Heading to College

Next week right about this time I'm scheduled to take my son to college. When we visited in May the campus seemed rather intimidating and beautiful but in a Harry Potter sort of way if you know what I mean. The campus you see is huge and green and kept in tip top shape and the architecture is unmistakeably Gothic in style. The place simply breathes history and excellence and starting next Tuesday my son will be spending the next four years of his life in this environment where he will no doubt undergo life changing experiences.

To get ready he had to:

• Apply for his student visa. Luckily we had been through this before when he got accepted to boarding school so we knew the ropes including the payment of the SEVIS fee, the completion of the various application forms, the taking of photographs, the submission of acceptance letter, proof of finances (thank God for financial aid), the waiting in line, the interview and finally return of passport with visa.
• Do his medical. Yes your immunization record has to be up to date and some stuff that you might never have heard of before will be required like mantoux tests. If not you won't be registered. That was quite a headache but after the inoculation and testing and letter writing (for those who wish medical exemption etc) and another bill payment at least there was one bright note with my choice of almonds for the picking.
  
• Read a ton of stuff. The school sent loads of emails and attachments along with regular snail mail during the summer. There is so much paper once you print and collate everything. There are forms relating to college employment, room assignments, foriegn language placement and course choices. There are cute colorful cards directing you to websites or other wonderful places like laundry agencies or outside stores and where to go when moving in.
  
• Pay his fee. Nope he didn't. The salary he earned this summer just didn't cut it so that was our job but he has saved his money for the things he plans to pay for like the cell phone and the related bills. Who you're gonna call? ....is what I'd like to know. Somehow I don't think it's me.:)
  
• Discuss money. Yeah this is a biggie and related to the one above. These days seemingly more than ever budgeting is critical. He won't be getting a credit card but will participate in the debit card thingy at his school and will open a bank account. This will be a good learning experience.
• Buy Small Stuff at Home. One of the benefits of attending boarding school is that you understand pretty quickly how easy it is to buy too much stuff and how storage can become a problem. Since my son went to boarding school in a wintry place, he loved taking tropical posters and other little things to remind him off home. He'll do it again for college. Nothing like having the sun setting over the ocean while it's 10 degrees out. When you are traveling by plane however it can get costly and also dorm rooms aren't that big so it will basically be the small stuff.
• Make a list. For all the other things we will have to do when we get there.
  

He can't wait.

Win $200

My friend Alicia is having a giveaway over at her jewelery site. Yep you can win $200 US from LuShae Jewelry and it is so easy to enter. All you have to do is give your boyfriend or husband a subtle hint. Hopefully he reads your blog :) or mine. And please, please please send an email to alicia at jewelryartdesigns.com to let her know you heard about her contest here. Oh and its a monthly draw.

Whozzat

Is she a natural beauty?

New Words

I was amused recently, particularly in light of my recent post to come across this neologism from one of my favorite sites Word Spy:

intexticated: Preoccupied by reading or sending text messages, particularly while driving a car.

Word spy highlights words, phrases or acronyms that have been newly coined. In some cases you will find that they have already made their way into your vocabulary and in others they haven't but once you see it you might just get it, because they reflect current trends. Here are some for 2009. They are jumbled. See if you can match the number with the corresponding letter:

1. Weisure A. The energy and other resources used while preparing meals.
2. HENRY B. Posting a series of messages that reflect one's current thoughts, ideas, passions, observations, readings, and other intellectual interests.
3. Generation O C. An event where people support an environmentally-friendly store by gathering en masse to purchase the store's products.
4. Rumortrage D A silent phone call received from a person who has inadvertently dialed or selected the number on their mobile phone.
5. Sexting E. A website where a couple posts information about their upcoming or recent wedding.
6. Mindcasting F. Generation of people approximately 18 to 35 years old who voted for or supported Barack Obama
7. Carrotmob G. A person with a substantial income, but who is not yet wealthy.
8. Wedsite H. Free time spent doing work or work-related tasks.
9. Ghost call I. Sending a salacious text message.
10. Cookprint J. Spreading false or misleading information about a company to take advantage of the subsequent move in the company's stock price

1.Weisure		A.
2. HENRY		B.
3. Generation O		C.
4. Rumortrage		D
5. Sexting		E.
6. Mindcasting		F.
7. Carrotmob		G.
8. Wedsite		H.
9. Ghost call		I.
10. Cookprint		J.

The Day Time Stopped - 9.58

My friends know that I am a track and field fanatic and an unapologetic fan of Usain Bolt, the man who has cemented reinforced his standing as the Fastest Man of all Time.

One year to the day that Usain crushed the field in the 100 m at the Beijing Olympics in a world record time of 9.69 secs, he erased .11 seconds off to sear into our minds a mind boggling superhuman record of 9.58 secs. One minute he was in the start up line at one with the best in the business. 20 metres later he was ahead of the field and in fact it was all over. By the time he cleared the finish line, leaving such stars as Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell in his wake, he had left no doubt, that here was a human machine, a bionic man and the mere mortals behind him despite running their very best were simple pedestrians.

Once again this man left me speechless, time stopped, the world passed by in slow motion as I tried to figure out WTF just happened. It was as if I had looked up then down and Bolt, bolted by in a blur. Then reality took,

"9.58, 9.58", I screamed.

The phone rang and rang. My husband answered and told the caller.

"I can't speak"

We had to watch the replay, no interruptions allowed. What just happened? Can man do this? Is physics being turned on its head? Is there any stopping this man? I hope not. Today August 16, 2009 I witnessed history again and it was sweeter than before as this time, there were no criticisms of showboating, the man had matured and executed his plan with amazing calm. He was so cool, so confident and without question stamped his authority on the event outclassing the very best in track and field.

Hats off to you Usain Bolt, the most fantastic athlete I have ever had the pleasure to watch.

Almond - the Fruit

My son loved science as a toddler and throughout his early years, mainly because we taught him that science was all around him and made life exciting. Like most young boys he loved building stuff. Lego was the blocks of choice. Dinosaurs were hot as were crocodiles, alligators and other scary looking creatures. We had great fun too going to the country and picking tropical fruits that somehow he never heard about in the books he read.

Eating unusual fruits can be a great science lesson. Recently when I took him to get his medical for college, he and I knew exactly what to do when we spotted some juicy almonds hanging low in the parking lot.

I was transported back to my early years when I was about 7 or 8 and I am sure he was too when almonds were a daily snack. Yes the fruit. When people talk about almonds they tend to talk about the nut but for us, almonds supply a double pleasure and getting to the nut is so much fun. One thing we learned early is that the nut is not a true nut, it is actually the seed of the fruit which we got to by whacking the hard shell (kinda like a peach pit) that we came upon after eating the leathery skin and the flesh of the fruit. As kids we'd just whack it with a rock unlike commercial growers who leave the fruit to split open on the tree.

Usually there was only one nut per fruit so we'd have to bludgeon quite a few almond shells to get to the healthy seed but as fun activities go whacking hard shells was pretty good and my son learned the science word for it - endocarp - pretty early.



You see the almond tree with it big green leaves, tends to provide a wide umbrella like shield. If you've ever been to the beach in a tropical country or state you might have seen one. It grows pretty well in sandy soil. It spreads like a canopy and so as kids we'd sit in the shade and pick, munch, whack and munch again happily.

Pity we couldn't do that at the doctor. We only managed to pick them but once we got home we did the rest. Aah to be a child again.

Watch the Trumpet Lady

Where is the trumpet?



If you liked this version of Pink Panther you can enjoy more of Denise Reis here.