I'm not the only one! Yippee. My daughter, now 4.5, used to ask me in her sweet, little princess voice -- "Why 'cause you fat, Mommy?" Sometimes I start to drown under the weight of my own perceived unloveliness, and then the wheels completely fall off the wagon. It's an uphill battle for me . . . the cold Canadian winter, disdain for the treadmill, eating too much and too often. Excuses everywhere. My dear friend tells me that most humans sink to their lowest common denominator -- we do what's easy, not what's healthy. *sigh* I wish you much love and grace for yourself, Nancypants. You can DO it! T

I'm going to check out each of the links you've provided. DH is concerned about ordering online because: "I can't try on the jeans." The straight-leg pants look, well -- straight. The fit/style is tricky to guage online, don't you think? TY Tricia

I wonder if plastic surgery is an option, to remove the extra skin?

I give you a big *yippee* If B+ is your starting grade after being out of school for quite a few years, I think you'll be onward and upward over the course of your degree. And yes, rewrite for the A+++. Congrats, Tricia

Anyone here married to uber-tall men? My lovely DH is 6'8" -- purchasing jeans for this man feels torturous on the best of days. Where do your extra-tall DH buy jeans - dress pants are easy because they are sold unhemmed. Jeans -- ugh -- almost impossible. (40 - 36) TY, Tricia

Duh, I should have known that the recipe portions were for personal sized pizzas - we ate one for lunch and it was yummy, just Flat! My first batch will be super-thin crust pizza's. lol DH blessed me with a KitchenAid Mixer for Christmas -- who knew that I could make dough so easily with no kneading/flour mess all over the countertop and floor. Good times here in the Maritimes. T

Skillet Pizza Crusts Make these pizza crusts ahead of time and pull out when you want freshly baked pizza. 3 pkg. Active dry yeast 1 t. sugar ¾ cup warm water 3 cups all purpose flour (I've used ww as well) 1 t. salt ½ cup warm water 2 T. olive oil Combine yeast, sugar, water in 2-cup measuring cup; let stand 5 minutes Combine yeast mixture, flour, salt, warm water, and olive oil in a large bowl, stirring until well blended Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead turning to grease top. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Punch dough down, and knead lightly 4-5 times. Divide dough into 6-8 portions; roll each into a circle. (**question - would 6 - 8 portions indicate personal-sized pizzas?) Cook each round on 1 side in a skillet or on a griddle. (How hot should the skillet be? Should the crusts rise up and get fluffy in the pan? Mine are flat, really flat. Perhaps I should use more dough - split the dough in half?) Cool and freeze. When ready to cook, remove from freezer, top, and bake at 425 degrees for 10-15 minutes. What should these skillet crusts look like upon completion? voice of experience, anyone? Kitchen stuff is not my strength, but I'M TRYING REALLY HARD! lol

But I'm absolutely determined to keep doing school until MAY 15th. I can do it, I know I can! T

they that can whip up delicious meals without needing a recipe! (Am I correct on this?) Do you have recipes -- or do you just add a bit of this and add a bit of that? I stink at the add this add that with no recipe, btw. I need specifics! We've been eating more and more vegetarian in the last while! I was a vegetarian turned vegan for 7 years, so I'm enjoying returning to what I used to do in the kitchen! TY, Tricia

I feel like I know your son better. I was engaged in his writing; I felt like he had a voice and I was right there with him at the restaurant, watching him enjoy his fast food meal. My only comment is sometimes less is more, when it comes to descriptive words. Cheers, Mom -- seems like you and your ds have had a productive couple years at home. Tricia

We've never, ever had a contract written up in the home we want to buy. Not sure if I'd bother with a table - that's what a local coffee shop and an internet connection is for. Good luck. T

You can see everything, and that's what I love. No surprises. My advice: fix the picture holes or any drywall problems by mudding, priming and touching up the paint. Paint fresh any trim that looks sketchy, especially in high traffic areas. Clean all light fixtures! Take them down, if you must, and really clean them. Appliances, if they are being sold with the house, must be beyond clean. No dust bunnies, no mismatching paint. Leave hand soap,toilet paper and papertowel in the bathroom, for visitor emergencies. Window dressings -- wash them. I hate walking into an empty house and smelling dusty drapery. Ugh. Dust your blinds, if you have them. I prefer an empty house to have no window dressings, unless they were custom for the house and look great. Get rid of cheapo blinds and fill the holes, repaint the window trim. When there's nothing in the house, these little touches tell a buyer that you've gone above and beyond, you want to sell the house and you want it to be painless for them. My two cents. Tricia

Whew, after I've slogged through school, managed our household, baked whatever we need for the next day, taxied the Peachlets to their activities, etc etc etc, I have not even a lick of guilt asking Mr. Peachey to help out. We both work hard all day, and so we share the evening routine so we can have headspace for each other or ourselves.

I think Ann Voskamp at http://www.holyexperience.blogspot.com is influenced by the CM approach to schooling. Her blog, however, is a well-rounded approach to living well blog, and not dedicated solely to their hs'ing journey. T

sheesh.

this has been my experience as well, with many Christian, church-going homeschoolers. Not all, mind you . . . but many. I don't feel I'm "churchy" enough for the Christian hs groups in my area -- and I feel much more comfortable hanging out with the secular crowd when it comes to hs'ing. I find the Christian hs culture to be more than I can manage in terms of parenting style, life choices, obedience, authority . . . I just don't fit in with that world, even though I love Jesus and love walking out life with Him. You are fine just as you are -- and I'm sorry that her reaction caused an ouchie. I hope you find some hs friends that accept you for just exactly what you are! Cheerio, Tricia

are more than enough to keep me motivated. If we don't get things done, I know the boys won't be where they need to be in relation to their ps peers -- that alone keeps me accountable to myself. T

I'm very pleased with the math we're doing. We're using level 2 and 3, in tandem, for our boys. The games are especially challenging (*sheesh*) but foundationally, I'm really pleased with where the boys are with their mathematical thinking. I would make sure you do all of the math questions -- the oral questions in the TM are very important. A note of caution, it took me about a month to get grooving with the program . . . it's ALOT of math. Level 3 ds works for an hour on math everyday -- sometimes it's a struggle to finish one daily lesson, other times he can finish 2, if the work isn't lots of computation. If you are an American, you'll find the measuring units will make you crazy, but just find other sheets to use, maybe? The yahoo group is fabulous --- you'll find lots of long-term users who can answer your questions. The university profs will also reply if you find yourself in trouble. I'm beyond pleased with this math . . . not just because it's free. I think it's really great. I'm relearning my way with this program. HTH's Tricia

Hi there, We sometimes do history/geography/science in the evening . . . simply because it's the fun stuff. If we do Copywork, Math, Latin, SWR/GWG in the morning, then I'm fried and finished. We take the afternoon to play, connect with friends, field trips and then, for an hour before bed, we might play together with "school stuff" -- the Human Body book is an easy sell for a before bed together time, as is A Child's Geography. Even SOTW as a read-aloud and map work is gobbled up here. (Narrations are another story . . . that is definitely fresh morning work!) Someone here used the phrase "caught, not taught" about Bible study times. Turning Bible into "school" didn't fly here at all . . . HTH's. T

I find people to be very considerate and respectful of the fact that I hs. I am the last person on the list that my girlfriends call for a babysitter, for the exact reason that they know my time is precious and valuable, especially from 9 - 2. I'm also absolutely fine with saying: "sorry, doesn't work for me today." My experience is that the leech-ons will leech-on until you say NO. It's human nature, I think. It's ok to draw boundaries and protect your land, esp. as a hs'er. T

he just can't "buy" coffee from Tim Horton's (a national coffee chain up here in the Great White North). It's a $1.60 * 3 coffees a day -- he's had to use a thermos. hehehehehe -- and I think he's cheated a couple days already. (We've only been at it 4 days, so coffee can't be a dealbreaker!) The "all or nothing" me wants to give this fast a good kick at the can. Thank you for the recipe suggestion -- this looks great and I'm also going to search one out that has a red lentil base. Feeling like I reboarded the crazy train -- making meatless burgers for 20 people! What's wrong with me??? Ahhhhhhhhh . . . T

Hello Hive! DH and I are on a self-imposed, two-week "spending fast" -- just to see if we can do it. I'm so impressed with folks that take frugal living to a whole other level! So, ne's going without Tim's coffee and I'm planning a weekend of guests without the grocery store. sheesh. Friday night potluck -- I'm making burgers (both beef and meatless); I've never made legume-based burgers before. Anyone with a great recipe? Humbling thanking you! Tricia

I did my WTM "crash and burn" and then stumbled over the best piece of wisdom anyone ever gave me: God is God and the Curriculum is Not. Since then, I've been able to use WTM as a tool, a clearly outlined S & S without carrying the stress of "doing it right." Cheerio, T

I blame the 5 years that I lived in Alberta for my head of frizz - I went out there with lovely curls and came home with frizz. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Now, I'm going to excuse myself before I jump on my soapbox and start a long, utterly unnecessary rant about how much I hated living in Alberta. Cheerio, Tricia

about Standardized Testing to let your mind rest. I am right there with you on that. In fact, I'm currently negotiating with our Minister of Education about having doing end of third grade assessments, although they aren't so thrilled about the idea. What tests are you using? T