I only went with short "o" because long "a" didn't make sense to me and short "a" conjured up images of long haired 80s boy bands. At least the long "a" makes sense now.

Yes, but how do YOU pronounce it? And what made you pick this name? Too bad this isn't a booyah or it would be a Slachie's Origin Booyah which just sounds super cool.

I've been doing it all wrong for years, then! I've never even tried to pronounce it. I've just called her Slachie with a short "o" or "ah" like "sloshing through the rain" all this time.

I'm a day late but praying for you, Slachie. Hmm, it's just occurring to me that I may not be pronouncing Slache correctly. Is the "a" long or does it sound like a short "o" that says "aaaah" ?

Good morning! Caffeine and sugar are flowing pretty good and I'm being semi productive now. Phone calls that I've been putting off long enough will be made as soon as school is under way. Definitely not my favorite way to start the day, but responsible adulting must be done.

I've so done this! More than once! 🤣

I know this is just part of the withdrawal stage, but I miss all the yummy things. So many many yummy things I already miss. I comfort myself by remembering I haven't lost EVERYTHING. I can still have coffee. And sugar. Cue Aretha Franklin: I will survive I will survive Oh, as long as I have coffee In the morning I'll be fine I still have sugar that I'll use And some heavy whipping cream too I will survive I will survive Hey hey!

I haven't done THAT

Sadly, I've done this before. It gives the kids a good chuckle. In other news, I'm having to reestablish food boundaries for myself. Not a diet per se. Seems many of my food allergies that have been on hiatus these last couple years are back. With a vengence. So bye bye to all the yummy foods.

Have any of you watched The Riot and the Dance (Water and/or Earth)? I'm thinking about ordering them.

I've never really liked math. But I'm realizing the reason was because I didn't understand why I was doing things. I just memorized procedures and formulas until there was no more room in my brain to memorize without muddling it all up. I had very little understanding or application to real life. Now, I'm actually enjoying learning alongside Oldest because it's starting to make sense! I'm also sharpening my rusty math skills and applying them in real life because some of my new found hobbies require quite a bit of math and rather than using an online special calculator, I'm enjoying the challenge of doing all my calculations "old school."

Show off

He will be. Or else. Or else I'll cry.

I do not allow calculators yet. I want him rock solid in arithmetic backwards and forwards before Algebra. This is just one more way to encourage speed and accuracy without the drudgery of redoing the exact same math problems in reverse.

I feel like a mad scientist with the amount of chemicals I've got showing up in the mail. Squee!

I'm not going to profess my undying love for it, but it sure beats doing the reverse math to check answers.

We are checking long division problems (three digit divisors) and multiplication problems (three digit multipliers) by casting out nines. I wish I could jump back in time and ask all my old math teachers WHY they kept this skill from me. Oldest: Why do I have to do this? Me: Would you rather switch factors and multiply again to check your work? Or multiply your divisor by the quotient to see if your answer is correct? Oldest: No no no! I get it now. I'll cast out nines. You're right mom. Much faster. Me: 😁

Recipe? The kids would probably have a blast making their own mix and then drinking the fruits of their labor for weeks to come. I actually have a couple boxes of powdered milk in the cupboard.

☕☕☕☕

I should've said SOME! I either read or discard my emails daily. My trash and spam folders purge themselves automatically every 30 days. I go through my inbox and discard previously read emails usually once or twice a year.

I don't know about you, but most people clean out their email within that timeframe. I would find the relevant source of up-to-date requirements and email THAT. What they want vs what is actually required should probably be put in front of them to better help others that are being made to do the same. That's just me, though.

Thank you! Yay because I actually prefer the less dense, a little more fluffy but still rich kind.

(((Susan))) Eggs and cream cheese usually warm to room temp here in a couple hours, but that's also relative to the time of year/ temp in the house. If you want them room temp faster, defrost the cream cheese in the microwave and set the eggs in a bowl of warm (not hot) water. I want your cheesecake recipe! I've never made one, but I do have a springform pan and a houseful who all love cheesecake!

I'm sending Oldest to you for Art class. He's really enjoying the program we're using, but this is the first year we've ventured into Art other than crafts and such. Mary's choice of colors in the red one is something I never would've dreamed of working together, but it so does. I keep going back and looking at it again because it's really unlike anything I've seen before. I love the blue one. It's like looking across the water from the shore at night through a telescopic lense. Really cool.

@Susan in TN Banana Bread Dry Bowl- 2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon Wet Bowl (I use a 4 c glass measuring cup)- 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (I use overripe frozen, thawed, usually 4 bananas) 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup canola oil 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I always omit these) Directions- Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry bowl ingredients with a fork, then mix the wet bowl ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the dry bowl. Mix together and pour batter into a buttered and floured bread pan and bake uncovered for 1 hour. Check with a toothpick (I use a butter knife) and if it's not completely done, bake another 5 minutes until toothpick (or butter knife) comes out clean. Remove bread from the pan while it's still hot and allow the loaf to cool some before slicing.