School is Back in Session!

Yes, school is back in session, and things have calmed down here a bit.  So far, the kids claim that things are going well, though we don't have any grades yet to prove it.

John decided not to run for class Treasurer, nor audition for the play, but he did officially register for the Science Olympiad, and he wants to be a part of the Follies, where each class presents a skit to promote school spirit during Homecoming Week.  He's also been invited to an interest meeting for the Speech and Debate team, so we'll see.

Lyn, on the other hand DID audition for the play, and we found out just tonight that she was cast as a school girl in Flowers for Algernon.  I don't know the dates at this moment, but I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I do.  She has also decided to join the church Bell Choir.  Look for more information on her Christmas Concerts coming soon, as well.

Margie has been busy wrapping up the organizing/clean out work she has been doing at LTA and Edison.  She has also been ultra busy with Cub Scouts.  She's taking a few weeks off work to get caught up on things.  It's a very much needed break!

Dan's show, Dinner with Friends, finally opened, so it's nice to have him home again for awhile, though he has started to have meetings about his next show, A Lion in Winter, at The Arlington Players.  This past weekend he attended a production of Sense and Sensibility at Folger Theater with his director and cohort, Susan Devine.  The set designer's sister is a good friend of Susan's, and she let her know about a reception and discussion with the set designer prior to the show.  Dan very much enjoyed the whole evening.  Oh, and Dan was nominated for a Set Designing award for To Kill a Mockingbird at LTA.  He's not very excited about it, though, because he says that 95% of it was from someone else's published design--right down to the dimensions..  He said, "I didn't design that set. I copied it from Ben Boyer with his permission, and by request of the producers. It should be HIS nomination. I should be a co-designer at most."

Everyone but Margie also participated in some big service projects these last couple of weeks.  John helped construct a handicapped ramp for a family at church.  Dan came the following week to help install it, as well as help with some other projects around the house.  Lyn came and did yardwork.  Margie was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the many many hours of service she has been performing the last several months and opted to stay home.  I think she deserved it.

Finally, speaking of service, as you may remember, Margie spent most of her spring doing a major clean out for a friend who had terminal cancer.  Well, that friend died a few days ago.  There is a hole in our hearts that cannot be filled.  We have known the family since we were newlyweds, and she and Margie were pregnant with their youngest children together--John and their daughter having been born just a month apart.  She was just 47 years old.

We are reminded to hug each other just a little tighter.  We hope you will do the same.

This kid is in HIGH SCHOOL!  How did that happen????

The End of Summer

Well, summer is almost over at the Remmers'.  The kids go back to school on Tuesday.  Unlike most moms, Margie is sad to see her children go--they've helped with so many projects this summer!!!  But we are all looking forward to getting back into a routine.  And the cooler weather will be a welcome change as well.

Of course, you know us.  We haven't been sitting around these last couple of weeks.

On Wednesday, August 24, Margie began "The Great Costume Clean Out" at Edison High School.  The drama teacher, Mrs. Addison, had asked Margie at the end of the school year if she would do this for her and gave her a brief tour of the space.  Though clean outs like this are what she does for a living now, Margie was completely overwhelmed--primarily because she doesn't really know costumes and what should be kept and what should be tossed.  So she turned to a friend from LTA, Bev Benda, who is currently serving as the Governor of Artistic Support and who, for many years, has managed the costumes there.  Bev agreed to meet Margie and Mrs. Addison to take a look at the inventory and give some suggestions as to how to decide what to get rid of (such as any modern clothes you can find in people's closets).  What we thought was just going to be a quick meeting turned into several hours of tossing.  Margie even asked Lyn to walk to the school to come help!

Margie always kicks herself because more often than not, she forgets to take a "before" picture.  It's especially frustrating when the results are particularly dramatic. This was no exception. Argh! Here, however, is a picture of the donation bags from our first day's work.  By the time we were finished over the next several days, the pile tripled.

Donations on the left, trash on the right.  The costume room is through the double doors.

On Thursday, August 25, Lyn was scheduled to work on a service project with the Young Women at church.  They were going to be assembling backpacks full of school supplies for less fortunate kids in the county.  Unfortunately, when they arrived, they learned that another group had already completed the project.  So instead, they all went to a local gardening store to shop for another upcoming service project where they will be doing yardwork for a needy family at our church.  That night, Margie attended her first Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) at Edison.  Margie has always been involved in the PTA at the kids' schools, but was never able to make an Edison meeting.  Now that both kids are at the same school, she kind of feels like she should step up.

On Friday, August 26, Margie and Lyn went back to Edison for some more costume clean out.  After an hour or so, we had to leave and go to a paying client.  There, Lyn continued to work on the photo books, while Margie did some basic office/paper organization and a few other projects. Margie was done fairly quickly, so she left Lyn there to keep working and returned to Edison, picking up John along the way.  In the evening, Margie accompanied the sister missionaries as they visited an elderly man from our congregation.  He had been a police officer here during the civil rights riots of the 60s and had some interesting stories to tell!

On Saturday, Lyn went with the church youth group on a float trip down the Shenandoah.  John was invited, too, but chose not to go.  He's not very outdoorsy, as you know, and not a good swimmer.  Margie put him to work helping to clean the house, though, and he was wishing he had gone on the trip instead!  Lyn had a great time, though she forgot to put sunscreen on her arms and suffered 2nd degree burns.  Ouch!

On Sunday, John participated in a special musical number at church.  John actually SANG.  It was so shocking, Dan had to come to church to see it!  He did a great job, and we were very proud of him.  That night, we attended a Seminary kick-off meeting for students and their parents.  This, you will recall, is the religious education program held an hour before high school.  It will be John's first year.  We'll see how it goes!

On Wednesday, August 31, Margie and John worked on the Edison costumes some more, while Lyn spent the day with her Aunt Debbie--a promised birthday excursion.  The two of them visited several art installations, had lunch, went to the pool, and generally just hung out.  Lyn ended up having dinner there as well.  She had a great time!  John was invited to participate in a service project that night, but since he had spent four hours doing service with mom for Edison--and had a pretty severe allergy attack while doing it--Margie let him stay home.

On Thursday, Lyn and Margie spent their final day on the Edison costumes.  We brought John with us, but he stayed in the hall, as he was clearly very allergic to something that room.  He had to come to the school, however, because Freshman Orientation was that day as well.  There he picked up his class schedule, learned about the library and other resources, and generally got pumped about starting school.

That afternoon, the three of them attended "Eagle Soar", which is an opportunity to pick up your class schedule, learn about different clubs and activities, purchase a PE uniform, and tour the school to find your classes.  John got really excited about all the opportunities!  He picked up fliers for Student Government (he plans to run for Freshman Class Treasurer), Model UN, Science Olympiad, and the Speech/Debate team. Later he told Margie that he thought he would audition to be on stage, rather than do tech work for the drama department.  Margie began to wonder who this kid was and what had happened to her son!  Dan pointed out that he seems to be blossoming into the kid that we always knew he could be--remember when he was little he was so outgoing and gregarious?  Dan may be right.

When we arrived home from Eagle Soar, as we were making dinner, Margie received a phone call from one of her clients.  This woman is 74 years old and had hired Margie to help make sense of her finances.  The client was calling because she needed to check the online balance of one of her accounts and she couldn't figure out how to log on.  It was a simple problem--she had accidentally turned the CAPS lock on, so her password wasn't working--but as Margie spent the next 45 minutes trying to explain how to turn it off, she began to realize that something was wrong with her client's brain.  She couldn't understand the simplest of English terms.  She couldn't even describe where her hands were.  Margie feared the woman had suffered--or was currently experiencing--a stroke.  She told the client she would call her right back, hung up the phone and called 911.  The next couple of hours were harrowing, as Margie spoke to the paramedics and called Adult Protective Services, as well as the Mental Health Crisis line. The client called Margie back, confused as to what was happening.  Margie tried to help her remember what they had been talking about on the phone previously, and she was unable to recall it.  Finally, Margie told her client that she feared she had experienced a stroke.  Her first response was, "What's a stroke?"  Another sign that something was really wrong!  After a little bit of explaining, the client started yelling at Margie over the phone, shouting expletives, and ultimately firing her.  It was all extremely distressing, and Margie hung up shaking.  Luckily, Margie has a good friend who is a retired adult mental health counselor.  The friend was able to talk Margie through it and help her understand that she had done the right thing and direct her to some next steps.  Whew!

All this happened while Dan was, of course, away doing theatre.  His show, Dinner With Friends, opens next weekend.  He thinks it's going to be a great show, but he says it is definitely not for children.

The next day, still shaking from the evening's events, the family headed off on a little day trip to Philadelphia.  The original intent was to go through the Philadelphia Temple Open House.  As you may know, once temples are dedicated, members of our church consider them to be the most sacred places on earth--a place of prayer, contemplation, instruction, and covenant-making. Only committed adult members may enter.  However, prior to dedication, the church often opens them up to anyone who would like to see what they look like on the inside.  In the month that the Philadelphia Temple has been open, an average of 8,000 people per day--from all faiths, and from all parts of the world--have come to see what it is like.  Since Dan is not a member, and, as children, John and Lyn have not been able to be inside the temple, Margie felt strongly that this would be a great opportunity for the family.

Our first stop was to Reading Market Terminal, an indoor market jam-packed with (mostly) food vendors.  We were told that we needed to stop at Miller's Twist for the world's best pretzels and Beiler's Bakery for the world's best donuts.  Our friends were right--both were amazing!

Then we headed to the temple for the Open House.  We had intended to see some sights beforehand, but we ended up getting a late start, so we decided to catch them after.

The temple was lovely, though much smaller that the one here in D.C.  Temples are usually very quiet inside, so Margie found it a little weird that there was so much bustling and talking.

Afterwards, we planned to head over to Independence Hall, but we ended up spending about 45 minutes just trying to get out of the parking garage!  The attendant told us that it was a combination of construction and the fact that Donald Trump had just come to town.  Ack!  By the time we got out, it was 15 minutes until Independence Hall closed.  Bummer!  We decided to just go ahead and head to dinner.

For dinner, we had promised John a trip to Red Robin.  Usually during the summer we have a "half-birthday" party for him, but this year was so busy we just couldn't make room for it.  He said we could make it up to him by taking him to Red Robin--so that's what we did.

There were several along the route home, but we happened to pick the one in Wilmington, Delaware.  It was the perfect choice, as it was beautifully situated next to a large pond with lovely water fountains.  The weather was so delightful, we opted to sit outside.  It couldn't have been any more perfect!

A perfect evening at Brandywine Town Center, Wilmington, Delaware.

The next day, we were pretty exhausted.  Margie and the kids managed to get a few housecleaning items done, while Dan headed, of course, to the theatre.  When he got home, we gave each other long overdue haircuts.  Lyn asked Margie to cut it "as short as she felt comfortable," without it being a buzz cut, of course.  Though Margie was super nervous, it turned out super cute.  Lyn got a LOT of compliments at church today!

Lyn's new super short do!

After haircuts, Dan and Margie headed to Baltimore for a friend's birthday party.  It was worth the long drive!  We had a ton of fun and ate a great meal at Fogo de Chao, a brazilian steakhouse.  While it grossed Margie out a little to have all that meat carved right in front of her face, the salad bar and sides were truly amazing--not to mention the great company!

And that brings us to today.  It was church, as usual, and then later a couple of adult youth leaders from the church stopped by to give the kids "back to school" blessings.

That's all our news for now.  School is just around the corner!  Drop us a line sometime--we'd love to hear your news as well.  :)

What's Been Going on at the Remmers?!

Yikes!  It's been a really long time since I posted anything on this blog!!

Unfortunately, once you slip, it just keeps piling up and piling up and then you never want to start because there's so much to say that you just don't know when you'll have time to write all!  ARGH!!

In pondering this situation this morning, I realized that the thing that holds me up is uploading the accompanying pictures.  So, to speed the process along of documenting the last couple of months, I'm just going to bullet list everything we did.  I may or may not add pictures later.

• March 21:  Lyn left for her first solo trip to visit family on the West Coast.  She had a great time!
• March 23:  John spent the day at the temple with other youth from our church.
• March 24:  Margie participated in a mock voir dire, or jury selection, helping Fairfax County Public Defenders prepare for their trials.  It was a lot of fun!
• March 27:  Easter.  We missed having Lyn be with us for our annual family picture!
• March 28:  Lyn came home.  Yay!
• March 29:  John participated in a Scouting Board of Review and the next day advanced to Star Scout.  One step closer to attaining his Eagle!
• April 1:  John went with his class on a field trip to the Newseum.
• April 2:  The family participated in our assignment church cleaning.  Margie was supposed to attend training for her new position as Cubmaster, but was feeling sick.  Dan started building the Once on This Island set for Edison High School.
• April 8:  Margie went with some girlfriends for a weekend trip to Wisp Mountain, also visiting Falling Water during a freak snow storm!
• April 13:  John was selected by his Civics teacher to attend a tour of the Fairfax County Courthouse, as well as sit in on a real trial.  Margie went as a chaperone.  It was very interesting!
• April 15: Margie hosted her first Cub Scout Pack Meeting.  This is a monthly get together with all the boys, 8-10, that she oversees, as well as their families.  All the kids made percussion instruments and then played them in a special performance orchestrated by a local Eagle Scout.
• April 16:  John ran sound for his middle school production of Seussical.  Unfortunately, the rest of the family couldn't come see it because we were busy catering the cast and crew luncheon for Once on This Island.  We went to see the show that night and John got to sit in the audience.  The kids did a great job!
• April 22:  John attended a dinner hosted by his Young Men leader, then came to see Once on This Island with us.
• April 23:  Margie attended a regional scout meeting in Ashburn.  It was really far away, but she learned a lot and is glad she went.
• April 27:  Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
• April 29:  John went camping and completed a 10-mile hike in preparation for the 50-mile hike he would be doing this summer.  He needed some help carrying his pack every so often, but in general, his leader said he did a great job.
• May 4:  John went on a field trip with the school News Crew, which he has been on this year editing videos.
• May 5:  Margie hosted her last Honor Roll Assembly.  She has been the Honor Roll Assembly chair at the middle school for four years, and it's time to hand over the scepter.
• May 6:  The family attended a performance of To Kill a Mockingbird at LTA.  Dan designed the awesome set, and his sister Debbie tried her had at set decorating for the first time.
• May 7:  Margie took the kids to a performance of the rarely performed musical, Starlight Express, at a local high school.  We loved it.
• May 11:  Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
• May 13:  John and Dan attended the annual church Father Son campout.
• May 14:  Lyn attended a party in preparation for her work as Youth Camp Leader this summer.
• May 17:  Margie and John met with the guidance counselor at the high school (yes, John's going to be in HIGH SCHOOL) to discuss possibly participating in a new pilot Global Stem Challenge program next year.  This is a program that combines math, science, engineering and computer science into one class, working in conjunction with local businesses to solve real world problems.  He's going to do it!
• May 18:  Margie volunteered at Finance Park.
• May 25:  Lyn went kayaking with some of the Young Women from church.
• May 27:  Margie and Lyn attended the annual Thespies, a drama department awards show at Edison High School.  It was fun.
• May 29:  The family attended a potluck after church.
• June 2:  Margie participated in another mock jury.  This time in Loudon County.
• June 3:  Margie attended the funeral of a dear friend's husband, who died of complications related to Alzheimer's.  In the evening, she and John attended the Twain talent show.
• June 4:  The whole family helped with the Opening Night Party for History Boys at LTA.  One of John's classmates was in the show, so it was kind of fun.
• June 8:  Margie, Lyn, and John attended the temple and for the first time ever did work for our own ancestors.
• June 10:  Margie participated in a blood drive.  It was a kind of a neat experience because there was a woman there who had been a blood recipient over 40 times and was awaiting a liver transplant.  She came to encourage, thank us, and hold everyone's hand.  It make the whole experience very real.
• June 11:  Margie hosted Pack Meeting at Huntley Meadows Park.  It was hot and yucky, but the boys had a great experience.  That evening John attended a swim party for a friend's birthday.
• June 12:  Seminary graduation.  For the second year in a row, Lyn received the Thomas S. Monson Award for Excellence.
• June 13:  Dan attended the LTA annual meeting.  There were no contested races, to Margie opted to stay home.
• June 15:  Margie and Lyn had a spa day and got our nails done!
• June 18:  Lyn and John performed in a church "roadshow"--basically a mini-play. Twelve local congregations each put on a show based on a given theme.  John shocked everyone with his on stage dancing!
• June 21:  Margie went with her friend Jennifer Lyman to see a taped live show of James Corden in One Man, Two Guvnors, for which he won a Tony Award.
• June 23:  Last Day of School!  The kids celebrated by joining their friends in a trip to Shadowland--our local laser tag place.
• June 24:  Margie and John attended at financial seminar at USAA.  John is really into money and finance, so we thought this would be a good introduction--plus he could make some connections for some summer work experience.  It wasn't as great as we'd hoped, but he did learn some good info.  In the evening, Margie and Dan attended History Boys.
• June 25:  Attended a going away party for a family who was leaving the area.
• June 26:  Attended a Front of House Appreciation Party at LTA.  Margie has served as the FOH Inventory Coordinator for a couple years now.  The rest of the family helps cater Opening Night Parties.  John and Margie each one $15 gift certificates in a drawing!  That evening, Margie attended training for her upcoming roll as a Youth Conference Chaperone.
• June 27-July 1:  John hiked and camped in the Finger Lakes region for Boy Scout High Adventure.  He hiked a total of 50 miles!!  Meanwhile back at home, Margie served as a Day Camp Walker, overseeing a dozen Cub Scouts as they participated in several activity stations, including archery, BB guns, crafts, etc.
• June 28:  Lyn attended a party for the girls she would be overseeing at the upcoming Girls Camp.  Meanwhile, Dan attended a dinner to meet and get to know the crew of his upcoming show, Dinner With Friends.
• June 29:  Lyn went on a day hike to Old Rag. 
• July 4:  As usual, we started the day with the annual church breakfast to celebrate the holiday.  Margie and Lyn were asked to sing the National Anthem in a women's acapella group.  And that was all we did!  We didn't even attempt to see fireworks.  We're just all stick-in-the-muds when it comes to Virginia summer!
• July 5-July 9:  Lyn attended Girls Camp this year as a Youth Camp Leader.  She had a great time.
• July 6:  A friend was in town on her way to Spain.  Margie and John met her, her kids and some other families for brunch and then a trip to Shadowland.
• July 9:  John got an iPhone!  Also, Margie went with some girlfriends to an Escape Room--something that had been on her bucket list.  Basically, you're trapped in a room and have clues to figure out a mystery before time runs out.  Unfortunately, time ran out for us, but we were pretty close.  It was fun!
• July 10:  Lyn attended a Young Women's brunch to continue to work on her Personal Progress--a personal development program developed by the church.
• July 11:  The whole family went to the dentist.  No cavities!  One of Lyn's teeth was "sticky"--basically in a "pre-cavity" stage, so we made another appointment to get it bonded.
• July 13:  John and Margie had to go to the Apple store to replace his new iPhone, which was "bleeding data" and charging us $15 every 30 minutes!  Ack!!
• July 14-July 16:  Margie, Lyn, and John attended Youth Conference.  They had a great time.  Margie had to leave early on the last day to attend another funeral--the husband of another LTA friend.
• July 18-July 23:  John and Lyn attended "Especially For Youth" (EFY), a religious camp sponsored by BYU.  They both said it was the best activity they did all summer.
• July 18:  EFY was held in Buena Vista, which is about 3 hours away.  Margie drove the kids down in the morning, and then, not wanting to drive all the way back, stopped to visit her friend Alison in Luray.  Despite the rain, the two of them headed down to the river for some wading and girl talk.
• July 22:  The kids needed to be picked up at 7am on Saturday morning.  Instead of driving down so early in the morning, Dan took the day off on Friday and he and Margie went down to a BnB not far away.  There we swam, went on a little hike, played some pool, and had a great German dinner.
• July 23:  Picked up the kids and headed back to the BnB, where we all had an amazing brunch.  Dan and Margie had planned a day of sightseeing as we moseyed back home, but the kids just really wanted to go to their own beds, so we went straight there instead.  On the way, we finally listened to Hamilton.  We were slow to get on that train, but we finally made it, and, like the rest of the world, we're hooked.
• July 27:  Lyn and Margie went to the dentist.  Lyn got her first filling (sort of, it was really just bonding), and Margie got one of her teeth bonded as well in order to protect the root and make it less painful to eat.
• July 28:  The whole family went to see West Side Story at LTA.  Dan's set was amazing.  It was so cool to watch everyone climbing all over it.
• July 30:  Since Lyn's birthday was on Sunday this year, we decided to take her out to eat on Saturday.  Aunt Debbie and Uncle Doug joined us for lunch at House of Dynasty.  A friend of Margie's who is a food writer has been raving about this place for years, saying it's the best in the area.  Margie kind of poo-pooed him thinking chinese food was chinese food, but she's now eating her words.  It was fantastic.  She still dreams of the orange eggplant she had there.  Yum!
• July 31:  For Lyn's actual birthday, we didn't do much except make her favorite dinner--orange lentil salad.  BTW, she is planning on having a "friends" party after school starts, as most of the people she knows are gone on vacation.
• August 1:  Went out to dinner to celebrate the 30th wedding Anniversary of our dear friends, Dan and Susan Maher.  We felt very special, as we were the only non-family members there.
• August 5-August 6:  Lyn got a job doing some assembly work for a company called TwinGo.  It was kind of weird, though.  At first they didn't want her because they thought she was too young, but after she proved she was better than some of the 20-somethings that had been hired, the home business owners had her fold laundry and clean their house? It was very strange. But, at least she got paid!
• August 8-August 10:  John attended an Entrepreneurship Summit, the first of its kind sponsored by Junior Achievement, which also runs Finance Park (where it was held).  Fifteen teenagers were tasked with solving a real world problem, developing a product and marketing plan, and presenting their solution to a group of judges acting as potential investors.  He did an amazing job and really shone in the final presentation!
• August 8:  Dan and Margie attended yet another funeral for a dear friend from LTA.  Margie declared that there had been too many funerals this year and that she would not allow any more!  Unfortunately, that would not be the case...
• August 11:  Dan, Margie, and Lyn attended a presentation on "Supporting Your IB Student" at the high school.  IB, or International Baccalaureate, is the top level class offered in many subjects.  Lyn is taking a few of them this year and is a little nervous.  Junior year is the toughest in all of high school!
• August 12:  Due to repaving of the church parking lot, Pack Meeting was held at our house.  We had several outdoor water games.  It was a lot of fun, but Margie sure wishes the landscaping was done--including the swimming pool we plan to install!
• August 13:  To celebrate Dan and Margie's birthdays, the family went to Sandy Springs Adventure Park and climbed trees!  It was a fun ropes course with many difficulty levels.  Despite the horrendous heat and humidity, we had a lot of fun and plan to go back as soon as we can--though it's not cheap.  After showers and naps, we headed out to our favorite ethopian restaurant, then Ben & Jerry's for dessert.
• August 14:  Lyn attended an "Adopt-a-Grandma" brunch.  This is a program started by the Young Women to reach out to lonely seniors at church.  Unfortunately, her adopted grandma was not in attendance, but Lyn enjoyed the pancakes anyway!
• August 16:  Since we had already celebrated Margie's birthday at the ropes course, her actual birthday was pretty low key.  Since Margie is doing a two-week raw stint, Dan and Lyn made her a raw apple pie.  It was both beautiful and delicious. After dinner, we headed to LTA to finish a major closet clean out.  It didn't seem right for Margie to be working so hard on her birthday, but as Lyn pointed out, "It's so Mom to spend her birthday organizing!"
• August 19:  Margie and Dan attended a memorial for yet another dear friend from LTA who died. Later that evening, John made another trip to Shadowland.
• August 20: Margie had the day off work, and we hadn't done much in the way of fun and relaxation this summer, so she and the kids decided to spend the day at Pirate's Cove.  It was so great to be in the water on such a hot day--nearly 100 degrees!

And here we are!  All caught up!

Of course, there were lots of things we've been up to that couldn't fit in the play by play above:

• Dan has been busy designing and building sets--West Side Story, Dinner with Friends, and soon, Lion in Winter.  We hardly see him anymore.  Last fall, he developed what we thought was a sty in his eye.  When it didn't go away after several months, he finally went to the doctor and discovered it was a "chalazion" and he had to have it removed.  That was fun. Also, the basement bathroom was falling apart (it wasn't in the remodeling plan because at the time it was the best bathroom in the house!), and Margie thought it would be an easy thing to just take everything out and put in new shower, floor, and vanity.  So we closed the AirBnB for two weeks, thinking it would only take one, but just to be safe.  Turned out it was a much bigger job than we thought, problem after problem, poor Dan was going crazy and cursing up a storm, Margie felt horrible that she was putting him through this, and it ended up taking THREE weeks (we had to put our guests upstairs).  ARGH!!  But, he finally finished, and it's gorgeous.  Oh yeah, and we just found out that he was on a team of three people that won "2015 Scientist of the Year" at NAVSEA.  Woo hoo!
• Speaking of AirBnB, Margie is still managing our listing and things are going well.  We had someone come and stay the entire summer, which is nice because we don't have to clean the space as much or deal with checking people in and out.  But our tenant is leaving next week, so that routine will start up again.  Margie has also been busy figuring out how to be a Cubmaster, and though it's been 6 months, she still feels like she doesn't know what she's doing.  Margie spent most of her spring doing a major home clean out for a friend who has terminal cancer (enough of the dying already!).  It was a lot of work, but she was grateful she could help.  The friend was super appreciative.  She said that she just felt so bad leaving her family with such a mess, and the work Margie did brought her a lot of peace and comfort.  Speaking of cleaning out, Margie has also been working to clean out the supply cabinets and closets at LTA.  Every 6 weeks, Margie restocks these, and it has been driving her crazy that things are such a disaster.  She finally had had it, so she coerced Lyn and John to come to LTA at 7am every morning for a week and help clean.  That was the only time we could do it due to LTA summer camps.  They were such troopers!  Next week, Margie will begin yet another huge clean out--this time of the Edison High School Costume room.  In addition to all this pro bono work, Margie has been super busy with her paying clients as well.  As you may remember, she added professional organization to her list of services at the beginning of last year.  Business has been booming so much she can hardly breathe!!
• After they came home from EFY, Margie declared that summer vacation was over and the kids needed to get to work.  Lyn spent two weeks planning, prepping, and cooking meals, and together we did some house cleaning, and of course the work at LTA.  She applied for a job at Robek's, the smoothie place, but was told by the owner that he didn't hire people who couldn't work on Sunday.  That was a huge bummer.  She's done some babysitting here and there, and there was the assembly work at TwinGo.  Now she has settled into working for Margie doing some organizing jobs.  Right now she is spending most of her time working on making digital photo albums.  She enjoys it, and she's getting paid well (higher than minimum wage!), but we wish she could gain experience working for someone other than Margie.  The last two weeks, she has also been learning daily money management as she has been responsible for paying our household bills and keeping on top of our spending.  She's definitely keeping busy!
• John, too, has been keeping busy.  For two weeks, he was responsible for the daily money management, then it switched and he helped with meal planning, prepping, and grocery shopping.  He also has been working with one of the Young Men's leaders, who is an accountant, on some projects.  Both kids have had summer homework assignments, but John has more than Lyn.  She only had a book report, while he had a book report, a history assignment, and an assignment for the Global STEM challenge.  And, of course, piano doesn't stop during the summer around here!  All this, plus scouts, has kept him very busy and out of trouble (so far!).

Anyway, that's all our news.  I think I'm FINALLY caught up with all that has been going on since spring break!  I hope to finish out the year with more frequent updates.

Hope you all are doing well!

Happy Easter!

This Week at the Remmers'

Well, I thought this had been a relatively quiet week until I started brainstorming everything that went on.  It never stops around here!

On Monday, we had little bit more work done on the house.  The ceiling in the basement bathroom was crinkled from years of built up moisture, so we had it replaced.  Unfortunately, this disturbed a nest of cluster flies, which had been hibernating somewhere in our walls.  On Tuesday morning, our poor Korean house guests woke up to three huge flies in their tiny bathroom, and we have been fighting them all week (the flies, not the house guests!), killing more than 6 per day (flies, not house guests).  I felt terrible for them (the house guests, not the flies), but there is nothing we can do except wait for them to die out (the flies, not the house guests!).

In better news, also on Monday, we held our annual Pi Party.  Nope, that's not a typo.  On March 14, nerds around the world celebrate PI (3.14) by eating PIE.  We had a HUGE crowd (almost too big for our tiny house!) and it was a lot of fun.

This year there was a special twist!

On Tuesday, Margie was invited to attend a special "parent input" meeting about the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program (MYP).  This is something our schools are in the middle of implementing, and the official representatives wanted to get a sense of how it is going. Margie was worried that 1) she didn't know enough about the program to offer any good input, and/or 2) she was going to say something that made the school lose points.  Ack!  But it all turned out fine.  Whew!

Later that day, Lyn got her driver's permit!!!!  Ack!  Here we go on our next adventure...

She's permitted!

On Wednesday, Margie was excited for finally pick up her bike from the shop.  She had brought it in several weeks prior for a spring tune up, as well as some much needed repairs.  Unfortunately, when she went out on the trail Thursday morning, it was still broken!!  ARGH!!!  Margie was very upset and convinced Dan to go with her back to the shop and strong arm them into fixing it.  Turns out he wasn't needed, though.  They gladly made some adjustments, and she was on her way.

Top o' the mornin' to ya! Margie was looking forward to a St. Patrick's Day ride, but found out her bike was still broken the moment she got on it!

Due to the issues with the bike, we weren't able to celebrate St. Patrick's day in style.  We feasted on our Colcannon on Saturday instead.

On Friday, we said goodbye to both of our children. Lyn went on a long-promised solo trip out to the Pacific Northwest to visit family.  She had been wanting and waiting for this for some time.  Her cousin Emily had made the reverse trip a few years ago, and last year we promised Lyn that she could do it, too.  Unfortunately, Margie waited too long to buy the tickets last year, and it was cost prohibitive.  We are grateful we have such a patient and understanding daughter!

Lyn's first solo transcontinental flight!

John also left on a trip, but his was much shorter, camping with his scout troop.

With both kids gone, Dan and Margie got to go on a little date night.  We took the opportunity to visit one of our favorite restaurants, Hawwi (which neither of the kids like), in Old Town.  If you are local and enjoy Ethiopian food, check it out!

On Saturday, Dan and Margie went on a little bike ride along Accotink Creek.  It was nice to have two working bikes and hang out together, but it was cold!  Plus, for some reason, there were dead frogs everywhere.  Margie remarked that she thought she might be in Egypt!
 
After the campout, John headed over to help out with a friend's Eagle Project.  He built some furniture and helped out with some organizing projects--both of which he has a lot of experience with(!)--at a local Chamber of Commerce.  Meanwhile, Lyn seemed to be having a good time West of the Mississippi.

With Uncle Tom at Cousin Emily's robotics competition.

Skagit Valley Tulips.

Well, that's all our news.  Hope you're enjoying this first day of Spring!

This Week at the Remmers'

My goodness--I don't know where the time went yesterday!  I'm supposed to have lots of time in the morning before church, and my goal is to write this update then, but time got away from me--it may have something to do with the fact that I was SO EXHAUSTED from the jam packed weekend!

But let's start from the beginning...

Last Sunday, John performed in his Pre-Festival Piano Recital.  This takes place at his music teacher's home, and it is an opportunity for all her students to show off their stuff and perform in front of an audience before the big day, when they'll play and receive a score from two judges.

John did a great job.  In fact, he did so great, that we were a little worried that he peaked too early!  Last year, as you will recall, he fell apart in the recital, and we chalked it up to "bad dress rehearsal, good performance"--and that's exactly what happened.  This year, he did so well that we were concerned that the opposite would be true, but luckily it wasn't.  I'm getting ahead of myself, though!

On Monday, John and Dan bagged food for the needy at Arlington Food Assistance.  This was part of John's community service hours required for his Civics class.  They had done this once before, and it was a great experience.  John still has some hours left, though, so he's planning to learn how to usher and house manage at LTA.  That's still to be scheduled, though.

On Wednesday, Margie attended her very first scouting Round Table.  Since it finally became official last Sunday, I guess now is a good time to let the cat out of the bag--she has been called and sustained as the new Cubmaster.  This means she oversees the cub scouting program (boys 8-10) for three of the congregations that meet in our church building.  It is a HUGE job, and she's terrified and overwhelmed, (and why do they keep asking her to work with little kids?), but she's been training/working on it for a month now, so she's beginning to settle in a little bit.  Anyway, the Round Table is a monthly meeting of scout leaders in the area, and it will allow Margie to meet others, get trained, get ideas, etc. 

On Thursday, we attended a potluck put on by the North Franconia Civic Association (NFCA).  We do not have an HOA in our area, so this group is an opportunity for our neighborhood to have a united voice to local legislation in civic matters.  We also get group discounts and stay informed on what's going on in our community.

Though we are long time members of the NFCA, we don't usually attend their social gatherings.  This year was a little different, because they had as their guest speaker, Jeff McKay, who is our district supervisor, and they asked us to submit questions in advance.

Margie is on a mission to get our street name changed. There are 9 homes on Franconia Forest COURT that are numbered 6200 through 6208.  ALL of these homes have a house with a corresponding number on Franconia Forest LANE.  As you can imagine, this situation is extraordinarily confusing for visitors.  We get eachother's mail, packages, pizzas, service workers, etc.  Basically, anyone who wants to come to our houses on the court needs special instructions about the difference between the LANE and the COURT.  Deliveries are frequently missed because the driver comes to the wrong house.

Jeff's answer was that we needed to submit a petition, which would be reviewed by the board of supervisors, and then, if approved, submitted to VDOT.  Since it only affects 9 homes (well, 18, if you count the corresponding houses), I'm not sure how much attention we'll get.  Margie will have to talk to the neighbors and find out their thoughts.  Margie has noticed, however, that most people are more likely to tolerate a bad situation than she is.  She is frequently baffled at this fact and wonders why more people don't stand up and make a change!!  Anyway, not sure what will come of it.  Stay tuned!


We left the potluck a little early so that we could head over to The Little Theatre of Alexandria and catch the performance of The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged).  Margie had seen it in New York many many years ago, so she knew it would be a treat for the whole family.  It was very funny, and the kids loved it.  If you're in the area, there's one week left--check it out! 


On Friday, our busy week turned into a frenzied weekend.  As part of her duties as Cubmaster, Margie plans and executes a monthly Pack Meeting, which is a time for the boys and their families to get together for fun, games, and awards.  Unfortunately, John's Festival performance was scheduled for the exact same time!  So, she planned the whole meeting, got everything set up, and then let her committee run the evening.  She heard great things!

This month's theme was "Thrifty" (one of the points of the Scout Law), and the evening was centered around reusing, recycling, and re-purposing items.  As people gathered, each family was presented with an identical "genius" kit, which contained a variety of items such as pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, buttons, aluminum foil, etc.  They were instructed to "build a house, fit for a mouse."  After the opening ceremony was presented by the Bears, the Webelos performed a skit about re-using tin cans and some string as a telephone.  Awards were then presented, and everyone got to talk about the creative things they were able to come up with for their mouse house.  This was followed by a presentation of several items which volunteers got to think of creative uses for.  The evening ended with refreshments provided by the Wolves and served in unusual containers.  A great time was had by all!

Unfortunately, we missed it.

Instead, we headed to the neighboring town for Piano Festival.  On our way there, we stopped for dinner at the local Byzantine Catholic Church, Epiphany of our Lord, which, every Friday during Lent, serves a traditional, Slavic meatless meal of Pierogi, Halushki, and Soup.  We typically try to get take out there every year, but this was the first time we have eaten in. It was fun!  We enjoyed a leisurely meal, and then sauntered out to the car.  We planned to have lots of time to get to the Festival location with extra time to find parking, find the performance space, and be there early to test out the piano and relax.

But as we walked to the car, suddenly Margie realized--WE FORGOT JOHN'S MUSIC!!!!!

John had the pieces memorized, but we needed to provide the music to the judges so they could follow along, as well give them the judging forms to mark.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes, having a race car driver in the family is very handy!  We raced back home, John ran in to get the music, and then we raced to the performance location.  Our hearts were pounding!!!  Miraculously, we not only got there, we got there with plenty of time to spare.  We were able to find the room, John was able to test the piano, and we all had a chance to breathe and relax.  Whew!


We won't have the results for a week or so, but John did extremely well in his performance. He suffered a little bit from the poor piano.  It was not as responsive as ours, so he had a difficult time expressing the dynamics in his pieces--as did everyone else in the room.  I suspect the judges will note this on the form, but I don't think he'll lose points for it.  He did very well, and we expect a high mark.  Dan said that one of the judges had a huge smile on her face during one of the pieces.  That's a good sign!

There was no rest for the weary, however, as Saturday we headed into John's Odyssey of the Mind competition.  This year, for their long problem, his team presented their version of an Aesop's Fable.  They chose one called "The Bear and the Two Travelers".  (Google that if you've never heard of it--we certainly hadn't!)  John played the narrator.  They did a great job and got some great feedback from the judges.  The set they build was a giant book that opened into the story--so that was pretty cool.  Their overall score was 80%, which is decent, but not likely to send them on to the next round.  We'll find out the rankings at a later time.

John sat out of the spontaneous round.  This is the one where they all have to come up with creative solutions to a problem that is either verbal, an object, or both verbal and object.  They had six members of their team and only five could participate in this round.  John had previously said that if it was verbal, he wanted to be the one to sit out.  He said that it's verbal every year, and he prefers the other two.  This is unfortunate, because this round is where he excels!!!  The question this year was "If someone left a box on your front porch, name something you wouldn't want to find inside."  As we were brainstorming in the car on the way home, we said your typical things, like "a severed head," "poop", "a bomb"--you know, things you'd think to find in a box.

We then asked John, who was in the room, but not participating, what he thought of that his team didn't say.  He responded with things like "a paradox", "a black hole," and "doubt."  THIS KID CRACKS ME UP!!!  We suggested that next time, he not sit out.  He's just too good!!!

After the competition, we raced home so the kids could change clothes, and then we took them to the church to prepare for the annual Youth Service Auction.  This is the one fundraiser that the kids do each year to raise money for Summer Camp.  They serve a spaghetti dinner and then auction off various services like babysitting, car washing, lawn mowing, etc.  There are also baked goods that they make and auction.  This year, John offered Chess lessons and cookies.  Lyn offered homework help for elementary school kids and a family portrait.

It was a fun evening, but it had been a long day, and we were all pretty exhausted when we finally got home.


On Sunday, we were all pretty tired from the weekend's events, and it didn't help that we lost an hour due to the time change.  In addition to our regular three hours of church, Lyn, John and Margie all had hour long meetings for their various callings (Lyn is Mia Maid President, John is Teacher's Quorum Secretary, and Margie, as you know, is Cubmaster), and Margie and Lyn had choir practice.  So I guess that explains where the time went!

I hope you all are doing well and looking forward to the coming Spring!

This Week at the Remmers'

As always, things were hopping at the Remmers' this week.  It actually seemed like kind of a quiet one until I started writing things down for the blog!

On Sunday night after church, Margie attended a preparedness seminar hosted by one of the congregations that shares our building.  I guess the National Guard experience last week really brought home the need to be prepared in case of an emergency.  One valuable take away she learned was to put "ICE" in the contacts in your phone.  This is "In Case of Emergency," and it provides first responders with a quick an easy way to reach your loved ones if something ever happens to you.  If you don't have one, put it in right now!!!

On Tuesday, there was no school due to the Primary elections, which were expected to have a "historic and unprecedented" turn out.  There was no line when Margie voted, so I don't know if the school closure was really warranted after all.

John's Odyssey of the Mind team took advantage of the extra time, however, and held another practice.  I hear they made good use of it and are feeling good about the competition coming up next weekend.

On Wednesday and Thursday, John took the 8th Grade Writing SOL (Standards of Learning) test.  We will not get his results for awhile, but hopefully he did well.  Margie is especially nervous since 5th grade is supposed to be "the writing year," and that's the year he was homeschooled.  He did write a lot that year, but since he didn't take the SOL, we don't really have a baseline measurement.  Fingers crossed!  By the way, his essay topic was "the pros and cons of competition."  That seems like something worth writing about...

On Friday, Lyn attended her first costuming meeting for Once on the Island.  She says things are going well, and she is especially looking forward to costuming the gods.  Both she and Dan, who was at rehearsal the next day, say that the cast is really ahead of the game.  Dan is particularly impressed with the choreography.  We're looking forward to a great show!

That night, we hosted a Doctor Who Dinner Party.  Last Halloween, you will recall that John dressed as Doctor #11.  We attended a church function that night and found that there were two other Doctors there (#10, and another #11).  We figured they were cool people we wanted to get to know better, so we invited them and their wives (neither couple has children yet) over for dinner.  Of course we had to make all the food Doctor Who themed!

We had celery in honor of Doctor #5, Roasted Fez Peppers and Bow Tie Pasta in honor of Doctor #11, Adipose Tofu with Broccoli in honor of #10, and of course "Fish Sticks" and Custard for dessert.  This was in honor of #11, but instead of fish, Margie used Walkers Shortbread Sticks, which is a product of Scotland--where the actors that played both #10 and #12 are from.

To drink we had Rose Lemonade (in honor of the Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler) and Jones Soda (in honor of both the Doctor's companion, Martha Jones, and the British Prime Minister in many episodes, Harriet Jones).  Margie even decorated the glassware with Doctor Who characters.

We all had a great time eating and getting to know each other.  They are, indeed, pretty cool people!

John with Drew Bahr, the other #11, Halloween 2015.

John with Mike Hill, #10, Halloween 2015.

Yummy, Doctor Who-themed food.

...and beverages.

When people chose their drink, they got a character.

Only one person really dressed up, but Margie joined the fun with the marking of the Silents.

Saturday started with Dan heading over to the high school to begin work on the set for Once on the Island.  A student had designed it, and while it looked cool, it wasn't very practical to build, so Dan is going to have to do some adjusting.  Luckily, he knows what he's doing.  The other dad that typically helps build the sets there is not available for this show.

Dan also helped John's Odyssey of the Mind team build THEIR set.  He's not allowed to build it at all--just provide insight and advice--so John took charge.  It's a good thing John has so much experience from putting together all our new furniture!  He was a natural with the drill.  He even used the circular saw.  Yikes!  It's a good thing mom wasn't there to watch...

Tonight after church we are headed to a Pre-Festival Recital at the home of John's piano teacher.  This will give him an opportunity to play for his peers and their families before heading to the competition (Festival) next weekend.  Hopefully it will go well, but if it doesn't, that will be fine, too.  Last year, John entirely forgot his music at the recital, but then played perfectly at the competition.  We'll see!

Hope you all are doing well.  I don't know about you, but we are certainly looking forward to the lion to head out and the lamb to head in.