As the song goes, though I'm nowhere near the tropics with blissful blue waters, rather scorched ugly burnt grass abounds.
Daughter had her consult for braces. Took us awhile to navigate the whole reality of braces with a metal allergy, but we're testing with the titanium and porcelain and gold, so she should be fine. Going back to the original doctor (who my daughter felt comfortable with) yielded the pleasant surprise that the cost hadn't gone up since 4/11 with the original quote. Cost: $5,600, total time to fix the situation 18-24 monthes. My grandmother gifted by daughter $4K to get her smile more beautiful. Might have to forego the $235 (5%) discount to pay in full because the $1,600 deficit is what we have for her first tuition payment. Our other option is: $1,890 down and then $210 a month for 18 months. Totally do-able, and the funds haven't been comingled.
Younger daughter babysat 5.5 hours on Tuesday, Older daughter is babysitting 4 hours today and 6.5 tomorrow. Time to open them Virtual Wallets at PNC so they can have access to their savings and debit cards. 
They're on the brink of fiscal responsibility ...
This heat is awful, the coolest we can expect the house with the air on is 81 during high heat. We've got an air hockey table in the basement, and since that's the coolest place, I'll suggest subterranean fun today. Have to go to the library. Our DVD player died and we're borrowing one from my mom. The endless list of things that need to be replaced is growing, leaps and bounds.
Hope everyone is staying cool. I will need to spend about $35 in gas and $50 in groceries today. Spending remains low. Also found out that older daughter's Lacrosse camp at her high school is FREE, wa-hoo!
We're having a heatwave, a tropical heat wave ...
June 28th, 2012 at 03:38 pm
June 28th, 2012 at 04:46 pm 1340902006
June 28th, 2012 at 05:07 pm 1340903254
June 28th, 2012 at 06:55 pm 1340909758
@ NJDebbie ~ Lacrosse is new to her highschool (within the past three years) and doesn't have a big following (I guess). There are three teams: Frosh/Soph, JV, and Varsity. We're simply looking at this as an opportunity for her to and make some friends, and we're borrowing a Lacrosse stick from some friends. I will be suprised if she likes it enough to try out in the spring, but who knows what the future holds?
June 28th, 2012 at 07:16 pm 1340911002
June 28th, 2012 at 07:30 pm 1340911838
@ MEC, We had several ortho consults. This quote ($5,600) was reasonable. The in-network ortho (which my daughter didn't like and was arguing with me about my daughter's metal allergy) offered a $1,000 discount - but was $7,200, bringing the price down to $6,200. Invisalign (which the incompetent dentist said was a viable option) was quoted at $4,200. I'd ask around to parents of classmates with braces for referrals. For me, it boiled down to who my daughter felt the most comfortable with and my year off of educating myself put me in a place to feel comfortable too. This ortho gladly gave samples to test against to double check for no allergies (titanium and some other metal on the periodic table of element). I could go on and on and on ...
June 29th, 2012 at 04:56 am 1340945802