I think they're looking for an email and URL that indicate a school, such as .edu. Obviously, they're not willing to think outside of the box.

I'm with Diana. My family thought we were nuts...until DD was accepted into every college to which she applied, got a great scholarship and went to a private university at no cost (including books). It was such a lovely thing to be able to tell my family! Then DS got into a great private school (pharmacy) and got a scholarship there, too. (Only 2% of the pharmacy students are offered scholarships.) Yes, I ruined their lives...NOT!

I have a beautiful diamond that dh bought at an estate sale and had re-set for me. It's a marquis cut, just over one carat, and the band has four small diamonds on each side. The actual wedding band is a very slim gold ring. I don't wear much jewelry but I do enjoy my wedding set. I bought dh a nice band with small diamonds that he rarely wears. DH is a machinist and it's too dangerous to wear a ring. So, on Sunday when he puts it on, I joke that it's nice to be married today. :-)

Close...87, 91, 2000. Just thinking about 3 **decades** makes me feel ancient!

I bought one thinking I would use it...but I haven't.

A while back our local Whole Foods gave their "extra" stuff to a local church to distribute...we got all sorts of wonderful gluten free stuff as well as organic milk and yogurt. Sadly, it was so popular that the church had to restrict the giveaway to just those of a particular county (and unfortunately I live one county over).

NO! I don't think any one curriculum has it all, and I enjoy picking and choosing those things that I think will be best for my dc. Older two have graduated from hs, gone to college and excelled. I'd be bored stiff with all Abeka or Bob Jones or (insert curriculum here).

I've been really disappointed as well. Rings is my favorite men's gymnastics event...and we only glimpsed it in the background on NBC. Really? And all the jumping around from sport to sport. If you're going to show gymnastics, show gymnastics...etc. It's truly disappointing. NBC may have lots of hours of programming, but they're not necessarily GOOD hours.

My dd went to the camp in TN and has taught Understanding the Times several times to hs groups. I HIGHLY recommend their materials! I don't know that Summit would necessarily help a kid find direction vocationally, if that's what you're looking for. You can look at their website http://www.summit.org/ for more information.

I was seriously underwhelmed. It had a few moments, but overall I thought it was bizarre and disjointed. It will take a lot to come up to the level of craftmanship that we saw in Beijing. This wasn't even remotely close. The symbolism of the cauldron is awesome and a great idea. The "queen" jumping out of the helicoptor was great. Other than that...weird, just weird.

Try a long wash in HOT water and use a small amount of detergent and some vinegar. Run an extra rinse cycle. If you have a machine with a sanitize cycle, that usually does the trick. (I always use vinegar in my towel loads. It helps keep them soft and neutralizes odors.)

There are several of us here. I had #3 at home on Thanksgiving Day 2000. It was a difficult but wonderful birth! (DS was turned sunny-side up, and it was VERY hard to push him out.) I baked pumpkin pies while I was in labor, and my dd and dh made Thanksgiving dinner for me after ds was born.

Is it one of the eligible books? Most books I'd like to borrow aren't in their lending category.

My dh is gf, and I wouldn't be without a bread machine. He is not uber sensitive and so I am able to make both gf and reg bread in my machine. If not, I'd buy two. It's wonderful to dump everything in the machine, turn it on and come back in a bit to wonderful, fresh bread. They're expensive, but I recommend the Zojirushi.

My graduates have been accepted at every school to which they applied. (Our ambitions did not include Ivy League, but they did apply to both private and state schools.) DD chose a local, small, private university--University of Indianapolis. With scholarships and financial aid grants, she attended school with no out-of-pocket expense. DS chose Butler University, also a small, local, private university. He didn't do as well with scholarships, but he did get one of the few pharmacy scholarships that Butler offers. He does have to borrow some each year, unfortunately. I know a lot of people worry about their hs'd kids getting into college. It's been our experience that if you prepare well and get good SAT/ACT scores, it's not a problem. We followed a course outline equivalent to our state's AP diploma. (Actually, we exceeded those requirements.) I had no problems with transcripts or questions about hsing. Just acceptance letters, followed by scholarship offers!

We just went to Chicago and had a marvelous time. You might want to check out the Chicago City Card. For $84 you get admission to 5 attractions. (with all the bells and whistles) We saw the Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium and the Willis Tower. (better known as the Sears Tower!) We just didn't have time to get in the 5th attraction or we would have gone to Adler. Even with a reciprocal membership, it was cheaper to purchase the card. Otherwise you have to pay for all the special exhibits....of course, the ones that we were very interested in. Fascinating exhibit on Genghis Khan at the Field, wonderful exhibit on Jellies at the aquarium and Mythbusters at MOSI. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! We drove and parked. Yikes! Parking is very expensive (and wasn't in my budget). I'll know better next time. It just wasn't possible to use the public transit. (We had an electric scooter/chair with us.) There's so much to see that I think we'll do it again next summer!

I'm the one with a chair in our house. I don't care if others sit in it, but they know that it's "mine" and to move when I want it. It's the only recliner in the house, and I have issues with swelling if I don't put my feet up.

Have you applied for aid? Ten years ago my dh had to have heart by-pass surgery unexpectedly...and we were uninsured and self-employed. We were able to get temporary Medicaid (3 months or so) because of the high cost and our low income. It covered everything. I hated to do it, but there was absolutely no way we would EVER have been able to pay the bills. It's hard to ask, and it feels like they ask for SO much information. It's a humbling experience. BUT it was worth it not to have that hanging over our heads the rest of our lives.

Cin, I'm sort of in the same boat. I don't like most fruits and only a short list of veggies. (I do like salad, though...in limited quantities!) I'm trying to limit carbs and up fruits. I bought a Vitamix and make fruit smoothies with things I wouldn't normally eat (mostly because of texture rather than flavor). I've found that a spoon of raw honey in with the fruit gives me the sweetness that I'm craving. I also throw in protein powder and greek yougurt, a bit of spinach and a carrot or two. Small steps! Otherwise, I'm eating meat and cheese, some salads, carrots and other "OK" veggies. My weight loss has been slow, but I have lost 25 lbs...including 1 on my 5-day vacation to Chicago. (I've NEVER lost weight on vacation!) I've been working at it, on my terms, since March. I know I'm not cut out to do anything drastic. I've made small changes and it's working for me, slowly but surely.

I could have written the original post some years ago. My youngest ds was just like that. I used to joke that my dh forgot to cut the cord. I couldn't leave the room without ds falling apart. There was no sleeping for him unless I was beside him. Most of the time he had my shirt in his hand. We had a LOT of long days! I had lots of well-meaning people tell me that I needed to do this or that, blah, blah, blah. I did what I thought he *needed.* I let him sleep with me, and I stayed with him--every day, all day. And eventually, the light switch flipped and he became a happy, independent kid. (He was around 6.) Follow your instincts!

I homeschooled my oldest two through high school, and as the principal of our school, issued diplomas for them. (Indiana considers homeschools equivalent to private schools.) They took the SAT, applied to private and state colleges, got acceptances and scholarships at all of those.... I will homeschool my youngest all the way through as well. I am adamantly opposed to PS for my children. (JMHO)

I homeschooled my oldest two through high school, and as the principal of our school, issued diplomas for them. (Indiana considers homeschools equivalent to private schools.) They took the SAT, applied to private and state colleges, got acceptances and scholarships at all of those.... I will homeschool my youngest all the way through as well. I am adamantly opposed to PS for my children. (JMHO)

I'd be thrilled! Right now in Indy, most station are $3.69...but I passed two on the way home that were $3.49. Gas prices are just crazy!

I cut the yeast in my recipes by a half teaspoon. Otherwise my bread rises too much. I've never had it overflow the pan, though. Adjust your yeast amount and I think you'll be happy. Do clean your machine as the pp suggested.

I don't think they let Tut's mummy leave Egypt any more.... I saw the exhibit in Indianapolis two years ago. I was privileged to attend an educator's Open House and spend time really looking at things (without the distraction of kids!). I also attended an educator's workshop and again got to tour the exhibit. Bonus!!!! Neither of those events cost me anything! The cool thing was that Lilly sponsored 150,000 school kids for the exhibit. I was able to score enough tickets for my hs group and many other hs'ers in the community. So, we were able to go at no cost for the exhibit. I was enthralled at the jewelry that was on display. The intricacy of the pieces was astonishing to me, given the kind of tooling they had to work with. Amazing!!! I don't remember making any big souvenir purchases, and I didn't do much to prepare my ds other than read a book or two. It is WELL worth the time and $$ (even though I didn't pay for it!). I would most certainly go again if I had the opportunity.