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tristangrace

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About tristangrace

  • Birthday 10/20/1969

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    Chicago
  1. Just jumping in--feel free to set me straight if it becomes obvious that I'm oblivious to the rules and customs! So far this year I've finished 1. Freckles, by Gene Stratton Porter 2. At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon Should wrap up The Autobiography of Malcolm X today or tomorrow . . .
  2. Sounds like you're handling it like a champ. What, exactly, was rude about what you did? I think women, in particular, are apt to feel that unless they are making "nicey-nice" all the time, they are being rude. You responded matter-of-factly and walked away. There is no social obligation to listen to people who don't stop talking when the conversation is over. There is no social obligation to smile and agree, or to debate what you are not interested in debating. There is nothing wrong with stating, in neutral terms, what you think, up to and including, "I feel badgered and harassed by this line of conversation. Let's change the subject."
  3. Not be naiive, but . . . who, exactly, is POSTING these failed proposals? I assume they must be friends of the wanna-be grooms. I guess these guys choose friends about as well as they choose ladies.
  4. Proper names of cities, streets, etc., get a free pass on all kinds of stuff. Think of all the place names in the US that we borrowed from other languages and consequently have BUTCHERED the pronunciation.
  5. Just had to say that I read the entire first page in confusion, wondering why someone from Chicago Public Schools would ever show up at my door--with a uniformed police officer or otherwise! (Finally remembered CPS = Child Protective Services in a lot of areas. Here it would be DCFS for Department of Child and Family Services.) Anyway. Carry on.
  6. I would totally channel Napoleon Dynamite: KID ON BUS: What are you going to do today, Napoleon? NAPOLEON: Whatever I feel like--GOSH!!!!!!!
  7. In my world, people can want and ask for whatever they want--knowing what you want and asking for it is a healthy thing! Of course, it doesn't mean I'm obligated to accommodate them. If I'm bugged by what somebody wants, it's usually because I feel uncomfortable denying them. I have the power and responsibility to figure out what I want and draw boundaries; I just don't like being required to use that power. But that's my problem, not theirs.
  8. One option would simply be to be direct. Share your observations with her. Ask, "do you consider me to be a friend?" You don't have to go into a lot of detail or make it a big emotional thing--just say that you you're getting mixed messages and you'd like to know if this is just about the kids or if she is interested in a friendship with you.
  9. One of the reasons I find it distressing to find errors in printed communication designed for the public (personal errors in e-mail, etc, don't bother me as much) that are coming from homeschool organizations is that I, myself, am looking for academic guidance toward excellence, and it undermines my confidence that I can find it in that group. I totally understand that grammar/spelling is not the forte of every individual, but all the suggestions along the lines of "If it bothers you so much, proofread it yourself" kind of make it worse--if I'm the only in a group of educators who knows/cares enough to do language well, that's an indicator that I am probably not going to be able to find support of an academic nature in that group. Maybe I'll enjoy having someone else organize field trips or my kids will find some friends or I'll have other mommies to talk with, but I won't find meaningful academic support. And it's hard to find meaningful academic support.
  10. The omniscient Google is no help at all. So, I made caramel sauce last night (I've used the same recipe before with no problem). You boil water, brown sugar, and corn syrup for 10 minutes, then take it off the heat and add cream. Normally, adding cream to vigorously boiling sugar makes the sauce bubble up frantically, but last night . . . nothing. I just stirred in the cream and . . . that was it. Which seemed odd. But I let it cool a bit, poured it into a jar, and went to bed. Sure enough, this morning, the sauce is weird--looks like normal, creamy caramel sauce at the top of the jar, but the bottom half is a thin, dark liquid. Why did it separate? And more importantly, can I fix it? Any input appreciated!
  11. I have one parent and two siblings who are engineers, but I'm not sure how precisely I can answer.:) My dad was a chemical engineer who worked in plastics--mostly designing and modifying plastics for different purposes. I think he even has a couple of patents. One of my brothers is also a chemical engineer, but I am less knowledgeable about what he does: I think he oversees plant production lines (um, I'm not even sure what product they make)--he's on call some weekends in case there are problems. One of sisters is a mechanical engineer; she is a project manager for a company that designs/manufactures LED and LCD screens. None of them have gotten extensive vacations, though. My dad and sister both ended up doing a lot of overseas business travel, which sounds exotic to me: Japan, Italy, Finland, China, Taiwan.
  12. I grew up in a family of seven with two bathrooms. I don't remember any problems.
  13. I don't understand the reasoning behind this. Is your expectation that your kids will reimburse you for the tuition you paid, and that you think investing in a "fluff" major is a bad risk? FWIW, my husband had a "double fluff" major in psychology and philosophy--he's now in senior management with a major insurance company and our family of five is living comfortably on just 50% of his income.
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