<p>Hooray for AvonMom and all the AvonFamily! Hope you continue to get good news.</p>
<p>Grades for DS were a mixed bag, but he has already admitted he knows he needs to do better. Got B’s in Spanish and his first year seminar (an art history topic) and passed his pre-calculus class . . . barelllyyyyy. </p>
<p>As for Christmas, I’ve been up for four hours today. Read the paper and drank some coffee, ate some breakfast, cooked the cranberry salsa that goes on top of the brie-phyllo bites for Christmas Eve (the actual phyllo part has to be done at the last minute), made a big batch of Chex mix, wrapped five presents (I think those are the last to be wrapped), unclogged a toilet, and laundry load #3 is in the dryer. I’m wondering now if it’s too soon to bake some cookies that are for Christmas Day; I’ve never made them before, so not sure if they would freeze, etc. etc. I will probably go ahead and bake them today, and put them in my very best airtight tupperware. </p>
<p>Hope everyone else’s preparations and travel are going smoothly!</p>
<p>Classof2015- you may be on to something. The two classes that D took that were mid level- not introductory- had students ranging from 4th year to first years like D, and also much higher work loads and expections than than the two introductory classes D also took. The classes were more interesting, but also much harder.</p>
<p>AvonDad~Glad to read that Avonmom is now comfortably home.I found that waiting for pathology results is the worst part. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Please update us as we are here for you.</p>
<p>I will be back to discuss grades after the holidays, mixed bag here as well, and a big issue, but I can’t think about it anymore until Tues.</p>
<p>Thou shalt promise not to lose it on one of the kiddos today, particularly since I rarely get to see them anymore. Hosting a dinner party for 17 tonite and nary a child in site & 6/17 are their friends. Never mind that it is usually 12 people, now I have the plastic patio table in my living room. I think D is compensating by not having her bf here this year & inviting all her gf’s.
Then hosting family party tomorrow night, but that should only be 12 & I can get rid of the table.
D is flying her dog back with her, woo hoo, he has been here a year. Of course my dog will probably become depressed.
Happy Holidays everyone.</p>
<p>All I want to know is who is showing up for Christmas dinner, that is all. Your little lactose-intolerant, gluten-free wife requires some special planning…unless all she wants is the air of good will to fill her new age soul. And you over there, with the nasty psycho MIL who doesn’t have anywhere to go for Christmas because she alienated even her own children, by all means, bring her along. Not like I have to take in enough wacky blood relatives, lets bring in some additional chemically inbalanced old people…and yes, my younger brother, your evil older brother will be coming along to explain to you how your child is out of control with no discipline - that’s right around dessert in case you want to check out early on account of traffic or whatever.</p>
<p>Happy holidays all from the house of many Kayaks!</p>
<p>It certainly doesn’t sound boring at the Kayak house.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that Avonmom is home in time for the holidays.</p>
<p>Both of my D’s had strong semesters. D2 was somewhat disapointed that her grades were lower than her HS grades, but I assured her that she did great for first semester Freshman year. D1 finished her 60 page honors thesis and got great feedback from her professor. She’s thrilled to be finished after almost a year of research and writing. </p>
<p>Tonight we’re going to a Hanukkah party at my sister’s house. I’m looking forward to seeing my sisters, BILs, nieces and nephews. I got gift cards for all the nieces and nephews, but decided to go all Martha Stewart this afternoon and make little gift bags for them. </p>
<p>Haha AK! Sounds like some of those kayaks need to be pushed over a waterfall!</p>
<p>So glad to hear about AvonMom’s return home :)</p>
<p>VAmom: Love the new word for D in DH! But he’s obviously quite confident in your ability to pull this off, kind of a back handed compliment I guess…Good luck!!!</p>
<p>Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukah or whatever you celebrate!</p>
<p>My kid is an average student (lack of effort not lack of brains). He could have done better in HS and is continuing that in college. Therefore his first semester grades are probably what I should have expected. He has a “C” average and I guess I’m happy that his best grade was Comp (english) because that is a course that he needs to do well in to succeed in college. The lower grades were in gen-ed courses. He did worst in Econ, but he did try to get a tutor. He contacted the tutoring center and they were out of tutors for Econ, with a long waiting list. I did call to see if they knew of any kids tutoring “on the side” not thru center, but they didn’t. I still don’t get how a freshman course could have such a high need for tutoring…are the expectations high or is the teacher a poor teacher? My other son took it at CC and he did fine, sure it was CC…but it was way different. I took Econ and don’t remember it being a struggle, it was not a course you’d need a tutor. He never did make it off the wait list,but at least I know he made some effort to get help (though I doubt he did ALL he could ). He did get a grade that will transfer at least!</p>
<p>Since he is transferring (January yay!) his GPA starts over. He took one course in HS that was dual credit with CC. He got a B in it and it’s on a CC transcript and both his first college and his new one accept it. </p>
<p>When telling Dad and gparents his GPA can I add the “B” from his CC transcript? That brings him to a 2.33 which is a C+ and he shouldn’t get toooo much grief.Really hope that his Dad doesn’t get worked up about grades, it’s obvious he needs to do better so lets just say that and move on. Pretty sure that the new school would count all the grades transferred if they were evaluating for admission, luckily he got in based on HS. </p>
<p>Obviously he has to go up from here or he will be doing a year or more at CC. I really hope that he learned SOMETHING from this first semester as far as what kind of work he needs to do. I think the next school will be different, it’s more “normal” with a normal load of 5 3-credit courses, while the first school was 4 4-credit courses. I also hope that since he should be happier there that he will work harder. He knew he wanted to leave school one very early on.</p>
<p>Now I will not worry about this for a while.I’m happy everything transfers so no money was wasted and that boy better get it together in 2012. Have a great Holiday everybody! </p>
<p>All I want for Christmas is for next school year to go how I wished this one would have, but didn’t…We had disappointment upon unhappiness but we have set a new course so hoping for the best. Also, I need to count my blessings because even with my so-called problems I know there are those who would trade problems with me in a minute.</p>
<p>I love everyone’s perspective here. Even when things are not going well, there is humor and support. Feel like maybe we should plan one big party at the end of the year - whether or not our kids have done well, we will have survived!</p>
<p>And while some of us are frustrated with our kids right now (mine has been napping for 2 hours this afternoon – after I woke him at noon. I think he went to bed at 4am, and his room is a mess)…we’ll have to rally in just a few short weeks when they leave us again.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I wish you all the happiest of holidays and look forward to some funny stories of ‘close encounters’ with family!</p>
<p>AvonDad - I am so glad to hear that AvonMom is home and recuperating there. I continue to keep her and your family in my prayers.</p>
<p>I’m running off to the gocery store but reading the last few pages of updates brought one thought to mind: WHERE IS THE FRYING PAN WHEN WE NEED IT? There are probably at least 10 of us who could make good use of it at the moment…</p>
<p>Yay momjr, the fogfog/martha is rubbing off on you! have fun at the party</p>
<p>the dysfunction arrives here later tonight! glad I am not alone in having some “issues” with those visiting! thank goodness for my lovely mom and sister in law to balance out the rest. Worst part of it all is that my H gets soooo stressed when his folks are here. kids and I do our best to be gracious and kind, but it can be hard (I’ll spare you all the rest of the details) </p>
<p>Enjoying having D home despite the mess and late hours! Kids are very happy to be together.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear that AvonWife is home. We have all been sending positive thoughts your way.
I have all the kids under one roof now, and it’s been great. For the first time ever, all of my kids (even the big baby, DH) love their Hannukah gifts. Finding gifts for those I love is such a joyful experience for me, so it’s nice to know that they REALLY appreciate the effort.
S had a good first semester. Four of five grades are in…three A’s, one A-. I am very happy for him.
Merry Christmas everyone. Don’t fret the small stuff…you will weather the crazy-train family stuff…just like always.</p>
lol. That is me. This year I reused old gift bags for all the kids stuff instead of wrapping to save time. I thought I would have allkinds of extra time to spend cleaning before our brunch xmas day. Nope, it will be another xmas where I am scrambling xmas eve before we go to relatives. Half the “crap” will end up in the cellar because I don’t have time to put it away. </p>
<p>cgpm59 - I read somewhere recently that a slice of bread helps keep cookies fresh for days. Can’t tell you more than that. haha. </p>
<p>AK- good luck with the dinner. We have a few characters in our family too. Makes things interesting. LOL.</p>
<p>Idinct - H told me he wished I had not said anything about S’s grades til next week. too late. I love large gatherings, no one will notice the plastic table. </p>
<p>VaMom- I am so not a last minute drop in type of hostest with mostest. I stress a lot. Good luck. </p>
<p>Fog - wow, I would be a little peeved about TA’s making mistakes. I assume they have a master copy of the correct answers and they can add, so what is the problem? </p>
<p>Happy Holidays to all. If I am on cc Sat it is because I am doing what I tell my kids to not do, procastinate. I have lots of cleaning and prep to do for our xmas brunch. No time for this time suck til Monday.</p>
<p>coffee’s on, it’s almost Christmas, remember to enjoy the moment, love who you’re with for who they are (sometimes easier said than done), and remember it will soon be over for another year.</p>
<p>Tea is on also. Passing around the cranberry bread–enjoy. My goal on Christmas Eve is no stress!!! So far so good! I survived all the last minute guests and didn’t even use Pepper’s frying pan, although I should have! The rest of the family went out yesterday afternoon so I got all the gifts wrapped! </p>
<p>I told the family I am not cooking dinner tonight! I will be making pies today as well as prepping stuff for tomorrow’s breakfast, so they are in charge of tonight! </p>
<p>So glad Avonmom is home recovering. Sending prayers and good thoughts for the biopsy news.</p>
<p>Have a wonderful Christmas or Hanukkah for those who celebrate.</p>
<p>Merry Christmas, Hannukah and any other holiday you may celebrating. I am getting ready to vacumn and tidy before my neat house, complete with wrapped presents underneath is invaded by my 2 twin redheaded 3 yr old nephews ( who live up to that hair color) and their 10 going on 25 yr old sister. What was I thinking when I agreed to babysit on Christmas Eve so their parents could go to a football game? </p>
<p>I wish you all a more peaceful day and, more importantly, a few minutes to look around you and feel the love and count the blessings…our children are home safely for the holidays…best gift of all,</p>
<p>For those dealing with challenging guests during the holiday season, I’ll offer a quote from Tom Lehrer’s song National Brotherhood Week which also applies here: “It’s only for a week so have no fear – be grateful that it doesn’t last all year!” </p>
<p>Avon. glad to hear Mrs. Avon is home in time for the holiday’s and wish her a speedy recovery. </p>
<p>Boychild is hanging out with a friend today - he was supposed to work but had too many hours already this week. He’s v happy for the day off. DH is set to go out to buy everything he needs to make dinner tonight. Being Italian, he does the traditional seafood/pasta thing - usually goes overboard, too - so I asked him to not overdue it this year - one - because he makes a huge mess in the kitchen, and two - he takes forever and by the time we sit down none of us are hungry anymore and so barely eat. </p>
<p>FamilyFeud is over and just in time for all of us to have to be in the same place together - as we have a new baby in the family! Born yesterday so the Bris will be next Saturday. He came 6 weeks early but already 7lb 5oz! She was scheduled for a c-section in mid Jan if she didn’t deliver by then. And even though he’s already a big boy, he’s still considered a preemie. </p>
<p>Merry Christmas and wishing the 2012 gang a joyous holiday season! eb xxx</p>