Whew. I'm back :) I should be able to check the thread daily now - don't feel like you have to quote me for me to notice your comments. One of my children was born on Midwinter Day / Winter Solstice - just like Will! So I was in the midst of a birthday celebration this week as well as the regular holiday madness. Ever since he was born, the winter solstice has been special to me. :001_wub: It flat-out amazes me that I am reading this book for the first time. But I really, truly do believe that the right book finds me at the right time. In a nutshell, I love the book. I am still on Chapter 9: The Coming of the The Cold, which is marked as the beginning of Part Three in my copy. Just by chance, I am reading another book that has an 11-year old boy as a narrator (Kunsten at grøde i kor). I would describe the Danish book as a tragicomedy. And IIRC Harry Potter was 11 at the beginning of the series. All of which has me thinking about what it means to be an 11 year old boy. Will does strike me as an "old soul," which is my way of saying that I think Susan Cooper did a good job writing his character.

mumto2, if you are around...I have read Parts 1 and 2 of The Dark is Rising, but the next two days are incredibly busy for me. It will probably be Friday before I can string a coherent sentence together about the book! Are you listening to it?

:001_wub: :thumbup1: Lovely!!

I’ll try to put some links up tomorrow. I am going out tonight wearing my new jeans and one of the tops. Yay!!

I finally got my first box on Thursday. I kept everything!! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: I would have considered some of the individual pieces overpriced, but with the 25% discount it seemed reasonable. My stylist is my friend's daughter, but she has only seen me twice in the last ten years (we live on opposite coasts) so I don't think that gave her a huge advantage. She listened carefully to all of my input, and I was more than satisfied. I got one pair of jeans and four tops. I asked for a fit that would highlight my legs (thin) and hide my middle (poochy). I got skinny jeans and tops with boxy bottoms. Perfect!

Congrats on the Bingo, mumto2!!!!!!

I would pick one of the languages that gives you access to a native speaker over having a study partner. To further narrow it down, I would pick the one whose culture enticed me the most.

Let’s plan to start talking about The Dark Is Rising on the 20th, ok? I have not really looked at the Twitter schedule yet, but will try to do that tonight.

So very sorry. Many hugs to you and your family.

Thank you!!!!!!

Quoting you again to increase odds that you will see my post :) I have a copy of the book. When do you want to start? I will probably start reading it before the weekend. Do we want to start discussion on the 20th to keep with the Twitter schedule? With no spoilers until we are both (and anyone else interested) done?

Yes, let’s plan to discuss The Dark is Rising! I should have my library copy within a day or two. It is in transit from another library. Looking forward to perusing your Europe shelf, too.

Hooray!!!! So happy for you!!!!!!!

Thank you! I am going to do this. Yay!

I am going to participate in the Twitter readalong of The Dark Is Rising. I’ve been wanting to read this for a long time, and then end up forgetting. Supposedly, it will be ok to start with this one, even though it is the 2nd in the series. I hope so! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/664586-the-dark-is-rising-midwinter-eve-read-along/?do=findComment&comment=7912584

Sending warm, loving thoughts to you and your whole family. I am so sorry.

I love our subscription to Great Courses Plus. I hope I can keep it in the budget after DS finishes homeschooling in 1.5 years. There are so many courses I would like to watch! I like history, but I read history so darn slowly that I learn most of my history through a video format like the Great Courses or documentaries. I have been working my way through the eight ghost stories that I mentioned last week. I have read 6/8 and liked all of them. None of them are horror stories, and none of them have a Christmas theme. They are just solid, old-fashioned ghost stories that could just as well be read in Spooky October. Last year, I read most of A Very Russian Christmas: The Greatest Russian Holiday Stories of All Time, and I want to finish that up. For Francophiles, A Very French Christmas came out this year.

I haven't read all the responses. Our state considers my son a homeschooler. We do use an accredited umbrella school, and they will issue a transcript. I choose all of the curriculum. My plan is to ask each college that he applies to whether they want him to apply as a homeschooler or as a private school student. Labels don't matter to me as long as we are always both legal and fully transparent.

I love your Yule-book-flood idea. I’m stealing it :) I declared myself DONE with Christmas shopping yesterday, though. Hmm... I could save the idea for next year or maybe I will just take a quick trip to the used bookstore and see how that goes.

I absolutely think that personal style is at play here! I can vividly recall the parties and dinners that I have organized to celebrate graduations, but I can’t even remember if I gave my son a gift when he finished his BA - and that was just six months ago. Other people have gifts as a love language. My DH is like that - he gets a kick out of carefully selecting gifts. I have another kid who will probably stop school after his AAS. I think he would rightfully be disappointed if I didn’t put together a celebration for him, because that is what is normal to expect from ME. It would seem like a snub of the AAS.

I bought stocking candy over Thanksgiving weekend. But I ate some! Today I replaced it. This time, I just bought myself some of my own candy lol.

I find the discussion of the nuances of associates degree interesting, but I certainly would not disect someone’s associate degree before I decided whether or not to buy the degree recipient a gift. I think that when someone I love accomplishes something that is important to them, it is worthy of my notice. Not always with a gift, but that is just me. Like I said above, I’m more inclined toward a celebration dinner or something like that.

Heck yeah. I’m a more of a celebration-dinner/party type of person rather than a big-gift person, though.

There are not many choices my son, who has aged out of our insurance. No subsidy (full time student), a state without medicaid expansion, and a deductible of around $7500. That or short-term, non-ACA compliant insurance.

Oh, Hornblower I am so sorry. Many hugs. You are among friends here, and several of us are breast cancer survivors. My diagnosis was nearly 12 years ago. While I don’t take continued good health as a given, my hair grew back and my energy fully returned. After treatment, I got my life back. I don’t think chemo impacted my teeth at all, so that is not a universal side effect.