<p>I’m actually in Dallas, in all day meetings today and tomorrow, but just got a text from D2 asking if she could call me. Long story short: she just go her first acceptance to grad school!! PhD in Chemistry; school is UCLA (and package is tuition, fees, health insurance plus a pretty amazing stipend). She’s ecstatic to have an acceptance in the bag before the semester starts up – she heads back tomorrow. </p>
<p>So at least one possibility for next year!</p>
<p>Z, that’s fabulous news. Congrats to your D.</p>
<p>I hope all of those who are sick feel better soon.</p>
<p>Congratulations, Zetesis. That is great news. Life gets a lot less stressed when the first acceptance comes in.</p>
<p>Hurray for Zetesis’s D!!! She is on her way! How many more schools is she waiting for responses from? Do Chem programs interview? S1’s best buddy from HS is a genetics/cellular bio guy, and pretty much everywhere he applied had interviews. Other science programs didn’t, which I found interesting.</p>
<p>Zetesis, what awesome news! All that hard work had a big payoff! Congratulations to your D and to you for supporting and encouraging her to this point. Fantastic.</p>
<p>Z - that is fabulous news! And it would bring her back to the west coast. Which could make a mom very happy :)</p>
<p>And in other news, my D had her first informational interview today. On her last day of break. Baby steps…</p>
<p>Great news for Zetesis’s D!! As a 13 parent, it makes me proud…</p>
<p>Awesome news, Zetesis. </p>
<p>Hoping that all who are afflicted feel much better very soon, and that those of us who have escaped continue to escape.</p>
<p>I did some local history work that involved the Spanish Flu, and that was scary. Whole families wiped out in a matter of days; younger people (under 35) died more often than the elderly. Still kind of scary to see how little we have that is effective against viruses once you’ve caught one.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for the good wishes and congrats. It’s the first of the schools she’s heard from; I think there are 9 in all?</p>
<p>No interviews, although some schools/programs apparently do interview, either prior to admission or to funding. There are 3 “visit weekends” if she decides she wants to visit; costs reimbursed. It’s a terrific package; not her first choice school; but right now she is so happy – and relieved. I am so glad for her.</p>
<p>PRJ – yep, she’d be cross town instead of cross country …</p>
<p>Oh, man. I hope you all feel better soon. Flu is very dangerous sometimes.</p>
<p>A 22-year-old who I worked with at the college this past fall has died. At the time we worked together, she was on methodone to try to get off heroin. Many, many struggles and irrational thinking, actions. Apparently she was walking on a dark back road the other night with a girlfriend and stepped into the road in front of a car. She was hit and then flown to Baltimore Shock Trauma where she died the next day. She was such a troubled girl. I hope she has found peace in death.</p>
<p>Congrats to ZetesisD! That is simply awesome. As we all know, life sure does get easier when you have at least one “yes” in your pocket. But I have to say, and I don’t know much, with the package offered to her, one has to wonder what the other’s might be! How very exciting!!</p>
<p>Seems very superficial to be having cosmetic surgery on my eyes when others are surely going under the laser/knife for Cataracts. Any feeling of sand in my eyes would drive me a little batty… so keep taking the advil and nap aplenty. Hopefully, the irritation is short term. I expect some discomfort, but I think most of my issue is going to be in what it LOOKS like.</p>
<p>And based on all the reports of flu etc, I am not going out into the pubic sphere of germ carriers if I can at all help it! Bad enough to feel like crap… but rashes, hives and feelings of sunburn too? Yikes. And if what I know about the past four years is any indication (not to mention you refer to maternity leave as the last time you’ve missed so much work), I am thinking you are due. Hoping whatever was on your plate is not hanging too much over your head.</p>
<p>Sabaray - I think pepperspray is smart. But from experience I know that sometimes dogs off leash look to be getting along perfectly fine and then snap - literally. Our dog was in our yard when a guy let his older dog “say hello” by letting go of his leash. It all seemed fine until his dog snapped at our dog and ciipped his ear and apparently hit an artery. I have literally never seen blood gush like that. Point is, not sure pepper spray would have helped.</p>
<p>Agreed on the pepperspray not always being useful, Moda. sabadog and I are logging 6-7 miles a day walking our neighborhood and he is always leashed, so poor guy was being harrassed by an unleashed small dog and his larger pal. Definitely not a case of things were fine and suddenly changed! Our setter got a huge hematoma in his ear from a dog bite…when he was in our yard and another “friendly” dog came to say hello. </p>
<p>Eddie, I am sorry about your friend. It sounds as if she had many burdens to carry. My mother is having cataract surgery next month and she is very anxious about it. I am going to reassure her based upon your experience.</p>
<p>Zetesis - that is fantastic news!</p>
<p>Moda - I had very little pain/discomfort after my surgery and I wish you the same. The biggest issue was the bruising but after a week or so I was able to cover it up with makeup.</p>
<p>eddie- That is so sad about that young woman. It sounds as if she was trying to turn her life around and then to have it end so young…</p>
<p>Zetesis, Congratulations to your D!</p>
<p>eddie, i feel so bad for your friend and her loved ones</p>
<p>Z–i know what an amazing feeling it was when the worm went for first interview, and was accepted. i was “Yeah, no need to look for a job!” just wonderful news.</p>
<p>Forget to tell woody, missypie and everyone else who is sick that I’m sending the get well wishes.</p>
<p>Zetesis, Congratulations to your daughter! Great news.</p>
<p>Hope those that are sick start feeling better.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about the sad news,eddieodessa.</p>
<p>Just got back from seeing Django Unchained with H and S2. Enjoyed it.</p>
<p>^i want to see that.
Kudos o Z’sD! Healing thoughts to the rest!
So today my BFF from Canada is coming for a girls weekend long-planned but started coming down with a cold and was worried about infecting me as I was worried about infecting her. I said if she was up for the drive I was up for a weekend of pjs, movies on the couch girlfriend talk, grand marnier in lieu of NyQuil, hot tubbing and an in-home double
massage on Sunday.
She is one of the few friends I’m comfortable laying about being ill with, but boy am I glad i have that with someone ;)</p>
<p>I warned the massage therapist and gave her an out but she had this plague two weeks ago and is confident in her immunity. So yay!</p>
<p>kmcmom13, sounds very fun! Enjoy your girls weekend!</p>
<p>Congrats to your D, zetesis! My D’s bf just heard back from his first grad school app, also a PhD in Chemistry program, and was accepted (different school). He initially was applying to five programs, then his advisor recommended he add a few more, so I think he ended up applying to 10 programs. This school was one of his top choices, so he’s pretty happy. </p>
<p>This school is also a lot closer to where we live, and in a city D did an internship and would like to live, so if D ends up looking for a job in the same city, it would be less of a distance from us.</p>
<p>The past week has been a blur. Our university is back in session on Monday, which is a week earlier than usual. Way too much to do! Yesterday I had a “working lunch meeting” that lasted 2.5 hours. </p>
<p>We’re supposed to travel to niece’s baptism and open house late this afternoon/early evening, and now there’s a winter weather advisory. I guess we’ll just wait to see if it’s safe to attempt the drive. Supposedly yesterday was in the 60s but it must have been while I was in the 2.5 hour lunch meeting.</p>
<p>S leaves a week from today, D has 2 weeks until she goes back. She submitted a paper for an overseas conference during spring break, so we will wait before making her any travel arrangements to come home. S gets 2 weeks off at spring break. Every other year the choir travels for one of the two weeks, but it was last/next year. He doesn’t have spring break at the same time as any of his friends, but the second week is the same as his sister’s break.</p>
<p>Hope those of you who are sick are feeling better. Have a good weekend, everyone!</p>
<p>D and I saw Django Unchained right before New Year’s; she really liked it, but I preferred Les Miz. H and I will likely see Zero Dark Thirty tomorrow. And that will probably be the end of my movies until next holiday season, although I do want to see Gatsby when it comes out. </p>
<p>KMC, I so want to be your real life friend! That sounds like an amazing weekend. Enjoy! </p>
<p>C-Q, hope you’re able to get to the baptism. Congrats to your D’s BF.</p>