College road trip

Remember back in March when Asher and I had a road trip planned to visit colleges but had to cancel everything due to Covid closures? Well, we finally made that work this past weekend. It was an abbreviated schedule, and there were no official visit things (most schools aren't doing their normal on-campus visit programs and those things that were available were only on weekdays) but we made it work on our own. :) 

Short version: We drove more than 1500 miles, visited five colleges and had a pretty good time. It was definitely worthwhile, as seeing the campuses in person provided a much better picture and will help with decision making. (The colleges were Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and the University of Wyoming. All have programs in architectural engineering, which is Asher's current thinking/plan.)

Long version: We started by waiting until Asher was done with his in-person physics lab on Friday. We ate lunch, finished a bit of packing and got on the road about 2pm. We then drove the 7.5 hours to Manhattan, Kansas. Along the way, we admired wind machines and the stunning sunset, grabbed some dinner (all our meals during the trip were take-out and we ate in the car or at a park), realized that we crossed time zones and hit a skunk, lol. We pulled in to our hotel with about 20 minutes to spare before their check-in cut-off (I hadn't taken the time zone difference into account)...got unpacked and situated and crashed for the night.

Saturday, we got up, checked out and hit Varsity Donuts. (Yum! Plus, there was a lovely park area just across the street where we squirrel-watched while enjoying our donuts.) We then made our way a couple of blocks over to the campus of Kansas State University and decided to try out the escooters available to rent. They were so much fun and made seeing the campus quicker! 

Nothing was really open for us to see or to talk to anyone, but we scootered around campus and saw the engineering buildings, dorms and student union building among other things. We then returned our escooters and found a great restaurant in town to get take out chicken & waffles and short ribs...then took those to the city park to eat and learn about Johnny Kaw. (Johnny Kaw is a fictional character created to represent the state of Kansas and the pioneer spirit of the American farmer.)

From there, we drove a bit more than an hour to Lawrence, Kansas and the University of Kansas. Again, we wandered on our own, enjoying the campus.

Clockwise from top left: the view of the main campus buildings from the main residence area (KU was a much more spread out campus)...Ascher Plaza near the student union building (didn't quite manage to cover up the entire C so it spelled Asher instead, lol)...an architecture department building...across the street from the engineering buildings...random, strange busts on a wall...and just a cool looking classroom building.

From there, we drove about 3 hours to Lincoln, Nebraska. We found dinner and then our hotel and settled in for an earlier night, which allowed us to catch up on things at home, veg a bit and even do a bit of work on Asher's college application essay.

Sunday morning, we checked out of our hotel and navigated the scary parking garage and drove the few blocks to the campus of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. We tried renting escooters again but discovered that they wouldn't work on campus. :( So, we walked and enjoyed the gorgeous fall colors...

Clockwise from top left: Asher out front...the view toward campus from our hotel room window (14th floor)...a picture I took on campus because I found it ironic--on the left is the business building, on the right is education, lol...a cool sculpture with the architecture building in the background...the courtyard of the student union building (this one didn't have bubbles like at KSU)...and Asher and I in front of the student union building.

From there, we grabbed lunch on the drive to Omaha (an hour away). We found the campus for the University of Nebraska at Omaha and actually talked to someone there who explained the two campuses. The Scott Campus is newer and has the engineering building and most of the resident housing. The Dodge campus is less than a mile away and is the main campus. The two are connected by a shuttle and lovely park area. 

Clockwise from top left: Asher in front of the main engineering building (on the Scott Campus)...Thai rolled ice cream that we found at a fun business area just south of Scott Campus (we walked and enjoyed our ice cream at a nice grassy area across the street before driving to Dodge Campus)...the science building on Dodge Campus...and an attempt to capture how beautiful the park area between the two campuses was.

The architectural engineering program is located at the Omaha branch of the University of Nebraska, but the degree, itself, is awarded by the Lincoln branch apparently. It's still a bit confusing. 

From there, we explored a bit of Omaha and found the pedestrian bridge that I'd read about online. Yes, the bridge is named Bob. He had his own troll named Omar (I neglected to take a picture...sorry!). And, while walking along Bob, you cross the state line so are encouraged to strike a pose in both Nebraska and Iowa. 

Asher refused to strike any poses like the three year old before us (who was hilarious and apparently very into superheroes) but we had fun nonetheless. 

And then we got a jump start on the next day's drive by going 2.5 hours to Kearney, NE for the night. We repeated much of the night before and got some sleep.

We'd originally planned for that to be it and just have the 5 hour drive home on Monday but decided to also stop in Laramie, Wyoming to revisit the University of Wyoming. It had been about a year since Asher had been there and we felt having all the campuses in his head at the same time would help with comparisons. Plus, the drive time from Kearney to home was the same as from Kearney to Laramie, so it really only added a couple hours to our very long trip. ;)

Anyhow, we drove to Laramie on Monday...it was very, very windy but we made it. We drove around town and walked around campus...

(mostly just pictures of engineering buildings and the places Asher would have classes...plus us in front of the student union building)...

And then we drove home. Whew.

And that's what Asher and I did over the weekend. We're catching up now and hoping to finish college applications shortly. More to say but this has gotten long enough already... :)

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday. Yes, we're still fattening up the squirrels in our backyard. They have names now and we can mostly recognize them by their features, tendencies and nut preference. We definitely have issues, lol. And, yes, I'm still sorting legos. I'm down to the last dozen sets I think. Will update more on that later. For now, here's my list of things I'm thankful for this week...

1. Being done with the FAFSA yet again. Last Thursday I filled out my eleventh and twelfth FAFSAs. Between undergrad, law & graduate school for me and then Noah (who's now in his third year of college), I'd already done ten FAFSA processes. This year, with Asher starting college next year, I had two more. Lovely. On the plus side, the process is considerably easier these days than back when I had to fill them all out by hand and when I had to gather all my parents' financial information. :) Even better, I discovered a button after submitting Asher's that asked if he had a sibling who also needed to fill one out. Using that, I didn't have to re-enter all the parent information, which was fabulous. Whew.

2. CEC's recent decision. The local high schools will be transitioning to a hybrid schedule mid-month...with students divided into two groups, with half going in-person two days a week and the other half going in-person two days a week and everyone continuing online schooling three days a week. CEC's high school, though, has announced that they will not be doing that. And we're all good with that (even Micah!).

The CEC leadership team explained that, unlike the other local high schools, CEC is an accelerated semester-based program. Given that, and given that the transition to hybrid learning would mean lost instructional time as students adjusted, they decided that switching mid-term was not in the best academic interests of the students. Agreed and thankful! 

So, the current plan is that the CEC high school will switch to hybrid learning in January with the new semester... 

3. Outdoor rock climbing. Micah has been wanting to try outdoor rock climbing pretty much since he started climbing. :) Initially, we waited because we wanted him to take a class first, and he wasn't old enough to take the class on his own. Then we ended up waiting because during the pandemic climbers were encouraged not to take the extra risk of outdoor climbing when health/emergency services were already pressed.

Last weekend, with hospital admissions being well under control here and Micah being a much better climber than before, we finally let him climb with a couple of teammates. Due to weekend schedules, they ended up meeting at 6 in the morning up at Horsetooth Reservoir at a climbing area called Rotary Park. It was fairly smoky but lovely...

I was irritated because the plan had been for me to be able to park and watch the boys, maybe even try an easy boulder problem myself. But. We discovered when we got there that the parking lot is gated and wouldn't open until sunrise. So. I let Micah go with his friends and proceeded to drive around, waiting for sunrise and realizing that they really don't want you to park pretty much anywhere other than the gated lots (so many no parking signs). To add insult to injury, no one ever came to open the gates. Micah was done by 8:30 and the gates still hadn't opened (sunrise was about 7am). It wasn't just me...at least three dozen others came and went trying to get into the parking lot also. Grr. 

Deep breath. :) So. I had a not great early morning driving around and periodically stopping and reading or something. (I may have also left a disgruntled voice mail for the department responsible for the gated lots, lol.) I saw some deer and a very hazy sunrise.

Meanwhile, Micah had a good time being introduced to outdoor climbing by his friends (who have done this plenty and had the gear necessary). Thankfully, they even took some pictures for me to see. Here's Micah toward the beginning (still using head lamps)...

...and after he'd warmed up a bit...

And now he's ordered his own crash pad and is hoping to be able to go again soon (preferably at a time when the parking lots are open). Thankful we live so near opportunities like this!

4. Video meetings. I'll admit it. I'm not generally a fan of video meetings or even talking on the phone, lol. But. I'm thankful this week for technology and video meetings since it meant that I didn't have to leave the house and that, ultimately, less time was spent (no travel time or getting there a little early or any of that). I had meetings for National Honor Society (an informational meeting for Micah...all of my guys have been invited to join but only Micah has been interested in doing so) and for our HOA (I volunteered to be on the committee to help update our bylaws and covenants). Done. :) 

5. Bouldering League. So, Bouldering League at Ascent finished Monday. (You can read more about it here and here.) I managed to place in the top ten in my beginner category and am quite happy with that. :) Also, I'd wager that if you broke it down by age within the categories, I'd have won for my age group, lol. So there. 

In any case, it was a fun experience and challenge, and I'm really glad to have done it. I didn't get the event shirt like Micah did so ordered myself these awesome climbing earrings instead: 

I found them on Etsy and opted for the mismatched pair. They're perfect, too, since I've been wearing more studs lately so they don't get caught on my mask, lol. 

And, as a final thing to be thankful for about Bouldering League, the fact that it's done now means that Micah and I can switch to climbing on Monday afternoons instead of Tuesday evenings as our extra climbing session outside of his team practices. That will be good since it lets us spread the climbing out a bit more. Also, it's better for Micah's arthritis flare ups since it means fewer days in a row without activity. Yay!

Whew. Happy Thursday, everyone! 

Thankful Thursday

How is it October already?! Oy. 

Anyhow. Here's my weekly list of things I'm thankful for...

1. Drivers ed on-street driving. Micah had his first (of three) on-street driving sessions last week (where he and the instructor drive for a couple hours in the MasterDrive vehicle). All seems to be going well. It may just be that I'm on my third permitted driver in five years so am desensitized, lol, but I feel pretty good about it all and continue to be thankful that the MasterDrive program is there to help and provide some structure. 

2. The drive-in! It only took eighteen years of living in Fort Collins, but Nathan and I finally went to the local drive-in. We met up with friends from boot camp to watch Mountainfilm on Tour... 

Nathan got this beautiful shot as we were waiting for the shows to start. With social distancing requirements, the drive in had everyone leave every other vehicle spot open, then we set up our chairs together. Fortunately, John had an actual radio, so we could hear the show without relying on our car radios.  

(The boot camp crew...well, part of us.) We enjoyed drinks and such from the refreshment stand, visited and then settled in to watch the films. It got pretty chilly thanks to the wind, but we all managed and had a great time. :) Thankful that the drive in is there and is an option during these pandemic times!

3. Squirrels. So, Nathan's taken up a new pastime. It started when he saw this squirrel obstacle course video. (Go ahead and go watch it. It's hilarious!) He decided to start feeding the squirrels in our backyard and set out a tray of walnuts (since the video determined that they liked walnuts the best, lol). It started near the fence and then Nathan incrementally moved it closer... 

At one point he had it between two chairs on the patio. And now it's attached to the steps just outside the kitchen door...

Yes, they're literally just feet from our door and we've had several staring contests, lol. We give Nathan a hard time about it, but really we've all been enjoying watching the squirrels and their antics. Thankful for the fun distraction from everything else going on in the world. :)

4. Climbing. I failed to take a picture, but Deanna and I met up at Ascent last night so I could introduce her to climbing while Micah was at practice. We had a fabulous time and got to visit and catch up some while getting some exercise. We're hoping to be able to do more of this together because it's a great way to get in some socially distanced visiting indoors...which will become more important as it gets colder. 

Okay, that's my list for now. I'm sure the coming month is going to be full and have plenty of other things to post about. :) 

Thankful Thursday

First of all, yes. Yes, I'm still sorting Legos. Obviously. ;) But. That's not the topic of this post. Today, amid all the crazy and sad and frustrating news in the world, here are some things I'm thankful for...

1. Decent weather. Even though we could definitely use more precipitation and less wind, I'm thankful that the weather has continued to make getting outside possible and enjoyable. For instance, a couple of weekends ago, we all met up with Noah for a picnic dinner near his apartment and Asher did flips and climbed this tree. Can you spot him? 

He was in need of some physical activity, having completed the ACT again that morning. Relatedly, he also had the SAT yesterday morning (fortunately, his high school was able to offer it so we didn't have to drive to Cheyenne, lol). This week he also had his advising appointment, has been working on college applications and has a graduation meeting later today. Yes, senior year is in full swing here. Oy.

2. Maintenance staff. That same weekend as Asher's ACT, Noah's apartment ceiling started leaking. It started with a manageable drip, and they put a bucket under it and submitted a maintenance order, but it was the start of the weekend. The next day the drip became more serious and multiple buckets and towels were required...so they upgraded their online maintenance order to a call to the maintenance staff. Thankful both that Noah and his roommate managed all that on their own and that the maintenance staff was able to get someone to their apartment right away. They determined that the apartment above theirs had a broken ice maker...turned that off...drilled some holes in the ceiling to dry everything out...and came back a few days later to patch the ceiling back up. Whew. 

(Also, as a homeowner, gotta be appreciative of having a maintenance staff who can handle things like that, lol.)

3. Double oven. I don't think about it often but I'm really thankful for our double oven. It's so convenient and we actually make use of it fairly often since most of Asher's food is cooked in the oven. It's lovely being able to still use the oven when Asher is. :) 

4. The rearranging of vehicles. Recently, Nathan shuffled our vehicles for me. With only a two car garage and three vehicles, the minivan I generally drive had been parked on the street. In the past, that made the most sense since I drove the least. Now that Nathan's working from home full time, though, I realized (back when it snowed and I had to brush snow off the minivan and scrape ice already) that he drives the least. So now the car he generally drives is on the street and I'm back in the garage. I'm going to really appreciate that come winter. :)

5. Smoky sunrises and sunsets. Obviously I'd rather the nearby fires be contained and done. In the meantime, though, I'm choosing to be thankful for the beautiful sunrises and sunsets the smoke has created. Here's a not great sunrise picture I snapped walking home from boot camp at the park Monday morning...

Yes, sunrise was as we were finishing boot camp. Fortunately, the park has lights. At some point it will get too cold to do boot camp at the park once a week, but I'm so thankful for it right now...as it's great to see people in person (from 6 feet). The rest of the week, we meet over Zoom.

So, those are some of the things I'm thankful for this week. And, because I know you're wondering...yes, I did go back and sort that pile by color...

I'm also almost done sorting the tub of studs and tiny things into several categories. And I'm about a third of the way through going through the boys' sets to see what, if anything, is missing from each set. :) 

I may have a problem...

Yes, I'm still sorting through the boys' Legos. Remember how I said, "once I finish sorting all the loose stuff..."? Yeah, that was just crazy talk. ;) Here's a quick run down on where things stand since last Thursday...

After I sorted out the huge pile of all the loose Legos to pull out minifigure pieces, small studs and tiny pieces, technic pieces and wheels...I started thinking that I should sort out at least some of the colors, since the majority of the Star Wars sets will need certain colors, right? So, then I started new piles for grey, white, black, brown and deep blue pieces...with a leftover pile of all the other colors...

(The multicolored pile on the far right is the remainder to be sorted into colors at this point. While I was at it, I continued to find and weed out some of the original four categories plus odd pieces and Bionicle pieces.)

After I'd gotten through the huge pile for colors, I dumped out the tub of minifigure pieces...

...and quickly realized that was going to need further sorting if I was going to be able to find anything. That led to more piles...

Saturday night, we had Chinese food and my fortune read: Diligence is the mother of good fortune. It seemed apt, lol. Yes, that's a pile of just minifigure legs. By the end of Saturday, it looked like this:

There are piles of partially and fully complete minifigures, heads, hair, helmets, torsos, hands and arms, legs, things that shoot, things that are held, flames, horns, pointy things, things that go between the torso piece and the head, and a few others. Oh, and anything that I knew was definitely Star Wars related got tossed into the original tub. Um, I need to go find some more containers around the house today, lol.

And, then, because it seemed necessary, Asher and I made a totem pole out of the loose heads...

We think there were about 90 here. Some of the loose heads didn't stack well and there are many heads on bodies in this room and in both Micah and Asher's rooms still. So, yeah, we have a lot of minifigures. ;P 

And then on Sunday I got through five sets to check them and make sure they had all their pieces. Yes, just five. In all fairness, I was also doing laundry and watching football and a few other things. And, I started with the non-Star Wars sets, figuring they'll take longer. I had to really hunt for things for a couple of Micah's sets, because he'd modified things, so that also took longer. I'm expecting/hoping that the rest will go smoother, as I know that most of the Star Wars sets haven't been messed with since being meticulously assembled other than the fact that the minifigures are scattered.

Also, don't laugh, but I kinda enjoy sorting the piles. It appeals to the organizer in me. (Yes, I know many of you are not at all surprised, lol.) I may sort the colored pile actually by color and further sort the bin of studs and tiny pieces. I may even sort each colored bin further. Because, as I discovered while trying to find things for the sets, knowing I need a black piece is one thing...finding it in the bin of black pieces is another.

Wish me luck?