I have tackled everything on my list. Wahoo! I have washed the kitchen floor and the floor at the back entry. We had a successful day of school. I went to town to send my parents Christmas present by mail, brought my recycling in (I have been putting this off for 6 months) and went to the library to return books. I also peeled off the wallpaper in our hallway and have prepared the walls to be painted, hopefully, later on in the week. I am now going to get off of the computer to make supper: ham, scalloped potatoes and a new side dish with mushrooms and snap peas.

We started using TOG with UG and 2 Dialectic. I only buy the literature books and the spine. The rest is from the library. We have an awesome library system so I am able to get most of the books this way. Maybe you should look at your library first to see if they have most of the books before you make a decision.

I finished 'We Need to Talk About Kevin' by Lionel Shriver. That was my 'Wow!' book of the year. The ending shook me up and really got under my skin. This is one of those books that I will be thinking about long after I have closed the book. I am now reading 'Casual Vacancy' by J.K.Rowling.

I don't read them in great depth but I do skim through them to get the gist of it's scope and sequence. It helps me to know where we are going to end up when all is said and done.

I have been reading this thread over and over as well as Mystie's blog posts on GTD. I like the idea of dumping all of my 'I should, I ought to, I want to' thoughts on paper. I am seeing that my biggest problem is that I am always thinking 'I need to do ______' but that is as far as it goes. My head is chock full of those kinds of thoughts which leads to a feeling of overwhelmingness. I just don't know where to start so I end up reading a book or watching a movie to deal with the craziness in my brain. In dumping out all of these thoughts on paper, I am able to see what has to be done and then I can start to organize them into some sort of plan. After a morning of 'thought dumping,' I decided to take some action this afternoon. I finally made an appt. for my girls to get their hair cut (I have been putting this off for a month!) I have cleaned out a third of my freezer (this was a huge deal as it hasn't been cleaned in 8 years. I know, disgraceful) and I made out next week's menu plan and grocery list. This has been a major accomplishment for me. I am so thankful for this thread.

We are working until next week--the 14th--then are off until the 7th of Jan.

I usually do not like period pieces nor do I like British shows but for some reason Downton Abbey has stuck with me and my girls. The show you watched, though, is in the middle. I would have found it confusing and silly if I had started watching it then too. Just for the record, I don't like Big Bang, either. I have tried watching a few episodes but I just shake my head and turn it off after 10 min.

We have two libraries that we go to. The one in the bigger town opens at 9. The small town library opens at 10 on Mon. and then 1:00 for the rest of the week.

We read our first Christie book last month with 'Murder on the Orient Express.' My youngest is 9(almost 10) and she is handling them fine but it is a read aloud so I edit some things out.

I read 3 books this week but I am still not close to 52. sigh Oh well! I read: 'Picnic at Hanging Rock' by Joan Lindsay. I read this due to all the chatter here. I did not understand this book. I have way more questions than I have answers. I am left utterly confused. 'Not in the Flesh' by Ruth Rendell. I am in the mood for fluff books right now. Hence, this mystery. I really enjoyed it, though. 'Death on the Nile' by Agatha Christie. I am reading this with my kids. We loved this book! We are eager to start another Christie book. I am now reading 'Socrates Cafe' by Christopher Philips. This is a filler until I get to the library tomorrow to pick up 3 books that are waiting for me. One of those books is 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn.

Joanne, my heart is hurting so deeply for you right now. I am praying that somehow, somewhere, wisdom will come your way as to how to deal with this situation.

Joanne, my heart is hurting so deeply for you right now. I am praying that somehow, somewhere, wisdom will come your way as to how to deal with this situation.

I'm not sure when we will put up the tree. We are in the middle of kitchen renos and as a result, our living room is in major upheaval. There is no room for the tree right now. I want to do something different for Advent this year. I will be using the characters in our nativity scene to count down the days until Christmas. I will put a gold star down for every day until Christmas so when a day goes by, Mary will move on to the next star until she gets to the manger. I also have count down boxes. I string these boxes on a string. In each box is a candy for each child plus a suggestion for an activity for that day, for ex. make a gingerbread hous, make cookies, watch a Christmas movie, go skating, etc. These things will have to do until we can get that tree up.

:grouphug: I am so sorry :grouphug:

Finished "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly--I loved it! It was written in story form, it wasn't just a bunch of dry facts. There were lots there that I didn't know. I am now reading "The Long Way Home" by Andrew McCarthy.

I finished "The Cat's Table" by Michael Ondaatje. I can't say that I loved the book but I tolerated it. The writing style kept me reading it. I am now reading "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson. This is a very funny book but it would be much better, imo, if it didn't have so much swearing in it.

The hardest part about these types of situations is the waiting, btdt. :grouphug: and prayers for you.

My third grader takes about a half an hour for MUS but she does 3 or 4 pages a day (both sides.)

:grouphug: I am so sorry. :grouphug:

We love BFG here. We have read it quite a few times. I sixth or seventh getting the audiobook. If you don't like reading it now, it isn't going to get any better the farther you go in the book.

I have read "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie (wonderful book, ready to read more Christie,) "Death at Pemberley" by P.D.James (loved this once I got over my confusion with other P&P knock-offs) and 'The Year of Learning Dangerously' by Quinn Cummings (disliked this book, she writes of Christian homeschoolers but only deals with uber-conservatives. I am a Christian homeschooler and I am nothing like the people she writes about. I was left wondering what the reason was for writing this book.) I am now reading "The Marriage Plot' by Jeffrey Eugenides.

I usually do not like to watch movies more than once but I have a weakness for the these three movies: Pretty Woman Blind Side Princess Bride

We have just started 'The Enchanted Castle' by E.Nesbit and there is quite a bit of talk about gardens and roses but we have just started it so I don't know if the descriptive language continues throughout the book.

Both my ds and dd liked reading the Percy Jackson books when they were in 5th grade. My oldest has been reading A Wrinkle in Time and the books that follow that. She has also enjoyed Agatha Christie books and The Innocence of Father Brown by G.K.Chesterton. She is reading the science fiction series by C.S.Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet is the first one) right now and is liking these as well but I don't know if your oldest is into science fiction or not. I have tried to read these but just can't get into them. :001_smile:

I read 'The Descendants' by Kaui Hart Hemmings. It wasn't a bad read but I had George Clooney in my head as the lead character (the role he plays in the movie,) if he wasn't there, I don't think I would have liked it as much. :001_smile: I am now reading 'Death at Pemberley' by P.D.James. I have read so many P&P knock-offs lately, though, that I am getting them all mixed up which makes reading this book a bit confusing.