Nope, went right over my head! In fact, I remember rolling my eyes at the balcony scene and connecting it to West Side Story - how did I not make the leap to Romeo and Juliet? But now that you mention it, pretty clever! Good for you on the chaperoning! Hope that goes well for you and for your daughter.

What a beautiful girl. Wishing you comfort but also joy in your memories of time together.

Can anyone here suggest a good cottage to rent on PEI this summer? I've looked at HomeAway and VRBO and have seen lots of good options, but I also value the opinions of people on this board so thought I'd give it a try. Finally, for those who have rented using VRBO or HomeAway, do you usually offer a lower fee or is the posted fee generally the going rate? I don't mind paying fair market value, but I don't want to be a chump if it's standard practice to haggle a little. Thanks!

I liked it. Definitely speaks to the resilience of children. I thought she did a great job of approaching her story without bathos and I was impressed that she could forgive her parents without making excuses for them.

I was snowed in this weekend, so had lots of time to read. Finished: Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick - This was my first time reading about North Korea, and it was a real eye opener. I think the opening image - a nighttime satellite photo that shows the country in complete darkness compared to the bright lights of South Korea - was the most telling part of the whole book. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion - My first zombie book and probably my last. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker - As a lover of all things Amish, I was eager to read this one but came away disappointed. I think the author wanted to write a book about how she cut back during the recession and used the Amish angle to snag a publisher. There was very little information about the Amish except an occasional anecdote about buying sugar in bulk or small gifts at the holidays. She doesn't really apply any Amish frugality to her daily life, discussing instead how she now buys designer clothes second-hand rather than new. That is so not the point. On the plus side, the book did give me a little will-power pep talk which inexplicably made me want to go on a diet. Not a total loss, I guess. In Progress: I think I'll start UnWholly by Neal Shusterman; it's the sequel to Unwind, which I enjoyed last year. Still slogging through A Tale of Two Cities on audio. Halfway done. It has picked up some, which is a relief. Finished this Year: 17. Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick 16. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion 15. Money Secrets of the Amish by Lorilee Craker 14. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 13. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim 12. The Old Man and the Sea (Audio) 11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Audio) 10. Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek 9. An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff 8. Breaking Night by Liz Murray 7. The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud) 6. The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow 5. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (Canada) 4. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (Read aloud) 3. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud) 2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Canada) 1. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

I reserved Warm Bodies at the library a couple of days ago, and I think I'll be able to pick it up tonight. I'm not typically into zombie books, but the great reviews persuaded me to give it a try. Glad it's not just me. I used to love Dickens in all my Victorian literature classes in college, and I (mis?)remember enjoying A Tale of Two Cities when I read it in school. However, I'm now more than four hours in and it's not really holding my attention. I'm almost "audio skimming" if that's possible. Today on the way to work I was in stop-and-go traffic and actually found myself nodding off as the audio just washed over me.

Finished a few this week: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (Audio) - After the Hemingway talk on this thread a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd give it a try on audio. I really enjoyed the story. Well read by Donald Sutherland. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - A board favorite, and I can definitely see why. I wonder how many other amazing stories of survival and bravery have been lost, untold by survivors too stoic and/or traumatized to share them. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim - I was struck by my own misconception that child actors earn enough to leave them set for life (apart from their own squandering of resources or embezzlement/poor guidance by guardians). I wonder if that is indicative of the era or if the same still is true of today's young actors. In Progress: I started A Tale of Two Cities on audio this morning for the February Dickens challenge. I listened for more than an hour, and nothing has happened yet. I haven't read any Dickens in years, and I had forgotten how verbose he is. It's getting rather tedious, so I hope the action heats up soon. Finished this Year: 14. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand 13. Confessions of a Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim 12. The Old Man and the Sea (Audio) 11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Audio) 10. Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek 9. An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff 8. Breaking Night by Liz Murray 7. The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud) 6. The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow 5. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (Canada) 4. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (Read aloud) 3. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud) 2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Canada) 1. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

Finished lots this week: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (audio) - Well, this one is a classic for a reason. I hadn't read it since high school, and I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the story; I had even forgotten about some of the twists so I got to be surprised again. This was a great reading by Dick Hill and I found myself actually disappointed on days when traffic was light because it cut into my listening time! Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek - I heard about this one from someone on this thread. While the pp didn't seem too enthused about the book, I thought it was a cute concept so gave it a try. It didn't fulfill my expectations either. A couple of the items were interesting, but most were rather bland. I thought the shopping lists would have quirky items or something, but there was nothing fascinating about sugar, salt, bread, etc. Breaking Night by Liz Murray - This was a neat memoir of a girl, the neglected child of drug addicts, who goes on to Harvard. What a great and inspirational story, and well written, too. An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff - Another memoir about a neglected child of drug addicts (I seem to be reading a lot of these lately). This one was from the perspective of a successful advertising sales rep who became friends with the young man when she met him panhandling on the street at the age of 11. This was a neat one to read after Breaking Night. The both come from similarly horrid backgrounds. Liz Murray ends up a Harvard graduate who forms her own company. Maurice becomes a security guard, but his outcome seems equally successful as just surviving their childhoods was the greatest challenge for both. The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright - This is the second of the Melendy Quartet. Another great story, even if it didn't grab me quite as much as the first. DD loved it; she claims she enjoyed it as well as The Saturdays. Nothing in progress right now. I'll have lots of time to read over the next couple of days, so I hope to find something great. Finished This Year: 11. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (audio) 10. Forgotten Bookmarks by Michael Popek 9. An Invisible Thread by Laura Schroff 8. Breaking Night by Liz Murray 7. The Four Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud) 6. The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow 5. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (Canada) 4. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren (Read aloud) 3. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright (Read aloud) 2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Canada) 1. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

I wonder what kind of message we'd be sending our kids by saying "You're too smart/advanced to be wasting your time on this silly busy work. When the teacher assigns a paper, you're too special to do it. We have a homework free home." More than teaching our kids academic material, we are teaching them life skills. The bottom line is there is a teacher with authority in the classroom. Whether or not the child enjoys the material or requires extra practice, the true lesson could be that sometimes we need to do what is assigned to us, whether we see the value in it or not. For those whose homework is too easy, how time consuming is it really? Is 10-15 minutes out of the day so very valuable that they can't just go along for the sake of being a positive, contributing and responsible student? DD does Everyday Math, too, and I agree that especially in the early grades, some of the assignments are really inane. But they are easy and quick. And they are assignments. The lesson is, you do what the teacher assigns you because that is your role as a student.

Thank you. I will check those out!! Oh, she can figure it out on paper no problem. I meant to say, she can't then take the process off the paper and into her head. I guess your initial response has me wondering, though, if I'm approaching this incorrectly. Should I be teaching her to add the "ones" column mentally and then the tens - the same way she'd do it on paper. Or am I supposed to encourage her to break things down? Or is it a different process depending on each specific problem (e.g. 26+16 might be done your way, but 26+24 would be done the other way)? When I myself do mental math, I break things into round numbers. But maybe there's a better way to teach her? I'm not a mathy person, but I've certainly always been solid in math. The fact that I can't sort out the best way to help her is really bothering me.

I am afterschooling DD8. She usually does really well in math, but yesterday she came home with a mental math paper that she had just bombed. She doesn't seem to be able to get past being able to figure it out with pen and paper. So I tried to explain about breaking the numbers into parts (e.g., 26+16 becomes 26+10+4+2) but she looked at me like I had three heads. I don't think I'm very good at explaining it (hence our aftershooling and not homeschooling). I asked how her teacher tried to explain it to them, and she said she didn't. I'd be very grateful for some help on a better way to explain this, demonstrate it, or SOMETHING. We have cuisinaire rods, Math Mammoth, and Youtube available to us. Thanks ever so much!

Finished two this week: A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (Canadian) - This was all right but nothing great. Novel about a 16 yo Mennonite girl whose mother and sister left the community; the girl stays with her faithful, loving, yet negligent father. Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow - This was recommended on Mental Multivitamin's blog. It is the memoir of a death penalty defense attorney. I thought it was definitely interesting and a page-turner. I did have a few issues with the book, though. First, he describes a few dreams, which is always a big snooze for me. Then, there are many scenes where his 6yo son demonstrates his moral superiority to the author while he self-flagellates for bad parenting; these scenes are made more irritating by the son calling him "Dada." Finally (and more substantially) the author claims that his reason for opposing the death penalty is strictly moral, and he does not agree with the abolitionists who base their argument on the possible innocence of death row inmates. However, the primary anecdote of the book is his work to save a man whom he believes to be innocent. In Progress: The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (audio) Breaking Night by Liz Murray Finished this Year: 6. The Autobiography of an Execution by David Dow 5. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews (Canada) 4. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren 3. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright 2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Canada) 1. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

If you do end up reading Wicked, I'd love to hear your thoughts. I listened to about 4 hours on audiobook and gave it up. Too dark for me and a slow mover. Wondering if I should have stuck it out. This week, I also dropped Simplicity Parenting. I don't think it really applies to my family but I was still slogging through it; however, I ran out of renewals at the library so I took it as a sign and abandoned it. This week, I finished one and started three: Finished The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren - This read-aloud started out slow but definitely improved. Very sweet and charming. DD enjoyed it. A caveat to those who may read it to younger kids: it does say that Santa isn't real. DD has been on the fence about Santa, so this was a downer for me. She was reading along with me so I couldn't just skip those sentences. Thanks, Astrid. :glare: Started A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews - This is another Canadian author. The novel is about a 16yo Mennonite whose mother and sister have left the community. She is left with a negligent, though loving father. So far it's OK. The lack of quotation marks for dialogue is really bugging me for some reason. The Four-Story Mistake by Elizabeth Enright - Our new read-aloud; second of The Saturdays series. We're only one chapter in, but it promises to be another winner. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - Started listening to this on audio on the way to work this morning. Finished This Year: 4. The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren 3. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright 2. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill (Canada for the Continents Challenge) 1. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison

I didn't respond to your initial thread but I do remember it. Based on your statement above, if your dd's godfather takes the role very seriously, I imagine he would be honored and touched by your asking him to serve as your son's godfather, as well. It sounds like it's something very important to him, which makes him the perfect candidate. Why not ask him, letting him know that you understand if he thinks mentoring/guiding two godchildren would be too much and see what he says?

I just bought a pair of Not Your Daughter's Jeans. More expensive than I usually purchase, but they have a bit of spandex and feel good on. I've also had good luck with Talbots jeans, since most of their clothes aren't designed for stick-straight teenagers.

We dress up for church, but I don't think it makes any difference to God or Jesus at all. I want to impress upon my kids that church is a special place and the time that we spend there as a family is special, and I think that wearing special clothes helps to enforce that (even if it's in a shallow way). Our church is pretty casual, but not too casual if that makes any sense. Most women wear trousers and sweaters. Most men wear chinos and dress shirts/sweaters. Some men wear a jacket; a couple wear suits and ties. There are some younger people who come in jeans. No one really cares in our church; I've never heard anyone discuss what anyone else is wearing besides to compliment a pretty scarf, pin, blouse, etc. Fellowship is more important to us.

Well, you are all putting me to shame. I finished a few and felt quite accomplished, but there are so many others who have had such great reading weeks! Anyhow, here's my week: A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison - Interesting book about two Indian girls left orphaned by a tsunami and their unfortunate kidnapping to the sex trade. I don't think I read the summary very well, because I didn't realize it was going to be an international thriller about an American lawyer's efforts to rescue the girls. Still a very interesting book. I like that it addressed the topic of the sex trade and human trafficking without any vulgarity. The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright - This is everything that a great read aloud should be: engaging story, charming characters, rich vocabulary, and cultural references galore. DD loved it, as did I. She woke up every morning begging me to read it. We've ordered the next in the Melendy Quartet from the library and are eagerly awaiting its arrival. Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill - Read this for the Canada challenge. It's a very sad story about the 12yo daughter of a heroin addict and her life of neglect and abuse. Depressing without being melodramatic. The story is set in Montreal, so this was a good match for the challenge because there are references to sections of the city, French-language musicians, etc. Now I've started on Simplicity Parenting and Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey. Neither has fully engaged my attention so we'll see if I stick with them. Also started The Children of Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren as a read aloud with DD because she loved all of the Pippi Longstocking books. So far it's just OK.

I don't do substitutes. I think that the idea of going low carb is that eventually you will reduce the cravings for carb-rich foods. In the past when I've tried to do substitutes (like sugar-free desserts or low-carb breads), I still felt deprived and ended up craving the real thing.

I can chime in on audiobooks since I use them a lot. May not be helpful, though, since I know that many of you are SAHM. I work four days a week and have a one-hour commute in each direction. I listen to books on my ride just about every day. As an aside, for anyone looking to try audiobooks, I heartily recommend To Kill a Mockingbird read by Sissy Spacek. By far the best audiobook I have ever listened to. The book is great, as we all know, but her reading is spectacular.

I think it depends on what you need for yourself right now. We try to take two vacations a year: a relaxing beach vacation and a go-go-go tourist vacation. But when we can't do both in a year, we base our choice on our mood. Do we need time to just hang out and reconnect? Or are we craving new experiences, culture, and interesting food? I voted for Norway today, because after the past week of Christmas visiting and tradition, I'm tired of hanging out and would love to shake things up. Also, where you have a cruise planned for April already, you may get the beach cravings out of your system and be ready for a more adventurous trip come summer.

I read this book last year and had the same experience as you. Started off great - laughed out loud through many of the first chapters, but it went downhill quick and I had the sense that she was just recycling blog material. Had to push myself through to the end of that one. I'm just about done with A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison, which has been really quite good. I'm at the part now where they just tie up all the loose ends so it's winding down. For a read aloud with DD, we're about halfway through with The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright, which we're both enjoying thoroughly. Not sure if it will count for the 52 books, but still thought I'd mention it since I'm always looking for read aloud suggestions and assume others are the same.

Fear of commitment? :laugh:

Useless piece of trivia for the day: this is called a husband. Not kidding.

So far I haven't overdone it, but I'm on the brink. My standard is to keep things very modest until about three days before Christmas. Then I take stock of what I have for everyone and decide it isn't enough. Then I make myself crazy running from place to place and overspending on items that could have been purchased on sale three weeks ago. I can sense I'm about to hit that point.

I'm an only child, and I get what she was saying. I used to get lots of board games and had no one to play them with. My mom did many, many wonderful things with me when I was growing up, but she was not about to sit down and play a two-hour game of Monopoly. How about an origami book with origami paper; http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Beginners-Origami-Nick-Robinson/dp/0823000729/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355346180&sr=1-8&keywords=origami Or thumbprint art with good paper, markers, and ink pads: http://www.amazon.com/Emberleys-Great-Thumbprint-Drawing-Book/dp/0316789682/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355345975&sr=1-1&keywords=thumbprint+art Or how about this American Girl "Tear Up this Book" by the author of Wreck this Journal. Would be good paired with markers/art supplies. http://www.amazon.com/Tear-This-Book-American-Library/dp/1584859776/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355346279&sr=1-11&keywords=wreck+this+journal