What did you see at AWA? What was the most interesting? What was the worst?

What memory do you sometimes wish would disappear? Write about it.

You wake up to the smell of sizzling French toast. You have to have some, but it's coming from your neighbor's house and the two of you aren't on speaking terms. How do you get the French toast? 400 to 500 words .

I’m going to kill my neighbor, Bob. Well, I’m not really going to kill him, but I want to. Generally, Bob and I get along very well – except for that unfortunately incident where his giant German Sheppard ate my three Chihuahuas. But my wife did express some relief that those “yipping little rats” were no longer bothering her. Or the time his three-toed sloth ate my entire vegetable garden – an entire spring of digging and planting disappeared in an afternoon of quiet munching. Even though the garden now grows so much better where the sloth defecated – this time, Bob has gone too far.

You see, my neighbor Bob has this thing for pets. I’m not talking about a dog our two, or the little old lady down the street who regularly feeds 14 stray cats. No, Bob is a zookeeper-wannabe. He always has weird pets. Not just snakes and lizards and squirrels, but more like lemurs and sloths and llamas. If the county would let him, I’m sure it would be lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

He was telling me last month he wanted to get an exotic pet, as if his current menagerie was far too ordinary. He had decided what he really needed was Meerkats. Meerkats! And, do you think he’d be satisfied with one cute little fuzzy Meerkat? Heck no. He got a whole gaggle, or pride or whatever the heck the collective noun is for Meerkats. Bob must have gotten 20 of those little rodents last week.

At first, I thought – oh, Meerkats, how cute. They’d be up and around during the day, but they were at least quiet at night – unlike the Screech Owl Bob had last year. They’d pop their little heads up and look around, duck down into their burrows. But then last weekend, it happened. They annexed my back yard.

My wife and I decided to get out of town for a couple of days. We didn’t notice when we rolled in Sunday night, but early in the morning she let out a shriek and dropped her coffee as she looked out the back window. I jumped out of bed and ran to see what was going on, and there it was: the backyard looked like a battlefield. Grass popping up and bulging, mounds of dirt everywhere, it was horrible. It looked like the golf course in the last scene of Caddyshack. I knew I had to do something.

I called up my local pest control company just as soon as they opened. With a neighbor like Bob, I keep my favorites on speed-dial. I called the place that a few months ago rid us of the Argentinean fleas that I figure must come from Bob’s llamas. When I mentioned getting rid of Meerkats, something happened and the line disconnected. I haven’t been able to get a call through since – I just get the machine and they haven’t called me back.

Now, I’m going to have to wait until Bob gets home and tell him to get his Meerkats out of my lawn.

Bill

Your neighbor has taken in an unusual pet and it does something unpleasant to your house/yard. Confront your neighbor. Use descriptive prose and dialogue. 500 words.

Louis was awakened by the sound of- what was that? Helicopters? He rolled over to face his Star Wars alarm clock, 5:30am it read. What the hell are helicopters doing outside my window at 5-freaking-AM?! He rose out of his zebra striped sheets and put on a pair of purple chucks and a white shirt, having gone to bed in a pair of bright orange plaid pajama pants. He walked downstairs to his kitchen, pouring himself a cup of the coffee his roommate had made earlier. That’s when he saw it. Oh god, what is Francis up to now? What he saw outside of the large circular window was his neighbor Francis, standing next to what looked like a hunk of scrap metal- well, more like dozens of pieces of scrap metal stuck together to form a mountain of ugly, rusty scraps, some of which were rotating, causing the helicopter like noise. Francis looked up and saw Louis. "Hey neighbor!" He shouted, and Louis took in his odd attire. Francis was wearing overalls, a hard hat, and goggles. It wouldn't have looked strange on anyone else, but with clashed with Francis' tattoos and mohawk. What look is he going for? Punk redneck? And what the hell is that thing beside him? Louis waved back to his neighbor and then walked away from the window. He decided he didn't want to know.

The next day Louis awoke to the same helicopter like sound. He groaned and hit his fist on the headboard of his bed. Why can't I have normal neighbors? He asked himself mentally. He pulled the pillow over his head but to no avail, it sounded like Francis had gotten a jackhammer or some other loud power tool and was hacking away with that. Louis rose from bed and got dressed, deciding to wear a leopard print leather jacket and pink pants. He walked to his bedroom window and peered out into Francis' yard. There he saw something he had not expected to see. It looked like a robot, like the kind you see in Transformers, except much uglier. Louis ran outside and yelled "FRANCIS WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Francis just looked at Louis and calmly replied "My new pet, ain't she beautiful?"
"Um sure Francis, but why did you get a pet robot?"
"To defend us in a zombie invasion of course."
"Um zombie invasion?"
"Yes, Louis, haven't you been paying attention to the news?" Francis asked, pointing to a stack of National Inquirers on his patio table. Louis looked at the top cover which read in large red print "Zombies invade Mexico!" Louis turned back to Francis to tell him that the National Inquirer is known for not being a reliable source of information, but the strange, tattooed man had already walked back inside, singing a song which had something to do about killing zombies by shooting them in the head.

Louis walked quickly back inside, almost running. Zoey, his roommate, looked at him and said "Louis? What's up? You look worried." Louis turned to look back at her and yelled "Zoey! Francis is building a humongous robot to keep as a pet! He said it was to defend him against the zombies!" Zoey just game him a look that clearly said "Louis. What are you smoking?" but just then, they heard a huge sound, like a gun being fired, and saw red light. The frame of their house shook. They looked at each other for a second, shocked into silence, and then both asked at the same time, "What the heck was that?" Before answering each other though, they saw Francis, outside their living-room window, inside the giant robot. "Sorry about that," he yelled, "I think I may have taken a chunk of your yard out! I can't figure out how to aim this damn laser!" Zoey immediately ran for the door, and let out a surprised shout when she saw their yard, it looked like a sinkhole had appeared, and was swallowing half their yard, but before Louis had time to yell at Francis, zombies appeared at the edge of their house, and grabbed Zoey. Louis now always believes Francis, no matter how crazy he might sound.

to be continued?

On the first Monday of each September, we celebrate Labor Day. This holiday was first celebrated in 1882, in honor of American workers and their achievements. List all of the different community jobs in your town and then select the one you feel is most important. Explain why you choose that particular job. 500 words.

If Hollywood Taught Science.

From the Examiner:

Earlier this year the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia granted permission for state colleges and universities to accept applications for joint enrollment from independent homeschool students. These students complete high school without third party oversight, sometimes referred to as accreditation.

However, this change was not a mandate. Each institution must take action to change its own admission policy to allow independent homeschool students to apply.

Georgia Tech is one of the institutions that does not permit independent homeschool students to apply for joint enrollment. We have learned that they will be examining their admissions policy this month.

Math
Biology Coloring Books
Begin Powerpoints
Read
Writing Prompt
Film 101 -- Research director "Mark Herman" and watch "Comic Book Diaries" -- why is "Boy in the Striped Pajamas" rated 4 1/2 stars and the other 1 1/2?

Research Cat Gestation.

• What are the stages of pregnancy in Cats? How long is the gestation? What should you expect when you are expecting kittens?
• What should we do to prepare for kittens? How can you make a room kitten-proof? How can we make the Queen Princess feel secure?
• How long before we should wean the kittens? What is involved in weaning kittens?
• What colorations of kittens can we expect (research cat genetics.)?
• Write a paper or compose a Powerpoint. Include graphs and or illustrations. Be prepared to present to grading committee by the end of the month.

Your neighbor has taken in an unusual pet and it does something unpleasant to your house/yard. Confront your neighbor. Use descriptive prose and dialogue. 500 words.

• For today we have:
• The authoring of a new contract.
• Math workbooks -- perhaps registering for Aleks.
• Write a goals paper -- "This year in HS, I want to study ......"
• Pick out a book to read this week and begin reading.
• Music practice.
• Film 101. (Netflix over the Xbox is wonderful; to quote the blurb: New York University film professor Richard Brown opens up his standing-room-only Movies 101 class for the first time in this AMC series. Moviemaking luminaries such as Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver, Julianne Moore, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis and Martin Scorsese discuss the filmmaking process, life in the spotlight and the history of the medium.)

Contract:

• We will get up at our own time on days that we are not eating b’fast with dad, as long as its before 10:30 am.
• We must have school finished on or before 4:30, preferably before.
• No using Gamecube, Playstation 2, DS, or Wii during school hours. The Xbox can only be used for educational purposes (mainly movies.)
• No cell phones during school hours.
• 30 mins of chores should be done each day outside of school hours.
• Each student should keep track of their assignments everyday and write them down.
• Each student must understand that they will be graded this year.
• I understand that I must do 22 and 1/2 hours of school each week at minimum
• I understand that we will have regular field trips and I must study beforehand so I can learn from it. (ex: Little White House, Fox Theatre, Fernbank, GA aquarium, high museum, Symphony, plays, Mexico, Lakeland)
• I understand that the big four subjects take precedence.

Days:

Viola and violin lessons TBA.
v Monday:
Ø Chorus at 11am, Orchestra at 1pm. (two hours of instruction)
v Tuesday:
Ø Karate at 7:30pm (45 minutes of instruction)
v Wednesday:
Ø Teen Nights on the Square at 7pm
v Thursday:
Ø Kate has cello lessons at 3pm (one hour of instruction)
v Friday:
Ø Karate at 7:30pm (45 minutes of instruction)

Kate’s goals:

• Finish algebra 1.
• Begin algebra 2 and or geometry.
• Read 30 books by the end of the year.
• Finish world geography
• Begin world history.
• Finish biology
• Begin chemistry.
• Do film 101.
• Do one writing prompt a week.
• Continue with Music
• Drivers’ Education
• PE (Karate)
• Health

Lauren’s goals:

• Cooking classes – Home Ec
• Chemistry in the Kitchen
• Finish Life Science; begin Physical Science
• Finish Pre-Algebra, Begin Algebra
• Read 30 Books and keep list of books read
• One writing prompt a week
• Do Film 101
• World Geography and begin World History
• Continue with Music
• PE (Karate)
• Health