Getting Ready to Empty the Nest

My daughter Jessica leaves home to become a Freshman at Carnegie Mellon
University (CMU) in about a
month. We are working through all that needs to be done before she goes.
Jessica already passed her weaving loom along to an 8th grader from Peninsula
School and in the space where the loom was are now three big boxes for her to fill.
She wants to fly to Pittsburgh, PA to go to college by herself with just two
suitcases. We will ship the boxes a week in advance so they
will be there soon after she arrives.

Our friend Laura sent her son Timothy off to New York University last year.
She said he came home at Christmas and left about half of the clothes he had
taken to school in September. Dorm rooms are very small and Jessica
will have two roommates. We are trying to think through her needs and
plan carefully. Jessica has a full time summer job as a software developer
for Stanford University so all of our preparations need to happen at night
and on weekends.

CMU and other vendors have sent us three or four mailings offering sheet,
towel, and toiletry sets for new Freshmen. We already bought extra long
sheets when Jessica was at U.C. Santa Cruz for 8 weeks last summer taking Spanish.
I don’t think we need to buy new bedding for CMU. However, the refrigerator
and microwave units CMU rents look like a very good idea. Also, Jessica needs to talk
with her two new roomies and see if anyone plans to bring a printer.

We have been shuffling money from college savings funds into ready
access accounts to be prepared to pay tuition. The first semester invoice for
$24,569.50 arrived – payment is due 17 August 2007. 18 years of planning and saving
for college and here we are getting ready to spend the money. Exciting!