<p>WashDad, the proper name for WDJr’s box is “Alaska Samsonite” so named for the mode of transporting goods between the pipeline and the lower 48.</p>
<p>S driving home today Im sure with a car full of dirty clothes.First time making the “big drive” (S Carolina-NY) alone.Called yesterday to see if he needed to bring his suit home???Umm I dont think so kid. Bringing a cooler home so Mom can fill it up with food to bring back to his dorm apt.
PhD student D, who hasnt been home in 8 months, is coming on Wednesday and already announced she thinks shes “getting sick”.</p>
<p>Well, D didn’t arrive with any dirty laundry. But, if I have to hear ONE MORE TIME how utterly BORING it is here I think I might just have to scream. BTW, she’s been home since 11 pm sat nite. THREE WHOLE DAYS of tortureous boredom…</p>
<p>I didn’t think this would happen. S home from first semester of college is helping me cook, every day! He hasn’t shown this much interest in cooking since he was 9 and thought he was doing chemistry.</p>
<p>I think he has looked into the future, and decided he should have some survival skills.</p>
<p>My will both be home in 17 hours! They’re at the same school so will be coming home together. I doubt they’ll have much dirty laundry as they’re both bringing just a carry-on bag. I will probably be at the airport way too early.</p>
<p>I brought home my dirty laundry, semester’s books (like someone else mentioned… the space is needed for other books in the spring), my laptop, and my piano keyboard.</p>
<p>I was gonna bring a couple PS2 games that I hadn’t got around to playing yet home so I could play them on my PS2 (I left the PS3 at school), but I forgot them… which is quite sad.</p>
<p>I did come home to a fully decorated Christmas tree, which was nice.</p>
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<p>isn’t that how you’re supposed to do it? That way you minimize the amount of time and money spent on laundry.</p>
<p>well, it makes sense to me at least.</p>
<p>We “lost” ours for 24 hours. He left on Tuesday to go skiing and said he would be back on Thursday. We didn’t hear from him again and on Friday night when there was still no sign of him, we got worried. His cell phone was dead–charger in his room–so we were in the mode of calling everybody he knows who might have heard from him when he saunters in at 9:00 pm on Friday. </p>
<p>His story was that he was orginally going with one friend, who was coming back on Thursday, but instead got off the school waitlist and they were staying through Friday and hadn’t he mentioned that? (Obviously not.)</p>
<p>Our younger son was trying to reach the friend we thought he went with. If he had gotten through and been told, “no S1 never did go skiing with me and I haven’t seen him” (which was the case), we would have really panicked.</p>
<p>Anyway, he had to good senses to apologize, and then promptly went out with friends. (Leaving the house at that point was probably a good strategy.) Our family writes a daily email to each other and he wrote a nice apology to all at 3:00 a.m. this morning when he got back in since he worried my mother and sister too.</p>
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<p>What a nice idea. </p>
<p>S2 has been home for two weeks, messed up the car, went up to VT to ski, came home, barely see him.</p>
<p>S1 is coming home tomorrow and I expect will be very solicitous. Because that’s what he is. </p>
<p>Busy week. I told both sons to save December 27 because we’re going to NYC for an “event,” which I haven’t announced yet (It’s the exhibit Bodies). So at least I’ll have 'em in my sight for that day!!</p>
<p>Our D got home last night or this morning depending on how you look at it. Her flight was supposed to get it at 10:45 pm friday evening PST. By the time I got home from work yesterday we already knew it had been delayed. Before I left for the airport it was expected at 1am and I think it actually landed at about 1:30am. By the time we got home, it was 3:15 and she had started her day almost 24 hours earlier on the east coast after being up until 3am finishing a final paper. Fortunately, she did sleep on the plane and is still asleep now. I, unfortunately, am terrible at sleeping in, so I am up even though I don’t need to be anywhere this morning. Oh well, it is good to have her home for a couple weeks.
Ellen</p>
<p>QUESTION: why are you still doing your son’s laundry???!!!</p>
<p>I dunno. Because it’s there?</p>
<p>DD came home-and the first thing she wanted to do was go to the neighborhood ice cream parlor-at midnight! It is great to have her home! I taught her well; only one carry-on and one check-in-not too heavy. Proud Mom :0) Now tha her friends have come home, she is texting, facebook communications with her HS friends, and a couple from college, too. She has been good about calling if she is going to be longer than 1230am…all in all…good…except for when she asked me my thoughts about coloring her hair…well at least she asked me!..She went from a natural blond to redhead…its a different look-and i am still getting used to it…Oh, and anyone else trying not to say anything about D’s freshman 15 ??? personally I have never been on a diet-I even was required to gain weight when I was modeling–so–I figure she will have to work this one out for herself–she has been running daily and doing her dance stretches–but none of her jeans fit properly! Three guesses on what she will be getting for Christmas…</p>
<p>Well, S2 rode home from St. Louis (about 15 hours) with 2 friends and we went to get him in Brooklyn at 11:30pm last night. First words out of his mouth were, “I’m beat…I need to sleep, eat healthier and take cold medicine on schedule”. Followed immediately by, “Can you drop me off at J’s house on our way home, I’ll get a ride with someone later!” Some things never change. It’s now 1:10pm, I know he’s asleep in his bed because I checked and I suspect he’ll emerge sometime before dark. And yes, he informed us that his entire duffle bag is filled by a large green garbage bag filled with, yes you guessed it,…DIRTY LAUNDRY. Gotta love 'em!</p>
<p>My son got home on Tues night, and yes! we are still on speaking terms, and its Saturday afternoon. Of course, he is leaving soon for an overnight with a school (non-girlfriend) friend who lives about 2 1/2 hours away. And yes, he brought home the dirty laundry… and yes, I did it for him. I know he knows how to do laundry, so why not indulge him a little. I will NOT however, put stuff away for him. Ironically, we have a 2x/week housekeeper, who usually does our laundry for us, but she is on vacation for 2 weeks, and doesn’t return until Tuesday. But he’s happy to cook for me, tend the fireplace, carry up groceries… so it all balances out. He is a very good cook. And he enjoys it. Just bummed the BBQ is covered in ice. As for sharing the car with his newly licensed younger brother… that’s a bit of a challenge. I’m home most of the time, work from home. So I couldn’t care less if my car is here for me or not, unless I have a specific appointment. I told S2 that he’s low man on the totem pole, and tough luck. They’ve been alternating driving my huge hard to maneuver Durgano SUV… with their adorable Hyundai Santa Fe. They both learned to drive on Durangos… so they have the skills, they just need the desire! My husband is a car commuter… so his Honda is off-limits to all of us 99% of the time. We have theater tix together in a couple of weeks… I’m looking forward to dinner & a show with him, just the two of us.</p>
<p>Happy holidays to all…</p>
<p>Karen Colleges, I was about to answer the laundry question about why my mom usually does laundry for the whole family (mainly because it’s easier to combine it all together than have 4-8 people, depending on which kids are home, all running separate loads constantly), but I think your answer is perfect! It’s the true “Mom’s answer,” I think!</p>
<p>to save water, electricity, detergent- to have full loads- what a radical idea!!</p>
<p>my D shares laundry loads with her roommate-
hey, I am doing a load, you want to throw anything in? </p>
<p>its called being smart</p>
<p>I hate to break up another laundry thread, but…</p>
<p>We stopped for lunch at a Mexican fast food place in Sammamish this afternoon (hi, DMD!). Behind the counter was a former Boy Scout patrol mate of WashDad, who is now going to college out of town. While he is home, he is working two part time jobs, a front-counter person at the Mexican place, and a sales clerk at a sex-toy story. WashMom asked him if his Eagle Scout award had helped him get the second job.</p>
<p>Also in the Mexican place was another Scouting friend, who just graduated from flight school and is starting work in January as a first officer for Piedmont Airlines. He’s another Eagle Scout and good kid, although I’m not sure if I want a 20-year-old in the front of the airplane…</p>
<p>Anyway, a lot of updates for one little lunch.</p>
<p>Well ds brought home two bags one full of clean clothes, the other full of dirty ones. I did his laundry as I had a half full washer and they filled it up. I’m just happy he’s doing it regularly at school. The first year he was at CTY… Well we don’t talk about that!</p>
<p>And I suggested to S2 (who is a HS Junior, 17 last week) that in the absence of our part-time housekeeper, he do his own laundry… well, he looked at me and laughed. I guess I didn’t realize how spoiled he’s been having someone come & do his laundry 2x/week for the last 8 years (since I’ve been working full time in DH’s business – before that she was only 2x-4x/month!). Uh oh, as I’ve been struggling to keep up with the laundry in her absence as well, I guess I’ve gotten accustomed to this “outsourcing”, as S1 calls it. It’s amazing how comfortable we can get with things. She comes 2x/week, 4 hours each time… and really runs the house for us. She knows things about my home that I’ve long since forgotten. On the upside, DH threw in a load of towels late last night. Now I suppose I have to fold & put them away. In the face of full disclosure, I should point out to this board that LAUNDRY IS MY ABSOLUTE LEAST FAVORITE HOUSEHOLD CHORE. I’d rather scrub, vacuum, dust… anything but laundry!</p>
<p>I am very particular about my laundry - white, color, hot, cold, gentle cyle, AND what goes in the dryer or hanger. My kids clothes, since they were babies, almost always look brand new becasue most of them were air dried and ironed. It is one chore I never had our cleaning people do. Now the girls are older, they also follow their mother’s crazy method. They will enlist me when they are too busy with schoolwork or ballet. I have to admit, I have told my older daughter to go out to see her friends and I would finish up her laundry. But on the other hand, she did do my laundry when I was at work. Unlike nymom, laundry is my favorite chore - such a sense of accomplishment when it’s done.</p>