Special Olympics Golf

T-man and I got several hours of volunteering in for the Special Olympics golf tourney. These events are fun because they keep you busy and you get to interact with the athletes. It was made even more fun because we were able to carpool with the Wrights and volunteer with friends. 

The YMSL crew 

D-man Updates

We’ve been hearing from D-man a lot more this week which is nice. He seems to be doing really well. When we got off the phone last night (he called Ok his way home from class), he ended the conversation by saying, “today was a good day.” It’s what every parent wants to hear when their kid is away at college. 

He’s exploring some fun clubs (water skiing club anyone?) and some business ones as well. He’s already created a website (with yours truly as his interview subject) and given a presentation in class. Super proud of him! 

During my interview - you can see how little space he has in his closet thanks to having a dresser there….

Done with his preso 

My coaster on my desk 

Marshall is Famous!

Marshall made the “welcome weekend” slide show at Miami. I do have to say that their move in process was pretty darn slick! 

The Saga Continues

My afternoon chat with D-man yesterday was just what every parent wants to hear. How he is feeling very accomplished, how much he studied, how he only ate by himself once, how he holed up in the library for six hours, how he went up to country night at Brick street and how he doesn’t want to miss any classes. 

He said the guys are on his floor are great and from all over. There are two guys on his floor from Colorado and none of the guys in his floor chose their roommates. So even though he didn’t get his first choice for his “living learning community” (out of state), it seems to have worked out that way. Like him, none of the guys he knows have cars. 

I was so happy that he wanted to share his first week with me. The worst part? He said being sick. The best part? He said feeling accomplished. 

He got our care package full of things he forgot and some fun things we put in for him. He also got the care package that I ordered from a local small business owner. Winning all the way around. 

Around 7:00 when Alana and I were about home, I got a FaceTime call from D-man and the moment I saw his face, I knew something was wrong. I was so happy that he called me. With Alana’s help, we found out where to send him (the ER) and he had a friend walk and wait for the Uber with him. His entire face, lips, eyes and chest were red and it was spreading to his hands. 

He came away with a COVID diagnosis, some prescriptions and pumped full of Benadryl. He had taken some Benadryl that I had sent with him before he called me (the nurse said that was a good thing). 

We don’t know what caused this, but it was obviously very scary. I’m so glad he called and we got him where he needed to be.

We are still working on taking care of ourself - he walked home from the ER vs. taking an Uber (sigh). But, one step at a time. 

He sounded good today, but obviously still sick. He figured out the bus and got to Walgreens to get his prescriptions. I ordered him pizza from DoorDash and the goal is to take care of himself this weekend. It’s hard to be so far away with him sick, but we will take it one day at a time. 

Part of his care package 

On FaceTime at the ER 

looking much better after the Benadryl. Tough way to end your first week of college 

 

Self Care

Next week is my last summer Friday. And while I have had some special time with each of the boys in Louisville, I have not a day focused on “me” while home. That changed yesterday. 

Alana picked me up around 9:00 and we headed to Ft. Collins with a stop in Longmont for Starbucks. Google took us on a bit of detour, but we found the trailhead to a gorgeous hike. We stopped at a bar and grill close to the hike and sat outside for lunch. D-man called when we sat down and it was a such a treat to hear from him. The first words out of his mouth, “I survived my first week of college.” He sounded like he had a great week despite having a 102 fever on Tuesday. It sounds like that all of Miami is sick (and likely all with COVID given what D-man is saying and what I’m reading on the parent Facebook group). But, he was not going to miss class and fought through the week). Ugh. 

After lunch, we headed to the paddle board launching spot on Horsetooth Reservoir. It was cloudy while we were on the water, but it was not busy and it was so nice to be out with Alana. We had so much to catch up on as our summer schedules have not agreed with each other. Thankful for a friend today for so many reasons today. 

We saw quite a few deer in our hike - they were not scared of us at all. 

View down The Valley 

Sporting my new hat 

Beautiful day 

On Horsetooth reservoir 

B+

We tested out the pizza oven again tonight with new tools. With our adjustments, we moved up from a C+ to a B+ (I would say even higher but this is the grade that Marshall gave it). 

This time around we had the correct wood to burn, fire starter, a pizza brush and an infrared thermometer. We also found an old metal pizza paddle that Marshall liked much better for the raking the pizzas out for turning. A few more practice runs and we will be ready to host guests for pizza! 

Cooking on the front porch due to rain 

A bit burned on the edges, but the bottom was much less burned 

My “fancy” pizza with pear, arugula, prosciutto and balsamic drizzle. 

Thinking of D-man as we use the pizza cutter from Miami during orientation (it works so well!) 

13th Grade

At 5:48 this morning, I was woken up by a text alert. I glanced to see a picture from D-man for his first day of school picture and my heart melted. 

We heard a from him a few times today as we worked out purchasing books. He also gave Marshall a call while walking back from class which was a treat as Marshall didn’t get to chat with him yesterday. 

He got to experience his first online class (professor had COVID symptoms) and a fire alarm as well (while on his online class). Glad to hear from him - he seems to be doing well. 

First day of Freshman year at Miami U 

Working from the student center due to the fire alarm at his dorm 

Special Time

Driving the final 12 hours on Saturday allowed us to spend the day with mom and dad. We didn’t do anything special, but it was nice to be home and spend some time with them. We had a nice breakfast cooked by Marshall, relaxed on the front porch and mom and ran to the post office to send a package off to D-man with a few things he forgot. 

T-man drove them to the airport and T-man and I ran a few errands before returning home. 

While here, everyone kept themselves busy. There was going out for sushi, getting some driving hours in for T-man, Sweet Cow and take out Lucky Pie pizza. T-man saw friends on the day before school started and Mon and Dad visited Cindy in Denver on Friday. Im so thankful they were able to be here with T-man while we were away. 

Go RedHawks!

Do you think we miss him? We all were sporting Miami gear today…. 

St. Louis Walking Tour

When we departed Oxford, Ohio Thursday afternoon, we didn’t know where we would end up. I had done plenty of research on potential options, but none of them really hit home. And as we were driving away from Oxford, I had even less desire to figure out our landing spot. Eventually, I pulled up the potential options I had researched and looked up hotels in some Illinois suburbs of St. Louis. The hotel prices were actually quite ridiculous so we looked up options in St. Louis which were cheaper for nicer hotels. So, we gambled on Hotwire again and ended up at The Last Hotel - a boutique hotel in an old shoe factory. When we arrived, I was a bit worried as it wasn’t as centrally located as I had thought, but it ended up being quite the pleasant surprise. 

While Marshall worked, I took a walking tour of St. Louis. I grabbed coffee and gooey butter cake (a St. Louis food) and then continued on my way. I saw the arch, the old courthouse and several cool buildings. Im glad I got out before it got really hot! I came back around 12:30 and we walked to lunch at a highly rated Cuban place and it did not disappoint. 

I then spent the afternoon poolside on the rooftop deck while Marshall finished working (mostly from pool/bar). We enjoyed happy hour at the pool before grabbing an Uber to the Hill for Italian. It was like stepping back in time a bit at the restaurant and we had to get the fried ravioli appetizer (another St. Louis food). 

It ended up being a lovely day and helped to take my mind off the transition phase. And our St. Louis stay was a pleasant surprise diversion. 

Ooey butter cake 

Old courthouse 

Church from 1770’s 

Our hotel 

Pool time 

Sporting our new hats 

The Hill 

Cheers 

Lobby of hotel 

View of St. Louis from pool 

Sophomore Yote

T-man is ready to rock (or better said, tolerate) sophomore year at MOHI. I’m thankful that mom and dad are there to see him off and take the obligatory first day of school picture. I love the no braces look!  He let us know that the first day was “ok.”  I’m so proud of the young man he is becoming. 

Miami University

Well. We did it. We drove 18 hours, moved our son into his dorm and left him to spread his wings. 

We pulled into Oxford around 9:15 and had to wait a bit in line for the dorm drop off, but it went very smoothly. It also went more quickly because the room was on the first floor. When we were in line, D-man spotted his roommate walking in the quad and his family was right behind us. We also learned throughout the day that he and his roommate share the same birthday and both don’t like writing, both played basketball, and while we don’t live on a golf course like they do, we are pretty darn close to one. Lots of similarities! He seems like a very nice young man and I hope that they can have a great year together in Tappan Hall. 

We spent a few hours getting the dorm in order and while the layout is not great and the room smaller than others in the hall, D-man has a lot of storage space so he even was able to put his golf clubs under his bed. 

We ate lunch in the cafeteria together with his roommate’s family and then D-man and his roommate went to meet some friend’s of his roommate and Marshall and I toured the south part of the campus together. We then hooked back up with D-man to get some tasks done. We dropped off some items we brought for another kid from Louisville that attends Miami and then toured the academic part of campus so D-man could show Marshall his new home (Marshall stated how much Oxford reminded him of Pullman and how he felt right at home). We spent time in the Farmer School of Business, found a couple of D-man’s classrooms, went to the library, checked out the student union and picked up his computer at the tech store on campus. 

We then dropped off items at his dorm and then took the long walk to the car (which was right by the business school so he had a practice run for Monday morning). And then, we said our goodbyes. They were not long and drawn out and not as difficult as I imagined they would be given the random crying that has been happening the past two weeks. But, I feel this is going to be such a great place for him and having a nice roommate and family that is only 45-min away helps me a bit too. It was not easy for Marshall either, but we are both incredibly proud of the young man that D-man has become. 

And this is what is “supposed” to happen. It’s the next phase in our life journey and a completely new phase of life for our son (and for us). And as I write this with tears streaming down my face, it is obviously still gonna take awhile to adjust to this new phase, but we will all get there. I’m extremely thankful for the relationship we have developed with D-man that makes this so hard. As I told T-man when he was saying goodbye to D-man, we are sad because what we have is so special. We are only privileged enough to have these feelings because of the joy we have had in our past. It is the price we pay for this journey called life. And I’m thankful for that. 

Departing from Richmond with all the stuff 

Waiting in line to get to the drop off of Tappan Hall 

Decorating the dorm 

The roommates 

His decor 

Dorm set up done! 

Walking to the cafeteria - not too far from their dorm

Farmer School of Business 

Checking out the balcony of the lecture hall 

Home for the next year 

The long walk back to the car 

Off he goes. ❤️