Jump to content

Menu

LisaKinVA

Members
  • Posts

    7,046
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by LisaKinVA

  1. Thanks -- this got me thinking outside of my self-imposed box. I may ask our old Troop Committee Chair, who saw Kathryn (heck, our entire family) do these things over the past few years. Unfortunately, all of the volunteer stuff she was involved in was usually coordinated and overseen by me -- but they at least SAW her doing the things 😄
  2. I'm sorry -- I don't think it was you stressing me out. I'm just kind of stressed period (still living in temporary quarters, moving plans got changed abruptly -- which then changed everything else -- just heaps of uncertainty and working at finding a full time remote position that pays well AND has hours... I have one $35/hr job I make about $50 a week from; and one $25/hr job I make about $20k from, but need another $30k to really make a dent in these medical bills/credit cards). I do thank you -- it's been a wild ride. The W&M "preferences for homeschoolers" just threw me for a loop.
  3. She's trying to get in touch with the AP Bio teacher (hasn't heard back yet). The only other teachers she's had have been for PE, Word/Powerpoint and the same (horrid) teacher for Photography and Fundamentals of Art. No special tutors. The issue is some of these letters are necessary for the nomination process for the service academies and those are needed NOW (I think they close at the end of September), so there is no real time to get to know the coaches in a month and a half. I do hope this isn't a dealbreaker -- we're doing the best we can, but all of the suggestions/requirements are starting to get to me.
  4. Honestly, this would be a HUGE hardship for us to manage. I guess I'm at a loss as to how a school could place financial hardship requirements/suggestions onto students. Testing can even be a financial hardship for many, but at least I can swallow that. We don't get free dual enrollment here, and $480-640 per class at the community college(!), not including required fees and books, let alone transportation arrangements is a LOT more of a hardship than a $75 exam. German isn't an option at any of the CCs. And since she would be taking 200 level math courses in high school, in the area of her major, there is a high likelihood she will have to repeat them and pay for them again (exception would be Liberty and VA Wesleyan). Having to take classes at VA Wesleyan is at least more affordable, and the course recognition a bit higher since it's a 4-year university. But, I'm at a loss as to how she would get there and back with her training schedule, a long commute, and the limited course offerings (she also doesn't have a license, and even if she did, would not have a car... we're getting cars as we can... but right now we're lucky to have two. ) She's already completed both AP Physics C courses, Chem, Bio, AP Bio, Honors Physics, Integrated Physics & Chem, and even Marine Biology -- she has zero desire to take any more science and I don't feel she should have to. Part of the reason she took AP Physics C and studied for the AP exams her junior year was to not need a science her senior year. She's really completed most of the German she cares to do online or otherwise right now, too -- so she's really just doing an MIT intermediate German course and prepping for the SAT2 -- we both feel that trying to prep for AP German would just be too much this year. She needs a bit of time to enjoy some non-rigorous electives. If I can scrounge together enough money, I will pay for a tutor to help her improve her spoken/listening skills and do specific preparation for the SAT2. I'd like for WM & Mary to remain an option, but this may be one hoop too many (and we've had to jump through plenty for the NCAA, the service academies, Princeton and Dartmouth -- my stomach is in knots regarding nomination letters and NROTC applications. Which reminds me, I have to figure out how she takes the ASVAB here... If you can't tell... I'm just drowning a bit in all of this right now, on top of how nuts our move has been (we can't move anywhere easily, it seems -- but at least we will NOT be in a hotel for 7 months here!)
  5. Been there, done that, and it's cycling around again! Oldest DS at least has clothing he can wear (needs more -- Goodwill is going to be my friend shortly). He's stopped actively growing -- but is putting on muscle (probably even moreso once weightlifting starts in his training next week!) Oldest DD has finished growing height-wise, but her body shape is still maturing, causing clothes to not fit right (she has my tendency to add muscle easily -- and she's been doing so... more pants for her (shirts are still good). PokeMan is actively growing. Poor boy NEEDS pants of all types. I can't keep up. Needs dress shirts, too. Child needs to start weight training or something, because his body length is so long and he's still a bit string-beanish, so a LG t-shirt (that fits in the length) he floats around in. Blondie is also actively growing, but has a completely different shape than PonyGirl... so about 2/3 of hand-me-downs do not fit (she's 5'2, 80 pounds, and can wear the same shorts/pants as her 10yo sister... and I'm not referring to leggings -- they just look like Capris). Thankfully, Boo can still wear most hand-me downs...
  6. Could be Shingles... had a swimmer at a large meet recently who started coming down with Shingles and was just in pain (before the rash appeared). Her pain was in/around her upper thigh and mid-section. Shingles can be quite painful, and often doesn't have fevers or other issues. It feels like a bad bruise -- so the pain isn't sharp or stabbing. Just a thought.
  7. I had to buy DD 6 pair of running shorts for USCGA's summer program. I think they all wound up being shorter than that, but all had built in underwear/bike shorts (I got several at Goodwill v. paying $20-30 for them). DD actually runs into problems with shorts that are much longer flying up doing core work and other exercises requiring the legs to be overhead and found them more immodest/revealing because of it. The only shorts she has that don't have built in "underwear" are part of her swim uniform (wears over a suit on the pool deck between races), or are simply for wearing out and about (not athletically).
  8. The NROTC form asks me for her current school's ETS code... I wasn't sure what this was, because they also ask me to submit all PSAT/SAT/ACT scores directly to them. (I did send an email to the Petty Officer... because I get everything from GED to GRE when I look it up.
  9. Hanging in! Trying to get through the NROTC evaluation form, and I really don't want to screw it up. Do you know what the ETS code is?
  10. We just purchased one at Wal-Mart that also has an air fryer setting...it's the Faberware one. Kind of ugly. But, I didn't want to pay $30 more for a prettier one. It's essentially eliminated our use of the microwave, and does quite a bit. My daughter likes using the air fryer for some of her things, and can easily make small batches of her food -- it's great for reheating so many leftovers/sides (convection oven/air fryer). It also easily fits 6 pieces of toast...lol. Enjoying it!
  11. Yes... or coaches would be unable to attend. It could also be considered illegal in some places to make an employee pay for accommodations/travel costs at a required business function outside the normal business area/hours for the employee. Yes, tournaments/meets that a coach is *required* to attend are the equivalent of a business function. Non-profits are not excluded from these rules, as a paid coach cannot volunteer to coach in the same capacity for which s/he is paid. If your coach is a volunteer, it's kind of the least you can do for the person giving up their free time to coach your kids. Usually, it's factored into the swimmer fees the team charges and not a separate fee.
  12. Laundry Pack up and clean (get the kids to help) Work on whatever I can for school SAT scores sent for DD Work on NROTC letter for DD Figure out what we have on hand to eat here at the house... plan easy menus for this week because we're moving (again). Generally start to freak out. 😂
  13. One can only hope... I think I'm looking at a year of settling in, though. Maybe after I drop ponygirl off for college next fall? 🤣😭
  14. Here I thought I was going to have a fairly relaxed summer. Everything was planned and arranged. We were good. So what happened? Let's see... 1) My parents are in NC, my mother's health (in her estimation) hasn't improved. This necessitated multiple trips to and from NC (I mostly help her mental health, and allow my dad a longer break in her care) 2) NONE of our school books got shipped in the mail as I had planned. Instead, they sat around until the movers came -- and then the mix-ups left me with half of our books sitting around nearly two months in Norfolk until they could be delivered and the other half to be delivered in September. So -- most of my academic planning is not nearly complete. 3) The house we had been promised in VA Beach became unavailable two days before we were supposed to move in. This prompted a LOT more driving between Fredericksburg and VA Beach and days spent driving around homes. This also changed my job situation considerably. We are closing on a house next week in a completely different area (Hampton, VA). I'm coaching for a team I love, but not one of the four I had planned to. It's changed school opportunities, work opportunities, scouting programs, church visits, homeschool coops and clubs, and changed the kind and number of cars we need as well. Currently, we are cleaning up and starting to gather all of our things to put into a truck to move into our final destination (for the next 5-10 years anyhow). I'm driving 100 miles a day for swimming for one more week... and college boy starts school on Monday (but has to be at the school for various functions every day right now). We delayed getting a second vehicle until we close on the house -- but we need four YIKES! School is happening quite haphazardly, as we have one very small table (card table size), zero comfortable seating, and are generally sitting atop one another. I can not wait to get my household goods... I miss my Vitamix, my crock pot, instant pot, knives, mixer, pots & pans...BERKEY water filter...). I have two jobs (one teaching speech and debate to students in China, Vietnam and Korea; one coaching swim). I hope to hear on a full time job with an energy & environment company handling content development; social media; youth outreach program and B2C marketing efforts. It's a mad world.
  15. Congratulations! Yes, it can be this easy! My son applied to about 5 schools his senior year -- wasn't really happy with any of them, a year later he learned about ODU and applied -- was accepted within one week and paid his deposit the next day. The Admissions office called to find out why he accepted so quickly... apparently, it made their heads spin a bit. 30 days later, we find out he's been given a D1 swimming spot and I was frantically putting together NCAA paperwork! If only my daughter could be that simple... PokeMan's college applications will be a BREEZE (he only cares about two schools, one is a live at home situation).
  16. It would be NICE if the syllabus were available. All but one of my son's courses has the syllabus marked "private" -- so he can't see the books or requirements yet. But, at least he's prepared for Film Appreciation.
  17. Right now only one (maybe two, if the baby's words at 10 are any indication) of my children is applying to highly selective schools. Where do we get all of these letters of recommendation? lived overseas for 6 years, no opportunities for dual enrollment due to location and cost (William & Mary prefers dual enrollment for home school high schoolers -- AP tests will have to suffice). while overseas, really only took one class with an instructor who would be good for a recommendation (AP Bio in 10th grade -- and yes, she is asking him). I've been her swim coach for the past 3 years, she has just started practicing with her new coaches, but they haven't gotten to know her yet. She has had zero outside math instruction (save for one class at a school that closed down two years ago -- and I have no way to contact the instructor -- it was AP Stats, so I'm not sure how much weight it would carry). We are just getting back into a church. The only jobs she's worked have been teaching swimming lessons privately, volunteer peer tutor, baby sit, dog sit. No scouts or clubs, other than Missoula Theatre when she was able (she had no interest in venturing, by the time it became available her sophomore year). In many ways, I have been it for this child. She has self studied, used various online resources for Math and German (MIT online courseware), and taken AP exams. We have a small group of friends who know her, most of our friends stateside really haven't seen her much since she was 11. I have mentioned that she could email the admissions department and start out her inquiry stating she has read what is available online for home school students, and provide the unique circumstances of being stationed overseas, with more limited availability of certain programs/opportunities. Her stats: SAT score 1550; ACT (projected to be around 35 or 36 -- based upon practice tests, she scored a 27 in 9th grade). joining the homeschool honor society now; will receive NMS Commended this fall. Multiple AP exams with only one 3, the remainder are/will most likely be 4's and 5s (AP Statistics, AP Calc BC; AP Physics C Mechanics; AP Physics C Electricity and Magnetism; AP English Language; AP English Literature; AP Biology, AP Gov't; AP Macro Econ; AP Micro Econ, AP Comparative Politics) She's also taken the SAT2 for Bio (720), and will take the SAT2 Math 2, SAT2 English and SAT2 for German. Voted as Captain of her swim team in 10th and 11th grades (is ineligible to compete in VA athletics her senior year, except for club sports). Was #1 in our swim league in Europe for 2 years in her age group (won high points award this past spring) over 200 volunteer hours a year going back multiple years for various service organizations (BSA, swim team, base school, general base support), and this year with various vegan/environmental groups (local events) I know what I want to address in her counselor letter. I know that one individual will probably be writing 11 letters of recommendation (most likely the same thing with new contact information). I just feel a bit lost and overwhelmed (and I know she does, too). We were hoping to have her attend VA Wesleyan for German and advanced math, but our housing situation took a major curve ball the week we were supposed to move in and we were left without the home we had been promised -- our housing situation has since been resolved, but not in time to work out attending VA Wesleyan this fall). Anyone with any advice or encouragement? Schools to which she is applying: Dartmouth* may walk on Princeton (swim club) VMI (recruited for swim; NROTC) Liberty* may walk on VA Wesleyan (recruited for swim) USCGA (recruited for swim) USNA* may walk on Vassar (recruited for swim) Swarthmore (recruited for swim) William & Mary (swim club) Macalester (recruited for swim)
  18. Great! We've been on a whirlwind as well...I keep having to take 3 hour trips every few days (Was in VA Beach Mon-Thurs a.m., drove to Fredericksburg, returned to VA Beach Friday night, now I'm getting ready to leave for NC for a couple of days. That's been more or less my summer. HOWEVER, when I get back from NC I'm staying put for a few weeks until we close on our house in Hampton and move in... then I get to stay put for a few weeks before going back to NC and life really getting nuts.
  19. I wanted a Chick-fil-A Chicken Salad Sandwich. Sadly, it has been erased from the menu. Beyond that... GOOD Mexican food at a restaurant...sadly, our restaurant closed, so I'm waiting and looking. To be honest, I haven't really missed much American food -- good ethnic food, YES, because Italians really can't do anything other than Italian well. 🤣
  20. Haha - I'm feeling so lazy right now, it's funny. I am truly grateful that the girls and I were able to start this transition back to the states in our hometown. It's made everything much less overwhelming, because I'm at least pretty familiar with the roads, traffic patterns and where things are. We still have a pretty big transition to VA Beach, but at least we should only be dealing with the normal crazy of moving by then 😉
  21. Almost nothing today. Pantry/Freezer list of what is at my parent's house Meal Plan for next week Shopping List Answering random questions from my husband and sons, helping them work towards the final pack-out goal! Shopping Plan for Friday (planning for this to be much longer than I ever would really shop, because I'll have the little girls and they will say, "OOOHHH, Mommy LOOK!" at everything. So, wearing the walking shoes as we traverse the mall, go to Costco, Wegman's, the Vitamin Shoppe, and the shoe store. Swimming!
  22. Once I get my milk share, I will be joining you.
  23. That's an apt description. I am tempted to make my own "ultra filtered yogurt" with the Fairlife milk, and add some freeze dried/powdered berries for a more intense flavor. It has to be better than This! (not sure about the cost of it... but yeah, pretty yucky) I'll make a note of it. There are so many grocery stores and not everything seems to carry everything we like. I haven't been to Wegman's yet, but I'll look there. When we get to VA Beach, my main stores will be Wegman's, Kroger and Trader Joes. Here, my main stores are Wegman's and Giant. I will probably go back to making more things from scratch, but right now, I just can't. I was truly grateful for the pre-chopped onions, tomoatoes and cilantro in the produce section. My parents' house is being renovated, and I have no idea where some of their equipment is... I wanted pico de gallo, and Giant made it easy to dump everything together and add a lime. I'm sure I paid a lot more, and I know the tomatoes aren't as good as the ones in Italy, but it was yummy., and now I can make egg tacos for breakfast 😄 We are menu planning for next week tomorrow -- and will be working to stay in some kind of budget. I probably bought too much bread for the four of us (6 bagels, 6 small sandwich rolls, 2 loaves of brown bread...yeah, I got too much.
  24. It is HOT outside. Like, mid-July or August HOT. Took me half the day to get the internet working. I got our cell phones working, too. So far, I've been to Wal-Mart, Target, Giant, T-mobile and Chick-fil-A. Going to the pool in a moment. I've dealt with the NCAA issue for my son, and sorted all of my mail and opened all of the books that were here waiting for me. I've answered all of my husband's moving questions and sent the official notice about moving to the schools back in Naples. I've been disappointed by two things: Chick-fil-A eliminated their chicken salad sandwich (pretty much the only sandwich I ate there). And this YQ yogurt from ultra filtered milk that was just flavorless. It seriously nearly tasted plain. They had to use carrot juice for color -- so I'm left to wonder what happened to the strawberries they were supposed to use for flavor, because I didn't get that at all. Tomorrow, I'll just be working on menu planning for next week, doing some reading and some other project work. Friday, I'm shopping again! I'll be off to Costco, the mall, Vitamin Shoppe, Wegman's, and the gym.
×
×
  • Create New...