I'm pretty patient with technology, but this as pushed me to my very limit. I didn't buy the beta for the household stuff. I wanted a homeschool planner, and nothing works. I don't care about how pretty it is, or the different colors/themes. Just make it go! :glare:

I've had one for a couple of years and I just can't get it to fit the way we school. I already have a supply caddy (the Recollections Desktop Carousel) that spins and holds most of our school supplies, and has a small footprint. The DA it just too big for our table, we don't use many worksheets, and lots of our stuff is stored in binders. (BTW, the carousel is deeper than it looks in the pic. That sucker holds a TON of supplies, plus has three working drawers that can hold lots of small things.) However, I did recently buy a Thirty-One Gifts Organizing Utility Tote because of THIS blog post. It seemed like it will give me much of the same organizing ability as the DA, but much smaller and more portable. And if it doesn't work out I can easily use the bag for something else....while my DA sits in my garage gathering dust. Hope this help!

We're a popcorn pack too. I can't remember how much we pay in fees each year, but all the popcorn money goes back to the pack to pay for all the belt loops, patches, kits for the races (pinecare, space, regatta) and they try to buy new books and neck slides and kerchiefs for each child as they move up. My only beef is that nobody likes the popcorn enough to be a repeat buyer. Even DH and I really don't like the popcorn very much. :tongue_smilie: Most of our the sales my DS makes is from people donating to send popcorn to the military. Now, if they would sell chocolate, I would probably eat enough to fund a whole year by myself. :D

My DD's name is Chelsea. One Christmas in church, when she was about 6, we were singing the hymn "Angles We Have Heard on High." She turned to me and said "Mommy, why are they saying it's my day?" At first I didn't understand until I realized that she thought the refrain "Gloria, in excelsis Deo" actually said "Gloria, it is Chelsea's day-o!" It's been my favorite Christmas song ever since. :001_wub:

The Court Jester The Love Bug (original) Robin Hood with Errol Flinn To Catch a Thief with Carry Grant Arsenic and Old Lace with Carry Grant

Yep! She is the voice of the computer in all the Trek shows if I remember correctly. I grew up with the original ST, and had a crush on Kirk. (Ewww!) :tongue_smilie: TNG is okay. Never liked DS9. But I love Voyager and Capt. Janeway is my most favorite captain of all. All the ST movies have been about as awful as possible, except for this last one. It pretty much rocked, and I **loved** that it had the original Spock! As cheesy as the original show was, I still love Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Bones and Scotty most of all. :001_wub: Speaking of cheesy, I can't believe no one has post a link to this yet: . "We come in peace. Shoot to kill. Shoot to kill. Shoot to kill." :smilielol5:

There is an adult in my family who's bio-father most likely has no idea she was ever conceived. Thank you to each of you who would be willing to establish a relationship with such a child. Being an "unknown child" comes with it's own unique set of complications and issues.

I'm not so much worried about the "fairness of paying taxes" but would a UHC plan even be fiscally possible in our current system where 1/2 of our citizens don't even pay taxes. :confused: There's a huge possibility that the gov. would be spending at least twice as much as they were bringing in. Add that to our trillion dollar debt, and sending $$$$ overseas just to borrow it again (with interest!) from foreign countries, and you're looking at the potential for a total economic collapse. I am not at all against having a UHC. However, some of the scariest words ever heard are "I'm with the government, and I'm here to help." :tongue_smilie: Insurance Companies, on the other hand, are not in the insurance business for altruistic reasons. They (and their investors) want money....lots and lots of money. They are big reason why we are in this mess. There are simply no easy answers.

I'm curious about the OP's original question too. For whatever reason, approx. 50% of Americans each year are not paying income taxes. How would it be possible to cover everyone with UHC (assuming it was supported via current tax structures) if only half the population is contributing? Additionally, do countries with UHC have everyone pay into their system no matter what their income? Is it a flat % rate based on income or some other calculation?

There was another girl in my old town with my same name, first and last. Apparently she REALLY liked to hang out at the clubs and bars, but I guess was picky about her phone number because it was unlisted. MY number, however, was not unlisted and I got lots of calls meant for her. This did not make DH (not married yet) happy, and I think for a long time he thought I really was bar hopping. :D

I'm using her World Geography curriculum, and there is a lot I'm not printing out. My old printer used to make fantastic color prints on "draft" and hardly ever used any ink. My new printer's draft quality is so light it's unusable...which means I have to be a lot more selective about what I print, b&w and color. :thumbdown: I'm printing out the things I know make the most sense for my DS8. For example, each week he's suppose to write a "postcard" about what he learned, and color it in. HA! My DS would rather die than color or write. Since my focus is geography rather than writing, I don't even bother to print it out. OTOH, there is a great free animals of the word go-along that I would love to print out, but don't because it's several pages of color photos and I'd quickly use up all my ink. Just like any curriculum, adapt it to work for YOU. Don't adapt your school to work for IT. :001_smile:

I'm need to organize all the many print outs and bits of information I've collected over the years in a way that DS8 could easily use them. I'm trying to decide if I should make a mini-office made from file folders that stands up on the table. Or should I put them in a binder by subject? Mini Office Pros: He can quickly see information at a glance without sticking posters all over the wall. (Tiny house, no schoolroom. School at the table.) Cons: I can see it becoming clutter and a distraction. Reference Binder Pros: Most of my printouts finally in one home, instead of scattered to the winds. Portable and durable. Cons: I'm afraid it might be a case of "out of site, out of mind." A third option I just suddenly thought of would be a hybrid of the two. Have the binder, and a portable "wall" of sorts. Using a large piece of poster board and page protectors, display information and rotate as needed. Harder to put away/store than a binder or folders though. Thoughts?

Kristine!!! :hurray: How fun to run into another SHS "old timer!" I am friends with several on FB, but it's not the same. I miss the old group, but things change and people move on. I've been enjoying the WTM boards because it reminds me a lot of the old SHS days. :001_wub:

Depending on what kind of paper it is determines how I store it. Printer paper sits on my computer desk. It also doubles as drawing paper sometimes so I hide from DS so he doesn't decide he has a whole ream of drawing paper. :D White paper that has only been drawn/printed on one side goes in a set of sterilite drawers. The other drawers hold cheapy construction paper, old scrapbook papers I don't mind the kids using for crafts, and a leftover ream of neon printer paper I bought ages ago for lap/notebooking. DS and his friends have free reign of the supplies in these drawers as long as they clean up their mess. My nicer scrapbook type cardstock is stored in a magazine holder on my bookshelf. DS and his friends know they have to ask before using it. It's used mostly for school projects I want to last a long time. HTH!

We moved from KY to TX twelve years ago. Our library system in KY was fantastic, but I never appreciated it until we moved here. The one in our little town is so...so...infuriating that DH practically begs me not to go there because I come out with a totally cr@ppy attitude. :tongue_smilie: They shelves their books really weird. They mix all their junior non-fiction in with all the adult books. Which means there is NO WAY I will let DS ever look up books by himself because A) there are weirdos that hang out at the library. Especially if they know kids might be by themselves in the tall stacks. and B) there are too many "adult" books mixed in with the kids books. I really don't need DS exposed to graphic adult novels while looking for Garfield books. :eek: The librarians at both branches are unfriendly, and their online computer system is messed up. You can only put a book on hold if it's already checked out. If it is available you can't put a hold on it online. You have to either call them up, or zip over and hope it's still on the shelf by the time you get there. Thankfully, the city just south of us has an AMAZING library with a much better selection, wonderfully friendly and helpful librarians, keep all their kids books in a section AWAY from the adult books, and their online catalog lets you request books no matter the status. I :001_wub: them to pieces.

Yeah, I did. I was sort of stunned and my "be polite to your elders" switch flipped on. So I took it around back and threw it in the Herbie. One the bright side, my DH declared me the winner of tonight's round of "Best Worst Weirdest." :laugh:

I was outside in the front yard when a lady walked by with a little dog, which looked like it was wearing shorts. She stopped in front of me, looked down and said "Oh my goodness! I forgot to take your billy(?) band off!" She then proceeded to remove the band, took out the inside part that looked suspiciously like a menstrual pad, rolled it up and handed it to me. "Can you be a dear and throw this in your trash can?" she asked. Um..... :blink: :blink: :ack2:

Kits? The only time our legos are in kits are when they are new in the box. :lol: I make DS keep the minifigs and accessories in one box, but everything else is a jumble. I'd throw everything in a couple of rubbermaid/sterilite boxes and call it good.

:lurk5:

Grrrrrreat. DS has been chewing on these pencils all spring. :svengo: :banghead:

Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic! :tongue_smilie:

:bigear:

Another, cheaper option would be to get an over the bed, hospital type table. I have one for my laptop, because I can't type on my lap but still wanted to be mobile. I can wheel it around the house, raise up enough to use the computer in bed, or raise it waaaay high to be a "standing" desk. I think it cost me about $50, and I ordered it through Amazon. HTH!

:lurk5:

Hmmm....I just bought a bunch of their binders today, and NOW find out about the coupon and recycle program. Do you think they'll let me return them and buy them back at the discount? It would save me $10 with just the recycle credit, and another $5 with the other coupon.