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Archive for March, 2016

Less Limbo

March 20th, 2016 at 01:33 pm

The school listed their lottery results and so I compared the two program lists and counted *50* kids that were accepted to two different programs at the same school. (All the siblings and kids already at said school, who get the top priority). It looks pretty darn good for LM!! He just needs 13 of those 50 to choose the other program. (& realistically, some may choose an entirely different school).

So I am feeling more optimistic about that and much less in limbo. That said, will believe it when I see it! I will be extremely humbled by our luck if that comes to pass. We moved soley for cost of living, but the education we have been able to provide our kids here has been unreal.

I wrote more to this blog post but then I lost it. Doh!

Will have to leave it at that for now. I was talking about summer and trip plans. But I suppose I might have more clarity on that later today.

Phone Wash

March 20th, 2016 at 01:27 pm

I dropped my phone in the cat water Thursday night. It was bound to happen eventually. Surprised it took so long! I store it in a side pocket of my purse, right above the cat water. So I've said a million times this will happen some day. I (thought I) was sliding it into the pocket in the dark and... *splash*

We did take it immediately out and powered it down. Can't take out the battery. It seemed amazingly fine and so I had a good feeling about it. I later read that my phone is water resistant. Since we live in a dry climate the best thing to do is to just let it air out. I was going to give it 3 whole days but on a whim yesterday I powered it on. It started out a little iffy but it seemed fine after that. I am going to leave it off today and try to put it back in use Monday morning. Just being extra cautious but I don't plan to leave the house today.

At the end of the day, I mostly use it when out and about. I am not overall a very connected person, so it's not been a big deal. I believe I had -0- texts and -0- calls in two days, which is what I would have expected.

That said, the reason I carry a cell phone is primarily for emergency. So dh activated my old phone on Ting. I asked him to activate a phone for me so that I could air out my phone for several days. It's $6 to activate a phone on Ting for a month or partial month. I figured $6 was a good investment in saving my phone. This way I could call or text if need be.

I am glad I was able to save my phone. It's only 2 years old and I have been pretty set on keeping it for 4+ years.

It was probably also good to boot up the old phone and make sure it works. We will activate it and lend it to dh's aunt when she is in the country this year.

More Limbo

March 17th, 2016 at 01:11 pm

LM did not make it into the performing arts school on his audition. (I was surprised since it is supposed to be based on enthusiasm more than anything. Weeding out the kids who don't really want to be there). So that was a big blow. I didn't really know what to expect so didn't think it was 100% in the bag. But still disappointed all the same.

That said, LM did okay in the lottery. He is waitlist #13 or so (they haven't listed it out yet but dh counted it out and it was early on). I am so relieved dh could follow at all. It's really hard with his lack of hearing. (Or hopefully no surprise when they post the list! I suppose maybe he could have misheard).

Since he didn't get in I don't know how fast they want enrollment intent. None of the schools seem to say, but I dug out LM's Kinder application and his current school gave them 2.5 weeks to enroll. So I expect it will be something along those lines.

In this case there are two middle school programs at the same school. The accepted list for the other school was already posted a couple of days ago and the list is largely the same kids that got accepted in this other program. Pretty much any 5th graders already at said school, plus siblings of any older students, just applied at both schools to cover their bases. I imagine they will probably want people to be deciding in the next few weeks. Both lists are pure crap in the meantime. The plus side is I know they will be able to weed through their lists quickly. Some of the other schools, lord knows. It was quite chaotic when BM started 6th grade. Kids not showing up on the first week of school and then lots of shuffling around as they went down the waitlists. For every spot that opens up it is just a domino effect through the rest of the schools. But at least the people deciding between these two schools will have to make their decisions. The school will know if someone tries to claim a spot in both programs. So I expect these two programs to sort out more quickly than some of the others. Also, the other program at this school has wider appeal, as evidenced by their much longer waitlist. That might bode well for LM.

This is probably why on the way out of the lottery our neighbor (with kids the same age) said her older child had been waitlist #13 and he got in no problem. Like they didn't even have to wait until school started to find out.

For now we are cautiously optimistic. There are some different dynamics this year, but I admit it sounds pretty promising.

In the meantime, definitely still in limbo...

{If LM does not get in, he will stay at his current K-8 school. I suppose next year we do this all over again for high school for BM. BUT... For whatever reason all the middle schools are charter schools and why it is so chaotic. For high school I think BM Can easily get into any high school he wants to. We are considering between the two public high schools in our district}.

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Our plan was to do one last big family vacation this fall with the kids. Our schedules will never mesh after that. This other school sometimes has the same fall break but we found out last week they have no fall break for 2016. Ugh! So between that and a promising spot on the waitlist... We are scrapping the October vacation.

There is only one other week in the year that works for all of us, and it's at the end of June. So we are scrambling to see if that is enough time to plan a trip to D.C. I am wary of the last minute nature of the trip. But this is really dh's baby and I will leave it up to him. We are just going to start with seeing if we can get a free timeshare stay this weekend. It's not that we wouldn't go if we couldn't get a free room, but if everything is already booked up we will be wary. We will just have to discuss it from there. If there is a room we will just go with it. Dh was going to come up with a plan of what he wants to do, how many days it will take, and where we want to stay. We were going to see his parents this weekend and we can inquire about timeshares when we see them. I suppose we probably won't be buying airfare before April.

Edited to Add: Feeling less in limbo the next day. I remember thinking 50 kids or so were on both lists (basically all the kids already in their 5th grade program or that have older siblings at the school) but that was probably an exaggeration. The list came out, dh heard correctly (yay) and I counted *50* kids accepted to both programs at the same school. Exactly 50. We only need 13 of those kids to pick the other program. Wow!

In Limbo

March 16th, 2016 at 05:49 pm

Today is payday and will all go to savings. Dh gets paid tomorrow, all to savings. No one in my house has bought anything aside from groceries this month. Murphy has been extraordinarily quiet. I could get used to this. Big Grin But is not realistic for the long run. Bills will come up. OF note, I am waiting for dh's MRI bill from January. ??? We may also buy airfare this week if we sort out LM's school schedule for next year. Can't plan our vacation until that is sorted but might have to scramble if June is the only time our schedule meshes.

Today is the school lottery for the school LM really wants to get into. Fingers crossed! I have no idea what to expect and will feel better when we at least know how he fared in both the audition and the lottery. Our life has been in limbo in the meantime.

We will scramble to make summer plans and vacation plans if we have more clarity today. If he gets a promising spot on the waitlist then it could be more limbo I guess...

Doings, Fingers Crossed for LM

March 5th, 2016 at 03:13 am

As to tracking spending, I petered out in the end. I found I spent way too much time online last month tracking all the minutiae. I don't mind doing it once in a while, but maybe next time I should not do this during tax season.

& of course, we always track every penny we spend but it's usually just more automated and doesn't put me into the giant time suck of the internet.

I do think it's good to share the minutiae once in a while. The last time I tracked daily expenses was April 2012. I'd say things were pretty similar except gas was way pricey in 2012 and we probably spent a lot less on groceries.

Which reminds me, my 12yo grew 3 inches in the last 7 months. !! We usually measure every 6 months, but we were a month late this time. This might explain why our grocery budget has increased from $500 to $650 monthly, in the past year or so. & I mean usually if the cost of something goes up we can compensate by changing shopping habits, but we have failed miserably the past 12-18 months. I feel better knowing we are in the thick of it.

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**I did pay the bills for the month and paid off all the February credit card charges on the 1st. Out of sight out of mind for another month.

**I went to my first free advanced movie screening on Monday. I was initially a little cranky with having to get there so early. But in the end it was so fun! We all went to see Zootopia. Since it was an animated movie I don't know if it just brought out the "children at heart" people or what, but it was a really fun crowd. We got decent seats and were able to all 4 sit together. We weren't counting on that part, so that was just a bonus. Dh did get there a little earlier to save up a place in line. The movie was good.

**I did also get tickets for Robot Wars. It's the highlight of our year. Except that we could not go the last two years! So I am super excited about that. Is the weekend before April 15th.

I bought tickets this week because they were on sale. I got 4 tickets for $100. In the past I have gotten 5 tickets for $100. But my dad probably doesn't want to go, so it's all the same in the end for us. (In the past the family deal was 5 tickets and we'd just treat my dad).

**In super exciting kind of news, tomorrow LM has an audition for a performing arts school in our school district.

Supposedly he gets some preference if he does well in the audition. Otherwise we are just stuck with the luck of the lottery. I am only feeling optimistic because he can get some edge on the lottery.

LM needs all the luck and positive vibes he can get!