So, this happened last Monday. The boy took his first official college visit to Villanova. Granted we have been there several times in the past. But when a last minute opening became available, we jumped on it. It was nice to hear from an actual student perspective. Key sticking points, 90% of their students have job offerings after graduation. 93% of their freshman students come back as sophomore, so good retention rates. It’s an active and vibrant community with solid educational value and, of course, sports fanatics.

His school really wants this year to be about exploration. It’s a scary world for him. Hard acceptance rates. SAT prep in the future. Figuring out his path. We’ll get there. And we keep stressing, enjoy the ride.

From a mom perspective, I’m just not sure how we got here so fast. That cute little kid has morphed into a teenager. It’s a little scary from our side too. Hard to imagine a house without him in it. But also exciting to watch his path.

In other news, he continues to work on baseball. Try outs are in 2 weeks. This offseason, he changed his swing. He now sits back like Mike Trout and snaps like a mouse trap. Before, he glided more like Mookie Betts, that caused him to leak and timing issues. He hit a 92 exit velocity today and averages in the high 80s. The goal is a 95. And the coach is pretty sure he can get there. I just know when I watch, it’s powerful.

Today, I sit outside grilling on a 55 degree day. Tomorrow, we have blizzard warnings. Life is funny that way. Full of twist and turns. The strong find ways to keep on truckin.