Darn!! Sorry @CoyoteMom !!
JOTD:
Of all the martial arts, I think karaoke inflicts the most pain on its opponent.
What did @Testingearlyās D ultimately decide? I didnāt see her on the listā¦
There was someone else who used to post a while back named @AngelaD (her D was considering some of the same schools as my D). I believe that they decided on Stanford.
Thanks for asking @LoveTheBard. Iāve been out of the country chaperoning a school trip so just catching up. Congrats on your daughter!
My DD enrolled at one school on May 1st at 11:57PM (leaving it until so late is not for the faint of heart). She regretted her decision. I gather this is fairly common as Stanford was enthusiastic about her still enrolling with them. Who knew kids could change their minds. I left the country thinking DD was staying on the east coast and before I could recover from the jet lag she was heading to the west coast. I just booked the hotel for move in days.
Are you getting your graduates gifts not related to college? I was thinking I would like to but with all of the expenses coming up, dorm supplies, laptops, grad party and four years of tuition I feel that should be plenty. Maybe I am being a Scrooge.
S17 had last scout meeting. End of year Court of Honor and awards. Nice to see his fellow grads all heading off to college.
@twoforone99 I got my D one of those T shirt quilts.
@NoVADad99 I have a rising senior (BME/premed) at Tulane if you have questions, I would be happy to give a stabā¦pm me anytime. =; coincidentally my S is also an Eagle Scout.
The baccalaureate here is held at the methodist church next to the school, so we assume itās religious. You couldnāt pay D17 to wear her cap and gown more than once, so weāre skipping it.
Sheās getting a laptop for graduation (she needs one for school as a cs major). Iām making her a t-shirt quilt, also. Waiting for the 10 yards of fusible backing to arrive from amazon as we speak.
Which reminds me, I need to see if I can order her missing cord-nobody seems to know how to get one at her school.
My Dās graduation gift will be a new Piccolo to replace the rental she is using now. (Once she passes her audition for Marching Band.)
I budgeted for a new laptop and phone as part of college expenses. I created a spreadsheet of expenses and the source of the funds to pay them. With funds coming sources with restricted uses like scholarships and 529 plans it gets a little tricky. I can use the 529 funds for a laptop (she is keeping her old one for gaming and entertainment) but not the phone. Her āskin in the gameā will be using her savings for her discretionary spending and as much non-qualified expenses as possible.
We have been planning to have a t-shirt quilt made, I guess it is time to start getting serious.
Grad gift: Son17ās iPhone os on itās last legs, might be time for an upgrade as a gift. We are hoping his current laptop will suffice, at least for the London portion of his schooling.
I havenāt given the gift much thought truthfully, although I did order a new boardgame for him, Ticket To Ride : The London Map. Iām sure heāll enjoy playing a few games of that and learning more about the locales of London.
Heās not much of a clothes hound, and doesnāt wear a watch. But I think an Apple Watch would be a fun gift for him and it might make for a memorable gift when he looks back in time some day.
We were planning on getting him a car if he went to school further away, as a grad gift and 18th birthday combo. He doesnāt have his own car. But heās going to be in London and then 25 minutes from us in Boston so he doesnāt need one at the moment.
I guess I have another week or so to figure it all out.
A new Piccolo is a generous and very nice gift. I remember looking for an Intermediate Flute for my D16 a couple of summers ago. Instruments like these are a definite investment.
Iāve been so busy the past week but I have to say, it was easy catching up this time!
@jmek15 Thanks for the list! I think you missed the ānā in the middle of āfishnlines29ā it certainly is nice to be able to see all of the info in one place! Nice job.
Grad gift - nothing very special - I did buy her a necklace awhile back. Since she recently totaled her car, the insurance money will be going toward a new used vehicle. Even though sheās going away in September, I donāt feel like driving her around all summer and figure if I get something reasonable, i can just cancel the insurance on her while sheās away.
I finally ordered the Graduation invites! They should arrive tomorrow and I can send them out on Friday. Also PROM is this Friday and I decided to let her do the weekend down the shore. Oh my.
@Testingearly - Enthusiastic is definitely an adjective that comes to mind when I think about Stanford. Iām glad it all worked out in the end, although I know it must be hard since you wanted her on the east coast.
I know it was the right choice for my kiddo, and I suspect it will be for yours.
I booked an airbnb for move-in days (Palo Alto hotels are ridiculously expensive ā thankfully the fights are cheap if you get them far enough in advance; I paid $59 each way on Southwest!).
Iāll pm you my contact info and maybe we can get together during move-in daysā¦
Grad gift, at the moment, is all pretty practical college related things. His Bday is the week before so trying to decide what is a bday gift and what is grad. He will need some of it almost immediately for orientation.
I call it the Vermont survival kit
Patagonia duffel bag with backpack straps for carryon use
Kelty long sleeping bag for orientation and outdoor adventures
Kuhl winter jacket
Sorrel boots
Hammock
Fjallraven laptop backpack
As for gifts, my parents are paying half for a nice laptop as hers is old and outdated (and heavy). She wants a MacBook Air so looking into that. Her birthday is next week so for that I got her a very large leather tote (she mentioned she wanted one a few weeks back). Iām also paying for her graduation party and I may get her two nice hard suitcases for her traveling back and forth.
Grad gift: He already has a good laptop, relatively new phone, suitcase, and other things. He views clothes as necessities, but mostly not items of interest other than more clothes reduces the interval between doing laundry. No climate difference, other than a bit hotter.
I had been thinking about a small electronic keyboard so that he could play āpianoā with headphones, but the dorm rooms are almost all too small for extra furniture. And, there are pianos available to students in the dorm basement somewhere.
My current thinking is to fill in some of the hand tools he doesnāt have for himself; possibly a cordless drill and a good multimeter. We are going to the Bay Area Maker Faire this Saturday. (He will be there Thurs to Sunday with his high school.) Maybe I can pick up some cool tools and things there. Too bad Radio Shack is closing.
Thanks for creating that list @jmek15!
We are not very original and are also getting our daughter a laptop for her graduation gift. The whole summer will really be a gift as far as Iām concerned though, lol! Iām anticipating one steady stream of money flowing out of our pockets over the next few months, between the graduation party, laptop, dorm room supplies, hotels and costs for orientation and move in days, etc. Itās all good though 
Weāre also going on a week long vacation to Oregon & Washington. We let our daughters pick the location and we are so looking forward to itā¦ they are two states that Iāve never been to. We have some destinations in mind (including Seattle, Portland, Olympic National Park, Oneonta Gorge, Astoria) but if anyone has any must-see suggestions, let me know!
Iām thinking of a dressy watch for the graduation gift. Not something heāll use often, but a good thing to own. Grandparents are getting him a new laptop, as his is now 4 years old and pretty clunky.
Grad Gift - His laptop is only 2 years old - so that may wait - unless he needs something specific for the school. He does need a new phone and will need a new suit for career days and interviews. He also will need new ski gear - but that will probably be for his birthday which is in December.