Category Archives: Home & Family

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)

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!