<p>Kinder–wow! Sounds like your DD had a lot to deal with. Hope she gets it all worked out so she can stay at the school she loves.</p>
<p>GAmom–Hope your DD’s recovery is quick and she’s back to 100% (or close) for next semester.</p>
<p>Siemom–Didn’t you tell you DS that the freshman 15 means gaining weight. Hope you can fatten him up and return him to school with good eating options so he doesn’t lose any more weight.</p>
<p>Keep Avonmom in your thoughts today. I believe her surgery is today. Hopefully all will go smoothly and the Avonfamily can have a wonderful holiday celebration.</p>
<p>^ Yes Warm thoughts and prayers to Avon and family.</p>
<p>As for us…finished the last baking today. And polished silverware. </p>
<p>With what I purchase and what was sent to us etc–it is crazy. We are not going to eat all of these cookies, cakes and …today arrived a package of 16 candied (chocolate, carmel etc) gourmet apples from MiL. I feel a sugar coma coming on with the box on my counter!</p>
<p>So happy to have everyone around the dinner table. Last night was leftovers for the kids while we were out at a business party (book signing thing). Tonight kiddo2 has a community service commitment so DH and kiddo2 will not be home. Maybe pizza for kiddo and I so I can take a break from cooking tonight…</p>
<p>We started our marathon Monopoly game the other night. Will likley play Scrabble, Risk, Rock Band, Wii etc before the break is over. Makes my heart sing to have BOTH of my kids on the couch. </p>
<p>While passing the Peace at church on Sunday, younger kiddo gave older kiddo a lingering long hug. Later Kiddo2 whispered in my ear how good it is to have Kiddo1 home. They are really enjoying eachother’s company. It is a blessing.</p>
<p>With extended family drama and FiL’s sudden passing mid year, I am thankful for these moments when all feels right in my world. This time of year can be especially painful depending on whats going on —so hugs and warm regards to all. Peace.</p>
<p>ShawWife had surgery on her thumb today. She’s home now watching dumb movies under the influence of Vicodin. I’m nurse [good thing it’s not serious]. She’s avoided this surgery for years because it is in the thumb of her right hand and she was afraid it could damage a nerve and make painting hard. Well, I encouraged her to make an appointment with the surgeon to discuss her concerns. He was going to do the surgery from the side, which would leave no scars but have some (small) risk of nerve damage and he was going to do it in a hospital under general anesthesia, but instead, he is doing it from the top (which would leave a scar but negligible risk of any damage) and he did it under with local anesthesia at an outpatient surgical clinic. Much faster and better.</p>
<p>Yesterday, ShawD asked me, “If I’m going to switch into nursing and only some of my credits transfer, if I have to start again as a first year student, and if they are going to judge me on my college record which is hard to predict because the grades come largely at the end of the course in exams (as well as my HS record), is there a reason I should complete the second semester? Or am I better off stopping after the first semester?” Good question.</p>
<p>So, I called the registrar and admissions offices and learned that they would judge her largely based upon her HS record because they would only have her half-year course grades and only one of her courses (Biology) was a half year course. She would have to have a B in her courses, so if she completes her year, they might wait to ensure that she has a B average before admitting her, but strangely enough, if she has a B in the biology course and withdraws, she’s likely to be admitted (true in both cases) but won’t have to wait until the end of April to hear (and take a risk that she has under a B average overall). Strange incentives. Since only 2/5 of the course credits would be transferable, it may actually make sense to withdraw if she has a B in the bio course.</p>
<p>She talked to her HS guidance counselor who said, “Ask if withdrawing after a semester would look bad.” Her school says no, but the GC said ask some other schools. Good suggestion. We’ll do that.</p>
<p>Then, drama. At 5 PM, ShawD gets an email from the bio instructor saying, “If you are getting this, we don’t have your bio exam. Can you explain why you didn’t write it?” She emailed back at 9 PM when she got it saying, “I wrote it. I took in XXX room. I can tell you specific questions that were on the exam if there is any question that I didn’t take the exam. I take exams with extended time. Is it possible you didn’t get the extended time exams. Please let me know ASAP.” My blood pressure was boiling as this is the only course for which she actually needs to get a grade for her applications. I was already figuring out how to fix this. [I’m good at this kind of thing; nice when I need to be but a gigantic pain in the rear when I need to be.]</p>
<p>This morning at about 10:30 the instructor emails back and says, “The extended time box didn’t get delivered to us last night. We have your exam and we’ve marked it.” So, she asked how she did. No answer to that yet. Nothing like a little drama.</p>
<p>Shawbridge - hope your wife recovers quickly. Good reason not to cook or clean IMO. </p>
<p>Good questions being asked re: dd change in major. Hopefully your kids will inherit/develop your problem resolution skills. It is a wonderful skill.</p>
<p>Fogfog - sounds like you have wonderful family time planned</p>
<p>Kathy, well done to your son. Must be over the moon. </p>
<p>I don’t think boychild’s grades are released until the end of the month. </p>
<p>It’s almost 3:30 and I’m still in my pj’s! Having an extended family feud over some jointly held possessions and property of my mom and her 2 sisters, with one of the sisters being completely deaf to the other two concerns. Emails flying fast and furious for more than a week between my mom, the son-in-law of sister #1 and the daughter of sister #2 who has power of attorney over all decisions for her mom, me and my sister. Sister #1 has repeatedly screwed sister #2 and my mom since their mom died 32 years ago. It’s not a proper holiday season with a huge family fight, no?</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I haven’t bought candles for the menorah (I do have a few left over from 2 years ago so I’m good for tonight at least) and I have don’t have the proper potatoes in the house for latkes. Sigh.</p>
<p>^ Hugs Emilybee…
Yes those kinds of family things just makes these holidays so “bright”!!
Between my mom and her 2 sisters, and my dad and his 3 siblings…yuck. Emails from my dad have created tremendous riffs…
I try to not imagine when my parents pass…
To solve the issue … I buy my “heirlooms” on ebay…haha…
Plus many things are from our family travels. </p>
<p>This is why we are staying put this year–no traveling to visit and no family guests…
DH, kid1 and kid2 and I all felt we needed the “no extended family drama” break…</p>
<p>Blessings to all celebrating —
Latkes… yum!</p>
<p>So far everything has gone good. The lymph nodes were clear so it remains at stage 1. AvonMom is in recovery now and should be moved to a room in a half hour or so. Thank you all for your virtual support and kind words. I will head home and have dinner with DD and DS and bring them back for a visit this evening.</p>
<p>Here’s wishing a speedy recovery to ShawWife as well.</p>
<p>Sooo happy to hear this Avon!! Such good good news!
Shaw–sending warm thoughts to your dear wife in her recovery. Silly movies and vicodan…haha…good thing there is lots on tv right now.</p>
<p>Prayers for good recoveries for Shawwife and praises for the good report on Avonwife.</p>
<p>Don’t believe that d received official notification yet but since she has all her grades, we now know she has a 4.0 plus for her first semester. The plus is because she received two A pluses which count for 4.33 but the maximum GPA she can have is 4.0. However, if she receives a lower grade than an A sometime down the line, like I am sure she will eventually encounter, the pluses will raise the GPA. So like an A- will turn into an A. She really worked very hard for this and I am extremely happy since the psychologist at the neuro-psych evaluation had strongly urged her to start in community college. Our entire family thought she would do okay in college but considering that she has memory problems, we really didn’t expect her to do so well in math, where remembering how to do each type of problem is so important. She got a 92 on her final and an A in the class. It is also amazing to us how well she did since she has still been having low blood pressure issues at the college and at least one weekend was kind of totally out of commission because of fainting and lingering fuzziness. Now for her to make some friends at college. She has a few acquaintances that she occasionally talks to but most days she is mainly studying. She does acknowledge that it would be nice to have some friends so that will be an effort she will make next semester.</p>
<p>FlMathmom, Classof2015, fogfog, you are right. cooking, cleaning, lifting, painting, and other critical life activities are out for a few days at least. ShawWife, in good Jewish mother fashion, cooked about six meals prior to the surgery. Moreover, we have 4 parties (at least), a scheduled family dinner at a fancy restaurant, and Jewish Christmas, there are probably only two nights on which dinner isn’t already planned before we leave for our vacation in Mexico. So, we won’t run out of food.</p>
<p>ShawD is on her way home and plans to make dinner tonight (despite the fact that there are three or four cooked dinners in the refrigerator). It is good living in a Jewish household.</p>
<p>That is good news AvonDad, here is hope for a speedy recovery and also for Shawwife.</p>
<p>I am doing the last of the “baking”, well it’s not really baking. I am separating oreos for use as bases for my Christmas mice. i am unhappy that they are dusted with black oreo it is ruining the illusion of snow.</p>