@elena13 Looks lovely!
We have been thinking and talking about remodeling, but since if we start it, it will never end - just like If You give a Mouse a Cookie… - (well, until we run out of all the money and credit) I am afraid of starting it.
The entire house needs paint inside and out. Tiled kitchen countertop with crack needs replacing, probably granite. Bathroom countertops and sinks need replacement, etc etc. Not major work like knocking off walls but still lots of work is needed.
@elena13 way to go on the remodel! It looks so open and light. We haven’t knocked down walls, but we’ve had floors refinished, and that was a ton of dust and mess on its own. Congrats on making it through almost a year of upheaval and enjoy the new kitchen/great room!
@bjscheel my girls would love to have their bathroom remodeled as a surprise. Too bad DH is not handy that way at all . . . oh well, at least D21 will have it to herself again as of tomorrow!
I haven’t been checking in here for awhile—just soaking up the time with D19 at home. It’s been so nice. It’s like going back in time to the D19 before sophomore year when she got so caught up in getting perfect grades, excelling at her EC’s etc. She is so relaxed and happy. We saw some of her sense of humor and enthusiasm coming back last spring and summer, but it was tempered by the upcoming sadness of saying so many goodbyes and the stress of the unknown ahead. Now, she loves her school, loves her activities, did well in her classes, and is dating a very nice young man. She’s more affectionate, silly with her siblings, and wanting to share all her new experiences with us. The down side is that we are going to miss her more when she leaves tomorrow!
Best wishes to everyone for 2nd semester!
Thanks all. Remodeling isn’t for the faint of heart, especially when it goes on for a year! I’m glad we can finally have friends over and we’ve had a couple of fun dinner parties so far.
D17 is still home until Sunday. What a crazy long break! She’s heading north into the snow so I hope her travel day isn’t too bad. It was definitely hard to say goodbye to S19 a couple of weeks ago - I feel like I didn’t do too well with the empty nest thing this fall and am already missing him a lot. It’s especially hard since I’m not sure when I will be able to see him, so I don’t have that to look forward to. He started his fraternity pledge period last weekend and is consumed with that when he’s not in class, studying or at work. He’s tight-lipped about the activities but assures me he’s safe and making good decisions. One thing that did make me feel less anxious (but also very sad) was that all the students involved in Greek life at his school attended a talk by Evelyn Piazza (mom of Timothy who died from a hazing-related incident at Penn State) and the mother of a boy who died from a similar incident at LSU. S19 said the event was very upsetting and it seemed to have a big impact on him. I think he already made a good choice in the fraternity (switched to a “nicer” one last minute) and I’m glad that his roommate and another close friend are with him in that frat. Still I’ll be especially worried for the next six weeks.
A few days into the semester and DD really likes her M-W-F days but Tu-Th are really long and theatre-intensive. She’s burned out on theatre stuff but thinks she’ll still complete the minor. At least after this semester she can just take one theatre class at a time instead of 3, and won’t be required to audition for everything. I asked if she wanted to switch any classes but she declined. She did not get in Into the Woods and she’s relieved- now she can just watch and enjoy.
She’s taking Foundations of Recreation (majoring in Parks & Rec) and loving it so that’s a good sign. She recently applied for renewal of a local scholarship for naturalists and the lady replied back to say she’d be sending DD a job opportunity sometime so we’re very interested to see what that might be.
We’re having a snowstorm today and my mom’s Christmas is tomorrow. Really hoping it’s okay for DD to start driving up by tomorrow noon. I really appreciate the DOT’s maps and snowplow cameras for helping to make that decision! She’s coming from a less-snow direction at least.
Aww @3SailAway I love this. I’m happy she’s happy!
S19 is well into the second semester, really likes 4 of his 5 classes, especially the next section of Accounting with the same very-hard-but-very-good prof he had last semester.
And then there is Logic, a class in the Philosophy Dept. He wanted “something different,” and he liked the logic involved in his high school programming class. It is his only non-honors class. The first day, the prof asked, “How many of you are here to satisfy your Analytical Reasoning requirement (note: think math and statistics), but struggled with high school algebra?” Every single person raised their hand, except S, who is very good at math (5 on AP Calc). Trying to be encouraging, I commented, “Well, maybe they will really get into Logic.” S says that, so far, they are just confused - “Why do they use the letters p and q?”
And just like that, I’m back to a quiet house after almost six weeks of my entire family of six being home and all the chaos that comes with that. Prior to my older two being home from college, Dh was traveling quite a bit so it was just me and the younger two at home much of last semester. Having everyone home again plus the craziness of the holidays was a shock to the system for my introverted personality.
Last week I flew out to CA with D17. She was studying abroad in the fall and upon returning, was moving to an off campus apt. She doesnt have a car so I went with her to rent a car and help her buy furniture, etc. I was recovering from being a little bit sick (bad cough, low grade fever) so it was a lonnnnng three days of running around. She’s excited to be back with all of her friends after 8 months.
I was home for three days then drove up to NJ yesterday with S19 and my youngest - dh flew in from a trip and met us there. He and S19 stayed at hotel and watched their team, 49ers, win! D23 and I went into NYC to see a show. Got up this morning and drove S19 back to school. He had mixed feelings - he was so bored at home as all of his friends had been gone for at least a week. He was looking forward to going back, except for his roommate problems which were never resolved. He was really bumming about having to continue dealing with it for another four months.
So we get to his suite…none of his other suitemates were back yet. He opens his door and the first thing we see…his roommate’s stuff is GONE!!! S19 almost fell over in excitement! He immediately called his suitemate on the phone. We have no idea if he has dropped out or moved to another room. Just as we finished unpacking, a new roommate showed up. S19 recognized him from around campus, but didn’t know him. We briefly chatted and he told us he had requested to be moved.
On the ride home, I texted S19 about a couple of things and asked if his new roommate said anything about why he moved. Apparently he was having nearly the same issues with his first roommate also. S19 seems to think that even if they don’t necessarily hang out, that he will at least be a more compatible roommate. I am so happy for him because I know he was really bumming about having to go back and deal with the former roommate.
While I’ll miss S19, I feel so much better that he is rid of the one negative thing he had been dealing with. Things had escalated toward the end of the semester. The RD and RA were involved but their hands were tied to an extent. We decided to let the boys deal with it and then if the problems continued this semester, then we would get involved. Thankfully, we didn’t need to!
@4kids4us , well that sounds like a happy ending! Our S has also been dealing with some roommate issues, although nothing really too bad, more a case of mismatched priorities and temperaments. Still, it was the one thing he complained about over the break, and it is clear he is really looking forward to being able to choose who he lives with next year. I hope your son and his new roommate turn out to be a good match.
D19 is back at school and settled in before classes start tomorrow. We were all traveling as a family this weekend for my D20’s ballet competition, so D19 had. 7.5 hour train ride back to school vs her normal 3.5. D20 woke up very sick in the middle of the night at the hotel last night, so we are all exhausted at this point- us three finally at home and D19 finally in her dorm. She won’t be home for spring break, so that’s it until school is done. While I miss her already, her relationship has deteriorated with her dad so it’s less stress for both she and I when she’s at school. Adding to that, D20 is used to being the only kid at home now and there was prickliness on both sides that was new when it came to adjusting to everyone’s needs and schedules again.
@4kids4us What a whirlwind, but sounds like a good time with all the kids. And so glad S19 has a new roommate! My S19’s roommate situation isn’t nearly so bad - just a very sloppy, uncommunicative video game player - but I know S is excited for next year, an on-campus apartment with 3 new friends and his own room.
Everyone else, hope you are adjusting to the quieter house. I practically begged S16 to have friends over Saturday just for a bit more life.
New question, study abroad. S19 is already thinking about it for 2nd semester next year. We support the idea, but as I look at his “4 year plan” which now includes a double major, I wonder how this will work. Between AP credit and a couple classes last semester and this, he will have completed most honors core requirements and only have major requirements (Finance and Accounting). He is looking at a program in Zurich - perfect, a finance center, he thinks. But he speaks zero German, so I wonder if he really can satisfy any major requirements there, turning his 4-year plan into a 4-1/2-year or 5-year plan. I am okay with that, and see value in him taking non-major classes there, more culture and language oriented, but I want him to think about this.
Has anyone else been looking at this?
D19 has already thought about study abroad, but as a linguistics and foreign language major, it will be easy to keep on track abroad, plus she already speaks Italian, so if she goes back to Italy she is fine to take classes in the language. She is thinking fall of junior year currently.
@SammoJ Yes! My D19 is looking into this already, as she is a double Bio and Spanish major. In examining all of her required courses for both majors, as well as the gen eds that APs did not exempt, it appears that a summer session abroad will be best for her. Luckily SUNY Binghamton has a summer pre-med internship in Spain which she will apply for next year.
Way back in the day, I was a history and French double major and did my junior year in France. Since the program was administered through my school (Rutgers) I was able to receive full credit towards my majors for every class I took there–even without exact equivalents back home. I’d suggest that your S19 sit down with the Study Abroad office to examine programs, then visit each of his major departments. If the program is school based the credit issue can often be worked out. (Sadly we have done this with my D19 and just can’t make it work in time for her to take MCATs during her junior year. But for the test we would have had a shot).
Good luck!
@SammoJ I would have her go to the study abroad office at school and, in tandem with her counselor, map out her classes for four years to make sure study abroad works out and so that she can make sure to take the right classes first semester next year to be on track.
Ha @zipstermom we cross posted with the same advice. 
@SammoJ
If your students would like to study abroad at any point during college, have them go talk to the study abroad office and begin planning now. In all likelihood it can be done, but careful advance planning is needed to make best use of the time and find the right program. My D16 studied abroad twice and also graduated early. She got useful credit for every class she took abroad. Her first visit to the study abroad office was fall of freshman year. She did a summer Spanish program in South America after freshman year that was just for students at her college, and studied in Budapest spring of sophomore year. The European program was taught in English. As I recall, she took mostly classes for general education requirements but one or maybe two were electives for her major.
Both programs were administered by API study abroad and we were very happy with how they were administered. Very well run. Also affordable for us. We paid about the same as we were for a semester at her campus, after all her scholarships. She also was able to apply for and receive additional study abroad scholarships from her school both times she studied abroad.
@homerdog Great (or at least good!) minds!
DD does not want to study abroad for a semester. It would put her behind and she doesn’t want to be away that long. She’s more interested in the short summer trips. Last summer there was a 2 week faculty led trip to Iceland that she would have loved, and the course credit was somewhat related to her major. I found the cost for that was $4000. For a non-required course that’s an expensive vacation for 1. She would have to take a loan, so I question whether it is worth it.
The two girls that DD had considered adding to her apartment are going to look at one in the same block so that will be nice if they can be nearby. There is a guy friend she’d like to have in the neighborhood too but his situation is up in the air. His current roommate may or may not be returning and all the other boys in their circle have joined up with others for next year. It’s hard to get everybody grouped with no leftovers.
What is this “study abroad” thing of which you speak? ask the parents of kids majoring in engineering.?
D19 is starting her second week back to school. She had three weeks off for winter break which felt just right to me. By the third week, S23 was back in school and she was bored, banging around the house by herself.
She has sorted out her housing plans as far as which dorms she likes but the roommate situation is still up in the air. Like any social group, some friendships are stronger than others and I get the feeling that is causing some drama as people decide with whom to live next year.
As for study abroad, I am encouraging her to explore all of her options. Her school has a robust study abroad program that I think can enrich her college experience. She could easily complete a summer abroad or a global seminar without extending her time in undergrad. So far, she’s not convinced and prefers to remain stateside.