Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Homeschool, Concrete, and Free Kindle Photography Books


When we purchased our house last year we knew it had driveway issues.  The driveway is thirty years old and has no rebar, so it is really cracked and has shifted where it is higher than our garage foundation.  We asked the previous owners to have it fixed, but they said the house was "as is"- take it or leave it.  So we decided an ugly driveway was not going to stop us from moving into our within-our-price-range dream house.

When we received the quote to have the area in front of the garage replaced, we both went into sticker shock and decided to wait.  But after the first heavy rain we realized that this was top of our list in repairs.  When it pours, water runs into one side of the garage in a nice little stream. Unfortunately our wonderful house inspector did not catch this (our inspector was useless and caught the little tiny issues like a bent stove vent and didn't let us know the garage flooded).  Every time it rains I build this little dam of sandbags, trash bags, and towels.  In heavy rains I would have to replace the towels every hour or so...

So after a year of me going crazy every time it sprinkled, we decided the kids could pay for their own college and we would get part of the driveway replaced.  Luckily the rest of the house is in pretty good shape, so this is the first major expensive repair (and unfortunately won't be the last). Eventually we will have to spend our retirement money to get the rest of our long driveway replaced.  OK, maybe I am exaggerating a tiny bit, but driveway repair is not top of my list of exciting repair jobs.  I would rather spend the money on a hot tub or backyard fence/chicken pen/treehouse.

Did I mention that I really really miss apartment living?



So today the concrete people showed up, I wrote a huge check, and the boys are getting the most expensive homeschool class of their life; driveway repair.  They are always asking me how roads and freeways are built, so now they get their own personal tutoring and show.

So what to do when your kids are busy watching demolition?  Read!  I purchased a Kindle months ago just for the free classics and free best sellers.  I have almost 100 books on my Kindle that were absolutely free.  The free best sellers are hit-and-miss, but I read the reviews and the most of the ones I have downloaded are pretty good to quite good.  Sometimes I just need to read a good mystery/thriller.


Do you want to download my favorite CoffeeShop Actions or Design Elements in one convenient zipped file AND help support this blog? Just click here for my action pack or here for a download of some of my most popular design elements, storyboards, and textures.

11 comments:

  1. Hi Rita! I am a bookworm as well, and almost all the books I read are freebies (for my Nook)! Have you heard of the-cheap.net? They post free and low-cost books regularly on their site (and on their FB feed). They do it for Nook, Kindle, Kobo, and iBooks. I've found so many authors I love and so many great books that were free that they've brought to my attention!

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  2. Hi there from a fellow homeschool mom! :) I'm new to your blog...what are these "actions" you speak of? I may be interested in the kit...will the special be going on until the end of the week?

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  3. Thank you for your blog! I'm a stay at home mom who is learning to be a photographer and I really love everything you post!

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  4. Thanks for the info about the freebies, Rita! Looks like some info I could use...also, LOVE your work :)

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  5. After building two homes, I have learned first-hand how much concrete costs. It's enough to make you cry, so I understand! I mean, it's made up of crushed rocks and water, so why is it so ding-dang expensive? I guess it's because of those big mixer trucks and the labor. Anyhow, I understand! Just concentrate on how much you'll be able to relax after it rains and try not to think about the $s. (And the truth is that the vast majority of home inspections are worthless.)

    I adore my Kindle and free books make it even better. Please check with your local library, because most libraries are really stocking up on e-books and have a working relationship with Overdrive and Amazon for the downloading services. I also use Pixel of Ink for convenient notifications on free e-books. They are on twitter & have a web site.

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  6. Aaaa... college is overrated anyway... and I love the responsible parenting expressed by the ear protection. :-)

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  7. I came back to your site to remind myself how to design and put a new blog banner up on my blog, and wow, our driveway guys were here today too breaking up the concrete on our driveway! Talk about sticker shock?? No, don't!
    Thank you for all your great tutorials.

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  8. Wow! Thank you for this! I did not know I could get free Kindle books. . . and have an Ipad now. Looks like my "to be read" list is growing. Good luck with the driveway!

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  9. Hi, Rita,
    For lots of free Kindle books see eReaderPerks.com. The site is updated all day long with new freebie offers.

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  10. my boy's would have been doing the same thing!!

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  11. Hear is a free early reader book that can be downloaded, and used to teach phonics, comprehension and sequencing:

    Free Early Reader Book Online

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a message, I love reading them! All comments are personally moderated by me and I will post and answer them them as soon as possible.
Rita