Question for the OP - Since you've read it, or at least read part of it and glanced at the rest, would it be of interest to an older child who is an atheist? My son (14) knows about various religious beliefs and their myths. Would the book be pointless for someone like him? My library system doesn't have it yet, otherwise I'd preview it by borrowing it.

No, not at all. I'd have to believe in what makes the number important, in order for it to bother me. Since I don't...it doesn't.

I agree with this. Even when he was being interviewed by Bill O'Reilly he remained calm and respectful. He breaks the unspoken taboo of speaking against religion, and for this he is considered rude. As for The God Delusion, I tried twice to read it and couldn't make it through. I was able to listen to the audiobook (read by him and a woman whose name escapes me). Hearing him read it made it much easier than me trying to read it. :iagree: I think most people who don't understand those of us who "believe" in science don't understand what makes it beautiful for us. Science will say, "We were wrong. We've discovered that what we once thought, isn't true". Science is willing to change as our knowledge increases. That's what makes it science, and that's why it's not "a religion".

I grew up on white rice, but now prefer brown. I like the flavor better than that of white. If I do buy white rice, I either get basmati or jasmine. I recently found brown basmati, so I'll probably start buying that instead of white basmati. I've never seen brown jasmine though, and we do like it for some things. I've never used a rice cooker. I always follow the instructions on the bag.

I used to think I was tone deaf, but when I was teaching high school, I once asked the chorus teacher about this. I told him I sing off key, am aware that I'm off key, but have no idea how to correct it. He said that's a lack of training. He told me that I was truly tone deaf I wouldn't even realize I was off key. Apparently even though training doesn't create a good singing voice (I believe some people really do have better voices than others), you can be taught to sing reasonably well.

Family Size (more, fewer, or about the same # of kids?) Fewer, though neither had many kids. My mother was the oldest of three girls, my father was the middle son in a family of three boys. Size of your home? Larger. Number of moves in your lifetime compared to them? I'm not really sure about my paternal grandparents. My grandfather died before I was born, and my grandmother lived with my uncle and his family. My father didn't talk much about his childhood. Maternal: fewer for me. My grandfather was a jack of all trades, master of none. He moved his family whenever he came up with a new plan for making money. Even after they "retired" in Florida, they moved 3 times. Do you have as much of a social support network as they did? Yes, though it's a different type. Their support network was mostly family and some friends. Mine is mostly friends and some family. How do you think your nutrition compares to theirs? What about your overall health? Mine is better on both counts. They boiled the nutrition out of vegetables, and loved butter. Lots of butter. They also loved white bread and the only whole grain I think they ate was oatmeal. They all had high blood pressure and some had heart disease. As someone else mentioned, post WWII nutrition left a lot to be desired. Educational Levels? None of them had more than a high school education, and my maternal grandmother didn't even have that. I have a college degree.

And add in the fact that this same prosecutor had similar bizarre theories regarding the the Monster of Florence defendants.

A friend of mine who homeschools recently found out that her brother and SIL who are not homeschoolers, are following the Pearls. In fact, her SIL is a teacher in a virtual school and very pro-public school. My friend knows that because she's an atheist, they won't even consider advice from her. She's been posting links to non-spanking Christian sites on her facebook page, and has asked friends to support her in their comments. She's hoping that will help them see through the Pearls advice. I posted a link to Gentle Christian Parenting. So, in answer to your question, I don't think all followers are homeschoolers. I think maybe those who are homeschooling don't get "found out" until something horrible happens.

No, I haven't.

There sure is a lot of overlap between Harry Potter and Doctor Who. Ds is always surprised when I'm watching anything Jane Austen and he sees how many of the Potter actors are in them.

Mine's in my signature. It's overdue for some new posts.

It's difficult for me as an adult to clean the kitchen "later", so I'm not surprised that it's hard for them either. They are done eating, but since you and dh are lingering, they have to put off their chore until later, when they could be relaxing. Could you, instead of excusing them, have them clean all but yours and dh's dishes while you and he sit and linger? And if they leave the kitchen area, could you let them know you're done instead of expecting them to keep checking? Or you could have them clean all but your and his plates, and you or he clean those? It just seems unfair to linger and cause them to have to clean up later than they would have liked to. Honestly, when I clean the kitchen, I don't allow lingering because I don't want to be cleaning it later in the evening. My rule is "Eat and get out of the kitchen, or finish cleaning it yourself". I understand you wanting them to do things without being told. We want ds to mow the lawn without being told, but it's just not happening. Some people need reminders, regardless of their age and maturity level. If no one needed to remember what has to be done there would be no need for Flylady, Organizedhome.com, the Home Routines app, or anything else that gives us reminders of what tasks to do throughout the day. Could you make a reminder list for her? She would be responsible for checking the list, so you wouldn't have to tell her what to do, but at least she'd have a checklist. I don't see why it's okay for adults to have lists of their routines and not for kids. Teach her to use a list to her advantage.

I've had the KA Classic Plus for almost 3 years now. It's the most basic model. I make bread dough, biscuits, cookies, mashed potatoes, and pizza dough. I also use it for lighter stuff like egg whites and frosting. I use it weekly, but probably no more than 3X a week. I have never had a problem with it. It handles the dough as easily as it handles the egg whites, and is still going strong.

I don't have any attachments, but would like the ice cream maker. We are ice cream lovers, but the price keeps going up while the quality goes down. I have an extra bowl. I didn't have my KA for very long when I realized how handy it would be to have more than one bowl. I haven't regretted that choice.

Today is a catch up day in school. Also, ds has some Camp Fire USA requirements to work on, plus organize his notebooks. Later we'll go work out at Planet Fitness. Lunch - whatever's in the fridge. Weekend - Saturday we'll all be working in the yard. Ds will mow, dh will edge, I'll work on my fall vegetable garden. Sunday we're meeting homeschool friends at a corn maze about 1-1/2 hours away. We've been there before and look forward to getting some of their amazing Zellwood Sweet Corn after we find our way out of the maze.

From what I've seen you'll have a virtual keyboard and will use the cursor to navigate to each letter. Time consuming and a pain if you use the keyboard a lot, not an issue if you don't. Ds and I play word games on my K3, so we like having a keyboard. I also use it to create collections for my books. I was very excited about the Fire and almost pre-ordered one, but we usually wait when something new comes out, and I decided this would not be the exception. I have a laptop, so I do have portability. We will end up with either an iPad or the Fire eventually. I did pre-order the Kindle Touch for ds. A Kindle for him was in our education budget and I wanted to wait until this week's press conference to see what the options are. Delivery date is Nov. 23. If he decides he doesn't like the touch screen we'll return it for the one with the keyboard.

There are negative consequence to many of the choices we make daily. You wear your seatbelt on the amusement park ride, and you use protection during sex. I don't see the seat belt as marriage, but as a prophylactic. Marriages, like amusement park rides, can fail, no matter how protected you (general you) think you are. Emotional and physical consequences can happen inside a marriage as well as outside. Spiritual consequences are only meaningful if one believes there are such things. I think an adult (and that's who the article is focused on) can make a mature, rational decision whether or not having sex outside of marriage is worth it - physically, emotionally, and for those who believe in it, spiritually.

My iPhone is the first and only smart phone I've had. I have the 4, dh has the 3GS. We love them.

:iagree: I think it does young people a great disservice to be given selective information about sex.

you go. However, their was almost as bad as the real one.

He has obviously has no idea what being Just a Homemaker involves. :rolleyes: He could have said something like, "Since you're not the one who works outside the home, your husband will have to call".

Given a choice mine would take pizza over soup, but if all you offered were those two soups, he would have eaten and enjoyed either one. He also would have eaten a lot of bread. We love soup, and don't get much "soup weather" here in Florida. He has been raised on homemade soup and doesn't care for canned soup.

I'm with you SKL. I don't worry about mild illnesses, but I do warn people and will stay away from anyone who doesn't like to be around a sick person, whether it's me or ds who is sick. Mostly whether or not we go out has more to do with how the sick person feels. My family is generally healthy. We rarely get colds and get vaccinated against the flu (after a horrible bout 7 years ago when all 3 of us got it). My son is so rarely sick, that when he does get sick, I baby him (I also baby dh when he is sick). They both thrive on the poor me attention. Oddly enough, I don't like to be babied when I'm sick. I just want to be left alone.

I have the Classic (lower model). I think it cost $199 a few years ago when I bought it. I collected Target gift cards from filling new prescriptions and was able to get it for around $130 out of pocket.

Worst series ending ever. Me too. And really the season before that. The show had so much potential but very nearly jumped the shark IMO.