<p>Hooray for power!</p>
<p>Grr. I hate the holidays, if for no other reason than for the family drama. I want to go hide for the next 7 or so weeks.</p>
<p>Finish Line NCAA Hooded Sweatshirts 2 for $40
<a href=“http://www.techbargains.com/product/ncaa[/url]”>http://www.techbargains.com/product/ncaa</a>
TechBargains: Best Deals, Dell Coupons, Cheap Laptops, Computer Sales
Finish Line offers 2 NCAA Hooded Sweatshirts for only $40.00 (reg $50 each). Shipping starts at $7.95 (estimated $9.98 for two hoodies) Click the College Sports Apparel link in the left side menu. Choose from over 300 NCAA schools. Tax in most states…</p>
<p>mamom that does look like a really good deal – do you know if the quality is decent?</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Finish_Line[/url]”>http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Finish_Line</a> Finish Line has horrible reviews at this site (1 star out of 10) so maybe that deal isn’t as great as it sounds!</p>
<p>@mathmomvt - thanks for the heads up. I almost always look at reviews before I buy, but didn’t this time. ooops. I will let you know how it goes because I already ordered.</p>
<p>**17 days (or less) to Thanksgiving break **</p>
<p>:) Smiling faces at home in less than 3 weeks! :)</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>GL mamom! I didn’t see anyone complaining about the quality, just the customer service, so if they get your order right the first time and you don’t have to return/exchange anything, you should be good :)</p>
<p>BI- It sounds like our boys are cut from the same cloth. Do you have a storage closet full of bins of lego creations you can’t bear to throw out like I do?! :)</p>
<p>Yay for power, FINALLY!!! You and your family should get a credit on your next electricity bill for pain and suffering!</p>
<p>Off to do the Times crossword, today’s looks tough ;)</p>
<p>bajamm- I can feel your pain. We live about 4 hours from my family and 7 hours from my inlaws. We are always expected to go there for the holidays. We decided several years ago (after it took us 10 hours to drive from MA to northern NJ for Thanksgiving) that Thanksgiving was best if spent at home.</p>
<p>We went to NJ a few weeks ago to celebrate my Mom’s birthday. My sisters (there are 5 of us) were discussing Christmas plans. Now that many of the nieces and nephews are scattered about the country, there are limited days when we all can get together. One part of the conversation was “You stole my holiday.”</p>
<p>I told them “Let me know the plans when you figure them out, and tell me if we are invited.”</p>
<p>So sorry for those feeling impending holiday stress. 
For the most part our holidays are fairly ironed out. As the kids get older it will become more complicated. We will adjust. Like you gsmomma we took a holiday to ourselves. LONG ago we decided that Christmas Day was our holiday we would not leave our home. We used to jump from grandparent to grandparent but as the kids got bigger it was too hard.</p>
<p>You are correct yalemom15, I have a huge closet full of legos and other various toys that are just too fun to part with!! Our nerf gun collection is epic. :)</p>
<p>We are enjoying a lazy Sunday with football and chili in the crockpot. Hope everyone is enjoying their day!</p>
<p>BI: We’re having a day of football and chilli also!</p>
<p>Sorry to those who are dreading the holidays. We started hosting Thanksgiving years ago, and I love spending the day at home cooking and celebrating. It’s extra sweet now with all the college kids at home.</p>
<p>D2 went to NYC this weekend to visit a friend. She made all her own travel arrangements and is now safely on the bus heading back to Boston. It’s amazing how much she’s grown up in the past few months.</p>
<p>I hope everyone is enjoying the day.</p>
<p>Catching up on yesterday’s posts - I liked in math and science in high school, and there was a big push then (still is, I guess) to get girls into engineering. I liked my classes, breezed through them for the most part, at a decent tech school; I just didn’t want to work in engineering. I did not make any attempt to steer my kids that way. Oldest D made a few comments partway through college that she would have been a good engineer; maybe so, but she was always intent on international affairs. She has now added economics and is happily taking extra math classes. I have two sisters who majored in math and are doing well in diverse areas. I have gently suggested math to my youngest as she looks at colleges; she may end up in social sciences with a math component, something like as Northwestern’s MMSS.</p>
<p>When my youngest was around 2, we stopped going to relatives for Christmas, since it was so hectic. One year, my husband and I drove 2 cars to NJ and PA. We left on Christmas Eve, and he stayed behind for an hour to set up the house so that it looked like Santa arrived while we were gone. When we got back home, the girls were happy, but we were exhuasted. We have been staying home on Christmas Day ever since, and have travelled south on an agreed upon date after Christmas.</p>
<p>This year is more difficult, since older niece and nephew are on the West Coast with new jobs and will only be home for Christmas weekend.</p>
<p>momjr - How great your D got down to NYC! That did take maturity, and organization. I’m trying to get my D to do the opposite. She has a couple of good friends in Boston, not to mention her grandparents and other relatives. Maybe next semester she’ll manage it.</p>
<p>Thanks, Emmybet. I hope your D makes it to Boston next semester. There are lots of travel options. My D took the train one way, and a bus back. I’m curious to hear how things went.</p>
<p>For those of you whose kids are talented in math, it’s smart for them to take at least some math classes in college. A lot of employers look for people with strong quantitative skills.</p>
<p>Have to laugh at my d. One minute she is lecturing me to treat her like an adult and the next she is asking me to send her stamps. When I not so gently reminded her that there was a post office on campus and that mommy would NOT be sending her stamps, she got ticked at me! Ha ha…it is an awkward time for sure, wanting to be an adult, but still clinging to mom doing some of these tasks for you…</p>
<p>Yeah for Power! </p>
<p>Advice about the paint color was a bit too late but so true. Don’t hate the color its just not perfect but it will work for the holidays! Have bought a color called Relay Red by Ralph Lauren for the front door! Will see!</p>
<p>As to the “screws” Daughter has now been invited to 4 of them and her house is having one next week. She says they are fun, she has been set up with very nice guys, none she has liked to date but nice friends. She says there was only one that was awkward and that was because she said a lot of the dates were “liking each other” and so rather than having fun with the group, as at other “screws” people were going off together making out. She was not interested in her date so Awkward. It is a great way to meet and go out to a dance with a date rather than going single so she kind of likes the whole idea. Hate the name though!</p>
<p>Have to read the STEM article sounds interesting!</p>
<p>Still borrowing the computer so need to run, hope the weekend went well for all.</p>
<p>Yup … H was joking w/D on FB and she was cold and snotty. And while I’m happy she is busy and happy now, I can’t get an answer to any of my questions about her schedule, travel, etc. Oh, but I did get a text asking if she could buy something on our dime (something we tend to pay for, and it is nice she checked with us first before just putting it on the credit card). I guess this is 18 all over the place.</p>
<p>My older D did not enjoy Calculus in HS or in college and doesn’t feel it is necessary for her Bio work. But she is VERY sure that being strong in “regular” math has been very helpful, as she says being skilled in making accurate calculations has made the difference both in her science classes and in her post-college work. She plans to take more statistical and measurement-type courses (like GIS) to be even more qualified for jobs and grad school.</p>
<p>I’m not sure higher level conceptual math is always necessary, but these data-focused math-type classes wouldn’t hurt anyone. Finances, accounting, etc. would be very helpful for people in the arts, non-profits, etc. So I’m not sorry D2 won’t be taking calculus, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up learning some more “math” eventually.</p>
<p>I begrudgingly took statistics in grad school (after avoiding math for years) and it opened my eyes to a whole new way of understanding information.</p>
<p>Hi all</p>
<p>Skyped with kiddo this afternoon/ all seems well though kiddo is concerned about the ambiguous curve–that the semester will boil down to 3 exams…and plotted on a curve…
P sets, compositions etc dont seem to count for much. It is a new way to be graded and kiddo has no clue where it will land after being at the top of the pack for so many years. we knew this was going to be the case–you can’t take all of these top students from across the globe and they all can’t be the top if the classes are curved instead of a straight grade per a scale…kwim.
Kiddo said a large # of those in the multivariable calc class have had it before–all have A+ types of grades on the first exam (prof posted a histogram of the grades) and after turning in P sets on Thursdays, many leave class without staying for the lecture. Multi Var is new material for kiddo and so feeling under a lot of pressure. This is a “math” kid.</p>
<p>Have heard about general daily schedule and team commitments, social life, even the Red Bull party (yuck). </p>
<p>The “screw” for kiddo’s res col is next weekend. I hope the roommate picked a nice date. Kiddo was wondering how to workout the meetup of the roomate/date… </p>
<p>Looking forward to the turkey day arrival in about 2 weeks. :)</p>