Do people not read?

When I see photos of people's bookshelves in magazines, I have to think "do people not read?" I know it's not that, of course, but merely that the photographers hide the books and other stuff so the place looks neat.

Take, for example, this picture from a recent Better Homes and Gardens:

Wow! There is room on these shelves to put up knick-knacks! What a concept.

Our shelves are so overflowing with books that I'm surprised there's even room for dust on them:

This one has overflowed on to the floor:

Nope. No room on these shelves either:

I really think it's time to purge and donate to the library.

How are your shelves holding up? Is it time for Spring Cleaning

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

It's all so perplexing

Up until now, homeschooling’s not been too bad. I’ve muddled my way through, even with having to run the high school level biology and physics labs. (Thank you, Meg for all the materials!)

But now that ds1 is high school age, and ds2 is middle-school age, I can’t help but panic that I’m woefully unprepared to play school counselor. What are they supposed to have in order to apply to college, or heck, what do they need in order to graduate period? Luckily I have a couple of friends who’ve homeschooled kids through to college, and a homeschool e-list, that I can consult, though I don’t want to bug them every other hour with my freaked-out questions.

One of the things I learned is that taking the PSAT in grade 11 will allow the kids to qualify for National Merit scholarship if they score high enough. So, I thought I’d sign ds1 up to take it for fun and for practice. Yes, while other moms take their kids to Disneyworld for fun, I make mine take tests for fun!

While I’ve had the kids do the CAT/5 (California Achievement Test) at home before, neither of them has ever taken an “official” standardized test. All public school kids in Indiana take the IStep starting in grade 2? 3? 4? I don’t even know, but by the time grade 10 rolls around, they’ve taken standardized tests many times already. So, I was pleasantly surprised that ds1 was not nervous about doing the PSAT.

And, apparently, according to people who know (like hubby), he did all right: 210.

Now, the solicitations start arriving, but…what’s a good college? To my Canadian mind, if it has the word “university,” it’s a good one. If it says “college,” then it’s lower tier. Not so in the U.S., and fortunately, hubby knows which are the good ones so he can steer ds1 in the right direction.

I hope…because I’m still confused.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Guess who'll be getting squeaky-clean?

The lucky winner of the soapy giveaway, of course!  Or not, because the winner might want to frame these or put them in the dresser to make clothes smell nice. ;)

I was going to post this first thing in the day, but we had a little excitement of the hypochondriac kind at the pediatrician's office.

Sooo, here's the break down. First, I print out all the names of the people who entered - however many times per the entry rules.

Then I cut them all up and fold them in half (the funny print on the back is because I reuse paper).

To do the drawing, I use the bag that our bedsheets came in, because, really, who can toss out a turquoise, organic cotton bag? It doesn't look turquoise in bright sunlight though...

I shake up the contents and enlist my younger son's help in drawing a name. See? The bag is turquoise. ;) And, yes, that is my finger getting in the camera's way at the lower right. I also cut people's heads off when I take photos. Annie Lebowitz I ain't.

And the winner is.....

Guess I should have changed my heading to "Guess who'll be getting squid-y clean?" Heh heh.

Squid, this is your lucky day! By the way, Squid's blog My Kids Eat Squid is a really fun one to visit. :)

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest! Wish we had soaps to give to all of you. Be sure to check out Soap Sudsations' site - she has a soap for every occasion and you might just find one that you absolutely need to have!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams