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stopping by to say hello
Topic Started: Oct 21 2015, 07:13 AM (314 Views)
nov1971
Silver Member
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Don't recall when I was here last I know it's been a month or two. Been a crazy and chaotic few months. We moved in with my wife's aunt. She has early stages of dementia and Alzheimer's. She is able to function pretty normally. But she does stuff that requires us to watch her, such as turn on the stove burners and walk away. Her late husband handle paying the bills , which we have taken over. Originally we decided to move in because it was determined it would save us money and the aunt wouldn't have to be alone. This was discussed years ago that my wife and I would move in or get a place close by in order to help out when her aunt and uncle got too old and couldn't care for themselves.
Things changed since that intimal conversation. The uncle passed and then there are the kids. Alot of people tried to talk her (the aunt) out having us move in, we even tried to talk to her and explain its not easy living kids, their loud messy and constantly need attention. But she was insistent. She didn't want to move into a retirement community which is what alot of people wanted.
I think also it gives her a chance to help raise kids. From what I am learning she had miscarriage many years ago and for whatever reason didn't try to have any more kids. I also learned that for a while she also help raise a cousin who I have only heard about in passing. I recently learned the cousin committed suicide not long after I meet the family or shortly before. His name isn't mentioned much every few years someone will mention him and even two decades after his death its a touchy subject.
So we finally moved in with the aunt full time. It's been along process. We did a three month trial run, then extended it another several months as we worked on down sizing our stuff preparing to move in with the aunt.
That came with some challenges. First we were talking about two car garage and a three bedroom house packed full of stuff . Originally we were going to put everything in storage and sort it out over time.
I went to the garage and decided alot of stuff could go to Goodwill or to the trash. So that became a month and half project. Then there was the house it's self. As time went on the wife would say we don't need this or that, or we can let this or that go.
Eventually we got down to stuff that was going to to put into storage Christmas, holiday, family items and furniture. Then we decided to donate the furniture. Then in the middle of the move we got side tracked by a surgery that pretty much wipe out our savings. So hiring movers and getting a moving truck was out of the question.
So we moved what we could by truck and and car . Eventually the storage unit became full and it was determined everything else was going to be gotten rid of.
We also moved in with very little stuff. Most of it clothes and toys, etc. Alot of people are not happy we moved in and recently it's come to our attention we have been referred to as leaches and squatters. I personally never wanted to move in or move to the area town we live in now. I hate the area with a passion.
We kept what we moved in with light and little because we know when the aunt passes we are going to have to move out because there will be a legal battle over the house, which according to the aunt my wife will get. We know we will have to stay at a hotel or motel for a few days while we look for another place.
The Wife's plan as far as I know if she gets the place is to sell it and divide the proceeds from the sale among the kids in the family. It will be put in education trust.
So thats how things have been going.
Hope everyone is doing well
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Pastor Rick
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You have a lot on your plate, my friend... :wacko:
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nov1971
Silver Member
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Okay I seriously have no idea when I was here last. The days seem to blend together. I will start my day in a few hours from now around 6:30 am (it's 1:08 Las Vegas time). I will get the kids up to bathe and get ready for school. After I drop them off I will come home clean up dishes from breakfast, make up the bed and probably around 11am have a church study session with RickG. Those usually last an hour or two. After that it's time for a shower and get ready for work. Around 3pm-4pm I leave to get the kids its something like 44 miles round trip between where we live, the kids school and the wife's work. I usually get the kids by 4:30 and the wife by 5:30 pm.
Occasionally the wife works late, till 6:00 even 6:30-7pm. On those days we end up going to McDonald's for Happy meals. If things go right we are usually home by 6:15-6:30 kids get ready for bed, we make dinner and hopefully by 7:30 I am down for a nap. However most nights something comes up and we aren't getting home till 7or 8 pm a few times we have rolled in at 9pm I unload the wife and kids put them to bed, and headed out to work.
The following day it's come home same routine by Which point I have been up 24hrs, drank multiple cups of coffee (maybe an energy drink or two) I try to avoid them. I will start the routine over and hopefully by 11am on Wednesday I get some sleep. Of course there are those days when my wife reminds me of something else I need to get done.
At work they came up with a new term for not getting enough sleep, it's called being joed. So with my schedule I have limited amount of time. I am awake now because I had a ache and took a nap. I actually woke up around 11pm. So that's my life.
The school year ends next month for our kids. We are currently trying to find a new place to live. We have been living with my aunt's at her house we moved in because she needed someone​ to take care of her. We have been here since January of last year. Things have been on a decline since December. The aunt likes drama so she starts stuff then plays people against each other. We are chalking some of it up to her mental health issues , at 77 she's not fully there, she gets around, goes to her daily bingo session comes home and watches the cooking channel.
We are moving because of the drama, which has included her accessing me of steeling her late husband's​ Rolex watch or watches (which is untrue simply because her husband wouldn't have spent several thousand on a watch.) He bought cheap $20 watches at Walmart when it stopped working he bought a replacement watch. When I wear watches I have a citizen watch I got on sale for around $80 about 15 years ago and a cheap $25 watch from Walmart. My only fancy watch is a Bulova watch my wife got me for Christmas.
Recently my wife has come to realize that we might have been duped into moving in with the aunt.
Our focus now is on moving. Not only because of the aunt and her drama. But because we have decided to enroll our foster son in public school come this fall :wacko:
We wanted him to finish out his time at the school he and the daughter attend now by completing kindergarten and then moving to public school next year. But we realize we can't afford to keep both in private school. I think we pay $1.500 a month and it's been drowning us for a long time. I feel conflicted about the matter like we are putting the daughter before the son. We knew that a day would come and the son would go to public school and the daughter would finish out her last year at the school she attends now.
We are trying to move to get him into a decent public school. All who which happen to be on the other side of town close to where they attend school now. We are looking for a one or two bed apartment, condo or townhouse. We would or I should say the wife wants to purchase a home again, I would like to purchase a home again I am hoping it's elsewhere besides Las Vegas. I hate this city I mean I truly hate it. Nothing but alot of bad memories and regret. We are hoping to find a place by June or July. By having the son go to public school it will save us $900 which will go to rent. 2016 was truly not a good year and 2017 hasn't been better.
So that's my life, how are things going for everyone else? How are things on Facebook sorry I am kind of on a long term hiatus, vacation from Facebook. I think my last post was last July. I logged in for a minute last November or December just to show activity on my account . I know it's been a good five months since I was there last.
Well it time to fold towels and dry school clothes. Until next time God bless and take care
Joe
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Pastor Rick
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Can't believe how full your days are.

I need a nap after reading that... :D
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nov1971
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Hello, greetings to all. I hope any who read this are doing well. Taking a few minutes of down time while the kids are preoccupied with their tablets to post. The kids are on Summer break and our son is currently in school limbo as to where he will go next. The private school they attended did things by age group. Six months to one year, 1&2 year old classes. 3 and 4 years old classes folllow by the kindergarten class. Our son completed the 3&4 year old class and would have been eligible to start the kindergarten class last year. however after speaking with his teacher it was decided that emotionally and socially he just wasn't ready for kindergarten. We could have sent him and seen how he did , but decided to have retake the 3&4 year old program over to help him on his social skills, and to give him more experience with writing, shapes, numbers etc.
So he finished up his second round of the 3&4 year old program and it was decided that this year he was ready for kindergarten. We were going to enroll him in the schools kindergarten program, but one night as we are going through bills trying to figure out what could be paid that pay day, what could wait and what where the things we absoulety needed to buy. We began to talk about areas to save money. The most expensive thing was the kids schools. for son to attend the private kindergarten would have ran us almost $10,000 for the school year. then add another $9,500 for the daughter and that's $19,500 add in uniforms, shoes and school supplies which will be bought through out the year breaking the $20,000 marker was a given. while we want our kids to have the best education possible we realize that over the course of two years we had almost $22,000 on educational expenses we weren't drowning in debt we had sunk to the ocean floor. It was time to make some tough calls.
it was decided that our son would attend public school starting in August. We figured in another year he would be in public school so all we were doing was moving the schedule up. If we could afford it we would keep in the private school, in fact if we could afford private schools that go from kindergarten to the 12th grade we would. Depending upon the school for both kids to attend we would be looking at $17,000 to $24,000 a year for the lower grades and as they got into the high school grades we would be looking at $40,000 for both to attend. one school we crunched the numbers on and determined if both kids went starting in kindergarten and wen through the 8th grade we would spend $240,000 not including uniforms, school supplies, etc.
I am torn because the kids have receive such a good education at the private school. unfortunately the Clark County School District which Las Vegas is a part of ranks among the worst in the nation. according to several national polls and leading news magazines the Clark county school district has ranked at the bottom for several years .
one of the problems is 60-70% of the yearly school budget goes to administration salary, one of my wife aunts works for the school district and over the last twelve years has made over $120,000. The average teacher salary is $44,000. Another draw back is Nevada is consider a started state for teachers, people come here get two or three years of educational teaching experience and go else where. The majority of the teachers at the private school where our kids attend school came from the Clark County School System.
We have also been discussing our daughters educational future. She's enrolled in the 3&4 year old program and technically can go one more year since she will be four when the school year starts. Under Nevada law to attend kindergarten a child must be five years old by the start of the school year. our Daughter will turn five in December. Her teacher told us she believes that she is ready for kindergarten . basically if she goes to the school she is out now, they will basically do the same work, a few things will be added. The issue is the teacher notice the daughter was getting bored, wasn't being challenge by the work, so testing time she tested her with the required material and then got a hold of the test she would take next year and while the daughter didn't score a perfect 100% she did score in the 80-90%.
so her teacher believes she would do well in kindergarten.
I am not quite ready for my baby girl to start kindergarten I want her to stay a little girl, I want her to remain in preschool learning shapes and numbers, finger paints, addicted to Elmo and Big bird . i don't want our son to grow up either I realize though they are both growing, both are extremely intelligence, they artistic . I have more to write about, but it will have to wait to another day (hopefully tomorrow some time) already posted at the come follow me site early this morning, need to stop by Bobbi's site Jesus is love/the end time messenger and post there as well.
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Pastor Rick
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It occurred to me while reading you note that we never discussed less expensive options for private school.

Would it be possible to send your kids to a less prestigious school which would still be better than public school??
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nov1971
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Well look at me returning in about two weeks since my last posting, okay probably not something to be bragging about (two weeks is a stretch) but it beats the months that past between people, me posting around here.

okay so answer RichG's question. Yes we looked at less prestigious schools, less expensive schools, more expensive schools, before we enrolled our kids in the school we finally picked. We looked at probably two dozens schools, we did hours of online research, we calculated distance from the house where we were living at the time, to the school and factor in the drive from my work. We set up of a ten mile radius of around the house of an area we would wanted to remain in. Once we established the radius came the next stop of finding a school. The first school we visited we were standing in the lobby and after 30 seconds I voted no. However we did the tour, the facility was nice, staff seem okay, but it was still a no. As we were driving away the wife ask me what was wrong, she said she could tell i wasn't happy and had decided in under a minute this wasn't the school. I replied it was a vibe i got, she said yeah i know. The next dozen or so schools were pretty much the same but as we continued, things went down hill. Several of the schools we visited were chain schools meaning there were several of them around the city I believe one of them has over twenty locations, another one has ten and one of them has five locations. the one with five locations was actually number four on our list of four candidates. when we were visiting the schools we notice that the minute we walked we were giving an information packet and the first thing the person giving the tour was about the cost. One of the schools would have been around $400 less a month. But the day we visited we found the school was greatly understaffed from what we could gather there was a high turn overrate. We went to another school that would have been around $200-$300 cheaper per month but found that the school student to teacher ratio was 18/22 to 1. 18-22 two, three , four and five year old's to one student. The class we visited was a complete mess. The kids were running wild, the poor teacher was trying to clean two or three students at one time who had messed themselves, you had kids running about screaming and crying. The person giving the tour (the school director) paid no mind to the students or the teacher and actually told us to stay and observe as she went somewhere else. We actually jumped in and helped the teacher with the kids by the time we left which was about ten minutes the kids were cleaned and settled down. When we left and meet with the director again and ask about the student to teacher ratio, we were blown off and giving a short response if a teacher can't handle it there are plenty more applicants waiting for these jobs. So what we quickly notice about the cheaper less prestigious schools was it was about profit first, the children second.
it wasn't only a money factor when deciding upon a school, more importantly was the staff. How did they interact with the students. We notice at several schools the staff seem to keep their distance from the students would look down at them , ignore them, tell them to go play.
Finally we go out one day with a list of five schools we want to look at. two of the four final schools we where going to choose from we visited that day. The last school we visited was one i found online while looking at private schools in our area. Right off the bat i knew it was out of price range. I figure we would do the tour get the information packet and move on. unlike the majority of the other schools we had gone too, the staff was extremely friendly , the receptionist had a little boy on her lap as she was working and explain that occasionally the front desk reception area was used as time out zone for student who became too much for the teachers to handle in the class room. She explain that the max students in each class room was was capped at 22. She explain state law allowed fore the 22/1 ratio.They preferred an 18/2 ratio and in the new born to one year old class it was 18/3. for the next hour it was all about what made their school so great, the programs, student to teachers ratios, what are our kids were going to learn there.
Then came the chaos room, we walked into a room with one teacher and probably 15 students, they were running about screaming and giggling . the lone teacher was on her cell phone holding one kid, having a conversation with someone answering questions and dealing with several students asking her for stuff. In the midst of all this she greeted us and then without pausing calls out to some little boy and tells him to stop doing what he's doing or it might be time for a time out. she finished her conversation with the person on the phone who turned out to be parent of one the students that would be in her class in the fall. she spent a good ten minutes speaking with us. She explain the aide had gone to the kitchen with several students to get snacks (cheese and crackers) and that normally the class was in better control which she analogize about. I think she was bit embarrassed by us walking in while she was on her cellphone while her students were semi running crazy. But we could hear the other person talking and it was school related but more impressive was the way she was controlling the chaos, to the average person it would look like she had lost control of the class, but you could tell she was in 100% control of the class.
As we left we told her how impressed we were with the way she handle the student. As we headed back to the reception area. The lady given the tour an administrator explain that was typical environment for that class at that time. The students were waking up from the nap period. It was rest room time, hand washing, play time until snack time and then the daily activity for the afternoon.
once we got back to the office we just wanted the information package and to be on our away.
however we were told the director of the school wanted to meet us. Right off the bat he was bragging about the schools, his teaching staff, several times he got in the midst of talking with us to step out and greet parents and students as they were leaving. You could tell as he spoke with each parent which was only for a few seconds that they had his total attention. The kids flocked to him .
finally came the price talk and as we figured it was a bit costly. He explain yes they cost more but it was pay more and have your students actually learn or pay less for a school that was nothing more than day care. Then he quickly switched back to why they were so great. Followed by him pulling out a monthly cost sheet breaking down the prices, adding in discounts explaining they did bi weekly payments. After explaining the prices he went right back into the educational side of the school, their philosophy their teaching method. The last thing he told us was this is the school your kids will be going to school, go ahead and check out some other schools but your kids will be coming here.
As we drove away it was the first time since our search began a month or two before that we both looked at each other and said I really like that school, I didn't feel a bit uneasy.

so it comes down to do you spend the extra cash and give your kids a head start educational wise or go the cheap route and put your kids in a factory day care assembly line system ? Originally I think we were paying only about $700 a month, which was a bit costly but we could get by. What change everything was when we moved. We quickly learned that we couldn't have the kids at the aunts house for long periods of time , she became upset with them and complained. So we did four full days of summer camp for both students. then came the school year and we originally did four full days for both kids. But later learned that the off day (Thursday, Family day) caused problems with our son when he returned on Fridays. So he started going five full days which caused our school cost to increase. Factor in the gas cost for the 1500+ miles we were driving each month. it got pricey.
This year our monthly school cost will be slightly under a $1,000. :wacko: okay I know it;s still a lot but we will be saving around $900 :D .
We were in the process of seeing if we could get our daughter enrolled in kindergarten at a public school, the one where he brother will be attending. But our inside source at the school district decided to take a job elsewhere :angry: <_< :rolleyes: so it looks like our daughter will be going back to the private school were she's been attending.
There are closer and cheaper schools, some have excellent reviews and stuff. The only problem is the better one's are full and having a waiting list, several have a lottery system. The school our daughter is attending now when she finishes up with the 4 year old class she will be automatically put on the list for the kindergarten class along with about 40 other students however only 12 are taken. she has a chance because of the 40 only about twenty parents or so apply. most transfer their kids to the public school system. We were kind of hoping we could her enrolled but the changes in circumstances kind of derailed that plan.
Besides maybe it's best to start with one kid phasing them into the public system. Recently there has been more and more talk about relocating from Las Vegas to elsewhere either to Northern Nevada or out of state. Only God knows what's going to happen all we can do is sit back and trust him
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Pastor Rick
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While you may have looked into it, you did not mention Catholic schools.

Was that one you looked into??
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nov1971
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We did look at consider several catholic/christian schools. They were either out of our price range, a little further away then we wanted to travel each day or the school was more about quantity over quality, meaning they wanted bodies. There were several catholic/christian schools that were on the potential list but didn't make the final four list. the two schools we like included one that was only a mile away. only problem was it was $13,000-$17,000 per kid for the first year or two and after that it went higher. The other school was a still expensive, but not as bad. The problem was there was very long waiting list. In the end we were happy with the school we went with. If we could afford to I would rather keep both kids in private school
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Pastor Rick
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Have you considered this??
http://www.k12.com/

Don't know if it would be right for you, but might be worth a look...
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