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WTMCassandra

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Posts posted by WTMCassandra

  1. I moved with movers for the first time on a cross-country move in Fall 2006. I made sure I was there the whole time everything was packed, and I ran around putting room stickers on all of the boxes. I asked them to label the top, one end, and one side, and they usually did. I tried to be really, really nice yet really, really present.

     

    I recommend that you check the company's "prohibited" list and purge your house of those items before they arrive. Also, before they arrive, designate a room or a closet off-limits and put stuff in there that you plan to take with you. Anything not going with you that can't be moved easily needs to have a big sign on it that it is not going.

     

    What we took with us: CPUs/hard drives from computers (we let them take monitors), glass heirloom Christmas ornaments, clothing/suitcases/toiletries, an "arrival box" or two, photo albums, jewelry, CDs and DVDs, etc.

     

    Watch to make sure they don't mark something as owner-packed if it isn't true. Some companies have been known to do that to cut down on costs if something goes wrong. If they put some kind of code or designation on the box that you don't understand--ask.

     

    Your two new best friends need to be the guy doing the inventory on your end (the supervisor of the packers) and the driver, when he arrives. Be really, really nice to them.

     

    Hope all goes well! We got moved 3000 miles with North American with no major damage and no lost items.

  2. My DH and I used to work for the government back east, and I remembering finding that "non-essential" designation pretty hilarious. We are in Tri-Cities, and we got about 7 inches here, but on top of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice, which is the bigger problem. That is huge for us, and we were home from church yesterday, and DH is working from home today. The children are thrilled beyond words to actually have snow in Tri-Cities. I gave them vacation from school today to play in it.

  3. I have tried various lotions over the years and have not been impressed. I have to be desperate to put it on in the first place, and if I endure its greasiness only to find a few hours later that it doesn't seem to be doing anything, I get annoyed.

     

    What will work for basic winter-caused dry patches on my skin? I am desperate enough to go out and buy something (when the ice gets off our roads).

     

    Thanks!

  4. OK, I'm going to be vulnerable here. I choose it based on whether I like it!

     

    Now, on a deep intuitive level, I think I do take into account whether it fits our religious beliefs, the learning styles of our children, WTM's goals (our benchmarks), reviews, recommendations from others, my teaching style (no-fun Mom), etc.

     

    But all of that is unconscious, so the process looks and feels completely subjective at this point. Over the years, I have slowly learned not to fix what isn't broken. I have slowly learned to accept that there will be some gaps and that I can't frantically run from one curriculum to another to avoid that. My process isn't perfect, but I must say that I'm pretty happy with all of our main curricula.

  5. I have a MacBook Pro laptop, and when I experimented with the size of the WTM window, if I stretch it almost the full width of my screen the subject lines come back within their proper "borders." And, I must admit, it's pretty easy to read that way, although it's not conducive to having several windows open at once. I don't know--I could grow to kind of like it.

  6. I watch very few movies, but DH asked me to watch this with him a few weeks ago. Well. It's a good thing they didn't watch the dancing scene. It was very weird and slowed down, interspersed with a s*x scene of two of the main characters.

     

    As for this question, the first thing *I* thought of was what to do to help the boy who watched it. I'd like to address that before you address how to deal with the friend's mom.

     

    Is your boy prone to nightmares? I'd watch out for that--not from the violence so much as for all of the weird and scary images of that "world." Fortunately (?), the violence is so bizarre and otherworldly that it really isn't even scary. (And I'm not the type to say that lightly.) There's SO MUCH of it in the second movie, though.

     

    Since he's already seen it and the damage is done, I'd have a long talk with him about how the movie and guns are sooooo not real. You don't want him to get this invincible idea that people can shoot strings of bullets at one another and no one really gets hurt. In our home, we would've also talked about the implications of the "good guys" wearing black, but that may not be a big deal to you

     

    The end is pretty surreal, and the implications are pretty scary for an adult, but I think it will go over your boy's head.

     

    The darkness, the despair, the violence, all of these would be my main concerns in trying to help my son process this experience. And then I would get pretty torqued at the mom, and then I would breaattthhhhe before I talked to her.

     

    So.

     

    I *would* mention it to the Mom, but I would try to be somewhat offhand about it when I bring it up. Like, "Hey, x, were you aware that the boys watched Matrix Reloaded when they were together?" Use the reaction to that statement to gauge where you go with the conversation.

     

    If she is clueless, you could say, "That's not a movie I would choose for my son at this age. Can we stay away from those kinds of movies when we're together?" If she's contrite, then you can say how you've talked and processed it through with your own son and suggest she do likewise. If she's defensive, thinks you're strange, gets made, or otherwise starts crazy-making, I would quietly "not be able to make it" if she suggests any more overnights before the move. Or, you could offer to do it at your house instead.:D

     

    Hugs to you. I'm sorry you're having to deal with this in a young child.

     

    P.S. We have the original Matrix because we like to dialogue about the philosophical implications. But we keep it out of the reach of children, they don't know we own it, and we would never dream of letting them watch it. But this movie we decided to resell.

  7. Well, Crissy, this time *we* are getting the snow! We got ice yesterday and last night, and now it's snowing on top of that. I'm loving it because we are staying home and not going anywhere! There's a couple inches down, adding up fast, and we might even get 4-6 inches, which would be a record for us. It's been so frigidly cold this past week that it's sticking really well, although it is a very dry, powdery snow because of the cold. Hooray! My husband and children are outside wallowing in it.

  8. Latina Christiana and I know of at least two study guides - Cheryl Lowe's guides from Memoria Press and one put out by Mother of Divine Grace, which moves faster.

     

    Wow, isn't that the truth! I bought one of each, and I just looked at them this past week. MODG covers in about one day/lesson what MP covers in about a week! For this "new to Latin" mom, with students who will likely be 12 and 10 when we start Henle, the MODG seems waaaaay too speedy. But I like the charts in the back ; ). For everyday use, it will be MP and begging for help on the Henle list for me.

  9. (((Crissy))) I was thinking of you today. I'm glad you had a great visit. Your experience reminds me of something that happened to us recently.

     

    Our dear friends lost their seventh child (under 2) to cancer this December, and we flew back East to be with them. I was very antsy and stressed and anguished while getting there, but when we were able to connect with them and have a good, long, unhurried visit of a few hours, I felt much better. There was something about seeing them in person, seeing that they were handling this OK, and crying together that was tremendously healing. Then, it was much easier to face the services and everything else.

     

    I pray that you will have many such "centering" visits with your grandma in the coming weeks/months. I'm not saying that you won't grieve--of course you will. But there's something about connecting in person that really helps, I think.

     

    (((Crissy)))

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