Parents of the HS Class of 2012 - New beginnings

Parents Forum Class of 20xx Community
1181

<p>Sorry to hear about all the illnesses; glad most everyone is feeling better. Just had
to chime in with a big sigh of relief that I’m not the only one “stalking” my newbie
freshman! I discovered the weathercam located in the central part of campus and have
stared at the computer screen endlessly hoping for a glimpse. Of course, the fact that my D really has no classes/activities in that area of campus has not deterred this hopeful mom!</p>

<p>On the other hand, did get a “real” phone call and we talked about 20 minutes about all kinds of things. Good to hear her voice; wouldn’t mind hearing it a little more frequently though!!!</p>

1182

<p>Probably my favorite quote for the day:<br>
“We’ve had some good bonding time once he stopped vomiting” :)</p>

<p>Okay, I’m finally going to tell you about some stuff that happened to me before the big move-in. And also something goofy from the move-in. But y’all know I can get too wordy so I’ll break it up into more than one post.</p>

1183

<p>So about 3 weeks ago, the mother of my kid’s roommate was going to be in our town for an overnight with a buddy of hers who lives here after the mother spent 4 days at a business convention in our metro area first. The mom was highly interested in inspecting… oops, meeting… my kid. </p>

<p>I’m going to have to give her a fake name to make the details easier to type. So now she’s going to be Mabel. Some local friends and a few Wackaloons already know this tale so some of their observations may be included along the way. </p>

<p>A few hours before we met up with Mabel in our town, she texted me to say that her husband and daughter were jealous that Mabel would ‘get to meet you and D before orientation.’ Really? They’re jealous you’re going to meet D and also ME? Not just D? And Mabel’s husband is jealous about that too, not just her daughter? This is the same woman who signed her 4th email to me "Love, Mabel.” Gee, can’t wait to meet her.</p>

<p>Since we had just torn out the carpet, padding, and wood trim in our front living room and had furniture stacked elsewhere that was moved from there (new flooring plan wasn’t activated yet!), we decided to meet at a local coffee shop. After they didn’t get there on time, D and I ordered something to drink while waiting on them. Mabel and her local friend eventually show up, introduce themselves to us, and go to order drinks. </p>

<p>They get back to our table and just as they’re starting to sit down, Mabel says she has a favor to ask me. She offers to give me $10 to take a piece of her luggage that she had with her that week and drive it to the college with us and then pass it back to her there. Apparently she had one bag too many for her flight and she claimed some airlines person told her on the phone before she left home that she wouldn’t be charged an extra bag fee. It seems like she probably had to pay extra for it at the airport on the flight out to our area, I don’t know. She definitely didn’t want to pay an extra airlines fee to take it back home again!</p>

<p>Knowing that the family is fairly well off (do not ask me how I know!), I was kind of surprised that she was trying to avoid paying the extra fee for one piece of luggage. I mean, Mabel’s Ivy League spouse runs a successful investment company, among other things, and she has her own longtime business too. Does it really make more sense to ask a total stranger to drive a piece of luggage 1000 miles for you, Mabel?</p>

<p>But instead of telling her that, I smiled, declined the offer of $10 for gas money, put her garment bag in the trunk of my car, and said we’d pass it back to her at the college move-in a couple of weeks later.</p>

<p>…continued…</p>

1184

<p>Oh no, Woody, don’t do it!!</p>

1185

<p>…continued…</p>

<p>So I mention it to some friends and I start thinking about it a bit more. Mabel had told me her bag had a couple of pairs of shoes in it but it was pretty much empty.</p>

<p>1000 miles. I was actually going to be driving a stranger’s mostly-empty garment bag one thousand miles through 5 states.</p>

<p>I start thinking that maybe I’ll go open it up and see if the shoes in there fit me. Maybe I’ll wear 'em someplace and take photos. I don’t know why this came into my mind but I’m confessing it here. </p>

<p>Then some Wackaloon pals start saying stuff like, “You should open it up and make sure you’re not transporting illegal stuff from Texas ACROSS STATE LINES!!” </p>

<p>and “… that excuse about not wanting to pay extra for luggage sounds a bit lame, don’t you think?” </p>

<p>and “So, are you being turned into a drug mule now?”</p>

<p>and “Maybe Mabel’s the leader of a major drug cartel?”</p>

<p>Now I’m concerned. OMG. I’m such an idiot. We’re a border state with a porous border. Mabel could’ve bought a bunch of drugs during her 4 days in Texas and so easily talked me into being a freakin’ interstate drug mule! Wackaloon warnings may have saved me from a life sentence in prison. I will be forever grateful. I was thinking I’d better never go to Thailand because obviously I’m an easy mark. I could be imprisoned there just like Bridget Jones. </p>

<p>…to be continued…</p>

1186

<p>Open it! Open it!!</p>

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<p>…continued…</p>

<p>Some Wackaloons suggest I place something inside the bag to be discovered later. Something that Mabel would find but be too horrified to mention to me like maybe a diaphragm or sex toy. Or worst of all, an Avon catalog! (Mabel is a longtime M@ry Kay dealer) I bet she’d freak if she got the garment bag back and found an empty condom wrapper in it. Or her husband would. Asking strangers for cross-country favors can be dangerous to your marriage!</p>

<p>I peeked inside one zippered section. There was a white hotel washcloth in there.
I thought maybe I should use a black Sharpie pen to write on the washcloth, “I know you stole this!” </p>

<p>I cave to serious peer pressure from curious friends. I am shamefully weak. I must open the bag even though I know it only has shoes and a stolen hotel washcloth in it. Or so I was told. But a lame, “Officer, I swear I didn’t know what was in that bag” may not suffice in some rural county on our 1000 mile trek to college. </p>

<p>…to be continued…</p>

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<p>… continued… </p>

<p>I had told D we’d just keep the bag in the car so we wouldn’t forget it at home when we left on the trip. I decide to sneak out to my car very early one morning to bring the bag inside the house so D won’t see it out of the car. One must not be a bad host for a piece of near-empty luggage but one must not go to prison unawares either. Damn those nosy friends, I now must know what’s in the bag that makes it so important to be driven 1000 miles across the country by a total stranger! Some friends hoped for diamonds hidden in the lining. Or at least not drugs.</p>

<p>I snag it out of the car and go back into the house… only to hear D flushing the toilet in the hall bathroom with that door open. I had to hide around the corner with the bag or be caught with it in the house! </p>

<p>No designer shoes for this well-off family. Just two pairs of ugly inexpensive made-in-China products. Hmmm, do they fit me? Cinderella moment with picture-taking for posterity… no, they do not fit me. But my size 9 foot was way cuter than either pair of those size 6 shoes. </p>

<p>There was a bag of luggage locks and keys inside the bag. Please remember that if you place the locks on the OUTSIDE of your luggage, your drug mules cannot just easily open your bag to peek inside. </p>

<p>However!! I did discover Mabel’s possible alternative pot-supplier for when the Texas-Mexico drug corridor is blocked. There was an empty brown paper bag from an herbal shop in Boulder, Colorado. Yeah, HERBAL… from BOULDER. I think you know what I mean.</p>

<p>The only other items were several hangers with empty clear plastic bags. I’m driving the dregs of her Dallas trip 1000 miles for her. No diamonds in the linings.</p>

<p>I report back to friends about my findings. Friend asks if I wore gloves because everyone knows the narcs will dust for prints. Uh-oh. Other friend asks if I Lysol’d the shoe before my infamous Cinderella photo. Uh-oh. </p>

<p>I have miserably failed the Oldfort test and I’m maybe gonna die of cooties.
Karma… yeah, I totally get that whole thing.</p>

<p>… to be continued…</p>

1189

<p>… continued… </p>

<p>So… hotel theft, receipt and transport of stolen items, and possible interstate drug mule. Now I’m thinking, that’s it, people… I’m going to the Big House! I may need a Wackaloon bail fund. There’d better be conjugal visits. On top of that, I may also need help with the cost of full-body biohazard decontamination.</p>

<p>No diamonds in the linings. :frowning: I’ve heard cocaine is often smuggled across the border by soaking items in it and then burning the items later to extract the cocaine. Or something like that. Maybe I need to set the garment bag on fire to gather any real proof of drug-dealing. Due to big drought amid 100+ temps, my county just declared a burn ban two days earlier. If I burn the garment bag looking for drug evidence, it’ll just add to my scarily increasing list of crimes. And breaking the burn ban here before leaving on the road trip turns me into an interstate fugitive. See how quickly things can escalate to the federal level? Dr. Richard Kimble, I feel your pain. Wackaloon Jacque tries to freak me out by saying I might find myself on America’s Most Wanted.</p>

<p>The next night I received a text from Mabel. “How are you? I am sure busy. Thanks for meeting me and for taking my bag.” I didn’t reply. The Feds could be monitoring her phone.</p>

<p>… to be continued… AKA we leave on our road trip…</p>

1190

<p>… continued… </p>

<p>Remember Flat Stanley? People send a paper doll named Flat Stanley out in an envelope to travel from friend to friend, taking photos of all his adventures, and then sending the details about his travels back to the original sender. Okay, just read the childrens’ book by that name and then google Flat Stanley.</p>

<p>Flat Stanley, meet Flat Garmy. </p>

<p>I must get photos of this garment bag making the trek to college across 5 states! Okay, so it was a lame attempt and I only got 3 photos. One boring one in Texas so that I’d have at least one in each state in case I was that well-organized along the way. (yeah, right) Flat Garmy helped me air the tires in Texas before our trip. </p>

<p>Okay, that photo was pretty boring, but wait!!! Then I got a photo of Flat Garmy and me at freakin’ STONEHENGE!!! Yeah, baby! </p>

<p>[Missouri</a> S&T Stonehenge](<a href=“emrge.mst.edu – Energetic Materials, Rock Characterization and Geomechanics | Missouri S&T”>emrge.mst.edu – Energetic Materials, Rock Characterization and Geomechanics | Missouri S&T) </p>

<p>D took the photo. We had to park about a block away from Stonehenge because it’s on the Miss0uri Univ of Sc1ence and Technol0gy campus with no easy parking. As we were walking to it, I explained I had friends who were making jokes about me driving a stranger’s bag 1000 miles across the country and I was gonna snap some photos to commemorate it a la Flat Stanley. I can’t tell her about the drug mule rumors and innuendo… what if she should repeat that to Mabel’s D one day?! D asked if Mabel is a FB friend of mind… D must’ve been concerned that Mabel would see me making fun with photos! I said we weren’t FB friends and then D didn’t much seem to care why we were taking photos of Flat Garmy at Stonehenge in R0lla, MO. </p>

<p>Just as we leave Stonehenge, I spot a great-looking 12-foot tall Statue of Liberty in a parking lot. D was driving and vetoed stopping for another photo! Darn. That would’ve been great. We get another photo opp two states away… Flat Garmy poses in front of a 6-foot tall hand-built Ferris wheel that lives in a Wackaloon household. It’s a very, very, very cool Ferris wheel. Garmy seems pleased. </p>

<p>The next day, I give up custody of Garmy. <em>sniff, sniff</em> It’s been fun, little buddy. Well, you know… maybe a bit better if the glass slippers had fit and I could’ve gone dancing in them. </p>

<p>At least I know my kid will get a free dinner out when those parents visit campus just based on the garment bag favor alone. </p>

<p>If they only knew. Luckily, Garmy won’t tell.</p>

<p>That is all.</p>

1191

<p>I promised a goofy move-in story… </p>

<p>So on move-in day, I’m in the girls’ room with D, roomie, Mabel, & her hubby. I’m sitting on D’s bed watching her put stuff away and chat with her new roomie. Mabel sits down on her D’s bed and tells her D to bring her shirts to Mabel.</p>

<p>Then Mabel whips out (from where?) a FlipFold. Yes, you read that correctly. Don’t know what it is? Check out the FlipFold web site that contains a helpful little demo video:
[Shirt</a> Folder T-Shirt Folding Board - FlipFold](<a href=“http://www.flipfold.com%5DShirt”>http://www.flipfold.com) </p>

<p>If you think it looks very familiar from appearing in an episode with Sheldon in “The Big Bang Theory,” you would be correct. </p>

<p>Roomie tosses about a dozen or more t-shirts on the freshly waxed tile floor. Mabel proceeds to FlipFold each one of them while sitting on roomie’s bed. I’m so sorry I could not sneak a photo of this for you!! Please forgive me! </p>

<p>I’m not sure if roomie is keeping the FlipFold at college. I suspect she is. Maybe she doesn’t do laundry at home and the parents think it will be very helpful for her? Mabel did make a comment about the dad picking it out at the store. I didn’t have any follow-up questions on the whole issue since I didn’t think I could keep a straight face asking anything about it. Plus, I was too fascinated watching the t-shirts get FlipFolded by the girl’s mom.</p>

<p>Apologies in advance to all you FlipFolders out there… it was just unexpected to see one at college move-in. Sheldon would approve.</p>

1192

<p>Woody35, if you write any books, please tell us the title. Your writing and observations are hilarious. If you come to VT I will buy you a glass of wine to hear your stories!</p>

<p>And the flipfold story … if that happens tomorrow when I meet my S’s new roomie and family, I hope I don’t pee my pants.</p>

1193

<p>Oh, Woody, your stories are just delightful!</p>

<p>I think I will send D the link to the flipfold; it will give her a good laugh when she returns from the wilderness trip.</p>

1194

<p>Woody, it kept getting better and better and that finale of the “flip folder” was the best of all. Thanks for the amazingly funny posts!</p>

1195

<p>Curious-what sorts of wisdom did you impart on your child going off to college for the first time on alcohol, drugs, any sort of partying?</p>

<p>Now that the 1st weekend is here-this mom is just hoping her words will be considered and remembered.</p>

1196

<p>DD and I moved her in on Thursday (after a 5.5 hour drive and leaving at the butt crack of dawn). My SIL showed up at 4am to say goodbye and with freshly baked cookies (cue a round of tears). I cried intermittently during the ride.</p>

<p>Roomie and her family (mother, two male cousins, and a BF) were so nice. The girls seem to be a lot a like right down to being directionally challenged. The boys carried all of the heavy things and put together a ton of cheap furniture for which I rewarded them with Krispy Kremes and the aforementioned cookies. They were more than happy with that. We had dinner with them all that night as well and attended a very boring mixer. Many photos of the girls posing in their new digs ensued prior to departure. Roomie’s Mom was leaving that night (they live about 1.5 hours away) and I stayed overnight for the next day Parent Orientation (which was just an excuse for me to stay an extra day). Had some great talks with the head of the Dance Department, head of the Music Department (dd wants to minor in Music Business), head of Security, and head of Advisement. I did get a lot of info so it was a good thing I stayed. </p>

<p>Departure last night was hard but it was a good thing I was tired and had a long drive ahead of me. DD and I had dinner at a pub and then we went back to the dorm to register her for her electives online (wireless had been spotty since move in). Then we said goodbye outside her door. She took awhile closing it lol. I cried halfway home (once I got out of the city traffic). This morning at home was HARD. I have already sent one to college four years ago with ensuing breakdown but for some reason this seems to be worse.</p>

<p>I ended up bringing home the 3 underbed boxes I had purchased as well as the bed risers (the girls decided the bedroom of their suite was too crowded if they did not bunk the beds), also the extra set of sheets from RH Linens and the collapsible hamper (which was navy blue when her set was lime green and zebra?). </p>

<p>Roomie’s Mom had brought curtains (they have a corner apartment so lots of windows and views of Philly to die for) and tension curtain rods. What a fabulous idea. When the mother had said she was bringing curtains and rods I had pictured their damage deposit going down the drain but the tension rods (from Walmart) were a stroke of genius and the curtains really look fabulous!</p>

1197

<p>We don’t have any tension rods in our house so before move-in, I had to take my D to a store they also have in her college town to show her what they look like. Their dorm room has 3 windows and she had offered to supply some curtains. I told her she should wait til after all the parents were gone so she and roomie could go pick out some curtains they both liked. There were also several other items I made sure she looked at in person or online before move-in that we didn’t actually buy. I wanted her to have them in the back of her mind in case she later determined they were things that would be helpful to her later, like certain storage items. Then at least she knew the items existed and where she could obtain them from later.</p>

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<p>Hey Woody. Read your Garmy Saga to DH. He loved it and said he really likes the way you write!!!</p>

<p>And great idea about showing your D stuff ahead of time and then letting them shop at their leisure. Trying to do that with S as well. Especially things available at Target since the shuttle goes there weekly doing the school year (it’s also walkable, but might be nicer to take a shuttle if carrying things like curtain rods!).</p>

1199

<p>Sending a S off to a new dorm is sure different than sending off my D 3 years ago. For my S, I was helping him organize his dorm mountain pile in my living room last week and his guy friend stopped by to say hi. Once the dorm pile was stable and no more was needed to add to it, I asked my S if he would like me to make a custom bed skirt that he could velcro stick on his bed to hide the stuff he would store there. I had images in my head of a complementary color that would go with the XL sheets I had purchased.</p>

<p>As my mind continued to whir with different ways I could help him make the dorm of his dreams complete, I decided to ask his friend his opinion about my brilliant bedskirt idea. Friend said, “Ah, no, girls seems to like their dorms all neat with things hidden away, but guys just don’t care and everyone will know his mom did it.” My S and his friend laughed together and I could tell my S agreed with him. Oops! Guess I won’t go make a bedskirt! Funny thing is that my son would have just let me do it as part of him letting me ‘help’ him so I wouldn’t be offended, but then he probably would have torn it down after I left. </p>

<p>Ah well, I will start making those cookies for him so he realizes I’m thinking about him and missing him but I don’t think it will be as embarrassing to him as the bed skirt idea.</p>

1200

<p>My daughter has been at school for a week now and from everything she says and tweets she is having a marvelous time. Tweet this am was #ilovecollege.</p>

<p>So far no homesickness that I can tell.</p>