HAFA Short Sale

I finally have the time to (hopefully) start blogging again.  My house finally sold as a short sale in the HAFA program after 10 months of being in the market, one contract that fell thru, two buyers offered cash only to buy and after so much headaches, cutting of trees wasted by sending in so much, and I mean SO MUCH paperwork to BoA and faxing, emailing, phoning all the other people involved such as the realtor, lawyer, lawyer's assistants,-- it's finally over!
To those of you getting approved for a short sale-- I bid you all patience and peace.  Breathe----- and Good Luck!

Reviews for Homeschool High School Level Curriculum

Who knew I had so many choices with curriculum for high school level?  It's so many to chose from and overwhelming!  I may be attending another homeschool convention or two this summer, so I can continue to evaluate and hopefully find the best curriculum for us.

So far, I have checked out the following:

(Image from keystonehomeschoolcoalition.com website)

I am interested in Keystone Coalition for Homeschooler as they are with Compass/Odyssey and online based curriculum. Or, I just received a catalog from Apologia and their Science program looks very attractive. They have a variety of presentation with HD quality, great sound, content, etc.  The price for a whole complete curriculum for the year is about $225.00 (US).  That's impressive and the samples I viewed were intellectual, up to date, captivating and most of all they made it fun by offering different ways to present the video contents thru animation, reading, question/answer and reasoning.

Abeka:
I attended an Abeka fair recently, but I was disappointed with their video streaming. First, it seemed very old fashioned and the teachers were so boring, that it reminded me of sitting in my old high school class decades ago!  Have we not evolved with the times here?  I like the idea of the video streaming and also receiving the textbooks bundled into one price, a hefty one, about $750.00 (US).  But the quality was not HD and it just seems so "old fashioned".  Some of the sample content I viewed was OK, but did not captivate my full attention.  The students were so clean and neat cut looking, the kind of "stereo-type Christian  school look. For the lack of holding my own interest, I highly doubt my teenager would find this appealing too.

(Image from Apologia.com product page)

I received an Apologia catalog in the mail yesterday.  Surprising, they are offering college-preparedness for 9th graders for Physics and Chemistry.  They offer complete series and options to buy extra lab equipments and videos so that we can perform these experiments ourselves at home.  The prices were very reasonable and since we currently use the Apologia Exploring Creation with Physical Science textbook by Wile, we are familiar with the content and layout. The book is easy to understand because it's written in the first person content.  Lots of "On Your Own" questions between every concept learned, a chapter test for review and many hands-out labs you can do at home!

There's a few others I have found but will write in another post.  I have to find the links and info first ;-)

Back with Directv

I am so happy that Directv sent me an offer thru the mail to get me back! I was never happy with the Dish Network programming and services or their hardware.  I was stuck in a 2-year contract and thought I had to put up another whole year of Dish Network. 
Directv offered up to $200 Visa card to restart my service with them.  On top of that offer, they really had some great deals going on too, like free HD, and other rebates that brought my monthly bill down by almost $40 per month, for the next 12 months!
So, I'm very happy to be with Directv again; plus they also have 3D channels so I can watch their documentaries or movies this way.
Good riddens Dish Network..............HELLO DIRECTV! ;-)

Gained 4 pounds

Uggh!  Stepped on the scaled at the doctors office and it said I weighed at 138 lbs. but my Tanita scale at home records at 135 pounds.  Hmm, what gives?

I have been awful about my eating habits lately.  Just yesterday, I picked up for dinner a bucket of KFC chicken.  Well, they did have a special for $15.99 so I ended up ordering the whole meal deal. Plus, I made white rice to go with it along with the included biscuits.
I managed to also scarf down for dessert, 3 homemade chocolate chip cookies and a Herschey's chocolate bar with almonds. The worse part is that I didn't even exercise at all yesterday. I only performed 15 leg squats for the day.

The good news is I keep telling myself--  that even though the scale tipped a bit on the plus side, I still wear my size 6 jeans comfortably.  I little small "muffin" top began to protrude, but hopefully with my new goal in mind of losing that stinking belly fat, I can get rid of it in no time at all.

Coupon Databases

As I still consider myself a "Newbie" in the world of couponers, I wanted to share a couple of ways to find available coupons online.  Since moving to a small town, I found to my dismay that their local newspapers barely contain any coupons.  I used to live in the Chicagoland area where the Chicago Tribune Sunday newspapers were being delivered to my house and contained an ample amount of coupons!  I was in heaven! My new hobby was not only enjoyable, but blissful, delightful leaving me in sublime.

Despite all that, in my discouraged spirit of my "joy" not available thru the newspapers around here, I have found another way to enrich my coupon passion and hobby.

I always check this website first to look for available coupons

I always check first: Deal Seeking Mom website and check her Coupon Database.  When you visit her site, you click on "enter main database".  There will be a small window area where you are able to type in an item. As an example, if you're looking for orange juice, you simply type "orange juice" in the field.  If there are coupons available, the database will lists all the available coupons and its sources.  Some are printable from your own computer or it will list available coupons; for example, in SS (Smart Source) and the date that the coupon can be found. It usually will look like this:  SS 10/30/2011 $.50/1 X12/31/2011.   That means, the coupons is from Smart Source insert, from the Oct. 30th issue, the coupon is good for fifty-cents off one product, and it expires on Dec. 31, 2011.

My computer is setup to check Deal Seeking Mom's website first.  I highly recommend checking one or two more databases.  The others I check is Hot coupon World, and Mashup Mom.  There are many, many other coupon databases online.  These are in my "favorites".

Homeschooling Teens

I started the homeschooling journey nearly three years ago when my child was in 6th grade.  Everything was going smoothly.  He looked forward to his daily lessons from me without any hesitations, resistance or arguments.  All was fine, until now!

Now my son is 13 years old.  Does something happen in the teens brains that all of a sudden, this year, the big attitude came with it.  It seems that since we started this year, (8th grade), I have become a very frustrated teacher/mom.  Everyday for the past two months has been a roller coaster of arguments, confrontations, and yelling!

I've spoken to other homeschooling mom about the daily challenges this has become.  Apparently, they are also going through the same thing as I was and feel drained and ready to give it up!  You know, back to a public school! Fortunately, with the help and the lending ears and support of other moms of teenagers, especially, in my case, boys, I'm still hanging in there. 

This year is the first time I bought a curriculum.  It wasn't cheap either but I like the daily schedules and teacher's guide already completed for me.

Since it is a purchased curriculum, the demands for daily studies are more rigid.  Although you can tailor the schedules for your own needs, I found that you really have to skip a whole day's work in order to do that.  The reason is all the books coincide with one another; so when you read a history book, your paperback book and language arts studies related to that subject. 

I started to add my own videos, pictures, and old workbooks in addition to the daily schedule we have from Sonlight.  Although, it was not always a biblical or Christianity view, I have found this eased the tension in our homeschooling routine.  There's a lot of reading involved in this curriculum.  My son loves to read but I am telling you, there is a LOT of reading! The books are great-- they are living books which is more interesting than reading your ordinary text-like history books.  But be prepared to read a lot this year!

If you head over to Walgreens now, buy the TheraMax Flu & Cold Nasal Spray, on sale for $7.99 and you'll received $8.00 RR.  It was an unadvertised sale at all 3 Walgreens store I visited this morning. 

If you need clarification on Walgreens RR (Register Rewards) and how it works, please visit this website.  www.wildforwags.com

Saving with Coupons

Yesterday, my friend Eve, was telling me how much she has saved money on using coupons.  I had no idea she was saving alot of cash and getting some stuff practically for free.  She told me about some websites and explained how the coupons worked.

I stayed awake past midnight reading information from a handful of websites she shared with me.  It amazes me that many of them are creative homeschooling moms.  I totally understand that as a homeschooling mom myself, I don't really have a full-time paying job either.  Any money I can save on my grocery is a blessing! 

I applaud the women who have gone to many painstaking hours putting together their beautiful websites and online videos to teach us "coupon newbies" the rope.

RR, IVC, and ECB, are just some of the jargon's that are used in this strange new journey to me.  As you can probably tell by now, I was paying retail price for most of my groceries.  Sure, I try to only buy when items are on sale,but now, I am learning I can save even more money on top of the sale price. 

Thank you Mashup Mom, and The Frugal Find mom who I enjoyed watching and learning from their online videos.  Thank you for all your hard work and having such a BIG heart in sharing all your tips and tricks on saving at the stores!

Ahh, Summer's Almost Here: Blog and Luffa Sponge

Finally, time for myself!  Our last week of school and I started blogging again. My garden is starting to bloom with buds of many.  This year, I decided to grow luffa from scratch.

I bought luffa seeds this year at our favorite nursery store in Bloomingdale, Illinois, Platt Hill Nursery.I enjoy going there because they have so many varieties of plants, supplies and excellent customer service.  Their staff is very knowledgeable and helpful.

Back to the luffa sponge seeds.  One of the best tricks I learned from the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago at their Children's Educational Programs was growing plants from seeds using plastic gloves.  Plus this is fun for the kids!

Here's how we started the seedlings of the luffa plant: 

• plastic disposable gloves, the kind you can buy at a dollar store; the real flimsy super thin, one size fits all gloves
• cotton balls
• small cup of water
• seeds
• rubber band
• small potting container with soil 

What to do:
Soak five cotton balls in water. Drop one cotton ball into each finger of the glove.  Add 2-3 seeds into each finger and tie the top of the glove with a rubber band.  Leave the gloves in a semi-bright room and in about 7-10 days the seeds will start rooting/sprouting.  Carefully, remove the the whole cotton ball with seedlings and plant them into a container with soil until the seedlings are about 2" or 3" tall. Then you can plant them outside in the garden. 

Our seedlings are going to be transplanted into the ground this weekend.  The luffa sponge plant is a vine and the fruit they bear looks like a cucumber.  A trellis will be needed to support the vine which can grow up to 30 feet. Here's a website for more info on the Luffa Sponge. Luffa Info

Good luck growing these fun and functional plants.  There will be plenty of luffa to give away as gifts. 

Coach Outlet Store Experience Part II

Since I left the Coach Outlet Store at the Chicago Premium Outlet in Aurora, Illinois very disappointed and slightly upset, I decided to contact their Corporate headquarters to find out about their policy.

I typed my email to them and surprisingly, I received an answer almost instantaneously. It was kindly explained in their email that Coach reserves the right to limit purchase quantities to any individual or in a "group setting" so that they can maintain their standards of service and distribution. According to their email, it helps them maintain control over the distribution of products and it ensures them better access to Coach products for more consumers.

Okay then, I get it.  I really appreciate the prompt reply I received from Coach but I still didn't like the way we were told about their policy the last minute, at the check-out counter. 

It would have been nice to know that they had a quantity limit beforehand.  We spent time in there looking around and shopping for quite some time and standing in line, only to be told about this policy at the last minute.  That's a waste of our time. 

Anyways, lesson learned: There are quantity limits on purses you can buy in a day, at the Coach Outlet store in Aurora, Illinois even though their own coupon doesn't specify it. 

Coach Outlet Store at Chicago Premium Outlets in Aurora Illinois- A Horrible, Nauseating Experience Part I

It was my mother's first time shopping at the Chicago Premium Outlet in Aurora, Illinois. We bought stuff from the Nike Store, Lane Bryant, Reebok, Gap, The Kitchen Store and finally the Coach Outlet Store.

There was a Coach Rep handing out 30% off coupons to be used on the entire purchase today.  My mother saw 2 purses she liked a lot and found two cute little purses for $79.00 that she also wanted to give to her two friends who drive her around (to the cemetery and the church) as thank you gifts, since they refuse to take any money she offers to them for gas and going to the trouble of picking her up and driving her around. My mom's purchase was made and we left the store to grab a bite to eat and sit down for awhile.

We went back to the Coach store after we ate so my mom can buy 5 more purses/wristlets. The cashier sold her only the wristlets since all of a sudden she tells us that there's a policy of a limit of 5 Signature purchase. I told the lady that I will buy the 2 purses with my own credit card since I don't live with my mom anyways and I was taking her out shopping for the day.  The cashier told me I couldn't buy it and decided to whisper something to another cashier.  It felt like we were getting "ganged on" because now this new cashier is telling me they can't sell to me because we are a "group".

A what?!  OMG-- this is the silliest thing I have ever heard.  "We are a group". Are you kidding me?  I explained again, that I will buy it for myself and still, they refused to sell me the two purses!  Mind you, I have never, ever, bought anything from any Coach Outlet Store in my whole life.  I have been buying real, genuine, Coach purses from reputable stores!

It was a very disappointing  and repulsive experience for us on our second visit to the Coach Outlet store in Aurora, Illinois.  If it were up to me, I would return all the purchases my mother made today.  The service was horrible, unkind and grim and it seems like they are making up the policy as they see fit.  I could have argued that the coupon didn't state any limits or even mention the word "group".  However, I saw that my mom was getting upset, and I didn't think it was worth it to argue my point to these young girls.   The way these two cashiers unexpectedly tell us about the purchase limits and their reactions made the shopping experience in that store nauseating. 

There are many other beautiful purses! I'm done with this brand-- moving on!

End of the Homeschool Year

 In our final week of 7th grade homeschooling we are reviewing American History in preparation for  the U.S. Constitution and more history for 8th grade.
Our second year of homeschooling has been a learning period.  I was more relaxed this past year compared to my "stiff almost military-like" mentally of always sticking to every detail of our schedules from last year.  I was such a warden in getting things done properly.  I felt so pressured ( I don't know from whom) to make sure I was teaching him everything on time, following our public school district's standard (which is not mandatory in Illinois) that is posted on their website.  I felt I had to "keep up" with the public school students.

As I review the past 9 months of homeschooling, I found that we are actually ahead of schedule.  We have completed our Medieval and Ancient History studies and in May, we were reviewing specific leaders and their accomplishments. In Math, we have begun our introduction to the basics of Geometry while still completing tests and exercises in Pre-Algebra and Algebra I.  Science was a piece of cake! We covered so much material and experiments at home.  This is by far his favorite subject!  We read literature books such as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, and The Giver by Lois Lowry.  We completed writing exercising, mostly typed in MS Word, since my son doesn't like to write much.  This is one "part" of my strict ways I had to ease up on.  Whenever I assigned writing compositions or essays, he insisted on typing it and either save it on the hard drive, a flash drive, or emailing it to me.  He was definitely motivated and argued less on completing his writing homework. In today's world, it is completely acceptable to finish the writing assignments using word processing programs; after all some if not most colleges today prefer this method.

This week I am already in the 8th grade mode!  I am thinking about the great books we will be reading next year! I am also in the process of reviewing a new curriculum for Math--debating over Saxon Math or Singapore Math.  We use SOS (Switched On Schoolhouse) for US History and Language Arts.  As far as Literature, I like a site called Litcharts.  They have PDF, printables and iPhone Apps of many books. Here is the website for LitCharts:  www.litcharts.com

What I learned in our 2nd year of homeschooling: it's OK if I don't follow the pre-made schedule I make ahead for myself; that it's OK to sometimes "wing it" to accommodate other learning methods and ideologies that may come.  We incorporated more field trips and learn in different environments and not only from books or in our "classroom".  That if we miss a day, it's not the end of the world and the most important thing for me keep in mind is that he is learning and grasping concepts.

Renaissance Artists

Hi Everyone!

It's been awhile since I wrote in and update my blog.  All the while, writing in here was always in the back of my mind and hopelessly felt guilty for procrastinating to go ahead and type.

I wanted to share this awesome site called: SchoolTube.  I guess it's like Youtube with an educational twists.  As we continue our (homeschooling) studies into the Medieval History, one of the topics we are also covering now is Renaissance Art time period.  We just finished learning about the Medici Family and their historical role into the Art World, along with Leonardo Da Vinci.

During this course of study, we also watch videos and that's what I am sharing here; a brief history of the Artists of the Renaissance that is available at: http://www.schooltube.com/.

iPhone 4

I just read an article about an8 year old punk try steal white collar worker's iPhone while he was waiting at a bus stop in downtown Chicago. He mentioned that this has been happening lately at a busy express commuter stop.
Pathetic story.  Broad daylight and crimes committed from youngsters during the weekday is a common mishap in the area. Do you think Chicago area police officers would be able to easily spot these kids who should be in school.  Unfortunately, it's another typical day in the city.  Alot of criminal activities that seem to be the norm lately. Pretty sad.
As for the iPhone, I'd say try to NOT use them at a bus stop-- geez, everyone please be more alert in public surroundings especially in a big, busy city like, Chicago!
Use common sense. Put your phones away and pay attention to the creeps around you, walking by you, watching you. 

No arm muscles yet?

I have been working out religiously for one year now.  I started on the treadmill last October and at that time, I could only walk at a normal pace for 20 minutes at a time.  As of today, I can walk at a very fast pace, sometimes jogging (in short bursts) for one whole hour.  My mileage?  A whopping 2.75 miles.  To me, that's a lot of walking! To some, it maybe a laughter.  But, I'm happy to be able to just complete an hour on the treadmill.

In between the days I don't do aerobics, I lift weights, mainly because I was inspired by Kelly Ripa's toned arms which I have blogged about earlier this year.  Unfortunately, it's been about 4 straight months of working my arms by lifting free weights using 5 pound dumbbells and 10 pound dumbbells, and there are no toned muscles showing.  Unless of course, I flexed my arms; that's the only time you can see definition.

A friend of mine said that I should try to lose 5 to 10 pounds which will help show off my hard work that I put on my arms.  She said that I need to lose alot of fat (I weigh 135 pounds, 5'4" tall), in order for my muscles to show through.  I work my arms out like crazy and enjoy feeling that burn!

She said I need to reduce my caloric intake,  and I said, "I'll starve!!!" Cause man, I get hungry--alot! 

The Midas Touch

Today, I talked about business tycoons during the Industrial Revolution and the words "he has the Midas Touch" was discussed.  I also talked about idioms in my English Conversation Group for ESL Adult Learners on weekends. This idiom is not as popular as the others we have brought up in class so I thought I'd write about it briefly here.

He has the Midas Touch:
(A person who touches everything and turns it into gold). Refers to a person who can make anything profitable. Having the "Midas touch" allows a person who can take anything that was failing and make it profitable and successful.







On another note:
A song "Midas Touch" was actually written and recorded by Midnight Star.  You can listen to an mp3 sample on itunes or Amazon.com.   

A simple video I found on YouTube:

Change of Weather

Freezing!  That's what it's like around here. The last few weeks, we've had weather here in Chicago in the mid to upper 90s, tons of  humidity and sunshine, that the heat index was near 100.  Then of course, a sudden change in weather:  In the last two days, it was in the 60s during the day; the temps last nite was in the 40s. A big change--a 30 degree difference and my fingers are a little frozen. 

Just like my heart.  I've gone cold towards certain people I've known in the last decade.  Have you ever met someone for the first time, and as soon as that person opened their mouth, you were just "turned off" by them?  That you can "smell" their sneaky, dishonest personality? You're hoping you never have to deal with this person again?

What if it turns out that you have NO choice? You have to deal with that "rotten spud" is what I will call him.  It turns out that your best friend decided to go out and keep dating Mr. Rotten Spud and the relationship gets serious.  You try to warn her in an ever subtle way, but hey, it's her life and you can only say so much of how you dislike spoiled taters without breaking your own relationship with her.  After all, it's only a gut feeling I had when I met Mr. Rotten Spud and my woman's instinct kicked in uncontrollably, that there was something just not right with this potato.

So, in the last decade, I had to talk (nice) to Mr. Rotten Spud and include him in our parties and get-togethers, because I really didn't have a choice!!! I was trying to be cool, pretending to "get along" with him all to please my best friend.

My best friend called to tell me that Mr. Rotten Spud was becoming a maggot. ( as if I didn't foresee this) It turns out he was lying to her, being mean to her friends, and actually thinks he's righteous.  I listened to the details unfold in their relationship in the past years. He promised her many things and change his ways, and after so many years) of dealing with "his noise", she was fed up; I grew weary, and emotionally upset with her.  My instinct was right nearly 10 years ago, that Mr. Rotten Spud, couldn't possibly be the right person to stay with her forever.  Should I have spoken up then?  That's my regret now.

Change of weather around here? You bet it got very cold.  My friend who's still with Mr. Rotten Spud, (on and off again) needs to get strong and confident to help herself grow emotionally. I myself quit talking to him as I told her not to bring him here anymore because there's no need for spoiled vegetables--they belong in the garbage!

Life of Fred - A Math Curriculum Review

(This is from Amazon.com)
Just one of the books in the Life of Fred Math series.

Who is Fred?  Fred Gauss is a fictional character created by Dr. Stanley Schmidt is a retired college math professor who decided to write books on teaching math.  According to his website, he began with drawing a face of Fred to help his then, high school students understand Algebra at that time.  He worked for many years, using his character he drew and made up: Fred, the rest is history.  His book series began and now everyone can enjoy the rich concepts he explains thru Fred in an easier way. Whether you want to learn fractions or decimals in elementary grade or Calculus, Statistics, or Linear Algebra in college. 

I purchased our very first Math book for this year's homeschooling of my 7th grade (gifted) child.  The book came and so far, we are very amused and learning at the same time.  My child enjoys the story and also found the math problems challenging and easy to grasp.  The hardcover book has picture drawings in black and white. There are some answers included but if you want more (answer) keys, then an option would be to order the Home Companion Algebra book, which not only gives the answers but provides more practice questions.

I really like this book so much because Algebra is so much more interesting (not to mention funny; you'll chuckle along the way), that we also ordered the Advanced Algebra book and it's Home Companion. We read that since we do math everyday, we can probably cover the whole Algebra book in half  of our school year.

I highly recommend this series! Dr. Schmidt's website (you can order books thru his site too.  Psst! It's cheaper and the shipping is free in the United States as an option) is:

http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html

You can also download sample pages (pdf files) to check out the lessons for yourself.

Keurig Coffee Maker

Keurig (B70 Model)

Every morning, the first thing I have to have is my cup of "Joe". Yep, COFFEE!  It's my "peaceful, morning ritual", along with watching TV to get the weather forecast or catch the early morning shows, or sometimes, I read my magazines.

Unfortunately, I had another problem with my replacement Keurig Coffee machine. It seems that the little dispenser where the coffee comes out is clogged.  I heard the water going through the reservoir but instead of coming out of the spout, the grounds were overflowing from the K-cup itself.  I was very irritated and decided to just get ready for work that day.

A few weeks ago, I blogged about the Keurig machines. The first machine I bought had to be replaced within 3 months since the reservoir wouldn't even move the water to the other part of the machine.  While they (Keurig) have an excellent customer service, and sent me a brand new machine immediately, I cannot tell you how frustrating it is to have yet another machine break down. 

I'm planning on calling the company to voice my problems again; I hope that they have a solution and resolve this problem with either this machine or a new one.

Tipping

To tip or not to tip?  When do you ever stiff a waiter/waitress?  The other day we went out to eat at a fairly priced restaurant, to celebrate our birthdays.  There were 7 of us.  We ordered appetizers and entrees along with our non-alcoholic drinks. When the bill came, there was an automatic 18% gratuity added on.  Our bill was about $160.00.

What bothers me about this, is the fact that our server didn't deserve 18%. Granted, the standard is 15% for decent service and to me, that's what I would have left him.  Are we obliged to give the one server 18% tip even though he wasn't a great of a waiter?

He was an OK server, but at times took too long to come to our table to ask for another drink.  He disappeared too long, and forgot a side dish we also ordered.