<p>MizzBee - sorry to hear about your broken ankle…</p>
<p>I’m enjoying NOT shopping today. There’s nothing in this world that could get me to go to a store yesterday or today (other than a medical emergency, but… I doubt pharmacies would be having sales. ).</p>
<p>I have never enjoyed shopping and shopping with crowds would be the worst punishment ever. No sale is worth it for me. </p>
<p>So… we’re enjoying our time with our family at home and visiting a relative in a nursing home.</p>
<p>I’m up early just because my body is normally up early (always been a morning person). Actually, I’m up a bit later today as I didn’t care to wake people up, but by 6am I couldn’t stand staying in bed any longer.</p>
<p>Switching subjects, my guy got all of his first choice classes too. I’m glad there are others out there like him. It’d be really annoying NOT to get what one wants to be studying IMO, but I know it happens. Fortunately, it never happened to me (back in my day) and hasn’t yet for either of my older two. I’m still enjoying hearing his stories & plans and catching up on his life. We peeled and ate pomegranates yesterday. He misses not having those available, but doesn’t feel like making a grocery store run just to get them by himself. We’ll leave him stocked with a few.</p>
<p>Our DD has mentioned moving off campus next year. I bit my lip and decided not to engage her on that subject just yet. We’ll see how it develops. The upper-class dorms are really nice! Most move off campus to save money. Nearby housing off campus rents for half that of the dorms, but I think there’s value in one more year (at least) being close(r) to everything. And the security for my own peace of mind is worth the price difference.</p>
<p>We’re just hunkering down this weekend - big cold front moved in yesterday. We dropped 30 degrees in 12 hours and wind is howling! We have never been “black Friday” shoppers. We avoid those crowds. Might do some cyber shopping.</p>
<p>Have a great weekend! Monday starts the “mad-dash” through finals week! Then DD is home for 6 weeks. She’s going to “intern” (I call that volunteer) at a non-profit she worked at the past couple of summers. Kudos to her for setting it up!</p>
<p>D has split time with family and friends pretty well so far… She is a little worn out but seems to be good overall. We went out Black Friday shopping at midnight, tried to find a suit for her but that was an epic fail… Will have to go back out this afternoon, she needs it for a presentation at school next week…
Told the family at Thanksgiving dinner, she loves her classes, her sorority sisters and college life overall. Its nice to have a happy girl! She did work on her schedule for next semester and is a little worried about getting a couple of classes she needs.</p>
<p>rushedmom, try Ann Taylor Loft for the suit. Nice quality, good/great prices (depending on sale), nice style between classic and trendy. Loved it when D needed Mock Trial suits.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about the broken ankle, MizzB. Hope it heals quickly.</p>
<p>Not much shopping here, we usually decorate for Christmas today and that’s what D wants to do. Just as easy to buy online with all the deals and free shipping.</p>
<p>giterdone, I could have written the first paragraph of your last post word for word. That is exactly the situation we’re in, and I feel the same way as you.</p>
<p>MizzBee, some years ago, I broke my leg and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I could cross many things off my to-do list, guilt-free. :)</p>
<p>^its funny how our kids learn to “throw stuff out there…” and gauge the reaction. We’ll have to cross that bridge soon enough. I think on-campus housing apps for next year have to be done in Feb/Mar! In addition to my own “security insecurities” I just don’t want to have to deal with divvying up utility bills and making sure all parties pay the rent. I’ve heard horror stories about how everything starts so great, but then deteriorates; and whoever’s name is on the lease? gets stuck holding the bag. That could be quite a bit more expensive than the upper class suites.</p>
<p>Love reading all the stories of happy freshman! DD didn’t get all her first choice classes, but her second choices sound terrific. Also hearing some talk of sophomore housing choices - time flies. Happy Thanksgiving to all!</p>
<p>A very happy freshman here too, who can’t say enough good about her school, her classmates, etc. Boy is it a good feeling.</p>
<p>But I’m in the same boat with Giterdone and Mary13-- most of the kids in D’s program move off campus-- the Performing Arts building is off campus so they have to take a shuttle bus to all their classes and the bus does not run like a swiss watch, not at all. So that, plus the affordability of off-campus housing, makes it tempting. But I have security worries, including the fact that we live in a rural area and I don’t feel that comfortable with D negotiating urban/busy suburban driving. (Especially because, with this shuttle running as spottily as it does, kids who have cars there are under constant pressure to stuff those cars with their classmates…)</p>
<p>This will evolve–but it’s nice to see there are a few others here facing this too. Happy Thanksgiving all!</p>
<p>Mom2m- thanks for the advice, we ended up at Ann Taylor to find all the pieces in the right sizes. (Ann Taylor Loft was picked over) spent more then I hoped but she will have it for a few years.</p>
<p>Here’s our update. D is home for Thanksgiving weekend. We had dinner at a friend’s house yesterday and then came home and went in the hot tub in the backyard for and hour or so between days of rain… nice chance to catchup. Today, D and I went to see Wreck it Ralph - really liked it - and we are all going to see Lincoln tomorrow. We did a little shopping today at the mall… but ONLY one store and only for boots… success… saved 30% on two pairs. She’ll get to see a few friends, too. She is very happy school and very busy with CS and Math especially and then on the ballroom team and doing some theater tech stuff and other things. Her CS teacher is also recommending she TA next semester. She’ll be home again in about a month, but we were spoiling ourselves, and her this first year with frequent trips home since it’s not THAT expensive to fly up and down the west coast. Thanks everyone for your updates… I really like to know how you’re all getting along.</p>
<p>rushedmom- if your D likes her Ann Taylor suit you might consider buying a 2nd pair of pants. My older D found that she used the pants more and she felt that they became tired before the jacket. Also in our case she lost some weight and wanted a smaller size pants. When she went back to Ann Taylor the 2nd year the color was slightly different. Or buy both the skirt and pant.</p>
<p>So happy to have S home for a few days. A break was definitely needed by him. I would have to say he has adjusted very well to college life. I always kind of knew he would. He is a smart kid and has worked very hard to get to where he is. </p>
<p>The thing he is having the most trouble right now is with the one RM. My S is an only child so to go from that to having 3 RMs, I am suprised he didn’t have issues earlier. This particular one though it seemed like they got along the best. Now all of the sudden anything this kid does gets on S’s nerves. Most of it has to do with the RM’s gf. She seems to be in the room a lot and that bothers my S. He even said they aren’t “doing anything”, it just irritates him.</p>
<p>Now-I don’t normally tell my S to suck it up, but in this case I kind of feel like it. I would have to say as long as her being there isn’t interfering with studying for finals or the whole reason they are all there in the first place, then who cares if she is there. He (my S) just seems like he will be a bit ****y with this guy and I am thinking that will only make things worse for him. Honestly-who knows how long this relationship will last and what if the tables were turned. I just don’t want him going back tomorrow with an attitude and make for a long rest of the year when I really think it is unneccesary.</p>
<p>He needs to find out from his advisor about meetings his group is supposed to attend. This first semester for Freshmen, they were built into their schedules. For spring semester, they were told when they were but to try to not schedule a class at that time. Well-my S had no other choice but to schedule a 3 hour lab at that time. So we will see if that affects his standing in the group. I would think if they were going to make it mandatory for them to attend, they would have built it in to their schedules again.</p>
<p>He also needs to go to office hours. I cannot convince him that every person I have talked to says that makes a huge difference. He said he will go, but we will see what really happens.</p>
<p>We had a nice visit with S and D. It was great to have their friends stopping by and hearing their excited chatter. They’re both on their way back today, which is definitely bittersweet. </p>
<p>Most importantly, S seems happy with his choice and is making friends. He stocked up on as much food as he could fit into his carryon suitcase, our food bill has definitely gone down over the last couple of months!</p>
<p>S just got in to the airport after delays at this end. We had a wonderful visit with S who really seems to have found his niche in college (at least for now!). Yahoo! We get to see him in just 3 weeks again.</p>
<p>Creekland I got and enjoyed your roomie mom reference :D</p>
<p>S and D and I went to NYC for the holiday. Stayed with family, enjoyed the week. D’15 and I took a Barnard tour Wednesday, first official college tour for her. May want to talk to some of you Barnard moms in 2 years :)</p>
<p>She is on a plane back to NYC. I don’t feel that sad since she’ll be back in just over 3 weeks. It was nice to have her home. I think she will struggle some while home over Christmas and even more so over the summer. She had a lot of high expectations for her short visit and was disappointed that some friends didn’t spend as much time with her as she hoped. I had to remind her that although HER life stopped while she came home, theirs did not and they still had work and family obligations. She didn’t hardly sleep at all while home either! </p>
<p>OHMomof2: Happy to answer any questions! My D is loving Barnard. As a parent, I am very impressed with a lot of the opportunities afforded her there.</p>
).</p>