So I arrived home from Michigan last Sunday afternoon. I had plenty to do around the house-noone figured out how to do the laundry. Allison was out of running shorts as she was busy trying to get into shape for Field Hockey. She has already had two meetings with her coach and team to discuss next season's strategy. I also had to unpack my car for work the next day and get Scott's paperwork ready for the Y camp.

I planned on speaking to the head counselor and so Monday morning we had a chat. I let her know the boys in Scott's group have been harrassing him. She said she did not know(Scott did not want to say anything). I let her know I was concerned about him heading to the lakes all week and swimming when the boys were treating him so bad. She said she understood-she was an excop and her son had been bullied in school. She also said the group was quite large and ran from 11-17 years old. Scott had made a friend, but he was not at the camp at this time. SCott did manage to hang out with one girl who was friendly to him. The counselor told me they were going to split up the boys and keep a closer eye on Scott. I also told her I would love to get my $20 back since they found out who was stealing things out of kids backpacks(a younger kid). He was booted from the camp. They told me they would look into it but I am not holding my breath.

So Scott's week was not too bad. Monday was pretty slow but Tuesday the camp headed to Cascade Lake. Scott enjoys jumping off the raft and the high dive in the center of the lake. I let him play hooky on Weds since a school friend invited him to a local pool for the day and then the boys headed to our house for an afternoon of video games. His friend stayed so long I invited him to dinner. Boy that kid could put away the ribs I made. On Thursday Scott headed to Harpers Ferry for a day of tubing. He was not too thrilled with the trip however since the river was so slow it was a lot of extra paddling. He preferred the trip he took last year with our Parks and Rec Dept. Guess I will plan on signing up for that program next year. He did manage to make it to his swim lesson, even after all that paddling on Thursday. Friday I kept him home to work on packing for boy scout camp. I wanted to take him to the Boy SCout store and get him a bigger shirt, but I just didn't have time and I would not have gotten all his patches sewn on either before he left on Sunday. I also went into work Friday morning after a doctor appointment. They asked me to see some new patients, however, it turns out they did not have as many patients as they expected. So I just worked a half day which was good since it was Allison's birthday on Friday. She turned 17! I had to take her in for a physical for Field Hockey season. We also took her out to dinner and to see the Spiderman movie. The kids loved it but Tom and I thought it was a bit slow. She had a lot of nice birthday surprises including a new phone and Vera Bradley wristlet to put it in. Tom also got her a Kindle. I also had to stock her up on Field Hockey shorts and sports bras for camp this weekend as well as for her preseason which starts in August. I have also been putting her new driving freedom to work by having her run to the grocery store for me and taking herself to piano lesson while I took Scott to his swim lesson.

I was pooped out by Saturday morning, but I had to get up early in a rain storm and pack up the van for our Boy SCout Fishing Derby. I also picked up our neighbor's son. Unfortunately, since we woke up to a tstorm they cancelled the derby. But we were all prepared to fish, and I needed photo proof that Scott could indeed catch something, so we stayed while he pulled in a few small sunfish. Most of them fell off the line into the water, but I managed to get one photo. We even took home a sunfish that didn't make it so Scott could practice cleaning a fish as one of the prerequisites. He did very well for his first time.

I also had to run over to a local brand new Nature Center with Allison in the afternoon. She is still searching for a Girl SCout Gold Award project and was interested in some type of nature program. She was inquiring about installing blue bird houses, but most parks seem chock full of them. Instead, one of the new centers asked Allison if she would design a Bird Trail with some wood carvings they have so they can take kids out on the trail and teach them about Maryland wildlife. Sounds good to me. Of course she still needs preapproval from Girl SCout council. Maybe they won't be quite so hard on her this time. We had lots of volunteer paperwork to sign and then we headed out on the trails around the new Nature Center to check out the grounds and take photos.

Afterwards we headed to our new grocery store to pick up a picnic dinner for our outdoor Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concert. Tom thought we might be rained out, but the evening was beautiful, although a big muggy and humid. We even got a fireworks show after listening to theme songs from Star Wars, Batman and Pirates of the Carribbean. I always manage to run into someone I know there and Saturday night was no exception. ONe of the PT's I work with was there with her husband and son and friends and stopped by to say hello and meet my family.

It was a very long day, but the weekend was not over. Early Sunday morning Tom dropped Scott off for his boy scout camping week. The troop is carpooling up to PA, north of Reading to Hawk Mountain. As soon as he dropped SCott off it was time to drop Allison off at Hopkins University in downtown Baltimore for Field Hockey camp. We got her settled into her dorm room since she is sleeping overnight and then took her out to lunch before saying goodbye. She had a few games on Sunday afternoon but had to quit when a t-storm rolled in. She says she is having a good time. I also dropped Cookie off at the pet store to get another summer haircut. It has been so incredibly hot this summer and she will be visiting with Susan and John in Indy while we are on vacation so we thought she could use another trim. She certainly looks a lot happier.

And we were busy catching up with the status of Tom's brother Mark. He ended up in the hospital on Friday with severe stomach pains. He went in for surgery Sunday morning and they discovered he had a twisted bowel. He is certainly doing much better now. Get better soon Mark!

I left my parent's house on Saturday and my brother's Dan and Dave and Dave's two boys, Nick and Chris arrived on Monday. They drove up from Texas and only had a few days to visit. They were able to get mom and dad to another urology appointment as well as do some work in the basement moving out some old wood and Dad's floor saw. They even had a chance to visit with my Uncle Joe and also drove over to one of the local lakes for a swim. And they brought Dad with them for a break. Dan was also able to set up an installation from AT and T for cable and internet. Dan picked up a laptop to connect but we will have to see if my parents can figure out how to use it. The boys only got to stay for a few days before heading back to Texas. Dave  was starting a new job on Monday and he had to get back home. 

So never a dull moment. My Dad goes back for a urology appointment in 3 weeks-hopefully to discuss the surgery. Nothing is ever simple.

Also want to say thanks to Dan and Jack Hejza for stopping by my parents house for measurements and to figure out a price quote for work that needs to be done.

Here is SCott fishing on SAturday at our local lake and cleaning his first fish. And I cannot believe how big our turtle got in one year. He was just a quarter sized bright green turtle when we brought him from Hilton Head last summer. Look at him now! He needs to move into a bigger tank. And there is Allison at our new Nature Center. 

Baltimore Blog

I have certainly had an interesting two weeks. During my first week(and last week of June) I was on my own with the kids. Tom flew to Chicago for work. Fortunately it wasn't too hectic as Allison was off to GS camp teaching archery. She had a ride every day from our neighbor who was volunteering and had her two little girls enrolled in the day camp. Allison of course had a wonderful time. She even had a job offer teaching archery to girl scouts for a day, but it is scheduled when we will be on vacation.

Scott on the other hand needed dropped off and picked up at his favorite camp-classes at the local university. He took a lego class and a science experiment class. He loved the lego class, but thought the science experiments were rather lame(except for making ice cream!).  And of course there were summer piano lessons for Allison and Scott had swim class to get to as well as trying out a new Boy Scout troop.

We have been very frustrated with Scott's troop and thought it would be fun to try a new troop. I wanted Tom to take him, but he wasn't home. Scott's troop was not meeting that week, so he and I checked out a newer troop. Of course I really liked the parents and leaders, but Scott was not crazy about the boys. It is a small troop and mostly young kids and very old teenage boys that weren't at the meeting because they were packing for Philmont-the High Adventure camp out west for boy scouts. So guess we will keep looking as needed. I also had SCott work on some projects for Boy Scout camp. He is going to work on his fishing badge so he needs to show that he can catch and cook a fish. (Not necessarily in that order).  I had him cook some Tilapia for dinner one night. We will be going fishing in a few weeks for the boy scout fishing derby which will fulfill his prerequisite for catching a fish(if we do indeed catch one!).   Scott is going to work on his Fishing badge, Basketry, Electricity, First Aid, Environmental Science, and Reptiles and Amphibians badge. So he had some work to do before going to camp. He had some research to do and a few reports to write up. I was just excited that he paid for most of his camp by selling popcorn and picking up trash after the 4th of July fireworks last year.

I was also struggling with the decision to head to Michigan to help out my mom and dad. My dad has been recuperating in the rehab center, and on June 30th he was discharged home. I decided to ask for the week of the 4th of July holiday off from work since I figured our out patient clinic would at least be closed one day. They were able to find a substitute to see my patients, so I planned on heading out on Saturday. I am not a long distance driver so I split my trip into two days. The Friday before I left however we had a very big storm. It made all the headlines. It was a solid line of storms from Baltimore to Richmond VA with winds at 80 mph called a Derecho. It hit around 11pm, just after Tom brought Allison home from work. Our power went out, so I couldn't get any more laundry done. At least after the storm rolled through we got our power back on, but much of Maryland and our neighborhood was without power. And lots of trees down.

It felt eerie to drive down our main street with no traffic lights and tree branches hanging off the power lines on Saturday morning. I had a very nice trip and even took myself to see the movie Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp at a cheap movie theatre I found in Ohio.  I got to my parents house early on Sunday afternoon, just in time to drive us all over to my Uncle Joe's house. We had dinner and Mom and Dad took a nap while my Uncle Joe, Aunt Kathy and I swam in the pool. It was a very nice afternoon. Unfortunately, I can't say the rest of the week went as well. My dad had a urology appointment on Tuesday and a dentist appointment before that. I took both of them to the appointments and learned that my dad is going to have to be hospitalized for surgery to his prostate at some point. MOm and I also had to run him to the Hospital ER Thursday morning since they put in a smaller catheter at the urology office and it clogged and needed replaced. Besides doctor appointments, I was helping make sure my Dad got the right medication, as well his helping out with his general care and we even stopped into his barber shop for a hair cut.

Michigan also had incredibly hot weather like the mid atlantic and a few strong storms that took out the power in the Detroit area. I watched a branch hit the power lines early Thursday morning and sparks went flying. Fortunately my parents did not lose power, but I did notice their new air conditioner was not working. I had to call in the service company to have the unit switched on. At least no service fee. And finally some much needed AC. I did get some yardwork done and cut the grass. Dad was able to cut the back lawn with the tractor.  I was also trying to help get the house a bit organized as it appears it will need to be fixed up and sold. I had some friends come in and do an overall assessment of some of the projects that needs to be done. They also helped me set up a large tv that I brought from our house and cable will be installed thanks to the very helpful guy at Best Buy, my great friends the Hejza's and my brothers who visited the week after I left. I couldn't get as much organizing done as I would have liked to as Dad is not quite ready for a change in plans. Due to his decline in his status, it looks like it would be best for the two of them to relocate to their Florida house. My dad was not quite ready to hear that. But he is not supposed to drive or handle the finances alone so it would just be too difficult to travel back and forth to Charlevoix as well as to be quite so isolated in Northern Mich. So big change in plans that was not expected at this time. Life has a way of doing that to us.

It was a pretty stressful week for all of us, but I did enjoy spending time at home. I also was grateful to spend time with my very dear friends the Hejzas. Again, thanks for everything that you all do and did. You all are dear family to us. I loved visiting the Hejza house on the 4th. We had so much fun swimming in the pool, eating way too much great food, talking and even a quick game of scrabble for me before I had to head back to my parents. And I was able to break away to have dinner out with Laura. What fun to have a girls night out. I don't even really get to do that at home much.

Back on the homefront, the kids were melting in the heat and entertaining the neighbors that did not have electricity. They really did not do anything special for the 4th. Tom sent them out on the back porch with  poppers at night. Lame. I am taking us to a Baltimore Symphony Orchestra outdoor concert with fireworks next weekend since we missed out. Scott was miserable at the Y camp. The boys have been harassing him and he missed his field trip to Philly to see the liberty bell and Independence hall. Tom and Scott missed the early morning bus. At least he has been there before. Scott did enjoy one good day swimming at Beaver Dam and swinging on the ropes over the lake. But he came home with a black eye. Mostly he just stayed home from camp with Allison. However, on Friday Allison had her big moment when she passed her driving test!  Now she is a full blown licensed driver. Wow. And she didn't have to work the weekend before because the rink lost power. Now the rink is on their summer schedule so only open on Fridays. And Allison will be able to drive herself to work. Wow again. Mixed feelings about her driving-it is a blessing and a curse.

Another busy week. What a surprise!  Allison, Scott and I spent Sunday afternoon at an Orioles game. The game was sponsored by the Girl Scouts as we continue to celebrate our 100th Anniversary. This was an extra special game as once again our Girl Scout choir had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem. We were able to sing the anthem several years ago. This time we were joined by 1000 girl scouts in a parade around the field, so they placed us in the outfield facing the crowd. Last time we had our backs to the crowd. And we entered the field through an underground tunnel, whereas last time we walked out behind home plate. So a little different, but still very exciting. And apparently we did a good job as people were complimenting our singing. We then enjoyed a win against the Washington Nationals. Battle of the Beltway. The kids especially liked the green cotton candy. Tom was not available to join us as he was headed to Chicago for the week. Since I had already bought our tickets, I invited our L.A. friend John Dutton along. Mainly so Scott would not have to sit alone while waiting for us to finish singing. And John has never been to an Orioles game since he moved here 13 years ago. Tom, John and I used to frequent the Dodger games in LA together. Scott gave him a tour of the stadium before the game, and introduced him to the BBQ meal. It was nice that the Orioles won during his first visit(I think the Girl Scouts brought the Orioles good luck!). I was just disappointed that we did not get to do our flash mob. They played a small portion of the song, but it was cut off. And during the 7th inning stretch, they had a special presentation of a flag to honor the celebration of the War of 1812. So no flash mobbing. Oh well.

Friday we were just as busy as we had to pick up Allison from her Girls Nation Camp. I think she had her fill of politics.  She decided it was just too disorganized! She was also worn out from her 5 hour classes. They listened to lobbyists, had a mock trial and campaigned for positions for Senator and Governor. Allison was not interested in these jobs as you had to go onto the Nationals Camp held in July in Silver Spring MD. It is going to be on the weekend that we are in LA, so she would have missed something. Last year the Nationals camp was held in Indianapolis(way more exciting). We attended the camp graduation ceremony which Tom pooh poohed. Mainly it was a way of letting all of us know who won the campaigns, and who got a college scholarship. And I enjoyed the girls presentation of their school song as well as a Song about America with sign language. All 120 girls had the songs and gestures memorized. I thought they did a great job. I also talked Tom into heading down to Ocean City after her ceremony. The beach was only 30 min drive from the campus. Sadly it was a rainy, stormy day, so we did not get to sit out on the beach or swim. Instead we walked the Ocean City boardwalk, checking out all the food and souvenir shops. Finally the humidity and rain got to be a bit much so we headed into the air conditioned Ripley's Believe It or Not museum. We have fun looking at all the crazy stuff. Then we wanted to have dinner at a fish restaurant, but the fun outdoor place was a bit wet and sandy. So we opted for the stuffy restaurant with the enclosed deck overlooking the bay and the really good fish dinner. I would have enjoyed staying the night, but Tom wanted to head home.

Allison had a piano lesson in the morning, and Scott had a swim lesson. Tom spent the day cutting the grass and supervising Allison while she practiced her parallel parking in front of the house. I did not know the final test asks the drivers to park between cones, not cars! Not in my day- it was out on the road in a real town with real cars and really annoyed drivers waiting for you to park and get out of the street! Allison also had to work SAturday night, but Tom, Scott and I enjoyed dinner at our neighbors out on the patio. We finally had a cool evening with no bugs so we could sit outside!  And Scott single handedly made a Key Lime Pie and fruit kabobs for dinner(my rising chef!). I went off and had my hair highlighted and cut in honor of summer.  We finally had a chance to get Scott's hair cut on Weds evening. I had a dentist appointment, so Tom and SCott met me afterwards so I could pick out my new anniversary wedding ring. AFterwards we got Scott a haircut and went out to dinner. WE tried a new Mexican restaurant but don't think we will be heading back. Although the food was good(not crazy about french fries with my burrito though), we were especially disappointed in the lame service from the owner of all people.

Scott spent his first week at the YMCA camp. He is in a traveling camp, so they have different activites 3x/wk. His first day was spent at camp swimming and hanging out in the game room. On Tuesday he enjoyed a day out with indoor putt putt golf(glow in the dark) and video games. Weds they headed down to the Smithsonian American INdian museum for a festival(dancing indians). ON Thursday the weather was extremely hot and they headed off to the bay to swim. Scott was burnt, chafed and got jumped on by the other boys. His neck was sore and he had 20 bucks stolen from his backpack. They were asked to bring spending money in case they went to the movies instead. Not a happy ending to camp. I was quite disappointed. I hope he has a better time at the local college next week.

Here is Allison at her Girls' Nation graduation, the Boardwalk in Ocean City, our GS choir ready to perform the National Anthem(Allison is in the back row) and the ORioles Stadium. Plus me keeping SCott entertained.

Another activity packed week. Happy Father's Day by the way to all you Dads! I sent Dad Bozyk a big bouquet of fruit and a bag of trail mix(peanuts and M&Ms). I figured he could use the energy. And lots of cards to cheer him up, along with a Father's Day balloon so he can keep track of the time. Unfortunately, he looks like he is not scheduled for surgery until the 19th of July. That is just such a long time to wait. In the meantime, he pulled out his catheter at night last week and ended up in the ER at the hospital. He still can't urinate, so all the urine backed up over night and Mom found him in a stupor in bed in the morning. The nursing staff couldn't get the catheter back in so he had to go to the ER for the procedure. He was pretty wiped out after the whole ordeal. So he did not have to go to his scheduled urology appointment where they were going to comfortably remove the catheter and see if he could urinate on his own. Guess they found out he can't the hard way. So the urologist finally came to the conclusion that Dad will probably need surgery, but he is scheduled in another month. And no word about doing the biopsy. Mom said they may just test the tissue after they remove the prostate(doesn't sound like they plan on removing the whole thing the first time). So in the meantime Dad is miserable in the rehab center/nursing home and Mom sounds pretty wiped out running around.

She has been trying to get some things done around the house like dropping off paper and magazines to the recycle center. She also gave their old couch and chairs to the Salvation Army. However, they moved most of their belongings to the house up north, so the WB house is pretty bare. Even their tv died. At least they can keep up with the world on the tv at the nursing home. Not sure how long they will let Dad stay there though. Mom is not looking forward to having to monitor Dad and his catheter-especially if he wants to pull it out at night. Mom also had a plumber come in and do some repairs to the bathroom fixtures. He also recommends replacing a few of the old toilets. A big job for a house that is going to be sold. Mom is holding off on that.

I was busy running around this week as well. The kids were both home-done with school and no camps yet. Allison ran every day and SCott and Cookie kept her company to start getting in shape for Field Hockey. She had a meeting with the team and high school coach on Monday afternoon at Einstein bagel. I made her take Scott so he could get some lunch and get out of the house(maybe a mistake). At least they both spent time sorting through their old school work papers and cleaning up their rooms. (as well as catching up on computer gaming).

They still kept busy as Scott had a boy scout meeting and Allison had her last school scheduled piano lesson and her first scheduled summer piano lesson all in one week.  I also signed Allison up for a Leadership Girl SCout class on SAturday. I have tried to sign her up for this program for the last several years. They only offer it twice a year, and it is usually cancelled because of limited enrollment. This class went on as scheduled, and it was shorter because they changed the curriculum. It trains girls to run a GS troop on their own when they turn 18. Allison knows how to run the new GS program-I am awful tempted to retire and let her take over our troop! Too bad she will only be 17 this July. So I was so excited that she finally got to complete this training. However, I did not notice that she was supposed to be at work at the same time! I thought she was working at night. Her boss kept calling and I couldn't understand why. Fortunately, the group of girls in the class were so efficient, they finished an hour early and I ran and picked up Allison and got her to work just one hour late. It really wasn't too terrible that she came late. ONly 20 guests showed up, but the other staff member was new and Allison's boss was worried the girl would freak out working by herself. Allison is so good, she has had to handle the floor on her own in the past, and with a whole lot more guests! Anyhow, I had offered to bring her in for the night shift, but they wanted her for the afternoon time slot. That actually worked out for all of us as we decided to celebrate Dad's Day early.

I made up some ribs and corn on the cob and baked potatoes and picked up a Boston Creme Pie for dinner SAturday night. After dinner we invited our neighbors Dan and Gloria over to help us with dessert and drinks.  The kids bought Tom some summer vacation clothes for Dad's day including a new Hawaiian shirt and a Marvel Comic  tshirt. I thought he needed a special gift from me, but he said he didn't want anything. So I used the opportunity to get me something-tickets to see Mamma Mia the Broadway play. It is based on the disco music from ABBA.  We saw the movie, but I think the play was much better. And fun. Tom was not as familiar with ABBA's music(what a surprise), but he actually enjoyed it. So that was how we spent FAther's Day.

I certainly dated myself this week. Not only was I jamming to ABBAs greatest hits, but I went off to DC to see Neil Diamond in concert with my neighbor Gloria. I last saw Neil at Pine Knob in Michigan when I was 16. He and I have certainly added a few years, but Neil can still belt out his songs! I just wish I could have heard him in a different place-the Verizon Center stadium does not have the best acoustics. Although it usually works well for watching the Nationals play hockey. I would have loved to have seen Neil Diamond in LA at the outdoor Greek theater. That place has wonderful acoustics. But it was still a wonderful concert. He is doing a world tour, and he attracts everyone from 6 to 60. And he was only in town for one night. Gloria and I had fun driving down to Union Station-I showed her around since she had never been there before. We like to park there and then take the train to other places in the DC area. Union station(besides having trains) has a food court and restaurants, shops and wonderful acoustics as well(great for free Christmas concerts). We did not have a lot of time to get dinner. We wanted to stop into China town, but thought we should get to the concert. Good thing we did because Neil does not have a warm up band, and he sang for 2.5 hours with no breaks. Amazing(he and the Queen!). Just keep going.

Friday I kept busy with a doctor appointment for me, vet appointment for the cat and Allison's first summer piano class. She then decided to cut the grass for Tom while I trimmed a few tree branches. ONe of the neighbors even yelled at me for dumping the branches in the field across the street. He said he was going to call the county on me for dumping. I mentioned I was just following his lead as he dumps his grass, leaves and I have seen him cut up a whole tree and put it in the woods. It really is good for the environment and the wildlife. He was just upset because Scott was trying to help out last weekend by throwing these large branches out in the woods, but he only got as far as the top of the hill on the sidewalk. I explained to the neighbor that I had moved the branches for Scott. Not sure why this neighbor is so grumpy to Tom and I(he has accused us of dumping trash there before. As if(us being scouts and all!)  So I guess if he wants to call the county, he will lose out on his special dumping site too ! Meanwhile, Allison did a terrific job and I finished the backyard on Sunday afternoon.

I really would have liked to have spent my weekend down near the Bay and the Harbor for the kick off of the Bicentennial Celebration of the WAr of 1812. They brought in beautiful tall ships(sailing ships) from all over the world docked in the harbor and had the first ever Blue Angels air show over the harbor. Tom and I could hear the jets overhead in the theater while we were watching Mamma Mia.  We then saw them zip by while making a u turn over Baltimore. This was the war that gave us The Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key. He wrote it after seeing the flag was still standing at Ft McHenry while the British bombed us from their ships. Baltimore kept them away. And the war ended in 1814(we won). The fort is open for tours and they just redid the visitors center last year. SCott went there and said it was terrific. So for the next two years we are going to have special events in and around Baltimore for the celebration.

We were also busy Sunday morning getting Allison to her Girls Nation camp. She won a scholarship to camp and will be there all week. She is staying in a dorm at Salisbury University and so far seems to be having a wonderful time. The girls run for office, attempt to pass bills and learn all about the government process. They have two political parties(Federalists and Nationalists) and each girl is assigned to a town or city. This is a camp just for girls that finished the 11th grade, so she is meeting a whole lot of people and having a good time on top of it. We had a two hour drive and then checked Allison into her dorm room before flying back to Baltimore for the play. We had about 2 mins to spare! But we did it!

On top of all that, Tom decided to surprise me by putting away some bonus money and buying me an anniversary ring. It was quite lovely(and big) and I told him it was dwarfing my wedding ring and I did not think it should upstage my wedding ring. We had my ring appraised to see if I could trade it in. They insulted me by saying it was not worth anything to them, not to mention the appraiser thought I was missing a few diamonds(not really, they are just that small). And the ring was filthy. Which is why I don't want a huge replacement ring. But I had a hard time finding something I liked to replace my original ring. That is how dated I am-everything is either platinum or white gold. And marquis cut diamonds are not in style. So I took out a huge book and started shopping. I think I find the style ring I want for Tom's price tag. But I could not shop since I had to run and get Allison from her GS class. It is always something.

        So another week and Dad Bozyk was discharged from the hospital and sent to a nursing home facility for rehab/therapy. I told Mom Bozyk now they know first hand what I have been doing for 25 years! I keep pestering Mom to question the doctors. She was asked to bring Dad back to the hospital to see the urologist last Tuesday after he was discharged the day before only for the urologist to ask Mom and Dad if they wanted the catheter removed or not. Frankly, even Mom Bozyk seemed to think that was a rather stupid question.  Mom is not a doctor and neither is Dad, so how are they supposed to know if it should or should not come out? How are they supposed to know if it is ready to be removed or not? They were not told the prostate was any smaller even though apparently Dad is on medication to shrink it. One of the doctors said it would take 6-7 weeks. Anyhow, MOm went off to the hospital first thing Weds morning back to the urology office and demanded to speak to a doctor. She also mentioned that Dad was at the hospital the week before,  but they did not complete the biopsy on his scheduled day. Some urologist spent several hours with mom looking over his medical reports and told her not to allow anyone to remove the catheter! (Wish these doctors would get their act together). The nursing home was hassling mom on wanting to remove the catheter too. Anyhow, Dad is going back to the urologist this upcoming week and they will try removing it and seeing if he can go again. I was a bit concerned though when I heard that they were putting DAd on Cipro the week before. I told mom to double check on that medication for Dad since it was the antibiotic that sent me to the hospital. At least DAd seemed to be feeling better as Mom found him walking up and down the hallway with his walker when she came to visit Sunday. This has certainly been an education in the health field for both Mom and Dad.

Meanwhile, the kids wrapped up their last week of school. Scott was basically done last week and just had a few half days to clean out his desk, clean up the classroom, assemble for an awards ceremony and meet for the last school mass. I took a half day off work last Monday to help out with the school's Used Uniform Sale. I love to work the sale because I get first dibbs on picking out clothes for Scott for next year. It is nice to have extra shirts, pants, etc and not have to pay full price at the uniform store. I even got SCott to help when school let out. He managed to finish his year with A's and B's. He also was wrapping up his swim lessons this week, but the Y had to postpone until next week since a thunderstorm rolled through and they had to close the pool. Looks like we missed the last of the gymnastic classes since we spent last Friday night in the basement as(now 12 confirmed tornadoes) rolled through Maryland(a record). Instead, I took Scott off to help volunteer(as a Boy Scout) with the luminary candle sales at the Relay For Life Cancer Fund RAiser. We have been helping sell the luminaries-paper bags with candles that line the track for several years now. Participants usually buy the bags and decorate them in honor of someone they know that has cancer or died from cancer(even pets). Several years ago we got started volunteering by making the bags and we earned free tickets to Disney. Now we just help sell the bags and set them up. I usually have Allison helping out as a girl scout, but she had to work. So Scott took over. He mostly enjoyed taking breaks and playing the carnival games they have set up as fund raisers, not to mention sampling all the junk food! He did get to his Boy SCout meeting last week with Tom and is working towards preparations for summer camp. He would like to work on 6 badges this summer.

Allison was busy studying as she wrapped up her last week of school and her final exams up until Friday. She pulled off all A's except for a B in Spanish. Foreign Language classes have certainly gotten a lot more difficult and a lot more complicated than when Tom and I were in high school. She even had a Field Hockey meeting after school last week. They are trying to get ready over the summer for the fall season. The coach wants all the girls to start running so they can be in shape by the time school starts. Guess what Allison will be doing this summer. She also had to work on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.I think the rollerblading helps with her endurance.

 On Saturday Allison and I headed off to DC early in the morning for the 100th Anniversary Girl SCout Sing a Long and concert called Rock the Mall. There were 250, 000 Girl SCouts from all over the country and the world visiting DC. WE had to be down there by 8am for a rehearsal with our Girl SCout choir. We were singing 4 songs only on a small stage next to the National Monument. Allison was a bit disappointed since we went on at 9am and really did not have a big crowd. I was excited to see that 60 choir members showed up! I was also happy to be done so early so we could go explore. We set up our blanket in front of the main stage with the choir and Allison and I headed over to the National History museum. Allison especially enjoyed their display of the War timelines from the REvolutionary War to the Vietnam War since she just finished studying WW11 in World History. We headed back to our group to pick up our lunch that was preordered from Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately, it was so crowded it took over 3 ours for our leaders to get our lunch! We did not eat until 3pm! We did get to enjoy most of the concert, but we were hoping to get a chance to do more singing. And it was unbelievably hot-in the 90s. 63 scouts went to the hospital for heat stroke and dehydration. We were told to bring bottles to refill with water. But they did not have enough water stations and I stood in line for several hours refilling our bottles.  At one point Allison and I walked over to put our feet in the fountain of the WW11 memorial. People were wading into the fountain because it was so hot. The poor lonely park ranger had his hands full trying to get them to come out of the fountain. I think he finally gave up, and out came the firetrucks to cool everyone off. They started hosing down the girls in the streets around 4pm when the event was over! It was quite a scene and very funny to hear hundreds of girls screaming as they ran through the hoses. I think the firemen really enjoyed that! Allison and I tried not to get soaked. Instead, we headed into the Air and Space museum to cool off and rest. WE watched a planetarium show since they had discounted tickets for the scouts. IT was very nice to sit down and listen to Whoopi Goldberg talk about Stars and our Sun in the dark and air conditioned theater. After a very long day it was time to head home. Here are some photos from Rock the Mall-our small stage where we sang next to the WAshington monument, and the Main Stage, the White House, the WWII fountain and the fire trucks hosing down very hot girl scouts.

On Sunday we kept busy with yardwork. Tom and SCott spent the weekend putting down the rest of the mulch, trimming trees, repairing the landscape lights and Scott got the chance to learn how to cut the grass all by himself! Tom pushed it though and tried him at trimming, but the weed whacker was a bit too heavy for Scott to handle. I was busy cleaning up my flower garden and planting a few more flowers and veggies in pots. 

Baltimore Blog

This week was a short one with the holiday, but a long one keeping tabs on my Dad's progress in the hospital.

Monday night as I mentioned we had our neighbors over for dinner. The temperature outside was so hot we opted to eat in.

Tuesday I took off to accompany Scott to DC with his class and the 7th graders for a quick visit to the Smithsonian museums-Natural History and Air and Space. We spent about an hour in each museum(that was about all the time we had) and stopped for lunch of course. I only had to watch Scott and one other boy. I also hung out with one of the Dad's and his son. So three boys, two adults. We flew through the Natural History museum-of course we had to show them the Titanaboia. They were impressed with the prehistoric snake. And we had some fun at the bug zoo. 3 little grey haired ladies were pulling bugs out of containers and letting the kids handle them including hissing cockroaches and enormous grass hoppers. Scott had no interest in touching bugs. ONe of the ladies said they use the hissing cockroaches in movies because they don't fly away and move slower than regular cockroaches. Good to know.

After our quick run through the Natural History museum, we stopped outside at a McDonald's booth for lunch. It is just outside the Air and Space museum in the shade. Besides the usual birds, pigeons and squirrels begging for french fries, I noticed some other wildlife running under the shrubs-turned out to be rats! Yuck! I knew DC had rats, especially the two legged kinds, but I did not expect to see the four legged kind running around in the daytime! Another interesting DC fact. AFter convincing the boys not to chase after the rats, we headed inside to the Air and Space museum. They boys most favorite exhibit involved the simulator rides-they get to experience the thrill of flying a fighter jet and shooting down planes-including rollovers and dives(no thanks). I was the official bag holder. And of course we had to stop into the gift shop before getting back on the bus. I took a picture of the Dragon head from the Chinese  Zodiac Calendar in DC. (Allison likes Dragons). EAch animal's head is represented in a circle in front of the Asian art museum.  We had a fun day in DC, but turns out Scott and I came down with terrible colds.

So terrible we ended up staying home on Weds with fevers. He missed his boy scout meeting Tuesday night which was an award ceremony. But he had not turned in his geology merit badge card, so he would not have received any awards that night in recognition. I was just hoping he could have spent some time getting more info checked off his book. He even missed swimming on Thursday since we both were pretty wiped out. I did get more time to study with him on Weds when we stayed home for his last science test on Thursday at school. He really did not have any more homework since it was the last full week of school. And on Thursday back at school he participated in the Greek games. Scott had thumb wrestling which he did not enjoy(too many ways to cheat). He would have been better off throwing a javelin!  He did get a free pizza lunch as his class won some type of contest for something which involved a free pizza lunch(don't know if I participated or not).

ON Friday I had to work since I had taken off Memorial Day. We all hurried home after school and work since our weather turned quite nasty at the end of the day. Turns out we spent most of the evening in the basement as 10 tornadoes rolled through Maryland, one after another.  10,000 homes were without power over the weekend and 3 people were killed. Fortunately our neighborhood missed out on the worst weather(thank goodness). And we still had our power. OUr neighbor had to borrow our small chain saw though to cut up a tree that came down on his deck.

Saturday I had to drop Allison off to work, so I ran some errands. Saturday night Tom had our LA friend John Dutton over for dinner on the deck and to watch the Stanley Cup Hockey playoffs with the LA Kings and NJ Devils(Yeah Kings won!). They are up by two games.

On Sunday I had Scott working on some Boy Scout badge work and he spent the afternoon with his Dad doing yardwork. Finally they put down most of the mulch and I did quite a bit of shrub trimming on the side of the house(the nasty prickly stuff like rosebushes).  Tom got the grass cut and is looking into ordering larger gutters for our house. Unfortunately you can't buy larger gutters commercially-they have to be professionally installed. We really need the larger gutters. OUr front door looked like Niagra Falls with all the rain coming down during the last two big storms. All the water was overflowing the gutter, even with the downspouts cleaned out.
 Allison spent Sunday afternoon setting up the archery range at the GS camp for this summer's session(just around the corner). I would have loved to have attended the CApital Jazz Fest this past weekend-2 full days and 1 night of non stop Jazz at our outdoor concert theater. However, they certainly seemed to have raised the prices-the lawn seats are now $70.00! I think Tom and I used to pay around $25 or $30 a person and the kids were free. We used to pitch tents out in the wooded area and watch on the big screens if it was raining, and if it was hot and sunny we put up our beach umbrella, packed up a picnic basket and laid out on a blanket all day listening to music on the lawn. We took a few breaks to get our posters autographed by the musicians(but not for $70!). I also would have loved to have attended a Wine Festival on Sunday, but I as on the phone most of the day with my mom and just too worn out from my cold to worry about attending. There is always next year.

 I  spent quite a bit of time on the phone with my mom during the week checking up on my Dad. He spent last week in the hospital(10 days total). It looks like he is stabilizing medically, but was still quite confused and not eating, very weak and not sleeping. I asked Mom to have them assess his medication since I thought he may have been oversedated. They stopped or cut back on a few meds. He cleared up a bit, and started eating again, but still was not functioning well enough for mom to take him home. The hospital was ready to discharge him, but he still needs a biopsy and probably surgery for his prostate. The hospital finally helped mom look into some rehab units to have him transferred this week. So I haven't heard if he is definitely scheduled for the biopsy this coming week or not. It sounds like he did have a Urology consult though which is what he needed. I will keep you all informed.

Meanwhile I am coughing my head off. I need to clear up soon as Allison and I have a big GS concert coming up on SAturday(back in DC). I will have to watch out for those rats! The concert is supposed to be broadcast online all day-Rock the Mall-GS Concert if anyone wants to try and catch us. It looks like we will be singing between 9 and 11 am on stage. Should be fun.

Please keep my Dad in your prayers! Thanks to their friend Mr Dugan for stopping by and trying to cut the grass and reset the answering machine. Thanks to Uncle Joe for actually getting the tractor to run and cutting the grass!

BAltimore Blog

This weekend has been one of ups and downs. The down has been that Dad Bozyk ended up in the hospital with urinary/prostate issues on Friday. Not only is he having trouble urinating, probably due to an enlarged prostate, but he also was starting to get very confused again and wanted to pull out all his tubes. He had an appointment scheduled for this coming Friday for a biopsy to check for cancer, so hopefully this will speed things up a bit. Then I would imagine he is going to need surgery. Mom and Dad have been hanging around the West Bloomfield house doing repairs and clearing out closets and drawers as well as the garage. Dad actually sold his old Pinto and the Ford Econoline van. They both just wish they could be spending time up in Charlevoix at the Lake house, but not until Dad is healthy.

In between talking to Mom Bozyk on the phone, we squeezed in a quick trip down to Busch Gardens, Willimasburg VA. on Saturday night. That was the up.  Allison had to work in the afternoon, so we left after we picked her up.  The water park is now open and the weather has been so hot here, I thought it would be fun to spend a day in the pool and on the slides. Unfortunately, Allison and Tom both had colds, so they sat  out under the canopy poolside, catching up with their reading.  Scott and I had wonderful time on some rides and floating around the Lazy River. The Amusement Park was open late on Saturday night, so we ran in for a few hours when we first arrived. Tom and SCott were anxious to try out the new rollercoaster-VerBolten. It shoots you out, turns you upside down and drops you practically into the river. They couldn't wait! But they will have to because it broke down on Saturday night and was still closed on Sunday. VerBolten was VerBroken! We left the water park Sunday afternoon to go back to the Amusement Park but the new ride was still closed. So we only got in one ride on SAturday night. The Park was jam packed with people.

INstead, we headed into town to a movie tavern on Saturday night-you eat dinner while watching movies. WE saw MIB3. Allison really enjoyed it since she has not seen any other MIB movies. Tom and I thought the story line was getting a bit old. But we enjoyed eating dinner and the comfortable big chairs. On Sunday afternoon Tom did not feel like fighting the crowds at Busch Gardens since the new ride was down, so we headed over to Colonial Williamsburg. We also checked out the college of William and Mary. We picked up some Admission forms but decided it was probably above our budget as well as the admission requirements being quite intense. Allison just got back her SAT scores from the second go around and did much better. She warns me not to sign her up for anymore self help classes. Most everything was closed in Colonial Williamsburg-the shops and houses, but the taverns were open. We sat outside and had some drinks-root beer for the kids(made in Williamsburg), dark English beer for Tom and I tried a ladies cocktail, very popular in London(then and now)-Pimms. Apparently the alcoholic ingredients are a big secret, but you mix it with ginger ale and add a cucumber slice. I liked it so much, we bought a bottle to make drinks for our neighbors and had them over for a Memorial Day grill out. It reminded me of a gin and tonic (also from England) just a bit spicier.

Since it was so incredibly hot on Monday, we grilled out but ate in. When I wasn't busy cooking something, or cleaning, I was busy studying science with SCott. He is wrapping up the last of his tests this week. Allison has had a head start with her finals. Since she had so many seniors in a few of her classes, she had to take finals starting last week. So she did not have as many tests to study for this holiday weekend. INstead she had a computer presentation to finish up for her piano class that was due Tuesday. So I put her to work cleaning and giving Cookie a bath. I had to drop Cookie off again at the kennel on Saturday and picked her up MOnday morning. She is always so happy to be home trying to catch up on her sleep.

Scott and Tom were off with the boy scouts on Friday night placing flags at the soldiers grave sites for Memorial Day weekend. At least Scott was able to get a few items marked off towards his Citizenship BS badge when he and Tom went to his meeting on Tuesday last week. And I managed to get SCott to swimming while Tom took Allison to piano. Plus I managed to get in a bit of swimming myself during his lesson. ON Friday I went into work since I knew we would be short of staff over the holiday weekend. I had to hurry home to get Allison to work while the boys were at the cemetery.   On Saturday morning, SCott and I were off running errands after dropping Allison off to work and Cookie to the kennel. I also had to pack up the van for our trip. Afterwards I took Scott  to pick him up a few pair of school uniform shorts so he could make it to the end of the year(he won't stop growing!).
We left Tom behind so he could catch up on some yard work. He cut the grass and fertilized and put down bug spray. Our house has been taken over by bugs, especially ants-I  found a few ant nests in the front door and behind the light switch in the foyer. Still haven't had time to put down the rest of the mulch or plant any summer flowers. Tom did decide to take down the kids swingset though. A rite of passage. Some of the wood was beginning to rot out and the bolts were all rusty-we have had it up for the past 15 yrs, so I guess it was time for it to go. The kids wish they could have had a treehouse. I told Tom to keep digging and I would mix up some cement for the inground pool! So far the empty spot is just grass seed.

Here we are enjoying our drinks outside at the Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. We learned that the term "bar" in the Taverns came about because the "bar tender" had wooden bars that he pulled down to lock up the alcohol, food and fruit at night to keep it from being stolen. And sure enough we spotted the "bars" when we peeked into the tavern-looks like a little gate that pulls down from above. Very cool. My Pimms drink is on the table in front.


So I will keep you posted on how my Dad is doing. Sending out a Big Happy 15th Birthday to Christopher Bozyk!