November Highlights:
- Lilah receives her first college acceptance letter
- We meet Tyson and Heidi’s new cat, Wang
- Luke and I begin the new snowboard season with a trip to Mammoth
- Luke starts working out, becoming my new gym buddy in the process
- Grateful for another wonderful Thanksgiving together
Lilah on a Mission with College and Scholarship Applications
Lilah received her first college acceptance letter this month from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. I actually saw the envelope sitting on our kitchen counter, unopened, for several days before I finally I asked Cathy, “Is this an acceptance letter?” She said maybe, but she wasn’t sure. I was done waiting. I opened the envelope and it indeed was a congratulatory acceptance letter and card from UNLV. When I asked Lilah about it, she said she already knew about it because she received a welcome e-mail about two weeks ago.
I jokingly told her I needed to know about these things when they happen, not several weeks later. She said it was no big deal because UNLV was just a “back up” option that she wasn’t really seriously considering. She applied because a friend of hers had applied there and that was that.
I do know that in the month of October and November she has been seriously busy filling out applications and writing scholarship essays. I believe she submitted early applications to all the schools she was interested in. Much to my chagrin she refused to humor me and apply to Stanford. I told here that with her background, her grades, activities, etc., what did she have to lose? But she would not budge. She did end up applying to one elite school though — CalTech — and the rest were UCs, Cal States, and Cal Lutheran. Well, at least she wants to stay in the state near her dad, right? Of course that is not the real reason, but a dad can dream.
One of the interesting things for me to watch in this process is just how focused, determined and impatient Lilah is. For instance, she’s not easily swayed by her parents on what schools to apply for (see Stanford anecdote above), she’s created a well-organized Google spreadsheet to track all the scholarships she’s applying to, and she has absolutely no patience for her high school counselors. I laughed when she described her “ordeal” with the counselors and admin office. She said she asked three different counselors for answers to her question and none of them could answer her, which prompted her to annoyingly exclaim out loud, “they had three years to get ready!” So what did Lilah do? She got on the university chat boards and found the answers she needed herself even though she was perturbed about having to do so.
Our Sixth Snowboard Season Begins
About a week before Thanksgiving, Mammoth had a massive snow storm that dumped several feet of powder onto the Sierras. Luke and I took that opportunity to do some boarding. Great to get the kinks out with nice soft snow. Luke didn’t really seem to have much rust to shake off as he added two more black diamond runs — Dropout and Wipeout chutes — to his list of conquered pistes. We had a great time and the place was fairly uncrowded so we managed to get quite a few runs in. Luke is already signed up for the Big Bear snowboard team and I’m hoping it’s a good season — so far there hasn’t been any snowfall in the southern California resorts.
I mentioned to Luke that he should start coming to the gym with me to get a little weight training in before both the volleyball and snowboard seasons begins. He seemed enthused by the suggestion and the result is that we now have a 3-day a week gym routine. He is now also asking about his diet and what he can do to put on some pounds of muscle. Cat and I are both guiding him in the right direction. I like the fact that he is motivated on his own. He not only asks what he should do and what he should eat, he also follows through and is consistent with his approach. Well, it’s only been two weeks, but I think he’s on a good path. It’s also encouraging for him to feel himself getting stronger as he’s gradually able to do more reps, sets and add small increases to the weight he is lifting. Makes the gym a lot less boring for dad as well as I typically dread strength conditioning.
Celebrating Thanksgiving
Another Thanksgiving is in the books. This year, I went back to my pulled pork recipe and it was a big hit. Cat was in charge of the Turkey and her corn dish, while my parents and sister contributed the rest of the side dishes and fixings. I think we’ve done T-day so often now that we really have this thing down. Always grateful to have the opportunity to bring the entire family together. Next big event will be Christmas at my sister’s house and then the year will be over. Man, where did the time go?
Hope you all enjoy and appreciate the upcoming holidays. And, if you’re looking for a family activity, go see the movie Coco by Pixar, a truly sweet film that will put you in the right frame of mind for the rest of the season.
That is all for now…more next month!