The smaller ones look a bit like dyshydrotic exczema. I hope they are warts. DE is a beast.

I'm confused about college financial awards and timelines. My son has 6 schools he is considering, though 2 of those are less likely than the others. He really has things he likes about each of the other 4 schools and no idea which one to select. He planned to wait for financial aid awards and weigh costs to see if that makes things clearer. I'm not sure it will. But the private schools have been quick to offer their financial packages and seem to expect a student to choose. For example, one private school is having an honors student huge event and banquet along with honors student courses registration for next year in mid-March. In at least some of his public school choices, he will still be in scholarship selection processes in mid-March. I don't know what he's expected to do! If he doesn't participate in the honors program in that school he wouldn't want to attend. But he is not ready to select any school just yet, including that one. When do students typically make their choices? How do they make choices? I wish he felt strongly about one school! Side note about transcripts. How do I transcript community college courses. Do list them as semester or quarter year courses, but assign a yearly credit?

I'm very dense. My doctor added ABUS (automated br..t ultrasound) to my yearly mammogram. ABUS is good for screening dense books. I feel good about this change. I have to pay for it as standard care instead of covered preventative, but it was around $125 for my portion. My sister paid a lot more out of pocket for hers. If you decide to add ABUS, I'd shop around for cost differences.

Can you link or elaborate on this supercharging thing? Does timing matter? We had COVID in September. My kids will be going off to college next fall. I've been uncertain about the usefulness of another booster, especially for them, this spring.

I wanted to avoid COVID forever, but my teens really needed to be able to just be teens and this thing is not going away. We are all vaxed with original boosters. We all rapid tested positive, assumed Omicron, in September. It was quite different for all four of us though I would say all were mild to moderate cold-like. That did include mild aches/fatigue for two of us. --Hubby--mild; felt kind of run down (tired/some body aches--for 1.5 days). After that he had mild head/sinus for a couple of days. --Teen 1--almost no symptoms--very mild nasal. He would not have known to test if the family didn't know we had COVID. --Teen 2--moderate cold to very mild flu; tired and achy intially--slept almost all day 1 with high fever, then fatigue/low energy/laid around the house days 2 into 3. His symptoms other than ache and fatigue were just mild head cold like. Into day 3 he started acting relatively normal around the house. He complained some of mild, non life-impacting fatigue for maybe a month or so after that. He has a metabolic condition that may have made it harder to bounce back. On the other hand, he has health related OCD and was anxious about long COVID, so it's hard to judge his perceptions. --My course of illness was weird. I didn't feel bad at all at first--rough/hoarse voice, some nasal congestion. I did lose most of my sense of smell and taste at some point, but it resolved quickly. I would describe the initial parts for me as very mild, though more than teen 1. Then maybe 4 days into COVID I started having periodic coughing fits, especially at night-- kind of scary and miserable. I had some breathlessness with exertion too (going up stairs). My pulse ox was always fine, and I felt pretty good when I wasn't having a coughing fit. I think it may have re-activated a long ago diagnosed cough variant asthma for me but it took me a while to click into that possibility. I started using my son's albuterol inhaler, which kind of helped, though it could have been that I just had to slow down the panic of not being able to catch my breath to do the inhaler or just the passage of time. Other than the cough stuff interfering with sleep, I didn't feel terrible. Whether it was cough variant asthma from COVID or just part of my COVID, my cough was gone within a week.

My son has been invited to apply for honors programs and scholarships at his prospective schools (he has really good SAT scores). The current one he's working on, and I expect similar requirements for others, requests a letter of recommendation "to be completed by a teacher or someone who can speak to your academic performance." The issue is my son hasn't had many teachers other than myself. He took two local coop sicence courses--but his last was just as COVID hit. He took two elective type courses from local coop teachers his junior year that weren't particularly academic. Outside of that, I have been his only teacher. Should I just write teacher letters, explaining that I have been his primary teacher as a homeschooler or encourage him to ask one of the more recent elective teachers if they could write something?

I do think we need expert advice. The plan was for me to start working when they begin school Fall 2023. I will be 50. It's possible delaying until Jan of that year would be wiser. I'm taking accounting courses to be qualified to sit for the CPA exam. I have about $2400-$3200 more to go, depending on how many courses I can get from my local community college this spring. If I decided to take the exam, that would add another $3000 in prep materials and test costs. The sticky or hard part is I have specific job in mind that is hiring now. I have connections there, and they are aware I'm going back to school. I am concerned that if I delay the job won't be there, though I don't know how likely that is (they are chronically understaffed). Age discrimination is real and we're in a rural area, so I don't know how employable I would be outside of that specific work, where I have connections. And that work doesn't actually require the CPA exam, just having the qualifications to take it is enough. You consulted and will consult before your daughter applies? I was thinking it might be most helpful after my kids have their college decisions made and financial aid set? Maybe both? It does feel high stakes and confusing! I will definitely check into this. Thank you!

I went back to school this year with the goal of re-entering the workforce when our kids go to college fall 2023. I have been looking forward to becoming a professional again and like the field I will be entering. We filled out the FAFSA forms for our teens and they qualified for Pell grants. I realized that, if I begin work, they won't qualify once my earnings begin to count. Then I realized also that my working will bump us up to another tax bracket. My take home won't be enough for two kids in college. But if I postpone working the job I am planning for may no longer be an option. I have been feeling excited about the transition. Is it possible my returning to work will be a bad financial choice? I wonder if there are financial planners who specialize in this sort of thing.

I'm so sorry. Praying you are able to process and heal from this in a healthy way and that the right option makes itself clear to you soon.

I'm so sorry he was hurt. Sending prayers.

I've been prescribed 7 days of doxycycline for a likely long-standing, asymptomatic infection. I do not think exactly when I start this antibotic matters a lot, within reason. A household member has chronic c-diff. So I generally try to avoid antibiotics as much as possible for everyone here, but I can't avoid this one. I will use Florastor while taking it. I have a colonoscopy scheduled 17 days from tomorrow. I have a call into the GI for his opinion on this, but I'm not sure he'll have one and his office already didn't return my call on Friday. WWYD: -Take antibiotic this week (with florastor) and then try to probiotic build my gut the week leading up the colonoscopy prep? -Postpone the antibiotic until after the colonoscopy? How long? -Do you think timing doesn't matter either way?

I hope you start feeling way better soon. You aren't alone. We also caught it just before our boosters. Hubby tested positive Saturday. I'm starting to feel symptomatic. I'll test tomorrow morning.

I was raised Free Methodist and my husband Presbyterian. We met through a non-denom. evangelical church in college. We were initially invited to that church by friends. There are no churches or denominations without issues and positions that do not match "our" beliefs (mine/my husbands and/or our shared beliefs). I have still found it worthwhile to have community, as long as there is over-all health. When first married, we were involved in an Evangelical Free Church. It was a good experience--loving congregation with good connections with a wide range of people. That church allowed for freedom of belief in many areas. We were only there two years. I have fond memories. We moved and became members of a Nazarene church. This was our only adult formal membership experience. We had the most organized involvement in that church--served on committees, taught classes, involved in kids and youth programming, husband was church teasuerer, etc. We had personal connections with people from all kinds of age and life cycle groups. I think that level of involvement was mostly an age and stage of life thing. It was not the most aligned with our own beliefs or anything like that. We were there for 15 years. Toward the end of that time period we also participated in a house church related to mennonite situation that, in retrospect, probably had too much baggage/unhealth involved. Then we moved again about 10 years ago and are Free Methodist. (This denomination is similar to Wesleyan and Nazarene in doctrine). We are involved in smaller ways here but, over-all, I don't feel connected in this church. We would have had to be very proactive and kind of push into existing relationships and structures to get relational spiritual connections here I think. That just doesn't fit my personality, and our lives here haven't had margin to do that even if I were inclined. That may have been true in any church. It may be mostly an issue of me at this point in my life. At any rate, I've been kind of spiritually lonely.

He's hard. Really socially oriented, but with the autism social deficits. Very language oriented, but with these EF interfering issues. Math is a major struggle. I wish I knew what career path would fit him. I would 100% think therapy or related services fields by personality. He's thinking that direction too. I just fear how his autism and adhd things are going to interfere. He is probaby I think word is dyspraxic..physical coordination and sequencing is a true struggle (driving, riding a bike, swimming...all struggles) It feels like there are no services here.

I think you are both correct. I think this is a language/comprehension/organization something issue. He is a good writer, but struggles with organization there too. It is hard because he wants to be like all his peers and twin and go off to college. He decided, on his own, that he needed to start with community college, but I've got concerns even there. I guess I need to remediate this somehow. Or try to. It's hard for me to know how to help him. I am looking at the Mindwing. I didn't know this existed. It's kind of hard to tell what I would purchase.

My son with ADHD (and autism and OCD--so lots of EF challenges, including really dismal processing speed numbers) struggles with note taking. He's slow mechanically. He doesn't sort out what's important well at all. He writes too much. He misses tons. We've tried to practice. It's just not working. I am wondering how he might be able to use technology or certain methods to find a way to manage in college. Any suggestions?

We have one vehicle, a Kia van. Used vehicles are expensive now, so we have planned to just keep driving the current one. It has been in good shape. Suddenly last week it developed a brake issue--you have to apply more than usual pressure essentially. Or, alternatively, you can tap twice and it will work as normal. We took it to a brake person we know and trust. He's had it for two days--replaced parts including the master cylinder, did multiple brake bleeds, including with air, etc. I trust his expertise. He is at a loss. I asked what to do next and the only thing he could suggest was maybe a dealer would know, because he is stumped. So WWYD? Would you try to find another brake place--maybe in a bigger area--or move to a dealership at this point?

I have some breast cancer risk factors--breast density, age 31 first pregnancy, x-ray exposures in adolescence due to scoliosis, and my mother and maternal grandmother both had breast cancer, though in their early 70's--my understanding is that family history at that age is less of a factor than early age cancers. My sister has the density and family history issues, but none of my other risk factors. Her doctor recommended she add ABUS to her mammography screening due to the density. Her insurance covered it as preventative. My insurance does not cover it as preventative, so it's subject to my high deductible. I called the center and was told it would be $117 out of pocket for me to have the screening. I will do a mammogram. I am back in school full time, our homeschool expenses are high this year due to outsourcing, and we just spent $1000 on car repairs today...so all expenses feel kind of painful at this moment. That said, we can afford this expense. Would you pay the $117 for the screening in my place?

I put this on the college board last night--but I am really struggling with how to transcript this year. My son will be taking DE Finite Math this fall. He is taking Calculus this year at home, and will likely DE that in the spring as well. He did homeschool pre-calculus last year, and in our state Finite Math seems to be rarely offered and, when it is, an altenative to pre-calc and calc pathways. So it kind of seems like a repetive step backward (and the other tricky part is his top school might not like that he's taking Finite in high school instead of through them next year.) Should I leave Finite off the transcript or include it?

There is another issue. One college, his top choice, asked that homeschoolers include percentage grades on their transcripts. Do you think it's ok for me to leave that on and send to all colleges? I'm using a transcript service, so I would need to set up a 2nd account to make a transcript for just this college. And I kind of think it looks a little bit better to see variation in his percentages vs. all A's (which he did get, but some are higher A's than others).

Do you think I have to list (or should list) the Finite Math?

My son plans to take some DE math courses and possibly some other DE courses as well. He would start his first course, Finite math, in late October. He is taking it to satisfy a degree requirement for his first choice school. In our state, most high schools don't seem to offer Finite and, when they do, it seems to be offered as an alternative to the traditional pre-calc and calculus sequence. He took pre-calc last year. He will is taking calculus this year (here at home, though he may DE it in the spring), and it appears on the transcript. I feel it would look a little strange to have a math progression of pre-calc, finite, calc with the last two in one year. In doing some research I believe his first choice school, while they will accept the math credits, would prefer he get them through them. I don't know if seeing it on his transcript will affect his opportunities. I'm possibly overthinking. Is it ok to leave it off or must I include it? If not must, should I include it? It is work he will be doing that won't be shown "in progress" on his transcripts during applications. Also, there are other courses he may take, depending on how this first one goes. Would a school be ok with a final transcript whose 2nd Semester electives varied from what was submitted in the fall with college applications? For example, he may want to take a DE philosphy course in place of sociology this spring. Finally, do I need to note if he will be taking a course DE (especially given this will change) or taking a CLEP after the course? I'm feeling lost in all this college prep stuff.

I really appreciate the thoughts here. Thank you. His top choice school says that they will consider the highest GPA the school reports, and "in most cases this is the weighted GPA." I wish I knew if it was going to hurt him to just report a 4.0 and say he wasn't offered honors or AP courses. I just feel bad about going back and calling courses honors when that wasn't on my radar at the time, even if he probably did more than local school teens. I think I feel like he might need to study for and pass CLEPs or something like that to justify. He could do that I'm sure, but it would delay transcripts and take time I'd rather spend moving forward. Ugh. I do feel like I failed him.

My husband is a CPA in governmental accounting. He isn't paid as much as public accounting, but has good work-life balance and enjoys his work. I've decided to try to enter the field myself. His work does want employees to be qualified to sit (or have) a CPA. His agency does hire part time. How close are you to the educational requirements for the CPA in your state? I'm getting the accounting courses I need to sit for a CPA here through community college (and taking a few related non-accounting courses to update myself, since my previous education was 20 years ago). I'll have an AS in accounting when I'm done. Community college is much more cost and time effective than the university options I investigated.

One of the schools, my son's first choice, makes scholarship decisions based on weighted GPA. I never planned to give weighted grades/over 4.0. I suppose I could retro consider two (only two) courses he took which the provider designated as honors as honors but I'm not sure that's wise, given it is only two. I don't feel comfortable designating my courses as honors. Because of COVID, he has no de. I didn't realize homeschoolers could do AP. Mostly I feel like I've failed him. On the common app, I think there is an option to say you are weighted or unweighted. If I say he is unweighted 4.0, would that hurt him? Should I instead say weighted and give him a 4.0 anyway? Or give him two half credits..on a 5.0 scale (I think that is how it works).