As has been said, make sure it is ABET accredited. Or at least in the "successful review" process. If so, you are good. The ABET accreditation process is very thorough and takes 6 full years and a minimum number of graduates, so a new school will not be able to get it officially for several years. But if the school is in the process they should be able to provide you with its ABET status. They will have to have their ducks in a row to be considered successfully progressing. I would feel confident enough with that standing.

We eat a "rice and beans" meal probably 4-5 dinners a week. And we eat the leftovers for lunches so that is probably more like 8-10 times a week. My idea of "rice and beans" is inexpensive whole grain and/or legume dish. That is the staple of our diet whether strapped for cash or not. There are so many different ways to prepare them that it would never occur to my family to notice that our diet is heavily "rice and beans." As others have mentioned here, it is very common for me to make a huge pot of rice and a huge pot of some sort of bean and put the pair into several different combos over the course of a week. I don't do it just to save money….as vegetarians it is just simply the base of most healthy, whole food meals.

130+ yo house here. The list just makes me want to cry. Most pressing is a new ROOF. Every singe project turns into several. It is so bad that we hesitate to fix anything. I have a toilet that needs to be replaced….but I know when we pull it out we will find the floor is rotten….which will lead to some sort of leak from the shower….which will turn into "isn't this supposed to be a load bearing wall?" Next thing you know, we are tearing the whole house apart. So, I am just going to be OK with the toilet:) That is how we handle most household projects these days. Head in the sand.

Thanks everyone. I knew someone would know!

And to be annoying.....did you defrost before baking or put it straight it the oven from the freezer? Did you have to bake it longer than usual?

So, no baking before freezing? Did you use the no-boil noodles?

We are having guests at our place for the holidays and that means lots of good food. And lots of cooking..... I would like to free up some of my own time by preparing as much as I can in advance. Lasagna is on the menu....two types, both vegetarian. Can I make this ahead and freeze it until we need it? If so, how best to do it? Do you bake it then freeze or freeze before baking? And does that change the way it should be baked when we are ready to eat it? I will be using whole wheat no-boil noodles, if that matters....

This sounds like a good thing to try. On the kids and cats too.....

It is bulky 100% wool. 22 colors worth. 50 skeins. It is too fragile for the washer and too big/heavy for mine anyway.

What do you suggest if it cannot be washed? It is unwashable but I can spot-clean it, I think. Would you still use olive oil knowing that it is likely it cannot be completely washed out? Is it like gum? Could I freeze it and then remove the raised droplets? Not all will be gone, but at least the bulk of it will be removed before trying anything else.

I have a very elaborate hand-knit tree skirt, I noticed this morning that there are a few drops of sap on it from the tree. Our yard has a lot of pines so I know you cannot get sap out of anything....clothing, children's feet, the cats, or even off the cars. What is the best way to minimize the damage to the skirt and remove as much as possible? Or at least remove enough to prevent it from sticking to itself? Anyone know?

I thought of this thread today. The high today was 4F and we have had 80 inches of snow so far this year. Dh walked to work (30ish minutes) today because it was too much effort to try to get a car totally defrosted. I did manage to get a car out but passed not one, not two, not three, but four bikers on my way home from the store in the dark. There are no bike lanes. There are few sidewalks and even fewer that are cleared in the winter. Bikers are now common enough around here, year round, that the cars know how to work around them. There are many many pedestrians. It is safer and often easier to walk than drive when the roads are really bad even though you have to walk on the roads (no sidewalks). People use kick-sleds (think stroller but with runners instead of wheels) if they have kids or a lot of cargo. We had a kick-sled and it worked just fine when dd was too young to walk. At that time, we had one car and dh had it most days. It was a pain sometimes but not the end of the world. We cannot just run full-speed into a disaster. We all see it coming. Taxes or not, gas is going to increase in cost and probably faster than any of us think right now. We are not going to be worried about being able to drive our kids to all those very-important extracurricular activities.....we are going to be worried about how to drive to work or FOOD. I believe we are just delaying the pain with subsidies. It is time to put on the big-girl panties and start to adapt. Start. That means doing what we can as individuals AND collectively. Sitting around poo-pooing every possible solution is not going to help anyone. If something is not feasible for you, then don't do it. That does not make it a crappy idea for others. I was not biking home from the store tonight for several reasons I won't bore you all with. Completely "legitimate" reasons..... Most would say 4 degree weather is reason enough...... But I can (and do) walk sometimes. Even at 4 degrees. And with time and practice and experience, I can do more and more. And I can advocate for change in my community. Baby steps. And just a word about the elderly..... It is scary to drive in my area for 6 months of the year. Most older people decide to stop driving at younger ages than normal. It is not only hard to drive but also hard to get your vehicle out and clear enough to drive safely. Not great for older folks. We have no public transportation. Yet we have hundreds, maybe thousands, of individuals that do not drive that somehow get around. It is neighbors, community groups, family, and taxis that get these people around. We have an entire volunteer organization that has the sole purpose of helping the elderly get to doctor appointments (and oddly to chop firewood). This started out as a few people helping out and has grown into a much larger organization with a fleet of vehicles. These local, situation-specific solutions will happen everywhere when we have no choice. Seems like a good idea to start working on them now, doesn't it?

I suspect that you are getting a build-up of competing (harmless) bacteria that increases with each batch until it changes the taste/texture. I used to have this happen too until I started flash-sterilizing the jars first. Once I started doing that, I have not had to use a new starter. The yogurt always tastes and feels the same batch after batch for years now.

I have been using the same starter for years. It really is OK!

I grew up with bread bags in the boots too. The funny thing is that it is actually the WORST thing you can do if you want to keep your feet warm! It might prevent water from coming in, but it traps your foot sweat which then freezes. It was not until college that I solved the mystery of the chronically-cold feet. Don't do it to your kids!

She certainly has a say in it. Her choice is BOTH, of course! We just cannot swing both right now...... She has been in on the discussions of which might be better for now, the pros and the cons. I thought it might help us to hear from people who have been through/into high school for some perspective that we may not be able to see by ourselves.

I agree 100%. Dd will be very involved in her high school choices. I am just trying to make sure my choices now provide the best position from which she can make those choices. Right now, she likes Latin. She also wants to learn a conversational language. We do not have time for both so I have to make a choice.

The chemistry between your water, your machine (specifically how much water it uses and how hot it is), and the soap/rinse aid used are all factors. Many people do not have any of these problems. But if you are having problems, either with a new machine that does not seem to be performing well, or a machine that dies well before its time, detergent/rinse aid can be the culprit. If it works, don't mess with it! In our situation, the water in our municipality combined with loose powder detergent wrecks machines. Quickly.

We had to replace our not-old-enough dishwasher last year and I was determined to NOT end up with another clunker. I also wanted white and no-frills. We have a one-man independent appliance store nearby and the "one man" knows everything appliances. He also has been in the repair business for 30 years. He gave me a 2 hour tutorial on all things dishwasher. I walked in with my mind set on a Bosch or a KitchenAid. He talked me into a base model Samsung, which cost about half the price as the dishwashers I thought I would want. He said from his experience selling and fixing the machines, most dishwashers made now have a working life of five years, max. Their motors are largely underpowered. Samsung has been more like 15 years in his experience. I cannot verify that any of that is true but I can say I love the new dishwasher and it works far better than the last two we had. As a side note, he also said almost 75% of the repairs he calls on are the result of user error and not mechanical issues. He said the new environmentally friendly dish powders are not shelf-stable and once open, degrade quickly, which leaves films on the sensors and messes up the functioning of the machine. Liquid too. He suggest the tablets (cheap is fine) and always use rinse aid....not to make the dishes pretty and spot-free, but to protect the sensors. He said he would be out of the repair business if people would jus carefully read the manual before using the machines.

I finally found the FAQ section.... It looks like Lively Latin will cover the same content as LFC A-C so it would likely be redundant for dd. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks! This is very helpful.

Thanks! I had not even looked into Lukeion before. I spend a good deal of time on the site today. I agree that it would be a stretch for a 6th grader. Dd is bright but is not necessarily "gifted." I think it might be a great fit for 7th or 8th though. Now to decide what to do for the next 1-2 years? Latin Alive would probably be the easiest choice. I cannot tell from the Lively Latin website what age/level the program is geared towards.

Thanks! You are really helping me to sort this out. I feel a bit panicked because my own attempts to learn a foreign language as a high schooler fell slat quickly. I have to remember that I did not have the benefit of Latin study or a strong grammar background....both of which dd is getting through her Latin studies. It really is OK to wait for a modern language until high school.

I have also posted about Latin plans and this is a related question. I felt it deserved its own thread. Dd is in the 5th grade. We plan to homeschool all the way through to graduation. We plan to rely heavily on dual-enrollment for high school as both parents work for a university. Those plans are by no means firm yet....just my best guess right now. I now feel like I need to take our high school plans into consideration when deciding what language choices to make now. Dd is finishing up a three-year beginner Latin program, Latin for Children A-C. Our hope in high school is that dd take a conversational language (at the very least) and maybe also continue in Latin. Where we stand right now, I feel we have two basic path options. I am wondering if those who were in a similar situation could help me sort out which of the two would be better. 1. Continue with a Latin program that builds on LFC for grades 6-8 then switch to a conversational language in 9th grade. We would decide at that point if she would also continue in Latin as well. I like that she would get more in-depth practice with a foreign language. My concerns are that I am struggling to find a program that would be a good fit for both her age and my own knowledge/ability. 2. Discontinue Latin and instead pick up a three-year beginner course in a conversational language (likely Spanish or French). The advantage here would be to introduce a conversational language before she gets to the age where memorization is difficult. The big drawback (IMO) is that she would then have "skimmed" two languages without experiencing in-depth study of a language. My ultimate goal is for dd to have the best shot possible of learning a conversational language. I guess my real question is whether going more in-depth with the nuances of Latin would be more or less valuable long-run than earlier exposure to a conversational language? If you would switch to a conversational language now, would it be difficult/impossible to pick up high school level Latin again after three years off? We do not have the time to both right now.

I have also posted this in the Logic Stage forum but was hoping to also get some BTDT advice from folks here. Dd (5th grade) is 2/3 through Latin for Children C. We will finish up not long after the holidays. I might stretch it out a little with some more review and games. Either way, it is time to start figuring out the next step. Our long-term plans include homeschooling through graduation. I would like dd to start learning a conversational language in high school. Because I do not speak anything other than English, this will have to be outsourced, either by community college or some sort of home-based course with someone other than me in charge. This may or may not work out so our default plan for the high school foreign language requirement will be Latin. She likes it so might continue Latin AND another language. Meanwhile, in preparation for that day, I would like to continue Latin. I have poked around looking at the different options and don't feel like I can gather enough info to determine what programs would be a good fit. Here are my basic requirements: 1. Geared towards a student who has mastery of the material in LFC A-C. Some review is OK but not too much or too slow. Dd gets bored with review quickly. 2. Is directed to the student and has either a recorded (DVD/CD) component or direct correspondence with a teacher. I am hanging on by the seat of my pants with LFC. Dd masters it much quicker than I do and I cannot keep up with the vocabulary. At this point, I am able to help her with the program but that day is coming to an end soon. 3. Is secular or mostly so. I don't mind religious references but do not want a program that is very religiously based. Based on the above, what are my options?