So my post posted halfway through and then like, reposted.... so.... sorry about that. :lol:

I have still never read The Lord of the Rings. I tried to start on The Hobbit once, maybe 10ish years ago, but couldn't do it. I couldn't make it past all the songs lol. So I never picked up LOTR - DH, however, has read all of them, and those (along with the Harry Potter series lol) are the only two things I've ever seen him read. I'm the reader, but he made it through that set of books I couldn't lol. Link has read them all, as well. I didn't read Narnia until I was in high school, but I don't remember them well from then. But I HAD seen the old BBC The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and honestly I completely loved it as a kid. :lol: I think I even knew it was sort of awful but at the same time I watched it so. many. times. I reread them as an adult and enjoyed them much more. As for right now, I finished The Secret Keeper today. It was a really good read! I was hoping the ending 'twist' would be what it ended up being. :D I found myself thinking of that somewhere around halfway through? And then the more the book went on, the more I really found myself hoping that was the case. I've never read anything else by her but apparently she's pretty formulaic in her writing? If that's the case, I can't say I loved it enough to want to pick up other titles she's written. But either way, this particular book was a fun read. :) I picked up The Ghost Bride at the library this week hoping I would be able to count it as my Silk Road book, then realized when I began reading that this book is not in China. :lol: But the characters are of Chinese descent, so...??? Ha! I may cheat and count it anyway... :leaving: :lol:

I seriously LOVED Nancy Drew when I was in about 5th grade. Before that I was really into The Baby Sitters Club lol... and then in middle school I read all sorts of other stuff. Never read any Bobbsey Twins (though I think I've heard of it?) or much of anything that's 'good' from a literary standpoint lol. (ETA to clarify I'm not saying the Bobbsey Twins are good from a literary standpoint. I'm counting them as two totally separate things lol!) Never read a lot of what I give my kids to read til I was reading them a few years ago and was like THESE ARE SO GOOD. Black Beauty, The Secret Garden, others I can't think of atm. I was reading V.C. Andrews for awhile, then I got into all the Frank Peretti books. I was all over the place lol.... :D :lol:

I know that in some stores, they are not allowed to come out and ask if it is a service dog. I'm not sure why, but that's what it is, at least in some stores that I know of - not sure if it's a rule across the board or not. I did not know this! I thought they were allowed everywhere, just like service dogs. That was the only reason I could think of for the above to be at least semi reasonable lol... I did not notice this trend until recently, after my SIL mentioned it. She was in the produce section, next to the bakery, and this girl had a big dog who was shedding a TON. She was talking to some people and literally mussing his fur going 'SEE? Look at how much he's SHEDDING! Ugh!' ummmmmmm as you are doing that the hair is flying EVERYWHERE. IN THE PRODUCE AND BAKERY SECTIONS. Ew. Personally, I've seen very few, but I know it happens around here. I've never seen one in Lowes - WalMart and Tractor Supply, yes. Not Food Lion. The only one out of those that I think isn't a big deal is Tractor Supply lol. And most of the time that's not people just bringing them in regularly, but they came to the mobile vet out front and then go in to pick something up. I'd do that, too, probably, if I needed something and was there with the dog, rather than bring her home and then drive back out.

I finished up Men Without Women by Murakami in the wee hours of the morning. Most of the time the short stories left me appeased with a succinct ending, but there were 2-3 in there that I wanted there to be more pages of! :P I *think* this might be my first time reading anything Haruki Murakami, but I may be wrong. 1Q84 always looks familiar to me, not the book necessarily, but the title. Idk if it's because I've read it, started it, or just have had it on my 'to read' list for so long I am used to seeing it there. :lol: Tonight I picked up the next two in my pile - The Artist's Way and The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton. I'm really looking forward to diving into TAW, though it's a library book and I'm really feeling that I want to do it all the way she lays it out by weeks in there. So I have to figure out what to do about that. :lol: I'm considering doing every other week instead of every week, and then I can check it out every other week lol... I'm pretty sure they have a rule that I can't renew it more than twice. Idk, we shall see. The Secret Keeper looks promising and like good story. I think I actually put it on my list a couple years ago when I attempted BaW. Sometimes in the evenings I only read for a little while and then move onto something else, but tonight the story had me wanting to just keep reading, so that's a good sign!

Let's see... this week... gosh... what have we read this week? Ok... Me: Never Let Me Go - good. better the longer you read it. Revolution is Not a Dinner Party - so good, especially considering I picked it up out of the 'children's section' of the library on a whim! :lol: Link (13): A Man for All Seasons Pygmalion Sherlock Holmes (a collection - he took for.ev.er. to read this because he found them so boring! lol) Astro (12): the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Pink (8.5): Henry and Ribsy Hans Brinker The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me and 2 Kingdom Hearts graphic novels that I can't remember the name of Link had a fever for 4 days last week, but nothing else lol... so I kept forgetting he was sick. :lol: Luckily we always realized it before we did something dumb... :D .... like go visit MIL in the hospital or invite FIL over for dinner! She went back in almost a week ago with afib, and then the med for the afib cancelled out her chemo drug, so her WBC count skyrocketed again the end of the week... etc, etc. She's still there, but DH said she sounded better today. Friday he said she sounded really bad. :/ Now they are going to do a sleep study? Because apparently sleep problems can cause afib? Idk... Thankfully, my back is feeling a lot better, comparatively. My next chiropractor appointment is tomorrow, and it still hurts when I stand in one place or walk around for very long, but at least now it's not bothering me just sitting down any more. It didn't stop me from FINALLY getting to the art museum to see the Terra Cotta Army exhibit. Not that it's going anywhere anytime soon (it's there til March lol), but I'd been wanting to go since it first came. On a random note, my dreams have been slightly unpleasant as of late. I always have wild and crazy dreams and can remember them every day, with rare exceptions. But two nights ago I had a sad dream and last night a stressful/scary one, which is unusual. Usually they are just... bizarre. :lol: Ah, also, I've kind of fallen off the wagon with Chrysanthemum, though I still want to try. :lol: So I may need to go find a book with one on the cover! :D

The only time I've heard of that promotion is from Darn Good Yarn, for their skirts. (all online)

Oh yes, I understand that. I just know that there should be options out there that would cost me less than $700 a year. :) I'm going through and taking notes now. Thanks for all the suggestions so far!! eta: What is WHA?

I finished Revolution is Not a Dinner Party and honestly, it was excellent. :lol: I'm surprised a bit that I enjoyed it as much as I did - if enjoyed can be the right word - more like I was caught up in it. But that is a good thing with books!

From what I can tell everything is plastic, except cookware and one random thermos type thing. If it's anything else, it isn't obviously so. That's what I figured.

Seems obvious, right? :lol: But seriously, my SIL is having a party tonight and I'm 100% NOT interested, unless by some chance they sell storage made of something other than plastic. I'm assuming they don't sell glass or stainless steel, but apparently it's such an obvious question that I can't find an answer to it anywhere on line. On the off chance they do, I just wanted to make sure. TIA!

Is there a teacher who grades the work or do you grade it?

I'd like to do WTMA but trying to swing it financially... I'm not so sure. So I'm looking into other options. I'd really like for it to be an online class. Two that I'm considering at the moment are BraveWriter and Write At Home. But I'm open to more suggestions, for sure! TIA!

Let's see, I finished Never Let Me Go and really enjoyed it. At the library this week I picked up Men Without Women by Murakami and I started it last night. I'm behind on my world travels! :lol: jk I also picked a book up for myself out of the children's section lol... Pink (8.5) is still a little overwhelmed trying to pick books out of all the chapter books, so I go through a shelf each time and help her pick some. Basically I just pull some out I think she might like and hand them to her to decide on. Anyway, I was looking through and saw Revolution is not a Dinner Party (at least I think that's what it was called....) and it just caught my attention for some reason. So I guess I'll read that sometime this week, too. :D

Gotcha! I never even checked on what the geometry recommendation was, as far as the book goes. Thank you so much! I was just trying to find it as I was making a list and I suddenly COULD. NOT. FIND. IT. ANYWHERE! :lol:

So I'm thinking about signing Link (13) up for the Study Skills for the Logic Stage class from WTMA. However... funds are a little tight. I can pay for it if we pay monthly, but then I was thinking this evening... is it necessary? Or is there a better use of my funds? Is there a curriculum that teaches study skills? Or like a book or anything? Truthfully, I don't know if I know any 'study skills'. I had a brief 6-week 'class' when I was in 6th grade, and I literally remember none of it. :lol: Granted, I've never needed study skills, to speak of... most of my high school classes were music related, and those that weren't came easily enough to me that I never really had to settle in and 'study' hard. So what do you guys think? I'm in serious need of some input!

I feel like I saw somewhere what the correct order was, but now I can't find it - or remember! Is it Algebra 1, Algebra 2, then Geometry? Or is it Algebra 1, Geometry, then Algebra 2? TIA!

Me! TBH, I usually start making lists around December. So I've had this going for awhile already. Actually tonight I'm planning on typing up the budget for everything next year, so that when the tax refund comes (even though I haven't filed yet lol), I can start purchasing! My oldest will be in 9th this year - I'm so excited about high school! Some sort of grammar - not sure which. Looking at Easy Grammar, Rod & Staff, or Analytical Grammar Algebra 2 WTMA Writing Biology - using both Apologia & a secular science text Finish Vocab from Classic roots E WTM History - The History of the Ancient World art will be whatever suits his fancy at the time + Annotated Mona Lisa + co-op He'll probably pick a Bible study from either Queen Homeschool or Positive Action Ethics I'll probably give him the book recommended in TWTM We'll see if he wants to continue Japanese - I'd like for him to do at least one more year, if not more A couple of electives from Great Courses - right now I think he wants a geology one and one on inventions Required Reading List: Bible: Genesis - Job Epic of Gilgamesh Iliad The Histories The Birds The Republic On Poetics Bible: Daniel De Republica Aeneid Bible: Corinthians 1-2 Wars of the Jews The Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Annals On the Incarnation With God in Russia Same Kind of Different as Me Wisdom Chaser: Finding My Father at 14,000 Feet Crazy Love On Airs, Waters, and Places De Motu Cordis The Double Helix

Ok, good to know there's not anything wrong with him! :lol: Here's the video I took of him today. And there are other pics on there of him, as well. :) I just :wub: him!!!

Does it make a difference whether he's inside or outside? He's inside, if it does. But to answer your question, outside temps were nice through November, then we've had an unusually chilly winter (for us) since December. The start of the year had a lot of single digit to twenty degree days, which for us is pretty rare. Inside I keep the thermostat at 68*, so I guess it's between 65-70 in here usually.

Aw, man, I went and got my hopes up! :lol: jkjk I am with you on the tea! Well, sort of. I sit here every night and go through the thread with a cup of Good Earth Sweet & Spicy, which my snobby tea friends scoff at. ;) But I LOOOOOVEEE it. So. I'm kind of take it or leave it with M. Atwood. When I read Oryx and Crake I was expecting so much more, partly because so many people raved about it. I didn't know it was part of a trilogy, though, and I enjoy her books here and there. Which reminds me, I'm sure it was talked about back when it first came on but I wasn't on the board for quite some time - but I really liked the hulu adaptation of A Handmaid's Tale. I've read the book and obviously this was a little different, but I felt like it was excellently done. I'm liking Never Let Me Go more and more! I'm nearly done with it, but right now it's got me thinking a lot lol. I was also thinking a little bit ago, it's been quite some time since I've really just read a lot. So I think it will be trial and error for awhile, and maybe forever, as I try books and don't like them/ like them/ try to figure out what sort of things I like the best/ what I need to be in the right mood for/ etc. I read a ton when I was a kid, but somehow it sort of fell off the radar for awhile.

We are having some SERIOUS SHEDDING here. :svengo: I can handle shedding, I really can.... but now it's starting to feel like maybe it isn't normal?? The rundown: Holland Lop Male, neutered, will be a year old the end of January Has been shedding A LOT since the beginning of November!! So, is this normal? Any tips? Any way to make it lessen or anything? I'm beginning to think there's no end in sight!!! :P

I'm going to reply really quick to a couple from last week... I've not read much Nora Roberts because she's not my style - I thought I'd give Year One a try because of the dystopian aspect, but I think I will probably abandon it. I'm about 3 chapters in and the thought of reading it sounds like a chore, so I think that's a sign! :lol: I'll just return it tomorrow lol. We all agree! :D Thank you. ^^Who is the author? It sounds interesting but all I'm pulling up are unrelated titles. Thanks! So, unsurprisingly, I didn't finish a book last week. :lol: Oh, well. No biggie. The kids finished some, though: Link (13): Air Raid - Pearl Harbor The Crucible Two of the Rick Riordan ones... sorry, Idk what they were called or anything. :lol: Astro (12): Angry Aztecs Canterbury Tales Pink (8): What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? Time Cat and probably another one from the library, or two even As I said above, I'm going to drop Year One - it's just not doing anything for me - and keep going on Never Let Me Go. :)

Well, this week has thus far been less bookish than last, but I expected that - four books in one week is not the norm for me anymore, for sure! I'm still working on Never Let Me Go. I'm thinking about setting it aside tomorrow and picking up Year One first since that one has a shorter loan time at the library. I like NLMG, but it's a little slow and odd. But at the same time interesting enough. lol My back has been feeling better this week though still bothering me a bit. And it's no wonder we haven't had a bookish week because it's been a busy one! Link got his braces Tuesday, we had co-op Wednesday, and yesterday I had a urologist appointment. I usually see the uro every 6 months for recurring kidney stones; this time I had to go back sooner because the stone that had just left my kidney in July was still about 5cm from my bladder in November :svengo: ... now it's still about 2cm from my bladder. GOOD. GRIEF. On the upside, it doesn't hurt me most of the time. We are wondering what sort of weird shape it may be that is causing it to be moving so slow - I've never had a stone take this long to make its way 'out', and I've had a lot of stones. But I should have reading time this weekend, as the kids are at my ILs all weekend. They were going there every weekend for about a year, but MIL was recently diagnosed with leukemia or something like it/similar (I feel like maybe it's called myeloproliferative neoplasms?) and they had taken a break for about a month while she was in the hospital. She has been feeling ok but she starts a new treatment this week and she wanted the kids to come this weekend before she starts this new medicine; they're telling her she'll feel pretty bad in the coming weeks, and it'll wreak havoc on her immune system, of course, so no one will be able to come. We were all like 'Are you sure you want them to come?' and she was like 'YES! It's been so quiet, I miss them being there!' <3 They're really involved grandparents, we're really lucky to have them. They regularly had anywhere from 5-8 grandkids there every weekend. Most are 12-15 so it wasn't like they had to be taken care of; she just liked having them around. And they're mostly boys, too, just like her kids were (all 4 boys), so I think it's kind of familiar and nice for them. Anyway, hopefully this upcoming treatment will work and her discomfort will be minimal. Sorry about the tangent lol. :)

The fact that there is a book called 'A Scone to Die For' is hysterical to me. Idk why, other than I keep thinking Wow that must be an amazing scone. :lol: Well, luckily I got into the chiropractor today and he worked out a lot of the problem I was having - and then the problems compounded onto it by me subconsciously trying to accommodate for it myself (you know how it is - you hurt your lower back but like everything needs adjusting). Luckily I don't have to go back for two weeks - it's lucky because the cost today was more than it usually is! I'm hoping it's just because of all the work he had to do and not because their rates went up. :scared: We also hit up the library and I picked up Never Let Me Go, Year One, The Artist's Way, and The Secret Keeper. Started Never Let Me Go today... it's taken a little getting used to the writing style, but interesting enough so far.