What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?

Having some problems uploading photos to my blog the last couple of days.  Yesterday I had a great post about the Golden Globes Red Carpet Fashion but without pictures, it's kind of pointless.


KJ has just started her last semester of middle school.  That just kind of hit me.  I rec'd an e-mail about an open house for rising 9th graders.  The end of January she meets w/ guidance counselors to choose her high school curriculum and the parent's meeting is early February.  Wow.  Let that sink in for a minute.  My baby girl is on her way to becoming a high schooler.  A freshman. 


We met Champ out for dinner last night and had a really nice chat w/ KJ about what she wants to study, how important high school grades are, etc.  T was easy.  She always knew what she wanted to do.  She was on the broadcast team in elementary school, middle school and high school.  She only visited colleges with a broadcast journalism program.  KJ just isn't sure.  And let's be real here.  She's 14.  I'm "40-something" and still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. 


She'd like to do something sports-related but has decided she does not want to be a sportscaster.  She said she would be too nervous on the air.  She'd like to work for a professional sports team but she's not sure in what capacity.  She loves to travel so we talked about pursuing a career in hospitality.  She also asked a lot of questions about Human Resources and we talked about a career in Marketing or Sales and how she could use a degree like that.  She said she "wants a fun job" where she can make "lots of money."  Don't we all???

To Quilt or not to Quilt . . .

Feel like I haven't been in my office in forever.  I can't remember the last time I worked a full week.  I took the Thursday & Friday off for T's graduation and then that Monday was Memorial Day, Tuesday afternoon we headed out to Ole Miss for Orientation and I was back in the office that Friday.  Then I got sick w/ pneumonia and missed a full week of work and then this past week I was in training Tuesday through Friday.  It's been crazy!

This is T:  

T is still getting her stuff together for Move-In Day.  We're making progress and checking things off the list.  Some of her friends are heading to Auburn early August (a lot of them are getting apartments and their lease starts August 1).  Not sure when the Alabama kids head to T-town.  We may (or may not) have found a comforter for her dorm.  She originally said she wanted a quilt and was going for a boho/eclectic kind of look.  Then she saw a yellow chevron duvet cover she liked and thought about turquoise accents.  Then she went back to the boho look.  I bought her a quilt from Urban Outfitters this week but will keep the receipt in case we need to return it.  She doesn't like the matchy-matchy look (much to my chagrin!) and loves the "collected" rather than "bought" look.  She likes to upcycle items and enjoys shopping in antique and consignment stores.  Her roomie has basically left the room decor up to T.  She and her parents will be traveling quite far and will only be driving one car to Move-In Day so they are limited on space.  She said they will be doing most of their shopping when they get to Oxford and she may have some things shipped to our house and we'll bring them to her.   

This is Not: 

These past couple of months have been an absolute whirlwind and have gone by in a blur . . . a lot of "firsts" and a lot of "lasts."  T went from being a high school senior to a college freshman in what feels like just a few short days.  She'll be 18 soon and 6 weeks from her birthday she'll be at college.  Normally we go to the beach for her birthday but this summer it will be Disney instead. 

So not only do I have to deal w/ T leaving the nest, but come October, I will officially be the proud mom of not just one but TWO teenage girls.  KJ turns 13 in October.  God help me!  She had a friend over the other day and we were chatting about middle school and all that good stuff.  KJ's friend is on the dance team so we started to talk football and how fun it will be to go to the middle school games.  The friend, very matter of factly, said, "Well, I don't know how fun it will be.  I don't think our team is going to be very good this year.  The boys are all really small."  I don't know any boys on the football team so I don't know how big or small they are but I thought it was pretty funny that these two 12-year old girls were critiquing the squad like a couple of middle-aged men getting ready for their fantasy football draft!

And the Countdown Begins

Can't believe it's less than 2 weeks to Christmas. I'm on schedule and in pretty good shape: exterior decorated, interior decorated, 2 trees decorated; dining room table decorated; Christmas cards ordered, printed and 90% addressed; most of the gifts are wrapped; one Christmas party attended, two more to go; and I have just a few more gifts to purchase. Whew!


KJ had her first middle school dance this weekend and had a good time. She said it was "kind of lame" at first and then just when things were getting good, it was time to go home. It was only from 5:30 to 7 PM and it was a lot of work for just an hour and a half. I did KJ's hair and make-up and also helped LG w/ her hair when she came over for photos. KJ said I should be a hair & make-up artist for Chanel. She's too damn funny.


Saturday I attended my friend's annual "card addressing" party. I don't think I've ever seen a guest actually address their cards. Lots of good food and lots of good drink. I do love me some mimosas. I've always said I could start each day off w/ champagne!


T had conditioning Saturday morning and then worked at the store for a little bit both Saturday & Sunday. Sunday night Cosmo & T went to the soccer game at the Met (it will always be the Met to me) and had a really good time. Sounds like it was a great game! We had a nice family dinner when they got home and everyone was relaxed and ready for Monday morning.

Friday was T's visit to Ole Miss and I am proud and excited to say her college search has officially ended! She luv'd luv'd luv'd everything about Ole Miss . . . communications program, location, size, setting, safety, lax team. Everything. She's officially been accepted into the journalism program and as far as T is concerned, this is a done deal. Because of her grades she will qualify for the Honors Program, in-state tuition and additional scholarship money as well. Although it was kind of stressful at times, T conducted her search in a mature, wel-informed fashion and it was a learning lesson for all of us.

Because of lacrosse tournaments, she was inundadted with calls and letters from various coaches who had seen her play. Right off the bat she eliminated those schools that did not have her major. She handled herself so well each time a coach called. I know it was akward for her but she was very honest and told them up front thank you but she wasn't interested. She didn't want to waste anyone's time. After that, she did some research on the schools she was interested in and scheduled some visits. She found something she liked at each of the schools she visited but none of them were the total package the way Ole Miss was. FSC's campus was magnificent and she loved the idea of being in FL, spending time at the beach and learning to water ski. She loved the urban setting of Temple but there was zero lax $$$ and I worried about her safety. She loved the northern rural setting of Slippery Rock but didn't like the fact that her tour guide refered to it as a "suitcase" school. She worried about being 20+ hours from home and having nothing to do on the weekends. FSU was always a top contender but the out of state tuition would have sent her daddy into a tizzy. She also loved U of FL and of course, she loved Alabama. In the end, Ole Miss checked off every box on her list of criteria. Yay! Now we can relax and enjoy the 2nd half of her senior year! Whoop! Whoop!