Could she attend a community college nearby and start with a *Beginning Biology/Geography* class? And then work up to a chemistry or physics class in the sequence the college has set up? Concurrent with a Beginning Bio class, she may be able to enroll for Beginning Algebra. You mentioned, she reads well - how are her writing skills? If science/math is the main concern, I don't think she needs to *redo* High School but rather fill the gaps with specific classes. Here in CA, a student does not even need to have graduated from High School to attend community college part-time. No ACT or SAT's are required. She'll have time to make it up, especially since she is motivated.

Progressing to paperless wherever possible. It helps when you have a bank with great online features and solid security!

It's nice to find a good deal, isn't it?

Has anyone seen abbeyej over here?

Yes, I am on dial-up. Everything takes ten times as long as in the real world but other than that I haven't had any problems, especially not since Sunday when Bob & Heather fixed the server issue. There were a few minor glitches in the beginning and I thought it was my connection but it got all ironed out. Sure hope Doran makes it over here. I always enjoyed her posts.

...you as erinjd, glad you mentioned your "other" identity! :D

Well, here is another stellar resume: We've homeschooled since 6th grade - now in 11th grade with a variety of material, however trying to stick fairly close to the recommendations in the original WTM. I was cruising around the WTM website for years before I ever ventured onto a board and it was out of sheer panic when ds entered High School that I tentatively clicked on a board. Started posting on HS board for another year before finding that it's okay to post on General Board as well - I think it used to be called "K-8 General" and I didn't dare post or read because we were not in 8th grade anymore. One day, I clicked on the wrong board and found a happy bunch of homeschoolers exchanging recipes and because I love to cook, bake and eat, I stayed for a while. Oh, that was about a little over a year ago... Ds 16 yo, plays disc golf in tournaments with Dad, rides horses, loves to raise chickens and sleeps with his dog. Need I say more? Oh, and he thinks Agriculture or Zoology may be his bent.

Will pray!

Thank you everyone for your advice. We'll have to check into Dave Ramsey's resources or Crown Financial - I believe I am familiar with Crown if it's the one founded by the late Larry Burkett. Thankfully, we have no other debt than a mortgage but we also have not been contributing to IRA regularly. A college fund for ds was established by a deceased uncle who left his estate for nieces and nephews to benefit for College or other educational expenses. We also still have some EE bonds somewhere. Getting organized is half the battle. Since we moved, papers and fileboxes are everywhere.

If you'd like a better picture of what hormones you need, you can have a saliva test done - it's more accurate and much easier than a blood test. The results of such a test will tell a compound pharmacist and your doctor what is needed in terms of amounts. I would encourage you to look for a doctor who is willing to do what's best for you. My first doctor wanted to hand me some synthetic hormones and could not quite understand why I wanted the bio-identical form. I have also been informed that in taking the bio-identical form you don't need nearly as high a dose as when taking the synthetics, the study that was done and scared people was done based on Premarin and Provera - and not on bio-identical hormones. If you are too tired to research, have your dh or a friend get some articles together - lots online about this, so you can be informed when you see your doctor at your next appointment. Hope you feel better soon, go easy and let yourself heal!

CalicoKat, here is what I did: As soon as I knew everything would have to come out, I inquired about Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy before surgery. After surgery, I already had the phone number handy and had already talked to someone there and filled out a questionnaire which I completed after about 2-3 weeks after surgery - only then could I accurately respond to the "symptoms" questions. If this is the route you want to take, make sure your doc is agreeable on the bio-idential replacements rather then the standard chemical stuff. I had to find a different doctor. My situation is probably different from yours but I am currently only taking adrenal support (herbal) for estrogen but a bio-identical Progesterone cream which seems to work rather well. E-mail or contact me anytime if you have more questions by whatever fancy means we have now at our disposal on this new forum.

Dh is not a great spender but certainly views things like mortgages and loans with less head scratching than I do. I would prefer not to have a mortgage or do everything to pay it off fast, he is always thinking of the tax deductions. How do you compromise? How do you budget together?

It's harder for me to keep track of the people and topics because of many more clicks and I'm on dial-up.

Thank you so much for this info, Barbara! I'll check my library.

I don't know about the peanut butter part of your question but I have been substituting honey and maple syrup for sugar for years. In baking, I often use the same amount of honey as sugar. I use raw honey most of the time and we are not very sweet-toothed. It works well for bread too.

Hamsters' lifespan is unfortunately only about 2-3 years. Piggies live longer and can be very friendly but like dangermom pointed out they seem to smell sooner and cage has to be kept clean daily. Personally, I would go for the piggies - I think they can be set up to spend a couple of days by themselves just as well as hamsters can. I still remember the drama every time a hamster passed on - too many deaths in the family!

Ds needs to replenish depleted funds and is interested in meat goats. We have the room for it but I don't know what the market is for these animals and how it all works. We googled and - of course - came up with quite conflicting info. If anyone has any input on this, we appreciate it! :D

You could also add "Private tutor" referring to teaching lit to students on a private basis.

I was a little (or a lot) lost at first and I am still figuring things out. Just now I am searching for a thread from this morning and cannot find it anywhere. Incidentally, it was started by KristineIN - if you are reading this - where is the thread about gardening and growing things??? The whole thing is about getting used to new things. There are advantages with either board format. I understand that safety was an issue and I accept it. I just had to spend a few hours here and there to maneuver around here and ask stupid questions. It's nice to see everyone's picture or Avatar and it's nice to recognize boad members from the old board and regroup together. I would'nt call it *negativity* but more *resistance to change* but as we all know "Change is the only thing that endures".

It was certainly nothing objectionable - about gardening of all things.

Floors! Sweeping is okay but mopping never brings the results I want (squeaky clean, streak-free) and I always make a mess with the water bucket.

We have done exactly what you describe. We lucked into a property of 7 acres that had an old - OLD trailer - single-wide on it. We existed in it for 6 years until we built. It's doable if you can sacrifice space. Also depends on how many people you need to house etc. We are a small family, so the single wide was all right - for a time at least. Advice on selecting land: Make sure you know all there is to know about access roads, easements etc. Any restrictions, i.e livestock - would be a shame if you want chickens and can't have them Is the property on a well, if so, how deep and reliable is the water supply? Who drilled the well? Is the shaft re-enforced? A lot of this stuff depends on where in the country the property is. How large of a property are you willing to maintain? Do you prefer a wooded lot or a meadow? There is probably more but that's all that comes to my mind for now.

Are you Aubrey from the old board with dh in seminary? If so, you've been on my mind lately. :D

I am not growing anything just yet. In years past, I have started tomato seedlings on the window sill as early as late February. We are trying to have a larger veggie garden this year. We have been in this house for 2.5 years and the outside landscaping is still very much a work in progress. Is there a way to figure out how many veggies I should grow for a 3-people family, with one member being a ravenous 16 yo ds who forages in the garden and eats the beans off the stalks before they make it into the kitchen? How many plants per person or some formula? I know it still depends on the yield of the individual plant but I'd like to approach it in a more organized fashion. In the past, I have gone crazy with the Burpee and Henry Field's catalogs and usually had either too much of something or not enough of another.

Easy, oh so easy recipe: Brown some chicken, cut into chunks or cubes Chop some celery, carrots, any color of bell pepper, Acorn squash Peel potatoes or - for fun - add Alphabet pasta. Boil water with chicken broth (whatever quantity you like) Cook all veggies until everything is soft then add browned chicken cubes for a couple of minutes. As evidenced above, I don't use specific quantities in this *recipe*. It's a Grandma's-throw-in-what-you-got kind of soup. LOL