<p>^^OMG! Glad to hear you are both safe!</p>
<p>Yeah, me too!</p>
<p>Good Morning to all. I haven’t posted in some time due to the usual suspects (working a lot, not a fan of the new format,S on cc,etc), but I check in every day to see what’s going on. Z- glad you are safe!
Where are dte and oregon?
My big news is that S will be attending one of his top 2 schools and he is absolutely in love with it. I won’t name it, but it is a small LAC in Maine and while well known on cc, a lot of people where I am are not familiar with it (and can’t pronounce it!).
Also, I will be going to visit my parents at the end of the month and hopefully will get some insight into my Dad’s situation.
Congrats to all who have posted good news and hugs, prayers and good thoughts for those who need them.</p>
<p>Popping in for a quick update - yesterday was D’s birthday. She received a huge platter of beautiful cookies and a large arrangement of flowers at her temp job. She was very surprised - only one person there knew it was her birthday, but evidently that was enough! She wasn’t expecting anything so was very moved.</p>
<p>She’s heading back to Chicago for more interviews tomorrow, will also celebrate her birthday with her bf.</p>
<p>NM, H is applying various places. He had an interview set up for Monday night for an interim position, which he cancelled. The position was part-time and would have involved a 100-mile commute. Since he’s looking outside of this area, would you mind sending me a PM of the hospital where the position is posted? I don’t know if he’ll apply or not, but might be a good lead.</p>
<p>FallGirl, congrats on your S’s admission! :"> </p>
<p>Zetesis, glad you were rescued!</p>
<p>Missypie, hope your strength is returning.</p>
<p>Thanks, c_q. I finished the antibiotics last night. My strength and endurance are slowly returning. I am leaving town this afternoon for our firm “retreat.” Ah, it would be so nice if was actually a “retreat.” We stay in a very expensive resort hotel, that has every amenity one could imagine. Then we spend all day every day cooped up in a ballroom listening to speakers. </p>
<p>MP, I am glad you are on the road to recovery, but take it slow! And try to sneak in a few opportunities to enjoy your favorite amenities.
Fallgirl, congrats to your son! And to you…I am glad the stress of admission season is over for you. This season was so hard on a lot of people.
CQ, good luck to your daughter and to your husband. You have so much on your plate right now.
Zetesis–glad you are safe. Cell phones are life savers!</p>
<p>Not much news around here lately. My middle son (high school class of 2007) has mentioned that he is interested in changing jobs. He loves the job he has now, but he is running out of challenges there. He works for a small non-profit in a funded position and there really isn’t much room to move up, or to get much of a raise. His plan for right now is to figure out what he would like to do next and then to reach out to some contacts and see what comes up. He is in no rush, and he is very lucky to be able to consider his next step from a position of security. I am very glad that he has the self confidence to want to take the next steps in his career.</p>
<p>boysx3, My S1 is also thinking of changing jobs, which could mean leaving the DC area (where S2 is also so that would be sad to not have them in the same area if he does move-that has been a bonus). He just feels he wants to move on and do something different. He’s currently interviewing with two different major companies . He got a job offer last year but decided to stay put where he was. Now he seems more anxious to move on. Good luck to your son.</p>
<p>sevmom, it’s fun watching them gain the maturity to think ahead and to search out the right opportunities, isn’t it? S2 and S3 are both in DC–and my husband and I just moved here to DC a couple of months ago for my husband to pursue a wonderful opportunity–so I will be crushed if he decides to pursue an opportunity elsewhere! Although we have advised him to cast a wide net while he is young and (relatively) unattached (he does have a significant other …).</p>
<p>I am definitely having anxiety about the possibility of him relocating but as you say, now is the time to do these kinds of things. He and his girlfriend of almost 3 years broke up recently so he does not have her feelings about moving to take into account.</p>
<p>ShawSon called ShawWife last week to get advice about how to deal with his current GF about his move cross country. </p>
<p>^what did she suggest? Has he seemed serious about her?</p>
<p>I know the “cross-country conversation” is being bandied about a lot in the McSon household at the moment.</p>
<p>Last weekend, as I mentioned previously, mcson has expressed he was considering coming here to save up a nest egg for a later move to SF to join GF. In the mean time, my largest client is developing a position and had called me for advice this week. What he’s looking for would be a good fit for mcson with mutual benefit as mcson has worked extensively on his account with us. </p>
<p>So there exists a solid possibility mcson could have a good thing to consider pursuing here…but whether he will is anybody’s guess at the moment ;)</p>
<p>In other long-distance-love news, I took my new employee and her bf out last night to celebrate some awesome news that unfolded over the course of the afternoon in a bit of an emotional roller coaster.</p>
<p>Her bf is from another state and has had a long long job search since graduating (masters) last May. He’d been a close second for a position at a local mid sized agency a few months back, and had been pretty disappointed. </p>
<p>But he ended up with a job offer in the Midwest recently, not perfect but solid, and had packed up his belongings, and was about to start the long drive to that city to sign a lease after the first lease fell through when the agency called him because the guy who’d gotten the job had another offer.</p>
<p>So there was a crazy two days of re-interviewing and meeting the entire staff, followed by a solid offer mid-afternoon Friday, which he then had to decide whether to accept…and then had the unpleasant task of communicating his decision to the employer he was supposed to start with on Monday. We had invited him to use the boardroom as a base throughout, as its near where his meetings were, etc., so I ended up in on the action a little analyzing the offer, h benefits breakdown, etc.</p>
<p>What a roller coaster ride! The local job is exactly what he wants, and the bonus is that he and my employee wanted to be in the same city, but he’s a really nice guy and you could tell he was tortured over the turn of events. In the end, after we played q & a, he realized the only “pro” on the other job had been his commitment to start the job, and feeling bad about a last minute deviation of the plan. I explained sometimes the universe has another plan up its sleeve, and how important it was to go for fit.</p>
<p>In retrospect, I think it was providence that had that first lease fall through 
I, of course, am delighted for them both…and myself, because the likelihood of keeping this employee for at least a few years just increased dramatically I know at some point she wants to go to grad school but she’s in no hurry.</p>
<p>I think all the excitement was fun for me since I’ve not had that kind of action to date with mcson I do hope one day I get to celebrate that kind of news with him!</p>
<p>I think ShawSon finds the GF to be fun but is not the love of his life. So, I think the concern is how to tell her it will end when he heads cross-country. I don’t know what she is thinking. She may be thinking the same thing, but I don’t know. She’s graduating this year. I know that at just about ShawSon’s age, lots of young women started changing their interests from the jock/bad boy toward long-term mate and I discovered that for a surprising few, I ticked all of the boxes on their potential mate checklist (nice, ambitious, likely to be successful, likely yo earn a high income, athletic, smart, interesting if you don’t mind an intellectual). It was a weird period. Probably similar in some ways to a gorgeous female who realizes that she is sought after for her attributes rather than for who she is. At that stage, I found that with some young women my age, if I had a few dates and slept with he, some would start planning our life together (including when she would be moving in). I wasn’t ready for that so I actually started going out with undergrads. I started college 2 years sooner than ShawSon (I wasn’t old enough to drive until the summer before my freshman year), but I am projecting that experience as ShawSon ticks all the same boxes except maybe he is more ambitious and more likely with his career progression to make a high income. (I was in better shape as I had been a college athlete, albeit in a minor sport). So, GF could be planning to move with him (or not). So, it could be a potentially awkward conversation. </p>
<p>Shawbridge, this is the GF where they broke up, and later reunited? Hope the conversation goes as well as it can.</p>
<p>D is with the bf this weekend, as she job hunts. Her original job strategy was to find the best job, regardless of location. When that job didn’t materialize, now that she’s saved up some $, she’s been focusing on being near the bf and in a bigger city. They’ve been together over 4.5 years now. I worry about broken hearts, but I hope if either didn’t see a future in the relationship, they would have discussed that before she spent her time and energy finding a job near him. </p>
<p>kmcmom13, that’s a great story. I hope things work out for mcson, too. I’ve enjoyed having D here, since she wasn’t home much in the 4 years she was away at school. Although I will confess I miss having the freedom I experienced last year when we were empty nesters! When she does move, it will likely be for good.</p>
<p>Hope everyone has a great weekend!</p>
<p>CQ, this is a new GF as of a couple of months ago. He had lots of dates from okcupid and kept feeling they didn’t have the same connection as he did with the old GF. ShawWife and I suggested that he didn’t have to find the love of his life and just to do stuff with one of these kids that he would have the most fun with. She is the one he has been involved with. </p>
<p>Busy weekend. Exercise followed by working with IT guy followed by a massage scheduled by my assistant followed by meeting an old grad school friend who is a distinguished cognitive neuroscientist in for a convention followed by my niece’s birthday party. Tomorrow, yoga, surprise birthday party of a friend followed by attending shiva after the death of a friend’s mother. Then hopefully, some work. </p>
<p>Thanks for jogging my memory, shawbridge. I find I need a lot of that lately! </p>
<p>kmc, your son sounds awesome! Do you think the relationship would survive if he stayed “home” for a year to gain experience for his career and to save money?</p>
<p>Shaw, it’s probably a good thing your son isn’t involved in a serious relationship right now–he has so much important stuff on his plate. Those top-notch MBA programs are intense, and for an intense person like your son–there is not going to be a lot of spare time in his schedule for him to use stroking the ego of a needy person. My DIL received her MBA last year from MIT/Sloan, and it would have been hard on my son and DIL if 1) they had not already been married, and 2) my son was equally entrenched in his new job.</p>
<p>S3 and his long-term girlfriend broke up at the beginning of senior year of college because neither wanted to be tied down while considering career options.</p>
<p>So funny.</p>
<p>They both took jobs here in DC, and they live a block from one another. They are still best friends. I think they will always be best friends. But I don’t know if they will every get back in to a romantic relationship. I think I wouldn’t be surprised in either direction.</p>
<p>Boysx3, I think he’s pretty confident the relationship will survive if he stays here to build a nest-egg. His view is that its a way of supporting the relationship and building a better life. I’m not as certain his gf shares the view but I have no way of telling. Historically, she’s been disinclined given her druthers to spend even the summers apart, though they have and survived those absences. So its anyone’s guess how that would unfold. I do know he’s pretty committed to the relationship long term and ultimately will put it first.</p>
<p>Good morning, all! Fairly relaxing retreat. I’m too old and cynical to come out of one of these things inspired, but I think some of the younger folks were. </p>
<p>MP–glad you survived. I have an allergy to “corporate koolaide” type events.</p>
<p>kmc–at least your son seems to be able to develop his priorities.</p>
<p>I sense drama developing in the relationship of my middle son (high school class of 2007). He’s been dating a wonderful young woman for about 18 months and they are very happy together. My son is one of those who sometimes needs to be told what he wants…from the sounds of their plans for this upcoming summer, I think she is giving him clues to help him figure things out…H and I think this would be a very good thing.</p>
<p>Have been reading along, but not much to post. Last week we actually had a day or two where it was warm enough to do some early spring yard work – cutting back ornamental grasses, etc. In fact, one day was so spring-like that H decided to pull the power boat out of the shed. IMO it’s still a little early, but the boats are his “toys,” so I kept my mouth shut.</p>
<p>Our pup Kiley is getting bigger. The evening “witching hours” continue. Honestly, I just don’t remember house training being such a chore with our previous Wheaten. I think she’s really smart, and just likes to tease us. Apparently we should have named her Houdini, though - she’s getting out of places she should be in and into places she shouldn’t. H built a pen just off the back door; she escaped. He put stakes along the bottom; she started pulling them up with her teeth. We blocked off the DR; she got in.</p>
<p>In other news – remember that broken bone in my foot? Healing well; feeling much better; barely an occasional twinge of an ache. Friday evening I walked by a chair in the LR (not wearing shoes) and caught the little toe of the SAME foot on the chair leg. Oh yes, indeed, I broke the toe! It just happened that I was scheduled for a final check with the orthopedist yesterday about the first broken bone. He said he didn’t have to x-ray the toe; he knew it was broken because of where it hurt and because it had turned black & blue. Nothing to be done; it will feel better in a couple of weeks. So here I am, back to limping around. I have never felt like such klutz! </p>