Monday 8 September 2014

Summer Celebration

I thought I'd do a few mini roundups of our Summer, although we didn't seem to do much this year. The boy's cricket, work and The Builder's slipped disc and arthritic hip problems managed to take up far more of the school holidays than expected. And now 2 are back at school and Number 1 son is preparing for university. Well actually he's out with friends and sleeping mainly, if he were any more laid back he'd be unconscious!

The run up to A Level results day was a little stressful, he'd finished the exams some time ago and didn't feel they'd gone very well, as time went on he convinced us he'd probably failed! 
His first choice of university was Loughborough, mainly for it's sporting reputation. I have to say on visiting the campus on open day the sports facilities were jaw droppingly impressive - and that's coming from a very non-sportswoman. They have an Olympic pool, football pitches, several gyms, athletic track and, most importantly it's the home of the ECB National Academy (England Cricket Board), as well as having a superb cricket pitch in the middle of the campus.

However we discounted this option early on in view of his anticipated results. His insurance choice was a bit of a random, spur of the moment decision and he regretted it. The day before results day he decided to reject the second choice of Uni - the call came "how do I do that Mum?" I Googled and found that you can withdraw from a choice up to 7 days before results day; this was roughly 7 hours before! The boy who has done virtually nothing for 6 weeks decided, the night before, he wants to change his choice! 

He was in a huge panic and almost in tears so we wrote down a very long plan of action for the following morning which involved phoning other universities (lists of names, courses and telephone numbers) to ask (beg, plead) if they'd consider him, names and numbers of colleges to ask if he could re-take the failed exams, right through to looking for a job! We both had a sleepless night and I was staring, bleary eyed, at the UCAS website from 6am - 
it was due to go live at 8am. 
The Builder had to leave for cricket in some far off county at 6.45am so wasn't around. 
At 7.30 the site changed and we both stared at the screen and a shaky hand pressed the "enter" button.We both stared with puzzled faces as it flashed up "you are accepted at your first choice of university,Loughborough" - what does that actually say and what does it actually mean?? we both peered at the screen for minutes and I may have been staring through teary eyes!

He phoned The Builder immediately in his usual laid back, dead pan voice to tell him the news - we just heard a roar at the other end! The Builder has said he would give anything to have had the opportunity to go to a place like Loughborough - if he didn't have to do any writing!

So we went to pick up his results sheet from college with a happy heart and I treated him to coffee and cake in John Lewis (oh I know it was a treat for me mainly!) He then went off to celebrate as all bar 1 of his mates had got into the places they wanted to, we saw very little of him that night although his Twitter account was a little "slurry"! The next day he resumed his laid back, can't get out of bed mode and managed to miss his slot for accommodation! He's got the complete opposite to what he wanted - although I'm happy that he's in a catered hall. He wanted self-catered as it would give him more beer money - how much could a weekly shop cost??
 More than £10?? (he's in for a shock I know)

He then also managed to miss the time slot for accommodation swaps, so he isn't moving. I hope he finds some get-up-and-go before he leaves home on the 23rd.

We are very proud of him and I'm going to miss him terribly!

The only photo from our celebration meal out!



23 comments:

  1. Congratulations to your son. It can be very frustrating when they miss out on things because they don't get out of bed (or whatever) but you can't do it for them. He'll learn. But, if he's anything like my son, it will take a very long time before that happens!

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  2. Phew, you must be on a rollercoaster ride just now. I had no idea how stressful this time of year can be. I am glad your oldest got the place he wanted, it is so important for the entire career really to do something you want and somewhere you want to do it. I think I failed on both. I hope from now on life will be a bit easier. Cx

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  3. Brilliant! Yes, I would want them in-house for the first year! And he will learn the cost of living soon enough - what a shock it will be to the system! Jolly well done. Lx

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  4. Terrific news about your son. Yes he is going to have to get moving, but somehow they figure it all out. And yes you are going to miss him like crazy.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  5. Congratulations to your son. I'm sure university will be a real eye opener for him. I worried about our only child when she went off, we were living in Turkey and she had to come back to the States, but she survived.

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  6. Congrats to your son for getting the university of his choice! It's so stressful being a mom. I'm glad things worked out in the end!

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  7. HAve just read your post about getting lost and missing my craft fair! Huge chuckles! Never mind, we shall meet - some time!! Lx

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  8. Well, good for him. I am sure he's going to do great. :)

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  9. I do like how you told the tale - especially the happy ending. And lots more time for sports when you live in a place where someone else does the cooking.

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  10. Congratulations to your son doing so well and getting his first choice, despite giving you a few more grey hairs in the process! I sometimes think it was so much easier when they were younger! Sarah x

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  11. Completely unrelated to your post.... I saw something for you to make for your cricket mad boys: http://greedyforcolour.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/a-crochet-cricket-set.html...... made me laugh. Cx

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  12. As a cricketer he will be so happy there, never mind the catered halls! At least you'll know he's been fed! :-)

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  13. Brilliant news. I was speaking to a neighbour today and she could have written this exact post. Her son got Loughborough, his first choice, and got the exact opposite of what he wanted for accommodation. I bet you're counting down the days now, it's very scary when they first go, but they soon settle in and you soon get used to the fact that they're not at home any more. Daniel's stayed at uni all summer, he loves it there.

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  14. Congratulations to Son1! What a great result. :)

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  15. Oh my goodness, how stressful that must've been for you all, but thank goodness he got the grades for his first choice. Congrats to your son, and to you for getting him through it all! x

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  16. What an incredibly tense time the run up to the results must have been anyway and then to have had thrown up right at the end!
    I'm so so pleased for your son and for you too!
    Hope you are ok as the next grows nearer.
    Lisa x

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  17. Congrats! Wow!

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