Good for you, Pam! It is weird dealing with the medical community after your kids turn 18, isn't it? Heck, even for a broken toe the docs look at my son and ask him if they can include me in their discussions. Yikes.

Wegmans for sure. I love it. They have everything there. And now I work there, too! :) Ria

BooKs and waxing. Ria

Most people use these courses as supplements, not as stand-alone courses. We used the Early American History course (one of their high school courses) for our kids when they were in upper grammar/logic stages. They enjoyed the series. Many of the other courses are billed as college-level, and could easily be over the head of high school students. It really depends on the course content and your own student. Ria

I have a Facebook so I can keep up with my kids and former students. This morning I was able to see some great pictures my dd took in England. It sure would be nice if she wrote on my wall, though! LOL.

Susan, My boys go to a six-week wilderness canoe camp in the remote north woods of Canada. It's so remote that we can't even contact the kids on the longer trips (they carry a satellite phone in case of emergency). This summer my four youngest boys are there (11, 12, 14, and 16). I miss them! In addition, on Friday my dd (19) flew to London for a 3-week course at Oxford. The only child I have at home right now is dd's twin brother. It's hard. I'm not clingy, either, but you sure can feel a difference when a child is gone a while. In my case, we've gone from a loud, active home to a silent, still one. Yikes. Hang in there. Ria

I work in a pharmacy and I can assure you that most insurance companies do not pay for Viagra. It's terribly expensive (close to $20 per pill), so many men don't buy it off insurance, either. The insurance companies that do cover it (very, very few) usually allow for only 3-6 pills per month. And as an aside, I've yet to come across an insurance company that doesn't cover birth control (albeit the copay can be pretty high, but still...) Ria

You and your dh have been in our prayers, Janie. I can't wait to tell dh about your Sunday! God is good! Ria

Yes, you can use an oven. If your oven can be set low, do the apples on 135 degrees F. Otherwise you keep the oven door open a bit. Here's something I found for you on the internet: Dried Apples Ingredients: 5 pounds apples About 2-3 cups pineapple juice (Ria's note: just use lemon juice...it's so much easier!) Use good apples, bad apples with bruises or those that are not ripe make bad dried apples. I use a dehydrator, but you can use an oven. Skin (optional) and core the apples. Cut the fruit into thin slices (1/8"). Soak the apples in the pineapple juice for at least 1 minute to prevent browning. In a dehydrator, dehydrate at 130 until the apples are leathery but pliable (optional - keep drying until like potato chips). In an oven, at the lowest setting with the door ajar until the apples are leathery but pliable (optional - keep drying until like potato chips). 1 pound of apples makes 2.5 ounces after skinning, coring, and drying. Ria

Do you have a dehydrator? I'd try to dry them. Ria

I guess I do it the old-fashioned way...with a notebook, cookbooks, and a pencil, lol. I have about 50 cookbooks (it's an obsession) and I'll sit down once every two weeks and plan out a menu and corresponding shopping list. Right now I'm on a salad kick, but lately in a given week I''ve tried to have one or two main-dish salads (often with soup and whole-grain bread), a pasta, a grain/bean meal, and something on the grill. Sometimes I go through an Indian or Chinese phase, not long ago it was a Japanese noodle phase...fun, fun, fun! Ria

I think I understand what you mean. What we've done here is to focus on what the kids want to do "in real life" - and we start these talks as early as junior high! By the middle of high school our kids have a very good idea of what career interests them, and they take high school classes accordingly. College is seen as a means to an end; an important means, but certainly not the goal itself. Dd knew that she wanted to go into nursing; she's now in an accelerated 5-year program and will graduate with a BS/MS as a nurse practioner. She chose a smaller school because she was offered a full-tuition scholarship. Ds knew that he wanted to be an engineer, and chose to go to a very competitive college because their engineering program is one of the best in the country. He has a nice grant and is also the owner of student loans, lol. My point is, we try to focus on the end goal, and help the kids look at schools that will get them there. They know that we have a certain amount with which to pay for their education, and if they pick something expensive, for whatever reason, they'll have loans in their names. Ria

Chris, Give your dd the Singapore placement test. Kids coming out of Saxon into Singapore often have problems with the word problems; however, Singapore 3 really doesn't have any of the intense word problems. It's a good level to start with IMO if your dd places there. Ria

Cin, We've been in a similar situation...dd was in a tiny fender-bender almost 3 years ago. Damage to our car was under $2000, and it's a Chevy Aveo (ie, a tiny piece of junk...any major impact would have ruined it). The woman dd merged into was in a big ol' Mercedes. There were some scratches to her car and a broken headlight. She assured the cops and both ins. companies that she was fine. Almost 2 years later she came after us for $100,000. Yep. You read that right. Seems she has some critical injuries two years later. Right. Our ins. did settle with her, but not before she threatened to sue us. Once the settlement was reached, however, our ins. company told us that she had signed a paper saying that she releases us from any further liability. Dh says to call your ins. company and get a copy of what the woman signed when the settlement was reached. If she signed off on the claim you should be okay. Try not to panic. I know I've shed many tears in the past year over this, and it's still not over for us, but maybe in a good way. It seems that the greedy woman is now trying to collect more money from her own ins. company (for what our ins didn't cover...right!) and they've launched a major investigation into her claim because they think she's scamming. I hope they nail her. Ria

We didn't supplement Saxon with Singapore - we used both programs concurrently with our kids. They did a lesson in each course every day. I made no attempt to rearrange either book to match up topics, we just did the lessons as they came. The kids were in a higher Saxon level than Singapore - for example, in 3rd grade my boys would use Saxon 5/4 and Singapore 3, the next year it would be Saxon 6/5 and Singapore 4, etc. We did this for several reasons. I think Singapore is one of the best programs I've ever seen for teaching kids to think critically in math, but I found it woefully lacking in day-to-day practice of skills taught previously. I think Saxon excells in drilling kids on what they've learned, but lacks the critical thinking element of Singapore. So, we did both. I usually had the kids do either the evens or the odds in the Saxon lessons each day since they were doing two math programs, but they always had to do all the Singapore. Ria

I sold some gold through USgoldbuyers.com. If you check their website you can see the article about them that was in The Wall Street Journal. I was so impressed with their service and the price I got for the gold...much higher than anyone around here offered. If you are selling gold they pay shipping; I think you have to pay for shipping yourself if you are selling silver or other metals. Anyway, they'll take your coins and call/email you the price they are offering. If you don't like it, they'll send your stuff back to you. If you are happy with the price, they'll pay immediately. I had the money deposited in my Paypal account. It took 48 hours from when I sent the gold to the deposit...not bad. Ria

Karenciavo, I'm working part-time as a pharmacy tech at Wegmans. I love it! Ria

We never used Saxon 3 with any of our kids...we just went from Saxon 2 into 5/4. We also were using Singapore with them, so I'm not sure if that made a difference, but they did just fine. Ria

DD landed safely in London this morning (whew!). She's taking a 3-week family nursing course held at Oxford University! Her twin back at home after taking a summer course at his college (he got an A in calc 2!). The four younger boys are once again up in the north woods of Canada for six weeks doing their wilderness canoe camp stuff. Hmmm...five of my six are once again out of the country, lol! Ria

I hope she has a blast! My son started at the ps in 10th grade in Feb. this year and absolutely loved it. He thrived! I've been very, very pleased. I hope you have the same experience. Ria

I'll never see it - way too icky-looking for me, lol. However, ds (19) was at the theater at midnight and says it's an amazing movie. Ria

Heather, My dh is a chemical and mechanical engineer, so math is a big part of his life. We used both Singapore and Saxon (we always used both programs w/ all our kids) when the kids were young, and moved them into NEM in 7th grade. The year our twins finished NEM 3 we also had them working from a public school pre-calc text. From there they went into cc classes. The twins have done well in college this year, so I have no problem recommending NEM along with something else to finish up high school (if you start NEM in 7th grade, your kids will be done with it in 10th). Dh feels that the mathematical reasoning skills taught/used in NEM are the best he's ever seen. Be warned - it's difficult and challenging. However, it really helped prepare ds for his engineering courses and higher level math classes. Ria

Oh, Janie, I'm so sorry. I don't understand what has happened to that church...I just don't get it at all. It just seems to have walked away from the Bible. So very sad. Hang in there. You and your dh will be in my prayers. Ria

I'm sorry, Janie. Dh was an elder in the liberal Pres. church for years, but after the General Assembly 5 years ago we left the church...dh said he simply could not stay a member of such an organization. This year's General Assembly was a doozy, no doubt about it (dh still follows what the liberal denomination is doing). Our local church finally left the liberal denomination and joined a more conservative Pres. denomination, thank goodness, so we are back there again. I'm sorry for what has gone on in your church. I honestly do believe that the problems start at the top...just look at the mess in the GA. Ria

(((Chris))) I understand your feelings completely. It will be okay. I think you'll be surprised at how involved you'll still be in your dd's education, and how happy you all will be. It's just hard to imagine what change will bring...but sometimes it's really better than you can imagine. You'll be in my prayers. Ria