a new week begins; Kalamazoo/WMU visit

I have been sick lately. First came the tummy bug; then came the fever/bad cold/sore throat bug, which I have now had for about a week. I missed work on Thursday, and my coworkers begged me to leave tonight after a couple of hours, as they did not want my germs.

Nonetheless, I did manage to (somehow) get to Kalamazoo on Friday and Saturday with Bill. I mostly slept; he did nearly all of the driving (which is no hardship for a teenager!). On Friday we went on a campus tour of Western Michigan University and ate lunch in the cafeteria of one of the dorms. I can see why they included it in the tour; the food was actually good. We also headed out to the campus of the engineering school, which is three or so miles away from the main campus (frequent free busses connect the two campuses). There has been an engineering school at WMU for decades, but this campus is only three years old - all shiny and new and state of the art. The campus also has many high tech research facilities from a variety of companies, who give internships and summer jobs to the students. It is a win-win relationship for the companies and for the school.

After the day at Western, we checked into the hotel and I collapsed. After a long nap (greatly needed) we ate dinner (at the hotel, which tells you how tired I was - hotel restaurants are generally pretty bad  - luckily the one at the hotel where we stayed had good food!), I had a hot shower, and then I collapsed again. Luckily, Bill was tired and so was not in the mood to want to go explore the campus or the city.

On Saturday we ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and went to WMU for the Medallion Scholarship competition. The kids went off and wrote essays and then did group problem solving. They had informational meetings for the parents, then a hearty lunch buffet. We walked over to the Honors College and visited with those professors and advisors for awhile (if he goes to WMU, Bill would be enrolled in both the engineering school and the honors college). Bill then drove home and I crawled into bed.

The weekend went well, all things considered. Bill was happy to learn that one of the meal plans  includes up to 99 meals/week. As an honors student, he can live in a dorm with extended quiet hours and an emphasis on studying. Since he is anything but a partier, he likes that idea. He is also pleased that he can have his little truck on campus, for an annual parking fee. He seems to need to know that he can come home if he wishes to whenever he wishes to. That seems to be a security blanket of sorts for him.

So he has enjoyed his visits to Ball State, Northwestern, and Western Michigan Universities. Two of the three have offered him huge scholarships, and he has a decent chance of getting at least one of two smaller local scholarships as well. We are planning one more trip to Ball State in March, before the deadlines for making his final decision loom. I think it will be a difficult decision - he has been blessed with an embarrassment of riches in his offers.

I am pleased with the new medicine I am taking this female cycle. I got the prescription for it when I had my gyn exam. It is to cut down on the torrential bleeding, cramping, and back pain. So far it is working very well, and this period is the least painful I have had in years. That is definitely something to cheer about!