@ DiotimaDM I am sorry about the break up…I would be on the fence about telling him about the Gap year, too. It would be like a bandaid, pull it all off and get it over with once. It is a difficult position to be in.
Well, the school didn’t know. They’ve never had it come up before. They had to check their policies, and this exact scenario wasn’t covered - a National Merit kid who wants to defer enrollment while keeping the scholarship. So then they had to talk to people about it. I get the feeling meetings were had.
End result, the NMF scholarship offer can only be made for the year the kid’s name appears in official NMF list, with UNM chosen as first choice school. If the kid waits a year, regardless of the kid having been NMF the year before and having chosen UNM then, the kid is no longer eligible.
For the record, taking a gap year at Texas Tech wasn’t a slam dunk either. They also said they’d never had it happen before (their NMF program is new-ish), so S would have to petition, and they couldn’t guarantee the petition would be approved.
All in all, I’m glad we found out now instead of waiting until February or worse, May 1.
@sushiritto , not in New Orleans you wouldn’t! Still 90+ degrees here. I have biked before. And I did walk it once. Once.
@DiotimaDM I’m so sorry. 
@DiotimaDM , sorry to hear of the bad week and gap year news. I am sure a year or two from now it will have all worked out splendidly, but I know it is hard to see that now.
With all this talk of squeezing out the last gasps of old cars, I am starting to see why parents splurge on fun, sporty cars post college payments. What dream car will you get? I’ve not over thought it yet, but definitely something small, fast and topless.
That’s very interesting about the gap year. I had always heard colleges like students taking gap years because they come in more mature and focused. We had been trying to talk our daughter into one but losing the NM scholarship would be kind of brutal.
Thanks, everyone. He’s tired today, and he has work due this evening for his Gov class. I will probably tell him tonight or tomorrow morning after he turns his work in so he has the weekend to process before the school (and rehearsal) week picks up again. Bah, humbug!
Cars - we drive them til the wheels fall off. I have a 2005 Prius with 117k miles on it. DH had a 1998 Contour that the state offered him money to retire (emissions issue, I think?), so he traded for a 2011 Sonata, and the Sonata has about 86k on the odometer. It our “new” car. 
One or the other of those two will head to college with S if he needs a car, which I doubt he will his first year.
Re: dream car - I’m probably boring. I’d be thrilled with a brand new Prius, maybe one of the plug in models. If I win the lottery, make it a Tesla.
Tonight is D’s Homecoming. She’s never been into the school dances or football games or boys, but last night she came home and announced that her long-time guy friend had asked her to Homecoming.
Me: :D/ Ohhhh How fun! You gonna get all dressed up?
D: No, we’re not going to go to the game.
Me: :-/ Oh. You’re going to go to the dance, then?
D: NO. Both of us hate dances!
Me: :-? So, what are you going to do then?
D: Well, we have this meeting for an EC after school, then we may come back here and study. He said he’d help me with Calc.
Me: / So, you’re going to Homecoming together, but you’re not going to the game, and you’re not going to the dance.
D: Right.
What am I missing here? X_X :)) 
@DiotimaDM – so sorry to hear about girlfriend and gap year.
@ShrimpBurrito , you should take pictures anyway!
I actually chose to keep my Land Cruiser for 17 years. Maintenance has been dirt cheap. And the dealer service has been awesome. I’ve always been a car buff, since I was a kid, so I own a small fast topless car. At least one. 
I’d just like to point out we’ve reached 500 pages of chatter. Good work everyone! =D>
@vistajay - your comment, “something small, fast and topless” made me giggle. My husband surprised me this past year with a Range Rover convertible. It is exactly what you described - small, fast, and topless. Complete splurge for us and I know I will drive it into the ground. Even with our kiddos starting college, he said he “had” to get it now because it was the first year they made a convertible. X_X Haha… I’ll probably be driving it to buy mac & cheese when both our boys go off to the university. =))
My DD worked hard on her Coalition essay. I thought it was great. Until…
I asked about length. We had talked about it before. She thought it had to be under 650 words. Turns out they want it to be until 550 words! Her 1st choice college has especially firm language about a 550-word limit.
So we thought her essay was strong, and now she has to chop off 100 words.
Gap Year:
We are currently living it - DD never went down the Nat Merit path, she was too lazy and I paid no attention so that was not on our radar. However, we do know that not all merit aid is offered up to kids who chose to take a gap. We were very fortunate that UAH offers their substantial merit to incoming Freshman who qualify without the clause of must enroll the fall following graduation or even others that flat out state “no gap years”. I’m not sure what the deal is but I think its a shame that the schools frown (financially) on the students who want to step back, breath or just mature and figure out a bit of where they want the next path to lead.
Cars:
I am very frugal, I hate car payments and never ever buy brand new. I let someone else pay the depreciation.
My vehicle is a 2002 Honda Odyssey mini van with 269K miles - I bought it in 2004 with 40K. I love my van, I really do, she helped raise my kids and then last summer she stranded DH and I in BFE Texas on a 110 degree day. She is still in the driveway but is no longer the main family vehicle. The power sliding doors are finicky, some days they just don’t want to close. Several of the dash lights no longer light up - the “D” for drive doesn’t light up and while teaching DD to drive this has proven to be a challenge. If DD would get brave enough to actually drive, the van will go to her.
My DS bought a used 2009 - 4 door Honda Civic when he got out of grad school. He drove it for about a year until he bought his brand spanking new, ohhhh so expensive Chevy Truck to haul his 5th wheel - He is a traveling Physical Therapist and he pulls his “home” behind that fancy truck of his. I choke every time I think about what he spent on that truck.
Anyway, when he bought the truck I bought the Civic from him for a whopping $3,800 - this was a few months ago - 2009 with 92K for that sticker, works for me. Its a 5 speed which I enjoy, 4 door so its not claustrophobic, I’ve nicknamed it the G-Kart. It does not have power locks or mirrors, thankfully it does have power windows but the no power locks is a complete pain in the hiney. Its not as comfy as my van but it is fun to drive.
DH drives a 1997 Honda Civic S - this car has gone over 300K - to be fair, we did a top end rebuild 3 summers ago as we had pretty much rebuilt everything else and it was a worthwhile investment. DH loves his car - the rest of us hate it as its too small, DH is a slob so the car is filthy and he drives it like a maniac.
I am 51 years old and been married 30 years.
I have had 3 cars:
1987 Honda Accord - Bought with 10K - Donated with 250K
2002 Honda Odyssey - Bought with 40K still going at 269K
2009 Honda Civiv, bought with 92K…
@ShrimpBurrito I puffy heart love your D!! That sounds like the best Homecoming plans ever!!
My 2004 Sienna just hit 200K. We also have a 2004 Camry and 2008 Avalon. I would love love love the Sienna to last until DD18 finishes college. That would be ideal! If it can’t do that, at least if it could last until DS15 graduates in 2019, we won’t have 2 in college when we have to figure out my next vehicle. I really do enjoy driving a minivan. If I won the lottery I would get a brand new one. Unfortunately I don’t play the lottery.
@KSMom1518 I also drive 2004 Sienna! It has about 170k. I would love to have a smaller car, maybe an electric or hybrid. But I need the Sienna at least until carpooling is done (2021ish?).
@SnowflakeDogMom should let the folks at Honda know. Imagine, we’ll all be watching TV and up comes a Honda ad, and all the CCers wherever they may be shout out, "wow, I know that woman, it’s Snowflakedogmom! " and everyone else in the room turns and stares at us like we’ve lost it. Until we realize there’s another CCer in the room with us and we shout out in glee to finally meet our fellow parental warrior.