Parents of the HS Class of 2009 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
30901

<p>kmc, the answer to NK is China. They control the fuel and electricity for the country and could shut Junior’s fun and games down in minutes. Once at least, they did this to let his dad know to back down. NK’s game is to threaten, have people give the country money and technology that largely goes to benefit a small elite, in return for promises to behave well, which they then violate again when they need another fix of $$. </p>

<p>China is afraid that if the country has a regime change or instability, millions of refugees will come running in to China. This will create instability. The ruling Han Chinese are also racist – all other races are inferior (see Tibet or Vietnam for example) and, dare I say, Americans – so they won’t take kindly to this influx.</p>

<p>Under the Bushies, we insisted that our goal was regime change, which of course scared the willies out of the Chinese and so they generally did not feel like helping the West with repsect to Korea. I’m not sure what the Obamanauts are saying about NK as this is not my area of expertise. But, the way one controls the Koreans is to create an alliance with the Chinese that helps them (stability) and us (give Junior an Ouya, dancing girls and power and tell him to leave us alone or the power will go away). Again, not my area of expertise so I don’t know what is happening in the halls of diplomacy.</p>

30902

<p>aarrg–I am still sick! I hate being sick! I also have been reading about the fabulous news so many of you have for your D’s and S’s. My D got her financing for her summer research so happy here.
NK–well I do worry. I have always worried about them. As a parent of a Korean I get to say that if you have ever lived through a K’s temper tantrums then you get to vote :).
There is a tenacity that is breath taking. I do worry. The nature or nurture debate is one we have with our friends who also have K adoptees and we would all land on the side of nature. Lovely kids but stubborn and inclined to get their way. I like your analysis Shaw–I am not sure that I can look at the situation without thinking about the temperament of the leader/s.
I bought Camp 14 --expect to have nightmares.</p>

30903

<p>Wedding shower etiquette question–Mom and godmother are giving the shower. It is at godmother’s house–do I take a hostess gift? I think yes and bought a small bag of a specialty dark chocolate toffees. Wrapped in tissue and a ribbon. Thoughts? (have never met her).</p>

30904

<p>One of my son’s best friends in high school was/is Korean American(not an adoptee- parents are both Korean). The dad is a professor. The parents and their kids were not at all stubborn!</p>

30905

<p>I learned more in Shaw’s paragraph than I have in two weeks of listening to this develop on TV! But Im like others… not really worth my worry in that there is nothing I can do and not educated enough to even have an opinion. I could say the same about taxes, but in that case, it doesn’t matter what they do. We get a bad deal. So I just get annoyed with that one and only because it seems to anger H so much.</p>

<p>In any event: I have a chinese cousin, a vietnamese nephew and a cambodian nephew. They seem to get along great. :)</p>

<p>H is in FL playing golf… did I already mention that? Haven’t heard much from him but that’s ok as I am zonked with this cold. Usually I can take Dayquil and feel somewhat functional, but it didn’t touch it.</p>

<p>Wedding shower… isn’t it weird that a mother gives that in the first place? I guess I can see the godmother and a hostess gift sounds lovely… and perfectly sized. I got an invitation to my own daughter’s shower on the weekend she graduates college. I also looked at her resume and the cover letter she sent into a position out west. Interesting connections that gave her the heads up on the available positions, and so we’re hopeful they will give her consideration. So… send her some good mojo.</p>

<p>S’s interview is this next week… thinking Thursday. But today I did book his flight for D’s wedding and am thrilled that I got one that leaves after his work day on Thursday and leaves us in the early evening on Sunday, so he will be there the “entire” time. </p>

<p>My dress arrived that I had ordered in California, but I have literally felt too ill to even try it on. I just don’t want to risk not liking it if putting it on when I feel crappy.</p>

30906

<p>And I have a niece from Guatemala !</p>

30907

<p>Moda - what is S interviewing for?</p>

30908

<p>Moda–yeah on the dress but do not! try it on until you feel better. Don’t jinx it as a good dress is hard to come by.
This wedding shower is sort of our second daughter as her own parents are mentally ill (mom) and not kind(dad). We are her go to people and that has been lovely.
It took me 5 hours to pick out a gift for tomorrow and I finally found a stainless steel classic cool serving dish. I had to ignore H and trust myself and am pleased as punch with my purchase. Still, I hate showers of any kind and if I am coughing tomorrow I will bow out.</p>

30909

<p>Good morning! Well, Shaw, from your mouth to china’s ears :wink: Reuters just moved a story a few minutes ago about China’s not-so-veiled criticism of NK’s actions after Obama’s push for same from them. Were it me, I’d be turning off the lights to let junior cool his heels…</p>

<p>In other news, we had a lovely spring sweatlodge here, topped with some happy news. For those unfamiliar with Lakotan lodge rituals, the way it works is that families of the tribe have their own ceremonies, in which they can train outsiders and “give” ceremony to should they so desire. This can be a bit controversial on the res, where some believe that the non-indigenous should not expropriate their culture. Others, however, feel that by sharing ceremony with whites helps foster cross-cultural understanding and furthers an education/respect for the earth and ways of first people’s.</p>

<p>My little group is “led” by a woman who became a “water-pourer” under the teachings of one of the families who obviously believe the latter. So we remain in fairly close contact with that family, who like everyone else on Pine Ridge, faces abject poverty, unemployment, and really has to work hard to avoid social ills. My local lodge leader also dances in the sun dance festival you may have heard of. It is hot, brutal, and long (4 days) and requires a good deal of faith. While I have not personally committed to the dance, I and friends offer various means of support to the event. So, by way of explanation, our group isn’t working off a new age book, if you will. There is actually a connection to a lakotan family and we share a lot of prayers with them.</p>

<p>One prayer always on our lips is economic sustenance for our lodge brother and his family.</p>

<p>So the happy news is that our lodge brother has for the first time in several years secured full time employment! He is industrious, and has always eeked out an existence by his own means, such as preparing and selling firewood, etc., but it has been a hard-scrabble existence. So it truly gladdens my heart that he has found work.</p>

<p>Now maybe some of that lodge employment mojo will rub off on mcson, for whom I named a stone going into the fire. I also named a stone for all the kiddos of my cc friends, so be prepared for happy times ;)</p>

30910

<p>KMC - thanks for the stone throw. I will take all the happy times I can get!</p>

<p>I have no idea what S is interviewing for specifically, although I know it’s in Boston in a lab associated with Harvard, which would be awesome to have on his resume for Med School AND would be a pretty cool place to live after being in such a remote part of the country for the past four years.</p>

<p>Feeling slightly better today but am glad to not have showings. However, I obviously need a few if we want to sell this house. I am told that the past three weeks (the entire time we’ve been on the market) has been pretty slow due to various spring breaks around the country. I am assuming that will end now and people will be ready to start looking (and buying).</p>

<p>D’s team is doing quite well and I think she has really bonded with a lot of the players. When we were in California I heard time and again how much everyone loves her and despite not getting in a lot of games (which is pretty typical for her position), she is being the kind of sideline cheerleader that she wishes more of her teammates had been in HS to her. It’s been a lot of work, but also has had some massive advantages in terms of organizing her time and setting priorities.</p>

<p>Thinking I’ll try a very hot shower and see if that doesn’t clear the fog in my head.</p>

30911

<p>Hi all
Just a quick check in. I can’t read all the back posts so I hope all your seniors are on track to graduate. I think of you often even if I no longer have a 13er and I am too darn busy with preparation for my own graduation this June. Someone, anyone, please PM me with a synopsis of the highlights of what I’ve missed if you have the urge, I would love to hear it.</p>

<p>The news here is, other than my very hard work to get my MFA, #theoryson is doing very well in school. He feels as if he has found his niche and sounds very calm and confident. Pretty much all A’s (except for that pesky English). </p>

<p>Finals are coming up soon and I just asked him if he was super busy, being crunch time and he said no things were not crunchy at all because he and his team had been on top of their product all along and they feel like they are on schedule with their game. I was kind of blown away. This is a kid who has ALWAYS left things to the last minute. Now he is the one telling the others they need to stay over spring break (which they did) and work on the project. Wow.</p>

<p>He has a line on a summer internship with a start up in Seattle, has put the money he inherited from his grandmother in on a condo (we are the other investors) and will learn (we hope) pride of ownership, as whatever we make on this condo once we sell it he will earn an appropriate % on. As well, if he finds employment in the area (good chance for this) and is going to stay in the condo after graduation, he will purchase it from us by making payments. He has a couple of roommates lined up because this place is less than a mile from school and has sidewalks all the way. Also walking distance to Trader Joe’s.</p>

<p>Last time he was home I asked him if he regretted his decision to leave WPI and start over (since now his graduation will not be until 2016 at the earliest) and he said he has no regrets at all. He misses the vocal music scene at WPI but not much else. I have never seen him so happily motivated. This type of success will do him well in the more difficult school years to come. </p>

<p>So fingers crossed he gets the Seattle gig, but if not, his plan (his idea!) is to take some of the humanity requirements at the Community College to get them out of the way over the summer.</p>

<p>It almost does not feel real.</p>

<p>I am sure you all have seen measurable growth in your young adults as well and they have great things in store for them.</p>

<p>I’ll try to check in a little more often.</p>

30912

<h1>TM. that is great news about #TS. Best of luck with your MFA.</h1>

30913

<p>TM, great to hear from you! Congrats on the MFA too. Glad to hear tmson is in a good place.
My guy is wending his way towards graduation at the end of this month and is brutally crunched, but is his own worst enemy in that regard. Eg. Taking on way too many extracurricular projects instead of reserving sufficient time for his sr. Thesis, which he still has to finish mixing and mastering, plus an animation which is always a time eater. Since he continues to create this chaos, I suspect he likes it ;)</p>

<p>Moda, be well and good luck on the house front!</p>

30914

<p>Well my D just accepted her offer from McGill for her MM performance program. Now I guess I can tell her of my impending forced retirement. I did not want the finances to influance her decision and I am really proud that she chose McGill. We were able to afford most of the schools regardless, nice to know that she will graduate from her Masters with zero debt load though.</p>

30915

<p>Congrats to percussionD.</p>

<h1>theorymom, great to hear about your son and fabulous about your MFA!!! I’m so impressed.</h1>

<p>Moda, please get better soon. So glad your D is so supportive of her teammates. You hear a lot about “paying it forward” but I do think sometimes we pay it backwards - we do nice things specifically because we wish someone had done them for us.</p>

30916

<p>I like to imagine people who pass away on the same day meeting each other at some eternal way station. Today: Margaret Thatcher and Anette Funicello.</p>

30917

<p>Here’s a sticky issue: I was invited to the wedding of a staff member at work (with whom I am not close). I am unable to attend the wedding. I went to her department store registry online and bought her some of her formal china. I was $1 away from the amount required to spend to get free shipping, so I went back to find something very inexpensive from her registry. I found a $12 item to add…with the shipping now free, the item was very close to free.</p>

<p>Anyway, I received an email from the store today saying they are shipping the two items separately. OMG, if she receives the $12 item first, she will think I am the cheapest person she has ever met!</p>

<p>If I knew her better, I would just explain that I’m such a penny pincher that I would rather her have an extra small gift than spend the money on shipping. I think I will at least send her an email saying that her wedding gift was being shipping in two parts. Opinions (other than to be a normal person in the future)?</p>

30918

<p>I think you can just say the gift is being shipped in two parts. No problem. No need for an explanation. Love the thought of Maggie and Annette together.</p>

30919

<p>Most stores have an enclosure that states this is only a partial shipment. Don’t worry about it.</p>

<p>So good to hear from you #TM! I was just asking about you! Congrats on the upcoming graduation! HOORAY! I hope you share some more published poetry with us. You made me smile today! Good for #TS, too! Glad he has found his niche and is being successful. :)</p>

30920

<p>Congratulations to #TM and percussiondad’s D!</p>

<p>I just got an email from S2. He just found out he passed his top secret security clearance he needed for his job after graduation! What a relief.</p>