<p>Am really keeping my fingers crossed that Irene will calm down. And mostly hope everyone is safe.</p>
<p>momofboston, wow, I can’t imagine going back to school touring right now! I will be facing that with my younger kids, but have a while to relax in the meantime – they are class of '17 and '18! Hope you able to get back in the swing of things.</p>
<p>On facebook, well yes I am fb friends with d and several of her friends too (I don’t friend them, but will accept if they friend me!) She’s not very active on facebook and is naturally cautious, so there’s never been a problem with inappropriate stuff. I did once message my teen nephew when he “liked” one of those awful misogynistic “b!tch get me a sandwich!” pages that were popular for a while. He never responded, but did remove the link.</p>
<p>Another change to our plans for arrival. Bates won’t let anyone come early but said Tuesday is fine and they will just get the kids who arrive late to their trips that have already gone out. I think they are being overly ambitious thinking it’ll be all clear to get the kids out early Tuesday morning but as long as I don’t have to worry about driving him in a hurricane I don’t really care what happens after we drop him off. I’m sure he won’t be the only one coming in on Tuesday instead of Monday. </p>
<p>And if worst comes to worst we get him there on the 3rd which is the official Freshman move in date. </p>
<p>I did make boychild do his laundry this morning in case we lose power and he threw some stuff in but then a friend came over and they went out to run last minute errands together. </p>
<p>It appears everyone in my little town is in a panic. I’ve never seen so much traffic and the parking lots and gas stations are mobbed. I wouldn’t even have gone out but I needed to get a birthday card for DS. He’s turning 18 on Sunday. :)</p>
<p>Emilybee - Well that would make for a memorable birthday now wouldn’t it?</p>
<p>Bright beautiful sunny day and I’m taking all the stuff down in the yard (vball net, tiki torches)…seems too tragic that my bumper crop of concord grapes which are still on the vine/going over on top of the pergola on the deck will maybe not weather the storm - they aren’t sweet yet so couldn’t do anything with them as they are. Band camp for the HS (dd1 and dd2) was supposed to leave Sat. morning has now been postponed to Mon. am. Both dds are mad because this is to them, the best part of band. I am sure the hs’ liability insurance wouldn’t cover the risk of having 300 kids out in the woods without power and downed trees, right?</p>
<p>Safe travels and hugs to all ill children and pets. Pepper - hope the pan holds up under all this usage!</p>
<p>Momofboston - My neighbor also said “oh so you are looking at colleges with dd1 then right?” (she’s now a jr. without SAT scores to go by) and I know it may not have sounded mean but I really need a break here!! Looking at colleges? HA!!</p>
<p>AmandaK-- Too bad about band camp being cut short! I don’t know anything about growing grapes, but was wondering if you could wrap the vines in burlap or something to protect your bumper crop of grapes?</p>
<p>I am back from an extended hiatus and will try to catch up with the latest news. Can’t wait to read about the move-in stories of those of you who have them already behind. </p>
<p>While I was away we went to a 7 day Alaskan cruise, came back early Monday morning and left the next day for college move-in. That was my first trip to Duke and I loved it! The upperclassmen were very helpful in getting all our boxes/suitcases to DS room. We left him to unpack and drove off to park the cars. When we were coming back I was sure that S would be checking his e-mail and that he didn’t even start unpacking. To my surprise he was almost done. All we had to do was to make his bed and unpack the fridge.</p>
<p>The weather was wonderful. We are not fans of hot weather and had some concerns about NC summer and the comfort of a dorm room with no A/C. But it’s much better than we feared – it wasn’t humid and the campus has lots of big trees that provide shade. Of cause there was the earthquake, but we did not feel it. There were a lot of jokes from Duke’s Administration about how when the class of 2015 came to campus the Earth shook. </p>
<p>From what I hear he is having great time and it is hard for me to feel sad when he is so happy. I can’t wait to go back there for the parents’ weekend in October though. We went for a walk in Sara P Duke Gardens and I couldn’t get my 10yo DD out of there. I would like to go back there in fall and see how it looks then. And maybe have a picnic there.</p>
<p>Now I can go back 20 pages or more and read all your news!</p>
<p>Keylimepie!!! Congrats on launch and you have to tell us about Alaska, I’ve always wanted to go!</p>
<p>Ohiomom - Looking into grape protection but it seems silly to worry about it (c’est la vie right?), would’ve made some excellent jam </p>
<p>Got email from HS band director, they’ve now called for an 8:30 am - 9 pm practice at the HS for tmrw - in the middle of the pre-Irene thunderstorms…nice. She added anyone without a raincoat will be handed a black garbage bag. HA! Talk about “freshman band initiation” right?</p>
<p>AmandaK: Your grapes got me thinking about the grape pie that my grandma used to make in the fall. I hated to see those grapes go to waste! And those black garbage bags – what a great look!</p>
<p>Keylime: Welcome back! Glad to hear that move-in went well.</p>
<p>Amanda: Sorry about band camp and the grapes. </p>
<p>Everyone around here is in a total panic over the hurricane. All the area colleges have postponed move-in and Salisbury University on the eastern shore of MD has evacuated. It’s kind of refreshing to see how calm they are at BU. Move-in for the FYSOP program is still scheduled for Monday afternoon. I guess when you don’t close for blizzards, you don’t let a little rain and wind scare you.</p>
<p>He is leaving a day early-tomorrow. They sent him an email that he could move in Saturday instead of Sunday if he wished.</p>
<p>I know he didn’t want to leave one day early but I told him it made a lot of sense-the program he is going to is starting Monday no matter what-well unless there is some sort of catastrophic event-which I seriously doubt there will be.</p>
<p>His last night at home-I don’t really think it has hit me yet-but he’s as ready as he is ever going to be. They were very successful shopping today and what they didn’t get I am sure we can find in Boston.</p>
<p>I am not sure who said that they wished they spent more time with their family this summer but I took that to heart today. Today was such a beautiful day that I decided to play hookie. I blew off work and a college visit with D2 and we all went to the beach. It was wonderful.</p>
<p>Pepper - you are too funny! Your frying pan has come in handy this past summer…lots of hugs to you and your sisters.</p>
<p>Amanda - Sorry about bandcamp but I bet you can somehow save the grapes! Can you tie a tarp over the pergola for the storm? D2 is also a junior. I have really not paid alot of attention to D2 lately…I am feeling a bit guilty…I haven’t seen her alot this summer…she was away saving the turtles and then she came home and went to work. She got a job in a law firm doing paperwork and answering phones and they have asked her to work everyday. The whole college thing will be easier with her because she is not pursuing a program that requires an audition, portfolio, or has a 7-10% acceptance rate. Her decision will be big or small, city or country. She is going to save the world so I am thinking she can probably do that from anywhere. </p>
<p>Keylime - Welcome back - Wasn’t Alaska fabulous? My DH dragged me on an Alaska cruise a few years ago(wasn’t my choice as a vacation destination) and I loved it. It ranks as one of my family’s best vacations ever.</p>
<p>momjr - Good luck on Monday! Irene should be long gone by then.</p>
<p>Alaska was amazing! I saw bears, sea lions, whales, bald eagles and other birds, an animal that looked like a beaver, but was probably not a beaver, since there were no water close by and something that could have been a sea otter or a piece of sea weed. Kids also saw mountain goats. We were not lucky with the weather the first day in Alaska, but it got a lot better later on and we had great time. I will try to post pictures later. My DH is still working on them.</p>
<p>Another successful launch to report. Sorry for all those struggling with weather-related issues…we lucked out in Portland, OR where weather was stunning and the move went smoothly. Boxes shipped cross country were there, BBB order all set, and DS settled in quickly and comfortably and could not get rid of us soon enough.
Lots of talk re helicopter parenting and the school messages were mixed - want kids to come for help, etc, without parent involvement but also want parents to let the school admins know if something is up or if parents are worried about it. Confusing.</p>
<p>Question: how many of your kids are living on smoke-free campuses?? Major discussion at Reed where they want kids to make good choices without legislating no smoking on campus (but they do limit where)…</p>
<p>My kid probably would have considered it a major selling point of any school we visited had a smoke-free campus, but we didn’t see any. His school does not allow smoking in any of the dorms or buildings, or I believe within some number of feet of the entrances.</p>
<p>I think I read that Southern Oregon is intending to go smoke-free next year. </p>
<p>siemom, weather here in the Portland area just finally turned the corner to summer this last week or so. I was beginning to think that it would never come! The Reed campus is really idyllic this time of year–lovely.</p>
<p>Back home after four long days of meetings at my employer’s office in Indianapolis. My brain hurts from collaborating, planning, brainstorming. It’s almost like I was out of shape because I usually work from home. We got so much done, but I am so tired.</p>
<p>I am crossing my fingers that Irene gets tired soon and tapers off. I’ve never been quite sure if the days-long build up to a hurricane is worse than the surprise attack of a tornado. We had 90 mph winds last Thursday night here in Missouri. People were without power for three days. But we only had 30 minutes warning.</p>
<p>Not to make light of the hurricane at all, but as a resident of a flyover state I found this comment I heard on the plane today interesting. Man in front of me in John Deere shirt was talking about the detours he has to take to get home from the airport: “Some parts of Missouri have been 10 feet underwater since June but not one national media outlet has talked about it. Guess when it only covers farms, it doesn’t mater.”</p>
<p>siemom: The entire University of Missouri campus will be smokefree (even outside) in the 2012-2013 school year.</p>
<p>Speaking of Mizzou, DS2 had a great first week of classes. Tonight, he and his roommates and friends from home grilled brats and burgers on the grill in the picnic area outside his dorm to celebrate Prom Date 2011’s birthday. FB posts about it are pretty funny.</p>
<p>A week from tonight we will be at Parents/Family weekend. His list of “please bring” items so far only includes a three-hole punch. I have a feeling it will grow as the week goes on.</p>
<p>Tempting, but my DS wouldn’t consider anywhere where it doesn’t snow substantially He complained about the heat the whole time he was on a visit to Drexel in Philly in April (80s).</p>
<p>Just got back from a trip to Louisville. ShawD is just getting down to packing but things are going in boxes. I’m kind of wondering why we are staying in the Boston area if a hurricane might be coming. Why not drive up earlier? But, ShawWife sensibly says, we have to stay around in case there is damage (e.g., tree falls on house). But, what are we going to do if a tree falls on the house in the middle of a hurricane? We’re not going to be able to prepare the roof in a hurricane.</p>
</p>
He complained about the heat the whole time he was on a visit to Drexel in Philly in April (80s).</p>