<p>Avon aka Captain…
How about a holiday cruise first…</p>
<p>[Beach</a> Boys - Kokomo - YouTube](<a href=“- YouTube”>- YouTube)</p>
<p>Fog–I mailed the advent calendars for DS1 and his 3 roommates. I was hoping it would arrive today, but when I checked earlier, no such luck. Oh well, guess they have to eat two pieces of chocolate tomorrow! 
I also found some silly holiday Star Wars bobble heads at Target that I couldn’t pass up. Hopefully they will appreciate the humor and not think I’m totally insane!</p>
<p>I have until 2015 for the next countdown, and I don’t even want to think about it for a long time! :eek: The time will fly, I’m sure. </p>
<p>I’d definitely prefer a countdown to Kokomo! Perhaps we need to do our get-together on some tropical island rather than New York! (Especially in the winter).</p>
<p>I must be living in some sort of time warp, because my inner clock keeps sending off alarms that the early app is due today (wow–post traumatic stress?) and yet, the calendar on my pc is reminding me that tomorrow is the last day of classes for my S’s first semester. Yikes!!! Where has the time gone? And why am I still feeling the surge to the starting gate (like a race horse) from watching my 2 getting ready for college app seasons past? Heh.</p>
<p>The great news is–we here are all survivors of last year’s push, the weighing of options, the making sense of hundreds of colleges for fit, major programs, travel, dorm life, and all those other important factors (are the girls carrying the right handbag?) that make some decisions easy and some hard.</p>
<p>I’m so thankful (mentioned it at our Turkey Day) that we made it through and are now onto the next big challenge.</p>
<p>Good luck to all our kids finishing projects, papers, research, performances, and most of all… their first college finals.</p>
<p>D has now called me two days in a row. I don’t think she had called me once til yesterday. She is not a phone person.</p>
<p>Anyway, her new computer is kaput. (and right before finals!) She bought it last March to get the kinks out and the kinks wait til now to show up. It is an HP and she found out yesterday that her U’s tech support will work on anything BUT HP. She called the warranty place and was on hold for two hours yesterday and thought it was fixed. She called in tears because she spent $150 to extend the warranty and charged it without asking first.</p>
<p>She called in tears again today because is now dead and the warrantly place can’t do anything about it, there is no Staples within 100 miles, and she doesn’t know what to do. (Um, have them send you a fed ex box to mail it back in and get a replacement?)</p>
<p>Anyway, it is just too much of a hassle right before finals. I think she is lucky the Spanish project is done and it is mostly math and science otherwise, which are more exam oriented then paper oriented as far as finals go.</p>
<p>@bajamm: Arrgh, computers! They always seem to know how to crash at the worst times.</p>
<p>DD mentioned in a phone call that she’s been really having trouble focusing since the T’day break. She felt like it was a tease, “See? This is life outside of college!” and it’s made it really hard, wanting to get home for some kitty love and sleep. Last day of classes is tomorrow, then two weeks of reading/finals. Then the plane home!!</p>
<p>Bajamm - hugs to your daughter. The rest of us need to remind our kids to backup their computers. Unfortunately most people don’t heed this warning until they have been caught once o twice. There are great sales right now. She probably could replace her laptop for $500.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a unique, cool and affordable holiday gift for anyone with a laptop, smartphone or tablet, check out [DrawTop</a> | The Whiteboard App That’s Compatible Everywhere.](<a href=“http://www.thedrawtop.com%5DDrawTop”>http://www.thedrawtop.com). It is a custom sized, erasable whiteboard that fits perfectly on the outside of each of these devices. It was designed and is manufactured by Olin, NEU and MIT student and graduates.</p>
<p>I popped in to lurk on the class of 2012 thread today - several ED and EA acceptances. I am sooooo glad to be done with all that!</p>
<p>Bajamm - Condolences to your daughter. I am always grateful for my IT son. Wish he was going to college with your girl!</p>
<p>I got my son these cute little light up trees - [LED</a> Christmas Tree Light, Color Changing Small Night Light, Optical Fiber Christmas Tree](<a href=“http://www.meritline.com/led-color-changing-small-night-light-optical-fiber-christmas-tree---p-59442.aspx?source=nextaghdac]LED”>Home - MeritLine) I’m planning to send them next week with some exam time snacks.</p>
<p>Bajamm - Stupid computers! I hope your DD gets through exams without hers; that stinks.</p>
<p>DD2 and her BFF took an interesting step yesterday. They each need to finish a term paper this week and then study this weekend for exams next week but they are easily distracted by Facebook. Yesterday, they each logged into FB and then swapped laptops so that they could change each other’s passwords. They deleted the FB app off of their phones also so have no way to access it without help from the other person. We’ll see if they last the week!</p>
<p>I LOVE the Whiteboard App! That is definitely happening.
D’s computer also went on the fritz this week, but it was only software problems which the tech guys could/did fix. She was remarkably calm about it, given that she had called me in total meltdown about 6 hours before it happened (first college exams stress) and I expected this to put her right back on the ledge. But no, she was joking about it on FB. Helpful to get some perspective.</p>
<p>Avon: I can’t go there yet!</p>
<p>FlMathmom: Those whiteboards are cool!</p>
<p>kathiep: I like the little trees!</p>
<p>proudmomof2: I like your daughter’s plan to stay away from FB. Hope it lasts until finals are over!</p>
<p>bajamm: So sorry about the computer troubles. It’s your worst nightmare when something like this happens during finals!</p>
<p>For those who decide to purchase the Whiteboard App, let us know how you like it. So glad others think it’s cool too.</p>
<p>I know this isn’t a shopping thread, but i have to tell you about <a href=“http://www.jossandmain.com%5B/url%5D”>www.jossandmain.com</a> . Awesome site for anyone who likes decorating, buying gifts that are more home oriented. No run of the mill stuff, good prices. HGTV style. I found a perfect gift for my son who is impossible to buy for.</p>
<p>Madbean: Nice to see your post! I am having the same deja vu. Then I remind myself that I don’t need to feel so stressed. It is all ok. It is over, and despite all the application mistakes we made, D is at a perfect school for her. In retrospect, despite all the work and the stress of last year, it really WAS exciting (despite some rejections) for our kids to have so many wonderful choices. I know it was a thrill for my D to do all those college visits last April. I remember your son was also thrilled to be able to accept his top choice college from among many other acceptances. Glad to hear all is going well!</p>
<p>bajamm, sorry to hear about the computer problems. </p>
<p>madbean, I set up both kids on [Dropbox</a> - Simplify your life](<a href=“http://www.dropbox.com%5DDropbox”>http://www.dropbox.com), which is free up to 2 gigs (easy if they are not saving videos or music). The files are on the cloud and can be accessed from any computer, so even if the computer dies, they can get their files nearly immediately. Terrific software. Steve Jobs tried to buy the company, but the founders wouldn’t sell.</p>
<p>Well, I’ve had a modest bit of deja vu as well, because of ShawD’s decision to transfer from biology into nursing at her school, but somewhere else if she doesn’t get accepted at her school. Online apps for Ontario are done leaving only two other schools. Transcripts requested from HS. First semester transcript requested for the Ontario schools. ACT scores not yet requested. Some personal statements yet to be written.</p>
<p>bajamm- That is awful about the computer. I hope it gets straightened out soon.</p>
<p>I gave D1 a chocolate Advent calendar to take back with her after Thanksgiving. She told me today that she had the first piece of chocolate, which was shped like a train.</p>
<p>One of the advantages of being less than an hour away from her school is that I was able to attend the Christmas Concert put on by the orchestra, women’s chorus, and the men’s chorus. It was really wonderful. The musical talent in a school where the majority of the students are science and engineering majors amazes me.</p>
<p>One of the things that impressed me the most was that there were less than 100 people in attendance, and the President of the university was sitting in the front row. This is the second student run event that I attended since D1 started in August, and he was in attendance. I told my D that I only recall seeing the President of my college at graduation.</p>
<p>Hello everyone</p>
<p>I need some help please. My D would be coming home for Winter holidays and I was wondering on how can she take care of clothes/footwear and odor and humidity. I don’t think she will pack anything and will be leaving the room as is.</p>
<p>She is in a double suite and has a walk-in Closet for clothes, shoes and a luggage rack. There is another small room where she has a dresser drawer, a mini fridge and a microwave. The room is carpeted with an attached bathroom as well. And she is in New York City.</p>
<p>Since the room will stay locked for over 20 days, I would appreciate some care suggestions.</p>
<p>Anialways, Its Cold in December and there is no humidity to speak of as a matter of fact most people get humidifiers in the winter since it gets so dry. I would have her clean out the fridge, throw anything out that will spoil in 20 days, clean the bathroom, take out the trash and lock the door.</p>
<p>Bajamm- so stressful about the computer! This happened to my D on the day I arrived for parents weekend. The logic board had crashed and she had not backed up her computer for about a month. She has an Apple and went to the Apple store who said they would have to send it away and she would most likely lose any unsaved information. UGH, luckily there was a Law School computer tech guy in the seat next to her who offered for her to bring her computer over to try to get the stuff off her computer before she sent it in. I arrived at this point and took her over to see the guy who was able to extract everything off and save it. She was unable to get a loaner as she didn’t buy the computer from the University (probably something to look into if your D decides to buy a new computer) but it did come back in 3 days. Hopefully your D can find a solution to tide her over till her computer comes back, it is amazing how dependent we are on our computers!!!
Proudmomof2- So funny, my son found a program that blocks him logging onto any addictive site that he decides he can’t keep away from. You set a time limit, say 4 hours and you can’t log onto the site till the time is up. Helps if you don’t have someone like a BFF to keep you honest!!
Highhead, Turkey is amazing, great people and great country to visit although I am not sure about the area close to Iraq border! Its cool to hear about the opportunities our kids have,scary or not!
Flmathmom, Whiteboard app sounds cool, will have to look into it!
I haven’t sent anything to any of my kids and am afraid that if I send it now it won’t get there. I have still not started decorating kind of want my kids to help so may wait, will see! Have a great weekend.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone, for your thoughts and comments on D’s computer. The tech people through the warranty company are sending her some restore disks (I am not sure why she didn’t already have those) and we will see if that works. Otherwise she will need to send it in.</p>
<p>She seems to think she can get by using the library or roomies computer in the mean time.</p>
<p>anialways, The majority of college students will be leaving their rooms for at least 20 days. Emptying the trash and clearing out the refrigerator and making sure there is minimal dirty laundry is all that needs to be done. Agree about the lack of humidity. This is when people start using humidifiers to ADD humidity because the air is so dry.</p>
<p>@EAO1227-will your son share the program that blocks sites? It might help my HS S15 to focus more during study.</p>