Coffee With Me

Twentynine (29) Palms Homeschool Group

Posted By Melissa on July 19, 2010

It’s hard to believe we’re starting our 10th year of homeschooling!! I’ll be schooling grades 7, 4, 1, and PreK this year as well as managing the busy 2 year-old.

We are part of Growing Palms Homeschool Group here in 29 Palms. I found the group before we even moved here and went to a park day the first week we lived here! I have made such wonderful friends through the group and really enjoy all the activities we’ve done.

We meet each week on Friday at a local park. The kids play, the moms chat. It’s been a great time for both the kids and I. It’s allowed me time to get to know other moms. We talk about anything and everything. The children play and make friends and it also gets them outside for a few hours!

Once a month or so (but hopefully twice a month this upcoming year) we go on field trips as a group. This past year some of the places we went were to Riley’s Farm, the post office, fire station, McCallum Theatre, Air Museum, and more.

A member of our group sponsored a Science Fair and we have a Geography Fair upcoming. Each month we do a Mom’s Night Out to one of our local restaurants.

What I love about our group is that everyone brings their ideas to the table! We all use different curriculum, we come from different backgrounds, but when it comes to planning things for our children, different people step in and make things happen. I’m so thankful to be a part of Growing Palms and the kids and I are looking forward to this new school year!

If you’re a homeschooler in 29 Palms and you’d like to join our group click here: Growing Palms

Category: Homeschooling | 2 Comments »

The Last Christian – Book Review

Posted By Melissa on June 9, 2010

The Last Christian
Written by David Gregory

* Price: 14.99
* Format: Trade Paperback
* Other Formats: eBook, Audiobook
* On Sale: May 4, 2010
* ISBN: 9781400074976
* Categories: Fiction – Religious

About this book according to the Publisher

A.D. 2088.

Missionary daughter Abigail Caldwell emerges from the jungle for the first time in her thirty-four years, the sole survivor of a mysterious disease that killed her village. Abby goes to America, only to discover a nation where Christianity has completely died out. A curious message from her grandfather assigns her a surprising mission: re-introduce the Christian faith in America, no matter how insurmountable the odds.

But a larger threat looms. The world’s leading artificial intelligence industrialist has perfected a technique for downloading the human brain into a silicon form. Brain transplants have begun, and with them comes the potential of eliminating physical death altogether—but at what expense?

As Abby navigates a society grown more addicted to stimulating the body than nurturing the soul, she and Creighton Daniels, a historian troubled by his father’s unexpected death, become unwitting targets of powerful men who will stop at nothing to further their nefarious goals. Hanging in the balance—the spiritual future of all humanity.

In this fast-paced thriller, startling near-future science collides with thought-provoking religious themes to create a spell-binding “what-if?” novel.

http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781400074976&view=excerpt

My Thoughts

I really liked Abigail. I would love to have learned more about her time as a missionary daughter. She’s in her 30’s before she ever encounters anyone separate from her village. She’s a strong woman and I love the conversations she has with others that she encounters.

The artificial intelligence storyline was a little confusing to me. I don’t like sci-fi material anyway. My husband said that the book was well-done in terms of the virtual worlds and the AI being believable. I’ll trust him!

I didn’t like the ending. The book seemed to have a sudden ending. It had several conclusions to the various storylines and I didn’t like any of them! If you like “light” sci-fi then you’d probably enjoy this book.

Category: Book Reviews | No Comments »

Mind Your Own Mortgage – Book Review

Posted By Melissa on June 8, 2010

I received Mind Your Own Mortgage by Robert J. Bernabe from Book Sneeze for free in exchange for doing a review of the book. I chose this book because we own a house that we do not currently live in. We do have renters in it but do not receive enough in rent to cover the mortgage. I was curious as to what this book could tell me in how to pay off our mortgage quicker or make better decisions regarding the house. The subtitle to the book is “The wise homeowner’s guide to choosing, managing, and paying off your mortgage.”

I was very much ready to skim the book and just pick and choose which chapters to read. The author convinced me otherwise. For a money technical book it’s very easy to read and understand. The author hits home with points about what you are really “saving” by not paying off your mortgage. He says if it bothers you to pay a $3 ATM fee then it should bother you to pay interest on your credit cards AND on your mortgage!

I did wonder how a whole book could be written about mortgages. The author covers all areas of your finances though. He wants you to pay off your mortgage and save for the future so that you can retire as a millionaire. This review isn’t the best…frankly, I need to get it done, and my brain is not putting into words the things that I want to say about this book. Suffice to say, that I will be reading certain chapters again. And when we buy another house, we will be taking the advice of this author!

Category: Book Reviews | 1 Comment »

WFWM – Saving Calendars

Posted By Melissa on May 25, 2010

I keep my calendars. I have them all the way back to 1997 I believe. I think they’ll come in handy when I’m scrapbooking and can’t remember dates for events. But I don’t just keep them in a box for that future time when I’ll start scrapping again. I keep the past couple years together with the current year.

Here is my planner. Falling apart. I think I’ve had this one since 2005.

Each year, as soon as they come out, I buy a new year’s worth of a size that will fit in this planner.

It has to have date tabs.

It has to start with Monday as the first day of the week. This past year I bought really cute planner pages. Oh they were so cute. They started on Sunday. After having Monday as the first day of the week in my planner for years and years, I could not force my brain to change! I kept writing events on the wrong days!

May 2008

May 2009

May 2010

It doesn’t make my planner any bigger to have 2 extra years in there! I love knowing when an event happened the year before. Know that there’s a parade you want to attend in October? Look to see when it was the last year. Need to know the last time you went to the dentist … in 2008 .. it’s in there! I’m sure that because of my involvement in various groups, ie. homeschool, church, Cub Scouts, this adds to my “needing” to know when something occurred. I often am looking back to see what the future might hold.

Last year’s October.

This year’s October.

I’m sure that’ll change soon!

Keeping my calendars handy…it Works for Me! To see more Works for Me Wednesday check out We Are That Family. And check out my list of The Best of WFMW from last week!

Category: Works for Me Wednesday | 5 Comments »