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Good morning!

Jean, my brain read your post as saying your roof and gutters are GONE, and I was like, what the carp happened!?!?  And did your money all fly off in the tornado that took the roof?  I need more sleep.

So the Christmas gift project I had planned is not working.  I may try one more thing, but if that doesn't work, I'll have to scrap the whole idea and figure something else out for gifts.  Bah humbug.

Ds15 has a cello lesson this morning and I have an appointment with the endocrinologist this afternoon.

Coffee!

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Morning. Up, walked, caffeinated, ready to write all the things.

I do not have a monolith in my yard. I do have two creeks, and hand-built bridges over those creeks, so I think I'll forego the monolith.

I'm still keeping up my pace from NaNoWriMo. Wrote 7000 words yesterday. 

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Ok,  I just have to vent. My 14 year old DD..... I apparently know nothing. It doesn’t matter that I have 11 years classroom experience and an MA in Education.  I don’t know squat about writing an essay. She asks me for help... I make some very reasonable suggestions, like 5-paragraph essay and I get, “oh no, she doesn’t do it that way....” and every. single. suggestion. I make is met with, “oh, we can’t do it that way, Mrs. A. says we can’t do it that way.” I want to scream. I’m like, “your high school English teacher says you are not supposed to write an essay with an introduction, main points and a conclusion? Maybe she just uses different terminology.” “ oh no, Mom, she doesn’t want us to do it the way you taught us.”

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(((Krissi)))  They change things just to make it seem like parents are obsolete, imho.  I was telling one of my current highschoolers not to use 1st person pronouns in his formal literature essay, and not to refer to his paper in his paper.  My oldest told me they do all those things in college, lol.  Okay, fine.  But he's not doing it in highschool.  So there.

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I used to hate writing essays because they were so formulaic. HATED them.

Guess what? Essays are darned cool. They can be fun, they can be opinionated, hilarious, persuasive, and incredibly thoughtful. But they simply aren't taught that way very often. I think kids should read a lot more of them before they start writing them, but what do I know?😄

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17 minutes ago, Critterfixer said:

I used to hate writing essays because they were so formulaic. HATED them.

Guess what? Essays are darned cool. They can be fun, they can be opinionated, hilarious, persuasive, and incredibly thoughtful. But they simply aren't taught that way very often. I think kids should read a lot more of them before they start writing them, but what do I know?😄

Well, the formula is the pattern. It gives your essay structure and it makes it easier to get started. You can dress it up, be creative, etc. but personally, I think that structure is what helps you get started. But what do I know?? I’m just a dumb mom. 

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27 minutes ago, Critterfixer said:

Probably depends a great deal on what kind of essay it is. This is probably one of those times to smile and say, "well, figure it out kid". 

That’s what I’ve been doing. But she asks me for help. I don’t volunteer it. This teenage girl thing is just really hard.

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56 minutes ago, KrissiK said:

Well, the formula is the pattern. It gives your essay structure and it makes it easier to get started. You can dress it up, be creative, etc. but personally, I think that structure is what helps you get started. But what do I know?? I’m just a dumb mom. 

Well, I agree except for the dumb mom part!!  🤣

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I guess I forgot to come on this morning. 

I met dd for yoga, grabbed some breakfast, did 3 classes (one of which I had to change plans midway), came home, showered and now I'm relaxing.  A friend of mine dropped off some bakery bread and I just had some warmed up with butter and it was soooo yummy.   She gave some to the moms who were at the science center when she came by (she works at a bakery) and everyone was very thankful.    

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3 hours ago, KrissiK said:

Well, the formula is the pattern. It gives your essay structure and it makes it easier to get started. You can dress it up, be creative, etc. but personally, I think that structure is what helps you get started. But what do I know?? I’m just a dumb mom. 

It sort of depends on the essay. And I was taught to start with structure, too. But it killed my creativity and made my essays painful to write, and to read. 

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And yeah, teenagers are tough. I've had arguments with my son that were based on "Help me, don't help me" kind of debates. LOL.

Sometimes I think it's just to irritate me as much as they are irritated with whatever is bugging them. Other times, I think they are brainstorming through the frustration using me like a backboard. Sometimes I think they just want to get a rise out of me. Hard to tell at times.

Edited by Critterfixer
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I've written 5000 words today over two novels, and am about to see if I can't get another 2000 on a story I wasn't supposed to be writing until January, but it wouldn't wait. It's a really odd thing: sort of what would happen if the fairy mob really was the mob in a world where fairies and bugs are closely related. An insectopia.

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We are back from all the places.  At ds16's cello lesson I think I may have worked out the Christmas project issues.  I really liked the Endocrinologist - she had me get some repeat/extra bloodwork done and a bone density scan and they were so quick to get me back to the lab and x-rays that I didn't even have time to fill out the paperwork.    
     
After that I made yet another stop at the Lobby of Hobby and then since it was late, I just took some chili out of the freezer for dinner and whipped up some Jiffy corn muffins.  I can never remember if everyone loves corn muffins or hates them, so it's a surprise every time when they beg me to make them again soon.

The girls' zoom orchestra rehearsal is tonight.  All in-person, small-group, and virtual concerts have now been cancelled, so it was especially annoying to get an email thanking me for paying the semester tuition.  Which I sent almost 2 months ago, but I guess they are just now getting to it.

Imma do some more work on the embroidery project and watch some mindless TV.

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So ds16 started this thing where he would quote Napoleon Dynamite sometimes when it was time for Chester to eat because picky puppy often wants scrambled eggs or treats instead of boring puppy kibble.  And tonight, we realized that Chester has learned the phrase and will at least go look at his food bowl if anyone says it. 😂

 

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11 hours ago, Critterfixer said:

I used to hate writing essays because they were so formulaic. HATED them.

Guess what? Essays are darned cool. They can be fun, they can be opinionated, hilarious, persuasive, and incredibly thoughtful. But they simply aren't taught that way very often. I think kids should read a lot more of them before they start writing them, but what do I know?😄

My best friend and I used to set challenges for each other on our essays.  My favorite was when we each had to incorporate a nursery rhyme into the essay.  I wrote an amazing essay (if I may say so myself) based on Humpty Dumpty.  No formulas there!  (But this was many many years ago long before people had even thought of things like a five paragraph essay.) 

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Good Morning!!!!

COFFEE!!!~D

Humph Day!!!

Another chilly (for Central California) morning. Wind machines are in in the nearby orange groves and it sounds like a flock of helicopters.

DD1 asked for help again with her Animal Farm essay last night. She was pretty cooperative. And yes, it was a 4 paragraph essay, I just didn’t tell her. She was having trouble understanding the book. Especially the quote, “All animals are equal, just some are more equal than others.”

School and work today. I need vacation. 

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Good Morning!

Happy Wednesday!

I got ok sleep last night.  Not good, but not horrible.

I wonder sometimes how much I would get accomplished if I got a normal amount of sleep.

I also wonder sometimes how much I would get accomplished if I didn't have chronic pain.

Anyway...

I made some progress on cleaning up some of the piles of clutter.  I *might* end up getting rid of a few books...

 

 

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27 minutes ago, KrissiK said:

 

DD1 asked for help again with her Animal Farm essay last night. She was pretty cooperative. And yes, it was a 4 paragraph essay, I just didn’t tell her. She was having trouble understanding the book. Especially the quote, “All animals are equal, just some are more equal than others.”

 

Animal Farm is tricky.  I remember reading it in high school and having it discussed to death.  I think that high school is kind of young for satire, unless the person already has a really good grasp of what is being mocked.

I'm not sure if dd18 read it.  Probably.  She was my kid who (it seemed like) read everything and liked nothing.

Dd16 hasn't read it yet.  I haven't decided whether it's on my required list for her.  I know that she will struggle with it.

Ds20, however.  Ds20 loves history, especially war history and politics.  He is minoring in political science.  He doesn't want anything political as a career, but he has always been fascinated by it.

When I gave him Animal Farm to read, I didn't tell him anything about it.  I might have said something like "I think you'll like this."  He finished the book quickly and then came to tell me about each character and who he represented.  And this, that, and the other thing.

 

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Good morning!

My kids LOVE Animal Farm.  Not sure why.  Dd18 kept a disintegrating copy in her purse for several years (along with 4 or 5 other books).  They are always piping up with "That's just like ....... in Animal Farm!", particularly now when we are studying the early 1900's.

I found the 5 paragraph essay style (they called it "keyhole" in high school" very helpful when I was in school.  I'm not a particularly creative person so the structure helped me a great deal.  And to be honest, I wrote very few essays.  Most of the writing I did was research papers.

Gotta go to Aldi as we are out of half & half and cheese and eggs and People are starting to get nervous.

Pantz!

Coffee!

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8 minutes ago, Slache said:

Does anyone know when schools usually come out with their academic schedules? Days off and stuff? I must admit I've never paid attention to this before.

I just looked for a local school's calendar from a previous year and the schedule was announced at the end of May.  I did not look at 2020-2021 for obvious reasons.

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On 12/9/2020 at 12:59 PM, Slache said:

Does anyone know when schools usually come out with their academic schedules? Days off and stuff? I must admit I've never paid attention to this before.

It depends wildly on the district. Mine has 2021-2022 (and in a more normal year would possibly have the following year) posted.

My friend's? Um, they will figure it out at the beginning of summer break for sure.

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I'm shopping for books for my niece.  Books are so expensive!

I usually buy used books for my own kids, but I don't like giving used books as gifts (unless the book is out of print.)

I have been trying to build her library by giving her 6 books each year (one from each of my kids).

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