So I managed to survive another week without Tom and an extremely busy schedule. Tom had to leave on Sunday for LA. Meanwhile, Allison and I were off to Girl SCout choir practice. The choir was asked to sing the National Anthem at Girl Scout headquarters for a ceremony honoring MD Senator Barbara Mikulski. She has been very influential in getting funding for several girl scout projects. The girl scout council also had Northrop Grumman to thank for providing funding for our headquarter remodel and installation of engineering programs for girl scouts, as well as the STEM program(science, technology, engineering and math programs) that all the schools are pushing right now. No one was available as a representative from Northrop, so I texted Tom and thanked him. I also sent him a photo of B Mikulski. He thought it was cool, but not as cool as running into one of the stars of the ICarley show in LA. in a pizzaria-Miranda Cosgrove. After we sang, Allison and I still had to stay for the delegate meeting. Barbara spoke for 30 minutes and then stayed with her aids for a photo opportunity, so we were running late. We also had a General come speak and thank the senator for her support in funding as well as for the generous girl scout cookie donations we have provided the servicemen and women over the years. He also thanked the scouts for visiting the returning soldiers at the airport and introduced a program for girl scouts offered through the Army. General Nick Justice. He was a very good speaker and as B Mikulski said-what a great name. All in all it was a fun evening, but long (and I finally met someone much shorter than I am!).

ON Tuesday I was running again to get Scott to his Boy SCout meeting.

WEds we had a break and got to stay home and study and do homework. Allison had finished up her regular season of Field Hockey games. A makeup game on Monday (which they lost to the top ranking team and that had been rained out on Friday), and their last game on Tuesday which honored the Senior players with a tailgate after the game. Scott and I arrived after the game was over, but stayed for a brief presentation to the seniors. Allison enjoyed that game since she played and they won. Now they are practicing for State Finals. I had the added dilemma of trying to get her to practice at 3pm at the local parks. The girls need to practice on turf since most of the finals are played on the artificial fields. Fortunately she got a ride to the fields and I just had to pick her up.

On Thursday I was back running early since I went to a class on cognition and dementia/Alzheimers. After class I had to pick up the kids and get them dinner so I could go to Scott's Parent Teacher Conferences. I wish Tom could have joined me for that, but I talked enough for the both of us. Afterwards, Allison had a piano lesson. It is fun to hear her working on the Christmas music, but I am not ready for that holiday!

Friday the kids were off school, so Tom and I had planned on traveling to Williamsburg to the Howl O Scream Haunt fest at Busch Gardens. INstead, I took the kids myself since Tom did not arrive home until late Friday night. At least Cookie did not have to go to the kennel. We took her for a nice long walk in the morning, and after I ran a few errands, we were on our way. Friday was a bit chilly, but very sunny and dry. WE had a wonderful time at the park. We met up with our neighbors and their kids who were also spending the weekend. I especially enjoyed the haunted houses, but the kids aren't interested. Scott even had an issue with crossing a bridge to one of his favorite roller coasters since it was haunted by zombie clowns(He couldn't handle it). Needless to say, I couldn't bribe or drag him across so I gave up and ended up returning the next morning(rather than outlet shopping boo hoo), so he could ride in the safety of daylight. (These cannot be my kids when it comes to scary stuff). I can't get enough. Anyhow, we spent the night and had a beautiful morning back at the park before returning to Baltimore after lunch.

Saturday night Allison had to work, so while we were waiting for her I decided it would be fun to invite the neighbors out to a local Octoberfest celebration. We have a local hall named after Max Blob(Blob's Park) which features polish dancing primarily, but in October they sponsor the Germans and lots of beer and brats(with polka dancing included). The place holds 850 people, and it was packed. With only 7 waitresses. Tom and our friend Eladio decided it couldn't actually be run by Germans since it was so disorganized and slow when it came to serving beer and food. We opted for the buffet, and got there early which helped. I had a great time dancing the chicken dance, the Hokey Pokey and a new German line dance that involved flying like an airplane and schwimming in the ocean(apparently all the rage in Europe) and sounded like something from the Brady Bunch singers. Good thing they had lots of beer. Tom even joined me for a few polkas, but I thought we were going to pass out from all the hopping and jumping. We also enjoyed watching the really old guys in lederhosen out on the dance floor doing traditional German dances. Surprisingly the kids were not on board with this entertainment factor. They were bored. How sad they did not grow up with our traditional weddings and family get togethers. They didn't understand how much fun they were missing(although I am not so sure about the old german guys in shorts). It was certainly an interesting evening. And to make things more crazy, they paired it with a Haunted House-Bennett's Curse. One of the scariest in the country, and it was jam packed with people. We got stuck behind a firetruck and ambulance when we tried to leave. At least we did not get stuck like our friends behind the truck that blew a tire when it hit a guard rail trying to get around the fire truck!

Sunday morning we were off to church early as Scott had to altar serve. He had his friend Sammy spend the night so he joined us at church. Scott was a bit nervous since this was his first time without Allison serving by his side. But he held his own and did just what he needed to do. So in the afternoon I took him to get his hair cut since he has school photos in a week. We also picked up a few more fish for his tank and did some Halloween party shopping.

ON a sad note, Tom lost his Aunt Joan Conrad to Alzheimers last week. She had been living in a nursing home in Colorado for several years. Her husband also has Alzheimers, so it was Tom's cousin Scott from California that let us know.

And we wish Tom's Dad a speedy recovery from his fractured forearm after he stepped off a ladder too soon while hanging the Halloween decorations. (Hope you have fun with your OT Dad when that cast comes off!) I spend most of my time at work treating fractured wrists and forearms, but not usually from stepping off ladders in our community. Maybe a step stool.

Work actually slowed down a bit which was nice. Last month I had to put on an open house-I was in charge of food of course. This month I had to present to our Low Vision support group and spent a few days taking classes.

Enjoy our Halloween photo shots from Busch Gardens, The May POle dance at Octoberfest and Sen B Mikulski(in the green suit). Kathleen

It definitely feels like Fall now! Tom and I were out doing yard work last SAturday. Finally the sun came out after a day full of rain and t-storms on Friday. I had a little trouble picking up leaves on SAturday since it was so windy, but I finally finished edging, and trimmed a few more shrubs. Tom got the grass cut, but the weather has not been cooperating enough to get the winter fertilizer down. It was certainly a nice enough day for the high school Homecoming parade and football game. The kids and I caught the parade in the morning since it goes right through our neighborhood. Scott and a friend enjoyed collecting a big bag of candy thrown from the floats. I even picked up a Mt Hebron tshirt the cheerleaders were passing out. It was fun to see our neighbors so involved in the school activities. Our next door neighbors now have freshman at Mt Hebron and their daughter is involved in the band(and now so are the parents!). Our neighbor's pick up truck became a float, and they chaperoned the band members during the parade(which meant they got to walk in the parade too!). Allison and I did not stay for the whole parade since she had to get to work. Afterwards though she headed off to dinner with friends at a local Italian restaurant and then the Homecoming dance. She ended up sleeping over at one of the girl's house that lives just around the corner since the dance ended pretty early. We high school parents and the siblings decided to get together for drinks and munchies while the girls were out dancing. So everyone had a fun evening. And they had a fun time during the week at school too, dressing up each day for a different theme. The last day the Junior class all dressed as characters from the Clue game. Allison was the maid.

Surprisingly I did not realize that the kids once again had to take the PSAT that week. Allison did not take any classes this time in preparation(no time). I would have had her skip it as well since she really needs to concentrate now on the SAT and she took the PSAT last year. They offer it again in the Junior year in hopes of getting a scholarship. Allison will probably spend her winter semester preparing for the SAT. It's funny how the tv shows match what is happening in real life. We watch The Middle on Weds night-a comedy about a family living in INdiana with 3 kids-two in high school, one in elementary. This show is fun for our whole family-we especially enjoyed the dilemma concerning the oldest son's issues with the PSAT(their family did not realize the test was coming up either until the mom's started talking while working on the Homecoming floats). One mom mentioned a neighbor's son that had all A's in school, and volunteered his summer washing oil off seagulls in the gulf, but still did not get into college because his SAT scores were low and he ended up living in the basement of his parents house, cleaning up dead animals from the freeway! Boy if that isn't enough to scare you! But I swear that is how it is today! It's not enough that the kids study and get good grades either, they have to be overachievers in everything else to make it on their own. We know an awful lot more families whose 20 something aged kids graduated from college or finished their military rotation are now living with them, and some even have started families (babies) on top of it! We may be headed back to the days when the entire extended family lives in one house again, including Grandma and Grandpa! Just like the Waltons! (I think that would be rather nice, but we're going to need bigger houses!)

We didn't get to the Mt Hebron Homecoming football game(we really don't have a very good team), but I enjoyed watching MSU beat Uof M in football last SAturday afternoon. Tom couldn't bear to watch. Sadly we watched the Tigers lose miserably to the Texas Rangers instead so they are out of the baseball series. Oh well, it was good while it lasted.

On Friday Allison's Field Hockey game was cancelled due to a day of t-storms. Even though the sun finally came out in the late afternoon, the field was too wet and soggy to play. I was disappointed since that would have been a game Tom and I could have watched together. Tom was home on Friday, so we managed to have lunch together. But I spent the rest of the day at my yearly doctor appointment, taking Scott to gymnastics in the evening, and finally, a trip to the nursing home with Cookie for a Halloween Pet Parade in the afternoon. All of us rehab staff have dogs, so we dressed them up as Super Heroes for a Halloween Party at work. Cookie was dressed as BAtman(batgirl). She really seemed to love all the people-she tried to lick as many people as she could and let them pet her. The only problem I had was keeping on her Batman ears-every time she shook her head they fell off or her utility belt ended up around her tail! She also enjoyed seeing all the other dogs. It was total chaos in the rehab clinic.

Weds evening we enjoyed a presentation at the high school as Allison and 69 other students were inducted into the National Honor Society. She missed her first meeting since she had an Away Field Hockey game that night and had to catch the bus right after school. But she caught up with the info online and participated in the ceremony the next night. We are very proud of all her hard work, and I was especially happy to hear how many of the NHS girls were Girl SCouts-they seemed to outnumber the Boy Scouts in particpation. There were also 5 students total from the catholic school which was nice to see since there weren't that many kids to begin with attending the public school. Most of the catholic elementary kids go onto catholic high school. We also enjoyed some funny moments, like the group having some trouble reciting their pledge all together, not to mention dripping hot wax from their candles on each other. It was especially nice though listening to all of the kids achievements. Tom was especially impressed that one young man had a math scholarship developed in his name. (and he is not even dead!).

SCott was off school on Monday for Columbus Day so he stayed by himself and kept up with homework. Allison was off to a field hockey game. Tom was able to catch those two games and see her play. He then had to run Scott over to the Boy SCout meeting on Tuesday and the dentist on Weds(yeah no new cavities). Even with all that candy from the parade!

Tom is off for another week of travel in California on Sunday, so I will have another very busy week on my own with the kids! Allison and I will spend Sunday afternoon at GS choir practice. We have a big presentation scheduled for Monday, singing the National Anthem for our State Senator Barbara Mikulski at Girl Scout Headquarters.

Wish us luck!

Here are a few photos of Allison dressed up for Spirit week in her Clue outfit, dressed up for Homecoming with one of her friends and the NHS ceremony.

As if we weren't busy enough last weekend, Tom and I decided to have our neighbors DAn and Gloria over for dinner and a Ravens football game Sunday night. Since Tom had been on a chili cooking roll, we decided to serve(you guessed it) chili along with some tasty Koegel Vienna hot dogs that I brought back from Michigan. We thought they could use some neighborly support too since Dan was still upset over having his car broken into in his driveway the week before. We found many of his personal items strewn down the street, but of course they took the laptop.

They were also struggling with their teen age daughter's new found freedom at college(not so free though since she just lives in the dorms about 25 mins away and still wants to borrow the car and use their house on weekends for laundry and visiting with friends, not to mention boyfriend issues). Guess they told her if she wanted her freedom to do as she pleased, then she could just stay at the dorm and don't bother coming home. So they weren't having too great of a week. I think they appreciated some parental support, even if it was just from us!

The rest of the week flew by as usual. Tom still had to travel to Charlottesville, VA, but not until WEds morning. He then returned on Thursday night, but had to work on Friday. He did manage to get in his MOnday night football, and was able to take Scott to his scout meeting on Tuesday. He would have left Tuesday night, but he was still busy typing up reports. Allison had a few Field Hockey games that week and Tom was able to catch the Tuesday night game. We have a hard time getting to the games since they are at 3:30 in the afternoon. Tom has a pretty flexible schedule though, so he usually attends. I make the Friday afternoon games.

I stayed busy during the weeknights taking Allison to piano and with my Girl Scout Leader meeting on Weds night and an After Prom meeting Tuesday night at Allison's school. The High School is trying to raise money for the after prom party that they put on at the YMCA-an up all night, after the prom party for the kids complete with activities like swimming, rock wall climbing, games and food. I wanted to get an idea of the kind of volunteer help they were going to need, especially closer to the prom in the spring.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was busy volunteering my morning at Scott's school for Grandparents Day. We passed out coffee and donuts in the morning and then directed all the GParents to the classrooms and church. This year I dragged SCott to school early with me and he helped greet people at the door and poured orange juice. Then they were all headed to the church for a slide show from last year, a prayer service and songs from the choir(so I got to hear SCott sing) and I even peeked into his classroom while they were showing off their education skills. Plus I got to chat with some of the moms that I don't see very often.

After running some errands in the afternoon, I got a call from the school nurse saying that Scott wasn't feeling too well and could I pick him up right after school got out. I wasn't feeling too great myself. As a matter of fact, I was asleep on the couch by 930. I did manage to get Allison to work, but SCott skipped his gymnastics. Fortunately Tom was home and he was able to get Allison at 1030.(It will be nice when she can drive herself to work and home).

By Saturday we were all feeling much better, which was a good thing since Scott was invited to his friend's Sammy roller blade birthday party and sleepover. The party was at the same place Allison works. It was also a combined birthday party with another Resurrection boy, so Allison saw alot of people she knew.

I kept Allison hopping because after working all afternoon at the rollerblade rink, I volunteered her to cover a babysitting job for one of her friends. She certainly makes a whole lot more money babysitting! The extra income will come in handy for her for the Homecoming dance next weekend as well as the Prom. I just had a tough time staying awake to pick her up again. The family was supposed to return home at midnight but did not get back until 1am. I kept Allison company and me awake by texting her while I sat in the apartment parking lot waiting for the family to return. Tom would have stayed up, but he and SCott had an early morning planned.

Scott was supposed to serve mass on Sunday, but it turns out Tom volunteered him to sell popcorn at Lowes all day(what we do to our kids!). Scott and only one other scout showed up with another parent all day to sell popcorn, from 8am to 4pm. Scott was pretty worn out from his busy SAturday and limited sleep that night, but Tom says he did a great job selling. Allison and I spent the day at home doing homework and housework. I also took Allison out for a haircut and decided I might as well get a trim while I was there. It was a weekend of haircuts as I also dropped off Cookie on SAturday for her winter shearing. She is going to be in a Halloween Dog parade at the nursing home on Friday so I wanted her looking(and smelling her best)!

I also had to run Allison off to a Field Hockey pasta dinner party on Sunday night. Fortunately the girl's house was right around the corner, and Allison had to bring a salad. Which the girls completely inhaled. Then it was time to get our dinner!

We have also been trying to keep up with all the great Sports teams-we have been completely amazed at the Lions and the Tigers(Oh my). Our Ravens have been doing pretty well also. And Michigan State football has been interesting too. Then there is always the Packers. Lots to choose from just not enough time to watch it all(although Tom is trying). And Hockey season is just getting started!

And since our weather has finally been so nice, it was hard not to get out and do some yardwork and decorating for Halloween. Scott actually started a week ago, putting out the spiderwebs and hanging up our zombie(right after I trimmed all the bushes). I guess he started a bit too early as an anonymous neighbor put a letter in our mailbox asking us to remove the hanging zombie. They said it was too intense. Tom took it down just so we don't find it burning in our yard one night, and we will put him up again on Halloween night. Guess some people take things a bit too serious. I also took advantage of the nice weather to buy some fall flowers. Now if I can just find the time to actually plant them!

Kathleen and family

This week Tom was off to Charlottesville, VA. At least he did not have to leave until Monday night. He managed to squeeze in half a football game with his "Monday night Football night out with the neighborhood boys" before he drove down to VA. He was able to catch Allison's rescheduled Field Hockey game too on Monday(and she played). He was not home however to take Scott to his Boy Scout meeting on Tuesday.

I was hoping he would have had time to connect with the Boy Scout troop since he was assisting with a big campout this past weekend. The boys put on a day of activities for cub scouts to teach them important boy scout skills like lighting fires and tying knots. Mostly they are trying to recruit new scouts. The boys spend the night on Friday which gives them a chance to work on some advancement skills, and then they are up and ready early in the morning to run their stations. Tom didn't have all the details since he had been out of town for several weeks. I didn't even have a chance to attend Scott's meeting either since his school asked me to come in as a guest speaker at the same time. I was asked to speak to the 5th grade class concerning the week long Outdoor Education Camping Trip that SCott and I attended last year. I let them know that it was a whole lot of fun and that the kids learned quite a bit that week(and had fun doing it). So did the parents.

It was also very helpful to have Tom home(at least for one day during the week) since he also had to take Allison to a Girl SCout meeting for the National Convention after her field hockey game on Monday evening. Allison had to attend further training and info seminar for our trip to Houston with girl scouts. I was supposed to go but I did not get off work in time. I picked up Allison instead and just got a brief overview when I arrived. She still has another meeting in October and another webinar to listen in on.

The kids had Thursday off for a jewish holiday but it just gave them more time to do homework. I always think it is funny that a catholic school gives the kids a day off for a jewish holiday. I know they are just trying to follow the public school schedule though since they use the same bus system.

On Friday Tom had returned from VA and he was busy packing for the boy scout camping trip. I was busy dropping off kid's stuff to our local consignment store, and then I had to do some grocery shopping for a dinner I was donating to a family that night. I signed up to bring dinner to a Resurrection family whose son had brain surgery due to a sinus infection. The boy is a twin and his brother is really missing him. Luke, the one who had surgery has been in the hospital since August. He is now going through rehab and had to learn to walk again and use his hand since the left side of his body was paralyzed after the surgery. I decided to pick up a few roasted chickens from Sams Club since they are not expensive and they are huge and taste great. But when I went to pick them up, they had burned a whole oven's worth of chicken and were still trying to sell them. After several of us complained to the supervisor, they pulled them off the shelf, only to have another employee come by and restock the shelf with the same burnt chickens! It took a while, but we all finally got some decent chicken and I was on my way. Not until I threw out my back though lifting two huge pumpkins into my cart and a case of iced tea. I think I also did myself in when I was carrying boxes out to the car to take to the consignment shop. Thank goodness for Thermacare hot packs and heavy duty Motrin. I survived the rest of the weekend on drugs.

I am also trying to recuperate from trying to start the lawn mower a week ago when it froze up on me. I really pulled my shoulder then. Tom had to add more oil to the mower and give the blades a turn to get it going again. This mower has been almost dead for the past several years, so it now needs frequent oil refills(now Tom tells me). But it keeps going(just like me!) I don't think edging the lawn without power tools helps the matter either. We have quite a lot of curb and sidewalk around our lot.

I was just not too pleased that Allison and I had planned a trip to New York on Saturday! We have been wanting to see the Broadway play Wicked for a long time, but Allison only wanted to see it in New York at the Gershwin theater. Our YMCA set up a bus trip so I bought two tickets. At least I just had to sit for 3.5 hours there and back and for 3 hours during the play, so not too much walking. I did manage to tour Allison around Times Square(we spotted the New Year's Ball!), bought some New York souvenirs. I got my New York Starbucks cup and Allison got some tshirts from Aeropostale. We had italian food for lunch and mexican food for dinner, free chocolotes and took a brief walk through the edge of Central Park. New York is huge. We have only been there one other time to see the Rockettes Christmas Show at Radio City. That was a lot of fun too. I want to go back to do a bus trip around the city and hit some of the museums as well as Ellis Island. I will put it on our bucket list. Anyway, the play was phenomenal but Tom told me my credit card number was stolen when I bought Allison a Wicked tshirt at the theater. Oh bother. Now I need to replace my card.

Before our trip on Saturday, I was still planning on dropping off dinner to our school family. First I had some prep work to do. Tom was busy in the kitchen making chili for dinner on Friday for the boy scout camping trip. Good thing he did since a whole lot more boys showed up than expected and they would not have had enough food if Tom hadn't brought chili. Before we could do all of our planned weekend activities though, Allison had another Field Hockey game Friday afternoon.

Her team played a very tough team-number one in the county and held them until the last 15 minutes or so when the other team scored. It was a rough game, lots of tripping and balls flying, and then a ball hit one of our girls in the back of the head and down she went. She had a busted head and concussion. They picked her up in the ambulance and took her off for stitches and a head CAT scan. These poor girls play this rough game with barely any protection. At least this girl took a hit in the back of her head, I would have hated to see what she looked like if she had been hit directly in the face! So there was a delay in the game, which meant Allison was a bit late getting done, which meant she was a bit late getting dinner and changed so I could take her to work! She managed to get there before her shift, but the manager was worried. So after I dropped her off I had to go drop off the dinner and then head back and pick up Allison after work.

Tom and Scott's camping trip turned out well. They had a big crowd and the boys did a wonderful job demonstrating their scout skills. Scott spent his time demonstrating fire building. And he got some of his camping requirements done working towards his next scout level.

Sunday was a busy homework day. Allison had to work during the day, so we missed Girl Scout choir practice. In between homework and rollerblade work, she had some last minute sales to complete for Girl SCout cookies, Prom ticket and Field Hockey fundraisers.

A very long week and weekend! Enjoy our photos of New York-Central Park, Wicked at the Gershwin, Times Square and Broadway. See the New Year BAll! That is about as close as I will get to the New Year's BAll. Tom hates crowds! Allison and I also enjoyed seeing ourselves on a large screen monitor billboard in Times Square(so did a lot of other people that were standing around us!).

(Blog Update from 9/18-9/25) I don't think last week could have been any busier! Tom was off to San Francisco on Sunday so I was on my own. As a matter of fact, Tom's boss sent me flowers to apologize for keeping him away every week, and for the next few weeks ahead too! Sunday was the day Allison and I went to the Rennaissance Festival.

The kids schedule was crazy busy of course during the week, and the weather still has not been cooperating. Allison had a field hockey game cancelled on Friday due to record breaking rain falls and flooding. That game was pushed off to Monday. We did manage to squeeze in our Parent Daughter Field Hockey game. Usually Tom takes over this role, but since he was not in town, it was up to me to not only bring food for the tailgate picnic afterwards, but to play field hockey too! I certainly have a greater appreciation for this game. I just stood in front of the goal and played defense. The sticks are a whole lot shorter than hockey sticks so I kept missing the ball. At least I did not mess up the field like one poor Dad who left huge divots all over trying to whack the ball. I just put my stick into the mob of people that came running down the field to try and stop the ball. I didn't feel too comfortable playing without any kind of protection like gloves or shinguards, but that is how the girls play! They did add goggles this year. I was only on the field for 15 minutes of a 30 min game and I was sweating like a pig! Mainly because it was so humid with storms rolling in from the south. Afterwards we sat on the field and ate a picnic dinner while discussing fund raising events(the real reason we have this event). Next year will be our last game. We did not play last year because Allison was not feeling well about this time of the school year. This time she played a field position and really enjoyed it. I also had to reschedule the kids dentist appointment so I could get to the game, but it turns out they rescheduled due to interfering Sr. Crab Feast(Allison can't wait until next year!).

I also had to get Allison to a Pasta Party for Field Hockey on Monday night(they usually try to carb up and have dinner together the night before a game). We were supposed to log onto the girl scout webinar Monday night as well for Allison's National Convention training since it was too early in the day. She will just have to catch up on another day during a rebroadcast. And since it rained so bad on Friday(more flooding), Tom was rerouted from his San Francisco flight to San Diego and then Austin, Tx. so he was later getting home. Allison had her Field Hockey game rescheduled to Monday due to the rain, and she changed her work schedule so she did not have to go in. Instead we had to drive to work to pick up her October schedule while Scott was at gymnastics.

I spent my Friday driving through torrential rain to pick up Tom's California wine shipment from UPS(we can ship wine directly to our homes here in Maryland now which was just a new law that was passed but it requires a signature). Usually we are not home during the day, so I had to go to the UPS warehouse to sign for it. I also had a Physical Therapy appointment for my neck that I had to reschedule to Friday so I could play Field Hockey Thursday night.

Scott on the other hand had gymnastics but he missed his boy scout meeting. He had way too many tests and homework assignments to work on , so I kept him home. He is still busy with choir and the Lego Club at school too.

We decided to celebrate our very long, hard week going out to see The Lion King in 3D Friday night. Allison and I were happy, SCott was not so impressed. I told the kids the last time the movie was in the theater they were not even born! We did think Disney did a great job with the 3D effects.

We also ended a long week as a family with a trip up to Hershey Park. We had purchased discount tickets from our neighbor DAn back in May, and had no free time to use them all summer! This was the last weekend for the summer session, although the water park was closed. Scott asked his friend Sammy along and we also packed up Cookie. She spent the day at the dog kennel at the park known as The Barking Lot. And we ended up getting a free ticket for Sammy when someone in line passed us an extra pass from their work picnic. Often companies in the area will schedule a day at the park for their employees. A good deal for Sammy considering the tickets are $55.00! We all had a lot of fun, but Tom and I were exhausted from walking around the park all day and hitting rides with the kids(it is a very hilly park and does not connect well). Not to mention standing in lines waiting for rides! All in all a very fun day and Cookie seemed to enjoy her walk around the stadium listening to the football high school bands competing in the evening. We took a dinner break and went out of the park for Chinese too. Tom and Allison would have loved to have stayed for a hockey game, but the Hershey Bears season starts next week. (too bad).

We had Sammy sleep over since we got home so late. Fortunately Allison did not have to work Sunday either since the private party she was covering there was cancelled. Good for her since she had a lot of homework to do. And Scott spent the morning hanging out with Sammy before his parents picked him up.

I hope I don't have too many more weeks like this scheduled!

I didn't even get a chance to drop Mom Bozyk's Birthday card off in the mail that week. A Big Happy Birthday Mom B on Sept 19th.

All our Love, The Seitz Family

We are just settling down to an evening of homework after spending the day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Tom and Allison actually went Saturday, and Allison and I went today. Allison had a short day yesterday, so she got a two day pass so she could spend more time there today. She mainly wanted to go this weekend because of friend of hers at school sings in a Madrigal choir and they were performing there SAturday and Sunday. I skipped Saturday to stay home with SCott. He helped me run my garage sale in the morning, and then I had to take Allison to the girl scout council office to go over a few more details concerning her Gold Award application. Since she did not get approval for rebuilding her horse ramp, she had to iron out a few more details. Now she has to type it up and resubmit to council. I hope it passes the second time! Hard to do volunteer service work huh?

On Sunday I took Allison to the Renaissance festival since Scott was pretty worn out from a birthday party sleep over the night before. He did not get much sleep, and was up early with Allison to serve the 9am mass. This was also Allison's last mass as she is hanging up her robe. She hung in there for one more year to help get SCott started, but she decided to pursue other areas of the church. We actually spoke to one of the church youth group leaders who makes jewelry with beads purchased and made from women in Africa. Then they sell the jewelry to raise money for their summer work groups where they volunteer around the country to help people in need-like working in New Orleans after the hurricane. Allison used to help with this group and is thinking of joining again to help out at church and earn volunteer hours for the National Honor Society.

So Sunday Tom had to leave and is spending the week in San Francisco. Scott spent his day doing homework. Allison and I enjoyed eating food items on sticks and watching several shows, including a juggling/balancing/magic comedy by a man who is married to a physical therapist that I used to work with at St Agnes hospital. We have seen her husband perform before, but that was at a First Night New Years Eve show in Annapolis many years ago. I did not know he also performs yearly(25 years now) at the Festival. I asked him to say hi to his wife after the show. And we enjoyed the Madrigal singers and spoke to Allison's friend briefly between shows.

Tom had just arrived home from a quick visit to Chicago the week before. He couldn't locate any Gino's deep dish pizza to bring home, but he did get me a Starbucks Chicago mug. I have started a new collection. Starbucks has made mugs with city landmarks on them. So far I have London and Detroit. Now Chicago. I am on a mission to collect mugs from all the places I have visited(or Tom visits). I made need another cabinet in the kitchen! Good thing we drink coffee!

Tom did get home in time on Friday for us to have lunch together right after our doctor and dentist appointments. Tom had to meet with the oral surgeon and schedule time to have his wisdom teeth pulled(it's about time). I had my own appointment to go to and then we both watched Allison's Field Hockey game. This was exciting because Allison got to play two periods. And her team won by a lot. ON Tuesday Tom got off work early since he was traveling to Chicago, and he watched her team play their first official game. This team won Nationals last year and it was a tough game. I caught the last 10 mins of the game-it looked like a Lacrosse match! Lots of checking and sticks flying, girls tripping. And the ref. kept calling penalties and even kicked girls off the field for 5 minute penalties. A nail biting game and Allison's team won by one point! Very exciting. Allison also had a pasta party after practice on Monday night, before the game. So we were busy making pans of brownies Sunday night. Turns out we had lots of brownies left since half of the team didn't make the party-seems the flu season has started. And another girl is out with a broken foot. That appears to be a big issue this year. At least they are back on their own field practicing-most of the big rain has held out, except for the end of one practice session when the coach sent all the girls home early due to rain showers. I don't think standing out in the cold rain helps with their health either. Not to mention how cold it got here this weekend(thanks Canada). They even had a tornado in Ocean City when the cold front blew in. A water spout came on shore and damaged buildings and cars. I don't think the National WEather SErvice believed it was a tornado since they say one hasn't hit there in over 100 years.

But we had extra brownies available for Monday Night Football. Tom hosted the first Boys Night Out to watch Monday night football. Tom and I were all running around the house cleaning up and we made munchies to go along with the beer. When the boys arrived, the kids were home doing homework. We had a full house of football fans and sadly, some of them would not go home! The kids were waiting up for Tom to help them with their homework but we couldn't get the stragglers out of the house. Most of the group usually leave at half time. Glad we are not hosting for awhile. Of course, Tom is going to miss quite a few games too since he has more traveling to do.

Scott had a busy week with schoolwork, his first choir practice, gymnastics and altar server training. Allison was busy with piano lessons, Field Hockey and school work. I missed my rescheduled Girl SCout Leader Meeting (rescheduled due to the previous weeks flooding). Instead I went to Allison's Back to SChool Night. I met most of her teachers-the pre Calc teacher did not make it. And none of the parents like the Spanish teacher. Most of the kids failed their first spanish test. Allison did not do too bad, but of course the teacher did not count the first test. Tom was just happy to hear that the Dept of Transportation was going to reconfigure the morning drop off since the traffic backs up with our new parking lot.

Enjoy the photos of Allison at the RenCen Festival and her friend's Madrigal singing group performing. Also Allison's last time as an altar server(she has been an altar server since 5th grade!).

Kathleen

Well we survived the disaster of the week! Earthquakes, Hurricanes and now Floods! We already had the locusts in the form of stink bugs! We enjoyed Tropical Storm Lee-sorry Texas. We would have loved to have sent the rain your way.

Tuesday the kids were back to school, I was off to work and Tom was flying out to California. And the rain had already started on Monday. At least it held off during most of the Labor Day Weekend. Which was a good thing for Baltimore since we hosted our very first Baltimore Grand Prix-racing the NASCAR circuit around the inner harbor. They say it was a successful event, but most of the people that live and work in Baltimore didn't think so since most of the roads were closed for the race track making their commute miserable.

Besides working on Labor Day, I also helped SCott set up his new 10 gallon tank for his turtle. I bought a small tv stand to use for his turtle tank and the tank with the hermit crabs. Just a little reminder of our summer vacation.

Tuesday night I dropped SCott off at his Boy SCout meeting after work. They were having a ceremony to acknowledge all the badges the boys earned during the year, and anyone who moved up in rank. All our new boys earned the Tenderfoot rank as well as Boy Scout rank just since February. And SCott received his 3 badges he earned this summer. We were supposed to have a picnic on Sunday for the ceremony, but we were rained out. I couldn't stay for SCott's ceremony and party, and Tom was out of town so I headed over to SCott's Back to SChool Night instead.

I think he is going to have a very good year as he has a great group of experienced teachers. And he is excited about his first year of Middle SChool too. He already turned in two summer book reports and did quite well-so hopefully he is off to a good start. Even though they did not actually start on the first day because of the power outages from the hurricane.

Allison on the other hand was not having much luck at school. Her field hockey practices and a scrimmage were rained out. The worst was on Weds, the heaviest amount of rain for the week. That was when all the local roads started flooding, including several in our neighborhood. We have some small creeks running through the neighborhood that turned into rivers. I thought I saw the deer floating by on inner tubes with margaritas in their hooves! And I think everyone saw our olde Ellicott City under water. They haven't had a flood that bad since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. My girl scout leader meeting was cancelled that evening due to downed trees and flooded streets. At least the power stayed on! Allison's school had a fire alarm go off during the day and they herded the entire school outside in a thunderstorm. Turns out water leaked into a smoke alarm and set it off in one of the trailers, and all the kids got soaked. I don't know if it would have been worse to get caught in a fire or hit by lightening! The kids strolled back into school sopping wet, the hallways were wet, classrooms leaking and their courtyard flooded into the newly remodeled administration offices. So glad they decided not to rebuild. They told all the kids that walk home to get a ride from their parents. Allison ended up catching a ride home with the sports trainer since practice was cancelled again. The teams usually try and practice inside, but they only have one gym and the second gym is being remodeled. And there are just too many sports teams to practice inside.

ON Thursday the field hockey coach moved their practice to the local county parks that have turf fields. They were not flooded like the school fields. HOwever, I was not able to get off work at 230 to drive Allison to practice, so she caught a ride from one of the senior girls. I picked her and another teammate up after traveling to 3 other parks! (All with the same name). Then I had to go to my PT session for my neck after feeding the kids, and then to Allison's piano lesson. Long day.

Friday I got the kids off to school and finally went back for my first aerobics class. Since I am winding down on my PT sessions, I thought I would try to transition back to class. Seems like I survived-everything hurt of course, but in the right places. When I got home I thought I would take Cookie for a walk in between the rain showers(wrong!). It drizzled the whole time we were out and we were soaked. After a warm shower, I spent the rest of the afternoon sorting through toys and clothes for the garage sale next weekend. Allison had an indoor practice and SCott had his first INtermediate gymnastics class that evening.

Tom returned from California and I think was relieved to hear that our weekend plans were cancelled(due to rain-imagine!). Again! This weekend we were supposed to camp at Chincoteague Island with the boy scouts. I was so looking forward to this trip also. Allison went camping there a few summers ago with the girl scouts and had a great time. This is the island with the wild ponies that wander around the campground and beach area. It is a National Park. Because Hurricane Katia was offshore, the beach had rip tide warnings posted and the scout troop leaders did not feel comfortable taking the boys to the beach. In some ways I was relieved since I would have had to pack up the van with the camping gear myself and Tom would have had a 3 hour drive after getting off the plane from LA Friday night. The scouts were scheduled to complete a service project on the beach with the Park Rangers early Saturday morning, so Tom and SCott were going to leave on Friday. We were all planning on leaving Friday, but Allison had a Field Hockey tournament on Saturday. I thought it was just one morning game, but it was another all day affair.

So instead, on Saturday morning the family enjoyed watching Allison's team play. Saturday night we all headed over to our neighbor's house to catch up with news of the week and eat dinner out on the patio. In between rain showers. I am starting to feel like I live in the Rain Forest. We also celebrated Allison being inducted into the National Honor Society! Way to go Allison! All that ridiculous paperwork we filled out last May paid off. Although now she has to do more volunteer work to stay a member. She was surprised with the news as were the other students at the end of the day on Friday. The students were herded into the media center with a big celebration and flowers. They will have a family celebration in October.

Sunday we enjoyed watching the Ravens football team spank the Steelers. Oh Yeah! We also enjoyed watching the game at our old neighbor's new house. These were neighbors that lived 2 doors down from us and moved to be closer to York PA where the husband was working. He used to work at the Pentagon, and now he was transferred to the Naval ShipYard near the pentagon, so they decided to move back to our area. They had a custom house built which looks very much like their last house. And it backs up to our local large park so it will be a great place for the kids to hang out. So we had a terrific day(and it rained). And we had thought about going to Hershey Park that day to use our summer tickets we bought on discount. Turns out the park was closed all weekend due to weather. Guess we are glad we did not drive all the way up there for nothing!

I need to send out a few very big Happy Birthdays! Happy Birthday to Brother Mike who celebrated(we hope) this past weekend, and a double Happy Birthday to my brother's Dan and Dave who celebrated their birthdays on Labor Day Weekend. Hope you all had time to enjoy yourselves!

That's Allison in goal on Field Hockey tournament day and Scott looking extra excited to go to school and have his picture taken at 8am!

Kathleen