We are hoping to celebrate soon with Gib choosing a college! I don't know if it will happen before Christmas, but I expect by February we may close to deciding. He has been accepted at all 7 of the colleges we applied to with 5 so far offering basically 1/2 tuition scholarships. Two of our top choice schools award their scholarships later this month. Gib talked to the admissions counselor for our area from BSC last night for an interview. We exchanged emails and met him at the campus visit, but an interview is where you have the chance to get your name closer to the top of the list. He handed Gib his admission acceptance packet and they talked for 45 minutes. Gib had an awesome looking student resume, and we are hoping that this meeting helps Gib secure a leadership scholarship on top of merit award. The admissions guy was impressed with Gib's Eagle project portfolio and said he'd never had someone bring one to him before. He liked that and they discussed a tree fort he was planning on building. Male bonding - gotta love it.
My big adventure for Black Friday this year was to go to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. It was a little farther away than anticipated. I thought it was in Huntsville, which is closer. By the time I figured out it was farther away I felt committed to going. I have wanted to see what it was like for years after seeing it on TV once, so finally, I decided to humor me and go. Let's just say I was completely underwhelmed. We did find some good deals and in the end we were happy, but in the moment.... well:
"It's Goodwill 2.0" (to Mike on the phone who burst out laughing)
"I found the unclaimed baggage from a Drag Queen"
"$239 dollars!!!!! For an ugly pair of shoes?!"
"If I was a bride and lost that dress, I'd be happy"Mariah and I shopped together, Taryn flowed between us and Indie, or was off doing her own thing. She wasn't a happy camper - and I didn't blame her. If we liked something, it was ridiculously expensive. If a place is basically a department sized Goodwill, c'mon, you can't charge $65 for a purse! Indie, meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, was bebopping around finding all sorts of stuff. I was dreading the moment I saw her face and was anticipating that her expression would be along the lines of appalled and disgusted that we drove 2.5 hrs to get HERE. So imagine my shock, when she came up with a buggy FULL of stuff and a big smile on her face. She hit a goldmine - finding some very cute clothes and 2 pair of jeans that were like made for her! They are amazing, she looks super in them, and they were only $3 each! She says when you're a poor college student who hasn't bought new clothes in a year, you develop superior bargain hunting skills. We did find a few things that made the trip worthwhile, but I wouldn't go again. I googled ebay for the items and costs to see how well we did - and we saved $513 on 6 items. So in the end, I was pleased. Still not going back. But if I did, seeing the nuclear power reactors off in the distance (who knew?) and hearing Taryn going "aren't they beautiful!" in a voice one would expect to hear when viewing the Grand Canyon would make me smile. It's all in the eye of the beholder!
So to cap off our Black Friday we couldn't get to the outdoor mall on our way home soon enough. There we shopped like mad, making up for lost time, and knocking out our Christmas gifts to everyone in one fell swoop. Well, almost - you know it's always "one or two more presents and them I'm done" with me.
The next weekend, Mariah and I wrapped everything! It took us like 5 hours, but we did. Then the next day we put up the tree, and then put all the presents under it, and then we put on the ornaments. Which we should have done before putting presents under the tree, because we couldn't reach the top from where we were standing. We finished the house decorations, going for super simple.
2 comments:
Sounds like a memorable adventure and those are the best kind.
I love the front door! GROGEOUS!
Post a Comment