Another incredibly busy week! I am glad I survived! Last Thursday we said goodbye to Tom's sister Susan and her husband John. We really enjoyed their visit and Allison especially loved having extended family members at her graduation! The two of them headed off Thursday morning to spend the day at the Gettysburg Battlefield and town in Pennsylvania before heading back to Indiana. We made sure to send them off with Maryland Berger cookies and Milwaukee pickles(in Baltimore?). Nothing but the best.

Scott was still in school, but Allison was available to help me food shop and decorate for her neighborhood graduation party last Sunday. We postponed Scott's swim class since he still had a lot of projects to work on as his school year wrapped up this past week. Allison spent most of last weekend working and going to her piano lesson. We also dropped off a gift to the piano teacher-a mini flag with music notes that we picked up in Williamsburg. Allison's teacher loved it so much, she won't leave it outside. And all the other music teachers want one. I spent my last free week taking care of some last minute dentist and doctor appointments before starting my new job.

I actually stared my new job last Saturday. The whole team came in to get familiar with the clinic and the computer system. We are mostly a whole new staff. Some people are experienced with work in a nursing home(like me) and others are not(and were overwhelmed). We took over from a contract rehab team, so they packed up all their belongings and left us with a big mess. My new boss was busy setting up computers and a printer and trying to walk us all through the new system. I started Monday and made it to Weds. On the way to work WEds morning I almost blacked out while driving, so I decided to take the day off and go to the doctor. She decided to send me to the neurologist, who is trying me out on a different blood pressure medication. He said I should have acclimated to the medication in just a few weeks and I have been having problems since I started taking lisinopril in February. I am always dizzy, tired and was having severe muscle spasms in my right hand. Not sure why the cardiologist or my own physician could not recommend trying a different drug. Now I am on a beta blocker(slows your heart down and good for blood pressure, migraines, anxiety, etc. ). I just started taking it Friday night and I already feel a bit better. I just did not want to start a new medication so close to the Europe trip, but maybe this will turn out to be a good thing!

 I was busy at work last Saturday morning; Allison was off to work too, and SCott was at a Boy Scout Troop planning event for the upcoming year. When we all got home we headed over to our neighbors for their son's graduation party. Allison's party was on Sunday. We girls spent Sunday preparing the food. We made about 20lbs of pork, chicken and meatball kabobs, layered green salad, and 2 rice casseroles. Along with appetizers and dessert. And there was nothing left after the party! EVeryone said they loved the meatball kabobs the best, along with my rice casserole. And noone had ever seen a layered green salad before. Must be a Midwest thing.  I think they most enjoyed eating Allison's graduation cake with her face on it! (See above photo). Since we had plenty of dessert,  we had cake left over and I was able to take some to work to share with my new rehab team.  The sad part was that we were all ready to host the party outside, complete with a volleyball net and outdoor grilling. As the first guests began to arrive at 6pm Sunday night, so did the tstorms and the downpour. And that wasn't even Tropical storm Andrea. We enjoyed that rain all day Friday. Oh well, instead it was video games indoors and grilling under an umbrella. As a matter of fact, since the beer was out on the deck, that is where all the men hid, under the big table umbrella! All the neighbors were very generous to Allison, and she has spent all week working on thank you cards!

 Since I missed work on Weds, I had time to stop into Scott's used uniform sale at school. I was not able to find him much, but I did get to sell alot of his old clothes. I also sent him off to his end of the school year swim party  with a veggie and fruit tray. He had a great time at the pool until he scraped the top of his head on the bottom while kicking off the side. Looks like he tried to scalp himself! Hope that grows back. On Weds night I dropped into Pizza Hut with the kids for a GS dinner fund raiser and to drop off end of the year paperwork. And then Scott and I headed out to his BS meeting. It was a bit hectic since he had to help plan for the upcoming Whitewater rafting trip this weekend. After much confusion, the boys and parents made plans for transportation and hauling up the gear along with meal plans. And the boys squeezed in a boy scout meeting too.Tom and I had planned on joining SCott this past weekend but we decided to go biking while the rest of the troop rafted. Tom said he has had his fill of paddling the rapids. Plus he spent this past week in San Jose, CA and did not get home until 2am Saturday morning. Scott had taken off Friday after school with his friend and his mom for the campsite near Pittsburgh. We joined Scott's old troop in that area when they went caving. We had also visited Frank Lloyd Wright's house, Falling Waters and had the tour. It is  a very pretty area in the woods with the huge river running down from the hills. I had planned on Tom and I traveling up on Saturday and biking and then returning Sunday. Apparently Tom did not get the memo. He scheduled his upcoming trip to Chicago next week with an early Sunday morning flight. He thought we were just going up Saturday afternoon for a bike ride along the river on the paved bike paths. I thought we were camping overnight as well(hence the term camping weekend). I really did not feel like a 4 hour drive to bike an hour and then 4 hour drive back. So we skipped the whole thing. Meanwhile, Scott only fell out of the raft once, but he wished Tom had been at the helm instead of one of the other Dad's who is a bit high strung(along with his son). Scott did enjoy jumping into the freezing cold river off a big boulder though. I am just glad he did not scalp himself again! Although this group does make the kids wear helmets. Thank God.  And I was happy one of the school mom's was there with him and her son. She always sends me a text and photo to let me know how he is doing.

So he just got back and is washing off the river water and drying out the tent. Tom is packing for Chicago after cutting the lawn, and Allison is headed out to GS Day Camp to start setting up the archery range for the summer programs. I also had Tom work with her on figuring out a system to mount her bird models to the trees at the Nature Center this weekend. She will probably be teaching her bird class in July for her Gold Award project.  SCott I am sure will spend the rest of the day playing video games, and I have started packing for our European tour. Tom ordered me some Euros from the bank for tipping our tour guides. And I had to call Easy Spirit to find out what happened to my sandals I ordered two weeks ago(no one knows).  I also went into work half a day Friday and Saturday to make up for Weds. Although the staff is all putting in 9 hour days right now trying to figure out the new system. I think we are almost there.

Now if I can just start feeling better! I have too much to do to be feeling like crap.

So Scott finished school on Friday and brought home a nice report card. He is looking forward to a few summer camps at the local community college, boy scout camp and golf camp. Plus I may squeeze in a Parks and Rec camp for kayaking and biking with an overnight. And he only has 1 summer book report due. Allison is looking forward to her upcoming Salisbury University Orientation next week, Girl Scout camp, our GS trip to Europe and our Girl Scout trip to Michigan at the end of July.

Before you know it, school will be starting again! Kathleen

I think the kids are getting too comfortable having me around the house. They were very excited that I spent some time baking last week. Of course it was not just for them. I had forgotten to pick up a dessert for our last GS Leader's meeting, so I whipped up some chocolate chip banana muffins. Naturally there were some leftovers for the kids. Then I made Lemon Pie bars for donation to the school for a Vera Bradley Bingo night for volunteer hours. And naturally there were leftovers. I hope they don't get too comfortable with this situation.

So Happy Post Cinco De Mayo. And apparently Saturday was Star WArs day(May the 4th Be with You). HaHa. That is only if you understand the lisp. And I just wanted to make sure I wished Dad Bozyk a Happy Birthday(which I believe I missed in my blog in April-too many April Birthdays!).

We are well on our way to Spring. Lots of rain and warmer weather and lots of sneezing and grass cutting. Tom had to cut the front lawn twice this past weekend-long and wet. Scott and I worked on the backyard-I kept having to restart the mower for SCott since it kept stalling out in the thick grass(I like to cut it a bit shorter than Tom). I also spent the dry days last week raking and bagging leaves out of our flower beds. And I put in a few new plants and of course tomatoes. So lots of digging and raking. I was pretty sore. But I am a glutton for punishment. On Saturday morning I went to drop Scott off to participate in a Boy Scout conservation project. The troop planted over 400 trees at our local landfill. Next thing I know, I am helping to dig those 400 holes(I am a sucker for helping out). It may not have been so bad except Maryland is known for our lovely clay interspersed with rocks and roots (and a bit of trash at the land fill) which did not make digging holes quite so easy. I was just grateful I could walk on Sunday! We started at 9am and Scott and I had to leave around noon. They still had about 1/4 left to plant and the troop was dwindling. At least we got pizza and donuts out of the deal! And SCott completed a conservation project for his camping merit badge.

I did not join him at his last boy scout meeting during the week though. He and the troop were practicing working with a hot air balloon in a field across from the church where they meet. Scott and I signed up to volunteer for the Hot Air Balloon festival coming up for the Preakness(second horse race after The Kentucky Derby). Which we watched over at Dan and Gloria's house. That is a whole lot of prep time for just a few minutes race. Guess the whole day party factor works for those attending. Our balloon festival is in honor of the horse race, but is held just down the street from our house at the local golf resort. I have always wanted to go see all the balloons at night when the light them up, but I have been either too busy or the weather was bad and it was cancelled. Hopefully SCott and I will get a chance to see them and help the ground crew.

So while Scott was in balloon training, I attended what I thought was going to be my last GS meeting. I even had to make a little speech about how wonderful the girls are, and how they've grown, and how happy Allison will be not to have me bugging her about extra activities and dragging her all over! But it seems I managed to volunteer for a Juliette Coordinator position-I will be an online GS Leader for single girls that want to be in scouts but don't have a troop. I figure I can handle activity coordination via email since I do it all the time! 

After digging holes and planting trees on Saturday morning, I had to run Scott over to golf after he took a shower. Then his friend Sammy invited him to go see Iron Man. Tom and I were also invited to dinner and the movie, but we had plans on eating with our neighbors in honor of Gloria's birthday. INstead, Allison caught up with the group after she got off work. She was hoping to spend time with Sammy's older sister, but she had to go see a cartoon with her little 5 yr old brother(mom thought Iron Man was a bit too much for him). Instead, Allison enjoyed her company during dinner out. Scott was looking forward to Mexican, but the restaurant was packed and they ended up with pizza(again).

Speaking of packed, Tom still wanted to see Iron Man and made plans to go see it Sunday morning with our neighbors. Little did he know how complicated planning an outing can be. He first picked an early morning movie, but the neighbors were at church, the next movie was 3D and none of the neighbors wanted to see it. Now we were getting into the afternoon, but by the time we arrived, the movie was sold out! Looks like the neighbors made it in though. We did not buy tickets online since we already had passes(not sure we could have used them anyway). And Tom did not want to spend all afternoon at the movies since he wanted to cut the grass again. Oh well, maybe next week. Instead we ran some errands at the mall.

He had just arrived home from LA early Saturday morning where he spent all week busy working. Sorry he did not have any free time to visit with you Mike on this trip. Maybe some other time. He never knows how busy his schedule is going to be. He left again on this past Monday for Salt Lake City.  That is pretty much his schedule for the next month.

So it is a good thing I am so available to run the kids around. Scott started up his swim lessons again. Allison has been busy wrapping up her senior school year with lots of projects and tests. She just completed a spanish video commercial at Starbucks with some friends and is working on what looks like a Mouse Trap game for physics. She also had to compile her research on testing methods for the kids at school and put together a poster presentation for the upcoming Research Fair where she will present her findings. By the way, no big difference in testing kids with paper /pencil vs electronically. So I spent one evening gluing down all her charts and graphs and photos while she typed up her research paper. She was also very busy at work this past weekend-lots of birthday parties at the roller rink. She is really looking forward to being done at work and school.

I was also enjoying the extra time and flexible schedule by attending the weekday masses. Turns out I picked the morning of the Feast of St Joseph. The Homily talked about our work life. Looks like I'm on the right path with my upcoming job. I just got all my blood work back for the new work place. Orientation to follow. I also was getting back to my pool exercise class but caught a terrible cold from the kids which slowed me down. At least I did not have to take sick days!

Here are the Boy Scout photos from our tree planting session. I am in the blue sweatshirt; Scott is standing in front of the wheelbarrow with our shovel. Also some shots from their hot air balloon session.

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I just bundled Scott up in my snow pants so he could go out and take Cookie for a walk in the snow. It is really coming down. Tom is out snowblowing our driveway and the neighbors.  I was scheduled to participate in the Baltimore Mayor's parade with the GS choir this afternoon, but I really did not want to deal with trying to drive and park in northern Baltimore in the middle of a snow storm. And then try to get home again. This evening it is supposed to turn into sleet. Scott is hoping for a snow day tomorrow or at least a late start. If you caught the Ravens game, you could see what kind of snow we are having. The parade would have been fun, but not in this weather!

Instead, Scott and I volunteered with his boy scout troop for a 5K run raising awareness for arthritis. The Jingle Bell Run has been going on for many years here in our local park. I know a fellow GS troop used to run it every year. Scott and I were out the door by 6:45 am  Saturday morning to help with set up and parking. About 3,000 runners participated so it was a bit hectic getting everyone parked and giving directions. We stayed for the whole event and helped clean up. I was pretty tired and sore and cold. It felt like SCott and I walked the whole course ourselves several times as we ran back and forth between our parking lot and the registration area. Fortunately we did not have all the snow like today. I really enjoyed seeing all the creative ways the runners dressed up for Christmas, including their dogs! Lots of dogs participated as well. Too bad Cookie couldn't have joined us but we were busy working. And of course Mr and Mrs Claus were there as well! This was the first time Scott's Troop helped out and they did a great job. When I got home I had to call into work to see if they needed me. Fortunately they did not so I got to take a nap! Normally we would be helping serve pancakes at the Breakfast with Santa program at Scott's school. We skipped it this year since Scott could not use his volunteer hours for scouts or his confirmation program. Our pastor has moved the confirmation program to high school, so Scott has to wait until next year. Sucks.

Meanwhile, Tom was home busy getting up the last of the Christmas lights on the outside of the house. He had hoped to do all the work on his Friday off, but it rained all day. I finished cleaning up a few piles of leaves that enjoyed hiding in our bushes near the front door. I also started putting up decorations in the house including working on the tree.  I still have a bit of work to do in order to get ready for our neighborhood party next weekend.

We also hosted a few neighbor boys on Saturday night as we cheered on MSU against Ohio State. How wonderful! Tom and I were in LA the last time MSU went to the Rose Bowl. I enjoyed going to the Rose Bowl parade that year. I also had to put out my MSU flag-I think it helped! We still have our Rose Bowl tshirts-hopefully we will be able to get new ones this year!

While Tom was sitting in the rain on Friday, I was off to my yearly doctor appointment. Looks like I am plenty healthy except for my blood pressure issue. I am back on the last drug I was taking since it bothered me the least. I hope it works. If not, we may try adding a drug. How annoying.

I also picked up our family Christmas pictures except they made a mistake and gave me 4 poster sized family photos! So I had to redo the whole order(Tom and I thought it was too expensive!). I also had to get my refund. At least our Christmas photos are done so I can start my cards. I also tried to do a bit of shopping but it was very busy on Friday.

Especially when we started out our morning celebrating St Nick's Day. We decided to give our stockings on St Nick's Day-mainly because we had so many Christmas items like our ornaments and earrings/tshirts that we wanted to enjoy before the holidays. Allison got her stocking last weekend. Tom, SCott and I enjoyed our special surprises. Tom got me tickets for the whole family to enjoy The Blue Man group in January when Allison is home. Tom missed the show last time they were in town and I told him it was worth seeing. Tom was busy opening lots of Star Wars and Star Trek ornaments. Scott loved his root beer and hard candies. And we actually won a few bucks on our holiday lottery scratchers.

We also enjoyed a  School Christmas concert at a fund raiser at Barnes and Noble for Scott's school. The kids sounded great and they have added some latin pieces and more harmonizing this year. Scott was also busy this week with his lego club as the tournament is coming up next weekend. He was just happy he did not have to sit through his religious boy scout badge as the other kid was busy. I do keep Scott busy with his badges! I want Tom to work on the Home Repair badge with him. Scott did some soldering at his meeting on Weds towards the badge. He also is finishing up his pets badge. And Tom is the Engineering counselor so Scott will earn that badge in January at the Naval Academy along with the electronics badge.

So I need to get back to Scott-he has a few tests and a paper coming up this week and needs review. He did bring home a very nice report card but was just shy of getting into his school's Nat. Jr Honor Society(they have stricter requirements than the public schools).

Here is Scott singing with the choir and after volunteering at the Jingle Bell Run

Allison is busy at school with finals. She will be done on Thursday and will head home for a long break on Friday. She said the school is on quiet lock down. She wants to be done and back home.

Well this was certainly an interesting week. Naturally, I was having trouble with my blood pressure and missed work last week. I started on a higher dose of my medication, but by Monday, I was leaving work early again. This time I ended up at the doctor's office on Monday afternoon. They decided I was fine. My doctor wanted me into the office for a real appointment, not just a blood pressure check. But they could not see me until Weds morning. Instead we decided I should stay home a day. Except my doctor couldn't decide if she should recommend I take it easy or stay busy. Naturally I stayed home from work on Tuesday and kept busy! Meanwhile, Tom and I were going to split Monday night meetings, but I just was not up to going to either a school meeting for SCott, or a Boy Scout parent meeting. So Tom opted to attend the meeting at school to discuss use of IPads which Scott's class will be starting with soon.

Allison was coming home for Thanksgiving break on Tuesday. I still needed to wash her linen and straighten up her room from when she moved out in August. I had also started storing suitcases in Allison's room, so I had to find them a new home. Plus I was busy baking Scott a coconut cream pie for his Birthday on Weds. The only thing I did not do was wrap his presents since Tom had bought him everything online(mostly video games) and I did not know what to wrap!

Instead, I have been busy putting together Christmas stockings for the upcoming St Nick's Day celebration. I had been busy Christmas shopping last week. I wanted to put together a care package for Allison for her upcoming finals, as well as give her some items to decorate her room with for the holidays. I picked up a small tree and decorations for her windowsill, as well as Christmas stockings for her and her roommate(complete with Girl SCout cookies of course). She also picked up a poinsettia with Tom at Home Depot on a shopping spree. And she has some sticky gels for her window-snowflakes, snowmen and penguins that can stay up through February.

I was a bit worried about her driving home this past week since our winter weather started early. We actually had some snowflakes coming down on Weds. But she did a great job, and she had some company. She said the drive home was a bit hectic though since it was raining/sleeting and there was heavier traffic and a few accidents. And she has that very long Bay Bridge to negotiate. Only .4miles shorter than the Mackinac Bridge. At least her drive back to school was sunny, dry and uneventful on Sunday.

So Allison was home on Tuesday afternoon. I made ribs for dinner. We celebrated Scott's 14th Birthday on Weds night after I got home from work and my doctor appointment. We had dinner out and then opened gifts and enjoyed coconut cream pie.

On Thursday morning I asked to see a movie since I was planning on working on Friday. We left early for the first showing of Hunger Games on Thanksgiving morning. Sadly, we missed our neighborhood Turkey Trot. But the movie was really good, and then we had plenty of time to prepare dinner. Tom and I had invited our neighbors over for dinner, but they weren't sure of their plans or how I would be doing, so they opted out. Our friend John was still planning on coming over for dinner, so I decided to use the time as a training session for Allison. I walked her through all the side dishes-stuffing, baked potatoe casserole, green bean casserole and crescent rolls. Tom was busy using his early St Nick's Day gift-a new rotisserie for our grill as he cooked the turkey outside. It turned out great and we had tons of food. Sadly, by the time I sat down to eat I wasn't feeling good and I had to go take a nap while everyone else enjoyed their meal. I managed to make it down to the recliner chair that evening to finish my plate but that was about it. We were supposed to go over to our neighbors for dessert and the Ravens football game, but I could not get up out of the chair. I had just started a new blood pressure medication per my doctor's orders and it was getting the best of me. I did enjoy watching the RAvens game though.

I had to get up early Friday to go to work. I dragged through the day and put in a full 8hrs(much to my disappointment). We were supposed to have dinner at some friends but again I was too tired for the company. Instead we all stayed home and enjoyed leftover turkey casserole. Tom also put his second early St Nick's Day gift to work-an electric carving knife. The last one we had finally gave up after 26 yrs.

On Saturday we were up early and out for our family Christmas photo opp. at Target. Always a busy time. After lunch we did not have much time until we were back on the road with our friend John, headed to Hershey Park for a hockey game. We enjoyed an evening of Hershey Bears Hockey and they won! And Scott and I snuck out a little early to run over to the Hershey gift shop for our free chocolate samples and to do some gift shopping. And to enjoy the Christmas lights and decorations. Scott wants to go back and go into the park next time.

Sunday after Scott served mass we took Allison out for breakfast. Happy First Day of Advent. She then came home and opened her St Nick's Day gifts and packed up her car and headed out. Scott really enjoyed having Allison home to keep him company playing video games. I think Allison just enjoyed sleeping in her own bed. She did manage to get a paper written and a book mostly read over the weekend. She only has one more week of classes and then finals and she will be headed back home again! Tom managed to get some Christmas lights up on the house while I undecorated for Thanksgiving. And then there are the leaves!

So I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Break. The football games were crazy, the company was wonderful, the food was plentiful(especially all the pies). A Very Happy November Birthday to Scott and Sheila Bozyk. Lets see how I survive December!

So two weeks ago I hit the Big 50th Birthday. Now what? I decided I should start counting backwards(probably easier to remember). And how did I spend my special day? Ordering porta potties for a Boy Scout Rappelling and Zipline camping trip. And I was trying not to lose my cool when discussing finances for the trip with a very control freak boy scout leader(he wanted to pay for everything ahead of time-food and portapotty, but I did not yet have a final head count to divide the amount). Anyway, I was busy at Scott's meeting collecting permission slips, liability forms and checks and answering questions that I did not have answers to because we did not do this trip last year. Scott just joined this troop in February. And Tom and I found out that they left a lot of information out that they should have told us(like exactly how much responsibility was left up to us). Tom was busy loading my van with tons of camping and cooking gear. He ended up cooking for about 25 adults-2 breakfasts(hot), 2 bagged lunches and 1 dinner. (It's a good thing I have some very large cooking pots!)It is a big contest to see who can make the best food. Tom made Italian Wedding Soup, Chicken Jambalaya and Cherry Chocolate Dutch Oven Cobbler for dinner on Sat. The soup was the big hit. We were all so hungry, we had Tom serve dinner before 5pm. I guess being outside and hiking up mountains and climbing down ropes and sitting in the cold and dark and wet makes you very hungry! Breakfast included Egg McToms and lots of tasty sandwiches for lunch.

Tom headed up to our campground on Friday afternoon after prepping the food items and loading the van. He wanted to get there before dark. He spent Thursday afternoon shopping for food items. Scott and I did not make the Friday night camping since Scott was in his late night religious badge class until 9pm. I did not want to try and drive down country roads late at night looking for a few boy scouts in their tents out in a farm field. As it was, I got lost on Saturday morning. Stupid GPS. But we arrived in plenty of time to hike up a very steep mountain. It was so steep, they actually carved steps into the granite to get to the summit. I headed off with the boys. Tom stayed at the campsite cooking all day. I was not about to try rapelling(especially since I am currently failing the boy scout medical exam). But Scott was brave and he tried it-way to go Scott! Needless to say, that first step off the mountain cliff is very scary, but the rest of the way down looks like fun. He was brave enough to try it twice. On Sunday we all broke camp after breakfast and headed over to a zipline/ropes course. Scott had actually been there before with a YMCA summer camp outing so he was familiar with the run. He was able to get in 3 runs since we had 34 people and just 2 hrs.

Tom meanwhile packed up and headed home instead to unpack and clean all the pots and pans and our tent and sleeping bags. It was cold and wet all weekend, overcast and I believe it even snowed that evening! We adults ended up going to bed early on SAturday night after singing a few campfire songs around the bonfire and eating our dessert and drinking hot chocolate. I enjoyed hearing the girls from the Venture group singing Girl Scout songs. Boy Scouts usually just do skits, but noone had anything planned. Girl SCouts always have songs to sing! That Sunday afternoon, Scott and I had to empty out our car and I got started on laundry. Scott got started on his homework.

On Monday, Tom was headed off to Salt Lake City for the week. We had celebrated my birthday with the neighbors at a surprise birthday party that Tom organized and our neighbors hosted. On Tuesday night, Scott, Tom and I went out to dinner and I opened my gifts. I was very happy to get a new Swatch watch, OT earrings and tickets to see Straight No Chaser-the Accopella singing group. They are in town this year for one night only. I think we are sitting in the basement! Of course it is sold out. The group is from Indy and we both really enjoy their music, especially their holiday concert. So we try to catch them at Christmas any time they come to town. And I think Tom has caught the traveling bug from Allison and I as we can't stop talking about our European trip this past summer. Tom wants to go on a cruise or travel overseas and go on a cruise. Whatever. Like I have time to squeeze that in! Next summer we plan on traveling to Indy for Eric Seitz's wedding in June, and then travel up around Lake Michigan through Wisconsin and Michigan. And I really don't have that much vacation with my new job so I will have to save up. I already plan on using the first of my time off this Christmas to travel with the family to Florida.

I did get some volunteer time in at Scott's school. This will be the last year that we have to put in 30 hrs of volunteer time. I helped out with grandparents day. The school invites all the grandparents to come visit in the morning. First we fill them up with donuts and coffee and then send them off to get lost looking for their grandkids classrooms. They get to spend some time seeing what the kids are learning and then we all meet in the church for a prayer service. We have enough grandparents to fill up the entire church, so the kids have to squeeze in around them. Then each class puts on a small presentation-a song, a prayer, a video presentation or music presentation. It was a very nice program and all the grandparents loved seeing their grandkids in action -from preschool to 8th grade. I put Scott to work helping pass out coffee and assisting the music director with the songs. And he only had a little technological issue with the buttons!

This past week Scott and I were on our own as Tom had left for Salt Lake City on Monday. I was busy picking Scott up from school at his Lego Club meeting and getting him to choir early in the morning. And he had a paper to write for his health class and a science test to study for. Turns out he was not feeling well on Monday and I left him home Tuesday with a fever. He got through some of his studies and wrote his paper, but he had a ton of classwork to catch up with the next day. Plus we had boy scouts(we left early to get home so he could study for his science test). His semester is coming to an end so the teachers fill up their schedule. He also had a religion test and spelling test to make up. Turns out I had to come home early on Thursday as my blood pressure shot up in the morning. I took a second pill and emailed my doctor since she was out of town. I have a follow up appointment next week, but for now I am taking a stronger dose. Which made me very tired, so I spent most of this weekend sleeping and napping.

But when I was awake I was busy cleaning and shopping. We were going to host our neighbors for turkey day, but I think they felt sorry for me and bowed out. So we are going to have our friend John Dutton over(from California originally) and of course, Allison is coming home on Tuesday. So lots of food shopping and cleaning. I even had enough energy to clean out a few closets and drop off some more of the kids old clothes to the consignment store. And I did have a little fun when I went out to play Bingo Friday night for the high school fund raiser. Sadly this was the first year I did not win anything(it was because Allison is no longer there). Just wait until next year when SCott attends high school!

And SCott was busy babysitting our neighbor's son while they went to a matinee of Jersey Boys, so Tom decided we should all go and see the new Thor movie. Of course, that did me in for the rest of the night.
And speaking of night, I still have more paperwork to take care of for our boy scout troop(counting and separating checks). So enjoy our camping photos!

 The Thrill of Victory!!! (at the bottom of the hill)

 The first step is the hardest!

 Scott looks like a pro!

 Zipline fun!

 The long climb

 Rappelling wall

Here we are at BAse Camp Alpha on our Boy Scout Rappelling/Zipline weekend. I got live action shots of Scott rappelling for his first time, along with a couple runs on the zip line(you have to bring your gear back with you after traveling across a ravine). And here are the steps up the mountain we used to get to the top.

This turned out to be a week of surprises. Mainly a surprise Birthday party for me! I had mentioned to Tom that I did not want to host my own birthday party(too much work). So our very kind neighbors hosted a surprise party at their house. Tom did all the grocery shopping and they did all the cooking. Mainly it was an appetizer party, but there was so much food and dessert, you didn't need anymore. And most everyone who came brought a dish, so lots to eat and lots to drink. Tom kept everyone entertained playing 50 yrs of my life pictionary. What a competitive bunch! There were about 12 of us-a nice number to sit and chat and eat chocolate cake. I had expected we were going out to dinner with our neighbors and we stopped in at their house for a drink before we left. Not! They even did a great job keeping their cars parked down the street so I wouldn't notice the extra guests. Overall a very fun, relaxing evening. And I got some funny gag gifts and a few nice gifts too. It makes turning 50 a lot more enjoyable. Actually nobody could believe I was turning 50(they are so sweet). And one guest thought it was a party for Tom and brought him a gift!

Since we did not go out to dinner on Saturday night, Tom and I decided to take our neighbors out for brunch on Sunday morning, along with SCott. We have some gift cards to use up. Scott missed the Saturday night party since he was sleeping over at a friends. They had spent the entire day in western Maryland navigating several very large corn mazes. Scott really enjoyed the experience. They were so busy with the mazes, they missed out on apple picking. Even Allison had hoped to drive home for my party. Instead, she was off to Virginia Beach on Friday night for a Regional Field Hockey tournament. The first one in a long time for Salisbury University. The team payed for hotels and transportation. Allison had 3 games on Saturday. They needed to win 2 in order to move on to Sunday's games, but they only won 1 game. They lost by a close score to Boston College, got slammed by Penn State and then beat St Joseph. I think Allison enjoyed the trip-her first time to Virginia Beach. But she would have loved it more if they could have swam in the ocean. Their hotel was right on the ocean, so they had time to stroll the boardwalk. So her field hockey and floor hockey season has come to an end. Now she is looking forward to her visit home at Thanksgiving.And sadly her High School Field Hockey team lost their State Championship game as well, so everybody is done and winter sport season starts. Not sure who to follow anymore(can't really deal with the Ravens right now). At least MSU's football team has been worth cheering for(sorry UofM).  And Allison learned her first real hard lesson about college life-you can't always get the classes you want! She called up very upset last week because most of the classes she wanted were already full. Fortunately she worked something out. I just can't believe they are signing up for spring classes already! And of course they will want to be paid.

While Scott was off in the corn maze on Saturday, I decided to take advantage of some free time and get my hair cut and highlighted. I missed my free day on Friday. I was asked to work since one of our new coworkers was on vacation and my boss was afraid we were going to have a lot of new admissions. Instead I spent the day chasing my patients around since none of them were terribly excited to do anything. Scott and Tom had the day off too. I guess Tom spent the day shopping for my party at Costco. He also helped Scott work on a science lab. They are still at it tonight. And Scott was busy cutting the grass and installing my early birthday present bird feeder. I certainly hope this one is squirrel proof. And in the evening I took him over to his first religion class for his boy scout badge. He was not to excited to spend 3 hrs Friday night in a religion class with just one other boy. (he'll survive). And then it was off to serve mass on Sunday morning. I had to pick him up from his friend's house since he spent the night. He is getting his fill of holy!

Since I lost a free day on Friday, I had to hurry to catch up on my weekend projects including updating our boy scout list and permission slips and payments for the upcoming rappelling and zipline trip next weekend. It is supposed to drop down to the 20s this week with possible snow on Tuesday! I just hope it warms up a little when the weekend rolls around. I really don't want to freeze. I was busy looking through our camping supplies as well as cleaning out the attic in the garage and putting away all the Halloween decorations. I still want to enjoy a few Thanksgiving decorations before I put out the Christmas stuff! So I am not quite done.

Last week I had to stop into the doctor's office for a blood pressure check. I have an annual physical scheduled in December. I will see how this medication is working for me. On Weds night Scott and I skipped the boy scout meeting. Instead I sent Tom to collect checks and permission slips while Scott and I visited with a few Delegates and Senators from our county at his school. For his Citizenship badge he is supposed to speak with someone in the legislative office about a topic important to him or his community. They were discussing tax breaks for private schools so I thought this was a terrific opportunity for SCott to meet up and actually speak with someone in the govt. Unfortunately there were only a few representatives and they were too busy to chat. But Delegate Gail Bates gave him her business card and he sent her an email. We'll see if we get a response. She even posed for a photo with Scott(she loves scouts). Allison's troop met her when I took them down to Legislative Day in Annapolis when the girls were in 7th grade. So we are half way there. Plus Scott earned an out of uniform day for showing up.

Well I have to get back to my boy scout packing. I have another busy week scheduled and I am not getting any younger! Literally!

Here is a shot of SCott schmoozing with Delegate Gail Bates and discussing tax breaks for those donating to private schools. Also a few of my birthday gifts from the neighbors including a handpainted serving dish and a few new snow babies to add to my collection. Along with some gift cards and a calendar. 

Another busy week in the Seitz household. I spent the early part of the week at the ER again. I had tried a new blood pressure medication and was having trouble adjusting. My blood pressure shot up and I felt horrible. Of course I started to feel horrible on Monday night during the parent's boy scout meeting. I left Tom and ran home to call the advice nurse and she would only recommend I call 911. I had left Tom stranded at the meeting down the road, so one of our very concerned neighbors stopped in to see if he could help out. He picked Tom up so I could get a ride to the urgent clinic. They basically told me I had to get used to the medicine. I told the doctor I could not go to work or drive the way I was feeling. She told me it would take at least two weeks to adjust to the medicine(that's what they all say). She was willing to give me one sick day(after she just told me it would take at least two weeks to adjust). I guess doctors don't do math. So I went home and took an extra pill(they always start me off on the lowest dose).

So I have slowly been adjusting to the new medication and trying to stick to a lower dose since it is pretty strong. It has its pros and cons like the other meds, but does not seem to be as bad. So far.  I had to go and see my doctor  since I had been to the urgent clinic which meant I stayed home on Tuesday. I was already home on Monday because I had switched my day off with another co worker. It gave me more time on Monday to put out some more Halloween decorations. And go to mass, and walk Cookie and run some errands as well as attend the Mt Hebron Field Hockey REgional game in the afternoon(no wonder I ended up at the hospital!). So Tuesday I took it easy.

On Weds it was Scott's boy scout meeting and I have been making sure to attend with SCott since our upcoming rappelling/zipline trip is coming up and I needed to start collecting permission slips and money. (So I went even though I was not feeling well). Not to mention that I had gone back to work that day.

At least Halloween was a lot of fun. The weather was wonderful-warmer than usual, but with a shower starting around 7pm. Scott went out trick or treating with a few friends and Cookie and I joined them for the walk and to check out all the kids and decorations. One of our neighbor's house had a "witches party" where all the ladies were sitting around a bonfire in the driveway dressed as witches. Cookie was sporting wings this year and the ladies went crazy over her. Even taking her photo. Most everyone was excited to see Cookie in her wings. She was in heaven walking all around the neighborhood, greeting kids and adults and other dogs. She especially loves going up to their front doors and waiting for the trick or treats(no candy for her though). Even though we got sprinkled on for about an hour, Scott and I decided it was a terrific Halloween. And Tom was home manning the house and passing out the candy to tons of really cute kids. Of course our decorations were a big hit(lots of spiders). I even managed to run home and carve my pumpkin that night before heading out! That evening we had a few neighbors over to watch some football and eat pizza and snacks while the boys counted their candy and played video games. The public school kids were out of school on Friday, but Scott had school and a big science lab due so we did not let everyone stay late.

The weekend rolled along and we were still on the run. I had planned on working Friday. Scott was in a 5K walk at school to support our local soup kitchen for the homeless. I also had to work Saturday to make up for my sick day on Tuesday. Tom and Scott were busy taking down Halloween decorations and studying for upcoming tests. On Sunday morning I headed out early to complete my 5K walk with Cookie in tow to raise money for the Brain Injury Association of Maryland. My workplace sponsored our team and we had a great time hiking around a local park. We were sponsoring one of our brain injury patients at the nursing home. In the afternoon I took Scott over to the WAlter's Art Museum for a religous tour with the religious coalition from the boy scouts. We had a rabi, minister, catholic lay person and muslim discussing the history of religion from the Egyptians up to the Medieval times. It was a lot to take in and a lot of people wanting to do a lot of talking in a short period of time. Scott mostly enjoyed looking at all the mummies, suits of armor, knives and weapons and stained glass windows. This was a kick off to his religious medal program. He will be starting weekly classes next week. I thought this was a good addition to add to his Eagle application(when the time comes). Plus someone else is running the program for free. Anything to keep SCott busy!

So I will keep adjusting to my new medication. Work is busy. We have a new OT assistant, but she is going on vacation next week. So more work for the rest of us. Tom has slowed down on his traveling. He did have to go to VA a few weeks ago but just overnight. He also has received several awards at work, but missed his big dinner presentation since he was down in Charlottesville that night. Maybe next time.

Here is part of our walking/jogging team for the Brain Injury Association fund raiser. It was cold! Cookie brought her own coat. Also photos from Halloween night including Cookie and her wings and our Halloween decorations. Scott made a web tunnel complete with strobe light and lots of little spiders. And lastly a shot of SCott at the art museum with the boy scouts.