[Time to buy a graphing calculator]

Just got an email-flyer from Staples. It's advertising a TI-84, (non-silver.. I don't know if the difference between silver and non is more than colour), for $89.99 after $15 instant-rebate and $10 'easy' rebate. Offer valid August 16th-22nd. Not sure if it's that's a valid price for all areas.

 

HTH

[Time to buy a graphing calculator]

I bought a TI-84 (silver) which was the requested calculator for my younger ds's math class. I'm not sure whether this model/brand is considered better than any others.

I had not looked online anywhere other than Amazon and Target for prices before we hit the local shops and I wanted to get one during the NC tax-free weekend (last weekend).

Target was advertising $99.99 on their website as the instore -not available online- price but in store the actual cost was $126 :glare: and all sold out. Walmart was also sold out selling them for $143. We found one at Office Max for $120 which was the same price Amazon was selling them for at that time.

 

HTH

[S/O on favorite cookbooks]

I second the Cooking Light books/magazines as my overall favourite. I've never had one of their recipes not work out as it should. Their choices are very flavourful and there's a variety in the types of food and spices used.

[Market tote pattern for you knitters....]

That's really cute! My MIL would love it. I just started teaching myself to knit a couple of weeks ago so this may be a bit above my level right now. I look forward to giving it a go and learning to read a pattern at the same time. Thanks for sharing.

[I think I want to give myself a perm...have I lost my mind?]

I have considered getting my dd or dh to help me with a perm. I know I'd never get the rollers in properly if I did it by myself but I think with a little help it would be okay.

My hair is always a mess anyway so it couldn't get much worse... right? :tongue_smilie:

 

Here's a link to an article that mentions roller size and what you need to look for. HTH

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/51658/giving_a_home_perm.html?cat=69

[What books did you read as a pre-teen or teen that you now can't believe?]

Interesting that so many of us read Stephen King back then. A whole continent away I also was reading books by King and another horror author, James Herbert. He wrote some icky nasty stuff.

I have a report card with a teacher's noted concern about my reading choices though I don't recall my parents sharing that concern.

[How is your garden coming along?]

It's a very fine patch of dirt.

Dh and I planted

16 roma tomatoes, still planting (8) rows of green beans, 4 rows of corn, 4 yellow squash, 4 zucchini, 1 tomato, 2 tomatillos, 4 canteloupe, 1 rhubarb, 8 sweet bell pepper (2 varieties.)

8 basil, 1 rosemary, 3 lavendar, 6 sage, 3 mint, 3 lemon balm, 2 parsley, 2 cilantro, and a small section of leeks.

 

The rabbits ate almost the entire crop within 2 days.

We replanted 12 roma's, 4 sweet bell peppers, 2 squash.

Those were eaten by the next morning.

 

The leeks, rosemary and lavendar haven't been touched. Nor have the rhubarb, tomatillos or corn. Some green bean seedlings are managing to survive the nibbles... everything else is gone. I'm over $100 out of pocket based on purchase of seedlings, seeds, sprayer and sprays for preventing rabbits eating all the seedlings. :001_huh:

 

This year goes to the bunnies... dh and I have given up.

[So what if the swine flu isn't natural, but a test of a biological agent?]

I haven't read the responses so this may have been mentioned already. As I read your question my first thought was "Oh my, just like The Last Enemy series shown on PBS last year."

Creepy stuff! I admit my mind is far too simplistic to think of things like that by myself.

Off to read other responses.

[Bad recipes link?]

I'm not sure if that's the one I remember but it's just what I need. Thankyou!

[Bad recipes link?]

Does anyone have the link for the site with pictures of awfully frightening food that we all had such a laugh over awhile back? I think it was an old cookbook (??)

[Curriculums & resources for the summer]

My only plan is to have my ds do ALEKS a few hours per week. Obviously encourage lots of reading, but I'll not add any specific educational requirements to that.

[What color is your kitchen and also your bedroom]

Kitchen

Walls - Green, fairly fresh 'spring' green. I mixed it myself so it has no official name.

Cabinets - White painted wood

Countertop - laminate: black with flecks

No window treatments other than white 2-inch wood slat blinds. When I find a pretty fabric I'll make a simple topper.

Appliances - White

Floor - yellow pine

 

 

Bedroom

Walls - blue (like a duck egg blue but slightly greyer)

Furniture - Black dresser & wardrobe, dark-stained wood headboard, moss green painted sidetable, darkish patterned fabric on chair

Bedding - soft moss green

Floor - honey oak

Curtains - Will be blue, as close to the wall colour as I can find.

Lamps are nickel finish w/ white shades. No wall decoration

 

I looooove how my bedroom is turning out, it's so calm and simple.

[Do any of your children think like this?]

I can hear high pitch noises like tv buzzing (the new energy saver lightbulbs are the worst!), and the security 'shield' at the door of certain stores.

A few nights ago I left my laptop in the bedroom overnight. It's never usually in there and won't be again! It kept me awake with its beeping. The laptop was turned off but it was plugged in. Who knew it made so much noise in that state?!

Conversely, I hate heavy bass thumping, it makes me feel as if I'm passing out. Weird and annoying especially because my dh doesn't believe me. :tongue_smilie:

[Do any of your children think like this?]

This was such a fun thread for me to find today as I'd been looking up books about Synesthesia earlier this morning.

I don't, and as far as I know my dc do not have it, but it fascinates me.

Wonderful that so many people here and/or their children have this ability.

[Ok, since you're so smart. . . where to get cheap tampons?]

Not sure how much merchandise varies from store to store but our local Costco (NC) carries two brands, Playtex and Tampax. I keep stocked up by purchasing at least 1 box each time there's a coupon.

They are located near the diapers and baby wipes at the very far front corner of the store where the Pharmacy is located.

HTH

[Do you live near the area where you grew up?]

My dh and I are totally different on this. He lives next door to the house where he grew up. His parents still live there. His Dad grew up in a house just a few hundred yards up the road, where his own mother lived until she was in her 90's. Of FIL's three siblings, the one living furthest away is in the next town, 30 miles.

It's the same with Dh's mother, she grew up a few miles away and her 2 siblings live within a few miles still.

Of dh's two brothers, 1 lives a half mile down the road, and the other across town, about 15 miles away.

 

Now for me.. well, obviously I'm not near where I grew up! ;)

I grew up in the south-west of England, my parents still live in the same town but not the same house. My mother and father both moved from London, about 75 miles away to the area when I was a few years old.

I'm living 3000 miles/an ocean/a continent away.

Of my 3 siblings, 2 live in another town near my parents, about 20 or so miles away, and one lives in New Zealand, about 11,000 miles/an ocean/a continent away. (And we're lucky to not be farther apart... the two siblings of mine who live near 'home', one almost married a German guy and moved there, the other was seriously considering moving to South Africa to be nearer his wife's father.)

[What would you do for room assignments for this house?]

Ah, the wonderful sizing of bedrooms in English homes. This sounds a lot like my brother's house. Beautiful master suite but the rest of the bedrooms are miniscule!

If the two older boys get along with friends of each other, and I'm presuming they do as you only mentioned their complaints about the 5yo... I'd give the two older boys the 10x10 with the closet. The closet allows for more actual room space. Bunkbeds and tall shelves to keep the room as open as possible. I wouldn't be above 'bribing' them into sharing by purchasing furniture or decorations that help with the space issue; would they enjoy helping to choose? dd 8x9 in the room with bathroom, 5yo 8x9 in the room on his own, and you and dh in the master.

It's not a perfect solution but as you said, you can always move around later if need be.

[Who else has an 8th grader and is making a high school plan?...]

I wish I were planning my 8th grader's homeschool years, I miss homeschooling! My ds is now back in the regular ps system which isn't the worst but it's not challenging him either.

We're in the process of applying for ds to attend the new(ish) early college at the local technical college campus. Due to the structure of the classes and workload, there is an application process where the student must show capability and desire to attend. The early college offers 5 years of high school(4yrs) and college classes combined, all taken on college campus, graduate with high school diploma and an associates degree. Class sizes are small, only 80 places open for rising 9th graders, and the first year of 9th graders currently attending has just 64 students. Also heard mention of a scholarship to any public NC university for next two years if the student keeps a decent grade average during high school, but I don't have full details on that yet.

[What country would you take your family to if you left the U.S.?]

Well, I'd love to be back in England with my family but the current political and economic climate there is worse than here in the US. My brother lives in NZ and that's one of the few places I've ever wanted to visit, so I'd probably choose NZ... or perhaps the wilds of Scotland, if they locals would have me :)

[Book a week in 2009 Week 7 Update]

I finished a few easy reads this past week.

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - My dd has been wanting me to read this and now she can chat to me about it. It was fun, I can see how teens would love it but really didn't understand why older women do so.

Dead as a Scone by Ron Benrey - a cozy mystery... the title is apt. *snore*

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - An excellent short story available online. Great writing.

 

This coming week I'm going to be reading Brighton Rock by Graham Greene, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde (my first Fforde, I'm looking forward to it), and the newly published Death of a Witch: Hamish Macbeth by MC Beaton, one of my favourite cozy mystery series'.

[What's going in your garden this year?]

Thanks again, Camille. These will be a great help to me.

[My kitten looks very exotic.]

She is beautiful! Her markings are gorgeous, and look how shiny her coat is.

[What's going in your garden this year?]

What a fantastic list, thanks for sharing it with us Camille. I almost posted a question on here last week asking for sites that offer info like this. Can you tell me more specific information about the book it came from? My library has three organic gardening encyclopedia's by Rodale. Their publishing dates are 1992, 1978, 1959.

Thanks!

[Prayer request for my family...]

I am so, so sorry. Prayers in abundance for you and your family. :grouphug:

[What's going in your garden this year?]

Mostly the same old things with a few new items I'd like to try.

Usuals: Corn, Tomatoes, Bell peppers, Green beans, Yellow squash, Zucchini squash, Eggplant, herbs.

Probably won't bother planting: Butternut squash, Jalapeno's

New things I'd like to try: Garlic, Onions, Shallots, Sweet potatoes, Peas/Snap peas, Kale or Collards, Lettuce, Strawberries, Blackberries (if I can find a good place where Dh won't be ripped to shreds mowing around them ;) )