LOL!

Another thing to consider for college-bound kiddos..........

If we are talking money, it makes almost zero sense to send your child out-of-state to go to college.  I found this great article from Best Colleges which highlights the lowest out-of-state tuition fees but if these are the lowest, I do not want to know the highest.

For example, Northwestern Oklahoma State University is $11,764 if you are an out-of-state college-goer.  If you are a resident of Oklahoma, this number drops down to $5,642.

Heading to Arkansas?  The University of Central Arkansas is around $7,595 if you are an Arkansas resident, if not, open up your wallet because you will get to pay $13,340.

Thinking of going further down south to Georgia, home of The Walking Dead?  Georgia Tech (a phenomenal school) is $7,718 but if you are not a Georgia resident you will be paying for it!  Wait for it........................you are likely to pay $27,022 (fainting with you).

Here is another great link to find out about the differences between in-state and out-of-state tuition fees and the reasoning why some colleges can cost you upwards of $26,000 more if you are not a state resident, University of Virginia, what is up with that?

THIS.IS.GOING.TO.BE.SO.MUCH.FUN............

Find out more.

We love party days..........

Now that we have WWI behind us, lets talk Mussolini.........

which is the next lesson in Mystery of History Volume 4 (you can buy your own amazing copy here).

You have probably already heard of Mussolini as a ruler, political, socialist, radical, loose cannon, dictator, fascist, and the list goes on and on but I will stop here.




Factoids:

~Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born in Northern Central (Forli) Italy July 29, 1883.  Due to financial hardships, he was forced to move to Switzerland around 1902.  He did return to Italy in 1904 and joined the Italian army during WWI.

~His father, Alessandro, was a blacksmith.  His mother, Rosa, was a teacher.

~Big surprise to hear that Mussolini was a very difficult child with a short temper.  He was constantly expelled from school for assaulting fellow students with a penknife.

~He had a sister named Edvidge and a brother named Arnaldo.

~Mussolini had five children with his wife, Rachele.

~He was the leader of the National Fascist Party from 1922 to 1943.  He spent a lot of his time with the local socialists.

~Mussolini was restless when he returned to Italy in 1904 so in  1909, he headed out to Austria.  He was only there for a short while as he was forcibly removed from Austria due to his critiques on militarism and nationalism.

~He returned again to Italy where he gained support from the National Fascist Party and was elected prime minister of Italy.  He was the youngest prime minister of Italy.  He was the 40th prime minister of Italy and served 20 years.

~Mussolini attacked Ethiopia in 1936 with a little support from, his buddy, Adolf Hitler (shocking-crazy helping crazy).  Mussolini and Hitler did not bond instantly, it took a while for that to happen but once it did, they form an unbreakable alliance.  Hitler had great admiration for Mussolini which seemed to go reciprocated.

~In 1943, by order of Hitler, Mussolini became the head of the Italian Social Republic of Northern Italy.

~Even though he was married to Rachele Mussolini, Mussolini had a mistress (shocking), Clara Pettacci, who was subsequently executed along side of Mussolini in 1945.  After their execution, both bodies were taken to the Piazzale Loreto (a suburban square in Milan) where an angry crowd gathered to abuse their bodies.  Rumor has it that Mussolini and Pettacci planned to escape to Switzerland prior to the execution but did not make it out in time.  Oh well!

~In 1946, the body of Mussolini was dug up by fascist supporters.  His body was, however, found four years later and hidden for more than 11 years.

~Mussolini was shot two days before Hitler committed suicide.  So the world was rid of two miserable dictators at the same time. There is nothing wrong with a little poetic justice in my opinion.

It's good to trust others but, not to do so is much better."  Mussolini

History Channel
Mussolini soft school
Biography

Next up, Joseph Stalin, Russian, communist, dictator.

An amazing find to share............

from Lamar education.  PDF trig tutorial cheat sheet.  You are welcome!!!

Happy homeschooling!!

#Georgiaissohot!!!!!!!

It is on days like today, 88 degrees, that I am glad we live where there is a beautiful pool for the girls!

College in Hawaii? Why not? We have no rules here..........

Find the full list of colleges here.

ACT.........is not easy as 1, 2, 3................

The college search is still on and wide open........

Why not Alaska?  Here is a list from The Campus Explorer of the top colleges in Alaska.  What a beautiful place to live and learn!

Love Dave..........

How timely since just yesterday I posted about adult children/enabling parents.  Today on
The Dave Ramsey Show he ranted on about this very topic.  He makes exquisite points that are 100% correct.

You can fast-forward to around minute 12 and listen to Dave explain the real problems with being an enabler and the harm it actually does.

He says that enablers really believe they are helping because they do not have the correct definition of the word help.  He says they are not helping but causing great harm instead.

"When a mom or dad allows a 32-year-old live in their basement and not work or supports them so they do not have to work. You steal their dignity, you steal their ability to win in the marketplace, you steal their ability to perform, and what happens when you die?  They are SCREWED because they are completely atrophied in every pit of their character that they need to win."  He suggested that the father needs to put his foot down and put an end to it and to stop supporting negative behavior.

Time to cut the cord.................

I love that my girls are so artistic...........

These are a few random watercolor paintings that my girls have done.  Sorry for the brag but these are so awesome!

Image from Watership Down.

Brag over!

TWD funny........

Is it pathetic or brilliant..............

When a grown man lives off of  with his parents?  If you think about it, it is a little brilliant.

No bills, meals cooked, mommy cuts your meat so you don't choke, laundry gets washed, just care-free on someone else's dime.

No big boy responsibilities.  But in reality, the reasons this is pathetic for the grown man are pretty clear cut and for the ones that are allowing themselves to be used, what is wrong with you?

If you raised a kid/kids that are now an adults and are depending on you, chances are you did something really wrong but if you continue to allow the behavior then you just have to deal with it.

A few of our favorite BBMA winners for the night............

Fetty, top new artist.

Twenty-One Pilots, best rock artist and best rock album.  Cannot wait to go to the concert!!!

1D, best duo/group as always.

The weeknd, everything else!!!

See more here.

Fear..midseason finale tonight at 9...........

Good morning with Twenty-One Pilot-styled veggie bacon..........

Reminder for ACT test-takers 2-4 on Sunday, May 22...........

Don't miss Kaplan's free Online ACT Live Prep on Introduction of ELA concepts.  Check it out here.

The Originals finale is tonight.................

Parenting tip of the week............

If you are driving around with my child or any child for that matter, DO NOT TEXT period.  If you are really stupid enough to text and drive with passengers, even when they ask you not to text, you lose your right to drive with them.  Your life may not have much value but be considerate of the lives that actually do matter.

For the love of pigeons...............

No matter where we go, there is always excitement and usually an animal involved.  So the girls were taking a few new head shots to submit for another movie role, and I was standing up on the balcony looking down at them and talking, as usual, to someone when out of no where, this cute little pigeon flew right up to me and practically landed on me.   After a minor freak out, I realized that the pigeon had two identification bands, one on each leg.  We did a little research and found out that this could either be a homing pigeon, which could have flown from several hundred miles a way, or a fancy pigeon, which is not able to travel far distances.  I know, so helpful!  Anyway, we, of course, had bird food and unsalted nuts to feed the pigeon, and we had this bird literally eating out of our hands.  We kept an eye on the pigeon until dark and found that if flew up to nest, hopefully, for the night.  We will be looking for this new friend tomorrow and maybe find the owners.

Supernatural is on tonight...........

Lesson in good manners and common courtesy.........

If you are not going to bother to show up, let someone know in advance. It is just the right thing to do and so extremely simple anyone can accomplish the task.  Time is valuable.

Me when I discover that Nestor Carbonell has liked my tweets.........

Nestor Carbonell twitter

It is true......

When you do things simply because they are the right things to do, the reward is it makes you feel good and happy.  You have pride in what you are doing.

When you do things because you are forced to, for example, paying child support or the judge will put you in jail, the reward is you stay out of jail but really that is it.

You don't get a metal for doing something you are forced to do, you really do not even deserve the credit for that.

So sad, tonight is the season finale.............Boo!

Fun-filled weekend.........

We had the best time this weekend hanging out for graduation ceremonies, graduation parties, and a birthday party.

The graduation ceremonies sort of hit home for me because next year, I will have a graduate (gAsP!). It was surreal watching several kids we have know for the better part of their lives graduate.  All grown up and ready to take on the world.  I was almost in tears several times watching their growing up pictures play in the background and listening to the wonderful things their proud parents had to say about them.  I was also marveling at the fantastic job their parents have done raising them and homeschooling them all the way through high school.  Parenting is not easy and homeschooling is certainly not an easy task but it is absolutely worth it.  I take my hat off to you dedicated parents who spend the time it takes to raise awesome kids.

Congrats to the graduates!  You are all so amazing, and I cannot wait to see what you will accomplish next!

Fear TWD is tonight.........

College help.........

We have been going through this massive college profile catalog, and it is such a great resource, I wanted to share it.  There are ((((1954)))) pages.......Pick up a copy at your local Barnes and Noble or online.

Season 7 finale time..........

I guess if you are going to have a car accident, seeing Norman and Steven would certainly make it better...........

TMZ

~

Supernatural is on tonight at 9.........

TWD.......

World War I, aka the Great War, aka the War of the Nations, aka the War to End All Wars.....

No matter what you call it, this four-year conflict was the sixth deadliest war in the history of the world, cost the US a whopping $30 billion, left 17 million dead, 20 million injured, and caused the collapse of four major world empires which include the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the German Empire, and the Russian Empire.

Another interesting fact is that the WW1 battles were fought over every ocean and almost every continent but the majority of the battles were fought on European land.

The big question is what exactly started WWI, there are a few causes actually from Imperialism to alliances to differences in foreign policies to some people just believed that Germany wanted to go to war but whatever the case may be, certainly the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (heir to the throne of Austria and Hungary) and his pregnant wife, Sophie, is what flipped the switch on this war.

 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

The assassination was planned and carried out by a Serbian terrorist group, The Black Hand, and Gavrilo Princip a Bosnian revolutionary.

The assassination took place on June 28, 1914 and a month later, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and subsequently in August 1914, Turkey (Ottoman Empire) and Germany negotiated a secret alliance, the following day Germany declared war on France, a day later Germany invaded Belgium which in turn forced Britain to declare war on Germany, and finally by August 10, 1914, Austria-Hungary invaded Russia.

So to sum it all up, the assassination of Ferdinand of Austria caused an already critical situation in Europe to erupted into a full blown war between the British Empire, the Soviet Union, the United States which was previously "neutral" (entered on April 6, 1917), and France on one side and Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and Austro-Hungary on the other.  Of course, torpedoing passenger ships such as the Lusitania and submarine warfare by the Germans certainly did not help anything so we will just conclude with there were several reasons for WWI.

~Interesting or lesser known facts from WWI.

*Private George Edwin Ellison was the last British solider to die in WWI at 11 a.m., on November 11, 1918.

*Post-war: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Finland were recognized as independent nations. Whoo-hoo!!

*Ever hear of canary women?  With the majority of the men off at war, a million women worked long hours in poor condition with dangerous chemicals which caused them to have toxic jaundice and turned their skin yellow.

Dr. Gillies

*New Zealand-born surgeon Harold Gillies basically paved the way for plastic surgery.

He is known as the father of plastic surgery.  You see, shrapnel cause many severe facial injuries during WWI so Dr. Gillies helped the victims with facial reconstruction.
Just because I like to ramble on and lose my focus, later in Dr. Gillies' plastic surgery practice, he carried out the first modern day sex reassignment surgery from male to female which is now the norm for the procedures done today.

Yep!  I am totally out of focus.
What was I saying?

You can read more about his patient here.

Just another really random side note because again, I like to ramble............., Dr. Gillies was the great-great-grandfather of Daniel Gillies who plays Elijah in the Originals.  LoVe HiM!!!



*Sidney Lewis was the youngest British solider in WWI.  He was only 12 years old but he lied about his age.  The law required you to be 19 at the time.

Lewis.

Did you know that the first known use of chemical weapons was during WWI?  Mustard gas or Yperite was used by the German Army in September 1917.

This is considered the most lethal of all poisonous chemicals used during the war.

It is odorless, highly explosive, and took over 12 hours to take effect resulting in blisters, internal bleeding, attack of the bronchial tubes, stripping mucous membranes, pain, sore eyes, and vomiting.

*Blood banks were also established during WWI.

*Was the Red Baron real?  Yep, he was born Manfred von Richthofen.  The British gave him the nickname of the Red Baron because during WWI, he flew a small red plane.  The French called him Le Petit Rouge.  He was the highest ranked fighter pilot in all of Germany.  Read more here.

*The British created an endless supply of slang terms/nicknames during WWI, for example, New Zealanders were Kiwis, Canadians were Canucks, Aussies were Diggers, Irish were Paddies, Germans were Jerries, and the Scots were referred to as Jocks.  They referred to cemeteries as rest camps and chaplains were devil dodgers.  Other words still used today include crummy, cooties (lice), lousy, pushing up daisies (death), and thingamajig.

*Zippers, Kotex pads, sun lamps, Kleenex, wrist watches, pilot communication systems, and stainless steel were all invented during WWI and surprisingly enough so were vegetarian soy sausages.  No kidding, Konrad Adenauer, the first German chancellor, created the Friedenswurst a.k.a. the peace sausage due to the lack of supply and cost of meat.  Cheers Chancellor Adenauer!!!  Vegetarians salute you!

*Winnie The Pooh creator, AA Milne and JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings author both served in WWI.

*Trench warfare is an idea that wound not be repeated in subsequent wars by any country.  Basically, soldiers dug out long ditches to stand in and fight but turns out, this was the worst idea ever!

*Ever heard of the Harlem Hellfighters?  They were the first African-American regiment to serve during WWI.

*My final interesting factoid for WWI is that dogs were used as messengers in WWI.  Like this little cutie, Stubby.  Check him out in the Smithsonian where he is on display or check out their "The Price of Freedom Exhibit" here that tells all about Stubby and his accomplishments.

Sergeant Stubby from World War I
Sadly, it seems that WWI does not get as much attention called to it as other wars but as you can tell by just what we discovered, it is a very important part of history and should have more time dedicated to it.  So keep reading about it through the awesome links in this post.

Crash Course World History John Green video.

More on Ferdinand. 
BBC trenches