Hooray! My daughter has passed from the total depression and heartbreak of the end of her first romantic relationship to “my friends found out some gossip about him, and I definitely ‘stooped’ to date him. They all say so.” 
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D24 told me where their A Capella choir is performing today and I get to watch it online! 
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Just back from a trip with S24 during his spring break. We visited his brother where he’s studying abroad. Wonderful time with the family.
S24 begins classes tomorrow for third quarter. Organic chem is one of his courses. Understand this is a killer class everywhere…
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We are wrapping up our trip to St Louis for S24’s club sport tournament. S24 got to play some (not guaranteed as a first year) and that was awesome. Met a lot of other parents, which was fun. And it looks like the team did well enough to be lined up for a bid to Nationals, which maybe means another trip for us! Nationals is actually somewhat near where my brother and sister live, so we might try to make a family reunion out of it.
Long story short, club sports have really been great for not just S24, but all the NiceUnparticulars.
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Fun times last night with D24 and American Airlines.
D24: Can you change my flight home a day later? I’ll need time to pack.
Me: Yes. Call AA. Done. Did you get confirmation email?
D24: Yes. Can I change my flight to Saturday instead?
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Their faith in our ability to work miracles is a mixed bag.
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D24 said she & Roommate didn’t get into the suites dorms for next year, so they’ll be in a traditional dorm again next year. Oh well. On the bright side, the cost won’t be more expensive. AND they’ll still be a stone’s throw away from the dining hall like they are this year. 
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S24 is a little bummed because they picked really late and he and his roommates ended up in what is designed to be upper class housing. It actually has a lot of pros from my perspective–four larger single bedrooms share two bathrooms, they are closer to classes, student parking (he is going to have a car next year), and the Metro . . . but no common area and farther from most friends on campus.
So there is already lots of talk about whose common areas he will be crashing in next year.
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My D24 got off the waiting list for an on-campus apartment, but it is in a double with someone she doesn’t know.
She is 99% going to decline the space and move into an off-campus townhouse with her current roommate and 2 girls from her pledge class. 4BR/4 BA with a kitchen and living room, on-site fitness center and outdoor pool plus campus shuttle. It is a 12 month lease, but will still cost just a bit less than living on campus. She’s going to be living a more luxe lifestyle than she does at home, that’s for sure.
In other news, I spoke to her last night and she sounds great 
I take back any negative feeling I may have had about Greek life prior to her experience with it. It has been so good for her. It has given her “her people”, provided a built-in social life and (in her words) “Now that I’m tapped in, I realize how many parties there are” and the mandatory volunteer work has been great for her.
As for academics? I guess they are fine, she didn’t talk too much about it 
except to say she’s had a lot of work and to mention that she had to reschedule her advising appointment so she doesn’t register until next week and is pretty sure she’s going to end up with lots of early morning classes. After years and years of monitoring via the parent portal, it’s been a welcome relief to just let it go and trust that she’s got it. Here’s to 
that she does, in fact, have it.
We’re heading up there Easter weekend to visit and bring home a car load of her stuff so that move-out in May is a bit easier. Hoping we get some nice weather and can explore the area a bit more.
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Random sidenote. We needed information from S24’s academic record to get a discount on our car insurance. We then realized–wait, we can’t just do that anymore!
Meanwhile, texts about which new iPhone he wants as NiceUnparticularMom is cycling the family phone plan? Instant response. Texts about needed information for car insurance? Might get a response in a month or two.
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Here’s a funny little tidbit from D24’s life that will make most of you start screaming silently inside your minds. 
Yesterday, she called me and said she was waiting for her good friend so they could go to lunch. Having a good idea of her schedule, I texted her half an hour later and said, “Aren’t you supposed to be in Philosophy?” She replies loftily, “attendance isn’t required.” Thank goodness she has two parents who work in the same university system as hers, and could dispel her delusion fast! I told her that legally, we professors aren’t allowed to require attendance, but if people missed class for no reason, we usually take it as a sign that they think we are doing very little for them in the classroom! We told her to write an apologetic email and promise to keep up with the work. Whew! Close calls with sophomoric misunderstanding! 
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Large state school advantage for slackers: No one knows you’re not showing up.
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D24 will be a TA next year for one of her professors - grading papers, and helping students in class?
I dont anything about it other than she’ll get paid and hopefully pay for some of her Boba Tea excursions.
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Parents on the college parents Facebook group are starting to talk about “Oh what will we do?” since Easter is later this month and the college doesn’t have any days off around Easter weekend.
…your kid can do what my kid will do. Stay at college. Since in less than a month after that, the semester is over. If your kid isn’t at your house on Easter, it’s going to be ok. 
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D24 didnt come home for Thanksgiving because the logistics (flights and connections) were too burdensome.
It’s never easy. I really dislike our local airport (and the state in general) - cant wait to move when D26 goes off to college.
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Received proof of life from D24. She called to ask to see the cats. 
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Any financial gurus on here who want to assure me that everything is going to be OK? That what feels like a financial meltdown will get resolved before I have to pay out next tuition bill? We saved in 529s since the kids were born and seeing them drop (even though they are conservatively invested) is really rattling me. Not to mention seeing all of our other savings plummet. Before all this, paying tuition was a doable challenge. But now I’m starting to get nervous. Really nervous. And on top of that, my business tends to be very sensitive to recessions. (Fortunately, my husband’s business historically has weathered economic downturns far better)
So, anyone have good news or reason to hope that the markets will get better in time for me to pay tuition this summer?
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Deep breaths. (((hugs)))
No other comforting words but sending good vibes your way. Hopefully your 529s had next year’s tuition in cash/cash equivalents (so the rest of it has another year to recover). 
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Yes, we do have sufficient cash in a money market account to cover next year’s tuition. Thank you. Thinking about that actually calmed me down a little. It just hurts to see accounts I saved in for nearly 20 years dwindle right when we need them. Deep breaths 
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It is extremely stressful. I have no optimism other than consoling myself that we have enough to pay for the rest of our kids’ college expenses in a money market account, my husband’s job seems stable, and that we are least 5 years from retirement. But this will hurt a lot of people and everyone in some way will be affected. We’ve decided to hunker down and make lowering our monthly expenses a priority.
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