oh, Kathleen, it might be better than you imagine. I think they last about 1 1/2 hours. Depends on time outs etc. Years ago I didn't give a hoot about sports. Finally was compelled to go because youngest is an all sports kid. She plays in school and took me to college games too. I prefer college game over high school. Not as rough, they seem to play cleaner, while jr High and high school is soooo rough! DD played an advanced team last summer and I got to know the rules and the plays so much better which helped me to enjoy what I was seeing. It's as though all of us parents watched for the great plays and lousy calls. I didn't holler in disgust but some parents where pretty good at it! lol! I was good at cheering them on, our girls actually asked us to be louder so they could hear us as they ran. Guess I'm saying, the more you understand what's happening the better the game! Hope you do have fun even if it's just watching the girls enjoy it. :) Their time here is half over by now I'm guessing. What have you gotten from this experience?

Thank you all so much for taking the time to give me/us these suggestions! Emily & I have been sitting here this morning, rereading every one of your posts and adding things to our ongoing lists to do, to take and to buy. They have helped so much. You've helped us both by suggesting things we hadn't thought of and you've also saved me money, because I'm not having to ship off things DD will need but we'd forgotten. And yes, I do realize that there will be local stores that she can shop at for forgotten items, but as I mentioned here before, we've been there and done this with DS nine years ago. Let me mention it again for any other new freshman parents: the local stores in the area will be a nightmare to shop at that move-in day and for at least the next week afterwards! Most needed items will be quickly sold out and the check-out lines will be staggeringly long with stressed out, frazzled parents and students. Been there, will NOT be doing that one again this time! Lisa: thank you for that suggestion! I'd hadn't yet thought of her immunization records, but have just added this to our list. Suero: thanks for that link. I've made a list of things we need to check with housing about. Lazy: yes, the school does provide bed, mattress, desk, chair, etc. I'm with you on the stores and madhouse there will be at them that first day/week ;^D Gotta run errands with DD once again. Will be back later to check on this thread once more. Lynn

Well, I don't have the nicest legs on the planet and not the worst either. I think they are a little to thin (hubby says no they're just fine) but they are shaped nice. I will wear shorts if I want to and don't care what anyone else thinks. I don't wear the short shorts. When I was younger, my dad said I was built like a Barbie doll. I had long slim legs a small waist and big chi chi's. I didn't know he said that until after he died then my mother told me. vique

I work at a college in the frozen north, and my office window looks out on a path that gads of students (mostly girls) walk by every day to get from dorm to class. They are from all over the country. I have to laugh when every year, at least once, the whole campus gets a cautionary note from the campus safety office warning people to dress properly, particularly with footwear for icy conditions. I've seen the gamut, from dorky-warm to stylish-warm to ridiculously-under-dressed IMHO and mostly looking miserable under those conditions. So a lot depends on your daughter and her approach. Also her personal sense of style and frankly, her major! I was a natural resources major as an undergrad and now work in the biology dept. The clothing ethos in NR has always been focus on the practical. The uniform was hiking boots, plaid shirt with probably waffle weave long underwear underneath, jeans and a down coat or vest. Wool hat, scarf and mittens and windproof down or polartec coat for outside. No one would look askance at you and think you were a dork around the NR building and in class, in fact if you dressed in heels and a thin coat, then you would be labeled a dork! In the biology dept. most students are pre med/vet/dentistry, and their minds are on their books, comfort is the main concern because you'll need to be studying for long hours and you don't want to be distracted by clothing items or lack thereof. For other majors, all bets are off. Popular and sensible items seem to be stylish boots, which almost all gals here wear, either with pants or leggings, and some kind of head covering that doesn't give you hat hair! Cute hoods, cowl scarves, earmuffs and headbands are popular. Nice wool socks will never be a bad item to have around. The rest is personal style. The coat style Tibbrix posted is popular around here, but not to everyone's taste. I have a waterproof, windproof jacket that is my absolute go-to item to wear, either on iffy warmer days, or over a winter jacket to provide extra protection. It is expensive but good ones can wear like iron. Can be folded up into little sacks and stashed to have with you just in case. Oh, and the day they dropped me off to college, my folks got me a long cardigan/coat sweater. I loved it, wore it all the time, and still have it! Oh, and I've always been a long underwear devotee, but I'm always cold. You might discuss with your daughter getting a kind of long underwear that she can wear under most of her clothing, something stretchy and close fitting if she goes for a more form fitting look. When I was in college, I wore a lot of men's clothes, although now the lumberjack look is available for both sexes, having gone in and out of style for youth during the "grunge" era. Maybe that's why I never got married, lol! My current SO likes what he calls a "sporty" look, so I guess I am OK.