Couponing

About a month ago I saw a local story on the news about a woman who lives in our home town and feeds her family of six on less than $5 a week because of coupons. Hmmm, I thought, now there’s a challenge and thus began my quest. Here is a link to the story that first captivated me. Coupon Queen They recently featured her on Good Morning America.

I do have to preface this all by saying it has become a new part time job and I spend a lot of time scouring the internet for coupons. I have been keeping a spreadsheet of spending. I don’t see how I could ever get it down to less than $10 but I have been managing to get some items for free when they’re on sale and have cut our food bill close to $50 per week. I’m still honing my craft. Here are some links to my favorite sites:

 Coolsavings      Coupon Bug

Coupons.com     Redplum      Smartsource

Use your zip code to find the deals in your area. Most sites will let you print at least 2 of each. If you have multiple computers in your home take advantage of them. Typically the first of the month they reset. I have also visited manufacturers sites that I like and found coupons. Our favorite peanut butter is Jif. I couldn’t find any coupons but I went to their site and sent them an email praising their product and they sent me one in the mail. There are many more sites out there, blogs about saving money etc. The Sunday paper typically has coupons but not on a holiday. I know next year with two in college every little bit will help.

A Parent’s Worst Nightmare

Sunday evening around 6:30 two local boys were almost home when one of them lost control of his car and smashed into 3 trees before it finally came to rest. The other boy was not wearing his seatbelt, was thrown from the car and died. Both of these boys were in Emily’s senior class. She knew them, the one that died more so.

This once again has made me reflect on the fragility of life. We open the door, give them the car keys and hope for the best.  We expect them to come back to us, sometimes they just don’t. Apparently speed played a factor and the driver is being charged with vehicular homicide. He will be forever impacted and will have to live with whatever demons this will bring to him.

As with any tragedy in a small town the news flew like wildfire. An email from the principal was first out. Counselors were made available to anyone that felt the need for professional help dealing with this  and will be available for as long as necessary. When Emily came home from school we talked about it. She knew before she went to school because Facebook was already lit up with the news. Technology affords many good and bad things but in this instance I think it has offered a place to grieve for this boy’s friends and family. The kids started a memorial Facebook site as a place to express their emotions. I’ve been reading some of the post and they are very heartfelt, some sad and many humorous as they recall shared time with the victim. I thought what a comfort it will bring to the family, of the love that was felt for their son, as they try to make sense of something that can’t be understood and as they try to live with something that is unlivable.

College Updates

Yesterday we went to an open house at Colby-Sawyer in NH. This update is devoid of photos because it poured all day. We could tell that the area around the college was probably very beautiful with wonderful mountain views but unfortunately all we saw was mist and fog. The campus was well maintained and the library was a converted barn with silo, very nice.

We have one more college to visit on November 11th, MCLA or Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts out in North Adams, MA. They have a creative writing program and from a parental point of view will be the financial safety school. So this is where we are at to date:

#1 Champlain College- Burlington, VT

#2 Hofstra University- Long Island, NY

#3 Colby-Sawyer- New London, NH

The other schools that have been visited and are a no are:

University Farmington- Farmington, ME

Quinnipiac University- Hampden, CT

Green Mountain College- Poultney, VT

To those out there that have gone through or are going through this process you know how much work and how time consuming it is. For those who will be going through it my condolences;)

Way Too Early

This is what we woke up to this morning. Hey, it’s only October 16th. I don’t think I can remember ever getting snow this early since we moved to New England. Granted it won’t last but I hope it’s not a harbinger of things to come.

Tomorrow Greg and Emily will be going to Farmington University in Maine for a visit. I’m working so they’ll be on their own. Next Saturday the three of us will be going for a visit to Colby-Sawyer College in NH, that should wrap up all the planned visits. Next step is to get the applications in then sit back and wait and wait…

Topsfield Fair 2009

The Topsfield Fair is the oldest County Fair in the country and has been a tradition of ours since we moved here. This year marked our 28th fair. It runs for 10 days and ends on Columbus Day. I thought we might not make it this year but the weather was beautiful so we took advantage of it today. Please click on the photos for a closer look.

We always start out with the flower barn. I find it very peaceful and a nice escape from the hubbub of the fair.

 

We try to hit the buildings early before they get too crowded. Next is the vegetable building. Every year the great pumpkin makes an appearance. I thought it might not be as big this year due to all the rain but below is another record setting pumpkin. When I look at it I can envision the growers hovering and worrying about it all during the growing season.

In the veggie building the scouting troops make creations out of plants. There are a ton. These are some of my favorites.

 

Another favorite is the sand sculpture. This is started on day one of the fair. The sand artist does his thing while people mill about. I have taken one each year since I’ve gone digital. I keep thinking I’ll put them together. Maybe when I have some free time;) One advantage of going on the last day is we got to see the finished product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn’t resist the John Deere miniatures for Gary. There was a whole display so this is a teaser. 

 

 

 

 

My favorite part of the fair are the Hallamore Clydesdales. Much to the dismay of my family I could stand there and watch these gentle giants all day. These are some pics of them getting ready to tour the fair grounds and coming out of the arena. They are quite breathe taking. I hope you enjoyed my little sample of our fair. 

paDuok

Yesterday, October 8, 2009, Greg and I went to Lowell to attend a  recital Derek and his housemate Dave put together. Each music student is required to attend 10 recitals each semester.

 

Derek and Dave approached one of their professors back in the spring requesting to put a recital together. Derek has become incredibly skilled on the marimba. Dave is a senior and a music business major. Follow the links for a rare treat. Their recital was well attended and they received a standing ovation at the end. These are in the order in which they were performed. Lockenia is composed by Dave. Derek was the soloist on Over the Moon and Dave in Motion Beyond.

Mediterranean Sundance

Lockenia 

Over The Moon

Motion Beyond

Octobones

Octobones sample in HD

The second Octobones I shot a segment on my digital camera. It has the capability to shoot HD. I’ll have to use it more often.

A New First Choice

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, September 19 we got up early and hit the road by 6:30 a.m. We had a whirlwind trip through NH, Vermont, MA and a touch of NY. Our quest was for Burlington, VT and Champlain College. The weather was beautiful and the further north we went the more the colors were changing. Once we got into NH we hit a lot of fog. The above photo on the left shows the mountains that were always in our view. The photo on the right is the mountains with the whiter area showing the fog that we were headed into. (Click on photos for larger view).

Above is the view from an outdoor deck at Champlain College. You can see the mountains off in the distance with a great view of the lake. We had lunch there and were able to enjoy the beautiful view. The air is so fresh and clean there. We were all very impressed with the college and it moved up into the number one spot for Em. Our 2 tour guides were students. They had a lot of enthusiasm and good information to share. The college is very small only about 2000 students. The education is top notch and very personalized. They’re one of the few schools in the country to offer video game design. The ratio of guys to girls is 60/40 and tended to be a lot of computer geeks. Right now Em is thinking of creative writing which is offered.

The campus itself is unlike any we had ever seen before. Burlington is very hilly. From the street you really couldn’t tell there was a college. One side of the street is made up of old Victorian mansions like the ones below. In reality they are the dorms. They have all been refurbished for the students. We were able to see one of the rooms and I was impressed by how nice it was even though it was small. It even had wall-to-wall carpeting. There is a cleaning service so the kids don’t have to worry about that. The 2 photos above are part of the campus courtyard. We were very pleased not only with the school but the quality of education the kids get. As you can imagine it all comes with a price tag but its been our experience that there is no cheap secondary education unless you go to a community college.

The picture above left is the admissions building for Champlain College.

The University of Vermont is down the street from Champlain. Aside from the price tag my only other reservation is the distance. It took 3.5 hours to get there. When we finished up there we headed south to check out Green Mountain College. It’s very small, about 1000 students and after seeing Champlain we all knew right away that it would not be a good fit.

Traveling through Vermont I was impressed by how brilliant green it was. It was also clear that farming is a big industry for Vermont. The photo below on the left was typical of the farms we saw. We couldn’t help but think of Gary as we traveled through. We though if he had some extra time and hay bales on his hands he could create some of the hay art we saw all along the way.

The majority of these pictures were taken while we were traveling. I tried to capture a covered bridge as we whizzed by. Perhaps if Em gets accepted Greg and I can spend the night and really do some site seeing. It’s a beautiful state.