<p>Mootmom - be sure to read "Zits" in today's Sunday funnies...</p>
<p>jmmom, perfect!</p>
<p>m&sdad, a hug to you :)</p>
<p>Quiet and dry in here. No marmots, no dancing Sybbie - has a wave of late-summer sobriety hit?</p>
<p>Im still here, just lurking, leaning out of the chair with my dark shades on and using the wall to prop my head up. Thank goodness, I did not just keel over and fall off on my chair (this would have not been a pretty sight). </p>
<p>Yep, I did venture out into the cold cruel world of the other forums :eek: and boy it is a tough crowd out there. I better be more careful, because I know SB would do just about anything to get my hat. Just because it fell off my head does not mean that it is now up for grabs. D will drop in for a week between the end of sophomore summer and her study abroad trip (so much for my nice clean house).</p>
<p>m&Sdad, </p>
<p>the desk, the desk. How did you make out with the desk?</p>
<p>The desk:</p>
<p>The desk arrived, albeit worse for wear.</p>
<p>The candy apple red paint job had several long gouges where other items had been forced up against it in my D's brute force Pacifica loading. She had shoved the drawers back in the desk once it was in the car; once we unpacked it, the drawers were a battle to get open, since as any frequent flier knows, "object often shift while in flight."</p>
<p>The dorm rooms were really not designed to hold two beds and two desks, but, as we told her, that was for her and her roomate to figure out. She struggled more with the drawers, having to kick one of the desk legs hard to open the top drawer. "I hate this damned desk", she huffed. W and I said nothing, just exchanging sweet smiles...</p>
<p>D did call yesterday. Apparently her roomate does not speak and my D is sick of intiating conversations and receiving monosyllabic replies. Otherwise, she is having a good time and making friends. She has her first class, sculpture, today.</p>
<p>We shared this anecdote with D this morning...</p>
<p>My soon to be 8th grade S got a call from a girl (never happend to me in my entire junior high career) who attended a party for a boy S also knows. Apparently, this boy, known for the rest of the tale as "PP", is heavily influenced by peer pressure. The kids at the party convinced PP to moon a car. He did; unfortunately, it was his next door neighbor :)</p>
<p>PP's parents were furious; they signed him up for counseling to handle peer pressure. His friends convinced him that it wouldn't be cool, so he skipped his appointment. </p>
<p>To cope with peer pressure :)
Due to peer pressure :)</p>
<p>Stay tuned.</p>
<p>I am glad I am not a teenager...</p>
<p>Some where your son is snickering since he was the collateral damage (and got kicked out) in order to take the desk up to school </p>
<p>just throw rocks at me now. Bad mommy, bad mommy. I know that I should be more evolved than to laugh at an 8th grader mooning his neighbor (slugg would be so proud especially if the person was Evilneighbor), but I did make my chuckle for the day.</p>
<p>Testing for understanding here (yep the haze of my buzz could be the cuprit)
The parents taking are taking PP to counseling to handle peer pressure and the very people that PP is going to go to counseling to learn how to handle suggest that he blows off counseling and PP does. </p>
<p>Like you I am glad I am not a teenager. raising a glass: here's to embracing grey hair and crows feet :D</p>
<p>I can handle the grey hair and crows feet -- it's the jowls I'm having troubles with... :( And the alternator may be fatally fried in the VW van, more later today after they hear from a repair place in Reno... (Worst case if it can't be fixed: they'll put in a new battery and drive back in the daylight hours and leave the van here until Christmas). And now I have to turn off my computer for 4 hours while it does some mandatory software update. Waaaaaah! Pour me something comforting... how about a nice hot toddy, got any of those in the back, barkeep?</p>
<p>The van will make a nice place to hide Xmas/Chanukkah/Kwanzaa* gifts. Just confiscate all the keys. Or perhaps the necessary overhauls (alternator, etc.) will <em>be</em> the gift.</p>
<p>*always politically correct, probably a sin in Sinners' Alley, where all sins are welcome all the time</p>
<p>.... aren't they?</p>
<p>My S uses the word "Christmachanukwanzaaukkah" to refer to the December retail season.</p>
<p>I am glad my Dad's car got stolen from his retirement home parking lot! It was taken on a joy ride and basically ruined!! It was going to son who was going to drive it cross country back to school and we are talking about a 17 year old car. No, no, my Dad was devastated since it was his last car...and my son because it was going to be his first. But I have participated in many a cross country trek back in the days and know full well what they embrace (like new ring jobs) ... :)</p>
<p>Moot, the bar is stocked.</p>
<p>"December retail season" would probably be a more accurate moniker for the whole shebang for most of us :D.</p>
<p>Happy December Retail Season!</p>
<p>Newest update: they couldn't get the van started this morning. Still at a campground somewhere trying to figure out what to do.</p>
<p>Oh my god. Talk about hands-on learning mootmom. Maybe your son could offer this as an MIT course his senior year:).</p>
<p>And, m&sdad, congrats on the dropoff.</p>
<p>And, slugg - does UCDavis really not start until September 25th? TORTURE!</p>
<p>And, SBMom, burn baby burn....</p>
<p>Back to my brilliant career.</p>
<p>Hahahaha! Joan Rivers just said that she liked Sandra Oh's dress at the Emmy's because the color of the dress matched the color of the veins in her legs (Joan's legs). :::snort::: Syb, put that bucket back on, and get back in the Alley! The kickoff for the annual, "Pay for your kid's education 'til it hurts!" campaign has already begun. Ka-ching, ka-ching!</p>
<p>We're into our fourth consecutive year of paying for some sort of Calculus. Starting with sluggyD's college freshman year, plus two years of high school Calc for sluggJr, plus this summer's catch-up Calc. It looks like another year of freshman Calc coming up for sluggJr. He'll love that. If we can get him moved into his dorm room on the 23d, we'll love that. </p>
<p>I tried to bribe him to stay in LA with his friends for a few more days. This is his second trip in a month to play with their band and do some recording. As soon as I suggested that he stay down there for a while longer, he wanted to come home. Darnit, when am I going to remember how this thing works? If I say zig, he will zag. I'm reading a book called, Don't Tell Me What To Do, Just Send Money, by Helen Johnson & Christine Schelhas-Miller. Right now, it's a pretty good strategy for getting us through the rest of the summer, and perhaps through four, five, six, or seven more years of college. :) </p>
<p>I'm still in the orange booth watching the parade of SUV's heading back to school. For the first time in 18 years, I do not have a child starting preschool or grades K-12. Either my house is creaking again, or my shoulders are starting to relax. Ahhhh...I'll have something tropical with a paper umbrella on top. ;)</p>
<p>Well, I've just returned from a weekend in the tropics. May I suggest a Sunflower or a Mosi Masi? Neither are too sweet or too coconut creamy. No umbrella though--just a wedge of pineapple and a cherry.</p>
<p>Both will provide liquid courage should you decide to get up and dance with the barechested Fijians in the grass skirts. So says me. ;)</p>
<p>Love the updates, moot....</p>
<p>Yes. Grass skirts. We have those here in the Alley do we not? Or cheers, did you bring extras back with you? However, Sybbie might wear one on her head, should she fail to locate her basket. Hmm. Slugg, just tell SluggS DO NOT GO TO COLLEGE. DO NOT GRADUATE. DO NOT EVER EARN A LIVING. And never never never have children otherwise they will do to him as he has done to others. Or so said my mother.</p>
<p>Problem with grass skirts and other colorful souvenirs is that you have to go in the 'Red' line at Customs, where Biosecurtiy solemnly unwraps every pressie and each bit of dirty laundry. No fun at 1 am Monday morning. Besides, grass skirts don't translate well.</p>
<p>Alumother, my mom always said that, with my second child, I was "paying for my raising." I seriously doubt I was at his expert level, but it made me appreciate my mom more. </p>
<p>Mootmom, I'm sure he could teach "Zen and the Art of Volkswagen Maintenance" during IAP! Hope it works out for him. </p>
<p>Cheers, can't you just sling the grass skirt on your head and nonchalantly pass it off as a bad wig?</p>
<p>The grass skirt might be an improvement on my real mop, over. However, walking through Immigration with a grass skirt on your head probably draws an automatic full cavity/strip search from Border Patrol.</p>