Orientation and College Life

I guess we are officially "Tiger" fans now in addition to Bulldogs. (It has been a long time coming and Jim - an Aggie - will still resist. LOL) Andrew and I spent Thursday and Friday in Baton Rouge at Freshman Orientation. I find orientations to be boring and tiring, yet I enjoyed this as much as when I took Ryan to LATECH for his 3 years ago. I always find it nice to be on a college campus. And I especially like getting a feel for the place where our son will be spending the next 4 or more years of his life. Walking around campus also made me feel that I wished I had experienced college life, and appreciate even more that my children have been able to have that experience.

LSU, like TECH, is beautiful but very different than Tech. Tech is more of a pretty country setting while LSU is like the south with many large old Live Oak trees around the campus. I was able to take some tours of dorms but we are still in suspense of where Andrew will be assigned. He is 16th the waiting list for Broussard Hall, which is an Information Technology Residential College for freshman only. If he can't get in Broussard, he is hoping for the Pentagon area. We are really hoping for the IT College though - it would be a great experience and and asset to his major - Mass Communications with a focus on Advertising. He decided to minor in photography, which is actually fine arts.

Friday afternoon we went to the Manship School of Mass Communication where he registered for his classes and they talked to the parents about the MC program. The historic Journalism Building is just beautiful! He is excited and happy about his choice and acceptance to LSU.

Ryan is moving out of Neilson this coming year -yea! It took a year on the wait list, but he and his current roommate Keith, and two other friends from Tech, are moving into the campus apartments into a 4-room suite. I'm trying to encourage him to learn how to cook a little this summer, but he's not very interested. LOL He will have a smaller (and thankfully cheaper) meal plan so he'd better learn how to make at least a few things for himself. :)

"Sweet" Surprises

Yesterday was June 25th. I was sitting at the computer and suddenly my friend Madolyn was standing next to me with 1/2 of a cake and wishing me a "Happy Half-Birthday!" What a huge surprise, and what a sweetheart for giving me such a treat! She had even called Jim to ask what kind of cake I liked, so I got a chocolate with chocolate mint icing. Yum!

It all came about because a few days earlier I was working at her house hanging wallpaper, and it was their daughter's "Half-Birthday." We talked about it and I found out they celebrate hers becuase she was born very close to Christmas. I mentioned that I really should celebrate my half-birthday becuase I was born on Christmas Day, and my anniversary is only 5 days before. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Madolyn would surprise me with my own 1/2- birthday cake just a few days later. I didn't even realize it WAS my 1/2 birthday. Thank you Lord for dear, sweet friends who bring you sweet surprises when you least expect it. What a day-brightener! :)