cq, I have met you and so “not yet”!
Thanks to all for the positive vibes. The last several days have been quite stressful, but I am finally back at the beach. I’m still a little freaked out by the whole thing. Today I hope to simply chill!
My car is at the auto body place recommended/used by the dealer where I bought the car, and is highly rated on Yelp, etc. They take care of working everything out with insurance and will touch up a few other minor scrapes at no charge. Our policy includes rental car coverage, so I’m in a Jeep Compass for the next couple of weeks. Even though I sent H photos of the damage to my vehicle, he was still thinking we’d just pay for it instead of using insurance. How naive!! Anything that’s damaged gets replaced these days, plus there are all sorts of electronic sensors, etc, in the front bumper. Even though we don’t have the estimate yet (the appraiser said Monday) I know it’s going to be big – MUCH more than our insurance rates may go up.
Glad you are ok, CBB! Sorry you had such a terrible day! 
Happy Belated Birthday, oregon! 
dte…you will be busy! I admire your determination to take all of those classes while working full time!
Hi woody!!! You have been missed! Hope you pop in again and stay for awhile!
Glad to sleep in my own bed last night. Our road trip out West was lots of fun and It was made better by having the girls and their significant others with us. The drive through North and South Dakota and Montana was awe inspiring. Wide open spaces and just beautiful! Driving through the Badlands and seeing Mount Rushmore again was a well needed reminder that having a vision and hard work leads to great things. In Montana I loved hiking through Glacier National Park. The girls hiked to Grinnell Glacier. So sad that the Glaciers are slowly disappearing. Estimates are that Grinnell will be gone by 2030. The park still had smoke from the forest fire and seeing the burned areas around the Going to the Sun road was eerie. We stopped at Logan Pass and I really was uncomfortable viewing the Continental Divide. I felt so small and insignificant.
We also stayed at a Ranch in a beautiful log home. It was beautiful and the staff on the ranch were so nice. I absolutely loved the half day ATV trip. We rode through beautiful land on a small trail through prairie land and then through canyons with towering bluffs all around us. It was unbelievable! H, D2 and her H went fly fishing and loved it! The entire family also participated in clay shooting. What a new experience for us! We shot clay targets from different stations on a course through woods, hills and valleys. Stunning scenery! In the end H and I tied in the family championship. So fun to beat the kids! 
I am the least athletic in the family so it was empowering to find something I could do. H and I needed to take a day to relax so we stayed home while the kids went horseback riding. They loved the trail ride through the canyons and a picnic lunch at an old mining cabin. H and I spent our time sitting on chairs with our feet in the creek enjoying an adult beverage. Overall it was a successful family vacation!
NM, my H would have LOVED your vacation. He keeps talking about wanting to take another national park hiking vacation. Are your knees good? Mine are a bit arthritic and hiking would not make them very happy, but maybe I could get injections or something before a trip.
We have so many “obligatory” trips coming up…to help each D move into apartments, to take my mom to a family reunion, to a college friend’s first wedding (he and his partner have been together for around 28 years; can finally marry!). I’m not saying that these trips are undesired…it just leaves little time for other trips.
I spent a good deal of time in older D’s room, still cleaning it out. H obviously wants it as a storage room for his eBay finds and sweaters that will never be worn in Texas, but it needs to be usable as a guest room.
missy…I have bad knees. Not sure if you remember all of the issues I had after my meniscus surgery. I can tell when I miss taking my fish oil and I take ibuprofen before my hikes. My knee surgeon said I will need knee replacement down the road but I am doing better because of my exercise and OTC drugs. I didn’t make it all the way up to the glacier but that was due more to my fear of heights!
D has asked me twice now if I plan on wearing my tie dyed mumu type gauzy cheapo dresses that I own 5 of and use in the evening when cooking (sans bra) when her BF is here (!). Of course I would not! But it is getting pretty funny as she describes how revealing the dresses are and then mentions that I look great. 
If she asks again I think I will tell her that I cannot imagine cooking in anything else.
LOL, Oregon. Taking off the bra after work is one of the big benefits of being an empty nester.
Lol re sheer cooking mumu
NM, what a wonderful trip! So glad your knee behaved.
Last few days have been a mix of joy and sadness.
Joyful parts included watching mcson and gf get and adore a beautiful Siamese kitten – from the humane society no less! Can you imagine their luck? He’s a lilac point and reminds me a lot of MY beloved Siamese I had that my parents had bred. I do not react allergy wise to Siamese for some reason, but mcH does, so I will never have another…but now I have a beautiful grand-kitty to spoil And lots of update from “the kitty cam” in gf’s apartment!
Other joyful part was being able to reconnect in person with an old friend whose been living in Istanbul for the last decade. Sadly, it was for her mother’s memorial in the city in which we both used to live. Also encountered some old bad business with another attendee…how self-absorbed do you have to be to bring drama to an event meant to honour another? (Answer…pretty self-absorbed!)
kmc, I would SO love a grandkitten!!!
I guess we are at the stage in life where we catch up with folks at memorial services. In your case, however, you can’t vow to see each other more in the future, given that she’s been living in Istanbul.
I don’t mean to sound like Jonathan Edwards, but of late I’ve come to realize that some people are just plain sinful. I gave money via the Facebook campaign to that woman who is trying to rescue people from the brick kilns in Pakistan…how can people enslave others like that?! My own sister slyly manipulates our mother. Like that line from a song in Evita: “There is evil, ever around, fundamental…”
I don’t want to start the morning on a down note and I know that many people do remarkably good things. I try to focus on the good and the positive, but we can’t escape the bad that sometimes rears its head.
Good morning! The kitten sounds adorable, kmc. Oregon, I remind my children that our job as parents is to embarrass them as often as possible.
D has decided to wait to start an MBA program, instead of starting this fall. Her boss is driving her crazy and one of her co-workers just resigned (and she’s the back-up). I don’t think it will hurt to have more work experience before starting a program. She’s going to visit us Labor Day weekend.
c-q, I think getting more experience will help your D in B school, not hurt. When I taught MBAs, the best students from my perspective were a) students with some real experience; b) incredibly smart younger students (this doesn’t include most of the typical Ivy/Bain types who were academically strong but not incredibly smart). I don’t think that waiting would hurt most younger students (and would likely help); the only problem is that the truly gifted ones will never go back.
Speaking of which, ShawSon has received a job offer that he will seriously consider (I think, and I wouldn’t disagree). He will start the first term of his MBA but then he will have to see. The job offer is from the prof who says ShawSon has proved two important results in computer science, one in each of the last two quarters. He’s talking with him again today, but I think the prof wants him to pursue a PhD in his department while doing research on some fundamental issues relating to big data. I’ll hear more – ShawSon is taking the redeye home tonight.
Oh, and his new GF is very organized. Hyper-organized. If she is frustrated by his lack of organization and attention to detail, it will not be a long relationship. If she gets his brilliance and is happy to organize around him, it could work very nicely.
grrr
Rant
S and DIL need/want the furniture from G’son’s bedroom that I made up just months ago and I said yes.
DIL has her white coat ceremony that is really a big deal and we plan on being there and she really want us there. They will move into their apt in Oct and we will be traveling so decided to take them the many! pieces of furniture on thie weekend of the ceremony.
After many times asking what the family plans are she tells me tonight that we are invited to the ceremony and the reception from 1-4 and then her parents will take her and S and G’son out to dinner.
Mind you we are driving 4 hours and spending $$$ to be there and we have not been invited to dinner???
They have horrid social manners–do not even get me started.
Breath Breath Breath
D who has great social manners and is also forward thinking believe that we should should send an
email asking if we can join them (to her parents).
Thoughts?
I would never hold DIL accountable for this or ruin our lovely relationship over a dinner but her parents are piece of silly work. Her D is a school superintendent and M a teacher –
wow
Just sent DIL asking if we could join them and we will pay our part.
Her response was so innocent!
“Oh sure! I’ll talk with them tomorow”.
Gads
I sent one more telling her how proud we are of her and how lucky we are to have her as our DIL.
Which, her lame parents or not, is true.
She never hears great stuff from her family.
Her response was huggs
I do not actually WANT to have dinner her family but really? We had all of her relatives to a lunch for S’s gaduatuion.
I’m glad you contacted her, Oregon, rather than assume she was party to the lack of invite
I’ll send ya the mojo for an entertaining meal
Good that you asked O101. Maybe bring along an ipad with pictures of your last vacation to shift the conversation from annoying stuff.
Oregon, so glad you took action instead of steaming about it. Did the parents not spend five seconds thinking about the issue?
Fiance bought a wedding dress yesterday. It is a sample, but in great shape and high quality. The store was, in general, pricier than her budget, but the consultant found 6 or 7 dresses to try on within her budget and all were lovely. The price includes alterations, which they do onsite. We all met the alterations lady and were very comfortable with her. Glad that’s done…both for Fiance and also for me because although it’s extremely sweet that they asked me, I could not keep leaving work for hours on end for bridal appointments.
Glad that worked out Oregon.
And MP, glad your S’s fiancé found her dress! I know what you mean about taking time off for bridal appointments, I had to plan for that with my paid leave this year.
mp, super and what a relief too. Very nice that she included you. Having a DIL is a whole new world. It always feels so precious and the rules so unclear. But so far so good for me and I know you will make a great MIL.
D had a great interview here and learned that she can put together a 6 months paid research positon that will help her get into her residency in 2016. Sadly, her BF of only 5 months works in Boston. I asked her if he proposed would she say yes–and she said yes!–but she knows it is way too soon and that they are a year off from that decision. She was heartbroken after the winter 2013 breakup and is so happy now. But long distance for 6 months does not sound good.
But then maybe she is suppose to do this stint and meet her future mate while here and live next door to us for the rest of her life >:D< I did look online at duplexes…
Her dog was suppose to leave our house for all but holidays. I so need a break from her. Good enough dog but we are ready to take off at a moments notice and this one is too unpredictable so cannot kennel her. She will go next week and then return in November it seems. Ah well.
Remember a few weeks ago our ill-fated day where nothing went right? I’m happy to report that MOST of the tasks we attempted to accomplish that day are complete. However, while we got one of our cars registered, the second car is still awaiting yet another piece of documentation, after our THIRD attempt to get it registered yesterday (each time we acquire what we think is the missing piece).
We are planning to use the car to leave on a trip next Wednesday evening. Not sure if we’ll make it, or if we’ll need to delay our trip.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
fingers crossed cq