My Own Thoughts

As I mentioned in my last post, it is early. But we celebrate Christmas at Thanksgiving, so really that's not too early. (Each year we switch families for Tday and Xmas.) R wants a fogproof mirror for the shower so he can shave in the shower. My boys want some PS2 game, Bloody Roar 4 [...]

I know we're starting early, but I got a Christmas present today. A queen size bed. We had a full. Four years ago we bought a queen size bed. Within a year we were rolling into the middle of it. However, being constantly broke, we just kept rolling. Then my folks bought my eldest a [...]

Originally written May 2003. After 7 years, I'm considered an old hand at homeschooling. I have two sons, one who would be in 6th grade in public school and one who would be in fourth. My oldest is working at 6-8 grade levels and my youngest is working at 4-6 grade levels. My husband feels [...]

I am wandering through blog rolls and found this wonderful blog on Israel and its right to exist. She who will be obeyed! had some very interesting points.

I was trying to find something about secret sisters online and got stuck in Nevernever land with some awful music and my cursor would disappear when I got anywhere near the close button. Ouch. This idea of secret sisters is something that groups do to get women in touch with women. The church we attend [...]

I was reading the Curmudgeonly Clerk of October 5. He quotes a Sports Illustrator author as saying “Austin is so not Texas.” He disagrees with that. I don't. One thing he argues is that all large cities in Texas have Starbucks, Walmarts, and Best Buy. Well, I haven't checked it out, but I'm guessing most [...]

I couldn't come up with a list of the best books. But I did come up with books I've read more than 10 times each. Here are some of them. Christopher Stasheff's A Wizard in Rhyme set. There are 8 starting with Her Majesty's Wizard. I have read five of them more than 10 times [...]

I was standing at the door of Dave and Buster's waiting for R to come in. I was wearing high heels, so he let me off. I looked good: high heels, tight vest, mini skirt. As I was waiting a guy came by with a friend, touched my arm and said, “Give the Jim a [...]

Tonight my hubby and I have a date, but no plans to go anywhere specific. Think we're going to end up at California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and maybe go to some strange theater for strange shows. It'll be different. Usually we go to dinner and the bookstore or dinner and the movies. Tonight we're [...]

This list by the Observer UK gives 100 books in chronological order that are “must reads.” Does it say anything about me that I've read all the oldest and none of the newest? The oldest are Don Quixote, Pilgrim's Progress, Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels. I consider myself well read. I've only read 34 of these [...]

For two days my husband's computer at work has been down and he has been unable to connect to the net on his own computer, which he takes with him. For two days I have not been able to ichat him when something has come up and even my emails have not gotten through. I [...]

I spent three hours today rebuilding a shed with my dad. My dad did most of the work. I drilled holes, held walls, got screws, poured Dr. Pepper, bought Snickers, moved wood, etc. I participated in all of it, but it wouldn’t have gotten done without my father. I have no faith to try stuff [...]

This link talks about why two income families actually have less discretionary income than they used to. I would like to point out that homeschooling would remove one income from the pot, but would allow you to decrease the housing costs. (Truth to tell, though, we live in a neighborhood with reasonably good schools, just [...]

It isn't science fiction any more. Already someone is using their brain and an implanted device to make a robot arm move and do what they want. It's hope for paralysis patients. Right now the someone is a monkey. Question: If they can play video games with a chip, can they learn English? If they [...]

My sister keeps getting new cars. This is not her idea, though she did want to trade the roll-over/don't stop Ford in. It is my brother-in-law's idea. He wants their cars to show how important they are, in case you don't know. This week my sister lost her Suburban and her BMW. She got a [...]

Know someone with Dyslexia? Go here for a typeface they supposedly will be able to read much more easily. It's worth a try.

If you go to this site and put in a text of 500 words or more, the algorithm is supposed to tell you whether the author of the piece is a male or female. I figured I could fool it. First, I took 1342 words out of chapter 8 in my novel. It scored 1860 [...]

R and I have talked about M's history class. We have decided he is really just too young to be in the class. So we will leave him in for the rest of the semester but not put him in again next semester. At least that is our plan for right now. E and I [...]

Most students said they spent 3 hours or less on the midterm. My younger students' lowest grade was a 93. YEAH. My older students had some poorer grades, but the average for both classes together was a 90. That's good. The in-class sections should be a bit more difficult for the older students because it [...]

I had a student telling me that Lilo and Stitch, Disney's movie, is great because it brings Elvis to the younger audience who might not know about this “historical figure of great importance.” I liked Lilo and Stitch, but Elvis is not that important. I did recommend Chuy's to her, since it has an Elvis [...]