Oh! My third grade teacher taught us math this way, and I still use it quite a bit. It never ocurred to me to teach it to my dc, though. I'm not sure why. I know they've asked about it. :) It's lots of fun, and as a kid I enjoyed doing problems for my parents. :) Hillary

Alaska Mom, that's because until very recently the forums were a different format. When they switched over to this current format, all users had to "join" and create a profile. That's why we all have recent join dates.

We have only listened to the audiobook, but loved it so much we listened twice. If we had read the book first, I don't know what our reaction would have been. But the audiobook reader was BRILLIANT!

1999. I was Hillary in ID then. I remember discussing what would happen to the boards with Y2K. (Boards still ran, but the year reset to 1900.) People did'nt post as often, there were fewer people, and several people used their real first and last names. I remember that boards had names like "Spring /Summer 1999" before they'd flip and be archived.

The only posts I've reported were obvious SPAM posts.

I just heard on the radio that they're offering free shipping when you call and say the word "radio." I think you can also go to http://www.christianbook.com/radio Hillary

I think I might like having a digital copy, however, thr price would have to be dramatically reduced to offest the printing I would have to do.

No, I'm pretty much the same. No surprises here, really. :)

Now I've got a song going around in my head: "Does anyone really know what time it is? Does anyone really care?" :)

Here's a link: http://www.lampstandbookshelf.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT You kind of have to play around a bit, and search by which year, etc. But this is the link I use. HTH!

Oh, Cleo! I'm laughing, but am also feeling your pain. Hang in there! Dec. 8th will come quickly!

Will the family have internet access? If so, I'd try to center our history/literature studies around online materials in English. Sites like "The Baldwin Project" have an abundance of resources (entire copies of books!) online, thus freeing up suitcase room for other things.

No, it's for "Insiders." (Members) You can sign up for a one-month trial for $6, I think. I've been an Insider for years, since we've often lived in places that didn't run the show.

We're streaming the Glenn Beck program's election coverage. Results + humor= fun evening. :)

The only time we've had to show ID was when we moved to other states, and needed to bring ID or a utility bill the first time we voted. I agree with you about ID, though, and it was a big issue when we lived in WI. In the 2000 election there were some major election rules violations and multiple allegations (and evidence) of voter fraud. Several political groups tried to enact legislation that would require an ID card to vote, and even made provisions for those who could not afford driver's licenses, etc. to get a free ID card (So no one would be "disenfranchised."). But it got shot down.

Thank you all! I'm feeling reassured, both about ds and about the doctor. Abbeyej, now that you mention it, I do remember when your son had the undiagnosed strep that led to PANDAS. I'd forgotten all about it. I guess what made me nervous about the Dr. was that I felt she made a snap diagnosis, just by looking at a rash. Rather than her looking everything over and saying, "Well, it could be X, or Y, or Z. Here's how we'll narrow this down," it seemed like she made one judgement and assumed nothing else could cause similar symptoms. But, reading your posts reminded me that she DID listen to my concerns, and she DID act on them. I do appreciate that. Now, for those of you who have had children who had strep with no sore throat: The rapid strep test came back negative. She's going to run the 24-hour test for strep, but she didn't order a blood test for strep. (The hospital lab tests were to rule out mono and something in the lungs.) Should I call the office and ask that be added?

Sorry! Thsi is long. Here's the setup: We have only lived in this town 2 months. We don't know doctors, really, and haven't had much success with asking around. DS 13 has had a light, persistent cough for about a week. Saturday afternoon, he started running a fever. It was over 102 most of Saturday, but responded to Tylenol. Sunday it jumped to 104.5 but again responded to Tylenol. Monday was more of the same, but Monday night his temp dropped to 97.0. All weekend he's been light-headed, headachy, and fatigued. This morning, I noticed his cough was more seal-like, and that he suddenly had developed a rash on his torso, neck, and arms. So! We went to the pediatric office that takes walk-ins. The Dr. came in with a PA student and a medical student. We run down his symptoms, and looks at ds' rash. She turns to the students and says, "Well! Look at that! What do you think we'll find?" Both med students say, "Strep." I asked, "Really? Strep? Without a sore throat? Without swollen glands or a red or patchy white throat?" She assured me, "Oh, yes. It's very common. And this is a classic scarletina rash. Why? what were you thinking?" I answered, "I was thinking it sounded more like mono. Fever, fatigue, light-headedness, and an odd rash." She said it certainly could be, but it was most likely to be strep. So, the doctor runs a rapid-strep test, and to appease me, a mono test. (Some sort of rapid titer test.) (I thought it amusing that though the doctor came back in the room two more times, the med students did not.) Both come back negative. But she notes that ds' white count is low, which usually doesn't happen with strep. The doctor said that she's sending us to the hospital for a more accurate blood test for mono, but that if that comes up negative it's probably just a virus. At this point, I asked about his worsening cough. Should we concerned about that, combined with a fever? The doctor said, probably not, but then listened to his lungs and heard decreased breath sounds. She then adds a chest X-ray into the mix. We haven't heard back from the hospital, so I don't know the results. But the appt. left me feeling like the doctor didn't know what she was doing. She immediately diagnosed strep, and only pursued other things when I asked questions. Did I miss anything? Is there something else I should have asked? If both tests come back negative, but ds is still sick, what then? And, does strep really appear with a fever, then a rash 3 days later, but no other symptoms?

We bought "You Can Teach Yourself Guitar" from Amazon. It comes with an instructional DVD and an audio practice CD. Ds 13 has worked through the first few lessons and is enjoying it so far. It's a little light on theory, but you can pick that up other places. Have fun! Hillary

Here's mine. I blogged it last year, I think. http://harmsinoz.blogspot.com/2007/07/best-pumpkin-muffins-ever.html I posted the recipe as written, but then added how I tweaked it.

Things are probably just slow down at the Board of Elections. What with all of the cartoon characters and Dallas Cowboys who've registered to vote this year, I'm sure the office is swamped! I'd go down to the office tomorrow (or call) and explain that you regeistered before Oct. 6th, but you haven't received your voter registration card and ask them how you should proceed. Make sure you get their name and extension number, in case there's an issue at the polling location on Tuesday. Have fun! :)

Wow! I've voted in Oregon (Portland area), Idaho (Boise), Wisconsin (La Crosse and Sheboygan), Kansas (Topeka), and this year in Nebraska. So - a mix of big cities and small towns. I have never, ever had to wait in a line longer than 2-3 people. The idea of waiting an hour or more blows my mind.

Oh, that was funny! What a great sport! I couldn't help thinking that when he finally told the counter guy that he was on the "Ellen" show, the clerk was probably thinking, "Uh-huh. Riiiiiiight."

You mean, other than voting? :) No, probably not. My 13 yo ds and 8 yo ds and listen to the live stream of Glenn Beck on the internet while we color in our electoral college maps. That was fun during the '04 election because, a. Glenn Beck is funny, and b. the boys get to stay up late, and c. we play board games and eat snacks while listening and waiting for returns. Yay!

Is it D'Nealian?? http://www.dnealian.com/samples.html