Week in Review - 8-17-18

Nearing the end of summer, and it was a busy week at Homeschool Review.

To start with, our County Fair is in full swing.

At tne end of last week I entered some items in the Fair. I have some antiques I like to enter in the Old Timers' Building (not a competition) and entered some sewing items in the Home Arts Building. A child's pair of slacks got a red 2nd place ribbon, as did a gray pair of maternity slacks I made for my daughter.

 My quilt that I entered (my 3rd quilt ever) got a blue ribbon!

My son was able to enter a whip in a category for woven fabric, narrow bands. He got a first place! Sorry, I don't have a photo.

Sunday afternoon my husband and I volunteered for almost 5 hours at The Big Cheese, where grilled cheese sandwiches are sold to fair goers, along with cheese selections, nachos, pretzels, sodas, etc. We walked around afterwards, and that's when I learned about our placing on our entries.

Tuesday my husband and I had a Civil Air Patrol meeting for the Senior Squadron we are a part of. Thursday my daughter, son-in-law and I attended the fair together. Afterwards my husband and I attended my son's Civil Air Patrol meeting to participate in his promotion to Cadet Sr. Master Sgt.

He is working hard to rank up to Lieutenant while he is a cadet. He wants to earn the Billy Mitchell Award, which is received when a cadet completes the requirements for 2nd. Lt.

Soon he will be leaving home to attend college out of state. He plans to continue participating in Civil Air Patrol at a squadron near the college. While in college he will be participating in Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps). He'd like to be an Air Force pilot one day and hopes to fly A-10's.

And today I played "catch up", getting some much needed things done. So how was your week? Let me know. Drop me a comment.



 

Monthly Update for 6/30/18

June is coming to a close. 

At Homeschool-Review, it has been a somewhat quiet month. School finished up in May. Our Boy Scout meetings ended for the summer in Mid-June with our Court of Honor/family picnic.

True confessions -- this photo is from 2017. I didn't take any photos this year.  My son has moved on from Boy Scouts. When he turned 18 he could not longer be a "boy" scout and he has other things going on and did not choose to continue in Scouting in adult leadership.

His main other interest, these many years, has been Civil Air Patrol (CAP), in which he is still active as they permit cadets to participate until age 21. He had a momentous event in CAP this month when he was promoted from Cadet Technical Sergeant to Cadet Master Sergeant. I'm so happy for him!

I've been selling off school books and decluttering. I am working on a quilt for Quilts for Kids, and I sent hats and booties to my other charity, Online Angels.

My son went on lots of job interviews, but so far no summer job or internship.

We spent Father's Day in Virginia visiting my daughter (who is expecting my first grandchild!).

I voted in the primary election in my state.

My garden is growing. I weed and water it daily.

And that's about it. What happened in your world in June?




 

Week in Review - 3/17/17

Well first of all, happy St. Patrick's Day! I'm not Irish, but since Patrick was actually British (and I'm half British), I'll celebrate anyway! His life should be an example to us all.

My student has been on spring break this week. I, as the mom, have not. Products currently brewing in my homeschool (watch for two more reviews next week!) are:

• Creating a Masterpiece;
• Bessie's Pillow;
• First Form Greek;
• Shepherd, Potter, Spy--and the Star Namer;
• Digital Savvy;
• Drive Thru History® – “The Gospels”; and 
• ArtAchieve.

Monday night was Boy Scouts. My Life Scout had his Scoutmaster Conference for Eagle Rank. Now he needs to finish up the paperwork on his Eagle Project, complete his Eagle Rank Application, and get approval signatures. After that he goes to his Eagle Board of Review. We are aiming for April -- he will be out of town when they do Eagle BORs in March.

Tuesday we had a family night and played Settlers of Catan. I WON! I never win! What fun for a change!

Thursday part of our Scout Troop attended a Cub Scout Blue and Gold Dinner to welcome some Webelos to our troop as they bridged from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. Scoutmaster (my husband) drove to blue and Gold Dinner where he met four of our Scouts and more of our adults. Meanwhile, Assistant Scoutmaster (me) drove our Civil Air Patrol cadet and friend (another cadet) to their Civil Air Patrol meeting. After I met our CAP Wing's new commander and visited a few minutes, I booked cross-town to the Blue and Gold Dinner to help out.

When the Bridging was over I got to go home. Scoutmaster booked it across town to pick the cadets up at the end of their meeting. It had been PT (Physical Training) night. I knew that our cadet needed only to pass his PT Run to qualify for advancement to Tech Sgt. We think he did it! He'd been looking at the Cadet Super Chart wrong and thought he needed to run the mile much faster than he actually did (speed needed varies by height/weight/age ratio). We think he's done. But he can't advance next week when they'll do advancements - he'll be out of town.

Friday my high school Junior and I visited Patrick Henry College in Purcilleville, VA. 

He loves it. I don't know if we can swing it financially. We'll be seeking scholarship(s), but still don't know if we'll be able to afford what would be left. So we will still be visiting other colleges as well.

Friday night and all day Saturday my church hosted an If Gathering for women. I went but was exhausted. Kept falling asleep during Friday night's meeting!

What was your week like?

2017 Weeks 4 and 5 in Review

The student is attending Spanish I and Sociology classes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at our local community college through the Dual Enrollment program.

These classes are his main focus right now, but in addition he is taking an online Accuplacer preparation course. He is supposed to be working on Geometry as well, but right now he is not.

The student is also a Boy Scout and is in the final stretch to reach the rank of Eagle Scout.

His Eagle project proposal has received a few revisions and has gotten all its signatures. Weather permitting, the project work should be accomplished at the end of February.

The project is reclaiming a section of forest at a local county park that has previously been a hiking trail. The trail has been rerouted and the old trail needs to become forest again. Trees will be planted and the path covered with forest debris to discourage use by hikers and to give nature the opportunity for regrowth there. It helps the county park out, and my son is pretty excited about the project.

My son is also a Civil Air Patrol cadet (Master Sergeant) and attends meetings on Thursday nights. This past Thursday was ABUs night (uniform name - Airman Battle Utility). 

The weather has been amazing for February (40-50s), but the cold seems to be returning (thank you, Pauxatauny Phil). It goes down to the 20's or 30's at night. Daytime temperatures are unpredictable. We'll have a high of 35 one day, but 65 a few days later. I love the warmer days. I don't want to take a coat when I go out in my polar fleece jacket. I am waiting anxiously for Spring.

How was your week?

2017 Week 3 in Review

This week has been quite a week for us in comparison to the quiet life we normally lead.

Monday night we had a Boy Scout meeting. My husband is Scoutmaster and I am an Assistant Scoutmaster. There is an issue going on in our troop right now that we are working through -- regarding something that happened on a recent camping trip. It's not an easy issue to work through, and I certainly won't go into it here, but it's taking up a lot of my husband's time and is leaving us drained. My son is not involved -- wasn't on that trip. He stayed home Monday to do some work on his Eagle Scout Project Proposal.

Wednesday my son was scheduled to take his Driver's License test, but there were all these things we needed to take with us for the test -- papers I had lost track of when I cleaned up for Christmas. So Tuesday I tore through boxes and storage folders and bags of papers looking for the New Driver's Logbook, the Driver's Handbook and the two pink pieces of paper given to my son that certified he had taken the driver's ed course and done the six hours of driving with the course. Then once I had found those I had to go through calendars and lesson planners to transfer records of hours driven to the logbook, because the notes had not been written in the logbook as the driving was done. Then there was a form to print out to certify that we have him insured. Finally got it done.

Wednesday we drove to Frederick, Maryland (not the closest Motor Vehicle Administration to us) because we had heard bad things about going to our local MVA for the driving test. We left at 11:00 a.m. for a 2:00 appointment. I figured we'd eat when we got there, but my son ate breakfast late and had no appetite for lunch. We were at the MVA and my son was practicing some driving and parking, but I realized we had only a quarter of a tank of gas, and the MVA specified to make sure the car had half a tank, so we left and got gas.

We reported in at 1:45 for the 2:00 appointment, turned in the paperwork, and then we had to wait. And wait. And wait. At a little before 3:00 hubby was texting me to ask how the test went, but we were still waiting. We had been sent to the car and were in a queue behind the building, but we were still waiting. Finally my son's turn. I got kicked out of the car by a nice instructor (I guess you'd call her) and I went inside to wait.

My son was nervous, but he passed first time and is now a licensed driver! :) 

He is still a little nervous to drive in certain settings, but is willingly tackling small driving tasks. When we got home from the driver's test I let him "solo" driving around the neighborhood. Next day he wanted a haircut and decided to drive himself. Then that night he drove to the store (1 mile) to get a few things.

Wednesday we got a call from an old friend we knew from Denver, Colorado 25 years ago (he now lives in West Virginia). 

He wanted to go to the Inauguration and wondered if he could stay at our house for a couple of nights. We said, "Sure!" He arrived Thursday and went downtown to enjoy some of the pre-inaugural events Thursday. That night the Scoutmaster visited a Cub Scout pack while the young man attended a CAP meeting. The dad met the cadet for the meeting when he was done at Cub Scouts.

Now on Monday my 17 year old son had said to me, "Can we go to the Inauguration?" It wasn't an unreasonable request -- we're really close! But I had no intention of going, so I said, "No." But now our friend was coming and was planning to go. So I asked Don if he would consider taking our son with him, and he did! So my son got to go to the Inauguration! They got up at "0-dark-something" and drove to the local Metro stop, parked there and took the Subway down to DC for the day. My son had a good time, and I was so glad he got to go!

My son, who has a certain amount of anxiety hanging in groups of people he knows, has no anxiety meeting and talking with strangers. Don commented how my son was very sociable and a very pleasant person to make the trip with. I joked with him about "Unsocialized Homeschoolers"!

Friday night mom and dad had a small group meeting ("Care Group"). Saturday will probably be menu planning, grocery shopping, and a movie in the evening. Next week the lad's classes start up at the local community college. I NEED him to take that Accuplacer test, but it hasn't happened, and he needs to get serious about his Eagle project.

How was your week?

2017 Week 2 in Review

Week 2 of 2017 is history. 

The week began with some decluttering -- a request I saw on a Freecycle email prompted me to declutter my board games and get rid of ones we don't use. Please don't ask me why we had two sets of Battleship, Monopoly and Clue, plus all those sets of chess and checkers... So the individual picked up my give-aways at the beginning of Week 2.
  

The student is still on break from his college courses. Next semester he is taking Spanish 101 and Sociology 100 for his two dual enrollment courses. This week his books for these courses were acquired.

During his college break the student has been working through practice questions for the Math Accuplacer test. He has been working some on his Geometry, and he has been doing some of the paperwork for his Eagle Project Proposal.

Monday night we had a Boy Scout meeting.

Tuesday took us to the dentist so the student could get his teeth cleaned. After I took him home I had a doctor's appointment.

The highlight of Wednesday and Thursday was some nice weather that replaced some cold weather we'd been having. Thursday night the dad had one meeting the mom had a Boy Scout Roundtable meeting and the cadet had a Civil Air Patrol meeting. I was the taxi, driving cadets to their meeting on the way to mine and picking them up after.

Friday the weather was still mild. I weighed in at Jenny Craig and did some shopping at Trader Joe's. Hubby surprised me and took me out to dinner.

Saturday morning was my quilting day, but our church was also planning a women's brunch. Hubs and cadet were supposed to go to SARs training with CAP. However an ice storm was predicted. CAP decided to cancel SARs. The ice storm never came, though, so I still did both my activities.

Since I wasn't expecting the guys to be home, I hadn't completed menu planning and the creation of the shopping list, so I finished that Saturday night.

Those are the highlights. The student is getting bored with his present "light load" (academically), but is anticipating next semester with some trepidation. He has one more week til the next semester starts.

How was your week?

2017 Week 1 in Review

First week of 2017 down. My student is on winter break from his dual enrollment college courses. He has been focusing on personal interests, but has found time to do some other work that he should be doing.

First, though, on Sunday we celebrated a late "Christmas" get together with my brother's family. Did I even think to take a single photo? ::sigh:: No. I need to do better and remember to take photos.

Monday was "New Year's Day Observed", so hubby had the day off. We got the Christmas tree taken down and got all of "Christmas" stored and put away. We got things cleaned up and got our normal decorations back in place and re-established our household "normal".

Tuesday it was pouring rain, but it was basically the first regular day of the new year, and it was time for me to get back some routine. I started the day by going to the gym. I also got to the gym on Thursday. Monday, Wednesday, Friday works better for me, so I'm going to try to do that schedule next week.

It rained again on Wednesday, and we got light snow on Friday and Saturday. Thursday night the student and his dad attended their Civil Air Patrol meeting, and Friday night we had our church small group meeting ("Care Group").

During the week the student did some Geometry. He also spent time preparing for the Math Accuplacer test.

The student, a Life Scout, also began work to get his Eagle Project rolling. At one point he was considering a renovation project at the building where our Boy Scout Troop meets, but this project just wasn't something that his heart was in. In the fall he had met with a representative from our county's Park and Planning Department and had discussed a reforestation project at a local public park area. Basically there is an area that used to have a hiking path. The path was rerouted, and the county wants trees planted in the area where the path used to be. My son always liked the idea of this project and is back in contact with the County representative to get the project going.

The representative has let our Scout know there is work to be done, however the Scout is not clear yet if the reforestation project is still available or if the project will be different. There were other projects discussed -- projects related to creating new sections of the hiking path. This is not what my son wanted to do, but he will probably prefer an outdoor project with the county over an indoor renovation project. So for now he is waiting to hear back from the County.

While the Scout waits, he is working on Eagle Scout Project Proposal paperwork. It is a good exercise in reality, having to work through the planning, proposal and paperwork. He needs to create the proposal and get lots of different approvals before the Project date. The target date is February 25 -- cold, but not muddy. This is work that can be done in winter, weather permitting, but can be bumped to March if necessary.

As we launch into 2017 Week 2, the young man will be continuing to work on Geometry, Accuplacer Math Test Preparation and Eagle Scout Project preparation. His spring college courses begin on January 23. We are encouraging him to go for his Driver's License before classes start, but he is not in a hurry and we're trying not to push him too hard.

That's all the highlights for this week. The student is still creating YouTube videos for his YouTube channel and making bull whips out of para-cord. 

The snow is lightly falling, and the birds are enjoying the bird feeders. We've got dark-eyed junkos, house sparrows, Carolina wrens, song sparrows, downy woodpeckers, cardinals and tufted titmouses feasting in the snow. And I need a nicer camera...

Week in Review, Week 2

The continuining saga...

As last week ended, our gas leak had been repaired, but our water heater had died,

and our dishwasher had been dead for some time.

Friday night hubby and I went on a date to Guapo's. Dear son asked dad to stop somewhere and bring him something on the way home, which dad did, which made son happy.

After dinner hubby and I went to Lowe's with dishwashers and hot water heaters in mind. First, after a phone consult with my husband's brother, we checked out the dishwashers. We had some back and forth for a bit and finally settled on a mid-range model of a recommended brand, and a model that has a "Delay" feature, which I really use. (It means I can turn in on after dinner on delay and not cause any bedtime baths to have cold water.) We chose a black-front model, which will match our fridge and oven. I didn't even think of taking a photo of the floor model.

Next we checked out hot water heaters and consulted with a floor salesman. He created a sight-unseen estimate, and it came out spot-on with the estimate the plumber gave us, with the caveat that it might cost more because there might be variables. Hubby and I agreed to go with the plumber, who will do everything that needs to be done and will guarantee for ten years. 

On the way home we even had ice cream! Sometimes that's what date night with hubby looks like! At home we started a "retro" movie night watching "Working Girl", but it got too late and we saved half the movie for tomorrow.

Saturday morning... I took a cold shower. Yes, I did. A very FAST shower. Then I got dressed and got my menu planned and my shopping list created. Hubby went for a long run (he's training for a half-marathon). After his run he showered at our neighborhood swimming pool's bath house! Wasn't that a smart way to get a hot (or not cold) shower? Shopping was done. We spent time doing house cleaning and decluttering. We had dinner according to our plan, cleaned up (hot water from pots heated on the stove, no dishwasher) and had a relaxing evening at home. We finished last night's movie.

Sunday we went to church and then hurried home as my daughter and son-in-law were visiting from their home 60+ miles away from us. When they arrived, JB left to play football with his friends. My daughter and I went to Starbuck's for some decadent beverages. Then we went to Trader Joe's for some fresh corn on the cob to go with our dinner.

Daughter and I went home and enjoyed our visit and our beverages. I spent time reading The Pray-ers and Handbook for Writers. Hubby took son to try to get a haircut, but the barber shop was closed for the holiday weekend. (Good for them! Small family shop.) Then they went to Ranger surplus. Son came home with an empty grenade. (Thanks, hubby!)

We had barbecued chicken, corn on the cob and broccoli for dinner. Evening came way too quickly, and we bid the "kids" goodbye for their long drive home.

We enjoyed another "retro" movie night and watched "Top Gun".

Monday we got to enjoy a holiday. We did clean up and declutter of the living room/dining room -- Boy Scouts coming over tomorrow night for a leadership training meeting. Hubby ran again (shorter tun) and showered at the pool again -- last chance, as the pool closes for the season today. I got myself a bath Little House on the Prairie style by heating four different pots of water on the stove. Hubby helped me carry them to the tub for my bath. My hair really needed washing!

I did a load of laundry (cold load of course). I cleaned out the bird cage (cockatiel). We picked up yard clutter (fallen twigs and branches) and put trash and recycling to the curb. We straightened up the deck and moved the glider from down in the yard to up on the  deck, where I prefer it.

We had cheeseburgers on the grill on paper plates, so less dishwashing tonight. We spent some time taking it easy.

Tuesday - I'd been waiting anxiously all weekend to hear from the plumber to confirm that we could get our hot water heater installed today. Fred did not let me down. He pulled one of his employees from another job to take care of us. That was when I realized I had forgotten to rearrange some things to make the area accessible! Scurry, scurry to get that done!

No photos, but Brian, from Limmerick, Ireland, arrived to take care of our hot water heater installation. Brian needed to turn off the main water valve, did I know where the access panel is? ::sigh:: Behind a large bookshelf full of games. Scurry, scurry, more rearranging. Three shelves empty and the unit can be moved.

The games are now on my washer/dryer along with craft storage items from beside the old hot water heater.

The games need to be decluttered. No one needs two sets of Clue, among other things. And the craft items cannot go back beside the hot water heater -- not safe. ::sigh::

But I am now the proud owner of a new, very costly water heater.

The new model has a pressure overflow tank.


New safety requirements meant that we had to upgrade 3" ductwork to 4" or 5" ductwork.

Wednesday I started my day with a HOT SHOWER! Whew hooo! What a joy! 

Took my son to his 10:00 English class and scurried home. Had loads to do downstairs, but used my time to take care of some business on the computer. Picked my son up after his classes.  On the way home we stopped and got my son's hair cut.

Stopped at the UPS Store and shipped that book that I mentioned last week that I needed to returned.

Got home and evaluated what needed to be done. I really needed to do laundry, but first I needed to clean up my utility room and find my washer! It's the white thing under the piles of games and craft items...


I also needed to write a review due Friday. I started working on the game shelf, but before I knew it it was time to make dinner. When hubby got home we realized I haven't heard from the store about my dishwasher. Hubby called them and we realized the phone number on the invoice was wrong! We gave them the correct number and hope to get a call from them tomorrow.  I never got back to the game shelves, and bedtime arrived before I knew it.

Thursday I had thought I'd be able to get to the gym, but I just couldn't! I had to finish that utility room and I HAD to get that review written! So I got those things done. That's about it. I called Lowe's and learned there was still a place in there computer with the wrong phone number. I again gave my correct number and was informed they should call me tomorrow. 

I made dinner and we booked out the door. Hubby had a church men's meeting, I had Boy Scouts Roundtable, and my son had Civil Air Patrol. They got to watch a drone demonstration at CAP!

Friday I took my son to his class and then finally got to the gym. After a good workout I headed home for a hot shower. (I am so thankful for my hotwater heater!) My son rode home on the bus.

Called Lowe;s again. And again. And again. Finally got someone who took responsibility to get me an installation date on my dishwasher. Next week on Tuesday. Suddenly I needed to reschedule an appointment that was planned for next Tuesday. But at least the dishwasher will get installed.

Worked on Geometry with my son. Cleaned up my email inbox. When hubby got home we went out for dinner. After dinner I worked on some Boy Scout Merit Badge entries into the computer.

Saturday I was supposed to go to quilting day, but I just couldent. I menu planned and created shopping list (first week with MyFreezEasy.com). Hubby shopped while I cleaned a bathroom and did laundry, put away dishes and read a few chapters of The Pray-ers. 

Hubby got home and I put away groceries. Hubby went out and I compiled one of the recipes from MyFreezEasy (two meals). As I was finishing the two freezer meals, hubby got home and made the Reuben sandwiches for our dinner.

It's been a full week. Have still been working on Getting Started with French. I love French! 
Getting Started with French is my next review and it will be posted next week. Watch for it!

So how did your week go this week?