Coffee is wonderful!

I vote ‘Neither’, but YMMV. We used the approach touted by Art Reed, whose videos we stumbled upon that helped the math lovers AND the math haters in this house excel at math in high school....using Saxon. If you are interested, here is Art Reed’s explanation about how to use Saxon in high school (skipping their new and superfluous geometry text). Also, a link to his new site, which is separate for some reason. (I do not think there is anything wrong with TT, though. Just going by your desire to avoid online math/possibly use Saxon) https://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/review-credit.php https://teachingsaxon.com/about/

I do, too. But, I forget that is one of the tricks up my sleeve. From my understanding, it is not taboo amongst people who really know/do dogs. You sure seem to use it sensibly. BTW, I get the ‘commands, treats and praise’...my vet office staff says my dog is the best trained of their clientele...I think, “Are you crazy?” But, she is obedient, just not trained to public...that’s what counts!! We live in the country, too, they probably don’t see well-trained city dogs for comparison! Thanks for encouraging me.

You know, @Jean in Newcastleyou bring up some very good points. When Rosie, who is almost three years old, was at puppy class, as a 6 month old, she did fairly well...being busy did distract her. Of course, she was a magnet for the one aggressive dog in class. Puzzling to the admins/annoying as all get out to me! Been awhile since the dog park, but did good off leash as you said. (Though a magnet there, too....do dogs smell her shyness? I mean, she sniffs others with the best of them, so she isn’t hiding behind me or anything). Part is my own concern for her size. So laid back & fairly well trained loose leash, but an unexpected lunge from her could pull my arm off! Note to self: keep to small to medium dog next time.

@Susan in TN Ack, that stabs me in the heart - sniff - I want my 16 yo boy back! Where did he go?!? Ok, back to reality. My grown up man child is just wonderful, albeit absent and busy. Sigh! Haha, btw, on the ‘no time to study chemistry’=). Such an old lady thing to say, but...how wonderful that you get to sit with him while he practices...even if he doesn’t appreciate it=)

Let’s see, we use TP most often, in general, for non-ill issues. DH using handkerchiefs. I keep a small pop-up box on the back of the loo for company/fam needs. Then there are usually two large boxes of super-soft premium ones in the linen closet for potential illnesses. So, I would say, when we were raising our family, the equivalent of 2-3 large boxes per year. Now, only 1-2.

Oops, sorry about that. Second mistake! First, sent that to DS by accident & I am sure he is ????? Then, I do not use the first bow... where’d that come from? So, I guess my year will be goofy, floral and full of flowers. I am TRYING to stay positive. On the dog front, what am I doing wrong? @Jean in Newcastle I would love to do agility classes. Our laid back pup is so reactive to other dogs, not aggressive, but she pulls & barks. And, she weighs 80 lbs! Very well trained to everyday house commands/laid back with guests, but...I read about dogs in classes and wonder if she’d get over it?!?

Hmm, not sure about interpretation, but my first 12 are pretty much my only used ones:

Junie, I am sorry you feel bad. Hope it passes quickly. That is seriously sweet that your kids are helping you!

In trying to answer the original question for myself, I believe that my purpose is to “Know, love, and serve God in this world, and be happy with Him in the next”. Straight from the catechism. What Rosie wrote about not having to pay so much heed to our emotions (not her exact words, but how I took it) really resonated with me. We have a lower nature, emotions, memories, and other needs that we share with the animals. We have a higher nature, made in His likeness, our intellect and will, that we use to direct the lower nature or help make sense of it. For me, that is what calms my questioning of my purpose on a day to day or even lifelong level. I do not mean that I do not question what I need to do next, what the next stage is, or how I can best serve, I mean that I am calmed when I feel frustrated, thinking that my best life is over (active mothering/homeschooling) or when I feel sad that I do not have the obvious gifts or talents or, even, drive that other people seem to have professionally or artistically, etc. I am kinda vanilla. My emotions get quite stirred up about those things, yet I am calmed by the fact that what I wrote in the first paragraph is the truth. Then, I go on to live this (relatively) boring stage of my life and use different ‘tricks’ to keep myself from thinking too much about my gripes (not any/many IRL friends, children do not need me much/at all at times, could always use more money, do not have any seen outside of home purpose/direction right now/etc). Those ‘tricks’ really just boil down to keeping my hands busy (as in the saying, “idle hands are the ^*&%@&’s handiwork”). I throw myself into being the best of what I am doing, so keep my home cleaner than I could when homeschooling, try to entertain (even when sad that other’s do not reciprocate often), help my husband in ways that I have time for now. But, then there is: True depression. Although I firmly believe that we should not worry too much about our (lower nature) emotions, that are neither good, nor bad (the acting on them may be at times, but the emotions themselves are neutral)...sometimes, our lower nature is ill. Sometimes, emotions cannot be tamed or maybe they do not pass with good, honest work. Then, therapy or medication is certainly warranted. Picking oneself up by one’s own bootstraps is just not something a depressed person can do.

1. & 2. Recently 3. Wandering the streets of NYC & Brooklyn thoughtlessly picking up a slice of pizza or stopping for a turnover at a Jewish deli. I dream about doing that a again; believe it is gone in my lifetime. 4. I am beginning to prefer my own home for takeout, but it is so long to drive anywhere that the turnaround is too long to make it feel worth it. There used to be something about the din of a busy restaurant that brought me joy, but that has faded as the years have gone by. 5. See 3. Many are likely closed for good=(

I could have written this about our Newfydoodle! (Except she/black)

My one big HS fail, that turned around, fortunately, was ditching Saxon for Pre-algebra. We went to Teaching Textbooks for pre-algebra, then to Lial’s for Algebra. Lial’s was.not.working for us, so I went desperate and tried Life of Fred toward the end of that year to fill in holes (I am not ashamed to admit this now that things turned around=). Then over summer between 8-9, I had DS do Keys to Algebra to finish filling in the holes that weren’t filled in by Life of Fred. Then, 9th grade, gave in to Saxon geometry (with Saxon Teacher DVD), thinking to follow the IMO silly advice to take Alg 1/geometry/Alg 2 sequence. Well, Saxon Teacher was no more than reading the textbook examples to DS (for $80), and he was recuperating from a bad/crazy former year in math. This was a seriously math loving/read math for fun child...but we were in trouble in my department...curriculum choice. By the grace of God, I did what I always do: read on WTM. Saw something about Art Reed, looked him up, called him that day. He kindly took my call, spent 45 minutes discussing math with DS, and told him gently that he would have to repeat Alg I with Saxon, how to progress, and convinced him that the sequence would not mess up his chances of being a math major! (DS has gone on to study and excel at math as an undergrad and graduate student) We used Art Reed DVD’s along side the text, DS was able to do this all independently, emailing/calling Mr. Reed for the occasional problem. Art Reed has the children begin each day reading the text book then watch his DVD with Mr. Reed explaining the concept from a slightly different angle than the text, then do a few practice problems before doing the day’s lesson. Mr. Reed is actually there, in front of camera, teaching the concepts/discussing things on screen. Other children here, not math loving, prospered with Art Reed DVDs in high school as well. He now offers streaming. For calculus and physics, we used Derek Owens...I could go on and on about his greatness, as well! https://teachingsaxon.com/

Brock magiscope! I still use ours at least weekly. We are rather careful with our things, but I didn’t think anything of leaving this on one of our kitchen counters (where it still lives) when gads of the children’s friends were around all the time years ago. Easy to change eye pieces/lens when needed, but we prefer the lowest (40?) for everyday use.

I just *splurged on an undershirt for eldest ds. BIG splurge! From the NZ merino wool company @lewelmarecommended: https://www.icebreaker.com/en-us/mens-underwear/merino-anatomica-tank-top-/103034.html *Ohhh, happy to snag a deal on eBay...much better!! It is hard to shop for adult children! He’s a minimalist...and appreciates quality. I hope it last years.

We love Wits & Wagers (yellow box...I purchased it used on eBay)! It is fast paced, everyone loves guessing, and, as long as someone else manages the betting part for me, it is so much fun. The questions are interesting and only have to be answered with a number guess. Best family game since our children have been adults.

Happy Birthday, Susan!! 🎉 I was thinking ‘salt’ draws out moisture & could help w/swelling...but constipation? Do people ingest it, too? Sounds like a cheaper way to get extra mag than ReMag!

Aw, cute bun-bun, Jean! Happy 100 to Baby! I feel for you, Krissi. Good morning, Everyone (Coffee in and working) Oh, why Epson salts b/f bed? I don’t have any. Maybe inherited a box, long thrown away. What exactly does one do with them? I vaguely remember the box talking about sprains, etc. How/what?? Although I raised my fam w/out them, I think I might need to keep some on hand.

This thread is already making me so happy! Thank you @Hunter!!

Finally ordered ours just now, thanks for the repeat mentions!

May you get 100% soon, Newlma - you have been through so much!!!

I really mad that my order with mags.com didn't go through. Or, appears not to have. I ordered from a catalogue. Gave my opinion & got an offer for free mags. In years past, I would have HATED that. But, hey, there's no clutter here & I'm old school, so, "Why not?" I thought. I ordered some travel magazines, antiques and car/driver for DH. We are 'throw away right away' types, so I am not concerned about them hanging around long. But, the dumb 'complete magazine order' screen kept spinning and spinning and spinning, ad nauseam. I just clicked off of the page. No patience for it! Another Lynn, I will make that soup!

Thx!

Yes. Easy, peasy!

Done! Good morning!