the final countdown

it's the final countdown to college application deadlines and it's killing me not knowing what he's doing. the days are ticking away like minutes....3,2,1, and i'm trying to keep out of it and let him handle it. tough duty for a control freak like me. had a nice holiday- drove in to see dad & vicky... kate & anabelle were home from vegas, and kristin was in from spain. great visit despite the dodgy driving conditions on the drive there and the siberian temperatures in chicago. dad took the boys and i to see 'million dollar quartet' a play about a night at Sun studios with Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. great music and interesting story. on the drive to and from chicago, the boys took turns reading short stories by david sedaris (out loud!). better than books on tape! hard to believe that this time next year, jake will have his first semester under his belt. we hope. heard a great book suggestion on NPR the other day called 'delaying the real world' full of stories of people who've taken the road less travelled. thought about getting it for jake, but then worried he might take it seriously and skip the whole college route! maybe i'll wait until he's mailed all the apps.......

out of the doghouse

so jake's out of the doghouse. been working hard, both in school and in the pool. all assignments are accounted for, all practices attended. the season is underway and Lincoln's little team has its first meet under its belt. wasn't a win, nowhere near it....but it's tough for 15 kids to take on a team of 45. the fab freshmen were the stars of the night. brady and luis got the only wins of the night. jake took a 2nd and a 3rd....still needs to get his old confidence back but he's swimming better than last year. andy and i are very happy with the coaching they're getting. think it's gonna be a good year and it's been really cool to see how close jake and brady are through this. they spend tons of time together, and seem to be having a blast. so lucky we have this one season with both of them on the team. go lincoln:) also found a bunch of pics i forgot about on my camera from jakeapalooza. go boston:)

rut row shaggy

ever heard of no-shave november? i have. now. i noticed jake was looking scruffier than usual....but thought it was just swim team keeping him from the razor. apparently though, boys all over the place do the no-shave thing in november. i am so not a fan of facial hair, especially patchy scraggly facial hair. turns out, he's not a fan either - even though he grew the thickest beard of anyone except one of the teachers. which i find hard to believe since he had this weird runway under his chin where very little hair grew. he cheated a little and shaved the morning of thanksgiving....i'll take the hit on that one- just couldn't face the idea of turkey bits and gravy stuck in his scraggly little beard. ew. looks like a completely different kid doesn't he? no more no shave. i hope.

bad day

don't post angry. too late. i guess if this is going to be an accurate reflection of his senior year, it's the good, the bad and the ugly. today was definitely two out of three. but someday i suppose we'll all look back on this and laugh. or not. seriously entertaining the idea of a 'gap' year right now. no committment, no sense of consequences, no remorse - except for being caught. the pattern he established freshman year has reared its ugly head each and every year since - and we just had a major sighting. what's the pattern? basically 'dropping' classes he's not that into. unfortunately, it always means a mad scramble to recover, most of the time not that well. guess what though, not ponying up college cash for this type of performance. so he either pulls it together, or he figures out plan b. which definitely would not include a college on a coast. maybe not college at all.
many bad words were said in my mind. many many bad words. many many times over. really don't feel like talking to him. so i'm not.

game on

the first day of his last season. years of practices and sacrifices. all the early mornings, and late nights. indoors, outdoors, yards and meters. lap after lap after lap after lap. tired muscles, fried hair, dry skin. ups and downs, triumphs and tribulations. meets and friends and travel trips. it all comes down to this. after an extremely disappointing season last year, jake's excited about his new coach, his new team, and a new year. main goal, make it fun again! since none of the schools that jake's interested in even have swim teams, this is going to be the cap to all the years of hard work he's put in. good luck and go lincoln:)

jake-a-palooza Day 6

from the second we drove into Boston, i knew jake loved it. and who wouldn't? we headed to our hotel - downtown in the financial district - really nice and right in the heart of the city. we got settled in, after a close call with the valet and our big giant expedition, and then started walking. we went down to fanueill hall and quincy market, and had lunch at a place called ned devine's irish pub. jake picked it because it said it was irish. not very much irish about the reuben he had. or the chicken panini brady had. andy and i had good ole clam chowder though. then we walked through boston common, over to emerson. it was an absolutely beautiful day, sunny and mild, and there were all kinds of people out and about. emerson is very impressive. buildings are beautiful, very well-kept, the people are all nice - and of course - it's in boston. the film program building was the last stop on the tour, and we met 'crazy pete' - i think he's the head of the department - who spoke very passionately about what kind of experience kids would have at emerson. sold. then a looooong walk back to the hotel, note to self: don't wear high heels on the bricks of Boston - and then on to the Chart House for a wonderful dinner. as we were laughing about something i looked across the table at jake, who looked so happy and excited, and got choked up for the first time on the whole trip. just for a second. i hope he'll always be that happy.
then we walked home, past a crazy guy screaming something wild out his apartment window, and stopped at an irish bar playing irish music. andy had a guiness, i had a sam adams, and jake facebooked about the bar. definitely the best day of the whole trip! now the real work starts, the long drive home and the 'decision'!
(the picture is the view from the dorm suite we toured - nice.)

jake-a-palooza Day 5

on the road again - today's goal Auburn, MA - about 50 minutes outside of boston. jake was supposed to do an essay on a book for english, and email it to his teacher. he 'misunderstood' the assignment, and had to do it twice!! rocky start to the day. but he got it done, and everybody's excited to see boston. but first, we get to drive through new york. at 4:30. bad timing. lots of traffic but lots of great views of the city too, had fun trying to snap pics out the window of a moving car with everybody yelling out landmarks to shoot. looking forward to getting to boston and seeing emerson.

jake-a-palooza Day 4

everybody woke up crabby today. decided against the hershey tour, since it wasn't really a tour but a tour of a 'replica' of the factory that was only supposed to take like 12 minutes. didn't seem worth it from the website. but here's an important lesson, don't believe everything you read on a website. duh right? the temple website looked great and really made the film program sound fantastic. not so much. i could tell from the second we stepped onto campus that jake wasn't feelin' it. neither was i to tell you the truth. we got there way too early (because we skipped the chocolate tour...) and they very nicely offered us vouchers to eat in a lunchroom. we passed. maybe we shouldn't have because the restaurant we ate at oncampus was gross. enough. it just wasn't a match and we moved on. we drove down to annapolis to see friends and their kids. it was great to see their new house, actually a very old house they've completely renovated! - and to see their adorable kids. jake and brady 'babysat' while we went out and had a boatload of sushi. seriously, a boatload. couldn't breathe after dinner, but it was really good. next up, boston.

jake-a-palooza Day 3

just a driving day. and our 19th anniversary. yay us! left ohio this morning around 9:30 and both boys pulled out their math homework and got some assignments done. how responsible. drove through the allegheny mountains in pennsylvania, really beautiful scenery. also drove through some tunnels in the mountains that weren't so beautiful. worried they were going to collapse on us! the turnpike system is really interesting, you take a ticket, and don't pay again until it's over. and while we have rest areas, they have service areas, equipped with gas stations and restaurants, which vary wildly. some had starbucks, others had roy rogers (gross). many had hershey's ice cream. now we're near hershey, and plan to hit chocolate town in the a.m. before we head to Temple in Philly. they off to Annapolis to see friends:)

jake-a-palooza Day 2

1st official stop: Columbia College in Chicago on Monday. met dad and vicky at millennium park around 11:30, took some pics at the bean, then had a great lunch at a restaurant in the park, and headed over to the school which is smack dab on Michigan ave. location, location, location. jake didn't even notice the torrential downpour as we toured the 'campus', 25 buildings scattered around a 7-block area. he's definitely a fan of chicago. it is a pretty impressive 'front yard' for a school. had a really nice tour guide, recent grad who works at a production company in the city now, also interned for harpo and says oprah's great. who wouldn't.....
columbia touts itself as the largest film school in the u.s., interesting factoid...would have thought there were others that were bigger. definitely an art school - lots of 'alternative' kids roaming around the buildings, which could take some getting used to for me. jake seemed fine with it and says it's now at the top of his list. two more to go.....we'll see. all the excitement tuckered jake out...slept almost all the way to our stop that night near sandusky, oh.

jake-a-palooza Day 1

after weeks of online searches, college counseling sessions, and plenty of planning...we took off Sunday afternoon for Jake-a-palooza, the college tour. unfortunately, it was the same day Andy ran his first full marathon and I ran my first half. needless to say neither one of us was feeling too terribly spry. sitting in a car for 5 hours tends to stiffen up the old muscles....not a lotta spring in our step. stopped in glamorous rock falls for dinner, where i laughed so hard i nearly convulsed. jake was trying to tell a riddle which came out a little garbled..."q:what's the only question you can't answer - a: are you asleep?" after thinking about it a couple seconds, i told him that was wrong, you could totally answer the question by saying "no, i'm not asleep". turns out the real riddle was q:what's the only question you can't answer yes to....a: are you asleep". then brady came up with a list of alternatives i.e. are you dead, are you in a coma..are you mute... fun start to the trip.

smile, you're a senior...

the big senior picture session sorta snuck up on us. I've been busy with holiday videos and john deere segments (talk about a dichotomy) but jake and i managed a mall-run and grabbed some stuff for the shoot. we got a great day, not too hot, a little cloudy so we weren't battling blazing sun, and we really really liked the photographer. paige said we could post pictures of her taking pictures, so we're all good. She was very laid-back and related to jake really well. i can't wait to see the shots, they're the perfect setting (urban, 'gritty', lofty) for jake, who as we all know, can't stand the outdoors! He thinks of himself as a city boy and i think paige really got it. all in all a really good time -stay tuned for final results.

Guru Gal

So Jake, and then his dad and i, met with the 'college guru' today. i think every kid in the greater des moines area who's even thought about going to college has met with this woman. here's how she works. your kid fills out a personality profile, then does some other voodoo with the guru, and then the parents join the party - and she tells you all about your kid and what school would be a good fit for them. very interesting afternoon. she had some good insights, or the tests did, and really opened our eyes to a lot of things. unfortunately, she burst the bubble about the dream school. basically said with his grades and test scores, he wouldn't get in. ouch. glad it was her and not me wielding that pin. the upside, she showed us some schools that would be an alternative to the 'big' film school experience - (which she doesn't think would be a good experience for jake)- schools jake is actually excited about exploring. so i spent the rest of the night online trying to get a feel for these places, and planning our college visit roadtrip. btw, her personality assessment of jake = likes quirky people, quirky things, quirky ideas, is VERY visual, discerns small details that others overlook, is a good judge of character, oh and did i mention that he likes quirky things? quirky ideas, quirky people, quirky things.....he's quirky. wasn't sure if that was code for weird or not. she also said he is a charmer, and will go a long way on charm alone. hmmmmm. how quirky.

i will survive...

most of the kids we know who are headed off to college this fall have left and settled in, and i've gotten a good sampling of their moms' reactions. they all admitted to getting weepy AFTER they left, having a good cry in the car. mostly because they didn't want to lose it in front of their kid, but also due to the frenzy of getting them moved in and shopping etc. they just didn't have time to focus on being sad. a few moms have already had the opportunity to see the kids at school, dropping off supplies or things that got left behind and they all said the kids practically kicked them out the door. too busy being independent and hanging with new friends and doing their own thing. which is great - the moms are interpreting it as the kids having made the right choice - and while they're having some separation pangs, they generally feel positive and hopeful for their kids' new experience. which is how i'm going to choose to look at all of this. to focus less on the ending, and more on the beginning. good luck right?

and they're off.....

the first day of school. it's always been a day of mixed emotions, sad to see summer go but excited about all the new experiences in store. this first-day feels especially jumbled up for me, it's the last time i'll make breakfast for jake, take the obligatory first-day picture and watch him head out. (i doubt the dorms let moms into the kitchen to make eggs and bacon.....)

it seems like yesterday that he was standing by the sign outside Montessori Children's House for his first day of kindergarten, with his new blue backpack and his great big smile. he looked so happy and confident (which has essentially been his nature throughout life)....and after i snapped his picture, or 30 of them, i went to take his hand to walk him into his classroom.
"I can handle it from here mom" he said- mortified that i was going to come into mrs. sheldon's room with him. so i let him go.

i did sneak into the room to take a picture, he was already settled in at a desk- wearing a painting smock - paintbrush in his hand, happily working away. he heard the camera's click, turned and saw me and shot me a withering look. i slunk out of the room, got in my car, and cried all the way to WHO.
it was hard to let my little boy take that seemingly big step on his own, it hasn't gotten any easier.
"I can handle it from here mom" - i know you can jake, i know you can.

point and click

this really is kind of like planning a wedding - had to pick a photographer for the all important senior pics. luckily, another mom (more prepared than me) had compiled a list of links that i just clicked through (no pun intended). Gotta say, senior 'portraits' have come a long way since I leaned against the tree outside West Aurora High with a yellow rose in my hand. Come on, you know you did it too...... Nowadays there are location changes, wardrobe changes, themes, props, it's a full-blown production. So how did we choose? everyone in our photog's portfolio looked like they were having fun. sincerely. she also came highly recommended from a couple of moms i know are kind of particular ,so if she's good enough for them..... Next up, a band or a dj? just kidding. will post a pic after the big shoot on sept. 21. cross your fingers for good weather.

Party Time

another nail in the coffin - ew, that's so wrong.....but i booked a party site for jake's graduation party today. i know, i know it's months away but all the good spots get snapped up early - it's like finding the perfect place for your reception- lots of competition out there. right now, he's planning to have the party with his cousin (they were born the same day) and another swimming buddy of theirs. sounds like fun to me and takes some of the social pressure off - none of them particularly love being the center of attention (well, some less than others). just about a week away from the first day of school...the countdown is on!

say cheese

A first and a last today, as Brady registered for his first year at Lincoln and Jake registered for his last. Got his i.d. and his parking pass so he's ready to go - and we're ready to go do some back-to-school shopping which i'm sure will be nothing compared to next year! will we be looking for warm-weather wear...something to survive a long East coast winter....or something in between? stay tuned.....

applied

click.
one little keystroke put jake on the road to college. a pamphlet from his dream school showed up in the mail today and got him motivated to get online to start the application process. he needed plastic to pay - so i ended up being the one to click 'submit' - and it actually choked me up a little. up until now it's been a lot of talk- but this is real. he's going to go to school somewhere........
and leave me.....
it's going to be a year full of firsts, and lasts. follow along and share the senior moments, his...mine....and ours.