<p>creekland, good luck with all that you are going through. </p>
<p>For those looking at the empty nest, or anticipating it, I hope your adjustment goes well. If I had to say what has happened to H and I these last 2 years following the emptying of the nest, I would say that we are still adjusting. Although we said we would travel more, we didn’t do. We had a lot of time with H’s Dad, who was declining health wise, until he died last november. Then we had to adjust to that. That was following H’s mom’s death in early 2012. We had to settle his Dad’s affairs, and are kind of getting to the end of that although there are still loose ends. </p>
<p>Best of luck to all the students and parents for a good year.</p>
<p>This has been a tough summer for us, especially for D2. We were always a close knit family, despite issues ex-H and I had, so it is a big adjustment for D2 not to have both of us around. She was away for 2 months for her internship, now she is back at home with me. It was very hard on me initially to be by myself, but in hindsight it was better for D2 to be out of the house while I was working through our separation. </p>
<p>I think we are coming out on the other side now. D2 has a new BF who is making her very happy. She is getting excited about going to London in a month. </p>
<p>Yes, best of luck to everyone for a good year.</p>
<p>Hello everyone!! It has been awhile since I posted here, and I just wanted to say “howdy”!! My S, who is at Chapman, is doing great! He is getting his BFA in theatre performance. His first paid acting gig opens this week–he is in a play with a cast of 3 people. Very exciting. We are going to fly down to see him next week–doing a twofer…seeing him in his play and taking younger S15 (yes, graduating from high school this year) to check out the music school at USC.</p>
<p>DD is simultaneously unpacking from the summer internship and packing to return to school this weekend. She is just home for 10 days and we are trying to make the most of it by turning errands into “quality time”. She has a very busy semester planned with a schedule loaded with seminar classes and rehearsals. I am glad she is close enough for easy visiting, and that D1 live in the same city, she will probably not get home again until Thanksgiving.Good luck to all on launch number 3.</p>
<p>DD is slowly migrating back to campus with Junior year officially starting Sept 3rd. She landed a paid internship for fall semester! at a large institutional asset management company that she’s really excited about. So, she’s quitting the customer service gig that’s served her well for the past year and moving closer to the real world… =D> Spring semester is planning to study abroad. :-SS </p>
<p>Sending her back on the plane to NYC wasn’t any easier this year. It was tough that she wasn’t home most of the summer. BarnardGirl also landed a paid internship for fall term at a start up retail fashion company doing marketing and she is very excited. </p>
<p>Sending her back might have been more difficult, actually, because I know on Thursday when my son leaves, the nest will be empty. </p>
<p>Barnard Mom, good luck to you and to your kids. My D has already returned to school, and she was gone for ost of the summer too. Besides the fact that we miss her, it has not been easy coming to the reality regarding the finish of that part of our lives. I have browsed the empty nest thread from time to time, yet I really do not feel adjusted to the whole end of that part of my life. We took a family trip before she went back to school and when I saw all the families with young kids I couldn’t help thinking how things go from being so family centric to the kids moving away and being far from that experience. I have older friends whose kids live on the opposite coast, and they see the family very little. I really hope that we see our D more than that, but we have no control over what happens. It is not that I have too much time on my hands, as that is a danger that I really have never known. I always have plans for art or sports that I never get to do. This year I want to return to archery, and try lampworked glass beads.</p>
<p>H and I are busy at work, and as I mentioned we were busy with FIL and his estate. I am actually planning a new project outside of work in our community. If it has a beginning or any success, I will let you all know. For now, just getting a date for the committee to meet is not easy. I told them to figure out a time, and I will be there since for the most part I can adjust my schedule.</p>
<p>How about you parents, has anyone embarked on a new journey themselves that they want to share?</p>
<p>Sending healing thoughts to @creekland - hoping your testing results in good news. Also, @oldfort - sorry to hear you had a rough summer but happy to hear D2 is adjusting to the new normal and excited about her semester abroad. Best of luck to you in your new journey.</p>
<p>Hugs to all of you facing an empty nest!</p>
<p>S2 is thrilled to be back at school but, yikes - it’s junior year! Doesn’t seem possible. We are back to our empty nest - although I should be used to this by now, it is still hard when it happens.</p>
<p>Hoping all the kids have a happy, healthy and successful semester.</p>
<p>We leave tomorrow to take S back to school. Stopping along the way to see my mom. He was home all summer, and with my youngest off at college now it will be an empty nest for me when I come back Monday. He hasn’t even begun to think about packing, he just figures he can get what he needs up there. So if he isn’t going to worry I won’t either. </p>
<p>Funny how things change over two years! I spent the summer making lists, dorm shopping, etc. This year it’s way more casual. </p>
<p>My guys are all back at school already. My '16 is having “fun” with his freshmen and my '14 is having fun being a freshman! I went grocery shopping for the first time without anyone (kid) at home yesterday and it felt weird passing right by products and/or aisles that used to be “regulars” for me. I can pick up some for care packages, but there’s no need for most.</p>
<p>The medical stuff is my “new” stuff for the time being. The latest test turned out good (I think). It showed moderate carpal tunnel, but no other muscle/nerve loss at this point. Later next week I have the appt that is supposed to put together the results of the MRIs and EMG. I don’t know how concerned I should be that I didn’t even feel some of the needles for the EMG and only 4 (2 each in the leg and arm) felt mildly painful. I’d like to think it’s just natural pain tolerance, but it was certainly nothing like some co-workers described with pain levels. I haven’t yet mentioned that difference to them… if it’s natural pain tolerance, I’d rather not seem “superior.” If it’s an issue of some sort, I guess I want to know what it is first. I’d have guessed diabetic issues with my heritage, but that’s already been tested and ruled out/ok. I have no idea what else it could be aside from natural tolerance, but then again, my medical knowledge is extremely limited. </p>
<p>I did chide pre-med boy for being about 8 years late with his schooling progression, but skipping that many years of school just never occurred to us! He might have been able to tackle senior year after 4th grade - who knows?</p>
<p>There was a fatal car accident at the end of our lane this morning - right where my boys used to wait for the school bus and certainly where I’d have worried if youngest were still driving to school himself (same time as when he used to leave). It sort of made me glad they were all happily out of the house plus gave me a decent perspective on how short life can be. We should never take anything for granted.</p>
<p>I’ve still yet to find out if I knew the victim, though many of us neighbors have accounted for each other.</p>
<p>Well we have all been very quiet lately…My DD is back at school. Busy schedule being in the orientation show for the student theatre group, running auditions for her a cappella group, taking 5 classes and interviewing for an internship. She is still debating the semester abroad for next semester having spent 10 weeks in an international internship this summer and wanting to do a Cuba program next summer (would conflict with semester abroad). </p>
<p>Seeing that this is junior year do we have a lot of DCs heading overseas? Many of DD’s friends are away, but travel abroad is very common at her school.</p>
<p>Not much of an empty nest swing around here since nobody was home for much more than a week this summer.</p>
<p>Creekland, hope all goes as well with the latest medical adventure. Sending hugs and prayers.</p>
<p>Oldfort, good luckk adjusting to your different kind of empty nest. Hope all is for the best.</p>
<p>My daughter is doing study abroad this semester. She’s in Hungary with Budapest Semesters in Math.</p>
<p>This is the last week of the optional beginners Hungarian course. (Classes are taught in English – this is just to make living in Hungary easier.)</p>
<p>Next week begins their “shopping” period for the math classes.</p>
<p>She’s in an apartment with 2 others in her program. This is the first time she’s had to cook for herself and that seems to be going well. The only blips so far were a suitcase that was a day delayed in arriving and an internet connection that’s not completely reliable.</p>
<p>She spent most of the summer in Singapore with a research internship and then she was home for 4 weeks before flying off to this latest adventure. She was definitely home long enough for me to miss her when she left.</p>
<p>Several kids at her school took a Leave of Absence to help start a engineering program at a college in Brazil this semester. If she hadn’t already had plans to go to Hungary, then I think she’d be in Sao Paolo.</p>
<p>Study Abroad seems to vary at her school. Some years quite a few kids do it and other years it’s much more rare.</p>
<p>I haven’t posted but I have been reading. Sending prayers for Creekland. Old fort I have always enjoyed your wisdom over the years.
We have really had an empty nest since 2012 D left for freshman year. She went to summer session last summer and this summer she did one session of summer and moved into her on campus living situation that involves working at one of her schools animal facilities. She loves her job and has learned to drive a tractor. She still doesn’t love her classes. Many still too large and with TA instructors. I am hoping with Jr year her classes get smaller. No study abroad since she has her horse to train and take care of.
Her school starts late and we look forward to seeing her soon when she comes down for a few days before fall quarter begins. I can’t believe how mature she has become. She will have a major change but still has no idea what she will do career wise once she graduates. </p>
<p>I’m another very infrequent poster, but faithful reader. </p>
<p>My D is also heading abroad for the semester. She’ll be in London and plans to visit several friends in other places (e.g., Barcelona, Edinburgh, Budapest) who will also be spending a semester or the whole year abroad. She and a friend from home will be traveling to London together. They attend different colleges, but they’ve been friends since they were in the infant room at daycare.</p>
<p>I gave my D a ride back to her campus yesterday and she’ll depart for the semester away in about 2 weeks. I did my best to be cheerful and not think too much about how long it will be until we see her again. </p>
<p>My D has decided to stay in the states and do internships, which is ok with me. @mathinokc - I have a friend whose daughter (who is a math whiz) is in Budapest this term. I wonder if they’re in the same program. My friend’s D goes to Colgate. </p>
<p>My nest is empty. My D seems happy so far this term. She has an internship with a relatively new plus size fashion retailer in their marketing department and is enjoying it. She likes her classes so far. It’s all good. </p>
<p>I’m going to be having surgery to remove part of my small intestine that has narrowed from Crohn’s Disease sometime in October. That’s challenging to think about but I’ve had a more significant surgery in the past and this one sounds like it will be simpler with a faster recovery time. <em>fingers crossed</em></p>
<p>Barnardmom - hope the surgery is quick and recovery goes well!</p>
<p>My guy is hoping to take advantage of URoc’s Take 5 program (free tuition for a 5th year), and if so, he will go abroad then. Otherwise, it was tough to put in with his pre-med, two majors, and two minors. He is enjoying “his” freshmen right now as an RA. He tells me they are even a better group than last year’s (when he just assisted). That gives me a sigh of relief, because one never knows…</p>
<p>I’m tabling medical stuff for me again for a while. What we thought it was (stuff that showed up on the MRIs, etc) aren’t the cause of what’s bugging me due to what I’m experiencing being different than what those should cause, and I didn’t feel like lying just to have the “right” answer. I’m just not feeling major effects from those - at least - not yet.</p>
<p>Also, the known (and now proven) moderate carpal tunnel isn’t bothersome enough to do anything about. That leaves starting over on figuring out the rest or just buying stock in ibuprofen or whatever is in Aleve and dealing with it. Perhaps I can be a subject in a commercial comparing the two! The latter is easier - at least for now. If it continues to get worse, I’ll have to revisit it all again then.</p>
<p>Right now I’m wondering if there’s a student (or ex-student) I offended running around with a voodoo doll and some pins. That seems the best match at this point. Someone needs to locate that doll!</p>
<p>And I need to start googling ways to lower BP. For all of my life it’s been low or close to normal (and still on the lower than normal side) and has been tested regularly when I’ve donated blood (since age 17). This past year it’s gone up quite a bit (this past week it was 169/89). I’m beginning to think it’s not just a “oh you’re in the doctor’s office” deal. I’ve never had to concern myself with ways of lowering it before. Anyone have (non-medication) suggestions they want to share?</p>
<p>@2016barnardmom-sorry to hear about your surgery. Will be sending positive healing thoughts your way. A friend’s son was just diagnosed with Crohns and is struggling to get his meds correct. His is 32 and it has hit him hard emotionally. </p>
<p>Happy to hear your d is doing great, the internship sounds interesting. Hope your freshman is adjusting well to college life!</p>
<p>I have had high BP off and on in the last few years. It kind of runs in my family. My mother has been taking medication for the last 20 years with no side effects. My BP hits 120-140 every few days. I take a pill when it gets over 130. I have a monitor at home that I bought at Costco. It is fairly accurate. When my head feels hot, my BP is usually around 130-140.</p>
<p>Bernardmom - hope your surgery goes smoothly.</p>
<p>@dwhite I was 37 when diagnosed and it hit me hard emotionally back then too. Being diagnosed with a chronic disease is definitely a challenge. I think you go through a lot of the same stages as you do with bereavement- denial, anger, bargaining, etc. Then you find your new normal and learn not to let the disease define you. I still get a little angry at times, when there is a new reminder that I’m sick- like when I need to add a vitamin supplement to my stack (the most recent is iron to add to my B12 and D3). It is hard to get the meds correct when first diagnosed and sometimes it is too bad for the meds to correct so the surgery becomes necessary. That’s what happened the first time. When I was diagnosed, it had been raging out of control for two full years. A year of trying different meds didn’t help so I had a re-section. I didn’t really respond to most meds except one, which I became allergic to. Through a series of unfortunate events (having to switch doctors), I ended up on no meds, believing I was in remission until last summer when I was hospitalized. I’m back with my original doctor who is excellent and he has tried his best to get things under control again. It’s mostly there- but there is damage and scar tissue from 7 years without any meds. My surgeon is great and so is my gastro and they’re going to do this joint procedure thing they’ve been doing together while I’m in the OR and I think it’s going to be great for me long term. </p>