As a Philadelphia fan, my only consolation today is that Washington, Dallas, and New York all lost. Almost a perfect day!

I was so happy to see Stephen Lawhead mentioned! I'm finishing Byzantium for the second time, and loved the Pendragon series, the King Raven Trilogy (you'll see Robin Hood in a whole new way!), and the Celtic Crusades.

I bought this one a few years ago, and absolutely love it! It comes up to pressure much faster than the Mirro it replaced, and I like that there is not a gasket. It's a metal on metal seal. http://www.amazon.com/All-American-2-Quart-Pressure-Cooker-Canner/dp/B00004S893/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330709766&sr=8-2

I just replaced my 19 year old washer and dryer with middle of the line Speed Queen models. I love them! We were also looking for a simpler model than the appliance stores like to push. A family-owned appliance store/repair shop carried them, so I was happy to support a local business!

My neighbors had an estate sale recently, and one of the most popular concession items was a big spoonful of chili with lettuce and tomato in an opened snack-sized fritos bag. They handed out plastic forks to eat it out of the bag. They also warmed up frozen soft pretzels in a microwave and served with mustard.

:bigear: Anyone? My ds is anxiously awaiting news of his fate. He just reminded me of last year's Jacobs Geometry mid-year meltdown, after three months of doing ALL the proofs. So you see, I'm trying to learn from my mistakes here. :tongue_smilie: I just need to figure out what would be a happy medium, and how much is really enough.

My son is flying through Lial Intermediate Algebra, so I'm planning to start Lial's PreCalculus with Limits: A Unit Circle Approach (4th ed) with him next month. In both Algebra books, I always had him do all of the odd section problems, and then all of the review problems. Maybe it's the size of the book, but the number of odd problems per section in PreCalc seems daunting, and many of them have parts a,b,c, etc. Has anyone gone through this book, and what was your experience with the scheduling pace/# of problems completed? How long did it take to complete the entire book? Thanks!

I can identify with much of what you wrote in your original post. I hate to exercise, love to cook, love to eat, and did I say hate to exercise? However, reality has set in and I realize that I need to stop sacrificing the quality of my future for a momentary culinary pleasure. Someone introduced me to NoS, and it really helped me to break the mindless snacking habit. I do love to eat, though, so I still overate at regular meals. And overate on those special S days. So . . . I joined www.3fatchicks.com/forum, and found lots of great info and support for free! It is really fun to read the success stories, and see others' successful journeys, and it has helped to motivate me when I want to give up. I started calorie counting, and it is so much easier/faster/more helpful than I'd assumed. Hang in there! :)

I had always said "I'll never homeschool!" I grew up in and now live in the "best" school district in our area. Graduated valedictorian, and figured that school would be just fine for my boys. HA! First grade was wonderful - fully engaged, excited, motivated teacher who really cared about the kids' learning. Second grade - wasted year. Teacher was retiring that year, and did the bare minimum. Chastised my son for reading The Lord of the Rings instead of the "classroom books" she wanted him to read (on grade level). Son's personality started changing - became more unsure of himself. Third grade - wasted year. Brand new teacher! Very nice guy, but he was new to the classroom, and had at least 5 very disruptive kids in the class. He missed a lot of days because of a very ill child, and was trying to rebuild his house to deal with mold issue that caused the illness. I sympathized with his issues, but I could see my son falling farther and farther behind. I tried afterschooling, but by the time ds got home, he was fried emotionally and physically. I felt like I was losing my son - he was literally withdrawing, and was not responding to my efforts to connect with him. Fourth grade - I realized that this had to be a turning point for us, and was forced to face my fears of homeschooling. Private school was not an option, and the public school had no interest in partnering with me to help meet ds's academic needs. Administration was very friendly until you, God forbid, had a need or concerns. We jumped into homeschooling, and haven't looked back. The feeling of freedom was amazing - no more bureaucrats to please (except for the state of PA :glare:). We read lots and lots of books, and he was free to pursue his passion of history. No more viewing Disney's Pocahontas and calling it history, like his 3rd grade class did. A defining moment for me in our homeschool journey was having my ds tell me that he was glad we started to homeschool, because "now I feel like I know you." Over the past 7 years, I've realized that the valedictorian label I earned, I earned for playing the school game, not actual learning. Interacting with and observing my boys while they delve into subjects, I realize that they aren't cramming and then forgetting. They have learned more and retained more than I ever crammed and forgot. Homeschooling has been an absolute blessing to my family, and I'm afraid my family would look very different today had we not taken on the challenge. Sorry for the rambling! I truly regret not starting out with homeschooling, but on the other hand, perhaps I wouldn't have fully appreciated it's benefits had we not experienced the PS. I'm glad to be part of the journey, and hey, I get to buy more books! :lol:

Here!

Joining in prayer for you and yours! :grouphug:

Bumping, because I need to know this for next year! :D :lurk5:

I love my hairdresser! She has the most reasonable rates around, and she has a policy of no tipping. When she's offered a tip, she kindly says "thank you for the gesture, but that's not necessary. I'm a professional." Her business is booming and her customers are loyal (and remember her at Christmas :001_smile:).

She responded to an ad for an extra set of Lials PreCalculus that I have. I did think it was odd that she didn't ask any questions about the materials (editions, dvds, etc), and the wording of her email was very abrupt.

Yep - same buyer. No additional requests were included in mine either.