jriva

Your wife is a lucky woman, that you appreciate her and what she does so much. Nice tribute from the heart.

Jean

Janice,

I had the very same thing happen once, so I know exactly how you feel. I hate dentists and getting dental work!

Take care,

Jean

Darn it! I wasn't fast enough, Marty. I don't think you could take it if both of us hitting on you in the same day so I guess youth wins again.

Kim, can I speak to you in the chat bathroom?

Pam, where is that 'out of order' sign? I've got to lock the bathroom up for a few hours.

Jean

Butch

We all have a private side to our personalities and a public side that we show the outside world. They are often in disagreement on how we view ourselves as opposed to how others see us. That doesn't make you a bad person because you don't always show the same kind of caring and patiences to strangers that you do with your family. Being nice 24/7 is an unobtainable goal but one we all struggle to acheive so that we can maintain a good balance.

Jean

Good to have that behind you, I'm sure! Glad it turned out good.

Jean

Thanks for the update on what's going on with you and Liza. Things do get better as time passes or maybe we just learn to adjust better, who knows.

Jean

KImberly

I know where you can find a good locksmith to change those locks.

Sorry you've got to go through another split up---they're never easy no matter how badly you want out---but I'm sure no one here will be very surprised by it.

Jean

For gosh sakes, Amy, you are an adult now. You don't have to stay in your parent's home to visit them. You can rent a motel room and meet them in public places. It would be worth every penny of it and if they didnt like that idea, then "oh, well." Why are you putting yourself through this? Your relationship with your parents is not healthy, from what you've been decribing in other blogs, and that will not likely change. There comes a point in your life where you have to put your own mental health first above a disfunctional family unit. I'm not saying you have to cut yourself off completely from them, but you should be drawing some deep lines in the sand about what you will and will not do.

Jean

Jean

Man, Amy, you are braver than I am! I would not sleep or visit a house full of that type of spider. Can't they be exterminated? A once a month spraying for x amount of weeks? Gives me the creeps just reading your blog.

Living like pigs at your parents age is probably more sickness than laziness.

Jean

Kristen,

Nice story. Tells a lot about Patrick.

I remember that little girl's story, too.

Jean

Cindy,

I have used the F word so many times this past five years that I'm thinking about making it my legal middle name. I don't ever say it in public but it sure helps to let the steam out. Don's known me a lot of years and he can tell if I have four F words in one sentence that I'm about as mad and frustrated as I can get. It's back off and just let her calm down time then.

About the only swear word I hate hearing is the P word. Oh, God, I hate that word! So Marty, will you keep the *beep* out of my blog comments? Thanks

Jean

Been there, done that with my dad. It's amazing how somedays the repetition can get to you and other days you can handle it with grace. Rant on....it helps.

Jean

Mary,

Pam is right, it's your blog and you can blog what you want. Our emotional ups and downs are classic blog material. Sorry you guys over there had to go through this!!

Jean

Janice,

That was interesting!!!

Jean

Hey, Vicki, when Don was in his pre-stroke life the two of us could have taken Ryan on. He was great with whipping problem teenage boys into shape.

I've got a suggestion for you on the curfew problem. Take an extra alarm clock, put it in your bedroom and set it for Ryan's curfew time. If he can make it home in time to shut it off before it goes off, fine. If not you'll wake up to it and know he's missed the curfew. It worked in my day, but now a days the smart-assed---not that your son is---would probably turn off the alarm and go back out again.

Jean

Denny,

I thought of another reason, after I commented above, on how we use our blogs. Often times in chat something will come up that is too long to write about there so we'll say, "I'll blog it" or "I blogged about that already" and then we have somewhere to send someone to look. It's very handy for stuff like that. I've sent a few people to mine to filter by speech issues and I know you'd done the same with recipes. (By the way, the punch and jello turned out great!)

Jean

Denny,

Blogging is not the same as posting. Blogs are personal journals for self grow or venting or recording process. Posting is for asking for support and giving it. It's nice to get comments, but that is not suppose to be the goal of blogging. In some blog communities it's considered the polite thing to do to leave a comment (just a few words) when you read one, but here I think we go deeper into the soul searching than most so comments are more difficult to make---we're too use to trying to give support rather than just say, "I was here and read you" kind of thing.

I've written many, many blogs where I didn't get a single comment and sometimes I haven't commented on someone else's because it seemed almost an invasion of their privacy. Now, we're also getting so many bloggers that it's hard enough just to get through reading them all let alone leave comments.

Jean

I, too, haven't really had a best girl friend since high school ended. I've had Don as a best friend for 35 years, but it's not the same as the Oprah/Gail girlfriend relationship where you can do 'girl things' together. We don't have kids so I have all the same fears that you do about it. But after reading some of the problems people here have with their adult kids not helping or stealing, rushing them to the nursing hom,e etc. I'm not always sure if not having kids is a good thing or a bad thing.

Jean

Kim,

Classic knight in shining armor plot. -----

Jean

Amy

What a nice, bring-about-a-smile blog you wrote. Very sweet.

When my mom died, I thought my dad would start dating one of the widowed ladies he'd known for years and years. But he didn't, he found a stranger, said there was too much history with half of a couple they'd hung around with. You can't predict these things, I guest, if it should happen. But it's good you had 'the conversation' so that should it ever happen, Gabe isn't racked with guilt should he start dating again. And yes, other poeple do think about their own morality.

Jean

Mary,

Welcome to our blog community! We have some interesting stuff going on here.

Your list was extremely interesting! It's amazing how our lists of 100 things really can tell us a lot of background about a person. (We sort of have a 100 things list tradition around here for our newbies, as you've figured out.) We have dozen or so things in common.

Jean

Hi Teal,

That is outrageous that it took that long to diagnosis a case of scabies!!! That's the first thing they should have checked when someone has been in a hospital, nursing home, traveling around a lot, etc. I feel so badly for you! I get hives extremely frequently so I understand just how awlful this whole thing must have been for you. The intense itching can drive you nuts.

Jean

Marty,

Glad you're back and glad you woke up a few times during the test. I hear it's not uncommon to sleep soundly during those tests, totally the opposite as some people do and then they have to repeat the test.

Jean

Hi Kids,

Check out this defination of happiness and throw it into the mix regarding this topic.

http://www.philosophos.com/knowledge_base/...tions_1151.html

I might blog this topic later, I'm not sure yet.

Jean

P.S. Pam, I've been meaning to tell you that I found bit of info. a few days ago that said you should expect that it will take one month per year that you were married to move through all the emotional stages of getting through a divorce.

One of the reasons I've never gotten aids for Don is because I've seen how much they turn your life upside down....our neices has to have them. As long as I can manage the work, I don't miss having strangers coming and going at their convenience, not mine. You still being in the work force, I you don't have that option I'm sure.

Jean