BigEyes

My daughter is a junior this year. She always has to take the end of course (EOC) tests, but is able to exempt the finals in 2 or 3 classes if she meets the criteria. I've always thought it was crazy for the classes to have finals and EOCs. Although the EOCs are only in the main classes, not electives.

No. The state has NEVER paid for 100% of our insurance -- even if you only insure yourself (the employee). We have always had to pay a percentage of our coverage. I'm not sure that the state employees' biggest gripe is only having one company to choose from. I believe that the biggest problem is that we were forced to take an HRA plan and didn't have the choice for an HMO anymore. The way these two plans work is TOTALLY different.

True, we do have three choices of coverage within the BCBS HRA plan. We were used to having at least two companies to choose from (UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Kaiser) -- and HMO/HRA/PPO/High deductible plans as well. Very big difference this year.

I am a state employee. I'm not sure if teachers got the same options we did, but I think they did. State employees were given one company choice - BCBS HRA and three coverage choices within that plan (silver, bronze, gold). We couldn't choose the company or the type of plan we wanted. The cheapest premium (silver) offers the highest deductible and least coverage after you meet your deductible. The most expensive monthly premium (gold) offers the lowest deductible. So on top of having to decide if we wanted to pay more each month OR have a higher deductibe, we had to move to an HRA plan where y

Thanks!

Where is Ciggys located?

When and where are the classes held?

Oh, I totally agree. Dr. Goolsby has the BEST bedside manner ever. He's been our family physician for many, many years. I hope our plans with the state (Cigna & UnitedHealthcare) don't drop him. I understand where you're coming from -- we would be heartbroken! Good luck!

Labor Day weekend. They're off on Monday, September 3. Then they get Fall Break September 24-28.

It may or may not be the same -- but -- we had a very nice young (college age) man visit our area about a month ago. He was working for some company selling books to help kids with different subjects. The kind of reminded me of really good encyclopedias but each book was specific to one subject. He had sample books with him and they ranged from Math to English to College Prep test preparation. They were very good. He was asking ages of kids in our home just to see if we had high-school or college age kids that would benefit. He did mention specific families in our neighborhood if they had made

And can you just imagine the disruption at the world's busiest airport when he landed this morning. What a waste -- should have landed at Dobbins...

Hi Mark, That is really good news to hear. How's the refinancing business for homeowners who are upside down? Do you see a lot of them actually being able to qualify for the good loans with their negative equity? Or are they having to come to the table with a lot of cash?

We purchased tickets at the school through my daughter. Is there any special deal for parking or are we on our own?

The food is really, really good. We went for our anniversary last year. It hadn't been open very long at that time. My filet just melted in my mouth. My husband loved his steak too but he really complemented them on the shrimp cocktail. And, of course, we had two different cheescake desserts. You should give them a try sometime. Congratulations on your anniversary!!!

Blue Steakhouse is located on the square in Carrollton. It is awesome! "We are dedicated in delivering the best fresh beef from Chicago as our exclusive beef supplier. All menu items are made fresh everyday including our homemade pasta and homemade gourmet cheesecakes. We have an extensive Beer, Bourbon, and Wine selection along with the coldest draft beer available." --From their website at www.bluesteakhouse.com.