I haven't been here in ages and ages, not since they repaired or overhauled the boards, whenever the last iteration of that was. But then I realized I am going into my last year of homeschooling (my youngest child is going into 12th grade), so this is the last year I can hang out here as a an official homeschooler. So I plan to be around some. I really missed these weekly book discussions, even though I am very erratic about participating. I am only on book 20 of the 52 book challenge. Hopefully I'll catch up some over the next couple of weeks. I am trying to read through the Poirot mysteries in order. I just finished The Mystery of the Blue Train which by the goodreads list I'm going by is #6. Unrelated to that, I also just finished Tuesdays with Morrie. I posted about both on my blog. I just started Anne Tyler's A Spool of Blue Thread. And I am also currently reading The Crucified Rabbi by Taylor Marshall, which is all about the Jewish roots of Catholicism. Happy reading everyone!

DD wants to do a business math (or maybe financial math? That seems to combine personal with basic business bookkeeping stuff) for credit for 12th grade. Anybody know of a good textbook (need answer key too!) Thank you!

I'm homeschooling my 5th (and youngest) child and I've never done college visits before! My oldest was so independent she literally visited friends at colleges and then chose herself. My two sons had one school only in mind and applied to them. My oldest had been to the school for summer sessions. My middle son just applied because we insisted. The school was only an hour away and we'd heard good things, plus it was accepting late applications. But we had never been there. My youngest son is going the community college - transfer to local state university route. But now I have my youngest who wants to go off to a 4 year private school somewhere kinda near New York because she is very interested in musical theatre. I'm looking at the schools she is interested in and they all have official visit/tours/overnights in March and April. Well, it's a little late for March and April is no good for us because dd is in a local production of Bye, Bye, Birdie and all weekends in April are taken up with rehearsals and two weekends of the show. Then the first weekend of May she wants to audition for a summer production of Beauty and the Beast. So she can't go check out colleges for musical theatre because she is too busy doing musical theatre! So I guess we'll just try for the next weekend in May (Mother's Day weekend). Maybe take off Friday a.m.and check out some on Friday and some on Saturday? How did you all swing this? Would it be ok to visit in the summer?

I am still plugging my way through The Brothers Karamazov! Because I'm listening to it on audio, I only listen when on longer drives by myself, so that kind of limits it. And this week my phone started acting funny and I couldn't get any sound on the volume. I can't figure it out! I have been doing a lot of rereading of fluffy Heyer novels. I hadn't read it in a decade, but I reread Cotillion and am currently rereading Frederica. I also re-read Bab: a Sub Deb by Mary Roberts Rinehart, which is a scream. I highly recommend it. Still also reading Pro Apologia Vita Tua very, very slowly. So I"m either reading super slowly or rereading. Not much to post about!

Mom31257, stay safe in the tornadoes! Already done: fed pets, prayed, posted, send email explaining that I am not coming back next year as a co-leader for AHG (my dd will be in 12th grade and needs to do other stuff. It's sad because she's been with the troop since 4th grade and we have loved it!) To do: Clean kitchen make breakfast Get dd up and moving Call vet to schedule appt. Shower Take ds to math class grocery shop p/u ds do some planning for both AHG and co-op classes Prep for dinner Go to AHG meeting Take dd to rehearsal home again - dinner babysit little 2 yo for his mama while she's in class My 26 yo son is flying in today to spend the week! I think his flight gets in around 8:30 p.m.

Good morning! It is going to be a busy day! To do: Prayer Clean kitchen Make corned beef for homeless shelter-didn't get to this yesterday. I might make two - we didn't get enough volunteers. Drive dd to rehearsal - ask her brother to pick her up from it. On way home stop by to pick up potting soil from compost guy Pick up Irish soda bread Couches are being delivered @11 (we got our old couches reupholstered - wicked expensive!) Finish laundry I didn't finish yesterday Rest for a bit Pick up food from parish kitchen Go to hypothermia shelter and be dinner captain. My family is on their own for St. Patrick's Day evening.

My dd sees a doctor who is both an MD and works in integrative medicine. Dd is on both synthroid and armour thyroid, plus she is on a restrictive diet to help heal her gut. She is off gluten, dairy and soy. She also takes a thyroid support supplement and an iron plus vitamin C supplement. You probably know the theory. Hashimoto's (which is what she has) is an autoimmune disorder where the body attacks the thyroid. Because of our uberglutenized bread and taking antibiotics and the poor nutrition in much of our food, our guts suffer, gluten molecules don't get broken down all the way, get into the bloodstream and makes our immune systems go wacko. Synthroid is the number one prescribed medication in the U.S. If you have Hashimoto's you are much more likely to develop other chronic autoimmune disorders, like celiac, rheumatoid arthritis and the list goes on and on. Actual hypothyroidism is different from Hashimoto's in that it is not an autoimmune disease. That's all I got pre-coffee!

Apparently, the treatment is to get a prescription binding agent that helps pull the toxins out of your body. According to my dd's doctor 24% of the population has a genetic predisposition to not being able to purge the toxins on their own. Most people apparently can recover but some can not and need help. They also give supplements that boost the body's ability to cope and there are some dietary guidelines as well.

Good morning! I always like Fridays. Today: pray Clean kitchen Make breakfast for dh Mass Get dd up and doing math Start corn beef in slow cooker Call car repair place to see if car is ready (coordinate ride to go p/u) Do some solid dusting and vacuuming Take dd to math tutor Grocery shop Take dd to voice lesson (make up lesson since she's missed due to illness) Maybe take a walk or listen to my audio book Drop preschool application off for our little 2 yo friend on the way home (local church is starting up new preschool) Home again - rest! Corned beef is for tomorrow - tonight salmon cakes, roasted potatoes and salad Stations of the cross at 7:30? Might be too bushed to go!

I will have to look for that documentary. We didn't have black mold, I don't think. I guess I better find out exactly what that is! But the symptoms are similar along with chronic sinus irritation and odd rashes that come and go for no reason.

I loved him! So gentle and wise. I remember he had a show on local TV when my oldest dd was an infant and I used to watch it all the time. Helped me get over my new mama jitters. Thank you Dr. Brazelton. May you rest in peace.

I have posted before about my 16 yo's struggles with Hashimoto's. The dr recently tested her for mold as well because we discovered after a big flood in the house that there apparently had been a slow leak for a long time and we had mold build up. We had the house treated for mold. Then we had our dd tested and this came back positive for ochratoxins and gliotoxins. Anyone here dealt with this before? Would you mind sharing your symptoms and treatment? Thanks.

Good morning! I accidentally skipped yesterday. I slept in this a.m. because of insomnia last night. Today: Pray Clean kitchen Make chicken and rice casserole Last minute gap shopping Plan co-op history class Call vet for cat med Do lit with dd Take dd to voice Go to parish kitchen and pick up food Take food to hypothermia shelter (at a different church) Be dinner captain at hypothermia shelter Come home and sleep!

Hey everybody! I didn't post a couple of days and then the board seemed to be down for several days too. So good to be back! Today is spring break for the community college, so no driving ds to class and back and no babysitting tonight. Already done: prayer, post 2 loads of laundry phone call dressed Dd was sick AGAIN all weekend. So we had to cancel an appt this a.m. with her dietitian. The girl can't catch a break! Also she probably isn't going to AHG this afternoon. I do want her to get up and do some math and geography homework and hopefully we'll do some lit today as well, but for now she's sleeping in. I am going shopping for the week right now This afternoon pick up rental car Go chaperone AHG meeting I don't know if dd has rehearsal tonight. If she rests all day maybe she can go.

Good morning! Already done: fed pets, prayed, posted To do: make dd coffee and get her up so she can finish writing her paper and do math homework before we have to leave at 11:40. Clean kitchen Do some planning Take dd to math, do the shopping I didn't get done yesterday Get a walk in before it starts raining home again - get in nap! Tidy up Ds to work Make dinner Dd to youth group?

Oh my goodness, Jean! Car accidents and the dog having diarrhea??? Hope your day turns out better than expected! Already done: fed pets, prayed, posted, did dinner captain stuff for hypothermia shelter To do: Get dressed Tree guys are showing up to finished cutting up fallen trees from storm Drywall guys are showing up at 8 to finished wiping down all the drywall dust from flood in basement Must take minivan into shop to get repaired from accident last week. Need someone to follow me to bring me home again. Thank goodness we got a 2nd car last summer. This way we can just share for a few days instead of renting a car since the folks who hit our car (we know them) don't want to go through insurance. Get ds to his math class Do a little shopping on the way back clean kitchen p/u ds In the meanwhile dd should be up writing her paper due tomorrow. She needs a ride to the library too. Maybe I can drop her off on the way to the auto shop. p/u dd at some point make early dinner and take dd to her rehearsal Baby sit 2 yo while his mom goes to class Someone pick up dd; I am gonna be too tired to do that!

Wow, I'm glad your son is ok, Jean! I fell over the WTM due being super busy Thursday and then losing power Thursday night all through Friday. But we got it back yesterday morning about 11 a.m. However, two huge trees fell on our property. So we've been dealing with that as well. Thank God they just missed my husband's car. He got a few small dents and scratches only. It did take out part of our fort and a swing that dh had put up next to the fort. Today I am taking it easy Already done: quick shopping for food for today Mass Breakfast of bacon, eggs, bananas in coconut raspberry yogurt, almond flour chocolate muffins (I bought the yogurt and the muffin mix!) To do: shower taking it easy brining pork chops for grilling run an errand, take dd to her workcamp meeting and pick up ds from work Eat dinner Do lit with 16 yo this evening.

I am in the same zone as you, here in Northern VA. It has been 20 years since I had a vegetable garden and I only did for a couple of years. So I am very inexperienced and starting anew this spring. Since I am getting older (58 next month - yikes!) and since our backyard needs some real work, we hired a gardening company to redesign the yard and build us raised beds. They are booked up and won't get to us until beginning of April. I'm going to start indoor seedlings in a couple of weeks. I figure our last frost date is early May. I am going to wait until fall to do the brassicas and frost hardy veggies. I also want chickens but I am going to have to get an ok from the county for that. That is probably for next year. We just had two trees come down in the wind storm. But they were on the edge of the property that really isn't going to effect my kitchen garden area. One thing we are doing in the front yard is hopefully planting a little food forest. We had a Silver Maple die a couple years ago out by the street. We had it cut down. We plan to replace with a couple of hazelnut trees. Then a couple apple trees beneath them. And then in the under story, lots of herbs and edible flowers. That's the dream. We have terrible problems with deer though, here in the middle of densely populated suburbia. Anyway, I don't think I've helped you a bit! But your post got me dreaming. Can't wait until April now when we can get started!!!

Same problem here. I can comment, but I can't start a new post. So strange. A friend of mine is also having the same issue.

Woke up with another headache at 4 a.m. What is going on???? Anyway, now it is better. Already done: fed pets, cleaned kitchen, recovered from heachache To do: Can't post on my facebook group page for some reason. Something is wonky. So at some point - post there, hoping fb rights itself. Get dd up for ortho Go to 2nd body shop to get estimate for car damage Take dd to ortho take ds to community college class Prep for co-op class tomorrow, which I didn't do at all yesterday. Take ds home nap take dd to voice lesson tonight bake chicken for us and for homeless shelter finish prepping

Thanks everyone! I appreciate your suggestions. I wound up making potato, mushroom fritattas and then just serving with salad again. I got a huge thing of mixed greens from our winter CSA, so we are just chewing our way through that! I meant to go shopping but while I was dropping my dd off at her co-op class, one of her friends who was taking a driving lesson from her mom smashed into my car! LOL. The poor girl was so traumatized and the mother is mortified. She's actually one of the girls in our AHG troop. Anyway, I wound up not being able to run to the store and also wound up at a body shop getting an estimate, so I didn't have time to cook anything fancy. Luckily I did have eggs, potatoes and a can mushrooms, so ta da!

I am really sleep deprived and burned out over dealing with dd's dietary issues. Need something gluten, dairy, soy free that everyone will eat. LOL. We had steak, roasted veggies and salad on Sunday, spaghetti (brown rice pasta) and meat sauce (sans the parmesan) and salad last night. I plan to have chicken tomorrow and use up leftovers on Thursday. Friday is fish (it's Lent). What to have tonight? I just can't even think of anything. You would think I hadn't been providing dinners for 29 or so years. . . . except I've only been restricted from gluten, dairy and soy for a few weeks. It's wearing me out. Because I can't just turn to other foods due to my family being so darn picky about everything. Grrrrr. Help! I plan to go shopping while dd is at her math tutor's today.

Good morning. Woke up way too early this morning. Am going to pay for it later! Already done: fed pets, did some research and planning for history co-op class Today: pray clean kitchen shower make breakfast get 16 yo on up and on task (she's a mess lately!) More planning Dust and vacuum master bedroom take 16 yo to math tutor - take a walk, maybe do some more prepping take 16 yo to geography class - quick run to drugstore and market home again - probably nap dinner take 16 yo to youth group, if she's up for it.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a great read. Each chapter is a cliff hanger. Ultimately, mercy triumphs over revenge.

Slow start on this rainy Monday morning. Fighting a bit of a headache. Nevertheless, lots of stuff to get done! Already done: fed pets, prayer, posting and I even bought some probiotics to try out. To do: Clean kitchen Feed everyone breakfast Make sure 16 yo stays on task with catching up on math and geography Take 19 yo to community college Shop for dinner food P/u 19 yo Prep for AHG fieldtrip Attend field trip (restaurant cooking badge) We are however, skipping out on the meeting Feed dd somehow and then get her to carpool for rehearsal by 5:30 Dinner Babysit little 2 yo while his mom is at class