Thanks, wapiti! There is no visible mold on my books, but I know it's there by the smell. Even though I live in a humid climate, I did put the books outside for a couple of days, which I have found to help in the past; I'll do this some more before we use them. I can't use cedar chips because I'm allergic to cedar. I haven't always been, and I used to store things in a cedar chest; but I had to get rid of all of the stuff I'd stored because I couldn't get the smell out of it (I can see now why cedar chips can kill small pets!). For right now, I have them enclosed in a cabinet with newspapers. The other things I plan to try are to put them into an enclosure with baking soda (I don't want the baking soda to touch the books because I react to breathing in baking soda) and to put them into Ziploc bags with tea bags.

Actually, Dekalb County has been and is still being investigated as well. One of the principals in Dekalb even admitted to cheating. http://championnewspaper.com/news/articles/295up-to-20-dekalb-county-schools-suspected-of-cheating--295.html That said, it's likely that it's not just Atlanta and Dekalb school systems that are cheating (in Georgia and around the country). They're just the ones being investigated and being caught. Some schools cheat more subtly, and some just aren't investigated (I hate to pull the race card, but I'm not surprised that Atlanta and Dekalb are more likely to be investigated than, say, Forsyth or Fayette). I'm a certified teacher and have taught school in various schools in GA from the bottom-ranked to the top-ranked, and while I wouldn't personally cheat, the pressure is so great that I can understand why some teachers and administrators do it.

You may feel rough for a few days or even a week or more, but don't let that discourage you. It will get better. Hang in there!

It's probably not out of the ordinary, but I'd call to be on the safe side. I have a long history of having problems with natural gas. I think Atlanta Gas knows who I am when I call now. ;) The technicians who come out always joke that they should hire me to sniff out gas leaks.

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No way! It's illegal, and not only is it unsafe for the occupants of your vehicle, but it's also unsafe for others on the road. Someone could rear-end the trailer and end up dead.

Thanks, Gail! Most likely the 1988 edition is just a reprint of the 1985 edition. (The 1973 edition is a reprint of the 1970 edition.)

The reason I'm not sure which edition I had in school is because mine didn't have the original cover. Back then it was cheaper for schools to send books off and have them rebound and recovered, so mine had a generic-looking cover with just the title on it. The same was true for our elementary math books. I hope I'm able to get the smell out of my book (and out of the Warriner's English, too!). I'm very sensitive, so the books probably wouldn't bother others as they do me.

Cheryl, if you're comfortable making up your own problems as needed, that's what I'd do, especially in the earlier grades.

I love the 1973 Dolciani! (Then again, I used either that one or an earlier edition when I was in school. :p) The 1973 book I got looks absolutely brand new. Unfortunately, though, it doesn't smell so new, and I'm allergic to mold. I'm currently working on killing off the mold spores so that ds and I can use the book!

She's probably fine at that stage, and she may be later as well. However, when she gets into multiplying large numbers and doing long division, fractions, decimals, and percents, you might feel that she needs more repetition. Some kids will catch on to a concept quickly, can easily do some problems, and then seem to be ready to move on. Unfortunately, though, sometimes no matter how easy it was for the kids to learn to do the problems, without lots of practice, the concept doesn't stick long-term. Don't be nervous! Singapore is awesome. It is terrific for teaching your child how to think mathematically, and starting that in the early grades is great. As I said above, however, you may decide that you need to add more repetition when harder concepts come up. As I said, we love Singapore math, and I'm still debating on whether or not to do some Singapore way along with another program next year. I should add that I didn't buy the Extra Practice books. They may be exactly the extra that some kids need. I just pulled problems from old textbooks or made up my own.

Wow. I think I'll stay where I am.

I wouldn't put Johnson & Johnson on my head, let alone in my eyes. Testing of J & J baby shampoo showed that it had formaldehyde in it, among other harmful ingredients.

Neighborhoods in most of rural Georgia have definitely become more diverse.

That is terrific! :hurray:

Those are beautiful, and so is your house!

Due to all my allergies and chemical sensitivities, I haven't been able to find a sunscreen that I can wear, but I love this site:

Our neighborhood is relatively diverse for the area, and we do know each other. While we don't hang out a lot (in my case, my severe chemical sensitivities are the reason), we do know how to get in touch with each other, and we know that we can depend on each other. When the home across the street from us got struck by lightning (it was damaged but didn't burn), the neighbors who lived there were not home. My husband and another neighbor thought nothing of climbing on the roof and putting a tarp on it to prevent further damage inside. The neighbors whose house had been struck were out of town camping, and their cell phones weren't working. Dh knew where they were staying and was able to get in touch with them by calling the campground office.

I've been fortunate with pediatricians. Ds had a serious vaccine reaction at 15 months old and ended up in the ER; he then was kept for observation because they couldn't get his breathing under control. However, the doctor didn't document the vaccine reaction, so we have no "proof." When I've given new peds the explanation, though, they've never questioned it. On the other hand, I'm having a difficult time finding a dentist for ds. I've always been skeptical of all the routine x-rays that are performed, and recent studies are showing that I'm not just paranoid. I've decided to refuse x-rays unless absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, we've had dentists turn us down, so I'm still looking.

That's awesome! :)

The large majority of children need this type of repetition. We love Singapore here, and the method worked wonderfully for my son, but I still felt the need to pull out old traditional math textbooks for repetition (I used to teach math in public schools). Ds just finished 6B, and I've decided to go with Dolciani Prealgebra (1973) for next year instead of Singapore. (Part of me wants to order Singapore Discovering Mathematics to do on the side, though.)

I'm so glad to hear you're doing well! :)

Do some research on low cholesterol diets. They often aren't what they're cracked up to be. I've known far more people who have gotten healthier on low carb diets than on low cholesterol diets. Regardless of which route you choose, you can do it!

I can relate! I do that with various words at times, too. :D

I've been yeast-free for over 2.5 years now. While I do eat pork, many yeast-free diet books recommend that you not. As for beans, I didn't eat them for over 2 years, but I eat them every once in a while now.