July 1st, 2006 070106 07/01/06 20060701 07012006

[mattmommy]

Our ds5 starts school 9/6. I would rather have less vacation time during the year also. Give us the major holidays and maybe a day before or after them. We only had 2 snow days--yippee. Already made up for them.

 

[Husker4040]

Holy Cow! My kids go back 8/14!

We had 2 snow days, but they decided not to make them up. They had 4 built into the schedule, and that would have put us out June 2nd. They would have only had to come back for 1/2 day after Memorial Day. I guess they figured most wouldn't come back for 1/2 day. Works for me. I'm looking forward to not having to get the girls up every day at 5:30, and I know they are looking forward to not having to get up! I come into work, then go back and pick them up for school.


Patti

 

[mattmommy]

5:30? Wow. I used to get up around 6:30 when I worked on Wall Street and that was rough. DS5 is in 1/2 day pm kindergarten with speech in the am. Next year is 1st grade where he's in school at like 7:45. Ouch. Not a morning family. We'll be the nuts at the pirate party or the jacuzzi. The morning of excursion we'll have the patriotic red, white and blue eyes.

 

[Husker4040]

LOL! I have 2 in my family that are morning people, and 2 that aren't. Sara and I are both early morning people, but dh and Jess aren't! I'm at work by 5:45, unless I'm billing that day, then I'm here by 4:30-4:45. Of course, that means I'm dead to the world by 9:30-10! 2 days a week Sara has to be to school early for jazz band, so we leave home at 6:45. Since I'm up early every day anyway, I figured walking at 6:30 would be a piece of cake for me!

Great news about Aunt Francie!! Can't wait to meet her.

Any ideas on where to meet? I think Deb had a good idea, but she spent the weekend moving, so she'll be back soon.

I got permission from our group to have Lisa post their info. I will get that to you today Lisa.



Patti

 

[DVC98]

Patti


I don't think I saw Deb's response about the meeting spot - can you keep me in the loop on that?

Thanks
Sheila

BTW - I need to get better with my icons......seems when I put in one of the "active" icons nothing happens - maybe someone can give me a 10 minute course when we're on the cruise - I also don't know how to active the timeline showing how much longer until we depart!!!

 

[ldb1030]

Yea, tell me what Deb's idea was!

OMG! My child gets our WAY early! She'll be done 1 week from today...May 18th!!! But she goes back Aug. 16th! You know, when it's about a 116 degrees out, it's time to go back to school!
She really does not have much of a summer vacation until after June 10th. The 1st day of break she starts dance at 6am and then goes to drivers ed at 8am, this goes on every day, Saturdays included, until after dance camp on June 10th!

 

[DVC98]

Lisa

What are the requirements for drivers ed in your state? Massachusetts is talking about changing some of the laws because of all the teens involved in accidents. My daughter did drivers ed classroom hours for a total of 30 hours and then had to do 6 road hours. I let her drive as much as possible - she'll get her license end of this month. It's pretty scary around here, so many cars on the road, so many crazy drivers. There is a local program called Skid School which I will enroll her in once she has her license - it is a defensive driving course - not cheap, but worth it (we had a friend who took it). The insurance around here is crazy too - she'll be driving a 98 Durango and we'll pay approx $2400/year for her insurance - OUCH!!!

Sheila

 

[Husker4040]

Holy cow on the insurance cost! I pay less than that on 4 vehicles! Ok, 2 of those are 25+ years old, and they will only cover them for liability, but we have full coverage on the other 2. Sara will get her permit this year, so I need to start thinking about drivers ed too. Because we live in what they consider an "unincorporated" area (outside the city), we fall under the rural laws for some things. Sara could have a school permit at 15. It's NOT happening, but she could drive to school and back at 15. I think in NE they get a provisional license until they are 18. I need to look into that. Great, one more thing to think about!


Patti

 

[ldb1030]

Sheila,
DOUBLE ouch on that insurance......we would not be able to afford anything even close to that!

As far as "requirements" in Kansas, not sure there are much of any?!?
I'm pretty much MAKING her take Drivers Ed but where my nephews live, just 2 hours north of here, they don't even offer drivers ed anymore! Their mom just took them out and logged so many hours, they had to pass the test of course but no classroom hours or anything like that..........those classroom hours are SO important to me!

She'll have lots of hours of that then I think they each get 5 hours driving.....I have been letting her drive lately but it scares me so! She's a good driver, I'm scared of everyone else, and just not knowing the "rules of the road" yet, it's just stressful! I know it'll get better w/ practice but I REALLY wish they would raise it to 18! Lots of parents would have a cow about that but not me!

Right now, she can technically drive back and forth to work or school but without a car, that's hard to do........think I'll keep it that way for while!

 

[DVC98]

DH and myself both have good driving records, we do cover our vehicles fully and have a '98 Dodge, '01 GMC and '05 Toyota and currently pay over $3K for insurance - once DD is added on, that'll go up significantly. It is crazy.

Drivers ed around here is $42/hr (they have to take 6 road hours) and $100 for the classroom hours....not to mention the fee to get your license which is, I think $65. So overall, by the end of the year, I don't even want to think what my total cost is to drive an automobile - let's remember gas is at a premium - ours just went up over $3.00/gallon last night.

DD umpires softball and makes some good money there but every time she sees what it costs to fill the tank, she cringes - she's afraid there won't be much money left over for the fun stuff! Welcome to our world!!!

Sheila

 

[Husker4040]

I just looked to see what drivers ed is going to cost me. It looks like $305 is what they are charging right now. Of course, Sara can't take it until she's 15. That gives them plenty of time to raise the price. If I sent her to Lincoln (an hour from here) she only has to be 14. These are both through the Safety Council. Hmmm.

I know what you mean about gas prices! I topped off the Yukon yesterday, and it was $52!! Gas had started to jump, so I got it before it went up again.

49 days!! We are having to start the great bikini search again. Luckily Jess wore it to the gym the other night and figured out nothing stays where it's supposed to. GRRRR! She and my mom picked that one out.

Have a great weekend!



Patti

 

[mattmommy]

Driving at 14 and 15? Wow. We were able to get a permit at 17 and only drive with a license driver during daylight hours. 18 to get a full license. I had to pay for drivers ed, the test and although my Uncle Kenny sold me his car for $1 (and still wouldn't even take that) I had to buy my own insurance. I remember buying gas down by my boyfriend (now dh) and it was .79 a gallon. We're up to $2.79 here in NJ

Mom and Dad come from NY to buy gas because it's WAY over $3 and they only live 20 minutes away. Crazy.

This is a funny song "I can't afford my gasoline". Not sure if it'll be clickable here, but you can probably cut and paste it.

http://www.atomfilms.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=cant_afford_gas&preplay

 

[happyatdisney]

I had to chuckle when I saw the discussion on Driver's Ed: I just filled out the form for Melissa's driver's ed class this summer: $310. She, at 15 and nine months, is eligible for her learner's permit, in August. She turns 16 in November, and is "technically" eligible for her license 3 months after that. Of course, we keep telling her that just 'cause the state says she is ready, does NOT mean that we say she is!!

Requirements here in MD are 30 class hours, and I believe (gotta check on this) 40 driving hours. I think that, living as we do, near a large metropolitan area, she will need a lot more than 40. We are currently about 30 minutes from her high school, as she goes to a Catholic high school in Baltimore. We live in a rural county outside the city. With the interstates that we take to get to school........she won't be driving to school any time soon. Especially with a late birthday, she will be lucky to be driving to school by her senior year.

Things are crazy this time of year around here too! Melissa is performing in "Fiddler on the Roof" this weekend: Thursday night, Friday night, Sat. afternoon and night, and Sunday (Mother's Day) afternoon. Great shows, but we're all exhausted!! Next weekend, we have a wedding in Pittsburgh, Memorial Day weekend, she and I are taking a girls trip to NYC for one night to shop and see a show ......and then she has 3 days of finals. Her school is out June 1 (a week early) due to no snow days here also ......... It seems as if it is just a whirlwind right now, and I just KNOW that I am going to wake up and we are going to be within a week of leaving!!

I at least started my list of what to take.....and hope to do some shopping for ME this week. The way Melissa's schedule is going, I am thinking she will be the last one to shop for.......she has no time!!!

(Picturing sitting on a lounge chair on Castaway Cay , gentle breezes, soft sand and crystal blue water , tropical drink in hand ................ooooh sounds good doesn't it?? Keeping this in mind keeps me sane right now.......)

 

[ldb1030]

Be sure to go back to page 28 to peek at the list! Just made some additions!

 

[Husker4040]

Thanks Lisa!



Patti

 

[MrShiny]

OK - the shopping frenzy has begun. Got the girls some new swimsuits at Costco ($11.49), ordered pirate costumes for all (had to get them from 3 places, as no one had all 4 we wanted in stock! The girls look great in them though), my wife got some nice skirts for the girls for dinner, and I bought a tux (at $150 for the whole thing (shirt, vest, tie, coat, pants) made more sense than renting). Just need to get dresses for formal night.

Can't believe it's so soon - we are going to WDW the week before, so we leave in about 5 weeks!

Oh, and happy Mothers Day to all you mothers!

 

[ldb1030]

Yes, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE HARD WORKING MOMS!!!
Don't worry, our vacation will be here soon!!!!

 

[happyatdisney]

Happy Mother's Day!!!

 

[Husker4040]

Happy Mother's Day! I'm ready for a tropical drink! I just finished bikini shopping with Jess!

I finished shopping for dh yesterday! We took his jacket in to be altered, ordered a new pair of pants (they didn't have the color we wanted), and he will need to have some slight alterations done when those come in this week. I also finished what I needed for me! I grabbed some shirts as we were buzzing through Kohls, and tried them on at home. They fit fine, so I'm done!! I have one more swimsuit to get for Jess, and one more for Sara, then clothes and shoes, etc will be done. The only thing that will screw up that plan is if we don't get the big room at Palo on semi formal night. They won't set that with our TA until 30 days out.

I now have 47 days to buy all the little stuff we need! Batteries for the cameras will be a big one, and sunscreen. I have a red headed child that got sunburned mowing the lawn yesterday. I will need a suitcase just for all the sunscreen she needs!

Have a great Mother's Day!!!



Patti

 

[DVC98]

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I'm reading Nancy's thoughts and I'm right there on that lounge chair - we have had rain for days and I can't wait to see some sun (hoping it's before July 1)!!!