This morning Jessi signed her "2 for 7" with her company. In other words, she will get the next two years of school in exchange for 7 years total (5 years of service after graduating). For her first two years of college, as a plebe and youngster, she had the option to walk away from the academy, she could have transferred to another institution with no commitment to the military and no tuition to pay back. In a manner of speaking, those first two years were totally “on the house.” It has not been a decision made lightly. She's been thinking about today since last year. By signing the commitment papers, she is promising she will remain at the Naval Academy for her junior and senior years, and accept a commission into the Navy upon graduation. She will either owe service or money no matter what-- the consequences are much greater now if she leaves. She'll attend a nice dinner on Tuesday to celebrate her commitment. I'm very proud of her.
Meanwhile in California, Monika and I enjoyed our last leisure breakfast with my parents. We finished up our last minute packing and then set out for Claremont, about an hour south from where my parents live. She was able to check in without any problems, get her dorm key activated and grab a dolly to start carting her stuff to her dorm while I watched Balt and the cars, both parked illegally. Once all of her stuff was in her room, we spent the afternoon organizing her dorm. I was disappointed that I could not take part in her moving into her room last year, so I was glad to be a part of the process this year. She is very particular about how her clothing hangs on her hangers in the closet. We went out to a very nice Italian restaurant for dinner and then to Target to get supplies. I spent about $50 on poison ivy remedies alone, including an expensive scrub a good friend told me about and after Monika used it, said it felt amazing because it was so scratchy.
I leave in the morning feeling like both girls are pretty settled for the school year. Monika has some financial aid issues that need to be resolved, but there's nothing I can do to assist on that front. She spends this next week working in the mailroom and trying to get as much exercise in as possible. I told her to swim, hoping it may help with the healing of her rash. Both girls have books to buy books and they use my Amazon account for that, so there's still money to be spent! Having just driven away with my dad's truck, I know it never ends. As parents we give and give, I guess until we die. It was hard to leave my mom. It has always been hard for her when I leave. For 27 years I've been leaving her and every time she cries, which in turn makes me cry. I'm coming back for Thanksgiving, only 3 months away. She has strict instructions to drink lots of water and to keep her feet up.
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