Maintainers Weekly Chat September 3 - September 9
 

Yep, pull out your long johns 'cause Fall is here. Now. Welcome September.

OK, for today, we can go BBQ in the fading sunlight, LOL.

I'm not enthusiastic about the end of summer, but I do welcome a change to get back on my eating path since my vacation. Gotta stop my wandering hands into snacks between meals to get on track.

For today, we've still got veggies from the garden to be grilled. Long live Labor/Labour Day.

I'm baaaack!
 

And glad to be here. I always enjoy the first day back to work after Labour Day. The summer crowds will be gone and the dogs and I will have much more freedom.

I did well on vacation - BC added only 2 lbs., despite there being way too many carbs last week. I'm sooo glad to be able to make coffee, do laundry, and spend longer than 10 minutes at the computer.

I am still catching up on all my housekeeping stuff so will check in tomorrow.

Happy Fall! :wave:

Dagmar :beach:

Dagmar- I was in BC earlier this summer (Vancouver specifically). LOVED it. Was ready to apply for Canadian citizenship in fact, between our shitty politics, your country's decent approach to social programs (including, but not limited to healthcare) and the absolute utter gorgeousness of Vancouver. Where in BC did you go?

My neighbor is going to have guests for dinner and he has given me an apple pie to guard so he won't eat it all before dinner ! I am to guard an apple pie ! That is like sending a fox to guard the hen house.
I'm trying to pretend it isn't in my kitchen.

LOL at the image of bargoo guarding the apple pie!

We got invited to a BBQ this evening. I have no idea who will be there--I'll know my BFF and her boyfriend and the host (who I've met maybe four times). It'll be interesting if I do know others--he's the manager of the Indian Wells Tennis gardens. Although all the big guys are in NY state right now, there might be some tennis people from the past there. Who knows.

Bargoo-- good thing it's a pie that would be obvious if a piece was missing. If it was a plate of cookies or brownies you could steal some and rearrange the plate. Not that I would know about doing that. Not at all.

I'm sad and stressed today. I thought dd was doing well at college but she called me yesterday totally homesick. While I know it is normal, hearing my private independent dd cry to me on the phone for an hour was heartbreaking. I know she is jumping to conclusions but she was saying she picked the wrong school. She doesn't drink and she can't find anyone who doesn't. I'll be back. Dh wants to FaceTime and I need my iPad.

Re: The pie, I could always go to the store and buy another one if a piece turns up missing... don't think I haven't thought about it.
Michele, my cousin's son was in pre-med at Univ of Minnesota, he complained to his parents that it was such a party school that he couldn't study. They took him out of there and sent him to a private college, his sister was one year behind him in pre-vet, she ended up in the same college as her brother. He is now practicing medicine and his sister is a practicing veterinarian . Child number three went to same college as her brother and sister.

My older dd went to a private Catholic university (still there) and has been dismayed by the amount of partying there even! Younger dd had found many close friends in High School-- most are Mormon and she started going to church with them. I think she is talking to them about their experiences (at BYU) and realizing how different it is. She actually went to Mormon church yesterday and is planning on going to an event there today. I hope she finds some like minded people there (without necessarily converting).

I'm going to send her a care package tomorrow. I went out yesterday and bought a bunch of little things-- nail polish, some snacks, etc. Any other ideas of things to send that won't make her more sad??

By the way Bargoo-- what college was it that your cousin's children went to? You never know-- we are paying out of state so it is just as expensive as private anyway!

There are a lot of Mormons in Arizona--I'm sure your DD will find someone who isn't a partier. My DD isn't a partier either and her first year, all three of her dorm mates were big into partying. Thankfully she found some friends within her circle of musicians. It's still early. Tell your DD not to give up--she'll find someone. Hang out in the student union or library as there usually isn't a lot of partying going on there. If they're having a special function at the student union, advise her to go--even if she goes alone. There is always someone in her shoes.

When i started college, I was bound and determined to make the most of it. I did join a sorority, but knew almost no one in it. I forced myself to go to the house every day after school and just hang out--if even for just half an hour. And I did have to force myself. I'm painfully shy--still am to a certain extent. I had to endure soap operas (which I abhor) but eventually learned the names of some of the others and they learned mine. Soon I had friends--including my BFF that lives in Phoenix.

Kelowna, right on Lake Okanagan. Lovely setting, foothills all around and orchards intermingled with the subdivisons at the edge of town. Great for golfers - something like 19 courses within 30 minutes drive.

I liked the place but there's not a lot happening culturally. Local theatre, ballet, etc. is fine. But I'm a Torontonian and that has spoiled me.

"How you gonna keep 'em on the farm, after they seen Paree?" and all that.

Dagmar :cool:

I'm back at work, or at least, some of my laptop screens contain applications that I use on the job. But mentally, I'm longing for a sick day, or at least one more day to catch up on stuff around the apartment, since I was out of it for nearly all of my three days off. There are a few more nails I'd like to drive into the walls and hang stuff from.

Back to work, though I am finding it hard to focus.

Morning folks! We finally have been getting much-needed rain out here. The after-effects of Isaac rolled through this weekend and it pretty much rained for two days straight.

I feel like I need to mentally prepare myself for a constant gauntlet of stuff until Christmas. My birthday is coming up, and so is Rosh Hashanah, then I'm going to a conference for a week, then a friend is coming out to visit for a weekend, then my parents are coming out for Thanksgiving. Now all I can think is that I'm probably already behind on shopping for plane tickets to go to LA for xmas.

Our DVD player died. It was one I bought at goodwill for $15 after our last one died so I didn't expect much, but still. The good thing to come out of this is that we bought a new one that has built-in wireless access, so now we have streaming netflix to our TV! Awesome! Also a bonus was that I got DH to do all the investigation and buy the DVD player (by telling him he should buy it for me as an early birthday present). Of course then he decided it wasn't really the kind of thing that should count as a birthday present, and bought me a really cute coat that I saw when we were out shopping. :love:

Michele, I'm sure it will just take some time for your DD to find friends she's comfortable with. Every college has partiers and non-partiers. She may try asking if there is any substance-free housing and hanging around there.

Jessica's post just reminded me of something: Michele, have classes officially started at your daughter's school, or are they still in an interviewing or registration period?

I remember a bacchanalian revel occurred once everyone got back to campus and reunited with friends, and then there was a slow return to sobriety. By the third week, the ones who still wanted to find the nearest party every night had fewer opportunities because most of us had responsibilities on weekday mornings. This is when I began to see who was edging toward a substance abuse problem or having a lot of trouble with making the transition to college life.

The passage of time does help with these things, at least with the general atmosphere at the school -- but everyone else is right and your daughter has to find her own kind out there. They're out there, they really are. It's unlikely that she's completely alone in her situation, though it always feels that way. (Even sometimes when you're an adult.)

Jessica-- that DVD sounds great! I may have to look into one like that.

Yes, classes have started for dd. She has had two full weeks of classes and this will be the third. I think the long weekend was hard for her as everyone was either out partying or had gone home for the weekend. She went to a Mormon event last night and really liked the girls there so she was feeling a little less despondent when I spoke to her. She wanted to assure me that she still isn't happy though. I told her I didn't expect a miracle-- that we just need to see small changes. I told dh (who of course is out of the country for over 2 weeks-- he always seems to be gone when I have a crisis to deal with) that we tried to instill strong values and morals into our girls and it really seems to have worked. It just kind of hit me. I wasn't so sweet and innocent when I was my dd's age, but my parents really didn't do much in the morals and values departments. So, maybe our children really do listen to us?! I know-- profound thought.

Morning all,

I had a nice long weekend. It's not fall here yet, but I'm ready for it. It is painfully hot and humid here. Did a few fun things - went out on our friends boat and let our dogs play together, book club meeting, BBQ w friends, and also did a pretty major cleaning of the house, grocery shopped etc to get ready for the work week. It was nice to have an extra day off. I didn't get as much exercise as usual for a weekend because I ripped up my heels horribly last week and wearing sneakers is really painful and I think rub enough that wearing them prevents healing. I am wearing flip flops, which don't offer great support. Hopefully they will heal quickly.

Jessica, I've got my eye on plane tickets too. I feel like I need to buy one NOW so I can afford it for Christmas, but certain members of my family don't make plans that far ahead of time which is frustrating. When BF and I figured out how to stream Netflix through the Wii to the TV, we were also amazed. It's great! Sounds like your DH is a smart man, buying you a coat instead of electronics for your bday. ;)

Michele, I also wasn't a great partier and I managed to find a few friends who weren't interested in that scene. Hopefully your daughter will, too. As a bio nerd I found more friends through my science classes, too - study groups led to some friendships. Everyone definitely partied more, especially freshman, when I went to college at the start of the semester. Freedom! Readily available alcohol! New people! By the time mid-terms rolled around things calmed down a bit. Tell her to hang in there. When I went to school tapestries and posters were a big deal. Maybe you could send her something to decorate her room, pictures pre-loaded into a digital frame, brightly colored mini speaker(s), some DVDs or a Netflix subscription?

Michele, I also know nothing about rearranging brownie platters. Nothing at all. :devil: But Bargoo, she's right. You can't eat a piece and then hide it. Good luck on guard duty.

Dagmar, glad you enjoyed your trip and got some much-needed R&R.