Before my parents moved in with us, they lived a few miles away in my childhood home. I don't remember dropping by unexpected very often. We usually chatted by phone and knew we'd be around. We had keys to their house and vice-versa. A typical visit would be expected, the visiting party would unlock the door themselves and then announce their presence..."Grandma's here!" or "Knock, Knock!" We were back and forth all the time, and it would have been annoying to have to get up and answer the door every time my mom came over.

I absolutely agree. I have particular post-accident anxiety, so I like to know everyone is OK. It is smart and kind to always let someone know where you will be. Dh is terrible about remembering to keep in touch, but with the new smartphones I can always see where he is. Who knew that the biggest advantage of smartphones is that I no longer have to worry about loved ones being in proverbial ditches. I can't contribute much to the dating conversation...ds is 18 now and hasn't started "dating" yet, so it's out of my hands. Any rules I have would be true for any visitors...no smoking, drugs, or underage drinking and do NOT disturb my sleep ;-)

I second the blood work. A high thyroid condition like Grave's can cause weight loss and make it impossible to keep weight on. I was hungry and ate all of the time (and kept losing weight), but I can see how the nausea might make one not eat.

Cool! Dh works crosswords all of the time, but I love number puzzles. They aren't exactly logic puzzles, but I love the Killer Sudokus at KrazyDad. They are a combination of Sudoku and Kakuro. Maybe the "someone in your house" would like them, too. Here's his site: http://krazydad.com

Like The Great Courses, Audible is beta testing a streaming type service called Channels. It's not full length books, but a wide selection of short stories, news stories and such. Ds has really been enjoying it this weekend. I don't know if it will cost extra, but right now it is included in the monthly subscription: http://www.audible.com/channels/ref=a_hp_c2_1?ie=UTF8&pf_rd_r=064W35NJ9GC6RGXEQB0G&pf_rd_m=A2ZO8JX97D5MN9&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=5000&pf_rd_p=2464790442&pf_rd_s=center-2 ETA: If you decide to try it on your device, be sure to update the app first. Otherwise it behaves oddly.

I was grousing to dh about only seeing the higher price, and he told me that sometimes companies charge higher prices on Apple browsers (I guess because Apple users are rich??) I had the high price on the mac, iPhone and his iPad. So I opened Internet Explorer on a Windows 10 virtual machine, and when I clicked free trial, it gave me the 14.99/19.99 price, instead of 29.99/49.99. So if you are an Apple family, try a Windows machine.

I just discovered that FiveThirtyEight has started a Riddler series of weekly puzzles. I'm having fun with what's already posted. Puzzles are posted each Friday along with answers from the previous week. http://fivethirtyeight.com/tag/the-riddler/

Are you watching "The Americans" TV show? I haven't thought about it at all until it came up in the show.

The ultimate decider here was where he "felt" most comfortable. There were lots of "facts" about which college would be the best for this or that, and they were considered, but he felt like he belonged in one place more than the others. (This is once we narrowed it down to 3 affordable, practical options. There are other schools that felt good, but he either wasn't accepted or they weren't manageable.)

I took over everything when my mom passed and Dad's care fell to me. The author is not exaggerating on how hard it is red-tape-wise. And it is hard emotionally if it follows a death. Just over a year after Mom's death, ds asked me, "Don't you get tired of telling people that?" The "that" was "Mrs. X has passed away. I'm her daughter, executor, and POA for Mr. X." Even that long later, at least once a week something came in the mail or I got a phone call of something that had to be handled. I was passed to multiple reps often ending in me having to fax over a POA, will, death certificate or some such.

Ds applied to 6 though there were 10 on the list. I don't think it would have changed ds's ultimate choice, but I did find one problem with too many applications: burnout. He ended up ordering them by early application deadline, so the early applications were done, but the later ones weren't. There were a couple of schools that he really liked where he didn't finish their applications. He also didn't have lots left in him to do extensive scholarship applications. I didn't think it would hurt to have lots of applications in and compare offers, but there was definitely a cost. We were also in that middle area where we needed more applications. We can afford about half of our quite large EFC.

Georgia Tech's acceptance rates keep dropping: http://www.news.gatech.edu/2016/03/12/tech-admit-rate-drops-25-percent They were never much of a safety, but even in-state plenty of applicants with the stats got rejected or wait-listed. For those who are looking, I've found they expect about 10 college level classes (DE/AP/IB), and they seem to prefer that students take college level calculus before applying, i.e. junior year. They don't have Ivy level acceptance rates, but do seem to have Ivy league expectations.

I was just looking at taxes versus tuition for the different states. I'm thinking the "free" in NH is no taxes. With no income tax and no sales tax, I'm guessing that there is very little money to pay for things like state colleges. I live in a state with all three (property, sales, and income tax) so I'm guessing that helps there be money in the coffers to pay for part of the university expenses.

Is he legacy? I'm not sure about Ivys in general, but some colleges are softening the blow of rejecting legacies (particularly those who have excellent applications), with conditional transfer programs. For example: http://admission.gatech.edu/conditional-admission

If you haven't already, take a look at this thread: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/585681-engineering-physics-degree-any-tips-hints-or-cautions/?hl=%2Bapplied+%2Bphysics&do=findComment&comment=6807837

Will he be applying to different colleges depending on his choice? Or is it just the universities of interest make you choose a college or major when you apply? If it is the second, keep in mind that, though it may be difficult, most colleges do let you change your major. Overall, usually engineering departments are harder to get into at places that you must declare at application. So if he can get in engineering, it should be easier to slip into physics later. OTOH, if he is a marginal candidate, it may be easier to get in to physics, and then he can impress someone and move to engineering later. Check with the schools and online to see how they admit by major. Another possibility is an applied physics program, which can be a terminal degree. It might split the difference. Some, though, are five year programs that terminate in a masters. What does he want to *do* after graduation? If you share more of his interests and what he loves about each, we may be able to give more specific advice.

You could try something like Benadryl in case histamine is the cause of the reaction. Or sometimes baking soda or alka-seltzer, like you would use for acid indigestion, might help. It really depends on the reaction and the mechanism. Both an antihistamine and antacid are mild and shouldn't cause other problems. The only other thing I can think of is activated charcoal?

Tell her your posts are to inspire other moms to continue homeschooling through high school. Lots of people check these threads around 8th grade, terrified they are going to destroy their child's future. This long list of acceptances helps reassure them that it can be fine (even great!) Congrats!

I don't know how it would taste in tea, but a while back I started putting maple syrup (pure) in my coffee. Ds had done some research that suggested it caused fewer blood sugar swings (or something like that?) It only takes a tiny bit, and I really liked it. If you use much though, I think it would be way more expensive than honey.

Georgia State University's Honors College Major: Neuroscience (though subject to change ;) ) Chosen because: The Honors College is incredible, with a wonderful staff and so many opportunities. I only wish it had been on our list earlier. The vibrancy of the city He felt at home there and has enjoyed all the students he's met.

There are two types of ANA tests, ELISA and IFA. It looks like the first came back positive and the second negative. The IFA is the test with the patterns, so if it is positive you will get specific pattern seen on fluorescence: speckled, centromere, etc. These patterns tend to show up in specific autoimmune diseases, so they help with differential diagnosis. You won't get a pattern since the IFA was negative. It sounds like good news to me (unless you were really hoping for a definitive diagnosis). There are false positives on ANAs so with only one test positive, there isn't very strong indication of autoimmune disease without any other positive tests. I think things like mono can give positive ANA.

I'd agree with everyone to talk to Student Affairs and plan for the worst. He may be pushing to go back, but it really does take a long time to completely recover. You finally feel decent, make it to one class, and then sleep for the next 18 hours. It makes it hard to explain to professors when the work doesn't get done, because you seemed fine that one hour you were awake in class. I had more than one student push too hard and end up with complications like pneumonia, which then put them yet another quarter behind.

Oh, I would prefer books, but, for some people, MOOCS or Teaching Company courses might be as useful for the pairings.

I would go with this choice, too. It may not be as true with so much AP now, but Calc I is a great place for freshman engineers to meet their cohort and make friends. Study groups are a big part of surviving engineering. I know quite a few from my days (as a student and teaching) that could have tested out, but chose to start at the beginning There are some Coursera Calc classes that he could skim through over the summer. It would be useful to just watch the videos to become familiar with the concepts, even if he doesn't do any of the problems.

I really like the thought and twists that go into alternate history stories. It's interesting to hypothesize on what would have happened and read the author's theories. Unfortunately my history knowledge is woefully inadequate, so I feel like I miss the nuances (and probably the significance of whole scenes). I would like to read a good, accurate non-fiction history or biography and then read an alternative history with its take on the events. I would love to have a list of such pairings. Any avid readers and/or history buffs want to help me start?