Kathy, I somehow missed both threads until now. So glad he is OK and what a bummer regarding the car.

Beautiful! i have had a couple of forced purges because of moves.......lots of odds and ends that I regret with those. I actually repurchased a few of the books. On purges that I was in charge of I gave away a couple of plastic IKEA (that were a beautiful blue and did not look cheap)trays I had used frequently for church and since we were going to a new church decided that I would give half my trays away. IKEA had stopped making that style. I still take food places. I now have to be super careful of my remaining trays. Seriously they stacked, what was I thinking!

Dawn, just plain old hugs. I really wish I could do something to make today easier. You are in my thoughts and prayers. Way too much stress has come your way in the last few days.💐🙏

For many games I tossed the packaging and kept the game in a large ziplock. Huge ziplocks can be ordered on Amazon.

For me it would be so hard to throw out because I love it. When I opened the thread I thought it was going to be an old fruitcake from last year and people that I know actually do that on purpose.....feed the cakes booze all summer. The old ones are super good and I have eaten them. I just googled......so assuming you have norovirus you were contagious 12 to 48 hours before symptoms started. I am not sure about sharing the cake but I would certainly be willing to eat it within my immediate family.

How sad, cannot even imagine the heartbreak. Praying for you and the students family. Also keeping Lillian in my prayers.

And probably not the book for me! Not up for Silence of the Lambs creepy right now. Go watch something funny or read a romance novel. Hope you get some sleep!

@Kareni The Seraphina series is a favorite of my daughter’s. Pre me on Goodreads but I believe I read and enjoyed the first couple of these myself! Good to see you back on BaW! 😁 I have looked at The Whisper Man but have’t checked it out yet. The cover is sort of scary!😉. Let me know how you like it......

Since you are my only friend who has read A Better Man I have to ask.......At this moment will you be reading more in the series, assuming more exist? The last few books have been such a roller coaster of emotion for me. I am really hoping I can stop now. 😉 @aggieamy quit a few books ago.......... The pictures are beautiful @Negin. Definitely not boring me! Gabriel Allon is on of the few detectives in this year’s detective list that I am already somewhat familiar with. I have read several, all out of order, and am hoping to read the series in order over the next year. I read the first earlier this year. I am down to two letters in Phryne Fisher..... I have F, which will be my in progress Faith Hunter and P, which is also in progress with Polaris Rising......enjoying this one. I had an Overdrive crisis and had to read some other books first, some of which may be used to get Gabriel Allon done! Before I forget there have been a few changes in Overdrive over the past few weeks so be aware that you might just lose the book if it is past it’s expiration on a turned off device. We lost some (Dd lost some 2 weeks ago) on a fire. My ancient reader still has them so Dd now has both my reader and fire. I seem to be the one suffering here. The latest book to expire is still on the fire so maybe they changed the programming. So my advice is if the book has a huge hold’s line try to finish it......😉. My kid’s say that having the books self remove by date even on a WiFi less device would be super easy programming wise.....so a warning. Another Overdrive change is the ease that one can now return books. I used to have to go to Amazon but now two touches on my screen mean the books gone. I know I will be returning books as I finish them every time now not just when I wanted to tidy my account. I wonder if it is a change in reaction to the new policy by publishers limiting Overdrive copies?

Praying

We have never been to Chrystal Springs but frequently see manatees in the St. John’s River. Just in the river but you need something more guaranteed. This park area is super popular https://www.savethemanatee.org/manatees/manatee-webcams/ and is about 15 minutes off of I-4 if you cross via Orlando. Btw, I-4 is under heavy construction right now so can be hard to predict. Dh has had some easy trips across recently so you never know. Obviously Disney......45 to an hour in good traffic from Blue Springs. The Disney Springs area (formerly Downtown Disney) would make for an easy stop for food and a bathroom. Disney food is expensive! St. Augustine is on I-95 just South of Jacksonville, beautiful with the fort right on the water. Old town is fun with lots of quick food available.....some really nice sit downs too. This is one of our favorite places to visit. Probably two hours from Blue Springs.....guess. After you get to Fort Myers heading out to a beach walk on Sanibel Island would be a must see for me.

I imagine the whole application was reworked. They laid the whole thing at the just qualifying scores in the first application but the second statement was possibly much better also. They did spend a great deal on gap year experiences after the retakes which I had thought was to beef up the statement. I couldn’t really ask much because the friend was rather critical about how my dc’s had been educated before these events took place and my dc’s were applying that year also. One of my first acquaintances in our village and one of my harder people to deal with if I am being really honest. The fees are much higher........this girl’s older sibling thought because they carried a UK passport they were UK for application purposes. Somehow no one in that family understood that actual residence made a difference. A month or so before they were due at Uni a shocking bill arrived........in the end they are definitely overseas students.

While I really liked Bone Reapersthe other mbooks in that series have been really slow reads for me. They are actually all heading back to the library this week all partially read. Several of the Goodreads comments for the Supernova Era centered on the impossibility of the science and the need to suspend disbelief was definitely present. The concepts were great and I am convinced a world ran by middle schoolers would be scary!😉Before everyone starts defending that age group remember everyone is that age and young running everything.......water plants, airports, the military, day care....... I just finished the first in SK Dunskill’s other series Stars Uncharted and have to admit I really enjoyed it. No Linesman but after I got used to the characters in series I really liked all of them. This series centers around genetic modification cosmetically but also to heal. I am looking forward to the new book’s release!

This won’t help the OP but adding it for others. I suspect IB scores need to be higher for foreign students than whatever is quoted as acceptable by the UK Universities at least sometimes. 😉A friend’s granddaughter had qualifying scores, decent activities.....captain of a couple of sports teams etc and was not accepted to any of her UCAS preferences while living overseas. I knew someone who got into one of her choices with a similar score who was a UK applicant. The granddaughter took a gap year, retook the exams and upped the score, was accepted to all five choices. That’s all I know, no other IB experience. We used a combo of ap’s and Sat Subjects with the ACT and both were accepted as British applicants to UK schools, no problem.

I finished listening to my audiobook this afternoon because I only had an hour left and didn’t want to forget the details over the weekend. Supernova Era was by the same author as a favorite of mine The Three Body Problem but with a different translator which may be why I didn’t like it as much. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263225-supernova-era Imagine if the world is exposed to a high dose of radiation from a supernova evenly and everyone over age 12 will die within the year.......what should adults do to prepare the childresn’s world to survive. That part was fascinating............the children’s worlds was rather Lord of the Flies and wasn’t as great. Listening was hard many similar unfamiliar names but not sure that my enjoyment was ruined. The great news is this book is perfect for @Robin M Sounds of Silence 10 x10 from 52 books http://www.read52booksin52weeks.com/p/the-sound-of-silence.html. I now have my 10! The Sound of Silence (52 books Challenge) 1. After Dark by Haruki Murakami (character who lives in a Dream) 2. Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse (force of nature in title) 3. Melmoth by Sarah Perry (Cobblestone Streets) 4. Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko (Book about change) 5. Abadden’s Gate by James Corey(Conflict-human vs. tech from aliens) 6. Tombland by CJ Sansom (Visionary..Captain Kett world w/out classes) 7. Silence by Jan Costin Wagner(Book with Silence in the title) 8. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler- Olsen (character who lives in Darkness 9. BoneReapers by Jeanne Matthews (seed Vault) 10. Supernova Era Lou Cixin (Dystopian, set in a futuristic world)

Hope you feel better soon! So.....The four of us had a great time! Remember my kids didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving so no expectations......... Basically went with the flow and hung out together. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Looked over the ads. Warm enough for my kids to decide they wanted to spend an hour on the beach. They were the only ones in the water but had a blast.......Dh and I waded.😂 Came home and the kids took quick showers and ate a snack of leftovers from the day before and headed out to people watch at the Black Friday sales. They needed ugly Christmas sweaters for a party so bought some at Kohl’s and got Kohl’s cash. I now have some new kitchen gadgets basically free after rebate. Came home and I made the smoked turkey breast and as a whole we had the traditional meal. I bought pies and stuck them in the freezer a month ago but they wanted cupcakes with turkeys from Publix so that’s what we had. We sat down to eat at 9 pm! Watched Charlie Brown after.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is celebrating! Dd and I set her in progress Turkey up for the day.......so I have a card of sorts.😉

No, just say no........no explanation required. I have a friend that asks for some really out of bounds pretty big favors and Dh/I just say “no” sometimes with no explanation. There really is nothing else she can say because the answer was a clear no. Over the years I have stepped back from the friendship but she still pops up with a big one occasionally.....last month!😮

I love curried parsnip soup and parsnips in general. That said have never mixed them with white chocolate, I just googled recipes and it looks good.

@tuesdayschild What an varied list! I have been happily looking it over and there are several books I need to look for. I am so impressed that you managed to finish early. I loved looking at your rules for each category as I have varied rules and changed them throughout the year......as in each country must be represented in my Nordic Noir. My rules are why I am not done! 😂. If you have a chance please check in with move updates.........I hope it all goes smoothly and that you love your new home!

My only addition is what type of shoes to wear as my feet have always swelled in the air. I once wore cute ballet flats on a plane, went bare foot during the flight, and had the impossible task of getting my sausage feet back in those shoes on at the other side. So if you have any reason to believe you feet will swell plan your footwear accordingly. I now normally wear tennis shoes and let the laces out before I board and tighten them as much as possible while waiting for my luggage at the destination. Crocs are awesome for travel and I do wear those at times when I know the swelling might be bad. 😉

House viewings..........I am guessing the system is more like England. So I will try and explain a bit since I have experienced both. If I am understanding what Tuesday is saying she is showing her house to prospective purchasers. Btw, yeah for back to back! 😉 The agent basically does a bit of advertising and coordinates the legalities of the sale like in England but typically does not show a house. It takes a really long time to get the agent available to show and it simply is not to anyone’s advantage if you are serious. We have almost always been shown homes by owners there both for purchase or lease. It’s definitely to the owners advantage to show it themselves.....and yes you might just offer a cuppa. 😉 So it is far more work than tidying the house and going out for an hour. Do you have gazumping etc in NZ? https://www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/media-centre/articles-sept-dec-2016/gazumping-and-gazundering-explained/ The fees to the real estate agent is much less in England for the US people reading although the legal fees etc add up quickly. Scotland is more like the US btw. In the US the seller negotiates the commission with the real estate agent up front when signing the listing paperwork (transactions I have been involved with have generally been 6 % of the final purchase price split between the buying and selling agents and brokers.....the amount can be negotiated a bit). Still have other costs above commission which are negotiated as part of the price. It’s rare for the owner of the property to show it in the US. It’s actually really odd for the buyer and seller to even meet before the close where you very well may meet and actually sign the paperwork sitting around a big table together. In England the close is the exchange of contracts which the lawyers do, so you never see each other as you exchange. We simply got a call that it was done and picked up the keys at the agents. ETA......Different subject, great titles for Phryne Fisher. I want to reread some Mary Stewart’s next year.😉

Hopefully others will chime in........... This year’s detectives have been my favorite of the spelling challenges in terms of reading a book with the detective in it as well as spelling the name. I have a whole lot of new to me series that I need to go back and read the rest of so in terms of my tastes and interests it would be hard to do a better job. Favorite characters might be fun. Obviously I like historical books and historical detectives........and I like romances. Literary pets would be fun but sort of suspect it might be just fun for me 😉.......the reality is I just like the spelling challenges. I am no help at all. I am pro 10x10 or something very similar. Those have been great for me. A good way to organize my interests and making me stick to the goals. Bingo........I am getting close. No sure who else is playing. If you do it again count me in.............. Actually when I finish The Rise of Magicks I will have completed 10 from your Sound of Silence Challenge for this year. My 10 chain is close to done too.

I really liked both of Rebecca Roanhouse’s books in that series! Are the new books all part of your birthday loot? A couple of recent finishes: Strands of Truth by Colleen Coble https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42757881-strands-of-truth. I have never read one of her books and someone here mentioned being a fan. This was a great book in the Christian Romantic Suspense genre and I plan to read more. This book had some scientific things going on in the background which gave me pause, it definitely convinced me that I will never participate in genetic testing for genealogy purposes. It kept me up very late..... Then the next night I started reading Sharon Sala’s I’ll Stand By You https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24866366-i-ll-stand-by-youat bedtime, another late night! This one was funny and sweet all mixed together. I find this series when searching for a Y and already have the third in the series checked out. Finally, Tess Garrison’s latest. The Shape of the Night https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43892586-the-shape-of-night which I thought was going to be sort of a suspenseful nod to The Ghost and Mrs Muir........not at all. As close to horror as I get and finish with some pretty explicit adult scenes thrown in at about 50%, I only kept going because of a need to learn the ending. I will say it was suspenseful! Currently reading the ARC for Nora Robert's The Rise of Magicks thanks to @Robin Mand @Kareni. It’s good, let me know if you want it next. Also reading the recently released Janet Evanovich Twisted Twenty Six which I am also loving.

First I understand and found myself in a similar situation with my son. He missed bits along the way because he always was way ahead of himself. He kept a close eye on what his older sister was doing and could do math way above his age because of that. He would ask her how a particular problem was solved and she taught him that problem........he applied what she said and could basically do whatever over and over. At about your son’s age I discovered that he had never learned the two negatives make a positive.......just guessed and wasn’t wrong all that often. It happens and getting the kid to take me seriously in plugging his gaps was not easy. We used Life of Fred which I think helped more than anything else I tried because he wanted the story, so he read the story which included explanations. We started at fractions....... eta.......testing never really helped as my son was a bit too intuitive and did not get his “gaps” wrong with any consistency. At one point I bought all of Abeka and much of Saxon just for the tests on the used market. It didn’t help all it did was make us irritated with each other. I think going back with something very different is the only way.