Land o'Lessa

Meet our BBE Houseguests!
(Some bios still coming – check back later for more!)

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Gina sent me some information last week and asked that I pass it along. As the mom to an almost senior, I know just how easy it is to feel overwhelmed at the idea of sending our kids to college, especially now days. The costs are higher than ever, and no one knows when it’ll change, when -or if- it’ll get better.

Talking money with our kids is sometimes harder than talking sex, or drugs. We want so much to give them everything they need and want, we sometimes forget to explain to them why we can’t always do that. It’s easy enough to fight over money with our significant others, that we often neglect to even start those conversations with our kids until it’s too late.

To help, College Parents of America and Chase Card services have put together a guide to help ease into that conversation. The guide is free, and available online here, and has discussion aids and activities to help your student (and mine!) establish strong financial habits. If nothing else, it’ll certainly help us sleep better knowing they’ve learned the good habits – even if we haven’t always followed them ourselves.

The guide cover how to create and stick to a budget, as well as understanding credit ratings, credit cards, and loans. There are sections on banking services, contracts and even identity theft. Even if your child (like mine) is not interested in going directly to college, these subjects are things they’ll need to know as they enter the work force as well. Healthy spending habits now will only help our kids succeed in the future!

So take a look at the guide – maybe it’ll help you and yours continue in the right direction.

That’s right, the new houseguests are moving in throughout the day! I’ll post their pictures and bio’s as soon as everyone is safely inside! Hit up the house and meet our new victims houseguests!

So, I don’t know if you guys have realized, but Alaska doesn’t have problems with hurricanes, or tornadoes. No, We get fun stuff! Like earthquakes, and active volcanoes! Every twenty years or so, the closest one, Mt. Redoubt – about 50 miles across the inlet, decides it’d be fun to rumble and belch a little bit, and cover us with ash. I know, doesn’t that sound like FUN?

Redoubt has been making it’s presence known, but so far we’ve been relatively ash-free as the winds have cooperated and pushed the majority of it to the north or south of our small town. Of course, just the thought of ash fall sends many folks into a panic and crisis mode. We grab the “Ash Preparedness Guide” and check up on our supplies and make sure we’re ready for anything.

Ok, by “we” I actually mean “other people” because I did none of those things. Hurray for being prepared! When the first blow finally came, my son called me from work (update there – things are much better and he’s in good with the management again) to say he’d be late to help cover the ventilation shafts and such, and I figured I’d check online to see where the ash was traveling. And maybe take a peek at that supply list while my friends online were totally freaking out in that “OMG YOU HAVE TO MOVE, EVACUATE, SOMETHING! WHAT ABOUT THE LAAAAAAVAAAAA?” kind of way.

For the record: No lava. Volcano across the inlet, lots of water between us and any lava should it actually appear.

ANYWAY – Imagine their panic when I pointed out that I had ONE THING on that supply list – so I was GOLDEN! I was prepared, nothing could harm us, because of this one item, number six on the list! Sure, I didn’t have the masks, the protective eye wear, the flashlight, the batteries, or the battery powered radio, but all was not lost because I? I have a NON-ELECTRIC CAN OPENER! SCORE!

…what was that? Canned food? Shh! Don’t burst my bubble! At least the cats will be happy…

(We’re fine, really. Though the kids have been begging to stay home from school when there’s even a iny HINT that we might get a bit of ash. Meany me, I didn’t let them. )

Now, someone asked “Drama? Prove it!” Because as this is our fist game, how could I possible know? Easy – anything with the name Big Brother attached to it, involves DRAMA. But for those who want a taste of how the game can play out, my gracious co-host, Chelle, has donated some of her posts from the Big Brother online game she just participated in – and WON.

Check it out HERE!

All of the drama, from your comfy chair. Have YOU applied yet?