Returned from bonding with the blue-footed boobies just in time to:

- attend the Southern California Accepted Students' Reception for CJ's new school

- find out CJ's roommate and dorm assignment

- discover that the new computer we ordered ten days ago for CJ is now practically obsolete; a superior new upgraded model is now available for $300 less (normally we would scream and yell until we got our money back, but we don't want to get into a fight with CJ's college's computer store)

- send in first monthly payment for CJ's education – a figure equal to twice the cost of my first year of college

- face the deadline for course selection; everything that interests CJ is only offered on T/Th, so for the moment, he is considering a schedule that gives him four days off a week.

Those are the highlights.  Here are the details:

THE RECEPTION:

In spite of my vacation afterglo, I argued with CJ about proper attire….then finally gave in and "allowed" him to attend in a tee shirt and jeans.  This decison was influenced by a book "Letting Go", which is about how to preserve your sanity and your relationship with your college-bound child. I must disclose that I have not started it yet, but it is sitting next to my bed and I'm sure it would say that it is time to give up trying to control what your child wears. 

It turned out that half of the boys at the event were dressed exactly like CJ and the other half showed up in preppy outfits that I had never seen anyone wear around here, all probably chosen by parents who have not yet Let Go (95% percent of the adults I spoke to at the event were corporate attorneys). 

 CJ mingled effortlessly with his future classmates, and later said that he could see himself becoming good friends with three of them, and that only one was "really weird".