The DDA Trouble Free Zone

[triplefigs]

Hi, everyone. Taught all day today, then BK had Ballet, on our way to church, and I teach choir tonight! Whew. Busy Wednesdays are back.

Tried to skim through. Deb, great patches and letter. Kristine, hope they work great! PLD, hope your DD is feeling better from her fall. Hope all the sick kiddos are better. Great story, Lynn, about your son. Glad a ton of us will be at Disney at Christmas. Fun!

Sorry, if I missed anything big. I'll catch up with y'all later!

 

[tink2020]

Whew! Just over 20 pages in 2 days... not too bad.

I'm here. I'm in a rotten mood. But I figure I better share my trip (and my news that is not all that great ) before I forget it all!

We started out driving to Long Island. Well, we stopped in PA but that was uneventful. Long Island is NOT what I expected. At the risk of coming across wrong, I'll leave it at a minimum, but I was quite surprised. I knew it was expensive, I was prepared for that. But I was NOT prepared for what you get for the amount of money you spend. I assumed the whole island (which is GIGANTIC, by the way!) would be beautiful new developments, and that's why it's expensive. Not so much. For $350,000 we could buy a 2 BR condo that's about 20 years old Kyle and I can't justify that when we can get a 3-5BR house with a big ol' yard for the same price in lots of other places... and still maybe not spend that much! So we aren't even going to rank it. That was pretty easy, and yet a very enjoyable few days. I will say this - I can understand why it is so desirable. To be so close to NYC yet so different, is quite nice.

From there we went to Delaware. This is where my good news comes in, believe it or not We almost cancelled the trip, because in our minds -- what the heck is in Delaware? Well, I'm in love with the area. NOWHERE have Kyle and I both been there for less than an evening and said "I could spend forever here". In stinkin' DELAWARE?! Really though. If you aren't familiar with northern Delaware, it's heaven in the US. Good schools, fairly low cost of living, 25 minutes from Philly (the area we were looking) and between 1-2 hours from the beach, the Poconos, DC, NYC, Baltimore, several major airports, etc. And Newark is just like Oxford (our straight-out-of-a-movie college town ). We assumed the program would be horrible (because that's how it's gone -- good area, bad program and vice versa). It was perfect. Kyle said, and I quote - "I haven't been to a program yet that answered all of my questions 100% how I want. It's like they were reading my mind"

Cincinnati very well might still rank #1 ...... but it was the most AMAZING feeling to know there is in fact somewhere else we could end up that we love. We were getting quite nervous.... while several places are "fine", before Delaware I thought I was REALLY going to have to choke back some tears on Match Day if we didn't get Cincy. I'm pretty relieved, to say the least... espeically since UC grads have historically gotten their top 1st-3rd choices. Now we have 3 I could live with!





Really not that great a story, huh? I told you that you all were getting too exited

We finished up in Philadelphia (at another program) and Baltimore. Both were fantastic cities, but the programs were very ok. We got stranded in Baltimore an extra day, which made returning to school a little nerve wracking.

And now my Critical Care course is going to be the death of me.

And I've gained 5 pounds since I last checked, but that is an entirely different story that belongs (and is already posted) on the other thread.

 

[tink2020]

Thanks for letting me have a private posting party and then write a novel to boot!

Sorry I'm grumpy..... it's been a REALLY stressful day

Hopefully when I get back on I will have perked up a bit!

Nice to see everyone posting again!!!

 

[tmfranlk]

well - here is a link to Denise's signature in another thread

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=961825

Thanks, Kate! I love the sig Denise. Squirt is a favorite around here too!!

 

[triplefigs]

Thanks, Kate! I love the sig Denise. Squirt is a favorite around here too!!

I love my Squirt. He is my all time favorite!

 

[tmfranlk]

and I 'll help you out with this one too

Amy - I haven't had a chance to look for JoJo party ideas yet - BUT maybe someone else has some ideas - just asking again to see if anyone else has any ideas!!

Oh, if only I had waited a few minutes I wouldn't have had to speed back through all of those pages searching for it.

 

[tink2020]

Aagh! The "new posts" feature is gone, too!

 

[Glynis]

Thanks for letting me have a private posting party and then write a novel to boot!

Sorry I'm grumpy..... it's been a REALLY stressful day

Hopefully when I get back on I will have perked up a bit!

Nice to see everyone posting again!!!

Jennifer, I'm so happy that you have found 3 places where you could picture yourself living for a while. Don't worry about your rotten mood; chalk it up to post trip blues, plus starting school again. I have the same feeling with my school starting up. Plus it's the middle of winter, and that always brings on the blues.

Just take care of yourself. Give yourself some time to process everything that has happened, and do something nice for yourself. Sometimes we have to put ourselves first!

Thanks for posting. It always cheers me up to see my friends on line.

 

[dumby]

Alrighty then, at now 80 pages behind I think I may give up on the idea of catching up. I'm just going to jump back in here and hope that I haven't missed my from page 55 to 135. It looks like Julia is feeling a little better at least. I hope the same goes for Nick and any one else sick out there. Things are well here despite a yucky day at work yesterday.

I do have a question for everyone though...do your kids seem unnaturaly warm natured? In my family I was always the last one to get cold. My mom can wear jeans and a sweatshirt when it's 80 degrees and be happy. Now we have our heat set at 70 degrees. Whether it is 20 or 45 outside we seem to have drafts in our 100+yo apartment house. In jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt I range from comfortable to a little chilly. Terra on the other hand ranges from naked to barely dressed and doesn't seem mind the temp. I offer clothes and ask if she's warm enough and usually she tells me that she's fine. Plus, to the touch her skin feels warm. Anyone else's little ones like this?

My DS 5 is like this. He want stay under the covers at night and is always pulling his cloths of down to his underwear and running around the house. I will be chilly and he says he is just fine. I guess they have thicker blood than we do.

 

[MinnieMouseMom]

Anyone get today's allears newsletter? Apparently you can now buy all of your photopass photos on a cd for $100 and you can then get them printed as many times as you like at walmart or at home on your printer!

Typical - why didn't i know that before I shelled out for 15 photos??

I'll remember next trip though :0)

I just did the same thing. Only 5 photos though!

 

[MinnieMouseMom]

What a cute picture!

Thanks, Jennifer!! Welcome back! :

 

[dumby]

Ok guys, I made 7 eye patches for Kristine's daughter. Here is a photo.

I also came up with this letter to send with it. If I had past and next trip dates I could make it more personal, but since Kristine's not on I don't have the info and need to get to the post office by 5 PM.

What do you think? Should I make any changes to the letter?

Deb

That is such a nice ideal. You have managed to bring tears to my eyes. It is so nice to see people being so generous with others exspecially strangers. Sometimes in the day to day world I begin wondering about humanity and then someone does something like this and reminds me that there are some wonderful people in this world. I think many of them have gravitated to this thread. Just wanted to say you all are some of the nicest people I have ever had the opportunity to know. I just know she will be so excited to get these patches and letter and will really want to wear them.

 

[tink2020]

Jennifer, I'm so happy that you have found 3 places where you could picture yourself living for a while. Don't worry about your rotten mood; chalk it up to post trip blues, plus starting school again. I have the same feeling with my school starting up. Plus it's the middle of winter, and that always brings on the blues.

Just take care of yourself. Give yourself some time to process everything that has happened, and do something nice for yourself. Sometimes we have to put ourselves first!

Thanks for posting. It always cheers me up to see my friends on line.

Thanks : I'm not sure what my deal is. I'm just having one of those days, I guess.

 

[ellenbenny]

Whew! Just over 20 pages in 2 days... not too bad.

I'm here. I'm in a rotten mood. But I figure I better share my trip (and my news that is not all that great ) before I forget it all!

We started out driving to Long Island. Well, we stopped in PA but that was uneventful. Long Island is NOT what I expected. At the risk of coming across wrong, I'll leave it at a minimum, but I was quite surprised. I knew it was expensive, I was prepared for that. But I was NOT prepared for what you get for the amount of money you spend. I assumed the whole island (which is GIGANTIC, by the way!) would be beautiful new developments, and that's why it's expensive. Not so much. For $350,000 we could buy a 2 BR condo that's about 20 years old Kyle and I can't justify that when we can get a 3-5BR house with a big ol' yard for the same price in lots of other places... so we aren't even going to rank it. That was pretty easy, and yet a very enjoyable few days. I will say this - I can understand why it is so desirable. To be so close to NYC yet so different, is quite nice.

From there we went to Delaware. This is where my good news comes in, believe it or not We almost cancelled the trip, because in our minds -- what the heck is in Delaware? Well, I'm in love with the area. NOWHERE have Kyle and I both been there for less than an evening and said "I could spend forever here". In stinkin' DELAWARE?! Really though. If you aren't familiar with northern Delaware, it's heaven in the US. Good schools, fairly low cost of living, 25 minutes from Philly (the area we were looking) and between 1-2 hours from the beach, the Poconos, DC, NYC, Baltimore, several major airports, etc. And Newark is just like Oxford (our straight-out-of-a-movie college town ). We assumed the program would be horrible (because that's how it's gone -- good area, bad program and vice versa). It was perfect. Kyle said, and I quote - "I haven't been to a program yet that answered all of my questions 100% how I want. It's like they were reading my mind"

I think Cincinnati will still probably rank #1. Mostly because of the Children's Hospital..... but it was the most AMAZING feeling to know there is in fact somewhere else we could end up that we love. We were getting quite nervous.... while several places are "fine", before Delaware I thought I was REALLY going to have to choke back some tears on Match Day if we didn't get Cincy. I'm pretty relieved, to say the least... espeically since UC grads have historically gotten their top 1st-3rd choices. Now we have 3 I could live with!





Really not that great a story, huh? I told you that you all were getting too exited

We finished up in Philadelphia (at another program) and Baltimore. Both were fantastic cities, but the programs were very ok. We got stranded in Baltimore an extra day, which made returning to school a little nerve wracking.

And now my Critical Care course is going to be the death of me.

And I've gained 5 pounds since I last checked, but that is an entirely different story that belongs (and is already posted) on the other thread.

It's ok to be in a bad mood sometimes, and I think your news is really good, because you are trying to make some really big life decisions, and it is really important to you, it makes sense to get excited about finding another area and program that you like.

As far as your reaction to Long Island, I had a similar (yet somehow totally different) story recently about the NYC area. I have been under threat of losing my job for months (well years really, but it keeps getting worse) so I have been job hunting some. Well, I got a call from a recruiter offering me an interview for a job in Yonkers, NY. The job sounded really good, but I thought... Yonkers? Yikes. But I agreed to look into the company and the area and call her back. I live in New York State, but I have to be honest, I don't know a whole lot about anything near New York City, so I went online and looked up Yonkers. Then I looked at a map to figure out where people who work in Yonkers must live.
Anyway, lets just say that even if we didn't owe any money on our home here in Rochester, the equity wouldn't be enough for a down payment on a similar home in that area. And for about 2-3 times what our 1700 sq. ft. home is worth, we could probably get a 1 -2 bedroom apartment.

So I guess what I am trying to say is I understand your reaction to the housing prices on Long Island, and it was easy for me to turn down that job interview!

Glad your back, and I hope you get to feeling better soon.

 

[Tammi67]

Tammi - if i were you I would copy and save the document - now that you own DVC people will be calling you non-stop for Disney advice - I got sick of trying to remember what to say that I finally gathered my favorite tips

Already done.

 

[tink2020]

It's ok to be in a bad mood sometimes, and I think your news is really good, because you are trying to make some really big life decisions, and it is really important to you, it makes sense to get excited about finding another area and program that you like.

As far as your reaction to Long Island, I had a similar (yet somehow totally different) story recently about the NYC area. I have been under threat of losing my job for months (well years really, but it keeps getting worse) so I have been job hunting some. Well, I got a call from a recruiter offering me an interview for a job in Yonkers, NY. The job sounded really good, but I thought... Yonkers? Yikes. But I agreed to look into the company and the area and call her back. I live in New York State, but I have to be honest, I don't know a whole lot about anything near New York City, so I went online and looked up Yonkers. Then I looked at a map to figure out where people who work in Yonkers must live.
Anyway, lets just say that even if we didn't owe any money on our home here in Rochester, the equity wouldn't be enough for a down payment on a similar home in that area. And for about 2-3 times what our 1700 sq. ft. home is worth, we could probably get a 1 -2 bedroom apartment.

So I guess what I am trying to say is I understand your reaction to the housing prices on Long Island, and it was easy for me to turn down that job interview!

Glad your back, and I hope you get to feeling better soon.

It's so strange, isn't it?! And to be honest, I didn't really love the area to begin with! It would have technically been feasible, since this is our first house and we are having to start with downpayment, etc (no outstanding mortgage, house to sell, etc) .... but I just can't imagine paying that much and not being happy! It does make it nice though, as far as the decision goes

 

[Tammi67]

Tammi, I'm feeling a little snubbed here.

Just kidding -- it is so good to be back!

I thought you got a welcome way back at the beginning of this new thread. The graphic came later. But just in case you didn't:

 

[Glynis]

Thanks : I'm not sure what my deal is. I'm just having one of those days, I guess.

We all have them! Just take some deep breaths.

On this note, I have a neighbor who is of Scandinavian heritage. Her mother is from Sweden. She was recently diagnosed with seasonal depression. Apparently, it's quite common for people of Scandinavian descent to get depressed in the winter months, due to the lack of sunlight in Scandinavia. There are all sorts of research projects going on about those who have never been to Scandinavia, but are of that heritage, and their depression. Interesting stuff!

 

[KristineN]

Ok guys, I made 7 eye patches for Kristine's daughter. Here is a photo.

I also came up with this letter to send with it. If I had past and next trip dates I could make it more personal, but since Kristine's not on I don't have the info and need to get to the post office by 5 PM.

What do you think? Should I make any changes to the letter?

Deb

Deb...

I can't thank you enough!!! The patch looks GREAT and the letter is fantastic! What a sweet touch I wouldn't have thought of something like that...I know it will make a huge difference getting her to wear them. I am sorry I wasn't around to answer your questions...my whole haircut/dye job turned out to be a 4 hour ordeal.

Again...THANK YOU DEB!!!

 

[julia & nicks mom]

Deb...

I can't thank you enough!!! The patch looks GREAT and the letter is fantastic! What a sweet touch I wouldn't have thought of something like that...I know it will make a huge difference getting her to wear them. I am sorry I wasn't around to answer your questions...my whole haircut/dye job turned out to be a 4 hour ordeal.

Again...THANK YOU DEB!!!

Pictures??!?!?!?!?!