Initially I went as far and as fast as I could for college (after two years I transferred closer for a program I wanted - though I had already firmly split from my podunk town), but my mother hadn't just died. That's the sort of thing that can alter the launch sequence a bit. I'm trying to think if any of my friends lost a parent at that stage and what they did.

One friend already in college left for a planned summer job overseas immediately after his father died rather than stay home with his mother. My impression was that he'd have stayed home had his father lingered. That was just for the summer, however. Come September he was back at school and close to mom/home.

Another friend had already been accepted to a fairly far school when her father died in the summer and she left in the autumn... but it was her dream school and her relationship with her mother was always pretty tortured.

I feel like all my other friends who lost a parent young were in middle school so it had less of an immediate effect on that particularly life transition 4/5 years later.

Bon voyage, brenda, and congrats/happy birthday to your sister!

Enjoy the margaritas, Brenda!

Emerson is a great choice. Well done, Dylan.

Here I tend to buy Granny Smith as my favorite. When in NY I generally get McIntosh because they are plentiful and also tasty.

Finishing my corporate tax return today. I did most of the number pushing yesterday and today is filling out too many schedules.

Congratulation, Dylan! What is he interested in majoring in.

Cosmic crisp has also been my go to apple lately but I surprisingly scored it very low in our test. I’m going to have to buy more and compare, just in case it wasn’t a great example? But I was shocked.

Man, I am counting the days until the apple vendor I discovered a couple of years ago comes back to farmers market. (They are only there from August to November). Their apples ruin you for anything else. Every week they have 8-10 varieties that you've never heard of, and then those change week to week. They are really good at steering you to what you might like. To no one's surprise I'm sure, I am a tart person. If you are lucky, something you discover you like sticks around for a couple of weeks. Now that I know what I like best from them (Wickson, King David, Sierra Beauty, Gold Rush, Pink Pearl, Belle de Boskoop...), I will be stocking up the week they arrive. One of the other vendors has Braeburns and I'll get those if I have to.

Re: Matilda. Do not underestimate the impact losing JZ might be having on this decision. I was absolutely crushed when my dad retired and moved shortly after my mom died. Even though we had only moved there a few years before, I had felt so connected to her in that space. And, with her gone, I did not really want to be that far from my dad. NYU was the closest place I could get the degree I wanted.

ETA:

I had all of the loneliness but none of the privacy or freedom that normally comes with that.

That said, this sucks.

Checking in from Earthquake-ville! I'm fine, it was mildly startling but not at all scary. I thought it was a sonic boom from MCAS Miramar (only about 5 miles from me) at first from the way the windows were shaking - but it just kept going, which Miramar's noisy shenanigans don't do. I thought briefly about getting up from my desk, which is positioned close, some would say perilously close, to a tall bookshelf and a china cabinet. But I was still considering the idea when it was all over.

Ha! I, also, wondered if it was the nearby military base at first. Then it was definitely 'quake feel. 5.2 in Julian shaking those apple trees.

Re: Matilda. Do not underestimate the impact losing JZ might be having on this decision. I was absolutely crushed when my dad retired and moved shortly after my mom died. Even though we had only moved there a few years before, I had felt so connected to her in that space. And, with her gone, I did not really want to be that far from my dad. NYU was the closest place I could get the degree I wanted.

I wonder if that is a big part.

I had all of the loneliness but none of the privacy or freedom that normally comes with that.

That said, this sucks.

Is maybe the conversation about respecting some privacy? Because you definitely should have that even from your child.

I had no money and very little drive (and what I now believe was a co-dependent relationship with my mother), so I went to community college and stayed at home. And I didn't finish my BS until I could do it on my company's Employee Scholar Program. Though in a way, that worked for me as well. I was so directionless in my 20s that I screwed around and failed the occasional class and scraped out a B-ish average for my AA. By the time I got my AS & BS, I had better direction and discipline and was on the Dean's list for my AS & Summa Cum Laude for my BS.

Whenever I customize my CSA box, I always try to get any interestingly-named apples. I think apples must be one of the few produce items that would see a better variety in Washington than Southern California, because I've never heard of several of those. I've always been a fan of fujis, though less so lately. I'm glad to find I'm not the only one who thinks they've fallen off a bit lately - though disappointed that they've fallen off a bit lately.

Megan that vendor sounds amazing! One friend was like “why aren’t we doing this in the fall?” And I said we could definitely do it again this fall with more/different varieties. We do usually get good ones here in Washington. The thing that startled me when I moved here was the variety of cherries! I guess I figured the options were red, tart, and maybe I’d seen Rainer by then?