I've Been At Starbuck's Since 10:30 This Morning

So I'm definitely a slacker when it comes to updating my blog. On the uphand, I've been writing in my paper journal a bit more.

I've just spent the last five hours or so--let me think--four and a half hours at Starbuck's working on my critical thesis. And guess what? It's coming along really, really well. Yay!!!!! If I had felt like panicking, yesterday, I would have been panicking. I'm supposed to have a first draft due Thursday. Until this week, I mainly had research and bits and pieces of writing. I had planned to spend yesterday at Starbuck's, but I got caught up in the morning talking about important things that needed talking about. Then I spent all afternoon trying to sort out my financial aid. And feeling sick. So I read Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. The whole thing. Yesterday. I've gotten much faster at speed reading. I enjoyed it.

Since I got back from residency, I've been getting on a better schedule, which has really helped me with getting things done--except for school. I can't seem to get my school done. But I am getting better at chores, practicing piano, and cooking. Yay!

Oh, and I'm trying to get healthier. I bought a scale for my bathroom and discovered that I'm only about 5 lbs heavier than when I got married (yay!). Unfortunately, I'm a size and a half larger, which means I've lost muscle and gained fat. I'm not discouraged though. I used Web MD's food and fitness planners to help me get ideas on eating healthy and exercising. I'd like to drop a size by the end of the year. I did great on eating well for about a week. Then I realized that my brother is leaving for college soon, so we keep going to coffee or eating out. Plus, I've found that going to coffee shops really helps me get my school done--but it also helps me eat lots more calories than I should. :-)

That's probably enough of an update for now. I'm getting sick of Starbuck's, so I think I'll pack up and leave. Catch ya later!

P.S. My new favorite hot coffee drink is a hazelnut latte. Thanks to Christy and Carolyn for introducing me to hazelnut, my favorite coffee flavor.

Homeschool Fiction!

I'm working on typing up stuff for my school packet, and I need a brake. I've been working on this stuff all day. As a followup to my last post, I thought I'd post the list of homeschool books I compiled. I found most of these book from a page of Home School Online (http://www.homeschoolonline.org/2008/08/08/homeschool-literature/). I found a few by putting "home school" into my library search engine. Not surprisingly, a lot of the books I found are Christian and some are out of print--mainly the Christian ones. . . .

I've read only a couple of these books, and I marked those. Where possible, I listed as the subject what the book has to do with homeschooling, although homeschooling may not be the main plot of the story. Thanks for everyone's help!

Picture Book/Young Readers

• Ratner, Susan Kandoo Kangaroo Hops into Homeschool subj. starting to homeschool
• Stroud, Scott Baby Kong subj. troublesome child Christian
• Stroud, Scott Grumpy Mr. Grady subj. grumpy neighbor Christian

Middle Grade

• Bibee, John The Home School Detectives subj. mystery Christian
• Bowe, Julie My Last Best Friend subj. secondary character was formerly homeschooled *I've read this one. It was a fun book. Homeschooling is mentioned in passing, and the formerly homeschooled character is a normal kid*
  
• Campos, Jacqueline R. The Adventures of Lil' Wolf, Twinkie, Toes, and Flower Girl in the Homeschool Forest
  
• Casanova, Mary Jess: American Girl Today subj. umbrella school type of homeschooling, homeschooling while traveling *I've read this one, and it was pretty good. Showed the fun things you can do that count as school*
• Gantos, Jack What Would Joey Do? subj. sent to another family to be "homeschooled"
• Gaiman, Neil The Graveyard Book subj. home educated by ghosts
• Hannigan, Katherine Ida B. and her plans to maximize fun, avoid disaster, and (possibly) save the world subj. going to public school after homeschooling
• Janney, Rebecca Price Secret of the Lost Colony and following books subj. children with a "homeschool" tutor time travel Christian
• Korman, Gordon Schooled subj. going to public school after homeschooling *I've heard this is a very bad representation of homeschooling*
• Law, Ingird Savvy subj. main character is about to be homeschooled because of special powers *this is a really good book and shows a close-knit family*
• Lepkowski, Gwen Cross-Country Treasure Hunt subj. travel with family Christian
• Lucas, Leanne Addie McCormick and the Computer Pirate subj. sent to a "co-operative homeschool" while her school is being rebuilt Christian
• Morgan, Nicola Chicken Friend subj. starting to homeschool
• Roop, Meg Summer Mystery subj. starting to homeschool
• Selzer, Adam I Put A Spell On You subj. secondary character was formerly homeschooled
  
• Tolan, Stephanie Surviving the Applewhites subj. sent to another family to be "homeschooled"
• Milne Don & Aneladee The Lost Da Vincis subj. homeschool kids search for lost parents *this is self-published and the section I read wasn't very well written*

Young Adult

• Davis, Bryan Dragons in Our Midst subj. starting to homeschool Christian
• Juby, Susan Alice, I Think subj. going to public school
• Spinelli, Jerry Stargirl subj. going to public school
• Spinelli, Jerry Love, Stargirl subj. homeschooling again

Non-Fiction

• Llewellyn, Grace, editor Real Lives: Eleven Teenagers Who Don't Go to School Tell Their Own Stories subj. what the title says
  
• Lurie, Jon Allison's Story subj. an 8 year-old from Minnesota
• Voetberg, Julie I Am a Home Schooler subj. an 8 year-old from a farm

I have checked out What Would Joey Do?, Ida B., and Surviving the Applewhites. I'll try to let you know what I think. Have fun, and let me know if you find anymore books with homeschoolers! Okay, procrastination over . . .

Homeschool Fiction?

Dear Avid Readers, ;-)

I got sick the day I came back from residency, and I was in bed for a week. This week, I'm feeling better, but I'm having trouble getting back on a schedule. I feel really tired. I have a school/cleaning schedule that I'm trying to get going. I'm hoping that the more active I am the less lethargic/depressed I'll feel.

I'm trying to find out if there's much fiction written about homeschoolers. I mean where a homeschooler is a main character. Counting series as 1 book, I've found 8 middle grade books, 2 young adult books, and 1 picture book. I also found 6 Christian homeschooling books. That's not a whole lot. I haven't read those, but from the synopsizes, some of them don't paint a very accurate picture of homeschooling or aren't really homeschooling. Some of them say they're homeschooling but it's really more of a home-bound tutorship or a private school that meets in a home.

Have you read any books with a homeschooler as the main character? If so, would you mind commenting with the title and author and, if possible, a brief synopsis.

I'm also looking for books where a side character or friend is homeschooled and books where homeschooling is mentioned. For example, I just read My Last Best Friend by Julie Bowe where a new girl moves to town and starts going to the main character's school. She says she used to be homeschooled. That kind of thing counts in my mind.

Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it.

I LIKE happy endings!

Yay! I wrote something! :-D It makes me happy. That's only the second short story that I've come up with on my own. I've written a few others, but those were all for the Book Thing. My short story is different than the stuff I often write, but I enjoyed writing it. It was nice to know that it was short, so I didn't have all of this pressure.

On a sad note, I just finished reading Specials, the last book in that series I was telling you about. Well, I had really enjoyed the series up until part three of Specials. I just really didn't like the ending. Okay, I'm gonna spoil the ending, so if you want to read the books someday, don't read between the asterisks. *The ending was so sad! Through the entire third book, the main character was doing things so that she could be with her boyfriend, the one she loved. She was trying to get him medical help and change herself because her superhuman senses saw him as weak. Well, she goes through all of that, and in Part Three, he dies! And it wasn't like he died in the big battle scene or that his brain damage got too much. It was for a stupid reason. He tried to get surgery that was too risky, so his brain rejected the surgery and noone was around to help him because of the battle. So, his brain just stopped working and they took him off the life support machines 'cause they needed the bed. It was a horrible random death. And the last time he and the main character had been together, they had a fight. It was HORRIBLE! Why do people keep writing these terrible sad endings for books? I really enjoyed the rest of the series, but I'll never read it again now. What really gets me, is that his death didn't even make sense with the plotline. I can think of some other things that would have made more sense. Like if he'd just been in a coma and then the main character turned the villain good and she came and fixed him. Anyway, it's just really been bugging me. It probably wouldn't have bothered me so much before I started dating Paul, but now I can imagine what its like to lose the one you love. I honestly kept hoping the main character would die 'cause at least she'd be at peace then. Ergh!*

Okay, rant over. I should probably get back to writing. I'm not sure what, though. I guess I could write an essay until I think of something creative to write. Catch ya later!