I’m not JFSinIL but my whole family loves this recipe. I have one vegetarian and so we often eat vegetarian meals. I use whatever vegetables are hanging out in my fridge, and it’s always great. https://cookieandkate.com/vegetable-fried-rice-recipe/

I read a lot of mystery/suspense but not too much true crime anymore. A friend from college had a mystery/suspense book published this year so I bought it because I wanted to support him. I wasn’t sure what I was going to think - I’m pretty picky about the books that I read for pleasure, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I couldn’t put it down. I thought it was excellent. I’ll recommend it for that reason and also because you can be sure your niece hasn’t read it yet. The book is Adverse Effects by Joel Shulkin.

Our schools delayed our start date to give more time to finish HVAC review of our buildings and give more time for teacher prep so we won’t start until mid-September. When we do start, there is a 100% mask requirement. Mask breaks will be given but specifically not during instruction time or while changing classes. It is suggested that breaks be done outside. We have a choice between a two-day-a-week in person hybrid model (half of the students attend Mon/Thurs and half Tues/Friday) or 100% online. So far around 20% are choosing 100% online. Our reopening is tied to daily new cases per 100,000 in our county. Right now our county is at 1.5. We will go to 100% virtual if we get to 10 per 100,000 or sooner if the superintendent decides there is a growing risk to students. We will begin to transition from hybrid to full time in person if our rate drops below 1 and stays there for two weeks My kids did fine with remote learning in the spring but they want to go back in person So as of now that’s what they will do. If we see evidence of local spread (there are 5 cases in our town and we have been right around that number for a while) then we will reconsider.

When I was 10 I fell while roller skating in my neighborhood and broke my arm. I broke both bones in my forearm so while there was no bone through the skin, my arm was obviously broken and hanging down in the middle. The neighbor called my Mom. Mom tried to get me to stand up so she could drive me to the hospital but I was afraid to move my arm. She called an ambulance and they came and splinted my arm before transport. I probably could have been convinced to stand and get in a car after some hysterics, but I’m glad that there was another option. My Mom mentioned this incident to me a few years back but she insisted that my bone broke through the skin. It didn’t, but that tells me how gruesome she though the accident was 😂

You do need one device per player for when it is your turn to see the cards. We set up the Zoom on DH’s laptop and then we each used our phones to log in to the Fishbowl website.

We just played Fishbowl online with my family using fishbowl-game.com and Zoom. If you aren’t familiar with Fishbowl, it is a round of Taboo, a round of Charades and a round of Password all in one game. Since players submit the words/phrases used, you could ask everyone to theme their submissions for your DD’s graduation. Fishbowl is one of our favorite mixed group games and this website does a good job of moving it online.

I agree with this. My DD took the SAT for the first time before she took Algebra. I bought her this book - it includes tips for approaching Algebra problems using other strategies. It also has a good review of the types of math you encounter on the exam. She found it very helpful and did well on the math section.

So far I am making good progress on my challenge. I finished book #3 which was Michelle Obama's Becoming. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I particularly liked the section where she talked about her determination and persistence in high school. From her reaction to being told she "wasn't Princeton material" to her discussion later in the book about why UChicago was never on her radar, her writing about her high school to college experience really spoke to me. I'm currently reading book #4 now, Richard Russo's The Destiny Thief. This is his book of essays about writers and writing and it is excellent so far. It is pretty short so I hope to finish it up in the next few days. The library just called to let me know that my book club book that I put on hold is in, so that will most likely be book #5. We are reading Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I'm not familiar with the book or author - does anyone have thoughts to share? Happy reading! Terri

I would like to join in this year. My goal is to read 52 books, although really the goal is to spend more time reading and less time online. We'll see how that goes. I'm off to a good start as I have finished two already: Find Me Gone by Sarah Meuleman Banner In The Sky by James Ramsey Ullman Find Me Gone was given to me on Christmas Eve so I had a head start on that one. I finished it on New Year's Day as we all just lazed around and read. I thought it was interesting - better than the reviews on GoodReads led me to believe it would be anyway. Banner In The Sky was a book our piano teacher gave my son. He read it and enjoyed it and suggested that I read it too. I enjoyed it too - it was a good adventure story. I'm glad he read it and liked it as I thought the main character was a good male character - he struggles to do what is right while also following his passion and while he stumbles a bit, he is ultimately rewarded for making good choices. I try to find books with strong female protagonists for my daughter and I thought this was an equivalent find for my son. I see that Disney made a movie based on the book some years ago - Third Man on the Mountain - so I'll try to track that down as it would be fun to watch together. I'm in the middle of Michelle Obama's book Becoming right now so that will probably be #3 shortly.

We had the same experience at my house. My daughter earned a silver medal on her three sections. My third grader wanted to do all three sections also. He got a 29/30 on the main test, 10/10 on the next section (ancient beginnings?) but then only 5/10 on Norse, so had an 88% overall. I told him the same thing - I was impressed that he pushed himself to do all three. I think he was still a little disappointed, but motivated for next year.

We just heard from our region today and my daughter's flash fiction was awarded Honorable Mention! She's excited as this was her first year of eligibility and she only submitted the one piece. She's now planning to submit multiple pieces next year.

I used to be an advisor at a private university. We did accept DE credits but as mentioned above, there was a limit. 60-72 sounds like the right range. And that would be a limit for all transferred credit - DE, AP, CLEP, etc. Additionally, we did not typically equate DE credits with upper level (300- or 400- level) courses, so a student bringing in a large amount would end up with some coming in as non-specific general credit.

My daughter set up an account at artandwriting.org From there you enter your zip code and it connects you with your regional program. Each region has a different process and different deadlines it seems, so we found that a bit confusing. Our region separates art and writing - they are run by two different groups. There is a lot of info about art, very little about writing. I recommend looking at it early to be sure you have enough time to figure out the process. Our submission range was Sept to early January and I helped my daughter set up her account in August so that we could look through everything first. This is the first year she was eligible to submit her writing. Edited to fix typos

Congratulations to your daughter! That is fantastic. We are still waiting to hear from our region - they don't specify when they will announce winners for writing. This is my daughter's first year entering.

To keep our same plan we would pay a 56% increase, or just over $500 more a month. We've had an affordable plan through the ACA for a couple of years as DH works on contract and I have two part time jobs. Not sure yet what we are going to do. This insurance payment would be more than our mortgage.

I haven't done one of these yet but they sound great. One just opened not too far from us, maybe I can convince my family to try it out this summer. After all, we love murder mystery parties. Both of my kids did these for their birthdays this year (well, neither was a murder but still they were mysteries, with characters and costumes). Several parents asked about doing one for grown ups and I would like to do that. Where did you get the ones that you've done? Are there any you would recommend? Did you write your own? Thanks!

Yes, all 19 pages! We do have those National Parks books - the kids version - and love them! Thanks for the reminder to bring those with us. And thank you for the welcome. I've been a member for a while but do more reading than posting.

I read through this whole thread this weekend and it was very helpful! My son is a Tiger Cub this year - six months in and I'm still figuring out how it all works. After reading all of the great things shared here, I went through the handbook with my son today and helped him check off all of the items he has completed. We then worked on a few activities that helped him finish off two more of his belt loops. I also went online and checked out some of the other items you all mentioned - NOVA, etc... and he is excited to try for some of those in the next few years. DH is an Eagle but started as a Webelos so this is all new to him too. My daughter is a GS Junior this year. Her troop is somewhat non-traditional but it works well for her. She will be bridging to Cadettes at the end of this year but her current troop is sort of moving with her. The leaders only have 5th graders this year so they are going to stop having a Juniors troop and have a combined Cadettes/Seniors troop next year. We are planning a trip to DC this summer and I thought it might be a chance for my scouts to pick up some fun patches or participate in other scouting activities. So far, I've found that there is a Boy Scout history walking trail we can do, that we can visit Madame Toussauds and see the founders of both groups, and that there are scout activities we could do at Mt Vernon and the White House Visitors Center. I'm wondering if anyone has other ideas for us for scouting-related activities on our own in DC? Thanks!

Bay Ecology. She is really excited about it. I hope your daughter enjoys her camp.

My daughter has done three online classes with CTY and is attending her first camp with them this summer. Overall we have found the programs to be excellent, although quite expensive. My daughter first took Chinese online the summer after 3rd grade. This class is what brought us to CTY in the first place -she really wanted to take a Chinese class after some exposure at a local summer camp. She enjoyed the online class and learned a lot. I sat with her through the classes to help her navigate the online format so I was there for every class and phone call. The instructor was excellent; the TA was good but not extremely reliable in terms of being available when he said he would be. The class was intense, so while my daughter enjoyed it and did well in it, we both agreed that she couldn't continue with it during the school year (she goes to public school) and by the next summer she wanted to try other things. The next summer she took a Young Readers class focused on Mythology. She did not need my help with this one. The format was different (all three online classes she took had different formats) and since she had a little experience she was able to handle it on her own. She enjoyed this class also and has a list of other Young Readers classes that she wants to take. She recently finished a writing class with them. She got a lot out of this class also and enjoyed it, although there was some stress due to the instructor delaying the return of some work early on (assignments are reviewed and then rewritten so not getting work back meant she couldn't work on the next assignment and this caused her some anxiety). This class was all done via email so there really wasn't an online component at all. I was impressed with the depth and quality of feedback she received from the instructor. She's attending a more science-based camp with them this summer. I hope this is helpful.