<p>May I just say “ditto” to an excellent recap by KS?</p>
<p>Somewhereinga: I’m so sorry to hear about the loss of your dear Kiki. I’m glad your D was able to come home & say goodbye.</p>
<p>2ed: Merci! Thanks for the coffee & croissants. Did I detect a southern accent back in post 26036? Next thing we know, you’ll be serving up grits! :D</p>
<p><em>♪♫</em>Happy birthday to donnagal! <em>♪♫</em></p>
<p>Mdem: Safe travels & have a jolly good time on your trip!</p>
<p>To the Party Animals, ACM & IL: you both recaptured your youth, just in different ways. It sounds like you both had a blast at your respective parties.</p>
<p>GSharp: as you head to NoVa for your D1, we’ll be passing you on southbound I-95 to deliver S2 to W&M. We’ll be in Big Blue, a borrowed Suburban. Same drill as last year’s launch: pull up to the curb, open the rear doors, put Big Blue in reverse then immediately throw it into ‘drive’ and eject the Beer Pong table, mega sound system, refrigerator, etc. out the back, and speed away as fast as possible. :)</p>
<p>Wishing all the launchers & those on the pad safe travels & a smooth launch.</p>
<p>Sending continued good wishes to limabeans & BonnieNJ.</p>
<p>ETA: welcome home CD! Nope, S2 has not even started Dorm Mountain. Why organize today when you can put off packing until the day before launching? :)</p>
<p>CountingDown, I don’t know. It wasn’t like S2 hadn’t done his homework. Other people who had done the school year version of the program were happy, but the summer program has a different director. I don’t know if the regular families wanted vacations from having boarders, but there weren’t enough to go around. Also the rigor of the language classes was no where near that of Tufts (but that apparently may be true everywhere at least in Arabic.) He does say he’ll be recommending that Tufts take it off their approved list. He should probably also write a post here at CC.</p>
<p>Open House was last night. Everything put in lockers, lunch money turned in, packet of forms picked up, etc. D15 is ready and our exchange student (I’m going to refer to her as ES12 from now on) enjoyed it too.</p>
<p>Did I mention school starts tomorrow ? Woo-hoo. </p>
<p>S called yesterday. He went to the bookstore and his books for the entire semester were only $124. Another Woo-hoo.</p>
<p>Torrential rain here this morning. It started about 5:00 am and is still thundering & raining. I bet we had a couple inches. It is mostly standing in huge puddles (or small lakes) all around my back yard. The ground is just too dry & hard for it to soak in right away. </p>
<p>Just got an email that the family weekend football game starts at 6:00. Last year it was at 2:00. That means a lot of extra running back & forth between campus, apartment, and other activities. Hmmm. I need a new plan. S & friends line up outside the game about 2 hours ahead so they get front row seats. I signed up for the pregame meal - wonder what time that will start ?! I wish they had the time set before registration & prepaying for the extra activities.</p>
<p>pssst…I did say school starts tomorrow, right ?! Yes, ok, just wanted to be sure :D</p>
<p>Good morning everyone! somewhere, I am so sorry to hear about your kitty. </p>
<p>I am really bummed. S told me that he will be traveling to San Diego for their football game against my alma mater. He’ll be playing in the band. We didn’t make it to any games last year and saw him play only once! It would’ve been so much fun but my in-laws are coming to town and we can’t reschedule. Arggh! I hate it when this happens! </p>
<p>CountingDown, I feel for you. I’m very attached to my minivan even though after almost 7 years it is in need of a serious cosmetic makeover. This is the longest I’ve ever kept a car. DD refuses to take it to college with her. I think it would be perfect - she can haul her golf clubs with her. Haha </p>
<p>somewhere - sorry to hear about kiki. Glad that your D could be with her.</p>
<p>mathmom - That’s too bad about your S’s summer program. My D spent part of a summer in Morocco to study Arabic two summers ago (after her , and had a wonderful experience. She also improved her French. Can’t compare the rigor of the classes with Tufts for you, but my D is an excellent language student and she found it very challenging.</p>
<p>I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to do much in the cogent comments area, so I’ll leave it at Good Morning.</p>
<p>Hello All…I have been trying to catch up for the past few hours…almost there…</p>
<p>Launch went very, very well…much eaiser than last year, both emotionally and physically. D moved into her sorority house this year and it was very calm…her room is much smaller this year but it has more storage…if that makes any sense. She seems very happy. we haven’t heard from her much in the past few days as she is very busy with “work week”, which is the week before sorority recruitment. I dont think it has really hit me yet that she is gone, but I think that is because I am going back to Austin this weekend to help with recruitment. Ill probably break down when I leave there on Sunday.</p>
<p>As far as friends go, D did not see as much of her old HS friends this summer as last year. They all seem to be on such different paths. I hope she will stay in touch with a few of them as they have been friends since elementary school.</p>
<p>SWTCAT, I’m so glad your D is doing well!! I have been thinking of her.</p>
<p>We had a fun weekend at our cabin. (well, except for one car getting a flat tire, another getting stuck in a ditch, and losing an important piece that helped keep the boat’s mast in place!) My BFF and SIL got along SO well. SIL loved the cabin, much to our surprise. She handled the wilderness quite well.</p>
<p>DH is, at this very moment, having a long conversation with DS, who we can tell is anxious about the fall semester. DH is doing a good job of assuring DS that HE gets to decide what he wants to do, and we will support him.</p>
<p>We THINK we have gotten rid of the troublesome poster in the Parents’ Cafe. We’ll see! What a mess it’s been. It’s kept me away from this thread too long! I’m hoping things quiet down now.</p>
<p>Hi guys!
Sorry I’ve been awol but was on a girls’ getaway in Kansas City this weekend and now back into the bustle of Marching Band uniforms and last minute things (oil change etc.) for DSs upcoming launch. Hope everyone is doing well, launches going smoothly and all that. Will check back in when we come down to earth :)</p>
<p>Oh my ! I’m only 90 minutes from Kansas City !! What did you do this weekend? Great place to go for a girls’ weekend.</p>
<p>I think I mentioned this earlier, but school starts tomorrow :D</p>
<p>Thursday night is Spirit Night. Since I’m the new Booster President - by default - I’m in charge. I have very little idea what to do. (I know how spirit night goes since I always attend, but I’m always on the other side…) I think everything will be fine, just a little nervous.</p>
<p>Football jamboree is Friday night. We hadn’t planned to go, but I think the cheerleaders are now going so of course, I am too. First home game is next week. (In charge of the community Tail Gate now too :eek:)</p>
<p>Our ES12 is running right now with our ‘star’ cross country boy. He’s my cousin and placed in the Junior Olympics this year. He can run forever - while everyone else is throwing up & cramping, he’s greeting the other runners as they come across the line & shaking hands with family. I really expect to see him in the next summer Olympics. Our ES12 seems to be a good runner, we’ll see when she is done today how FAR she can go. I think it is great that she wants to do things and keep active, I think she’ll get so much more out of it.</p>
<p>Good luck to our upcoming launchers ! I agree that it was easier this time.</p>
<p>I’m back from our wonderful family vacation and wanted to say hello! We rented a little cottage on Lake Hayward in southern central Connecticut last week. It was close enough to Hartford that our oldest D could spend a few days with us, which was great. It was the perfect mixture of time spent lazing around at the lake, and day trips- to Gillette Castle, Mystic Seaport, and Six Flags. We even lucked out with the weather- just one afternoon and evening of rain. No internet access at the cottage, so I feel out of the loop here on CC- I won’t even try to catch up now!</p>
<p>Now it’s back to reality and getting both D1 and D2 ready for move-ins in the next week. It’s Dorm Mountain x 2 in our basement We’re also still dealing with the aftermath of our washing machine overflow…the fellows are coming to replace the laundry room floor on Friday morning, and then the new washer will arrive Friday afternoon. Don’t know when we’ll be able to get a new ceiling for part of our kitchen…</p>
<p>Good luck to all of our upcoming launchers! :)</p>
<p>Good Afternoon!! This morning I went to breakfast and a walk with D1, S2 and dog Henry. While we were gone Henry learned to “lift his leg”. In addition he has taken to lunging and barking loudly when we walk by other dogs. I definitely think it is time to take him into the vet for “snippy, snippy”. D1 and I were bickering this morning and I was wishing she had launched as planned, but by afternoon things were fine and I was glad she was here. S3 started “two a days” for cross country this week. In addition, FINALLY, with 3 weeks of summer remaining, he started his summer homework. Woo hoo!!</p>
<p>Thanks, everybody for the birthday wishes. When we out to eat, we were just finishing when another party was seated. It turns out the one young man, who had yet to arrive, was also celebrating his birthday. He is 21 today, so they made sure that the server would check his ID when he (of course) ordered his first legal drink.</p>
<p>I congratulated him on the way out, letting him know we shared a birth date, but that I had a few years on him.</p>
<p>If only I had a few less years, but then I think of all the life experiences I would have missed. </p>
<p>Here’s wishing the best to all of you celebrating anniversaries and birthdays, partings and reunions. I’m glad to be able to share them with our little virtual family.</p>
<p>Happy Birthday, donnagal! Sounds like you had a lovely celebration. :)</p>
<p>Condolences to somewhereinga. So sorry about your kitty.</p>
<p>KS - have a great day in the city with your lovely D tomorrow. Maybe we’ll run into each other. I’m heading into the city after work.</p>
<p>Thanks for the good wishes for my shopping trip with D on Sunday - it was a success. I wish the same to you and your D tomorrow.</p>
<p>Welcome back to all the vacationers, happy travels to those leaving, and best wishes to the newest launchees.</p>
<p>I can’t believe how quickly this month is flying by! S starts his long football practices this week, and while D hasn’t started packing, she only has a few more days to go.</p>
<p>HI ALL. SORRY TO HAVE MSSED SO MUCH, BUT Mom continues to drain my attention. (Those caps were b/c Mom is hard of hearing and I spend my day shouting. :))</p>
<p>Fingers crossed, fingers crossed, fingers crossed. BB1 has an interview tomorrow at “the perfect” place. This company focuses on his area of expertise and offers “training from the ground up.” (I so hope I’m not ruining his chances by writing this here, but he needs all the prayers and best wishes as he can get.)</p>
<p>I’m a little sad. A dad just bought the MicroFridge we had bought last year for DsS. It was in the dorm from Tuesday afternoon until that Saturday, when I had to move DsS’s things out of the room. If DsS moves to college at this point, it will be into an apartment with a refrigerator in it. There was no need to keep it here anymore.</p>
<p>Like ML when she became so sad when she thought of what had been lost, it hit me (almost) the same way. What could have been, wouldn’t. Sell the MicroFridge to a dad who is moving his DD to Boston to start her Freshman year. Wish him well. I’ll tell you, it is a pretty great little fridge. I plugged it in at 4:30 p.m. (it had NOT been plugged in before) and put some water in an ice cube tray to see how it would do before he got here. The ice was frozen solid when he came 3 hours later. I was impressed!</p>
It sounds like you both had a blast at your respective parties.</p>
Woo-hoo. </p>
We’re also still dealing with the aftermath of our washing machine overflow…the fellows are coming to replace the laundry room floor on Friday morning, and then the new washer will arrive Friday afternoon. Don’t know when we’ll be able to get a new ceiling for part of our kitchen…</p>