<p>This afternoon I’m flying to L.A. so I can see a movie with DS tonight. Last year, before freshman year drop off, he asked me if we could see the movie “The Golden Compass” together as soon as it came out. I discovered this week that there is a sneak preview tonight. So I bought a plane ticket, reserved a room & a rental car & bought the movie tickets on line. DS is spending the day working on the Putnam (a math competition that starts 8 a.m and ends at 4 pm). I am so happy we’ll have a little moment of fun together. I’m also thinking - “I’m crazy to spend $400 to see a movie” especially when we are in the midst of selling our Oakland house and buying another house. For those of you are following our story: a brief update - the buyers of my Oakland house have asked for an extension as its taking longer to close on their loan. I’m in the middle of negotiating to see if I can move in before I close on the house I’m buying (otherwise S will have to help me move during his winter break - and I’ve already bought a ticket for him to fly into the nearest airport to our new home for winter break rather than to Oakland). </p>
<p>I also posting cuz I really miss all my CC friends. I’ve been so busy with the move, I’ve hardly had a chance to see what’s up with everyone here.</p>
<p>Plus… all of cc gets to live vicariously through you, yet again ;).</p>
<p>I spent probably about that much, plus drove the 10 hours, for a LAX game and dinner date with S last year. He opted out of the LAX game, but we <em>did</em> have the dinner date.</p>
<p>Crazy to spend $400 to go to a movie with your son - absolutely not!! What is even more priceless is that he WANTS you to come and go with him!!
What fun - it will be something the two of you will never forget!!</p>
<p>Husband and I flew to DD’s first chamber orchestra concert. She was happy to be invited to join the symphony orchestra and then THRILLED to be asked to play in the select chamber orchestra - pretty good for a science major who is treating the orchestras sort of like ECs!! We just couldn’t miss it! We flew in, took public transportation to campus, attended the concert, visited with D afterwards, and flew home! Hope we can get to more next semester. We never missed a thing K-12, not one event. These four years of college will go by way too fast and we want to get to as many things as we can. </p>
<p>I applaud you for making the effort, financially and physically (!!!), to go - so many parents in this day and age couldn’t be bothered.</p>
<p>You’re not spending $400 for a movie; you’re spending $400 to have a great 12 hours (??) with your son. And oh yeah, while you’re there, you’re going to see a movie together!!</p>
<p>I think it’s GREAT!!! Let us all know how your wonderful trip goes. If you’re crazy…so are we!! We just booked airline reservations, a rental car and a B and B room for two nights to go see DS’s recital. Hey…these moments don’t happen forever. Enjoy them while you can!!!</p>
<p>Nope, not crazy at all. I love impromptu excursions, and I loved your Price is Right story.</p>
<p>I really stewed over a similar indulgence when we visited our S for Parent’s Weekend this past fall. We had already cashed in our FF miles and scored a fantastic hotel rate thanks to CCers and their Priceline advice. Yet S is a huge Red Sox fan and the early playoff rounds coincided with our visit. Unfortunately, there was no way we could afford those playoff ticket prices. </p>
<p>Then the Yankees lost. </p>
<p>We had a hunch the ticket prices would drop. Right to the last minute, I tracked the online ticket vendors while saying to my husband if they get near $100.00, I’m buying!!!</p>
<p>They did. It was a luxury and a quintessential Boston experience that will be remembered for all time. I have a new appreciation for the SNL skit about Red Sox fans after a fight nearly broke out in our section over who was a better fan. What an event!</p>
<p>Have a fantastic visit! And yes, good luck to your S with the Putnam!!</p>
<p>My S, an L.A. area student, was your snowplow (if that’s a gettable concept in Oakland), in that he flew from Oakland to LA last Sunday after a weekend with second cousins for Thanksgiving. They showed him all around and they liked each other. </p>
<p>He hopes to become a screenwriter. I’ll tell him that if a screenplay is good enough, and there’s love in a family, some people will pay $400 just to catch a preview! </p>
<p>Surely he’ll redouble his efforts on his final film class projects this week.</p>
<p>Good luck with the housing moves. It’s so much work and stress. You deserve a break, really.</p>
<p>Are you kidding? If any of my kids said they wanted to see a movie with me, I’d get plane tickets and do the same thing. What a great thing to do! </p>
<p>Oh, and hope the Putnam went well too! Keep us posted.</p>
<p>I LOVED the Price is Right story, and viewed the show online. I’ll never forget the “because you’re pretty” line and any boy who would say that to his mom deserves an indulgent weekend.</p>
<p>Hehe I’m having to wait an extra week to see the same film with my mum - she was so cute about it I’m resisting going on opening night, even if it is one of my favourite books. I’m the one paying for the travel home though!</p>
<p>I’m with riverrunner on this. This is a very special young man. You are a special mom. You guys deserve this night of fun. Tell us all about it (but without plot spoilers)</p>
<p>Home from Pasadena. It was a priceless trip. After the movie he stopped for a second and said “we promised each other we’d see this movie together and we did!” He was just beaming. It was so worth the trip! We both enjoyed the movie and I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but we were stunned at where they ended it and sat thru the credits saying to each other “how could they do THAT!” Ah well, if you haven’t read the books it was probably a good place to end.<br>
S thought he did ok on the Putnam - some problems he felt he answered correctly and there were a few he didn’t know how to solve. But considering I’ve heard that the average score is 0 or 1 (could that really be?) I think he was happy with how he did. I have no idea when the results come out or even if he’ll tell me how he did when he gets the results.<br>
Thank you all for being supportive. I snuck out of town(except for a call to my realtors & arranging a dog sitter) as many friends here would frown at my extravagance.</p>
Sniff, sniff.</p>