<p>Leftylou: I, too, have been hanging out here on the shore since D was accepted ED on Dec 1st…here for moral support to all still on ship…</p>
<p>seems like this weekend is the clincher for many: congrats to all who have jumped!!!</p>
<p>FLMathMom–I wondered about that when I saw the airport pics too. Hope no one is in the middle of travel and was supposed to go thru there.</p>
<p>Aria: Yes, Orange the color that makes me look ill. I’ve been cursed by Orange all my adult life. DH was in the Army Signal Corps. Colors? Blue and Orange. DS went to a HS with colors: Blue & Orange. Now he’s chosen a college who’s colors are: Black and Orange. S2 going to same HS starting in fall: more blue and orange. I can’t escape!!! So I guess I’ll be wearing black or blue with orange accents (sounds more like a bruise than a fashion choice). He’s the one that has to wear all that orange–he looks better in it than I do!</p>
<p>Pepper03: Congratulations to your son’s friend on the West Point appointment. So glad to hear D2 will have good company.</p>
<p>So many great schools being chosen by our kids! Happy for all of you who know next fall’s destination. For the rest of you, hang in there! We’re all waiting for your news.</p>
<p>325… - congrats on UChig!
VAMom - I LOVE Orange (I’m a Gator) so YEA for Princeton</p>
<p>S just returned from Spring Break and we have a final answer…</p>
<p>He will be joining the S’s of 2education & ohiomom24 in the Class of 2015 at DUKE!!</p>
<p>H and his entire family are Tar Heels but there will only be tension 2 or 3 days in the winter. We are all thrilled.</p>
<p>excuse me as I run for shore…</p>
<p>Congrats rom–another Blue Devil! Great choice. </p>
<p>I’m glad I cleared the gangplank to leave it open for your mad dash for shore! ;)</p>
<p>I need to walk away from the computer and finish packing!</p>
<p>Congrats on Duke, rom828!</p>
<p>VaMom2015, I do love orange, lol.</p>
<p>***<strong>Congrats to 325’D on becoming our own U Chicago Maroon</strong> ***</p>
<p><strong>Congrats to VAMom2015 ‘S on becoming a Princeton Tiger</strong></p>
<p><em>Congrats to Rom828’S on becoming a Duke Blue Devil</em></p>
<p>Showoff…</p>
<p>[Lambert-St</a>. Louis International Airport seeks to reopen Sunday](<a href=“http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_f7e801d4-6dc7-11e0-b60f-0019bb30f31a.html]Lambert-St”>UPDATE: Lambert reopening today, expects to be at 70 percent capacity Sunday)</p>
<p>St. Louis Airport predicts 70 percent up and running tomorrow. The worst damage was in Terminal 1; Southwest flies out of Terminal 2. I think Southwest has the most flights in and out of St. Louis.</p>
<p>So it looks like fears of a May 1st stampede were unfounded. Hang in there those that are still on the boat. </p>
<p>We are having a lovely Easter weekend. I reread the same children’s book every year at this time to put myself back in the seasonal frame of mind. Eggs are filled, basked is empty awaiting the treats. Good food in the house, and looking forward to good company tomorrow. </p>
<p>D is slavishly working away to finish her online civics class- one of her two online classes. The deal we made was if she finished before Monday, a particular LL Bean knapsack/computer bag will come her way. She is pretty sure she can do it, and that will ease the way for her to concentrate/complete her online Pre-Calc class. We think in retrospect that online math was not the ideal choice. But as I told her, she only needs to pass. Her particular college is not going to rescind admittance for a less than stellar grade.</p>
<p>congrats to 325 on Chicago, VAMom on Princeton and Rom on Duke!!! About a week from now all will have disembarked. …so exciting!!!</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those making decisions! LOL on UT’s comment.</p>
<p>kinderny, what children’s book do you read? I love children’s books and have so many I can still recite from memory.</p>
<p>Congrats to everyone who came ashore. Quite a busy weekend.</p>
<p>Congrats to all disembarking. What a talented bunch of kids (and parents)!
Still here…sigh…</p>
<p>2blue- It’s called, “The Wicked Enchantment” by Margot Benary-Isbert. It is not a true fantasy although there are fantastic elements. It’s the story of young girl’s adventures during Holy Week in Vogelsang, a (German?) town steeped in traditions, folklore and a little bit of otherworldly shenanigans. Lots of sly humor and rich descriptions of food, the countryside, and life during the late 1800s/early 1900s. And of course it has a tiny bit of religious/moral education done with a very light hand. I actually read a lot of middle grade fiction even now, both older titles and new ones. I never grew out of those kinds of books.</p>
<p>Still on board, starting to feel like I’ll be here forever…the Flying Dutchman of college decisions.</p>
<p>Congratulations to all those leaving, and a sad wave. </p>
<p>LeftyLou, I am a alum of Fordham at Lincoln Center. Loved it! Loved being in the city, loved hanging out at the Lincoln Center Arts Library, loved having some Broadway actors in my classes. And I get to point the “giant waffle” building when it shows up in a movie - which is pretty often, once you get used to looking for it. Hope your D has a great experience!</p>
<p>Scoutsmom - shuffleboard or bingo? You choose and I’ll meet you there with some mai tais …</p>
<p>Congrats to all parents who have their decisions!!</p>
<p>Since I know for sure D will not decide until Friday, it’s feeling like Lebron’s press conference “the decision”</p>
<p>We are so on this boat for the long haul. Son just came in and said he was rethinking his decision to drop one of his schools off the final contender list and added it back in the mix. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. :)</p>
<p>I sort of hate to post this while some of you are still trying to disembark the SS Indecision, but I can’t help myself. I have to share with this group about my day yesterday.</p>
<p>I had the pleasure of taking our son and three of his friends to Columbia for the day to let them explore their future at the University of Missouri and allow me to share my proud heritage. </p>
<p>It was a day of lots of free stuff. Mizzou gives admitted students a Gold Card with a list of free items available to them around campus. Free t-shirt, parking pass and lunch tickets from Office of Admissions; post-it notes and pens from Undergraduate Research; photo magnet from International Students office; dry erase board from the Office of Parent Relations; penlight from Campus Activities; free soft drink at the student center; free ID card holder/coin purse from residential life. We never got to Student Health Services, but the speculation about that free gift was interesting!</p>
<p>We also visited the offices of the three academic areas represented by the four boys. Arts & Sciences gave “lame” folders; Engineering green water bottles and Journalism awesome MOJO coffee mugs. I got one of those as well for being an alumna!</p>
<p>They got to eat lunch in the dining hall in their dorm complex, locate their rooms for next year (yes, they already have room assignments) and plot out the fastest path to important places.</p>
<p>The boys were fascinated by a workshop on posting scientific research in social media that we wandered past in the new Life Sciences building. We also happened upon a J-School orientation that we joined. The session was led by an associate dean who was one of my instructors in 1975!</p>
<p>We also experienced part of Tap Day, the traditional ceremony revealing the secret honorary societies. The president of the group being “revealed” at the time was the sister of one of their classmates. I think all four texted him to say “We just saw your sister on stage being a big deal!”</p>
<p>The primary reason for our trip was for our son to meet the vice chancellor of research, a 1978 graduate of our local high school, who attended MIT for nuclear engineering and earned his PhD at Cal. He is also a Physics professor at Mizzou—our son’s intended major (with a nuclear engineering minor.)</p>
<p>His office was like a scientific toy store and his stories about research enthralled the three budding scientists. (The future journalist took a tour of the J-School while we were in this meeting.) He reminded me of a 50-year-old version of my son. They talked about Albert Einstein and Nikolai Tesla and tons of stuff that I totally did not understand. It was nirvana for the boys. He encouraged all of them to ask any professor whose work interests them if they can be a part of the research team. He spent an hour with the boys and was so gracious and interested in them. </p>
<p>We had dinner at a favorite restaurant on the edge of campus (dkarth: Heidelberg, their choice.) Then to a funky store downtown (walking distance) called Cool Stuff with lots of odd, intellectual collectible toys and trinkets. They bought a Shakespeare action figure for their IB Language Arts teacher and a coffee mug of famous Supreme Court cases for their AP Government teacher.</p>
<p>Right next door was Hot Box Cookies. I offered to buy a dozen for the road. One of the boys said: “If we all chip in, can we get two dozen?” Four for me, five for each of them. Perfect Algebra problem. I swear I gained weight just breathing in the air as they baked our cookies. Two dozen, fresh-baked cookies for the road.</p>
<p>We arrived back home about 10:30, 14 hours after our departure. What a pleasure to spend the day with four teenage boys who are smart, witty, well-mannered and just fun to be around.</p>
<p>(Edit: Wow, this is really long. Sorry!)</p>