It really came to fruition all summer but it slapped me in the face when Philip got his suit. Yes it is for the cruise but I think he will use it for other things too. Here he is decked out on the trip. Getting a new suit made him realize that nicer clothes require more upkeep. He asked me to show him how to iron dress shirts. He handled it like a pro.
The other big news is Philip finishing his driver's license and his Dad letting him take over his 2007 VW Passat. It is a really nice car. Philip takes driving seriously and is actually a pretty good driver. We took it to the car wash so they could clean up all the serious gunk out of the nooks and crannies and Philip is loving the car. He is working for his Dad and paying his Dad for the car. It will take a few years to pay it off.
This is Philip on his first day of school (below). He is a Junior at Highland High. We were anxious to get him registered because his schedule was far too aggressive after last year. After much drama and negotiation, we were able to drop his AP Chemistry class but he replaced it with Honors Physics (not really that easy of class either). He also picked up German III. We found some colleges require 4 years of foreign language. German is very easy for Philip so it was easy to slot in his schedule. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get into his Culinary Arts class. He was so incredibly sad. The only time it was offered was the only time AP Calculus was offered. He did get to be a teachers aid for the Culinary Arts teacher so that is probably the next best thing. So his courses are: AP American History, AP Language Arts, AP Calculus (this is a double course covering 2 class periods), Honors Physics, German III, Teachers Aid, and Woodshop. Philip is loving school this year and says it is much better than last year. And guess what? He got an invite yesterday to be in the Honors Society again this year. I thought his bad grade last year bumped him out but they look at the cumulative grade and that made it in another year.
One of the benefits of Philip taking Culinary classes is he helps with cooking. His favorite thing is to make goodies to take to school and share with his friends. Last week, this mood hit him as I was getting ready for bed. But how often does your kid want to whip out cookies? It won't be long before I won't have the chance. So we broke out the ingredients and he whipped out the best chocolate chip cookies. He is also pretty good at helping me make dinner. Over the summer, we often cooked dinner together. I love that. It has taken us awhile to learn to work together in the kitchen but we have figured it out pretty well.
Philip spent some time over the summer doing research on colleges. Since he decided he wants to go into ECE (Electronic and Computer Engineering), he can target on colleges with good ECE programs. He has 10 schools he is researching. NC State is still on the list but it turns out, the University of Utah has a good program too. You can't ignore the benefits of going to school in state. He also is looking at University of Southern California, University of Illinois, and UC Berkeley (along with others but these are the front runners so far). I have encouraged him to continue his research. There are some schools that require he apply this October for admissions his Freshman year in 2015. Yikes!! I'm hoping his Dad will take him on a few school tours to learn more. It is reasonable to think that he will end up working in the area he goes to school. His ultimate goal is to work in Research and Development at a company that does sound or computer hardware. Places like Bose, HP, Disney, or Gibson Guitars.
I know we raise our kids to be independent and ambitious. I'm so proud of how Philip is turning out. I'm happy to see him finding himself and gaining confidence that he can be and do anything he sets his mind to do. But it is hard. As a single Mom, my life has focused around Philip. I know it is going to be a bumpy ride in the next few years for me. But I promise, I will let him go be a man.
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