Oops. You are correct. We raised the deductibles on the other vehicle. I'll edit and correct my post.

Holy smokes! I'd simply refuse to let my teens drive if I had some of your costs. We have State Farm and have added two teen drivers during the last several months. With the first, we had her assigned to the oldest vehicle (2000 minivan), raised the deductible on the other vehicle to $1,000, dropped collision/comprehensive on the minivan, had her take a drivers ed course for the discount, had her do the specific State Farm safe driver program (essentially a paper log on several driving trips), and submitted her report card for the good student discount. Our insurance cost went DOWN. I don't remember the exact amount but it went down a few dollars a month. I was very pleasantly surprised but DD was already 19 so I figured I'd really get nailed when we added younger DD. A few months later, we went back and added DD16 to the same vehicle. She also had the same discounts. Cost went up $18 a month. *whew*

This is something always worth checking! Be sure to send it quick. I've waited too long before and the offer price does sometimes go down.

Thank you for the list! Even if the data is a little old, it has some great general information on it regarding the nutritional needs of cats. I'm still learning. I had one cat that lived well into her 20s on a diet of primarily dry kibble from the grocery store. In recent years, I lost a cat too early to kidney disease, and that is when I started learning that dry kibble is not the healthiest way to feed them. Fortunately, the two young cats that I currently have are not picky eaters. I've yet to see them refuse to eat. They do sometimes get store brand cat food like Friskies or Fancy Feast but I aim for most of their meals to be from a high quality brand.

I'm not sure I understand the comments like this one in this thread. How is being considerate and doing things for your spouse parenting them? If my DH cooks me dinner when I could do it myself, he is not treating me like a child, but showing his love and caring for me. DH and I do things for one another all the time. I'd hate to live in a house where each adult has to do everything for him/herself.

Where have you found the best combination of quality/price? I've been using the Foster-Smith brand canned cat food, ordered online. I'm not a cat nutrition expert but the ingredients list looks pretty good and by waiting for the regular 20% off promotions and ordering enough to get free shipping, I pay about 73 cents a can, which is much less than I would pay for Wellness or one of the other premium brands at local pet stores.

PSA: mango skin contains urushiol, the irritating compound found in poison ivy and poison oak.

DD commuted locally to the same community college where she previously dual enrolled. I didn't expect many surprises but she seems to have really grown socially this year. She joined a student club and interacted much more with her classmates. Most of her classes are heavily dominated by males but she connected with one of the few other females. They routinely met up before/after classes to go over homework assignments together and/or eat in the cafeteria. I'm sure this doesn't sound like much but it is real growth for her. She had a blast with the student club but would have to come home afterwards and retreat to her room to be alone for a while. Being around many people wears her out. DD had 1 fine, 2 good, and 1 great instructor this semester. She did consult ratemyprofessor during registration but some of it is just luck on how the course schedule works out. Fortunately, the great instructor is teaching the next math course in her sequence in the fall so she was sure to sign up for him again. She did well last semester and even better this semester. She had a group project in her science course this semester and lucked out with a great group. Everyone actively contributed and completed their commitments. Because of the dual enrollment credits, she has only 1 more semester at the CC before transferring to a 4-year university. She's already been accepted to her second choice school and was given a scholarship which would help defray the cost of her living on campus (too far to commute). She won't know until late into the fall if she gets into her program at her first choice school (higher cost in tuition but within commuting distance so less expensive overall). She's been to prospective student days at both schools and feel like either would work well for her. Second DD will begin dual enrollment in the fall and is looking forward to overlapping at the same school as her sister for one semester.

Skip the flour/bread crumbs and use crushed pork rinds and fresh Parmesan as a coating instead. This makes a very crisp crust and is also gluten-free and low-carb for those who are interested in that way of eating.

I need to look into this a little deeper. DD enrolled in the same community college so her dual enrollment credits and GPA are included for now. However, when she transfers to a 4-year state university, the credits will transfer but the new school will not include her CC grades. I believe this is just for the school's purposes. . .the state scholarship grant should use all grades after high school but I need to confirm this.

Great news! Congrats to your son.

Thank you, everyone, for the input. We'll take a look at the various Janko hardness ratings as recommended.

I'm sorry your daughter is having this problem with one of her instructors. Unfortunately, these sorts of things do happen. Back in the day, I and several of my classmates found out in our calculus 2 class that the instructor we had the previous semester for calc 1 was not qualified to teach at that level. He had NOT prepared us at all for calc 2 but had spent all semester covering topics that he understood. Our calc 2 instructor essentially shrugged and said it was on us to try to learn all of calc 1 on our own in just a couple weeks while also trying to keep up with calc 2. We didn't even have the option of re-taking calc 1 because we'd gotten passing grades. . .plus it would have put us behind in our program.

We really want to replace old carpeting in the bedrooms with a hard flooring because of allergies. However, we need to keep the cost down. DH spotted a bamboo flooring at a local store but the price seems too good to be true (~$1.35/ft2). Any experiences? Will we regret going this route?

This is a great thread. Thanks for starting it and everyone for contributing. I see one post already for Tennessee but am adding my experience with dual enrollment as well as I have more to add. 1) What state are you in? Tennessee 2) Do dual enrollment students pay tuition in your area? Yes, they pay the same tuition as college students. However, the state does have a grant for students that defrays the cost up to $1200 for four dual enrollment courses. It used to be a straight $300 per course for up to four courses but they've recently made it more complicated ($500 each for the first two courses, then $200 for the third course, and $0 for the fourth course). Yeah, I don't know why. The total amount is the same if you take 4 courses. A student can get $300 from the state for each dual enrollment course after the first four, however, this amount is then deducted from their Hope lottery scholarship amount once they are college students. The state money can only be used for up to 2 classes per semester. 3) Can dual enrollment students count their courses towards their HS diploma? Yes, IMHO, that's the whole point of dual enrollment, otherwise, it is concurrent enrollment. 4) How many credits can a dual enrollment student take? The school may set a requirement but the state does not. My local CC does not limit the number of credits. The state grant only contributes during junior and senior years, and up to 2 courses per semester. Dual enrollment students can take courses earlier and can take more courses per semester, but those would all be full self-pay. 5) Are there limits on the DE classes a student can take? The school can set this limit, the state does not. Our local CC limits by the usual qualifications that apply to college students too (pre-requisites, math score, etc). The local CC also limits freshman English composition to senior year dual enrollment students. Other courses are not limited by age/grade.

For this type of request, I would start contacting the housing departments of potential schools well ahead of time. If this need is a deal breaker, it's better to know before application if it cannot be met. At the only schools that I am familiar with, the dorming choices included a community bathroom shared by several dorm rooms or a semi-private bathroom shared between two rooms (4 students). It would have been impossible to give a student a private bathroom. It might be more feasible, in this situation, to get a waiver for a campus housing requirement and rent an apartment off campus. I wish you the best of luck in your search. Maybe you can report back on what you find. I imagine there are other families in similar situations. Edited to add: In addition to housing, you should probably also contact the disability office. Some schools require medical requests for special housing to go through this office. Edited again to add: Have you seen this?!? The CCFA actually has an example letter to schools requesting a private dorm/bathroom for students with Crohn's. http://www.ccfa.org/resources/private-dorm-and-bathroom.html?referrer=https://www.google.com/

We used the full set of Hakim's History of Us books. I like that the writing style is engaging rather than dry. However, it is a long series to get through in one year. We spread it over two years.

Woo-hoo! Scores are up. DD was a bit anxious about the test being timed although we did do timed practice tests at home. I was worried that her anxiety would prevent her from showing her full potential at the exam. I am happy with her score and she will not likely take it again, although she's just a sophomore now. She made the cut off for the extra merit money from the state lottery scholarship. She'll start dual enrollment at our community college next semester. Wow, it's really hitting me that my "baby" is growing up. :crying:

Just another thanks to all the posters on this thread. I've been interested in The Great Courses for a long time but it has been out of my price range. We've only been signed up for 2 days and already DD19 is watching two courses (Heroes and Legends, How Great Science Fiction Works), DD16 has started two others (Tai Chi, How to Draw), I'm making my way through one (Big History), and we are watching the Inexplicable Universe together.

I think I'd adopting this pronunciation. I like it! Almost sound Jamaican to me.

Ok. I found a You Tube video that also provides two pronunciations for cumin, capturing both how DH says it and how I say it. You can find it by the title "how to pronounce cumin" by Emma Saying.

The funny thing is that DH thinks I pronounce it "wrong." I just now looked it up on dictionary.com and listening to their two different pronunciations, both are still different than either of us pronounce it. I had DH listen and he now says that they are wrong too. :lol:

I agree with the above but I'd add strings: 1. He must be enrolled full-time and making academic progress. 2. If I suspected addiction issues, the money train would come to a screeching halt. 3. He'd have to come home once a week to eat a meal with the family (i.e., Gilmore Girls). So, it sounds like he has: Full Pell grant: $5,815 Subsidized direct student loan: $3,500 Unsubsidized direct student loan: $2,000 And a job that he works at least enough to pay for most of his own food. Honestly, it sounds like he won't need much financial support. Have you put pen to paper and determined his expenses?

I finally got it! Thank you!! I used your link and tried on three different devices. Finally worked on my Kindle Fire. ha! So, if you first do not succeed, keep trying and use as many different devices as you have access to.

Thank you for this. By following the link, I was able to finally see where they were offering the service for "as low as $14.99 per month." I cleared all my cookies and tried the link. However, once I clicked to the next page using the "Start your FREE trial month" button, it only shows the $29.99 per month annual price or the $49.99 monthly plan. I also got an email from them a few days ago because I had started to sign up but didn't finish. I replied that I couldn't pay the $50 monthly fee but that I would finish signing up if I could get the $20 monthly fee plan. I haven't heard back from them. Also, I'm not finding the Facebook page, what is the exact title? I've tried "HSing Using TGC" and "Homeschooling Using TGC" "HSing Using The Great Courses" and "Homeschooling Using The Great Courses".