madameblogalot

Folks around here are getting ready for their kids to go back to school. Many private schools start next week with public schools starting the following week. As for me, I have not even started getting things ready for my daughter! My son has been unhappy with his school this past year. He was trying to get a transfer, which was denied. We looked at a private school, but at the price, we could send him to college. Of course I wish he would come back to being homeschooled, in a different manner of course. I have found some really good online school options. I am looking at one of those for my daughter as well. An acquaintance asked me yesterday when I will start school with my daughter. I told her since I am trying to get things situated with my son, I am holding off a bit, but by the end of September for sure!

It never fails that every summer, I know lots of people who are needing custom screen printing tee shirts. Everyone loves to have shirts made for camps, VBS and other fun things kids attend during the summer months. And the kids love getting the tee shirts. They seem to be great reminders during the year of the summer fun. And it is always cool to see someone else wearing one of the same shirts. Every summer at camp, I love to wear only tee shirts from all the previous camps I’ve been to. Now it’s getting to where I have more shirts to wear than days to wear them!

I don’t have much to add to my Hit or Miss list for July. My summer has been busy staying caught up on my bible reading and I did finally finish a book I’d started earlier this year, but not until August. I was very lucky to be able to attend a performance of Phantom of the Opera. That was a huge HIT for me and my daughter both. We came home that night and tried to see if could get tickets again before the show closed. We were unable to, but are looking forward to seeing it again another time.

In thinking about getting a kid ready for college, there are numerous details to consider, outside of course selection and financial aid. Just figuring out their day to day activities can be overwhelming. Even while living in a dorm, kids are going to need some money for incidentals, personal care, and entertainment. I recently learned of an idea that might be a great for solution for both parents and their young adult children.

In looking at the Vision Premiere Visa card, it looks like a solution for kids who want to spend and parents who want to help keep spending under control. The Vision Premiere Prepaid Card has several features including direct deposit, online bill pay, balance notifiers and savings on insufficient funds transactions. When signed up with direct deposit there are no weekly fees, no transaction fees and no bank account required. It works like a debit card so is easy to use. There is guaranteed approval. This could really be beneficial to both parties and an easy way for both parents and kids to keep track of the money being spent. As kids head off to school this fall, this could provide a great avenue for real life experience in handling money without the pitfall of the lessons they learn being too expensive!

I recently found a (legal) way to make $20,000. And I thought I was qualified, but then found out I am too old.

I saw an ad looking for surrogate mothers. I have never truly desired to be pregnant again, after going through lots of sickness with both my pregnancies. But this ad sparked some very good discussion in our home. We talked first of all about what a surrogate mother is and why one would be needed. My son said it was something he thought was good and I should do, if I could. My husband said he would not have cared if I did it. My daughter however thought it was just wrong! The money aside, the moral and emotional implications were just too much for her to think “right” in such a situation. My son argued that if someone wanted a baby and could not carry it, how happy they would be to have a biological child whom someone else carried for them. My daughter was worried more about the emotional attachment the surrogate mother would have to the child that grew within her. Pretty insightful for both of them I think, especially in that they are both teens.

I don’t know if I would ever really have done it or been able to do it. But it was fun to have such an interesting discussion!

Our experience with high speed internet has been unbelievable. When we first decided to spend the extra money on it, justified by the amount of time we use the internet and for educational purposes, we went with RoadRunner, who was the only carrier in the area. Then, we got switched to Comcast. The name of that company has now become a curse word in our home! If you read any of my other blogs you would know that for six months we had intermittent service from last fall until this spring. So when our internet started doing the same thing two weeks ago, we were not happy customers!

We still are not sure what caused this most recent round of internet grief. It took TEN DAYS for Comcast to get the situation fixed. That is after my neighbors and I having to go through the same methods day after day after day. As it stands right now, it seems to be staying online, which is good. But I am not completely convinced. So when I heard about the option of satellite internet I must say I was intrigued. I know nothing is perfect, but it is an option I just may have to mention to husband.