<p>On our way shortly to see older DS ( freshman) in his first college mainstage musical!!</p>
<p>Younger DS is a junior in HS and has his first girlfriend… and yes it is FB official!</p>
<p>So, I feel a little guilty about blowing my own horn about this – it’s not like I’ve really accomplished anything specific to deserve being nominated, and I still have no idea who thought of asking me to run – but thought I’d mention anyway that I was elected last night to the Board of Directors of LeGal, the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York, which has been around in one form or another since 1978. See [About</a> LeGaL](<a href=“http://www.le-gal.org/site/aboutLeGaL.html]About”>http://www.le-gal.org/site/aboutLeGaL.html)</p>
<p>Wonderful! Donna!
They are lucky to have you!</p>
<p>HIMom- My S is away for first time at college & I am having fun sending the care packages! He really needs a boost over the next few weeks with finals! I’m trying to see what will fit in the USPO Priority small boxes- 5.20 & gets there is 2 days.</p>
<p>I’ve been enjoying filling the medium and large boxes with soup and healthy things. D is just THRILLED when she gets the care packages & calls to rave about them. She’s a smart kid–knowing how to keep them coming! :)</p>
<p>We will have our 3rd TV appearance for my nonprofit in less than 2 months (granted they are all very short shots, but it is all free TV time and helps provide publicity for our organization).</p>
<p>I am just floored. My son just came home for Thanksgiving and announced that he plans to go further than a master’s and pursue a Ph.D. He is in his second year of mechanical engineering undergraduate, and spent most of this semester calling us every night for three hours, saying how hard it was and wondering if he was going to make it. So proud of his perseverance and enthusiasm to continue his studies.</p>
<p>I just achieved National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification in Middle Childhood Generalist. It is generally a multi-year process, and I completed all four of my portfolios and six tests in less than six months, and passed on the first try. 
I am now a Nationally Board Certified Teacher.</p>
<p>My son has a job! He graduates from college in two weeks and has a job in his field, electrical engineering. A real job, with benefits, insurance, profit sharing, pension and an excellent relocation package. I am so happy I want to scream it from the mountaintops!!!</p>
<p>Great news Fishymom…you have quite something to be thankful for this year. Congrats to your son!!</p>
<p>Oh, wow, that’s great, fishymom! Gives hope to us parents!</p>
<p>Congrats to the fishymom family! The way the TV goes on and on, I didn’t think anyone under the age of 30 in America would EVER find a job…</p>
<p>DS in his first corporate job, has quickly discovered that politics/people are more important than actual work. Getting into & staying in college were simple tasks compared to a keeping and advancing in a job. Company has been sold, the game continues.</p>
<p>Congrats Fishymom. The job that DS hired on to, put him on consultancy then temporary status. There certainly are problems in a small, growing company. He’s fulltime now but I told him that sometimes its better to be temp/consultant with no obligations or bad feelings.</p>
<p>yay, Fishymom’s son! I studied EE and am now a manager and we are not hiring very much at all, so that is extra special to have an offer like that right now. </p>
<p>No brags here … just glad to have D home from college for a short while and to have S and D getting along so well now that they are both older and appreciate each other’s strengths.</p>
<p>Thank you! It has been a long haul with my son. He switched his major his senior year in college, from business to EE, and it has taken him 7 1/2 years to graduate. We are very fortunate that he had a FL Prepaid Tuition Plan and that the public universities in FL are so affordable. He will graduate with just a small Stafford loan, thanks to a well paid internship this past summer which allowed him to pay off most of his debt. He realizes how fortunate he is, especially coming from a no name regional U with a less than stellar GPA. But he has been working since he was 15, and has several years of relevant experience, as well as several certifications in his field. That experience and the contacts he has made in the industry were a huge help in getting his foot on the door. You know what they say, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Very true in this case!</p>
<p>Congrats to Family Fishymom! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!</p>
<p>S1 is buying a house, closes on it in a couple of weeks. He’s twenty four, two years out of college. The best part is that it’s one block from the beach. Mom and Dad might be visiting more often!</p>
<p>fishymom,
no mountains to scream from in FL, but so happy that a CC kid found his way and got a great job.</p>
<p>I remember when Packmom’s S1 was starting college, and now he’ll own a house.</p>
<p>And Overseas came on when I did, and now he’s married!!</p>
<p>No wonder I stick around</p>
<p>I got through Thanksgiving dinner without my Mom or H being short with each other. And set the table without Mom helping overly much.</p>
<p>And real brag … both kids (not home from college) googlechatted together so it was as if they were at the table with us for a while. It was nice of them to coordinate and to surprise me and my mom (DH was in on it to set up the computer here).</p>
<p>DS needs a haircut and DD needs a nap.</p>
<p>Yippee! S2 (a junior undergrad marketing/business major) just got offered a paying summer internship with a well-known tech company in northern California. And he’s just about to leave for spring semester abroad, so he won’t have to be scrambling to find a summer job while he’s out of the country. Whew!</p>
<p>S#2 (the one who rode my old bike 3400 miles coast to coast last summer) has lined up a paid internship teaching in Italy next year! We will of course have to visit him. S#1 has been videoing all of the home sporting events at UNC Charlotte, and today although he is not there, - All I want for Christmas is a @Charlotte49ers NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. (soccer, today vs UNC Chapel Hill)</p>