Congratulations @collegemom2boys and Happy Birthday to your son.
S has traditionally had friends over for a Super Bowl party for about 5 or 6 years now. I pretty much cook and bake for them and H and kind of hang out in the background and let the guys have a fun time. I just spent 2 hours baking more chocolate cookies than I think they can all consume but you never know. I think Iâm the one who is sad this is likely the last year for the kids to hang out together for Super Bowl. S always has had his friends for New Yearâ Eve but we had a wedding on New Yearâs Eve this year so he could not have the party. Hopefully, wherever these kids end up in college, they can get together for NYE next year.
We are taking a trip next weekend to visit 3 more colleges, two of which S will not hear from until March. The third is continuing to show a lot of interest in S and has set up some meetings with faculty and other department members for S in his chosen major. Iâm hoping it all goes well for S. Given the ongoing fiasco with BC Calculus, he can use this type of positive attention right now.
âThe house smells so strongly of bleach, onions, and garlic Iâm thinking the germs may just give up in terror.â
That made me laugh out loud! Sorry youâve got sickies, though-hope they feel better soon.
Some years we go to Hâs friendâs bug Superbowl party, but it gets bigger every year and weâre just not interested this year. So H will got watch at a sports bar and D and I will go shopping when she gets home from church. Iâll probably let her do some practice driving since the weatherâs decent.
All this talk of the College Board-I think theyâve got their hands in way too many pots, and I believe itâs NEVER been about helping the best and brightest, or ANY student get into the ideal college for them. Itâs always been about money, and they have more than their share of the market-which will continue to grow even if every single HS student switches to the ACT because of the drive to take multiple APâs and all the other tests this company administers, not to mention the CSS, etc.
On a completely different random note-I had an important realization this morning. I tell people Iâm handling D leaving next year well, but I think thatâs because I keep busy handling the DETAILS, like researching the cities where she might go, the dorms she might live in, the meal plans she might choose. I research moving a kid 3,000, setting up your stuff in a tiny dorm room, and the weather in the southeast. I do all that and I donât think as much about my baby, my youngest, going off to live so far away I wonât see her in person more than a month at Christmas for nine months of the year, and not even then if she chooses to stay after graduation. I donât think Iâm going to handle her actual absence well at ALL.
Itâs different than with my older kids-they left home but came back, and I see them plenty, though we have very different interests. And when they left I still had others at home. When Sseakid leaves, H and I will have a very different life. Right now itâs all D all the time-always has been. I donât know what I will do with all that extra time, without D getting in the car every day and saying, âGuess what we did today!â, without her coming into my room and snuggling under my quilt and talking to me about her latest friend drama. At least itâs different now with phone and Skype and all that. Thank goodness.
This is my first going away to school, and Iâm already sad because weâve gotten very close this year . I donât think DS19 is looking forward to receiving all of the attention.
No Super Bowl for me this year.
We have to celebrate a bday party with the outlawsâŠerâŠI meanâŠin-laws. [-O<
DD will be going to school only 4 hours away. Thank goodness. She wasnât exactly overjoyed though when I said that we will visit her every month. 
I think we will just see her in late Aug when we drop her off, Oct during Parents Weekend, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. I think thatâs a good balance between us wanting to see her and her not wanting us to hover over her.
Our SB Sunday will be spent at cross country ski races. Lots of nerves, as D16 is in striking distance of qualifying for Jr Nationals!
Good luck to your son @GoodGrief16
D16/We will likely pull the trigger next week and accept one collegeâs admissions offer and withdraw from all others. She ran her own race and itâs over. Whew.
Best of luck to your S @GoodGrief16
We have one college visit on Tuesday and one on Friday. I hope this will help my son narrow down his choices. Tuesdayâs visit is to a college he thinks he is ready to take of his list. Friday is an overnight visit to the college where he received the full tuition scholarship and is leaning towards at this point. Maybe we will have a final decision, if he really likes it. We also have an out of town soccer game this week. It is going to be a busy week. But the FAFSA has been submitted with the 2015 tax information and we will likely file our taxes today. 
Good luck to your DD @GoodGrief16 I will spend today working on our taxes. DD did not get her 1099 yet, so I have to figure out her earnings based on direct deposits into her bank account.
@sseamom, your post is so sentimental. I was driving yesterday to get my taxes done and went passed a golf course where S had played in a lot of tournaments and realized I will never be on that course again. I also started to realize that in a few months I will most likely never be on my local course again. For the past year I have been thinking that soon we will come to the last hole he ever plays in a tournament. With D11 working and never being home and S gone a lot to his friends, wife and I are starting to have our share of, âjust usâ dinners. I get envious when I see people just starting the journey.
@GoodGrief16 âCROSS COUNTRY SKIING!!!â Itâs like 80 degrees here in So. Cal. Best of luck to your D.
@dyiu13, âShe ran her own race.â I remember when S came out from taking his SAT subject tests for the last time I took him to his favorite restaurant, we were talking about the SAT being over forever and he told me he knew he had done very well. I commented that now he just had to finish his senior year and I told him he had âran a hell of a race.â Your post reminded me of that. Congratulations to your D.
Sorry @GoodGrief16 for calling your daughter a son. Running on minimal sleep over the past several days.
I get the feeling that the race has almost run its course for us too. DD is realistically down to two schools at this point, unless one final school possibility surprises her with a lottery-like chance of an incredible scholarship she and a ton of other people applied for. Iâm not sure if at some point this month she will finally say enough is enough and tell us her choice, or stick with her plan to take every moment possible, but her tone of voice and the things she says drop hints that she may already have made it, but just doesnât want to let go of other possibilities just yet.
Good luck to your D @GoodGrief16. That is so cool. I have only tried cross country skiing once but I loved it and would do it more if I lived in closer proximity to good skiing.
We are touring our state flagship next Sat. Last minute change of heart led to him applying there and being accepted directly into the J school and the honors program. They arenât super generous with merit, but it is affordable for us with the small merit award heâs received. He might get something extra for Boys State too. I hope after this visit, he will make some major decisions in terms of crossing off quite a few places. I hate to see him eliminate everything since this was such a drastic change after years of wanting to go to the west or east coast. I feel it would be best to leave a few options open for another month at least and see what happens. He is super lucky that the two Cal schools offered him great merit, so the costs are comparable to the flagship. And then thereâs the super reachâŠ
I am honestly really burned out on it all. Very glad for the fellowship found here!
If anyone wants to contribute to the âwhat was my major and what is my jobâ thread, which is dying a slow death, itâs here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-majors/1858922-what-was-my-major-and-now-what-is-my-job.html#latest
We just had this discussion yesterday about starting to eliminate schools. So far we have 3 acceptances and 2 deferrals out of 15+ applications. Out of 3 acceptances one is currently a first choice and the other 2 have potential to become a free ride. She would need to travel for a scholarship weekend for at least one of them. Realistically speaking I donât see a possibility now that with USC acceptance she will attend one of those schools even on a free ride. If she will not continue with free ride application process this school will be completely taken off the list now.
Thanks for starting that thread, @CAMidwestMom. I do think it helps students to know they canât predict now where theyâll end up. But it might help if someone other than tech people add their stories
Super Bowl: We always have a handful of family (and one of our friends) so it is low key but we have people to cook and clean for. I have no interest in the game and now that the best ads end up on social media anyway I donât even have to watch for those. Will probably spend the time trying to tackle the taxes and CSS.
@carolinamom2boys You might be surprised. S16 has thrived with all the attention now that S14 is away at school. He is not happy my H is out of town the next few days â S has tomorrow off and was hoping for more Dad time (tonight doesnât count because he has to share the attention)
@sseamom It might be a tough transition for you but I hope you both can adjust to the distance. So far S16 (who is our youngest) has spent most of the weekend working on a MESA project with friends (does anybody else here do MESA?) and my H and were on our own more than usual. We realize there are so many things we havenât had as much freedom to do in the last 20 years since S14 was born. We are already talking about what life will be like as empty nesters. My main worry was that S16 would not be as happy as S14 to stay in communication while away, but I think that might already be changing. So Iâm hoping for the best of both worlds â not as much day to day so I can pursue other interests, but enough contact every week or two to share the highs and lows. I will certainly miss the occasional reassuring hugs I get from S16 when he thinks Iâm worrying too much.
Congrats on the decision @dyiu13 ! And Iâm rooting for your D @goodgrief16 â let us know how it goes!
DS has pretty much put all his eggs in one basket.
We will wait to hear back from 3 lottery schools- 2 known for no merit, so those were never really an option (we didnât win the powerball a few weeks back). The other would have to match his first choice cost-wise & then I still donât know if he would choose it.
Stranger things have happenedâŠ
Did he apply to any non lottery schools @bookmom7 We successfully filed the state FA application.