<p>Crazy busy. I still have to make lemon bars tonight and do his picture board. We start setting up at noon tomorrow. 24 hours from now it will be done and I will collapse in a heap until Sunday morning when I have to take Barnard Girl to the airport at 4 am. Ugh.</p>
<p>Hello, It has been quite a while since I posted here. </p>
<p>The excitement is really amping up, and such a stellar group of kids!</p>
<p>I think the really neat thing is all the great options that are on the table for so many. Looks like the U.S.S. Indecision might have a full passenger list for the entire voyage. </p>
<p>Re the list of dorm roomstuff, in hindsight our S1 took waaaay too much. Like the iron that never came out of the box. And the drying rack that never came out of the box. I think we just overloaded him. Every year the pile coming home gets smaller. translation: fewer garbage bags of dirty clothes. There are lots of lists here on cc if you search for them - we looked at them and they can be quite extensive, but given the size of the average dorm room, discipline is critical around the concept of need to have vs. nice to have. True story: his sophomore year S1 volunteered to help unload arriving freshman. He posted a picture of someone arriving with a U-Haul. Turned out it was two kids, but still…;)</p>
<p>Some tips : 1) invest in good sheets, especially if you think they will only get washed once a semester, 2) the Xlong sheets go fast. Find out if you need them and order early. 3)Mattress pads are worth it. The school mattresses can be thinner than a dogs bed. </p>
<p>We have had a great time - The college search has been quite fun with S2, partly because he initially had absolutely no clue (his trademark state of mind, some might say;)) what he wanted,so it truly was a journey of discovery. Long story short he was accepted EA at James Madison, and is really excited. He has other acceptances, several with merit, but we can see he is committed. The cool thing was we could see him click with that campus - can’t explain it, but it was visible. No place else we went had that impact. Several outstanding apps, including a couple of reaches, but I’m sensing S2 won’t be walking up that gangplank.</p>
<p>Now that the prep is done, the emotion is kicking in. These three boys who started out in my Tiger Cub den in September 2001 are men- men who have earned their Eagle rank. Wow. I think I should have bought some water proof mascara for tomorrow.</p>
<p>BarnardMom–sunglasses in lieu of waterproof mascara? Camera batteries charged/memory card not full? I can’t believe you were making lemon bars in the middle of this. Don’t you need to juice a bunch of lemons for that? (I’m more of a chocolate dessert person so have never made lemon bars but they look tricky.)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the dorm suggestions. We are Amazon Prime users and I love it. I am still not sure if they are making money off Prime yet.</p>
<p>Some very good suggestions here. </p>
<p>Indispensible items for my son: </p>
<p>1) He LOVED this laundry hamper - [RHL.org</a> - Laundry Hamper](<a href=“http://www.campuslinens.com/ShopBy/Storage/Pop-Open-Laundry-Hamper]RHL.org”>http://www.campuslinens.com/ShopBy/Storage/Pop-Open-Laundry-Hamper) because it stands up on its own, is lightweight, breathes, and is easily carried.</p>
<p>2) a shower tote (make sure it’s got holes in the bottom and is not easily tipped)</p>
<p>3) a hook-over-the-door full-length mirror.</p>
<p>Though we got the great laundry tote through Campus Linens, we found their sheets to be ill-fitting and very poor quality.</p>
<p>BarnardMom, I will be thinking about you tomorrow at the Court of Honor! Congratulations again to your son.</p>
<p>I am exhausted keeping up with Barnard Mom! What a schedule you are keeping! Go mom!</p>
<p>DS14 got acceptance letter to his safety today- UC Riverside. He also was awarded a community scholarship.</p>
<p>DS11 has advanced to interviews to be a RA next year. Fingers crossed- with 2 in college free room & board would be a blessing!</p>
<p>Good call on the laundry tote Calla1 - thats an Essential!! Good for transporting clothes to/from home in addition to keeping the mess in the room contained. The shower caddy was actually an argument in our house - S1 couldn’t see the need, but Dear old M&D were right again. We looked at the Campus Linens but didn’t bite - lucky for us!</p>
<p>Re Laundry - DW had S1 do a few loads during the summer before just to acclimate himself. It didn’t take. At some point he was taking pictures of the Washer dials and sending them to his mom. His mom just realized this holiday break that he still doesn’t separate whites from colors. Mystery solved - his T shirts have been coming home this sickly shade of grey.
Minnymom - good luck to DS11 - its a great $$ saver, and is a great job to have on her resume. S1, in his second year as an RA, also likes he fact that the freshman are his fan club - Wise Senior Who Knows The Ways.</p>
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<p>Ok, today, I did the same thing. Bought the same car I had! A little newer, a few less miles, a couple more bells and whistles, but the same car. Hey, it’s got good cargo space and it’s affordable. Gotta be aware of that with college looming.</p>
<p>Thinking more about college “stuff,” remember for the big things it’s wise to check with the future roommate before buying (fridge, microwave, etc). A dorm room doesn’t need two of these.</p>
<p>Middle son also reminded me that for those heading to snow country, one thing he REALLY has appreciated is a mat to hold his boots/shoes and keep the dirty water off his floor. A basic heavy duty, yet decorative, “holds water” welcome mat from Wally World does the trick nicely.</p>
<p>I’ll second the doorstop suggestion too.</p>
<p>Teaching my guy to do laundry here didn’t help at all with the machines they have at his school.</p>
<p>" If your kids don’t know how to do laundry I suggest you hand over that responsibility now so they can be comfortable and one less thing to learn when they get there. " (eyemamom)</p>
<ul>
<li>So true!</li>
</ul>
<p>“At some point he was taking pictures of the Washer dials and sending them to his mom.” (initiatelaunch)
- Brilliant! I love this.</p>
<p>BarnardMom - good luck on the Eagle Court of Honor! My son became an Eagle in September - and with all our thoughts on college apps, we haven’t even begun to think about having the COH. I’m actually not even sure if he wants a fuss, but reading your posts makes me think perhaps we should put one together for the spring. It is a long journey - and for my son, not even over yet - he just got his first set of Eagle Palms and he’s been very busy working on Eagle projects for his friends. Congratulations to your son and the whole family!</p>
<p>Would you believe that DS’s common app essay involved his attempts at laundry last summer?</p>
<p>Son '14 and his dad returned home late last night from their trip down south. Really had a wonderful time. All three schools, UAH, Ole Miss and Rhodes, are great places and offer some wonderful opportunities for their students.</p>
<p>Our son could compete in track and field/cross country for UAH and Rhodes. He has a big decision ahead. Does he choose to run in college for a smaller, but excellent school, or does he forego running for the big school? Tough choice, but it is his to make. We will help him weigh the options. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Son '14 was up at 5 a.m. He has an indoor track and field meet today.</p>
<p>The lemon bars are for the Court of Honor. I do not juice fresh lemons for them- I use bottled lemon juice and I add lemon peel from a jar to make them more lemony. </p>
<p>Along with 15 pounds of dry pasta and 6 massive cans of spaghetti sauce which tasted like plain tomatoes with no spice so I doctored those up (I’m Sicilian- not serving flavorless pasta!). There is nothing in my fridge right now but diet pepsi (my addiction), raw eggs and ziplock bags of pasta. I wish I could post a picture here. It’s hilarious. </p>
<p>We are expecting a lot more people at this Court of Honor because three boys are doing it together. Two of us have fewer than 20 coming from our personal family/friends because our family is mainly out of state. The third is the Scoutmaster’s son. I believe almost the whole troop and their families are coming. But, it’s really rare for three to share a Court of Honor. It’s rare for two to share. It has become quite the event.</p>
<p>My share of the cooking included 2- 9 x 13 pans of brownies, 2-9 x 13 pans of lemon bars, and the pasta. I purposely volunteered for bar cookie type desserts because they are so much faster than doing trays and trays of cookies. The Scoutmaster’s wife is making two massive pans of cheesy potatoes, double batches of snickerdoodles and these “cake” cookies she makes. The third mom bought 208 pieces of cooked chicken and is making swedish meatballs (we bought the meatballs pre-made and the sauce in a can), two double batches of chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies. We have canned veggies and ordered a salad. </p>
<p>Having it a shared Court of Honor has cut down on the work and the cost a lot. I did all the cooking for Barnard Girl’s graduation party (except I did buy hot chicken) and after this have decided that my S’s grad party will most definitely be catered. I don’t ever want to make pasta for 150 again!</p>
<p>I hope we have enough food! These boys eat a lot :)</p>
<p>I’m very lucky that I have Monday off work for MLK day. I have to finish my homework that is due Monday night between Sunday and Monday. I have to take Barnardgirl to the airport at 4 am tomorrow. I’m hoping to come home from that, attack the homework and get it done so I can collapse on Monday!</p>
<p>CT1417 I Love Amazon Prime not only for shipping but also because it allows for free movie watching from my ipad or TV through their Amazon app and it allows me to borrow one book a month on my Kindle app.</p>
<p>I’ve actually been considering purchasing a mini projector for Barnard Girl that she can hook up to her laptop and project TV shows and movies onto a dorm room wall. She watches everything on her laptop and doesn’t have a TV. It would be a gift though- Christmas or Birthday- not a dorm necessity :)</p>
<p>initiatelaunch - my d also got into JMU. She’s going to admitted student day in Feb - will you be there?</p>
<p>
@2014novamom
That’s hilarious!
My daughter’s essay is all about her writings and talked about how she formulate plots and characters while doing laundry.</p>
<p>My daughter wrote a scholarship essay about her hair (very thick & curly & hard to manage) & made it a metaphor for life in general - we’ll see how that goes over!</p>
<p>It’s “Crunch Time!” DD’s report card arrived today and her GPA snuck up to 3.77 (cum). In the end her best single sitting ACT was a 33, and all the ECs a busy 18 year old can fit in a 24 hour day. She’s still focused on Psychology as a major. Northern Illinois University accepted her with a full scholarship, Indiana University with an initial award of $10,00 a year, and Purdue said yes too (still waiting for FA letter). UNC Chapel Hill should send out notifications 01/30 & Michigan on 04/15, but the BIG reach school is University of Notre Dame. She just received an e-mail this week that her application is complete and “under consideration”. If history is any guide, very late March and the packets will be mailed from South Bend.</p>
<p>What an anxious but exciting time for all of our Seniors! In about 90 days most of us are going to be done or in the final home stretch…wow</p>
<p>Love reading and learning from all of you as we round the last corner!</p>