On our way to the east coast for a family member's funeral. Had radio on and in the car and heard, "WHAT WAS THAT?!? ARE WE STILL ON?!?!?!?" I thought there was an EMP attack. We picked up pizza in PA, where there we found a town that still had power, to bring to the family that was 'in the dark,' where we stayed over and sweltered on the floor of their living room. Worried all night that the viewing would be by candlelight, but power was back on by then.

Mine is a pun concerning my IRL name, my profession and my worldview...

Barry here. One of the few dudes that posts here...wife to another WTM member. She's the smartest woman I know, and my best friend. She's way better than I deserve. Homeschooled since day 1...my 4 daughters are now 16, 14, 12 (just), and 7. We are thriving as a homeschool family. We were called to homeschooling due to our interpretation of Christian Scripture. We've never looked back and feel profoundly blessed by the journey and its fruit. We are not classical homeschoolers per se, but more Charlotte Mason types. But we subscribe to academic rigor and excellence. We believe children are born with an inate desire to learn and it's our duty to cultivate it, not crush it. We felt homeschooling was the best environment to accomplish this. I'm an infrequent poster now due to job changes and taking on more HS duties with respect to sports and other activities. Which is just as well, because I frequently make people mad when I post :tongue_smilie: It's not on purpose...

:iagree: Considering that NBC's Today Show was caught red-handed selectively editing critical seconds of the 911 recordings in an effort to horrifically distort, and perhaps fabricate, a racial component to this story, further confirms that some have a vested interest in further exacerbating an already volatile situation.

Home office day (thank you Lord!), phone, phone, email, type, type, email, phone phone...school in the am for DW and the girls...around noon one of our goats goes into labor (finally!), but that's right when the older two go to choir and band...DW planned to grocery shop while they were there, but that's off...she drops them and races back. 11 yr old and 6 yr old wait and watch in the barn, but now it's 2:20 and 11 yr old needs to get to violin practice...quick shout across the street and grandma to the rescue on that. But now it's 3:00, and time for Track & Field for the 2 olders, which I coach...so off to practice for me, during which I get a text (one boy one girl all good - yeah!!), then grandma swings by the gym at end of practice to pick up 2 olders and bring the 3 home to do evening chores and get ready for 4-H Health and Safety presentation day which starts at 6:00 PM, while I race down to the county building to pick up the 16 yr old & 11 yr olds' baby turkey chicks for their market turkey project...race home, heat lamp feeders and waterers set up, temperature good, then boogey over to the local elementary school to catch the 4-H Health and Safety Day for 3 olders' team skit on earthquake preparedness and the 11 yr old's 3 minute safety talk on floods! And.......we're done. Whew!! I forgot to eat lunch and dinner...:tongue_smilie: So how was your day?

Getting help from a neighbor/friend is a good move. My daughters have had no trouble selling goat kids...one year at the county fair one of the market goat classes had about 50% kids from their herd!

Maybe the 'lie' was to spare hurt feelings?

Yup, got some of those too. :tongue_smilie:

Darn it...thought those counted too! I'd be over 10,000 by now!

We get between 1 1/2 to 2 gallons per day from one LaMancha and One Alpine. Much of our herd is boer, and we only milk one of them, mainly because she has some nubian blood in her, is a good producer and good on the milk stand. Many of the other boer crosses we have can produce good milk but are difficult on the stand. We make butter, all sorts of cheeses and fudge. :) We don't buy grocery milk between march and august. They need to be milked 2x per day. This is no problem for us (see my siggie - lots of busy hands here). My 6 year old learned to milk last summer :tongue_smilie: 1/4 acre isn't much ground for a goat. Even just one will probably strip that bare. Expect to have to grain them. If you are breeding/birthing the goats yourself, that's another level of commitment. We've found only one vet within 100 miles that knows as much as we do (now) about the process, the diseases, etc., so we've learned to be pretty self-reliant, and are learning more every day...after over 10 years of experience. Read a lot before you dive in. JMHO. Milking by hand makes your forearms strong...

Whatever you do, don't confuse the movies '28 days' and '28 days later.' They are NOT interchangable!

Andrew Breitbart has died, at age 43... http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/01/andrew-breitbart-dies-natural-causes-website-reports/

Your wall, your rules...it's not like you are writing stuff about your life on HER wall. I'd delete every nasty comment...and not engage her on this topic...just ignoring her will likely heap burning coals on her head. I stopped caring about what anyone thought of our homeschooling life a looooooooong time ago...including family. Not interested in their opinions...

From day one her job has been running the homeschooling effort. My job has been to make a suitable living without wholesale sacrifice of my Husband and Daddy roles. Housekeeping, cooking/cleaning etc. is secondary, when we have time...the kids help a lot in that effort too. It has worked very well for us. :) I can see why 'not getting it' would be frustrating.

Without him, where would the US be? That is all. :001_smile:

I see youth groups as un-biblical, or perhaps, to be more charitable, 'extra-biblical.' To me is just another example of parents outsourcing or subcontracting their God-given responsiblities, in this case, to disciple their own children in the Gospel and the ways of God. See Deut. 6:6-7, Deut. 11:19, Prov. 22:6, and Ephesians 6:4 for supporting scripture. Statistics indicate that young adults, those who have been raised through-out this phenomenon of professional youth ministry, are leaving the Christian faith in droves, once they become adults. So, I'm not exactly a fan. The scenario described by the OP is particularly troubling...

:iagree: What is the net present value and the return on investment for this $76K? To you as the seller? In after-tax dollars? Ask your realtor this...if you get a blank stare, fire her :lol:

The article matches my collegiate experience. Bottom quintile of the class typically chose or transferred into that particular major. While I was slaving away in labs and libraries, I would see them all playing frisbee, strumming guitars, chatting each other up, etc...

Oh........my...:blink:

<And, when she's completely down and out, do you carry on 100% of the household load> Why, yes, I have. :) Never requested the slipper vacuum treatment, though :lol:

Mind elaborating what you mean by this? :001_smile: When I'm sick my dear wife has learned to literally leave me completely alone to sleep, which is my greatest desire. I tell her, I'll either live, in which case I'll get up when I can, or I won't, in which case she can start looking for a date to bring to my funeral...:lol: If I'm well enough to eat, I'm well enough to make it myself...she carries on 100% of the household load when I'm completely down and out...

I don't like that (regarding the bolded) this statement does not consider the ramifications of cash flow, relative to earning power throughout a career. Paying $1,300/mo to pay college loans may seem palatable when earning $95K/year, but is awfully tough to swallow at $35K/yr. Most college graduates don't get into the near six-digit earnings till deep into their career, i.e. 10-20 years in. Can they stay financially afloat during the early lean years with such a colossal debt over their heads? Also this earnings growth also depends on career/promotions choices, outside circumstances (eg attrition, obsolescence, outsourcing, recessions) marriage and family planning, and other factors, some of which are out of one's control... I like that the article discusses costs versus relative benefits, AND that the selected major/vocation should be a factor in balancing the investment versus the debt taken on. Caveat emptor, I always say...I think in principle I agree with Creekland's statement, perhaps disagree on the details...ackowledging a strong personal bias against personal debt.

Consequences, responsibility, self determination, and meaningful work...

Oh, and everyone here knows that federal student loans CANNOT be discharged, even if you declare bankruptcy, right? :glare: Hence the education bubble. Loans are made with no concern or regard about a person's realistic ability to pay them back, so the lenders have virtually no risk in making the loan...the borrower is obligated to pay back...death is the only escape. And all this 'easy money' is available, so there is little downward pressure on higher education costs...hence the 15-20%/year tuition hikes for the last 20-30 years. That's how one can easily find themselves in the absurd position of having $200K of debt while only expecting to be able to make $25-30K/year after graduation...if a job is even exists for him/her :tongue_smilie:

We have taught all our children how to perform a Net Present Value and a Return on Investment calculation...they will take on no debt to go to college, period. These are very poor decisions that many kids are making today, and they are going to pay for those decisions for the rest of their lives, sadly. The debt they are taking on is debilitating.