If this was to Nickirae, I wholeheartedly agree. Nicki, if you're still out there, I wrote you a bit on the original thread.

Southern - how's DH? Had to laugh about the HORRIBLE torture you put your skids through on that skiing trip, lol. I mean, skiing every morning, spa in the afternoon, what a wicked stepmonster you are, lol. I think your DH needs to adopt me and mine adopt you. I promise, I won't complain about all that skiing and spa time if you don't complain about the RCMH Rockettes...

So SD got spa treatments and still never warmed up to you? DH gave me an evening at our spa last week and it was heavenly - forgot about all the crappy things he's done to me and just fell in love w/ that man all over again, lol.

When is the wedding date? I'm praying not to hear any such news on our end from YSD and her bf, though they seem pretty serious. They're still quite young, however. I surely didn't know what I wanted in a spouse (have often wondered if my judgement at 33 was even good, lol) at 22, so I hope they aren't rushing anything.

I read your post about donations to your colleges. Very interesting points you made! I often wonder if I'll be able to get three Caucasian males into college in 11-15 years...I went to UF which is now VERY difficult to get into. I don't care where the boys want to go. Many UF alumni have been crushed to have their kids w/ well over 4.0 GPAs not get accepted there on early admission, summer start. Amazing. Bright Futures and prepaid college funds have made it very competitive.

Hope you're doing well, Southern. You remind me so much of another dear online friend I had for years, but have lost touch with. She had the same calming effect on me, lol.

Dana

Just out of curiosity, how can you have a GPA of over 4.0? Isn't 4.0 equivalent to straight A's in Florida? - it is in high schools in my state (or they use 1-100 instead of 0-4), and at all of the 7 colleges and grad schools that my kids have attended.

Some schools give a 5.0 for an A in Honors or AP classes. So a 4.0 means either Bs or less demanding classes. Colleges look at a variety of things, including the course work (basket weaving classes or their ilk dont carry a lot of weight) and SAT/ACT scores. And a lot more children are looking at state schools like UF because they, or their parents, are factoring the cost of grad school in addition to undergrad.

Yes, when you take honors or AP classes and get A's, you earn over a 4.0. My friend's DD had a 4.65 GPA, tons of community service hours, but just under a 1200 on the SAT, which is a make or break cut off in many cases, so she was not accepted. Her cousin was the first of her family to not get into UF - several generations had gone - she was devastated.

D

True. The message was for Nicki, but sorry that wasn't clear.

Anyway, what I thought would be the equivalent of a family honeymoon ended up being my introduction to my step-family.
I thought skiing the Rockies and spa in the afternoon was heaven on earth. Not so.

I even took our nanny for the little kids (3 & 5) so that
no one would be tied up with the little ones.

SK whined the whole time. Picked on and made fun of the little kids. Walked in on us in our room without knocking (no locks and we were only married 2 weeks), and then indignant when we suggested knocking next time.

Then that angry phone call from ex- that we should have let them bring a friend, and they felt like babysitters the whole week. Oh, yeah. Those pedicures and massages are SOOO stressful.

Anyway, thanks for the comment about colleges.
Money talks louder than private schools and 4.0's.
I'm sorry to say that, but if you are an alumnus, and make a financial commitment to the school, even if it's in your will, that practically ensures that your child will get in.
That's just the fact. Also, since it's an estate contribution, if for some reason they blackball your child, you can always change your commitment, and they know that.
Usually 5% will get it, but we just got tired of the whining, and don't want to leave our kids with enough to retire on. So that's where the 10% comes each comes in.
Also, the bequests to colleges helps to ensure that whether they want to go undergrad or to medical school or law school, they will have an extra boost over the average high achiever. Sorry, but that's life. Caucasion male or not,
schools are VERY appreciative of pledges of hard cold cash. The other thing is that charitable contributions are a way to decreased your estate below the taxable level. If you own a dental practice, life insurance policies, and property in southern florida, you would probably blush at your net worth, even if it doesn't seem that way, right now.

Dana, even if you are not in a financial position to make a cash gift now, you can pledge estate money, which will never hurt you in your lifetime. DH and I can get tickets to any sporting event, (even the NCAA basketball tournament--double congratulations, BTW) based on the category that puts us in. Incidentally, I am secretly in love with Jochim
Noah. I love college basketball.

One other thing is that if you don't get into the college that you want, you can start in summer school as a transient student, do well, and then appeal to stay as
a permanent student. There will always be students that wash out during the first quarter.

UF is an excellent school, also with an excellent medical school. You are certainly priviledged to have gone there.

Regarding the wedding, there is no definite date, but probably around Christmas 2008. Hubby said that he planned to give SD a lump some of around 20K and that she could use is in any way that she wanted. That will keep us out of any emotional meltdowns. In this part of the country that will go a long way. One big issue, however, is that SD said she assumed that her allowance $2000/ month would continue after she married, (all her expenses and tuition are paid out of her trust fund, and this is extra). DH said that after she married, that her husband would have to take over her allowance. DH said that in that case, she would have to re-think getting married. That's true love. If the wedding takes place as planned she will be 23--the same age I was and DH were on our first ill-fated wedding days.
Hubby's 30th anniversary would be today. Happy happy!

Calming is good. OOOHHHHMMMMM.

Not all schools in my state weight averages at all, and when they do, it is not by much - they only get maybe 4 points out of a hundred for AP/Honors classes.

Around here, most kids who would be in Honors or AP classes are looking at about 1400 for the SAT - (2100 in the new SAT).