shanvan
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Posts posted by shanvan
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Hmm...I bought 3 suits for Dd 3 years ago and she wore them through 2 summers. All 3 held up very well and took a lot of abuse.
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Mr. Ellie and I are enjoying "Poirot."
Yes, I have watched most with Dd at 12, but there are a few that have some uncomfortable sexual matter, so preview or research before watching.
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If you registered a student online, did you fill in all of the info about how many years of each subject? I think it is part of the Student Search option that Ds doe snot want to participate in, but I'm not sure if it is optional.
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I sold someone a full Tapestry of Grace curriculum with all the extras. I sent it Media Mail, and then I received an envelope from the USPS with the top of my box (which had been cut off) and a note, explaining that they didn't know where the contents of the box had gone. I couldn't believe it!!! How could 4 huge (2 or 3-inch) binders filled with paper, several cds, and a book just disappear? Luckily, I had insurance to cover everything. I think the buyer probably didn't believe me when I emailed her, telling her what happened. Anyway, I called Tapestry of Grace and ordered all new curriculum, and I had them ship it directly to the buyer. Then I went through the process of getting my insurance check from USPS. They denied the claim the first time, and I went through extra hassle to finally get reimbursed. I can't remember exactly how long it took to get my money back from this situation, but I know that more than three months passed as I waited. Needless to say, I don't use Media Mail anymore.
Sorry about your situation. I just wanted to share my story, because your situation could have been a similar issue as mine (USPS incompetence) and not a untruthful buyer.
​Yes. I also wanted to add that insurance is not always the magic answer. Actually getting your money on an insured item is a very big hassle that requires dedication and determination, and still you may not get your money back in the end. The USPO damaged a painting my husband sent to a gallery and even with photos and insurance he could not get them to cough up any money.
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You are going to have to work out some sort of refund to the buyer if you used paypal. See if she will take a certain about, otherwise paypal will require you to refund the full amount. Lots of threads here describe similar situations. When this happened to me (as the buyer) I was willing to work with the seller, but she refused to do anything for me, so paypal made her give me ALL of my money back.
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Here too. Breathing and shoulders are my markers. I really want my own salt water deprivation tank for free floating. :lol: I do stretching, and slow, deep breathing, and I love on my cat.
I have been known to have anxiety attacks in the evenings after dh is home and the immediate situation has passed. It's weird but that is when the physical effects seem to come -when its safe, i guess. For me, the biggest physical effects are after I have been driven to the point of madness. I have had to learn to walk away and give myself a time-out because I have gotten so angry that my eyesight literally went blurry. It was scary. ODD kids thrive on that though. But I digress...anyway, yes, you are definitely not alone. :grouphug: There is a lot of stress in knowing that there will be another day with another battle (or situation) right around the corner.
The importance of loving on the cat -- it really cannot be over-emphasized, says another who de-stresses with a kitty.
I completely understand why you feel the effects when your husband gets home. I've read that the most dangerous time for an injured person who has been rescued is upon the arrival of help. That's when they don't feel the need to fight so badly and allow themselves to give in to emotions.
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Yes, Dh and I saw it. IT definitely sparks conversation and challenges you to think about just how far should a person be pushed to achieve excellence. How far should we push ourselves? And also, what has to be given up in order to achieve excellence. The scene between the main character (forgot his name) and his girlfriend about why they can't be together was spot on. It was horrible what he said to her, but also somewhat true. Very interesting movie. Unfortunately, sometimes I feel like my life operates at the pace of this movie, and I am the one trying to meet all the impossible demands (if you saw it, you will understand what I mean and be horrified.).
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Jane, I will be praying for you. We are facing unemployment for the 2nd time in 2 years after Dh took a job that paid almost half his former salary. I understand where you are coming from. I'm starting to look for things to sell too. I have had the same thoughts about everything we worked to build coming crashing down.
Dh is haviing a hard time finding work and there is no unemployment extension. He couldn't even get through to unemployment when he called. He spent 5 days on hold all day only to have the system hang up on him after telling him to call back--while also reminding him that if he does not file within 10 days his claim will be denied. He had to call the governor's office. Someone there filed his claim immediately. But, yeah, as we hear on the news, the economy is getting better, unemployment numbers are down.
I just wanted to say, you are not alone. I have never personally known so many families going through the same thing. Quite a few local homeschooling families I know (besides my own) are in the same situation with long term unemployment. It's a huge burden to bear and not have anyone to talk to.
I have been thinking about journaling myself. It might help a little. Take advantage of the people here who have offered support via PMs. That might help too.
I wish I could offer more than prayer. :grouphug:
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I am asking for a friend who is considering Latin 1 with Lukeion or Lone Pine for her Ds. He has some special needs to consider, but Latin has been suggested by his evaluator as a way to build memory skills. A traditional approach was also suggested.
I searched and could not find much info comparing the two. My Ds has done 3 years of Latin with Lukeion, so I have given her (my friend) plenty of info about Lukeion's approach. I had considered Lone Pine at one point and somehow got the idea that the approach is not quite as traditional as Lukeion's. Is that correct, or did I form the wrong impression? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Have a lot of members been changing names? I haven't been here much lately.
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DD is taking a dual enrolled sociology class. She has learned that for every 10% increase in the number of choices we have, there is a 2% decrease in the number of people who decide. So yes, some people just don't make a decision at all. Because, she learned, that the more choices we have, the harder it is to make a choice. People don't actually like having a billion things to choose from.
All to say, I hear ya!
So, when the number of choices I have to make in a day increases too much I may not be able to handle the choice of what to wear and I'll end up wearing PJs all day? That's what I'm thinking. :D
For the curious, I did finally get dressed and I think it only took me a half hour to figure out what to wear. Not that I spent all that time going through clothes. Instead I just left the room and did other things until I had a eureka moment and knew what I wanted to wear that would also suit the day. I'd rather be in PJs on the couch though, and I have to go out tonight. :glare:
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if I feel the need to pray for help in knowing what clothes to wear for the day. I just felt the need to make this observation to someone somewhere. I'm currently suffering from decision overload. Too much to do, too little time, etc. etc.
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Maybe this is just a vent. It's not a big deal in the broad scheme of life...
I could not go. dh took her. It was a fairly large group of students from around our part of the state. I told her to have a good time. I said focus on herself. I said pay no attention to other girls "sizing you up".
When she got home she told me there was no problem with other students trying to size you up. The problem was with some mothers who managed to get back in the student area before the group audition portion. There was a mother staring at dd and rolling her eyes and whispering to her dd. There were a couple other mothers giving looks too. Weird. These are big girls, young adults really. To go to this program you have to be at least a rising junior, most are rising seniors.
It irritates me that any parents were permitted to go to the student waiting area. Dh didn't go. He said dd didn't want him and it looked like most parents were not going, just a few. dh said the event, whole day was very disorganized and he suspects that's how the mothers ended up mixing into the student waiting area.
In my many years of being a parent at many different activities I have seen many parents behaving badly to psych out other children and give their own child a leg up. It's just wrong. Not to mention, by high school I think parents should be really stepping back from children's activities anyway.
If anyone is going to be playing mental games, it should be the participants not the parents.
Why at this age are the mom's still inserting themselves?
Yep. It goes on, to my amazement. Apparently I am the most naive mother on the planet. I first realized it when another mom I know told me that one of the other mothers at my Dd competition told her she was going to report my daughter for some imaginary thing she saw my daughter doing. I guess it was all about my own daughter being a threat to hers. And we didn't know she was a threat, we were just getting started and having fun with this activity. The mother who was threatening never did it, but I almost backed Dd out of the activity completely b/c I didn't want to deal with people who are like that. Then Ds gave me a stern talking to and told me if I take Dd out I would be doing exactly what that mother wanted and giving her Dd a leg up. I send my husband to competitions as much as I can. I did go to one this past weekend and Dd won the whole thing (I'm keeping this vague on purpose). Dd told me later, she heard the mom of one of her competitors saying "I come to watch you today and you can't even get this!" Ds was there competing too, and I asked him if maybe Dd heard wrong, or maybe the tone was different. No, he said, she heard right and the mother was disgusted with her Dd! I was floored. We go so far out of our way to encourage our kids even if they don't win. I can't imagine saying something like that, and I hope I never become that way, even though it can be disappointing when your child doesn't receive recognition or doesn't do well. I never saw this when I was a kid, but I also did not compete in any sport or activity either, so maybe it went on and I didn't know it.
I'm sorry your Dd had to deal with that, but I will say I feel sort of better knowing that it goes on other places too--not really better--it's disgusting, really, but I don't feel so alone. I've seen the stare downs and they really upset me, but they don't seem to bother my kids. I'm not sure why, maybe its partly b/c of homeschooling and the training they have had all along about how to treat others? Maybe b/c they have been properly socialized? I don't know. I suppose we could look at it like it's good training for life?
ETA: I never told my Dd about the threat b/c I didn't want her to look at the daughter of the woman negatively. Now Dd is somewhat friendly with the girl, but I wonder how long that will be possible b/c the girl's mother HATES us, really hates us. I tried to make overtures to her one day, thinking maybe I did or said something stupid at one time and that might be why she dislikes me so much. She will not say 'hello' and will not even look at me. She purposely ignored me when I smiles at her and said hello. I was talking with another mom who she is friendly with too and they were both right next to me and I thought it would just be rude not to at least say hi to her. I decided I'll just keep saying hi and she can do what she wants with it, but, wow! All that over a kid's activity?
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I guess I have a less than inspirational story, too. For a few years, I was getting up between 4:30 and 5am so that I had a couple of hours before everyone woke up. I actually got about 30,000 words into a book during that time - but then I started going to the gym in the morning, and I took on more responsibilities at co-op, and I had no mental energy left to write.
The problem is that kids actually take up more time and energy the older they get. So, even getting up early stops being possible because the kids are up so darn late. I just kept telling myself that life comes in seasons (or chapters) and that I'd have time to myself later. I started reading more as it's easy to listen to an audio book while driving kids around or cleaning the house and it's convenient to read a chapter of a book here or there while waiting at a lesson or while the kids are working on their math.
Then we moved across the country and put all the kids in school. And now I have a few hours to write every day and I do love it. I'm sorry.
I think it's still possible to have some sort of creative life, but I think you have to be really careful about what else you add on. If I hadn't been spending probably an average of ten hours a week on co-op (sometimes more) then I would have had more time to write. If I hadn't taken on some major project work for our church's Sunday school then I would have had more time to write. So - find time you can carve out for yourself while the kids sleep - either at night (I was always braindead after 5pm) or early in the morning. And don't say yes to anything else.
Yes! I was thinking about this thread and remembering that when my kids were young I was able to take piano lessons for myself. I practiced at night when they went to bed. They had a fairly early bedtime (7pm for the youngest), but as they got older, that changed, plus some of our extracurriculars now are in the evening and we don't even get home until 9pm or 9:30.
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I gave it up. Sorry to be depressing. I just found with home schooling, I don't get anywhere near enough time on my own to work. And it's not just the work time, it's the thinking time. Not there. People always talking to me, my brain always working at the superficial level of 'what's next'.
I need quiet time, walking time, thinking time, to write.
Oh, I sometimes sit down anyway and come up with decent stuff. But it isn't the same :(
I think public school would be a boon for a SAHM/artist.
I wrote an almost identical post earlier and then didn't post it b/c I thought it was too depressing. I came to the same conclusion. I couldn't do both well and so I had to choose. I choose to spend the time on homeschooling. You'd think there would be time when they are older, but no. Now there are extracurriculars, outsourced classes, transcripts, and college searches/visits/applications. But, I know we made choices that not all families make, and we have some unique circumstances. Some families are home more than we are, or don't outsource, or the mom does not have a chronic illness. I think I do know one person who has been able to continue writing seriously. I don't think she sleeps much.
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We chose to print info from the websites that ds was interested in. Then we hole-punched the info and put it into three ring binders. It was also helpful to have this info with us when ds was meeting with a school.
Thanks. That is what we will have to do. Don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.
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I can not imagine any print medium having more pertinent information than the school's website.
I realize that, but a printed catalog of course descriptions/major requirements would be nice to peruse away from the computer at times.
All printed information we ever received from schools (40lbs worth of it) had mainly glossy pictures of pretty campus, impressive figures about degree programs and opportunities, and images of smiling students of stunning racial diversity and gender parity.
So, was the glossy info requested by you, or were they sent without you asking? We already get the glossy adverts. That's why I was asking what you get if you actually request more info.
The websites have info about resources, course catalog, classes available a particular semester, syllabi and course information, instructor info...
ETA: For specific information, always contact the academic department, not admissions. Admissions people are NOT the most knowledgeable about the school - they are just good at selling their school and making it look good.
I know there is a ton of info online, but I'm one of those people who still prefers a 'real' book to an e-reader. Websites/pages starting blending together too easily for me. Maybe I'll have to start printing the info instead of making notes or relying on memory. Ds also starts getting the colleges confused after spending time on their sites. Makes it hard to have an intelligent conversation about the schools.
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I'm assuming most don't send catalogs any longer. I wish they would b/c sometimes I get tired of looking at websites and I have a suspicion that print materials don't blend together quite the same way that websites do.
Ds and I have a list of about 15 colleges. Should he request info from them, or should we stick with websites and visits?
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My biggest pet peeve is poor writing. What a year I had when Ds was in 9th and I had to model for him how to re-read a poorly written sentence or paragraph and figure out what the author was trying to say! There are convoluted sentence structures, wordiness that seems to be for the sake of making processes sound more complicated than necessary, and a lack of logical order (at times) within paragraphs. Ds and I actually laughed out loud at some of the writing we encountered. Then I'd have him look online for better explanations, he'd get it and say 'Why didn't they just explain it that way in the first place?"
I'm thinking the authors write as though they are speaking to science-minded people instead of students who are just learning concepts. I'm talking about high school here--it's been a while since I gave much thought to curriculum for younger years. Dd makes due with whatever we have on hand, which is an Usborne Science Encyclopedia supplemented by books form the library. Science is not a huge focus in her schooling for various reasons, but this thread has me thinking about examining my plan for her science more closely.
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I'm replying without reading any of the posts b/c I don't want to read about 'Curtain'. I DVR'd it, but I am saving it b/c once I watch it, that will be it. Poirot will be done! We watched 'The Labours of Hercules' tonight. Ds and I had already seen it, but Dd and Dh hadn't. I think it is one of the best of the series ever filmed. Dd and I watched almost every Poirot made during the summer, so yes, I'm a fan!
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A couple I haven't seen listed, though they might not be to every kid's liking...
herbal tea
unusual fruit like starfruit, pomegranate (Ds' favorite)
Paperback books
ice cream toppings in a jar
fabric for sewing projects
tiny notebooks
This year I am probably putting a jar of pickles in Dd's stocking.
Magazines rolled up. We have no money for Christmas this year and had very little last year and one of my big discoveries was old magazines at the thrift shop. I was able to get each Dc a couple of dog magazines with great articles and posters inside for .25 each. That sure beats $5-7 for a new one! If you can afford it brand new mags in a favorite subject area make a nice stocking stuffer.
ETA: Forgot favorite jars of jam. I did that one year and it was a big hit.
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You are a better person then me. I would call up the sister and say that you really cannot handle the extra people mentally/physically/emotionally right now. Let her know that you really really want to spend this time doing xyz and having the other family will make it harder to do. If the sister wasn't going to be going to the grandkid's house this trip, then I might be agreeable but that is not the case here.
​This is exactly why I would do. The older I get, the less I stress myself to meet these sorts of demands.
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OP, I don't have a book to recommend, just some general ideas after spending this summer organizing co-ops and classes. These are the issues I've had:
1. Be very clear on your decision making process. We had one very strong personality acting like she was in charge of everything right down to telling some of the teachers what to teach so that her literature class would be easier for HER to teach. Several of us finally sat down with her and, in the nicest way possible, asked who died and made her queen. Just kidding. We did tell her we need a decision making protocol. She had also decided on how much of an offering we were going to give the church w/o even discussing. I raised a fuss b/c it was a ridiculous amount for me and she wanted to collect it all at once.
2. Also be very clear on who is filling what role and just what they are and are not responsible for.
3. If you are holding it somewhere other than your home, start looking for locations well in advance. The person responsible for this in our group waited far too long and we did not know until a week ago where we were holding classes.
4. If any of the classes are really going to be co-ops, be clear on just how it will function, and be sure to get feedback and input from all those involved. I thought it was the strangest thing when the same strong personality decide literature would be a co-op and then proceeded to plan the entire year including how many essays would be assigned, without ANY input from the other parents.
I was in the same position you are in years ago, attending a co-op where many of the kids just came to see other kids and parents didn't want to focus on academics. Now, if I teach a class or co-op, I hand pick who is involved and make it very clear that ir is an academic venture, not a social one. Still, classes I taught last year have turned out to lead to friendships, so they academic and social are not always mutually exclusive.
Those that teach HS writing in a co-op setting, may I ask what you use for writing? We are using LToW, which I love, but I am not sure all the parents or kids would want to do LToW 2 for sophomore year. They may want to have a year with guided instruction for different types of essays/research papers, however I still hope to combine it with literature. Unsure what direction to take.
I taught a HS writing class last year using IEW's Continuation Course level C. I don't know that I would recommend the entire course. I was frustrated by it in many ways, and by the time I got done tweaking it, my class didn't look very much like the curriculum. However, it does teach different types of essays and the research paper. This year a friend is teaching a combination of the Elegant Essay and Windows to the World as a follow up to what I taught last year. I think she may also use another book to cover a few different types of essays.
Dog owners, tell me about your furniture
in The Chat Board
Posted
Buying a leather furniture about 5 years ago changed my life! No more vacuuming for hours before company arrives and no more hair woven into my fabric couches. When we first sold out for leather I used to demonstrate how I could just take my hand and swipe dog hair onto the floor. It was so freeing! Apparently it doesn't take much to rock my world! My kids thought I was nuts!
ETA: Nails haven't affected our furniture either.