Can it be done? I am trying to get things in order in the house so I can work less but it just doesn't seem to be happening. I would love t homestead but it seems so overwhelming and it seems to take a lot more money to begin that I have to spend. What says the hive? Can it be done? Have any resources on homesteading?

I couldn't have said it better myself! We are the same way, old, young or in between. For us we know God created it, we don't much care how long it took and in the whole grand scheme of life it doesn't really matter anyway. :)

Is anyone else having issues accessing the recipes on the site? Nm... it is working again.

Dh doesn't like the fact that we all get barraged with the wireless frequencies so we have turned off the wireless. He gets irritated when I want to print because we have to turn it on to print since the printer in wireless and I refuse to buy a printer cable when it works just fine without one. So we pretty much don't have wireless but a tablet is the only thing dd14 has asked for. Might just have to go back to the drawing board to find a gift. Bleh.

Ooo in beta? How do we get in on the beta testing??? I would love dd14 to check it out!

I have... lots... of dry pinto beans that I want to use. I need recipes! I wouldn't mind a recipe or how-to on how to make them like out of a can. :)

We don't have wireless everything is hardwired. So is it worth getting a tablet? I have been waffling getting one for dd for Christmas. :bigear:

If you look at post 93 here by SWB herself she says that WWSkill will be for and WWStyle will be four as well. That will cover all 12 grades.

I loved..... LOVED IEW. I did not have the time needed in order to implement it. I sold mine as well. It is an awesome program but I have to work full-time and I needed something else the was more open and go. We use WWE and WWS now. It is easier to prepare and do. ETA: It really depends on you but look through the material first and see. However here is what SWB had to say about her series

I didn't like AG, there wasn't enough explanation for this right brained math centered person. My dd is 14 and was way behind in grammar. So... I started her "over" in FLL4 which she blew through in a month. Then I followed the progression recommended in TWTM to go onto R&S 5. Although you may be able to go from FLL4 to R&S 6. My dd14 skipped most of 5 as is was more review of what she already knew. You can probably get through more if he really studies. I would say if you are preparing to go to high school and you can get though these in one year you will probably be fine. In my high school years we didn't use in depth grammar much however I am not sure about today! :)

Hi! Yes.. she is working through the next 4 in the Writing With Skill (which is like level 5-8 after WWE) then she will work on the Writing With Style (I believe it will be called and is like level 9-12). This thread has a ginormous amount of info and words from The Overmind (SWB) herself. :) I can't wait to see them when they come out! My dd isn't going to be able to get through all the levels, she will graduate before they all come out but both of my sons will be able to!

:svengo::smilielol5: I say cereal. "Fruit" loops do NOT taste like fruit. Cough Syrup. It does NOT taste (even remotely) like cherries.

I have a pain in the knee. :) Is seems around the area of the lateral collateral ligament. It can hurt sometimes just walking but most of the time it hurts when I make a right hand turn when walking (unless I am walking slow) or when I try to sit cross legged. It started a few weeks ago, went away, and is now back and hasn't gone away again. Well unless I have a day off from work. I suspect being on my feet all day hasn't helped. I haven't been to the doctor. No insurance and won't spend the money for it on something like this. Any ideas?

Me too! My first thought was the birthday party is for a girl! :D

When I went to my Aunt's funeral I wore a pink shirt and jeans. That said, she was a rancher and lived in jeans herself. Most people wore jeans as it is the regular attire. My aunt loved color too so some people wore colors other than black. Funerals are for the living, not the dead. I don't think it matters what you wear at a funeral, wear what gives you comfort. I have thought of putting a letter out that says people can't wear black at my funeral!

I still don't see how if the gauge is 29 sts it equals 4 inches unless it is a really, really tight weave. Medium 4 yarn isn't real thin... maybe I am just not doing it right. Grrr. I wish they would have a picture of the gauge so I can see how tight the weave is! :)

I am looking at a pattern for Tunisian Crochet. The gauge is for 29 sts across and 26 rows with a 5mm hook and Medium (4) yarn. It is supposed to equal 4 inches. :001_huh: Now I am using a 5.5mm however I don't think that doubles the 4" for the gauge. The pattern itself is supposed to be 47 sts across and only be 6.5 inches wide. I just can't get that. Even if I use a much smaller hook. I think I can get that gauge with embroidery thread but not any yarn! Can anyone get that kind of gauge even with regular crochet? So am I wrong or is the gauge off and I should alter the pattern?

Yes had my fair share of them. The worst though is call center work. Ugh. The pressure they put on those people is unreal. One toe out of line and it is all over. Hate it. Which is why I am working at Walmart, which has its own issues. At least I don't have to watch my every word. Although my assistant manager could learn a few things about how to treat people. :)

:iagree: You can use whatever you need at any level. Start them out in a lower level and let them blow through it if needed. It will build confidence and build the beginning blocks needed! :)

I have an Android (although not for long, contract is up in 3 weeks) and I like it. I won't buy Apple though. They tried to do one over on me. I have the Samsung Charge. *IF* I could afford it and upgrade I would not think twice about getting the Samsung Galaxy SIII. That is a *SWEET* phone. I have played with them.

For what though? I have never had a doctor tell me I can't be seen if I didn't have money up front. I haven't ever been asked for money before seeing the doctor. They don't ask me what I make in a year or anything. I just had an appointment for dd last week, paid for it out of pocket. All they asked was if I had insurance. I told them no, it would be out of pocket. That was it end of story. Maybe that is the exception not the rule?

I was thinking. The OP of that thread stated they paid $1600 a month for insurance. That is $19,200 a year. The deductible is $2000 a person max $7000 (I think is what was said) so if you were to pay premiums and deductibles it is $26200. A year. :eek: We barely make that in a year. Hats off those who pay it! Now, barring cancer, transplants etc... How is having insurance even a help? My mom is diabetic (controlled with medication not insulin) and both my parents have high blood pressure and they don't pay $1600 in medications every month. So for the average family how does this insurance help? Wouldn't it be better to save even half that in another account (not the medical account you can have set up by employers and such that is different) and then just use the funds as needed? We are a family of 5. In the last year we have gone to the doctor 3 times and emergency room 3 times. If I totaled them up it cost us about $1500 for the medical treatments. I looked into insurance for our family a while back. It would have cost us $500 a month and I don't know what the deductible was, I don't remember. So based off the last year we would have paid $6000 for the year and probably the $1500 for deductibles and such to come to $7500. Why would I want to pay $7500 when I can just pay $1500? I guess they expect you to have the insurance "just in case" something happens in the future that requires quite a bit of treatment like cancer or other life threatening issue. Is that the gist of it? Am I wrong in my thinking? I just don't get it. Can someone explain it to me in layman's terms? :)

You got it sweetie! :grouphug:

Maybe I am just feeling down because it is gloomy outside (and has been for a few days) but I just can't help but wondering if I am doing right by my kids. We have been homeschooling since 2006. My dd has *ONE* friend. My ds10 has *NO* friends. When I was in school I had a gazillion. We don't live in a friendly neighborhood, there are other kids, even ones close to my kids age but *no one* plays with each other. The one child that would come over every day moved at the beginning of the year. Even the free things (like hikes in the woods and other things) cost. There is gas and, most of all, time. Time away from work making money (Lord above how I hate money) that I can't even spend on what I want to. I see other homeschoolers in our area that seem to do so much. They have co-ops, sports, get togethers, church functions etc... We don't have any of that. We can't afford the co-op's and sports. We don't belong to a church (and honestly I don't like church, I have tried). We also live so far out from anything. It takes 20 minutes (one way) just to go to the store for milk if we need it. So going to anything means, at the least, a 30 minute drive one way. I also work full-time. Everything has been worse since I started working. On the days I work I am gone 10 hours of the day (30 min there, 8 hours work, 1 hour lunch and then 30 min back). I don't have time to cart kids around to things, even if I could afford it. My hours are scattered and not on a regular schedule. I do not get two days off in a row, nor do I get the same two days off every week. My dh hours are even worse now. He used to be able to get his regular hours in anytime. Now it is a stalking job to get his hours in hoping they will be there. His part-time job has turned into a three-quarter time job just to get the part-time hours. He can't take days off so he works (even if for a couple hours) everyday. All this to say my kids have no life. Nothing to do and no where to go. Is this right? On that same taken they don't want to go to school. I have discussed it with them. Maybe I am just feeling down... I am putting my TOG in sheet protectors and seeing the pictures on the pages of the kids in plays and doing fun projects and I don't get to do that with my kids. School is bare bones here because of work schedules. Am I doing the right thing? I just don't know. The kids are bored, even if they aren't saying it. We can't go anywhere and we can't afford to do anything. I knew y'all would understand my predicament so I came here to vent it out. If you even got this far without yawning :) Thank you.

Anyone else have any ideas or info? Please?:D