<p>ahh…kids! I hear you all! D2 is freaking out with her first round of finals…said she is getting sick…I texted she is sick due to stress…she texted sure as she is having headaches and stomaches…I texted she needs to learn how to relax and she doesn’t need to get 100%…she texted she doesn’t want to fail…this from someone who has 100% in her classes. She needs to let it go. How do you get them off that merry-go-round??? :(</p>
<p>Oh, and her car is snowed in! Told her to meet some cute guys and get shoveled out. She didn’t appreciate my humor. ;)</p>
<p>Safe travels to all our kids as they finish their first semester! D has her last final today, then off to the airport. She’s been home twice this semester; both times USAir had delays and she missed her connection, arriving home way behind schedule. Crossing our fingers for a smooth trip home today.</p>
<p>NM, hope your D gets shoveled out in time for Christmas!</p>
<p>Hey chintzy – better your D traveling today than yesterday! My D has an exam in the last possible time slot tomorrow. Then she & friend are driving to Philadelphia, staying overnight, and continuing to CT on Saturday. Is said friend a BF or just “friend?” Who knows – we’re only the parents! </p>
<p>Meanwhile, S texted me late last night to say he just ordered something on Ebay that he needs for a group physics project. (Clever guy has our account info memorized.) All I could think of was, he’s just ordering this now and the term ends next Thursday??? That kid manages to make me crazy even from a distance!</p>
<p>Today is Odessagirl’s last day of instruction. Finals next week Monday-Wednesday. I can’t wait for her to be home. I know that she had a midnight snowball fight and sled-riding on Tuesday night. A great stress-reliever, for sure.</p>
<p>NM, I used to tell my new hires (who tended to be type A high performing students) that at work lots of people would be tossing them balls all day long. Their job was to juggle as many of those balls in the air as possible (3-5). Dropping a few balls was not only OK, but expected. The trick to high performance was not to catch every ball but to figure out the point value on each ball (without outside guidance to the extent possible) and choose to juggle only the highest point value balls and let the others go without losing their concentration on the balls that counted the most. </p>
<p>I think this analogy works for college as well. The big point goals are to get a good education (learn stuff), maintain an acceptable GPA (differs by major/career goal), and be an attractive candidate to employers upon graduation (work experience / leadership / ECs). A relatively low point ball, the grade on any given final exam, can be dropped without in any way hurting achievement of the high point goal. Sometimes it helps to remind kids of this fact.</p>
<p>Some people can get off the merry go round and some can’t…and it can be the difference between success or failure in a career.</p>
<p>I am a very organized person, always planning ahead…I was able to get through law school plus lots of demanding ECs like law review and moot court board with few late nights because my days were so meticulously planned. </p>
<p>Then I started work. I’d have it in my mind what I was going to do all day. Then the phone would ring and some partner would need something done immediately. Then the phone would ring again and some client would need something done before that. I’d get to the end of the day and hadn’t even started what I orginally was going to do that day. For a while it made me very uncomfortable, but then I learned to deal with it. There are lawyers who can only do one thing at a time and they end up in some sort of perpetual research role.</p>
<p>I think that when forced, your D will be able to get off…it may cause a few more stomach aches and headaches, but if I could do it, she’ll be able to, too.</p>
<p>S is at home studying now. He says almost all the UCB kids who are local (or even semi local) are doing the same. He will be returning to school tomorrow night One final done already, a take home, next week, and will be done by Wed. Will be interesting to see how he adjusts to being back home after dorm life !</p>
<p>Thanks TheAnalyst and missypie! Nice to hear some words of wisdom. She can drive me crazy sometimes! She finished the final…said it went well…duh! She is done with this class even though finals don’t officially start until next week. 4 more tests to go.</p>
<p>Spent the day shopping. Ann Taylor Loft had some nice sweaters (Buy one, get one free) that I got for the girls. Another Holiday work dinner tonight. Would rather stay home and wrap gifts! I am so boring!</p>
<p>NMM I just bought some sweaters @ATLoft! Those cashmeres were quite a deal!! D has 2 more exams - texted me today to say that will sleep for a week when she comes home!</p>
<p>My d went out tonight hmmmm. meh is a new word for me. My work does not allow for meticulous planning, something always comes up thats why I always want things done now because you never know what will come up. its hard when you have a slow meticulous lawyer husband Its ok because he has his own firm with two other guys brings in alot of money so it must work in his field. I have most of my shopping done I have been nagging husband to get me some wrapping stuff I need , then he heard on the radio Christmas is in two weeks, I said yes this is why I want this done OHHHH I 'll do it tomorrow. D will be home next week. that will be nice.</p>
<p>I’m happy to hear that the 2013ers with finals this week are holding up under the pressure of their first college finals. I’ve been thinking of them this week as I’ve been trying to get shopping, cleaning, etc. finished. D’s first final is on Sunday I think. It’s an intro class with many sections, and the department insists all students take the same final at the same time. She’s finished the presentation/project for another class instead of a final. One of her classes was cancelled this week because the prof is out of the country. Her last final is next Thursday. I dropped off a suitcase and a care package to her yesterday. </p>
<p>Sunday evening I went to campus to watch her play with the All Campus orchestra. It was a very short concert, 30 minutes, compared to her high school concerts. Thankfully I remembered to bring her warmest hat and gloves she left behind at Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>It was brutally cold, rainy, snowy, and very windy here this week. In high school she always wore her letter jacket or wool coat, and that was fine for the short time periods she was outside. She’s getting a new, heavier duty, jacket for Christmas. I kept wishing I had given it to her early as I thought about her walking through the icy rain. </p>
<p>She asked me yesterday if a friend could come home with her for a couple of days next week after finals. Her friend can’t get home until the weekend and doesn’t want to hang out in the dorms. It’s a girlfriend/future roommate, not a BF. I’m fine with that. It’s kind of funny that our house is now the closest “home” for many of her floormates. I’ve told her that any of them are welcome anytime. In HS it was the farthest from school/town. That meant that often she went into town to see friends as their parents were not always comfortable with them driving out here. </p>
<p>I do worry a bit still that she’s still close enough for us to “rescue” her in an emergency when I read about some of the trials your children are learning to overcome. Then I remind myself that she is living on her own, even if it is only 30 minutes away. She is learning to do the “adult” things she needs to learn. That old pros/cons list of her going to school close to home still haunts me at times, but DH and I are letting go of her. I think that’s key. It’s hard for me to believe that by this time next week she’ll have finished her first semester of college. </p>
<p>Can I sign up for eggmom’s cleaning guy? If not, I need to get moving on some more house cleaning.</p>
<p>S made it home last night. One more semester for him for undergrad. He found out this week that he is in the business school at University of Buffalo but doesn’t know about the law school yet. They break it up. It’s not his first choice but at least as he says he has a place to go now even if it’s only for business school. </p>
<p>D starts finals next week and will be home at the end of the week. Will be great to have them both home.</p>
<p>Happy Hanukah to everyone who celebrates Hanukah.</p>
<p>I had time to do a bit of shopping after I didn’t get chosen for the municipal court jury panel. But I didn’t enjoy it…online shopping is just so much more fruitful. It seems like the selection in the stores is poor this year - I know the buyers ordered less because of the economy, but pretty easy not to impulse shop.</p>
<p>I woke up at 2 am with my mind racing with all that has to be done today, tomorrow and Sunday…every second booked and none of it is with shopping, wrapping or card sending. They really shouldn’t be permitted to have all day cheer competitions in the month of December. I was going to have a nice block of time to wrap presents on Sunday, but H accepted a dinner invitation…we need to go because it’s a couple we like and I don’t talk enough to non-work adults IRL.</p>
<p>Year end is upon us and it will be soon time to pay the piper for the terrible year I’ve had at work (my practice is severely depressed due to the economy)…I’ll find out in January whether it will be a big pay cut or a huge pay cut. Puts a damper on holiday spending.</p>
<p>The good news in our house is that I messaged Middleist Boy on his study abroad in Europe for his 21st birthday right at the minute he was born…and he called back immediately. The bad part is that it was 1:20 AM here in Chicago…but it was good to hear his happy voice. He left August 16, coming home December 25. I’ve missed him so much it’s pathetic.</p>
<p>Congrats to RM son!!! Keeping fingers crossed for law school!</p>
<p>rrah…brrr! We have the snow, wind and drifts here, also. D2 still can’t get the doors to her car open due to snow. She will have to figure it out! Luckily she has a nice warm down jacket!</p>
<p>missypie…hoping your year end won’t be as bad as expected! Also have done more on-line shopping this year.</p>
<p>woody…also bought a few cashmere sweaters in fun bright colors @ AT Loft (and a few other sweaters,too)! Now I’m just watching for other deals to finish up my shopping.</p>
<p>zetisis…yikes! What a shock to her with all of this snow! I think warm sweaters are just what she needs!</p>
<p>edit: Forgot to say D2 loved her second pkg from Alice dot com, especially her shark fun fruits! Thought she would like this finals survival kit. I really like the free shipping if you send 6 items.</p>
She finished the final…said it went well…duh! She is done with this class even though finals don’t officially start until next week. 4 more tests to go.</p>
But that gives H and me a week to finish up a lot of work we both have; that’s the plan at least.</p>