<p>:: sets up extra chairs on radimom’s deck ::</p>
<p>:: uses the last of the mint syrup from Saturday to make mint juleps ::</p>
<p>mountains, bethie, look: sun!!! Let’s join radimom out on the deck.</p>
<p>:: hands around mint juleps; walks onto deck ::</p>
<p>radimom, the hot tub’s been ordered; should be in by the weekend. It’s got all the extras you asked for!</p>
<p>Good afternoon everyone! </p>
<p>owlice: We want what’s best so much; sometimes they just can’t see it. My S can’t a lot of the time, and even D can’t some of the time. </p>
<p>The sunshine is lovely on the deck, but I’ll opt for a daquiri. I don’t like mint.</p>
<p>One dacquiri comin’ up! </p>
<p>:: mixes dacquiri ::</p>
<p>Salt or no salt?</p>
<p>No salt please, lots of lime.</p>
<p>just blended strawberry dacquiris and out by the pool–please come on back–(just realized I’ve never had a mint julep–recipe anyone?)</p>
<p>It’s Cinco de Mayo: how about strawberry margaritas? Frozen, salt, no salt?</p>
<p>Ahhhh…hubby just filled the hot tub with fresh water last week! It gets quite a bit of use in these parts of the world! Nice place to unwind and relax, have a glass of wine and talk about what happened in our day. Will head out there this evening and see if I can get rid of this nervous eye twitch I developed since D2 is trying to decide whether to commit early to a school/coach. </p>
<p>Heading out to the deck to cook dinner…shish-ka-bobs, anyone???</p>
<p>::Ignores everyone, sun, hot tub, strawberry margaritas, shish ka bobs. Too busy with Fabio - um, teaching him how to cook, that is.::</p>
<p>Owlice, that Grand Marnier put me right to sleep last night…muchas gracias! I will also put that lentil recipe to good use when my vegetarian D returns home this month.</p>
<p>I’ll make the Persian rice to go with the kebabs!</p>
<p>My D developed the nervous eye twitch this year…it happens everytime I start discussing college things with her!</p>
<p>D is still waiting away, but she gets happier and happeir every day with U Mich. I think things have a way of working out for the best, and if Chicago is meant to be, it will be…if not, she’s going to a great school that the more I learn about it, may be the best for her.</p>
<p>::Clinks margarita glass with acme and mountains!::</p>
<p>Hi everyone, I hope I’m not too late to join the party. My neighbor invited me over for real margaritas at her Cinco de Mayo party, but I turned her down for the virtual ones her at the Vigil. I thought I might have to drive D to her summer job orientation, but it turns out that her BF and other friends will be working for the same place, and so she was able to hitch a ride. That worked out really well for me.</p>
<p>Welcome fencersmother. Your posts on Sinners Alley and on the Meta-thread crack me up. </p>
<p>owlice, I know what you mean - S and I have similar issues. It’s really hard getting them to understand. Of course my S is a bit younger than yours, but I am sure this is going to be a constant battle.</p>
<p>Good luck to those of you still waiting - I’m sure however things turn out, your kids will be happy with they end up.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>Yup. Wisdom. They’re going to be who they’re going to be. My S just got an extension on a major paper because he is in a play. Now this is college, a very competitive college. He’s still himself. If it were me, I’d get the paper in before play rehearsal really revved up. But no, he’s got an extension and can work on it after the play.</p>
<p>That’s always going to be him. I must say, thank goodness he didn’t end up at a school on the quarter system as he almost did.</p>
<p>LIMOMOF2, so your plans for real life drinks get foiled again. That’s pretty cool your son could get an extension on the paper due to a play, mythmom. 2forcollege, your daughter must like big schools. Ann Arbor sounds like a great place to live from what I’ve heard. </p>
<p>Well, my son learned today he’s not getting a scholarship he had hoped for. We’re realizing what worked well for him for admissions isn’t working as well for scholarships. He devoted lots of time to a few activities and did extremely well with them. Unfortunately, the local scholarships are geared for kids with breadth, not depth, in activities. The more unrelated the activities the better. He knows he made the right choices, as admissions to a place he’s thrilled to attend is the big payoff, but it would have been nice not to have to work as many hours during the school year. He still has some applications outstanding, but isn’t going to hold his breath over them.</p>
<p>Speaking of work, how is your daughter coming along with her decision, NorthMinnesota? I have a stereotype that Div I athletics is like having a job, and Div III is not as intense. Am I totally off-base with that? It could vary with different sports.</p>
<p>I think I’ll have a shish ka bob followed by a strawberry dacquiri, one of my favorite drinks.</p>
<p>2blue: Sorry about the scholarships. That’s really unfortunate. My D works during the year at Barnard and really enjoys it. Maybe your S will find a job he really likes. D works for the Provost’s office and meets everyone.</p>
<p>I think you’re right about DI and DIII athletics.</p>
<p>Thanks for the sympathy, mythmom. It’s just a kind of crazy situation. They tend to use a points rubric which is good in that it eliminates social connections as a factor. But doing one sport year-round is not as good as doing two unrelated sports with a lower time commitment. Two of his ECs are lumped together for purposes of a category. Okay, he just walked past, peered at the screen, and patted my shoulder and said, “It’s okay, Mom. It’s really okay. I don’t mind.” He’s taken it quite in stride so once I’ve typed this out for venting purposes, I will too. He planned to work on campus anyway; it’s just a matter of how much. He thought he would see if he could get a job in the department where he wants to major. He thought it would be good to get to know staff in that department. Okay, my rant is over.</p>
<p>2blue, the funny thing is my D really isn’t into big schools…the size of U Mich scares her, but it’s one of the top schools for her major (psych) and she’ll also be in the RC…so hopefully the size will be manageable. All her other schools, besides U Chicago were small LACs.</p>
<p>2blue, sorry to hear about the scholarships. D had some good offers from the LACs, but of course picked the one with almost nothing. She plans to keep trying for scholarships even after she’s in college. There are still some out there for the post HS kids…especially from their schools. I know of one who got a very substantial scholarship after his freshman year at an ivy. Don’t give up!</p>
<p>Is RC “residential college?” If so, that would be a big plus. That’s one of the things my son looked for in bigger schools. Do the kids at U Michigan tend to live on campus all four years? One of the things I was surprised to read about Chicago is that many kids tend to move off campus after the first two years. Evidently it is cheaper than the dorms. However, kids getting FA that covers room and board end up staying in dorms all four years as that’s the cheapest option in their case. (This is all stuff I gathered from posts here on CC.)</p>
<p>Yes, the RC is the Residential College. It is a big plus and she’s looking forward to continuing with languages and arts courses while still keeping her major. The kids are required to live in their community for 2 years. I really don’t know about beyond that, but there are a lot of cute houses near campus that look full of students. We have our eye on a really bright purple one!</p>
<p>2blue–love the imagery–your son seeing you on cc–patting you on the back consoling you. he sounds very cute, and funny…my son laughs at how frequently I am on here…today he saw there was a new post for his school seeking info–he got a good laugh when upon clicking for the info he saw I had posted the question. 
sorry the scholarship didn’t work out–your son has a great idea to work in department of his major</p>
<p>2blue, I’m sorry your S’s scholarship plans haven’t worked out so far. Good luck with those other options. </p>
<p>2forcollege, I am sure your D will be fine at Michigan. With the RC option, she will have the best of both worlds.</p>
<p>Yes, I missed out on my IRL drink last night. I could have joined in neighbor’s Cinco de Mayo celebration after D got home, but I was too tired. Their party went on until 1:30 AM, and it was very loud! I wanted to complain, but this isn’t something they do on a regular basis - and they did invite me, so I left it alone.</p>