Happy Anniversary Baby

wedding anniversary

Friday was our 44th wedding anniversary. It's hard to wrap my head around that. We met at Iowa State University when we were 18 years old, and started dating a few months later. We married shortly after graduation, and relocated to St. Louis where Jim had secured a job. In St. Louis we completed master's degrees, raised a family and built a good life.

When we retired to the Charlotte area nearly three years ago, we didn't know anyone or much about the area. It was a huge leap of faith to come here, and only a strong marriage could survive the stress and upheaval of the massive move. During one of our three years here we buried both Jim's mom and dad, and my beloved sister. Having someone to share the grieving process with made all the difference in the world in how we coped with the huge losses.

The support network within our new community is phenomenal as well. Because we are in a 55+ community, we have experienced many deaths already. But I think most of us moved here in the hopes that the community will wrap us in a loving embrace when we experience a severe health issue or death in our family. That has certainly proven to be true so far. I am confident that when something happens to me or Jim, our neighbors will rally around the survivor. And the community will share in the grieving process.

Getting back to our anniversary, we didn't do a lot to celebrate this year, save for going out for a meal at one of our favorite restaurants. It offers waterside dining, so we always know we can sit outside. But as next year will be the 45th anniversary, we are already thinking of something big to do in honor of that occasion. We are both eager to cruise again, but there are still so many people getting Covid on the ships that it just doesn't seem worth the risk yet. Maybe by next summer it will be more under control. Who can say?

Hola!

Jim, Katie and I just returned from a week in Mexico, specifically an all-inclusive resort near Playa del Carmen. This is an early graduation celebration for Katie, who is now done with college in less than three years. Though she doesn't receive her diploma until the spring, she is technically done with her classes. She does not like it when I write about her, so I have tried not to do it very often. But just this once I am going to say how proud we are of her for setting her goals and meeting them. She even received all A's in college and will graduate summa cum laude.

So before she heads back to Los Angeles and a new career, we wanted to take a family vacation with her. We chose Mexico because she and Jim are both interested in the Mayan ruins, and then I located an adults only resort so we didn't have to deal with any kids. The Ocean Maya Royale is a smaller resort, which we like, yet it has four restaurants including Japanese and Italian dining. It also has two swimming pools. Its main detraction is the fact that the beach got taken out by the last hurricane, so swimming in the ocean is not as great as it has been at the other resorts we have been to in the past. But we knew that going in, so no biggie.

Katie and Jim decided to try their hand at scuba diving, so they took a beginner class that starts in the pool before heading out into the ocean. They both enjoyed it, but Jim had some problems with his ears so he ended it there. Katie went on to become PADI certified, so she went out on an additional dive. More power to her. I have phobias about diving, so I stuck to snorkeling. It was the best snorkeling I have ever done! It seemed as though I was swimming in an aquarium. Awesome!

Down the beach about a 20 minute walk or so was a lagoon that we went to see. It reminded me of the movie "Blue Lagoon", and I was wondering where Brooke Shields was. It also made me think of a woman from my writing class a few years ago, as she was writing about estuaries. A river meets the ocean at this lagoon, so I visited my first estuary.

One of the other things we did was visit the Mayan ruins which are located about 2 1/2 hours away from our resort. At the suggestion of the concierge, we hired a taxi and driver for the day as it was less expensive than the three of us taking the bus tour to Chichen Itza. Plus we would be able to go at our own pace instead of the pace of a tour. What a great decision! The Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza are one of the World Heritage sites, and they are truly amazing. The only down side was all the vendors inside the site who were hawking their wares. What a distraction and annoyance, and they didn't want to take no for an answer.

We were ready for lunch after seeing these ruins, so our driver took us to a little restaurant on the way to Tulum that serves traditional Mayan dishes. Oh, was it ever good! Then he took us to the Tulum ruins so that we could visit that site. It is not as large as Chichen Itza, but it is perched on a cliff overlooking the the Caribbean, so it was wonderful in its own right. I wish that we would have had a bit more time there, but the bottom line is that we got to see both ruins in one day, which would not have happened on the bus tour.

One thing that is kind of weird in Mexico is that you are not allowed to flush any toilet paper down the toilets. They have little trash cans by all the toilets instead. I know that we are very spoiled in America, but this is one thing that would be a deal breaker for me if I was looking for a sunny, sandy retirement area. Especially once I came across something in Mexico that did not agree with my stomach. Ick!

Besides that, we had a really nice time and I am so glad we took the opportunity to make this last trip together. Having Andy and Megan on the east coast and working full time, I know how little we get to see the kids once they move away and get settled in their jobs. So I'm grateful we got to spend this time with Katie before she too flies the coop and the sun sets on this chapter of our lives.

College Tuition? Check!

I wrote the final tuition check for Katie last week. Well, if I am being totally accurate, I authorized our MOST 529 plan to write a check to the college for her last semester tuition. It is another one of those parent moments that marks the passage of time and transitions in our children's lives. In some ways it seems like only last year that we wrote our first check to Columbia College, then packed up all her stuff and delivered her to the dorm in Chicago. Since that time she spent nine months in a wonderful condo-like apartment in the city, five weeks in Prague, two weeks in Seoul and nearly four months in Shanghai. She wraps up her final semester in Los Angeles, with semester being defined as a five week time period of attending classes all day, five days a week. (The school knows that no college student - or their parents - could afford to live in LA for more than five weeks.) When she returns the latter part of February it will be time for her to begin the job hunt. She seems to feel that she will not have any problem getting a job. I admire her confidence and pray that she is right. It is still such a tough market out there right now.

Due to the fact that Katie is graduating in less than three years, we have money left over in the 529 plan. That is a great position to be in, but we don't want to withdraw the money and be penalized. So, what to do with it? Do I hear a PhD calling my name?

A Moving Experience

At noon on Friday Jim and I picked up our Penske moving truck and brought it back to our house. One of the young guys from his office brought a friend over to help Jim get Katie's bed down from the 3rd floor and our old couch up from the basement. They ended up staying and in 40 minutes we had all of Katie's stuff loaded into the truck. At 4:00 we met up with Lauren's family to pick up the IKEA orders we had placed from a warehouse in Webster Groves. After placing those in the truck, we went to Lauren's house and got all of her stuff on board. By 5:30 Katie, Jim and I were placing our order at the Trainwreck Saloon for a last St. Louis family meal together.

Saturday morning Katie and I left our house at 8:00 to take Kirby to Cahokia, where my niece would take care of him while we were in Chicago. Jim called when he in the Penske truck and the DeGroots in their van hit the Poplar Street Bridge. Katie and I jumped back on the highway and we were on our way. We made really good time until we were about 80 miles outside of Chicago, which is when I-55 shut down. Both northbound lanes of the interstate came to a complete stop. As sirens blared and lights flashed behind us, all the cars and trucks crept as far to the shoulder as we possibly could, considering construction was going on and the shoulders were mushy roto millings.Several members of our group walked towards the accident scene, and as I stood by our car I saw the medi-vac helicopter approach. At that point southbound I-55 was closed as well so the helicopter could land.

I began to chat with the couple in the pretty Lexus ahead of me, and learned that they were returning to Naperville after attending a 50th anniversary party at the Whitmore Country Club in St. Louis on Friday. When I commented on how great it is that the couple has been together that long, the woman told me that she and her husband have know each other since they were 15. But both of them had married other people (in fact her first husband was in her second husband's first wedding!) - wow, you need a score card to follow all that. Her first husband had died of a heart attack at age 55, and her current husband's first wife had died of breast cancer 7 years ago. They had then become re-acquainted and later married.

I explained that our three vehicles were heading to Chicago to take the girls back to Columbia College. The man said that two of his children had graduated from there as well. Small world... By now our surveilance crew returned from the accident scene and said that they had seen body bags on the pavement, with at least one of them containing a body. There was also wet substance smeared across the highway, and this was before the fire department had done their job. Don't even want to speculate there. By the time it was all said and done, we spent an hour and a half stuck on the interstate. We called the apartment complex as we were scheduled to use the loading dock from 3-6, and there was no way we were going to be there by 3. They were very accommodating and said we could have extra time. As it turned out, we arrived at 4 and had everything moved in from the truck and the two vehicles by a little before 6 anyway. We started putting furniture together and at least had Katie's bed ready for her when we finally took off for our hotel room at 9:30 that night.

At the Hyatt, which offers a great rate for customers of Katie's apartment building, I heard the front desk clerk say something about executive room, and I assumed it is because I have a Hyatt customer card. But when we got to our room, we had a corner suite! Windows facing downtown and windows facing the lake, a whole living room area with a t.v, king size bed with another t.v., bathroom with two sinks, a large desk area, and a kitchen completed the suite. Very nice! After quick showers we fell into bed anxious for a good night's sleep after the stress of the day, but that was not to be. Let alone hearing doors slamming all night long, there were the most obnoxious people out in the halls. Different groups throughout the night laughing and talking loudly. At 5 a group of men coming in from their night on the town decided to hold a conversation in the hallway, followed shortly by another man who locked himself (or was locked out) of his room. Brother... This was not good as we were driving home on Sunday as soon as we finished putting Katie's furniture together and got her room to a reasonable stopping point. I did not want us to be another statistic on I-55 due to falling asleep at the wheel.

We started back on the apartment at 10:00, took a break to eat lunch with the other family at noon, and at 1:30 Lauren's family left to drive back to St. Louis. We stayed with Katie until 4:15 and then took the truck key back to the Penske rental place. (The guys had dropped the truck off Saturday night, but the lock box was broken and they were afraid to leave the key lest the truck be stolen.) By 4:35 we were on the road, and got home at 9:45.

The apartment really is lovely, and I hope that the three girls all have a great year together in Chicago. Meanwhile, I'm going to fluff my feathers in my empty nest.

See You in September

It is hard to believe that today is the first day of September. I'm really thankful it has arrived what with the heat we have been experiencing this summer, but still the year is marching on its way. While most colleges have already begun, Katie's first day is not until the day after Labor Day. Since we ran into problems getting an apartment in Chicago, that is actually a good thing. We ultimately secured a three bedroom apartment in the building that Katie began looking at last April. It is a beautiful apartment, nicely appointed with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Didn't we all have that in college? Oh wait...I lived in the dorm for three years and then in a two bedroom trailer my senior year.

But that was then and this is now, and I am happy that Katie is in a building and area that I feel comfortable with, or as comfortable as any parent can feel with the world being what it is these days. Katie and I spent a good chunk of today picking up some last minute items. We'll still have shopping to do at Target once we get over there, but we picked up non-breakable, non-perishable items here.

Friday at noon I will pick up the moving truck (woo-hoo, haven't driven one of those since I moved Andy out to D.C. in 2007). One of the young guys from SWT is coming over at lunch time to help us get Katie's bed down from the third floor and the couch out of the basement. Then at 4:00 I'll take the truck to a new business in Webster Groves to pick up out IKEA order, along with the order from Katie's roommate. We'll finish loading the truck with all the girls' stuff Friday night as we want to be on the road by 9:00 Saturday morning. I'll leave slightly earlier as I am dropping Kirby off at my niece's house in Illinois. Her girls are excited to have Kirby spend the night with them.

Our move in time at the loading dock is 3:00. Sounds like the girls have recruited a number of friends so we should have many hands on dock - yuck, yuck. We'll need them as we have a lot of furniture to put together. Jim and I can pretty much stay as late as we need to on Sunday, and I know we need to not only go to Target but also the grocery store to get the pantry stocked.

I'm looking forward to meeting Katie's third roommate Fay from China. Hopefully this will be a good mix of personalities, and everyone will have a fun year.

Vacation Ramification

Katie, Maggie and I flew back from DC today (Jim came home on Sunday). The flight left on time, there were no crying babies, and we even arrived on schedule. I was a little (okay, a LOT) amazed when the flight attendant announced not once but twice that we should pick up all our trash so they could be ready for the next flight, and then proceeded to ask us to lower the window shades, turn off the overhead lights, and open up the vents before leaving our seats. REALLY??? Is this my job now? Pay more for a ticket, pay to check my bag, receive no pretzels much less a meal, no pillow or blanket and then be expected to pick up the plane for them too? Unreal... Why don't they just pass the Dust Buster and we can vacuum on the way out.

We had a nice vacation though. Yesterday I headed to the National Archives to do some genealogical research, and the girls went to the Crime and Punishment Museum and then to the Spy Museum. It was hot but not super humid, so I did a bit of hiking around on my own when the archives turned out to be a bust for me.

Coming back to reality bites though. Listening to all the voice mail messages, going through a 5 inch stack of mail, watering the outdoor plants and getting started on the laundry took my vacation mood away pretty quickly. On the plus side, we got a 3 bedroom apartment lined up for Katie and her 2 roommates today, so that takes a big weight off of all of our shoulders. (Long story - the one we thought we had lined up all summer was snatched away from us.) Now if we can just convince the landlord to let us move in before the 6th since the girls start school on the 7th.

Back to the daily grind...

Whirlwind in the Windy City

On Wednesday I drove over to Chicago in preparation of moving Katie home on Thursday. Her last final was Wednesday afternoon, and her check-out time from the dorm was set for 11:00 Thursday morning. The thunderstorms in St. Louis had made it impossible to get a good night's sleep Tuesday night, so I was a little concerned about being tired on the drive. And about whether I would be driving into the storm we had just experienced. But I popped in a surprisingly good book on CD, and fortunately only encountered rain as I got to the outskirts of Chicago.

After checking into the hotel, I drove the car several blocks away to park in the garage next to her dorm, hoping to simplify the move out process. I gave Katie a quick call, hoping she might have gotten out of class early, and getting no response I walked back to the hotel. Just as I reached the building Katie called to say her phone had never rung, but she was in her dorm room. So I trudged back to the garage, stopping to retrieve the additional four plastic containers I had brought for her to pack additional belongings in.

Several girls from the floor popped in while we were boxing things up, and it was interesting to hear them talk about the school year, and particularly their roommates. It seemed everyone had the same complaint about girls who have poor personal hygiene, who never picked things up, and apparently cooked and then never did the dishes. Katie had the same problems with her roommate.

We finished packing her up by 4:30, so we went to grab some supper at a nearby pub. Then we went to my hotel room to surf the web and watch American Idol (my guilty pleasure, not hers). Thunderstorms rocked my world again early Thursday morning - great, another day of driving tired! I checked out of the hotel at 8:30, and hadn't really considered the fact that I would need to carry my overnight bag, my laptop and my cooler all the way back to the parking garage. At least the rain had stopped by then, although it was very gray and the city was socked in by fog. I dropped my stuff in the car, and luckily was able to snag one of the two boxes on wheels available for moving stuff. I was informed by the security guard at the desk that since it was not officially "move out" day, the other boxes had not been brought over yet. Hmmmm....They know kids are moving out because they sign up for check out times, but it is not "move out" day? Oh well, I had a cart so life was good. Katie had to come down and sign me in, and we made the first of three trips to the 19th floor. We found a way to take the wheeled box from the elevator, down a hallway to a different elevator and up to the second floor of the parking garage where I had parked. That was awesome as it had begun to rain again. We managed to squeeze all the stuff into my car (fortunately we had removed the center two seats prior to me making the trip), and were done by 10:00. No problems with check out and we were on our way by 11:20 and home by 4:30.

In the fall Katie will live in an apartment with two other girls from school, so we won't have the dorm rules to deal with. I hope they have an inside elevator from the garage there, as that helped a lot. Now I just have to figure out where we are going to store all her stuff for three months.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

At this time 25 years ago I was about to give birth to our son, Andrew. He arrived 10 days past my due date at 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and has grown into a remarkable young man. It is unbelievable to think that he is now 25, married and settling into his career as an engineer. In a lot of ways it does not seem like that much time has passed by. His life has mirrored ours in some ways, meeting his wife in college, getting married following graduation, and then taking a job far away from the families. Patterns...

We spent the weekend with Katie in Chicago to look at apartments for next school year. Saturday morning it was pouring, in the horizontal format customary for Chicago with its high winds. No sense attempting the use of an umbrella unless you wantedto end up like Mary Poppins. But we managed to see 5 different apartment complexes on Saturday and one on Sunday. I can sum up the experience in 2 words - sticker shock! Having said that, the apartments are gorgeous with stainless appliances, granite counter tops and nicely appointed bathrooms. They each have a 24 hour door man, fitness centers on site, outdoor lounging areas with nice views of the city, business centers, and other amenities. Because we are only looking on the near south side, the construction is all fairly new and up to date. Hence the pricing. A lot of the decision-making process hinges on whether or not the 2 other girls who claim they want to be in the apartment actually sign on the dotted line. If it ends up that we just need a one bedroom unit for Katie, then we can go with a 9 month lease somewhere and be done with it. From what we learned, signing a lease effective 9/1 will pretty much guarantee that the rates will be lower. The big moving date in Chicago appears to be in April, for whatever reason.

When we weren't looking at apartments, we enjoyed just hanging out with Katie. She has matured so much since she has been in college this year, and it is fun to listen to her discuss her plans and dreams. I'm so happy that it seems she picked the right college in the right city.

Fleeting Freshman

We just put Katie back on the MegaBus this afternoon. Her friend Ji from South Korea was on the bus from Columbia to here as she attends Mizzou, and is traveling to Chicago to spend a few days with Katie. Unfortunately Katie's schedule Mondays through Wednesdays is jam-packed, but other friends from Webster Groves will hook up with Ji as their time allows.

Katie now has only 45 days left in her freshman year. That includes weekends and the fact that she doesn't have school on Thursdays or Fridays, so her actual classroom time is much less than that. It seems like only a couple months ago that we headed off to Chicago for orientation. The time has truly blown by for us, and for her as well I think. If she did not have such a bizarre roommate, she would have loved every minute of it. She enjoys the excitement of Chicago and the challenge of her classes. And I'll brag for a moment and mention that Columbia College nominated her for membership in the National Honor Society, which is reserved for students in the top 20% of the school possessing a 3.4 GPA or greater. For the first semester she received a 3.9 as she got an A- in one of her classes.

She is taking a few classes at Meramec Community College this summer as she wants to free up her schedule at Columbia to take more classes in her major of Marketing Communications. She is working with the different department heads to see if she can minor in Asian Studies, but since that is not a designated minor (or major, for that matter) they are trying to determine if that is possible. I give her props for pushing for it as she very much would like to work in China when she graduates, which is why she is taking Mandarin Chinese. She is already considered a sophomore due to the classes she took in high school, and she is set to graduate in three years. That is awesome, and one of the many reasons we are willing to help her study in China in 2011.

Last night we took Katie and her best friend from high school to Tucker's for supper. Maggie is studying pre-med at St. Louis University and working at the hospital as well. She is a bright, motivated young lady and very much like a second daughter to me. It was a fun meal, listening as they talked about what they have liked about college so far and their plans for the future. They have grown so much since high school graduation!

Next weekend Jim and I will go over to Chicago and look at apartments with Katie for next year. She is done with the dorm and all the shenanigans that go on there. I believe she will have two roommates; one is a friend from high school and the the other is her Chinese tutor. We will be looking at three bedroom units, if we can find one within the budget. An added bonus is that we will get to spend Easter with Katie. I'll be taking over an Easter basket for her as this is something I've done for her since she was a baby. Some things shouldn't have to change...

Those Schoolgirl Days...

Every year on the first day of school we took a photo of each of our children in the backyard. That continued even as they headed off to college.

It's been a week since we moved Katie into her dorm in Chicago. Though I use the word "dorm" lightly, as she is in a two bedroom, two bath apartment which just happens to be operated by the college. She and Kasey from Connecticut lucked out, with their unit being at the end of the hallway, away from the noise of the elevators but more importantly scoring windows in both of the bedrooms. The main living area of the apartment and the one bedroom boast floor to ceiling windows with, get this, stunning views of Lake Michigan and a small marina. Seriously? Where is the dorm room overlooking the dumpster that most freshmen get? Katie told me that two boys on the floor have offered them $200 a month to change rooms with them. As if! Katie's room is intended to house four students, but so far it is just the two Ks, while the boys are in a one bedroom, one bath unit.

Move-in day went quite smoothly, and in less than an hour and a half we had all of her belongs stored in the room, despite waiting for the elevators to take us to the 19th floor. The worst part was waiting for the elevators in the afternoon, with our arms loaded from the trip to Target. We got her room and the kitchen area set up in that afternoon, and had supper with Katie and Lauren, a fellow WGHS graduate. Then they went off for their evening activities and we walked around the city. After a late breakfast with Katie on Sunday, we made our way back to St. Louis.

For me, the weirdest part of this past week was not hearing "What's for supper?" like clockwork each afternoon. Normally Katie was in the other room every day as I cooked, and it was awfully quiet even with the news to keep me company. However, it has been really liberating to only have to consider mine and Jim's schedules, likes and dislikes. Whole grain bread, fish, cooking on the grill, eating or not eating...

Katie is probably feeling the same sense of freedom, and it has been fun to hear about her new experiences. Life's lessons are being learned every day, from dealing with overflowing toilets to budgeting and planning meals. How quickly our children go "from crayons to perfume..."

Bean There, Done That

We are just home from a couple of days in Chicago, where Katie registered for her first semester of classes at Columbia College. There are multiple days of orientation, but Tuesday was one of two choices for students majoring in marketing or photography. As Katie went off to have her picture taken for her i.d., we grabbed our orientation backpack and a provided muffin and juice. As Jim doctored up his coffee, I jockeyed around the masses to grab the last table. A woman and her son quickly asked if they could join me at the table. As there were five chairs, I said that would be great. What a great way to start the day! It was very interesting to share the table with them. Michael is in the same major as Katie, and is minoring in photography, which is one of Katie's hobbies. Lynna is very personable, so we were soon chatting like old friends. They are from the Chicago area, so it was fun to get their take on Columbia. We spent the day together, except for the time period when Michael and Katie were separated to register for classes.

Katie was able to get into all the classes she had selected, so that was great. Rumor going around was that a lot of the required courses were already filled. We were happy to find out that it was not true, at least in her case. Because there are still orientations going on in early August, and I was wondering what those kids would do.

As we sat through the presentations geared towards the parents, I was excited to find that my original impressions of this school seem to be true. The level of creativity offered by the teachers, majors and college in general is truly inspiring. And all with the goal of building a portfolio to assist in job placement upon graduation. Every parents dream! I think Columbia is a perfect fit for Katie. The big disappointment in the whole day was that there were no dorms open for viewing. We had heard from a friend of Katie's who went to orientation last week that you needed an appointment to see a room. We had tried unsuccessfully to obtain one. While we saw a room back in 2007 on a campus tour, it wasn't in the building Katie was placed in nor would I remember specifics even if it had been. The online virtual tours are cool, but you can't get a feel for dimensions. So much for shopping for storage containers ahead of time!

Though all of Tuesday was taken up with the orientation, we did have time Monday and Tuesday nights to walk around the downtown area. Chicago is such a vibrant city, even in the evening. Jim especially wanted to see the "Bean" as he had only observed it in pictures. Katie and I had walked to Millennium Park when we were in Chicago in 2007. Bean there, done that.

The next trip to Chicago will be move in day August 29th!

Back to Chicago

The college decision has been made, and its back to Chicago for Katie. She liked Loyola when we visited, but said she just could not picture herself there. So she has come full circle and settled on Columbia College Chicago. We visited Columbia in October of 2007, and she decided then and there that it was the college for her. She didn't even want to look anywhere else. As time went on she began to investigate the employment opportunities and starting salaries of graduates in her chosen field, which at the time was Music Business Management. When she determined that she could earn as much being a secretary with no degree at a record label as she could as an employee with a Music Business degree, she decided she better look for a different major. She thought about International Business, thus the visit to NYU, but the study abroad programs did not offer what she was looking for, especially at Loyola. So she has settled on Marketing and Communications at Columbia, and I have to say that it fits her in a number of ways. She has been active in Junior Achievement and DECA while in high school, and her electives have mostly been in the area of marketing. Columbia is appealing in its curriculum in that they immerse the students in classes of their major right away. Katie will never sit in a classroom of 350 students "learning" about western civilization. She will get the core business classes she needs without ever having to take trigonometry. I have friends in Chicago in the marketing and media fields, and they concur that Columbia has a good reputation in the Chicago area. In fact, they said that the graduates they had hired from Columbia walk in the door knowing how to do their jobs. So...the decision is made, the pressure is off, and the deposits have been sent off. Now we can concentrate on the graduation celebrations.

Chicago is...Katie's Kind of Town?

We are driving to Chicago today for a final (I hope!) look at two colleges. Loyola is hosting a special weekend for students interested in certain majors, business being one of them. We'll have tours on campus during the day tomorrow, and then attend a Scholars Reception in the evening for students who were offered merit scholarships. This will be our first look at Loyola, so I'm interested in seeing what this university is all about. Unfortunately the other Chicago college Katie is interested in is on spring break, so the buildings will be closed. But we have already toured it in the past, so that isn't a huge issue. We'll just take another look at the campus on Sunday before we head home. This whole college search thing is just so overwhelming anymore. When I was a teenager (don't I sound like our parents now?) my dad announced to me that I was going to attend Iowa State. I expressed to him that I wanted to go to the University of Iowa because of their Liberal Arts program. After all, Iowa State's full name is Iowa State University of Science and Technology. You see my problem? Dad said "Your brother goes to Iowa State and that is where you are going". End of discussion. I didn't have to take multiple tests, write essays or drive/fly around the country looking at all the options. In this economy I continue to hear that Washington University had over 23,000 applicants for 1,400 openings in the freshman class, NYU had over 20,000 applicants for 1,000 slots, etc. I'm assuming that most of these kids will be applying for loans in order to pay the $40,000 per year cost of attending these institutions. Is the next financial crisis going to be when these new college graduates can't find jobs paying enough to make the monthly payments and default on the school loans? A scary thought...

To New Beginnings

The year 2008 ended "not with a bang, but a whimper". Okay, so maybe there were a few bangs going off outside in the form of fireworks, but the activities throughout the year certainly gave most of us something to whimper about. I am an optimist by nature, and personally I love the new year and all the promises it holds. It is time to let go of what occurred in the past and anticipate what might be around the corner for us in the future. I already know that 2009 will present some emotionally charged events. My baby will graduate from high school, and I'll no sooner have adjusted to that and she'll be headed off to college. In my mind I have been looking forward to the time when my husband and I return to a child-free household, but I know my heart will have other things to say about it when the time comes. There will be some highs in 2009 as well, as we take our businesses to the next level. And my book, which is now complete and waiting for design and editing, will be published. That will be the culmination of a huge personal goal, and I can't wait to see where the publishing road takes me.

The Waiting Game - Round One

Round One of the College Waiting Game ended with today's mail. Katie had applied Early Decision to NYU. What makes Early Decision special (and definitely not to be confused with Early Acceptance) is that if you are accepted by the school, you have to withdraw all of your other college applications. It is a legally binding contract to go to that college. So basically you must be certain that the school you applied to is definitely THE ONE for you. As a highly selective school, Katie believed her chances of being accepted would be slightly better through Early Decision. Jim and I had mixed emotions about going this route because Katie would have no way of knowing by the Early Decision deadline of November 1 if she was being awarded any merit scholarships. But we allowed her to proceed as the business program she is interested in at NYU is ranked third best in the United States. In the meantime, she has been accepted by Loyola-Chicago and offered a scholarship to go there. While they don't have as strong of an International Business program as NYU, the thought of fewer student loans has a definite appeal. Plus they invited her to apply to the honors program, which then opens the door to further scholarship money. As I had pointed out to Katie, if she receives a nice scholarship, we could then supplement her study abroad program at a different school. As it ends up, today she received a letter from NYU stating that she had not been accepted. She is understandably upset, as she really feels NYU has the best program for her. But I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason. And as her mom, I can now admit that the thought of having my baby in a huge city a thousand miles away was somewhat terrifying. So we wait to see what Round Two brings...

The End of Summer

I always feel like Labor Day weekend is the end of summer, although technically there are a few weeks left. A weekend that had no plans is suddenly filling up with get-togethers, which I suppose is what it is all about. Most notably, Katie's friend Ji came back from Mizzou for the weekend, and asked if she could stay with us. It was fun to hear all about her first week of college. "I love Mizzou!", she exclaimed when asked how things were going. How great to hear that it is all working out for her. I'm pretty sure that I did not come home from my first days at Iowa State saying that I loved college. And I was only an hour away from home, not 14 hours. Today's college students seem much more composed and mature than I remember being. Maybe it is because Ji has traveled so much in her 17 years that this move does not seem like a big deal to her. At any rate, Katie is getting an insider's view on freshman year, and that can only help her next fall.

Another Walk Down Memory Lane

Yesterday I took a college freshman to Mizzou - and she wasn't even mine! Ji is a student from South Korea who spent last year at Webster Groves High School. She came back to the United States last week to go to college here, and has been staying with us. As I filled up my car with her stuff and three teenagers, I thought back to 34 years ago when I loaded up my Green Mean Machine (translation - green piece of junk) with my stuff, along with my friend Kim's stuff, to head up to Iowa State. No parents helped us pack the car, or set things up when we arrived at our respective dorms. What a different experience yesterday. Parents and siblings hustled up and down the steps and dorm corridors, rearranging room furniture and hanging memories of home on the walls. It seemed a lot less scary than 34 years ago. But as I looked at Ji, who was not 200 miles from home but instead thousands of miles from everything she knows, I was in awe of a 17 year old who would willingly make the choice to experience a way of life so different from the one she grew up in. I was happy that we were there with her to stand in as her family, and I wish I had the opportunity to talk to her mom to let her know how great Ji did. She has a lot to be proud of in her oldest daughter. I learned a lot from Ji yesterday, and I think my daughter and her friend did as well. If nothing else, it gave me a dose of reality for what I will be facing again this time next year...when my baby heads off to college.