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Carrie12345

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Everything posted by Carrie12345

  1. I don't have a perfect solution, but I do keep filler paper on a clip board for scribbling or clipping all my random stuff. Every few days, I go through it and copy needed information to a clean sheet, file substantial stuff appropriately, and dump the rest in recycling. It's helped a lot.
  2. I really don't know. I live in a pretty diverse area, and it looks lovely from my perspective, but then I read the local newspaper and hear stories... :( I grew up thinking racism was dying out with my grandparents' generation, but then I heard a terrible statement out of a friend's parent's mouth that crushed that thought. I just don't witness much racism myself, so I tend to forget it's there. We're a pretty boring white family with a limited social network of very liberal friends. Which is nice, but probably not representative of the bigger picture.
  3. No. But I am limited on storage space, so that's a big factor for me. I started out saving curriculum from my now-16yo for my now-11 and 12yos and found I didn't want 90% of it once we got there. Between my own styles changing, differences in individual kids, and the constant introduction of new materials, I just don't find giving up the space to be worth it. And a lot of stuff looses resale value after a while, leaving me trying to decide between offloading for pennies on the dollar (if not the recycling bin) or trying to force my kids into a square hole.
  4. I voted yes, but it was very minor. Don't worry. I made up for it with excruciating heartburn!
  5. Well, some days I feel rich and some days I feel poor, lol. Our house is small and my car (dh has a company car) is old. But I spend a fortune on homeschool materials and activities. We almost never vacation. But we buy pretty much whatever we need whenever we need it. I would like to have larger retirement, college, and house savings. But we have very high end health insurance!
  6. Ours is a mix, but he does not herd. He guards like nobody's business, but he doesn't herd.
  7. It's a no in our house, but I never saw it as a health issue. My dds were toddlers when we got our large dogs, so they (um, the dogs) were trained to sleep in their crates. I don't sleep well with kids over 2 in my bed, so I would not like my dogs there. One of my cats sometimes join us, but he's usually smart enough to stay toward dh's side. I once tried to kick him off while I was mostly asleep and discovered I had kicked a surprised child in the head instead, so there was that.
  8. No advice, just hugs. With my kids' age range, I feel like I have feet in two different worlds. I can't fully engage in the older hs world or the younger hs world. Maybe it's just me, but it leaves me feeling very disconnected. And yet, when we faced the prospect of putting them in school next year, it terrified me to think about actually cutting that off. On the flip side, looking at hsing for another 15 years and wondering how I should position myself for a "second act" when I'm 52 terrifies me, too! I hope that makes you feel more normal. :-)
  9. I'm 37. Most months are my "usual" with a few "unusuals" thrown in here and there. Sometimes it correlates with stress. Sometimes not. Mostly I think it's my system getting ready to pitter out!
  10. You know, I can't remember my official introduction to homeschooling! I remember when Colombine happened and my oldest was a baby. I said out loud "This kid is going to be homeschooled," but I didn't mean it and I didn't really have any concept of it. I don't remember what exactly inspired me toward that direction when he was in 1st or 2nd grade, either, but something did. And it wasn't until 4th grade was over that we even started. Somehow, I just seemed to fall into it!
  11. Facts: If you leave them, some buyers will not like them. If you do something to them, some buyers will not like them. The first will think "Dang, I'm going to need to paint or refinish those." The second will think "Dang, I'm going to need to STRIP and paint or refinish those. Or replace them." Which option do you think is more likely to be accepted? ;)
  12. Keep what you like!!! I want to paint mine, but that's because our house is covered in oak, pine, some unidentified fake wood, and all in different finishes. It looks ridiculous. If everything matched, I'd be thrilled!
  13. I take my 3.5yo to my 7yo's 60 minute nature classes all the time. Parents are required to stay, so I don't have much choice. Some days I have him in the back of the room, where he can squirm around and play with toys. Some days he'll sit quietly and listen to about half of the class. Some days he'll sit in with the class for the full hour with great interest. Once in a while, he's extra fussy and I have to take him out in the hall for a bit. 3.5 is rough, ime. Some days they're "big kids" and some days they're "toddlers". Even the kids (4-7) enrolled in the class have their fidgety days. They're not bad or developmentally behind, they're working on growing up. Growing up is hard!
  14. I'm still not entirely sure about that, and I *HAVE* insurance through the exchange, lol. We don't get a subsidy, but my understanding is that we qualified b/c dh's employer's plan would cost 25% of our annual income plus a $9,000 family deductible, not just because we wanted to go elsewhere. We had to submit tons of info on his employer's plan, including HR contact info to check up on it.
  15. I have a question. (I haven't read the whole decision.) So many people are saying "Go to the exchange!" You have to qualify to go to the exchange. Is the decision worded to allow HL employees to qualify for the exchange?
  16. I would definitely separate the "no dating" rule from the discovered content. They're very separate issues, imo. I could hypothetically allow my kids to date at age 9 and still be completely devastated by those notes at 14. How much have the two of you talked about physical relationships before now? That would be the topic I'd want to discuss with her. Thinking someone's cute and sneaking off to get pizza (what I'm accustomed to referring to as "dating") is *nothing* compared to the current scenario.
  17. Does the rental house have a grill? I'd go simple with hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken, potato and/or macaroni salad, and fruit and vegetable trays. Actually, I'd go with pot luck, lol, but I don't know if that's an option for you. But I wouldn't want to slave in a kitchen for 22 on what sounds like a summer vacation. Anyone can take turns manning a grill and everything else can be made in advance.
  18. This. Except I do think that it takes even MORE intelligence, training, hard work, luck, AND time than it used to. There are fewer positions available with high salaries, so you have to have the most of all the above to even have a chance. If not, you're going to be stuck with the masses on the other end of the income gap. Dh has clawed his way into a lucrative career. While I am proud of him, most days I think I'd rather deal with financial strains than the level at which he needs to compete to stay toward the top. :glare:
  19. We don't have chickens, but the kids did a taste test with standard supermarket eggs, "grass-fed eggs" from the supermarket's special aisle, and local free-range eggs. The last two tied, but nobody picked the first one. :)
  20. Yes, I have a fibro/CF diagnosis. I did not go 100% organic, but as much as possible. My goal is "real food", not fillers/preservatives/additives/stripped stuff. I started working out about the same time. Lost weight, gained energy, drastically reduced pain.
  21. Well, my dream is to live with as few grocery store visits as possible. The kids and I want a mini homestead. Dh, not so much. I like gardening. We have quite a few local farms. I know how to can, dry, and pack a mean freezer. Not an easy path, but I'd jump at the chance.
  22. I'm confident Netflix knows what they're doing. It's not much different from cell phone companies offering friends and family plans (except for the dollar amounts involved.) We pay the extra $4 to have more devices streaming. Whether I use the access myself, share with 3 people in my house, or split it with the guy down the street, it's really up to me to decide who can use and who is abusing the service I'm paying for. Just like I pay an extra $40 to add phone lines for whomever I please. But I might have to kick them off if they eat up all my data! If a questionably-authorized person turns into a voracious user, they're very likely to wind up needing their own service/plan when the original purchaser's usage is negatively impacted.
  23. I aim for 9 because *I* am not a night owl, but it's my only real chance for me-time. If they're actually asleep by 9:30 and I actually make it to 11, that's a whopping 10.5 hours to myself (or shared with dh) a week. Sure, there are times they stay up later. But you should see me after a few consecutive nights! Whenever they go to bed, the 7yo is usually up between 6 and 7, the 3yo not far behind, and the girls could stay in bed until 10 if I let them. When the teenager is home, he pretty much sleeps whenever he wants, but I still reserve the right to banish him from my space at any point after 9pm, whether he sleeps or not. It's a small space with lots of people. I do what I can to preserve my mental health!
  24. I don't know for sure how this fall/winter will shake out, but right now it looks like an all day co-op once a week and more of a play group gathering once a week, plus a monthly environmental class. In the spring, both my daughters play softball and ds is thinking about trying baseball. That means most evenings with a few double bookings. They also did Saturday classes through our community college. Spring exhausts me.
  25. Portfolio review finished. Alcohol opened.

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