For what it is worth--We've found that acne/blemish products make acne/blemishes worse. Most of the products are designed to strip skin of its natural oils to reduce acne, but what happens when skin is striped of its oils? Skin produces more oil and acne breakouts increase rather than decrease. Cystic acne is deeper. None of my kids had cystic acne. They just had normal teenage pimples. My youngest DD discovered that if she cleaned her skin less often (once a day) her breakouts decreased. She also discovered if she used Jojoba oil on her face--Jojoba oil is not an oil but a wax most similar to skin sebum--that her skin cleared. She uses an aloe gel on blemishes. I was skeptical of this approach. She had bad facial pimples boarding on acne before using jojoba oil and aloe. The Jojoba oil is nothing special. I bought it at Trader Joe's along with the aloe gel. The Jojoba oil is also a great make-up remover. Drinking water might help. DD does have some back acne from swimming. I suspect that she not only sweats throughout swim practice, but the chlorine/salt pool water is very drying. We've not yet tried the Jojoba treatment on her back.

My DD took the AP Music exam a few years back. She went on to take 10 more AP exams. She said the music exam was by far the most difficult. At the time she had been playing piano for more than 10 years, completed all 10 levels of the California Certificate of Merit program-performance, sight reading, ear training, and written theory exams, but that programs was not enough to prepare for the AP Music exam. The AP Music exam is more than just music theory and ear training. We have used Keith Snell theory books preparatory through level 10 with great success, but there is no answer key other than our piano teacher.

If you want PayPal to deposit the $ you receive into a bank account, then yes you need to add a bank account be it business or personal, or you could have PayPal hold the money and use that money for purchases. The invoicing for eBay sales goes through PayPal. So yes, just add a PayPal account to your eBay account. When you buy things you need to make sure the address you want your purchase to go to is selected in PayPal. For bookkeeping purposes it is far easier to have two separate accounts. Your stars on eBay reflect you as a buyer but not a seller. I have four different PayPal accounts and five different eBay accounts.

Ebay seller here with both personal and business accounts. Yes, you can use different address through your PayPal account which is connected to your eBay account. In PayPal you can create invoices, use a logo if you want, and add any return address you choose. Be sure when you buy shipping and create a your shipping label that you get the address you want on that too.

Week of October 17th-21st We took a mini break last week doing a minimum amount of subjects so I had some time to catch up with DD's work thus far. Math-A week of review, then moving forward using more of the Thumb Drive lessons to support text. AofPS is not a good fit. We will give it one more try, but the discovery method of AofPS is not DD's prefered method of learning. I am going to show DD Math Girls. Maybe that will click with her. LA-This huge, overarching subject is motoring along. No changes. We are still tandem reading Into Thin Air. It is a slog, but interesting to read about both about the commercialization of climbing Everest and also the kinds of people drawn to this type of adventure. I do not plan for DD to write about this book. We will continue our discussing the book during our car rides to town. History-Writing Depth of Knowledge (DOK) questions for history is challenging, but ultimately I think combined with reading and note taking DOKs will expand DD's understanding of history. Science-Still checking this over. Tucked into the rest of our week~ Swimming: Five times a week, two hours a session. She move into the top swim group and it requires a major commitment of time. Piano: Lessons and practice seven days a week for one hour. Ballroom Dance: One evening a week-we are still on the fence about this.

Mice.

I miss getting my weekly delivery of The New Yorker, but business is dismal and the subscription was cut, but when I found an abandon copy of the most recent New Yorker I rejoiced. Inside I read a quick side bar about Cathy O'Neil. I'd heard a clip of an interview on the radio about Cathy O'Neil, so I recognized the name and her current book Weapons of Math Destruction. If being wary of Big Brother was a thought that you might have contemplated, think Big Data instead. Big Data is far more insidious. But really the point of this post is Cathy O'Neil's blog with oodles of math resources under "Cool Math Books". Of course I fell down the rabbit hole of searching links and found this gem of a book: Math Girls. I hope someone might find the links useful. Read the comments for more interesting books and info. Arrivederci.

When considering curriculum with a big price tag I read as many reviews as possible. I read all the reviews. I spend many hours looking for sample pages, videos, blog posts, etc. Still I make mistakes. I return or resell at a loss. If I buy a curriculum that I am unsure of, I do not let my DD write in or use that curriculum until I am sure it is going to work. That said, I bought an expensive science kit/curriculum only to find that it was too easy for DD. I bought a thumb drive for math only to find she does not use it. I am an avid reseller on Amazon and eBay. I spend a huge amounts of time looking for free stuff online. Homeschooling can get expensive fast. Use your public library to preview books.

Whoa! It's been about a month of solid school and I can see somethings just are not working. I spent last night and a better part of this morning learning how to write short response questions for history. Reading and taking notes, plus discussion, discussion that shows me DD is good on the general picture of historical time periods but fuzzy on specifics, is not working. "Webb's Depth of Knowledge" has tweaked Bloom's Taxonomy in a good way, so I am using this a model to write short answer questions for The Human Odyssey vol.2. I cannot find a PDF of the K12 student guides online. Algebra is a breeze for DD.....ummmmm. I pulled out AofPS Introduction to Number Theory so DD isn't done with math in 20 min. I have essays to read. I have books to read. Science is a bit like math, so I pulled out my copy of Conceptual Physics and handed it to DD. Lively discussions of current events and contemporary culture are always entertaining and enlightening.

My weekend rabbit-hole search lead me to this interesting article about Common Core. If you read through the article you will find this link to the Concord Consortium and the Sage Modeler.

I think grammar helps when learning a foreign language, editing, and writing with style and grace.

Drinking water is important. Clear pee no matter the weather. Hydro Flasks are great. My water comes from a spring, so no need for lemons. Uuu...time for a water break!

Question? Do you really make a copy of this form once filed online? Will anyone ever ask for this form?

Take a look at Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing AP Edition. I don't think AP makes any difference. The reading is short story, poetry, and plays. A good textbook approach that you can adapt to your needs. I looked at Oakmeadow and thought it was not challenging/thought provoking enough.

September is almost over? We are still in the "Just getting started" phase of school. This week on the academic front: Catching up with DD's work particularly in history and English. Order student study guide and TE for Conceptual Physics. Advanced Exploration Education Physics is great for hands-on building but too easy for DD. Start Shurley English 8 with prewritten sentences by me. Push writing forward in our week. Listen/watch rebroadcast of Presidential debate/soundbite ad. The debate happens during swim practice. DD writes scholarship letter for piano study. Math...continue correcting. Wow! Singapore Dimensions Math was such a struggle last year. This year Foerster's Algebra 1 is almost too easy. Start pulling together History DBQs for October. Find better Articles of the Week to respond to. Try an get a better understanding of the CA Smarter Balanced Test results. Two points away from "Exceeds Expectations" in both English and Math doesn't tell me much as a teacher. What do we need to work on? So disappointing from a teaching standpoint.

I agree with Sue's review. After using Singapore New Dimensions Math last year with my 7th grader--what a struggle--Foerster's Algebra 1 is easy, straightforward, and gets done with fewer mistakes. I also bought Math Without Borders thumb drive to help if DD needed more help, and it has worked solutions to the even problems.

Rosehip seed oil. I use this after swimming for an extra boosting moisturizer. Think about the V-C serum...... My personal made body butter with extra emollients that goes deep rather than sitting on the surface of the skin. This is much better than all of those lotions I've used for years, plus I make it so I know what goes into it. Argan oil for dry hair from swimming.

Emma Rose April Rose

Terrific!!!! Interesting to click through all of the "Rabbit Hole" links to further musings.

"Stranger Things" Netflix series. Watching with 13 & 19 year old.

"I love Paul Mitchell Smoothing Super Skinny Serum" I was in the locker room at the pool the other day and a woman with thin short hair raved about this. I haven't tried it yet. My hair has been down below my knees at times in my life, cut short and scorched by perms, layered and shoulder length, and now back down to the middle of my back "virgin" hair going silver. I swim 3x a week. This is rough on the hair even though the pool is a combo chlorine/salt mix. I use argan oil after every shower, always condition even if it leaves my hair limp, and live with split ends because that is what my hair does. Shampoos are really specific to hair type. What works for one will not necessarily work for another. Also, after a certain length, I find it essential to braid my hair otherwise it gets caught on door knobs and shopping carts.

To really DIY and make your own essential oils for perfume you need to have a still, so using your own flowers will not produce a perfume. I looked at making my own oils once and was astonished at how many flower heads go into making a rose essential oil, or a lavender essential oil---1,000s. I buy the essential oils and use recipes from Mountain Rose, but there are many recipes out there on the internet. I choose simple mixes. Good luck. P.S. This is how I got soaping. I could never find what I wanted so I made my own. I know what goes into what I make.

I make my own personal scent rather than using harsh perfume chemicals on my body. My personal scents don't last as long as store bought, so I carry it in my purse. I make it as a roller on or solid. I like the scents from this company~Pacifica

I am gone four nights a week for swim practice. We do not get home until 9:30pm or later. One of the things I found that packs the pounds on is carbs. like pasta, bread, and burritos after 6pm. I make a mini breakfast and a larger lunch with a lite snack after swim practice. The take-away meal from home is what I am working on this year.

Excellent post!! Thanks for sharing.