<p>My D is home, but I wish she would wake up already!</p>
<p>D went out bowling on the base last night at 10:30. She came in at 2:30 and is still sleeping. Nothing like having to go back to worrying about her while she’s out. </p>
<p>I picked DD up and brought her home this morning! The dog was so excited to see her! DS’11 drove himself home last night so it’s a happy and full house! Of course, she’s off to meet friends for lunch and he was out last night but both will be around later today and home for dinner. But dog is not happy she’s leaving now so soon! He’ll be watching out the window for her return. </p>
<p>The cat walks to D’s bed. Then he comes out into the hall, looks at me, meows, looks back at what he now considers “his” bed, and meows again as if to say, “What is that small human doing in MY bed? Make her get out.” </p>
<p>It has been an interesting day in our home. My son texted me early this morning to say that he was at the airport, but figured his flight would be delayed. It was, by more than an hour. But the pilot must have wanted to see D.C. in the snow, so he really burned it to get there. My husband is awaiting his arrival at Metro. It will take a while to get home, because of all the traffic. Meanwhile, the older son pulled in with lots of laundry just after noon. Did lunch with us, and now he is studying for his law school exams. The first wave of laundry is in the dryer.</p>
<p>Happy Thanksgiving everyone!</p>
<p>Happy Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>Happy Thanksgivong! I hope everyone got (or gets) where they want to be, safely and warmly. Cherish all of your loved ones, we little “ants” on this tiny globe only have each other.</p>
<p>I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We had a lovely dinner. </p>
<p>D’s best friend from HS, who moved away the summer before senior year, is in town. She spent the night last night which was an added bonus. She and D talked into the night and just woke up. D and I are going to spend the rest of the day hibernating (it’s cold outside), making the master Christmas list, and catching up on laundry and life. </p>
<p>It was the first year S wasn’t home for Thanksgiving. We missed him, but he and his GF (who also lives far from her family) cooked their own Thanksgiving dinner. At least he’ll be home for Christmas.</p>
<p>I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. I was not thrilled with the terrible traffic coming back from Houston on Sunday, but when I saw a number of wrecks on the side of the road along the way, it gave me pause.</p>
<p>S originally wasn’t even going to come home for Thanksgiving, but changed his mind when he found out the serveries (cafeterias) would be closed. But he was glad he did as he was able to reconnect with a number of old high school friends and got to enjoy being a big fish amongst them one more time (according to him). He chose his university with eyes wide open knowing he would be a very small fish in a big pond, but I don’t think he realized until this break how much he enjoys being a big fish. Still, he is glad to be there and says he would make the same choice again.</p>
<p>I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break with the kids.</p>
<p>It was so nice to have my D at home. We moved her bedroom to the smaller bedroom and she loved her new room. I was worried as sometimes teenage girls can get prickly about these things. But probably a big part of it was that she had left her room a mess and now she has a new, clean room. And she doesn’t have to deal with all those hundreds of knick knacks she had collected over the past 18 years; they’re in boxes and she can deal with them when she’s ready. She doesn’t miss them a bit.</p>
<p>We had six freshman at the house and we had a Q & A with them. Everyone is going to a different school. Two are commuters and I was a little worried they would feel a little left out when hearing about dorm life. But we made a good effort to make sure they were part of the conversation. </p>
<p>My D was the only one who had classes until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. She goes to a school close by so many of her old high school friends visited her that week. She goes to a very small school and she said everyone was shocked that it was so small. As much as she loves her school, I don’t think anyone else can imagine going there. </p>
<p>She seems basically the same as when she left in August, but I am very surprised she wants more school apparel and a pennant for her room. She was never one to show a lot of school spirit, so this is a surprise. And about the school apparel, she’s on campus about 99% of the time. People there know which school she attends (unless it’s some rogue person attending a calculus class or wants to eat in a dining hall.) I’m happy she’s proud of her school so she’ll be getting college apparel for Christmas.</p>
<p>I’m sad that she’s gone but she’ll be back in three weeks. And she won’t have school work to think about then. She’s so looking forward to doing pleasure reading over Christmas break. She deserves it. </p>
<p>We had a wonderful Thanksgiving visit from our son, who has transformed from a shy, isolated, but generally happy high schooler to one of those annoying young people who texts constantly. Apparently it was a rough adjustment being separated from his GF for the first time since they met during orientation. Oh, and his sense of humor has definitely matured too. He spent one long afternoon and evening with friends and hung out a little with his brother (my S16). Unfortunately, both of them had procrastinated and had to spend a couple days doing homework so didn’t have nearly enough time together. My anxiety about his ability to finish major writing projects returned – I’d been enjoying a break from that stress but it came right back watching the ugly process. Hoping that he’ll pull it together enough to pass the class, his only required writing seminar as far as I know. In any case, the winter break will be heavenly as @LibbyT notes, with no looming deadlines for the first time in many many years of ruined vacations.</p>
<p>D did some homework, too. She started a paper at midnight on Saturday after her friend left 
. i also don’t miss witnessing the paper procrastination. D won,t have many writing classes, either, but I’m sure there’ll be more classes with papers.</p>
<p>We had a good weekend too. I figure she will be home long enough in December/January to get on my nerves, but this was short and sweet!</p>
<p>Libby T, your D reminds me of mine. She is also attending a small school, and has tons of school spirit, and a lot of college apparel. </p>
<p>Sounds like everyone had nice visits! DS made it home after a 2 hour delay. The weather here was ok, but the problems in New York spilled over into the airspace all up and down the East coast. We had moved him to an earlier flight so he was still home by mid-afternoon. His phone was buzzing with texts and notifications all Wednesday with friends asking to get together (seems like the majority of them had the whole week off) but DS put them off to hang out with us.</p>
<p>But he was out the door on Friday by late morning! He had an alumni touch football game with old teammates, then went to lunch with them. He was home for a bit Friday afternoon, but then out the door again for the evening. He spent some of Saturday working on a paper but took the opportunity to go out again Saturday night. Then Sunday he was off on a late morning flight back to school.</p>
<p>Short and sweet, but he’ll be home again in two weeks, so I am looking forward to that!</p>
<p>We had a nice time with our boys. The oldest son who is in his first year at UVA Law had to spend many hours studying, as he has his finals starting next week. He got home a bit before the younger son walked in the door. His flight had been delayed because of weather, but he was glad to spend some time with his brother. The two had not seen each other since early August. After spending Thanksgiving with us, the younger son went over to his former high school and ran with members of the track team on Friday morning. He later watched lots of college football with us before leaving Sunday afternoon. We will see him in nine days. I’ve already promised him that I’ll make some of his favorite foods, the ones that his older brother really does not like. </p>
<p>I’ve been away from CC for a few weeks…DS15 is working on applications and, while we got LOTS of great information here, suddenly I was on CC so much that I was stressing out because it was so tempting to compare ourselves with other people’s progress. But now things are well in hand, so I think I can safely come back. </p>
<p>I do want to add that we’ve seen DD14 at Cornell several times to watch her march in the Big Red Marching Band (“the only real marching band in the Ivy League” 
) and she is so happy there! We’re very blessed. There is so much joy in watching your child thrive and grow. Classes are going well, even the engineering physics that she signed up for without realizing that it would be harder than regular physics (she’s a linguistics major). Next semester: Old Norse, Mandarin II, historical linguistics, linguistics of Native American languages, calculus, ballroom dancing. Along with the joy comes a bit of jealousy!</p>
<p>Aaaah, just popped in and am so happy you all had such lovely visits over the holiday. My 2 Ds flew to Northern CA to be with family bc flying across country seemed to risky. 11 days until they are home from Xmas. But who is counting?</p>
<p>Interesting to hear people say their kids are changing. I see that a bit too. We got a text from one D saying her pre-med advisor told her to take a gap year before med school and pursue acting for a year. Ummm, ok. </p>
<p>I hear my 2 Ds at college facetiming with D16… it is priceless. They laugh and talk for an hour each time. D16 had her HS musical audition this week and she ran her song and monologue for them. They had researched some mannerisms from the show and had her add them to the audition. This is NOT the same relationship that existed when they all lived at home. We are thrilled. And D16 loves the attention and praise she is receiving from the 2 D14s. Can I put this feeling in a bottle and save it? </p>
<p>3tallblonds, I am jealous. My two D’s will come home to a brother that does not miss them, and does not want to share “his” bathroom with them. Maybe, one day they will have a closer relationship.</p>