Aw, Cindy. On the bright side(?), kids are staying home longer these days so you might not be an empty-nester for another decade!

Good for her and for you, sj. I hope you and TCG are well.

Thank you, Laura. I lurk here and there and have tried to keep up on the wedding plans! Did you make a decision on buying your wine, etc. for the big event?

David, thank you (and thank you from all of them for teaching me about "good enough" early enough).

Now we're getting ready for college.

Despite once eating what he thought was a tooth which he thought leapt out of the toilet, #3 is #1 in his H.S. class. He dearly wanted to go to MIT and major in aerospace engineering, but has been waitlisted.

He was also accepted at RPI, WPI, Illinois Tech, Case-Western, and Georgia Tech, but although he won merit scholarships, they weren't exactly enough. He could go to U of A or U of T for nearly free (he's a National Merit finalist) but decided distance and culture change was probably not to his liking. As of now, he has decided on UMASS Lowell, where he got a great scholarship and has been accepted into the Honors College. They don't have an aerospace major but are adding it as a minor for the upcoming year.

That will be only semi-settled, until he hears about the MIT waitlist -- but for now, we're good enough. :)

Quaker Oats

Aw, Cindy. On the bright side(?), kids are staying home longer these days so you might not be an empty-nester for another decade!

Hi, Matt! The oldest is graduating college this year. Given his student loan debt, I wouldn't be shocked if he wound up here. Our joke is that he's such a big presence, he'll pretty much fill the space left by #2 and #3.

#2 got into Pratt last year, but despite a decent scholarship we couldn't afford it, so she went to Mass College of Art & Design, but she does not like it. She's applied to transfer to UMASS Amherst. We'll hear on that by the end of next month. The other day, I told her she's been home so much, I didn't ever get used to the separation, so I expect this fall will bring a double whammy.

How is your Dad doing?

Good for her and for you, sj. I hope you and TCG are well.

Thanks! I'm having my gallbladder out next month. So life is a bit crazy right now with pre-op stuff, and TCG is busy trying to get everything done at work so that he can take time off after surgery.

Wow, Cindy, glad to hear how great your kids are doing!

Looks like I'm the lead on a critical project. Pretty happy about that, actually.

Yay, then.

I am not happy that I forgot to bring my impulse-bought bacon jerky to work today. This is exactly the kind of moment it's for.

I remembered to bring my lunch but forgot to bring my wallet! (It's at home in my purse. Not at work in my backpack where it should be.) Thank goodness for the Starbucks app or I'd be forced to drink office coffee and be VERY CRANKY.

Despite having college graduate parents neither of mine seem interested in finishing. We'll see if they change their minds.

Still no final wine plan, but I will definitely be doing a spritzer bar. I'll have to get some serious planning done soon or my DIL, of the planner personality type, will get cross with me.

Well done, Gud!

Lunch needs to happen. Hmmm. Let me check out my fridge.

Oh, man, Epic, lots of ~ma!