Rising senior D will be living at home this summer, juggling a directing internship with the state Shakespeare Festival and her parttime retail job. We moved her out of the dorm yesterday :) Rising high school senior D will be starting classes Tuesday at a university 1000 miles away. We're flying with her Monday to check out the school and particular programs since it's a contender for college :) She'll be there for four weeks, then to CA to visit her older brother (we'll go there as well) for the intersession break, return for another four weeks, and then to Florida to meet us and her best friend at WDW :D This morning we signed up for TSA Precheck :lol:

I like White House Black Market now. I've been shopping there for about 5 years (dresses, pants, tops, sweaters, jackets----some petite, some regular). Their shorts don't fit me so I buy those at Target lol

Dh and I will be in Memphis one weeknight soon. He'd like to catch some live music downtown somewhere and thought we should stay overnight in that area. Is it "safe" to walk around at night a few blocks off Beall Street? We are not uncomfortable with cities like Philly but that's because we know where we can and cannot be on foot at night. Thanks :)

No food upstairs! Dh sometimes wakes me with a cup of coffee :)

So difficult to find spaces within Yosemite! The tent spaces are grabbed within minutes of booking being opened. I hope you guys can find something :grouphug: One year we had luck finding a site after I checked *five times a day* for four weeks :eek:

Eesh J-rap, you don't seem like one to worry so this situation must be weighing heavily on you :grouphug: I hope all went smoothly through the night!

g Yes! The beds at dd's school can be raised higher than possible with those little supports, high enough that totes and boxes and short fridges fit underneath. True lofting is only possible by arranging it through the school so it's done before move-in.

Please insist on allergy testing. You need to know! You might need to carry an epipen in case of accidental ingestion or cross-contamination.

Oh my goodness :grouphug:

Before you buy the printer and ink, check to see if (1) they have a printing allowance included in the student account ('flex' or whatever) and (2) if there are several printing locations for the students to use. Dd took a printer but discovered that it's easier and actually cheaper to print on the uni machines. She uploads what she needs printed and chooses the location--very simple. Printers can take up a lot of space in a small dorm room!

The 16yo will be living on a university campus this summer for two summer sessions. She'll learn how to navigate dining with a major food intolerance, sharing space with a roommate, getting to know a totally new state and culture, and (hopefully not incidentally) Russian and some political science! And she'll either love the school and apply in the fall or hate it and take it off her list :lol: (She earned full merit scholarships for tuition, room and (most of) board from her ACT scores. We have to pay for transportation, books, and incidentals like the rest of the food.)

Wait, you had mouth swelling and wheezing plus the gut stuff???????!!!!!!!!!!! Have you never been tested for food allergies? In general, reactions in 2 different body systems points to allergies. You might want to get that checked. Like asap. Signed, Mother of those variously allergic to soy, almonds, coconut, bananas, and rice (yes, rice) plus OAS to stone fruits and melons plus all-forms-of-dairy-intolerant

Dh and youngest have been dairy-free for year. We tried lactose-free for several months but that did not dd's pain symptoms. This summer older dd and dh will be following the FODMAP diet (for IBS etc as suggested by dd's GI) with the addition of no dairy. I am hoping we can identify their triggers (onion and garlic are strongly suggested). I'll adjust if they end up needing to be gluten free forever. I've already been cooking without soy since older dd was in sixth grade.

It was easy with youngest because, by the time we began homeschooling when she was 10, she had watched her older siblings go through high school and begin to apply to college. She heard a lot of conversations about choices, how to not close any doors, and how to reach your goals. Any long term reader of the high school board will know that dd has changed her focus several times over the years. She's a generalist who latches hard into a focus. Sometimes I felt like :eek: just as *I* was getting comfortable with a particular path! I think you should lay out specifics for your ds, as in "you would need to study this, that,, and the other thing before going to university"----but emphasize the flexibility of homeschooling. A traditional student may not have choices of what to study in a particular year, but he could do X or Y or Z this year and something else the next. Does that make sense?

We've learned all kinds of interesting things from reading the general housing and specific dorm pages :D Extension cords are commonly prohibited. Buy the surge protector/power strip with the longest cord you can find! Wifi can be tricky in older dorms with all that cinderblock. An ethernet cable might be handy. Ds did not use a microwave, just a tiny cube fridge passed down from a relative. Dd has food allergies so we purchased a larger fridge with an actual freezer portion. Her roommate brought the microwave. At some schools stand-alone microwaves are not allowed, just the combo micro-fridge things that can be rented for $$. In that case, investigate whether the dorm has a shared kitchen with a microwave. Absolute necessities: sheets and bedding (consider a mattress topper for comfort---dorm mattresses can be very thin and hard), towels, shower caddy, shower shoes (flipflops), laptop, good backpack that fit said laptop, laundry detergent. Youngest dd and I play a game every year at her siblings' move-in called "What won't fit in that kid's dorm room and what will be going home at parents weekend" :lol:

Emily, I'd love to go to Pinnacles but do you think it would be too hot in July?

Adding to my previous post: My grandparents gave my parents gift money for their first house downpayment. My parents gifted (such an awkward verb) us half of our first, not very large, downpayment. I had received money through my grandmother from my childless great-aunt's estate for the other half. Dh and I will give all three of our kids some money toward their downpayments. My parents are now deceased; we do not have to worry so much about our retirement savings because of my inheritance. This is just part of our family culture. Other families have different cultures, needs, and priorities. There is no right nor wrong :)

I answered with 23 year old ds in mind. He lives in Silicon Valley, makes an obscene amount of money for someone a year out of school, but also pays an obscene amount in rent. We might conside co-signing a mortgage, but it would depend on the particular situation. If he stays out there, maybe. If he moves back east, most likely not. The only financial support he gets from us is a portion of our shared cell phone plan ($5/month). He has a work phone but does not do anything personal on that phone. We did loan him money for moving expenses and security deposit for the apartment. His expenses were reimbursed by his company. He paid us back for the security deposit within two months.

We're finally able to visit ds in his new digs in Sunnyvale :party: I need some advise about good areas to stay and some things for dh and I to do while ds and youngest hang over a weekend :) Dd will be on a short break between her two summer sessions. Dh and I will stay a few days longer. So we'll be arriving at SJC very late on the Wed before July 4. I figure we'll stay some place with an airport shuttle, then return to the airport via shuttle the next am to get our rental car. Any airport hotel recommendations? Then Thursday and (most of) Friday will be spent in Sacramento and Davis with my aunties and cousins :) Dd will stay with ds at his apartment Friday and Saturday nights. She might stay Sunday night, not sure. Her flight leaves SJC at 8:30 am July 4. Dh and I are looking at airbnb and vrbo for apartment/condo/cottage Friday July 1 until we leave Thursday July 7. We've found 10 possibilities in Los Gatos, Cuppertino, Los Altos, Sunnyvale, and Mountain View. Obviously we need to do more research into the exact neighborhoods/areas, but does anything sound not good? Or very awkward, driving-wise? Dh and I would like to do some fun things while the "kids" spend time together. Can you suggest activities/areas within 60 minutes drive of Sunnyvale? Wineries, hiking, kayaking, state parks, and such----not crowded beaches (we live near the NJ and DE "shores") or antiquing/shopping. We'll save actual SF things for after dd leaves as ds will be off July 4 week. This will be my first trip ever to CA without going to the Sierras or Tahoe (my mom's family has a cabin in Eldorado National Forest e of S Lake Tahoe), and I'm having a really hard time with not being in the mountains :( Thanks!

I think planner choice is a very individual situation. I would take the student to a store (or look online if that isn't possible) to see the different varieties-----7 days on one page, 7 days on 2 pages, 1 day per page, printed lines or blank squares, etc. My 3 kids like 3 totally different types of paper planners!

Thanks 8 for giving me my weekly Topic of Obsession :eek: ;)

I'm on mobile--otherwise I'd link for you. Search for 'AP course ledger' to find a listing of schools, by location, which have offered each AP exam in the past. That's where I started when I needed to find a site. This year we drove an hour each way for five tests.

AVA, please make sure that you have a local school that will be offering AP Human Geography (or, the holy grail of schools, one that will offer to proctor any test even if they are no offering it as a course). APHG is one of the more rare offerings. We had the dickens of a time finding a site for APHG last year and again for AP Comparative Government this year. For others reading along, AP Latin and other languages (regionally) can be tricky to find. Also, some schools alternate offerings---like World one year and Euro the next---do double check in case of long-range planning with a friendly school.

I've done this exact thing with all 3 of my kids during their high school years. I still help youngest get started :)

At 9:30 yesterday morning I was getting ready to go shopping with my girls. Dd needed practically an entire new wardrobe---undies, bras, spirts bras, shorts, socks, swimsuit---before leaving home for 8 weeks. Definitely NOT a normal Thursday! On a normal Thursday I'd be doing my usual morning house/garden/yard routine while dd either worked on Arabic or English.