[How old do you think you look as opposed to how old are you?]

I definitely look younger than my age of 48. I color my hair and am slim and wear youngish clothes. Lately I've been thinking of getting some lines on my face plumped. I refuse to go down without a fight!

[What are your most favorite and least favorite household chores?]

I hate unloading the dishwasher and hate, hate, hate cleaning the shower. I love organizing stuff and washing dishes by hand (only because I don't *have* to).

[Alton Brown will be the death of me yet!]

We made it a few years ago for Thanksgiving. It was the best turkey we have ever eaten!

[Ok, 'fess up. Who, besides me, just took down their Christmas wreath?]

Mine is artificial with glass beads and berries, so it wasn't *totally* christmas-sy, more winter-y, but still...

[Do you have a favourite word?]

I like the word "intifada", although I have no idea why nor in what instance I would ever use it!

[Tick question - uggh!]

We have rapid tests now for Lymes in the vet world so I assume it is the same for humans. If he turns up positive they'll put him on doxycycline.

 

I think animals are treated with more care than are humans when it comes to lyme. When I had it two years ago, there were no rapid tests (took a month to diagnose), and the doctor was really chintzy with the antibiotics. You'd think we'd be beyond that here in CT where it is an epidemic, but they still refuse to treat it seriously.

[Please post your favorite Pot roast recipe]

If you have a crockpot, cut up some onions, carrots and potatoes, put the roast on top, dump some beef broth or stock over it and cook it for eight hours on low. Make gravy from the broth. Deeeelicious. It's both my kids' requested birthday dinners, so that says something!

[College Education Goals and Alternatives]

I would never presume to tell my kids what they should do with their adult lives. I consider the choice to attend college to be an adult one. I have always told them that as long as they are happy and productive and can support themselves, that's all that matters. Both my dh and I have college degrees, and while my dh makes a very nice living, his paycheck is peanuts compared to that of his cousin who dropped out of high school, became a contractor, and became very wealthy in his own business. There are so many alternatives.

 

My dd is a talented dancer in a professional ballet school. She started college at 14, and plans to get her associate's degree dually, then go off and dance for awhile and teach dance later. I'm proud she wants the degree, but I also know she could follow her dream of dancing without it. My son loves theater and has performed in many local productions. He plans to go to college for theater, but, again, he may become successful without it and change his plan.

 

I have watched my nieces and nephews who were practically forced into college pursue majors that have not been right for them, change majors several times, and take forever to graduate from college, only to find they either cannot get a job, or do not like their field once they are in it. I think had they been left alone to decide for themselves, they might have found their own path, college or no. This is my hope for my own children.

[Tick question - uggh!]

My son is a tick magnet. He frequently gets them on his head and they are devilishly hard to get out. The mouth part is what is left (I know, yuk.) It should work its way out eventually. I would use peroxide and maybe some drawing salve, and watch it for signs of infection. Also, make sure to keep an eye on her for rashes and/or flu symptoms which could mean she has contracted lyme. Here in CT we are rife with it. hth.

[What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten?]

Gator tail, buffalo, chocolate-covered ants. Oh, and I used to eat a lot of birdseed as a kid.:tongue_smilie:

[We can't figure these math problems out. Singapore 5A]

P l x l 15 l

 

D l x l

 

H l x l 3 l

 

 

David's weight is the basic unit x. If you subtract the 18 extra grams from the total 123, you get 105. Dividing this by three gives you x or the basic unit, which is also David's weight. If you then add back the extra grams, you have Peter at 50g, and Henry at 38g. If you add them all back up, they equal 123.

 

Clear as mud?

[Companion poll from below: What are you NOT so good at?]

Keeping quiet

 

Getting my kids in bed at a decent hour

 

Letting things go

 

Delegating

 

Keeping the shower clean

 

Doing anything for myself

 

Following through

 

Picking paint colors

 

Parallel parking

[Who Homeschools?]

Uppity-Stepford-wife-hating Connecticutians

 

Buddhist-leaning unitarians

 

upper income folks who take to heart the adage that from he to whom much is given, much is expected

 

pro-nuclear power-generation sales execs

 

liberal-turned-conservative former social workers

 

hikers, bikers, kayakers, skiiers

 

nature-lovers who don't necessarily believe global warming is as dire as they say

 

mamas who refuse to let their kiddos be bullied, berated or bored to death

in ps

 

papas who believe that cuddling is a cure for what ails you

[Oh my! Can you imagine this tragedy? Woman kills FIL in freak accident.]

I read somewhere that most drivers who fall asleep are not nodding off - they are awake and then, bam, they are asleep. Many "unexplained" crashes are attributed to this (and insects, but that's another thread).

[Survey: If you had to abandon hsing....]

to continue my kids' home education if I were to die. He would use my life insurance to hire a nanny/educator. I guess the only other reason I'd ever consider stopping would be if my dh and I were to divorce and I was forced to return to work full-time. I just know I wouldn't have the stamina to continue hsing in that case.

[Planning for next year. Can I see your 9th grade schedules, please?...]

Teaching Textbooks Alg. 1

Apologia biology

Cambridge Latin

English 101 and American History at cc

35 hours of ballet training per week (I'm giving her two credits for this)

[Women who stand beside their scandal-ridden husbands . . .]

I imagine that a great deal of the time there are advantages or incentives to remaining.

 

This is one of my problems with Hillary Clinton. I can't help but think that her own political ambitions were more important to her than her own integrity. Personally, I would've walked out of the White House and kept walking. So I'm left to wonder, does she have the integrity I would like to see in our President? (Not that I think that there's a lot of that in the majority of them.)

[Are kids really devoid of common sense?]

Example: My son wanted to see if he could catch the hanging light switch in his teeth while jumping on the little trampoline in our basement. (You can guess where this is going...) The string went up between his front teeth and he was caught hanging there by his teeth with tippytoes on the tramp until he managed to unhook himself. No permanent damage, but he was sore for days. When I asked whyyyyy he would do such a thing, he said he just wanted to know what would happen. He was 10 when he did this. I assumed I did not need to say things like "don't paint the dog" and "don't go inside the dryer", but apparently I do. He is worse now than when he was two.

[Poll about your husband's support for/attitude toward homeschooling]

Five years later, he is a huge proponent, after having seen our kids excel academically and socially.

[What do you do with your eyebrows? (do you dress up spinoff)]

okay - I need suggestions about my eyebrows. Mine are so light they can hardly be seen. From the sounds of it, maybe I should be counting my blessings! :D ANyway, what color do you use if you pencil it in? I think anything brown or black would be SOOOO obvious on my pale face.

 

Maybe I'll ask the next time I get my hair cut.

 

Mine are very light, too. Even though my hair is darkish brown, I use taupe. It seems to look the most natural. I get the cheap ones from NYC, and they are as good as the expensive ones.

[How do you teach your children to deal with human "mosquitos?"]

There is a child in our hs group who has behavioral issues and hits, spits at, and verbally abuses other children. His mother loves to talk about his problems, but never seems to *notice* when he's actually acting out. When the group leader has brought it to her attention, she will give a half-hearted try at controlling him. I think she is just worn down. I feel very sorry for her, but I refuse to allow her son to intimidate and harass my children. I speak to him as necessary, as do the other moms. The leader has told me that if his behavior doesn't improve, they will not be invited back. It's not fair for the other twenty kids for this one to make their lives miserable.

[How do you teach your children to deal with human "mosquitos?"]

I would corner the kid myself and pull a Rebecca DeMorney (spelling) in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle when she told the bully she would be doing the same thing to him if he didn't leave the little girl she nannied alone.

 

 

I have taken kids into the corner for a little "chat" on occasion. The bad behavior usually stops immediately.

[Anyone with a review of Total Language Plus?]

It was very thorough, and had tons of activities we never even got to. He actually learned a lot of vocab that I felt was above his level. I plan to use them again.

[Can Anyone tell me more about Jump In Writing?]

We tried Writing Strands, Classical Writing and others, but this seems to be the most straight-forward and clearly written for kids. Son has produced some nice essays using it. Be aware it does have some strong biases on certain issues (I am thinking specifically about abortion, which seems to pop up way more often than is necessary, imo). Have you looked at the samples on Apologia's site?

[Is it possible for young people not to say 'like' in each sentence?]

When my children say it, I stop them and make them start the sentence over. I hate it so much, I don't let them use the word 'like' at all even when it fits; they have to say "It was *similar to* such and such" or "I really *appreciate or enjoy* this or that." :cool: