Midweek Mix-Up — the Cold War and a Free Outlining Course

Hello again! In today’s midweek mix-up, I’ve got some great resources for you, as well as some fascinating books I’ve been listening to lately.

Reading this week…

I haven’t actually “read” much this week—mostly because I’ve been doing quite a bit of computer work, and when I’m doing that I can’t read. But I have been listening to a lot of books, and I suppose that counts as well!

Amy Carmichael: Rescuer of Precious Gems, by Janet & Geoff Benge
Progress: Finished (last week: 89%)

This is a beautiful retelling of Amy’s life. There was a lot about her early life, which I enjoyed immensely—often, we tend to hear the most about her time in India, and little about the rest of her life. I hadn’t realized before that she spent a while working in Japan before eventually being called to India, so that—along with the legacy she led and left behind her—was very encouraging for me. Highly recommend this biography—I’ll be putting a review of the book on the main site after a while.

The Lilies of the Field, by William E Barrett
Progress: Finished

I loved the story of Homer Smith—how he just happened to come across a group of four German nuns who badly need help, his coming an answer to prayer. Mother Maria Marthe put him right to work building a chapel for her, but he thinks she’s a bit crazy to ever expect him to be able to do it on his own.

Even though this story is a bit different from the books I usually read, it was fascinating and I’m planning to review it soon.

The Mouse That Roared: A Novel, by Leonard Wibberley
Progress: 68%

What happens when a little country is slighted by a bigger country—namely, the United States? Add in the current world events—the cold war—and the little country running out of money to feed their citizens. The government of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick decides the only way to get enough money to feed their citizens—and settle their quarrel with the US—is to declare war on the US. There’s no way such a small country could win the war—but when they accidently seize the most dangerous atomic weapon in the world, they have suddenly won the war. This is a very humorous tale, one that I’m enjoying even though I’m sure I’ll get more out of it in a few more years.

Inspiring posts this week…

• 12 Letters That Didn’t Make the Alphabet — Mom sent this to me earlier this week. Who knew that there were twelve other letters we could be using now—but generally aren’t? The only one that we actually use anymore is ampersand (“&”). Remember that old Apple Pie ABC rhyme? “…X, Y, Z and ampersand all wished for a piece in hand….”
• Tips for Writers Who Don’t Work Well With Outlines — Great post. I think I tend to be on the outlining side, but many of these tips would apply to me, as well.
• Two Harvard Professors Reveal One Reason Our Brains Love to Procrastinate — I found this post fascinating. Useful tips on how to change the way you look at procrastination, and how to practice being productive.
• Grammar Websites For Writers — This is a great list of resources, not only for writers, but for homeschoolers as well. Some of the spotlighted websites are for editing, others are for researching and learning about grammar. I’ll be bookmarking this one for future use!
• 5 Reasons To Pray Before You Write — I’m guilty of not doing this enough. It’s wonderful to have a reminder of where my responsibilities should lie, even if I always seem to forget this until all else has failed.

Resource of the week…

I’ve got two resources for you this week!

For Writers:

Write Your Non-Fiction Book Quickly and Easily: The Magic of Outlining

This is a free outlining course by Nancy Hendrickson, a renowned author and writing coach. I don’t know how long it will be free, but it looks very useful, and I’m planning to take time to go through it soon. My outlining skills need a lot of help.

For Homeschool Moms:

LessonTrek
Get a free lifetime membership!

From the website:

Easy-to-use online homeschool and private school planning.

In just a few minutes you can set up your school year & subjects, create lessons & assignments, record grades, and more.

Features:

• Grade recording
• Easy drag-and-drop interface
• Copy/paste lessons easily
• Print weekly lesson plans
• Ongoing improvements based on your feedback

My aunt recently shared this on Facebook. If you want to get a free lifetime membership on the site, simply go to the site, sign up for a two week trial, and put in the referral code FFL15. No payment info to enter, and within seconds of signing up you can be planning away! I don’t know how long this deal is going to be available.

If you want simpler version of planning, you could try making your own chart for each child—I cover that in depth on this post.