MiniMac is a High Schooler

I think this where I'm supposed to say "I feel so old!" Except her being in High School doesn't make me feel old. (Other things do but not that.)

On the other hand, it does freak me out a bit. Mostly because she's going to a traditional High School now and so there is homework and Back-to-School Night and grades and getting ready for college. It all seems so vital somehow and like any second now we can make a decision that will screw things up.

One thing Mr. Mac and I told Mini-Mac when she said she wanted to go to this school was: This is your idea so you have to make it work. We aren't going to nag you about homework, keep track of your tests, or otherwise do the work for you. I anticipated some adjustment and drama over having to deal with these things but [knock wood] so far, so good.

And I can't stop myself from working about the homework and the tests even though it drives Ms. Mini a bit crazy. I think she's said "I know, Mom" about 50 times this week alone.

She's thrown herself into school activities too. She's a member of the color guard and signed up to do the Freshman Skit for starters.

She's not doing the Fall play though. Says the school's theater is lame and the play is lame. She's got callbacks with PPF for their Christmas play. She's being considered for two parts. So she'll do that instead.

We also told her, if she decided to go to public school, that this was it for a year. No whining two weeks into the semester that she wanted to go back to DVS. Well, she's not whining that she wants to go to DVS. Instead she's whining that she wants to go to Irvington. They have an arts magnet program and I told her to apply last year and she refused.

Which isn't stopping her from driving me crazy, nagging me every day to call them and figure out how to get her in there sooner than next year. Sigh.

School starting up

Mini-Mac and her friends are so excited that school is starting that they can hardly contain themselves. They keep posting things like "two more days" as their FaceBook status and squeeing about seeing each other again.

MacMadame is more in "where the heck did the summer go?" mode. It seems like they just got out of school a few weeks ago. Not that I'm not happy to have Mini-Mac back in school. But I wanted to get more done this summer.

MacBoy still not in college

So MacBoy's college plans hit a snag. He completed all the requirements to get in. But then he couldn't find any classes he wanted to take that weren't already full. So now he's going to wait until the Spring semester to start.

In the meantime, he's going to keep looking for a job.

MacBoy is going to college

I can't believe it. I kind of figured this day would come, but I figured it would take longer.

He's going to start the Fall semester on Aug. 31st at Ohlone College, which is a community college right here in Fremont. He can ride his bike to it.

The plan is to take some courses that interest him and get his General Ed requirements out of the way, then transfer to a 4-year university at a later point.

MacBoy Graduates!

Today is the last day of school so that means MacBoy is a High School graduate!

We're still finding this hard to believe.

Graduation ceremony is tomorrow, followed by the end-of-the-year party.

Next step: MacBoy looks for a job!

DVS Camping Trip

We just got back from the annual DVS camping trip. We took our RV, which was interesting. First of all, the RV reminds MacMadame very much of MacMIL and, as we were cleaning it and stocking it and packing it, she kept thinking of Greta and how much she would have enjoyed all the trips we have planned this summer.

Mr. Mac said it made him think of his mom too.

Anyway, we chose to have an RV spot instead of parking in the group parking lot for our site. This turned out not to be such a great idea because the only spot that fit the Behemoth (what we call our RV) was very far away from the group camp site and schlepping things back and forth the first day to get the kids set up in their tents and such was a PITA. Also, we didn't get to use a lot of the stuff we brought because it was just too much trouble to go get it.

It was nice to go hide out in it when the group thing got to be too much. MacMadame needed a big nap after her 2.5 bike ride all over the hills of Livermore and it was nice to nap in the air conditioned RV instead of in a hot tent. But, by slinking away, we missed more of the group feeling too. So it was a double-edged sword.

Next year, we're parking in the group lot!

Our next trip is to the Lake Donner area. MacMadame is doing a triathlon there in July. Then we had planned to do another weekend at Del Valle in Aug. but that probably won't happen. So it's Bike MS: Waves to Wine in Sept. and Santa Cruz in either Aug. or Oct.

MacMadame would like to go down to San Diego at some point, but Mr. Mac is leery of driving that far. Hopefully, as he gets more used to driving the Behemoth, we can branch out a bit in our trips. MacMadame still has "see the Grand Canyon" on her list of things to do before she dies and that would make a great RV trip.

DVS Open House

We had our last Open House of the year at DVS today. It was PACKED! A lot of the families seemed truly interested too. I'm hoping we'll meet our enrollment goal of 40 students next year. There are four interviews set up for next week, so it looks hopeful.