I've wished for an adult version since DIY.org came out. I signed up for the newsletter and it constantly taunts me with new projects and badges :sad:

Yeah. Although, I never really knew any different. I lived on the outskirts of the county, and still got off the bus about 2 miles from my house. (boonies, I tell ya) I always had friends on the bus that rode most of the way out with me. I never had to do homework at home either, and got quite adept at writing on a bumpy bus. I agree, that IF by some miracle things were to be changed to make things easier on working families, then an effort to reduce/restructure the workday would be more effective.

My oldest, freshly graduated DD is working two jobs, so her days are pretty full. One of the 15yr old DDs will be volunteering for two weeks at a day camp. Both 15 year olds will be taking a week long trip to NYC with our church. The rest of summer will be spent learning to drive, hanging out with friends and going to the pool. I will be taking a Spanish class for four weeks.

As a kid that spent 3.5-4 hours total on a school bus everyday growing up, I am very glad school only went until 2:30 or 3. As it was, I was up at 5AM every morning.

I'm no expert, but I'd say it was normal behavior for your dog. There was a "mean intruder" in her home. She was being defensive.

Went kayaking this morning again, so I'm trying to decide if I want to do Day 2 today or not. Also, I fell (slipped getting back into my kayak after porting it a ways, and landed half in/half out) and have a ginormous bruise on my buttock that hurts when I walk. :crying: I need to suck it up.

I'm on the brink. I don't even *really* homeschool any more, as my kids only do a few subjects at home, and those completely independently of me. We also pretty much have the curriculum picked out for these last two years too. I'm just here for the entertainment...lol.

Salvia/Sage is another that grows well for me in partial shade. Oh, and not perennial, but sweet potato vines grow like mad and can choke out other things.

Shady areas: Creeping Jenny Full sun: Thyme

Went kayaking this morning instead of walking (non-white water) Getting that upper AND lower exercise in this week..lol.

And here, all this time, I've ACTUALLY been ignoring this thread.

I have the ninja that blends in the single serving cups and don't have that issue at all. The blade rinses easily, and the cups go right in the dishwasher. On the rare occasion that something gets stuck at the top, I can take it off the blender, shake it up a little and re-blend.

I did mine this morning and forced the dog to go with me. I realized she is as fat and out of shape as I am. I did an 18 minute mile. Yeah. I may actually jog more than 3 times before the week is out.

This! My dd had the hardest time finding a job because she had NO experience. Even her extensive volunteering didn't seem to help at first. Now that she's landed two jobs, we've told her to hold on to them and work her behind off. She finally has experience to add to the resume, and references that she's a hard worker. Literate, socially skilled people that show up for work everyday and WORK are apparently in short supply these days. One of her jobs is staffed primarily by college kids. She's only been working there for a few weeks, but she's already been called in several times to cover for other people.

After the housing market bubble popped, buyers started asking for the moon, and many realtors were responsible for encouraging crazy requests. It is a totally different market out there today than it was 15 years ago. (I remember having to look frantically at houses the day they went on the market, putting in offers the same day, and having to offer thousands OVER the asking price just to get a chance at getting a house!) Anyway, neither of you are being unreasonable in this case. It is just part of the process. I think in our country we just aren't used to the whole negotiating/haggling over price thing and it makes us uncomfortable.

Any computer skills are a plus. My college age dd has two rather out of the box jobs right now. One, she teaches circus tricks to school kids in a low-income area. Skills: willingness to be silly, being able to deal with troubled kids, being trustworthy, and showing up on time. The other is a library page. She volunteered there for several years, so when the job opened up, she was a shoe in. Skills: willingness to do menial tasks, the ability to alphabetize (a skill strangely lacking in people these days), and a knowledge of the catalog system. CPR/first aid training is a bonus for all three of mine in childcare jobs.

Mine are older.. I don't monitor. I did for a short time, at my oldest child's request because she was having trouble self-regulating. I did that for about a year. Anyway, they read web-comics, use pinterest, chat with friends, read some tumblr, watch YouTube vids (other people playing video games, a phenomenon I just don't understand, and YouTubers that like to eat weird things) and go on deviant art. They also do research for school, communicate with co-op and college teachers, and some DE classes are partially online.

I think I may have figured out the dark countertop thing. Mine has a slight texture to it, so it is more of a matte finish. Do all of you dark countertop haters have shiny counters? Mine is just higher end formica, not granite.

Really? Ours are dark, with a mottled kind of pattern and nothing shows up on them except for flour. I have to run my hands over them when I wash them to make sure I don't miss stuff. We built our house 2 years ago, and I probably spent the most time and effort planning the kitchen. I love my gas range. We got this one http://www.homedepot.com/p/Frigidaire-Gallery-5-0-cu-ft-Gas-Range-with-Self-Cleaning-Oven-in-Stainless-Steel-FGGF3030PF/205062317and I love how the top grate is all the way across. My giant canning pots can sit on there nicely. I love that I got cabinets that go all the way to the ceiling. No wasted space, which is important in my rather small kitchen. I love that we built a full pantry into one wall, and that the bottom shelf starts high enough that I can put my tall food storage buckets in there. Shelves far enough apart to fit in a bottle of oil or a box of cereal! I love my cream colored cabinets. I love the super deep sink and tall faucet. Those big canning pots I mentioned earlier? They can fit in there. I love having a ceiling fan. I love the hardwood floors. I don't love the lighting. I really wish we'd gone ahead and put wired in under cabinet lighting, and that the overhead lighting was better. I don't love my fridge. It is old and needs replacing. I wish we'd gotten a new one, but this one just keeps on ticking and dh won't replace it until it dies. Some photos I took right after we moved in. Ignore the missing drawer front, we had to order a new one because dh messed up the holes for the pull.

My younger two did not follow any sort of sequence for middle school science. They did Rainbow Science in 7th grade, and the biggest thing they picked up from it was how to write up experiments. It was very much interest led up to that point. We mostly just got books from the library and learned about whatever they wanted to learn about. They skipped 8th grade, and jumped right into high school Biology, taught by a college professor with a college text, with no issues at all.

And if you've ever had one sprayed by a skunk, you'll find that you'll throw just about anything you can find on them. Especially if said skunking happens at 10PM...lol.

I have before, and have a pretty sensitive dog. She was ok. I've also used bar soap.

Sure :) I'm supposed to be doing this anyway.

I would love to join in! Maybe I'll drag my daughter into it with me.

"Quiet"