DECEMBER 52. Around My French Table 51. Colorado Kid 50. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake 49. The Incorrigible children of Ashton Place: book 1 48. Tropic of Cancer 47. The Sisters: Saga of the Mitford Family Did you reach the goal of 52 books or did you manage to beat your own personal best? Surprisingly, I reached it. I gave up over the summer. No, its not a personal best. What book are you ending the year with? I'm reading The Children's Book by AS Byatt and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. How many classics did you read? What did you think of the writing style or author? I was blown away by Junichiro Tanizaki's The Makioka Sisters. Name one book that you thought you'd never read and was pleasantly surprised you like it. The biggest surprise was that I didn't hate Tropic of Cancer. What are your favorite books? The Makioka Sisters The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat To Say Nothing of the Dog The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Mountains Beyond Mountains The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place What are your ten least favorite books? Heaven is for Real The World of Bite Size Under the Banner of Heaven Her Fearful Symmetry The Tipping Point Don't Bother Me Mom--I'm Learning! The Reluctant Entertainer Did you start any books that you just simply couldn't finish? Always

Traders and Builders

I've seen both and with that age group I would say Muppets. TinTin is a great movie. We loved it, but we have older boys (a tough age for watching standard cartoon fare). One thing I liked about it was that the action was such that the 11 and (almost) 13 year old could still enjoy it. It was constantly moving. For a young child, sensitive child, or particularly imaginative child a few scenes would be too much.

I have a kidney-shaped bag made of blue tapestry fabric (black, white, tan flowers and arabesques embroidered into the fabric). It's meant to be worn over the shoulder like a messenger bag. I bought it at an enormous craft fair. The guy imports the fabric from France and makes them with his wife over the winter. My mom owns a red wallet one on a cord.

I voted 'College' because we met there, but we dated after I graduated (although he was still there).

When the mail comes, its placed in a letter holder (one of those with 4 slots) on the kitchen counter. If I bring the mail in I filter out the chaff and just put the bills in there, although others just shove the mail in. When dh gets paid I pull out my 3-ring binder with ledger. In the front is a piece of paper with dates/price of non-monthly bills and money-out (insurance, title renew, school bills, etc). Inside the front cover are vital passwords and bank account numbers. I go get the bills out of the holder. I sort them: pay, trash, file. Then I sit down with my computer and go to my bank's website. I consult my ledger to see which group of bills are being paid (since dh is paid biweekly) and I pay online them from the account. When I pay a bill I mark the date, name, and amount in the ledger. If I use a check I write that number in as well. Then I go to the account page and check that last pay periods bills were paid and write dh's checks in the ledger (he doesn't balance a checkbook). I make sure we have a suitable balance beyond the bills, I transfer money to or from savings, plan for upcoming expenses, and copy the list of bills to the next month (so I don't forget, even if the bill gets lost between the mailbox and the kitchen counter). When I'm done I put the ledger/binder away and I'm ready to file. I started out with a file folder for each bill, but honestly I just tossed them in the drawer beneath the cabinet when I was busy. Now I toss all bills in a manila envelope, bank sheets/check stubs in another manila envelope, and medical papers in a third envelope. I always file tax information (even if its bank or medical information), insurance forms and receipts...although I may let them pile up a bit. At the end of January I get rid of the previous year worth of non-tax-stuff in the manila envelopes. That's it. I know many people consider a paper ledger to be redundant, but I like being able to see the whole process. I've caught insurance mistakes and tracked spending changes. I'm not worried if our computer crashes. The whole process takes @20 minutes every 2 weeks. I wish you the best, every system starts with what you need and what you know you will actually do. Good luck, the daughter of an Auditor

I voted 'Other' because I wouldn't say he is a reader, but he does read. Lots of online articles, bits and pieces of code and management books, and he usually has a science fiction novel started. His favorite reading is when I read to him in the car on long rides. We're reading Fire Upon the Deep right now. Since he's an audio learner with ADD tendencies its much easier for him to listen than read.

Jung's is a standard seed company from the upper Midwest. I live within 30 minutes of one of their brick and mortar stores and haven't had any unusual problems in the 10 years we've lived here (I can always sprout their seeds so I assume most problems to be environment). If you're looking for heirloom seeds they're kind of limited, but for standard seeds they're okay.

I am so thankful for an Amazon wishlist, and even more thankful for the sibling who used it! The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Between this and The Children's Book by AS Byatt (which I'm reading right now) I'm going to have a good Edwardian buzz soon. Gourmet Game Night (which was actually an entry for my husband but that's ok). Cooks Illustrated Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen, even my brother thought this looked good. Backyard Fruits and Berries for my gardening obsession. And Dean picked up A Passion for Desserts at Goodwill for me. I also got the new Ticket to Ride Asia and Dixit Odyssey (board games).

You can usually put it off a bit with diet and care. Pump and freeze breastmilk until you feel more prepared. I started having attacks a few months after my first was born. I put it off. By 9-10 months it was an emergency situation. The month before surgery I spent mostly in bed. That's not the case for everyone.

If one or more of the stones block your lower duct you become jaundiced. When that happens they have to knock you out and stick a thing down all your various tubes and make a small snip to let it/them out. You can ask them to examine the scan and see how likely they are to pass, but if you do make sure you do a follow up. If your gall bladder is overproducing over time, chances are next time won't be so easy.

Qwirkle Blokus Ticket to Ride Forbidden Island all good I would add: For Sale~bidding/trading game, you acquire odd houses and then try to sell them for the most money Incan Gold~press your luck game, exploring tunnels for treasure Bohnanza~trading game, planting and harvesting beans, trading sets Bang!~spaghetti western (cheapest, easiest to play with many youngsters) Zooloretto~building a zoo, collecting animals Carcassone~puzzle-like, forming roads, cities, monestaries The Adventurers~like the first 10 minutes of Indiana Jones, outrun a boulder, escape with treasure (A step up, slightly more parts or expense)

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen-- not 11 year old appropriate (just sayin') I love steampunk but a lot of it has adult content. Tread carefully.

Easiest: pretzels chocolate chips candy canes (if you want) m&ms (if you want) Melt chocolate in double boiler, microwave, or bowl over hot water. While you're waiting smash candy canes and put parchment paper or wax paper on a cookie sheet. Dip knotted pretzels. Put on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with candy canes or press one m&m in center. Dry.

Reasons kids don't do chores: *what you want, in detail, is not obvious to them *the task is overwhelming *they have not developed the availability to recognize clean/dirty *they have a different standard of clean/good/done then you do *because of their limited interest they don't remember the steps of what they need to do *they're bored *they're over committed *there doesn't seem to be any motivation (other than you) to do it *you waited to long to start doing chores *they're going through a bad attitude time in their lives One fix won't work for all of these. You have to know which of these applies and then seek a fix for each individual problem. *apprentice them, do the work with them explaining it step by step *posting exactly what steps are expected, in detail, and in writing *point out specific things you will accept and not accept *model behavior *check up, correct, have complete their task correctly *give them time to learn and grow *add music, add teamwork, break tasks into smaller pieces *lower tasks or outside commitments *double chores for skipping, do chores for a sibling, or owe mom a chore (and make it a good one ;) ) *apply smartmouth correction (whatever you do..rewind, take 10m off bed time, discussion, whatever) *have chores done before fun (computer, tv, video games, etc.) I find most problems with chores have more to do with my lack--my lack of time to check, my lack of patience to teach, my lack of forethought--and maturity. There were times and kids I just had to persevere through, but the longer you do chores the more they get used to it.

Puzzle ring

It depends on what you want. A casual game or one for younger children who don't have a strong grasp on geography~United States All of them are good for geography, but Africa and Europe are the most balanced in terms of game play (its easiest to move from place to place). Africa will always be my favorite because it was my first and I always enjoy the geography. 10 Days available: U.S. Europe Africa Asia (& Oceania) the Americas (North and South America, Caribbean) You can also put them together and do "20 Days Around the World" or something like that. We did 40 Days Around the World before we got the Americas. It was fun, but it was a bit long. I would do it again for 20 or 30 Days.

I don't regret it, but it was hard having my 4 boys all together (18-26 months apart). My brain never completely recovered from that. My memory skills are average or slightly above and my expectations are greater. I had a crazy good memory before. Lately its word choice. The one I want is just not there but I can feel it and even visualize it sometimes. I'm hitting 40. What helps is always learning something new. Eating well. Sleeping. Having adult conversations. And being very patient with myself. Don't run to Google right away. Let my brain work at its own time. Memory takes less hard concentration and more letting things percolate and float through.

:iagree: You can find it at Walgreens. There's another one too, but I can't recall the name right now. Ask at the Pharmacy section. Usually it will clear up my pain within the hour. Lots of water too. Urine color does change.

:iagree: If we won't get to it for more than 24 hours I freeze it.

@$100 in 1998 $75 for the material $10 for thread & stuff My mom made it for me. I couldn't find what I wanted elsewhere.

Carols: Still Still Still Lo, How a Rose Ere Blooming Adeste Fideles~this is one that's felt better when singing, than listening. What Child is This? I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day~one of Longfellow's best I Wonder as I Wander Other Christmas songs: White Horse Darling (Christmas is Coming) Put the Lights on the Tree Blue Christmas Linus and Lucy Skating Sister Winter Blue Christmas

Dh's cousins sparred with bamboo katana. A little bit of give is nice, plus they're cheaper to replace.

That reminds me The Adventurers is kind of fun...in an Indiana Jones/Allan Quartermain kind of way. It also allows for 6 people to play and has lots of characters to choose from. You get chased by a boulder and try to escape with the most treasure before the boulder blocks the exit.

We moved after I became a SAHM. I'm on all the accounts (dh even had to do extra paperwork recently to make sure I could control the credit card account without him) BUT I am not the primary on any account. The only way I could become the primary would be to have an income. This didn't bother me until the last year or so. Things have tightened up since the banking scandal and its annoying that credit card companies are removing the access of equal (but secondary) partners. Its not like they listen when I tell them my husband hasn't paid one bill in our entire marriage and that I'm not sure he could get into our checking account without going there in person. :tongue_smilie: