Can you spare a dime?

She's come a long way from playing with a baby polar bear.

For college bound young adults and their families, this time of year has its own special kinds of stress. When will I hear? Where will I go? How can we pay for it? What is the due date?

Why? you ask...

We just finished the mandated federal financial aid forms. According to their online calculator not only can we afford to send our daughter to school, they would like us to pay for two or three others as well. Really? Truly not really -- but yes. Their magical accounting does not seem to take into consideration real life expenses. They ask what is your income. And then graciously ask you to write a check for its entirety to your favorite institute of higher learning. Sorry -- not happening.

Run baby, run!

Truthfully -- we shop clearance at Kohl's. (I love Kohl's.) I wear hand me downs from my mother's friends. My vehicle of choice is 10 years old. Jackets see duty inside in the winter. Hats too. I smile when the little one wears clothes passed down twice between her sisters. And sometimes I even cringe. The kid should, at some point in her life, get a brand new winter jacket. Don't you think?

And so I breathe. As I scour the internet for scholarships for our lovely to apply for. My goal is to find $20,000 in scholarships. And if by some miracle she lands them all -- we would only have to find $30,000 for the first year of school. Can she complete a four year program in one? Just asking...

Me worried. Yes. She worried. No. An essay deadline approaching -- but not looming, and she's napping. The deadline approaching but not pressing and I'm thinking about high blood pressure medicine. Do they sell it at Kohl's -- clearance?