<p>Dorm food is especially difficult for fruit lovers. Older son figured out quickly freshman year that they put out fresh fruit in the fruit bowls every Tuesday. He would load up on the fruit Tues,Wed, and Thurs. but after that the fruit became (in his words) “sketch”. He wouldn’t touch it for the remainder of the week until the next fresh batch got put out the following Tuesday. We supplemented by giving him Costco sized containers of kiwis all winter long, they’re yummy and pretty easy to eat when you get the hang of it</p>
<p>Funny, I’ve heard the same thing about fruit, both from D and her friend. Both say they hardly ever eat fruit. When H was in Cleveland, they went to a farmer’s market and bought a whole crate of strawberries for 2$. She said it fed the whole building and was gone the next day!</p>
<p>She’s been busy with sports/practice and apparently is being fed there at times. So, although she has 17 meal swipes a week, she hasn’t been using that many.</p>
<p>She has not spent much - she says she spends less than she used to at home! She’s still managing with the cash she had when she left home - hasn’t touched the ATM!</p>
<p>Not sure what S2 is spending–we gave him a lump sum for the semester, which is meant to cover everything from haircuts to shoes to entertainment and travel. By nature, he likes nice things. But (we expect?) he’ll learn to manage. That’s the theory!! LOL. Keeping fingers crossed.</p>
<p>Our student is enjoying the food…this is the kid who did NOT eat off kids menus growing up so whether it’s curry, mid eastern foods, pan-asian, vegan, etc etc…anything…kiddo is happy. The only thing I can think of that kiddo doesn’t eat is acron squash because it can be “mealy”…so the<br>
21 meals a week required for freshman (no roll over–it it is not used, it is lost) while pricey is fine for now. I expect that will change next year.</p>
<p>Highhead–sorry to hear your dd isn’t happy with the food. It changes “themes” regularly. Here is today’s menu</p>
<p>[Yale</a> Dining: Menu & Nutrition Center](<a href=“http://www.yaledining.org/menu.cfm?mDH=9]Yale”>http://www.yaledining.org/menu.cfm?mDH=9)</p>
<p>I think there was someone at a recent master’s tea discussing sustainable farming, local produce, cheeses etc…</p>
<p>Have heard brunch and the waffle bar etc is a hit all around.</p>
<p>You all know the O Henry story – the Gift of the Magii – the wife cuts off her hair and sells it to buy her husband a pocket watch; he sells his valued chain for a pocket watch to buy her a hair comb.</p>
<p>So earlier this evening, H called and asked if I wanted to join him at an opening for an artist downtown. I had too much work to be able to duck out at 6 pm, so I declined. He said he’d probably grab something to eat downtown, then meet me and S’14 back at the house. I finished up earlier than I thought, but too late to meet H, so I decided I’d treat myself and make my own nice dinner: [Spicy</a> Sauteed Fish with Olives and Cherry Tomatoes Recipe at Epicurious.com](<a href=“http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Sauteed-Fish-with-Olives-and-Cherry-Tomatoes-106470]Spicy”>http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Sauteed-Fish-with-Olives-and-Cherry-Tomatoes-106470)</p>
<p>It was great! I made 2 portions, thinking H might have just grabbed a slice on his way home and he’d be hungry for something tasty and healthy.</p>
<p>He gets home, and what does he have? Grilled sea bass for me. In case I hadn’t eaten. So we each had fish for each other. Which neither of us wanted to eat. But the thought was there.</p>
<p>Class of2015–that is really sweet.
Lots of leftovers will make Fri night easy!</p>
<p>We were celebrating DHs birthday this week. Made a nice dinner, opened a great red wine and our kiddo called from college to wish dad a happy 50th.</p>
<p>I am tired…off to bed with a book</p>
<p>Had to laugh, my daughter who has blown through her money this semester called me and was talking about where she thinks all the money went. (Didn’t ask her she was just speculating). She said Mom, I went to Walgrens, bought shampoo, conditioner, mousse, face wash some mascara and tampons and it cost 50 dollars, can you believe that???" I said, “yes, pretty expensive isn’t it?” She said, “how do you and dad afford anything???” </p>
<p>I had to laugh another life lesson learned. She told me she has given up Starbucks as she added up how much her smoothies were costing per week. Her school has unlimited meals, no option to fix a lesser meal plan so you can swipe as little or as much as you want. We pay no matter what. She said She just needs to make more of an effort to get herself to the dining hall for breakfast and we will be getting our money’s worth.</p>
<p>Good night Fog Fog and happy birthday to the DH!</p>
<p>I think D is doing ok with the food, but she is used to a pretty high standard (struts in background) of fresh, local, high-end variety, cooked-to-order meals. The only thing she asked us to bring when we saw her a couple of weekends ago was a fruit bowl. She has incited all 10 girls in her common room group to swipe whole fruits from the dining hall, and then they feast at night.</p>
<p>classof 2015, Great Story!! So funny when things like that happen, print out that part of the thread, it will bring back some fun memories in a few years 
Happy birthday to fogfog’s better half, 1961 was a great year ;). DH had his a few months back, quite the tipping point! I get to wait a while…but not too long! It’s weird to be an empty nester and still in one’s 40’s…</p>
<p>We are off to parents weekend in the morning. According to S, he has gained about 8 pounds so far. His mealplan options were 14 or 24 (unlimited). He took the 24 because it was only a couple of hundred more per semester and he thought the 14 was too few meals. He now says he is using about 15 to 18 as he doesn’t make it to breakfast some days (sleeping in). He thinks the 14 plus flex dollars will work best second semester. He eats nearly everything and says the food is actually pretty good although he can’t wait for a good steak dinner on Saturday night with us. He also reports that he has found a couple of off campus delis that are tremendous!</p>
<p>Warning - the Thanksgiving countdown might be missing or posted at odd times over this weekend but will be back to its regulary scheduled times on Monday. :D</p>
<p>ShawD is not enthused about the dining hall food. No complaints to us, but to her friend who is the son of ShawWife’s college roommate and close friend. They’ve been quasi-family (we celebrate all holidays and birthdays with this family and another). It’s nice to see they are maintaining their friendship.</p>
<p>Cornell is supposed to have good food, though tbh I didn’t think it was anything so special when we visited (even as compared to all the other dorm food we’d sampled). They do have a very nice salad bar, and seem to offer a fair variety. I haven’t heard any feedback one way or the other as to the quality of the food.</p>
<p>The reason the 14 meals per week works so well for my son is because he’s been eating just a granola bar for breakfast for the last four years so he’s just continued that at college. I’ll be bringing up a couple of boxes of 48 bars when I go up next weekend to visit.</p>
<p>For those of you that (anyone besides AvonHSDad and kinderny?) are going to your parents weekend tomorrow or Saturday, here’s hoping for good weather, great conversation and lots of hugs!</p>
<p>My boy is managing his own spending money and expenses. Outside of his initial textbooks purchase, he seems to be spending about $30/week for social up time, laundry, etc. He earned and saved $3,000 this summer, so he appears to be on track for living within his means. <em>fingers crossed</em></p>
<p>We purchased a basic 19 swipes/week meal plan for 1st semester, which runs Thur to Thur each week. We supplemented that plan with $500 in flex dollars, for use at the other eating establishments on campus. The meal swipes are good for all you can eat meals in the main dining hall…but for variety, he can also use his flex dollars for a meal at the bistro cafe, juice bar, coffee house etc. …or to supplement with just a yogurt, a sandwich… or whatever grab-n-go items he wants. </p>
<p>The meal plan/flex dollar combo we purchased cost $200 less than a 21 meal plan plus $200 in flex dining dollars (with meal swipes allowed at any of the dining locations on campus). He says quality is good… but it gets old after a while. We may just go with the richer plan next semester, so he can use his meal swipes anywhere on campus for more variety, without having to think about expending a meal or 'a la carte dining dollars.</p>
<p>He also complained the fruit in the dining hall is not great. So last week when we went to see his game, we brought a half-peck of apples we had picked, and he was beyond thrilled.</p>
<p>He hosted a former HS teammate/athletic recruit for an overnight last Saturday/Sunday… and said it fun - thinks he was a good ambassador. He also seems to have a lady friend on campus…which is a new phenomenon for him, coming from an all-male HS. He seems happy overall… I just worry about him burning the candle at both ends, so in addition to the apples, he also got some vitamins in the care package we left with him.</p>
<p>**40 days to Thanksgiving break **</p>
<p>(Based on kids touching down at home on the Wednesday before TG. Some kids may get the full week and will land at home sooner.)</p>
<p>Avon, Have a good time at Parent’s Weekend and feel free to take a break from the countdown.</p>
<p>Classof2015: I loved the fish story. Thanks for the link to the recipe. It looks like my type of recipe - good and easy.</p>
<p>Naturally, my D is not as frugal as the rest of your kids, and being in Boston doesn’t help. She asked for more convenience points for her birthday to help fund her daily Starbucks habit. </p>
<p>It sounds like a lot of our kids are missing fruit. I recently sent my D’s fruit using a site called Fruitguys. They have a dormpack and shipping is free. D1 who has access to a grocery store and farmer’s market wasn’t impressed, but D2 loved it.</p>
<p>I do think the kids are missing fruit. Bluejr & RM ate a lot of it over break, but then we went apple picking so lots of apples in the house as well as other fresh fruit. I cooked the entire time they were here and we are still eating leftovers! I tried to send some things back with the boys but they are both averse to food in the dorm room as it is soooo tiny. They are in a hall dorm so there is no suite common room that would serve as a gathering room to snack in so I kind of get it. Anything that is not packaged also attracts bugs, or did, and they are still really sensitive to that. Housing next year will be apartment style with small kitchens and more room to eat so it will be much easier to have healthier habits.</p>
<p>Happy Friday to all. I’m anxiously awaiting my iphone 4s! I wouldn’t have bothered but Bluedad is literally carrying an old Razor phone on life support. We were waiting for the i5 but no luck and he really needs one yesterday. I’ll hand down my i4 and I get the i4s…awww shucks. 
We preordered so I’m just waiting to hear from my local AT&T store. I’m 9th in line…if they don’t get in at least 9 I’ll be shocked. No waiting in line at Apple for me…I’m too old for that. I only wait in lines like that for books, aka Harry Potter :D</p>
<p>Happy 50th birthday Mr. Fogfog!</p>
<p>Class, you know if you hadn’t fixed yourself such a lovely dinner your DH wouldn’t have brought home anything for you! </p>
<p>Everyone at boychild’s school has unlimited meal plan and the food is out of this world. They buy as much locally as possible - even the meat comes from a local farm and is all grass fed. I asked boychild if he wanted us to bring him apples from the apple farm and he said no need - they have an excellent selection and it’s all fresh. Boychild’s favorite is the vegan bar. Even the coffee is outstanding - there was at least 8 different types (mostly organic) when we ate breakfast there on parents weekend. </p>
<p>There is also a huge bulletin board in the commons where the kids can request anything they would like to see added to the menu. </p>
<p>A lot of socializing takes place in the dining commons so I am glad it’s all unlimited for everyone. I think it serves to bond the whole student community.</p>
<p>My son is spending very little from what I can tell-he says he would like to go out more but all the kids are broke. :(</p>
<p>He likes the dorm food but it is getting boring. He is on the 15 a week meal plan and what he doesn’t use he can trade in at a store but you really don’t get much value doing that. The price difference though between the 10 and 15 a week plan wasn’t enough of a difference to not do the 15. He has barely used the dining dollars allowed, hasn’t used the print allowance yet, and has 75% of the laundry allowance left.</p>
<p>He cleaned the bathroom last week! It was horrible but the other three suite-mates didn’t care and it finally got to him. Yuck!</p>
<p>He is finding the academics in the humanities classes very challenging and is really struggling with them. Math and Econ he feels good about but they are tough . He worries about losing his scholarship but I reassure him to not worry and to go talk to the professors in the classes he is struggling in. It is much tougher than he thought but he says kids who went to private schools, prep schools and really tough public schools are struggling in the same classes he is so I feel better than if he was the only one-as some of you remember that was my biggest struggle with him-letting him stay in our good but certainly not intense public school. Taking 18 credits first semester, 14 of which are honors classes-well maybe too much?</p>
<p>He came home last weekend and was able to see his sister play in a HS soccer game, go to a corn maze with the family and finally have his going away dinner (Hurricane messed that up). He also got to spend a night with his friends who were home from college due to the long weekend, and the nicest thing of all was he was able to see my father, both his grandmothers, and his great aunt. It was just a wonderful weekend and I am very grateful he is able to come home and it isn’t a big deal for him to get here. </p>
<p>Socially he seems pretty happy. He loves living in the city and the only time he misses the campus life is on Saturday nights-it is hard getting into parties and if you are under 21 not much else to do. I suggested the movies, the stores, etc.-he tells me his friends are broke-so I asked him how would being 21 make them less broke? It’s a lot cheaper to go to the movies than a club! He is getting very involved in numerous activities and transitioning much better than I could have hoped. There have been bumps but nothing we haven’t been able to work through.</p>
<p>I know this was long but I wanted to give the update since I don’t seem to get here as often as I would like. I am keeping up with everyone though and think overall the kids are doing OK. Sorry EB and MOB and LL it’s been tough-but it seems like your kids are hanging in there.</p>