Spring Break!

Abbie is at that halfway point in the semester and I think this Spring Break is a very welcome reprieve from the daily grind. Her classes have been really tough, as she knew they would be, and she has been incredibly busy. 

Before the Risky Business party

Despite all the coursework, she still manages to have some fun. In the end, I think that means sleep is the piece of the puzzle that falls by the wayside. Last night was a girls' night out -- they went to the rodeo.

At the rodeo

For Spring Break nest week, she and a few of her friends have rented a place in Galveston. Prior to that, though, I think she and a friend are spending a couple of days at a meditation retreat somewhere near Galveston. Doing things within driving distance makes for a nice break without being too costly. Hopefully this will give her a nice refresh and some added energy to finish the semester strong. It won't be long now - her semester will be finished and she will be back home by May 8th (if not before)!

A New Semester

 

At a winter break gathering

Abbie finished her 1st semester strong, had an all-too-short winter break, and is back at it with a wildly busy 2nd semester. She has switched her major to neuroscience and is still pursuing her minor in medical humanities. Her schedule this semester is brutal, though - Organic Chemistry, Biology, Calculus II, the Chemistry of Cooking, and the Politics of Reproduction. She has also started working as a research assistant for her politics of reproduction professor, so there are weekly meetings with the research team. 

Cookie lab

At this point, she is keeping her options open for med school. Regardless of whether it is that or something else, there will be graduate work in her future. Everything she is taking this semester is required one way or another. Chemistry of Cooking is the one elective in her schedule, although even that satisfies some sort of university requirement. Much to her dismay, she was captured on the school's Instagram page after their cookie lab. I thought it was a cute photo, but she hates it when surprise photos show up in public places, which I can understand.

Despite being massively busy, I think she still manages to have some fun. She started a supper club with a few friends. They plan a dinner theme, do some cooking together, and then get to eat whatever they have made. I assume she is also still doing a few shifts at the radio station, but she has been so busy, I haven't even had a chance to ask her about it. She will be home for a long weekend in mid-February, so maybe I can get all the news at that point.

Home stretch

After a week in Minnesota, Abbie is heading back to school for the home stretch. Most of her classes have final projects or papers, so she will finish up her first semester and be back home by the 9th. Not long now, but certainly a lot to accomplish before her next break. She'll have to stay focused, but then the reward at the end is a visit from her friend Eleanor who is coming to stay on campus with her for three nights before they drive home together.

A recent shift at the campus radio station

 

Overall, I think it has been a good semester. She has really enjoyed most of her classes, met some really nice people, and gotten actively involved on campus. It will be interesting to see what classes she ends up with in the spring and what she ends up doing with her summer break. I think she plans to spend it in Minnesota, but the work itself is still up in the air.

Mid-semester Progress Report

You may have assumed that the blog updates would end now that Abbie is 18 and off to college, but you would be wrong -- they never end! LOL.

Family Weekend Selfie

Abbie has been doing great with adapting to life at college. The small size was definitely a bit of a shock at first, but I think she has gotten used to it. Overall, she seems to be having fun and really enjoying the people. 

I went to visit her in September for Family Weekend and she showed me all around - took me to her favorite Indian restaurant, the coffee shop on campus where she spends hours working, the pub on campus, and one of her classes. She also gave me the full tour of her dorm, which was built during Vietnam and has all sorts of interesting nooks and crannies. Chad and Sarah went to visit her at the start of Fall Break a couple weeks ago, but their visit was shorter. They then brought her home for a few days, so I was able to see her again in October.

In terms of academics, Abbie's schedule has shifted a little bit from where it started. She decided to delay her math class until the Spring, and has picked up a minor in medical humanities. So, she is currently taking two medical humanities classes (both of which she really likes) in addition to chemistry, cognitive psychology, and her freshman workshops. She has also been hired as a research assistant for a professor in the English department, who is doing some interesting work on issues surrounding the Crisis Pregnancy Centers in the U.S.

As one might expect, Abbie is constantly on the go. She has been biking with people, playing the occasional volleyball game, going to trivia nights, going out to eat, etc. In addition to pub every Thursday night, the residential colleges have regular parties, so there is always something to do on campus. Abbie will fly to Minnesota for the Thanksgiving break. Then, she may be home a bit over the winter break, but is also debating a camping trip that would cut into her break a little. Time will tell!

Grown and Flown

Our little owlet has officially left the nest. We dropped her off at college on Sunday, she has had a whirlwind week of orientation events, and is ready for classes to start on Monday.

In the move-in line!

Although move-ins can be hectic and stressful, this one went about as well as it could. As you would imagine, Rice had everything very well-organized so Abbie's things were whisked out of the car and into her room almost instantaneously. They even picked up all the boxes and debris after she unpacked.

Tacos in the morning!

We did a quick job of taking care of the big stuff and then we ducked out for a quick plate of breakfast tacos before she needed to be back for her first events. I felt bad leaving her room in such disarray, but she and her roommate seem to be getting things in order.

Even more importantly, they seem to be hitting it off. Fingers crossed that they continue to do well together. In the little interaction I had with her and her parents, they all seemed very nice.

Ready for her first orientation day!

Abbie suspected that orientation week would be insanely hectic and she was right. They had non-stop events scheduled that started early in the morning and lasted late into the evening. Apparently, lots of kids are already sick and sleep has been elusive this week. However, I think she has been having a ton of fun, too! She seems really happy with her choice.

At the bean!

Ready for dinner (this is the walkway outside her dorm room).

 

As for her Fall class schedule, she is planning on taking chemistry (although she is undecided on whether it will be advanced topics or honors organic), intro to cognitive psychology, single variable calculus II, sex death & spiritual writing, healthcare activism, a critical dialogues on diversity workshop, and a critical thinking in sexuality workshop. Both workshops are required for all students during their first semester. Despite looking like a lot of classes, she assures me it is only 15 credit hours!

Happy 18th Birthday, Abbie! We love you!

Throwback to When She Was a Tiny Peanut

Our first baby is all grown up! She has waited so long to finally be 18 years old and today is the day. She has been in Minnesota most of the summer so her friends Vivian and Jo drove up to celebrate with her.

All Grown Up

I heard from her early this morning and the girls were planning to spend some time at the Mall of America. Then, this evening, Chad took them all out for dinner. I'll have to check in with her later tonight to see how the day turned out.

Abbie has been really enjoying her Starbucks job in Minnesota and feels bad about having to give notice soon. I guess the people are really nice and she has learned a ton.

Hopefully it will help her score a Starbucks job in college. She wants to see if she can transfer, but it might be a long shot.

In addition to her barista work, she is going to spend two days shadowing a family medicine doctor before she returns home. She hasn't given much thought to being a doctor before now, but it is good to start thinking about the options that come with a chemistry degree and medical school is certainly one of those options.

Speaking of chemistry degrees, exactly one month from today, Abbie will move into her dorm room. She has her housing assignment and knows who her roommate is going to be. She will be in a double and share a Jack-and-Jill style bathroom with another double. She is really excited about her roommate because she looks nice, her profile sounds good, and she seems to be bringing practical items for the room. The four girls already have a group text going, so I'm sure they'll have everything figured out by the time move-in arrives. Until then, hopefully she will make the most of her final weeks in Minnesota. She says the weather has been wonderful so she has been able to do some bike riding and walks around the lakes. And, of course, she has been taking advantage of the good food scene in Minneapolis. :)

High School Graduate

Last month's blog post feels like it was a lifetime ago! Not surprisingly, Abbie graduated from high school on May 17th. Prior to that, there were AP exams to complete, a cap decorating party (more on that in a minute), a senior video event, an awards assembly, and Abbie's graduation dinner.

Jo, Abbie, and Vivian

 

She opted for a small dinner, rather than a big grad party. It's just as well because the whole month of May was packed with other people's parties, so there was definitely plenty of celebrating. In addition to family, Abbie invited her friends Vivian and Jo to eat with us. The dinner was the night before graduation because we knew graduation day would be a busy one. As it turned out, it was even busier than we expected. 

A view of the cap

 

One of Abbie's last minute tasks was bedazzling her graduation cap. Although she had started on it at the party the week prior, she chose a rather ambitious design, which required her to place hundreds of tiny rhinestones individually with tweezers. She was literally gluing right up until the last minute. At one point, she paid Emily $15 to glue for her so she could quickly change into her graduation dress before rushing off to the ceremony. In the end, it all worked out, though.

Pre-ceremony

With some of her classmates

 

The Class of 2024 showing off their caps

It was a very nice ceremony, but the best part came after the ceremony. It is tradition for all the teachers from lower school through upper school to form a receiving line outside the theater. Every single graduate goes through the line and greets every single teacher. As you can imagine, it takes a while, but I think it is worth it. I still don't know what some of her teachers said to her in that line, but it must have been some pretty good stuff because she was pretty emotional afterwards. The whole event went very quickly and then Abbie was gone. The whole senior class changed their clothes and boarded buses for a late-night event, which ended at 2am.

As tends to be the case with Abbie, she has not slowed down a bit now that summer is here. She gave notice at her job, so she is no longer standing in the blazing hot sun selling windows. Instead, she has been very busy enjoying time with friends and even spent a few nights with Eleanor last week. Not surprisingly, not working feels pretty good. LOL.

On Sunday she is going to a concert with Vivian and Jo and then she flies to NYC for a week with Grandma P. When she returns from that, she has a week at home before flying to MN for the rest of the summer. She arranged a job at Starbucks there that starts on June 23rd. When she returns in August, she will likely have less than a week to prepare before she leaves for Rice. Very exciting times!

Senior Class Events

I thought I would share a few photos from some of the senior class events. We had the senior walkout a few weeks ago. The kids walk out of campus grouped by their college choices and the parents line the street to cheer them on. The walkout was followed by a lunch and bubbles for the kids.

Abbie walked out with the other kids that will be going to school in Texas (there are separate groups for those going to UT-Austin and TCU).

 

 

At first, no one seemed interested in the bubbles, but after lunch they really got into it. It was a very hot day, so maybe the bubbles were a good way to cool down a bit.

Obligatory Chem Lab Assistant Photo

The senior walkout was followed just a few days later by the senior cap & gown parade. Here, the seniors parade through campus and all the lower grades come out to watch them go past. Again, the parents stake out a location on the route to watch the seniors go by.

Finally, we had the senior sunrise this past Thursday. For this one, the girls all decorate their jumpers in their college colors and the guys cut up and decorate their polo shirts. We met early in the morning. Normally this would be to enjoy the sunrise, but it was a very cloudy day so we just enjoyed coffee and beignets (and enjoyed the fact that it wasn't raining)!

There are a ton of photos from this event but here are a couple to give you a sense of how the jumpers look when they are decorated. This marked the last full day of school. Next week, AP exams start. There will be a few class sessions to attend, but having AP exams excuses you from many of the sessions. Graduation is now less than two weeks away!

College News!

As I alluded to in my previous post, we have some college news to report. Abbie has decided to attend Rice University in the fall! We are all very excited about it. It is a great school with a gorgeous campus and a great food scene.

Owl Days

Her friend Blake will also attend Rice, so she will know one person on campus. That is plenty for her, though, she doesn't want to see a bunch of kids from her high school at college. Last week the school hosted Owl Days, an event for all admitted students. She and I drove to campus so she could spend the day attending the events and meeting people. As perhaps you can imagine, Rice runs like a well-oiled machine, so they had everything planned out in meticulous detail. And, all of the students there are very friendly and happy to help.

O-week (i.e., freshman orientation) runs from August 18th - 24th, so we already have a move in date. Then, classes start Monday, August 26th. Between now and then, she needs to figure out what she is bringing with her versus leaving at home. The summer break will go quickly, though, as she is planning to spend much of it in MN.

For those who may be curious about Abbie's other college options, here is the complete list of outcomes.

Accepted - UVA, UCSD, Wake Forest, Rice, Georgetown, Scripps, Smith, and Fordham

Wait-listed - Cornell, Northwestern, Wellesley, Michigan, and UCLA

Rejected - Princeton, Williams, North Carolina, UT-Austin, Berkeley, Pomona, and Bowdoin

Now that college is decided, the big issue is dealing with the inevitable Senioritis. She just has a few more weeks before AP exams, but she is ready to be done! The time is going quickly though. They had senior skip day a couple weeks ago, tomorrow is senior walkout, next Monday is the senior cap & gown parade, the week after that they have senior sunrise, then comes cap decorating, and ultimately graduation is on May 17th - not long now!

Prom 2024

Abbie had her senior prom a couple of weeks ago. It was a busy day. She worked in the morning and then picked up her prom dress that afternoon (talk about last minute). Her friend Vivian helped her get ready and then we met up with her for pictures beforehand.

Group Photo

She ended up going with another girl in her grade who also didn't have a date. Of course, about two hours after they made plans, one of the guys asked Abbie to be his date. She would have preferred this, but also didn't want to back out on the other girl. In hindsight, she wished she had backed out because the other girl turned out to be a bit of a buzzkill, which is a shame. Here are a few photos from the evening.

Abbie & Allie

Chem Lab Assistants

Abbie & Blake

You may recognize Blake in the photo above. He was Abbie's Homecoming date a couple years ago. He is also one of the chemistry lab assistants. You may wonder why they are holding their hands out in the photo. Those are the Rice Owl Wings, but more about that in the College post!

Jamaica!

A classic Abbie expression

Just a quick update and a few photos. Abbie and I had a great time in Jamaica. The entire trip went off without a hitch. As you might imagine, it was three solid days of sun and swimming. 

Late at night on the beach

The travel company arranged a reception for Wednesday evening (the day we arrived), then arranged a 4-hour catamaran & snorkeling trip for Thursday morning, and a beach party for Friday night. 

Dinner with Evi

Taking advantage of the light at sunset

The Chemistry Lab Assistant Gang

Aside from these excursions, Abbie and I did a powerboat & snorkeling trip on Saturday morning with one of the other moms on the trip. Ironically, that was by far our favorite activity. 

Enjoying the powerboat

It was a much more intimate setting and our guides were fabulous. Abbie brought her underwater camera, and the guides, who are accustomed to diving 30- to 40-feet down for spear fishing were more than happy to get extra footage of the reef for her.

Now that we are back to the usual routine, Abbie is back to work. She is also back to wearing bangs. She says her face "needs" them. I am not sure whether that is true or not, but they do look nice.

Bangs!

Next up is Senior Prom on April 6th. More photos to come, no doubt!

College bound

Just a quick college update - Although we still have not heard from most schools, we do know that Abbie will be attending college next year. She has been accepted to UVA, which has really taken the stress off of her. We don't know where she will ultimately decide to attend, but we can confidently say that she will not be selling windows in the Fall! LOL.

The other big excitement is our Spring Break trip to Jamaica, which is quickly approaching. She and I will be spending four nights at an all-inclusive resort, along with a bunch of other families from her school. Hopefully, I will finally remember to get some photos so we can have a proper blog update! More to come!

Quick Update

The quick update is that there isn't much to update! The good news is that all college applications are done and submitted. The bad news is that it will be a long time before we know much. Abbie applied to twenty schools (which is a ton), but most decisions won't come until April 1st. That's an interesting April Fools' Day, if you ask me! 

Right now we have heard from three of the twenty - Princeton, Michigan, and UNC. The results have been deferral, deferral, rejection - in that order. It isn't that surprising in that (a) Princeton is, well, Princeton, and (b) the big state schools are obligated to take most of their admissions from in-state residents. Multiple people in Abbie's class received a UNC rejection, which is good because Abbie is finally starting to get some content for the Rejection page she started on Instagram. Seeing sweet baby pictures of her and her classmates with the school name and the big red REJECTED stamp in the corner is sort of funny. I have to admit, it does take the sting out of it a little bit to be able to laugh about it. 

Other than school, Abbie is still selling windows. The photo is a recent one that her supervisor took of her showing off a lead that she had just landed. Much to her dismay she has been getting assigned to a local ACE Hardware quite a bit. She finds it much more boring than being assigned to work the rodeo or a fair or festival. All in all, though, the job pays well and she likes it much more than working at Einstein Bagels. Importantly, it allows her to save money for spending in college next year. I think she is also saving for a big trip to NYC in June. She and Grandma P. are planning to spend a few days enjoying the city and I think she is really looking forward to it!

Merry Christmas

All in all, I think Abbie had a pretty good Christmas. She received some items for her dorm room next year, some gift cards, new sheets, a Kate Spade bag from Greg and Elizabeth, and a few other odds and ends.

As always, finishing up the semester was a hectic time. In addition to exams and work, the senior girls got together for a PJ party in which they exchanged dorm-related gifts with each other. This spring there will be the senior sunrise breakfast, a spring break trip to Jamaica, and senior prom to look forward to.

Always present is the endless college application process. Other than a deferral from Princeton, Abbie hasn't heard back from any other schools. It will be mid- to late-January before anything else rolls in. In the meantime, there is one last batch of applications that needs to go in during the first two weeks of January. As you can imagine, Abbie is getting pretty sick of writing supplemental essays, but there isn't much choice in the matter. 

Some of her classmates are in the same boat - deferred from a top school and still completing applications - but others have already put down deposits and have the application process behind them. It is unlikely that Abbie will be able to make any decisions until April 1st when all the acceptances and rejections are in. She isn't happy about living with that level of uncertainty for the next few months, but again, there isn't much choice in the matter.

As for something more fun than college applications, Abbie is spending a few days with Eleanor this week. Hopefully that will be a nice break. It is hard to believe that in a week the girls will be back in school and the routine will resume. The break is going quickly!

Time flies when you are having fun?

I think that may be the only excuse for the time that has elapsed between posts. It has been a busy few weeks. 

Abbie and I took a trip out to California to visit Pomona College. It was a great trip and really helped her decide whether to apply early decision or not (she decided not to). In addition to walking all over campus and the town, attending a couple of chemistry classes, and meeting with the chemistry department chair, we also had some fun. There was great weather, plenty of good food, Thai massages, and pedicures to keep us busy. 

Homecoming 2023

Just after we returned home, Eleanor visited for Homecoming weekend. Abbie didn't want to bother with the expense and hassle of finding a date this year so she and Eleanor decided to go together instead. All in all, I think it was a fun night.

Abbie has also been very busy with work. She couldn't stand the early morning hours with Einstein Bros., so she left that job and found a new job selling windows with Renewal by Anderson. That means that she now spends her weekends driving to various fairs and festivals, setting up the Renewal tent, and trying to convince people passing by that they really need to schedule an appointment for a company representative to visit their house and create a complete window replacement plan for them. The hourly pay is good and she gets bonuses just for setting appointments, so all in all, I think it is a good change.

Of course, this means that she was at work when I drove to the airport to welcome our German exchange student on the 29th. Clara, who is from Trier, is staying with us for two weeks, which means her time here is almost over already. She has been a great guest to have. Her English is excellent and she and Abbie seem to have hit it off.

Fajitas!

It was fun to have her with us for Halloween, but that is a holiday she also celebrates in Germany, so it would have been fun to have her here for a uniquely American holiday, such as Thanksgiving. The girls had a good Halloween nonetheless. They dressed up for school - Abbie as the Kate McKinnon weird barbie and Clara as a cowgirl - and did some trick-or-treating in the evening.

Weird Barbie

Lest you start to think that it is all fun and games around here, there has also been some work taking place. Abbie continues to make progress on her Capstone project - testing vapes for heavy metals. Punchline - vaping is really bad. LOL. She has also been getting some college applications submitted. As you may have noticed above, she attended some chemistry classes while visiting Pomona. There has been a shift in her thinking and she now seems to be applying to chemistry programs. Six applications went in before the November 1st deadline and now there is a bit of breathing room before the next few are due at the end of November. It will be awhile until we have any decision letters, but it is good to get the applications behind us!

Senior Photos

Abbie had a great senior photo shoot over Labor Day weekend and it really shows with how the photos turned out. We had to get up early to catch the morning light, but it was worth it (and saved us from the heat later in the day). The difficulty has been in trying to decide which of all the great images to use as a yearbook photo, as a 'then and now' photo which compares the seniors' kindergarten photo with their senior photo, etc.

 

We purchased all 70+ photos in digital format and they come in both color and black and white, so there are lots of options. There is a nice assortment of poses and backgrounds and Abbie has already been using them to update her head shots on LinkedIn and other media sites. I think she will be able to use them for quite a while. We just need to decide which ones we want to have printed and what sizes we want them to be.

 

 

Speaking of kindergarten photos, the seniors were all assigned a kindergarten student to walk with at convocation a couple weeks ago and they also visited with them in their classrooms. 

 

Abbie was enthralled with her student, who was super cute and very spunky. So adorable to see them having fun together. :)

Senior Year!

Abbie's first day of senior year was last Tuesday. Despite the smiles, she was not happy to be going back to school. All in all, I think the first week turned out fine, but it was definitely tiring. She decided to drop AP Environmental Science and add a Capstone project instead. On the surface, this sounds like a simple enough change, but it actually required her to jump through a few hoops. Partially because she wants the capstone project to last all year (they are normally just one semester) and partially because she likes the people in her current classes, so she didn't want to have to change sections.

Anyway, she got it all figured out. The lineup now consists of AP English Language, AP Calculus B/C, Organic Chemistry (Fall semester), Philosophy (Spring semester), AP Studio Art for Painting and Drawing, AP Comparative Government, and the Capstone. She is also serving as a Chemistry TA and her Capstone project is chemistry related, so there will be lots of time in the lab this year. Given all the focus on Chemistry, you would think that she is considering it as a major, but oddly, that is not the case at all. LOL.

Abbie with Pumpkin

She is also back to work at Einstein Bros. The early mornings are killing her, but she likes the people, so she is going to stick it out a bit longer. As you can tell, life is busy. The college application process is also looming. Most early decision and early action applications are due November 1, which is just over two months away. There are only a few applications that need to be submitted by this deadline, but they are all to schools that she really cares about (obviously), so she definitely needs to make sure these applications are polished!