<p>Hugs to Highhead and her D.</p>
<p>HHead - so sorry to hear about your father. I hope he recovers quickly, you are able to find a nice place for for your parents to live, and get some rest for yourself. I too have a low maintenance S14. They are such a blessing!!</p>
<p>@EAO. Thanks! Fully is unlikely given other health issues, but we’ll take it as it comes. My dad is very clear-headed and unafraid of hard facts, so he is fairly easy to deal with right now despite the surgery. My mom is the issue. I think it’s a classic case of the caregiver falling before the invalid. I agree about the Yale house system. D plans to continue on indefinitely with her suite mates, all 10 of them (it’s a 6 + 4 + the girl from another college who lives on their couch) in some configuration, but she is not close to any of them and a couple of them seem to be bad for her, so …</p>
<p>Can one of you find my H an executive assistant like the ones you are describing? Sometimes I get two emails about upcoming travel, frequently I get nothing. I know that H’s EA is not paid to help me, but I ask H questions and he gets irritated because I “should know”.</p>
<p>Rescuing us from page two and serving up a second cup of coffee for anyone stopping in. I hope all our members and kids are safe from the winter storm in the northwest. I understand another storm is forming over the Great Lakes and northeast. Stay warm everyone!!</p>
<p>BI, thanks for the coffee. </p>
<p>Highhead, ++++ for you and your mom and dad. Must be difficult being a 7 hour car ride away. Anyway you can convince them to go into an assisted living facility near you?</p>
<p>HighHead, I actually have to work very hard in the hiring phase to find people who really get it. Most executive assistants don’t really get it – I need them to take anything off my plate that they can so that I can do what the world needs from me. This includes coordinating on things with my wife and kids, so I have my wife interview final candidates, which send the message that that is important. But, despite everything I say, some kind of slack off on coordinating with ShawWife and they end up going. I think my current assistant (2 months into the job) gets it. She just informed me that she’s heading over to ShawWife’s studio as I type to get ShawWife to sign a form for a 529 Plan withdrawal and to jointly call the bank to set up online access (or something like that) for an account.</p>
<p>I have hired with success and not over the years. The best candidates had one or two jobs prior to taking this one and never worked for big companies. I’ve hired all ages, largely female but one male (who was a bust), but have had the best success with younger ones. I’m hiring for IQ, initiative, charm, and a bit of anal compulsiveness – someone who takes ownership of responsibilities. I suspect, incidentally, that CC moms who have managed college apps/complex households could be good at this kind of job. There is lots of stuff new hires have to learn (complex international travel that changes at the last minute, how to talk to CEOs/other serious folk who call and expect to be treated like royalty, how to charm their executive assistants, lots of on the phone charming of people whose help we need – females seem to be much better at that).</p>
<p>D headed back on Monday. A bit homesick, but slowly getting better. She likes her classes this semester, although they look like they will be tough. Signs of maturity definitely popping through - she had a conflict already for a chem exam and she has on her own accord, talked to the prof and figured out a way around it! Yeah!</p>
<p>She did get an offer for a summer job. She has applied to several places - she is now contacting the other places to tell them she has an offer - to see if any of those other camps will offer her the job as well. The summer job is long - from mid June to mid August. Sounds like we won’t really see her much :(</p>
<p>Also dealing with some housing issues for next year. Apparently sophomore housing is all 6 bedroom suites with one bathroom. Original plan was for her to share with a couple of girls and a couple of boys - but it looks like they are rethinking that idea. </p>
<p>Back home, we do miss her. But we’ve fallen back to our routine fairly easily. Like someone else said earlier - getting used to the “new” normal out here.</p>
<p>-11 air temp, -30 wind chill here! Hot chocolate will be ready in 5 for anyone who wants some…</p>
<p>Girl and phone are reunited (imagine swelling emotional music in background 
). </p>
<p>Now we move on to the beginning of the semester rearrangement of classes. Popcorn, anyone? 
D1 isn’t anywhere near ready to declare a major, but based on what she’s dropping and keeping, I can see what’s no longer a contender.</p>
<p>ShawD’s letter of acceptance arrived today (funny since she also started class today). The unexpected good news: A meaningful merit scholarship. </p>
<p>She placed out of her language, math, and science requirements – just needs culture, performing/creative arts, and psychology/ethical issues. She should place out of the latter as well.</p>
<p>Shaw- Great news about the merit scholarship !Where did your D end up going.</p>
<p>Shaw – great news about the scholarship! :D</p>
<p>Shawbridge - great news on $$$$$$</p>
<p>Congrats to Shaw’s D on merit $$$$!</p>
<p>HH- Have you thought about moving your parents to a facility closer to you? Pluses and minuses. If they are closer you will feel obligated to get even more involved, but in an emergency you aren’t that long drive away. Hope your Father has a quick recovery. </p>
<p>Congrats to Shaw D! woohoo. </p>
<p>Aris - congrats to your D on job offer. </p>
<p>S talked to his special advisor regarding his academic probation. I am only hearing S’s side of the meeting, but it was a joke. She just told him “continue on”, go see the folks who help with study habits, etc. I asked what she had to say about the two required classes he got less than a 2.0 in. One of which was her class! S said she had nothing to say about them. Of course he did not ask either. My fear is he continues on and doesn’t retake only to find out sr year he needs to retake. So I asked him to email her with that specific question and to bcc me. The good news is he has enough AP credit that he can still graduate in time if he has to retake those classes.</p>
<p>Congrats to Shawbridge and ShawD - maybe it was just meant to be.</p>
<p>mamom - it is hard to watch your kid dig themselves out of a hole but in the long run it may be just what was needed at the time. Good luck…</p>
<p>Congrats on the merit money Shawbridge!</p>
<p>Mamom, its frustrating to me that even though we are paying tuition we really are out of the loop but I guess its time for them to do it on their own, sink or swim. Hopefully this is a wake up call for him. He probably is taking it more to heart than you think, he probably is disappointed in himself and embarrassed and trying to downplay it, at least that is what my kids would do.</p>
<p>Highhead, that is great that your D wants to stay with all 10 of her suitemates for next year. Really says something about the housing systems method of matching roommates. Will the couch sleeper transfer colleges to be with them? D likes 3/4 of her roommates and is just concerned with the last roommate who is messy and doesn’t do much with the other 3. Told her they need to talk with girl now, she hangs out with some other kids and may have already been planning on moving but if not you don’t want to dump her at the last minute, not fair. She agreed to do that.</p>
<p>Crazy weather here, one day warm the next cold, what I really want is snow but there doesn’t seem to be any “real” snow in the forecast. Have a good day!</p>
<p>Good news and congrats on the merit money, roommate news, and job offers.</p>
<p>We thought DS had taken all of his things back to school but lo and behold, we got an email and a call yesterday, “I forgot my shaver cord and my…” Looks like another trip to the Post Office tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>He got his schedule worked out and was selected as one of 4 out of over 50 applicants from the Add list for the International Relations course he hoped to add.</p>
<p>AvonMom is coming along fairly well. Her sister left for home yesterday so the house is much quieter with just the two of us and DD’14. </p>
<p>For those of you looking to renew FA or apply for the first time, FAFSA and CSS forms are due fairly soon. :eek: It feel like we just fininhed up this cycle and herre it is again. And to make matters worse, DD’14 just received her first piece of college marketing mail yesterday, nearly two years before her application cycle begins! Time is going too fast.</p>
<p>Snow here today, with more predicted for the weekend. We are getting just the right amount of light and fluffy snow that doesn’t cause major issues. Thank goodness D1 cannot have a car on campus, so I got to take the SUV, since my little car is awful in the snow.</p>
<p>D1 has a Sykpe interview today for a summer camp position. Even though it is a different camp than she worked in the past, we know the director very well, and the director has been trying to get her to work at that camp for a while. The camp is much closer to home than the one she worked at for 2 summers (45 minutes compared to 2 hours). She will be able to come home on her night off, if she wants. It is also only 15 minutes from where I work, so I would be able to drop off anything she may need.</p>
<p>She has her first round of RA interviews tomorrow. She said the first ones are group interviews to see how they interact in group situations. She will have more one on one interviews next week. She is supposed to be notified by next Friday if she got a position. If she does not get an RA position, she is hoping to live in the sorority house, which is done by lottery and sophomores gets first preference. If that doesn’t work out, Plan C is to do the school housing lottery, which seems like a real nightmare. Plan D is to get an off campus apartment, which she can easily find, but it will require her to scramble to get friends together to share an apartment. She is really hoping for the RA position, which will eliminate so many issues with housing for next year.</p>
<p>AvonDad - So glad to hear that AvonMom is coming along well. Do you know if the FAFSA/Profile deadline varies by school? I got the email reminder yesterday and sent it on to Bluedad but for some reason though that returning students didn’t have such an early deadline (ours was 3/1 last year). I supposed I should venture onto the school’s website today (grumbling under my breath…).</p>
<p>I’d like to gladly offer to take on any winter weather anyone would like to toss my way that you are sick of. We haven’t had a proper snowstorm yet and I’m a bit underwhelmed with the moderate winter we’ve had. My kindle and I are ready for a few days of quiet reading! I think we’re getting a ‘wintery mix’ tonight…boring.</p>