This is one of my favorite posts ever. DH is looking around the room and talking about "4-tops" vs "2-tops".

Both my kids disliked the "counting up" and "counting down" lessons w/ number lines in Singapore. They understood them, but didn't think about numbers that way. I'm pretty good at math and I think of numbers on a line, although it's more like a vertical spiral staircase than a straight horizontal line. But I really hate numbers in a grid, like 100 charts. Tracking numbers across broken rows and columns drives me nuts. So to each his or her own, I think there are lots of ways to grok numbers and if the line doesn't work, I would ditch it.

Wouldn't want it any other way. :grouphug:

:grouphug: I hope you feel better soon! Cool crisp weather is just around the corner. It's always darkest warmest before the dawn fall.

I haven't used it but I'm considering it. SWB mentioned it in one of her recent WTM conference sessions and that caused me to research it. I think it looks pretty good.

I wonder how Greta is doing? Paging Greta....

I don't think there's anything you can do about that. The organisms are in the separated kombucha and they will eventually grow into a visible SCOBY. I think it's kind of cool and encourages sharing of cultures with others. If you don't want them add them to a compost bin or pile, or bury them under plants that need a boost.

I skimmed it at the bookstore and had the exact same impression. :)

Have him make two photocopies of his passport, one to leave in the U.S. and one to carry with him in a separate spot than the passport. Has he looked into any issues he might have with his cell phone? Maybe an international texting plan or something?

DS ditched Kidnapped. Maybe I should have made him stick with it until it got better.

I talked to DS about this idea for the coming school year and he said he wanted to try using The Mysterious Benedict Society, which he has read 3-4 times. I thought that was a great idea and yesterday I sat down to go through his copy and start making notes. At that point I realized this is a series! When I spoke with him about it, he said he had plans to read the others but hadn't gotten around to asking me to get them. So I have a couple of questions: If anyone here is familiar with the series, can you let me know if there are large overarching themes we should look into? He's hoping to read the rest of the books over the next 2-3 months. Should I start in the middle of the year, after we've had a chance to examine the whole series? Or just go with the one book and not worry if he finds other more interesting stuff in the rest of the series? Based on 8's method, I have no doubt I can find enough in the first book to generate enough materials. I just don't want him to be disappointed when he finds even more interesting stuff in the subsequent books but we're planned out. Has anyone taken one aspect from a book in a series and then planned an aspect from each of the remaining books as they were read? We school year-round so I don't feel compelled to start in the fall, although that was my plan. I hope I'm explaining this clearly.

We had good results with raw milk and cream. I would whip the cream, add some sweetener, and DS would dip fruit in it. He's slowly moved to the 25th percentile from the 5th and has held steady.

I know what you mean by King. I have probably read 80% of his stuff, including the Bachman stories. But there was a point at which it became too much and his (very consistent) style started to grate on me. That said, I picked up 11/22/1962 for $1 at the library book sale and I'm planning to give it a shot at some point. I think the style is a bit different but I'm not sure.

:001_wub: And after I told myself I was going to get to bed early tonight!

I love lobster rolls, chowder, and corn on the cob! I still dream about my trip to Maine and the 2 large lobsters for $14 (in the mid-90s). I slipped out of ketosis on vacation as mentioned above, but it broke a stall for me and I'm down 3 lbs from when I left for vacation. I've heard of that happening but hadn't believed it. I'd never broken ketosis since I started and I was worried it would be difficult to get back in but it was much smoother. The enzymes were already in place this time, I guess, and I applied the lessons I had learned the hard way the first time (chicken stock, salt, etc). We have houseguests coming in less than two weeks and that has a different set of challenges as they don't like meat or eggs very much. But it will still be easier in my own home than traveling. :)

It was extremely difficult for me to transition as an adult. I feel for your child. I checked the epilepsy diet and am following similar ratios. The only thing I didn't do is start with a water fast. Half of the days I am at around 15g of carbs, the others 20-22g. I'm sorry you find the fact that I feel much better and lost weight on the same diet as your child so offensive. Perhaps it's because the stakes are not as high if I err or cheat. I have no emotional link through my children to this diet, it's just an effective way for me to manage my weight and my chronic illness. I think there's a world of difference when it's your child and they're miserable and the stakes are high. I've deleted all my posts but have been extensively quoted so I'm not sure how that helps.

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Rose, I'm going to have to move in with you in my old age as you're causing me to draw down my retirement buying books! At least we'll have good stuff to read. :D

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:grouphug: If I've seen a chestnut tree, I'm not aware of it. :crying:

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Thanks for the hugs! I was feeling a bit better until a seismologist said there's "only" a 5-10% chance this is a pre-cursor to a larger quake in the next few weeks. Is it me, or does that seem really high? I forgot in my original post to mention my current read. I'm trying to catch up to the Western Canon goodreads group on Faust. I knew it would be useless to try and read it while on holiday and they started while I was gone. So far I am enjoying it!

I'm back from what turned out to be a crazy vacation with large groups of people, family obligations, and cultural misunderstandings. The day following my return a close family friend passed away. Finally, this morning I was awoken by an earthquake, which is a bit of a big deal to me because I still have some moderate PTSD from the 1989 Loma Prieta quake. Anyway, my nerves are jangled and any relaxation I may have managed to squeeze from my trip has been erased. :glare: Before leaving for my vacation I read The Silver Chair (still trying to finish these from March), The Elephant Whisperer, and The Sparrow. The Elephant Whisperer is an excellent read. I love elephants and feel a connection to them and this book solidified that for me. That someone with no experience would take in an entire herd of elephants in order to save their lives was touching. The subsequent events, ranging from hilarious to rage inducing, were both fascinating and educational. Stacia, you were right: I greatly enjoyed The Sparrow, although I agree with Rose it was harrowing. I've thought about why that was and I think it's because of the high degree of character development. I really felt like I knew them and I was an invisible, silent observer who was actually present throughout the book. Not many books have done that to me. Usually I do feel like they are in their own world and I'm understanding their story from the outside. I did warn my sci-fi loving DH that he would probably be too sensitive for it. Any other Russell books people would recommend? I agree the ending was abrupt. For this I was grateful. :)

Yes, that's true. Silent Spring is more specific, and that might be what made the decision re: the top 10 list.