I wish my parents could see what an awesome mom their oldest granddaughter is and her beautiful children. Family was the most important thing for my parents, and I know this would make them so happy.

I first saw Dr zhivago around 1970, and I fell in love. You just don't mess with that. I was getting teary eyed just watching that youtube clip.

No. I couldn't listen to all of it. Remake of Dr. Zhivago? Say it isn't so. Anyone other than Omar Sharif playing Yuri is heresy. I'm glad I missed that.

Yay! Best of luck to your daughter.

At different times and with different needs, I've been influenced by different writers. Elijah Company Charlotte Mason (still influenced) The Clarksons Andrew Kern Susan Wise Bauer Mortimer Adler Laura Berquist And when I get too crazy John Holt Grace Llewellyn Who was the lady that wrote the book about play being a child's work. She passed away a few years ago. She was friends with John Holt?

I'm so sorry for your loss.

:grouphug: :grouphug: I think it's nice you could celebrate his birthday that way. I always try to do something for my parents; having those traditions have been important for me. You (ime) never, ever quit missing, but it does get easier in a way. :grouphug: :grouphug:

Those are my dh's favorite. None of us cares for Cadbury's eggs. I bought some malted milk eggs for dh and an assortment of Reese's, Hershey Kisses, Jolly Ranchers, and a bag with different choclate candy. I get a bar of dark, dark chocolate all for myself.

I will read a heavier, more difficult book for every 3 or 4 light books. I seriously have trouble keeping mentally focused. This is why The Portrait of a Lady hasn't been touched in two months. I'm not even sure how difficult it really is; it just seemed too dense for my muddled, tired brain.

I think this is what has bothered me the most. I do hope for more out of our politicians, but don't always expect my hope to be realized. It's the people around me that have me depressed. Friends, family members. I 'almost' want to go back to the pre-social media days. I've seen a side to people close to me I wish I hadn't seen. Honestly, I don't believe they're really like that. I think they've gotten caught up in the emotion and furor. If they could step back and view themselves, I think they might be embarrassed. And this behavior is not exclusive to one party!

One of my dh's favorite to sing. Our girls learned it early. He really isn't a doom an despair type person, most of the time anyway. It's how he would lighten up a dark mood.

For most people, it's probably surviving from one day to the next - just living. For me it's about loving: smiling at a stranger, lending an sympathetic ear to a friend, hugging my children, being patient with those who drive me crazy, holding my dh's hand. Just simple things.

It never occurred to us that we could do that, except it was late Friday afternoon. Hopefully, we won't be in that situation again, but I'll remember that. I'm finding more and more how aggressive a person has to be to get the medical care they need. With my youngest it went on long enough that I finally lost my temper with her pediatrician; then things started to move forward. And you're correct about many people having compassion, especially when they're looking at you face to face. Good advice.

Reading some of these posts requires decoding skills. I think I'm with you, however, I'm not even sure a great VP will get me fired up if it goes the way that appears most likely. Then again, it won't matter much since my state's electoral votes will go to the other party's candidate. I have never sat out an election since I voted the first time in 1980, and I don't intend to start at this point. But I never remember feeling so disconnected and disgusted with the whole process. I feel overloaded and have quit listening for the most part.

I feel like I'm now spending less money overall than I did when I was younger. Even though the family is shrinking, I spend more on groceries choosing better, healthier food. I don't buy as many books as I used to.

Crazy and ridiculous.

Thanks. He is on the mend. Good news was he didn't need surgery. We haven't received any of the bills, so we have yet to see how much we saved by not going to ER. His last visit to ER for a nose bleed that wouldn't stop cost us $800+, and he still had to see an ENT to re-cauterize it. We try to stay out of the ER unless it is a life threatening emergency but sometimes it might be a better choice.

So dh fell off a 10' fruit ladder 3 weeks ago today, Friday, at around 4PM. He decided to go to an urgent care place on the corner since he has a $6400 ded and didn't want to pay for ER. At the urgent care place they xray and sure enough, his ankle is broke. The bottom of the tibia is just hanging there. They put him a walking boot, give him a prescription for pain pills, and a referral to an orthopedic clinic. They say we should be getting a call on Monday and will probably get in on Tuesday. Monday by 2PM still no call. I tell him to call. He does. Seems his referral is buried under a bunch of other work. He gets to the appointment desk and is told the soonest they can get him in is in 3 weeks. He says he doesn't think he can wait 3 weeks. The girl then says he's free to call other orthopedic offices. Of course, he needs a referral for his insurance. There was some swearing going on at this point probably fueled by the fact that he's been in pain for 3 days and every time he moves his leg he about goes through the ceiling. Anyway, after phone calls to his regular doctor, urgent care, the orthopedic clinic again, we finally got into a ...hospitalist....??? a new term for us. It's been a very frustrating experience. Oh, and we were told to arrive 30 minutes early to fill out paperwork.

My thought is once your father has passed away and his estate has been settled, it will be your money to do with as you wish.

That's why I won't bother with trying to sell my old curriculum. If my dd doesn't want it, I'll offer it free to the homeschooling group; after that, I'll probably toss it in the recycle bin. Any old textbooks, I'll donate to good will.

I own that copy. Had completely forgotten about it. I remember crying and crying. A Christmas Tapestry and An Orange for Frankie - every single time I read them I cry. I just reread The Hiding Place with my dd. We were both crying. Beautiful Joe Old Yeller Beyond the Willows For movies Shenandoah and Dr. Zhivago always make me cry. eta: Bridge to Terabithia - read that aloud once and never again

If it was curriculum, you're still safe. Literature, not so safe. :001_smile: I've got three big plastic tubs full of curricular material that need to go through with my oldest dd to see what she wants for her dd. After that, the curriculum is going. But all the 'real books' I've collected, no. I'll hang onto those for the grandkids. I think I'll leave those to my children to deal with after I'm dead and gone. Just can't do it.

Elijah Company was my favorite catalog when I first started homeschooling; it was like my homeschooling bible. I saved the catalogs but finally went through all my homeschooling material several years ago and threw them away.

My dh's grandmother said that about my oldest dd when she was little. She was born in Missouri. I've heard it other times, usually from older people. I'm on the opposite side of the country from Arkansas.

Is this what you're referring to? I've only traveled in Europe one time, and that was 25 years ago so I'm not much help and don't know what to suggest. The study abroad office hasn't been of much help, either. A friend told her that AT&T has a study abroad plan that she is checking into. Thank you for the information on the phone. Neither of us were aware of the different kinds of phones you mentioned.