Wings

I have some spare time waiting for laundry so will post about a topic that usually makes me happy - my sons. I'll be picking up my college boy soon. It is hard to believe that he has finished his first year of college! If you had told me two years ago that we'd be able to get him to college at a state school instead of the local community college I would not have believed you. But we did it! And he has done so well!

I will purposely omit the story about his going to Volleyball Nationals in Kansas City for a week in March and only having a loaf of bread and package of cold cuts to eat along with some Ramen Noodles...

But anyway, when your kids leave home you end up hoping for the best - that they will be good citizens, law abiding, fair, honest, decent and so on. Not to mention hard working. My son became very concerned about his grades and GPA. In part, because he is paying for a large share of his schooling. He worked productively and was one of only about 7 students to get a job at the college Athletic Center for next year. He will be working in the equipment room and the head of the center told him that he interviewed the best out of the applicants. By the way, about 150 students applied for the Athletic Center jobs!

I asked him about his music composing because he has been so gifted at that. He told me that he has branched off in a new direction doing DJ stuff on the computer. He learned how to play the piano in three weeks and just got an A on his piano final. In his Vocal Jury, his professor came to him afterward which is not the norm, to tell him how well the jury all felt he had done. His music adviser heard his DJ compositions and told him to try selling them online now for commercial use. She said it is pretty amazing that he has only been involved in that type of composing since starting college, and has come up with some very top notch pieces. She further told him that music is a very tough business to be in but she believes that he truly has the talent to continue successfully in the field. So he is very fired up about continuing his music major.

My son worked as many hours as he could during all his school breaks and will continue at his local job here at home. But he can start at the Athletic Center early over the summer and is eager for that to begin. They love him there - he worked out every day and practiced for the volleyball team two nights a week so he already knows a lot of people there.

Although he would love to join a fraternity, he feels it might be too much to do so with his campus job and being on the volley ball team. Oh, I forgot to add, that they only took 9 team members to Nationals - as a Freshman that was a pretty exciting opportunity.

My son is happy to have a break from studying and is happy to see his friends from high school. But I told him that after a week he will probably want to go back to school! Haha.

My youngest has his shoulder surgery scheduled for May 30th. He only has 8 more days left of school and is so ready to be at college. He plans on becoming a Dorm Resident Adviser. He has done well academically the last years of high school and will be studying Business Marketing and Advertising. There is also interest in teaching like his dad so he might pursue that as well.

ALL of us are ready to find a new place to live out in the country. It would be ideal if we can get a place halfway between both of the boys' colleges. I will be looking at two places when I pick up my son. At this point we have only two more months left on my lease and time is of the essence to find a new home. It is becoming an exciting time of transition for all of us. Moving away is actually a good thing for all of us right now. It is symbolic of us going forward and reaching toward new directions. Moving also gives us a fresh, new start and that is something positive for my family as well.

Here is to the future and new beginnings - and to my sons continuing to open their wings - and to me flying forward!