<p>Oh AvonDad and Minnymom good luck to you! It does seem hard to believe it was three years ago! It sounds like our kids are doing well! </p>
<p>I have needed the frying pan a bit lately! We are starting this process again for my daughter who is a HS Junior and they both have needed it from time to time.</p>
<p>Good luck to you AvonDad!</p>
<p>Pepper - I hear you. S is a sophomore in HS and we are talking of starting the process with him this summer (he’s at a boarding school and hardly communicates - so I feel the need to do everything when I have him around!). I am going to need to borrow that frying pan :)</p>
<p>Quiet out here. It’s D’s 21st birthday today. Called her last night and again this morning. Miss being with her so much. H was smart - he had a business trip today and managed to wrangle a stop-over in Cleveland, so he’s with her right now !</p>
<p>Can’t believe 21 years have gone by - really proud of the young woman we’ve raised though! We are headed to a wedding in New Orleans this weekend - so will get to see D there!</p>
<p>Happy Birthday to your daughter! My son turned 21 a month ago and he seems to be thoroughly enjoying it! You can borrow the frying pan anytime! :)</p>
<p>Happy Birthday to those turning 21! I was looking at pics of my d1 on fb when she went to visit her high school bff over the weekend she turned 21. I had to stop and look at their sweet faces and how they have matured over the past year. They have lost the " girl" look and very much look like young women.</p>
<p>College girl was excited to be" tapped" in class this week for the ODK Honor society. I was clueless and had to ask her to explain what it was. I love these traditions!</p>
<p>Happy Birthday to the new 21 year olds. </p>
<p>Good luck to Avon and Minnymom’s 2104’s with their results. </p>
<p>It’s great that so many of our kids are getting the chance to travel and study abroad. My D is loving her time in New Zealand. It’s a good think her student Visa expires in July, or I think we’d have trouble getting her back. </p>
<p>A few days ago, both DS and I got emails from his school’s fin. aid office saying “We noticed you haven’t completed your FAFSA for 2014-15.” When I got home from work, I forwarded the confirmation emails that we received from FAFSA back on Feb. 8 and 10, plus the confirmation email from the COLLEGE ITSELF that we got on Feb. 11. Next morning, we get an email “Sorry for the confusion. Yes, we got it and everything’s fine.” Whew! I was about to drive up there and scream and stomp around. Not the kind of “oops” email you want to see!</p>
<p>After careful consideration of what’s left course-wise, DS has decided to take an extra semester to finish everything up. He could finish on-time next May, but it would be very difficult and he’d have to take two courses this summer, which would severely hamper his ability to work as many hours as possible. After I told him that money was no object – well, within certain limits, at least! 
– he was relieved to have this option. </p>
<p>Think back three years at this time. I, and several others on this 2011 HS Class thread just relived those crazy decision release days with our 2014ers. Yes, the maddness of late March (and I am not talking basketball right now) hit us all over again with D 2014. Fortunatley the good training in 2011 prepared us for the joy of acceptances, the agony of waitlists and the defeat of rejections/denials, although someone on our 2014 thread very creatively identified and renamed rejections as “redirections”. </p>
<p>The coolers are filled, the provisions stocked, the crew trained, welcome aboard drink orders solicited, staterooms assigned and all of the possible ports identified. The 2014 SS Indecision sets sail bright and early Tueaday after all of our parents and undeciced kids are aboard. Any 2011 parents who are still feeling the impact of this past winter are welcome to join us and assist with activities and counseling sessions. The drinks are all free again this year!</p>
<p>Captain, my Captain. Glad to have been aboard your ship Indecision, with you calmly at the helm…I will be aboard next yr but this year, thankfully, I am on dry land. Good luck!! Have you passed around the seasickness medication yet?</p>
<p>We’re back on board this year. I think I need meds for insomnia, not seasickness.</p>
<p>My HS junior is an opposite of S1. I will be aboard next year but this year, I think I need a valium pump!</p>
<p>Captain Avon–Good luck with your latest crew and itinerary. I hope you have smooth sailing and all enjoy the ride! I’ll be with Amandakayak and sunnydayfun on the roller coaster next year, although DS2 is so different, and it will be interesting to see what happens.</p>
<p>Is anyone starting to get a little sad at the thought that they are graduating next year. It seems to have flown by so fast! I’m sure that’s not true for them as I remember it seemed like I was in college forever! DS is really enjoying his study abroad in Panama. He got to do some touring and learning about the local culture during his spring break, which he really enjoyed. It will be good to see him again, as he’s just not the best at communicating and I’d love to hear more about his adventures!</p>
<p>I will also be onboard with d2 next year!</p>
<p>Yes, this has gone so fast. My D1 has loved her college experience and realizes the time is moving fast. This time next year they could have " real" job offers! :)>- </p>
<p>I though that emoticon was fingers crossed, but with my glasses on I think it is a peace sign!</p>
<p>Good luck AvonDad on your new voyage. I’m glad to say I’ve got feet on firm ground with no more passengers at my house (unless there is some stowaway I never noticed!) I was a little ferklempt when S2 told me he is already registering for classes for next year and he was a startled to see how few classes are really left and how little time (just 2 semesters) he will be at college. Sob!! But no sobbing at my house when DH and I realized we had filed our last FAFSA of all time. I mean. Some endings are just all good. </p>
<p>Good luck with all those decisions. ShawD is in the midst of the next stages of choice. She will get her BSN in December and has been accepted already into the MSN program so she will finish as a nurse practitioner. Many of her classes are with MSN students. She is starting to think about what areas she might specialize in as her clinical work next year might well lead to employment. This leads to the next question. She is also trying to decide whether to do her masters full-time or work part-time as an RN while going to school half-time. She currently works a lot of weekend shifts at a teaching hospital – even though we are fortunate enough to be able to pay for everything. She loves it. She also is trying to figure out how her career can integrate alternative approaches (she is already a yoga instructor, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, …). So she is on a boat parallel to the SS Indecision as she ponders life paths. </p>
<p>Good Luck Avondad!</p>
<p>I too will be onboard with my daughter for next year’s cruise!</p>
<p>No graduation next year for my son he is doing the full 5 year coop!</p>
<p>My D2 will also be a HS senior next year. I will have 2 graduations in the same year. I can’t believe it all goes by so quickly.</p>
<p>S1 graduates law school at Tulane in May, S2 will graduate HS in May and start Tulane in the fall, and my 2011 D will be a senior at Vandy next year. She is thinking of working for a year before grad school since she isn’t quite decided yet about which direction to go in. Maybe counseling, but she finally got to take some fun courses this year and absolutely loves screenwriting. Who knew?</p>
<p>Put me in the camp with 2 graduating in 2015. D1 will graduate May 9 and her sister will graduate May 22. I turn 50 in early June, HS girl will be 18 at the end of June. We are thinking we will plan a trip to mark all these life events. Throwing around Australia / Asia.</p>
<p>Interesting Sally…My D graduates on 20 May 2015 as well and I turn 50. She will turn 21 this December and my father will be, at my Ds graduation, a couple of months away from 80. We would like it to be special year for everyone. We hope to take our Ds both grandparents from India to attend her Commencement.</p>
<p>D has finally landed a couple of Internships. So she won’t be coming home for the summer. Last summer too she could only manage to come home for 30 days. As an International student she will be on 12 months OPT beginning May 2015. That would make travelling home next year difficult again. And then cross our fingers on getting a H1 B Employer. We shall see…hoping for the best. I guess the bird has flown from the nest. She is my only child. So it is kind of stepping into another phase of our lives. Do miss her though…happy and proud.</p>