<p>Mamom-that sounds like something that would happen to me. At least you made them laugh!</p>
<p>Missypie-Glad to hear the roomie got the computer situation fixed for your D. </p>
<p>fogfog- I got my first phone call today also! </p>
<p>Classes started today and he had advising yesterday. Seems like all is well so far but he called @7 and surprised me because he was supposed to be in class. Turns out the Italian professor didn’t show so one of the upperclassmen had everyone write their name on a piece of paper before they left. Great to hear him sounding tired but OK. I am sure I’ll sleep better tonight.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the successful launches the past few days. </p>
<p>I am also C&Ping from another thread. No apologies though. ;)</p>
<p>Today I paid the 13 yr. old boy next door $50 to rake up the branches and leaves in the yard, I paid all the bills, dropped off a few things boychild forgot to pack at my friends for her daughter to take up on Saturday, got take away from the good Sushi bar in town, poured myself a large glass of wine and am relaxing for the first time in days, watching the Open, surfing the net and doing my nails. </p>
<p>Life is good. </p>
<p>Hollie, I’m going to take a yoga class. Rigorous exercise keeps me awake at night or I’d do Zumba. </p>
<p>My town offers tons of fantastic classes and they aren’t expensive. DH and I took beginning Italian a few years ago. Not usually very expensive and most are offered in the evening. They also offer several classes during the day taught by professors from local colleges on a myriad of subject. </p>
<p>The yoga class is through our town’s parks & rec dept.</p>
<p>Congrats on all the successful launches. I’m glad to hear that most went well despite weather issues and computer problems.</p>
<p>I’m happy to report that we had a sucessful launch despite the many plagues (thanks FLMM) that descended on us recently. As Mamom predicted, Boston had minimal storm damage, so our D’s move in wasn’t postponed. We got ready in the dark on Monday morning, and left our powerless house at 6 am to drive to Boston. We avoided the 95 corridor and drove North through PA, and arrived on schedule 9 hours later. Move in went very smoothly. My D’s dorm has a garage with elevator access and the school provided carts, so it wasn’t too difficult. D’s roomate seemed like a great match for her and her family was lovely. The other students and parents on the floor were friendly and helpful also. We got D settled and when we left she was relaxed and happy. So far, she is really enjoying the community service program she’s doing.</p>
<p>H and I had to cancel our plans to spend a few days in Newport, but we had a very nice evening in Boston and headed back to MD today. It’s nice to be home after another long drive. Tomorrow we are driving D1 to school in Philly, which will seem like a drive around the block.</p>
<p>I was thinking about many of your and/or your kids as we drove through PA, NY, Conn, Mass and NJ. I’m glad to hear that everyone is safe.</p>
<p>Update on my son he is loving Gainesville and the University. If you want to read my OP it is: #2217 </p>
<p>For those of you that dont know my son was diagnosed with Aspergers which is in the Autism spectrum. If you have any one in your family with such a diagnosis? I urge you to read my post. And share it with them and never ever give up hope.</p>
<p>My son did tell me that his room mate seems to be very shy and withdrawn. He also told me Dad I feel terrible for him I really think he has major issues, thank goodness that he is my room mate anyone else wouldnt how to deal with him. I told my son to remember where he came from and to be patient and a good listener of course he does and he will.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone and their positive comments. The past weeks have been an emotional rollercoaster, but thanks to lots of faith and all of you we are doing great.</p>
<p>madbean, regarding emptynesting, I neglected to mention that in addition to doing more art projects for ShawWife and a pro bono book for me, ShawWife and I are also going to take a class in meditation and up our weekly yoga regimen – we usually take classes on Saturday and/or Sunday). We bought high-end yoga mats (better cushioning and the long size is actually long enough for me as I am longer than a normal yoga mat).</p>
<p>Plus, ShawWife will teach a couple of painting classes in great places (the Pyrenees) and Tuscany and I hope she will also join me on some of my work trips (London, Stockholm, Vancouver, Singapore, etc. are all in my nearish future).</p>
<p>After departing from DS’s school on Sunday afternoon, AvonMom and I both got texts today saying that he forgot to pack his Dockers and that we was going to wear the pants from his suit to Convocation this evening. The kid must have a dozen pair of shorts and more shirts of varying types than you can count at school, but he didn’t pack any pants! We checked his closet and they were all hanging neatly in a row. Life lesson #1. Glad it was a minor one.</p>
<p>We are shipping a box on Friday with pants and a few other items. Very little other conversation from S but he did say that he did avoid having to take another language placement test which made him happy. Classes start tomorrow. We are expecting feedback this weekend. :)</p>
<p>Avon- we had to force a pair of khakis and a polo into S’s bag. He swears he will never need them. </p>
<p>gator- sounds like your S is in a good place. Roommate islucky to have him.</p>
<p>momjr - Too bad you can’t get some kind of frequent driving bonus. All those miles sitting in the car. </p>
<p>I am a little jealous of of those taking night classes or embarking on new adventures. I feel as busy as ever with my 11yo and assisting my Father who no longer drives.</p>
<p>After pricing out plane tix, I am seriously considering suggesting that perhaps it might be best if D doesn’t try to come home for Thanksgiving. </p>
<p>We are not a tradition-bound family. Our Thanksgiving usually consists of me, H, S and D. And the turkey, with sides. My thinking is: save the $ and have her come home another weekend, cook the whole shebang then (there’s nothing saying it can’t be cooked when you feel like it), and avoid the insane airline mark up in prices (and the crowds and the craziness). </p>
<p>I know, I know, CC told me to book her flight as soon as she put down a tuition deposit but I thought I should wait until she knew her class schedule. Turns out she has a class that ends 2:50 pm Wednesday. Would it kill her to skip it? Probably not (and I bet you that’s what everyone else, including the professor, will do). Or I could have her fly Thursday and show up at 3 pm. We never eat before 5 anyway.</p>
<p>Xmas break is Dec 17. I feel like to blow so much money on “coming home for Thanksgiving!!!” is giving in to commercial pressure that may not be best for my pocketbook right now.</p>
<p>^yeah, H almost fell off his chair when he saw the cost to fly S home at Thanksgiving. He booked it anyway. If I knew that S would be able to go home with a friend who lives locally I might have considered having S skip Thanksgiving with us. Maybe next year S will stay on campus.</p>
<p>My D will be going home with a local friend. The dining halls on campus are closed the whole weekend, except for Sunday. She would have stayed there even if she didn’t have a friend to go with and figured out something else for the food. </p>
<p>She doesn’t have classes on Wednesday, so that would make the timing of travel easier, I just can’t justify the cost right before winter break.</p>
<p>Add me to the list of those with plane cost angst. We have decided to skip parents weekend and let the local godparents participate. It is a hard decision, but the correct one. D is texting intermittently that all is well. She did mention that noone was sleeping much and I resisted the urge to advise her on the merits of sleep. We miss her and may have already killed her fish (he is quite lethargic). Hmmm.</p>
<p>It’s good to hear the stories of so many kids settling in and finding their own ways. I had a text AND two calls from D yesterday! First was to say she had placed into the Multivariable Calculus class she wanted, despite thinking she had bombed the placement test she took online over the summer. Then a panicked call (“I don’t know what to do!”) when preregistering for classes in the late afternoon. High school did not prepare her for this; the Director of Studies was the one who had to juggle schedules, not the students. I was very good: I listened, repeated back what she was saying in different words, and suggested she map out her options and call me back when she was closer to a plan. Well, 3 hours later she called to say she had done it all in 5 more minutes and then gone to dinner. Yeah! It’s nice to see her launching.</p>
<p>**The next new student move-ins are Tufts and Williams College move-ins on August 31st - today!
Move-in day is TODAY! Where did the summer go? :eek:
[ul][<em>]University of Pennsylvania and Hampshire College move-ins on September 1st are just 1 day to go.
[</em>]St. Olaf College, Bates College, Princeton University (Outdoor Action), and Brown University move-ins on September 3rd are just 3 days to go.
[li]Queen’s University move-in on September 4th is just 4 days to go.[/ul][/li]The next scheduled move-in is Northwestern University on September 12th which is 12 days away.</p>
<p>The last new student move-ins are the University of Oregon and the University of Southern Oregon on September 22nd
Move-in day in 22 days. Just over 3 weeks to go for the final move-ins.</p>
<p>Re: Plane travel. After lots of thought, we decided to skip parents weekend this year b/c of cost. DS also has 10 days “off” in October with the option to come home then so we are holding off and will pay for flight if he chooses to come home. School offers lots of things to do so, while would love to see him, would also be happy if he chooses to stay.</p>
<p>For Thanksgiving - we are going to him! He has a late Weds class and an early Mon one. He is not a great traveler so putting him through the stress of crazy T-giving flying seemed too much. His dorm will be open and he will have option of staying with us at hotel or staying in his dorm. I can guess which he’ll choose :)</p>
<p>DS texted DH last night and said school is “pretty good” - high praise from my kiddo!</p>
<p>Hoping everyone else settling in…and like many others am working on what to do with my very empty nest…</p>
<p>Congrats to all who have launched successfully, despite what Mother Nature has been throwing around! And to those who are still on shore, I think of the old song, “The waiting is the hardest part!”</p>
<p>Luckily, DH has lots of family on the East Coast so D will probably go to one of their houses for Thanksgiving; it’s a matter of her deciding who, and how she will get there. Turns out that one of DH’s cousins is getting married the weekend before Parents’ Weekend, at a venue a couple of hours from DD’s school. So we will be going out and seeing DD a little early. She seemed fine with that; proposed that if we took her roommate out for dinner, she would tag along w/the roommate’s family when they came for Parents’ Weekend.</p>
<p>Been getting a lot of calls/texts at random times. One of her classes (not required, thank goodness!) is not meeting expectations, so she has been trying to decide whether to drop it, and find a different class to take. Not a huge issue, but definitely a foreign concept to her–HS was all about a core curriculum w/ minimal electives.</p>
<p>It might be worth looking into student standby travel for some trips, like the long Oct break siemom’s S has. (I know it wouldn’t work for him, just an example though). I wouldn’t try it during busy times like Thanksgiving, but off times it might be OK.<br>
Here is the link to Air Trans student travel, but I know other airlines also offer it.
[AirTran</a> Airways - Cheap Airline Tickets, Cheap Tickets Students at Airtranu.com](<a href=“http://airtranu.com/cheap-student-tickets.aspx]AirTran”>http://airtranu.com/cheap-student-tickets.aspx)</p>
<p>My thoughts are with those of you trying to decide do we/don’t we make those plane reservations for parents weekend and/or Thanksgiving. I am so glad we don’t have that added pressure. Bluejr has off Wed-Sun, however we will all be going back down Saturday for the ‘Turkey Bowl’ that Saturday as UVa hosts VT in C’ville. For those not familiar with Virginia rivalry it may seem like an odd pairing as VT is far and away the better team (pains me to say) but there is something about in-state rivalries that can make that game insanely important to the fans each year. It pits neighbor against neighbor, splits families, people get very intense. Interesting when you have a child that ends up at ‘the other’ school…what side do you sit on?!? Difficult decisions indeed! :)</p>
<p>We’re not sure from there what we will <em>do</em> with Bluejr after the game…seriously, don’t laugh. There’s only one way from all of MD/DC/NoVa to C’ville and everyone headed to the game has to go that way in and out. To drive down, turn around and drive back out Saturday…then drive him back to school on Thanksgiving Sunday (again on the only way in and out of C’ville from the north). We may as well stay for what we will spend in gas/time. It would be nice if they opened the dorms Saturday for the number of kids that will be back, but I doubt it.</p>
<p>For Thanksgiving travel - is the train an option for any of the trips? This is probably what we will have to do. We used the train for some of the college visits last year and it wasnt too bad even for the long trips. We were fortunate to book parent weekend tickets when Southwest had their anniversary sale a few months ago so that is set. We offered S an option to upgrade his train ticket to a plane ticket using his own funds. At 4x the cost, he figured that he could amuse himself on the train.</p>
but I thought I should wait until she knew her class schedule. Turns out she has a class that ends 2:50 pm Wednesday. Would it kill her to skip it? Probably not (and I bet you that’s what everyone else, including the professor, will do). Or I could have her fly Thursday and show up at 3 pm. We never eat before 5 anyway.</p>