holy cow! where does the time go?

Slow down the world! It's moving too fast! I can't even believe it. M is driving, B is a sophomore, a gangly string bean, and tomorrow I will have been married for twenty years. Too much to process for my aging cell-depleted brain.

Anyway, nothing is exciting. Dogs are dogs, cats are cats, kids are kids. B passed his summer reading tests! Of course, the year that he decides to pass them, with 76s on three so far, the school decides to grade them with numbers and make them count. Up till now they were always pass/fail. So of course, last year, he, um...didn't pass (where were his 76's when they would have been Ps instead of Cs??) Now I don't even know if that will matter, does it even count? And he has one more to take tomorrow, and it's the one with no online study guides. I'm a little more than anxious, I have to admit. Whatever. Separate. Breathe. Drink wine.

As for M, she starts her recruiting trips this coming weekend. Two now, two next month. We found out we have no financial need. None. Tell that to our checking account. Oh, and tell it to Sleepy's, who rejected me for their 0% financing. Well, in the end that was a good thing because, while humiliating, it gave me time to rethink my impulse purchase.

I was actually prepared to spend $1099 on a set they had on 'sale,' but for some bizarre reason, when my credit was rejected, the price dropped further by close to $300. They wanted me to give a deposit to hold the mattress, after they told me my credit was no good! How pathetic is it to be told you have no need by a school whose tuition is $50,000+ per year, and then the next day be rejected for credit when trying to buy a $1000 bedding set?

And guess what? I found the same mattress online for another $150 less. My 'bad credit' saved our bank account. I don't even know why they rejected me, unless because my income is so low. So low, in fact, that the government won't even tax me :-)

I guess this is all good anyway because I'm also in the process of being taken for a ride by the website bookrags. I bought three lesson plans to help B prepare for the summer reading tests. Well, they knocked out my account so I can't access any of them anymore, they won't fix it, won't answer questions about refunds, and now PayPal won't reverse the charge because it wasn't a material good. Ridiculous! Buyer Beware takes on a whole new meaning. I'm going to try to get credit through my credit card instead, but this is ridiculous! How can they keep my money when I can't even access the site?!?

And in other news, everyone is back to school. M's classes now have 30+ kids in every one, and B's school is under construction and is only having back to school night for freshmen. M is back to swim practices now, and it's so delightful having her drive herself. I have afternoons and evenings uninterrupted by having to run out in the middle of cooking dinner to get her. And she is adjusting to having the Explorer as her car. It's about time for the Honda to go back. I plan on driving it on some of the college visits to run up the miles, since we have to pay for them anyway. But then it goes back. And we love the little Jettawagen. It's comfortable, fun to drive, and cute to look at!