Category Archives: Home & Family

Jessica has been away at college for over two weeks. Last week were her first
classes. Also, last week she auditioned for and was accepted as an Alto in
the CMU classical repertory chorus directed by

Robert Page. You can read her delight at singing again in her

First choir practice blog entry today.

We talked with Jessica by phone Sunday night and by
Skype yesterday afternoon. My
parents were fascinated when Jessica used Skype to gave them a live
electronic tour of her Pittsburgh, PA dorm room by walking her laptop
computer around. On our end, we held up Tino the cat to wave to her.
He looked confused and purred, as always.

Besides Chorus, I think Jessica’s favorite is her First Amendment
Law class. She held her first dorm hall tea party despite CMU’s water shortage. (A water main broke.) It is wonderful to hear about my daughter’s
adventures in her new big world and, of course, we are all immensely
proud of her. But I would still rather listen to her tell us all about it
in person.

Image Copyright 2006 by John Plocher

My 15-year-old son had all 4
wisdom teeth removed yesterday. When they started to come in, the new teeth were
making his already-straightened-by-braces teeth crooked again. The surgery went well: it only required
a local anesthetic and did not take long. To make up for having surgery on his birthday,
Paul has been enjoying unlimited ice cream. Since it hurt him to
talk, my husband John gave Paul a small pad of paper. Here is the collection of
little notes from Paul on the way home from the dentist:

• I would like the chocolate ice cream first when we get home
  because vanilla makes lots of foam when you have it with 7up or Sprite.
• Whenever I swallow, it tastes of blood and is making me nauseated and
  headachy.
• It is very hard to swallow and I have minor hickups and yawns.
• By the time this is over, this stack of paper will be very small.
• The numbness feels like it is slowly crawling up my skull and my
  headache is getting worse in the places that are not numb yet.
• When we were in the parking lot, I saw a minivan going really fast
  into the parking lot then swerving perfectly into a parking space
  and after a few seconds they went towards the Safeway.
• You were shuffling the notes.
• They said no rinsing for one hour.
• The taste of blood in my mouth is diminishing somewhat.
• The worst part of this right now is I can’t really move my tongue
  and my tongue is tickling.
• How are we going to switch out the gauze?
• Hands at 10 and 2 on the wheel, not knees at 5 and 7.
• I need a blow horn to call you when I need you because I cannot shout.

Paul is feeling much better today.

My daughter Jessica flew off to attend Carnegie Mellon
University in Pittsburgh, PA last weekend. We have received some excited
and happy phone calls since her arrival so all seems well. She called last
night to say she tried out her new baking set in the dorm kitchen and even
though she thought she was making cookies, the chocolate brownies that turned out
were much appreciated by her hall-mates.

Jessica is sharing a big room with two other girls also in CMU’s
Science and Humanities Scholars Program.
She likes her roommates and hallmates. For her first
Freshman term, Jessica is signed up to study: Calculus, a Humanities Scholar
seminar on War in Society, Interpretation and Argument, 1st Amendment Law,
and a computing class. Jessica is auditioning for two choirs this week as well.
Classes start on Monday, 27 August.

My son Paul starts his Sophomore year of High School on Tuesday. He gets his
wisdom teeth out tomorrow – on his birthday. We said he could eat as much
ice cream as he wants after the surgery. Paul is getting
used to being an only child but is not sure he likes it.

Friday night, we returned from camping at the

Lair of the Golden Bear – the family camp for
U.C. Berkeley. We have camped
at the Lair every August for 14 years. The Lair is made up of 3 adjacent camps (Blue, Gold, and Oski) of over 300 people each, open for 12
weeks in the summer. Lair reenrollment numbers are overwhelming; there
are families who have been Lair campers every year since Camp Gold
opened in 1945. The Lair offers activities and accomodations for everyone from senior citizens to babies, so many families use it
for their annual reunion.

My family rented two tents and spent a restful fun week together.
This year, John, Jessica, Paul, and I were joined by my brother and
his family, my mother, and Jessica’s boyfriend, Matt. My brother’s
friend Ed and his family were also there. Normally, we would have come
home Sunday afternoon after a leisurely drive from

Pinecrest, California. However, Jessica had a plane to catch: she
flew off to Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh, PA yesterday morning. We were very glad to spend a
full week with her before she took that big step.

I will post photos soon. Last week, we saw the funny movie
Ratatouille at the
Pinecrest outdoor theater (where bats flying across the screen
add to the experience), the kids went horseback riding, we hiked
to Sword Lake and paddled kayaks around Pinecrest Lake, Jessica and
Matt performed in the Blue Review talent show, we tiedyed shirts
and pillowcases (my fingernails are still blue), and had
a pleasant week.

It took a bit of organizing to be able to camp for a week and then
immediately send Jessica off to college the next day. She cleaned and
sorted her room and filled three boxes with selected worldly possessions, including a set of baking pans and supplies.
We shipped them to CMU a week in advance. UPS tells me that they
arrived in Pittsburgh two days ago. Jessica had her two suitcases
mostly packed before we left. The first three loads of laundry
I washed on Friday were for the clothes Jessica wore at the Lair
that she also wanted to take to college.

Jessica called when she arrived at the hotel near CMU last night.
We look forward to hearing from her tonight about how her dorm
move-in and first day of college orientation went. She starts
classes in CMU’s
Science and Humanities Scholars Program on Monday.

My daughter Jessica spent much of this week cleaning and
sorting and packing to get ready for college. We shipped her 3 boxes
to Carnegie Mellon University
in Pittsburgh, PA this morning. I am sure we guessed right on
some stuff and wrong on others about what she should pack. She has
been having long visits with High School friends, kids she babysits,
her music teacher, and the students and fellow karate blackbelts at
her dojo to say goodbye. It is sad and exciting to watch my oldest
child take this big step away from home.

Almost a year ago, on
19 August 2006, my daughter Jessica tested for and was awarded her provisional
Black Belt (Shodan-Ho) rank in Shito Ryu Karate. She has been studying with Shihan

Roberto Alvelais at Pacific Martial Arts
for twelve years, since she was six. On 4 August 2007, after a year of teaching, acting as
a Black Belt and leader in the dojo, and technique improvement, Jessica tested again and
earned her full Black Belt (Shodan) rank in the JKO (Japan
Karate-Do Organization). She tested with two Brown Belts seeking their Shodan-Ho
and another Black Belt also seeking her Shodan rank. The test consists of demonstrating
increasingly complex knowledge of forms, one-on-one fighting, and answering questions
about the meaning and history of karate. Below are some photos of Jessica’s big day.
When she moves to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in ten days to attend
Carnegie Mellon University, Jessica plans to look
for a new karate dojo to join.

Images by John Plocher and Katy Dickinson (Copyright 2007)