<p>EAO: Well, you’ve motivated me to get the tree out of the house tonight. It has lingered here longer than in previous years…but today, it’s out of here. Thanks for the incentive!</p>
<p>Pepper: Love that your son told you not to apologize for your emotions. What a sweetie! Hugs to all of you missing your kids! Mine goes back tomorrow, so I’m bracing myself for the tears.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for all the tears. Pepper - what a sweet thing for him to say! I think I had a few seconds where it stung when I dropped ds at his bus but then I hit traffic and there was no time for it. Kind of grateful for traffic LOL! As far as I know ds had a great time at the bowl game but since they bussed them, I believe he missed at least one days worth of classes, maybe 2, in the first week of the semester and that has got him behind right off the bat. I’m sure he’s exhausted and this semester has all 8:30 am classes, so we’ll see how this goes. I just hope he doesn’t get himself in the same position as last semester where he had bad early tests and then had to dig himself out for the remaining weeks.</p>
<p>Anyway, now I turn my attention to dd1 ('13) and putting together her list. Requirements - stem cell research opportunities and korean language. My requirements - cheap.</p>
<p>Good morning, all! I’m sorry for those who are down due to kids going back to school. DD leaves for Texas tomorrow morning so I’m expecting to be in the same boat then. She won’t be home until May although we do expect to see her over spring break. It feels like it will be a long semester but older DD graduates in June and I will be somewhat preoccupied with her graduation and subsequent grad school plans… where she will be, what her living arrangements will be, etc.</p>
<p>So, one more day and then I’m back to our “new normal”. At least I know now that it won’t be as bad as I expected last fall. DH and I found that we did enjoy being able to set our own schedules (no games or ECs to dictate our lives) and to prepare whatever the two of us like (instead of considering our somewhat picky eaters’ preferences). This new freedom doesn’t completely offset the lack of kiddos around the house but it does help!</p>
<p>AK is that a hard task? I mean the money is but the combination of stem cell research and Korean?</p>
<p>Thanks for the laugh about the traffic. :)</p>
<p>Hi All!
Both boys are back at school. I was sad too (the kind where if you don’t talk, everything’s okay, but if you try to say something, it’s like the floodgates open!). I always try to remind myself: would I really (REALLY) want it any other way than the way it is now? And the answer is no- it’s the way things are supposed to be.</p>
<p>Haha, I got invited to a Middle aged women’s rave party tonight. Everyone’s husbands are either out of town or watching the national college football championship, so we’re making our own party. Apparently after asking her daughter what a Rave entails she was told: Strobe lights, drugs and techno music. So she’s modifying it to pizza, salad and Motown- and everybody brings their beverage of choice. I can’t wait! I hope I can stay awake until 10:30!</p>
<p>Pepper - Actually it’s not easy. It’s another learning curve for moi, bio majors can be in all flavors and certain schools focus on broad info and some more specific - so you have to look harder to make sure the dept. is deep enough, and focussed on cellular. Then, the korean - you have some west coast schools and then Columbia U, where you can actually major in korean. She just wants to be able to take some classes in the language (because - S. Korea is actually the best place for studying stem cells it ends up - very little ethics interference it appears) so then you end up having to look through the course catalogs since East Asian Studies might include a few years of Korean. Next kid will probably want some oddball combo to throw me in another direction.</p>
<p>yalemom - just watch your drink and make sure no incriminating photos get put up on FB!</p>
<p>BI–It’s snowing, enjoy it while it lasts!!!</p>
<p>DS headed back yesterday. This morning we discovered DS2’s gloves missing. Yep, DS1 took them by mistake. Sigh. They were new gloves and DS1 got gloves for Christmas and didn’t bother to consider which ones were his (by the way his are probably still in original packaging upstairs, so I’m not sure how he could be confused). Gotta love em! </p>
<p>I got up and exercised and ate a salad for lunch. Now if I can just do that for about another 4 months I should be in good shape for my live-aboard dive trip in May! :D</p>
<p>VAMom, I am in Maryland and when I read your post, I looked outside and sure enough its snowing here as well, just flurries but its pretty.</p>
<p>To get over the kids leaving, I am taking care of myself this week. Got up went to gym, came home had a protein shake for breakfast and a lean cuisine for lunch, then after watching an old Oprah on OWN got motivated and cleaned my bedroom, etc. Hope it lasts through the week, I have a lot to do but this is all part of my New Years Resolution to get more organized, get in shape and figure out what I want to do when I grow up. Figure its good to start by getting the house in order and then try to keep it that way when I am out changing the world, LOL</p>
<p>Yalemom, sounds like a fun night, enjoy!
Ohiomom, glad it motivated you those trees going up in flames was really scary!
Pepper, Know I am repressing feelings cause when I read your post, I teared up! So sweet of your son!</p>
<p>Hope you all have a good day!</p>
<p>Yup, snowing to the west as well. Just conversational snow though. Sticking on the grass, but not on the roads. Just enough to make sure S3 ('14) comes home with ants in his pants. ;)</p>
<p>Awwww, Pepper - you’ve a very sweet boy. </p>
<p>EAO, I’m right behind you. Cleaned the house from tip to toe, have dinner cooking in the crock pot and my yoga class starts up tonight after a month break.</p>
<p>EAO & Emilybee: Okay, you’re making me feel like a slacker. House is not clean from top to bottom. Diet and exercise program not started. Darn it – the tree is still sitting in the family room. (going out tonight!) But I did get my finished basement painted last weekend, so all is not lost. Just trailing way, way behind you…</p>
<p>We did my birthday early yesterday so dd would be here for it. She is going back tomorrow which is my birthday but in the morning and no one wanted to celebrate then. I received so many wonderful presents. They are all excited about my new deep fryer- never had one before- and all expect me to learn how to make fries the Belgian way- we lived in Belgium for three years but I never made fries there- just ate them.</p>
<p>D’s classes start on Wednesday but she is leaving fairly early tomorrow so she can get her belongings back into her dorm room including her new tv which she needs to set up.</p>
<p>Speaking of driver’s licenses, with our oldest, he couldn’t get a license until he was 18 because we were living in Europe and then he needed to either have a learner’s permit for one year or turn 18. He had the permit for seven months before he turned 18. The d who is in the class of 2015 got her license a few days after she turned 16 so she has been driving for more than 2 years. My youngest got her permit last Friday but has been unable to start learning since it keeps raining or is foggy. She agrees with us that her first lessons should be in the daytime on dry pavement. However, our weather here seems to be rainy every day. It is like as if we were back in Belgium.</p>
<p>Emilybee and Ohiomom, just to prove I am not super woman, just ate 7 (yes 7) Carr’s Ginger and Lemon cookies (crack to me) How many hours on the elliptical do you think that is worth??? And as far as getting the whole house clean, I only got one room clean (top to bottom including windows) but still hats off Emilybee!
Still snowing here but only sticking on grass not on the roads, bummer want a snow day!</p>
<p>Militarymom, will have to PM you about schools you went to in Belgium, we played sports all the time with several Belgium schools~!</p>
<p>I knew the new, responsible, got-it-all-together son was still a work-in-progress. When I got home from work today DH said, “Hey, I did some laundry today, and guess what I found in the dryer?” Yes, the load of laundry DS put in there Saturday night. The load of laundry that didn’t make it into his duffel bag for Sunday’s trip back to school. The load of laundry with his long-sleeved shirts…and the majority of his boxers. Sigh. Guess the next care package will be sooner rather than later, and less snacky and more underwear-y.</p>
<p>CHS - these kids never cease to amaze me! ROTFL</p>
<p>lol CHS about the underwear-y care package ;-P</p>
<p>I can just see his classmates, circling 'round the big box, hoping for homebaked cookies or junk food, and he pulls out…boxers! Lots of 'em! Yum yum! </p>
<p>Um – D flies out tonight…I better go check the dryer…</p>
<p>CHS- I mailed something to S last semester like. A book or something he needed and asked me to mail. But he forgot about it til he opened the package hoping for cookies and it was the other thing. He said his mouth was watering and I let him down.:(</p>
<p>I have pulled S’s laundry out of the dryer several times during break, it never ceases to amaze me how much laundry he manages to fit in there. I keep telling him more is not better when doing laundry, big loads may not wash well. </p>
<p>Happy Birthday MM!</p>
<p>chs-too funny!</p>