College Ho

As Carly got in the car for the trip to UNH, Deb proclaimed "College Ho!" After a few seconds of awkward silence, she said "No, I mean, we are off to college!"

And so began the day of dropping off Carly for her first year of college. We had packed the Rav to the gills with all of her stuff and, I think, probably put Wal-Mart into the black a few months ahead of the typical retail turnaround that would otherwise occur on the day after Thanksgiving.

We got to school easily enough and joined the hordes of students (with their parents) moving into the dorms. They have vast armies of volunteer students with large laundry bin-type containers that come to your car, help you load, and take up to your room so it's actually not that bad. Carly is on the fifth floor of Bixler Hall so we had a long wait for the elevator to hoist the bin to the top. We actually had to take the stairs so they could fit more bins in the elevator. Did I mention it was about 90 degrees out and about 90 percent humidity?

We got to her room and found that one of her roommates had already gotten her stuff in. Just after we got there, her other roommate and her family arrived. So, we had about 12 people crammed into this room that barely holds three, in the stifling heat, unpacking cart loads of stuff.

Here's Carly and Deb apparently trying to figure out which side of the sheet faces up or something.








And here's another that gives another look at the room.

After we got settled, we went for lunch at the cafeteria and then to the bookstore to get a power strip, and a few other things. I expect a letter from Wal-Mart shortly asking why we didn't go to the local store in New Haven to get them.

After that, we all gathered under a tent in the quad to hear all the official welcomes and messages about the beginning of the journey. I remember it all being very meaningful and motivating back when Kyle went through it. This time however, it was just plain hot and I was ready for it to be over.

At about 3:30, the parents were "dismissed". We said our goodbyes but Deb wouldn't let me take a picture - something about her allergies acting up suddenly...

The drive back was long. Partly because we were contemplating the start of new life chapters for all of us, partly because we were making a list of all the things we had to bring to her that we forgot or didn't take, and partly because I tried an alternate route home and ended up in the countryside of Connecticut behind various forms of John Deere farm machinery.

Deb actually sent a few text messages to Carly on her phone - and Deb doesn't "text".

Yeah, things are changing.