<p>emilybee, The only changes to Pell was the maximum EFC for eligibility was lowered. See below:</p>
<p>The maximum Federal Pell Grant award for the 2012-2013 Award Year is $5,550, the same as for the 2011-2012 Award Year. Therefore, for the vast majority of Expected Family Contributions (EFC) there is no change to the Scheduled Award amount. However, because of a recent statutory change, as described below, related to minimum awards, the maximum Pell Grant eligible EFC for 2012-2013 is 4995 which is less than the 5273 EFC maximum for the 2011-2012 Award Year. This means that a small number of applicants with relatively high EFCs who would have been Pell Grant eligible for the 2011-2012 Award Year will not be eligible for the 2012-2013 Award Year. For the same reason, a small number of applicants with a very low cost of attendance (COA) who would have been Pell Grant eligible for the 2011-2012 Award Year will not be eligible for the 2012-2013 Award Year. For these and other reasons, while the maximum award amount is unchanged from 2011-2012, you must use the attached schedules for the 2012-2013 Award Year.</p>
<p>Morning all. We had dinner last night with a couple that has a HS senior. Soo glad we are not dealing with the decisions this coming week and fretting about the upcoming graduation party. S is only a freshman so I get a small breather!</p>
<p>D survived Florida spring break with her girlfriends. They had a great time. I am sure I don’t want ALL the details, but I can tell from her voice that all is well. They went back to campus Friday so they could have the weekend to study. Music to mom’s ears…</p>
<p>Taxes done. Very ugly numbers due to an IRA conversion and AMT. </p>
<p>Spring break for us starts in a week. I need to be very productive this week or I won’t be able to go on our trip. :0</p>
<p>D1 had a concert at school yesterday, and we all decided to take a ride to hear her sing. H had never attend one of her college concerts, but D2 and I went to the Christmas concert. D2 received permission to miss dance class, and we were all set to attend a 3PM concert. We live 45 minutes from the school, so planned our day to depart at 1:45 to arrive in plenty of time to park, get to the hall, etc.</p>
<p>As we were leaving, D1 texted me “Are you here?” Me: “Um… concert doesn’t start until 3… we are just leaving.” D1: “Concert starts at 2. I just found out at 1. I thought it was at 3”. Okay… so why didn’t you tell us when you found out?? H didn’t want to go and show up 3/4 of the way into the show, which was understandable.</p>
<p>D2 and I went anyway, since D1 had some winter clothes that she wanted me to bring home. We managaed to hear about 10 minutes of the concert. D1 had about 2 hours before she had to attend a chorus dinner, so we went shoe shopping and out for frozen yogurt. It would have been nice to hear the entire concert, but at least we all got a pair of cute shoes!</p>
<p>bajamm - I would recheck the numbers. Maybe a fresh look will indicate something out of whack. </p>
<p>Avon - H hired a local HS boy looking to make some money to do our “spring” cleanup. We never do spring cleanups in March. Glad Avon mom is doing well, enjoy that vacation.</p>
<p>gsmomma - argh , sorry you missed most of concert. Enjoy the shoes. </p>
<p>We sent our taxes to our longtime accountant, who moved out of state , about a month ago. She merged with another firm a couple of years ago and it looks like they are doing most of the actual work this year. When I hadn’t heard anything as of two weeks ago I called to make sure they had been recieved and the women who answered told me yes but had no idea when they would be done. Now, a month later, I think they should be done, so I plan on calling Monday. This may be the last year we have someone do them for us. H used to own his own business, and although we still own rental property and have some other income I think we can handle doing it ourselves. I am not happy having them take over a month to get back. We don’t qualify for FA, right now, but want to get the info filed for “just in case.”</p>
<p>S has a bad cold and sounds horrible. Bad enough that I wanted him to see someone Sat. His infirmary is only open M-F and there are no local 24 hour clinics. I told him to go to a drugstore with an open pharmacy and ask what they recommend. He sounds better, but still under the weather. From the parents FB page for his school, the infirmary is a joke, but the university operates a public clinc M-F right aruound the corner from him that will take out insurance so I told him to ge there is he still feels lousy Monday after classes. He wanted to go to the ER, but I told him no we don’t go to the ER for cold symptoms. LOL.</p>
<p>Nice rainy weekend, I love the sun but it was nice to have a respite from Yard work! Years of neglect from the previous owners has out there a lot and don’t ever plant BAMBOO, just saying!</p>
<p>Shaw, we moved after 3rd daughter graduated from High School (the freshman now) but still have a 9th grader who will get to go to our local high school all 4 years. We have moved every 2 to 3 years their entire lives and they are used to it but we are here for good no more moving! (career change). We did move to my hometown and the place where my husband went to college so we have lots of family and old friends so we are great but its a bit harder on my college kids, they are meeting people slowly. I think once the summer comes it will be better, we didn’t move to our house till September and the college kids were already back in school. My oldest D is graduating in May and will not be coming home to live, she wants to stay in Boston. I would do what works best for you and your wife because as they get older they come home less and less…although if you buy a house in a nice vacation type spot they may come home a lot more!!!</p>
<p>Good morning, all! H and I are home after our own “Spring Break” trip. S HS’14 had a school trip to Italy last week, D went back to school last weekend, so we took a nice week of R&R by ourselves. Not sure I am ready to be back, but there is a lot to do here to get life back on track. Project for the morning is to try to get online access to my mom’s finances, and to do the next round of paperwork for my dad’s estate. This stuff is so much more complicated long-distance. It shouldn’t be, but somehow it is.</p>
<p>DS is back at school after spring break. It was great to see him and we enjoyed his visit. He wasn’t ready to go back–week went by too quickly. Here’s hoping the rest of the year goes smoothly. He did admit that he’s still amazed and finds it hard to believe at times he’s going to his school. He’s definitely enjoying it there even with the hard work!</p>
<p>And to pose a Monday question to ponder: They’ve been shrinking the size of cell phones for years (anyone remember those bricks?) But now the tide has turned and the phones are getting bigger again–just saw a commercial for some phone/tablet. Do we really want bigger?</p>
<p>Morning folks. (more like afternoon, but hey!).</p>
<p>D’s birthday today. First time we haven’t been together on her birthday! Felt so weird. Face time call with her this morning to wish her. She was almost in tears, although she pulled it together. Friends decorated her door, got her a cake last night at midnight. We sent her a brownie cake and another parcel that she hasn’t had the chance to open yet…</p>
<p>Did finish the taxes over the weekend - need to review and then file later today. Then comes the FAFSA…</p>
<p>Long while with no update- DD is home and cannot go back to school now. She can’t walk reliably and is using a wheelchair. We don’t have a diagnosis yet though we have excluded a number of them including heart disease of any type, brain tumors, epilepsy, lyme disease, and anemia. Her main symptoms are extreme weakness. </p>
<p>As for school, we are still awaiting a decision. She has one teacher who will let her continue at home. She has two who are considering it. She also has to withdraw from one class for sure. She would really like to not medically withdraw but that will depend on the school. Her doctor has suggested that we try to get her in at the Mayo clinic so that is what I am trying. The stupid thing is that she can still do the work on her own schedule. SHe gets too tired to go to all her classes in a row even if we somehow managed to get her a motorzied wheelchair. It is very hard to know what to do without a diagnosis. Over here, while we are waiting, she will start physical therapy on Wednesday. She is also waiting for appointment with a rheumatologist and then if that isn’t helpful, with an immunologist. </p>
<p>Her problems have caused me major difficulties. SHe is so weak at times that I can’t leave her. If she was to get any weaker, I could not handle her at home. She is thin but I am not that strong and with my arthritis, I can’t pick up a full grown adult even if she is thin.</p>
<p>militarymom- hugs to you and your darling D. Hope you receive a diagnosis soon. My heart hurts for you. Please look after yourself, sometimes we are so busy caring for others we forget about ourselves!</p>
<p>Many hugs and prayers to you dear sweet woman! And many hugs and prayers for your DD and family. So so sorry to hear this news. Praying the MDs find a diagnosis soon so she can be on the mend soon.</p>
<p>I have no clue about the housing for next year.
Have the kids already drawn and picked rooms?
I do know our student and roommate were really happy in the double and planned to stick together. I think they were thinking they would group with others for a larger group/suite, yet idk. I am not sure if there are doubles in their rc or not.</p>
<p>Militarymom, Wish I could come and help you, it all sounds so scary and strange, hope you have some support. Do you live near a military community? I always found our squadrons and fellow military spouses to be so awesome, reach out to your Ombudsman if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Sending big hugs your way. It sounds so scary what your D is going through. Please keep us informed, we are praying for you!
FogFog your guess is as good as mine. I think its this Wednesday or Thursday!</p>
<p>We are actually thinking of buying a condo for ShawD to live in and to rent to 2 other girls. The rental and buying markets may be a bit out of whack. It’s not a market I know well, so I’m going to investigate over the next couple of weeks.</p>
<p>Another military mom here sending prayers and hugs to you MM. I hope you and DD get a diagnosis soon so you can work on healing. I sure hope she can finish up her classes that she really can do from home. Reach out to neighbors, friends, church or wherever you can for support. Let us know how you are both doing.</p>
<p>Fog–my DS has room draw this week, so it’s probably soon for your kiddo. His problem is he and one other roomie will be out for a field exercise for ROTC, but the other two will be handling the draw. I’m sure they will be fine in whatever room they end up since they all get along well.</p>
<p>Big hugs to MM; I hope they find a diagnosis and a cure soon and that you have the support you need in the community. So sorry you are going through this scary time.</p>
<p>MM - sending prayers your way…I cannot believe that your D has deteriorated so much that she needs a wheelchair - <em>hugs</em> - I hope that her appointments bring some type of diagnosis so that she can be treated and get better.</p>
</p>