Amen to that, sister! Admittedly, I am a germaphobe. But the thought of that might put me over the edge, LOL.

I was fairly excited when I got mine. For about the first cycle or two. From then on, I was pretty much over it! Mine have always been fairly miserable, only manageable on hormones, which comes with a whole different set of problems. I think it's fine for mothers and daughters to mark the occasion somehow, but I don't know how celebratory I'd get. :)

Wondering about Steam myself.... ETA: Since I'm both curious and impatient, LOL... http://store.steampowered.com/about/?snr=1_4_4__11 Looks to be a big gaming website. Would love details and opinions from people!

I want minions of my own. ;) Thanks for all these suggestions. DS is currently devouring the PJ series and asking for more!

We have played Forbidden Island and like it. Not sure if you have this one, but Amazon has 10 Days in the USA offered through Prime.

We exchange with our parents, and buy for our nieces and nephews, all of whom are still young and at home. And there's an optional "draw a number" gift exchange at one of the extended family gatherings. None of our siblings, aunts and uncles, anything like that. Far too much pressure. And I haven't sent Christmas cards in years... and I don't really bake either. Huh. I think I just figured out why I'm not stressed at Christmas but most of the people I know are going nuts. It's because I bailed on half of it a long time ago!! :lol:

I'm hoping no news is good news, and that the whole thing has blown over.

I didn't so much give up, as drastically lowered expectations! DS did "school" every day. If "school" consists of Khan Academy and reading the Percy Jackson books. :D Just for good measure, I threw in a few pages of an Algebra workbook and revising an essay. Totally counting it!

Oh my. I'm not sure what can top that. But I agree that Marcy, whoever and wherever she is, needs serious guidance as to what constitutes "food" items.

That's good news. While my heart goes out to that poor boy, piling unreasonable requirements on law abiding homeschoolers will not solve the problem they're attempting to address.

Dang it. Of course I was at Target in the last three weeks, I practically live there. ;) We'll have to deal with the card... Which is the same one that just got reissued two months ago due to some fraudulent charges that our bank, thankfully, caught. Grrr....

Hey KK, I don't think this has been mentioned, but have you considered audiobooks?!? :D (Sorry, had to.) Just wishing you best of luck on your upcoming journey. We are in the Midwest, but you're veering off before you reach our area. Hope it all goes well!

Subbing as well... Looking at an online writing class for DS this spring. I looked at Time4Writing, but would like some other options too.

This is ALWAYS the best answer to any of life's big questions! ;)

LOL.... Rose, slooooowly back away from the shiny new writing programs!! ;) (Says the woman who is ready to outsource writing for her DS... Or run away to the islands for the winter, one or the other!!) We just finished MM 5 and we need a break from it. So not buying, but pulling out LOF prealgebra. After that, a few bits of MM 6, and then on to AoPS prealgebra. Also already purchased. :D I never did buy MCT Voyage this year, but I'm thinking about getting it for second semester. We really miss CE, so I do need to at least get that. Oh, and we did just buy new programming courses for Java and Web Design.

Same here... DH is in IT and is pretty impressed by these programs.

Regentrude explained it perfectly!

Good to know, as our DS's aren't too far apart in age. Mine is dying to learn Java, and yes, I just bought that on the sale too! I think these programs are great. We will just stick with them for the time being!

It's a good reminder that the best curriculum is one that WORKS for your family or child. :) I'm glad she's doing so well!

Have you looked at geography from Memoria Press? It's pretty simple and straightforward, including other facts but drilling on maps as well.

I looked at this too, I know DS would love it. But it is pretty expensive! If it came to the highest discount level, maybe. I'm not sure I want an entire program devoted to Minecraft when there's so much else out there, LOL!! As it is, he's completing the Visual Basic Kid Coder course, and I just bought the Web Design and Teen Coder Java. So that's probably enough for now. But I'll follow the thread anyway. :)

We introduced Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. Our stand was that we'd start out with it, but never go to extremes to keep it going. DS figured out the Easter Bunny when he was four, but somehow he still held on to Santa for a while, although the kid is uber-logical and probably was skeptical after that. When asked, we told him. We are also planning to tell the story of the real St. Nicholas this week. I have no problem with families doing or not doing Santa and the like. But I wish people wouldn't get snarky or self-righteous that their way is the only way and everyone else is ruining their children.

This is fun.. we should do this more often! ;) Let's see... My (apparently) unpopular opinion on dogs is that I cannot imagine living without one. I think they add a lot to a family. Including yes, cuddling on the furniture! ;) If Johnny Depp and I were the last two people on earth, the human race might die out. He just does nothing for me. I'm torn on Adam Levine... I find him objectively attractive, but not my type. I can eat cooked tomatoes in most any form, but if anyone puts a raw tomato on my sandwich... I can pull it off, but the whole sandwich is still pretty much ruined. And I hate chunks of onion, raw or cooked, in anything. I've learned that I really enjoy Facebook for keeping up with people, after holding out for many years. But I really wish people would quit "checking in" at places all day long for absolutely no reason. By the time I read that John had lunch at Subway, Susie is at her doctor's office, and Bobby is stuck in traffic downtown... with no details, just notifications... I don't care anymore. Traveling sucks. I love seeing new places, but the process of getting there... ugh. I hate long drives, I detest flying, and I really don't like staying in hotels, so..... once they perfect teleportation (or traveling by port key), then I'll travel. :D And, in my opinion... the first question asked at homeschooling groups should not be, "What church do you attend?" I know that's not an unpopular opinion here on the boards necessarily, but IRL, the only homeschoolers around me are the very religious who ask that question right after your name, but can't hold a conversation about choosing a math curricula because they all use ALL Abeka or BJU (please don't take that as a bash on religious people, I'm Christian myself but apparently not the right kind, LOL).... or radical unschoolers who are totally unconcerned with academics, and the only group they have is a park day. And it makes homeschooling pretty isolating. Which is why we probably won't be doing it much longer. There... I feel better. :)

We aren't very far into this, but so far, I'm picking and choosing. Some we discuss together, some he writes out. I think there's value to writing out many of the exercises, but mine is a bit pencil-averse, so I'd rather focus, for now, on working with the words and how they fit together well, if that makes sense.

A. You're not alone. There are days I have to tell mine, Mama needs quiet time. B. I'm not entirely sure it's ever too early for wine. I mean, mimosas are served with breakfast, right? C. I'm suddenly craving cake, pie, and brownies. And wine....