Let the PANICKING begin....

T-2 hours and Brenna Hyzy arrives home for 2 weeks!!!  I can't wait to see her... but at the same time T-4 days and we drop Zack off at UVa and I am really not ready for it.   I honestly thought I'd be okay by now.  I know he's going to be fine, I know he's going to have a great time, I know that I will eventually be fine, but right now when I think about it I feel physically sick to my stomach and legitimately feel like I'm having a heart attack.  I know that once we're actually doing it, I will have plenty to keep me busy.  Brenna will be here for another week after he's there, I have work starting on Monday, we're gearing up for Fall Crew, coaching in the Fall Camp, so plenty going on.  But, it's the thinking about it... the imagining going back to school and him not being there, not popping in to say Hi and raid the candy basket... going to practice and not having him to talk to about it and ask advice of.  No one to keep me posted on the team gossip... it's going to be hard.  And bottom line... I'm not ready to let my baby boy go.

Re-living the College Life for a weekend

I made a quick road trip down to see Brenna last weekend.  I didn't really have a reason, but I had the hotel reservations and I figured it would be fun to get away for a couple days - just me and my girl.   It was a lot of fun, we really didn't do anything but hang out and eat.  I pretty much carried a food baby to term all weekend long.  The only saving grace was a did get a run in both Fri and Sat morning.  She has a great running path by the river, so I enjoyed that.

I got to meet all her roommates and their dogs!  They had the Club Fair on friday, I hung out at her table and watched Brenna strut her stuff. She's the Co-President of The Wildlife Society. She was awesome, talking to everyone and trying to recruit for the club.  I was a very proud Mama.  I think maybe I've rubbed off on her just a little bit.

Hanging out in her Galapagos hammock on the front porch!  With one of her bestie roomies - Fallon.  So cool!

 

Breakfast at our favorite little diner, before I head back to the real world.  It was fun living the college life for a little while, but I'm too old to do it for very long!

Don't say it, just don't say anything...

I know! Right!?

This is what happens when you drop your baby girl off a college for her sophomore year and have to drive home by yourself.  I'm just saying...

Home away from home... I guess :o(

She's almost all settled.  It's all coming together for her.  I'm excited and much like last year, I'm sad.  I'm going to worry about her just like before.  Will she have friends, will she be happy, will she do well, will she and her apartment mates settle in and work everything out.  What if she hates it, what if she's homesick. We were able to move her into her apartment a week before the regular students get here... will she be bored and sit home crying in her apartment all day? You know all the typical things.  Now she slammed her toe into the curb and tore it up and she's going to the mountains tomorrow with her roommates and I'm worried that she'll get some weird mountain bacteria! Does it ever end! :o)  Probably not.

The apartment is shaping up and I'm getting sadder and sadder by the moment. We've been to Wal-mart twice for furnishings and then food.  Today I spent the day showing Brenna how to cut up her healthy fruits and veggies.  Made sure she knows how to run the washing machine, getting her printer set up.  Tonight she's going to redye my hair and we'll say our goodbyes - then I'll leave first thing in the morning! :o(

Brooke and Erin

 

I am going to miss my girl!

So. Much!

2 Days and Counting....

The piles are accumulating... I can't believe we are taking our girl back to Radford in 2 days!  She's going to be a sophomore in college.  WTH!  I am alternating between sadness and relief! :o)  Mainly sadness, relief when she and her brother are bickering, but mainly sadness.  I've gotten use to having her around.  Granted she spent most of her summer with her butt plopped in the Big Comfy Chair watching Dr. Who.  I think she watched all 6 seasons this summer, addicted I'd say.  Dr. Who this, Dr. Who that.  I told her she can never make fun of my Battlestar Galactica again!  But nevertheless, I've gotten use to having her around.  My partner in Fit in 15 and Eating Awareness... now I'll be on my own with no one to monitor and motivate me!    She's got so many fun things ahead of her.  She starts her Bat research project as soon as she there and then the Galapagos on Spring Break.  So excited for her, but sad for me.  

Zombie Apocalypse....Bring IT!

I am so happy to have all my chicks back under one roof.  Mainly because now if the Zombie Apocalypse  starts we'll all be together and I won't have to worry about somehow meeting up with Brenna!

Bring it on Zombie Apocalypse...We're ready!

It's over, it's done, it's finished

      The room is clean, the car is loaded, the books are sold back and last assignment was just emailed in.  We are crashed in the hotel room, it's 730pm and she's already asleep.  We are just a little bit pooped.  It's all over except the waiting for the grades.  I cannot believe her first year of college is over and done.  It seems like this semester just flew by.  She has had a great year and I was almost offended by how sad she was to leave the campus and especially the dorms.  She loved the dorm and her room and her friends.  I'm not sure we could have wished for a more successful introduction to college.

     Tomorrow on our way out we'll stop by and look at the apartment she'll be renting next year.  I'm not real excited about that, but I'm sure she'll be fine.  Although on the way out this afternoon she was telling me how much she loved the dorms and how a bunch of her friends were living on Moffet Quad and she would have liked that.... SAY WHAT???!!!!  What happened to she's "die if she couldn't move into the apartment with her friends" "nobody stays in the dorms 2nd year"??? Now she says if we'd said No to the apartment she would have been fine with it???!!!  Even after 19 years I guess I still don't have it figured out.

       Back home tomorrow and the reintegration of "college student" into "living at home daughter" will begin.  I'm a little nervous about that, but again I'm sure it will all work out.  It's going to take a little bit of time for her to get back on a "real life" schedule, cause staying up until 3am and sleeping until 2pm, is not going to be near as much fun when we all go to bed at 10pm and get up at 6am.  She's going to have to find a job or she's going to go bonkers crazy.

But for now, Momma is just happy to have all her chicks back under the same roof!

So this is me still worrying...

I guess it never gets any easier.  Brenna got back to Radford just fine yesterday, but no sign of a roommate; she says her room is empty and lonely.  Now, I'm awake worrying... She doesn't have a class until 2pm today... who is she going to eat breakfast with, who is she going to eat lunch with, what's she going to do all day?  Is she going to be sad and lonely and hate college?  I know deep down, she's going to be just fine - a small bump in the road that we won't even remember in a few weeks.  But, that doesn't stop me worrying and fretting and projecting all my  "military brat/always the new girl" fears on her.  It just never ends, first with the pacifiers, then the potty training, then the first day of Kindergarten, the hellish middle school years, first day of HS, graduation and grades, premarital sex and STD's, and now college social life... the worrying just never ends.  Seems as though no matter how smooth things are really going, I can find something to worry and stress over, maybe I should be worrying about my worrying and stressing!

All good things must come to an end.

         Our girl heads back to Radford tomorrow.  She's been home for a month and I must say I was a tad worried about the transition from "on your own, no rules college student" to "back at home do what we say daughter," but it went just fine.  There were no issues besides the fact that poor Zack was never allowed in his own bathroom.  But he took that in stride.  She even came and subbed with me a couple days, worked a couple shifts at Padrinos to make some extra money and dyed a strip in my hair pink since I'm the "hippest mom ever!"

        When she heads back tomorrow, she's one of only a few of her friends who is going back.  Biggest shock... her roommate will not be returning and neither will her boyfriend!  Both, sadly, were academically suspended for the semester and can reapply for admission next fall if they choose.  It was quite a shock, so poor Brenna heads back not knowing when or if she'll get a new roommate and without her boyfriend.  Of course the first thing John and I said when we heard the news was, "you're hanging out with the wrong crowd!" but that being said she managed her time and her grades very well.  John and I were both very proud of the effort and the grades she brought home her first semester.  I am also very proud of the way she's handled this little bump in the road.  She was bummed for a couple days, but now is moving forward.  Of course it helps that we took her out yesterday and pretty much emptied our bank account for her.  Sadly, when you lose a roommate, you don't just lose a roommate you also lose... the tv, the bathroom organizer, the desk lamp, apparently the cleaning supplies, the fan...etc...  so, John and I pretty much spent until we thought our bank account would spontaneously combust and then spent some more.  She also needed a new car battery, fancy hiking boots for her trip to the Virgin Islands and so much food that I was concerned maybe Radford has stopped feeding them!  As she said, "It's just like Christmas!"  I think that helped her mood.

      It will be hard to let her go, I've enjoyed having her back around.  What I won't miss... her "borrowing" my makeup, my clothes etc... Although I guess the fact that she takes clothes out of my closet says one of two things... either I am totally hip and have all the coolest clothes or that I'm a 45 year old woman who dresses like a 18 year old kid.  Considering the fact that my closet is divided into "dressy sweats and hoodies" and "everyday sweats and hoodies"  it seems that maybe I'm not dressing my age.  I always said I wanted to be on What Not to Wear, but I know they would throw away my vast collection of Hoodies and I love me a good hoodie!  But I digress...

      I am excited for her and the upcoming semester.  I'm convinced that the Tropical Biology class she's taking along with the study abroad trip to the Virgin Islands is going to give her some great opportunities.  I envision her finding lots of new BFF's, after all  they will be working together all semester and then heading to the Virgin Islands together.  I'm convinced this is the "right group" for her to be hanging around with.  We've also elected for her to drop Chemistry this semester, she passed but has decided she wants to retake it sophomore year, so she's taking mainly electives and her 2 Biology classes - 17 credit hours.  I think this will be a good chance for her to concentrate on Biology and enjoy the semester a little more.  We'll see.

     I'm very sad to see her go back, because I will miss her muchly, but at the same time so excited and maybe a little envious.  I think that's just the way it should be.

Reunited!

She's home - safe and sound!  She made it home with a new hamster, a car that had to be dropped off at the mechanics for an alignment, 25lbs of laundry, a cold and an empty bank account! :o)  But she's home!  We ate her favorite casserole for dinner, went to the pet store to by hamster supplies (see empty bank account), had family movie night and went to bed leaving the kids up together watching TV.  It's good in the Hyzy house.

On another note, on the way home she had to go to court for her first speeding ticket.  She was going 86mph which qualifies as reckless driving.  John drove down to give her moral support for court.  She ended up with 8-hour in residence driving school, 16 hours of community service, a second court appearance in April and what I hope is a healthy respect for listening when your mother screams "Slow down you are driving too fast!"  :o)

It's great to have her home, she can't wait to see all the neighbors, eat all our food and have me do her laundry.  Let's see how long it takes before everyone is ready to kill each other!

1 More Day!

In 1 more day our girl will be home from college for Thanksgiving Break!
Yeah!  Hurrah!
She hasn't been home since August!
Tuesday I spent $322 at the commissary stocking up on all "her foods."  To include toaster strudel, bagels and cream cheese, laughing cow cheese, wheat thins and various other treats. Yesterday I put new flannel sheets on her bed. (Side note... I also purchased new flannel sheets for Zman's bed along with a new comforter and blanket, Lest anyone thinks we've forgotten we have another kid)  Today I will spend the day cooking all her favorite "real foods."  Like a yummy green chili mexican casserole that's only name is "Brenna's casserole,"  white chicken lasagna and zucchini bread and muffins.
Tomorrow I will spend the day with my face pressed to the window waiting for her to drive up...only kidding.  But we are excited here at the Hyzy House.

The puppies go to college

Brenna has been doing great at college.  We had a wonderful time at Family Weekend, but all we heard all weekend long was... "I miss Cooper and Zoey."  "Do you think Copper and Zoey remember me?"  Blah, blah, blah.  Puppies this, puppies that.  So, Zack and I decided to road trip down to Radford with the puppies and we had a great time.  I'm not sure who was more excited to see who, the dogs with Brenna or Brenna with the dogs.  We hiked and hung out in Brenna's room.  Fortunately the  weather was beautiful so we were able to hang out on the Quad and just generally relax.  I think it was good for Brenna and for us as well.  We miss our girl.

Hiking in the woods

Hanging on the Quad

Brenna's room

Together again!

College Boy

College Girl

Only proof Mom was actually here

She loves her pup

She missed her Bro too!

They dress up in college too!

Super girl

Pirate girl

Apparently Brenna had at least 3 different Halloweens at college!  I must say after perusing, some would say creeping, on all the pictures posted on Facebook - I am so proud of my girl.  She looked totally cute and fun and hip and cool.  And while there were short skirts and fish net - she never looked trampy or slutty or dressed in anything that would make her mother cringe.  Now she may be totally sandbagging me, but she seems to be making good decisions and standing firm to her beliefs and her sense of what is right for her no matter what others around her are doing.  She is so much stronger and more self-confident than I was at the same age.  I am so proud of her.

Radford Weekend Recap

Our trip to Radford was a huge success!  We got down there Friday night and met up with our girl.  It was so good to see her.  I think she was just as happy to see us as we were to see her.  I thought she might strangle her brother she hugged him to long and so hard.

Matching "stoner" hoodies

 College is hard work!

Her dorm room looks great, they've decorated it nicely and they are keeping it clean and very homey.  Some of my OCD tendencies seemed to have rubbed off on Brenna and I don't know if that's good or bad, but it does make for a nicely comfortable dorm room.  We took her out to dinner and then left her hang out with her friends. The next day we met up for all sorts of fun and game.  We had nice breakfast, took our girl to the mall to buy all sorts of "necessities" including 2 pairs of jeans for Mom! :o)  Went to the school bookstore and got our Radford hoodies - we also walked around downtown Radford, which is really about 4 stores, a gas station, a CVS and a really cool "stoner" store called Lamours.  The latest rage are these hemp hoodies that are called Bajas, but John and I refer to them as stoner hoodies, anyway we had to get one for the Z-man who is going to be the coolest kid in middle school!

 We walked all over campus, which really isn't that big, but totally exhausted us.  Went to a folk festival on the Quad and bought apple butter, and a weed pot and corn husks flowers.  Listened to bluegrass music and generally just hung out.  It totally wore us out and we had to go back to B's dorm and literally take a little nap.  I am WAY TO OLD to be in college that's for damn sure.

I don't know why they are so tired?

 We played some pool, saw a Comedian/Magician performer and just generally had a great time.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  It's been a looooooong time since we've had a family outing that didn't end in tears, screaming or pouting.  The kids got along, the parents got along and the kids and parents got along!  That just never happens.
I am so proud of Brenna.  She's doing such a great job so far.  She's bringing in 2 A's, 1 B and 1 C (2 points away from a B) and her Chemistry grade.  Not doing great in Chemistry, but she's got a plan and she's working on getting it together.  She's planning on getting a tutor to help her and has already been in to talk to her professor during his office hours.

This is from the girl who in the 9th grade would rather take a 0 than ask the teacher which basket to put her homework in.  She had the homework done and with her, but instead of asking where to put it she just kept it.  That girl is not meeting with her professors and talking to the Learning Resource Center.  She asks for our opinions and listens and then makes it work for her.  I'm so proud of her.
The other thing that pleases me is Brenna's willingness to share all sorts of "stuff" that is going on at college.  Probably more than I really want to know, but I love that she's comfortable enough with us that she will share what's going on in her life.  I try and just listen and affirm that she's making good choices and give her advice if it seems receptive.  I just can't say enough how proud I am of her.  When I think back to all those horrific years in middle school and the beginning of high school when we despaired that she'd grow up to be anything except a pathological liar and felon and I look at her now and I am amazed!  She is smart, funny, kind, loving and taking charge of her life.  How did we get so lucky!?
I will end this with the 2 best quotes of the weekend:
"You'd be surprised how much puke I've seen!" - Brenna
"You know you've got another child!" - Zack
Geez I love my kids!

On the road again...

We are ready to go, headed down to Radford for our first College Family Weekend!  Can't wait to see our girl!  2 months is long time!  The car is loaded down with all those college essentials... wheat thins, mint oreos, printer ink, can opener and quarters!   Aahhh the things you miss when you no longer live at home.    Gonna spoil that girl when we get there.  Watch out Radford!

It's All Over But the Crying!

We moved our girl down to Radford this weekend.  I don't know how it can be true that my sweet baby girl is in college now.  I must admit it was a little bit harder for me than I thought it would be.  I'm so excited and happy for her, but at the same time I can't believe she's not going to be here everyday.   It would be so much easier if they could go to college when they are freshman or sophomores in high school.  No one likes them at that age and it would so much easier to let them go.  Instead, life waits until they turn into real people, fun people that you want to hang around with and then they leave for college.  We got her all moved in with no problem.  Their room is actually much bigger than we expected and they had plenty of room to fit everything in.

Roommate Samantha

Zack putting together the incredibly complicated storage shelf

It reminded me a lot of the first day of Kindergarten panic.  You are sending them off, not knowing if they'll have anyone to eat lunch with, if they'll find friends, if people will be mean to them, if they'll get lost or be sad or whatever.  But instead of getting them home safe and sound at the end of the day - it lasts for 3 months! You've said all you can say, you've tried to equip them to stand on their own two feet and be happy and successful and self confident, but you don't know if any of it sticks. You know how wonderful and beautiful and smart and kind and fun and amazing they are and you can only hope that everyone else sees it.  I don't know how my parents did it.  At least we have texting and FaceTime and Brenna doesn't seem to mind my endless "what are you doing now", "what did you eat for lunch" texts!  :o)  I told her she should change my name in her contacts list to something like Too Cool 99 and then all the "kids" wouldn't know she was getting texts from her mother 85,000 times a day!  She said she didn't care if they knew.  Love that girl. 

So, we left her on Sat and drove home.  I must admit I was very weepy for the whole day.  Every time someone was nice to me, I burst into tears. But John my hero stepped right up to the plate and anytime he thought I was getting weepy again he'd reach over and grab my...my... you know my.. Va jay jay.  Which immediately pissed me off and cured the tears!  That's my guy! 

 I think it's very interesting how each of us projects our own fears onto her.  I'm terrified she won't have any friends and will be sad and lonely all the time.  John is only worried about grades and academics.  I guess if you put us together we make a complete worrying person.

I am much less weepy now.  I've talked to her a couple of times and she's doing great.  She had her first day of classes and all went fabulously.  We've decided to have her drop History because she was taking 17 hours, but with Biology and Chemistry - I think that's too many.  For her first semester there's nothing wrong with taking fewer hours and concentrating on the core classes.  She can take history anytime.

She's doing all the right things, taking care of everything that needs to be taken care of.  Staying organized and prepared.  I'm so excited for her to be successful and have a great time.  Not too great a time.... I went to college too.

Too Weepy to Post

Our Baby Girl is settled at Radford University and I am stuffing my sorrows into a box of Dove Miniature Ice Cream bars.  Will write more and include pictures when I get myself under control!

Summer Update #1

We are 2 weeks into summer vacation and it's been both busy, busy, busy and very quiet at the same time. So... what have we done?

#1 - I've heard "I'm bored" twice.  Maybe that's not so bad except that the first time it was uttered was on DAY ONE of vacation... Zack was the culprit.  And the 2nd time I heard it was on on DAY TWO and this time it was Brenna.  So I said to myself..."Self we need to nip this shit in the bud!"  I immediately whipped out my Summer To Do List which has delicious nuggets like wash baseboards, clean windows,  or steam clean carpet.  Surprise, surprise when given these options the boredom magically disappeared and I haven't heard a peep since then.

#2 - We made another road trip to Radford and got our girl registered for classes.  We were very excited to discover that for a Biology major she only has to take Statistics and one Math class.  That is very exciting for us - since math is definitely not her forte.  She'll skip math this year, take a refresher at NOVA next summer and hopefully zip right through College Algebra.  Stats... we'll just have to see.  She's also taking Freshman English, Biology Seminar, Bio and Lab, Chemistry and Lab, History and University 100 which is a intro to college class they ask all freshman to take.  It's a pretty jam-packed schedule but she can handle it. She has her actual schedule set up pretty sweetly for a freshman.  She only has 2 classes on Mon and the first one is at 11am.  She only has one class on Friday at 11am.  Her heavy days are Tues and Thurs with Weds being a middle day.  So it's definitely workable for her.  She also got to actually meet her roommate.  They found each other on Facebook and have been messaging back and forth - so it was good for them to actually meet and discover that they do like each other.  She is so excited and now is ready for summer to be over so she can head off to college!

#3 Zack got his traditional "cut it all off" summer "Do."

Before

After

#4 - We've hit the pool a number of times, the weather has been horribly hot and humid.

#5 - We've seen Green Lantern (heart you Ryan Reynolds), Transformers 3 (better than the 2nd one), Super 8 (super awesome) and have many more on the "want to see" movie list.

#6 - We completely cleaned out the toy room.  Since Brenna will be away at college we are going to move all Zack's game systems and "toys" down to the basement and turn the toy room into a home office for John.  We cleaned and boxed and sorted and purged our guts out!  Goodwill came and we had so much packed up and boxed around that when John came home from work he said, "Are we moving again?  I don't want to move!"   Now the toy room is empty and awaiting the installation of home office stuff.

#7 - The kids have slept in till all hours of the afternoon.  Zack got up at 230p today.  I feel weird making them wake up just because I don't think they should still be sleeping, so I let them sleep.

All in all, a successful first two weeks....

She's a Highlander!

We visited Radford University this weekend and.... turns out....it's THE ONE!  She really liked it.  After visiting both ODU and Radford, this school is definitely more "Brenna."  It's quite rural, lots of farms, cows and horses.  Did I mention HORSES everywhere! 

 

Library

It's smaller than ODU which is not a bad thing, beautiful campus.  There's not a huge amount of graduate level opportunities in the Science college and while that seems a negative at first, what it means for the undergraduates, is much more opportunity to do research and publish papers and gain valuable experience. Since she has no idea what she wants to do except major in biology and work with animals, her Master's degree would probably be very specialized anyway and require transfering regardless of where she starts off.

 

Freshman Dorm





Student activites center

She liked the dorms.  Excuse me... Residence halls.  They are all suite style, which means 2 rooms or 4 girls share one bathroom.  The days of a bathroom at the end of the hall with all the rooms sharing are over.  Nice!
So, we made our deposit and we are on our way to being Radford Highlanders!

DREAD THE RED!

Make me a Monarch or...

Brenna, Mel-weenie (Brenna's BFF) and I road tripped down to Old Dominion University's "Make Me a Monarch" day. We spent the night in a hotel so we could be there bright and early for the program.

It was a well done and informative program. Of course, you had to weed through all the propaganda and rah-rah "This is the BEST university ever" cheering. But, Brenna came away loving it and very excited about going there. We'll hit Radford next weekend before she makes her final decision.

I liked ODU, its a beautiful campus and seems to have a decent sized Biology department. You hear a lot about ODU being a party school, but frankly I figure if they are going to party, then they are going to party and any school will become a party school. Likewise, if they aren't going to party it doesn't matter what the school is like. Brenna has a good head on her shoulders.

Really the biggest draws for me... Schlotzkey's and Sonic right on the way!!! I say sign her up!