<p>Hey Mootie - I don’t see you on IM, you must be out of town for the funeral. I’m so sorry about your mom. She sounds like she was a really great lady. I gave my mom an extra hug tonight (it’s her birthday) for you and your mom.</p>
<p>I did get some good news last Wednesday. My NIH grant application got an great score (from scientific review), meaning that it will be funded even if the NIH budget is much lower than expected once Congress gets around to passing it. WE had actual champagne at work.</p>
<p>Congratulations to jymson! That sounds like quite an honor, even if he has not intention of taking them up on it.</p>
<p>Hi all -</p>
<p>I have never posted on S.A. before, but I always enjoy reading all of the fun conversations. So in response to Jym’s request, I will provide some good news:</p>
<p>My son has just moved to a perfect location in a great new city and started a new job, which he describes as “too good to be real”. He spent a very stressful year-plus in a city and job where he was not happy, so I am thrilled to death! On short notice, I flew cross country to help him with his new apartment last weekend. He had no furniture except a bed, since his former roommate’s parents at his old location had provided all their furniture from old stuff they had. Neither one of us is at all handy, but I am happy to report that we were able to successfully purchase, move, and assemble a whole apartment’s worth of IKEA furniture in two days, and he now has a very respectably furnished apartment to go along with his great new job!</p>
<p>And my daughter is having the time of her life on her study abroad in Beijing. She is working hard, eating a lot, seeing a lot, going out and meeting people, and is even doing an independent study related to her second major, art. She has even been wined and dined by several of my husband’s colleagues in Beijing, who are very impressed that she can speak Chinese (better than they can speak English, according to her). She also went through some unhappy times in the recent past, so I am thrilled to death for her too!</p>
<p>mootie,
Sincere condolences on your mom’s passing. These last 18 years must have been so difficult. May I salute you and your feisty mom!</p>
<p>Yes, yes, bravo for the good news!</p>
<p>Congrats to NYmomof2 and motheroftwo! Myst be those “two” names!! Good karma!</p>
<p>A bottle of champagne to NYMomof2, Motherof2 and jymson. Way to go.</p>
<p>jym: Isn’t it mean for destiny to entice us with all these free rides?</p>
<p>My news: Part old, part new. Recently, I had a poem accepted to a major anthology. Now I am on a reading tour as part of the promotion of the book. Everythng local and low key thank goodness. And even better, I have written three new poems compliments of empty nest!</p>
<p>Wow, mythmom! That’s so exciting! Good for you!
NYMomof2, Motherof2 and jymson, Congrats!</p>
<p>Mo’Two - I have always lusted after the idea of a whole apartment totally furnished in IKEA. So cool. So thrifty. So stylish. And, assembled by mom and son together? Priceless.</p>
<p>“Exhausting” may be a better description than “priceless”. I swear I was hallucinating images of wooden pegs and little screws on Sunday night after we finished assembling furniture for about 10 or 12 hours. Especially exhausting for me, who was left with the job of breaking down and disposing of all of the cardboard boxes on Monday while son was at work!</p>
<p>But, since my husband and my daughter who weren’t there are the “handy” half of our family, I am amazed that everything went so well. I actually had never been in an IKEA before, and I was very impressed with how well organized the store is. The furniture styles were perfect for my son (he had actually preselected most of it before I came) and the prices are great. The directions were easy enough for us inexperienced assemblers to follow and nothing was missing. I will admit that the only item he bought which was not from IKEA is a sofa which was on a great sale at Macy’s - it will be delivered in one week and the price was not any higher than a similar one at IKEA which would have needed to be assembled. Also, no TV yet, but I don’t think he will need my advice or encouragement on buying that :)</p>
<p>Congrats on all of the good news.</p>
<p>Motherof2, Welcome to sinners alley. After all of that hard work, you deserve a nice drink. I am sure the bar keep can mix you up something special.</p>
<p>^^ Something Swedish, I think. Your choice, MomofTwo:</p>
<p>Swedish Pinkie
* 1 handful Ice
* 3 cl Absolut Kurant
* 6 cl Cranberry juice
* 6 cl Sour mix
Put everything in a mixer and mix thoroughly. Pour into a champagne coupe.
-or-
Black Swedish Virgin
* 1/4 part Blackberry schnapps (Black Haus)
* 1/2 part Absolut Vodka
* 1/4 part Cranberry juice
* 1 splash 7-Up or Sprite
Mix on the rocks.
-or-
Swedish Polar Bear
* 4 cl Absolut Vodka
* 2 cl Blue Curacao
* Sprite
* Ice cubes
Mix Absolut Vodka and Blue Curaco, fill it up with Sprite. Use lots of icecubes.</p>
<p>(Make sure you procure your “champagne coupe,” rocks glass or other barware at IKEA.) 
</p>
<p>Taste test anyone?</p>
<p>I’m sorry for your loss Mootmom.</p>
<p>Congrats to NYmomof2 and motheroftwo and Mythmom! </p>
<p>And Jym, still nice for YOU to know he’s got choices even if it’s not one he’ll probably take up.</p>
<p>Motherof2-
Did the IKEA thing a few yrs ago when s moved off campus. Only one of his brilliant roommates messed up the day the power was supposed to be turned on so we were assembling little IKEA pieces parts with NO A/C!! I sweat just thinking about it.
And thanks all for the nice words about the first free ride offer. Too bad they say he’d have to accept by Dec 1 (in teeny tiny print) – before he’d hear from any other school. Nice carrot, though, I must admit.</p>
<p>Good news from several worksites! Mythmom, how about chartering a tour bus and some roadies for those poetry readings? DOesn’t matter if it’s local, have the fun!</p>
<p>mythmom, What fantastic news! Congratulations!</p>
<p>And thank you all for your kind comments on my grant. </p>
<p>Motherof2, my 14-year-old son and I have been assembling a complex piece of exercise equipment over the past week when we’ve had time. It’s been a great experience doing this together. Today we completed several steps, but then he noticed that one piece was put on backwards. This was my mistake, because I started a few minutes before he came in and this was the first thing I did. So we left the thing, feeling discouraged, thinking that we would have to undo and re-do everything we’d assembled today. We went back to it for a little while this evening, and I immediately realized that the backward piece could be removed, turned, and put back without affecting everything else that had been done. My son is a lot smarter than I am, and much better at things like figuring out how to assemble equipment, but when I told him my idea, I saw something in his eyes that I don’t normally see. He was impressed. I’m going to try to remember this look, because I don’t expect to see it again!</p>
<p>Congrats, mythmom!! Will you be allowed tolink us to a site where we can read your work?</p>
<p>Thanks for welcoming me, Sybbie, and special thanks for the special drink recipes, jmmom. I am not a big drinker, but I will definitely have a Swedish Pinkie this time! </p>
<p>NYMomof 2, it sounds like you are getting a lot of exercise just assembling the exercise equipment! I myself am not used to working with tools, but I have done a lot of sewing and origami in the past, so I am used to looking at directions and figuring out how things go. We also made one mistake of putting something on backwards, but, the same as in your case, could fix it without taking everything else apart. Hope you finish your project soon!</p>
<p>mof2,
Thanks for the compliment, but credit goes to jmmom, not me.</p>
<p>Thanks Jym! There was still time to edit my post and give proper credit to Jmmom.</p>