I'm my dad's caretaker. He's 80 years old and he still has more energy and spunk than I have ever had. I love him dearly and I wouldn't change anything about him, but I don't want my dds to have to take care of me when I'm old. This year I made sure that I'm covered by long term care insurance. Put me in a clean, safe retirement center, and get on with your lives, girls! :)

Second year here. Dd (8th grade) has decided she wants to homeschool through high school (yay!), so I suppose we'll be doing this for another four years.

I second the long walks (well, long for someone very, very pregnant). A slow one-mile walk with hubby worked both times for me.

I drag myself to the gym three times a week. We use the gym for dd's weight training and cardiovascular workouts, so I tag along and feel really out of place exercising with the hard-core gym goers.

Our favorite vegetarian Indian meal is mattar (sometimes spelled mutter) paneer-- peas in a curry-like sauce with really juicy cubes of fresh Indian cheese. Yummy. We also love the poofy "puri" or "poori" bread. When the batter is deep-fried, it produces a lovely hollow ball of delicious bread, but you'd have to order it in a restaurant, I think.

We're planning a combination of C and D. A few homeschooled classes, several online through Scholars Online, PAHomeschoolers, and Keystone. CC classes for Spanish and science, once she's 16yo.

Dd13 has convinced me that the Rolling Stones are the only band worth listening to. So, believe it or not, I only have Stones songs on my iPod. I do listen to a lot of newsy podcasts, though. Obviously, I need to branch out more. ;)

Both my dds (13 and 20 yo) see a female pediatrician. They both still see a pediatric dentist, too. Older dd hasn't expressed any interest in changing. When she does, though, we'll move her to our docs.

Family read aloud: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe-- harrowing, but dd13 seems to enjoy it. Me, myself, and I: Baudolino by Umberto Eco-- a delightful travelogue/quest in the medieval mode Going it Alone by Michael Innes-- a gentle British mystery (no murder yet, but plenty of old fashioned hi-jinks) Henry V by Christopher Allmand-- awfully dry. I might not get all the way through this one...

We find that tripadvisor.com is an indispensible resource when trying to plan trips domestically or abroad. I use it primarily to read the traveler reviews of hotels. In fact, I never book a hotel anywhere any more without first reading the tripadvisor reviews. There are also many helpful and experienced travelers populating the tripadvisor forums. And, no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way. Usually, we book only our flights and hotels through a local travel agent (we've worked with the same agent for a couple of decades so he knows what our expectations are for an enjoyable trip and he's also good at scrounging around for the best rates). But first I do a lot of research on the internet and raid our local library for travel guides. The little Berlitz language guides are useful for common phrases when you don't want to devote the time to learn the language of the country you'll be visiting.

Dd's currently fascinated with US politics and has been watching all the debates and placing bets on the results of the primaries with other family members. I'm hoping that her enthusiasm for the subject will result in success with the PAH course. I'm just a little scared by the "AP" label, so it's good to hear that I'm not the only mom in the world who throws her younger kid in the deep end. Thank you for your always wonderful advice!

Sandra, thanks for the response. Yes, I agree: this would be the perfect year to take this course. Dd's a little disappointed that she missed it this year, but I thought the pace of the course might be too fast and the material too dense. After all, it's an AP course, no? Is your son planning to take the AP exam this year?

Gwen, my dd is interested in taking the PAhomeschoolers US Govt course next year. How rigorous is this course? Do you think a bright, motivated 14yo could handle it?

We've been homeschooling our 13 year old dd for the past two years. Our older daughter is a sophomore at one of the Virginia universities. I am deeply grateful to the brilliant and hardworking parents on this board who led me to such treasures as Scholars Online, Lukeion, Accelerated Grammar, Jacobs math, CyberEd Science, and many others. Our homeschool experience would be much poorer without these resources. I rarely feel that I have the knowledge to help others on the High School board at this point, but I'm hoping to contribute more in the future (assuming I eventually figure out how to navigate this new format). :( Begonia (whose real name is Begona-- it's a Basque name, don't ask!)

Thank you! Great tip!

I love to hear homeschool success stories. You've obviously done a great job homeschooling your dd. She's in an enviable position. I hope she gets many more acceptances.

My 13 year old is finishing Stanley Lombardo's translation of The Odyssey. It's not my favorite translation (it brings the text down to ordinary speech), but she seems to be enjoying it. Begonia in VA