The College Mama

Even when I'm an idiot

Over the past few years I have relaxed about a lot of things.  Raising four kids will do that to a person. I used to be one up-tight person. It's been a very welcomed relief to be able to gear things down a notch or two. There is however one area where I still tend to be a wound a little tight. That area is having a clean house. I like things to be clean and orderly. I just function better that way. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I do tend to become a little abnormal though when it comes to having people over to my house. I want things to be exceptionally clean when I know I'm getting company. I'd like to get past this because it makes it hard to actually enjoy company when you're so consumed with having things perfect. I'm working on it. Unfortunately something happened this weekend that has negated any success I've made in this area. Allow me to share the details:

I have a very good memory. I seldom forget things...especially when it involves someone relying on me. I have a group of friends who I greatly enjoy spending time with. Once a month we get together for "movie night". Last month I volunteered to host the January get-together. Someone else was coordinating the details via email. There was a lot of back and forth communication about the time, the food, the directions, etc. In my mind, movie night was the last Saturday in January which is next weekend. Right? The 26th of January. NEXT Saturday night. Clear as can be. WRONG. Jeff and I went to the mall on Saturday. We saw the movie Juno (which was wonderful!) and then did some shopping. I was standing in the middle of my favorite store when my son called. Jeff answered the phone and immediately appeared to be confused. He looked at me and said, "Movie night!” I said, "No, no...That’s next weekend". He said, "Well, there are people at the house right now." It was like time stood still. All of a sudden I realized that I was wrong. The 26th was that day. There were people at my house and not only did I not spending hours and hours cleaning, I wasn't even there. I was an hour away. The house was actually in very good shape but I was still in a panic. I couldn't believe I had been so WRONG. So very, very wrong.

The night ended up working out fine. This is why I like this group of people so much. They are wonderfully kind and exceptionally forgiving. They simply moved the party to someone else's home. Jeff and I flew back to Wellsboro and picked up a lot of food to offer as a peace offering...not that it was needed; it simply helped me feel a little better. They have even agreed to give me another chance to host next month. Imagine that!

I'm not sure what this whole debacle says about me. Maybe I'm getting old and my memory is going? Maybe I didn't want to admit that my son turned 21 on the 21st of January so in my mind the 21st hadn't happened yet? What's more likely is that I needed to be reminded that people can actually like me even when I'm an idiot.

Great scholarship resource

If you're looking for a good online resource to learn about what scholarships are available check out FastWeb. They do a great job of both listing resources and sending out email alerts. Check them out here.

Fortune Friday

I like Chinese food. I realize it's not the healthiest option but...well, it's good. Mu Shu Pork (my favorite) actually isn't that bad calorie wise. It's mostly cabbage and how fattening can cabbage be? The Fortune Cookies are always a fun part of the meal. My last few fortune cookies have been particularly good. I tend to save the little pieces of paper with my "fortunes" on them only to lose them later. In order to remember the good ones I thought I'd write them here. After all, just about every other aspect of my life has been documented here. Why not add silly little fortune cookies to the list? Here are a couple recent ones:

This one is good for me because I am not good about calling people (except my kids. I bug them a lot). What usually happens is that I don't call someone for a while and then I convince myself that I'm in some kind of trouble. Or, that the person is going to be so angry with me that they won't want to talk to me. I know...very childish. Usually, when I finally do place that call the other person is grateful and appreciative. Not always, but usually. That's why this cookie is a keeper for me.

Here's one I received last night:

This year I want to embrace simplicity. When I look around I can't help but realize how much I have. I don't need more. I need to enjoy what I have.

I think I'll try to make Fridays, "Fortune Fridays". I have a good supply to get things going. Once they run out, I'll just have to suffer and eat Mu Shu Pork once a week. Oh but wait...I'm not going to focus on wanting more. This is going to be tough.

College Mama's baby turns 21

Monday was a sad day for College Mama. My first born baby turned 21-years-old. I'm barely 21 myself so I don't understand how this happened. (Ok, so that's a bit of an exaggeration. This is my blog and I can exaggerate if I want right?) I'm very proud of the young man my son has become. But there's a problem. One can't be a young man and a little boy at the same time. I realize that statement could be argued. It's hard for me to admit that my little kids aren't little kids any longer. You see, there are only three years between my oldest and my youngest. Yes, there are four of them. And yes, life was little crazy when they were little. There were days when I thought they would never grow up...days when I thought I would be changing diapers until I died. But now, those days seem to have passed much too quickly. Now I'm left with days of thinking that I'll be paying for college until the day I die. I realize these years will pass quickly too. I guess then instead of longing for what was, I should spend my time enjoying what is. So, "Happy Birthday" son number one! I love, enjoy and respect the person you've become. Do me a favor though...everyone now and then make me think you still need me because I really do love being your mama! 

Welcome to the College Mama blog

Welcome to the College Mama blog! I am a middle-aged mother of four wonderful children. Child number one is a physics major at Penn State University. Child number two is a chemical engineering major at Clemson University. Child number three is finishing his senior year in high school while taking classes at Mansfield University. Child number four is also a high school senior. She will begin college in August at a yet to be determined university. A lot of people have asked me, "Didn't you think about the fact that all of your children would be in college at the same time when you began your family?" The answer to that is, "Kind of". It just seemed like it would be an eternity before our children grew up and left home. Of course we thought we had plenty of time to save plenty of money for the plenty of children we had. Guess what? Time went fast. Money went even faster. We saved some but have you looked at tuition lately? It's SCARY. We're managing. We're not living on the street yet which is a good thing. I've had a different blog for the past four years. I've found that I've had very little to write about there because my life is so much different than it was four years ago. It was time for a change. Time for "College Mama" to do some writing. I've learned a lot over the past few years and maybe some of that information just might be helpful to someone else who is getting ready to send their kids to college. Even if it's not, writing about this experience will be good for me. I'm finding out as the kids leave home one by one that it's good to take care of myself because once they're all gone, I'll still be here.