How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman. Our library has the audio tape. Very interesting, you'd like it too.

Usually the third week in August. We used to homeschool year round when the children were younger, but now that we have several in high school and college who have summer jobs, it just doesn't work out. The younger ones still do drill work, some writing and personal reading and the older ones usually do math at least a few times a week during the summer to free themselves up a bit during the school year.

You aren't a thread killer :) Just ignore people who try to derail threads. They usually have ego issues and have to keep defending themselves. I think they spend a lot more time on the computer reading these boards than most of us do. You can find canning jars at garage sales and if your thrift store has a "back room" they will often have boxes of canning jars. I used to can extensively, but my garden hasn't done well the last few years because of rain and the soil. I've found that sale items, especially tomato sauce in jars, are cheaper than I can now can. I'm hoping my garden will do well this year, but it's been almost constant rain since May so I'm not expecting too much. We already make everything from scratch and except for fresh fruits and vegetables we eat from our storage. Do you ladies like beans and rice? It's almost a staple in our home and we've learned to love Indian and Mexican dishes.

I never said I was convinced we were in a depression, but that we were on our way to a depression. I believe God is good too. I don't think he expects us to say "catch" if we are standing at the edge of a cliff and start to fall. He gave us reason so that we would bring a rope with us. Lots of holy Christians starve or rely on foods supplied by others, who used the good reason that God gave them to plan ahead. I think I would rather be one of those who can "give food to the hungry." I'm not going to toss around isolated scripture verses with you, but we are admonished to know the signs of the times, to be prudent and industreous. We are to trust God and my understanding about the birds of the air is that trusting God is avoid disquieting, tormenting thoughts and not to make use of only that small part of our brain that would equal the capabilities of a bird brain. I don't think my first post showed signs of disquieting, tormenting thoughts. I'm sorry that you chose to hijack this thread. I'm picking up on some spiritual pride in your notes and it seems that this board really isn't the place for things like that. The talk show that I was listening to wasn't one of the national shows that push a conservative or liberal agenda. This local show regularly interviews professors and theorists. It went over my head because they were discussing the theories of long dead economists like Ludwig Von Mises and others. They were comparing the economies in Italy and other countries that were floundering before the Euro dollar and relating it to our situation. If you're familiar with the collapse of some European economies before the Euro dollar this won't surprise you. One big factor in all of this is that the our federal reserve doesn't have the gold to back up our dollar. Our national and personal debt is out of control and business and personal bankruptcies are escalating. I did chart everything that they have been predicting since last November and it's all falling into place. If you can provide me with some theoretical articles and charts to back up what you are saying, I will take a look at them. I would love to be persuaded that we aren't headed for a depression and I think it is possible to be avoided, but it would involve, in part, major job transplants back to our country and I don't know if it can happen fast enough. I've heard the knee jerk reaction that all is fine in our newspaper but I don't see them backing it up with facts, just a "feeling" and a rather superficial understanding of how the market and economy work. Incidentally, I have been watching the market and the predictions that were discussed on these shows. I won't list the subtler things that they mentioned back in November that have happened, but some of the things that you would have heard on the news -bank bail out by federal reserve -federal reserve stating that they couldn't and wouldn't bail out any other banks -most recently the announcement that we are in a bear market Of course a bear market is perfect for those who know how to play the stock market. Based on the notes that I took, this is what is predicted to happen next. -The Dow should start to climb and some may say we are in a bull market, but it will only be a brief bounce. -People will be very optimistic, but it will be short lived. -After a short bounce a dramatic down phase will begin. It will last about 8 to 14 weeks with devastating results. At some point in that down phase the government will acknowledge that we are in a recession and at the end of the down phase the index will stay low and it will be obvious that there is a depression.

Some kids automatically hold the pencil correctly, have you tested this yet? I would form her fingers to the right position starting now, but not force it. Over time she'll just start doing it correctly.

What a huge disappointment that must have been. I'm glad you contacted the seller. I think sometimes people who sell online just pick up books at library and garage sales and only skim the first few pages and assume it's good. I purchased a book last year that looked fine until I skimmed the last half of the book. At least half of it was underlined in pen. The seller apologized, refunded my money and told me that she had never checked the book beyond quickly flipping the pages.

The ones on that they choose to debate on TV may be split, but according to what I have been reading over the past few months and what our financial analyst tells us we are in a recession and it is only a matter of time before we enter a depression. Some parts of the country are already in a depression. These trends, theoretical and actual, can even be found in mainstream newspapers and magazines if you look carefully. I haven't seen any panic on this list. We have no debt and my husband's job will survive a depression, so there is no panic here. I don't hear anyone trying to stockpile food and curriculum for years either. My original post was to brainstorm and think outside the box a little bit.

-two man hand saw for cutting wood -carpenter's brace

Thanks for the review. We're going next week when hopefully it won't be as crowded as it seems to be this week.

For city dwellers, I would really encourage you to look into sprouting mung beans. They are simple to do in a plastic pitcher and will be at least one source of very nutritious and tasty vegetables. They cost about $1.25 a pound at our Asian market and are the easiest bean to sprout. I pour a half cup in a plastic juice pitcher, rinse with water and then soak for 24 hours. Dump out the water, rinse, drain and put in a cool dark spot. Rinse twice a day until the sprouts are about 1.5 inches long or however long you like them. The hardest part is remembering to rinse them.

We store our bags of grain in those big plastic storage bins like this http://www.rubbermaid.com/rubbermaid/images/product/2244-blue-mist_sm.jpg They are usually on sale at Walmart or similar stores, 30-40 gallons for anywhere from $8 to $14 depending on size and type. I buy these because they are something we will have a use for in the future. We normally buy grain in bulk anyway and most of the bags last a few years. For beans and things that are in the smaller, biodegradable bags we use 2 liter soda bottles. We only drink a bottle a week, but I've been saving them for a few months and each ones holds about 4 pounds or beans. We have a few of the food quality storage containers, but they're hard to come by in our area. My dad lived through the last depression and growing up we always had a months worth of food in storage. Dh and I have always followed that principle, but we only buy what we would eat anyway. We don't stock up for months, but just for unexpected changes in the food supply.

Some unusual items to stock: -mung beans for sprouting from the asian store (very easy to do and highly nutritoius) -curry powder, chili powder to flavor bland foods -sugar, cocoa powder and canned coffee (in the last depression these items were sought after and can easily be used for trade or sale) -toilet paper. If money is short, you aren't going to want to pay a buck a roll. Cloth strips can be used too, but for certain things I think flushable works better -female supplies. I've been stocking up on those and have bought supplies to make cloth pads/napkins and printed out directions online (hillybilly housewife) Some of you mentioned not having money to stock up-I've been picking up beans and similar things at Dollar General. The prices are cheaper than the regular store and the beans are almost the same quality. They are cheaper than beans in bulk from our co-op too. I noticed last week that the higher end grocery store where I never shop actually has rice and pasta cheaper than anywhere else. I had to drive past it, so I picked up a $5 worth of pasta. If you can just pick one small bag of beans and one small bag of rice each week, about $3 total in our area, you'll have enough to tide yourself over if there is an intial panic causing the shelves to go bare at the store.

There is a way to block certain users so that their posts don't show up. I'm not sure how it works, but since the number of people that post in a way that you don't like is probably limited, eventually you would never see Christian posts that don't CC.

Please tell us what you use and how you like it. We have an oil burner in the basement. I can't imagine what are bill is going to look like this winter. We do have a back-up pot belly stove in a side room that would heat up several rooms, but half of us are allergic to wood-probably the mold under the bark. We have many acres of wooded land, so wood seems to be the way to go. I've heard about outdoor wood boilers, but I know nothing about them except what I've read online and it doesn't sound very promising. Indoor wood burning boilers and furnaces seem to be another option, but I wonder if there would be the same problem with the wood smell making the kids sick.

I agree and that's why I don't feel frantic, but since I'm feeling inspired to take some action now I think that's one way he is providing for me. What type are you putting in? A room stove? Basement? Outdoor whole house burner?

What are you doing? A local talk show has been interviewing financial analysts and they have convinced me that we are on our way to a depression over the next two months. They talked about the effect of weakening dollar, individual debt, bankruptcy, jobless rates, natural disasters and theoretical trends. A lot of it was over my head, but I could follow it enough to see that there was a lot of truth in what they said. They weren't selling anything either I've googled this, but many people are looking to get rich from a depression. We'll all be in the poor boat together and I'm just looking at basic survival. We'll be stocking up on basics like pasta, rice, tomato products, canned vegetables, beans, basic medicines, vitamins. I'm buying next years schoolbooks now. Taking money out may not matter as it seems like the American dollar won't survive if this does happen. What about heating systems if you live in the north? It sounds like most people won't be able to afford oil or gas. Wood stoves are ideal, but they won't work for people with allergies.

I've been watching this fascinating video online http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7940067916847716536&q=lifting+the+veil&ei=CjpmSJfVHKWCrALfpqFc&hl=en For those of you that are interested in the thinking and types of brainwashing that go on with these groups, don't miss this video. I watched about 15 minutes a day.

I tried the crocs and the knock-offs and couldn't tell the difference. I've had my payless $9.99 ones for 2 years now without a problem.

I'm sorry you have to go through this type of thing. Take a look at setonhome.org They have been around for ages, their program is similar to Abeka and they offer excellent special ed. help and work with disabled children too. They are accredited and will work with you if you are of another denomination. Check out their books online and give them a call.

I love these ideas. I'm going to list them for her and let her decide. Anyone else?

I understand it's in October of the junior year. In the past I've always waited too long and missed the dates. When do you call the school to sign your child up?

Not very original, I know. My 13 yo loves to cook and needs a summer project to keep her busy. She's going to replace her beat up spiral cookbook that she's been using to collect recipes with a nicer looking one. We don't know what that will be yet. She's also going to test new recipes and gather favorites from family members to add. I'm looking for ideas that will ummm fill out this experience for her. I thought she could find and add pages with substitutions, conversions, nutrition in general, storage (what freezes, what doesn't.) What else? Any ideas on how she could put this together? I keep my recipes in a spiral notebook with top loading sheet protectors, but I know she would like to create something a little less tacky looking. If you made a cookbook when you were younger or have anything thoughts at all, please share.

Think about lofts instead. We have bunk beds purchased at a local furniture. Pine. They come apart and are fine until the kids are about 10 when there isn't enough head clearance on the bottom bunk. This only bothers the boys a little but it really bothers the girls. We've found lofts to be a much better way to go. The kids can put a desk under them or their dressers and a chair. Google college lofts. You can buy the kit or make them yourself. They won't work if you have low ceilings, so be sure to measure ahead of time if you go this route. You want the kids to be able to sit up in bed in order to crawl down (same as with a bunk bed) and you also want there to be enough height underneath the bed for your needs.

We do something similar. I heat 1 quart fat free milk and 1/4 C powdered milk to 180 and then cool to 120 (takes about 15-20 mintes). I add a few tablespoons of yogurt (original was stonyfield plain, non-fat), whisk and then pour into old pint size 32 oz yogurt containers. I wrap in towel and put in the fridge after 4 hours. It's almost as firm as the original, although that isn't true if I leave out the dry milk. If I leave it longer than 4 hours it's too tart and doesn't seem to be that much firmer. I keep frozen strawberries and blueberries in the freezer. We always have a handful of each thawed in the fridge so the kids can help themselves. It is a great $$ savings.

My experience was the same as Lori's. With LL we do the discussion questions, dc reads the lit analysis sections for discussions, does about 70% of the workbook pages that develop the understanding of Lit analysis and they do some of the shorter writing assignments. We use a separte grammar program and include other writing options and IEW.