<p>missypie ~ Thanks for the link, I have no idea what 420 is either, lol.</p>
<p>4/20 is pot smoking day</p>
<p>Congratulations to aria, momofzach, AvonHSDad, amandakayak and any others that have disembarked! You picked a good time - the boat is in slightly rocky waters right now! We were sailing very happily, knowing that our destination was a few days away - but we took a slight detour and now cannot seem to find our way back to land 
Went to an admitted students’ day at school #2 and D really liked it. She spent the night with kids from the team, met the coach, attended a class, spent some time in the city walking around, getting familiar with the surroundings etc. Now, is torn between school #1 and school #2! Ugh. We are equally torn - we know she really can’t go wrong with these two schools, but which one does she pick ?? Waiting to hear back from both schools on financial appeals - but for now, I told her we shouldn’t talk about this. Let her mull over this, do some digging around on the internet, talk to her BFF about it - and then we’ll regroup over the weekend. Hope that helps - because I am a nervous wreck My stomach feels like it is all tied up in knots and really couldn’t sleep last night.</p>
<p>I am one of the “creepers” right now on shutterfly. Not for long, I promise. Things have been too crazy for me to even get over there to look at pictures - will post some shortly - once this next week is done!</p>
<p>I’m afraid it’s also pot smoking TIME - at D1’s college she has been aware that every afternoon there is a certain, um, aura.</p>
<p>I think any girl gets a certain thrill when she sees Pepper’s S’s picture … </p>
<p>In snow country, we’ve been happy with an AWD Subaru Impreza for our kids. It’s made many days (and nights) much easier on me. It was a hand-me-down from H, who has driven Subarus for years and years.</p>
<p>I’m thinking a sweatshirt is in D’s near future. She has sweatpants she bought when she auditioned, and I’ve held off on more schoolwear because of the WL elsewhere. And I won’t surprise her, in case she thinks it’s a message we aren’t happy with or have no faith in the results of the WL. I’m going to offer to order something of her choice, though - I think she needs the fun of it right now.</p>
<p>Amanda - Oldest daughter has a Volkswagen Beetle. Cute car, fun to drive unfortunately our experience has been that it is expensive to maintain. Hers is still under warranty but I have seen what it would have cost us to do some of the repairs that have been necessary. Ex. the entire right headlight system went out. $500+. In addition, the 2008 models apparently can only use synthetic oil so an oil change is pretty expensive as well.</p>
<p>Youngest daughter is looking at Fits. I have driven them and like the car alot. Plus, my BIL is a policeman. He related to me that he came on an accident last year where a Fit had been rear ended by a Ford F150 pickup at a pretty good speed He said that he was very impressed by how the Fit help up, the back “crumple zone” worked as it should and no one in the Fit was injured. </p>
<p>Good luck car shopping!</p>
<p>There’s a thread going on over in the Parents’ Cafe about purchasing a kid car. One thing I recommend is to check what kind of gas the car requires. My mom loves her Jetta except when she drives it to the gas station. It requires premium fuel. With gas prices continuing their increase it’s a factor to consider. Along with crash test ratings, I’d also call your insurance agent and check how much insurance will cost for the vehicles you’re considering. We’ve done this prior to purchasing and have been surprised by difference in rates for what seemed to be similar vehicles. Yet another factor is good visibility for the driver when changing lanes or backing out of parking spaces. Some cars are tough for even experienced drivers.</p>
<p>D is driving a 4-wheel drive hand me down Honda Pilot - 100k+ miles. We have found that as the gas prices rise, D is sticking closer to home because of the cost of filling the tank (on her dime) …maybe not such a bad thing for the next several months. My guess is that they will be passing the hat for day trips to the beach.</p>
<p>Thanks, arisamp!
Aniger ~ OIC, lol… didn’t get a chance to read the link yet.</p>
<p>
That’s what my D drives too. I like its size in case of a crash.</p>
<p>2blue - yes I was over on that thread until it digressed in long posts about the merits of this mfg over that. Don’t have much patience for chest-pumping macho car talk (got enough at the dealerships thank you), just want a quick rec. and besides, I trust you guys!
For the record, “stalkers” on shutterfly are people who never post (lurkers) and just come over to take a look at us. Arisamp - you then are not a lurker nor a stalker!
So who’s got the stash?</p>
<p>Our D has a Huynda Sonata and we’re very happy with it. Big enough to be safe. good mileage, good price (used). I don’t think you can go wrong with either a Sonata or Elantra.</p>
<p>Sorry to be so quiet these days amid lots of great posts and cool news. Truth be told–I’m just plain seasick and so not a lot of fun to be around at the moment. (Where’s the queasy-face smilie when one needs it?)</p>
<p>I’m thrilled with every post of a disembarkation. I’m envious–but in a good way. Congratulations to you who have made it to port. And special thanks to itscomplicated for her sweet PM. If you are lurking around, please keep posting here. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Very well said 
</p>
<p>Regarding cars we went with a Subaru Impreza. It is very good in snow ( I even took it over the winter to drive to work when S2 had a snow day 
), very good on gas and over all cheap to maintain (well S2 just popped a tire Sunday night, he did not see :eek: a pothole.)</p>
<p>have been off of CC for about 5 days; can’t possibly catch up so hope all is well at sea; can someone who has time start a list (again) of where everyone decided to go? or make sure you update holliesue’s thread…</p>
<p>tx</p>
<p>I have been stalking this thread for a while now. I just want to thank everyone on this thread for all the valuable information and insight that you all have shared. I learned so much about this crazy ride, aka, college admissions process.
This is my first going to college, who believe it or not is still waiting for a decision for his #1 choice. I have enjoyed reading about every one’s journey.
Congrats. to all who have heard, good luck to all who are still waiting and /or deciding.</p>
<p>Congrats to all who have made decisions. We are definitely still on the ship and nowhere near land. However, in response to the question about pushing kids off, we did tell S that he had to decide by 4/25. When we first said it, it was because we thought that he had been putting off even thinking through his decision in the hopes that he’d get some kind of magical sign and because he loves to procrastinate. Then we remembered that he will actually be out of town on 4/29 and 4/30 so were really happy we moved his date up. Of the 3 remaining schools, each one has its pros and cons. At the two with the best academics/ program, hes got to decide if he can be happy going to school there. At the one where he knows he can be happy, hes got to decide if the newness of the program will be a problem with internships, co-ops and/or jobs down the line. I dont envy him. One good thing is that he is not one that spends a lot of time looking back once he makes a decision. I just need to make sure that I can do the same, at least around him.</p>
<p>We didn’t push D2 off the ship, but last Wednesday when she said she was going to to yes to West Point in a week, H and I asked her why she was waiting. Then her seven-year old sister told her just to do it. And D2 did make her final decision that night. A half dozen times since then, she’s said “I don’t know why I didn’t do that earlier.” The weight was lifted off her shoulders.</p>
<p>I finally checked back in to the Shutterfly site. What a gorgeous bunch of children we have! I posted a few pics I already had uploaded and will try to get the Sr. Picture scanned (the one he actually smiled in).</p>
<p>Hang in there cruisers, your port is coming!</p>
<p>Our S has an older Ford Explorer that we had used in our business for several years. Since it was paid for, the price was right. We put about $3,000 in it and its like new with 95,000 miles on it. (S is trying for 100,000 miles before he leaves for college in the fall!). Other than gas mileage, its great for our winter weather and for the kid’s safety. It will go to D this fall when he leaves and hopefully it will survive her learning to drive and her school commuting through her graduation in 2014. She thinks its big and ugly but when we had her calculate how much babysitting she would have to do in order to buy a different used car, the conversation ended fairly quickly. :)</p>
<p>Hi All
Just got through seeing everyone’s gorgeous pics on “our” site. Thanks to 2education for being our moderator/security there.
So glad to put these faces with stories and screen names…I can’t begin to recall each one in detail, yet have a heart for each of the kids and the families since we have been on this journey together for so long.</p>
<p>Hope all enjoying Passover are being blessed in this season and wishing those preparing for Good Friday/Easter Morning a blessed weekend.</p>
<p>I did some grocery shopping for our weekend. Want to get a jump on it. Our kids have sprts over the weekend–I am not happy with that–Would have liked one weekend off. Sigh</p>
<p>On the car front–we are a 3 driver house with 2 cars. Kiddo will not have a car at college. </p>
<p>Hugs all around</p>