I saw some at dickblick.com but I was wondering if Boston has their own website? I couldn't find it anywhere. Are their products only available at other wesites like dickblick?

I'm also looking for a new pencil sharpener. I'd love to find the authentic, old ones that they made 50 years ago that fastened to the wall or to a table top and you turn the handle to sharpen your pencil... if such a creature still exists??? I don't want a poorly made "look-alike" of the real thing. If anyone knows of a website that sells the originals... not look-alikes... I'd love to purchase it.

This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. We have debit cards but we want to get 1 credit card that isn't tied to our checking accounts and I'm wondering if it would be more convenient to go with something like a VISA CC or if American Express would be better? How does one go about finding a good CC for emergency purposes (that's not a debit card)?

Bumping this. I'm sure somebody has answers to my questions, huh :huh: ?

Colleen (or anyone who has ideas about this), We've been using only debit cards but I'm leaning more towards getting a regular CC for emergency purposes. My understanding is that American Express requires that you pay it all in any given month. Is that correct? In a real emergency you might have to put a larger than usual amount on it that you may not be able to pay in full. If that happens, do they cancel your AE card or what? I've heard folks say that AE is good because you can't run up a debt but is it really as convenient as a VISA CC? And where is the best place to go for comparisons in choosing a new CC?

Wow, is that the yearly cost?

And the link for this is------?

I used to compare our homeschooling with the best high schools in our city. There are 2 really good ones here that everyone brags about and pushes to have their kids attend. Last spring my dd was chatting with several of her friends at church as they compared "war stories" about their first year of college. My dd was the only one in the bunch who homeschooled. The rest went to those top 2 high schools. All the other girls were moaning and groaning about how hard their first year had been compared to what they did in high school and all these girls graduated top of their senior classes so they were not slothful students. My dd told me that they mostly complained of the college work load and the quality and quantity of papers which were always due. She told me, "Mom, I used to worry that I would be disadvantaged coming from homeschooling but after listening to the other girls, I think I was more than prepared for college." Her confidence level soared after her first year of college. (She just finished 3rd semester.) My youngest dd is 18 and LD. She's doing her first 2 years of college at CC then she'll be able to enter 4-yr univ as a 3rd year college student. She's already completed slightly less than 2 semesters at CC and she's making A's and B's, which is good for her. If you're worried that your kids won't make it after high school, have them begin taking CC classes while in 11th grade. Keep an eye on their work. Remember, this would be their first time in college so don't just expect them to do everything right. My 18 began CC Amer. Gov't with an F on her first exam. I could have rung her neck!:banghead: She hated Gov't and didn't quite know how to study it to make good grades. Her older sister, a Poli-Sci major, and I worked hard with her for about a week and then she took off on her own. They just finished the semester and she got an A in the course. Like somebody else here mentioned--- Any school can look good on paper or on their website. It's how their kids perform in college afterwards that tells all. Taking CC classes is one way to build your confidence and theirs.

I have a friend from where we used to live in Louisiana. We were all in our 30's and 40's at that time. My friend was from Michigan and often asked different ladies from our church for local recipes so she could learn to cook cajun. Welllll..... several of these *nice* church ladies would tell her, "Sure," and would give her recipes but they'd leave an ingredient out so it would never taste quite right :cursing: . My friend was no dummy and quickly figured out what they were doing. One day one of those same ladies asked my friend for a recipe and she couldn't resist. She gave her the requested recipe but with a main ingredient left out:001_tt2:. She and I still laugh about those ladies doing that to her. And no, neither of us attend that church anymore.

A set of 15 John Wayne movies for a total of $15. .... from Target, in case anyone's interested.

At Barnes & Noble check out this 2-vol course: "Sparknotes 101 U.S. History: College History in Language You Can Understand". Vol. 1- Colonial Period through 1865 ISBN: 1-4114-0335-5 Vol. 2- 1865 through the 20th Century ISBN: 1-4114-0336-3 If you don't see these books at the store, ask for them to be ordered so you can view the books before making a decision to purchase. In the Sparknotes 101 series, we have Political Science, American Government and U.S. History. These are excellent resources esp for a student who dislikes the subject matter and who struggles with reading about it. My 18yo learning disabled dd recently used the one on Amer. Gov't to help in her CC class. When her class began, she got off on the wrong foot and made an F on her first Gov't exam. After using Sparknotes 101 Amer. Gov't, her grades went up to A's and B's.

Contrary to popular national belief, Michigan is wonderful!

Heidi, My dh and I both tend to be introvert but he is part of management where he works. The thing with office parties is that when the management does a "no show", others either don't come or they show up and don't enjoy themselves. Even the company president shows up at our office parties and he makes a big deal out of thanking all the employees for working so hard all year and for attending the party. Something to enjoy--- Try to find at least 1-2 new things about each person that your dh works with, esp those who may work under him. They will feel loved and appreciated. Keep in mind that some of them also feel the torture over being there. If there are too many employees it's difficult or even impossible to host the party at someone's house. My dh's office parties are now held at a hotel with free bar (yum) and all the employees are given a free room for the night... another incentive to attend;).

I can tell you that Stacey doesn't get snow often. We lived in a nearby town to her when we were in Louisiana, before we moved to Michigan.

Thanks for posting this. If anyone else has favorite links that compare charities, please post them here.

Thanks. Anyone know of another link that does this?

What are the 1 or 2 links that list all the charities and sort of rates them? I lost my links last year in a computer crash.

Another fun idea for your dd is to make her own quotation book. She can search the web and other quotation books for quotes to put in her own book and arrange her book to contain only her favorite quotes.

Neither of my girls showed early signs of puberty or were overweight. When one of them started at that young age, it came as a total surprise. So, yes, we're glad we began talking about it while they were littles.

REALLLY! One of my dd's began having periods at age 9. Wouldn't it have been a scary experience for her had she not known about it ahead of time? It would be like years ago when young girls weren't told anything and then they'd start having periods and thought they were bleeding to death because they didn't know it was supposed to happen.

Nope, that's not it either.

Nope, it's not Back to Basics.

I used to have a link to a toy company which only sold old fashioned toys and I lost the link and can't remember the name of the company. If you know of such a place can you post the link for it or at least the name of the company? Oh, and it's not "A Toy Garden".

I thought about that, too. How could he have known that you were having s*x in the basement if you always keep the basement door closed? Does that mean he has to knock any time he needs to go to the basement? Better to put a lock on that door so next time you want to use the basement that way, your ds won't even be able to open the door. And always require permission to open bedroom doors.

Good one, Karen:lol::lol: Seriously, there is a simple solution. At age 13, dh really needs to explain to your ds that moms and dads have s*x... that it's part of being married. Don't wait until he's 15 or 18. By then, he will have heard it from some kid(s)... yes, even in homeschool groups. Then, you guys need to put locks on doors leading into any rooms that you use for s*x. Having s*x? Lock the door. Kids are going to hear things but they don't need to see things when God made locks for us to use:D. For background noise use music, a fan, tv... whatever works to help muffle sounds. You don't want them hearing it all and, trust me, they don't want to hear it;).