Elena 
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1. When Noah went to college this fall, we were both concerned about his writing. It’s not his favorite thing to do and I had to spend a little time every week last year editing his papers before he turned them in.
Apparently, whatever we did worked for him, because he comes home every night exuding enthusiasm for his writing teacher, his writing class, and brimming with pride over the positive feedback he is getting for his writing. He still asks me to double check his papers for errors, but the last time I did that for him I only found a few grammatical things, and even those could have gone either way (things like semi-colons instead of just starting a new sentence – picky things).
And giving credit where credit is due- Noah took at least four Bravewriter classes in high school. He also took AP World History with Mr. Stobaugh and had to write a paper every week. Those two things really prepared him well!
2. Izzy is taking British Literature from Switched on Schoolhouse. I thought it would be the easiest way for her to get through that topic. Switched on Schoolhouse is from Alpha Omega publications, so it has a very strong anti-Catholic bias in it. I find myself having to reiterate things to Izzy, like the reason there wasn’t a bible written in the vernacular in every home in England during the Middle Ages was twofold:
- Most people were illiterate and couldn’t read and
- The printing press hadn’t been invented yet.
3. Izzy and I are not doing school today because she is working at a craft show today, selling her own work! Mr. Pete set it up for her. I wasn’t very happy about it at first because Izzy has a lot of school work to get through, but then I realized that this is the type of work that Izzy WANTS to do after graduation – so this is real world experience for her. Can’t wait to see how she does this weekend.
4. Rosie is going to the state wide middle school race this weekend to compete. Longtime readers might remember that Rosie missed the podium last year by just one spot. OUch!! That was a hard one to take. But this year she is running faster and she is at the top of the age group. Unless something unforeseen happens, I expect her to place this year.
5. Which means, my teens are holding down the fort this weekend and they are thrilled about it. Just to push my buttons, Noah was talking about the wild party he is planning for his college friend as soon as he sees our car disappear down the street. The reality is, he and Izzy will probably overdose on Dr. Who episodes on Amazon, and eat too much pizza! But they’re responsible young adults, so I expect the house and pets will be in good condition when we get back.
6. Since getting my blood pressure check last week (117/72) I’ve been feeling pretty proud of myself for all the hard work I did over the summer. I walked at least four days a week, an hour at a time, 3 to 4 miles. I did some upper body work, but mostly just the walking. I also continued my grain-free, milk free diet and concentrated on veggies with very little fruit. Since cross country is over and Rosie only has a few more road races, I need to move my exercise inside. I started up my with my workout videos this week. Being healthy isn’t hard, but you do have to be committed to it, and I hope to try to stay as healthy as I can for as long as I can.
7. Our home, decorated for autumn – which is going to have to wait for a time since Flickr isn’t cooperating!
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