I would definitely use your dd's boyfriend as a reference as long as he's over 18 in the future. Have you met anyone from the WTM forum in real life (at a conference or something) who could be a reference? We know you pretty well :) I was once a reference for a young lady who taught my son to swim. The position was in foreign language translation! I'd never heard her speak her other two languages. But I guess they liked my depiction of how she persevered over three years with immense patience to get my kid with sensory processing disorder from climbing up her body to get out of the water to swimming like a fish! Anyway, I was happy to give the reference even though I only saw her once a week for an hour and we really didn't talk. People can generally tell if someone is a good person just from being around them a short time so don't worry about looking for people with a deep relationship with you for the reference, it just needs to be a nice person confirming that you are also a nice, trustworthy person. Some places like food pantries have once a month or once a week volunteer opportunities. Here you come together once a month to unload the truck or stock the shelves or help the patrons. Something minimal might be a nice place to get started and get a reference. My son works at the animal shelter doing cat socialization. Basically he plays with the cats for a few hours a weekend. He talks to the potential adopters about the cats he knows well. He says "hi" to the staff but is too shy to talk to them much and they are pretty introverted as well. It is a very pleasant place.

No one in Maine enters their house through the front door. And no one ever knocks on the front door or leaves packages there. It is just not done.

Hi! There are a lot of us in Maine!

In both towns we lived in teenagers were welcome to trick or treat. For the most part, they were really well behaved and they often had the most creative costumes (I still remember the kid with the big cardboard horseshoe magnet covered with little plush easter basket chick toys, he was a real "chick magnet" ha ha). However, last year the PTA decided to hold a 'trunk or treat" in the parking lot. (There had been no trouble on Halloween night or reason like that so I have no idea why they thought this was a good idea). Half the town went there instead! It was awful how such a wonderful community occasion, getting to know your neighbors and their kids, was ruined. So many of the traditional trick or treating houses were terribly disappointed by the low turnout! One of my kids decided he was done with trick or treating even though his teen friends went. The other is just on the cusp of doing so. It probably depends on what her friends do as she only likes two kinds of candy anyway!

Fun Party I live in New England. My family uses the word.

My sister and I were pretty even keeled, even as teens and tweens. We never gave our parents much backtalk or trouble. We were generally pretty happy young people and most of my friends were too. I don't think I ever slammed a door or rolled my eyes at my mom. (I did, around 12, get embarrassed when she'd talk to cashiers though and I'd try to hurry her up, but that was like my big hormonal outburst!!!) SOOO... I was completely unprepared for my own children's adolescence. Honestly, I realize that hormones are driving a lot of the crazy, but it is just CRAZYTALK. I can't even wrap my head around the emotional volatility. Unfortunately, this makes me remarkably unsympathetic to the plight of the moment. I don't even know how to respond to someone who is weeping because a girl in school didn't like her eyeshadow shade. I would have never noticed anyone's eyeshadow, nor would I have cared at all what they thought about mine as a teen. When they are tweenagerish to me, I do a little better as I know their eye rolls and "Mother!" stomp stomp stomp slam is hormonal and not personal. I did read an article about a recent study that looked at brain scans of teens and adults. The teen's brain reacted to minor social slights with the same degree of alarm that an adult would experience hearing about a natural disaster or direct threat to life and limb! There is not one bit of perspective in there yet. And that info helps me be a little more sympathetic, but still... I'm just like "My sister and I never ever overreacted to stuff like this when our brains were young, do you really, really have to go there???" in my mind. Hugs to you. Hopefully you can find a kind person to talk to. So many people are judgmental these days, I know finding a good listener is hard. Look for an introvert! Someone on the edge of the mommy crowd. You'll have to approach them; they won't approach you, but many of them are damn good listeners.

I am for one glad everyone is moving to the cities! I lived in one. Hated every minute of it (well, to be honest, except the few minutes spent in The American Museum of Natural History, but I don't have to live their to visit it). And love that everyone now loves cities. This trend makes more room for me out here alone in the wilderness and perhaps will relieve some of the pressure on wildlife from suburban sprawl. However, I don't believe it is environmentally healthier to live in a city with all the air quality issues. Also access to fresh vegetables is a problem in some urban neighborhoods (food deserts). Probably the health benefits of city living are due to of access to top doctors and hospitals and the positive health support of having many social connections.

I agree with Regentrude. Run at 8 am while she's in class. Some community colleges have tracks or running trails.

Just sit down and write! Use whatever word processing program is on your computer (MS Word, whatever). Also carry a small notebook with you at all times to jot down ideas that come to you as you are out and about or when you are too busy to sit at the computer. Jotting them down keeps you from forgetting them, which happens a lot when you are a busy mom. Get the words on the page, then you can worry about editing and rewriting later. Don't let those things stop you from letting the words flow. National Novel Writing Month NaNoWriMo is November. You could sign up to give yourself motivation. They also have hints and tips on their website. https://nanowrimo.org/

This needs to stop. Taking a video course and being suddenly considered a guardian by the state? You have to be kidding. I am glad this article got out there. People need to keep a close eye on all the elders in their lives. There are sick people out there ready to prey upon them. My faith in humanity, already darn thin, becomes more tattered every day.

Right here is where the NRA preps its members for violence against their fellow citizens. The "they" they mention is pretty clearly liberals. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/06/30/controversial-nra-video/441506001/ It is very easy to look at international statistics and see the difference between gun violence in other nations and ours. The only argument one could make for "if we made assault weapons illegal, criminals would still get them and perform mass killings" is that there is something so profoundly sick in our American culture that we can't expect to be safe from our fellow citizens no matter how many weapons we ban so we shouldn't bother.

Susan Wise Bauer's Grammar Curriculum will be out soon. There are three books. It is instructor driven. https://smile.amazon.com/Grammar-Well-Trained-Mind-Instructor-Rhetoricians/dp/1945841028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1506826993&sr=8-1&keywords=susan+wise+bauer+grammar https://smile.amazon.com/Grammar-Well-Trained-Mind-Workbook-Rhetoricians/dp/1945841044/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1506826993&sr=8-2&keywords=susan+wise+bauer+grammar https://smile.amazon.com/Grammar-Well-Trained-Mind-Workbook-Rhetoricians/dp/1945841060/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1506826993&sr=8-4&keywords=susan+wise+bauer+grammar Warriner's English Grammar and Composition First Course. A classic. Written to the student. You would probably have to have some grammar knowledge to correct as I don't know if teacher editions are available. https://smile.amazon.com/English-Grammar-Composition-First-Course/dp/0153119004/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506827123&sr=1-2&keywords=warriners+english+grammar+and+composition+first+course Michael Clay Thompson Royal Fireworks Press. Includes Magic Lens loops which are problem solving with grammar. (rather analytical) The Magic Lens 1 https://smile.amazon.com/English-Grammar-Composition-First-Course/dp/0153119004/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506827123&sr=1-2&keywords=warriners+english+grammar+and+composition+first+course Rex Barks. Written to the student Challenging diagramming https://smile.amazon.com/Rex-Barks-Diagramming-Sentences-Made/dp/1889439355/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506828238&sr=1-1&keywords=rex+barks

Was behind Stevie Ray Vaughan in line at a rest stop MacDonalds. He and the band had made a pit stop after a performance at the University of Maine. My boyfriend at the time was a HUGE fan and could barely speak, just got all goggle eyed and starstruck. I had no idea who Stevie Ray Vaughan was. In retrospect I should have tried to get his autograph for my boyfriend since he was struck dumb, but I was a really shy teen and didn't think of it. Titus Welliver (Actor: Lost, Bosch) went to my high school several years before I was attended. I ran into him in line at the buffet at an all school reunion, and I noticed his name tag. Had no idea who he was since I don't watch TV, but there was a pretty famous Maine artist named Neil Welliver and I was familiar with him, so I asked him if he was any relation to the famous artist, Neil Welliver. Lol. Neil was his dad. Was dining in my favorite restaurant in Katonah, NY. Meryl Streep was at a table across the room with her family. She lived in nearby Bedford, NY. I wouldn't have noticed her at all if my mother in law hadn't pointed her out. At least I knew who she was! Oh! And Susan Wise Bauer! I met her at a small conference in PA.

I've had Canon Powershots and Panasonic Lumix point and shoot. Both very reliable, fit in the pocket, and take great pictures at the $150 price point. There are several models of each around this price each has slightly different features. You can see what zoom possibilities are offered. Honestly, I often leave my Canon Rebel behind and use the Panasonic Lumix because it is so much easier to carry when I am hiking and it fits in my purse. I miss fewer shots that way. Plus the photo quality is really quite good.

I would buy a lot of the biologically rich land and protect it in perpetuity so I wouldn't have to see it logged and the soil compacted and the mature trees that host so many animals felled and the canopy broken so invasive plants can get a foothold and the herb layer and amphibians in the leaf litter flattened under the skidder treads. There are forests with a lot less diversity in our state from which we can get wood resources. These forests are unbelievably rich in species and should be left alone.

My sister insists it's the negative ions. http://www.webmd.com/balance/features/negative-ions-create-positive-vibes#1 Popham Beach is my go to spot for the stress relief (and negative ions!) but it doesn't really make me feel like a kid.

Walking when the snow is falling slowly with big fluffy flakes. Driving too fast on country roads with the windows down and the music blaring (not that actually I did that as a child...). Pretty much anything (that isn't a chore) that I can relax and give my full attention to without feeling rushed to finish up in order to get to some chore or responsibility. I am halfway sure the reason childhood is so wondrous (or was so wondrous for a few decades, anyway) is that the child had time to actually live in the moment, experience all his or her senses, and not have a head filled with to do lists or upcoming cleaning drudgery, or external expectations.

Very rural here. We have a transfer station (which we call "the dump") open four days a week. For $20 a year we can dump as much household garbage and household recycling. We can also dump household level amounts (not construction amounts) of metal and wood for recycling for free as well as bring brush for chipping. If we have a refrigerator or couch or air conditioner or tires, we have to pay a small dumping fee per item. I love our dump. So cheap! And so much easier than trying to fit everything into the can. Last week I cleaned out the barn and had 16 contractor bags of trash and junk, drove it to the dump, tossed it into the compactor. When we lived in the suburbs we had private garbage service (no public access to the dump) for $39 a month. It would have taken me at least 16 weeks to get all those bags through regular pickup. It's also fun to see people at the dump. One town where I worked, during election season the candidates would "stump at the dump" passing out campaign brochures and shaking hands (icky). I grew up with an old fashioned dump where the garbage stayed on site, buried periodically, I found it fascinating and smelly! At that time people were allowed to pick good stuff from the edges of the trash pile. Also my childhood home had three dumps on the property. Lots of rusting metal and glass to dig through when I was young. Found some lovely 100+ year old bottles.

Apparently the teacher was unaware of West Virginia State Board of Education vs. Barnette. Landmark case. Is it not studied in the school law course teachers have to take? I don't think anyone, even a kid, without strong convictions otherwise would refuse to pledge the flag just for fun or to be a pain, because the instant ingroup/outgroup tribal response is harsh and immediate. It may not be over the top like with this teacher or other people in the news lately, but the outliers in a group are often censured, even if it is just a raised eyebrow. I mindlessly recited the pledge in elementary school (I was pretty sure the words "cucumber god" were in it in Kindergarten) and in middle school. Our private high school did not say the pledge at all. In high school, I heard it begin at the one and only sporting game I ever attended and refused to stand absolutely shocked that a) something so governmental (serious) would be said at a sporting event (entertainment) and b) that everyone robotically followed the leader even though I was 100% sure the friends I was with were only saying it because it was expected and not something they truly believed. I was immediately yelled at by my own friends, booed at by the other team, and pretty sure my team got a technical foul for my behavior. It was an amazing revelation. That because of such a minor, very personal act, everyone turned on me in an instant. It was only when I majored in anthropology that I came to a better understanding of ingroup/outgroup behavior and tribalism, and their actions became understandable in the context of culture and human nature.

You have gotten some good suggestions with The Private Eye and John Muir Laws, but remember that there is no law that nature journaling must occur for it to be nature study. The fine motor skills of many young and elementary school (and even some middle school) children lag behind their curiosity about nature so that making them draw their findings is an exercise in frustration. Great alternatives include: nature photography (you can even upload some to iNaturalist) and nature videoography, participating in citizen science (the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, Monarch Watch, Cornell University's Project Feeder Watch, etc.), nicely displayed collections (anything that won't rot is a good start like dried seed pods or desiccated insects, but remember that a few things are illegal to collect: migratory bird feathers, bird eggs, and bird nests), making a large map of the nature preserve you visit the most and recording your sightings on it, and/or reading living books that expand the child's knowledge of their discoveries. Not sure if I am allowed to mention this (and will remove it if asked): My book on getting started is called Nature Study for The Whole Family, and it is available from Royal Fireworks Press.

Here is another Lands End bath sheet offering that I haven't tried, but it mentions their softness. https://www.landsend.com/products/hydrocotton-bath-towels/id_289912_351

We have Lands End bath sheets. They are soft and absorbent. Their bath sheets are larger than most other manufacturer's bath sheets: 36 inches by 70 inches. https://www.landsend.com/products/supima-bath-towels/id_225485?sku_0=::A7J

I mostly played outside, helped in my neighbor's barn, or went hiking with my parents on the weekends. The only afterschool activity I was every involved in was Brownies. I remember exactly two things about it: one where the troop leader's chained doberman lunged at me and a macrame (it was the 70s) project we did. I made an owl which hung on my grandmother's porch until she died (and I am wondering if the reason I remembered it was because I saw it every year when we visited). I also kept my badge sash and thought the little embroidered patches were really pretty, yet have no memory of the activities we did to earn them. In contrast to this forgettable experience, remember tons of hikes, playing with the neighbor's ducks, chickens, goats, horses and donkeys, and a lot of time spent in the wood and fields. When I was in high school, my parents rented me a horse at the school stable and I took care of him and took riding lessons there. That was definitely a worthwhile experience that made me a better person. My sister also had riding lessons in high school as well as swim lessons at the Y on the weekends. Neither of us regret our mostly unscheduled childhoods.

Wild Season Allan W. Eckert (narrative on the food chain) Summer World by Bernd Heinrich (ecology, seasonal survival strategies) Winter World by Bernd Heinrich (ecology, seasonal survival strategies) Bumblebee Economics by Bernd Heinrich (metabolism) Trees in My Forest by Bernd Heinrich The Frog Book by Mary K. Dickerson (vintage) Moths and Butterflies by Mary K. Dickerson (vintage) Adventures in Nature by Edwin Way Teale (mostly insects) According to Season by Mrs. William Starr Dana (wildflowers, vintage) Life in the Soil by James B. Nardi Nature Discoveries with a Hand Lens by Richard Headstrom (vintage) Adventures with Freshwater Animals by Richard Headstrom Discovering Amphibians by John Himmelman Discovering Moths by John Himmelman The Living Year by Richard Headstrom Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy (plants and insects) Swampwalker’s Journal by David M. Carroll The Year of the Turtle by David M. Carroll Following the Water by David M. Carroll The Edge of the Sea Rachel Carson Noah’s Garden by Sara Stein (native plants) Planting Noah’s Garden by Sara Stein (native plants) Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer (moss) Broadsides from Other Orders by Sue Hubbell (insect) Waiting for Aphrodite by Sue Hubbell (invertebrate sea life) Chasing Monarchs Robert Michael Pyle The Thunder Tree Robert Michael Pyle (butterflies and childhood) Walking the High Ridge Robert Michael Pyle (butterflies) Suburban Safari by Hannah Holmes The Life of an Oak by Glenn Keator Near Horizons Edwin Way Teale (insects) Life Cycles of Butterflies by Burris and Richards (metamorphosis) Half Earth E. O. Wilson (land conservation to protect species) Your Inner Fish (evolutionary biology) Neil Shubin * A Guide to Night Sounds CD by Lang Elliot (really fun)

I was done homeschooling three years ago, but stayed on the boards. My inner librarian likes to come out and recommend nature study books when those threads come up on the curriculum boards! I have also learned so much personally and spent so very much money on things recommended by boardies. I am pleased to report that the suggestions I purchased were almost always top notch. However, due to some severe insomnia issues among other things, I am back homeschooling one child for his senior year and probably one post grad year. So I have my legitimacy back for two years anyway. I don't plan to leave though. What if someone needs vintage living books about insects? Who will be there for them?