Beech Hill Pond House

We have a small lakeside cottage on Beech Hill Pond, in Otis Maine. Otis is about 30 minute north west of Ellsworth, not far from the famous Maine coast.

The house was built in 1990 by Jonathan's father, Malcolm Hardy when he was 70 years old. He had a little help from our 90 year old neighbor, Rufus Merrill.






 The house is small, but clean, cozy and comfortable.

                                                                                        

                                

                          

 This is the living room.

This is the dining room/kitchen.

Jonathan built this float, and our dock.

              

The lake is spring-fed, about one mile by four miles long.

We have kayaks and a canoe, swings, a horse shoe pit, a float, a small dock and chairs for evening lake viewing.



For more information, visit vrbo dot com, property # 100337 or, click the "related article" link below.

The kayaks.

Kids on the lake at sunset.

Five visiting loons.

                                                          

                                                                                      

  

                           The master bedroom.

                                                                          Kid's room.

                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                     The bathroom, 3/4, no tub.                        

                                   The view from the road, prior to the the most recent paint job.

Blue house, after the paint job.

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NY Times Obituary for Matt Turney

Matt Turney was my mother's best friend in life. My mother notified dance critic Jennifer Dunning of Matt's death and assisted her in piecing together this lovely obituary:

Elsa is accepted at Wesleyan!

On December 11 at 3pm, Wesleyan posted admission results for ED1 applicants for the class of 2014. Of course, the email that provided us with that information ended up in Elsa's spam. How I learned this is another story.

For our family, learning Elsa's results was going to be tricky. I work at school, planning out and typing up our weekly homework sheet on Fridays with my colleagues until 6pm or so. Elsa is dismissed from school at 1:30, but often stays after school on Fridays for her Irish History class which she is taking in preparation for her trip to Ireland in March. I really wanted to be with her when she learned her admission results, but I didn't know how this could be possible. I was very worried about her disappointment, rejection and feeling awful if the news was bad or very bad. But I also wanted to share the joy with her if the news was good-after all, the college application process took over a year of hard work, worry and stress for both of us. I was worried, too, about the champagne factor: to buy or not to buy? If we bought some prior to learning Elsa's results, might the champagne have been a jinx if the results were bad or very bad? On the other hand, if we held off and the news was good, would we want to schlep out to cold, depressing, Cortelyou Road to get some at a happy moment? Neither option seemed right. Clearly this was going to take some planning.

Elsa was clear: she didn't want to get her results at school. She needed the privacy of her own home. She decided, bravely, to essentially wait, to stay after school for her Ireland class and then rush home to log on to the Wesleyan web site by 4 pm instead of 3. How mature! On Thursday, the day before, I snuck a cold bottle of champagne into the back of the fridge. I figured it this way: if Elsa didn't know it was there, it wouldn't jinx her result, but would be there, chilled, if we needed it on Friday. About work, I explained my situation to my colleagues and we wrote our homework sheet on Thursday. Doing so helped keep me busy rather than calculating the hours until the results were posted. I was able to leave school Friday at 3:30 precisely. Jonathan held me up a bit and caused me some serious stress, but that's another story as well.

All day Friday, I watched the clock. I tried to keep myself busy and refused to think about 3pm. I have no idea how Elsa got through the day. I'll have to ask her. Around 3:05 I began to feel nauseous and wondered how on earth I would comfort my baby girl if she were rejected from her dream school. As we approached our house in the car, we saw Elsa and her friend Julia running down the street behind our house. We pulled over and Elsa and Julia hopped in the car. "Hurry up!" Elsa squealed.

When we pulled into the driveway, Elsa flew out of the car and into the house. Julia followed. Elsa left the front door standing open and dropped her coat and bag in the entryway. She scrambled to her computer in the dining room and opened it. I had read the advice of other parents purposely keeping their distances and giving their children space while they logged on. So, I stood in the next room, the living room where I could clearly see Elsa, but was not standing over her. I waited as she typed. It was taking a while. She was studying the screen. I decided to hang up my coat and then return to my spot. She typed some more. I waited nervously. I decided to hang up my purse. "What's my Wes ID?" she hollered. I had no idea, even though I had memorized it. It's six digits and has an 8 in it. I rattled off something. It was wrong. Elsa typed in more numbers.

Elsa studied the screen. She read silently. She said nothing. This was torture. I decided that I would definitely vomit. I gave up waiting and went to hang up her coat when she screamed, "I got in!" Then we all screamed. Elsa leaped towards me. Julia, Elsa and I grabbed each other and just bellowed. The cats ran off. The dog barked. Elsa burst into tears. Then she began to run through the house screaming, "I can't believe it-I got in!"

Jonathan sat down at the computer to read aloud the actual acceptance letter, but no one was listening. We were screaming and Elsa was crying and hugging Julia. I went into the kitchen and dug out the chilled champagne. I opened it and struggled to find four glasses. Elsa was texting by this time, carefully telling her news and asking about others' results.

We made a toast. We printed the letter. I read it four or five times more, folded it, and put it in my pocket. Several times that evening and the next day, I read the letter over again.

Elsa had made the right decision about Wesleyan ED1 and Middlebury Posse. She followed her gut and called it right.

Thank you Wesleyan!
Good work, Elsa!

Middlebury

Elsa and I made one very last visit to one more school.

We had to see Middlebury after Elsa received notice that she was invited to be a Posse finalist. This was something that we had not expected, and when we had to guess about the odds of this happening for her, we guessed that she had better odds at being accepted to her top choice school ED1 than she had of becoming a Posse finalist. So we applied to her top choice school ED1.

Of course, we guessed wrong. She was selected as a Posse finalist on a Monday and the decision to Posse had to be in by Friday, 5 pm. Talk about stress!



Legally, we could not accept the Posse offer because in doing so, one is applying ED and we had already done that. Why? We did it because we believed it was Elsa's best chance of acceptance to a school that she loves along with a place on the soccer team.

But, because the Posse is such a generous scholarship and could have really helped our family, I insisted that we go to Middlebury for a visit. First, I called the Posse Foundation and explained our situation to them. They were very receptive and honest. We were told that we had to make the choice by Friday. The catch is that if Elsa accepted the offer, she would be competing with 21 other students for 10 or 11 spots at Middlebury. It wasn't a sure bet at all. But, had we known of the timeline of deadlines in advance, we could have applied to her dream school EDII and accepted the Posse in the interim. If we accepted Posse and she got it, and she was selected by Middlebury from the 21 applicants, we would have had to send her. We would have been committed. So, we needed to see the school first.



Middlebury is magnificent. The only drawback is the location-far from NYC. Otherwise everything was PERFECT. I loved it. I instantly worshipped the school. I wanted Elsa to accept very badly. Everything was going well, except for our meeting with the soccer coach. We dropped in on him unexpectedly, with no appointment. He was amazingly gracious. He's a lovely man and most likely a very good coach, but he was clearly not interested in Elsa as a potential player at all. He knew nothing about her! Accepting the Posse would have meant Elsa giving up soccer, or playing JV. After so many years of training and preparing, this news was a huge and insulting disappointment and one that Elsa chose not to accept. So that was it.



We passed on the Posse.

It is unbelievable to me as it could have meant four years of tuition paid at a terrific college that specializes in languages and foreign study. Posse even helps with graduate school scholarships!

I loved that campus, the best of all that we have seen.

I called Posse before we left Vermont, to tell then our decision, but the woman I needed to speak to was busy. I decided not to call back because I didn't know how to explain our decision at all. On our way back to NYC, Posse called Elsa to find out her status. Very sweet. She thanked them kindly and declined.

There were mountains surrounding us the entire time we were there.




I cried all weekend.

I love the dream school, but I loved this school more. But, Elsa didn't and that's what counts.

PSAL Girls Soccer Final

Beacon lost. The score was 0-0 through the regulation play and two sudden death overtimes. The games went to PK's and Beacon scored 4, Bronx Science 5. It was heartbreaking. But soccer is sometimes.



Congratulations to the Girl's Soccer Team. The girls lost yesterday's championship game in penalty kicks to Bronx Science, but dominated play through 100 minutes of beautiful soccer. This was Beacon's 3rd straight year in the championship game and it was the leadership of Elsa Hardy and Hannah Collyns-and the other seniors-Caroline Quigley, Dalia Sharps, Isabel Weiner, and Christina Angione that carried the team through another undefeated season to get to the championship. Thank you to all of the team for another exciting season and for representing Beacon so well.

Thanks also to the hundred plus students teachers and parents who came to Randall's Island yesterday to watch and cheer. Your energy and enthusiasm for the game helped push the team right up to the very end.

Next year-back to the finals!

Kevin Jacobs
Coach
.

Beacon Girls Advance to Finals Against Bronx Science

Okay, so I broke my promise not to write about soccer. But today was so exciting for us, I just had to post. Elsa's high school team is 15-0 this season. And in the post season, they have won every game decisively. Today they beat last year's PSAL champions, MSIT 2-1. The winning goal was scored by freshman Tyler Sloan off of an assist delivered by Jenny Angione. MSIT beat Beacon last season in PK's-it was a heartbreaking loss. As a senior, this win has major significance for Elsa. Beacon will play Bronx Science, an old rival (who beat Beacon earlier this year in a non-league game resulting in Beacon's placement as the number two seed in the post season,) for the PSAL NYC Championship. The game is this Sunday at Randall's.

Check out the video of the winning goal:

Pushing the SUBMIT Button!

Most college applicants apply RD (regular decision) and their applications are due January 1st, January 15th, February 1st or later. Some schools accept applications until March or even April 1st. Students applying Early Decision, ED, submit applications as of November 1st or 15th. These students will be notified of their acceptances by December 15th or so. Many schools have something wonderful called 'Early Action" which allows students to apply early, to be notified early, but to not have to commit to just one school early.

Today, Elsa completed her on line applications and pressed the submit button to apply to three schools: two early action and one early decision. If she is accepted to her early decision school, she must withdraw her early action applications. In that case, she will be done and will not need to submit any further applications to any colleges. If she is deferred or rejected to her ED school, she will apply to four or five additional schools. We will hope for acceptances to her EA schools in the interim. My friend Heather's daughter already has one acceptance under her belt. It was from a school with rolling admissions. These schools accept or reject students as the applications roll in. When they have enough acceptances, they simply close their registration for the semester.

We are nervous, excited and a bit in disbelief that the official process has begun!

For more information on rolling, early action, early decision and regular admissions, check out collegeconfidential.com, discussion, parents. This website has been of enormous help to me!

Good luck to all applicants!

The CSS Profile

The CSS profile is the form many private LACs use to determine the financial needs of families. Other schools, including most SUNYS, use the FAFSA, or both. The advantage of the FAFSA, as I understand it, is that it looks at income only, and is not concerned with home equity, an advantage for families whose homes have increased in value significantly over the years.

Over the summer, we read a book, "How To Pay For Your Child's Education Without Going Broke." Using the book, we were able to determine our EFC, estimated family contribution to the COA, cost of attendance to college. Using an on-line EFC calculator, our estimated EFC was frightening. Using the workbook, we got a better, but still upsetting number. On College Confidential, a website devoted to the posts of college seeking families, I learned that regarding EFC, there is shock, denial and then acceptance. We are moving through the phases.

Our family completed and submitted our CSS profile last night. Elsa is applying to her top school ED and this form was due earlier this month. We missed the deadline, but were told by the FA office that if we got it in in the next few days that we would be in good shape. These decisions are big and complicated. The FAFSA needs to be completed as soon after January 1st as possible. One's tax forms for the previous year should be completed and submitted as soon as possible as well.

For more information about the CSS profile, go to collegeboard.com. About the FAFSA, look at fafsa.org. There is also lots and lots of information on collegeconfidential. com. I read the Parent Pages, Financial Aid pages and the College Admission pages regularly. But, if you are new to this process, be prepared to feel a but upset and panicky after viewing many posts. Avoid the "chance me" posts for sure!

Additional Colleges

I am hoping to be able to post observations and photos from my friend Heather's latest college visits to St. Lawrence College as well as to Juniata College in PA. In the interim, Elsa has done overnights at Wesleyan and at Haverford. She has enjoyed the experiences immensely.



Recently, Wesleyan hosted an all day open house which our family attended. It was great. There were financial aid workshops, admissions workshops, tours of dorms, of the athletic center, of the campus, of the sciences, etc. Students spoke, the president spoke, Elsa attended a class in her area of interest and we got to eat on the campus and experience real college food.



While were were in town, we stayed with family and were lucky enough to tour Trinity College on a cold Sunday afternoon. The college is beautiful, if not just a bit deserted, but located in an area of town that must make some families from pristine suburbs more than a bit nervous. Coming from NYC, we are consistently un-phased by such "less than stellar" neighborhoods, but I can just imagine the CC posts about Hartford, CT!

Interviews and Overnights

This fall, Elsa has been trying to narrow the list of colleges to which she will apply.

One way to do this is to spend the night at a college and possibly attend classes during the day. Athletes are often invited by coaches to attend games, to eat and to stay over with members of the team with which they would play, if accepted. This weekend, Elsa had two overnights scheduled: Smith and Mount Holyoke College. The Smith overnight was rather loose, but very pleasant. Elsa enjoyed her host, Meredith, and her house very much. She wasn't able to attend classes, but she did see a practice and she got to sample Smith food. She had a wonderful time.



















The Mount Holyoke overnight was a more structured event called Focus on Athletics. Prospective athletes for many sports were invited to attend a series of events including a performance by an a capella group, a panel discussion, a campus tour, an overnight and the opportunity to attend classes during the day.







Elsa attended, but later did not feel well and ended up not spending the night. It was a well organized and welcoming event, and I felt that it gave an honest inside view of the school. Many students who love the school now were skeptical in the beginning and not necessarily looking for an all women's college to attend. Many now feel that they definitely benefitted from the experience and believe in the value of single sex education for women. Interesting!





The weekend began when the Beacon soccer coach, Kevin Jacobs, drove the varsity team to Wesleyan for a tour and a meeting with the women's soccer coach. From CT, they traveled to Amherst, his almer mater, to meet with the Amherst women's coach. The team spent the night at the house of a former professor (how generous!) and then had a tour of the campus the next day. Elsa missed these festivities as she was at Smith. Mr. Jacobs kindly dropped her off. But we did join the team on Saturday for the Williams/Amherst women's soccer game, an annual rivalry, to see former Beacon teammate Chelsea's new team play. It was a rainy afternoon of great soccer. Unfortunately Chelsea did not play. Williams won 3-0, although Amherst looked strong in the beginning and challenged Williams several times.

Elsa has four more overnights scheduled before she will make her final decisions. Whew!