<p>The only way to vote in our state is by mail in ballot. So, I popped S ballot in an large envelope with his address labels and some stamps, and voila! He should be getting it in the mail at school tomorrow. He already voted in a special election (levy) in February and was thrilled to do so.</p>
<p>Sent out a Holloween care package today. Even though DD has not trick 'r treated in a few years, this is the first time she has been away. We will take photos of the siblings in their costumes and we sent her some goodies.</p>
<p>Florida does not require that absentee ballots be notarized, but they should!!!</p>
<p>I think notarizing would just discourage voting. After all, notaries are harder to find now. I am a notary, and know that many banks no longer allow the documents to be notarized unless it is for bank purposes. </p>
<p>In our state the requirements to get a state DL or ID are so strict I would hate to see our most important activity as a citizen become less accessible.</p>
<p>I am tracking tropical storm Sandy, which may impact our weather (and flight to visit DS for family weekend) on Friday. Why is it that every time we go to Atlanta (like for move in/orientation) a tropical storm threatens our house? Does a higher power not want us to visit our kids college?</p>
<p>Haven’t posted in a long time, but have followed along somewhat. My D is so excited to vote, but hasn’t received her absentee ballot yet (applied for it quite a long time ago). Hopefully it will come this week.</p>
<p>My big news is that tonight I’m leaving to visit my D for parents weekend. I hadn’t planned on it since we live overseas, but my husband had a voucher on Delta that he couldn’t use, so told me to go!! I fly all night and arrive in St Louis tomorrow morning. Didn’t know about Sandy - hopefully it won’t affect my flight through Atlanta.</p>
<p>D is doing great, but is very cold (and its only October!). I’m hoping to help her pick out some warm clothes. </p>
<p>We also love Southwest especially since they gave my D a $500 voucher for going on a flight two hours later when she went for orientation. She is using her voucher to visit my sister and my parents in Houston for Thanksgiving. Our family has really done well with airline vouchers this year!!</p>
<p>pamayawaa - Atlanta should NOT be affected by Tropical Storm Sandy as it is further inland. No worries flying over the storm, since you it won’t be in your flight path at all until Friday. I however, anticipate that my Friday trip may involve a bumpy ride (due to wind) and some delays.</p>
<p>DS decided to register to vote where she attends school. It is a battleground state with a juicy Senate race as well. While a very longshot, the House race could potentially be interesting as well.</p>
<p>Just sent out the Halloween care package. Even though S is close by, he doesn’t get much mail if any. Found a cute caution sign that says “proceed with candy”. It is a halloween sign but can be used year round and they boys are looking for stuff to decorate with. Thought this would be good on their door. :-)</p>
<p>It’s also comforting to regress some times so I included Pop Rocks and Wendy’s Frosty halloween coupons. He may give those away but it will make somebody happy!</p>
<p>Hope all of the “kids” have a safe halloween weekend in their new home away from home.</p>
<p>Just sent my D a Halloween care package of purple twinkly lights and York’s Peppermint Patties. :D</p>
<p>My D filled out her ballot this weekend when she was home for break… all our ballots are being dropped in a box at the library today. It’s all Vote by Mail here in Oregon, and I love it! Her birthday is early November, and I’ll have to start thinking about what to send soon.</p>
<p>I mailed my son’s ballot down to him more than a week ago. Asked him last night if he received it. Son said, “Oh, I don’t know…I never go to my mailbox.” LOL. So different from when I was in college decades ago, and all of us in the dorm got excited when the person behind the desk finally put up the “Mail is here” sign. We really looked forward to those letters from home, from friends at other schools, etc. My son says no one pays any attention to the mail boxes, since they of course text, facebook and call everyone they know. Constant contact!</p>
<p>Feel your pain LongRangePlan - I think with all the emaila nd texting, the kids today will never know the happiness once associated with first class mail.</p>
<p>Sent my boy a box a Halloween candy to share with his dorm as well as a gag Halloween costume … hopefully it will put him in a good mood after his tests this week.</p>
<p>I am flying to Parents Weekend tomorrow with a suitcase that will go full of food and come back empty! S’ school has such poor access to basic groceries and sundries. Has anyone here figured out a way to mail perishable food to their kid? I’m afraid cabin pressure will make it explode enroute…</p>
<p>Have you looked into netgrocer?</p>
<p>Mutti2012 – why is your kid’s access to food poor? Isn’t he at UChicago? I thought they had great access to public transit. Is that not so? Also, [Hyde</a> Park Produce Market](<a href=“http://www.hydeparkproduce.com/]Hyde”>http://www.hydeparkproduce.com/) seems to be within easy walking distance and may deliver. In any case, Amazon will send almost anything except perishables, and most stuff qualifies for free shipping with Prime.</p>
<p>oldfort and mihcal, thanks for the recs of online resources. That’s certainly a way to go in the future, though it doesn’t help when he’s craving Mom’s home cooking 
. Mihcal, yes, he’s at U Chicago, and I should have provided more caveats before I made the wholesale “poor access” comment. 1) He’s in the southernmost dorm, putting him 1.25-1.5 miles from Hyde Park Produce and other stores on 53rd Street. Other dorms are certainly closer to the 53rd Street corridor. 2) Local bus service is good but not practical for quick errands: CVS to pick up shampoo, drop off at dry-cleaner, etc. On-campus/bookstore options for sundries, if any, are terribly over-priced. It’s nothing he/we didn’t know going in, it’s just frustrating to be in a neighborhood within a world-class city with virtually no commercial areas abutting the campus as you would find at Penn or Columbia or Yale or BU or Wisconsin-Madison, etc etc. I think the biggest issue right now is that S is only a month into city living; this is the quintessential suburban kid who has been picked up and dropped off at the door his whole life . He’ll get his bearings I’m sure, just not quite there yet…</p>
<p>Mutti2012 – my D, too, grew up in car-based suburb, but she is loving city living and getting around by bus & BART. Does UChicago make it easy for kids to figure out the public transit system? Berkeley does a great job. I just assumed that other urban schools would do the same. Is that not the case? (I’d love other parents with students at urban schools to weigh in on this.)</p>
<p>Craving mom’s home cooking, well that’s a whole 'nother matter. :)</p>
<p>We also boxed up a costume and candy today for S. His Poly Sci group is going around in costume this weekend reminding people to vote. He thought it would be sweet to do it in his old Soviet Army officer costume (complete with cheesy accent and Soviet Russia jokes).
He has had an interesting couple of weeks. During mid-terms he had lunch at Governor Malloy’s table at a seminar, and at a law symposium got to ask Senator Feingold a Q regarding campaign funding reform and the Citizen’s United case. This is all in addition to helping to plan the upcoming Model U.N. conference, playing rugby, and hosting friends visiting from other schools. He wants to do Mock Trial club, but hasn’t been able to fit it in. Rugby may have to go, but he only has one more game this fall so we will see. He feels his grades are good, and he seems to be thriving. He goes to parties on a regular basis, but has to bring his own soft drinks since he does not drink alcohol. At first he said other partiers thought it was odd, but now they are delighted since they always have a designated driver! No roommate problems, because both of them are so busy, they are hardly in the room.</p>