<p>Hi Everyone! I didn’t watch all of Glee last night, but I loved the duet between one of the girls and the guy who was on the piano and the group piece on the risers. The harmony was fantastic! So, Brenda went home on America’s Next Top Model tonight. I think she looked better with her original look, rather than the look they gave her. PM, what did you think of the challenge on the subway and the outcome? So far, Andrew has gone home on AI, tonight, one down, one more to go! Anyone else have a problem with Facebook getting in the way of studying? That has been my HS D’s biggest distraction this year.</p>
<p>DM, def. would not have picked Angelea as the subway photoshoot winner. Her eyes were cut so far to one side that it looked weird to me. </p>
<p>mafool, DH says he gets the camp but I don’t think he really does. He told me last night he like the musical parts but doesn’t care about the rest. He didn’t watch it last night…went to bed.<br>
My neighbor loves stuff like Glee but says she doesn’t watch it because he husband doesn’t like it! He has a giant flat screen in their garage that he bought specifically for sports. She hates sports. I’d send him to the garage!</p>
<p>Rom, You’re right. It’s harder to pick up on everything if you don’t know the background.
Can you watch last year’s episodes online ? Some of them were great. </p>
<p>DM, yes my S2 spent lots of time on Facebook in h.s. He prob. does in college too but I’m not there to see it and get annoyed by it. There are definite perks to the empty nest!</p>
<p>PM - I’m taking it as a challenge to now watch every episode of Glee. I can do so on Hulu.com. So if my family has nothing to eat, complains of neglect…I’ll send them to CC to find the cause! ;)</p>
<p>Watched the first 10 minutes of AI and the last 5. It was all I needed.</p>
<p>S is on Facebook only to exchange information. But he doesn’t over do much of anything - very balanced child. Never had to tell him to turn off the XBox. Our D on the other hand will be allowed to have an account next year. We will have to put a timer by the PC, I bet!</p>
<p>Hi All! Re: Facebook, my daughter will go to study and end up sucked into Facebook instead and hours later, is scrambling to get work done for the next day, etc. A month or so ago, we tried having her do her homework in our family room to help keep her from being tempted, but that only lasted for about a week. I’ve now advised her to get her homework done first and not go on Facebook until after 8PM. She did better tonight and got to sleep earlier - something she really needs. PackMom, I agree about that subway shoot and Angelesa’s face angle. She did have better photos than that one. I don’t care for her for all of the drama she has caused, but she did look good on that shoot. I felt that some girls lucked out with the roles they were assigned, while others had tougher parts to emulate. It will be interesting to see how this season ends up! Regarding Glee, my hubby starts giving me looks when he thinks I’m watching something too “High School!” Ha! Tonight Courtney was voted off of Survivor - no great loss - and Mila beat Jay on Project Runway to be in the Fashion Show at Bryant Park with Emilio and Seth Aaron. Yay! Mila has a classic retro-style with a twist. So far, the vegetarian thing is working out well for me. I’ve got to get some sleep! Sweet Dreams, DoveMom</p>
<p>Just checking to see what is going on this weekend. Had a great day today doing nothing. A little laundry, little vaccuuming. Both kids have friends over tonight. I’ll be looking for a good movie on TV. If I find nothing, I could watch one of my all-time favs Pride and Prejudice. Beautiful day here! Hope all is well.</p>
<p>Good Morning, Rom! So nice that you had a relaxing day. I hope you enjoyed your movie - Pride & Prejudice is a fav at our house, too! We had to get up at 4AM yesterday for a drive down to Salisbury University in Maryland for an Open House. My hubby and daughter were both grumbling for days, do we really have to do this? My answer: Yes we do! (It was their last Open House until next fall.) They were both glad we went and liked the school. Salisbury has a beautiful, easy to navigate campus, that left us all with a positive impression. The reason we had to get up so early and drive down in the morning was my hubby had a car show to attend on Friday afternoon/evening and my daughter went to the Junior Prom - literally at the last minute - on Friday night. She went with a group of friends and decided she wanted to go at about 4PM, when the Prom started at 7! Go figure! Fortunately, I was able to contact someone who was setting up at the hotel about her buying a ticket at the door, she had a dress from her stepsister’s wedding, some new silver shoes, and a quick make-up job from Mom and she was “good to go!” She actually looked great, considering the circumstances and got to join her friends at 6 for group pictures and a ride to the Prom. NADM at our house! Ha! Sending a Smile, DoveMom</p>
<p>DM - Hope she had a great time! I’m sure she is glad they went. Did you like Salisbury U? Funny you mention prom. S, a friend of his and I had a conversation last week about why they were not going. The house-full of teens I had last night decided that S needed to ask a friend in the group (not then present) to the prom. Good thing there are girls in the group to coordinate the social activities! They all decided how he was going to ask her. It was already after 11pm when they sent my D into my bedroom to ask if S could go to girl’s house and put post-it-notes on her car to ask her. Very cute idea - S just went along with what they suggested. They covered her car with hundreds of post-it notes with his name, prom, will you go?,etc. It is a nice group of friends and I’m sure they will have fun. She sent a gracious text this morning accepting. Prom is May 1 and tickets go on sale tomorrow. They are only on sale for 4 days and the price increases with each day. BTW, his friend who we were talking to last week about not going was over this afternoon. My first question to him was, “so, who are you taking?”. There is another girl in the group who needs an escort. HA!</p>
<p>Love your Prom story, Rom! I’ll bet that girl was thrilled with all of those post-it notes. It’s a good idea they used a lot, so they didn’t all blow away! Ha! Yes, it sounds like that friend is . . . NEXT! I hope they have a great time. Considering her last minute decision, my daughter had a good time, did a lot of dancing, and was glad that she went to the Junior Prom. We all liked Salisbury U. They have a brand new Education building that is gorgeous and are building a new Business building (my daughter’s expected major is Accounting) that would be ready the fall of her Freshman year. The student union is beautiful and the dorm room we saw seemed larger than the typical room. They are also reconfiguring dorms into more suite-style rooms. We ate in the main cafeteria which is connected to the student union and the dining room we ate in was absolutely beautiful with a thirty foot high ceiling and lots of windows all around - kind of a country club feel to the room. The students we met all seemed very bright and happy. This would be a good safety school for my daughter.</p>
<p>Checking in to see how your week is going. I had AI on last night and listened/watched while I worked on my laptop. Any of the bottom 3 could have gone and I would have been fine.</p>
<p>Hey Rom! I had meetings this week on Tuesday and Thursday, so I missed the AI performances and Survivor. On AI, I liked Tim, but it was his time to go. I would have liked Katie to stay longer - she has a beautiful voice. I’ll catch up on Survivor when I get a chance to catch my breath, but my daughter told me what happened. We were planning to go to the University of Maryland for Maryland Day tomorrow, but decided that it is going to be too much of a Zoo there to get a true sense of the campus. They will actually have a circus tent pitched on the Mall and run live entertainment there all day! Plus, it looks like they will have well over 100 other booths/stations with activities, etc. A bit too mind-boggling for us. Instead, we have decided to stay in NJ and check out Rowan University tomorrow and are scheduled for an Open House at Rider University on Sunday. Whew! This college search stuff is work! Ha! My book club had our Pillars fo the Earth discussion last night. Our next book will be That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo. It’s been a busy week at school as well, so I’m turning in. TGIF! DM</p>
<p>Hey, anyone around? Tonight I watched DWTS. Now that they are down to the better dancers, the competition is on! Tonight some of the leaders faltered a bit and others rose in the rankings, at least for the evening! It’s amazing what this show has done for ballroom dancing. We did go to Rowen U. (no tour, just a drop in) and to Rider U. Out of the two, we liked Rider best, but our daughter seems more interested in a larger, urban school, so we’ll see how that works out. Have a great evening! Sending a Smile, DoveMom</p>
<p>Hi Everyone! The last few weeks have been really busy for me and my family, so I’ve been AWOL from the CC. I hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day yesterday. Mine was fine, but we spent a lot of time in traffic (about four hours) trying to get to my stepdaughter’s for lunch and back. By the time we got home everyone was hungry, so I had to cook anyway! Ha! Next year, I think we’ll just stay near home and go out to eat! Last weekend we went to our last College Open House for the spring to Ramapo College of New Jersey and found it to be a beautiful school with new buildings and dorms and a great Student Union cafeteria. We liked what we saw a lot. If you’re reading this, come and join in the conversation. DWTS is on tonight! Anyone have a favorite? Sending a Smile, DoveMom</p>
<p>Hi Everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve been on here. We’ve had lots going on at our house - college daughter home for the summer (Yay!), college boy friend visiting our home for first time with college daughter (Yay! He’s a great guy!), lots of project/papers/test deadlines for our junior HS daughter, lots of meetings for me, stuff at church, trying to get some gardening done, and tonight was a Choral Concert at the HS with our daughter singing. Over the weekend we caught the movie, Letters to Juliet - and loved it - a real feel good movie with beautiful scenery (Verona and the Italian countryside). Is anyone else wondering/worrying about what this world is coming too? Between all the natural disasters (hooray for Kevin Costner and his fantastic machines - let’s hope they work cleaning up that oil!), unemployment, and economic and social issues going on, not the mention the draining cost of war (lives, expenses, damages), the list goes on and on . . . . A shout out to PackMom, Mafool, and Rom - haven’t heard from you for a while. OK, so that’s what’s on my mind! What’s on yours? Sending a Smile, DoveMom</p>
<p>Good to hear from you DM. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks as well. “End of year” activities abound. Will check back in tomorrow when my brain is clearer :)</p>
<p>Hello all. We’ve been ridiculously busy here. S2 is home from college and will be having arthroscopic shoulder surgery on Tues. so have been running back and forth with that (surgeon’s office,MRI,surgeon’s office again,etc) </p>
<p>We are closing on a new house (4.5 hours fr. where we live now) this week and have to furnish it completely from scratch because it will just be a weekend/vacation place for us until S2 graduates fr. college (2012…fingers crossed).</p>
<p>My job (preschool teacher) is winding down for the year so lots of busywork to do…yah for summer!</p>
<p>And S1 our Navy guy is flying in for Mem. Day weekend next week. Haven’t seen him since Christmas so am looking forward to it.</p>
<p>My head is spinning!</p>
<p>Hi Rom & PackMom, Glad to hear everyone has just been busy. Yes, it is that time of year, isn’t it? I always cancel my book club for June, because I know it becomes a hassle with all of the end of school year stuff. PM, you’ve got a lot going on. Best wishes for that upcoming surgery. What kind of recovery will that involve? Also, how exciting that you are closing on your “dream house” and have the fun of furnishing and decorating it - although that is a lot on your plate at once. Of course, you can do that gradually - starting with basics (a couch, a table and chairs, and some beds) and add things as you go. It’s a “nice” and creative problem to have! Ha! Are you thinking of a certain color scheme or furnishing style? I’m so happy that you and your husband have found a way to make your dream home come true! Remember, if you’re reading this, you are welcome to join in the conversation at any time! Have a nice evening, DoveMom</p>
<p>Hi Everyone! I hope you all had a nice Memorial Day Weekend. I enjoyed my three day weekend. We had dinner out with neighbors one night, saw the movie Just Wright with Queen Latifah (cute, but predictable), and spent an afternoon at Spring Lake at the Jersey shore. The added bonus is a four-day work week this week! Actually, with the school year winding down, it will be summer vacation before I know it. Well last week, a lot of Reality TV shows wrapped up - DWTS, The Biggest Loser, and American Idol. Anyone watch The Bachelorette? I’m looking forward to Top Chef starting in a few weeks. Hope all is well with my Parent Chat friends! Sending a Smile, DoveMom</p>
<p>P.S. I forgot to mention that my college daughter dragged us to the midnight opening of Sex and the City 2 last week. It was funny and we enjoyed it, although I did sleep through some of the middle of it! Ha!</p>
<p>Hi Everyone! I can’t believe I haven’t been on for a month and a half. The last month of school was a whirlwind. Since then, I’ve been busy with a lot of projects around the house - lots of closets to clean out and reorganize, etc. My HS daughter and I also worked as VBS staff for a week at our church. It’s hard to believe that she will be heading to college a year from now. My family and I were in NYC for the Macy’s fireworks on the 4th of July. What a magnificent show - the redest reds and bluest blues I’ve ever seen! We’ve had a really hot and dry summer, here in the NE! If we get the rain they are predicting in a few days, it will be very welcome. Sending a Smile, DoveMom</p>
<p>Great to hear from you. I’m in FL now with family for several weeks with D and many others. We are on the Gulf (no oil!) and are enjoying the usual heat & humidity. Always good to get away. S is at a summer program for 6 weeks so this is our trial run for college in a year. He is very happy and seems not to miss us a bit - which is good. I can tell that I will be frustrated by his inability to effectively communicate what is going on when he is in college. I’m thinking this is pretty typical 
I am not yet ready to get back to the craziness of school - especially this next year. He has his list of colleges to apply to, although I think he should live with his last ACT score, he wants to retake in Sept so that will be the last test to take, so the application process I’m sure will be all consuming. Here’s hoping for not too much stress - HA!</p>
<p>D is starting HS and cannot wait. She will love it and is very prepared socially and mentally. Academically, she will need to need to develop some good habits early on and then she will do great. Can’t believe 2 in HS! Yikes! what just happened to the last 15 years??</p>