DS wrote the Level 2 exam and got a perfect paper. He's determined to do five years of Latin (he started in 8th), so it's nice to see the results of all his hard work.

Usually, I'm on the side of thinking that someone who has served their sentence deserves to live in peace but this case is different. I was still living in Canada when the arrests and trials for these crimes took place, and I remember all the horrific details coming to light. That plea deal was a travesty and Homolka should have been locked up for life and designated a dangerous offender like her husband was. I find it very telling that she's now using the last name of a serial killer, one that she and her murderous partner applied to change their names to before he was arrested. That seems like an odd choice of name for anyone who felt any remorse for her crimes.

I couldn't, but I'm a gamer. I use a tablet for many things everyday, but until I can play Blizzard games or my Steam collection on one I'll be sticking with a computer. Apart from games, I could probably go computer-free but I don't really have any urge to. Some tasks are just much easier for me on a computer.

You realize that the mom interviewed in the article is right here, in this thread - not many posts above yours. Really, seriously, you don't sound like you have very good manners. Oh well.

I'm sorry for your loss, and am glad your family had a chance to say their goodbyes to a woman who was so important in their lives. And I agree, hospice staff are special.

My son has taken both the G3 classes this year (they offer Comedies in fall and Tragedies in spring) and has enjoyed them very much. They use the Lightning Literature student books, but the instructor adds a lot of extra activities. DS likes G3 because the assignments are creative and there isn't any busywork. From our discussions it's clear he's learned a lot about the plays. I do add in some Shakespeare lectures from The Great Courses and film viewings, but I haven't added essays because my biggest goal for ds with these classes was to foster a love of Shakespeare - a goal that's definitely been met. :) If you want your student to produce more written output, there are lots of prompts in the LL book used in the course.

My 9th-grader is in WTM Biology this year, and it requires a substantial time commitment outside of the two hours of class time. My ds is also enrolled in another time-intensive online class with a different provider (Latin), plus his other subjects. He has reasonable time management skills and is very self-disciplined but has found this year tough.If I tried the above schedule with him, he would implode; he's a very strong student, but works slowly. Your son may be very different, of course.

Lone Pine also has semesters, but there isn't a six week break between them. They do have the summer break, but with homework over summer. I don't have any experience with Lukeion, but I've been very happy with Lone Pine for my ds. I'm not sure there's a bit enough difference between Lukeion and LP to warrant changing for your dd though. Maybe she could speak with her teacher for suggestions on how to work on retention over the long breaks?

No, cooking a ham is not a big deal. That's not the point. The point is that doing that, especially *for sandwiches*, is just one.more.thing to add to the OP's stress at an already difficult and stress-filed time and that it's a kind of crappy thing to even ask for given the circumstances.

Pretty sure Maggie is pregnant - they hinted at that during the first episode, when the group was deciding who was going to move the horde and who was staying in Alexandria. Glenn and Maggie share a few words and it seemed clear that there was now a good reason why she should be staying back where they assumed it was safer. I enjoy the show, but think the comics are better (with a few exceptions, like Daryl and the show's version of Carol). I would not be surprised if Glenn is really dead in the show, if only because the comic version of his death would be very difficult to show on tv due to its brutality. Yes, the show regularly shows people being ripped apart by zombies but this would be harder to watch imho.

Elementary school for me was in the mid-70s, in Canada. We moved around a lot, and back then your grade placement was decided via a battery of standardized administered at every new school I went to (and there were a lot, in several different provinces). Because of those moves, I skipped all but two weeks of 2nd grade (moved in last month of school as a first grader, promoted to 2nd grade after testing, then moved up to 3rd with my new classmates), and all of 4th grade. There would have been another grade skip, but my mom raised a stink so I actually did sixth grade. I wasn't in any school for a full year until seventh grade, but I remember doing sentence analysis and diagramming in that year. That English teacher gave me a very strong foundation in grammar and writing that helped me very much in later years. Not elementary, but I went to a wealthy school for senior year and all of the classes were of a much higher calibre than I was used to. It was the first time I truly understood how schools could vary according to the economic class of the local neighborhood.

My suburban neighborhood is a 17. All that's really within walking distance is a couple of gas stations, a pizza takeout place, and a small rec center. However, to get to any of those you'll be walking most of the way along a busy road with no sidewalks. Doable if not entirely safe in good weather, but extremely unsafe once it snows and there are tall banks of packed snow/ice everywhere. No public transit, and the local taxi companies are a real pain to use (long waits, cars that are often unsafe).

We just finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which both ds and I enjoyed very much. We're currently reading through As You Like It for his Shakespeare class, and Ever Since Darwin for his biology class project (though we may be switching books if this one doesn't start holding ds' interest better). Not sure what our next literature read-aloud will be yet, probably either Fahrenheit 451 or Slaughterhouse Five. Reading aloud while bundled up on the couch with our dogs is ds' favorite part of homeschooling, so we'll continue with read-alouds for as long as he still enjoys them.

The only time in my life that I got down anywhere near my goal weight (as determined by the health/weight charts), I was working out an average of three hours each weekday. I would wake up at 5am to be at the gym by 6, do cardio/weights for 75 minutes, then shower and commute to work. After work, I would head straight back to the rec center and do a step aerobics class, have a short rest break and either take a strength/endurance class or go into the gym for an hour of interval training on the bike. I'd have another short break while I waited for water aerobics class, do that class, and then head home, fall into bed and repeat the next day. I lived about a mile from the rec center, so add the walks there in the early am and back at night. Those were my weekdays. Weekends were lighter because there were fewer classes scheduled and the gym was unpleasantly busy - usually only one aerobics or strength training class on Saturday, then Sunday was a rest day from formal exercise. I also walked a lot because I didn't have a car and could only afford busfare for work. My job kept me on my feet most of the workday. With all that, the lowest weight I could ever get to was 175; I'm 5'6" and the healthy BMI range for my age then is 114.6 lbs - 154.9 lbs. The trainers at the gym were mystified. I still looked chunky even though I was in excellent shape. My body composition was no longer changing and I couldn't shed a pound. They had me keep food diaries, they changed up my workouts frequently, but my progress stalled and eventually I got burnt out. I was tired of having virtually no social life, and having no time for anything outside of the rec center. Once I cut back my workouts to 3 days a week, I began gaining again even though I was still following a strict diet. Looking back, I do think my workouts were disordered. I was obsessed with diet and exercise, and it had consumed my life.

Unfortunately, even if you do that many doctors won't believe the data you bring them. I've tried doing exactly this three different times, with three different doctors. Each time, it was clear that they didn't believe I was being truthful. Probably because if I were really eating just what I said I did (and I was), then I *should* be losing weight. The last one actually lectured me: "You have to write down every single bite, even just a few Pringles will throw these numbers off." I was writing down every.single.bite and every sip of non-water liquids too. I hadn't eaten a darn potato chip in over a year, and had already told her I was eating low-carb. She just couldn't let go of her preconception that an obese patient must be either lying, or be too ignorant to be able to record intake accurately. I would have switched doctors, but my insurance only allows that every six months. After that incident, I've pretty much given up on asking doctors to help me figure out why it's so hard for me to lose weight. I don't have the emotional energy to try again with a new one. I'm not disagreeing with you, just sharing a personal experience that people without serious weight problems may not have experienced. Measuring and recording what you eat is a very helpful tool and one I still use. I don't write down everything every day anymore, but I go back to it every few weeks just to touch base and make sure I'm not taking in more than I think I am.

Maybe, but that is also how I naturally eat and I'm morbidly obese. I found those researchers' findings interesting, but that's not the problem in my case. I wish it were, as it would be a concrete thing to fix.

Needlework supplies - fabrics, threads, and a ridiculous amount of charts. I could live to be 100 and not finish everything in my stash.

We ran into similar issues when we first moved here and were looking for a dog. We did get approved through the local no-kill shelter, and waited a couple of months to find the right dog. We were very open to mixed-breeds, adult dogs, etc. but also had to be picky about behavior issues because one of our sons is autistic and his body language seems to put some dogs off. Anyways, we ended up stopping at a Petco adoption event on a whim, and found our Luna. She came from a small rescue group that picks up dogs from kill shelters in the southern states and brings them up north to adopt out. I was actually kind of surprised at how easy it was to adopt her - we filled out some forms, chatted with the rescue workers for about half an hour as we visited with the dog, paid the fee, and then she was ours. As it happens, they were less-than-honest with us. When we met Luna, she was still dopey from being spayed the day before and she seemed really mellow. The rescue had named her "Easy" and talked up how gentle and easy-going she was. She actually has severe separation anxiety, terror of anyone not in her pack, and it's clear she had been physically abused before she came to us. We love her and she has a home with us for the rest of her life, but she could easily have ended up at a shelter again with another family (and I wouldn't judge them for it). We went through a reputable breeder for our second dog (aka, Molly the Bloodhound, the most patient dog in the universe), and will do so again if we need another dog. I'll always support shelters and rescue groups financially (and with my time, when I can) but don't know that we'd try going that route again for adopting a dog.

New Life of Fred books arrive, and two of your three kids say "Yay! Those ones are twice as thick as the last one!" I'm happy they're excited, but I'll admit I find it a bit odd that *anyone* can get excited about Algebra II and Geometry. I'm grateful the twins inherited their dad's math genes instead of mine. :)

My ps kids usually bring home a couple of textbooks to keep at home, but they are used rarely for homework and seem to be more of a reference. My oldest son is a junior this year, and he was shocked that for AP US History they're actually using the text. He also gets a ton of handouts. So far this year he's been issued the APUSH text and a chemistry text. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any books for math and that's the one subject for which he really needs one . That class uses fairly bare bones handouts that the kids fill in. My son struggles in math, and this format is horrible for him. I want to order a good geometry book for him, as soon as I can find a used copy that I can afford. My freshman hasn't been given any textbooks at all so far this year. He says he envies his homeschooled twin, because his twin has lots of schoolbooks this year. They end up sharing. :)

I'm not going to question what you're seeing in people's carts, but I will suggest that just because it's in the cart doesn't mean they're eating it. If you saw me at Aldi, you'd think what's in my cart reinforces the idea that we unhealthy folks (I'm morbidly obese, well beyond any numbers I've seen mentioned in the thread thus far) are just too dumb or weak-willed to pick healthy foods like the fit and healthy folks do. You won't see many fruits and veggies in that Aldi cart because at my store the quality is subpar and the prices aren't great; we buy fruits and veggies elsewhere, in large quantities. My cart usually does have packaged foods in it, though we don't buy sugary cereals, junk food, etc. But guess what? I don't eat any of the processed, less-than-healthy foods you'll see in my cart. My husband does; he's an adult and I don't police what he eats. My three teenaged boys eat healthier than many of their peers, but one in particular is autistic and exceptionally picky and we do choose to feed him what he will eat rather than watch him vomit trying to force down healthier choices. I personally eat low-carb, because severely limiting carbs (even whole-grain, made from scratch ones) makes me feel better that eating other styles of eating do. I have more energy, I don't have constant hunger, and I don't need to take heartburn medication daily to avoid waking up with stomach acid coming back up my throat. I don't lose much weight, but at least I seem to have stopped the unrelenting weight gain that happens when I eat any other way. I eat lots of non-starchy veggies, and everything I eat is made from scratch because I don't trust the convenience foods marketed to low-carb eaters. I track my portion sizes, calories, and macros and by the damn numbers I should be losing weight steadily. I haven't given up yet, not quite, but I completely understand those who have. I rarely talk about my struggles to lose weight both because I'm an outlier, and also because I'm very very tired of not being heard (or not being believed) when I share my experiences. CICO most definitely does not work for me. I wish it did.

We have an American Bloodhound (the dog in my avatar), and she is truly the best dog I've ever owned. Super mellow, and just a big squishy pile of love. She's also very patient and loving with my autistic son, of whom many other dogs are a bit wary because his body language and affect can be a bit off. When we're ready to add another dog to our family, we're definitely looking for another bloodhound. They are much bigger than beagles, though.

:grouphug: I get what you're saying, and I've felt the same way. I try very hard to be open-minded when meeting a new health-care provider, but decades of personal history have made me very wary. I don't think they're all horrible; they can't be. I just wish I'd met more of the good ones.

My ds started at Lone Pine last year (in 8th), and I am very happy with how much he learned. His only exposure to Latin before that was Getting Started With Latin, and he ended up doing very, very well on the NLE. :) The community at Lone Pine was also a good fit for us. The course is rigorous, but the kids have a lot of fun along with it. I had no hesitations in signing him up for Latin 200 this year.

Our back yard is bounded by a smallish forest and I love to see the deer and wild turkeys that wander through. It always makes me smile to see a flock of turkeys sashaying by, completely ignoring the two dogs going ballistic inside.