Recently in Family Category

I took my older son, Andrew, to Australia today. At least I got him as far as Dulles International where I turned him over to the Australian airlines who promise to deliver him safe and sound in Sydney about 8 AM Sunday morning, about 4 PM Saturday my time. He'll spend New Year's Eve in Sydney harbor.

He's in Australia taking a course on "Engineering in an International Setting," part of the University of Maryland's winter "mini-mester". He'll be there 3 weeks. I saw his class schedule and there are visits to local manufactories and business establishments. Some work is involved. But he's also finding time to surf Bondi Beach, fly to Cairns in northeast Australia to dive the Great Barrier Reef, and visit some rain forests. The lucky dog.

I never did anything like this when I was a college student. International study was much less common back then than it is now. It seems like every college-age kid I know is spending time abroad as part of his or her studies. I just hung around Ann Arbor the whole time I was in school.

I paid his airfare and some of his other expenses. In return, I made him promise he'll accurately identify and list all birds he sees down under. That's my souvenir. I hope he gets to hear a laughing kookaburra and see a wild kangaroo.

What a great boondoggle he's on.
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Living a prime number.
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When I was in college, my mother would go on and on about how great it was to have "everyone back in the house" whenever I got home from school for Christmas break. As soon as I walked in the house, she would walk around triumphantly exclaiming "Now we can start celebrating Christmas!" Being a cool college student, I could barely tolerate this display of parental affection. I would get exasperated, roll my eyes,  and say "Yes, mother...".  In response she would just shake her head and say "One day you'll know what I'm talking about."

But you know what? Tonight my younger son gets home from York College and tomorrow night my older son gets home from Maryland and then I'll have everyone back in the house. I can start celebrating Christmas. Despite my ailment, life is good.

Even now, she's up in heaven going "See? SEE? I told you so!"
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Please! Quiet everyone, quiet! We have an announcement of the utmost moment!

After nearly 16 years of preparation - completing elementary, secondary, and soon college education - it is our pleasure to announce that Andrew White of Woodstock, Maryland, has received his first invitation to the real world!

Accenture in Reston, Virginia, has asked him to the dance.

His father offers Andrew his heartiest congratulations on this momentous event and reminds his engineer son, that just as your professors told you, the real world is indeed nonlinear.

Andrew anticipates additional invitations presently.
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Danny left his cell phone in a campus bathroom yesterday. The person who found it used his cell phone to call the house and leave a message about where he took it. Later, after Danny had retrieved his phone, this snippet of conversation ensued:

Danny: "I hate knowing I've lost something."
Me: "Why? If you don't know you've lost something, then you wouldn't know to go look for it."
Danny: "I know! That's exactly my point!"

Logic. It comes in all flavors.
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Danny is into his third week of college and already he's getting life lessons.

Saturday he called to tell me that someone had stolen his wallet. He was absolutely sure when he went to bed Friday night, his wallet, phone, and student ID were all on his bedside table. The next morning he went to breakfast taking only his ID and phone because he didn't need his wallet. He wasn't sure but he thought he remembered seeing it lying on the table. Later Saturday afternoon as he was heading out, he went to grab his wallet when he discovered it missing. He had suspects but nothing definitive.

We scurried for damage control. He called to block his debit card. This morning I ordered a new insurance card. Plans were made for him to come home Saturday for a new driver's license. Nothing else of value was lost. Being a poor, frugal college student there was no cash inside when it was taken.

Today he calls to tell me he found his wallet lying in the stairwell of his dorm. There it was in plain sight in a stairwell he had been in several times since Saturday. Everything was in it.

To me it's clear someone swiped his wallet out of his room and dumped it this morning when there was nothing of value to be had. He seems to agree though now he gets to wonder which of his dorm-mates is a thief.

He's not very happy about that.
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Andrew turns 21 on Tuesday. I called him a couple of days ago to see if he wanted to go out for dinner to commemorate his birthday. During the course of the conversation I asked him if he and his friends were doing anything to celebrate. Not a fraction of a second elapsed - not one - before he answered:

"We're going to the bars."

*blink*

"I'm sorry. Did you say you're going to the bars?"
"Yeah."
"Bars? You're going to the bars? Barzz-ZZZ!?! Plural?!?"

You know that weird, kind of wobbling sound you hear when Daffy Duck shakes his head to clear out the stars and cobwebs right after he got conked with an anvil? My head literally made that noise as I shook it.

I suppose I knew this day was coming. When my child, my first born, the fruit of my loins, the thing that would puke down my back whenever I picked him up, told me he was going out drinking. But I guess I was expecting some sort of embarrassed pause, a sheepish grin, some muted mumbling, when I received word. Not this high-toned, almost in-your-face pronouncement. I wanted to ask him the obvious question: "Well, how do you know you even like alcohol?"

At least he didn't ask me to pick up the tab.
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Danny has been rehearsing all week with his high school "show band". That's the band that plays in the pit during performances of his high school musical production. Danny is third trumpet, which means he occasionally plays "toot" and "tootly-toot-toot" during the songs. Third trumpets don't see a whole lot of sustained musical action.

His high school's production this year is Annie Get Your Gun. I've never seen it but I know Ethel Merman starred in it when I was a kid. Ethel had a loud voice. I told Danny that's pretty much all I know about Annie and Ethel.

He's cool with that.
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