Link to orange chenille couch???
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D95YTPKM/?th=1
It even had cupholders! The back reclined! How could they say NO!?
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Teens in the house in an unsupervised basement with THAT thing? Iâd be leaving condoms and PlanB in the cupholders, just sayinââŠ
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I was not given reasons why she ratted me out to S24, but perhaps NiceUnparticularMom does have better instincts for this sort of thing.
These, incidentally, were the negotiated result, meaning we actually got them:
They swivel pretty freely, so if a determined young couple can figure out how to engineer an encounter in those, I think there was no stopping them regardless.
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My money is on NiceUnparticularMomâs instincts! Both around young love and room decor. Love the chairs!
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Our basic dynamic in these cases is that I generate a LOT of ideas, and she trims out the bad ones and classes up the few more promising ones. Works for both of us!
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D24 reported that sheâs a happy camper since her chem lab got cancelled tomorrow morning due to the inclement weather. 
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Nice long talk with S24 last night (in retrospect it seems he was originally calling just to get a sign-in code sent to us, and then we roped him into a full discussion, but weâll take whatever we can get). Looks like we may be visiting for another tournament weekendâthese club sports just keep paying off for all of us!
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Love seeing activity on the thread and positive reports!
I donât hear from S24 as much as I would like, but he is happy. He is doing well in his classes, though this semester is a slate of relatively boring intro business classes. I think he has a tentative job lined up for this summer. He initially had a half-baked plan to go to Ft Lauderdale for Spring Break, but due to poor planning, he actually is going to come home instead and Iâm excited to catch up with him.
D24 is really thriving second semester! I am really impressed with her SLAC experience and how she has really been able to get involved and shine. She writes for the student newspaper, has a job writing for the newsletter at the schoolâs Leadership Center, and just found out yesterday that a final paper she wrote in her freshman seminar has been selected for publication by the school! Her advisor has mentioned that he is going to try to take her to an academic conference next fall. I am just so impressed by all the ways the school supports the students academically. She also seems to be feeling more confident socially and making more and more friends. It has been a rough winter in Massachusetts, but it doesnât seem to be bothering her too much.
H and I have been spoiling the new puppy rotten. We take turns bringing her to work with us and she is doing really well learning and adjusting to routines. Our older dog is liking her more and more, and tries to be sweet to her, but he weighs about 55 pounds and sometimes is too enthusiastic with his play. Thatâs really been the only significant challenge with the puppy so far, and we are just enjoying her so much.
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Is it wrong I love the dog stories as much as the kid stories?
Speaking of which, historically our dog (a now about five-year-old rescue originally found living on the streets in Georgia) has simply torn apart stuffies. She likes to tear the eyes off first, then tear open the chest to get out the squeaker. I wonder why our cat has been so unwilling to try out spending time âplayingâ with the dog? We have to keep them separated because otherwise the dog will try to get close to the cat and the cat will swipe her with claws (and we donât know what would happen after that since we have not waited to find out).
But anyway, NiceUnparticularDog was at our kennel for a few days when we were at S24âs Nationals (which she generally likes because she likes playing with other people and dogs). And when she came home, it turns out she now has a favorite stuffy! Like she is not tearing it apart, she carries it around gently, checks in on it sometimes, and so on.
So cute, and very unexpected at this point. It almost makes me wonder if there is some possibility of a cat-dog détente, although so far the cat seems unpersuaded.
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Keeping pets separated is hard! Not sure I know what to tell you. Iâve never mixed cats and dogs. We thought about getting a cat instead of our puppy, but thought the older dog would do better with another dog as he generally likes other dogs. It is nice your dog has a favorite stuffy that she doesnât want to destroy! For Christmas, we got our big dog a âTearibleâ toy that has appendages that are attached via velcro. They are supposed to be toys that the dogs tear apart and put back together. But, my dog is not one to tear things up, and I keep trying to show him what he is supposed to do to the toy, and he just doesnât seem interested in ripping off appendages. Perhaps your dog would like it though?
One of the most fun things to watch the dogs do is play chase. My older dog is an English Setter, and he absolutely loves to be chased. He wonât fetch at all. If we throw a toy for him, he will get it and then he wants us to chase him around and around to get it back. Well, he has learned that the can steal the puppyâs toys and she is very happy to chase him around and around until she is exhausted. This works quite well until Setter turns on puppy and wants to chase her. Fortunately, she has quickly learned to duck under the couch or between momâs legs. He isnât aggressive or trying to hurt her, but he is big and that is scary. And, even when he is trying to snuggle and be sweet, he likes to do concerning things, like gently hold her head in his mouth. So, they are closely supervised, but doing better every day.
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My dogs are adorable, and keep me going. The old one has a habit of bouncing back from deathâs door that I really admire. 
In D24 news, she has encountered her first real heartbreak, since she didnât date in high school. However, even though I ache for her, it is the best possible kind of bad outcome she could have had. The two of them really liked each other, and both are good and admirable people, but they gradually discovered that the serious differences in their beliefs/convictions would be too great to resolve without one of them choosing to change very dramatically. Iâm glad that neither of them is tempted to do thatâand Iâm glad D24 had this experience. As I told her, some people get right up to the point of marriage before discovering this truth. Weâre taking her out to lunch this weekend and spoiling her.
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awwwâŠall told, sounds like a soft landing for first-time heartbreak. Still hard to watch them go through it.
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So S24 has been having a few quieter weeks as he did some serious damage to his ankle at his second University soccer match (nothing too bad but a large boot and crutches for a few weeks). At least he seems to have navigated the US insurance-health care system wellâŠ
He has finally realised he was seriously sleep-deprived for the past couple of years (never in bed before 3am, sigh) and seems to have settled into a healthier routine including lots of gym time and good eating, so all good.
School is fine, semester seems to be ticking along nicely and heâs not too busy- though I suspect next year will be harder. For us parents, the bonus from his injury is that heâs coming home over spring break (not that we will be seeing him much as heâs visiting friends across several English UniversitiesâŠ) but itâs a nice surprise anyway to have him unexpectedly home for a few days.
He apparently had a maybe-date for Valentines, but heâs very English hush hush on that side of things so weâll seeâŠ
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After completing Fall term in London, S24 is now several weeks into life on the Hamilton College campus. Highlights have included: so.much.snow! They had TWO snow days this weekâbonkers! Classes are good, he is enjoying taking bocce ball as his PE class (heâs undefeated, no big deal), he has an amazing circle of friends (some from London, some who were also Jans but did something else in the Fall, and a bunch who he has met through classes/on campus events). He is taking full advantage of open skate at the rink and climbing hours at the rock wall. He plans to join fencing club and is being wooâed by a fraternity (but itâs the chill fraternity mom, donât freak out). All in all Hamilton is meeting his expectations and he is settling in well. And presumably going to class and doing work.
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Same with ours! She desperately wants us to chase her, tries to get other dogs to chase her, and so on. But if you throw something of hers, she will go and get it and come backâonce. But then if you try to take it from her to throw again, she will growl and snap. She is not falling for that twice!
That Tearrible toy looks perfect for her. Will definitely give it a go.
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@Tana98 --arenât all the fraternities supposed to be the chill fraternities? I think that they think theyâre chill! (unless theyâre the professional business ones, I guess). 
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Right??? He further clarified that this particular frat has Settlers of Catan night for a rush event and is more likely to play boardgames than to shoot each other in the chest with a staple gun (as my brotherâs frat at CMU did oh so many years ago)
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Unless someone trades a bunch of resources then calls it right back with the Monopoly card, in which case all bets are off.
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Todayâs the day - D24âs time slot for selecting housing for next year. Iâve seen on the parent FB page that itâs slim pickings already, so not too confident sheâs going to get what sheâs looking for. There are so many reasons why it would be best for D to remain on-campus next year, so keeping everything crossed she gets something that she can accept.
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