Summer is finally here at my house. S19 finished school last week and I am done with all my business travel so we can finally relax to a summer schedule. D’s job is going well. She was not thrilled about working at Wendy’s when she first got the job, but she now has a work “friend group” and the first paycheck has been deposited so she is happy.
You all have made me so nervous about “dorm mountain” as it has been referred to that I ordered sheets last night so the first purchase has been made. I need to start a list to figure out what else is needed. She won’t know her dorm until mid July so some purchases will have to wait as different dorms come with different configurations.
Oh my goodness @labegg, I was about to like your post until I got to the end. I am seriously impressed with your ability to muscle through! Lots of aloha for a speedy recovery!
D was clingy last night which is VERY weird. I was teasing her and said maybe I should call the University of Hawaii and see if she can still go there and stay home. She said maybe I should. WHAT??!! At this point, I’m assuming this is just one of the 13,476 feelings she will be having in the next 60 odd days. Transitions can be tough.
Last note, I’m test driving some items to see if they will be a win for a dorm room. First up, a Turkish towel. Ridiculously thin, how can this work as well as a regular towel to dry off after a shower? I don’t know, but it does! They are cute, could also work as a sarong or outdoor blanket, space saving for packing, and will wash and dry in a jiffy. Never mind D’s dorm, I want to replace my own towels with these! Next up, I ordered a silicone, collapsible coffee dripper. My hope is it will be just as fast, but cheaper than a Keurig. Can you tell who is having more fun planning for the dorm, D or me???
@ me29034 - I’m with you about being nervous about dorm mountain. Bought a duvet cover and new twin xl sheets yesterday so that I could wash them before packing them. Everytime I think I about all the stuff we need to bring I get a mite anxious, but then I remember that amazon prime is great.
I had my meeting with disability services today and it went well. Everything is all set for August. Plus they put the Orientation schedules on the website so that’s cool.
My D’16 is filling out the school medical forms where they ask for the entire family history, including grandparents. They want condition, and then outcome of the person who suffered/experienced this condition.
When she got to melanoma I told her to put her paternal grandmother, and for outcome I told her (in a moment of levity) to put “Surgery - Brain damaged”.
When my daughter’s eyes grew large and she asked “For real?!” I told her the truth.
“No, but because she won’t speak to you guys she must be brain damaged.” We laughed.
(They do not know her as this woman has not spoken to my husband or me since the day we married.)
@palm715 : I just bought a boat load of Turkish towel sets for the house and I am not sure what I think of them yet. May I ask what brand yours are? (Mine are Concierge Collection/feeling a bit iffy about the ‘concierge’ quality, though I have not given them a test run yet.)
Bought 2 new super soft pillows today at Costco (less than $12 for both). They also had a 2 pack of hampers but, since I really only need 1- I’ll order from Amazon.
DS also called and took care of his tuition waiver today- yay! —I offered to do it but, he wanted to handle it. Part of me is so glad he is establishing his independence but, the mom in me also knows I’ll miss taking care of things for him.
I bought the microwave yesterday. We already have a fridge to send from the older kids. S face-timed his roommate, who lives across the country and has never been to the school. I was told he seems “fine”, S’s word for everything. Tonight I’m going to start staging Dorm Mountain in older S’s old room. We have a good start- many things are scavenged from around the house.
The Turkish towels sound interesting.
@carolinamom2boys, butterflies. Definitly butterflies. It better be butterflies. Oh gosh, I hope it’s butterflies. Ugh, now I have butterflies. Kidding. Definitly butterflies…
My son just returned from orientation. He is absolutely drained. Many one word answers. Seems like he did enjoy his time on the campus. He likes his schedule except for one class. He can’t change his schedule because they worked it around his soccer schedule.
@palm715 We have some of this too. Most of the days we have “I am so excited!”, but few times I’ve heard “Maybe I should have choose the other one and make it easy for everyone” thing going on.
Took D16 shopping today at a nearby outlet mall. I think we are officially done with the clothing base camp portion of Expedition College, on to Dorm Mountain!
Bought a Columbia Parka (multi-layered, zip apart, reflective lining, hooded contraption). We were told multiple times last weekend, at preview, to buy a parka “everyone on campus looks like a penguin in January/February”. It was on clearance (score!) but still $115 (ugh!). Not much call for winter parkas in Houston I guess? We have cobbled together several sets of hats/ear warmers and mittens. She has a knit Slytherin scarf that she is purchased years ago on a band trip to Universal in Florida, she is super excited to finally put to use! Also bought some compression wear for layering, new undies etc. (TMI?), a couple of fresh new t-shirts (and an Italia soccer jersey), a pair of the ubiquitous college girl black leggings (I really dislike leggings as pants…).
We recently purchased a Northface fleece and Borealis backpack. She goes through the Jansport backpacks in about a year, so I am hoping this step up to Northface will make it through 3 of her 6 years on campus! (FYI, my D18 has a N’finity backpack, it’s a cheerleading brand, that is going on 3 years of service and is still going strong). D16 also bought a flannel lined pair of Sperry “duck” boots (which I am confident will keep her feel dry but am not certain about warm?).
D18 tired on a t-shirt that read “sarcasm is only one of the services I offer”. While it totally is a reflection of her personality, a gentle comment of “Is that the message you want to be sending people?” from Mom was enough to make her reconsider. (Go Me!)
Trends I have noticed on our 2 Marquette campus visits - Northface fleece and backpacks, Birkenstock sandals (as well as Croqs - I didn’t realize those were still a “thing”), Landsend duck boots, Timberland “I’m a lumberjack” boots, leggings, Nike or Adidas slides for guys (even in the in the wet sloshy middle of February?), cuffed lounge pants a’la Pink, Nike/Under Armour for both guys and girls, knit beanies, Nike or similar running shorts. Sad to see a serious “label/brand” addiction on campus. Anyone notice anything trending during campus visits?
@labegg Doesn’t Jansport offer free lifetime repair or replacement? I am making S16 get a new backpack because his HS one is ratty. But he insists it has to be sufficiently unique and cool so Jansport won’t qualify. Google Malia Obama’s new backpack, for example.
Sorry to hear about your injuries! Hope you heal quickly and well!
@labegg I really haven’t noticed that much of a brand trend on my campus. People do wear Northface in the winter but it is the Northeast after all. Beyond that girls seem to wear a lot of jeans and t-shirts. Someone said people don’t feel the pressure to dress up in a certain way because there are no guys around competing for their attention
@labegg I got D a Borealis backpack last fall and it has held up perfectly, despite being overstuffed and carted around all day every day all school year. She made an agreement with me that she would not ask for a new one for college and is happily bringing it with her. She also had one of those Columbia parkas when she was younger (gift from a friend) and the ability to zip layers in and out made it the perfect winter coat. She wore all the layers on a trip back to NH in the dead of winter, then the lighter one for daily wear here in Seattle, and in the spring, just the outer shell. It wore like iron, too.
I didn’t notice any heavy branding at D’s school, but yes to the yoga pants, the boys (and girls) in the Nike slides (apparently girls there hot-glue fake craft fur on them), the fake Birkenstocks (D has 3 pair). I saw no one in running shorts, but it was cold that whole weekend. I did see a lot of school swag- tee shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, shells, sweats and yoga pants.
Btw, D wants new underwear too. She thinks she should have enough to get by in case she doesn’t do her laundry as often as she’d like. I hope you heal up fast too!
Sounds like a productive shopping trip @labegg. D16 has a lot of the same stuff (North Face parka, backpack, fleeces) etc. on her list for the move to CO. I really should get the winter stuff now while it’s on sale, even if I end up shipping it out later. She’s had both of her Vans backpacks since 8th or 9th grade and the cats may or may not have peed on them at some point (it never goes away completely!) She’s definitely getting a new one!
We have enough money saved for 4 years of OOS college, but I am feeling a bit broke this summer due to some unexpected expenses and forgot I would have to buy all of this stuff. D may be contributing more money than expected to dorm mountain unless she wants to live like a monk.
