Late night calls result in little heart attacks

Okay, Alexandra is safely back at school after four months of summer break, the third semester will begin in a few days. Originally she wanted to room with a friend from last year, but during the summer the girl withdrew because she couldn’t afford living in a dorm anymore and has to commute. I was more bummed than Alexandra who now knows none of her suitemates but says she’s not worried.  I hope we don’t have the same drama as in the first semester.

Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011: Hey Sweetie,

How are you? Take care of yourself. We miss you very much, but will see you this weekend, yayyy

Until soon, Mom

heyyy

miss you too but i hung out with my friends yesterday so it was like nothing changed since last year so its good
i met my other suitemates yesterday, they seem pretty nice but room change day is sept 11th so we'll see till then how it goes
love you!

Tue, 6 Sep 2011 Hey, good morning,

You forgot Tracey's Biology book. I hope it's okay when I bring it up with your other stuff, and not too late for her.

Have a wonderful week,

Mom

oh man im such an idiot but yea i told her and she said it was okay she doesnt really need it yet and if she does shes gonna tell her teacher that she ordered it online and that it hasnt come in yet. but i also left soo many other things at home!

List: 

my black and purple fuzzy slippers (they're prob under one of the beds or in the loft area or in the shoe box)

my round brush (need it to blow dry my hair)

my sweat pants (should be on the banister)

and i think thats it lol for now

xo alexandra

Okay, I'll make a run up there this week and also bring your bagels. Mom (she has an apartment with three other girls, and a kitchen with fridge/freezer, sink and microwave, stove/oven is in a common kitchen downstairs.

Wednesday Sept. 7, 2011

Hi Alex,

You better be in your 8AM class.

Please send me the list of things you need me to bring up tonight, yellow shorts, bikini top (which one).

Love, Mom

PS: When you call us that late at night, we are having little heart attacks

We were so happy for her that we almost jumped up and down on the marital bed; eight long weeks of pledging, and she had reached her goal and survived.

The next day she called at noon. “Okay, I’m going to a birthday party now, I am freaking out with happiness, but this has been the most nerve-wracking experience in my whole life.” I said, “So the rest of college should be a breeze now, right?” and she said, it will.

Here is something that boggles my mind: Alexandra and I each had a goal, a dream, for the last few months. She wanted to receive her bid, pledge, survive hell week, and get into the sorority she had chosen last summer. My dream was to publish a book before I die. I was working on my sixth manuscript, a Young Adult paranormal novel titled Immortal Link. I felt in my gut that this would be the one that would make it. The writing, proof reading, rewriting, editing, waiting, changing things, querying agents, finally deciding to self-publish, creating the cover (with my daughter’s hand reaching for the indestructible, ghostly handprint of Alexander Campbell in cell #17 of the Old Jail in Jim Thorpe, PA), all these things consumed me since March of last year.

On Saturday, a friend helped me finish the cover on her laptop at our monthly writers’ group meeting, and I submitted the pdf files for the text and cover to CreateSpace which is connected to Amazon.com. The format got accepted a few hours later and I ordered my proof early Sunday morning.

Alexandra and I reached our goals on the very same day…

Is the nest half full or half empty when they come home on the weekends?

We just survived our daughter's first year of college. Everything that I imagined could happen happened. Wrong roommates, partying, home sickness, a friend's alcohol poisoning, average grades, and 2AM texts to get her out of there. But it was good too in a way. She learned to manage and grew emotionally. The second semester went much smoother and she had good grades. She pledged to the sorority of her choice and called us at one in the morning when she got her bid.
For you parents out there who don't know what you're getting into in a couple of months, or for you who know and would like to compare war stories, I created this blog titled: A child's first year of college from the parents' point of view: Is the nest half full or half empty if they come home on the weekends?
Why do I use parent in singular form even though her father lives under the same roof? Because it is different for the men who, as in our case, snore away obliviously on the couch while the mother gets texts and horror emails from her only child away in college. The father gets clued in when the drama is over and the kid has moved on.
I will give you detailed updates at least once or twice a week about the previous year (I saved all our emails). Since I already know that it has a happy ending, I can give you the gory details without worrying you too much.
For privacy, I have changed all names.
Now come along for the ride...

These parents are way ahead of me: Gypsynester.com

I don’t know who said they can’t wait until their kids start college and move out, so they can get their lives back. This empty-nest stuff stinks! But there is a real-life family who truly enjoys it: 'Gypsynesters'.  It is worth checking out, they write extremely well and know what they're doing. I admire David and Veronica, but I am nowhere near that point in life as they are.They are veterans with the third kid in college, I have an only, and everything is the first time for me. I am trying, though.

I work full time, write, take classes at the community college, walk her dog, and still find time to miss her. Roy feels the same way. It’s like we live from weekend to weekend, when she’s home. We better get over this soon.

Well, tomorrow our daughter is going back to campus, for her second year. She had all four of her wisdom teeth pulled, survived hurricane Irene, and the earthquake on Tuesday. With all this going on, moving her back to school was shoved to the backburner for awhile, but now we are fully aware that she is leaving us again. This time with her car. I pray to God that she is safe.

This is a little conversation we had at the beginning of the summer. She was offered to work at my job for four weeks, then at her usual summer camp for an additional five weeks.

Alexandra: "I am not getting up at 6:30 AM for the next 9 weeks. No way, I'm not doing it. Absolutely not." (Very grouchy tone of voice)

Me: "Heck, nine weeks sounds good. So far I did this for 30 years, with 20 more on the horizon."

She worked the full nine weeks, got up every morning, did a good job, and now has money in the bank for the next semester.

The car is packed, the husband and I are mentally prepared, (Alex is psyched to go back, a good sign).

The first year of college blog posts have now come to an end, but I promise I will post important events throughout the next three years. There is just too much to pass on and help other parents find answers to inumerable questions. May God be with us, and of course, with you.

Sincerely,

Heather, your parents' point-of-view ally.