and so it begins

You must have had your fingers crossed. As it worked out Sarah was asked to join the sorority at the top of her list - ZTA. She was fortunate to be invited back to all (but one) of the houses that she was interested in. She is really really excited.

When Sarah was little, her mom did everything and more that most moms do to make sure their kids are safe and well taken care of. One day in elementary school, around the beginning of a new school year Sarah asked her mom if "when she went to college would she hold her hand?" As always Linda was true to her word.

Howdy Week

Although we moved Sarah in on Sunday, classes don't start for another week. What's a freshman to do? The week before classes start is called Howdy week. At A&M when you walk past someone it's customary to say "howdy" instead of "hello" or "hi". In fact those that join the Corps have to say howdy to everyone they pass on the way to and from classes. So Howdy Week is a time to meet your fellow students and get involved in things like clubs and sororities.

Sarah has chosen the sorority rout. Each day/night she takes a bus (with about 800) girls over to sorority row where they have quick meetings in each of the houses. On the first day they go to 12 houses, then 9, then 6, then 4, then 2, then they pick. of course at each step of the way they sororities have to pick you as well. If you are lucky the ones you like ask you back the next day, if not you have to go with your secondary choices or even worse you are on the outside looking in. It's brutal in a very female way.

Tonight they are down to 2. Sarah picked her top 2 houses last night (from 4 possibilities). When she goes to her bus she will find out if either of those 2 also picked her. If they did, she will meet with them (for the 5th time), if not, well, it will be a short night and tears are in the forecast. On Saturday the final decisions are made on both sides. Keep your fingers crossed for Sarah.

College Move-in

This past Sunday we moved Sarah into her dorm room at Texas A&M. We left the house before the crack of dawn, Sarah, her boyfriend Drew, her mom and me. 1 hour and 45 minutes later we were standing in line to get our key. I parked the big rig in a nearby garage.

Small crisis - we have been assigned a . . . a . . . Handicapped room. Immediately we all sprung into action. Parents - damage control, Drew - empathy, Sarah - alert the roommate (pictured above). After much "look at the bright side" and a few cleansing breaths we began the migration.

After several warm-up rounds we were finally ready to move the furniture around to it's real best spot. Executive decisions were made, blueprints were modified.

Did you ever see the movie "March of the Penguins"? This is what it was like as the parents moved back and forth between the various makeshift moving vans and the dormroom-nest. The biggest difference - about 168 degrees. Boxes and bags, pompoos and flu-fluglers, all winding their way to their new home.

Next, unbeknownst to us we were about to tackle the most diabolical, frustrating, intellectually challenging task we have faced since Christmas eve 19 91 when we tried to assemble the doll house, bicycle and gas grill before dawn. It was - the shower pole. Deceptively simple looking, it was a long shiny Rubix Cube in disguise. After struggling mightily for about 45 min, I called in reinforcements and asked Linda to bend it to her will. 20 minutes later we were standing in the shower speaking of college parties, varnish remover and other possible causes of brain damage. We had yet to assemble the pole. As we exhausted all the possible permutations and faded into fits of turrets-laughter we stumbled across the right combination. It was such a momentous occasion we asked Sarah to snap a picture (also above). We weren't even finshed, we had not yet hung the little baskets, but we had won a battle.

I feel a little shaken now I am going to have to stop typing.

First Day of School

Today Katie went back to school now a Junior in High School. She was up an gone by herself by 6:40. We have a somewhat odd tradition, we take the kids pictures before the first day of school standing in front of the TV. I think the first time we did it, it was just an accident but then we did it the next year because the girls thought that was where they were supposed to stand. Then we used the "TV picture" to measure their height. Sarah made sure she wore some kind of heels to put off the inevitable moniker of "shortest in the family"

Just for fun, I included a picture of Katie from 2000, as you can see, we moved the TV.

Summer fun

OK Frannie, in the interest of keeping things moving and keeping you interested, I share with you one of our summer fun staples - Outdoor Movies.

Tonight (as I write this) Katie and friends are watching V for Vendetta out in our driveway.

We set up sheets or drapes or shower curtain liners (they work best) and plug a laptop or DVD player into a projector and shine it on the "screen". I hook up some speakers or a boombox and voila homemade drive-in movie. We have been doing this for about 6 years, it's one of Katie's favorite birthday parties. Usually the neighbors stop by and pull up a lawn chair. The kids across the street are always asking when we will do it again. I am sure I am breaking some kind of copyright law but darn it, I'm a rebel!