<p>I just broke down and rented an SUV for move in. I just don’t think D1’s Corolla was going to work. </p>
<p>Still need to buy a computer monitor when we arrive. Any suggestions for stores in central New Jersey?</p>
<p>The Route 1 corridor that borders Princeton (along with Plainsboro, West Windsor, Lawrence) is where the shopping is at. You’ll find Best Buy, Staples, PC Richards. Walmart, Sam’s Club. Quakerbridge Mall has Macy’s Lord & Taylor, Sears, JC Penney, and then other chains. Target.</p>
<p>Packing is a sore subject here. S is in NYC for the summer until the day before he leaves for college - and oh by way - he is moving into an off-campus apartment for the first time. D hasn’t packed a thing - and we will all be at her college for orientation the day that S arrives back home. And did I mention that we are moving into a new family home at the end of August - so both kids need to pack for their college moves AND the move to the new condo. I am usually on top of things - but I have just about given up.</p>
<p>Right there with you Kennedy! Have somewhat given up. I did get 2 boxes shipped off for D. People keep giving her things - like towels and bed toppers - that we can’t possibly fit in luggage. I rented a minivan for move-in, figuring we will still need to buy a lot once we arrive. Roommate, who is local to the school, has not responded to D’s e-mail asking about rugs/refrigerators, etc. </p>
<p>S is back from his summer study abroad, took him to buy a suit today for interviews. Of course they will have to order the pants in for him (not much size 30 waists in stock) so we will have to squeeze in another trip to have them hemmed. Today is his 21st bday, so planning dinner with the grandparents, I’m sitting here chilling with a Dos Equis to de-stress. Steak and corn on the cob and apple pie tonight. Off to Disney World/Universal next week and there will be no college packing talk! Good luck to all the soon to be launchers!</p>
<p>But doesn’t it help to vent! I feel better!</p>
<p>DS launched today.
I tried to keep my cool but now I am a total emotional mess 
On the way from the airport DH had asked “so what are we going to do with his room?” and I just completely lost it there.
Never knew that it will be so hard…</p>
<p>I’m not sure we have formal plans for Devil Child’s room, but I know he’d like for us to just put up a velvet rope and keep things as is – ie, a de facto Pokemon museum where a dog likes to nap. Maybe we’ll add a brass plaque to make it look fancier. Go Devils!</p>
<p>Hi everyone! Reading a few pages - and I can definitely relate!</p>
<p>I’m grieving that my D is leaving soon… happy for her, but still sad about what will change. She is my youngest and I’m a single parent, so we are very close. </p>
<p>Packing - we have a big pile in the living room, but it’s all the room stuff and none of her clothes. D has apparently been organizing her clothes, but none of it is packed. I have visions of piles getting thrown in black trash bags at the last minute haphazardly… I hope not! </p>
<p>We did one of those last-minute Target runs last night - soap, shampoo, a small plastic drawer unit and some basic “school supplies.” Oh, and a clock with an ipod dock that was on sale… Yes, I have spent way too much money on stuff and I am sure that some of it will be coming back home with me because it won’t fit in the room!</p>
<p>Roommate worries - a few, but I think that’s actually getting better. D and her roomie to be have discovered some common ground so it should all be fine.</p>
<p>There are some nerves here too - aside from mine! lol.
It’s hitting D that this is the end of an era (or as she said, the end of her childhood) and that’s a sad thing. She is making the rounds saying her goodbyes to friends this week. I think she is worried about the academic demands of college, worried about making friends etc. Nothing too terrible, but a little anxious.</p>
<p>Is anyone feeling flashes of panic that you will forget to take care of something important before they leave? Or forget to pack something essential?</p>
<p>(((Hugs)))) Kelowna.</p>
<p>I am generally okay about the launch, preferring to get excited over S’s new adventures and bury my head in the sand at how it will change things at home. But every once in a while, something smacks me in the face. </p>
<p>Yesterday I was doing a big grocery run because we had been away and had no food in the house. There is a particular brand of yogurt S likes and he has one almost every day. It was on sale, so I started piling them into my cart when I suddenly realized THERE ARE ONLY 10 MORE DAYS. I don’t NEED 15 yogurts! I about burst into tears in the dairy aisle!!</p>
<p>Then thru the rest of the store I kept wondering how my cereal, milk, apple, cheese, etc buying habits will change. :D</p>
<p>I love to cook and cook a lot, almost daily. Thinking that now I will just cook for 3 makes me cry. This past week I tried to cook S’s favorite things, spoiling him a little…
Anything can make me cry now - just went past his room and saw how neatly he has done his bed this morning … and waterworks again. His best buddy stopped by for a second to pick up something - I almost hugged the poor kid 
I keep thinking that Christmas break is in four months…</p>
<p>Last night’s pool party went great. No tears from the parents and lots of great pics. I think it hit some of the guys that they may never get together again like this.</p>
<p>Ds is home! Let the packing begin!</p>
<p>yep, when I realized that D and I won’t be watching a certain tv program together for the new season - I teared up.</p>
<p>That’s the thing I’ll miss the most. We had a whole bunch of shows we watched together – Nashville, Parenthood, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Scandal.</p>
<p>Nodding at EVERY post…casual fun sushi dinner with son and I start crying because I was remembering he and I hitting all the ethnic places on Friday nights third thru fifth grade while his sisters were at Girl Scouts…then of course I felt bad cause it freaked him out a bit…I kept reassuring him that I really am okay (cause I really am) but stuff just hits me…of course, I wasn’t very convincing when I couldn’t stop the tears!
We go three days in a row…19th, 20th, 21st…and I’m taking Thursday and Friday off too…thinking I may need a few days to get my equilibrium back!</p>
<p>DS is our oldest. We have 2 younger sons. I think having him leave is harder on them than me. They both get along really well with him. My 12 year old seems kind of lost today.</p>
<p>I had planned on something for DS’s room. He has the bonus room over the garage. I thought one of my other sons would want to switch rooms with him but they don’t. So I guess it’s just going to stay the same way for now.</p>
<p>3triplet: Gosh, I can’t imagine launching 3 at once. My heart goes out to all the parents, but especially those with multiples. Lots of hugs for you!</p>
<p>Surfcity: when I went grocery shopping last night I realized I was buying the last gallon of milk until fall break. I usually buy 4 gallons of milk a week, but will now probably be down to a quart of half gallon for just DH & I. Who knew opening the dairy door could be so emotional?</p>
<p>Yeah, I sent s to the store just now to get pet food. I asked if there was anything else he could think of that we needed. He said “I would say cereal and milk but I’m not going to be here after tomorrow”. :(</p>
<p>Hey y’all! I’ve popped in and out through the summer reading about your adventures, but the Whirlwind of Life (jobs, traveling, wisdom teeth, buying shoes/clothes, med appts, cleaning out two decades of Dusty Stuff in Bedrooms, etc) kept me away from reporting. Been going through much of your same activities and thoughts, although we do not yet have The Pile. </p>
<p>Megpmom, good luck on the move. I lived nearby on Clifton Hill for a couple years. If Life in London ever gets to you, you can always get some jollies walking to the Abbey Road Crosswalk and watching the cars dodge the Tourists recreating the Beatles album cover. If you have a really bad day, you can BE the car messing up The Tourist Photo. Heh, heh.</p>
<p>Ldog, I loved that same Baltic cruise, but I think it needs three days in St Pete. I could spend an entire week just in the Hermitage.</p>
<p>We leave exactly one week from today with a double preorientation launch next Monday in Philly and Tuesday in Cambridge. I have no idea how we will fit DH, myself, our luggage for two weeks (need to help out some family while we are up north), the Twins, and much of their Earthly Possessions into one SUV. We bought a roof carrier, but I am thinking there will be stuff on my lap on the 10+ hour drive up north. For that reason, I have resisted buying much of anything. Unlike when we were in college and stuck on a disconnected campus island, today there is that wonderful thing called The Internet and Online Ordering. We will be minimalists, and they can order what they think they are missing. They will just take linens, clothes, contact lenses, laptop, printer, extra monitor, and smartphone cause not much else will fit in the Tuitionmobile.</p>
<p>Thank goodness that we are well advanced into Moore’s Law, cause yesteryear’s CPUs, receivers, stereo speakers, and even those dorm room Princess Phones would not have fit on our Up the East Coast drive.</p>
<p>My kids all arrived within a 60 second time period in 1995. I go now from full house to empty nest in the same way. However, I cheer myself when I think about the decrease in laundry, grocery shopping, chauffeuring, fighting stupid school administrators, and nagging kids to clean the drips of Diet Coke up the staircase. Life will be quiet, but there are a few silver linings. Also, unlike three decades ago, there are a lot easier ways to stay in touch, although I suspect that it may be unidirectional. I have asked each Twin to text at least one word to me at least once a week, even if it is simply, “Alive.”</p>