So I am slowly adjusting to my blood pressure med. Unfortunately, I still have some symptoms and I get very tired. Not fun. Especially since I always have so much to do.

The kids were off on MOnday for President's Day. Allison took Scott to a birthday party at Dave and Busters. While he played video games, she shopped in the outlet mall. Tom decided to play hooky and join her. They stopped into Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and the service was so bad, they gave them free meals. Afterwards, Allison took Scott to his Fitness Class at the YMCA.

I was busy at work. Since my blood pressure is stable, the doctor said I should go to work. Thank goodness for a change that I have to sit and type my notes. It gives me a break during the day. But it has been extremely busy all of a sudden, and I have been running to several different clinics on campus. It has been so busy, I volunteered to work extra on Saturday. I thought it would keep me busy while Allison was off working a double shift at the rollerblade rink, and Tom and Scott were off to a Boy Scout event.

Scott volunteered to help out with Tom at a yearly event, The Klondike Derby. The cub scouts and boy scouts follow a trail with skill stations along the way to complete like first aid, fire building, compass use, etc.  Usually it his held in January, but they had freezing rain and rescheduled. So instead we had non freezing rain all day. Scott and Tom were coated in mud. What fun for my laundry! Scott's troop ran a rope bridge that the boys had to cross(without falling off). Mainly Scott was earning some volunteer hours towards his First Class Rank. He was also voted Patrol Leader, so he has a Leadership class scheduled for next SAturday to help him get ready for his 4 month job. I then had him spend his Sunday afternoon working on one of his Eagle badges, Personal Fitness. He has to keep a 12 week journal of an exercise routine, so that is why he is going to swim and fitness classes at the Y. Wish I could join him-maybe when I stop feeling short of breath and dizzy!

SCott also kept busy on the end of semester projects. He just finished a presentation on chameleons in science-all about adaptations. And another presentation on deforestation in Social Studies. He was so busy turning in projects and studying for tests that we had to skip out on his boy scout meeting this past week.

I was busy with my girl scouts. I had the girls come over for dinner on Friday night and practice their craft project for our upcoming Mall event next weekend. This is the girls last time to stay up all night and socialize and help out the junior scouts with badges and projects in our Up All Night at the Columbia Mall. Years ago my girls signed up to run a badge table, but these days they spend time making crafts. The last two years they made keychains, so this year we moved on to weaving "Gods Eyes". So they practiced making several projects and then spent the evening watching movies. They wore me out and I ended up going to bed before they all left!  I had spent the day at my doctor appointment, took Cookie to the vet for more shots, and then cleaned the house and went grocery shopping. That was enough for me!

Sunday has been a bit more quiet. Allison is off to her Field Hockey games. Scott served mass this morning and we brought home a few to-go boxes of pancake breakfasts.  I plan on spending the rest of the night watching The Walking Dead and the Oscars. What a combo! I can't stay up too late. I need my rest to face my new boss tomorrow. At least I had an opportunity to talk to her when she showed up on Saturday to get caught up herself. I am trying to explain the purpose of a Home Safety Assessment to her(she's a Speech Therapist). She's a very nice woman, but doesn't have much experience with our out patient department.

A Wonderful Big Happy Birthday goes out to Caroline and Clayton Bozyk as they celebrated their 17th Birthdays this past week! Happy Birthday you two!

I found a new and creative way to spend Valentine's Day with someone you love. Tom sat with me in the emergency room at our local hospital monitoring my blood pressure and heart rate. Very romantic.

Last weekend during a dentist office visit I discovered that my blood pressure had shot up. I went to the doctor on Monday morning before work for a quick check up and my doctor decided to start me on blood pressure medicine. The medication was ready for pick up that night, but I decided to wait and take it when I would be off work on Friday. It had several possible side effects and warned that I shouldn't drive until I knew how it would react. Since I wasn't having any symptoms at the time, I thought I could make it to Thursday night before starting the medication. I made it to Thursday afternoon.

I was feeling dizzy and sick to my stomach and had the staff take my blood pressure. It was plenty high enough, so I decided to make a break for it and head home to my medication rather than try to get to our health clinic on campus. I took the medicine at home and called the paramedics to check me out. They said I looked like someone with high blood pressure and recommended a nap. I asked Tom to take me to the hospital that night however since I still wasn't feeling very well. Tom was certainly brave hanging out in the ER waiting room for 3 hours, watching the Carnival cruise ship dock and unload while people kept coming in the ER and coughing their heads off. They all got rooms. I felt like one of the cruise ship passengers. Tom and I  spent all 3 hours in the waiting room. It is not very easy to sleep on an aluminum/plastic chair. But everything seemed fine with my blood work and EKG, so they sent us home.

On Friday the kids were off school and Tom was off work. He and I were both busy trying to pack SCott up for his boy scout camping weekend. Tom ran off with him in the morning to buy new hiking boots. Allison was off to piano lesson. One of SCott's classmates also went camping and his mom came along so she gave Scott a ride to and from the boy scout camp(very helpful). Sounds like Scott had a great time with his new troop, but he is pretty tired from all the work they accomplished. He was working on 4 different badges, including a cooking badge. So he was up at 6am making pancakes for all the scouts!At least some of the program was held indoors in cabins since it got very cold on Saturday night. They slept in tents outside however, but they put them up under pavilions which kept the rain/slush/snow off and that kept the boys dry and much happier! Nothing worse than camping in the rain! I was also glad I did not sign up to help out. I spent most of the weekend in bed. And Tom just doesn't do cold night camping if he can avoid it. Now Scott has been chosen to be a patrol leader which will move him along in his boy scout rank. And Tom can help him out as the patrol coach.

Good thing Scott and Allison don't have school on Monday either. But they will still be staying busy. Allison had to work a couple of nights at the rink this weekend. At least she had Sunday to herself, and they cancelled Field Hockey for the holiday weekend. She is going to help me out by taking Scott to a birthday party at Dave and Busters on Monday while she shops. And then she is going to take him to his Fitness class at the Y.

It certainly is wonderful having another helper who can drive! While Tom and I were at the hospital, Allison took Scott to his swim lesson at the Y and joined one of her girlfriends in the free swim lanes as well. She had a good time. Wish I could have joined them.

I had hoped to make up for our lost Valentine's Day by going to see the Broadway play Flashdance with Tom. And even perhaps have dinner afterwards downtown. Unfortunately, I was having some weird side effects to the blood pressure medication and spent Sunday morning in the urgent care clinic. The recommendation was to stay on the medicine and go to the hospital if things got worse. I felt better about having a second look over before I return to work on Monday. My doctor's office is closed, so I would not have a chance to talk to anyone before going back to work, except maybe at the ER again(way too expensive).  We ended up giving our Flashdance tickets to the neighbors since Allison was too busy studying and Tom did not want to go without me, especially since I was the one who really wanted to see it. Maybe next time.I did get a cute valentine bracelet and some movie tickets from Tom. I picked up Super Bowl shirts for the whole family. Plus I got the kids popcorn buckets with microwave popcorn since we have all given up dessert for lent.

So I will head back to work on Monday. At least I don't have to get up early to take SCott to school. I asked the doctors and nurses what could have caused my blood pressure to shoot up so high so fast. The usual answer is stress! Gee, where have I heard that before? I am sure it has nothing to do with the two new supervisors we have at work! And yes, genetics plays a role in it too. This is God's way of saying "You are getting old!"  I did stop into work for a few hours on SAturday afternoon to catch up on some documentation that I missed when I ran out the door on Thursday. I was out with Allison anyway since we stopped into the Nature Center so she could show off her computer power point presentation about the bird program for Girl SCouts. She may present the program at our local library first as a school project. Good practice.

We did manage to celebrate FAt Tuesday. Happy Packi Day! (Packi=big, fat, jelly filled donuts or cream filled).  I was even more excited to find a Detroit made Sanders Chocolate Bumpy Cake at our local grocery store. It was my last hurrah before lent! And no, my blood pressure was high before the chocolate cake! And I think Allison was pleasantly surprised to have received so many cute Valentines from her Kindergarten class. She even got gift cards for Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks as well as boxes of chocolates. What a great gig! She also passed out cards of her own since I had so many leftover from their younger days. SCott's 7th grade class got a  cookie and out of uniform day.

I also had to go with Allison to the dentist for a panoramic xray to check on her wisdom teeth last week. I am getting tired of all the doctor/dentist appointments, but that is life! I will be back to the doctor on Friday for a blood pressure check and then Cookie needs more shots at the vet. What fun.

So we will try to have a quieter week(I hope). Kathleen

Just in case you forgot who won the SuperBowl-here's a little reminder! Even the dogs in Baltimore know how to play football!  Who let the Dogs Out!  Woof  Woof Woof Woof Woof



This has certainly been a much quieter weekend than we had last weekend. We could sure use it. We've all been a bit run down. Scott was so run down, he caught a bad cold and spent a day at home working on school projects. He had a yearly medical check up scheduled on Weds, so they checked him for strep throat before they would give him his vaccinations. Since it was negative, I had to run him back to the doctor's office on Friday to get his dose of vaccinations and the flu shot like his sister. He also had his boy scout medical form filled out for summer camp, as well as finishing a requirement for his Personal Fitness badge. 


Scott stayed home on Tuesday because he wasn't feeling well, but most of Maryland stayed home to attend the Raven's Victory parade. They filled up the seats and the football field at our M& T stadium. Over 100,000 people to cheer on the Ravens and view the trophy.   And there were not very many people around on Monday either as people were traveling back to Maryland from the Super Bowl. I understand my niece Sarah was on the field in front of the stage for Beyonce's show as her LSU sorority was invited down to be in the audience.

Allison was one of the only students in most of her classes as the Seniors decided to take advantage of the situation and take a Senior skip day(or two). It hurt most of them in the end as the teachers kept to their testing schedules. Allison said they spent most of the two days watching television though. They even set up a screen in the cafeteria to watch the parade during lunch. I think our family was one of the few people that actually went to work or school! We really did not think hanging out downtown looked like much fun with all the crowds and traffic. At least it was an easy commute!

Scott did not make it to too many of his activities last week including his swim lesson or his boy scout meeting. He did make it to his first Fitness class at the Y after school on Monday though. And he really was looking forward to going to school since his science class is busy making underwater robots. I was supposed to go into school on Friday morning and help build the robots. I was scheduled to help with soldering, however we had a school delay due to ice and rain in the morning. At least we did not have a repeat of the snowicane that Boston and the New Englanders had this past weekend. It was just like the snow we had 3 years ago. My arms are still hurting from digging out over 3ft of snow(38 inches).

So on Friday I missed soldering, but I made it to my dentist appointment to get a referral to an endodontist. I also got Scott to his doctor appointment for his shots and the dog to her vet appointment for shots as well. Meanwhile Tom was at SCott's school presenting the science fair program to the kids. At one point we were all at the school since Allison was doing her internship, I was picking up Scott, Scott was busy learning and Tom was busy presenting! I also had to squeeze in a GS Leader meeting on Weds night. I found out that one of the GS moms broke her wrist on Saturday night at our rollerskating/blading event but she did not tell anyone when she fell. I sure hate being a First Aider!

So the weekend was full of Allison working and Scott doing homework and projects, me filling out paperwork for summer camps and rebates and renewing dog licenses and a quick GS choir rehearsal on Sunday. Overall a much more relaxing weekend. And I managed to pick up a few Super Bowl tshirts for upcoming Valentine presents.

A Big Happy Birthday goes out to our nephew Eric! Is there life after 21?  Here's looking for another relaxing week! I doubt it. Kathleen 

WOW! It certainly was a big weekend for those of us living in Baltimore! Did you happen to hear that the RAVENS WON THE SUPERBOWL!!! Baltimore is having one big party! This is our second win and Tom and I and the family were around to enjoy both events. Guess we picked the right outfits for our Christmas photo this year. Naturally we hosted the Super Bowl party. I am just glad Tom was in town for the festivities this year. We had about 20 people over to the house Sunday night. Neighbors brought all their good luck charms including a stuffed Raven and purple flamingo, stop lights and blankets and Raven hats. The mojo seemed to work but it certainly was an intense game, especially in the last quarter. We even put down wagers on each quarter and a few neighbors walked out with a few more bucks in their pockets(just not us). And of course there was plenty of food. Tom and I had started cooking and cleaning on Friday. Chili and Brats were the hit of the night. Along with chicken wings of course. And so the Ravens won like they usually do-not necessarily pretty, but they came out on top in the end with some amazing plays and dumb luck. Apparently there is supposed to be a parade downtown on Tuesday, but some of us will be working. And speaking of work, and school-it was pretty tough getting up this morning.

Especially since the football game was not the only highlight of the weekend. On Saturday I took Scott and his friend Sammy skiing for the day. I was going to take them skiing for Scout Day but we could not get enough people signed up for the group ticket price. Since I already promised the ski day, I decided to take them myself. We drove up to Pennsylvania and had a great afternoon skiing, even though it was very cold. We have been having snow and ice on and off all week and the kids keep getting out of school early or going in late. It was plenty cold to make snow at the ski hill, but it is not fun having it blow in your face while coming down the mountain. Thank goodness for goggles. But it did keep you from sliding down the hill on the ice patches. Scott and Sammy were all over the mountain, including the black diamond and double black diamond hills. I stayed happy on the beginner and intermediate hills until it was time to go. And of course, just like last year I had to drive home through a snow storm. I had to drop Scott's friend off and almost slid into their mailbox turning into the driveway. At least I got us home in one piece. I was up late worrying about Allison and Tom.

They had planned on going to a Hershey Bears hockey game. Tom found some tickets online and had to meet the guy selling the tickets in downtown Hershey. Turns out Tom decided to skip the outing since it was snowing pretty hard Saturday night and he and Allison went to dinner and a movie instead. Of course they went to see a movie I wanted to go to, and had planned on seeing with Allison this week. It is a cute looking Zombie movie where the guy comes back to life called Warm Bodies. Tom was not interested and it turns out he loved the movie. Figures. I do have good taste in movies.

Instead of the movie, I ended up seeing the Broadway play Beauty and the Beast with my neighbor Gloria. And naturally the play was on Sunday afternoon. Can I squeeze anymore activities into one weekend? Yes I can. I had to take Allison to the doctor on Friday afternoon for her yearly check up. Poor thing was stuck with the flu shot, as well as her second Hepatitis and Meningitis injections. Then we went out to dinner before Allison had to go to work. At least she was able to take off work on both Saturday and Sunday. That way she had time to study and recuperate from all her shots!

So a busy weekend to end a busy week. I had to drop off the cleaning supplies at a storage unit after work that we collected from our Girl Scout rollerskating event last weekend. I also had a rescheduled Girl Scout meeting for our upcoming Up All Night event at the mall on Monday night. My girls are manning an arts and crafts table that night for junior girl scouts. Then Tom had to go to the parent's meeting for boy scouts. And we both escorted Scott to his Boy Scout meeting last Weds as he was taking Cookie along to complete his Dog Care badge. He had to demonstrate a few of Cookies tricks, along with wrapping a bandage on her foot and placing a muzzle on her mouth. She was a very good dog model and the Scout co leader was very impressed. Scott's new troop is run by a husband/wife team and Mrs Galloway is the counselor for the Dog Care badge. Scott finished working on this badge almost two years ago but could not find a counselor to review his work. Until now. Congrats Scott! He was also busy with his swim lesson last week and will start a Fitness class at the Y next week to use towards his Personal Fitness badge.

  I also had to put together a few salads for the Teacher Appreciation luncheon on Weds morning. Allison said the teachers couldn't get enough of my taco salads. I just love that Allison is always at the school-she was able to pick up my bowls, as well as her brother after school let out.  We are certainly going to miss her this Fall when she goes off to college!

We have SCott signed up for almost every Eagle required badge at the next camping weekend in February. Scott worked on a presentation for his Communication badge too this weekend. He is going to discuss highlights of the upcoming summer camp to his new troop when he goes camping in a few weeks. Scott is the only scout to have attended this camp-Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania. So he made a power point presentation. And Tom even picked himself a Scout shirt and patches. So I guess we are official members now. Including the dog.

So it looks like we only have 6 more weeks of Winter according to the Ground Hog last Saturday. The kids are still hoping for some real snow days, not just delays.

Enjoy our Raven Fan Photos and Cookie goes to Scouts!

What a busy week! Tom was busy freezing in Chicago at a class. We were busy freezing here in Baltimore. We finally got some snow.  And ice. The kids had a late start to school on Thursday and were sent home early due to an incoming snow storm last Friday.

It slowed things down at the airport for Tom to return to Baltimore. And our entire Friday schedule was cancelled. I had planned on taking Scott to the doctor for his yearly physical, but I did not feel like fighting the rush hour traffic in a snow storm. So he is rescheduled. They also cancelled his Boy Scout event on Saturday at a local state park. They just can't get all the roads plowed in time. The boy scouts run this event each year for cub scouts. Scott was volunteering to get his service hours completed for rank requirements. They rescheduled for the end of February. They work on scout skills like fire building and first aid and the cub scouts hike from station to station. One year that Scott participated we had to hike through 2 feet of snow pulling our wagon(supposed to be a sled like the Klondike) through the woods, up and down hills and over fallen trees. That was quite the experience. He prefers running the event and staying in one place.

I also had a Girl Scout meeting that was cancelled and rescheduled. Same problem-can't get the streets plowed at the GS camp fast enough and it snowed from 2-9pm.  So I will have another busy week ahead of me trying to catch up with the cancelled events. At least Allison had plenty of time to finish her homework for the weekend since she got out of school so early and did not have to go to her internship as SCott's school closed early too. She was also home with Scott on MLK day Monday and she had Tuesday off as well. It gave her lots of time to help out with her internship and work on her Girl Scout Gold Award project. Plus she had to work Monday afternoon since school was out and the rollerskating rink was open. It was a good thing she had some extra free time because she was plenty busy this past weekend. Not only was she working as a skate guard, but we ran our Girl Scout rollerblading event at the rink on Saturday and Sunday. We ended up with a late night event on Saturday for the first time due to a scheduling error, so we had a lot less girls participating. Even so, it was still a crazy night as young girls kept falling down and banging their heads, elbows and wrists. One girl was taken to the hospital as she twisted and banged her knee so badly she couldn't walk. And I was the First Aider! I just kept passing out bags of ice. I had 12 injured girls. Allison was out on the floor the whole evening, but a few of my scouts were helping to check in the girls. We also collect cleaning supplies as a service project, so my van is full of buckets and smells great since I have to drop it all off. And we got to do it all again on Sunday night! Although it was a shorter event, and Allison  helped out with the scouts after she finished her work session. And then she had to leave for Field Hockey! She really got a work out as the other team was so very good and took a lot of shots on her. Sadly they lost.

I managed to get into a heated discussion with our new Girl Scout Council Leader. She has an overly anxious daughter that was injured while skating and the mom had an issue with stopping by the First Aid Station. She informed me her daughter was a germaphobe and couldn't go anywhere near our First Aid station, although they sat in the cafeteria where people were trying to eat while I filled out the form and passed out an ice bag. I guess she didn't read the part of our law that says "Be a Sister to Every Girl Scout"

 I have also been busy running around looking for everything purple! If you are not aware, our Ravens play in the Super Bowl this coming weekend. Don't know if they'll win, it is just fun trying! I did buy the family the AFC Champion tshirts though.  Wouldn't you know we offered to host the super bowl party. What a surprise! Guess I will be busy cleaning and cooking next week. And I spent most of Friday doing my grocery shopping(but not all of it).

I was also trying to be in two places at once last week since Tom was out of town.  Allison and I were invited to dinner from her GS Shadow Day mentor. We met her at an italian restaurant in Olde Ellicott City. First Allison had to drop Scott off to a laser tag event with the boy scouts. I met Allison at the restaurant and we had a very nice dinner(which Jeannette paid for) and we even got gifts from her trip to Europe last summer. Allison got a purse from Paris and I got tea and chocolates from London. And then I had to run and pick up Scott, except the boy scouts finished early and some Dad dropped Scott off at the house. Except Scott didn't have a key and couldn't remember our pass code for the garage door, so he hung out at the neighbor's house until I got home. I found out he'd already been dropped off after I ran to pick him up! Too crazy. Next week Scott will be taking Cookie to scouts to show off her skills for his Dog CAre badge. He even gave her a bath this weekend so she'd look her best when he wraps a bandage around her foot and ties a muzzle around her mouth for the demo!

On Thursday I took SCott to his swim lesson. He will also be starting a gym class at the Y in two weeks to help him towards his personal fitness badge.  Scott was also busy pet sitting for our neighbors this weekend when they went off to the Poconos for a ski trip. I am glad we can keep him busy!

Here are the Girl Scouts at the Rollerblade rink doing the Hokey Pokey on skates! (Allison is in the center). She had all the Girl Scouts recite the law and even taught

  

Here is Allison and her birdhouse project for Girl Scouts. And Cookie is snuggling with her best friend!



What an Unbelievable Football Game! There is a lot of celebrating going on in Baltimore and a lot of Purple Pride as the Ravens beat the Patriots and head to the Super Bowl! We enjoyed the game with our neighbors Sunday night. We were invited over to several homes to watch the game with our neighbors, but we decided to stay close to home since we had to drop Allison off to work. She was also supposed to play Field Hockey Sunday night, but no one was showing up so they cancelled the games. They rescheduled the games for the end of the season. They already cancelled the games on Super Bowl Sunday! But Allison still has to work, so she is not too happy.


What a nice ending to a nice weekend. We finally got some sunshine and warmer weather after a rainy week. We just missed out on a small snowstorm. We have some snow moving in next week. The kids keep hoping for a few snow days this year. I hope it stays a bit on the cold side because my daffodils started popping up!

The kids certainly had an intense week of studying and tests. Allison seemed to sail through her midterms. Scott had his own tests and special projects to squeeze in. Tom had to give him a crash course in making a power point presentation on the computer. He had to do a presentation on vacationing in Canada. He also had swim lessons, but they were cut short when the pool was contaminated. And he assisted with a cub scout open house with his new boy scout troop. He also finally got a merit badge counselor to start looking over his dog care badge. Now he has to schedule time to bring Cookie in and show off her skills(ie sit).

And both kids only had a half day on Friday, so I thought Scott could use a free day. I picked Scott and his friend Sammy up from school and we went out to lunch. That evening I took the boys to the Y so they could swim. They were supposed to have a Pool Party, but it turned out to be just an Open House, so no fun games in the pool that night. Afterwards we picked up pizza and the boys played computer games. I had Sammy sleep over. The next day I took the boys rollerblading while Allison worked. I then had to drop Sammy off at his house so I could get to a dinner meeting with the girl scout leaders that are putting on a rollerblade event of our own this coming weekend.

Tom and Allison decided to catch a Hershey Bear Hockey game Friday night so Allison switched her work schedule and they both drove up north. Tom is very happy to have NHL games back too. He is talking about taking Allison to a DC CApitals game. 

It was nice not to have to clean the house and cook and shop for lots of food on Sunday. Instead, Scott and I enjoyed the 9am mass as Scott had to alter serve. We were quite saddened though when we came out of mass and discovered someone had broken out the windows of the minivan parked behind us and stolen a purse, cell phones and other electronic gizmos. Amazing that someone was that bold as to break into a car in the church parking lot on Sunday morning.

Since Allison was done with studying over the weekend, I had Tom supervise her birdhouse building project. She wanted to make a bluebird house to mount one of the decoys on it for her GS project:The Bird Trail. She measured out a  model, and then they bought the supplies and Tom helped her cut out the wood and assemble the project on Sunday. I keep bugging Allison to work on her project when she has some free time since she only has until June to get this done. And the time will fly by!

So Tom is heading off to Chicago next week. I hope he packed his puffy coat!


 

(Here is Allison's toothpick bridge that was able to hold up 80 lbs before exploding into a million pieces! )



Contrary to popular belief, Saturday was a Great Football Day! However, most of us here in Baltimore don't think our delicate systems can take too much of the creative plays of the Baltimore Ravens!


I was not too excited that Tom ended up inviting a few neighbors over to watch the game on Saturday at our house(he decided Friday night after no one else stepped up to host a football party). Tom prefers to watch our big tv from the comfort of our own couch anyway.  So it was back to cleaning, grocery shopping and cooking for me on Saturday. Not how I planned on spending the day.  Fortunately the house was not too messy since we had just completed a massive cleaning the weekend before with our White Elephant party. And Tom preordered pizza so I did not have to do a lot of cooking. I did make a batch of Buffalo Chicken Dip and had SCott make a few batches of Hershey kisses peanut butter blossom cookies. And the game lasted forever-4 1/2 hours! The neighbors arrived at 4 and did not go home until 9pm.  So I did not get too much done the rest of the day. But since the RAvens beat the Broncos, they will be playing again next week(MLK holiday weekend), and the neighbors were kind enough to host the next round. Actually several neighbors have volunteered to host the game.

So while I was getting ready for the football party,  Tom was busy undecorating the outside of house. Our neighbor was concerned that Tom would be standing out in the freezing cold pulling lights off bushes, but the weather was very cooperative and we have been having quite mild days. I had asked Tom to wait one more weekend, past the Feast of the Epiphany to take down the lights since I wanted some decorations up while we were hosting the White Elephant party. Now we both have to rearrange the attic and clean out the garage. We have an awful lot of camping gear and Christmas decorations to haul up the tiny ladder to the garage attic(it kills my hip every time!). No sooner will I have everything put away then I will be dragging something down again! In the meantime, Tom is trying to rebuild our Weber grill. Our grill gets used a lot year round since our weather is pretty mild most of the time. I got him a new rotisierre for Christmas, but he wants to hold out for a Weber model(sturdier for those heavy turkeys). He also needs to change out the starter(so I can light the grill when he is not at home). And the burners needed cleaned out to avoid hot spots. Looks like we can at least use it to grill steaks for dinner tonight though!

I was also busy this weekend helping Scott with some homework assignments. He had a very busy school workload last week-lots of tests and a big lab report. He also had just two days to memorize the provinces and major cities in Canada(he did very well). And he started back to his swim lessons. He missed the tryouts this year for swim team at the Y or any other place in the area with his broken arm. So we thought he should keep up with practice. We are also looking into a Fitness Class starting in Feb. He could use the workout, especially since he missed sign ups this fall for any sports and he is looking to work on his Boy Scout Personal Fitness badge too.

He officially started his new troop and already it is a lot less crazy and more organized than the last group(bigger Troop). We are looking forward to some of the outings scheduled in the upcoming months for Scott to attend. He also finally met up with a Merit Badge counselor to review his Dog Care Badge that he finished last year. The last counselor had quit from his troop before Scott could review the work. And Friday I was busy dropping off his scout shirt to have all the new patches put on at the laundromat.

I also had to take the cat in to the vet on Friday for her "Old Cat Check up". Pika is 13 yrs old and considered a senior. So far she has passed with flying colors:good blood pressure and even gained a half pound! Wow-she is up to 7.5lbs. I think it is because she keeps eating but sleeps more. She has even started snuggling with Allison rather than just me(I think because the dog gets in the way and demands my attention too). I also spent part of the day on the phone making appointments for the kids yearly check ups. The flu has really spread to Maryland and neither one of the kids had vaccinations this year. Tom spent a day at home sick on the couch after throwing up in the morning. I think he had a stomach virus that is going around, but it could have been the flu since he was not vaccinated. I always get a vaccination since I am around lots of old and sick people. I don't want the flu and I don't want to share germs with my family. Right now my nursing home and the Assisted Living facility are under quarantine for stomach virus and respiratory problems like bronchitis and pneumonia. So the sick residents are not supposed to go anywhere, but we still have to work around them. So far I just feel like I have a small cold myself but that is about it.

Allison however is hanging around lots of little kids that get sick at school and the kids at the rollerblade sports club. So far this year her Kindergarten teacher supervisor has had Strep Throat and Shingles over the holiday break. Allison just seems to have caught a bad cold herself. I hope that is all she gets. Especially since she has mid term exams coming up this week. And she did not get much rest last week either. She had several tests last week in preparation for midterms, as well as turning in her toothpick bridge project for Physics. Her and her partner's bridge was able to support 80lbs! And it had a limit on how much it could weigh. They were under the weight limit and over the resistance. Now she just had to get through her tests. And she was very busy working at the skating rink this weekend too. She had a double shift and had to work a Girl Scout event. Sadly the GS parents weren't very nice and would not listen to Allison. She should have given them the lecture about being "A sister to every Girl SCout."   And after work this Sunday, she had Indoor Field Hockey. Then there was piano on Friday night. Tom and I are so glad she can drive herself! I think she will be looking forward to a break at college! We just officially accepted her admission to Salisbury University. At least we did not have to squeeze in a choir workshop as it was cancelled due to low attendance.

And Tom and I skipped my work party on Saturday night(Tom hates the loud music and preferred to stay at home to watch the football game). They have a yearly holiday party at one of our large convention halls in Baltimore with good food, but it is not Tom's idea of a good time. He was much happier on the couch cheering on the Ravens. Which is what we will be doing again next weekend!