News from the North Country

Here are some questions and answers about Ash Wednesday.

Q:  Hey, your forehead’s dirty. What’s that on your forehead?

A:  Ashes…they’re from church.

Q:  Why did your church put dirt on your forehead?

A:  It’s not dirt, their ashes. Today’s Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Catholics wear ashes to show that we want to change to get ready for Easter.

Q:  Are they supposed to be in a shape or something? Just looks like a smudge to me.

A:  It’s supposed to be in the shape of a cross - like the one that Jesus died on.

Q:  So you think you’re something  special because you’re wearing ashes on your forehead?

A:  No, just the opposite. It shows that without God, this is all we are - ashes. It’s a way of admitting how much we need God.

Q:  So how’re you gonna change…gonna become all holy on us?

A:  Just trying to become what God wants me to be…a good person.

Q:  I hear you guys give up stuff for Lent too. What for?

A:  Giving up stuff - like snacks or watching TV or swearing - is kinda like exercise - it’s hard work but it makes us stronger. 

Q:  So you can’t have any fun for how long?

A:  I can still have fun, I’m just gonna be doing some stuff a little differently for 40 days…that’s how long until Easter.

Q:  Then you can go back to being your old self?

A: No, that’s the point, hopefully I’ll be an even better version of myself!

Today was Financial Aid day at SUNY.  I attended the one at SUNY Canton.  It was informative in that I know I did and am doing everything correctly to get Billy as much money as possible for college.

I spoke with someone from admissions at Canton and  she is checking into his acceptance there.  I spoke with someone from financial aid office and found out what some of the grants Billy will be eligible for are worth.  So all in all it was an informative day.

So Billy applied to five schools:

• Purchase wants more info, we are waiting for guidance to send it.  Since there has been no school this week, we need to wait until Monday to talk to them.
• RIT will give responses beginning March 15 .  They say that his application is complete
• New Paltz asked for more information.  Waiting for guidance again!
• Buffalo State has accepted him.
• Canton has sent him an invitation to ‘Accepted Student’ Days, but no acceptance letter.  I spoke with someone at admissions today and she said he probably was accepted and she will check on Monday for him.  She says the invite would not have come without him being accepted and that his acceptance package probably is held up in the office.

So we continue to wait……

Waiting is what we are doing.  Waiting to hear from colleges.  Waiting to hear from FAFSA.  Waiting to hear on doctors test results.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Billy received a letter of acceptance into the Photography program at Buffalo State.  I am waiting for him to wake up so I can see the entire package.   (School vacations are fun but why do teens want to sleep so late, it is almost noon!)

I did not realize that it was an acceptance letter so I opened it thinking it was a request for more info.  Well, it is not one of the schools he really would like to attend, but it is a start.  I am sure he will receive more letters of acceptance.  He applied to 5 universities / colleges all together.  So one down, four to go!

The FAFSA form is now complete.  Holy Cow! that is a chore.  But it is complete.  It showed Billy may be eligible for more aid than I expected.  He still is considering both SUNY @ Purchase and RIT.  Maybe his best bet would be to go to Purchase for a few years and if he thinks RIT would still be a better fit, he could transfer.

I plan to look now for private scholarships and grants and see what he is eligible for.  It is quite the process, but now that the taxes are all done and the information for aid is all complied it will be much easier.

Thank goodness I am somewhat organized.   I could use some organization hints though if anyone would like to share.

I did June’s taxes yesterday, although she does not need to file anymore, I did complete them.  I will go to the library tomorrow and print them for her.  She would prefer to send by paper and I will do that for her.

I finished Billy’s taxes a few weeks ago and he received his refund already.  Good thing too, since he got into a bit of a financial bind and needed that extra $$.  I use TaxSlayer.com and it worked really well for Billy’s taxes.  I used them last year for our taxes and paid for the efile and it worked great.  Billy was eligible for free filing given his low income.  So that all worked well for him.

I finished our taxes today.  They are now e-filed sent and all is complete.  We made less money this year than I had thought….but a bit more than I wanted given financial aid for college.  I used TurboTax on line.  It was thorough and gave me a lot of hints and I learned some things.  I was able to research it all through the IRS website too.  I like TaxSlayer too, but Turbo Tax was less automatic and I had more control.  On turbo tax I could have made a mistake easier too.  I think it went well though.

The portfolio review went well.  They accepted his portfolio and asked him to re-submit and add two drawings and a self-portrait.  He has not done that yet.

His application at RIT is complete.  They will begin notifying  applicants March 15 so we will be waiting on that.  His application at SUNY @ Purchase was more extensive, they required two essays and two letters of recommendations.   They have not marked his application as complete, since they have not received the letters yet.  He requested the academic letter from an English teacher at school and the professional recommendation from his art teacher.  They both did the letters and turned them into guidance. I hope Purchase marks that they have received them soon.  It is nerve racking to wait.  More so for me than for Billy.

So Billy has his appointment for his portfolio review.  It is Friday at noon or so.  It is 325 miles from here.  Lee and Billy will leave here tomorrow stay at my brothers and return Friday night.  I am looking forward to how it all turns out.

You can take a look at his pictures down on the ‘Blogroll’

Mary Beth turns twelve tomorrow.  Oh my where did the time go?  I just can not believe that she is twelve.  It really is amazing.