<p>MM - and in your spare time…</p>
<p>Heshined - welcome</p>
<p>holliesue - our thoughts and prayers go out to your sister and her family.</p>
<p>arisamp - enjoy the cruise</p>
<p>OWM - sounds like you know the meaning of distance makes the heart grow fonder. Go for it!!</p>
<p>Keylime - Thanks for Southwest sale info</p>
<p>SB - Thinking good thoughts</p>
<p>The Southwest sale ends on the 16th of November, that’s the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I got my tickets yesterday to bring my daughter home from Nashville. We’re lucky that she only has classes M, T and Wed and that the Wednesday ones end by 1:00. The return ticket was $139 (inbound was $80), so it was still a good deal. Sure wish young son’s college had Southwest airline service.</p>
<p>AmandaK - Sorry about the foot. Ouch!</p>
<p>Son just left to get an official transcript from the college where he took a class last fall. After talking to the registrar it sounds like they will take four classes (two AP, 1 Dual Credit and one College class) and count them towards gen ed electives. I don’t know how that will really work, but may give him a leg up when it comes time to pick classes.</p>
<p>Now we have a tornado warning and severe thunderstorms but…they just delayed graduation 15 min because they think it will pass. Bwaaaaa haaaaa haaaa!</p>
<p>Hi all</p>
<p>Our kiddo got an email from the U stating that the solicitation for bedding package which came --labeled with the U all over the place–(sent to incoming freshman) WAS NOT a sanctioned thing.</p>
<p>So my question is HOW DID THEY GET MY KID"S NAME,ADDRESS… etc etc to even send the solicitation?
kwim?</p>
<p>fog - we got something similar from Residence Hall Linen Service. The return address on the envelope lists it as the Marquette University Residence Hall Association @ a real dorm address. The enclosed envelope for ordering has a NJ address though. And the envelope has “IMPORTANT respond within 15 days” on outside. Their prices were OK, not great. I thought I could do better with my 60% off coupon to BB&B. LOL. I know from the FB site for class of 2015 other kids also received it. </p>
<p>AK - fingers crossed for a quick healing process. Hope storm passed over quickly and graduation was terrific. </p>
<p>kathie - thanks for info on southwest sale.</p>
<p>Fogfog: So sorry for your family’s loss</p>
<p>Holliesue: I’m sorry to hear about your nephew’s struggles and the implications for your sister and her family. I had a sibling with a substance abuse problem, long after I had moved away, but I know that my parents found Al-Anon to be helpful.</p>
<p>MOSB: Hoping SB’s voice is hanging in there!</p>
<p>mamom: We aren’t dealing with the fridge decision since DD’s dorm comes with a microwave/fridge combo. I can tell you that I have a really cute pink one in my basement from DD1’s freshman year in school, though… I would really try to rent it if you can because there are not a lot of uses for them after that first year.</p>
<p>Amanda- Aaagh! Sooo sorry to hear about your D’s fracture but at least you finally know for sure! Hoping that the skies cleared and that your graduation is going off without any more delays.</p>
<p>OWM: So great to hear that your mom is upbeat and had such a great personal care aide! Enjoy orientation!</p>
<p>Shinedonme - welcome! You will find this group of parents to be very supportive and always eager to share your news, whether it be good or bad.</p>
<p>Just got an email from the president of S’s school with this tibit of info in it.
“In the past month there have been several media stories about two sexual assault cases on XXXXXXX campus involving student athletes”</p>
<p>Well this doesn’t make me happy. Mostly because it was never mentioned when I was at the school with my S two weeks ago. I don’t have my head in the sand, I know these things happen and probably at most college campuses. What I don’t like is the appearance of the school trying to cover it up. The email went on to address the steps the school is taking to address these issues, but I am dismayed that in this day and age schools continue to try and hush it up until it becomes public then they are all action. </p>
<p>I felt the urban campus where S will be attending school was safe, but like all cities one had to be aware of what was going on around you. Of course, that doesn’t protect the female students from badly behaving student athletes. …sigh My S is not a student athlete but I will be having a talk with him about no meaning no.</p>
<p>Gosh, mamom, what an awful message to get right now.</p>
<p>It takes me back to when I was in HS - remember the novel “The Women’s Room,” one of the first big anthems for women’s lib? One of the characters’ daughters goes off to college, and calls her mom, saying, “Mommy, I’ve been r***d!” Of course, the college was where I was heading to, and now that I’m a mother myself I don’t know how mine held it together, fiction or not. No matter how much we know these things can happen anywhere, it’s just terrifying when it actually happens at a place where you know your kid will be.</p>
<p>It’s also really creepy when there is a chance of student-student violence, perhaps sanctioned, or even encouraged. The UW marching band has barely recovered from some pretty horribly sexist hazing a couple of years ago, and I know it made a lot of our HS’s kids/families a lot less enthusiastic about their kids’ becoming involved - very sad for everyone.</p>
<p>RHL is a private company; I have no idea if they have the permission of the colleges to send out the mailings but the message that you “have 15 days to respond” is ridiculous…</p>
<p>If this company would send to schools, it might, just might make sense…but they only send home…</p>
<p>The prices seems ok but honestly the whole operation seems a little shady to me…and they only give you free shipping if you order one of the value pacs…</p>
<p>nah, we’ll pass…</p>
<p>amandakayak: you are very lucky that your school district had the insight (or the radar) to wait until the bad weather passed; alot of districts nearby moved the ceremonies inside early this morning really putting ALOT of people in a very bad position (limiting those attending to 2/family even though grandparents and other relatives had already travelled to attend)…hope it went well (even with the foot issue)!!!</p>
<p>I am sure we will be getting a post soon from the RHL representative. I think she browses CC looking for posts about RHL. Ds room mate ordered one of the packs from there and I decided that it was just not for us but we ended up ordering a comforter from there since D wanted to match.</p>
<p>Ds school has a notice alerting parents that you will get solicitations they may look like it comes from the school but it doesn’t. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Other states probably have the same open record laws.</p>
<p>Just a brief update - tornado warning passed, severe thunderstom passed, dumped a ton of rain, but then the rain slowed, they blew the bleachers and chairs dry (somewhat) and one hr later than expected, we had a ceremony. It was a nice ceremony, no rain, beautiful sunset (and I absolutely HATE ceremonies) with a few good speeches although I believe the val’s speech about how you will all fail and how you should embrace that (?) was mostly lost on the crowd - she apparently doesn’t know how to read an audience and buttered her speech with SAT vocab word that most of this group wouldn’t know how to spell let alone what it meant. Inflatable balls were tossed, confiscated, inflatable flamingos tossed, confiscated, inflatable monkeys tossed, confiscated and finally around the letter “w” inflatable doll tossed repeatedly before finally confiscated. Post-ceremony burly football players and their buds lit up cigars. (Oh, did I mention how much I hate this town?)</p>
<p>Ds is off to the alcohol free PTA party tonight, back in the wee hours of the am. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your sympathies about my HMO and pediatrician headaches. I need to switch both soon. Thankfully she is in an aircast/boot thing so she can enjoy swimming this summer.</p>
<p>mamom,</p>
<p>My impression is that many recruited athletes in big money sports at D-1 schools (and maybe others) are extraordinarily entitled. One of the things that some of the BMOC athletes (football, basketball, maybe a few other sports but am not sure) apparently feel entitled to is female companionship on demand. I think I was with a UT alum who told me that stars (maybe just players) on the UT football team were so revered that they could just about pick any girl at random on campus and she would make herself available. [No doubt an exaggeration but I think the directional trend and the cultural assumption is clear]. Then, Mr. BMOC runs into a girl who says no. “How dare she? I’m royalty and she’s part of my harem.” That seems to be when some of the sexual assault takes place. Mr. BMOC believes that he is generally within their rights, that the university will protect him, and thus he sometimes does things that are illegal and/or immoral. But, as far as I can tell, universities with big athletics programs do hush it up, protect the athletes and not the girls. I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule (both athletes who are good people and programs that don’t tolerate that kind of behavior), but I think the evidence is almost always that when sexual assaults by athletes occur, the schools hush things up and back their breadwinners. I’ suspect that the percentage of sexual assaults by athletes that hit the newspaper is probably pretty low. I was going to say that I doubt most varsity athletes in big money sports at D-1 schools are like this, but I realize that I actually have no idea and the data has generally been suppressed.</p>
<p>My advice to women on D-1 campuses would probably be not to know or spend time with athletes and certainly not to go to parties with them. Sounds extreme, and the probability of a bad event is small but not vanishingly so, and the consequences could be deep trauma for years. Not sure what to say about other schools (I don’t actually know what D-2 is).</p>
<p>Fog-sorry about your loss. We got a letter about bedding thru school too. Interesting your school said they didn’t sanction-how do they get the lists.
AK-glad you finally have a diagnosis.</p>
<p>I’m the one that mentioned the bbb coupon. I got email one right after signing up on website. Several weeks later I got another coupon in mail welcoming me to the program and that one was 20% of entire one day purchase. Hope you get that too. Its not 60% but its still a great coupon. </p>
<p>My DS is a graduate! He gave commencement speech. He wrote a fantastic speech and school “edited” it into a mediocre speech. He wanted to give his speech and we agreed. So he memorized his speech and gave it from memory rather than read their version provided on the podium. He was a huge hit with everyone (except the principal). Everyone congratulated him on the best commencement speech they had heard from his school and many were impressed that he gave it from memory. I’ve had complete strangers tell me how much they loved it. We are so glad he followed his heart and gave his speech instead of their watered down version! </p>
<p>All night grad party was a great success too. Now we can enjoy visiting with my dad and brother and relax for a bit.</p>
<p>I’m doing they good weather dance for the final grad days.</p>
<p>I can’t believe its almost july and time to jump to the new thread!</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using CC App</p>
<p>congrats to VAMOM and amandak.</p>
<p>Much, much better day yesterday. Older d stayed in her room most of the day studying Spanish and Math and arranging this fundraiser. Youngest spent the day at Red Cross training and came home with a bad headache and missed dive practice=she says being around all day with ignorant people always gives her a headache-but I think it is actually the fluorescent lights. Oldest admitted he needs my help to get his room clean. Made very good progress. Also cleaned out my walk in closet, notified utilities, and got great xray results- my lungs are now fully inflated!!!. Then in the evening, d came down to watch So You think you can dance and seemed much more her usual self= first she did the Obama bingo while the show was delayed but since it was all about Afghanistan, no Bingo.</p>
<p>Today starts a new routine- girls do swim and dive in the mornings, contractors come out at night. Cleaning and organizing in the morning, math lesson for youngest in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Hi all, Checking in after a bit of a hiatus. Really a lot to catch up on and my mind is a bit fuzzy!</p>
<p>Military Mom, feel your pain, just finished packing out on our last move back to the states. Husband retiring from Military and finding a “real Job”. Been living overseas for 9 years so will be a big change for kids. Currently living in Basement apartment (One bedroom with 6 people) while the painters paint my house upstairs. Move into a hotel on Sunday and flight out on July 1, counting the days! </p>
<p>Fogfog, sorry for your loss…
VAmom and AmandaKayak and everyone else who graduated in the past two weeks, congratulations its finally over!</p>
<p>Just returned from States yesterday for a 4 day whirlwind. D3 was awarded a big national award in DC and flew back with her, arrived back in Europe in morning so I could attend D4’s last day of school and award ceremony that afternoon and to say goodbye to all friends we will be leaving. Was in such a jet-lagged fog that I was emotionally dead, all these people hugging and crying and I just felt numb didn’t shed a tear, which is very unlike me… Came back to the basement apartment only to fall asleep at 4 in the afternoon and slept till 11 today.<br>
Looking forward to moving onto the next chapter…</p>
<p>D3 finds out roommates and housing assignments on 29th…will wait to shop when we get back!</p>
<p>Hoping to see everyone on the new thread in July…</p>
<p>Congratulations to the most recent grads – kayakson and VAmomson! </p>
<p>AK – I don’t know what it is with the cigars. It wasn’t limited to football players and their buddies after graduation here.</p>
<p>AmandaKayak: “Post-ceremony burly football players and their buds lit up cigars. (Oh, did I mention how much I hate this town?)”</p>
<p>We live in the same town, and I hate mine too. But at our graduation, they lit up cigars BEFORE the ceremony was over! Yes, there in the back row, before they all filed out, the boys were smoking.</p>
<p>I didn’t relay this before (too embarrassed) but every year, the graduating class votes for a parent to speak. For D’s graduation, the parent basically reinforced every negative stereotype about the town being cliquey and exclusionary. He pointed out “the great kids in this class” by name. All 5 or 6 of them. And he mentioned their parents. By nickname (you can guess – WASPy funny nicknames that came about at some party after way too much drinking). Yuck and yuck. I wish I could move now, but unless I can fast-forward S’11, I’m stuck.</p>
<p>Oh – and the class student speaker – talked about money. I kid you not.</p>
<p>I wish we’d had cheap inflatables to throw around. At least it would have been fun.</p>
<p>Good morning!</p>
<p>Amanda: I’m glad that the graduation went through after the storms. Congrats to your son. I’m glad that your D is in an aircast so she can still swim this summer.</p>
<p>Vamom: Hurray for your son for sticking with his own words. Congrats on his graduation and his triumphant speech.</p>
<p>MM: Glad to hear that things are calmer in your house.</p>
<p>EAO: Congrats on your daughter’s award! Good luck with the move.</p>
<p>Classof2015: I’m shocked at the rudeness of your grad speaker. I’m sorry that you and Amanda can’t move. Your posts make me thankful that my H passed up a job offer in NJ many years ago.</p>
<p>Congratulations to amandaK and VAMOM!</p>