<p>You guys are amazing posters. I just returned from a week in Stockholm and London. ShawSon slept for the week – he was exhausted from the last few weeks papers and exams. ShawWife is off on a kayaking trip for the weekend and ShawD is studying for AP bio and math finals. So, I had dinner with friends – the wife is in DC as a high mucky-muck in the Obama administration who is in 7th heaven with her job but overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work and the husband is a Harvard professor. Fun to hear about her new life. </p>
<p>ShawSon now has seven of eight grades for the year (6 A’s, one A+). He is not sure what the last grade will be. He’s sleeping lots, watching the Celtics, and planning his trip to Europe. </p>
<p>ShawD is not really dating as far as I can tell. But, woody’s post is very sobering and the incident at WPI is really scary – did these kids watch too many episodes of CSI or Criminal Minds and think that was acceptable behavior? We’ll need to have a conversation with her pretty soon.</p>
<p>On laundry, well, it is a concept. I think ShawSon did put his stuff in the laundry. He actually can and has done laundry (historians confirm this) and can cook very well (he does so when we have Iron Chef competitions with the families of friends) although he would probably choose to survive on Trader Joe’s chicken burritos, Costco raviolis, and hamburgers. But, laundry and fine cooking are mostly a theoretical construct at the moment. ShawWife and I are sufficiently busy that we have a fair degree of help and laundry will get done if it placed in the right place (at times, this seems challenging to the teenage bunch, believe it or not). Probably the kids should do it more often, but the thing they need to learn to do is clean properly. ShawWife and I figure that we need to ensure that the kids know how to clean before they get their own apartments. I would be a little worried about kids growing up with help becoming spoiled materially, but both kids do not spend a lot, though in different ways. ShawD loves to shop but is careful. She saw a $157 dress for her school formal but decided that it was too expensive (and not worth the price) and found a $27 dress online at Forever 21. She looked a little too stunning in it. ShawSon doesn’t comparison shop, but then again, he doesn’t shop. He spent less than $400 for the whole freshman year, including dinners out etc. I’m thinking of buying him a travel backpack for his trip. He says, OK that would be great, but otherwise I’ll use whatever we have in the basement.</p>
<p>Great grades, Shawbridge. Congrats to S.
Well, I know you’ve all been waiting to exhale re: the safe transport of D’s Siamese fighting fish from dorm to home. I’m happy to say that all is well; fish is alive; D is very happy.
I cannot believe how much stuff she had in her room. In August, we fit her stuff and her brother’s stuff in the same trip/car. Coming home, we literally had to strap some stuff to the roof.<br>
D has also picked up some lovely expressions such as “Stop here, mom, I gotta pee like a racehorse.” and “My fish didn’t die cause he’s such a baller.” I’m not exactly sure what I can infer from the last expression. Suffice it to say that after my reaction, I don’t think she’ll be uttering it again…</p>
<p>Woody: Too funny! Ah the things they pick up in school :)</p>
<p>Shawbridge: I WISH we had help! H just hates to pay for anything that he can do himself. There are times I’m surprised that we don’t live someplace where we raise sheep for the wool and grow cotton so that we can make our own clothes! Congrats to ShawSon. Seems unbelievable that the first year is behind most of them (D still has this week with a final on Fri but is almost done)!</p>
<p>RochesterMom, I am not good with my hands – I was once described as “saran-wrap impaired” and it is true. ShawWife and I work too hard – when we started we had to make a pact to take Saturday’s off so that we weren’t working 7 days a week. We did have nanny/housekeepers when the kids were little. But, when I went into business for myself (when ShawSon was 3), I developed a different attitude towards help. I was writing a memo for a client (at an absurdly high hourly rate), I had to stop at 11 PM for work that was needed to pay the gas bill, the mortgage, etc. I thought, “This makes no sense. I can pay someone $8 per hour to do this and then I can bill more hours at my absurd rate.” I hired an assistant straight away (though the salary is now a lot higher) and tried to convince ShawWife to hire more help at home. She succumbed, which gave her more time for her work. Rather than just getting a cleaner, I lobbied for a jack of all trades who can find and pick up the right halogen bulbs or sensibly organize what is in the basement. So we have both a cleaner and a JOAT. This means that life works and I can concentrate on the stuff that matters, like work, helping the kids, etc. Due to ShawWife, we had dinner every night I was in town with both of our kids (this is less true this year now that ShawSon is away and ShawD is absorbed at school). Specialization of labor may make things a little intense but I have tried to make sure I used it to focus on what matters to me. That doesn’t work for everyone as their incomes may not change with the marginal time spent and they may actually like doing things I’d prefer not doing (ShawWife likes building stuff and likes gardening, though over the years we’ve transferred that to a gardener and she gets more time to paint in the out of doors).</p>
<p>Well, the Eggs have been off for a short family vacay. Just the 3 of us, seeing historic sites and a visit to star party at McDonald Observatory in West Texas. Yowzah (very little light pollution)! Back to work tomorrow.</p>
<p>DS and GF have been out of school for 14 days: GF has visited here twice and DS has driven to GF’s home (about 3 hours away) for a 2 night visit. Smitten is the word.</p>
<p>DH has decided that this summer will be a great time for son to learn “life lessons”. My
DH is a renaissance man and has never been afraid to jump feet first into any project (whether he really knows what to do or not). Here are the things he has started teaching son this summer (like I said, 14 days so far): change oil, check fluids and belts, air up tires, install new speakers in 1993 Volvo. Grill steak outdoors on charcoal and/or gas. Replace/repair fencing in backyard. Transfer funds among accounts at credit union. Install new stovetop and faucet in kitchen. Rewire something or other in the amp for the electric guitar and add something … wahwah pedal maybe?</p>
<p>Coming soon: new tile and kitchen sink, solar charger for cell phone and fitting hiking boots for wilderness trek. </p>
<p>Never a dull moment around here. DH just walked through living room carrying 30-year-old stovetop. I am afraid to go in kitchen.</p>
<p>Love the ‘life lessons’ that eggson is learning - sounds like he’s on track to turn into a handy H himself someday. By way of contrast, around here there’s a little too much time being spent catching up on Top Chef episodes, though the viewing has provided inspiration for D to prepare some delicious meals.</p>
<p>peonies-- DH looooves Top Chef too and cooks 90% of our meals. Before he tore the stove top out of the kitchen tonight he grilled rib eye, made fresh roasted corn and eggplant salad, french fries (frozen from a bag) and fresh strawberries and pineapple with greek yogurt for dessert. All I have to do is clean up.</p>
<p>(and try not to freak out when i hear a jigsaw going at 9:45 pm in the kitchen on the last day of vacation. deep breathing now.)</p>
<p>D’s graduation party yesterday was great. The weather cooperated so we could have it outside. (I can only hope people didn’t look around the yard too much to see all the plants/beds that need weeding/trimming/edging, etc.) Today I get to go back and start doing all that before the place turns into a complete jungle.</p>
<p>D’s BF is here for few days – VERY nice guy; could be a keeper! He’s a fellow Wake Forest classmate, and HAS A JOB starting in August in DC, working for the GSA. S had his wisdom teeth out Friday with no issues, and is recovering well. I let him play video games for the past couple of days, but intend to put him to work in the yard starting today.</p>
<p>This past weekend - All 7 flower beds weeded and mulched, Pots for the deck planted, vegetable garden turned and planted, house cleaned, laundry done, grocery shopping completed for the week (although I’ll be in before the week is over I’m sure), books relocated to new bookcase that H built in what used to be the kids playroom. Back to “work” today to rest up ;)</p>
<p>Graduation went great. I particularly enjoyed Baldacci’s speech at the valdictory exercises. President Casteen, who is retiring, talked at graduation and was good as well. No rain when it mattered, so everyting was able to be held outside (more than 6,000 graduating). </p>
<p>The last of the out of town relatives have been taken to the airport this morning. I will take S1 up to DC to catch his flight later today, which is pretty direct but long (heads west). The ticket has him going to Rio in late July. His apartment hotel in Australia looks great; 69-story high rise walking distance from the office. It has a laundry room in the unit but his boss told him that work shirts can be taken to a nearby cleaners and don’t need to be self laundered. He arrives at 6:30 am (Wednesday I think) and his boss said he will meet him in the hotel lobby and they can walk to work together that morning after he drops off his luggage, so no time to adjust to the time zone difference or rest after a 26-hour flight. I’m definitely too old for that, but he doesn’t mind a bit. </p>
<p>It will seem quiet after this whirlwind of a week.</p>
<p>drum roll: Laundry is done! Washed everything, re-washed and bleached most whites and then threw away more than a few things that could not come back from the dead. In all, there were maybe 10 pair of socks that were matchable AND salvageable out of a possible 25. He admits he miscalculated from the last time he did laundry at school to when he was coming home. Gee. Ya think?</p>
<p>H has put him on a special project at one of his plants and so, he was off to work at something like 5am this morning. I think he’s only going to work here for about a month then he is might go work for my BIL who is a general contractor building a house out east. Not sure how I feel about that yet, but nothing is set is stone. </p>
<p>Two of four grades are in (A-, A) with two more to go. Most notable, however, is that his portfolio of drawings and his glass work that he brought home has completely blown me away. And while he has always been a doodler (so much so that his fifth grade teacher used to try to catch him not paying attention but in fact he would doodle TO pay attention), I say with all seriousness, I had no idea he held the talent he does. And he is really still beginning. </p>
<p>Only one not good thing so far (speaking of learning something in college)… he apparently has taken to chewing tobacco which is by all accounts really disgusting as well as not healthy. I am hopeful this is a very short term habit and that I can break him of it sooner rather than later. Not sure how to go about it though… </p>
<p>Eggmom - Your H and mine are polar opposites. Husband can cook (and did last night mostly because the grill was involved), but he is not handy by any measure of imagination. I am not kidding to say that he once hired an electrician to diagnose burned out lightbulbs when all burned out simultaneously. In his defense, what are the odds that this would happen? I wouldn’t have beleived it had I not been there to see it myself.</p>
<p>So glad graduation went well Analyst and Blinker? You are the only one that noticed I imagine and I am sure it was lovely. I still have pots to do but and need to fill in the bed that rabbits seem to use as a buffet, but other than that, it’s going to be wicked hot today and humid as well… humid. So… going to try to lay low and hope the AC doesn’t quit on me!</p>
<p>Well, congratulations to all graduates and their families. Hard to believe that we are a quarter of the way there for our class of 2013. </p>
<p>D returned to campus last night; H picked her up at 1:30 am Saturday morning so they got to our house around 3 am. She slept until around 1 or so. As I anticipated, she would like to transfer to the college from engineering; I encouraged her to speak with her advisor to make sure she wasn’t losing sight of the big picture but I suspect she’ll be making that change. I had hoped that a bit of leeway in the humanities offerings available to her would enable her to push through the grind of engineering but if anything it just made it more obvious how much she disliked engineering. </p>
<p>Grades are in, grades are good; B average for the year which we are happy with considering she took 18 credits each term. I know I sure couldn’t do it. So, we’ll see what happens going forward.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the graduates and families!</p>
<p>For all of you who haven’t yet read Larsens’ *The Girl *…books: Don’t read the reviews of Book 3. The review in our newspaper gave away the ending of Book 2, which I am currently reading. Grrr…</p>
<p>Graduation does remind you of how quickly the time goes and everything the college experience has to offer beyond the classroom, assuming the student takes advantage of those opportunities. I asked S2 if the speeches and awards inspired him to get more involved. His response was that it made him not want to graduate in four years. Not really the response I was looking for, but he was probably just trying to push my buttons. </p>
<p>Sabaray, has your daughter indicated which major she wants to try? At one point, I considered a PhD in industrial sociology, but was turned off by the amount of statistics required for that major.</p>
<p>Eggmom, Can I hire your S once he’s learned all these skills? I have such a to-do list, and DH is neither mechanically competent nor inclined to pay someone who is…which leaves me (and S1 when he’s home), so that means the house is tumbling down around us.</p>
<p>TheAnalyst, Sydney is glorious. Your S will have a marvelous time there!</p>
<p>Analyst, at this point I know she’s leaning towards Biology- perhaps applying for the Human Biology major. </p>
<p>I did feel so badly when I realized how miserable she was. I asked why she didn’t indicate she wished to transfer when they applied for majors and she told me she didn’t think it was an option- how disappointed I would be in her. </p>
<p>So, it looks like her summer plans have changed in a big way. Not sure if she’ll do anything with the lab or not; she was not yet assigned to a specific project so that won’t be an issue; will drop the math course and probably not take something different- so just work and fun for the summer. Sounds like a good plan to me at this point. I do not want her to have a meltdown and I think we were perilously close.</p>
<p>Sabaray, HUGE kudos for your D seeing the semester through and doing it in such a way that she hasn’t tanked her grades and limited future options. Sounds like not taking the math class this summer is an EXCELLENT idea so she can regroup and think about what she does from here.</p>
<p>I am so proud of her for everything she has accomplished, I just wish she could see that instead of feeling pressured to achieve. I won’t stop being proud of her if she decides engineering is wrong for her and hopefully she realizes that now. Just because you are doing well and have what others perceive to be great opportunities does not mean you cannot make the decision it’s the wrong path for you. </p>
<p>I think her closest friends knew how unhappy she was so it won’t be a surprise to them. I know she is not the only one in the scholars program saying “no” to engineering after the first year. H & I just want her to be happy- we know she’ll be successful whatever she chooses to do in life. She just needs to feel passionate about it.</p>
<p>So, H & I were away for the weekend, camping in the “high desert,” to see the wildflowers (spectacular, and great scenery too) and birds (a bit windy for great birding).</p>
<p>We got home to discover that D had completely cleaned the house, put away all her stuff, even remade our bed and mopped the kitchen floor, and had supper on the table.</p>
<p>She wanted to show us that she is “responsible.” I like it.</p>
He’s a fellow Wake Forest classmate, and HAS A JOB starting in August in DC, working for the GSA. S had his wisdom teeth out Friday with no issues, and is recovering well. I let him play video games for the past couple of days, but intend to put him to work in the yard starting today.</p>