I'm back! Did you miss me? LOL

Well, it's been way too long since I posted here, though I did manage a couple of posts on my home school blog.

Things have been sort of all over the place, these days. Dh's health has been an issue - with a whole new pile of medications we can't afford that he's apparently going to be taking for the rest of his life. After his last dr's appointment, he walked out with a pile of them that, if we'd filled completely that day, would've cost just under $900. Thankfully, some were refills he didn't need to refill yet. Still, since we can't afford to pay for them in 3 month supplies and getting the discount, they'll end up costing us more. Here's hoping the insurance company will approve the new ones and we'll get our 80% back. Then we can afford to fill the ones he's running out of. *sigh*

With Christmas coming, things are getting busy. The girls have already finished their shopping (!!! good for them!), while I'm still trying to finish the coat I'm crocheting for Eldest before I start on some decorations I'm making for this year. So close to being finished!

We never do a lot of shopping for Christmas. For starters, I hate shopping this time of hear. It gets so crowded and noisey in the stores. We don't buy a great deal, either. Last year our budget was bigger than it had been in years - for the last 10 years or so, our budget for gifts has been in the $200 range. Gifts aren't the priority for our Christmas celebrations. If things work out well, we'll actually have guests joining us for Wigilia this year. That reminds me, there's a couple of butchers I need to check out to see if we can get the meats for toutierre, using my MIL's secret recipe, this year. I've had one in particular recommended to me because they have a good variety of game meats.

Another week and the tree goes up and we start decorating the apartment, though Thursday is our first day of the Christmas season - St. Catherine's Day. I don't know that anyone's interested in making the toffee anymore, though. We'll need to do a bit of re-arranging to make room for the Christmas tree - there's only one spot we can put it, really, and as soon as the tree is gone, it gets filled. LOL

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to keep up with my reading. I've been working on The Case Against Adolescence, a 2007 book that I highly recommend. For a lot of home schooling families, the idea that childhood is being artificially extended well beyond anything that's healthy is old news. This is one of the most complete books I've encountered on the subject and I highly recommend it. I don't know if I'll have a chance to write a full review of it when I'm finished reading it.

Another I just picked up is Scared to Death, a British book, also published in 2007. One of the co-authors was actively involved in some of the scares they write about. I'm still in the first part (food scares), and it's fascinating reading. Another one I'd definitly recommend. Especially to anyone who's all freaked out about AGW right now, though it's unlikely people who are in the middle of the scare du jour would appreciate anything from this book. It's a real eye opener, though, when reading about the background mechanations that create these scares.

Well, time to go. Got more running around to do - a couple of errands before heading to park day. :-) That and writing while a movie is playing behind my head is a touch distracting! The girls are watching a Miss Marple, and I find them way too interesting. :-D