college freshman

Whiplash

Clearly the new normal thing is going to take time to get used to. Co-existing over Catherine’s winter break was like trying to do a dance we didn’t know the steps to. No one was able to teach us either. Now that she’s not quite a grownup, but no longer a kid, it all seems … Continue reading →

Wordless Wednesday — Sight for Sore Eyes

Our very own game of ‘telephone’

Everyone keeps asking how the transition to empty nest is going. Truthfully, it’s fine. We’re settling in to our own new routines and keeping plenty busy. That we can listen to our own music and watch our own television programs uninterrupted, in a house that isn’t dotted with every possible variety of teenage detritus is … Continue reading →

Flashback Friday — The College Girl

I’ll surely catch hell for this one, but flashback a year ago, to when we were college hunting. This photo was taken while we waited for a table in a restaurant after touring Salem State University in Massachusetts. Catherine is not quite the good sport about these things that Basil is, but no matter. Only … Continue reading →

Life lessons from the dorm

Catherine is impressing us with her transition to college. Nearly two weeks in at Hofstra U, she’s having some fun, getting her work done, making new friends and figuring things out. She called yesterday — the first time to really have a conversation and not simply ask for something she forgot to pack. She is … Continue reading →

She’s There. We’re Here. Get Used to it.

Lots of folks are checking in on us these last few days, wanting to know how the transition to “empty nest” is going. It’s too soon yet to have a good answer. At the moment, it’s surreal. I’m glad we have a long weekend to start to process it all because it will surely be … Continue reading →

Zombie Apocalypse , College Parent Edition

Overnight, I was elected to a new society of parents I didn’t realize existed. If there is a special name for us, I’m not yet privy to it, yet I can pick out others of our ilk at just a glance. We are the exhausted, beleaguered, at-the-end-of-our ropes parents of incoming college freshmen, and like gazelles … Continue reading →

Godparent’s weekend

This weekend, once again, I’m getting a glimpse of my future. My godson, Dominic, is visiting for the weekend, taking a break from his freshman year at the University of New Haven for some familiar company and home-cooked food. To say that Basil, Catherine and I are excited is an understatement. I was sure when … Continue reading →