Parents of the HS Class of 2009 (Part 1)

Parents of HS Class of 20xx
31101

<p>Good morning. Back in the saddle after a weekend visit to see mcson and his gf’s play. Awesome job on very complex material! Also got to meet her parents, who’d flown in from sf for the weekend. Really like them and could have happily spent the evening visiting but we had the deadline of getting to the play ;)</p>

<p>Mcson was delighted to report that his adviser totally loved his sr. Thesis presentation and inherent work. His performance for his interactive systems class also was well received, but he was disappointed that one piece for which he’d written a lot of code was dropped at he last minute because the tech facilities were having problems with the projection system and it was a particularly demanding piece. In general, I’d say he was still riding the adrenalin, which is a good thing, because he still has a composition to perform (acoustic) and an animation to finish this week, followed by a previously unannounced exam composition exam the following week that promises to mess up the work sked a tad.
But we’re close, and it all looks far more survivable!</p>

<p>His gf will have hell week this week as she needs to catch up and finish up on regular class work after the complete absorption of the play. Since she’s a directing major, I had assumed that being selected by this U-group to direct such an ambitious play might have counted toward some of her class work, eg in lieu of a few assignments, but no, it is entirely ec, though faculty is generally supportive, she tells me. Which means a phenomenal sacrifice in terms of the hours it takes to cast and direct such an effort (cast of 12, 3 act play meaning about 3 hrs run time!). </p>

<p>When I was in high school, our theatre arts program went into suspension when our longtime theatre arts teacher went to another school. But the drama club had historically raised a lot of money each year (that the football program used ;)) though a Xmas production, spring review, and drama festival. So in my jr and sr years, the powers that be named me director to keep the club going (did I mention to make money for the football program?:)) So I have a bit if an idea what it takes. (Our house was an 864-seat proscenium stage with orchestra pit and a 1929-era dance stage. Producing a play for such a house demands a level of tech organization and set construction that in itself is daunting, never mind front house management.)</p>

<p>So I’m a little bit in awe of gf for taking this all on, producing a high-quality production, and then having to scramble to finish up the term. Send her a little light for a happy end run!</p>

<p>Despite my constant complaints that mcson is always taking on too much and “MIS-spending” his creative energy, it occurs to me that in actual fact the both of them are quite extraordinary in their commitment to their creative pursuits and willing to risk a lot and make their own lives more difficult to follow their passions. I am beginning to realize that this may well serve their lives better than many of the more compromising traits I wish they had that really would only serve to have me worry less.</p>

<p>So maybe I’m “graduating” from being a “college mom” too in a sense ;)</p>

31102

<p>Sounds like mcson is really doing well and his GF is great for him as well as talented in her own right. Life is good.</p>

<p>ShawSon was home over the weekend to dictate part of his thesis. But, there is so much math, he really has to type that part himself anyway (You can’t dictate math, really). I understand the general point, but really am not trying to delve into the math – and it would be a stretch as I could have done it 25 years ago, but am not in that world. </p>

<p>What I can do is explain to him how to do technical writing. My undergraduate thesis adviser was recognized worldwide as a) one of the smartest people on the planet; and b) one of the worst communicators of technical stuff on the planet. He made up some of his own words, most of which are happily extinct but a few of which you probably use daily. So, my undergraduate thesis was apparently a tour de force that couldn’t be easily understood. My graduate thesis adviser got it – he said, “Your undergraduate thesis would have been the best PhD thesis in our department for the last 10 years. But, you need to learn to write.” So, he made me write and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite the first couple of chapters until I understood his rules of tech writing. So, now I can convey this to ShawSon. Another teaching moment.</p>

31103

<p>shawbridge, there was an interesting segment on Sunday Morning on CBS yesterday, featuring Alan Alda. He is working with science students at SUNY Stony Brook to teach them to speak/communicate in words regular people can understand: </p>

<p>[Professor</a> Alan Alda teaches scientists how to speak - CBS News](<a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57580595/professor-alan-alda-teaches-scientists-how-to-speak/]Professor”>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57580595/professor-alan-alda-teaches-scientists-how-to-speak/)</p>

31104

<p>Well, D2 just called, ecstatic to have turned in her senior thesis. Except for one final exam, she’s done. Amazing.</p>

31105

<p>That’s terrific, Zetesis! It’s just amazing to think that undergrad is almost over for most of our HS Class of '09.</p>

31106

<p>I can hardly believe it; I know it’s trite, but it really does seem like yesterday – or pretty close to it – that we were saying goodbye after dropping her off. Wow.</p>

31107

<p>congrats on thesis progress Shaw and completion Zetesis.</p>

<p>it really is hard to believe it’s been four years since we all “met” </p>

<p>my d went for a 3 day trial as a residential counselor for troubled kids, and decided it wasn’t for her, the counselors make a two yr commitment, sleep in outdoor tent like structure, (yr round in Florida) and work from 7a.m. -8 p.m., no breaks. my d felt bad turning it down as she really thought she would accept it…reminded her in life we need to honor our own inner voice when it says “no way will this work for me”. Seemed like exploitation to me frankly and I was glad she turned it down, but kept my mouth zipped while she was anticipating how cool it would be. It felt good that she called me to discuss, I so enjoy these adult relationships and the emerging(ed) maturity</p>

31108

<p>C-q, thanks for the Alda article. I have a friend who does speak English about science. He is quite bright but his communication skills make him among the most influential scientists in the world. </p>

<p>I was a step below that with ShawSon, explaining how to write with math in a way that is coherent, comprehensible and efficient so that people understand what you are writing. I was able to teach ShawSon in HS to be a very good writer, which was a real challenge given severe dyslexia. Now on to the next frontier.</p>

31109

<p>Z…how awesome for your D! What a relief to have that thesis finished! I can hardly believe how fast these years have gone by. Is she excited to move on or is she nervous?</p>

<p>shaw…wishing shawson much luck on progress with his thesis. Things seem to be coming together for him!</p>

<p>kmc…Yay! for mcson and his gf for their presentations and play being completed. So much work!</p>

<p>lindz…Hi! Good to hear from you! You are so wise not to influence D’s career decisions. I have to zip my lips frequently! ;)</p>

<p>My D2 is still busy working and has another month of classes and finals. On top of that she has a mock interview with her adviser in the MS program tomorrow. I find it very interesting that they are already prepping these students before classes even begin in July. D2 met with her adviser earlier to revamp resume and now D2 will dress up and interview with her and get constructive criticism afterwards. I am zipping my lips as D2 decided to wear her “lucky” silvery gray pant suit instead of a more conservative dark suit. Will be interesting to hear the feedback.</p>

<p>We got 6 more inches of heavy wet snow last night. It is beautiful but I am seriously missing spring warmth. A warm up is predicted this week with a possible high of 70 by Sunday! The only bad thing is there will be awful flooding after all of this snow.</p>

31110

<p>NM, my city is having awful flooding now – peaking at 24+ feet, much more than even the 100 year level. There’s a picture circulating somewhere showing a shot of an underwater river fish through the window of my friend’s company. Three hotels along the river are flooded and evacuated. </p>

<p>My neighbors on the river side of the road have had acres and acres of buffer swallowed, and some are now breached. Which makes me very very glad I chose this house for its high ground on the hillside (but still legal deeded access to the river.) there was another house with more acreage and a pond down the road on the riverside that was under consideration, but this present situation is exactly why it didn’t ultimately appeal to me ;)</p>

<p>So, I’ll never again complain about the trek down (and then up) the hill to put the garbage out! I feel terrible for my friend up the road who has 10 flooded acres and a home office. Her husband had a pontoon plane and I’m guessing that may be the only dry place for them to hang out at the moment!</p>

<p>And missed with all this rain, yes, we’re still supposed to get snow Thursday!
Weirdest April ever in these parts!</p>

31111

<p>Weirdest April ever indeed! D1 in Boulder is also commenting on the weather/snow. </p>

<p>NM – D2 says she is both excited and nervous for this summer (when she’s supposed to teach 3 sections of sewing/stitchery for summer school in the local school district) and for next year (year abroad). I’ll bet the ten weeks she’s home this summer will also fly by! Lots to get ready for.</p>

<p>In the meantime … graduation etc.</p>

31112

<p>kmcmom13, So sorry to hear about all the flooding in your city and the Midwest. Stay safe.</p>

<p>Son is still finishing up his senior engineering project so is busy with that. His new employer is deciding which project to assign him to and they may want him to come up in person to discuss. Hoping he can avoid that and they can sort it out by phone or skype instead as the office is about 4 hours away and he is getting ready for finals and finishing up his project (which he has to coordinate with 3 other people on). This final push to graduation certainly is a busy time for lots of our kids right now!</p>

31113

<p>Lindz - I couldn’t do that either and my hat is off to anyone to give of adolescence that way. It is very much needed, but the personality to do the job is a unique one for sure.</p>

<p>As always, congrats on all the news (Im exhausted by some of what these kids have on their plates and getting off of them!) and sorry about the weather across the board. It’s a beautiful day here - if it were JANUARY! Snow laden branches, the works.</p>

<p>The best Math teacher my older D ever had told me that she was always really good at math but recognized the frustration of her fellow students because her teachers couldn’t teach math in english. So… that was her goal. The value of being able to speak English about Math cannot be understated in my opinion (as someone who isn’t very good at Math).</p>

<p>Although not exactly math beyond simple addition and subtraction, I did do my research and feel pretty happy with my scrap gold sale/exchange yesterday. H&I went to a few pawn shops to look for pearls for older D’s graduation over the weekend. My mom is the one who suggested it. Apparently, besides REALLY good pearls, they don’t typically buy them since they can’t really tell if they are really good unless the clasp is designer (mikimoto or similar), and while they had two strands, the one was out of my price range and the Miki’s were a broken strand near the clasp with a loose pearl so they had needed restrung and the “M” tag was missing. Those would have been a great deal, as they were GORGEOUS, but the clasp was large and it was yellow gold so D would not have LOVED them. Anyway… going there I saw the whole “we buy gold” thing. So I did the research and cleaned out my jewelry box of all the kinked and dented gold chains, a bracelet and some earrings and ended up getting my daughter a gorgeous 16" strand of 7mm pearls with a lovely 18K white gold bow clasp AND am having a blue scarab from my grandmother’s bracelet bezeled to make a pendant to give her. I can’t tell you how happy this made me to feel like i had spent zero money. I learned that while a jewelry store may give you slightly less than a pawn shop, they will up the $$ if you take it as a store credit so I went to my jeweler. I MAYBE could have done slightly better to go back to the pawn shop for cash, but I feel like I got what I was hoping for because they also gave me what I considered a good deal on the pearls themselves (a deal I had worked out BEFORE I brought out the gold).</p>

<p>I had considered just going to tiffany’s and buying the freshwater pearls they have with the whole tiffany’s tag etc, but then your mostly paying for the tag, not the pearls. These are real Akoya pearls and larger than the 5.5-6 size at Tiffany. While some of the strands were slightly uneven in their coloring (mostly those with rose overtones), these were beautifully white (silver overtones) and of a size that is very Audrey Hepburn. HOPEFULLY, she will love them! I know I do!!! </p>

<p>And oh… here’s a tip. Thieves don’t usually steal pearls - regardless of quality. As I said, pawn shops don’t buy them unless of such a quality that is readily apparent by the clasp/tagging. </p>

<p>I also went to my tailor and picked up my MOB suit and went back to Nordstroms to have them send to the MFG for altering. I had too many people tell me that I risked an uneven hem. Apparently, the MFG does it in a way that they stop the knit at the fold so it lies flat and creates a “finished” edge quite different than what would be customary elsewhere. I THOUGHT my tailor could do it, but she was kind to explain how it’s a special machine. So… my dress won’t be back for about two weeks now.</p>

<p>Now I just need to come up with something for son’s graduation. I honestly don’t know what to get him. We’re thinking about a watch, but the faces on them are just huge these days. I didn’t like the ones my jeweler had (and I really can’t afford the ones I did like!). </p>

<p>Sister is in charge of games for the bridal shower for D held the same weekend as her graduation. She came up with a great “newlywed-esque” type of game where she will ask D’s fiance some questions and then D will answer at the shower. She made up some great questions and I can’t wait to hear the answers. I did however tell her to add a caveat to “What was the last big argument?” to exclude anything to do with the wedding itself. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>As for grad plans - Ive sent email to son to see what the agenda is with his house party etc to see when we might go to dinner or if we could plan a dinner with some of his friends & parents. I feel however that in this little town, we are entirely too late for reservations anywhere but I can’t even inquire until I know what is already planned! Ridiculous that ASAP only refers to what they need from me vs the other way around!</p>

31114

<p>Moda…I also got D2 a pearl necklace for graduation. She got her pearl earrings for her 16th birthday. Good luck with the MOB wedding dress alterations!</p>

31115

<p>With D2 going to Europe next year, it’s been easier to think of kinds of things she needs/wants (a new camera, an e-reader of some sort,etc.). Not particularly “special” maybe, but I can’t imagine her wearing pearls. . . .</p>

<p>But the senior biochem and chem majors gave the department an original piece of art by a woman who is a practicing scientist, and whose paintings are abstractions and impressions of things she’s seen molecules do, etc. We’re getting D2 a framed print of the piece that will hang in the chem building. I hope she likes it.</p>

31116

<p>Modadunn, Re:graduation gifts. My sister is getting my son a watch . She also got him a weekender bag from Everlane and a very nice engraved wooden commemorative box from Levenger. She never married or had children so she is VERY generous to her nephews! My husband and I got him an engraved julep cup with his school logo from M.Lahart(which he can put on his desk at home or work for pens,etc.) We are also (me,husband,sons and sister) going on a cruise to Bermuda the week after graduation to celebrate . He really deservs this. I am very proud of him. His grades in high school were fairly mediocre(that’s what not doing your homework or studying will do!) so I was worried about college for him but he has blossomed and (a little embarrassed to say) exceeded my expectations. Never worried about older son doing really well but did have my worries about this one. Can’t believe he’ll be a college graduate in just weeks!</p>

31117

<p>Sevmom - I have the same kind of sister, so I get it. I do like the idea of a weekender bag though… I remember the days when a brief case seemed the go-to item. Do men even carry a briefcase these days as I imagine it’s all on their ipad. And yes, S would probably just as easily love that… or who am I kidding… cold hard cash!!</p>

<p>Z - while I can see my D wearing pearls now, from what I hear from friends who got pearls for graduation is they may not have worn them when young, but they were glad to have them through the years. Yesterday the jeweler told me the story of a woman about my age that brought hers in to be restrung. She said her Mother had given them to her for graduation, and at the time she felt it a silly (unusable) gift, but now they are a symbol of youth, accomplishment and her Mother’s pride who had recently passed away. It was when she wore them for the funeral that she noted how beautiful they were and wanted them restrung. Well, I almost started blubbering right there! </p>

<p>There is a pewter shop right in town that does that which might be meaningful. Maybe a combo approach. I am just really trying to be as thrifty as possible in an otherwise completely unthrifty time!!! Seriously… it just keeps coming at us… and certainly, it was never planned with a 6 year age difference that D & S would be graduating from college in the same year, to say nothing of a wedding. Clearly, we should have planned for the possibility, but instead I will just be glad we’ve earned ourselves some serious credit by never carrying a balance (until now!).</p>

31118

<p>Love the pearl idea. However we will buy D a car. New off the lot. No idea what yet. May wait until we know where she is going to be living before the purchase. Did the same for S when he graduated undergrad.</p>

<p>I have NO idea what we are going to get S for grad gift. He’ll be getting his JD and MBA right before D graduates. We are leaning towards a nice pen set but I don’t know. Any thoughts? </p>

<p>D finished up her math thesis so now just short term left. 4 weeks - one class. Shouldn’t be too difficult. It’s a math class on rollercoasters. They will spend a few days at Cedar Point in Ohio. Can’t complain too much about a class that goes to an amusement park. :)</p>

31119

<p>Y’all may inspire me to have my pearls restrung. I wore mine fairly regularly for about 18 years. I heard so much about how pearls should be restrung that I finally took them in…and the “new” string broke after about 6 months. I was so disgusted that I put them away and haven’t thought much about them since.</p>

<p>I like the idea of a good, sensible, will fit into the overhead bin, light weight bag for a graduation gift.</p>

31120

<p>D2 is a bit of a fashionista and follows lots of fashion blogs. She has wanted pearls for a while as she already has a birthstone ring (21st bday) and several Tiffany necklaces. She is also getting a trip from us next summer after she graduates from grad school. I thought it was going to be to Europe but now she is thinking warm and tropical. I think this long winter is clouding her judgement! :wink:
H still uses a briefcase along with his Ipad. It is mostly filled with professional journals/mags and very thick financial reports and contracts. Maybe his business isn’t as modern as they like to think! He also still wears a watch as he can’t have his phone on in certain medical areas.</p>