<p>Well, woody, I was there for a meeting at Yale and pretty much booked pillar to post. It was a quick trip – although it got longer when I was delayed one night because I got stuck at Hartford due to mechanical problems with the plane. . . .</p>
<p>Ugh! Well, enjoy your birthday! I’m not far behind you. 
(PS Have you seen the Charlize Theron/Chanel ads in which she scales some cavernous atrium with silks? I never fail to think of your D!!)</p>
<p>Forgive me!! for not following up now.
DIL just called and has been accept at University of Washington Medical School!! I am so happy that I started to shake for her.
This means S will not need to quit his job, they will be within 40 minutes of her family (and her B is S’s best friend) and this is the least expensive med school in the USA.</p>
<p>My S and my DIL have landed on their feet every time. She was pg at 19. Seriously, just so happy for them.
BUT–? crazy stuff.</p>
<p>At first I was thinking that the fact that I needed to report here meant that my life is a bit limited (it is no doubt) but my next thought was “who else would I want to celebrate with?”.
So happy to report and promise to pay more attention to you tomorr</p>
<p>Thrilling, Oregon!</p>
<p>Thanks much MP</p>
<p>Just on a high right now and they should arrive in the next hour.
The fact that we like each other continues to amaze me.
It was not something I counted on. But so far it feels genuine on both sides.</p>
<p>Oh, oregon101, that is wonderful! Congrats!</p>
<p>That’s wonderful, oregon!</p>
<p>Happy Birthday Zetesis.</p>
<p>Good morning.
Got quite a shock when I awoke…there was a letter from mcson taped to my door. He and GF broke up last night, and letter is asking me to wait til he’s ready to talk about it (not really in my nature ;))</p>
<p>So im telling you guys instead…</p>
<p>I am so worried for his heart, and feel helpless. He was soooo looking forward to his SF trip Monday, which is now cancelled. I guess though if the breakup was in the cards, better now than having him there for two weeks. Either way, it sucks on so many levels for him. I guess its good that he can take some time now and decide where he wants to go from here.</p>
<p>I will have to learn to be better at the “silent supporter” thing. Teaching this old dog new tricks is not for the faint-hearted. Send a little light his way today please.</p>
<p>Happy birthday Zetesis - have a great year.</p>
<p>Oregon - how exciting and thrilling that it is all working out.</p>
<p>KMC - sorry to hear about the breakup but better now than later as you indicated.</p>
<p>Sevmom - ugh! How awful!</p>
<p>We are doing well. H is back to work and goes to the dr. next week. I’m driving him every where but I know that it is short term so shouldn’t be an issue. Tomorrow morning he wants to go to a race - not to race but to see all his friends. D is racing as well. I’m going to take him and she will bring him home after. She said that she would pick him up but that would mean that she needs to get up an hour earlier than need be to get to our house and get him and then to the race so I can take him. </p>
<p>Hoping to finish up the Christmas shopping this weekend, clean the house, start baking my cookies, and start wrapping presents between taking H where ever he wants to go. :)</p>
<p>Congratulations to your DIL, oregon. So exciting!</p>
<p>So sorry to hear the news about the breakup, kmcmom. </p>
<p>kmc- hugs to your S and to you.
sevmom- hope your house gets fixed up soon.
c_q - Key West is on my bucket list to visit. How nice!
RM- glad your H is doing well.</p>
<p>Movie last night was good, had lots of fun at dinner afterwards. The group commented that we need to do this more often.
After today I am the only one working in my department for the rest of the year. Most people had use-or-lose time, guess who used hers all up? Hopefully it’s nice and quiet so I can get some projects done.</p>
<p>Congratulations to your DIL, oregon!!! That is such wonderful news! She should be so proud of her accomplishments and perseverance! I am so happy for all of you!</p>
<p>sevmom…ugh on the house problems! Sending cleanup fairies your way!</p>
<p>FallGirl…Glad you had a wonderful time with your friends. Good luck at work. Will you enjoy the solitude in the office? </p>
<p>Oh, kmc! So sorry to hear about the break up news. 
I remember you thought a long distance relationship would be tough to maintain. It was exactly a year ago that D1 came home from her break up. This time of year is so tough to be going through this. It was very difficult for me not to rush in and ask questions and offer my opinion. Wishing Mcson some peace as he processes the news and moves forward. Sending Hugs your way!</p>
<p>Oregon – terrific news for DIL! </p>
<p>kmc – so sorry for your son; wisdom for you as you stand alongside of him.</p>
<p>kmc, wishing you and mcson the best.</p>
<p>Great news, @oregon101.</p>
<p>@kmcmom13, sad to hear this. It sounds like this took him completely by surprise (or at least it took you completely by surprise).</p>
<p>@sevmom, we’ve lived through that. Best of luck. One piece of advice. If there is lots of construction / plastering/ etc., move to a hotel. Staying in the house did a number on ShawWife’s health for months.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, @shawbridge. We do have to have a general contractor as well as a plumber. The contractor has to tear up the original porcelain tile floor and the tile on the walls, jackhamer the concrete , plaster,etc.so he has already said to expect lots of dust. But says he will do all he can to contain it. Our insurance did pay when we went to a hotel for a time when our hot water was off for 10 days but not sure they would pay while the work is being done? My husband and I do not seem prone to allergies or major reactions to dust,etc. but I guess we’ll see in January!</p>
<p>Whoo-hooo! Oregon! What fabulous news!! Congrats all around!</p>
<p>Rochmom…wow! H made it into work yesterday?</p>
<p>Tough news about mcson… I completely empathize with the urge to quiz him endlessly. Hugs to him…</p>
<p>c_q - Key West?? Really? Lucky you!</p>
<p>@sevmom, our contractors also said they would do all they could to contain it.</p>
<p>Woohoo Oregon on DIL. I was reeling so much yesterday morning I hadn’t noticed recent posts!</p>
<p>Sevmom, you’re a champ. I cannot stand to be in a house under renovation…which likely explains why my houses don’t get much more than a facelift here and there as opposed to real transformative work. I was half crazy just over a floor installation a few years back!</p>
<p>Mcson managed to keep it together well yesterday at work. We have not worked out Xmas yet. I don’t want him to be alone, but he’s not sure he can handle the prying arts of my sisters at Xmas…and he now has an open ticket he can use. We also gave his a Xmas bonus, so in his shoes, I might be off to somewhere warm and sunny…we’ll see what he chooses to do.</p>
<p>Such wonderful news about your DIL, oregon! Great Christmas present.</p>
<p>kmc – so sorry to hear about S. A year ago our S was a mess after the break-up with his gf. As I’ve probably mentioned, he’s not much on communicating, at least with us. To this day we don’t know all the details of what happened. I was SO worried about him for the longest time. (Well, truth be told, I’m still worried about him – that will probably never change.)</p>
<p>sevmom - bummer about the house woes. </p>
<p>c<em>q - yup, we’re all shaking our heads saying, “Gosh, what a shame that c</em>q has to work in Key West …” 
Hope you banked some of that warm sunny weather!</p>
<p>Zetesis - nice to hear from you. Happy (Big) Birthday. Been there, done that – although not a 3 day party! H and I are more of the “if we ignore it, it might go away” type. (It didn’t go away, but we did ignore it.)</p>
<p>We’re back at the beach; drove down last night. We still have no tree, but I’m SO glad we came down a couple of weeks ago so I could do the rest of the decorating. I guess my shopping is pretty much done, mainly because I’m out of ideas. Nieces and nephews are getting gift cards. D will get a mother/daughter shopping trip, and a spa day – which are actually great gifts for me, too! S will get $$$. I also pulled together a few things (including 1 of the Pocket Monkeys) for D’s bf. He’s a software engineer for ZipCar. I also ordered Think Boards for D, her, bf, and S. (<a href=“http://www.think-board.com”>http://www.think-board.com</a>) They’re a combination of a white board and a Post-It Note. Saw them on a Boston area show called Chronicle.</p>
<p>Happy weekend to all.</p>