Happy St Nick' s Day and Remember Pearl Harbor!

  Another busy week. Our family enjoyed a visit from St Nick last week,  especially since he brought us all stockings full of great stuff! Including our yearly ornaments. Where would Tom be without his Star Trek collectables. They just put out their 25th Anniversary ornament! Yee Gads! We are getting old! More on that later. And Tom's lottery scratcher card won 20 bucks! So he donated the money to Allison and her National Honor society as they are collecting money to buy food and holiday gifts for our homeless shelter. Each student is expected to collect 40 bucks so she is halfway there.

  And Scott and I had a terrific scouting overnight experience Friday night on board the US Coast Guard ship The Taney. I did not realize that the Coast Guard is commissioned by the Navy in time of war and the TAney is the last surviving CG ship of WII. It was stationed in Hawaii and fought in Pearl Harbor. It was docked on Pier 6 next to a power plant in Hawaii and defended the power plant supplying the whole base. Now it is moored near the old Baltimore power plant on Pier 6! And we got to visit on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. We headed down with the troop on Friday night and had a pizza dinner made in the galley. Pretty good. Then we had a tour of the ship and played a scavenger hunt game as well as learned about how the ship operated and the difference between American and Japanese fighter planes(don't want to shoot down the wrong one!). It was lights out at 10pm after a quick run to our battle stations. Scott had the bridge(funny, not the engine room!).  Then we crawled into our 3 bed high bunks. Myself and one other mom showed up with two Boy Scout troops of about 50 boys and men. So we had the officer's bathrooms and a space all to ourselves. The boys were all cozy in the center of the ship. The only thing that woke us up at night was the noisy heating system as the pipes would bang clear throughout the ship. Then it was on deck at 6am after eggs and bacon breakfast. We learned about the engine room and the big guns that shot down Japanese planes. The ammo weighs 55lbs each. And the boys were assigned to Weapons and Damage control, so they had to learn how to shore up a hole if the ship took a hit. They had to work together to figure out how to use 5 pieces of wood to block off a "leaking" hatch. One team managed to figure it out before we all drowned! All in all, a spacious but tight ship. I don't think I will be signing up for the Coast Guard. I  especially don't think I can get used to the whistle call! We were done by 9am Saturday morning after hoisting the flag, and then headed to Starbucks. Both Scott and I had a really great time.  Don't think Tom would have liked sleeping in the 6ft long bunks with a 3ft clearance. I really felt bad for one of the Dads who was 6'5". Not sure how he did it. But there were a few adults that were creaking and moaning over their breakfast after crawling out of their sleeping bags.

We then had plenty of time to get some homework done during the day while Allison went off to work on Saturday afternoon. When she got home, we all headed out to dinner with our neighbors and then to our very favorite(and free) Army Jazz Band Christmas Concert at a local high school. They always put on such a terrific show.

Sunday morning was wet and rainy, and Tom had to get up early and fly out to LA. Hopefully he will be able to see Mike this week. I spent the day working with Scott on a map of the US study guide. He has to know all the states and their capitals for an upcoming test by memory. Yuck. Allison had to work in the evening, and then run over for her first Indoor Field Hockey game. She could not make the first game of the night, so she had a sub. So I dropped off her goalie gear at the gym. It was certainly a nasty night to be out driving. Allison was miserable by the time she got home(does not like driving in yucky weather).
And their team lost both games so not a good start to her season.

Allison has been so busy with school work, we had to miss the GS choir concerts at the local nursing homes during the week. It is just too hard to drive the beltway too after work and get to the nursing homes on time to sing. So we are saving up our time for the weekend events.

I did have a GS Leader meeting on Weds though and I had to drop off our Troops gift boxes for the Homeless shelter. I also brought a few goodies to share, so I had to heat up some horsdoevres before running off to the meeting. (right after work). And I had to miss the Mom's Ornament Exchange party. I never can seem to get to that party.

But I did manage to get to the Mother's Tea on Friday morning(opted out of aquatics class). I always enjoy this event. One of the school's families owns this restaurant where they host the Mother's Holiday Tea. Also happens to be our new favorite night time dinner restaurant. We ate there on Saturday night-quick service, good food, low cost. What more can you ask for. And I always enjoy a cup of coffee and some pastries at the Mother's Tea. And I just happened to win a door prize too! Plus we always get a little ornament. A nice way to start the day. I also had the opportunity to chat it up with the new Vice Principal(who loves Scott by the way and Disney and sadly just lost her husband to cancer). She was very sweet and we could have talked Disney all day. Especially since the new Test Track ride opened that day at Epcot and not to mention the new Fantasy Land at DisneyWorld. Just have to schedule another trip!

But I had to get going to my Foot doctor appointment(getting old stuff). Seems I developed plantar fasciitis this summer-too much hiking in sandals and my heel has been hurting since. Looks like I am getting fallen arches(getting old). So now I have to do the exercises and look for even more expensive shoes than my LLBeans. (no arch support). Or buy the expensive support and stick it in my expensive shoes. Getting old is expensive! And I so want to be done with sinus problems.

So we all survived another week. Allison is busy putting on presentations to classes on her current research project at the school and her Kindergartners are getting ready for the Holidays. Allison had to read them "The Night Before Christmas". They had it memorized.  They really love having her in the class. Scott loves her giving him a ride home after school. Allison is also building a toothpick bridge for a physics project. Tom loved it since he is the master of toothpick bridge building-Allison is sick of bridges. She is also busy playing Christmas piano music for us (on a half working electric keyboard).

Scott's Lego group is wrapping up the details and will have their robotic tournament next week. 

Here is Allison's Kindergarten class with Allison and the official teacher, Mrs Oltmanns reading The Night Before Christmas.

And here are some photos from our overnight on the Taney. The galley, and the troop on deck. Posing in front of the gun and the ammo. Sleeping quarters and the Officers's board room with our guide Chief Dan(right side), a marine who lives on the ship.

So we are winding down the year. Back to my Christmas cards. Look for them in the mail(just don't watch our Ravens anymore). Kathleen

Wow-Has it been two weeks already? The Holiday season is fast upon us!  Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We started out our Turkey day with a mini Turkey Trot in our neighborhood. Allison was up in front running with most of the high school boys track team that live in our neighborhood. Scott and I walked behind with Cookie. It was just such a nice day and a great way to start the holiday weekend. Especially since our neighborhood collected food for the local homeless shelter. And we did not have to prepare the big meal as our neighbors once again invited us to their house. Tom did cook an extra turkey on the grill which came in handy for leftover Seitz casserole that weekend. We even made an extra pan for the neighbors. So we did do a little bit of cooking! After our turkey dinner, we enjoyed the football game and called it a day. Both Allison and I had to work on Friday. Tom got brave and ventured out to the early shopping hours, starting at midnight at Best Buy. I don't think he found anything too interesting.  He also went out early Friday morning. He did manage to get us a very nice artificial tree though. We decided to opt out of the live tree this year since we are going to spend Christmas in Michigan. So we are slowly putting away the Turkey decorations and putting up the Christmas decorations. I also managed to get out and do a little shopping on my own-birthday returns and Christmas shopping.

Meanwhile, Scott couldn't wait to celebrate his birthday so he could get started on the new video games he had on his wish list.  So Friday night when Allison and I got home from work we took him out to dinner and then he opened up his gifts. Minus the cake. We decided to save that for his actual Birthday on Tuesday. He and Tom then spent the weekend putting up Christmas lights on the outside of the house. Tom skipped the lights on the roof line since we were not going to be home as much to enjoy them. A random neighbor stopped Allison in the driveway to report that she brings her family by our house every Christmas to enjoy our lights and she wanted to know what was going on. Why did we only have half the lights up this year! Tom said he would be happy to hand her the ladder! I told Tom he needs to keep up with the neighbor's expectations when it comes to decorating.

Allison and I got into the Christmas spirit early by singing with the GS choir at the Festival of the Christmas Trees-a hospital fund raiser for kids. We enjoy that performance especially since  we were on the smaller stage and just had fun singing Holiday songs for an hour. Afterwards Allison and I walked around looking at all the decorated trees and wreaths as well as the gingerbread houses. We also did some shopping at the booths. We had to get Allison to work though that evening, so it was a quick visit.

We also tried to catch some of the new movies that were released over Thanksgiving weekend. Allison and I enjoyed the Twilight movie, and I took Tom and Scott and our neighbors to the Lincoln movie. I wanted the family to see it before we attend a special event in December(more later). Allison had to work though, so she missed it. Tom did not want to see the movie, but ended up enjoying it in spite of himself. He also wanted to catch Skyfall-still on our To Do list. But 2 out of 3 of the top selling movies for the weekend isn't bad!

When Scott's actual Birthday rolled around, we celebrated with awesome cupcakes from Sam's Club. Tom is not a huge dessert guy, but he absolutely fell in love with these cupcakes. So did the rest of the family. I guess because they were more cake than frosting, like these new designer cupcakes are from the bakeries. And the price was good. About a buck a cupcake. They were so good, I picked up two more dozen to take in to work for our volunteer's birthday and for a fellow co worker. Work people loved them too. I actually had staff members following me around campus begging for cupcakes.

Good thing I was able to get to the gym on Friday after all these birthday and holiday desserts! I also survived my yearly physical, although they sent me for a CAT scan since I am still having problems with this sinus stuff.

On Friday night I joined Allison for her End of the Season Field Hockey party. Allison already earned her Varsity letter last year, but we were amazed to hear that the coach picked Allison as The Player of the Year. She chose Allison for her improvement in her goalie skills as well as her dedication to the team and hard work. So she got a nice trophy and I think the news blew the other girls away! The goalie coach wants Allison to try out for a college Field Hockey team, but that certainly is a big commitment.

This weekend the Holiday festivities continued as Allison and I participated in a Christmas Parade with the GS choir on Saturday. On Sunday we sang for an hour at the B and O RAilroad museum. Allison and I then enjoyed our train ride with Santa. I also had to squeeze in our family Christmas photo on Sunday morning. 

On Saturday Allison and I stopped off to pick up a gift card at a chinese restaurant for one of my coworkers. We decided to have lunch and afterwards we walked out to a radio station promotion for the RAvens. WE met McPhee, one of the players and got free autographs, Raven tshirts, lottery scratch off tickets and gift cards just for saying Hi!

The kids of course have also been busy with school. Allison just finished her first semester and is off running on the second semester. Scott's school runs a little later and he finished his first semester at Thanksgiving.  So lots of papers and tests to study for, and Allison had to give a power point presentation on her research project to a class at another high school. We also sent off another college application over Thanksgiving weekend.

Scott's school choir entertained the families at BArnes and Noble on Monday evening with a holiday concert. The school has a fund raiser event at the bookstore every year as well as a restaurant fund raiser so we all ate out at Pizzeria Uno afterwards. Even less cooking for me!

So Happy Birthday to Scott-he turned the big 13!  And a Special Happy Birthday to Sheila Bozyk too! (she is not 13).

Included are photos from the Christmas tree festival where Allison and I sang with the GS choir. I put in my favorite trees, including the Zombie tree and the Everything Balmore tree from my workplace, like Big Hair Hon, Natty Boh beer and Crabs, (that tree won a ribbon), gingerbread row houses in Baltimore with our Domino Sugar factory in the harbor, the Baltimore and Ohio RAilroad museum where Allison and I sang,  as well as Allison's Field Hockey award given to her by the coach and end of the season party. And Turkey Trot with Cookie in her pumpkin costume(not just for Halloween!). And you never know who or what is going to be in our Christmas parade! This year it was a Santa Tortoise!

This certainly was a couple of weeks of ups and downs. The downs included the outcome of the election. Our miserable state not only re elected Obama, but they passed same sex marriage, in state tuition for illegal immigrants and approved more casinos to be built. That's why we call them Baltimorons. Good luck to the rest of us. We were also sad to hear that our next door neighbor lost her nurse manager job(again). The hospital she worked for went bankrupt over medicare fraud and was bought out by the University of Maryland Medical System. They seem to be restructuring and bringing in their own people, so now she is out of a job. Just in time for the holidays. How lovely. And they are a bit stressed out over their daughter's college experiences that seem to involve a lot more drama than studying.

At least we had some good news. We have a new Spartan in the house! (That is if we want to pay $40K yearly for out of state tuition at MSU). Allison did however get accepted into Michigan State. It is just exciting to know she could follow in her parent's footsteps. And may still. It is just so far from home. We also still have our sights on Salisbury University on the Eastern shore. A very nice campus with a very good business school as well as an excellent teaching program. And not too far from home-about a 2 1/2 hr drive. So she still has to send in that application. And she also applied to the University of Maryland.  She just finished her 1st high school semester-she was happy to have made it through. She ended the week having to help out the substitute Kindergarten teacher with the kids since their primary teacher was out with strep throat. Apparently it is going around SCott's school. I am just glad he did not catch it(so far) or Allison. Instead, I had another sinus infection to fight and had to pick up some more antibiotics. I know we are going to have a tough winter when I develop sinus infections! Then again, I also like to celebrate my birthday with some new disease. Last year it was shingles.

I did manage to have some fun for my 49th birthday. I treated myself to a Bingo Night High School fundraiser. And I actually won two Bingos! However, one was a tie and I had to settle for a raffle ticket that did not win. But I did bring home a few longaberger serving baskets and a large stand. Plus a few bottles of wine and cheese in my gift pack. Allison came along to volunteer in the snack shop and earn some hours for the National Honor Society.  She had to sneak in some hours when she can since she has been busy working at the roller rink. She had to work a double shift last weekend-7 birthday parties! And this weekend she worked until midnight for a Girl Scout Up All Night event at the sports club. She said 470 girls participated. She said it was fun but a bit crazy.

 Last week Tom and I enjoyed a night out with dinner and then a fundraiser concert. The band was from New Jersey and played all the Beatles songs. I forgot how many songs the Beatles wrote and sang! It was 3 hours worth! I probably would have enjoyed it more if the music wasn't so loud and you could actually hear the lead singer. The concerts are held in a small stone barn converted to a chapel. It was just too much sound for such a small space. But we took our neighbor out with us(since his wife had just lost her job and was hospitalized over the weekend on top of everything else). He needed a bit of cheering up. 

And the staff at work bought me lunch and made me dessert. So that was fun especially since Tom was out of town in LA working all week. (Sorry he could not get together with you on this trip Mike, but he says he may be out there again in December).  Even Allison went out and bought me flowers and a card. So thank you also to everyone that sent cards and emails. Tom and I decided to invite a few neighbors over on Sunday to help celebrate(someone has to help us eat the big chocolate cake!). And it's an excuse for me to clean the house. Plus I think the neighbors need some cheering up.  Fortunately I am not hosting Thanksgiving dinner. We are getting together with our neighbors. But Tom and I will cook a few things too. We spent Saturday out shopping for both dinners. Tom could not believe Thanksgiving is this week. And we finally got Scott a haircut!

I would have liked to have visited with Tom's brother Mark who was in the DC area this past week, but we both had very busy schedules. Since Tom was out of town, I was busy working with SCott on homework assignments and tests since his semester is coming to an end as well. Plus I was busy with GS leader meetings and School Board meetings.

I did manage to get to an exercise class this past week. I enjoy the water aerobics classes on Friday morning at the Y. Last Friday though I went to a class on Therapeutic Exercise. Guess what-I learned that we all have to keep exercising until we're dead. Actually, that is what I usually tell my patients when they ask how long they have to do their exercises. I also learned that the best type of exercise is strengthening programs. Anything with resistance that keeps our muscles strong. Since we lose muscle mass as we age, strengthening exercises are most important. Even better than cardio or aerobics programs. Even better than just plain walking! That is why I like my classes at the Y. They usually toss in all 3 components in one workout-stretching, strengthening and aerobics. And I think it is going to be especially important to try and keep up with some type of exercise as the holidays roll in!

We certainly kept Tom  busy around the house  before he left for LA. We had lots more leaves to rake and the lawn needed cut. The cars all needed oil changes and the tires rotated. And he finally had some time to climb up on the roof near the kitchen and found that the flashing had blown off and that was where the leak in our kitchen came from during the hurricane. So that is patched.

And Scott helped me put away Halloween decorations in the attic this weekend, mainly so he could start getting down the Christmas decorations! I am still putting out the Thanksgiving decorations!

Last weekend was Girl Scout cookie booth sales. We set up a table on Friday night and Saturday afternoon at some local restaurants. I was just happy to have some girls show up to help me sell! They are so busy with other activities. Even Allison had to go to work. She is usually my back up. And we managed to put together 2 cases of cookies to donate to the US troops. I am hoping to get a donation from work so we can put together enough cases of cookies to deliver to the soldiers at the VA hospital in DC. But we have new management now at our retirement community, so things are getting a bit tight.

So I need to go clean something and run to the grocery store before our guests arrive this evening. We also plan on watching the Ravens play the Steelers tonight. Should be a good game. It certainly has been a strange year for our teams including the Ravens and Orioles, MSU and even our high school sports. Some good wins and some bad losses. Mostly I think Tom is going through withdrawal however since the NHL is on strike. That means more trips up to Hershey to watch the bears play(if we can get tickets!).

Gotta run!

 Allison as a Lego Block that wasn't. They cancelled Halloween!(at Scott's school)

So we survived the Frankenstorm known as Sandy just last week. We were pretty well prepared for anything. Our neighbor picked up some dry ice on Monday morning. Tom had extra propane for cooking on the grill(when it stopped raining).  And we had plenty of flashlights, lanterns and of course, batteries.

We were hurrying to get all the assignments done on the computer before the power went out. Including two of Allison's college applications. Schools were closed ahead of time on Monday. But Tom and I went off to work that day.

Both Tom and I were told to leave early from work on Monday, so I saw all my patients right through lunch and finished early. Both Tom and I left around 3pm when the wind kicked up. I spent the evening doing dishes and laundry, for when the power went out. Even though it rained and the wind howled for 2 days and nights, the power never went out. Shocking! It did flicker on and off quite a bit, and the house sounded like an old ship creaking. Sadly, I did notice some water on the kitchen floor and found that our ceiling was leaking! The wind was blowing so hard, the rain came in sideways and blew up under the shingles in the back of our house. The water came right into the ceiling of the kitchen!  Tom has been busy patching this week. But at least we kept our power on!

Not so for Scott's school. They did not get power until Friday. He missed 4 days of school, including their Halloween celebration and a Walk for the HOmeless on All Saints Day. Not to mention a whole lot of learning. Since most of the students had power however, the teachers sent out emails with requests for homework assignments. They had sent the kids home on the Friday before with all their books. So even though SCott was home, he kept busy doing homework(and a bit of computer gaming too). And we kept him busy decorating the house for Halloween on Weds. He did an awesome job and our house was one of the most decorated in the neighborhood(or so the trick or treaters told me).

On Halloween night, Scott went off trick or treating with our neighbor and his son. I was home passing out candy by myself as Allison had a make up Field Hockey game that night at 7pm in Annapolis. It was one of the county finals, so Tom went off to cheer on the team. Sadly the girls lost, so they ended their season. In some ways, Allison was glad to be done since she has been so busy and was happy to have a break.

She also missed out on the Kindergarten Halloween party at Scott's school with her internship. The teachers were all dressing up as lego blocks, so Allison spent part of her time off turning a box into a purple lego. Too bad. It was a very cute costume. But no way would she wear it to high school!

I also took her to a  presentation at our local community college to apply for an Honors program. They have an incredible program, but Allison is still pushing for a 4 year university. We also had a 3 hour girl scout choir practice Friday night as we prepare for the Christmas concerts that are up and coming in the next two months.

I was plenty pooped out on Friday as I volunteered to cook and serve breakfast to our Day CAre adults for our Dragon Boat team. AFterwards I helped out at work at the nursing home before heading over to the choir practice in the evening. And on Saturday I was up early dropping Cookie off for her yearly shearing. Her fur was getting so thick it was getting snarls, so she needed a complete shave. I think she feels much better though(and lighter). While she was busy getting shaved, I was busy undecorating the house from Halloween night. Tom and Scott joined me to cut the grass and rake leaves(Scott's favorite). Allison had to work that night. Before she left for work that evening, we both delivered some GS cookies to the neighbors. And we also decided to run out and see the new Disney movie "Wreck it Ralph"-very cute cartoon. The kids liked trying to spot all their favorite video game characters-and Tom and I tried to recall the names of the old video characters.

On Sunday, we were up early so Scott could serve the 9am mass, and then we sold GS cookies at the 1030 mass. Almost all my girls made it to the sale, so I had them sign a card for my Cookie mom. She had surgery for a brain tumor that needed removed on Thursday and was home by Saturday! We bought her a white orchid and Allison and I dropped it off with the card on Sunday evening. Allison had to work Sunday afternoon, after the cookie booth sale. At least she was off school on Monday and Tuesday this past week because of the end of her semester and Parent teacher conferences. Plus election day.

Tom lucked out and was able to get a day off of work due to the storm too. He kept the kids busy with computer and video games.

So we are back to our "normal" schedule. Until we had a second storm come through.........

It certainly has been a busy three weeks! For one, I was getting ready for a trip to Orlando, Florida with Tom. He was asked to present a paper at a conference last week at Disneyland. He wanted all of us to come along, but with school in session, it is a bit too hard to pull the kids out for a week. However, we did decide to take Scott with us since he would only be missing 4 days. Ha! With all the homework he had to make up, as well as working on homework/studying during the trip, you would have thought we had been gone for several months! Thank goodness for computer access. Right before we left for vacation, we had SCott's teacher conferences. Unfortunately, most of his teachers were completely booked by the time I checked the online computer access after getting home from work. We did manage to meet with two of his teachers who gave us assignments to work on while Scott was gone. And we decided to move Scott out of the 9th grade Algebra class and into the regular algebra program(he is in 7th grade). Tom and I just think the class moves way too fast, and we want Scott to have a strong grasp of the math rather than just race through the program. They tried to do the same to Allison, but she did just fine in her math classes by waiting one year. Of course, Scott is now complaining that the new math class is too slow and they are reviewing information he already knows, but I told him he could use a break in his homework load! And so can we! He should have no problem completing the 9th grade Algebra class next year in the 8th grade like Allison.

I wanted to leave for Florida on a Friday, but we decided to use the free day to pack, cut the lawn and meet with Scott's teachers. I also had to deliver food items to work that Allison sold as a fund raiser for her Field Hockey team. Tom and I had Friday off, as well as Scott since his school was having parent teacher conferences. It gave him time to start on his homework, as well as scheduling a computer play date with one of his classmates at our house. And in the afternoon, Tom and I enjoyed one of Allison's Field Hockey games, although they lost to a very tough team(but not by much!). Allison has been extremely busy. She also had two other games that week, piano lesson, attended the National Honor Society Induction ceremony for new members, and attended a GS council meeting, not to mention keeping up with school.

That was the main reason we had to leave Allison home. She had about the same schedule, plus work. We were very proud of her as she has never had to stay by herself for such a long time. She got herself to school, work and field hockey, plus took care of the house and the pets. We did get that dreaded phone call -at least we got a phone call-from Allison asking if she could host a sleepover pasta party for the entire Field Hockey team on their last game night! I think there is about 20 girls on the team. Tom and I just couldn't imagine all those girls in our house with no parental supervision. Allison then asked if they could just have the dinner at our house, but again, Tom and I did not want to be the parents responsible if something went wrong. And I was a bit curious why no one else on the team did not offer their house, even for a dinner. Or why the girls couldn't just go out for dinner. Tom and I were afraid that the girls on the team may have been trying to take advantage of Allison. Who knows, but we do know that Allison is a very responsible girl. And there was no party.

Meanwhile, the rest of us headed down to Florida. We drove since the airfare was so high. We arrived in Orlando on Sunday afternoon. After Tom checked into his conference, we toured our hotel. We stayed at the Disneyland Dolphin and Swan. We wandered over to the Disney Boardwalk next door and Scott took a quick swim in the nearby Disney Yacht and Beach resort(he had to try out the pirate slide). On Monday we all headed over to Epcot center to enjoy the Food and Wine festival. Each country had extra food booths but they charged around $3-$5 per sample. We decided to try food items we hadn't eaten before, but Tom and I did break down in Germany and had a bratwurst on a pretzel roll. Yum! Scott especially enjoyed his samples of escargot in France! And Tom and I shared a beer during the Air Supply concert in the evening(I'm all out of love). Plus we hit all the rides and Tom and Scott tried Mission Space for the first time. Tom said if the ride was any longer he would have barfed. We were sad though that the Test Drive ride was being remodeled and we missed CAptain EO(but we did catch that show in LA last year). WE also tried a new activity with Scott using a cell phone solving several Phineas and Ferb detective stories throughout the park-basically a scavenger hunt.

On Tuesday Tom was off to his conference and SCott and I visited Seaworld. We enjoyed feeding the dolphins and the sting rays and watching all 6 shamus splash and jump in their show. We just stayed half a day and then headed over to the Sea World water park. Thank goodness it was plenty warm down in Florida. We could have done without the humidity though.

Weds Scott and I took the transport boat over to Disney Studios. We have never been to that park so we thought we'd try something new. It is similar to the Disney CAlifornia Adventure in LA. They have some similar rides. Tom was busy presenting his paper at the conference. Scott and I had a wonderful time discovering this new park. I was just a bit annoyed that the Backlot tour was closed for remodeling. Now I know what they do on the off season. Scott loved the rock n roll Aerosmith roller coaster and the Twilight Tower of Terror. He said the ride was different than the one in LA. And I loved the Star Tours ride(they have 33 different videos so the ride is never the same I guess until ride number 34). And I wore my Neil Diamond tshirt and everyone kept asking me about the concert. 

Thursday we checked out of the hotel and traveled to Tampa to visit Busch Gardens. We have passes to Busch and Seaworld so we wanted to take advantage of our membership. I was looking forward to participating in the Howl O Scream haunted houses on Thursday night, but Tampa charges extra for their Halloween program after park hours. Tom did not feel like spending another hundred bucks especially since Scott gets terrified and won't even go through the haunted houses. So no haunted houses for me this year. Poop. But we had fun at the park. And Tom and SCott got to try out the brand new magnetic accelerated Cheetah Hunt roller coaster. Twice. And we watched the park vets work on a small antelope that was brought in from the field that was not doing well in their brand new clinic. We also enjoyed watching the elephants eat their way through a food obstacle course. Did not know elephants ate bananas and coconuts.

We stopped in for dinner at the Taco Bus highlighted on Food Network's show,  Diner, Dives and Drive ins. And then drove down to Venice to visit with Tom's parents. Friday we spent the day bike riding along the intercoastal bike path and enjoyed spotting the gopher tortoises. We rode down to Casperson Beach and were pleasantly surprised to see that the Red Tide had moved away. The week before most of the beaches were closed with lots of dead fish. But on Friday the water was warm, clear and Scott and I had a great time swimming and picking up shells and shark teeth. Tom enjoyed reading his book sitting on the new covered picnic tables. And we were all happy to see the new showers and facilities installed at the beach. They even embedded shark teeth in the new sidewalks! And Friday night we had dinner at Pops with Tom's parents at Nokomis beach. I also had time to visit the family at the local cemetery and drove by my parent's house for a quick check. I was just sad to hear that the dolphin Mooch died who used to beg for food scraps on the boats that traveled through the intercoastal waters near the Nokomis beach. Probably too many cheeseburgers.

Saturday we had to head home. Our drive was delayed through the Orlando area as the police shut down a section of I-4 to escort some debutant or politician-probably to Disney World. Tom would have loved to have made the entire drive in one day and night, but I needed a break, so we stopped along the way in North Carolina. By 3pm on Sunday, we were back in Baltimore. Plenty of time to unload the car and do even more laundry! Allison was off to GS choir practice. 

This week Scott has been busy catching up with his schoolwork. And Congratulations to Scott. He finally finished his Second Class Rank in Boy Scouts after his scout interview. He also had a great check up at the dentist! No cavaties. Allison had her first Regional Field Hockey game and they won. ON to the semifinals.

As you may have heard, we are having a small Noreaster/Hurricane/Tropical Storm next week. School has already been closed. I still kept my original plans of having the neighbors over for a small Halloween party Saturday night however. So on Friday I headed out for some party supplies. That was when it was announced that we were under a State of Emergency. The lines got a lot longer and everything was flying off the shelves including batteries, water and toilet paper!  The gas lines were long too. They sold out of ice and propane gas by Saturday afternoon. The kids were told to bring home all their books in case they get stuck for a week or so out of school.

Our party was a lot of fun on Saturday night. We enjoyed chili, brats and Koegel vienna hot dogs from Michigan. But the highlight of the evening were the games. I had a request to repeat the Pictionary game. Last year we had to guess Scary Movie titles. This year I had them guessing scary Musicals. Although some people think Musicals themselves are scary. It is hysterical watching people figure out how to draw titles of the Broadway shows. Most of my guests did not or could not believe that some of the shows were actually musicals-like Titanic. After recuperating from that activity, I had them play the Taboo game where they have to get their team to guess a word without using key phrases listed on the cards. That was even tougher than the pictionary game! Especially after a few beers or glasses of wine!  It was a lot of fun and easy to put together. I did not put up as many Halloween decorations though since the news is recommending everything be put away for the storm. At least the spiderwebs won't blow away. And I had less help since Scott and Tom went off on a 10 mile Boy Scout hike. And Allison had to work and then went off to her own Halloween party Saturday night. She also had an early start with her piano lesson in the morning, followed by volunteering at a kid's neighborhood Halloween parade passing out candy with her Field Hockey team.  She also put in some National Honor Society volunteer hours on Friday when we both volunteered at a Haunted Hay Ride. haunted house and served up Allison's head when she poked through a hole in a table after I pulled a cover off her. I guess we did  a pretty good job with our skit as they asked us back on Saturday night. But we had other plans. I did try to get my girl scouts to join me but no luck. They all were involved in band and had football games to attend.

I did pick up my girl scout cookies this week however. I also found out that my poor cookie mom who is going in for brain surgery next week got in a car accident last week. She broke her hand and was bruised and burned from the airbags. Poor baby. So now I am taking over cookie sales and distribution.

And our Sunday schedule was changed all around. Tom and I were supposed to enjoy a Temptations concert at Charlestown Sunday afternoon with our neighbors. It was cancelled due to the hurricane. Allison was called into work to help out with a Halloween party, so I took Scott and a neighbor friend and we all went rollerblading too. Afterwards I dropped Scott and his friend off at a neighborhood kids party(like I used to have). Sounds like the same challenges I have had-54 kids in one house and someone got hit in the head and needed stitches when a toy was thrown. Glad those days are over for me! We adults were actually invited, but Tom and I opted out. Glad we did.

I also attempted several times to early vote, but the wait was over 2 hours on SAturday and Sunday. They are closing the early polls after tomorrow. Guess I have to wait until Election DAy. 

So I hope we are not out of power for too many days. Tom and I will still have to work, if we can get there. They may even postpone Halloween. We had to run out to Home Depot to buy spray paint so Allison can turn herself into a Lego block for the Kindergartners Halloween party(when ever that will be). She seems to be enjoying her internship-she has been teaching the class lessons at least once a week. They especially enjoyed her lesson on the bat, Stella Luna. Well, we are off to fill out college applications before the power goes out from Frankenstorm!

Enjoy the photos-Halloween in Disney, The Dolphin Hotel at Disney, Air Supply at Epcot, Sea World, RocknRoll Rollercoaster by Aerosmith at Disney Studios and Cheetah Hunt rollercoaster at Busch Gardens. Casperson Beach(new facilities), Gopher Tortoise on the bike ride and Allison in the Haunted House.

It turned cold and rainy this weekend. We started off wearing shorts on Saturday morning and switched to sweatshirts and sweatpants by Saturday afternoon as the cold front came through.

Tom and Scott spent the weekend camping. They enjoyed a Boy Scout 100th anniversary camping weekend that brought out about 10,000. There were only 4 boys from Scott's troop and 3 adults, but the place was packed with cub scouts and boy scouts. They had to be bussed into the camping area, so Tom brought our big tent to put all the boys in together. Tom slept in a small hiking tent(but didn't actually sleep much). He said it was too noisy-coughing, snoring and crying.  And that was just the adults.  But it sounds like they had a great time with their activity packed day on Saturday. Scott had the opportunity to horseback ride, mountain bike, play games, make and shoot off a rocket, watch  police dogs in action as well as police robots, meet a race car driver, listen to stories about indians, look at a display about the Hubble telescope, play with Lego Robots, practice leatherworking and participate in a bridge ropes course. All in one day. And they finished the evening with a Battle of the Bands concert, fireworks and Laser light show. Even Tom spent his day trying out of few activities including bridge building out of paper and cardboard to support a human. Tom said by the evening, most of the boys were falling asleep and freezing cold, so they watched the fireworks and laser light show from the tent. And Scott finished off his last 1st class requirement on Friday night-telling direction at night by looking for the north star.

Tom and Scott had to rush off after work on school on Friday, so Tom had the car packed up on Friday morning. I had to run and get SCott's scout pants from the dry cleaners on Friday morning so he would have some long pants to keep him warm. I am glad I did. It sure got cold. I also managed to get to my swim aerobics class on Friday morning and cut the lawn. I would have enjoyed watching all of Allison's field hockey game on Friday afternoon, but I had to leave at the half time to pick up Scott so he would be dressed and ready  when Tom got home to go camping. I managed to watch the first half of Allison's game and it was very exciting. They played a tough school and managed to win!

When Allison got home, we both went out for Mexican food and then just passed out on the couch watching Harry Potter. (AFter I walked the dog and had Allison try to sell a few more boxes of Girl Scout cookies). Our pre sales ended this weekend. We are saving up for a trip to Michigan next summer(with a stop over at Cedar Point)!

Allison's team lost their Field Hockey game to a fairly easy team on Monday, so they were happy to get a win on Friday. Just 4 more games left in the season! 

Scott is busy with his school's Lego club which now meets twice a week, as well as choir which meets in the morning before school. He also had a boy scout meeting on Tuesday to attend. Allison and I were busy with the start of our Girl SCout choir season. We attended our first practice this Sunday afternoon. I have also been keeping Allison busy with filling out college applications. I just wish all the schools asked for the same essay. At least Allison has been working on essay writing in her English class. So far we have all her paperwork/computerwork filled out, money sent for transcripts and SAT scores and teacher/counselor recommendations requested. Now she just has to fill out essays. And thank goodness her applications are not all due on the same day! Her time is limited as well, especially now. She put in a two session shift at the skate center, working from noon until 1030pm on Saturday. (More spending money for Europe next summer).

Before she left for work, she had a piano lesson. And we both took Cookie up to church for the Blessing of the Animals on the Feast of St Francis. It was fun seeing how all the dogs interacted during the prayer service. And I was even recruited to complete a reading and the responsorial psalm.

I had high hopes of getting a ton of activities done over the weekend, but spent most of my time at the hair salon trying to get some new highlights put in(getting ready for Florida!). So I had to hurry up the rest of my chores including some shrub trimming, grocery shopping, banking for girl scouts and tried to get my appraisal letter for my new ring(the jeweler never sent it). I tried to even get Cookie a trim, but the dog salon was all filled. So I broke down and trimmed Cookie's nails and fur around her eyes so she can see! I also started the work week off by attending my Girl Scout Leader meeting.

Now we are getting ready for our trip to Florida. I don't like pulling Scott out of school, but he is only missing 4 days. Allison is staying home on her own. She is just too busy to miss anything. We also decided to switch SCott's math teacher. We do not like when the school pushes the kids so far ahead. If Scott stays on this track, he would finish Algebra 1 and Geometry before high school. We prefer he just finish Algebra 1 by 8th grade. So he is going into Allison's old math class when we get back from Florida. What a relief that will be.

 Here is a shot of cookie getting blessed by Fr Warren!

 

This certainly has been a nice first full week of fall. And the leaves on the trees have started turning. I am not ready.  Saturday was the Mt Hebron High School Homecoming. I started the morning with the kids at the neighborhood parade. It actually starts up at Scott's school, so we love going to the beginning. Especially since the kids on the floats love to throw candy! And since there are not a whole lot of kids at the start of the parade, SCott usually makes out quite well. It is better than Halloween! And he has started a tradition of following the parade up to the high school on his bike so he can still collect the goodies.  He came home with a small backpack full of candy! He was in heaven.
Then he was off studying for his math test.

Tom, Allison and I decided to watch the Homecoming football game. Allison has not yet seen a football game at her school and we all thought she should see at least one before she graduates next year. I realized I had never seen a high school football game either. I was always too busy playing basketball in high school and the seasons overlap. So we headed up to the school in the afternoon and enjoyed Chick Fil A sandwiches and a very exciting game. Mt Hebron usually has a losing team in football, but this seems to be their year. So far the boys are undefeated, and they played an exciting game on Saturday, winning 29 -0. And Allison was happy to hear that the Seniors came in first for Spirit Week. She had fun dressing up each day last week for a different theme -costume day, Spirit day, wacky tacky day. She even missed her internship so she could attend the pep rally on Friday afternoon. She also finished selling pizzas for her Field Hockey fund raiser. Now back to cookie sales.

And she had her own games to worry about. Her Field Hockey team played twice last week. The girls won both games, but more excitedly they beat the number one rated County team on Friday! And Tom was off work so he was able to go see the game.   She also received her official letter approving her Girl Scout Gold Award program! More work for her. At least she had some time to celebrate by attending the Homecoming dance. We had picked up a great dress last year and she still did not have a chance to wear it. So she was looking forward to going to the dance, but could not find anyone to go with her. Most of her friends were going as couples. I checked with our neighbor's daughter and Allison ended up tagging along with that group of sophomore girls. She said she ran into a group of seniors while she was there though and had a lot of fun dancing with all of them.

She also had Weds. off school(more jewish holidays). So she spent the morning at her internship, and I took her to the University of Maryland for a college tour in the afternoon. I don't know who had more fun-Allison or myself. Uof MD reminds me of MSU in a way. Both schools started out as agricultural schools and have been around for over 100 years. The campus is huge and surprisingly hilly. Lots of trees and squirrels. We had a 2 hour walking tour of the campus and even caught a flash mob dance on the main green. We visited a dorm room, the athletic fields and stadium and most of the main buildings that house the different programs. And we had to rub the mascot's nose for good luck. Yes it is a turtle or Terrapin(Maryland native turtle) and he is good luck for all the students. We also paid homage to a few graduates including Jim Henson of the Muppets, the UnderArmour president and the CEO of the Washington Redskins. Not sure if Allison would be as interested in such a large, competitive school. Of course the business school is very popular and has limited enrollment. But we are working on an application. And we did enjoy milkshakes at the school dairy which reminded me of State.

While Allison was off dancing Saturday night, Tom and I headed over to our favorite wine store in Old Ellicott City to watch one of our favorite college movies-Monty Python and the Holy Grail -the last outdoor movie of the season. We picked up Boston Market and a bottle of wine and enjoyed a cool night out repeating all the favorite movie lines. We are definitely getting old-Tom fell asleep at the end of the movie. He had spent all his free time on Saturday spraying the siding on the whole house with an anti moss/algae/mold spray. We get enough rain and heat here to grow plants on the side of the house! So he basically powerwashed the entire house with lots of moving and climbing our big ladders as the siding is in difficult to reach places. While he was cleaning, I was busy trimming the shrubs and raking leaves(that time of year again). We never did get to cutting the lawn until Sunday, and we still have shrubs to trim.   I broke down and put up a few outside Halloween decorations but I am certainly not  the first in the neighborhood. And by the time I got around to trimming shrubs on Sunday, it had started to rain/tstorm.

Since I took Allison on the college tour on Weds I had to work a half day on Friday. I would have just taken the whole day off on Weds, but I had to teach a class on low vision at work to the residents in the morning. I did get to my swim class again on Friday morning though, and still had time to go out to lunch with TOm since it was his day off. We like to try new places when we get a chance, so we headed to a small diner near my place of work. We decided it was ok, a bit pricey for the amount of food that you get though so don't think we will be rushing back.

(Here are a few shots of the Homecoming parade-Scott and his friend Jack are busy collecting candy. Also University of Maryland Terrapins-good luck turtle and Jim Henson and frog(notice the connection? Also a shot of the college green-not exactly the Red Cedar river, but a pretty good substitute. As Allison says, at least the fountain isn't shut down in the summer due to high pollution levels. )  (Allison enjoys a milkshake at Uof MD and off to the homecoming dance)






The kids had a busy week with extra programs to fit in. Scott started his Lego club in school. Tom would like to help coach, but can't get to the meetings at 3:30-right after school. Last year he took the kids to the competition since the teacher in charge was out with a broken foot. Scott also had altar serving yearly training. And Scott has been working hard at earning his next level in boy scouts to achieve 1st class rank. He just has one more requirement to go-telling directions at night using the stars. But every night they meet has been cloudy, so he has not been able to get to that requirement. But he did memorize what he needed for a safe boat trip. He also spent the weekend baking a loaf of bread from scratch. His school had the ingredients donated to provide a loaf of bread to the homeless-one loaf per family. So he baked a loaf of bread and also treated us to cinnamon rolls.

I also scheduled a girl scout meeting on Thursday night to see what the girls would like to do this year-their last year as scouts. I decided to just have a bonfire and make s'mores since we had lots of marshmallows and chocolate left over from the boy scout camping weekend and we had some extra wood that needed to be burned. However, it was very warm and 100% humidity so I was sweating around the fire. And then we had a thunderstorm. At least our meeting turned out well. I still think it is funny that the girls drive themselves to the meetings now rather than having their parents drop them off. 

Thanks for all of the family members and friends that participated in our Walk Around the World contest at my work. I will turn in our miles this coming week.