I did not find it so Super, but it was fun to visit with friends, eat chili and catch a few commercials inbetween. I was cheering for the Patriots(time spent in Boston) and even had my last Super Bowl champion sweathsirt on in support, but it was not meant to be. ONly Scott and I enjoyed the night out since Tom was still in San Francisco and Allison had a paper to write and tests to study for-she stayed home. At least she did not have to play Field Hockey that night. And she is managing to have a bit of fun as she joined a group of friends from school that play a Dungeons and Dragons type game. She really enjoys just spending time hanging out with the group(and not having to study).

I have been wearing that poor girl out. Our GS Leader council asked her to give a presentation of the trip to Houston. She has been busy working on a power point presentation, on top of classwork. She put together some great photos and I had her write up a presentation. She did not get much time to practice, and unfortunately our video clips did not work at the GS facility(no internet connection there). But it was a great chance for her to practice making presentations. And I think she may have to present again in May at our annual Board meeting. She did a great job, even under a tight schedule. I had to run her to our GS meeting that WEds night just after I ran her out to a management class for work.  She attended the WEds night management class instead of Saturday morning since we had planned on skiing that day.  At least she gets paid for the classes! 

And Congratulations to Allison for being chosen as one of the Girl Scout Distinguished Woman's shadow girls! She will spend a day with a women company CEO, following her around the work place. Allison has been chosen to follow a woman who owns a Chemical Company here in Baltimore. In April, Allison will have to present her day and her mentor.(See, practicing presentations comes in handy since you never know when you will have to speak!). 

This weekend Allison had class again on Saturday morning(it is a 6week program) and then off to work on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Friday night I dropped her and another scout off to work on projects for the Orioles game on June 24th, but I did not stay. I decided SCott had missed too many gymnastics classes. I wasn't terribly excited about the girls progress at their meeting though and I would have liked to have joined them(seems as if the in charge adults are holding them back).

NOt only his gymanstics class, but SCott also managed to get in a swim class on SAturday morning(since Tom returned home on Friday, there is extra help for the transportation issues). Scott also spent Saturday afternoon working on a school project at a friend's house. Sunday was dedicated to working on math with Tom(geometry) and his Dog Care Merit badge for boy scouts. I even got Tom and I a job at boy scouts(patrol supervisors) since the boys seem to have a bit of difficulty concentrating when they are working together at their meetings. At home, Scott had a huge report to type up that he has been working on for the Dog CAre badge since last summer. WE figured we might as well take advantage of having a dog. Scott even joined Cookie and I on her trip to the vet office last Friday. Cookie was due for a few shots, and seems she has an infection in her back paw. She cut it on the ice while we were playing in the yard and it developed an infection, so she is on medicine.

And speaking of medicine, I have had my fill lately. Last week I had a follow up doctor's appointment for my yearly bloodwork. I was also having a lot of pain in my foot, so I thought I would double check the possibility that I had developed gout. Turns out it is just good old arthritis. My doctor had given me prednisone since my neck was still bothering me from the whiplash. The prednisone really helps out aches and pains, but you can't take it very long. It was a godsend for a day of skiing though. I also seemed to have developed a bladder/yeast infection, so I was given two antibiotics. I had taken all my prednisone and my first antibiotic, and this week I was working on my second antibiotic, cipro. Seemed a bit extreme since that is the same medication they give for anthrax. But I started it Weds night and had another dose Thursday after a light lunch. I should not have had the caffeine in my coffee that morning, the two don't get along. My heart was racing and my blood pressure rising by 2pm. I was also itchy and had numbness in my mouth, feet and hands. Seems I was having all the worst side affects you can get. So my worried coworkers called for an ambulance and off I went to the Emergency room at the local hospital where I used to work. I was even cared for by a girl that used to work in our rehab dept. They kept me until 9pm that night and I went home with a horrible headache. I had to go back to the doctors office the next day for a check up. No more cipro for me! I still have to get a cardiac stress test to make sure I am in good shape. I am not so sure it is worth me going back to the doctor's office! Seems like I come out worse than I go in! And hearing about Whitney HOuston's death at the same age did not make me feel any better. Not to mention we just lost a mom in her 40's at the school this past week of a heart attack. Too close for comfort.

Since Tom was out of town, I had to rely on our wonderful neighbors to help out with the kids while I was lying  in the ER-getting the kids to and from school, dinner. Allison kept everyone connected with facebook and I spent the evening texting on my cell phone. It's good to have a back up plan.

On top of all that, I finally had a follow up dentist appointment and I got my new crown put in place. Unfortunately, the crown broke two days after they put it in. So I will be going back there too!

I did also have my yearly review and it looks like I am at least keeping my job for another year(along with a raise and my yearly bonus). That is always nice.

On top of all that, I was busy making lots of pasta salad for the teachers during CAtholic School week, as well as for the Super Bowl Party(and the work staff enjoyed some too). I have also been busy registering SCott for summer camps!(yes summer camps).


So I am happy to say I am feeling much better. A big Happy Birthday to Eric Seitz who celebrated his 22nd birthday on Super Bowl weekend! Happy Birthday Eric. And sorry to hear of the loss of Stacey and Matt's two ferrets. Too sad.

I am sending along a few photos of the Lego Club (headed up by Tom)and their robot, along with ski pictures(SCott after a wipe out) and Allison and Alex hit the slopes.

Baltimore Blog-Kathleen

I don't think I could squeeze any more activities into this past week if I tried-Oh wait, there is next week. And Tom is going to be heading out to San Francisco for the next two weeks. So I get to do it all myself!

This week was busy with scout activities. On Friday I attended a planning meeting for our Up All Night at the Mall with the girl scouts in March. Older girl troops run activities all night long for younger girl scouts at our local mall. My girls will be doing a craft table. I had to pick up the supplies and listen to the policies and procedures(for a whopping 2 1/2 hrs). I usually drag Allison along, but she was at work. I dropped her off and Tom picked her up.

Meanwhile Scott was picked up for a boy scout overnight tent camping trip and all day Cub Scout event on Saturday. This is supposed to be their winter camping trip-just no snow this year and a bit milder. Thank goodness. Still cold enough for sleeping in a tent. Last year we attended this event as Cub Scouts and we had snow up to our eyebrows.  We had to hike through the whole park, pulling a wagon (with the boys complaining the whole time) while they learned how to use an axe and make a fire. This year as a scout, Scott's troop was teaching the cub scouts how to build a fire. It lasted all day until 4pm. He sure was pooped! And a little burnt. He found out it is not easy to keep an eye on 20 or so little boys at one time.

While he was off camping, I had to run Allison up to GS council for an interview early SAturday morning. Allison was interviewed by about 8 board members for a chance to participate in a Job Shadow day with a few local BAltimore women CEOs. They chose 5 women in the area including a lawyer, accountant, a chemical company CEO, a caterer and the CEO of St Agnes Hospital where I used to work. Of course, I would have chosen the St Agnes CEO, but my daughter has absolutely no interest in the medical field. Too bad. She was interested in the lawyer, accountant and chemical company. We should hear next week.

We also spent our weekend running the annual Girl Scout Rollerblading/Rollerskating event on Saturday and Sunday night. On SAturday night I was working as the First Aider. I spent two hours packing ice bags for banged up knees and elbows and wrists on little girls and parents alike. Lots of band aids too. Allison was actually working at the rollerblading rink that evening, so we did not see much of her. We also had a second troop helping out. ON Sunday, my troop took the lead so I was helping with check in. SAturday we had 200 people show up but on Sunday it was 400! Things would go alot more smoothly if people could read instructions. We had lots of GS leaders show up without their health forms(necessary if someone keels over during the event). We had irate parents show up because they brought their little boys(and it is an all girl/all adult event-says so on the form). But parents like to argue. We even had a mom get hurt -twisted ankle-and she was very rude and nasty about it. She didn't want our help or help from the facility staff. But the facility staff is responsible for her safety unless she signs a waiver stating she does not want assistance. So she called her husband and he said he was too busy to come get her.  He finally did arrive and she was very much the drama queen. So glad to hear she is also from our church.

Now my car is full of cleaning supplies that we take in as a donation and I will have to drop them off during the upcoming week. Allison couldn't stay too long to help out with the scout event. She worked there earlier in the morning and then switched to help us. But she couldn't stay long to help us since she had an Indoor Field Hockey game. Tom left for California already that afternoon, so we had to rely on our neighbor who has a daughter on the team to pick up Allison from rollerblading, along with her goalie bag and to coach the games. Also to drop her off at home afterward. It was very nice of him since he had to miss his own Ice Hockey game(he plays). He tried to sign his wife up in his place, but she had to take their son to a soccer game and catechism. I hope we will not be the cause of a divorce over this. Anyhow, Allison says it was an awesome two games and that she was on fire(and they won). Sounds good to me. 

During the week before I was busy at the dentist's office getting a fitting for my new crown. I did not realize what a project it could be-I was in the chair for another 1.5hrs getting my tooth shaved down so they could fit the crown over the top of my molar. My poor mouth is worn out. I then had to run Allison to one of her management classes since she couldn't easily make the class with her interview on Saturday. Also on Saturday morning she wanted to try out a new game with her friends(very similar to Dungeons and Dragons). I think she is hooked. She has another game night next week.  While I was running Allison to class in the evening, Tom was sitting home with Scott. Seems he picked up some type of eye infection-not specifically pink eye. But they kicked him out of school anyway on WEds. Tom had to take him to the doctors office and turns out they treated Tom for the same eye infection. 

So we missed a few activities this past week(imagine that). MOstly SCott since he was off to boy scouts and couldn't make his gymnastics or swimming lesson. Looks like we will run into a scheduling problem like that again next week.

Once again, wish me luck for the upcoming two weeks! Baltimore Blog

Well, looks like we Marylanders won't be cheering on the Ravens in the Superbowl this year. Too bad, I just hung my purple lights outside near the front porch. What a sad game-so close and yet so far. We did host our neighbors and our friend John (originally from California) for an early evening of game watching and food eating. It was fun, except Tom had to leave early to pick up Allison from work and take her to their Field Hockey games. He said the girls all showed up, but they were short referees and coaches. (mainly the women showed up). Sadly it was over by the time they got home, but I don't think Tom would have been too happy with the results anyway.

I got all my grocery shopping done late Saturday night after I dropped Allison off at work for the night skate session. It was very nice since no one was at the store. We had our first official snow/freezing rain of the winter Saturday morning and I think it scared a lot of people away. I actually had to shovel/scrape the driveway and front walk Saturday morning after driving Allison to her people management class. She took the second class in a series of 6 classes that her work is putting on (mandatory training). Tom and I were very surprised that the class was still going on with the roads so nasty, but the gym was open and the instructor made it in, so we had to go. Fortunately I did not end up in a ditch as they were just getting around to salting and scraping the roads. I stuck to the big, main roads which helped, but we passed a few cars that did not make it on the on and off ramps. And things did not look much better as the day went on. I took Cookie out for a short walk since the sidewalks were so slippery, even for puppy paws. Neither one of us could get any traction. And the salt on the roads burns her feet, so we try to stay away from that.

Tom meanwhile took Scott off to his swim lesson at the Y on Saturday morning. We really don't need Scott missing too many classes since he is not going to make the next two. He has camping one weekend and skiing the next.All for scouts. I ended up taking him to his last scout meeting since they were just having an awards party and Allison needed Tom home for some Chemistry review. I had Scott get a few items signed off in his scout book for requirements for ranks. Unfortunately, he missed a few items at summer camp(hiking 5 miles with a compass and map). No one really keeps track of the requirements for the boys and his troop is a bit small so they don't cover all the tasks. They really expect the boys to get a lot of requirements done on their own. Therefore, any time they are out and about, they have to keep their books handy to get items signed off. And it can't be by a parent. (unless they are scouts and no other scout is around). So we are making progress, but I think it is a bit slow for Tom's schedule. SCott has been working on a very extensive Dog Care Badge(he could publish this report!). And I think we are going to work on his Fitness Badge since he is in gymnastics weekly as well as swimming. That badge is needed for his Eagle. NOt to mention the Pet Badge that we still have to type up. Seems like school stuff keeps getting in the way.

He has been busy working on homework assignments and a religion report all weekend. Allison is a happy child since she just finished a week full of midterms and no homework. But not too happy. I put her to work on a presentation that she needs to give to Girl Scouts for our Houston trip and the Convention. She spent an afternoon putting photos in order for our power point presentation and then worked with Tom on clipping in videos and photos from Utube. Now she has to write up the presentation. She has to present at my GS Leader meeting in two weeks, and then probably again at our Spring Board meeting. Busy girl.

Both kids were home for the MLK holiday last Monday. It gave Allison time to study, and Scott was working on a video for spanish class. He wanted to do a weather video report. Although he did not realize just how tough those projects can be. Tom helped Scott video tape and edit when he got home from work.  But it was Tom that stayed up all night putting the whole thing together and downloading it on a disc so SCott could take it to school. Of course it was due on Tuesday! And they really only had the weekend to work on it. I told Scott maybe next time he shouldn't take on such a big project now that he knows how hard it can be. And on Tuesday afternoon, Tom was at the school presenting the information for the upcoming science fair. That will be in March(no slowing down for us!).

And if that wasn't enough, I signed up my troop for a committee to look into doing a flash mob dance at the Orioles stadium during our Girl Scout night in June. Allison and I already learned that we are singing the National Anthem with the GS choir that night at CAmden Yards(again). Now it looks like we may be dancing too!(what a life!).

Too much to do and not enough time.

On a sad note, our friends the Hejza's in Michigan lost their manx cat Toby from complications due to kidney stone surgery. We are so sorry, he was a very sweet cat.  Scott especially loved him(he actually let him hold him).

The BAltimore Clan

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