I'm in. I was unnerved by that article with the photos last week, where the photographer was deliberately seeking out the cluttery places in a house. I tend to think I'm uncluttered, but I could easily walk through my house and take photos like that. All those little drawers and corners where stuff gets crammed. The article scared me into starting. Already decluttered as of this week: Master bathroom drawer Bedside table drawer Stack of papers #1 in closet Stack of papers #2 in closet Stack of papers on kitchen counter Wee Girl's sock/underwear drawer Middle shelf in bathroom and swim bag thereon Ugly living room chair & ugly framed art poster - to Salv. Army Damaged wood-framed mirror - to Mom

14. Henry James, The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories I love wallowing in James. And very Halloween-y. Alert: The Penguin edition has a brief introduction in which the surprise ending of all three stories is given away! Now I already knew how The Turn of the Screw ends, but I hadn't read The Pupil or The Third Person before, and didn't appreciate the spoilers. ETA: And now working through Arthur's Britain.

Our little second-hand toy store has Cuisenaire Alphashapes. They are intriguing. What are they for?

Hits: The Master Classics - short daily readings in real literature across different genres, from poetry to travel writing to letters. Middle Girl's favorite part of the day now. TOPS Science. She loves, loves, loves the concept-through-doing approach, and every time we finish a unit, she wants to spend a few days doing further reading in the topic. Galore Park Junior English. Every day I bless Laura Corin for telling me about GP. Misses: Rosetta Stone French. Too much too fast. Hey, Andrew! Greek, Book 5. At this point, just gives difficult new grammar with instructions to memorize it, with no assistance in doing so (e.g. games, ways to think about the words). Unrelieved drudgery. Dh is switching to Athenaze.

An oldie, but it saved me as a teenager: Games People Play Also: The Gulag Archipelago And: The Imitation of Christ

I'm fairly sure Dukakis tried the "just tell the people the harsh truth" approach. The results weren't pretty. I miss Tim Russert, may he rest in peace. I remember how he pinned Bush to the wall in his interview one Sunday, and the next Sunday left Gore equally skewered. He didn't let any politician get away with weasel words, and always asked the tough follow-up question. And had the friendliest demeanor.

:grouphug: :grouphug: Wee Girl would go up the stairs alone last month, but not this month.

Fifty-two! Huzzah!:hurray:

:) My blushes, Watson. Oh hey, there's a counter-example - I quite like the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Earlier this year I tried oh-so-hard to read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I just couldn't make any progress, even though so many people whose reading habits I respect have recommended Le Carre to me. Every time I would make it through a couple of pages I'd set it down. For a few days. I must have some sort of weird allergy to genre fiction. As far as I can tell, I've never in my adult life read any example of spy novel, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, or horror and enjoyed it. It's like there's something missing from my brain. Now recovering from Augustine by re-reading The Turn of the Screw. Suitable for last week's scary reading challenge.

Agreeing with Momling; but I think Wheelock's would be a good choice for your own work on Latin. You can get the answer key here.

Our outdoor yard games (girls 9 and 5 years, corner lot with rail fence): Croquet Tea parties Sprinkler running wading pool plus water shooters etc. Madly jumping on small exercise trampoline Fence walking People/car watching Acting out plays Swordfighting Water balloon ambushes Let's Pretend We're.... ETA: Didn't see that you'd asked specifically about items. Tea set and old blanket; water shooters; exercise trampoline*; nerf swords and/or sticks; water balloons; yard debris. *even six inches off the ground, though, they're a hazard when you try to set distance records by leaping down onto them from a fencepost

Our tv was on from the moment I got home from school to the moment my mom came home from work - often enough quite late at night. Mornings, weekends, all the time. Plus due to complicated circumstances I missed nearly a year of school total from second to third grade, and you can bet I spent that time watching tv. My mom was educated and intelligent, but was an engineer who didn't read a lot and there weren't many books in the house. I was really good at those morning game shows.

I don't know how serious the philosopher suggestion was, but dh is a professional philosopher; these days it involves a great deal of advanced mathematics, and conference talks/discussions are very fast-paced, quick-on-your-feet affairs. (Plus there are no jobs to be had and the pay is dismal.)

Great Girl stopped at 12, but escorted her much-younger sister. She declined candy at each house, but at many of the houses little sister was given extra candy "to give to your big sister." So it worked out pretty well for her.

DeJong, definitely.

The Spider's Palace and Other Stories. The awesomest out-of-print children's book.

Yowza!

Another reasonable explanation I've seen is that Catholics or Protestants or Pagans or etc. of whatever educational level all categorize themselves the same way; whereas very educated nonbelievers are more likely to describe themselves as atheists, while the less educated tend to describe themselves as 'not religious' or 'spiritual but no organized religion.' I'd want to see some actual supporting survey data for that; but it seems reasonable that a description that still carries some social stigma would have some variation in its usage, and educational level seems a likely one.

I feel your pain. Great Girl still lives at home, but after more than a decade of trying everything, she still drops her clothes on the floor and never, ever, makes her bed. But ... after Wee Girl was born, and I was bedridden with a slow recovery, she did all the household chores, cheerfully and without being asked. When I recovered, it was back to slovenliness. So I think she'll be okay. When it matters, she's clean.

32/32. Pulling up those Catholic averages! :D

There's a Bastrop County Homeschoolers group, and Bastrop Christian Homeschoolers Association, both with Yahoo groups. You might contact one or both of them to get the lay of the land.

Well I'll tell you right now, skip or skim roughly the first ten books, in which Augustine refutes the claims of Roman paganism. At excruciating length. In fact, the last half dozen books are the most ineresting.

Finished 13. St Augustine, City of God All 1,091 pages of it. I feel like I just finished a very heavy meal. I may have to lie down for a while.

Lots of jealousy of Texas going on here. :D This is clearly the most awesome city in the most awesome state. Beautiful, laid-back, apparently recession-proof (nearly), multitudes of homeschoolers ... Say, is that the Austin City Limits Festival getting started over there? Why so it is.