Wednesday, March 24, 2010

More letters from colleges

Tonight my sister and kidney twin came over and my roommate was home. Checkout the video of Jordan opening his letters from De Paul University in Chicago and Howard University in D.C.



(My brother brought this to my attention, in his words: "If you're at work, stay close to your volume. Hint: there's ALOT of screaming")

This weekend will be interesting. JD is off to Notre Dame. I'm so excited for him. It will be a good chance for me to imagine what it's like when he's off to college. Not like I haven't done that before. Last summer he went to Colorado for 10 days. That was an experience for both of us. When he was younger he used to go to my parents for the entire summer, spring break and Christmas break. The only difference was that he was coming home. I think maybe one of my fears is that he will go away and not want to come home. I know that's silly. Or is it? It will be what it will be. God has blessed me with the honor of raising an amazing young man. I remember when he was younger I asked him "Do you belong to me?" and he said "No God's just letting you babysit." Well my babysitting duties are coming to an end. It's not like I'm being fired. I will be changing positions; More like guidance counselor, friend, and I will always be mom or "mother".

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Kansas City Here We Come!!

Today was a long day full of emotions. I just got home from JD's depate tournament. Absolutely amazing. He and Sam shut it down. I was coming home to blog about it when I received the email below from my sister. I did one read through and thought. "That's exactly what I want to say...and then some." Enjoy the video. You will see photos at the end of the blog. Happy reading.




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Guest Blogger: Orianna Griffin

Jordan did it again!!!!!!! On Saturday, March 13 Jordan qualified for the National debate competition in Kansas City, Missouri!!!!!!!! The qualifying tournament was held at San Marino High School in San Marino (town next to Pasadena).

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category earned a trip to Nationals.

Jordan earned 1st place in the Humorous Interpretive category!!!!!! Jordan's debate teammate Sam earned 2nd place in the Dramatic Interpretive category. . .And, Jordan and Sam earned 2nd place in the Duo category. That means they qualified in three categories...H.I., D.I., and Duo. Unfortunately, Nationals does not let you compete in two categories so Jordan gave up his spot in H.I and Sam gave up his spot in D.I, and they will be competing in the Duo category in Kansas City.

The National Forensics League's National Competition will be held Sunday, June 13 - Friday, June 18 http://debatekc2010.org Thomas, Tasha, and I plan to take a redeye out of L.A. on Wednesday, so we can spend all day Thursday and Friday at the competition, then sightsee on Saturday and Sunday. It will be fun. . . wanna come?

Did you know Kansas City was home to more outdoor water fountains than any other city in the U.S.? It began its tradition of fountains for practical reasons: Water was a major factor in the growth of Kansas City. Kansas City was founded in 1821 when Missouri became a state, and from the very beginning, water fountains were a defining feature of the city. The first water fountain was part of a larger plan for the design of Kansas City. It was the stated aspiration of the early city leaders to create a beautiful city whose boulevards would rival Paris and whose outdoor water fountains would rival Rome. http://www.garden-fountains.com/articles/city-of-fountains.html

Also, it's been said that jazz was born in New Orleans, and it grew up in Kansas City. A trip to Kansas City would not be complete without a trip to the American Jazz Museum http://www.americanjazzmuseum.com/

Now, the piece de resistance . . . Kansas City Barbecue!!!!! Kansas City barbecue is characterized by its use of different types of meat (including pulled pork, pork ribs, burnt ends, smoked sausage, beef brisket, beef ribs, smoked/grilled chicken, smoked turkey, and sometimes fish) along with its sweet and tangy sauces which are generally intended for liberal use. Ribs are mostly pork, but also come in beef varieties and can come in a number of different cuts. Burnt ends, the flavorful pieces of meat cut from the ends of a smoked beef or pork brisket, are a popular dish in many Kansas City area barbecue restaurants. Kansas City barbecue is also known for its many side dishes, including a unique style of baked beans, french fries, cole slaw, and other soul food staples. Yum!!! Yum!!! Will it be Gates Barbecue? or Arthur Bryant's? or both?!

http://www.gatesbbq.com/GeneralInformation/Location.aspx

http://www.experiencekc.com/barbeque.html


Okay everybody...let's make it happen!!! Kansas City here we come!


Love,
Ori
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Friday, March 12, 2010

Carnegie Mellon .....check

Just about everyday someone asks me "Have you heard any word yet?" And I have been saying the same blanket answer since December, "Not yet. They will start to send out the letters after March 15th. So I'm thinking we should hear from all of them by the beginning of April." I have that down. I literally say that same response every time.

The time is ticking. I said I was going to stop and enjoy the moment - live in the present while he is here. Which for the most part I have been doing very well, but for the past week I couldn't help myself. I have been a little anxious. "What is my mission in life?" I asked myself. Yes, for those of you who read my first blog I didn't understand the Empty Nesters who asked that question. I can't say I even understand them now, but I did ask myself that question the other day. It's very interesting. I'm not sad or depressed. If I had to choose an emotion I would say I maybe feeling a little pensive and excited as usual, but mostly pensive. If that is really an emotion. "What will my life mean?" I have been saying for so long. "Let me get my son off to school, I'm gonna hang out with my son, we've been so busy with this college stuff." Well right now there's no more college stuff. Just the wait. Admissions Apps are done. Financial aid apps are done. Auditions are done. Now we just wait. And now I think. I actually have time to think.

Just last week I was having a conversation with my sister and my kidney twin, and they told us you want to look for the big envelopes. I had no idea what they were talking about. I thought acceptance or no acceptance it would all come in a letter envelope and then acceptance would follow up with details in a larger envelope. They proceeded to tell me "No you want to get the big envelope." I think I kind of didn't want to know that. Yesterday we got a small letter from Duke and before I saw which department it was from my heart dropped. "Oh my gosh! this must be a rejection letter."(if that's what its even called). Then I realized it was financial aid just telling us some logistical information. I don't know why my heart dropped. He did apply to 15 schools and I can't expect him to get into all of them, but for some strange reason I want him to get accepted to every last one of them. Is that the psycho mother in me?






Interestingly enough his first acceptance from Rutgers came via email. He got a small letter from Notre Dame inviting him to an all expense paid weekend to check out the school (I think that's an acceptance) even though he is not officially accepted yet. And today.....

Carnegie Mellon called to say he was accepted into there theatre department. He auditioned for them a few weeks ago and out of hundreds of kids who auditioned nationwide he was one out of 9 men they accepted into the program. Wow, 3 down 12 to go.

Monday, March 8, 2010

And the winner is...

I should have blogged about this a week ago. Shoulda coulda woulda - sometimes life just gets so crazy and throws you off your routine. Last weekend JD had a debate tournament that he had no intentions of let me go to. I asked did he want moral support and he said "No" Yep that's it. Just "No." So I made plans to catch a movie and relax, but when I got out of church I had a couple of text messages "I picket fenced semi final round...1 1 1" and "Awards start at 2:30 cal state long beach".

For those of you who don't know speech and debate lingo that meas all of his judges gave him the top ranking of a 1. Which the night before he came home pissed off, because two judges gave him a 1 and another judge give him a 7 (meaning he was the worst in that round - according to that judge)

At this stage in the game my plans changed in an instant. I text my sister and brother-in-law and they headed that direction as well. He was feeling really good about the tournament at this point. It's always a hurry up an wait situation. I guess its just preparing him to be on a movie set. We arrived at 2:15 and the awards didn't start until about 4:45. Which is okay, it gave us a little bounding time.







The anticitpation





The runners up


And the winner is....

He qualfied to go to the state competition.

**I promise I'm going to get better quality video soon. :)