YEEEESSSS, you pumped me high @austinmt and then @CTownMom deflated me!! :))
I too have a daughter prepping for MT auditions for next year and feel the same way! I thought we were organized and ahead of the game but there is still so much to do and itās stressful!
Just wanted to pop in here ā¦ I have a quiet house this evening! (And Iām NOT looking forward to my entirely empty nest come NEXT MONTH!) =((
Hope everyone is doing well!!
My D has been working this summer and just had her wisdom teeth out on Monday. She had it WAY easier than a lot of kids ā¦ itās Thursday and sheās almost 100%. Sheās off on her first semi-solo adventure as sheāll travel to the east coast to spend a week with her roommate from Berklee last summer.
And I think she just may have a job lined up in the Theatre Dept. at Nebraska ā¦ fingers crossed on that one!
Havenāt really started college shopping for her ā¦ Iām dragging my feet because I donāt want her to leave. Iāve probably hugged her 57,932 times in the last week - the poor kid is having to peel me off of her.
Hope everyone is dong well!!
@KaMaMom - one of my dās good friends will be in the Freshman MT class with your d at Nebraska Wesleyan.
D has an ID card, a class schedule and a dorm room, so all she needs now is a bedspread. All the audition angst kinda seems like a bad dream. She was excited to see Blue Spruce trees on the Western Michigan campus at Orientation - as a Texan she had never seen one āgrowing in the wildā before. Her comment is, āI get to go to school with Christmas trees!ā
We flew in and out of Chicago and so we were able to make another run to Do-Rite donuts, this time without the Arctic conditions.
Great analogy, @EmsDad, this time is like waking up from a bad dream. Did it really happen? Is it just me or is the summer zooming by?!
@EmsDad ā¦ all m D has is a bedspread! =))
The Christmas Tree comment is hysterical!!
And Iāve never really thought about how in the middle of nowhere (airport-wise) WMU is! We live about 2 hours away ā¦ I think both Detroit & Midway are at least 2 hours of drive time too.
@KaMaMom - surprisingly, we can fly non-stop to Kalamazoo/Battle Creek from Texas but we wanted to re-visit Chicago and stay at the Palmer House again.
Too bad you donāt have boys. Then all you would need is a laundry basket. Throw some of your household leftovers in it the day before you leave. Load it in the car the morning you depart - remember the tap shoes, ballet shoes, jazz shoes, character shoes, ballroom shoes - and youāre good to go. Last year I āhuntedā for dorm stuff all summer long. When I went to get him and his stuff the following May, most of it was still exactly where I had placed it the day he moved in - only covered in dust. This includes the copies of medical records, social security card, passport, etc. that I had put in a āYou-WIll-Need-Thisā accordion folder. When he called me in November from the Health Center, saying āMom, can you tell me the dates of my vaccinations? The Health Center needs it NOWā. I said, āAll that is in THE FOLDER I put on your desk in Augustā. S, āI donāt know where it isā. When we packed up his stuff in May, there it was - under all the other stuff on top of his desk (surface of which was apparently never used for actual studying).
^Yes!!! Son also ādonatedā items I bought for him. He said not to worry because they hadnāt even been unwrapped or taken out of the box, so he wouldnāt miss them! ~X( This year will be a breeze and I wonāt be spending money like I did last year.
Girls definitely bring more stuff (in general, Iām sure there are exceptions). We had one rolling cart at move-in. some of the women had five or six.
This year I should be able to easily see out the back of the car - even with the bike rack in place. His six pairs of lounging pants, five kimonos, two hoodies, three sweat pants, four t-shirts, one pair of jeans, two shorts, and a jacket should leave plenty of room for a crate full of dance wear and dance shoes. Out of all the clothing he took with him last year, I think thatās all he wore.
I think move in is going to kill us this year. We drive to Nebraska. Unload. Move in. Sleep. Drive back to Indiana. Re-load. Drive to Nashville. Unload. Move in.
Good luck to everyone!!
Lol I have a huge SUV packed to the gills. Can barely see. I have a girl. sigh. Just another āgirl in MTā disadvantage. :-<
Just went shoppingā¦ Donating 4 bags of old clothes. Show opens this weekend, Moving anxiety is starting to kick in! *is this really happening?! [-O<
@EmsDad - there is an airport in Grand Rapids that would be much closer to WMU than Chicago. Heck - I think KZoo has an airport! Be sure you are planning for winter wear for your Texan coming to Michigan (Boots and a LONG coatā¦ my girls call them āsleeping bag coatsā!) Especially that side of the state. My oldest D went to school about an hour north of WMU and even though she grew up in Michigan - she was still stunned by the ālake effectā snow. Now sheās in Grad Schoolā¦ and moved to Southern Ohio (almost West Virginia) sheās been assured her winters will be very different there!
@EmsDad from November - April you will probably want to fly in and out of Kalamazoo/Battle Creek. That stretch of 94 gets real dicey that time of year to drive.
@broadway95 is right! 94 from roughly Michigan City, Indiana through St. Joe, Paw Paw, Kāzoo, etc can be HORRIBLE in the winter. I learned to drive in the winter mess of this region and all these years later, itās still scary to drive into a white out and icy roads. Ugh.
Thanks @broadway95 and @KaMaMom for the winter travel advice. We will be sure to fly directly into Kalamazoo between November and April.
At Orientation, D learned what the āMichigan Mittenā hand sign means. She was mystified when she first witnessed her classmates introducing themselves and pointing at their outstretched palm, but now she knows.
Her Sorels are on order.
@EmsDad ā¦ I have to laugh about the Sorels! =))
I totally mean no disrespect ā¦ but the only people Iāve ever known who have those are transplants from the south. The only time I ever wear boots is when Iām actively shoveling - and only then if itās 4+ inches. (Iāve had the same ugly white snow boots since the early 90s and we wear gym shoes year round!)
Heck, it has to be below 10 for me to throw on more than a hoodie if Iām out an about doing errands in the winter.
Weāre a hardy stock up here apparently. 
I have Sorels, but prefer my boots from Target. I havenāt worn my Sorels in about 15 years!