<p>c_q…I’m impressed! And big congrats to ararab D! That’s great!</p>
<p>Hi Cardinal Fang - good to see you back. I love the last sentence of your post. FangJr is a lucky guy to have you in his corner.</p>
<p>CF–we always want to hear about everything here–the good and the not so good.
Hopefully all will work out for him. How close is he to finishing?
Thanks for posting.</p>
<p>CF…if there is anything we can do to help you or him, please let us know. Sending big {{{HUGS}}} and good Karma for him to find a job he enjoys and also finds some success in. Take care of yourself!</p>
<p>CF – Sending good thoughts for Fang Jr and for you & your husband too – lack of love was never, ever in question. I hope this program helps him find something satisfying that engages him. And I hope you’re getting out for some great bike rides – and sticking around here, too. We missed you.</p>
<p>I have learned enough here to wish they would come up with better ways to help kids like CF and MP son. I feel so frustrated for you.
CQ I agree great cyber stalking, did the hair have anything to do with spotting her?
I hope Shaw son’s stress decreases.
Oregon I would politely ask what they think is a good plan for Holidays. My GM was a lot likeyour mom, she even gave up her own granddaughter for adoption, dontget me started, It made me sad, but no one was upset hen she died.
yay Ararab D</p>
<p>downtoearth, the hair definitely helped!</p>
<p>S returns tomorrow. Will be getting up very early to drive him to the airport! This will likely be his only spring break at home. Choir tours internationally every 2 years (sophomore and senior) and he plans to study abroad spring term of his junior year. Freshman year was only spring break home for D.</p>
<p>TGIF! Hope everyone has a good weekend!</p>
<p>Hugs to CF and Fangson, and sending the light. Just so you know, our employee didn’t finish college due to some life circumstances at the time. Mch hired him at the tender age of 20 (based on the potential talent he saw) and he is with us still 13 years later. Today, there are few college grads I’d let tie his shoes! He often ends up training well pedigreed marketing staff, and frankly, he blows them away. His present-day wife, on the other hand, went back to school and finished with a masters degree but to date hasn’t done much with it. While I’m a big advocate of education, there’s always more to the story than degree/no degree. So my stand is that Fangson finds a good fit and creates a rewarding life for himself!</p>
<p>Arabrab, super kudos to you and d. I would likely blubber like an idiot at the grad ceremony. In fact, even the act of mcson walking (unless some new disaster emerges) will likely have me blubber like an idiot 
I know this because one year at music camp when mcson had had a rough start, he ended up winning a top award, and at the ceremony, I couldn’t breath or speak for a good five minutes because I was crying so hard!</p>
<p>CQ, I know you’re still early in the process with your son, but it kind of hits you when you realize there’s “no more spring break”, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>Arabrab - congrats. What great news!</p>
<p>CF - He will find his way with great parents like you. Some it just takes longer and their way may have not been what you thought of initially but in the end I really believe they land where they are supposed to for the most part.</p>
<p>Modadunn - Do you think the bar keepers soft scrub soap would work on tile floors? I really need something to clean the white grout (what was I thinking) and white tile floors in my bathrooms.</p>
<p>CF- your S has much to offer and the support of loving parents,he will find his way. Sending the good thoughts and prayers for him and you.</p>
<p>H’s birthday is tomorrow. For the first time in 25 years it will be just the two of us celebrating together. D1 will be working OOS and D2 is in Florida on Spring Break. He is a little bit sad. We are planning dinner out and heading to the cabin on Sunday to check on this week’s progress and trying to resolve some lighting issues. The girls have sent or left gifts for him. Will definitely be different!</p>
<p>It has just started to hit me that we are really empty nesters now that D is getting ready to graduate and has taken a job away from here. Wow. H mentioned that he’s thinking about what he wants to do with D’s room – eek! Not sure I’m fully ready for that, though keeping it as a museum for a short visit a couple of times a year certainly seems unnecessary. </p>
<p>NM – Hope you have a good birthday dinner with your husband. Lots of changes in our lives.</p>
<p>Younger D grew up with us telling her that for her last three years of HS, it would be just the three of us, because the other two would be away at school. We teased her about her having us all to herself. Of course, it hasn’t worked out that way. </p>
<p>Although she has moments when she can’t stand Son (when he goes all paternal on her), the two have actually developed a nice relationship. They have some of the same musical tastes and are even going to attend a local music festival together. If you have more than two kids, or had more than one sibling, you know how the dynamics change depending on which siblings are around each other.</p>
<p>arabrab-- congrats to your D
kmcmom13–thanks, I am glad you said you were only half joking arts organizations, unfortunately they get hit so hard by every type of budget cut. I have been involved in elementary and high school arts program and on the board for the local arts council for close to 8 years and just resigned last year. Not sure if am ready to go back (yet). it is going to be major adjustment to think about myself for once and not everyone else. I will definetly look into whether Unies or College here offer lower cost tuition for retirees. I am looking for a basket weaving course(LOL 
Seriously though as Oregon101 said I think I will wait out the first 6 months or so and see what happens. I plan on keeping myself busy enough to not get depressed and I am sure that W will putting together a multi page ‘honey-do’ list. </p>
<p>Today I am worried about my D as she is driving 3 hours to the nearest airport and flying to NYC to visit her BF. We havent heard from her yet and that always make me nervous.</p>
<p>I am becoming a Dear heloise of sorts - remember her? Have no idea if Im spelling that right. I should have taken a before and after picture of my son’s bathroom floor. The grout was definitely dingy looking, but my BIL had used this stuff from Home Depot or similar called 511 KLEEN & reseal that cleans and protects tile grout. I sprayed that on, found that a nail scrubber actually works better than a grout scrubber. Scrubbed it in and let it sit for about a half hour and then scrubbed some more. I then used a regular bathroom cleaner (Clorox Cleanup with bleach) to get any discoloration that remained and then did another quick clean with the KLEEN with the thought that it would seal the grout. Now I wish I had painted that bathroom as well because the floor looks awesome! I find it fairly funny that the realtor termed our house “renovated” along with the updated moniker - I think that might be a stretch, but then I look at what I’vc done since fall and think… damn right!</p>
<p>Have one last project to put away all the kids misc memorabilia. I’ve gotten as far as making piles in the “exercise” room that has no real exercise equipment! And while I love D2’s room, she said it looks like a room for a 6 year old in the pictures. I say, that’s not a bad thing in that it’s exactly the family demographic that would be perfect to buy the place!</p>
<p>Thanks! I’ll have to try that because mine looks TERRIBLE!!!</p>
<p>percussiondad - where I work, we are lowering the age for the free college audit program from age 65 down to age 60. It won’t be long until I qualify! We also have another consortium of lower-cost college classes aimed at ‘seniors’ where the age is 50+! Which I qualify for, except many of them are offered during the day when I’m at work.</p>
<p>Up early to take S to the airport - the silver lining to the very early departure time is that we should miss the winter storm that’s supposed to hit later today! The storm is hitting here, not where he goes to school. A co-worker had her mother-in-law visiting this week, to help take care of her elementary-age son during spring break. The MIL’s flight is later today, and the co-worker is worried her MIL won’t be able to leave! My co-worker has ‘had’ to work a lot of extra hours this week, mysteriously. I am lucky because I absolutely adore my MIL.</p>
<p>Hope everyone has a safe weekend!</p>
<p>You were up early, c_q, for the same reason we were up so late. Older D’s flight home for spring break got in at 12:50 am, got to bed at around 2:30 am.</p>
<p>March Madness starts for older D and me this weekend…the womens’ tournament! Go Baylor! I’m hoping that Duke and Baylor meet in the final 4, because then two HS classmates (from our district) would play each other. </p>
<p>Older D is so funny talking about how messy her roommates are…how no one takes out the trash but her, etc. I hear my own words coming out of her mouth.</p>
<p>Gson is in constant movement. Good natured and cute. He walks down the stair face forward. Has his system --step down wobble to get balance and then go on–until mom or dad grab him. He eats enough that I consider him another serving. He turned 1 early March. Started kicking the ball I gave him as if playing soccer.
S seems quiet and tired (his usual) but not unhappy. Thanked me 3 times when I noticed he needs new shoes and we offered to buy them.
DIL could not be better. Basically she loves my food so I am good:).
I am still a pessimist by nature so we shall see what the future brings. I can see that parenting is easier for them at 21 and 23 than older parents. I was 33 and worried my way through their young lives.
Now how to spend a gloomy cold day with a one year old? The various indoors places will cost $50 for all of us to get in. I find that shocking. What do you parents who are struggling do? Only one has a free day once a month.</p>
<p>The baby sounds so cute, Oregon. Pots, pans & wooden spoons? That kept D occupied for a long time. </p>
<p>Moda – thanks for the 511 Kleen & Reseal tip. It might help our bathroom floor. Maybe.
What I’m really struggling with are some mildew stains on grout in our shower. I can’t get them to better than light gray, and I have tried bleach, concentrated hydrogen peroxide (which really did a fabulous job in general, though I did need to wear goggles and gloves) and Zout. I want them gone, but I think we might have to have the whole thing regrouted – and I have no idea what it will take to do that. (It will not be me, that’s for sure.)</p>
<p>FYI: If any of the girls need suits and you can shop online Loehmann’s has Tahari and Calvin Klein suits on deep discount. Extra 25% off now through Monday. Couldn’t find any in D2’s size but I thought I would pass it on!</p>