Okay, let's see if I can remember all I wanted to... Kathy, that's genius on the wifi. That never occurred to me!! Nan, I simply can't fathom that much snow. I'm a lifelong midwest girl, so no stranger to snow or long winters. But I've never sunk up to my armpits. Not since I was five or so anyway, LOL!! Our snow has been melting a bit and I have my fingers crossed that Mother Nature isn't planning a sequel. Shukriyya, love the poetry!! Noseinabook, I'm so sorry. How awful for all of you. :grouphug: Eliana, many congratulations to your daughter and family!! And MMV, congrats to your young ladies as well. :) Sherri, welcome to the thread! I also have been looking at starting Ancient World, so maybe we can all read along together!! I'm quite sure I've forgotten some things, but hope all the rest of you are doing well!

I will try to make a few responses, but I'm with Negin... I *dearly* wish they'd get the multi quote feature working!! Butter, if you do see any of those books as Kindle deals, be sure to let the rest of us know, please... I'd love to have them, although I've considered just buying the coffee table style book! Kathy, such sweet pictures. Yes, the human puppies grow far too quickly. And no worries, I sing to my dog and I'm sure that I sound ridiculous half the time when I talk to him. He's very upset with me today... I had someone here to fix the dishwasher and he was behind a closed door, howling, barking, scratching... he was rather put out with me for not allowing him to protect me, LOL!! I finished the Peter Enns book last night, and now on to my next 'how to interpret Genesis non-literally' title. I'm also still reading Pride and Prejudice and really enjoying it!!

I think perhaps that should be standard procedure on Mondays. :LOL:

I was going to share this article too, I read it last night. Seems to present a fairly balanced view, although obviously it's not just the SV folk diving into this endeavor. The article posted in the OP appears to be a response to the one quark linked above. But this response article seems like it can be summed up by: "That's so cool, but it's not fair that our school doesn't look like that!!"

Ah, Tibbie... I'm so thankful to have you and other experienced moms on the board. Hitting the tween drama with my own son here lately and these words are such a wise reminder!! :grouphug: And OhElizabeth... yes. When in doubt, feed them!! Farrar... hang in there and PM me if you need a virtual chocolate buddy, LOL!!

I've also read the whole thread this week, it helps tremendously that I didn't forget about it until Friday! (Not that I've ever, you know, *done* that or anything... :leaving: ) Finished with "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" and have another Sarah Addison Allen book waiting in the wings... but first... I finally started "Pride and Prejudice" yesterday!! :) I'm about a quarter of the way through and really enjoying it. Can't believe I waited this long to read it!!

I use one called Not Your Mother's Beach Babe Sea Salt Spray. I just get it at Target. It does add a lot of texture, but if your hair has the tendency to wave at all, this will enhance that... though with a pixie it might not make that much of a difference. It's about $5 a bottle though, so worth a try!

Farrar, I'm with you in that I wouldn't expect everyone to react deeply to the news, especially if they hadn't known the girl. We too had a couple instances of this when I was in school. They were people that I didn't know well at all, and I felt as you described... a generally feeling of unease and a bit of sadness. I'm not saying that everyone has to mourn deeply. Just that everyone should act respectfully.

Lacking empathy and maturity is one thing... I wouldn't expect kids that age to always know the right things to say, for example. But to laugh at a tragic death? Sorry, but as others said, that's lacking human decency. If a child is old enough to understand what death means (and a teen certainly is), then he or she is old enough to at least act respectfully about the matter. How awful.

Pam, so happy that the book journal turned up!! Occasionally, I have my suspicions that inanimate objects have minds of their own and think they're playing a rousing game of hide and seek with us! ;) In the middle of "The Girl Who Chased the Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen. It's a re-read, but I really enjoy her books, and I think I'm liking this one even more this time around. I'll re-read a couple more of hers this month and work around to her new one called "First Frost." Also planning to pick up Pride & Prejudice this month!! I think Dawn had a good idea... I have a hard copy but may read it on the Kindle the first time, as I do love how easy it is to look things up. I'm now more than halfway through Enns' "The Evolution of Adam" and it's raised some thought provoking ideas. Once I finish that, I'll start on "The Lost World of Genesis One" by John Walton. They both essentially deal with how one reads Genesis, and as I'm sorting through some of my beliefs lately, this type of reading is helping me mull over some important concepts... I'll probably have an ongoing theme this year and plan to read about many different types of faith and philosophies.

I have several, except mine are the thinner, quilted ones... not so much the heavy puffer type. I'm one of those odd people who hates wearing a coat, and I try not to except in the coldest of weather. The vests are nice because most of the time, it stops people from crying out in horror, "Where is your COAT?!?!?" :LOL: And someone said upthread, it's nice because it gives a little more warmth, but you can leave it on running in and out of the stores and such. That's pretty much exactly it for me. I'm not outdoors for any extended length of time... it's into the car, into the school, back to the car, into Target... and so forth. :)

We need a group historian to record these notable moments! :LOL:

Hmm, that could be. It didn't seem very clear from the page I read, so that's certainly possible.

Rose, I read "Boys Adrift" (also by Sax) a couple years back. It had a lot of thought provoking topics, although I can't recall the details now. I might have to dig that one back out soon! Ugh, DS is ill with a stomach virus and I may have a touch of it myself. Not exactly conducive to making headway on my reading OR on my house projects. I blame DH... he brought it home and was sick last week. :LOL:

Looking ahead toward high school options for DS. He's currently in B&M Private school, but I'm not sure if it's the right fit for him all the way through. So I'm just exploring. I found Williamsburg Academy and have been looking at it today. It looks like it has a lot to offer. I prefer something secular but traditional, something accredited and that offers a diploma, and this fits the bill. I've done a search on the forums here, and all of the posts about it are older, doesn't look like anyone had much experience with it. Just wondering if any of you have had more recent experience, or know of others who have, and what you thought? Thanks! ETA: Hmm. Digging further, I'm probably not interested. They don't appear to have upper level math (nothing beyond pre-calc) and no real foreign language (just Rosetta Stone packages)?? But I'll leave the question up here in case anyone has insight. :)

Me too. Tears would definitely be involved. I'm sorry. We're dealing with a stomach virus here too, and it is the opposite of a good time. Here's hoping everyone's better soon. :grouphug:

Good morning! This weekend I read "The Fine Art of Pretending" by Rachel Harris... cute YA novel. I am still working on the Peter Enns book but haven't picked it up in several days. On my plate for this month... going to re-read a Sarah Addison Allen title or two and then read her new one, "First Frost." And as for Flufferton... serious confession coming up... I've *never* read a Jane Austen book. :leaving: So I plan to rectify that this month. I have several titles sitting on my bookshelves, so just need to decide where to start!!

Thanks for asking. Things got a bit worse before getting better... she was bleeding and taken back into surgery again Saturday, along with getting more transfusions. This poor woman had over a dozen units of blood in a few days' time. Finally things were looking up today, and amazingly, she was transferred out of ICU Sunday evening and is much improved. So relieved and thankful. Baby is doing well, and all the news looks to be positive at this point. Life is so precious, and I'm so glad these children will get their mom home with them soon. :001_wub:

Here, the groundhog couldn't even get out of his hole because it's buried under, literally, a foot of snow. So, I vote whatever means winter will last for.ev.er.

If someone says "I feel you" then my immediate unspoken, mental response is: I'd really rather you didn't. :)

I'm crying at the poetry and sentiments. Liz, I'm so sorry your baby is gone, but I hope it's some very small comfort that he was able to pass peacefully. One cannot ask for more than that at the end, and I'm sure he knew he was adored and was sad to leave you. May Ted rest in peace, and may you cherish the memories you made together. :grouphug:

Oh Katie, that's truly awesome!! Congrats!! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

Thanks everyone. News is better this afternoon. Her DH said she was awake and alert, and hoped to have breathing tubes removed. (I think I'm glad I hadn't known she needed them in the first place!) she is in a lot of pain and will be in ICU for a few days. She finally got to hold her little one this afternoon. 😊 Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes! It's still serious and they'll watch her closely, but they're optimistic.

I could use some positive thoughts, prayers, whatever you've got... just worrying and had to share. Found out this morning that a friend, a homeschooling mama, just had her 6th baby this morning. Baby is fine, mom is in trouble. My friend started hemorrhaging and was rushed into surgery, given several units of blood, and is currently in ICU. I haven't had updates yet, but it sounds pretty dire. I'm scared for her, and worried for her husband and kids... my son has known her two oldest since they were all toddlers. ETA: Update in post 27... Better news.

What an absolute mess! We all know dealing with bureaucracy is miserable, but the extent of the incompetence and runaround you're getting is *mindboggling* to me. And you're right... we are intelligent, capable, educated people. Like you said, if someone has no education or has issues with functioning... I can't imagine how they would manage the process. Obviously there have to be some rules/paperwork/applications for these kinds of things... but there are a million ways to simplify things if people would use some common sense. I'm sorry, it sounds terribly frustrating. :grouphug: