This is my car just AFTER getting a car wash too. Sigh. We need a better car wash around here!
I got out of the car in the grocery store parking lot today and an older gentleman started walking toward me, clearly about to talk to me. I prepared myself to answer questions about the Tesla. It happens on a somewhat regular basis, so I’m used to it. The guy walks up to me and say, “Excuse me, can I ask you a question?” I agree, hoping it’s one I can actually answer. He says, “What does the WPI stand for?” 😄 I told him and he said, “Oh, interesting. I thought it must be an Institute of some sort. Thank you.” Then he walks over to his wife and they head towards the grocery store. I don’t know why, but I thought it was really funny. He also had a pretty thick accent (German, maybe?) that added to the moment. The official parking lot score now is:
Tesla questions: too many to remember Magnet questions: 1
After six long weeks I finally got to hug my boy again!! And hug him I did!! LOL. He was warned and graciously accepted my (not-so)surprise hugs all weekend! 🤗
Alan and I drove down Friday night and met Lex on campus for dinner. We ate at one of the cafe on campus, then we went to a show. The VOX (theater group) put on a show called Something Rotten that was hysterical. We laughed all the way through!
Not a great picture, but an awesome show!
Lex spends a lot of his time in the Spaulding recital hall these days
Happy momma!
After the show we brought Lex back to his dorm, then Alan and I drove to the sketchiest hotel EVER!! It was an Econolodge that seemed to also double as a homeless shelter and methadone clinic — best case scenario. It was AWFUL! The non-smoking room smelled like smoke, the beds felt like box springs, and I was pretty sure my Tesla would not survive the night in that parking lot. There was a big tent with some sketchy looking people in it, all lit up at 11pm. We didn’t even unpack the car! That was the night I discovered that I do, in fact, have standards in lodging. (Had I read the hotel reviews a little better I would have made a better choice. 🙄) We got back in the car and left! We drove down the road a bit and found a Hampton Inn. Turns out they are owned by Hilton and I have a Hilton membership, and we got a deal for night-of booking and it all worked out to be almost the same price as the skeezy drug hotel! Of course I can’t get my money back for the sketchy place, but at least I felt safe in the Hampton Inn. It was a pretty crazy experience, but we definitely made the right choice to switch hotels!
The next morning we met Lex on campus for brunch at his dining hall. Because it was Family Weekend they had dining tickets available for families. We got lucky though and there was a college kid standing by the line offering to use up his extra meal swipes on parents! He treated us to brunch so we didn’t have to pay! It was a pretty cool thing to do. Their meal swipes reset Saturday night and he had extras that would have just gotten wasted, so he treated 10 parents to a free meal. Pretty cool dude!
Only the fanciest water for WPI students!
Apparently this is their fight song. Lex chanted it, but would not repeat it again for a recording. Then him and Alan went into a long discussion about how wrong it is from a math standpoint. LOL.
We went to a physics demonstration and Alan raised his hand when they asked for a volunteer. He’s pretty much ready to enroll at WPI himself!
They had a whole bunch of random activities planned for Family Weekend, so we walked around and checked out some stuff. Nothing terribly exciting, but I loved just being there. We went to the bookstore and I bought him two shirts to hang in his closet and look at for a few months before maybe trying them on. I also got magnets for my car and the teen car, and some new hot cups since the lids for the ones I have broke last week!
Lex had some homework to do, so we left him for a few hours in the afternoon. Alan and I went to Lowes and Best Buy to get him a shelf and a webcam. Then we met back at his dorm to drop off the stuff and take him out to dinner. Dinner, of course, was at the Olive Garden! LOL. We video called with Eve while we were there. It was fun, but maybe not nice for her. I’m not sure. She said she was happy to talk with us and that she missed the Olive Garden.
After dinner we went back to campus to see a free movie, Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse. Friday night they had the movie on the quad on a giant inflatable screen, but on Saturday they moved it into an auditorium due to rain. It was a great movie! I would have prefered to see it on the quad (they have lots of cool Adirondack chairs on the quad!), but it was good in the lecture hall too. Apparently they do regular weekend movies on the quad or the lecture hall. They had free popcorn and candy available. It was fun.
Sunday morning Lex had marching band practice, so I slept in a bit then Alan and I got a great breakfast at little diner near campus After marching band, Lex had to prep for his Concert Band performance. They had three hours of band at Alden Hall. First an hour of Jazz Band, which Lex is in, but apparently there are three Jazz Band levels and level 1 (the freshman) didn’t perform this time, but will at future concerts. Then an hour of Concert Band, then an hour of Symphony. Lex is in Jazz Band and Concert Band. He said there are a lot of percussionists in Concert Band, so they didn’t all play in every song. Of the six songs they performed, he played in three. I might be a bit biased, but I think he was excellent in all three! :)
We chatted with him a little before Concert Band started and he said he wasn’t feeling too hot. It had been raining all morning and they did their marching practice in the rain. He thought that didn’t help with his overall well-being. He was feeling pretty ready to crash. After the concert, of course! He also has test on Monday that he was trying to prep for, in addition to homework due Monday. It was a busy weekend for him.
So handsome ❤
After the concert we checked in with him again. He said he was still feeling down (cough, sore throat, etc.) so Alan and I went to CVS and got him so meds. The campus health center is apparently closed on Sundays. Good to know for the future. I was texting with him a bit this evening and he said the meds were helping and he was looking forward to a Nyquil-assisted good night’s sleep.
I’m so, so happy we got to spend this weekend with him. I miss him (and he misses us!) and it filled my mommy hear to see him thriving in his new world. Now we begin the countdown to his week at home in October between terms! Then I’ll get to hug him all week!! <3
The one and only time I take just ONE photo, I get this “eyes closed” photo, but I’m going to share it anyway because we all look so happy. He wasn’t feeling great. We just brought him some meds and were saying goodbye before heading home. I think his eyes closed smile is fitting. 💗
Big R passed his driving test today. Now we officially have three teen drivers in the family and I have officially completed 120 hours of practice driving with a teen with a permit. Hallelujah!
We drove 2hrs for a DMV that had an appointment. For some reason (all the usual reasons, I’m sure) driving test appointments are few and far between. Instead of waiting indefinitely for one to become available in town, we opted to go to one that was available. He got some extra driving practice on the way. Bonus! :) It rained most of the way there, but mostly stopped in time for his test. The instructor didn’t make him parallel park “because it was raining” so that was a double bonus! I don’t think they take parallel parking too seriously in this little state. Eve didn’t have to do it for her test either.
By this point, my third time ’round, I had all the paperwork we could possibly need, so the process went smoothly. Mostly. Turns out his permit had expired 11 days ago. Oops! They let him renew online before taking the test, which is good, I guess, but annoying that we had to pay for two more years of a permit so that he could drive with it for half an hour. The instructor was friendly though and overall everyone had a good DMV experience.
I have been missing having a second driver in the house for the past few weeks. Glad to be using both cars again. He did his first solo drive this evening, bringing himself and mashed potato casserole he made to a band BBQ at the high school. He said he was feeling very grown up. :)
My posts are now going to come in threes, apparently. You’re welcome.
Tonight I got to watch WPI beat WSU in football. They livestreamed the whole event. Do you care? No, me neither. HOWEVER, they have the “greatest band in the land” and THAT is why I tuned in! Lex had his first marching band performance tonight. His first week at WPI was for marching band camp. He auditioned for the drum line and was given cymbals. He was hoping for the snare drum, but he is just a freshman after all, so cymbals was a good place to start. Half way through the week he told me he was so glad he was on cymbals because the marching part was so complicated, he really appreciated having an easy instrument to play. Maybe the band director knew what they were doing. :)
So tonight was their first game. They livestreamed it and I loved it. WPI is a NCAA Division III school, so their football setup (and streaming setup) is only slightly better than high school, but they have a marching band and it was awesome. Apparently the football team is good too. Or at least better than WSU. :)
He sent me a selfie!! <3 (I might have suggested it a few days ago, but he did it and that's what counts!)
The band playing during the game.
The drumline
The cutest cymbal-er in the world. :)
I’m incredibly happy that he decided to join the marching band in college. He has made friends, learned new skills (marching!), and even put on a silly uniform that matches everyone else. He’s come such a long way. And the best part is, he’s loving it!! I’m so proud of him!
Back to school was a little different this year. I politely asked Lex and Eve to send me first day of school (or at least first week of school) photos from their respective schools. They are such wonderful people that they happily obliged. On the first day of school here I asked River if he’d humor me with a “group” photo, and he did. Yay. I’m a lucky mom.
I started work at my new job this week. I’m the friendly new librarian at the Howe Library. I’ll spend a few hours twice a week staffing the reference desk (aka the information desk) and the rest of the time I’ll be selecting books for my categories and planning programming for the library. They assigned me to three genres: mystery, science fiction, and graphic novels. They asked if that was ok and I said yes, heck yes! I’ll also be helping with social media, because I just can’t help myself. :)
I can only work 35hrs a week, so today I was scheduled to close (at 5:00pm) so they reminded me yesterday to come in later this morning so I didn’t go over the 35hrs. Umm.. ok. I texted my friend last night and we met up for breakfast in town this morning. It was very lovely. The folks at the library even take hour long breaks! It has been a running joke this week at my reaction when I heard that and my question, “What do you even DO for an hour?!?” They were equally shocked to hear what a teacher lunch break looks like.
My space. Very bare so far. Today I brought in a plant though. :)
Day one was sunny and I walked to the local Starbucks for lunch.
