^ I bought towels at Target, too. I’m not sure which brand - they felt thick and plush and were a medium gray. I bought S four towels.
Sam’s Club has nice, thick and inexpensive towels.
@Mom2jl - thank you for the shower caddy link. S liked it so it is ordered!
Also ordered an iClicker2 today, and ordered the student season football tickets for S.
Feeling productive! Maybe I won’t have a heart racing panic attack in the middle of the night again…
We got our towels at Ross. Really nice, thick all cotton ones. We had planned to buy on location but the prices were too good. It only came to $20 for two full sets plus a set of 6 washcloths.
Here’s a tip for anyone buying school.supplies once you get to your college town. Find out when the public schools start. Nashville started today and we actually had trouble finding some things…pencils, for.example. A lot of the other basic supplies were pretty wiped out too. We were thinking we were ok since the COLLEGES start later than ours. We forgot local schools.
We’re tired but now have everything we need to move in on Saturday.
Thanks @Mom2jl ! Shower bag in basic black has been purchased. It was inexpensive enough that if he refuses to use it, I won’t feel so bad and I think I’ll be able to repurpose it if necessary.
DS received some really nice gray towels and washcloths as a grad gift. They are in the washing machine with his new gray knit sheets and pillowcases right now. Two more things off the list!
Well I coaxed S into his room and started sorting out his closet. I moved everything out of one section and showed him a three foot wide space that is the width of his closet at school- this is what he has to work with. He came up with around 20 (total) t-shirts, polos and sweatshirts. He has a similar section of deep winter sweaters that we’ll trade for the t-shirts in late October. He also has a hanging shoe rack, and a closet rod extender if needed.
We’ll hopefully move on to the dresser tomorrow. We did open one drawer - and found some boxers the size of a six year old!
It was fun to spend some time hanging out together.
One of our towels will be the one I sneaked home from the in-laws’ years ago after accidentally bleaching it…
And thanks for the reminder about the umbrella!
CofC actually started our towel collection last summer when the CS department gave DS 2 huge CS beach towels when he toured their facilities. 
My sweet girl has gone through all of the clothes in her closet, separating them into two piles…one for school (big pile and one for Goodwill). Tonight I will “special pack” her clothes as I call it. I love this! We have used this method and are able to pack so much more into a suitcase/duffel bag!
http://elsewhere.nine.com.au/2016/05/19/07/42/0519-travel-suitcase-packing
Next week we will get her coats and business attire dry cleaned and packed. The week before we head out we will finish purchasing small items. Getting close :((
Hi All, I have been absent for quite a few months. Mostly because of work’s busy season, but then being so far behind in posts, it was an overwhelmingly daunting process to catch up. I tried valiantly but to date, I am still woefully behind. Yes, I could just skip ahead but I hated all the great things I would be missing. Because of how massively I was behind, it would have been easy to just forget the entire thing. You guys are all so great and posts so many timely, relevant and poignant things that I just could not miss out on sharing these moments with you all. You have (individually and collectively) given me so much information and assistance that forgoing this forum simply became completely unacceptable to me. From what I have gathered, some other forums and other graduation years of similar forums are not as supportive. I am so glad I stumbled on to this group! I been skimming over the majority of posts I have missed, but sadly so I do not lose out totally, I will have to skip over the final 20 page gap I left.
Firstly, Congrats to all, it’s great to be back, thanks for all the awesome ideas, tips and thoughts. Secondly, I think we all need boxes of Kleenex for the next few weeks (and afterward). I too have been getting alternatively excited for my D’s next chapter and overwhelming sad that this new and exciting chapter will be (to a large extent) removed from me / us. Yes, I know she will text, call and still need me / us but it will be the first time in her life that her life will exist separately from our home. Less likely (if much at all) will their friends be coming over and joining our family in our daily life (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, ice cream, the frequent mani pedi excursions, and numerous TV and movie marathons.
I am grateful for these wonderful memories and hope that new things crop up to fill some of the void. Things will be different and I will adjust to our new normal (as will we all – somehow). I have projects that I have been putting off and things that need to be done, especially because of entering this new world order. I vow not to be overly emotional in front of my D but she knows that her dad and I will be greatly affected by this eventuality. She even knows (and worries about) how devastating our beloved Shih Tzu will be when she leaves. She vacillates between being slightly concerned about us (at least that is the outward appearance), to poking fun at us (“you guys are going to be so lost without me”) LOL. I remind her that this is a natural crossroad in life and we will adjust, just as she will. I have seen many moments recently of her budding maturity and need to forge her own path, so I know she is as ready as anyone can be at this point. She will surely stumble and make mistakes, this is a given. I just hope that in the end her stumbles and mistakes will be beneficial in helping her navigate her path better going forward.
In the end, though, I remind her that (most importantly) we are family and we are always there for her (and her brother) and will support her in doing her best and making the best of these new chapters and opportunities. This is a phenomenally exciting time for her. It is full of amazing opportunities that she should at least consider, if not try. We are so excited for her and hope to always be there, routing her on from the sidelines of her future journeys.
Currently, all the necessary details are either completed or in the process of being completed. Her fall bill is in the process of being paid, her classes are finally set. Big debacle with her adviser but now she has another one. Hopefully this one is more willing to listen instead of just put her in the standard freshman schedule. My D has been anxiously waiting for this time in her life when she could pave her own path. It was quite a disappointment to initially be treated like she did not (or could not possibly) know what she wanted or should have regarding her fall classes. We are now working on ordering her books. Thankfully, her older brother had the same book that she needs for CHEM I. That saved about $200.! She only needs to get the other items within the “packaged component” (which always confuses me). Do you pick the “required” option or the “package component” option? One of her classes has not figured out what book they want or need so we chose to reserve it once it’s decided. Her campus bookstore, I do not think matches Amazon’s prices but I will check that. I also typically check textbookrush.com. They sometimes have things significantly cheaper than the campus bookstore. My D bookstore is a Barnes and Noble but there is nowhere on the website to put in my members number so that I can get my rewards for those purchases. I will have to call to find out about that. Between the two kids, the dorm mountain is approaching Mt. Everest t size. I fear we have over purchase but I will return whatever she doesn’t want, fit or end up needing.
I did score some huge appreciation from my daughter on one item. For months, she was asked for an IKEA Raskog utility cart in dark grey. I did not get it sooner because I felt it was a basic item that I could easily purchase closer to the time - on this note, I was totally misguided. I tried to find it at our local IKEA, no luck. So I started trying to find it at other (somewhat) nearby IKEA’s – no luck. I was in shock that such a simple item might become unattainable. It was the only item that my D asked for. Everything else she was pretty much easy going about. This became my new mission – to facilitate this one item for my D. Silly but true, I was not going to let this obstacle get the better of me. I checked the website and it was one item that they did not offer online purchasing. No store up and down the east coast has any! Was there a run all of a sudden on this basic kitchen utility cart? I kept checking the stock levels in any store I could realistically get to without purchasing a plane ticket. I am driving my son to Clemson soon, so I checked the Charlotte NC and Atlanta stores – no inventory whatsoever! On a lark, I checked the St. Louis MO store and eureka – they had 77! Now how do I go about getting one from that store? I called IKEA and told my story to the rep on the phone. Needless to say, he was hysterical at my story and understanding of my dilemma, but unable to help me. He transferred me to another department. After holding for ½ hour, I had to hang up and take my D to her doctor’s appointment. I tried again the next afternoon. The first representative also understood but could offer not assistance with a direct phone number to the St. Louis store or ability to order it on the website. Frustrated I asked to speak to a supervisor. I was transferred to Alice and she was just as understanding and decided to send an email to the manager of the St. Louis store and ask him to reach out and assist me in my quest. I figured this was a dead end, but I was surprisingly mistaken! Justin the manager from the St. Louis IKEA store called me 20 minutes later! He was fantastic and completely willing to ship this item to me. I explained that would pay the shipping (a reasonable amount of course) because this particular item in dark gray was way more expensive on Amazon or even Ebay. Justin explained that they would cover the shipping and was just happy to assist me and help make my D happy! Wow, real customer service does exist! It should be coming sometime in the next few days. My D was so shocked, happy and excited. I was glad to show my D that if you persist you can move mountains. Now this might not be the mountain that most would persist in moving, I understand that, but the main idea of this situation is; if something is important to you, don’t just give up if it doesn’t work out easily or with the first attempt. Find another way - be persistent and resourceful. This mentality will help you in every aspect of your life. Make your way happen, don’t just wait for your way to happen or appear.
@lvmjac1 Oh no! I need this cart too and I haven’t gotten it. I checked and it is not available at either store near me!
Welcome back @lvmjac1 . I’ve been pretty down about my S’s upcoming departure. When my D went off to college, I was excited for her and knew she would adjust socially and academically. Plus I had 6 more years with S. Now that S is going, it feels like there is the huge void. Plus he is working so hard at this day camp (lots of going in early and staying late), that he is exhausted in the evenings and can barely talk to us through dinner. Then he retreats to his room for the night. So it feels like no quality time left with him this summer except our vacation last week. This Sunday we are going to an area Send Off for his school. I hope he opens up and connects with some kids. Then, a day or so later, we are shipping a box through through the school’s shipping option so we need to get anything we want shipped packed up on Saturday. It is spinning by quickly and I really hope his is ready. He’s going today for his meningitis vaccine - long story on the delay.
Thanks for all the towel recommendations. That is the last major thing I need to get for S before we leave.
My college just posted we will getting the emails with our room assignments this week! So the checking of my inbox commences.
@lvmjac1 Welcome back! What a beautiful testimony on a mother’s love in your post! That is wonderful about that manager.
@RyanG1207 you need to get his phone number and hopefully he can send you a cart too.
@lvmjac1 I hear that people named Alice are excellent problem solvers and very helpful.
You are so right @carolinamom2boys!!! I will definitely write a letter to the company commending the efforts of Alice and Justin! I can totally relate to @PAO2008 sentiment that the kids are so busy that when they do come home, they are exhausted and end up retreating to their rooms. It’s putting a bit of a damper on both D and S’s remaining time at home. I really want to carve out some quality time with each kid before they go off.
@readingclaygirl hope your email comes soon! My D got hers earlier this week. It’s good to finally know.
Thanks @mommdc - The other colors are available so I will probably just get the black one, but I am going to buy it ASAP because they might run out of that one too once others realize the gray is sold out all over the country! Except MO and CO (I checked!). I wonder why gray is so popular?
@HappyFace2018, I just read your quotes from about 15 pages back - still trying to catch up and this is exactly why I want to!
Dr. Martin Luther King’s “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
And I love what Eleanor Roosevelt once said:
“A woman is like a tea bag - you can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”
I absolutely love those quotes! Thanks for sharing them!