A bunch of random things that I feel like sharing:

"Sorry I haven't blogged in while"...wait, didn't I tell myself I would stop apologizing about my stuffed scheduale? (Answer: Yes, I did...in fact I posted that!) Well, I'm sorry anyway!
  Exciting news: Last week I got the most amount of blog visitors since week one, so thank you to everyone who has visited my blog so far, I hoped you enjoyed it! (BTW: feel free to keep coming back, I dont mind AT ALL!)
Other exciting news: This morning it snowed for the first time this winter/fall! Aroung midnight or 3:00 am last night it started hailing (which of course woke me up!) Then eventually I fell asleep. This morning I woke up (at a normal time) and there was a light dusting of snow covering everything! It wasn't enough snow to transform the neighborhood into a magical wonderland, but it was enough to tempt me outside. So, I put a coat and boots on, over my pajamas, and walked outside. Then (this is the exciting part) I scooped some slushy, melting, snow off our car, shaped it into a perfect ball and threw it! The first snowball of the winter! I am finally satisfied with life! [for today...]

NaNoWriMo {did you know that I'm a good procrastinator?}

Well, yesterday NaNoWriMo started. I signed up (Oct 28th) and started writing...of course when I went to submit my work, the web page shut down!
Luckily it was up again before bedtime, so I was able to submit my stuff and go to sleep.

Now, a billion hours later, I'm supposed to be writing my story (so far I only have 1,092 words and my goal is 25000), but instead I'm writing a blog post about what a good procrastinator I am... [exhibit A]
  Well, I guess if I'm blogging anyway, I might as well share a snip-it of my NaNoWriMo story:

Dear Lucy, Monday

  Today was totally dreary! It hasn’t stopped raining since, like, a billion days ago and the people here seem not to get the idea that umbrellas are allowed to be more than one color e.g. BLACK!
   Mum has finally opened up the shop. She says that at least something will be colorful in our world…yeah; she’s right if you count pink and green as colorful! (I know you do, but I don’t…and yes, so far we only have pink flowers—no dresses or anything!) Dad thinks it’s a totally crazy idea for a shop, but Mum just rolls her eyes and says, “I NEED colour!” I gotta say, I agree with her, how much black can you get? Then again, I also agree with dad: who would own a flower and fashion shop…it’s kinda’ stupid. (Not to mention the fact that we’ve only had ONE customer so far!) Anyhow, I guess what I’m trying to say is: I’d rather be with you!
    So, how are things back home? have you gotten 200 [different] customers yet? I wish you could send a famous Apple Crisp in the mail…with ORANGE frosting. I really miss helping out in the bakery.
Love,
Your miserable niece AKA Fiona




Dear Lucy, Wednesday
   FINALLY it stopped raining! Not that you care, you’re probably too busy with your 201st customer…that’s right, I still haven’t heard from you!
     PLEASE write back!
            Fiona



Dear Lucy, FRIDAY!
  You do know that stamps cost money, right?
Fiona

Well, you'll probably here more from me later today, but for now I'd better sign off and start writing...

Halloween and not much time!

How come I always seem to start off my posts with "sorry I havn't blogged in a while!"???
 It kind of bugs me how little time I seem to have these days for the things that I want to do, rather than the things I have to do.
      That said; I really have to go work on my Halloween costume!
  For Halloween I've decided that I would like to be Anne Boleyn. Unfortuantly, Anne Boleyn costumes cost a fortune...much more than I'd be willing ot spend for Halloween! SO, I have to make my costume and, as I said earlier, I don't have much time for anything anymore, so, I haven't really started until today. That means that I should probably stop typing and go start sewing (I will post pictures of the final product, but our camera still needs new batteries.)
 Before I go: What are you going to be for Halloween? (I still love hearing from you, so don't be afraid to comment!)

Slow days--Quick walks {also: NaNoWriMo}

I often find that after a week of very productive work days, I have very slow days, where nothing seems to appeal to me. I've had many of those days and was having one today. Our solution? A short hike, we bring sketching and writing supplies with us, and we just take about a 20 minute walk (give or take) and spend the rest of the time drawing or writing. I find this a very inspirational time where I am able to write poetry, draw things, come up with blog ideas, or just clear my mind.
  Today, I tried to write a poem about the evil cold of October (hinting at Halloween) and about writing at the top of a rock. It could use a bit of work, so if you have any suggestions as to how I could change it, I would love to hear them!
                                                                        An October Gale

A cold October gust,

ruffles through the pages of my notebook,

                   searching--

'am I in there? will you write about me?'

it whips and whirls by,

weaving through my  tangled tresses,

breathing it's frozen breath on my neck.

The sun bursts into overcast skies,

and--

 for a happy moment, it warms me

                             then--

A drifting cloud swallows,

and my heat source! GONE

The cloud's grey underside cackles,

'now, for frozen fingers!'

I stand up,

warrior pose,

squinting into the distance

resisting the frozen chills

these moments,

not caught on film

A bird chirps

An airplane rumbles,

I give up, and

huddled against the cold

my white fingers grip the pencil,

I begin

"A cold October gust,

ruffles through the pages of my notebook,

searching--"

It could use a bit more work (as I already said) but for now, I will stop erasing and rewriting...let me know what you think!

Two other things:

1. I made amazing Snickerdoodles and will post about them as soon as I am able to upload my (surprisingly good) photos. (our camera needs a new battery...)
2. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is in November, basically it's where a bunch of writers decide that they want to participate, and  they try to write something every day. At the end of the month (on Nov. 30 at midnight) they try to have a novel written. I am going to do NaNoWriMo this year, (you should too) so, I'm sure you'll hear quite a bit more about it in the near future... but for now:  If you would like to sign up; click here, and to learn more about NaNoWriMo; click here

All right, I think that's all I need to say so, I'm off...


Chocolate Lip gloss [yum, yum]

Hi again,
  After a hectic week, I've managed to snag some time to write a post! [so happy!]

So, the other day (after a bunch of holidays that took place on Thursdays) me and my friend finally got to have another Home Ec. class! It was tons of fun, we made two lip glosses, a vanilla one, and a chocolate one. (my friend got the vanilla, and I the chocolate.)
   I don't know where I got these recipes, but thanks to whoever made them.

Vanilla Lip Gloss

1 tablespoon grates beeswax
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon vitamin E oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract


Slowly heat beeswax, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil until melted. Stir in the vanilla extract then cool


Chocolate Lip Gloss

1 1/2 tsp grated cocoa butter
1/2 tsp coconut oil
1/8 tsp vitamin E oil
1/4 tsp grated chocolate or 3 small chocolate chips


In a double boiler or microwave heat the cocoa butter, coconut oil, and vitamin E oil until melted. Stir in the chocolate chips and keep stirring until melted and well blended Pour into small container and allow to cool before using

   This time, we were set up in my kitchen...a little roomier, but not much! We started with the vanilla lip gloss (which I dont have any pictures of). So, we did the recipe and heated it up, and then we poured it into a little jar and it hardened......really quickly, oops! To get to the point: it was a bit too hars so,I recomend you do 'half a tablespoon' beeswax and 'half a tablespoon' cocoa butter. (or something like that)

Then we worked on the chocolate lip gloss.

[a few of the ingredients...DELICIOUS!]

This time it looked pretty promising in terms of being the right consistency for lip gloss (instead of rock hard). That is, until it didn't harden at all! So, I added a little bit of beeswax and everybody waas happy again!


If you're going to make these, I'd recomend seeing the consistency once they're mostly cooled and if you need to, you can always try to re-heat the gloss and add more beeswax or oil. As for my lip gloss, it sure is yummy!!!



Sukkot

Well, the 'jewish holiday season' is coming to a close soon. After Sukkot (the Thanksgivingesque holiday that celebrates the harvest) comes Simhat Torah (the celebration of being given the Torah, the old testament) and then, we're basically done until Hannukah.

 Tonight is the start of Sukkot, and in honor of the holiday we built a Sukkah. A sukkah is an outdoor (non-permanent) dwelling place, the roof is made out of a material (usually corn stalks or little tree branches) that is supposed to only cover up half of the roof (basically like a grid). This is so that you have a shelter, but you can still see the stars. I will have pictures of the construction of our Sukkah up soon, but in the meantime...

 I think tomorrows another cooking day!

Granola!

Yahooo!
 I've finally got something EXCITING to post about!

[giving you time to recover from schock]

I started Home Ec. on thursday with my best friend and her totally amazing mother, our first project was...
GRANOLA! (it was really yummmy!)

[the yummalicious granola itself]

Although these pictures were taken in my kiitchen, the actual class was in her kitchen...

Their kitchen is set up with two counters on each side, one attached to the sink, the other by the stove.

So, my friend and I were working back to back with the same tools and the same exact set up on each counter...besides the sink and stove. It was really quite amazing how well we worked like that (not to mention how fun it was).
It was deninatly the best class that I've had so far this year...I wonder waht we'll be doing next week......

[oh my, what a stunning display of granola!]

note the flour standing off to the side, somewhat awkwardly!

[oops, I  'accidentally' spilled the granola...oh well, it makes a perfect picture!]

[who knew granola was so artistic?]

Well, It was certainly a fun class, and I'm not sure that I can wait until Thursday to do it again...

 look who's making dinner tonight!

Well, anyway...

   Stay tuned to find out what we make next week!

Inspirational Blog of the Week

First: I would like you to know that, 'Inspirational Blog of the Week' is not actually something that I will be doing (unless you think I should...in which case, please let me know)...BUT:

 I was looking at the Blogs of Note and I found a blog, Mila's Daydreams, that just about took my breath away! Mila's mommy (who is on maternity leave) takes pictures of Mila during her nap time. These are not ordinary pictures though, Mila's mom creates fairy tale scenes, around Mila while she's sleeping, out of spare cloth, and shows us these wonderful pictures on her blog, Mila's Daydreams.
  All I can say about this blog is that it is the sweetest, most inspirational thing ever!
            (If you've clicked on the link, need I say more?)

Math [ughh]

It's coming to be that part of the month where students are finally getting used to their schedule, the fact that Mrs. _________ is the cruelest teacher ever, and the fact that the physics teacher is a total wacko!
 However, girls (and guys) like me, don't have to do this bouncing back thing. In that sense, we are sooo lucky! We also don't have to learn how to get on 'that mean teacher's' good side, nope, we can just sit back and relax...
 not that I'm trying to taunt you!
Okay, basically all that was an intro for me to talk about...MATH! [blech]
  First let me make a statement: Meltdowns are okay...in fact sometimes they are really awesome!
 So far math has been okay. Besides the occasional waterworks over the fact that "I've been sitting in this same position for the past half an hour, only to accomplish one and a half problems in my least favorite subject and I can't stand to think that I've got ten problems left!" [sob]
 ummm, yeah. Besides that, I seem to be doing okay. The concepts are pretty easy (even though they have way to many annoying steps) and the book has cute illustrations (which are very fun to look at, even if nothing else is). The problem is, the math book doesn't do a very good job explaining how and why you do things...meaning the result on my test will probably be a big, fat, 60. (probably worse)
   On a happier note, my math test isn't until tomorrow!
           Anyway, at least the Jewish holidays* are coming up and I'll have a chance to take a break from math during the long holiday services!

*Because of this, please do not expect to hear from me for a while!

Civics and English

Wow, this is wonderful, I finally have some time to sit down and tell you about what I've been doing!

 So, the curriculum books that I'm using: Singapore Math (for Math) and Oak Meadow (for everything else!)
 So far my two favorite subjects are Civics and Creative writing! I really like how in Civics the student is able to get involved in a lot of community activities and the way that the curriculum book is written really helps you think about things!
  Creative writing is awesome because, duh! I like to write! So far in Writing I've been building a character, she's kind of old fashioned and she's very sweet! She lives with her older sister and is a bit spacey at points.  I'm sure you'll hear more about her, but for now she needs a name...any suggestions?
  More later on my latest adventure...
signing off now!

Gaahhh-no time to blog

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile, just a quick note to say:
  No, I didn't forget about you, and
  Yes, I will blog about school so far tomorrow
SSNT
(So Sorry No Time!)

midnight inspiration

First off, have you ever read the book, "Across the Miles by L.M. Montgomery" ?

  It's a wonderful, inspirational book of short stories about, "love notes, marriage proposals, heartfelt promises, honest confessions, and cruel deceptions." (So says the back cover.)  Now, I've noticed that in all the stories, the female protagonist is almost always described as being a witty, intelligent writer.
  So, last night, when I was supposed to be sleeping, I was thinking (this is not an uncommon occurrence when I'm trying to fall asleep). I was thinking about how I wished that I were able to write  witty, intelligent, and feminine letters (such as the female protagonists in Across the Miles are described as writing.) I told my mom this and she told me that I should practice that, then, I thought, wouldn't it be great if I were able to write witty and intelligent blog posts? (The answer: yes, that would be very cool.)
   So, my dear reader, please do not be alarmed if a sudden interesting and funny and maybe a bit old fashioned blog post pops up in the middle of nowhere (that is, on my blog.)
 Now, because you are probably tired of reading about what I was thinking late last night, I suppose I can sign off.
(it's for your own good!) : D

BOOKS!

Okay, I've got Fantabulous news-
  My curriculum books arrived on Monday!

Not such great news-

  That means that I had to start math on Tuesday!

                                                               UGH!

Anyway, I didn't sit down to complain, so: [happy...mood...loading......]

  Hey, I hope everyone is having a great end of summer! I'm sure living it up before school starts! Waking up at 8:30 (huge sleep-in for me), reading until 10, taking a looooooooong shower. You know, basically what I've been doing the rest of the summer!

  Unfortunately (as I said before) I had to start my math curriculum on Tuesday (I hate math) but it hasn't really ruined my end of summer mood. (Yet.)

 Other than that I am so excited for school to start, it's not even funny! I can't wait to start English (my favorite subject), or Science and Civics, the subjects I'm doing with my best friend, I'm almost looking forward to having to go to bed and wake up early...almost.

 Well, off to dinner sounds nice now!
     'Ta-ta!'

Happy (almost) First Day of School!

Just doing a quick post to wish everyone a:
 
  HAPPY (almost) FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

I hope that everybody has had an awesome summer and I can't wait to get this party/blog started!

yahoooo!

Warning:

Okay, if everything in life were perfect, I would be one of those people who sit down at the computer and know exactly what to write about, unfortunately, I'm not.
  Also, if life were perfect, I would have interesting home school related things to blog about before school starts, but, life isn't perfect! So, instead I would just like to post a warning:

  WARNING:
  EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A HOME SCHOOL BLOG, IT IS VERY UNLIKELY THAT I WILL POST ANYTHING HOME SCHOOL RELATED BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS.

 Of course, if I have something home school related, I will post it. 
                        [sigh] 

Welcome

  In a couple of weeks, everybody will be going back to school, but for now there is a mad rush of activity at the malls and shopping plazas.
  All of the kids are out, looking for their new supplies...and the clothing that will make a good impression on their teachers, and more importantly, on the other students.
  However, I don't have to deal with this. Yes, I have to try to convince my mom to get a whiteboard (again, and yes, I do need new school supplies and more winter clothing, but making an impression? Nah, I'm the most (and the least) popular girl at school!
  The teacher(s) love me and the other kids copy everything I do!
They do everything just like me!
  That's because I make up the entire student body, it's just me...and my mom.

...and so starts my second year of homeschooling. I hope you will follow me (not literally) through all my adventures, and I will try to post as often as I can!