DIS-Functional Wonder Peeps 7/20 & 7/24, 2008 PART II

[Anal Annie]

Oh boy, I dont envy you guys with all this college talk. We just shelled out 8K for Sylvan Learning Center for Cam and I thought that was a ton of money. The good news...we got 80 Disney points on the credit card.

You are not confused!! That IS a ton of money! My MIL sent DH's step/adopted brother there a few years ago & I think it paid off for them. He has been doing great ever since!

 

[CamColt]

Thanks, Annie. That is good to hear. I have heard mixed reviews on Sylvan and I am very skeptical of the whole thing. If it solves our nightly homework fighting it will be worth every penny, but we have 164 more hours of work to go before we see.

 

[Anal Annie]

Thanks, Annie. That is good to hear. I have heard mixed reviews on Sylvan and I am very skeptical of the whole thing. If it solves our nightly homework fighting it will be worth every penny, but we have 164 more hours of work to go before we see.

Fights over homework 'eh? We go thru that sometimes as well - esp. with the ADHD thing - the homework MUST be done immediately after school - if we wait until his meds wear off for the day forget it - we'll be sitting there for 3 or 4 hours. As far as Sylvan - I think Josh was pretty much a C / D student thru 8th grade. MIL had him in a Catholic school near their house. Then when it came time to think about HS she wanted to send him to the Military/Catholic school in DC that DH went to. Not sure what she has against the public schools where she lives...I think they're fine, really. Anyway, he couldn't get in w/o summer school and some study help...he has been on the honor roll ever since (3 yrs)! So it appears to have turned him around.

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

Gertrude! I'm diggin' those shoes man! Wonder if DSW has some of those stashed around somewhere on the clearance racks?!

May - sorry to hear about all your sewing woes...which sound good in comparison to all the college stuff. I do not envy you! Glad we only have the one peeplette. We procrastinated starting his college fund until finally a couple years ago - joined the Maryland 529 thing. Payments would've been a lot less / month if we'd been responsible parents and started when he was a toddler. Anyway, we just went with what they called the 2 year University prepaid plan. We decided he must get enough in student loans or scholarships to cover the rest. And forget any private / super expensive schools. Ain't happening.

OK, so May IS doing 2 FE's. I had mis-understood....must re-shop a bit! I have been trying to make a count / list of my goodies...I am off somewhere (forgetting someone)!

just got the last piece of info I needed to finish the spreadsheet. For my favorite candy and a glass o' my favorite grape, I may send it out

 

[CamColt]

That is great to hear, Annie. This better work! Today he brought home 3 Science papers that needed signing...a 60, a 57 on an open book test (ARGH!), and a 30!

 

[Anal Annie]

OK, tell me what you guys would do! I figure you guys have the most experience but I don't know...although I don't know how often you've actually flown home after a DCL cruise...

Anyway, Air Tran keeps screwing around with our flights. Now that we're down to 2 months out they've emailed me asking me to officially accept the latest change by clicking "accept" on their email.

OK, so I originally booked a 1:30ish flight home. Now it's been moved up to 11:44 which is 45 min. early. I know DCL doesn't recommend flights before 12:30...but I didn't book this - they changed it. For the DCL onboard flight check-in they say no flights before 11:25. So at least this is after 11:25. The very next flight is not until 3:00. GRRRRRR!!! Do you think we'd be OK to accept the 11:44 flight time or should we sit around the airport until 3:00?! I know it's an hour from the port to MCO. When we went down in January the security line was the WORST - easily an hour - we've always had some sort of line but usually only 20-30 minutes.

So if we stick to this flight then we should try to be to the airport no later than 10:30. That means on a bus that's pulling out by 9:30, right. How long do you think it takes on average to get off the ship? With the onboard check-in we won't have to get our luggage - just clear Customs and get on a bus.

Sue Ellen - other than what you posted I never saw anything else about them switching to the one dinner time...what does this do to our debarkation breakfast time? Any idea what time breakfast will be for us? Does it take an hour to get off the ship AFTER breakfast? Should we skip the breakfast & eat at the buffet & try to get off the ship earlier? Waaaa!

Everybody - please tell me your experience(s) and what you would do!! I don't want to accept this Air Tran email without a little advice from my peeps experiences! THANKS!

 

[CamColt]

1) We definitely prefer the buffet on the last morning. Getting to the dining room with carry on bags seems so stressful. And personally, I was disappointed in the restaurant's breakfast (not that Im the least bit hungry by the last morning, but....).

2) The flight. Hmmmm??? Would you make the early one? Probably. Would you stres too much about it? Probably. I would. Our flight got changed too...its now 2:45. We can hang at the airport together if you go for the later one.

 

[SueEllen]

Annie,
A couple of things--yes the 11:44 is a bit early, but it can be done. I recommend skipping the final breakfast (and instead grabbing something either at Beach Blanket or after you get to the airport.)
Get on the FIRST bus over to the airport (if you are using DCL transfers) and you will be fine.
If you use private transfers (like FL Tours or something of the same type) you can make it okay as well. It's close, and I generally don't recommend anything before 12:00 noon, it can be done.

If you will stress too much then go with the later time, and spend a leisurely time getting off the ship (by 9:00 a.m.), then head over to the airport, and get there by 10:30 or so (depending on the bus you take to the airport) That will still leave you with several hours to waste at the airport, but you can always get a day room at the hotel there to relax until time to catch your flight.

Sue Ellen

 

[Soccermom-Cheri]

One thing I've told the people getting off the LA cruises with early flights out of LAX: all it takes is one accident to s-l-o-w down the freeway (adding 45 min to your drive).Would you still make your flight? Does it happen all of the time? No. Would you stress about? If so, take the later flight. (There's basically only that one freeway between the airport and the port, isn't there?) There are a lot of cool things to check out at the airport - and a few yummy restaurants.

On the other hand, some people are soooooo ready to get home after vacation they'd RUN.

 

[Anal Annie]

NOT the answers I wanted to hear folks! What time is the first bus anyway? And yes, SE we're using the bus because of the whole onboard check-in thing which I thought was a FABULOUS idea. HA. My unknown thing about this whole event is that if I was still working at Arbee Associates I would probably just take the Monday off if we go with the later flight. I know that if we take the 3:00 it will be 7 or 7:30 by the time we get home...later if we stop to eat somewhere 'cuz there will be no food in the house. MUCH later than I would like for unpacking and going back to work the next day. BUT, as we all know, I am still unemployed as of today and at the rate things are going who knows what will be going on by July 27. I just hate the thought of getting home late IF I'm at a new job...will just make Monday dreaded all the more.

If we do the buffet we can go up there EARLY right? Maybe be off the ship by 8:00 or 8:30?!

If we switch to the later flight I plan to be the LAST person off that boat! CamColt - you got a bar picked out to hang out in?



Cheri - peanut butter cups and vino?

 

[Anal Annie]

BBQ RULES

As spring weather improves and barbeque units are
rolled out of garages all over North America , this is
a good time to review these few simple BBQ Rules,
which I received this week in a much-forwarded e-mail.

BBQ RULES When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the
following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the
vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it
on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils
and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging
beside the grill - drink in hand.

Here comes the important part:
(4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine...
(5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and
cutlery.
(6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat
is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring
another drink while he deals with the situation.

Important again:
(7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT
TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...
(8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread,
utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the
table.
(9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does
the dishes. And most important of all:
(10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his
cooking efforts.
(11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night
off.' And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes
that there's just no pleasing some women.

 

[Anal Annie]

DOH!!

DH and I just spent the last 1 1/2 hours turning this house upside down 'cuz we could not find the combination to the fire proof safe! I found one of the keys but not the combination. Needed to get in there for DS's old passport and birth certificate so we can go this week to order him a new one! Well, and of course we would need ours out soon too... I don't know why it wasn't where it should've been but it wasn't. After about 45 minutes of not finding it I was frantic! I was actually on the manufacturers website getting instructions on how to get the combo sent to us (notorized letter, blah, blah). Anyway, JUST HAPPENED to think of one last spot to look...and there it was. WHEW! I have now registered the dumb thing online with the combination so I can't totally lose it again!

Now. To decide about that flight.

 

[MMCD]

RJ - Good luck to Bob at the awards banquet!!

CamColt, my sister lived in Woburn but now lives in Winchster. She did Sylvan for her 2 kids because she wanted them "smarter". But her kids were smarter than the tutors assigned. Then she finally figured out that her kids were smart after all. But it did teach one of the kids better organizational skills. But we joked with her from the very beginning not to do it because her kids I felt were above average anyway. My sister could have used Sylvan when she was a kid. So to her, it was not a waste since it helped the older one with organizational skills. I don't think she shelled out anywhere near the $$ you are doing.

Annie, we had the Texas Tomorrow fund here but did not participate. It was originally for TX colleges ONLY. DS17 knew from age 5 that he was going to space. So we always thought that he would go to Purdue and no way TX A&M. Later, TX made changes to go out of state but we felt it had restrictions. It wasn't until our meeting with DS17 college counselor in July that Purdue does not offer a lot of scholarships to out of staters. But 3/4 who did apply to Purdue, got $10K but not my kid.

Rethink about sending your kids to a private college. If DS17 stayed in TX, he would have gone to A&M or Univ of TX Austin. Both are public and offer only scholarships to the top 1%. We would have to shell out $17K for either colleges. But if he wanted to go to OK, Arkansas or Louisiana, they offer in state tuition for TX residents + scholarships. But I am hearing from other parents that they are paying around $15K for schools like Harvard, Vanderbilt, Rice, Boston College, Loyola. 5K for SMU. I don't know if some of the scholarships offered were true scholarships and/or plus loans.

The best scholarships are given to the football players. Several are given full rides.

Cheri, THANK you for the awesome spreadsheet!!! I can't believe I am the only one eating early seating.

I've got to go now and unpack still from our move.

 

[tarzanman]

DOH!!

DH and I just spent the last 1 1/2 hours turning this house upside down 'cuz we could not find the combination to the fire proof safe! I found one of the keys but not the combination. Needed to get in there for DS's old passport and birth certificate so we can go this week to order him a new one! Well, and of course we would need ours out soon too... I don't know why it wasn't where it should've been but it wasn't. After about 45 minutes of not finding it I was frantic! I was actually on the manufacturers website getting instructions on how to get the combo sent to us (notorized letter, blah, blah). Anyway, JUST HAPPENED to think of one last spot to look...and there it was. WHEW! I have now registered the dumb thing online with the combination so I can't totally lose it again!

Now. To decide about that flight.

FYI..When the Tzm and Ophie flew to LAX for a visit with the Croutons this past November, we flew AirTran. Our flight and times were changed 5 different times. Unfortunately, you dont really get a choice as to whether or not you accept the changes. They use that language to make sure that you acknowlegde that they did change it. You should call them instead of using the on-line thing and get the whole story and find out what your options are. You might be able to try to bargain for something like better seats, waived luggage fees or something like that. Can't hurt to try. Good luck!!!

 

[CamColt]

RJ - Good luck to Bob at the awards banquet!!

CamColt, my sister lived in Woburn but now lives in Winchster. She did Sylvan for her 2 kids because she wanted them "smarter". But her kids were smarter than the tutors assigned. Then she finally figured out that her kids were smart after all. But it did teach one of the kids better organizational skills. But we joked with her from the very beginning not to do it because her kids I felt were above average anyway. My sister could have used Sylvan when she was a kid. So to her, it was not a waste since it helped the older one with organizational skills. I don't think she shelled out anywhere near the $$ you are doing.

GET OUT! I'm in Woburn! What part of Woburn was she in? I'm sure theres a conncection somewhere. Woburn is the type of city you can do the 7 degrees of separation with anyone.

Based on what Cam brought home yesterday, I don't think hes smarter than the tutors, LOL! I guess I just have to go with the flow and see how things progress....and hope for the best. I figure he should have in all his hours by the end of Nov.

 

[RonnieJo66]

Matt is 1 of 25 Valadictorian-elects. It's also the largest graduating class that our HS has ever had. Last night he won 3 awards for the total of $1300 plus a few non-$ awards We are very proud.

 

[CamColt]

LOL! Ok, I just realized where we live is on the spread sheet. I guess you knew I lived in Woburn.

Speaking of the spread sheet. Awesome job, Cheri! You confused me though. for the 8-9 year olds where you have Colton, Ryan, I didn't know why you were including middle names(Colton's is Ryan), then I figured it out.

Annie, now I want some BBQ. Think I could get a man to make it for me?

 

[CamColt]

Matt is 1 of 25 Valadictorian-elects. It's also the largest graduating class that our HS has ever had. Last night he won 3 awards for the total of $1300 plus a few non-$ awards We are very proud.

Woohoo!!!!!! Go Matt!!! You should be very proud, RJ & Beano! You done good!

 

[Anal Annie]

Good job Matt / Bob! You've done good! Keep up the good work! Coming from a dinky little 4-way stop sign town in WV and a graduating class of only 85 (with 3 girls named Tammy Jo) these schools these days are just so-o gi-normous!! It's hard for me to imagine these big classes.

 

[RonnieJo66]

Annie: the population of Kingsburg is only around 11,000

The 2008 graduating class is 255 Seniors.... but still prolly on the small side for most big cities




Am I the only one who couldn't open the spreadsheet? I had to have Bets convert the file fer me....

Thanks Bets!




Cheri: I love how Bob has his own category! "newly minted"!!!