Hello everyone! HI!!:seeya: It is a damp day Ohhhh, sorry to hear it. It is a gorgeous, vibrant day here. I'll wish some of it your way! so grab a spoon and a bowl and dish up some soup. We are having a soup buffet today. I <3 Soup! Any time/day of the year! What is your favorite soup and what do you like to eat with it? Oh, I love so many kinds of soup but here are a few of my favorites. They are also my family's favorites. These are delicious soups but another wonderful thing about them is their simplicity. -- Minestrone with a chunky, hearty loaf. -- Mediterranean Ck Pea Stew (onions, garlic, ck peas, rice, tomatoes and juice, spin, dill) served with lemon wedges to squeeze over and crackers and butter. -- zuppa de pasta e fagioli -- which is nice itallian for pasta and bean soup served with an itallian loaf and butter. Did you sleep in this morning? Somewhat. We went to a different mass this morning that begins an hour and 15 min later than our usual mass. I got to lounge a bit longer but, time change and all, I didn't sleep long. Today's random question: When you were a child, did you have a frenemy? Well, to be honest I'm not even sure what that means, really. I guess it means that a person is at once my friend and my enemy . . . mmmm . . . no. I do try to be nice to everyone but someone would have to do something really ugly to even approach enemy status. At that point, civility, yes, but . . . I don't know. I don't think I get it. I guess I don't have any of those.

In her current essay, my daughter is to take a position on whether or not Hamlet was actually mad or feigning madness. Her thesis: Hamlet, without realizing that he was actually mad, feigned madness. Well, why not? In her fully developed thesis statement (a la LAoW) she points to declarations of intent in feigning madness and also private acts that could point to madness. I can't wait to read the final paper! I never realized that there was any controversy here. He says he's planning to feign madness and there are cultural reasons for doing so . . . I always assumed that everyone assumed he was faking. One of our resources (Asimov) refutes the controversy and that is how we even knew there was one. Well, my daughter has thought this one over and thinks it's the double whammy: he was feigning madness while, unbeknownst to himself, he was actually mad.

Well, technically they're my nieces and nephews, I guess, but . . . I never see them and rarely speak of them and when I do, I refer to my husband's nieces and nephews. I don't have any brothers or sisters myself so I don't know what my husband would call them. My daughter has never met them but calls them her cousins if they come up in conversation, though they rarely do. I also refer to my husband's siblings as his siblings, and his parents as his parents and his grandparents as his grandparents and I guess it just seems natural to refer to his nieces and nephews as his nieces and nephews. In my extended family, everyone calls everyone aunts, uncles, and cousins, nieces and nephews no matter who is the blood relative.

:glare: yeah, my 8/9th grader has terrible handwriting. So do I, though, so it seemed so unfair to get very upset about it. And then we started Greek. You should just see the beautifully formed letters! She has to stop and think about forming the letters for the first time in her memory and she makes them so nicely. Well, she doesn't make her alpha rightly for some reason but she does make it neatly. Previously I thought that, like me, her handwriting was just going to be sub par and sometimes considered remediation. Then, after seeing that she is capable I thought that remediation was probably not in order. It is true that she does not write neatly but, sad but true, I'm almost the only one she ever writes for. I noticed a while back that when she hand writes a letter or note to someone, it is so much nicer than her daily work hand. So, I think in my daughter's case, remediation isn't exactly it. She needs a broader audience. We've started exchanging letters by mail (which is somehow not the same as handing in her work) and i've enlisted Grandmother, too. I'm thinking about seeing if she wants a penpal.

Well, it is my understanding that perhaps it would be better read during Great Depression studies. I read it many years ago and can't remember it well but it was written during the depression, as I recall, and can be read as a response to that in many ways. Yes, the setting is definately CW South but . . . well, this is way off the topic of your question but we plan to hold it for the depression and its influence on lit and other areas.

We have Anne van Fossen at CLRC. I think she is a wonderful teacher. We've had several others and really, I can't recommend Mrs. van Fossen highly enough. She is really nice and kind. She is respectful of her students and at the same time does not let the chat room get out of hand at all (a real problem with my very distractable daughter and a previous online class). She keeps the classes moving and engaging which I rather worried about in the beginning with it being a two hour class. No problems at all, though. She keeps them reading, answering, playing, or whatever. My daughter and I both think it goes by pretty quickly. The homework is is laid out in a very orderly way that makes the work and expectations clear. She keeps the work at a doable pace. And, as I said before, she is really, really, nice. We have only had her for this semester so far but really love her and the class and look forward to remaining with her. We also have Mr. Barr at Lukion for Greek and think he is an excellent, teacher, too. I could say many of the same things about Mr. Barr as Mrs. van Fossen. We really enjoy our Greek class with him. I imagine his Latin class is very similar. The one thing to be aware of with Lukion is that it moves at a much faster pace and for that reason, is a bit tougher. Having said that, though, my daughter is not having any problems keeping up. I"m the one suffering with the pace.

We like Athenaze but we're only on chapter 5. Also, we have an online teacher who has the hmwk online so we only had to buy the text. There are lots of exercises, translations, and reading passages in the text alone. If you do decide to try online, Mr. Barr at Lukion is an excellent teacher. pricey, though.

Oh, yes, they are homemade. hmmm . . . I'm going to use the dates, they look as if I just bought them but the jewels have a slight tartness that they didn't previously have. I'll toss them. There were only two left anyway. Thanks! I wasn't sure I could work up the nerve to taste one!

1. Dried dates, 2 months old, stored (not vacuum sealed or anything) in a jar. 2. Date jewels, 2 months old, made with dried dates, cocoa, shredded coconut, almonds all ground together stored as above. Found thenm in the back of the pantry and, remember how delicious they were, want to eat them!

only getting online on Saturdays makes me so late in responding . . . sorry. In my opinion, as long as they continue to have a high resale value, they are worth it. Our experience: -- very good quality (hair doesn't fall out when v.i.g.o.r.o.u.s.l.y. brushed, for example). -- very good replacement/repair service -- good-looking, very good-quality dolls that don't fall apart with vigorous play. -- clothing that washes very well. -- accessories that hold up well. For the listed reasons I would consider buying one. Because so far they have a great resale value, I don't mind my daughter having more than one. If my daughter decides to save her dolls for her children, they'll still be in excellent condition: not b/c she took such great care of them but b/c they have held up so well in spite of her rough care. If she decides to sell them when she gets older, she'll get a goodly chunk of change if they continue to hold their value.

Hey, thanks everyone for the great ideas. I had never considered concurrent alg 1 and geometry. Others are great ideas, too, and I'm looking into to several! Thanks!

Our library lets us renew as many times as we need as long as someone hasn't requested the item. You might ck on that.

Now, there are rules . . . 1. It has to be homemade, no boxed meals but perhaps some prepkgd items (pasta with homemade sauce would pass muster but not pkgd pasta with sauce from a jar). 2. It has to meet your idea of wholesome. For some ppl that will include meat or cheese or whatever and for some ppl it won't. I won't define it but it should meet what you think is wholesome in that regard (as long as it doesn't break rule number one). 3. It has to be fairly inexpensive. 4. It has to be fairly quick and easy and have relatively few ingredients. So, things that would be hard for me to make fit under the rules are things like spaghetti. I usually use pkgd pasta with homemade sauce. It isn't many intredients but takes a while for the sauce to simmer. It might do, though, if I didn't let it simmer so long or if I just tossed with diced tomatoes, basil and garlic w/o making the sauce. Another problem food is pizza. I think that homemade pizza meets all the requirements if it's homemade but the rising time for the crust would be too time intensive. However, if you used a whole grain roll or something . . . I don't know . . . I'm looking for quick, easy, weeknight doable, my kid could make it if I get sent out on an emergency, super wholesome, likeable. One from my family thick slices of toasted bread (usu homemade but not at supper time so I guess it counts), topped with roasted asparagus, topped with a poached egg, sprinkled with s/p and parmesan cheese. This is delicious, everyone likes it, it has a whole grain, a veggie, and a protein. Add a fruit salad and big glass of icy water and I think that is a near perfect meal. Not exactly one to serve for company but very good, very wholesome, cheap, and anyone in my family can make it. So now it is your turn. What is one meal that has everything and is super wholesome, cheap, and easy?

You used to be able to set parental controll but I haven't tried it yet with the new system (of choosing the rating as you browse). I think it is (or was) under Your Account Preferences Parental Controls or something like that. You'll have to change the password to one she doesn't know.

No, I probably wouldn't charge for a couple of hours per day after school. However, if doing it gratis would lead to rancor or discontent, you probably should. You could give them gift booklets with certificates for "a week of free sitting after school." or "one free day of " or whatever. You could give it to them for Christmas or something. That way you can give them some gratis but w/in certain bounds.