I said I could be thankful that it was not 120°F yet.  Uh, change that to 125°F.  Becca and I had a conversation about this.  In response to my gratitude for not needing a snow shovel in these circumstances, she suggested that a snow shovel would make a great dust pan for the garage.  I agree.  It would.  But we don't even have a garage. And I am pretty sure none of our local stores carry snow shovels, even in the winter.  And I'm still thankful we don't need one.   By the way, I could not believe my ears last week, when I heard my desert-loving, snow-hating husband say, by accident I'm sure, "One below wouldn't be THAT bad..." LOL!  I don't know.  If one could make a choice,  it would be a tough one.  -1°F or +122°F.   ???

The summer always has me looking for ways to feed my family delicious meals without cooking, or at least without turning on the oven.  If you have any ideas, do let me know.  Does anyone make a tasty cold rice salad? We often do salad and fresh bread (from the machine, not the oven), pasta salad made early in the day, or lately, already baked pizza from Little Caesar's!  (Okay, it's not the greatest pizza, but it's only two blocks away and only $5.  I'll take it.)

On to our school plans for the coming year.  I have felt like a goose flying backwards through the fog this spring, trying to plan for next school year. But I think it is finally coming together.  Many thanks to my dear friend, Plain Jane, for a copy of her educational designs for her daughters, a plan which I call "Plain Jane High School".  She got me started just making a list of all sorts of things that I'd like to see Alison (and etc) accomplish before we call it quits with official school-type stuff.  Some of it is academic, but most of it isn't, and it has really helped me to feel like we have some direction in this journey.  It's nice to finally figure out where we are going.  Here is Alie's list, definitely not in order of priority, and not complete. She has done some of this already, so she will begin with some thing checked off (pretend those little pieces of code are check boxes):

Alison's High School To-Do’s

Community Service
    Play music at nursing home monthly
    Participate in monthly nursing home church service
    Assist in church nursery
    
    

Physical Education
    Bicycle maintenance and safety
    o    Change tube
    o    Patch tube
    o    Clean and lube chain
    o    Adjust brakes

Travel and Car Maintenance
    Wash car
    Wax car
    Vacuum interior
    Windows
    Pump gas
    Check oil
    Use jumper cables
    Check tire pressure and fill
    Change wiper blades
    Add washer fluid
    Read a street map
    Give clear directions
    Plan a road trip
    
    

Sewing
    Crochet
    o    Hot pad
    o    Dishcloth
    o    Afghan
    Arrange and cut out a pattern
    Sew a
    o    Bag
    o    Skirt
    o    Blouse
    o    Dress
    o    Nightie
    o    Quilt
  
Church Ministries
    Piano accompaniment
    Provide special music
    Learn to operate sound system and edit files
    Work in nursery
    Lead a Bible study
    Give a devotion
    Write devotional for newsletter
    Teach a Sunday School class
    Clean church building
  
    
 
 Personal Ministry and Spiritual Life
    Give your testimony
    Know how to lead a soul to Christ
    Read through the Bible five times before graduation
    Invite ten people to church
    Read missionary biographies
    o    John and Betty Stam
    o    CT Studd
    o    The Journal of John Wesley
    o    Jim Eliot/Nate Saint
    o    Susannah Wesley
    o    Peace Child or Lords of the Earth
    o    Bruchko
    o    
    o  
     Keep a prayer journal
  
    

Music
    Yearly violin performance
    Yearly piano performance
    Read books on what is God-honoring music –
    o    SM Davis
    o    Alan Ives
    o    SMS
    Listen to 10 great composers
    Read a music pedagogy book – Talent to Treasure, by M. Washburn
    Give music instruction
    Attend a symphony rehearsal
    Attend a symphony or orchestra performance
    
    
 
Computer and Technical Skills
    Type 75 wpm
    Learn to use Word or other word processing software
    Learn to use Excel or other spreadsheet
    Make a video and edit it
    Learn to edit audio files
    Visit a sound studio
    Observe the production of an audio recording
    
 
Personal Development
    Write out your testimony
    Give your testimony orally if given the opportunity
    Keep an active blog for one year
    Get published
    Learn basic first aid
   Read Mom’s file on godly girls and ladies and home life (C:\Documents and Settings\Johnson Family\My Documents\To Read in Jr High-High School)
    Read Beautiful Girlhood
    Read Daughters of Destiny
    Read So Much More
    Read The Fallacy Detective
    Read ten classics
    o    Pride and Prejudice
    o    To Kill a Mockingbird
    o    Little Britches Series
    o    Tale of Two Cities
    o    Robinson Crusoe
    o    and choose from this adult/youth list:          
 http://www.wannalearn.com/Classic_Literature/
    Write an essay on how you plan to educate your children
    Read books on homeschooling whys
    o    John Gatto
    o    Mary Pride,  and others
    Learn to find anything in the library
    o    Encyclopedia
    o    Magazine article
    o    Author bio
    Learn to find anything on the internet
 
Kitchen Skills
    Cut up a whole chicken
    Cook beans
    Slow cook a roast
    Bake
   o    cookies
   o    cake from scratch
   o    cheesecake
   o    quick breads
   o    yeast bread
   o    biscuits
    Make a healthy salad
    Cook veggies in the microwave
    Follow a recipe
    Make soups
    o    Potato
    o    Beef barley
    o    Chicken and rice
    o    Chicken tortilla    
    o    
    Make a personal recipe book
    Plan a menu
    Do a weekly (or monthly) meal plan
    Learn food storage
    Clean up meal prep

Child Care
    Babysit, given opportunity
    Change a diaper
    Bottle feed a baby
    Spoon feed a baby
    Entertain toddlers
    

History and Geography
    Find major countries and cities on a globe
    Read missionary bios (see personal development section)
    Know states and capitals
    Read ten U.S. Landmark books
    Read ten World Landmark books
    Read Ruth Beechick’s World History Made Easy
etc.   
  
(Sorry about the formatting problems.  Computers and I never have been very good friends.) This is all in addition to the usual assortment of stuff from Teaching Textbooks, Easy Grammar,  the Bluedorns, Landmark, and something for science. Anyway, this should take care of the boredom blues, don't you think? For one kid, at least.  Now I'm off to figure out what we'll be using for children #2,#3 and #4!