Today was my last day of work for an entire month! Woo Hoo!
I managed to find the coffee, the coffee maker, and the shower curtain on the first morning after moving! (Hard won lessons after my last move!)
D, 19, is home!! And she’s happy to be here. 
Our older son is stable and doing well - he’s staying here a couple of days now and will be here longer at Christmas. And middle son gets home from Lebanon on Monday.
We were able to give back a car to my relative that was given to us by that same relative. Their other car was dying and we never liked the car and really want to buy a new car WE LOVE. We are happy to be down to two cars.
Let the slow hunt for a new car we both love begin!
We are picking D up from the airport tomorrow—Woot!
Had a job interview yesterday that went very well, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t offered to me. While the pay isn’t an increase, the benefits are crazy good for this area. My D also received her study abroad information and will be housemates with a student from Macalester and a student from Reed while at AIT Budapest. The excitement is building. D will be coming home tomorrow and my S will fly in next weekend for the holiday.
My older widowed neighbor has a large group of friends over once a week to play cards. It makes it very hard to get in and out of my driveway because cars pack the street all around it. Last night, the inevitable finally happened and I scratched one of the visitors cars trying to get out and get D to an EC on time.
I had to knock on my neighbor’s door and find the guy who owned the car among the tables of card players. I felt so terrible and I think they could all see it.
The older gentleman in question turned out to be very jolly. He came out and looked at the car and said they could buff it right out. And then he said, “Merry Christmas!”
I told him he knows where I live just in case he needs to follow up and he looked at me kindly and again said, “Merry Christmas!”
I was so surprised by his reaction that I wasn’t sure what to say. I hope he knows how much I appreciate his kindness.
I went out later with a cloth and wiped off the area that was covered with salt from the treated roads. I couldn’t find scratches after it was cleaned. My car doesn’t have a mark either.
D is HOME and napping! S will be home in a few more days! I’m happy!
The mechanic replaced the broken motor on our automatic window for our van and checked out the brakes and everything else. He says it’s in good shape! Now we have two fully functioning cars again! Life is good, especially since the bill was lower than expected.
today in a long checkout line with a fidgety toddler, the lady closest to said toddler made it her business to play games and the rest of used our carts to make a safe space she cohldn’t dash away from mom (who was exhausted from corraling this kid). When they got to the checkout, the little girl got to sit on the counter and proceeded to wave at the rest of us like the Queen, and …we all waved back.
D was so cute today. She is marveling that as “first time parents,” we did such a great job with both her and S, even though we had a lot of difficulties, including helping them through the maze of healthcare professionals dealing with their chronic health issues. She can’t believe we were so young (her age) when we had them and still managed to give them such a happy childhood (one of her friends is having a tough time and her family never learned to fight without attacking the other person and slinging a lot of mud). She’s also so glad we helped them have a firm financial footing and learn good financial habits. 
Life is good!
D3 is home, finished her work on time, and told me she did really well in the dreaded class of statistics! For a kid who has really struggled with LD issues, and rarely manages to get things done on time it is such a huge and welcome relief.
Both of my kids are HOME, tucked into their warm, cozy beds and sleeping so we can have lots of fun tomorrow! S missed his plane due to TSA but was able to catch another thru TX that got him here at the same time projected.
Today we ate breakfast at neighborhood diner with friends. One of them was talking about his Apple Watch and decided I’d be the perfect person to have his old watch! I’m very surprised but he insisted and set it up and it’s currently on my wrist! It logs activity and heart rate and more. It should be interesting. He linked it to a STANFORD app that evaluates your heart rythum.
Yesterday, D was invited to what she called “wedding of the year,” where she and her HS chums (who are all buddies of the maid of honor, bride’s older sister)—they will be staffing the sign-in/Reception table. Fortunately D has a suitable dress and shoes from attending prior weddings.
My son got 4 As and 1 A minus. Now he’s catching on, with only one semester left to go
I got a ‘save the date’ to best friend from college’s daughter’s wedding in Alaska this summer! Also scouted out a fabulous brunch place in our new neighborhood with D2 this morning – we need to go back several times now to try everything that looked good on the menu.
We are finally getting a Target store in my city. It won’t be a full size store and the location has inadequate parking but we’ve waited years for this to happen. I’m wondering if the novelty of Target will wear off when it isn’t a few times a year trip.
D2 and I had a winderful last evening home last night. We went out for dinner at a really good restaurant, then went to The Book of Mormon musical. I’ve never laughed so hard in a theater. It was a great end to a great winter break. 
I just found out my 3rd place in a race last year in my 50+ age group qualified me for award money – $25! Dh said congrats and in the same breath “but now you can’t compete in the Olympics!” He’s so funny.
We just finished filling out our last FAFSA and CSS Profile!!!
(I’m looking forward to posting when we pay our last tuition bill…just one more year!)
S17 passed the awful drafting class with a D, YAY! To illustrate how hard this class is, you only need a D- to move on to the next class in the program. Every year, kids fail and either drop the BFA or repeat it the next year. He can move on. Everything else was great, a B+ in a gen ed, A- and the rest A’s (mostly one and 1/2 credit courses, one 3 credit) in his major classes.
Also, his peripheral stem cell donation went great and we are so lucky it was done on Wednesday when the weather was cold but clear. Yesterday, we got about 2’ of snow and I would never have gotten him to the place, which would have been a disaster for the recipient.
Oh yeah, we just paid our FINAL tuition bill (thanks for reminding me @ClaremontMom).