Parents of the HS Class of 2010 and college years beyond (Part 1)

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
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<p>somewhereinga…thanks for the optimism, and I’m sorry your D was disappointed in her assignment too. Like I said, it’s funny…most kids seem to want the old dorms (McCormick) that my D got b/c they’re more centrally located; however, she wanted new dorms because of storage. She was keeping her fingers crossed for Kellogg, Cauthen, or Woody (NEW new dorms, A/C, hall-style) but alas, it wasn’t meant to be!</p>

<p>I’m used to having 20 + consecutive days of 99-108 degree temps in the summer. I feel for those up north who are suffering. It can be oppressive at times (which is why we have a summer home up north I suppose) :)</p>

<p>ShillyShally…I’m jealous. I’m still trying to get my hand on a BB&B coupon. I’m SO bad about throwing coupons out when they come because I simply don’t have time to keep up with them all. Now is when I wish I REALLY had one. Live and learn!</p>

<p>I’m starting to make slip covers for DD and her roomie’s desk chairs as well as curtains (black, hot pink, and white). I so seldom sew anymore. I hope I still remember how:) </p>

<p>Anyone have suggestions on how to hang heavier items on cinderblock?</p>

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<p>AP Scores came in the mail today, and I’m really happy! I hope you guys don’t mind my sharing - I got a 5 on AP Comp Sci, a 5 on AP Calc, a 5 on AP Eng Lit, and a 4 on AP Physics C (Mech). </p>

<p>I was so surprised about English and Physics! I didn’t take an AP English class, since my school doesn’t offer any…anyway, it was a lot harder than I thought. AP Physics was even worse. I had a very, very unorthodox physics class (long story), so I felt really unprepared. The test was really hard, and I must have left almost 50% blank…I was actually expecting a 1. Or a 2. Maybe. </p>

<p>Congrats to all those receiving IB diplomas who I didn’t get to congratulate before! </p>

<p>scualum - Ah, a fellow Giants fan :slight_smile: My dad is a (somewhat fair weather) fan, so I’m kind of a Giants supporter by association, you could say :wink: </p>

<p>YDS - going to the game in MN sounds like so much fun! </p>

<p>mimimom - I always get that “so much stuff” feeling when I do have the chance to go to Target!</p>

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<p>Math geeks and music? Oh yes! My H, the math professor at USC, has played the flute with a community orchestra for years. They recently performed at a July 4 holiday concert at a winery in Temecula.</p>

<p>Oh how lovely! Three feet from my face, a beautiful hummingbird is drinking nectar from the lion’s tail plants in front of our house.</p>

<p>I started my new (transfered) finance position with the transportation department today. Tons of new things to learn, good! Most interesting thing learned: it is cost effective for the bus line to lease it’s tires. You heard that right, LEASE tire. Who knew? Well sure, the Equipment Maintenance Mgr did. And wow, is transit finance convoluted.</p>

<p>I have to inject some left coast baseball talk into the mix. Has anyone else visited Safeco Field in Seattle? It’s gorgeous, and right next to the pretty new Quest Field for football and soccer. Dodger Stadium isn’t too shabby, either. What’s great about Safeco, if you’re coming from Federal Way north to it is you can take the pretty new Sound Transit light rail right to the stadium. So we arrived at Sea-Tac, got our rental car, parked at the Tukwila station and took the light rail to the game. WAY better and more cost effective than parking near the stadium, and quicker by far since we were heading south after the game anyway.</p>

<p>S is only mildly interested in his AP scores this time around. He knows now, since he’s in the Integrated Science Program, that he’ll need to take their version of classes, so he won’t get any credit for, say, a 5 in AP Chemistry. He’s fine with it because they have a way to design the program that allows him to double major if he wishes, which he’ll likely do.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, congrats on the huge number of IB diplomas on this thread. Awesome staying power for those students!</p>

<p>:cool: :cool:</p>

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<p>jc40 - Just go to the BBB website and sign up for the email promotions. You will get a 20% off coupon for doing that. If you sign up for snail mail too, they will mail you more coupons.</p>

<p>CONGRATS on your AP scores CaliD!!!</p>

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<p>Nice surprise today–son’s college mailed him a list of his AP scores and their equivalents in courses. He’ll have an incredible number of credit hours, which is good since he may be exploring various majors. Glad his school was on the ball to get the list put together before his orientation, which is…TOMORROW!</p>

<p>I’m going to the parent orientation, not that I need orienting, but it’s my last kid and I want to have all the experiences. Tonight I went to watch some of his taekwondo class, which I haven’t done in probably a year. I just remember when he was a little pipsqueak, who couldn’t do damage to anyone. Now he’s so tall…but still doesn’t weigh much!</p>

<p>:cool:</p>

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<p>Jc40 – By the time school starts it should be cooling down in Charlottesville. There may be a few hot days, but not many, so the A/C won’t be much of a factor.</p>

<p>YDS – sorry about the move-in problems. All will work out as it should be in the end. Our move-in dilemma is that we do it twice. We bring D2 and her stuff a week early because she is participating in a Community Service program, but does not actually move-in until the next weekend, so we get to go back. Technically, we do not have to show up the second weekend, but want to be there for the “official” move-in and events. It is about 7 hours one-way drive to her college.</p>

<p>ILoveLA – do you think you can fix the weather before I get there on Friday? Beaches are on the itinerary… Santa Monica, Manhattan, Venice, etc., etc., etc.</p>

<p>CaD & Scualum – I’m not die-hard, but put me in the Giants camp too. When a was a youngin’ (local vernacular) I lived in the Palo Alto / Atherton / Redwood City area and went to Candlestick Park. Also went to Stanford football.</p>

<p>RobD – Maybe the east coast can blame me for packing up the heat in TN and bringing back with me. All this baseball talk reminds me that I still haven’t been to a Memphis Redbirds game yet this year.</p>

<p>Acm – Glad your S made it home safely. Do we ever stop worrying? I was up last night because D1 was driving from SF back to LA. I tried to tell her that it would take forever on the PCH, but would she listen… no!</p>

<p>Colorado_Mom – Music and Math (and Physics) are very much related. D2 and I were just talking last night about physics of acoustics and how music is all about adding sine waves at different frequencies. She was probably just humoring me until I said that I would pay for her hair appt. :)</p>

<p>According to the weather here, it was 102 F, but the heat index was 101 F. Must be a cool breeze.</p>

<p>The interest in shopping cranked up a bit today when the “PB Dorm” catalog showed up in the mail. I knew that I should have just accidentally dropped it in the trashcan. :)</p>

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<p>CaliD, congrats on those scores, especially physics. Ds thinks he may not have passed that one. I hope he gets similar results to you!</p>

<p>Have fun at orientation, mommusic.</p>

<p>FAP, I’ve been to Dodger Stadium. Great time.</p>

<p>Y’all have me really curious now. I’m going to go through my BB&B coupons tonight or tomorrow.</p>

<p>ETA: GSharp, I keep meaning to give you a report on my netbook. I really like its small size; it’s perfect for what I want to use it for – checking e-mail when not at home and simple word processing. It’s not speedy, for sure. And I hate that it doesn’t have backlighting. The mousepad – is that what you call that little square area that takes the place of the mouse – took a while to get used to, but it’s fine. I do think the small size (physical) of the machine is creating some bad ergonomics on my part.</p>

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<p>Hi ya’ll. I had a totally crazy day, and my thermometer read 108.9 degrees today! Woa, I’m not sure I want to see that much precision. </p>

<p>My 93 year old mom moved out today. It was a move I initiated, but now feel very guilty about. She’s very needy (always wanted my undivided attention) and has living with us for the past 3 years. But since I’m one of 5 kids, I felt my sibs should share the burden. This requires lots of adjustments from everyone, but finally I decided I needed to get my life back (and get a job?). Anyway, it’s one of those sandwich-generation issues I’m dealing with, especially now that my unemployed college graduate moved back home. Mom was okay with this change, but she doesn’t know what’s in store. (I only told her about July, not beyond that.) Nursing homes were not even a consideration, as she needs more intellectual stimulation than that. Of course I know I’m lucky, but these decisions are hard anyway, even if she just goes to my sister’s house.</p>

<p>zooser and DB: congratulations about the IB diploma. Wow! 27 and 15 credits before college even begins!
Congratulations CAdancer: great scores! Thanks for sharing. My son’s took some of those same tests too. Gulp.
shillyshalley: My BBB doesn’t take exp coupons. Lucky you!
austinmtmom: thanks for the tip. It never occurred to me to go online. dah!</p>

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<p>baseball fans: I’m sorry. I just don’t “get” what’s interesting. Someone once said stats make baseball fun to watch. Can you please explain to me why baseball is a “strategic game” and why it’s fun to watch? <em>scratching head</em> I’m trying to figure out what is the appeal.</p>

<p>Funny story: I had my DS2 signed up to play baseball one summer (age 10). Practice was supposed to be over at 4:30pm. I arrived late, at 4:45pm. one hot Saturday afternoon. My son saw me, then looked at his watch in disgust and said he didn’t understand why the game was still going on. It was after 4:30!</p>

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<p>YDS - Thanx for the netbook update. I’m glad it worked out for you. I figured that enough of them get sold that they must be right for someone. It is just hard for us old, fat-fingered guys to use them.</p>

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<p>limabeans, my parents are only 69 and 71 but have heath issues. I am the only one who can help consistently and it isn’t easy. My dad had a massive stroke almost 9 years ago, my mom doesn’t want him to ever go to assisted living, but if something happened to her I can’t see any other choice. It is a worry, caring for him has really taken a toll on her health. She refuses to get help, because he wouldn’t like it. I arranged a home health aide for them once, it lasted a week.</p>

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<p>

It’s probably impossible to explain in words, you have to absorb it over time. But I’ll give it a shot: </p>

<p>The core of baseball is the struggle between batter and pitcher. The batter is trying to get on base, and the pitcher is trying to prevent this. The difficulty for the pitcher is that he has to throw strikes, but not strikes that the batter can hit hard. If he doesn’t throw enough strikes, the batter will get on base via a walk; but if he throws a strike to the wrong location, the batter will hit it hard and likely get a base hit or even a home run. So pitchers are constantly walking a tightrope, trying to “get ahead”–throw more strikes than balls–without throwing that “mistake pitch” that gets clobbered. </p>

<p>Meanwhile batters have their own problems. It’s very hard to see the ball and swing at it quickly enough to hit a major league fastball. But if a batter commits himself completely to preparing for a fastball, and the pitcher then throws a slower pitch, the hitter will be badly fooled and miss the ball or hit it weakly. So batters, too, have a tightrope to walk. They have to be ready to adjust at a split-second’s notice to any of several different possibilities. Smart hitters sometimes help themselves by defining a certain kind and location of pitch that they will swing at early in the count; if they don’t get that pitch, they won’t swing. That gives them a chance to put a strong swing on the pitch they’re looking for–if they get it. But if the pitcher can get two strikes on the hitter before the hitter has seen the pitch he wants, then the pitcher is in the driver’s seat and the hitter must focus on just making contact. </p>

<p>This battle of wits and reflexes is going on, every pitch of every at-bat of every inning of every game. Each hitter and each pitcher has his own strengths and weaknesses, so each “matchup” between batter and pitcher is a unique little drama. And I haven’t even touched on baserunning or defensive play.</p>

<p>The stats are just a bonus–a way for us fans to refine our knowledge of each player’s abilities so that we can watch the play on the field with heightened anticipation and appreciation. But it’s the play on the field that fascinates.</p>

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<p>" I arranged a home health aide for them once, it lasted a week. " - Maybe you can give it another try (ask when she is really tired). My aunt was reluctant to let strangers in her home, but after a while she was sooooo relieved to have the extra help for my uncle. Just a few hours a few mornings a week made a world of difference for her.</p>

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<p>CalifDancer - great scores - congratulations! No sign of scores on this coast yet. I used a BBB coupon yesterday, but it was for us. We needed a new bathmat.</p>

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<p>Limabeans: {{Hugs}} to you! Dealing with aging parents is not for the weak. I know so many people who are juggling their teens along with parents with health problems; when the kids act up you can yell at them & they usually listen but parents…</p>

<p>I finally got my mom to get a cleaning lady in once a month (it’s the same crew who comes to my house 2x/month.) She loves having the service now, but she’s convinced that one of the girls took her toaster tongs. Really? Srsly? There are people on my block who’ve been using them for over 15 years, have big screen tvs, computers, etc. & leave their homes unlocked so they can come in when the owners aren’t home and they’ve had nothing touched, but my mom thinks someone took her toaster tongs. Yup, 'cause she’s a senior & they don’t think she’ll notice. Sigh. </p>

<p>Congrats on great IB & AP scores!</p>

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<p>S2 has always been interested in science and with zero interest in sports. I tried to get him to put down his book and watch his brother play baseball. Nope - he wanted to sit there and read Harry Potter. I bought him a book called the Physics of baseball and once he saw the game from a different perspective, he was hooked!</p>

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<p>RobD, my housecleaner picks up anything that is not put away and sometimes these items “disappear” until we can figure out where they put them. D forgets to pick up her shoes and they end up in H’s closet or i find the “lost” knife inside a plastic container in the pantry.</p>

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<p>RobD - there must be a very strong bond between moms and their toaster tongs. My mom gave me some for Christmas a few years back. Whenever she comes to visit, she become very agitated if my tongs are in the back of a drawer and not front and center where they could and should be used everyday. :p</p>

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<p>Good morning.</p>

<p>Wasn’t able to sleep last night, so I thought I’d see if any of you were awake yet. Guess not. :(</p>

<p>RobD - lol at the “stolen” toaster tongs. </p>

<p>CalDancer - congrats on the AP scores. </p>

<p>I went through my BB&B coupons last night too. I also have one “golden ticket.” Mine is from 2007. I also have a number of $5 off of $15 purchase coupons, so those might be better for a few items. I’m going to have to remember to keep my shopping cart organized when we eventually get around to shopping.</p>

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<p>“Toaster tongs”…really? Well, since they seem to be indispensible to so many…I know what my mom and dad are getting this Christmas. I will definitely rise to favorite daughter status. lol</p>

<p>Yesterday, I took D2 to Shriner’s Hospital for a check-up. She has been a patient for about 14 years. Her primary doctor has retired and we met her new one. She seemed very nice and capable but as we left my daughter said, “I still like Dr. T best”. Change can be hard…I know, D1 leaves in about 6 weeks for college. sigh</p>