<p>Sons? What is it about MEN–can’t find a thing!</p>
<p>I just changed all the old tarnished cabinet hardware in both bathrooms to new polished nickel ones (they were on sale) and am privately betting DH won’t notice for months. Possibly never. Or one day he will remark, “For 30-year old hardware, they are holding up remarkably well!” </p>
<p>And now back to your regularly scheduled college relaunch programming…</p>
<p>~~Good morning all ~~ I’ll have to go back & read all I’ve missed later. Just wanted to post a few quick things…</p>
<p>Our exchange student arrived and is wonderful. Only a few small glitches. Like coming home yesterday from moving S back to school (her & D15 left at home) to find the HEAT on. She’d set the thermostat at 77 upstairs and 78 downstairs. It was 89 outside at 7:00 pm. She is not use to air conditioning and instead of putting on a sweatshirt, she thinks we need to change the air. Um. no. So, far, it’s really interesting to learn about her cutoms. </p>
<p>Moved S back to school yesterday. VERY smoothely. The apartment complex he is in was so organized, had different stations to go through to check in. His apartment is nice, he did a good job checking. They have a pool, basketball courts, volleyball court, and a weight room in the main house. It’s in a safe part of town and includes the shuttle bus to campus. They’re having a luau Friday.</p>
<p>I attempeted to clean his room at home last night. It’s going to take much more time. He forgot his checkbook at home along with a few other things. (no surprises there). Today, he’s going to the bookstore (before all the new freshman show up tomorrow & it’s super busy) and to the dining office to get his meal block. We got groceries, but I don’t feel like he has a lot to eat. What I bought him was SO different than what I usually buy. I tried to be realistic about cooking, so stuck to microwave and quick things.</p>
<p>I’ll post more after I catch up</p>
<p>Checkers- It will be interesting if your exchange student has the same reaction to barbecue as D’s Italian host family. They thought grilled ribs, with sauce, eaten with your hands was “barbaric”. Not to mention their inquiries re shaving by women. (D swears she did not raise controversial topics- it was their doing. :rolleyes: )</p>
<p>All is well as we are preparing for the initial launch on Sept 1st. No weepy moments but I expect we will hear from D rather regularly at least at first. She already has plans to come home the end of the month for the weekend (and was delighted to find out she does not have Friday classes this fall which will make it easier).</p>
<p>I am the “Official Finder of All Things” here in crazyhouse. I told you all bout the time I found S’s wallet in NJ while I was in NC? Yep, i’m that good. I can find lost things for my family across any border. Car keys, wallets, sunglasses etc…are supposed to go in the drawer of the occasional table right as you walk in the front door. I don’t want them on the kitchen counters or tossed on the dining room table. I despise clutter. Spare keys are all kept in the right hand lower drawer of my desk, for years. They still ask where the spares are. Sigh…</p>
<p>In all fairness S is pretty organized. His room is neat, his desk is clear and his bed is made daily. He doesn’t leave dishes in the sinks, or anywhere else and empties the diswashers without being asked. He even cleans up after stalkerdog. He has even remembered to leave his shoes in the mudroom this summer. H on the other hand…</p>
<p>S was hugely helpful getting ready for H’s party. Remember that house I loved? The one I wasn’t going to buy? It was a bit overpriced but it seems to have sold, or maybe they pulled it off the market. Anyway, it inspired me a bit. Right before a large party is not the time to repaint and wallpaper your upstairs and downstairs halls. after deciding to install wainscoting. I had the painter/paper hanger here until Thursday! All my paintings and prints were down and propped up in the living room. S rehung every picture, plus a few new ones. He measured carefully and made good use of the laser level. It was a ton of work, but it looks great. We hung everything in a different place then it was before too. S also mowed, edged and trimmed the bushes the day of the party. He did so much of the set up and errand running, I don’t know what I would have done without him, I was so much calmer then I expected!</p>
<p>I could not believe the rain held off, the forecast had changed to an 85% chance of rain at 7:00pm, when the party started. I kept googling different weather reports until I found one that did not call for rain! That’s the one I decided to go with. Magical thinking at its most optimistic. It wound up great, the weather was fine, the food and drink, were excellent (I had it catered), the crowd was fun and crazydad was really happy. We were completely exhausted yesterday.</p>
<p>Mdem, it is sad when friends drift apart and worse when someone has to insult you to justify the separating, S was a little upset with his local friends this summer. His best friend has some stuggles at college this year, he and crazyson are soooo different in almost every way, but have truly been like brothers. S thought his friend was really blowing him off this summer. I thought the best friend was feeling low and maybe embarrassed a bit. The bestfriend is a much nicer and more sensitive person then my cut and dried kid, somehow they worked through it, in typical guy fashion no discussion beyond some form of grunting. Anyway all is well! Other people he is just fine never hanging out with again.</p>
<p>Lima, I am so sorry to hear your mom is struggling.</p>
<p>Good morning everyone. Thank you to our wonderful recappers for keeping me up to date after this busy weekend.</p>
<p>zm - That boy needs a talking to! Glad your D was alright after her late night walk home.</p>
<p>lilmom - I hope you had a great anniversary. I can’t believe how many of us on this board were married in August. It is a good month!</p>
<p>acm - The party sounds like it was so much fun. Too bad I live on the opposite side of the country because I would have loved to crash it!</p>
<p>mdem - I’m sorry to hear about your struggles with friends. My D only has a couple of friends that I think she will stay close with. This summer was hard for her to see friends since she was working at the summer camp. You are on a different path than many of these friends, but I know you will make new friends along the way.</p>
<p>Crazy week for me as D2 has two horse shows going on starting with warm ups today. The show grounds are an hour away so I will be trying to work some each day then take her up to the shows. She is very excited as the one beginning tomorrow is a national final she qualified her horse for at the end of June and the one beginning on Friday is a state final she is qualified for.</p>
<p>Trying to read through all the posts…wanted to comment on the options of finding your way home late at night if you need to…</p>
<p>s’ college has a program called “Stripes”. It is a student run organization that provides rides to drunk kids or those ‘abandoned’ by them for free. No questions asked. They pass out business cards at orientation and other events so everyone has their number.</p>
<p>Kinderny: We went out to eat Friday night and had BBQ ribs. She liked them. She did hang onto them with a napkin though. So far, she’s been a very good eater. She has appeared to already shaved her legs. :rolleyes: and when I bought D some things for her bathroom (new DO, razors, kleenex, etc), I also bought her some. I gave her some shave gel and told her it was good for her skin. She also showers everyday. Next step: to address why her laundry hamper doesn’t have much in it after 4 days…</p>
<p>Well we didn’t have much time to miss D1. Moved her in on Thursday and went back to get her on Saturday. Our poor 15 year old kitty had a stroke. I couldn’t say no to D1 regarding saying goodbye. So H went and got her on Saturday. We brought Kiki home from the vet on saturday to spend the night at home. D1 slept on the floor beside the dog bed that was converted to a cat bed. It was very sad. She was happy to be home and purred every time we petted her, but she couldn’t stand up and it was very hard for her to eat or drink.</p>
<p>Sunday was a sad day for all. After the “funeral” in the backyard, we drove D1 back to school. On a positive note, she is loving the new dorm and the people in it. </p>
<p>And I am still WAY behind on catching up with life and work. Oh well, that can be the goal for this week.</p>
<p>oh my…so sorry somewhereinga…how very sad!!!</p>
<p>welcome back checkers…glad your exchange student is wonderful</p>
<p>waving to acm and kinder</p>
<p>somewhereinga - so sorry! You did the right thing, I know it was devestating for D1 to lose Cedar over break but beyond important that she was able to be there!</p>
<p>G# - the Ikea does deliver and it is actually very reasonable - I think we paid like $60 to deliver a ton of stuff when we moved in. You can even pay more and have it same day but it was very reasonable - something to check into. Congrats on the new to you truck!</p>
<p>We are now within the window for D1 - she bought her textbooks this weekend and winced while hitting the “pay now” button - glad she got some real world experience of how money is nice to earn and hard to part with even when necessary! Of course she’s dog sitting this week for people that will probably pay her enough to cover the books!</p>
<p>
I bow down before your amazingness!</p>
<p>Lima, you are in my thoughts.</p>
<p>
I am very sorry.</p>
<p>Oh somewhere, so sorry to hear about Kiki! </p>
<p>Insane day today, starting off with my a follow up dr. appt for my mom. It was one of those mornings where I hit every red light, the dr. was running late, etc. And I’m sitting there trying to be zen when my mom looks at me and says “huh, I never noticed you had a double chin before!” There are absolutely no good things to say in response to that…</p>
<p>Bless the recappers!</p>
<p>somewhere, I’m so sorry. </p>
<p>RobD, Oh, my! </p>
<p>PMKjr has been working on campus all summer and will be moving from his summer dorm to his Fall dorm while I will happen to be in Boston (can’t wait to get out of hot, hot Texas and get to MA!) Before I could conjure up visions of us making his new dorm room nice and neat, he told me the room is small, too many people would just be a bother and so he’ll be doing all the moving himself with a few friends. </p>
<p>I know I’m supposed to be doing cartwheels of joy that he’s so independent but would it be so bad if he still needed me a little?</p>
<p>somewhere - So sorry to hear about your kitty. It is nice your D was able to come home and be with Kiki.</p>
<p>pugmadkate - I know just how you feel. D moved her stuff from her dorm in NYC into her new apartment before coming home for the summer. I know that they really do still need us despite their independent ways!</p>
<p>I just re-discovered this thread! I have not been good about keeping up. D had a great first year at NYU and can’t wait to go back. This is probably her last summer “home” as she will be doing summer stock or an internship next year. She considers herself a permanent New Yorker now since that is where her career path (actress) lies. Remember so well the launches of last year. Please add us to the mix. </p>
<p>D - NYU - 8/26</p>
<p>She is moving in a day early to help with move-in at her old residence hall.</p>
<p>PMK, I completely understand! Our original plan had been to use our family vacation to visit Washington DC and Philadelphia and then help our D. move into her dorm. But when our plans hit a glitch, our D. wasted no time at all in arranging for her friends to help her. </p>
<p>I’m happy she is so independent but I’m sad that we won’t be there! And yes, we are definitely in the “window” as she leaves in one week.</p>
<p>I’m so sorry about Kiki! But it sounds like it was the right decision to bring your D. home to say goodbye. </p>
<p>We’ve had 2 exchange students for summer stays. The first girl came 3 summers ago and her sister came last year. I think one of the funniest cultural differences came up when the first girl was horrified that we sometimes served fruit with our meals. To her, fruit was strictly for dessert. We all had a good laugh about how “barbaric” Americans are. </p>
<p>It was interesting to find out what her family’s pre-conceived biases were about the U.S. First, they were convinced that our country is very dangerous with everyone toting guns and they had to be reassured that it was safe where we live. Second, her brothers warned her to stay away from peanut butter or she would come back looking “like an American”- i.e. FAT! </p>
<p>We treasure the relationship we have developed with their family. In fact, our two D’s just came back from visiting them. Thanks to on-line translators the mother and I communicate regularly, despite our lack of a common language, and we look forward to a long family friendship.</p>
<p>PMK, I totally <em>get</em> it. I want D to need us more than she does. I’m finally giving up on S needing us, but he’s 22.</p>
<p>somewhereinga, so sorry to hear about your kitty. Ours is 16 and clearly on the downhill side of her 9 lives. I’m not sure how I will handle it with D when the time comes. It’s likely D will be 800 miles away at college… but we got this kitty for D’s 4th birthday - we took her to the cat shelter and let her pick the cat of her choice. So, she’s had this cat as long as she can remember. S has never been particularly attached to this cat - they just sort of tolerate each other. Cat sleeps on S’s bed when he’s away because there’s a really nice sunbeam that lands there for several hours each day - but when S is home, she stays out of his room. </p>
<p>The exchange student stories are fascinating! D’s BF’s family just got an exchange student from Switzerland for a year. D got to meet her the last time she visited BF. She was excited about getting to ride the yellow school bus! I guess that represents the USA to her. She rides a bike to school at home.</p>
<p>waving at writestuff54</p>
<p>waving at writestuff and 2girlsforme!!!</p>
<p>JC40’s D; prayinglady’s D – 8/6
Parent56’s S; SWTCAT’s D – 8/10
somewhereinga D…8/11
CheckersMidwest’ S – 8/14</p>
<p>)xoxoxoxox>Tx5’s D—8/15
BUandBC’s S, austinmtmom’s D - 8/17
Lafalum84’s D – 8/18
2education’s S1 --8/19
MaineLonghorn’s S, Twinmama D2, Shillyshally’s D, Brooklynborndad’s D – 8/20
RobD’s D; AL34’s S – 8/21
Limabeans’s BB3 – 8/22
Twinmama D1-- 8/23
LIMOMOF2’s D – 8/24
BonnieNewJersey D- 8/25
CaliforniaDancer, writestuff54’s D – 8/26
Coskat’s D-- 8/27
mdemvizi, PinotNoir’s S, coloradomom’s S – 8/27
DougBetsy’s S – 8/28
SLUMOM’s S – 8/28
zoosermom’s D2 – 8/28
jbehlend’s S , donnagal’s S-- 8/29
psychmom’s D – 8/30
showmom858 D --8/31
sewemma’s S – 9/3
Yds’ ds – 9/4 (we leave the day before)
CountingDown’s S2, Mathmom’s S2, momof2inma’s D – 9/4
jackief’s D – 9/6
pugmadkate’s S – 9/7
aliceinw’s S – 9/9
ProudNJMoms S; G#s D2 – 9/10
Tx5’s S – 9/14
limabeans BB2; FindAPlace’s S – 9/18
2leashes’ D --9/19
psychmomma’s S – 9/20
mommusic’s S – 9/21
esobay’s S – 9/22</p>
<p>Waving back to P56. Your son probably told you this, but we’ve only had 1, count 'em ONE day over 80 degrees this summer!</p>
<p>lol RobD… is this a british mother type thing… my mother has said the same type of thing to me!!!</p>
<p>2girls… he loves it!!! doesnt miss this alabama weather one bit!!! loves to call and gloat about 60-70 degree weather while on the ferry</p>