Oh what a difference an hour can make
Sorry for the long silence. Life has been hectic. Here's the quick overview:
Just in case you've missed something, Ben and Jordan (our two oldest boys) were all set to attend Clemson University. We rented an apartment, made all the arrangements for financial aid, and did all the other things that are involved in moving two kids 13-hours away. Our plan was to leave at noon on Saturday, August 18th. Because we're always running late, at noon we were still loading the trailer with their belongings. Had we left at noon we wouldn't have known what the mailman delivered that day until Jeff and I returned home a week later. In the mail was a large envelope from Penn State University addressed to Ben. On the outside of the envelope was the word, "Congratulations". Ben has wanted to attend Penn State - Main Campus for a while now. He applied to their Physics program at the same time he applied to Clemson's Physics program. Clemson informed him within one week after applying that he had been accepted. Ben called PSU all summer and was continually told that no decision had been made. Once August rolled around we decided that PSU must be out of the picture. WRONG. Jeff and I actually contemplated (for about 15 seconds) not giving Ben the letter. There was no way we could do that. Ben was floating on air after reading the letter. Jeff and I were sinking into the pits of hell trying to figure things out very quickly. (Okay that's a little bit of an exaggeration. We were sufficiently overwhelmed however.) We decided to head to South Carolina and figure things out there. Long story short, Ben was willing to go to Clemson but he made it clear that PSU was where his heart would be. He was very respectful and willing to do whatever we wanted him to do. We wanted him to be happy so we agreed to do everything we could to pull things together for PSU. But, that meant leaving Jordan alone in a 2 bedroom/2bathroom apartment. Enter Jacob, son number three. Jacob is a high school senior who is doing his schooling online. Jacob is now residing in Clemson, South Carolina with his brother. With a lot of prayer and hours of work we were able to pull things together for Ben to attend PSU. We moved him into an apartment this past Saturday. Finding an apartment in State College, Pennsylvania was no small task. I'm still amazed that it all came together. Although, all of this means that I now have three sons who are not living at home.
So now my house is quiet. Very quiet. Sam (our daughter) is there but she's quiet. Very quiet. She started her senior year of high school yesterday. If you have a kid or two you'd like to part with, send them my way.
