<p>WW - glad your son is ok!</p>
<p>CM - that’s a bit of a commute! I dream of commuting between PA and HI, but my idea of the commute would be March - Nov here and Dec - Feb in HI… I don’t know what our 3 cats would think…</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your sympathy for S’s tumble from the longboard (and ER call!).
CM’s commute sounds kind of cool to me, for the short term at least, but Creekland’s idea of chasing the “best” seasons sounds better.
(back on first page)…</p>
<p>Well it’s more like getting on a long bus ride - BOS to SFO. I read or work and the SIg other picks me up and 30 min or so we’re there ! We’re kind of looking at it like a little adventure for the two of us. No kids or pets. So far it’s been really fun. He’s also commuting the other way to BOS. we’ve spent most of our lives doing this in various places and it works really well because at least I get a few good, uninterrupted night sleep when he 's not around ( no snoring). The bad news is that due to my work I have to stay on east coast time which means I rise at 4:30 when I’m in calif. However I do stop at 1:30 ish !! Calif is really beautiful in it’s way but I’m not sure I would ever live there permanently. Taxes are really high. DS is just now picking classes for spring semester . Tells me he’s a little worried about his Latin midterm because he didn’t really study. I pointed out that perhaps that wasn’t the best idea and he sniffed and told me he’s an adult now and can make his own choices. I of course pointed out that I’m paying for his choices and people who don’t study had better have B’s or better on all their grades. … The joys of parenthood. On the other hand I do NOT miss high school or college apps at all. It’s like remembering an extremely traumatic nightmare. I see oldfort is still as entertaining as ever w her pithy replies to various posters. How does Ms pearl’s D like OSU?</p>
<p>Third page??? Come on folks :)</p>
<p>So, I missed my D like crazy for the first month or so that she was gone. I have adjusted to her being gone and have not been as sad. Knowing that she’ll be home on Wednesday has made me tear up with happiness a few times this week though! I think it is going to be hard to send her back to NYC on Monday morning. At least I know she’ll be home in another 4 weeks for almost a month though. Then she’ll be home for spring break and then her freshman year will be over when she comes home again. This August-November stretch is the longest one, but we made it through :)</p>
<p>My kids are already arguing about who gets to use the car when she’s home. My S got his license the week she left for school so this wasn’t an issue before. Ugh. What will we do when she’s home over Christmas? Or the summer? Yikes.</p>
<p>I just came from seeing S’ guitar ensemble perform. They were SO good, it was really cool. He’s the only bass player, there was a drummer, and like 6 guitars of various types. So cool to see him in his element playing with other talented kids. This is why he chose this college :)</p>
<p>Several calls from D today, figuring out the spring schedule. For some reason she didn’t think her schedule was “serious enough”. 18 units, multiple classes with multiple books and papers…seems serious to me!</p>
<p>I had several texts from DS regarding class choices. His school does it old school-stand in line and register one at a time based on name (not even a break for class standing). He was in the last group so it was a tense time. He camped out all night to get a good spot. He did get his preferred psychology class and a photography class, so all is good. he is constantly trying to decide between double majoring/double minoring/ but I told him to relax. Grades appear to be great this semester and pledgeship has become normal for him. Glad that it will be over in January, however. </p>
<p>We are lucky enough to get him home for a week this Thanksgiving, then home for a month starting December 11th. </p>
<p>I am finally starting to get over that empty nest syndrome. It helps that our electricity bill is down, our food bills are way down and my living room is not overrun with teenagers. All of this is about to change when he is home, so I should enjoy it while it lasts!</p>
<p>I think I miss my living room being overrun with teenage girls more than anything else. A few of them have stopped by to visit and chat. One who is a new member in my sorority (being initiated Sunday and I’m going! SO excited about that!!) The other is a young lady whose parents didn’t go to college and who just don’t really get some of the things she needs to vent or talk about. BUT, Saturday night, the whole crew is sleeping over and I cannot wait! To hear those girls talking and giggling, playing Just Dance, catching up, making them pancakes in the morning… I can’t wait! First high will be picking up my D at the airport. Second high will be that Saturday night :)</p>
<p>Wow - I am so opposite from you BarnardMom! I am dreading having both my girls home! Younger, Freshman, is home until January 3rd, older just until Sunday, then back two weeks later. My house is clean, my time is my own, do I really have to be a “mommy” again? Especially to my younger one who doesn’t drive - she’s already got a doctors appointments taking up so much time! As a matter of fact I just looked at the calendar and realized I have to move her orthodontist appointment because I’m busy at that time. </p>
<p>Maybe I’m old, but I really like my new, unencumbered life!</p>
<p>Son is coming home on a bus Wed evening. Looking forward to the visit. Husband had work done on son’s car so it really runs nice 
Planning on thanksgiving with friends we have been going to for the last few years. They do the cooking, we bring the dessert.</p>
<p>OHMomof2,</p>
<p>Last night I was having dinner up in Columbus too, right across from your son’s campus at Giuseppe’s. Fabulous food!</p>
<p>So glad your son is enjoying his school.</p>
<p>I’ve been told several times that I have to try Giuseppe’s :)</p>
<p>Thank you! It’s lovely to see him happily settled after all the ups and downs of last year…I bet a lot of us are feeling that way :)</p>
<p>Did some grocery shopping today for things I haven’t bought in months!!! Cannot wait for Tuesday to go get my kid and have him home for a few days!!</p>
<p>Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and safe travels!</p>
<p>All 4 dentkids in one place this weekend. S2 and I were at the D2 high school girls state swim meet to watch D2016 compete. S1 works at the host university and D1 came with her college swim coach to watch D2 and help recruit! And they are all back on Wednesday! Life is sweet.</p>
<p>My son just got home this afternoon and will be here for the whole week!! It is so great to see him and get to talk to him about everything that’s been happening the past several weeks–he’s so much better at communicating in person than he is over the phone or even with Skype. He seems to have adjusted pretty well to college although he admits it’s a lot of work and he wishes he had time to do more fun things. It just feels really good to have my whole family here at home again :).</p>
<p>Checking in after being away from a loooooonnnngggg time, since Before Sandy. It took me hours to catch up on all of your posts.</p>
<p>When I last checked in I was visiting D1 for the weekend, and then planning to fly directly from there to visit my aunt in Israel, routing through Newark on Monday evening. That flight was cancelled, but I was able to re-route through Frankfurt. Was glad not to be stranded in the storm. Relieved to hear that our eastern-school students all seem to have come through OK.</p>
<p>D1 was really excited to vote for the first time, in situ. She was mildly amused to find herself considered a conservative in comparison to her very-left-leaning suite-mates.</p>
<p>She is in the middle of her school’s 2-phase registration process. She reports that the only section of Physics available at her enrollment window conflicts with everything else she wants to take. But she needs Physics, so went ahead and signed up for it. She had an appointment with her academic advisor scheduled for yesterday, so I’m anxious to hear whether they were able to sort things out. I suggested she also visit the Physics prof and ask him to over-enroll her. (I think it’s harder to turn down someone face-to-face, so visiting the prof may be more fruitful than emailing him.)</p>
<p>We knew getting the classes she wanted was going to be an issue, since our state schools are so strapped by budget cuts. She’d been warned that she’d need “sharp elbows” and persistance. She seems to be maintaining good cheer, and looking for work-arounds. e.g., she may take a self-paced independent study alternative to the first-in-sequence CompSci class. The big hangup is math, which she may be blocked out of for spring semester. She can fill a humanities requirement instead, but I’m worried about her breaking up the math sequence. I hope she calls me with an update this weekend!</p>
<p>She won’t be coming home for Thanksgiving. Instead, we’re all meeting at my mom’s house ~1hr away from D1’s school. Still not sure exactly when she’ll show up. She has a chamber group rehearsal scheduled for Wednesday evening, but isn’t sure whether it’ll actually happen. That makes it hard for her to setup a carpool. I am really hoping to avoid driving back-and-forth across the Bay Bridge in Thanksgiving traffic. Maybe she can take BART instead. It doesn’t go all the way to my mom’s, but I can send DH to fetch her from the terminal station.</p>
<p>DH and I went to an LA Philharmonic concert tonight. They played Hayden’s Cello Concerto in C, which was one of D1’s recital pieces. Hearing it made me miss her so badly! I’m glad I’ll be seeing her soon.</p>
<p>I am envious of all of you who will have your chicks all sleeping in the nest this holiday. With my MIL and SIL still living with us (their Long Beach NY building is not yet habitable from Sandy), my eldest doesn’t want to stay over next week. She goes to law school about 30 minutes away and has an apartment near the school. With finals coming up, she spends most of her free time in the library. I have only seen her less than a handful a times this semester, she is that busy. I wonder if we will ever feel like the nuclear family that we once were?</p>
<p>DW and I enjoyed an impromptu “housefull” last night. We went to DD’s football playoff game and she asked if she could come home for the night, since many of her OOS friends have the week off and came home for Thanksgiving. Had 5 girls from HS stay 'till 2 AM! Just like old times. DD’s school has classes through Wednesday, so we’ll run her back today. :)</p>
<p>Can someone please repost the list of where our kids matriculated? Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s on page 124 - don’t want to bring forward. It’s a long one.</p>