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Happy 18th Birthday to Melen

Melensdad

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Today is Melen's 18th Birthday :flowers:

She asked me to help her get her LTCH (License To Carry a Handgun) as her present.

I told her that I would take her to the sheriff's office and pay for it as her gift, but unfortunately my uncle/Godfather died and the funeral was today. So its still Melen's birthday, but we'll have to get her LTCH another day. She's OK with a slight delay in going to visit the sheriff to fill out the forms.

BTW, if anyone in interested there will be leftover "Barbie" birthday cake at the cigar lounge tomorrow. Get it while it lasts!
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
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happy b-day Bob you sound as proud of Melen as i do oof my oldest my oldest by the way is about a year older
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
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And her cake!
image_zps77d9f387.jpg
 

bczoom

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Happy Birthday Mary Helen! Am I the only one that knows her true name? But, more importantly, am I in trouble for using it?

Dang. You grew up so fast. I recall your Dad talking about you going back about 9 years now which is as long as I've known your Dad..
 

Melensdad

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Happy Birthday Mary Helen! Am I the only one that knows her true name? But, more importantly, am I in trouble for using it?

Dang. You grew up so fast. I recall your Dad talking about you going back about 9 years now which is as long as I've known your Dad..

I suspect that 1 or 2 others knew that Melen is not her real name, but rather it is just a contraction made from Mary Helen. Ice Queen & Timba both knew her real name, but then again, Melen went there to visit them (twice) so they have an unfair advantage.

But you are correct on the GROWING UP FAST part. Damn :hammer:
 

EastTexFrank

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I suspect that 1 or 2 others knew that Melen is not her real name, but rather it is just a contraction made from Mary Helen. Ice Queen & Timba both knew her real name, but then again, Melen went there to visit them (twice) so they have an unfair advantage.

But you are correct on the GROWING UP FAST part. Damn :hammer:

We all kind of feel that we watched her grow up. :biggrin::biggrin:

Bob, you posted where you guys had visited several colleges. Did she ever make a final decision? You may have posted it and I missed it or plain just can't remember. That's been happening a lot lately. (Hope that I'm not being too enquisative)
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Happy birthday to her. Since she is 18 and soon going to college You are really getting old.:whistling:
 

Melensdad

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Boy oh boy do I feel old!

As for colleges, she has applied to:
  1. Harvard
  2. U of Chicago
  3. Johns Hopkins
  4. Washington Univ. of St. Louis
  5. Northwestern
  6. Wake Forest
  7. Boston College
  8. Lehigh
  9. William & Mary
  10. Fordham
All of the schools say they will inform her in late March, no later than April 1. She only applied to colleges that have an undergraduate enrollment between 4000 and 7000 students.

She didn't apply to any for 'early decision' so we won't hear anything until late March. She is actively in process with Harvard, she is going for another interview with them in another week, so she passed the first couple of 'tests' and is moving up their system. Wake Forest just did another interview with her yesterday so she's moving up their system. I think she is done with everything for all the other schools.

My hope is that she gets accepted into 2 or 3 of the top 9 schools so she has a choice. Fordham is her 'fall back' school and she should have zero problem getting accepted there. The other 9 reject 85++% of the kids who apply. For example Boston college had 32,000 applications last year for roughly 1300 open spots in their freshman class. William & Mary's charter requires they accept 66% of their students from Virginia, so only the best of the best can fill the remaining 33% of the slots and their total freshman class is under 1500 students so Melen is fighting for one of only about 400 openings. ETC ETC
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
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Boy oh boy do I feel old!


As for colleges, she has applied to:
  1. Harvard
  2. U of Chicago
  3. Johns Hopkins
  4. Washington Univ. of St. Louis
  5. Northwestern
  6. Wake Forest
  7. Boston College
  8. Lehigh
  9. William & Mary
  10. Fordham
All of the schools say they will inform her in late March, no later than April 1. She only applied to colleges that have an undergraduate enrollment between 4000 and 7000 students.

She didn't apply to any for 'early decision' so we won't hear anything until late March. She is actively in process with Harvard, she is going for another interview with them in another week, so she passed the first couple of 'tests' and is moving up their system. Wake Forest just did another interview with her yesterday so she's moving up their system. I think she is done with everything for all the other schools.

My hope is that she gets accepted into 2 or 3 of the top 9 schools so she has a choice. Fordham is her 'fall back' school and she should have zero problem getting accepted there. The other 9 reject 85++% of the kids who apply. For example Boston college had 32,000 applications last year for roughly 1300 open spots in their freshman class. William & Mary's charter requires they accept 66% of their students from Virginia, so only the best of the best can fill the remaining 33% of the slots and their total freshman class is under 1500 students so Melen is fighting for one of only about 400 openings. ETC ETC
all them big name collages i hope they don't convert her to a democrat we have al ready had a highschool teacher trying this with my step daughter every time she swings to the left i have to get her back on the right.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
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Don, Melen has a LIBERTARIAN bumper sticker on her car, owns 6 guns, is a confirmed capitalist and argued with the first interviewer from Harvard about gun control. She's also taken her economics teacher to task for presenting a liberal bias. Somehow I think she is pretty well established in the sane and realistic camp of conservative thought.

But near as I can tell every top college is a bastion of liberal stupidity.
 

Ice Queen

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Bob, neither Timba or I knew that her real name is Mary Helen!! I thought Melen unusual but perhaps a contraction of Melanie or similar, maybe Timba did know, but she swears she didn't.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Ok Bob i have to admit i thaught it was an abreveated version of Melinda as that is my wife's name and her family all calls her Mel or Milly. so how about some pics of the birthday girl blowing out her candels. i remember my youngest on his first birthday where he was going to blow out the candles more saliva came out than air to this day we tell him not to spit out his candels.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Don, Melen has a LIBERTARIAN bumper sticker on her car, owns 6 guns, is a confirmed capitalist and argued with the first interviewer from Harvard about gun control. She's also taken her economics teacher to task for presenting a liberal bias. Somehow I think she is pretty well established in the sane and realistic camp of conservative thought.

But near as I can tell every top college is a bastion of liberal stupidity.
reading that is funny my stepdaughter that would be #2 was at the er her cough had got so bad she was hacking up blood. the yound female doctor gave her some medds and asked if she was going home to rest she said no she had to go back to work. the young doctor gave her that stare my daughter said she was a republican and had to work there was no one to cover for her.
 

Melensdad

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Staff member
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Well just a few days after her 18th birthday is a major fencing tournament. The Midway Classic at the University of Chicago. Its an open tournament, mostly with high school teams but also open to fencers from clubs, teams, etc.

Its a big tournament. Roughly 110 saber fencers. Similar numbers of epee and foil. Melen came in 3rd for Saber. That red light means she got a clean slash on her opponent. The fact that she is all the way down the far end of the strip means she ran the other girl backwards in retreat. She shut out several of her opponents with perfect 5-0 scores. Went undefeated until she got into the 'final 4' when she lost her first bout of the day.

image_zpscd8a17cb.jpg


Guess which child is mine :whistling: The photo below has the seniors for Melen's high school fencing team. Melen is the only one who finished in the top 6 in any event from our team. We did have one boy take 7th place in Epee. The highest any of our kids has ever gotten in this tournament is 5th or 6th place in any event. So to have one kid in the final 4 was a big deal for our team, a first time ever here at U of Chicago.

image_zps6f1757fa.jpg


It was a great birthday present she gave herself. 3rd place, which is a personal best in a major tournament, and also a team best for her high school.

:clap:
 

Melensdad

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Staff member
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Well done Melen!

Yes it was :clap:

The best part (for me) was watching her handle herself maturely. She can be a bit of a snotty kid sometimes. Not yesterday. Yesterday she even corrected the referee when he said the score and took away a point from her opponent. She thanked each of her opponents, each referee, etc. She handled herself beautifully, win or lose. It was as nice to see that as it was to see her get that medal.
 
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