Kids, travel, other stuff

Great Thanksgiving. Both kids were here and it was good to spend time with them.

Quincy gets home Thursday, with one quarter down, 11 more to go. Or so. Next semester she plans to continue with calculus and Japanese in addition to her other first-year courses. She seems to have made friends and loves the area. Last week, she went ice skating in an an outside rink for the first time ever. Not too many of these in El Paso or southern New Mexico.

Jacob will be home after our winter trip (the Keys this year!). He is lucky enough to have a red-eye flight from San Francisco to Miami (he does not think this is a bad thing...), and we will all join up in Miami for a trip to Key West. He leaves to go back to Oregon on his 21st birthday, which means at least we get to spend some time with him on his birthday.

More later. Quincy is Skyping.

Quincy makes the evening news

We arrived at SOU just in time to watch a local reporter struggle with her camera. Video of the Q is here.

Mimi goes to college

Q's room at SOU.

We dropped her off at SOU today (slowed down enough to push her out the door...). So now we have another kid to worry about far from home. Sigh.

Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide

Long time, no blog

Stu and I on a Sunday hike. Annie (age 11) and Rosie (age 10) are still happy to go walking with us, if they appreciate 4 mile hikes now more than 6 or 10 mile hikes.

Back from Summer travel part 1: Kid travel. Quincy needed to be in Ashland in Late July, and Jake needed to return from Pullman (summer job) about the same time, so we did a grand circle up the west coast, east to Pullman, and down the Rockies to home. Long days in the car, but we had good conversations with the kids.

This weekend, Quincy and I head east for a visit to my dad and brother, then on to NYC for her graduation trip. We have a studio apartment about a block from Times Square, and it should be a good time. Stu will join us for a long weekend.

Then at the end of September, Quincy heads to college, and we officially become empty-nesters (although Annie and Rosie are hoping to step into the void).

Bataan prep hike to Dripping Springs

Ah, yes. Here we all are last Saturday at the weather station near Dripping Springs. Round trip hike was 12-ish miles in pretty rugged terrain. Not strenuous, but definite calf kickers. The fires from a couple summers ago cleared out a lot of the brushy junk and made hiking pleasant. Not sure how many of the lovely old hackberries survived, though.

Stu and Quincy are heading to Oregon right now for her visit to Southern Oregon University in Ashland. She has been accepted there and will tour campus tomorrow. They also will see 2 shows there and visit Jacob. (I get to stay home and house sit. Why exactly is that, again?)

Jake called yesterday to share that he spent time with Samson, a yellow lab that brightens up the day at Willamette. Yellow labs seem to be the universal language of tail-thumping affection and acceptance.

Family back east is digging out of more snow. News this morning said Philadelphia has had 70 inches for the year. Awesome (at least, awesome from a distance of 2000 miles!!!!)!

Catching up

April into May sure gets busy. Pictures to come soon. (We have lots.)

The LCHS production of Talk Radio ran last weekend. Closing night was the best -- the cast had lots of energy and hit the laugh lines just right. Quincy made a great Dana, not that I might be biased. The set was also super.

Jacob committed to going to Willamette next year. He will be a Bearcat. Not sure what that is. Ursus felidae? Felis ursidae? He plans to play soccer and swim and squeeze in some time for athletics, time permitting.

And tonight was the LCHS Senior Awards Night. Jacob was got a couple awards and will get to walk in the top ten of his class. This year 28 students had a GPA over 4.0, and so many of them earned great scholarships for college. The surprise honor of the night: Jacob got an award from the Marine Corps for athletics?!

Will get caught up this weekend on summer plans, etc.

Update on Colleges...

Jake is now 5 for 4 on getting into schools -- he has heard back from 4 schools of the 5 he applied to and was accepted at another one he did not apply to.

And we have a pattern. Category 1: he gets a merit awardst for about half of tuition (he has 2 of these). Category 2 is low award of 5-10% of costs. He has 2 of these, too. And at the school he did not apply to, he got a full tuition scholarship [school too big, not an option].

Still to hear from is Swarthmore.

And Newsweek has an article about getting into college this year at
http://www.newsweek.com/id/83159

Campus visit

Jacob is on his way back from Salem tonight. He visited the campus this weekend, talked to the swimming and soccer coach, went to a biology class, and generally had a good time. His Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Jeff met him on campus Saturday and attended a function.

I am hoping it rained the whole time so he knows what he will be in for if he goes there!

Still waiting to hear from his other 3 colleges. Getting closer to decision time?

Jake at Willamette?

Jake heard today that he is a finalist for the scholarship he applied for at Willamette. He will fly there in a couple weeks for an interview.

He is at least a little excited!

Jake at Clark?

Jacob interviewed at Clark University (http://www.clarku.edu/) Friday. He traveled to Boston Thursday, came home Friday, and spent about 21 hours on campus.

According to Jake, nothing went poorly -- not sleeping on the floor, not the snow, not the cold. He interviewed with a faculty member from the bio department and was encouraged to hear that about 20% of Clark students stay on for the 5 year Bachelor's-Master's program.

He loved it all, moving Clark up the list. Mom and dad are at least as happy to visit in the Boston area as they are in any other place Jacob has applied.

(And the picture is Jacob on December 31, 2007, in Houston, not at Clark at all.)

Another University heard from...

And another school weighs in for Jacob. He was accepted at Clark University (http://www.clarku.edu/) and will travel out there in a couple weeks to interview for a scholarship.

Jake thinks he will relish the "67.6 inches of snow" Clark gets annually and that they advertise on their website. He applied there because of their reputation for involving undergrads in research (affiliated with Woods Hole...) and their 5 year Bachelor's Masters program (5th year free for applicants!).

Will keep you posted...

Could Willamette be the one?

Jacob got his first fat envelope from an admissions office yesterday. Willamette University [http://www.willamette.edu/] promised Jake a response in under three weeks, and they kept their word.

This will be a busy winter for all: Mel and Stu have to navigate financial aid forms, Jake has a final decision to make, and Quincy plans to have contractors start busting down extraneous walls for the new suite she is planning with the empty room next door. She has graciously offered Jacob the guest room while he is in town...

Somewhere that is not here...

Question parents of high school seniors are asked most often: Where is the kiddo looking to go for college?

Jake is applying to Willamette in Oregon, Carleton and Macalester in Minnesota, Clark in Massachusetts, and Swarthmore in Pennsylvania. Back-up schools are UNM in Albuquerque and perhaps some WUE school.

What is a WUE school? Check out http://www.collegiateacademy.net/counseling/4_select/select_wue.htm
Especially if you live in the western US.