<p>Has anyone heard from Fireflyscout, DragonLady, and CCCblinker, (I think those are the handles) the wonderful mom-gang of WPI kids? Just wondering how their near grads are doing, or if some of them too took a mulligan.</p>
<p>CBB is on FB with many of us. She is due to pop in here, too! I think her S is doing well. Haven’t heard from DragonLady or FireFlyscout for some time! It is in the back of my mind that perhaps one of the Ss has transferred or sat out a bit??? Anyone else have a better memory?</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about Fireflyscout. I seem to remember that he came back home, but I don’t know what happened after that.</p>
<p>congrats to TM, percussiondad, and sevmom! top secret security clearance sounds quite exciting actually.</p>
<p>missypie–I had a similar experience, Bed Bath Beyond delivered the small gift separately and the big “real” gift arrived so late it was after the bridal shower. I sent an email to bride’s mom, (my dear friend) to alert them in case there wasn’t a note, and yep no note.</p>
<p>attended the wedding of same bride this weekend and had the pleasure of picking up my d from college so she could share in the festivities. We enjoyed celebrating with my best friend since since kindergarten. perfect timing as d had defended her thesis the day before and was up for a celebration. Her advisors said she did a superb job with her research/stats and thesis defense. She was sure one advisor would be challenging but then realized during the process that was so prepared she could easily discuss and defend all questions. as many of you all have shared, it really is wonderful to see such maturity having emerged! She even brought brie and fresh fruit in case the advisors were missing their lunch. she definitely learned that from me 
D has discovered she actually loved the entire process of experiment, data collection, the whole shebang. I suggested she write up her experience for herself and also to share with future thesis students to offer guidance and allay their anxiety. (apparently many students leave this CTCL school prior to the senior year in fear of the honor’s thesis). For my d this school lived up to it’s name, and I am very grateful for that.</p>
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<p><a href=“apparently%20many%20students%20leave%20this%20CTCL%20school%20prior%20to%20the%20senior%20year%20in%20fear%20of%20the%20honor’s%20thesis”>quote</a>.
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<p>Congrats to both of you.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking about the subject of senior theses, after hearing about how many of your bright students have just nailed them. Do you think that some students will never be mature/together enough to go through the whole process? I’ve been thinking that Son could never do it (he could defend anything orally, but getting there would be a huge problem.) I am thinking that younger D would not likely be capable either.</p>
<p>As I’ve reported many times, Son does so much better in the “hands on” type of classes. I think younger D will, too.</p>
<p>It just makes me realize how important it is for a HS student to realize the difference between a liberal arts education and other types of schools, other types of programs; between a school where you can maybe coast or work a lot senior year and a school that requires a thesis. How many 17-19 year olds really focus on the classes they will have to take, or the other things they will have to do to graduate, from school A vs. B vs. C?</p>
<p>I, of course, an ever on the lookout for programs in Son’s area of interest that do not have a foreign language requirement. But I tell you, it can take a lot of time on some schools’ web sites to actually see a list of required courses. I’ve been doing this for quite a few years now, so I can see where it would be difficult for the typical time strapped HS senior.</p>
<p>Congrats, percussiondad! S graduated from McGill 2 years ago. We often visited the Music School while he was there. The facilities are amazing!! - as are the opportunities to perform around the city. Plus Montreal is …Montreal! We miss it so much!</p>
<p>Missy
I’m not sure S could WRITE a thesis, but he could defend just about anything. So different than I. I was just asked if the MFA program could use my essay on their website as an example of what they would like to see. (excuse my shameless brag - just got this request today) I don’t know how we could be related - but I know we are, I was there!</p>
<p>My S could do it, but decided in a nutshell that it wouldn’t have been worthy science… except to say this is perhaps the way NOT to do it. He had very little expertise available to him BUT it’s not a requirement of graduation and more importantly less than half of those who do them actually earn department honors (which seems pretty bogus to me because its not like any of these kids do things half way).</p>
<p>So Annette, Lily and Maggie are all hanging out somewhere in transition? Having a tea party of sorts while waiting for results.</p>
<p>OMG… the entire neighborhood is going up for sale. What the… ? Found out a neighbor four doors down is being transferred. Getting big bonus if he sells quickly so the company doesnt have to buy his house. So now … my low inventory aint so low anymore and they are all smaller houses, smaller lots. I am now really not happy that we may have squandered the first best offer. But we have no plan anyway, so there are worse things except now that spring is springing, I’ll be forced to do a lot more yard stuff ($$), to say nothing of wanting to be headed east beginning of May for the summer.</p>
<p>Tried on dress. Ordered another in a smaller size. Hey… did we know Neiman Marcus went closed in Minneapolis? Not a regular stop for me, but now I might need to return this dress. It’s not huge, but big enough where I would try a smaller size before deciding better to alter. I am really hoping the smaller size does the trick because I do not want to look matronly and the one I have is a little big and a little long… especially the jacket. And truth is, had I not seen it in person or tried it on, I would have never picked this dress based on how the model looked in it. So…hoping the way the size down fits will seal the deal, but slightly annoyed that returning will require shipping AND I already peeled off the label as I was going to use the box and all the tissue to mail the bridesmaid dress to D… she asked another friend which I am happy for. I thought her having just two (our D and her best friend) would seem slightly TOO small of a wedding party.</p>
<p>OK… this is reading like a journal entry of sorts.</p>
<p>Love it Mod. write on!
Still not really well even after two weeks and I do not do sick nicely.
The 6,000 sq ft house is bother me more than I thought it would.
I just feel feel bothered and hope I am not turning into my mother. So many family stories that I now move the emails to the “Family Junk” file. Received a box of cheap costume jewelry from greedy sis supposedly representing mom. Realy bad stuff and I do not want anything anyway so what to do? Now it is in the garage as it smells of ancient perfume. Now sis sent pics of what she has kept…pretty nice things.
H came home telling of another doc age 51 and health nut kind of gal. Had some chest pains last week and had lung cancer and died within 7 days. !!!</p>
<p>Good morning, and congratulations to percussion dad, sev mom, Lindz and anyone else I’ve missed in my dream fog.</p>
<p>In keeping with the journal theme…This dream I just had is in retrospect evidence of how funny and literal the psyche can be. I was walking up my wooded hill and saw mcson as an infant laying there, stark naked, shining and white and pure as the driven snow. I picked him up and gave him a cuddle and he clung to me with that little “shudder” of relief that infants give their mothers. It felt so very real that I realized I’ve actually “forgotten” what it feels like to hold your infant child.</p>
<p>I awoke and pondered the dream and realized thay my psyche was saying:</p>
<p>“Mcson is an innocent babe in the woods” – literally in my dream!</p>
<p>Too funny. Missy, it would appear that indeed some of us worry about our kiddos and their SR. Thesis-es Perhaps I should send him a hug! Or perhaps that’s what I was doing psychically in my dream.</p>
<p>Pdad, I’m glad you’ll be able to get your news off your chest! And McGill is an awesome choice, so enjoy!</p>
<p>Moda, hex upon your selling neighbors. I guess that goes with the territory. Good luck with the dress! Since I’ve historically been petite after a fashion (often the jumbo shrimp variety) I often resort to tailoring to make an otherwise beautiful item actually look good on ME. I actually did that Sunday when I found a regular but lovely crochet summer shirt that looked ridiculously long on me. I then took it directly to the alteration.place I use and had it shortened by about 4 inches and now it looks fab.</p>
<p>sevmom, great news on the clearance.</p>
<p>Thanks,lindz, kmcmom, and TA! I really am relieved as S2’s job offer was contingent on getting this clearance and he had no backup plan. Hope your S2 is getting some good leads,TA!</p>
<p>Thanks for the congrats on my D’ going to McGill.
Woody: It is always nice to hear from others that have experiences with the same schools. We know Montreal quite well as we go there 9 - 10 times a year. We are lucking out once again though. We have yet to miss a concert / performance since grade 5. Her BM was taken 2 hours away and we could leave work have dinner with her, go to the concert and head home and be in bed by 11:30. Now that she will be at McGill it will be pretty much the same thing except for the heavier traffic ( or should I say more than 1 car every 5 miles) compared to the North Country. LOL. We are excited and very pleased for her.</p>
<p>Congrats to sevmom S and percussiondad D! Always good to hear the news!</p>
<p>D2 turned in her resignation letter yesterday. Her supervisor was kind and gracious and told her how much they will miss her. Told her they would love to have her back if she had any free time over holidays during the school year. D2 timed her last days to fall the week before finals week so she has time to study and then be off for graduation. I just realized how much this job has helped her mature. I remember how frightened she was to go to work on her first day. She will miss her friends there. </p>
<p>Moda…darn! So sorry to hear about all the listings!</p>
<p>TA…was thinking of you last night. D2 has an appointment on Wednesday with a woman from the MS program to review her resume. The advisor sent D2 several samples to look at and D2 didn’t think they were set up as well as the one you sent her that she has been using. We will be forever grateful for your wisdom and help.
Thank you!</p>
<p>NM, what a nice thing to say. Thank you. </p>
<p>S2 has sent in half a dozen applications for jobs he is completely qualified to do, but I’m not optimistic since he has already missed the on-campus events. Nevertheless, he is working on a back-up plan. He qualifies for an Australia work visa under a program that targets new engineering graduates. This would let him go move-in with his brother and job hunt. His brother will introduce him around, but if that fails, there is also a program in S2’s city that takes international new grads with that particular engineering visa. The program gives them six weeks of technical skills training classes, followed by placement in a 12-week unpaid internship in their field. This is a program developed by the Australian government to address a labor shortage of engineers, so while there is some cost it is not a for-profit enterprise. I have asked S1 to ask his boss about the reputation of the program. </p>
<p>In the meantime, S2 has started the work visa application process, which is time consuming but looks pretty cut and dried for this particular program. They list the schools, which does include his school. Has to be ABET, which it is. Has to speak English, etc.</p>
<p>Sometimes things seem to happen for a reason,TA (like not getting that last job). More things will open up for him. That Australia opportunity sounds like it could be pretty exciting and you could go visit both your sons! Good luck to S2!</p>
<p>Congrats on the successes – sevmom, lindz, percussiondad.</p>
<p>ShawSon has come home to write a full draft of his thesis by the end of the weekend to give to his advisors for comment. I’m impressed by the massive amount of work he had done and the way he took feedback from his advisors to shape it into something that seems more coherent that it was. This required a bunch more mathematical modeling to go along with the experiments. He worked very hard over the last week and has completed almost all of that (it is not just about work as unless you are good, you can’t frame the questions you are asking in ways that the math works out, so this is also about talent, but talent without effort is not worth that much).</p>
<p>Rain, sleet and snow predicted today and through the week. Can I say I am so tired of winter? sigh…</p>
<p>I am really enjoying all of your D and S’s job searches and successes. Grad schools, job clearances, interviews…all so wonderful!
It continues to be odd to have the first grandchild on this forum! It continues to be surreal. We are glad he is finishing his degree and give DIL and FIL credit as it was never an option to either of them. S cannot wait to get back into the work field and misses retail (!?) --go figure. I think he wants to open his own stores someday. He is just about the most silent kid you could meet unless he needs to be “on” and then he is gracious and personable. I think retail makes him connect. I do absolutely give myself credit that he has these skills. Goodness I worked hard enough with him on eye contact and greetings and so on.
I survived the wedding shower and in retrospect it felt more like a memorial. Bride to be was lovely and stopped by yesterday to gossip with me. The party had no cohesion and there were no real LOL moments. Sad. She was fine though as it was her mother’s party and about her MOM and not her anyway.
Gosh–seems nothing much happening around here. Mod hope you are feeling better. I am finishing week 2 and just barely feel like myself.</p>
<p>And here i thought I was pretty much all caught up! So sorry to hear about S2’s job falling through. Good experience and all that, and I am sure, better things are on the horizon, as has been said. BUT… it still blows. </p>
<p>It really is great to see how ALL the kids are growing up four years later, on time for graduations or not, parenthood or not. Life is a ride, this is certain and I have been glad to be on it with so many of all of you! </p>
<p>Honestly, I think of what all my D is trying to heap on her plate and I am wondering when the tray will spill. Graduation is in just a few weeks, wedding five weeks after that and moving across the country three weeks after that!</p>