<p>I am so relived. My adorable DS says that it means to fight. May he please remain ignorant for just a little while longer!</p>
<p>And so sorry for all the multiple posts, but I am not as talented as Confetti!</p>
<p>D spent the weekend at her safety and it’s official. We are a Tarheel Family! One more round of drinks then I will gladly start serving in the morning.</p>
<p>We are getting really close too. D visited Carleton and Macalester last week for the first time. I will give her couple of days to digest the info. Alternating between martinis and bloody marys.</p>
<p>Finally checked urban dictionary: almost spit my coffee out.
Congratulations Greekmama!! Amazing news!</p>
<p>Congrats on robot win for geoDD. I’m celebrating here as well as DD woke herself up with one alarm this morning; she got out of bed in fear of the Lazarus Machine. This is me smiling.</p>
<p>Greek: My Quote:“should my DS pack himself in a backpack?” Oh, goodness, did I type that? 
Now I understand why you said, “If he’s got a talent like that, no wonder he got into those fancy schools!” </p>
<p>We just got back from DD13’s accepted student weekend; DS13 heads off on Wednesday to his CPW.</p>
<p>I enjoyed P e n n 's campus security woman who told us nervous parents to tell our kids that they must text us at least one time in the first week after we drop them off. She then gave us her phone number, and told us that she would be happy to “check” up on any student who was negligent on reassuring the parents that s/he is doing fine. She was joking,… but only sort of. 
What was funnier is that none of the parents (except old lady me, who was holding my quill and parchment at the ready) could whip out their smart phones and set up a page fast enough to type in the phone number.</p>
<p>Wow, Greekmana–that’s incredible. You must be so proud…and ecstatically happy!</p>
<p>GreekMana: Wow. Just wow. That’s amazing news!</p>
<p>Greekmana - Congrats! That is a proud parent moment! </p>
<p>Sent DD13 to UC Davis for the Decision event. Sent her on the train so she was able to actually see something on her travels and to clarify if she might like to train it rather than fly home on breaks. It takes 14 hours on the train, 7 by car…how does that work? Despite the lengthy trip she did enjoy it and having arrived at 1:30 am she was impressed by the nicely dressed kids lined up at a club near the station. She hailed a cab and stayed alone in a hotel. So 18 year old travelled alone and stayed alone at a hotel - and was not scared. That’s my proud parent moment for this week. FYI we also went up but stayed at a different town so she could have the space to judge the place for herself. We met her for the event. She really likes UC Davis. We all felt safe there. The students, staff, and alum were all very welcoming and open. The place is a nice little town surrounded by green pastures. She says she likes that it is green - 'both ways". Freshmen are not even allowed to have a car. Perhaps a new bike for a grad present?</p>
<p>Great News Greek! So fun to hear you news about Duke! Other one headed to Stanford? </p>
<p>Pounce-glad it worked out in Davis!</p>
<p>DDHM- P e n n story Can’t wait to hear how CPW goes!</p>
<p>debbi-nice post and info. My friend’s daughter was at Emerson last week too. They really liked Hampshire College near Mt. Holyoke. Anyone been there? Never heard of it…</p>
<p>Can’t remember YDS #1… </p>
<p>TV is DD at Uchicago solo this week? Aren’t there some others going to Chicago this week?</p>
<p>Lots of colleges are having events this weekend and next week. It is going to be hard to keep up.</p>
<p>Kelowna-wow just wow, with all the kudos S is getting! It is cool to see academic kids getting the red carpet treatment as well as athletes! Greek too. </p>
<p>Confetti-we trust you to keep us updated :)</p>
<p>Amazhon- Fantastic news on the Tarheal front!</p>
<p>psblstner-hard to blame D having a hard time deciding between such great schools! </p>
<p>Geogirl’s D rocks- In case there was any question before, Robots are for girls!! :)</p>
<p>Waiting to get off the deck! Meanwhile, saw The Host with DD18 tonight. It was entertaining. D13 came to be with us. I wanted to take a picture of them in the theater but after the cell phone off announcement, the girls would have killed me. Not many more of these nights left…</p>
<p>3Triplet: Sorry about the coffee. I did not mean to be obscene, but then again, my family always says the only way I am funny is by accident. Just got S’13 a black bow-tie and actual cloth handkerchief for dance that shall remain nameless. Next is the shiny hair gel. He is going as Gatsby. Told him about the urban dictionary, but I think it will go unmentioned to the gf. Just glad I didn’t say something like ‘gf planned the whole thing’! (She is the class president, after all.)</p>
<p>Laurendog- Sorry about Michigan. As far as decisions being made within the week, well, you’d better rest up. S’13 takes of on his week marathon tour Wednesday night, starting with CPW.</p>
<p>Mommydearest: We may be down to four as well. Somehow I get the feeling we are the slow ones in the group (maybe we can add in Kelowna), but I for one am trying to enjoy being waited on for a change!</p>
<p>Congrats on the AB Duke Greek. Wow! </p>
<p>Sorry about the Pitt scholarship. </p>
<p>DDHM: I think my purse is full of quills and parchment too!</p>
<p>pounce: We really liked Davis when we visited with our oldest D.</p>
<p>geogirl: I try not to go on about this site, except to pass along some info to S, but sometimes it makes me actually laugh so hard that I have to explain what is going on so my DH and kids don’t think I’m totally crazy. But I find they don’t usually get my explanations so maybe we all are a little nuts by now? Let us know how the Tulane trip went. What happened after the tour with the boy? I feel like I was reading a book and didn’t get to read to the end!</p>
<p>So many great decisions and proud parent moments to celebrate!</p>
<p>Wow wow wow! Congrats all around…</p>
<p>What are the loungers in the mood for this morning?</p>
<p>Sorry for the gloat, sent off the deposit yesterday, so dang relieved! D13 admitted time spent here for answers, not sure if she actually has an account. Sorry critter, I’m old so my short term memory and ability to pay attention to detail (CRS) are GONE! :)</p>
<p>It is early and I’m on mobile, but to hit a couple of high points:</p>
<p>Michigan–aw, hamburgers. Great tourney run though. </p>
<p>Greek–I’m the guy doing a happy dance over here. That is amazing news. DC is already raving about how great the 17s are here, and your news just makes them that much better. </p>
<p>Amazhon–Carolina is a fantastic school, but this means we can no longer be friends. ;)</p>
<p>I’m sticking with coffee this morning! Didn’t watch the basketball game, sorry for those disappointed fans. My MIL was born in Louisville, though raised in Indiana.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the great news and kids deciding. My D told one of her teachers yesterday that she was leaning toward one school, and he told her the whole class already knew that was where she was going. They are just waiting for her to officially announce it. We’ll see.</p>
<p>She may be going to prom after all as a couple broke up but sill want to go to prom with other people. The multiple phone calls/texts last night were hilarious!</p>
<p>Shots of espresso please!! Need the jolt to keep up with changing teenage brain that bounces all over on the hour with a different top pick! Think it might be convincingly down from 4 to 2 real choices. Just fleshing through the differing styles of both remaining under consideration and which one would be better for growth over 4 years. One is a “safe” pick for comfort and ease. The “other” might draw out strengths over the course of undergrad years. Toss up right now.</p>
<p>Congrats Greek on your family’s amazing news! Way to go! </p>
<p>L-dog - sorry about the game’s outcome last night. At least it was a fantastic one to watch (especially for those of us with no clear cut favorite).</p>
<p>Safe travels to all moving about with all their visit days. May they be fruitful in helping all the kids make the best choices for them!</p>
<p>Morning, all. I’ll take a mimosa, as long as it’s not served by ldog. ;)</p>
<p>DDHM Household Wake-up Report:</p>
<p>DD13 woke herself up after second (the Lazarus Machine) alarm. Got up on her own.
DS13 slept through his alarm. I discovered him still sleeping 20 min before he needed to leave.
Me: Fell back asleep, twice. DD woke me up. DD and my spirits may have surreptitiously switched bodies yesterday. Check News at 5.</p>
<p>I may need several Cuban coffees to wake me tomorrow. Several, because, for reasons known not by me, they are served in thimble sized cups. Please get the machine ready, deck servers.</p>
<p>Which reminds me of something else said by a P e n n Dean last week. He felt that if your college kid is not happy and excited to wake up to get to class, consider whether s/he is undertaking the wrong major (or at least, taking too many of the wrong classes). I’m letting DD and DS pursue whatever major they want, even though I have my worries that DD’s will result in a difficult job hunt. But at least she’ll graduate if she is motivated to get to classes that she loves. Anyone else’s thoughts?</p>
<p>DDHM, I am firmly in the corner of letting kids pick their own majors. Check out the video game design major thread on this forum - yep, my S is pursuing this utterly useless major! Yet he is getting all A’s like he never did in HS.</p>
<p>My D is totally undecided, could be physics, or philosophy, or history, or psychlology, or how about linguistics?</p>
<p>Mamab-: I’m giving you a bearhug. With any luck, your DS and my DD may be gainfully employed colleagues some day. Similar potential major. Of course, they may both be living in Seoul or Mumbai.</p>
<p>DDHM…</p>
<p>I think there is some truth to that. I never found an undegrad major I really liked (other than 1 class) and most of the gen eds were no better. Made it difficult to get up and go to class so I skipped A LOT of them.</p>
<p>I think s has chosen a preliminary major he will like, archaeology, although odds are it will change.</p>
<p>We have asked him to get a second major in something that is employable. For right now, he has chosen Econ which also fits him I think.</p>
<p>I’m trying to get him to look at majors that are less ‘officy’ and more hands on and outdoor oriented (I hated having to work in an office all day and I think he might too)…geology, forestry, env science.</p>
<p>Glad to see some choices being made. It’s an exciting time of year!</p>
<p>S2 had kind of a disappointment yesterday. They announced the nominations for the regional musical theater awards (kind of a local Tonys thing) and his school received NO nominations - last year they got 7! Everyone was surprised that S2 didn’t get a nomination for best actor - his theater teacher even received a phone call from a neighboring HS’s theater teacher, asking if S2 was OK and declaring the whole thing a travesty! S2 and his friends are getting over the shock and realized that this year (2nd year of the competition) almost all of the nominations were for wealthier HS with big booster clubs that raise enormous amounts for their musicals. One school we know raised $50,000 for their show. Our HS is lower income with no outside financial help. Even though the competition says that they consider the school’s resources and judge accordingly - it makes one wonder. Oh well, on to bigger and better things!</p>
<p>Niece is also struggling. Can’t afford to attend any of the schools that she was accepted to without significant debt - and she wants to be an art history major so debt is ill advised. I’m staying out of it, but I really think there is nothing wrong with a gap year to work and save money. Or 2 years at community college. But her parents are not known for their savvy financial knowledge so I won’t be surprised if she takes on the debt. Parents probably won’t qualify for PLUS (bankruptcy) so I guess she’ll get the extra Staffords. I’m keeping my mouth shut.</p>