<p>D just heard on tumblr that there was an incident at MIT, a campus police was shot and his weapon was taken but has now been recovered. Officer is in the hospital. The campus has been partically locked down. What is going on? Crazy! Apparently all students are safe. Are all kids visiting back? Sending good thoughts to all!</p>
<p>fineartsmajor - Glad to bring you a chuckle during this tough week for our country ( Boston Marathon, West, Texas, bomb threats in CA…) I think we are all getting punchy on this cruise! (servers and loungers!) </p>
<p>Wherenext - Media is now reporting that the MIT officer has died. So much grief. And to think that this officer was likely on campus, doing his job, when our ikiddos were visiting last weekend!</p>
<p>Prayers to Boston and to the MIT community as well. And to Texas, and to … heck - prayers to everyone. We all need them. </p>
<p>Some old guy - Can I request Hallelujah? Jeff Buckley version?</p>
<p>SomeOldGuy - excellent music as usual!</p>
<p>I could have used that Irish coffee this morning – it took me an hour and half to find the one unflooded route to work 7 miles away. It was like a video game!</p>
<p>TVenee - my goodness, what a day! Hang in there :).</p>
<p>Kat2013 - that’s awesome on the FA. Hard as it is, better to have the option (or so I tell myself)…</p>
<p>LOL tougis - aren’t the kid rules funny? At our high school there’s a day when all seniors wear their colors, but apparently you can’t wear them too much other than that. You can wear shirts from colleges you didn’t apply to, though. And if you loved a college forever and follow their sports teams, none of the rules apply.</p>
<p>Amazhon - is the college supposed to add info that’s not required? Did it affect your aid?</p>
<p>tx5 - what is “Bee’s Knees?” Oh never mind - bring me one along with a whisky sour - I haven’t had a whisky sour since crashing weddings at the VA hall in high school! The things I did when I was 2 years younger than S13 (!!!)</p>
<p>esteemom - THANKS - I laughed out loud (DH didn’t think it was nearly so funny…)</p>
<p>ugadog! a long time indeed 
congrats on your decision!</p>
<p>And… we have a decision too! S13 will be attending Notre Dame It was the first school he visited and he fell in love when he set foot on campus, so I’m just thrilled. Go Irish!! </p>
<p>tx5, where are the roller skates? I need 4 wheels (no inline) and blue-and-gold pouffy yarn balls on the laces.</p>
<p>Congrats confetti on Notre Dame!</p>
<p>And to everyone else (with all of the decisions rolling in, my head is spinning, more than usual) congratulations as well!</p>
<p>where next-Re MIT: S’13 is thankfully finally getting some rest with an early night and has not heard the news yet. Yes, CPW was over on Sunday. S’13 starting getting the emergency texts on Monday for MIT and it really threw him, especially because the frat he stayed at was right at the end of the marathon route and his host and friends had planned on being on the roof to watch the finish. Everyone at MIT was ok at that point. This is all so sad. It is making me think back to when our oldest was making college decisions after 9/11 and how everyone was wondering if they even wanted their kids somewhere that would require a flight. Remember how the applications plummeted at the NYC schools?</p>
<p>Oh my goodness, how can I be twenty pages behind?</p>
<p>First, Kelowna, your secrets are my secrets. My fingertips are sealed. AND super congrats on Chicago. Didn’t hear that until now!</p>
<p>Best wishes and hugs to all who have dads/others in the ICU.</p>
<p>Musicmerit, hurrah! And Yale has such a good music department!</p>
<p>3Triplet, yay, yay for the research scholarship. What an honor.</p>
<p>Hurrah for those who have made decisions, especially ahs and Kelbee. Midwestmom, yippee for Truman! UGAdog99, good for you and D!</p>
<p>Kelbee, I agree with those who say “make new friends” by going with a new roommate, but it would be great to “keep the old” by being in the same dorm. </p>
<p>TVenee, you amaze me. 4 month old. 5 year old. Costumes. Aspie. Wow. You are supermom, and</p>
<p>Confetti you are indeed List Mom of the Year. Thanks for being such a cheerleader. Now, a rousing Huzzah for your decision: NOTRE DAME, hip hip hooray!</p>
<p>Kat, there should be some open lounge chairs in prime locations right now. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Apollo6, no such thing as a lesser school on this thread. Congrats!</p>
<p>LDog, my my, she’s so…articulate. Thanks for sharing. ;)</p>
<p>Esteemom, I plan to fall into pieces myself as we finish up this year. </p>
<p>Could you all be quieter as you fill out those forms? You’re making those of us who are behind feel bad! :)</p>
<p>This message is more serious, so I’m sending it separately. We are sending DS to Boston tomorrow for his campus weekend. After terrorist bombs on Monday and MIT shooting tonight, I wonder if we’re crazy to let him go. Wish we had a safer world to give our kids. Wish the world knew how precious they are.</p>
<p>Amen to that, EastGrad!^^^^Good for you. We don’t want our kids to let fear rule their lives. I am dreading having to tell my S about the shooting at MIT tonight, after everything that has already gone on this week. I will keep you and your DS in my thoughts and prayers (as I do all of ‘our’ kids) as he makes his college visit. </p>
<p>To leave this night on a happier note (because I forgot before with all of the craziness) S was awarded the scholarship he interviewed for last weekend…although naturally, at this point he thinks he will attend elsewhere. Ah, well. I may be up all night pacing the deck! (Someone may need to check the lifeboats in the morning.)</p>
<p>Laurendog: great song request though that means that I will hear it on deck and at home…S’s favorite and playing at least daily here</p>
<p>Sad and scary week: two friends with unbelievable losses this week…prayers to all and makes the good news this week bittersweet and has given me some new perspective on the highs and the lows!
Another last this weekend, finishing choir comp posters and decorating…last time for rubber cement fumes…got to stay off cc…I am usually NOT a procrastinator but I have been this week…even ventured into other forums but YIKES…came right back 
</p>
<p>@confetti-it doesn’t look like it affected our aid since we reported it to the college on their internal form, but I’m surprised colleges can update at all. Gosh what if they made a mistake or mistyped. Thankfully everything is correct.</p>
<p>Prayers and safety to Boston this morning.</p>
<p>Early start today serving Irish coffee again - and in honor of the 2nd day of decisions everyone gets a double shot of whiskey, Baileys, whatever you like. Enjoy.</p>
<p>Confetti - Congrats on ND!! It is quite simply a wonderful school - my S will be a senior at ND next year and has had so many great opportunities and much fun there. “We. Are. ND.”</p>
<p>I am not happy. I am not happy. I am not happy.</p>
<p>One silver lining. I can say, “See? Hah!” to DH and DS who were teasing me about being a nervous Nellie a week ago about DS going on his own to a hotel, walking around the block of the Pru and then onto CPW. “What could happen to him?” they chortled. “Well, someone could mug him, demand his wallet, and get his photo ID so he wouldn’t be allowed on the plane to get home. That’s what could happen,” I retorted. I even made him make a photocopy of his driver’s license to make its replacement easier. </p>
<p>Okay, so I concede that nothing happened to him, he had a great time, he returned with photo id intact, and that I did a lousy job of anticipating the real dangers.</p>
<p>Which brings us all to the calming thought that you really need to be in the wrong place AND at the wrong time to be affected in these things. They are rare statistical flukes, and as someone said earlier, that’s why they call it news. Driving on the roads is more dangerous. So, EastGrad, send DS; he’ll have a great time. This won’t affect any of our decisions either. Carry on, keep calm. I don’t need that Bailey’s; I’ll just take a mimosa without the champagne please. The Vitamin C will do me good.</p>
<p>Lauren: An excellent and entirely appropriate request.</p>
<p>[Jeff</a> Buckley-Hallelujah - YouTube](<a href=“Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah - YouTube”>Jeff Buckley-Hallelujah - YouTube) </p>
<p>And after yesterday’s Bailey’s-fest, I thought some of you might want to start today on a quieter note. </p>
<p>[Squeeze</a> - Black Coffee In Bed - YouTube](<a href=“Squeeze - Black Coffee In Bed - YouTube”>Squeeze - Black Coffee In Bed - YouTube)</p>
<p>EastGrad - yes, indeed. It’s hard to let them go. And I struggle with explaining to the kids – when I was your age, I knew nothing bad was gonna happen to me, and we were all gonna grow up and save the world… but, … we got busy. </p>
<p>critter - congrats on the scholarship! And if he attends elsewhere, we know someone else will be ecstatic, right?</p>
<p>Kennedy - you might want to think about cleaning out your PM box. Just sayin’… seriously, I may have questions, since I don’t know anyone there. So far I’ve been very impressed :).</p>
<p>Stay safe, everyone. Hug your kids twice.</p>
<p>And, for those still deciding, we have The Twelve Days of Decisions, Day Two:</p>
<p>On the second day of decisions, S13 said to me:
“Too many loans!”
“But Mom, I still love my safety!”</p>
<p>We also have a decision. My son will be attending Yale in the fall. After a lovely evening in the La Guardia airport when our flight was cancelled Wednesday night, we finally made it home yesterday morning. My son took a shower, put on his suit and headed out for a choir competition. I spent the day in a daze trying to recover. Ahhhh, to be 17 again! :)</p>
<p>Congrats confetti and momofmusician (and anybody else I’m missing). Hang in there everybody still riding in lounge chairs.</p>
<p>I haven’t thought of Squeeze in a very, very long time. Saw them when in college.</p>
<p>I’ll echo the congrats. The kids around here seem to have some excellent choices.</p>
<p>EastGrad: Has your DS’s CPW been affected by the total Boston shutdown today? They are probably in a wait and see mode until later today; they will have to alter things if the airport and transit systems remain closed. Hopefully it gets resolved today without further injuries to the innocent.</p>
<p>Momofmusician, wow, congrats! You and musicmerit need to connect! </p>
<p>I am putting my DS on a plane to Boston in an hour. Meanwhile, Boston is on emergency lockdown. No subway, no taxis, everyone supposed to stay inside. He has a sleeping bag and pillow, so he may make a trip to Logan airport, spend the night and come home. Sending plenty of cash, a bag of food, and a battery-pack recharger for his phone and iPad. If nothing else, he’ll probably meet some of the other kids and it’ll be a memorable and unique college visit. His decision is made, so he’s mostly going to meet the other kids anyway. :)</p>
<p>ETA: You’re right, DDHM, our college weekend is on hold. But we are far enough away that if he doesn’t go now and rebooks to a later flight (which are few and far between) it may not be worth going. So we’re sending him and hoping they catch the older brother while he is en route. I feel for the parents of the terrorists. And I also can’t help but be angry with them when I see the pictures of the eight-year-old who was killed in the bombing.</p>
<p>EastGrad - we are three steps ahead of you and have PMed a few times. 
We also both have 6th graders so we will be back on this ship again in 6 years! Time to relax in between. I just saw that Logan airport is shut down…</p>