Carlene

Wow! That's just an amazing commitment and a huge statement on how much your faith means to you. I have a friend who, along with her husband, belongs to a clown ministry. It's so cool! And their grandkids love it!

Do I need the extra aggravation?

My husband would soooooo agree with you. Everytime I can't find something, he wants to take my purse and dump it upside down!

Only you know Tina, TOM. Is she the "coy" type, or does she say what she means, and mean what she says? If I told my DH to pretend I wasn't having a BD and he planned a party, bought a cake, etc, I would be furious. I'm smart enough to know my own mind.

The term "Christian right" is sometimes - not always, but sometimes - an oxymoron.

Sorry to break this to you, but she knows it's mean. It's not motivation...it's intimidation. And it doesn't work. Ignore her. She is the one with the problem, not you. She didn't produce, by her standards, a "perfect" daughter. So she's taking it out on you.

Definitely a possibility, TOM. As the generation before ours begins to die off (for lack of a more sensitive term), the more we realize just how close our turn is. And the older we get, well....the closer we get to the end of our life. When people of your own generation start kicking off, it gets worse. When my cousin died, even though she was much older than me, it was a huge wake-up call. Hello, Carlene.....you aren't going to live forever and the clock is ticking. Sixty is a big deal. It's "elderly", or "senior", as opposed to "middle-aged". If 40 is the new 30, and 50 is the new 40, guess what? Sixty might be the new 50, but it just doesn't have the same zing. No one wants to be 50, either. I say, if Tina wants to pretend she's not another year older, let her. If she doesn't want a party, don't throw a party. Buy her a nice gift and tell her it's an "I love you present". We went to my husband's family reunion a couple of years ago. Except for one aunt and one uncle, my DH was the oldest one there. It was depressing. On my name tag I wrote... Carlene Bob's much younger wife

This is from HBO's Real Time TV show, where I understand the Maher remark originated: Ridley: It’s one thing to say you hate Dick Cheney, which applies to his politics. It’s another thing to say, "I’m sorry he didn’t die in an explosion." And I think, you know… Maher: But you should be able to say it. And by the way... Frank: Excuse me, Bill, but can I ask you a question? Do you decide what the topics are for this show? Maher: Yeah, I decide the topics, they don’t go there. Frank: But you exercise control over the show the way that she does over her blog. Maher: But I have zero doubt that if Dick Cheney was not in power, people wouldn’t be dying needlessly tomorrow. (applause) Scarborough: If someone on this panel said that they wished that Dick Cheney had been blown up, and you didn’t say… Frank: I think he did. Scarborough: Okay. Did you say… Maher: No, no. I quoted that. Frank: You don’t believe that? Maher: I’m just saying if he did die, other people, more people would live. That’s a fact. Maher didn't specifically say he wished Cheney had died, but I agree that he did not dispel the idea. Ann Coulter is politically incorrect to the extreme, on a regular basis. So is Rush Limbaugh (he made fun of Michael J Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease). So you're right....they exist on both sides and we could play tit for tat all day and probably come up with a pretty even score by sundown. Neither of them, however is an elected official, nor is Charles Rust-Tierney. Predators, like Gerry Studds and Mark Foley, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and prohibited from EVER serving in public office again. Bill Clinton was (maybe still is) a womanizer from way back. But he didn't run on a "family values" platform, either. That was my point in reference to Newt Gingrich. If anyone in the political arena comes across as "holier than thou", it's Newt Gingrich. Now he's playing the repentant sinner card. Because he has no choice. He was caught and he knew it. I will give him this....he was smarter than Clinton; he didn't lie about his infidelity.

Texans are notoriously suspicious of government. We allow our state legislators to meet only once every two years. We figure if they met more often, they'd just cause more trouble.

He just screwed around on his wife. He didn't lie to a sitting federal judge, he says. Of course, I don't recall that any federal judges ASKED him about his infidelity, but that's a minor point. Kind of like Rush Limbaugh. He made a big deal out of his "honesty" regarding his illegal drug use. I maintain that 'fessing up AFTER you're caught is not the same thing as being "honest". But that's just me.

Me, too, Lisa. OMG, Jack!!!!!!!!!

I wish people would expend as much energy on their marriages as they do the wedding. There would be far, far fewer divorces. This whole production is ridiculous, anyway. These people have lived together for over 4 years and they have two small children. Their true love story began as a sleezy office affair between a married man and his much younger employee. They are keeping their daughters out of the wedding pictures, by the way, so that they won't be "confused" when they see the photos in the future. I certainly hope these children grow up to have better math skills than their mother gives them credit for.

There is no perfect weight loss surgery. With bypass you lose lots of weight and you lose it rapidly, but there are trade-offs. And it's much riskier, of course. Every single person I know who had gastric bypass (except for the one that died) regained a significant portion of their weight within 2 or 3 years. But I know some Bandsters who have, too. The stoma will stretch. The pouch will stretch. And the patient will begin consuming more and more food. Then it comes down to that D word (diet) and exercise. The band limits what you can eat, and people sometimes hate that, or just get tired of it after awhile. You can eat around the band easier than you can the bypass, if you are one of the "lucky" ones who experience dumping syndrome. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's a personal choice. I'd encourage my mom to attend another seminar - presented by a more open-minded doctor. My doctor does both procedures, but he chose the band for himself.

But don't forget to call me for dinner!

Last I heard was from my daughter. She tried to have a conversation with Auntie, who hung up on her, and then Auntie must have called my son-in-law (Cheyenne and Emily's dad), because he called my daughter and offered to pay for Emily's dress IF his sister would let her be in the wedding, provided Cheyenne could be in it, too. Cheyenne has decided she does not want to go to San Antonio for Spring Break. She wants to hang out with her friends. She has been in phone and e-mail contact with Auntie, but I have not had any further discussion with anyone about it for the last few days. Fortunately, the wedding is months, and months away. Edited to add....I would not dream of suggesting anything to this woman regarding her wedding. She does not want my suggestions and I'm sure would not be interested in hearing them.

My Sherrijo... I don't think I am bothering you. I certainly don't intend to be. I was the one who said I believed your initial statement about Hillary Clinton's potty mouth. And just so you know....I think there is a LBT rule against posting under multiple identities. Also, we've ALL (that means you, too) been asked by Alexandra not to engage in personal attacks. I believe you might be pushing the envelope.

Unpaid taxes: $2,680 per household The IRS says cheaters are robbing the U.S. Treasury of about $300 billion a year, and lawmakers dream of capturing that money to fund programs without tax increases.

Not so open-minded....just a bunch of dirty-minded old broads. :eek:

Didn't that guy do a great job putting everything - music, pics, etc - together?

What, then, do you call a person of Mexican descent? Are they not Mexican, in the same sense that I am Irish? I'm like Emily.....I just never, ever thought of "Mexican" as a "bad" word. Cheyenne has a friend who is Hispanic. Their friends all call her an Arab. I have no idea why. I even asked her if she found it offensive. She looked at me like I was crazy.

We Didn't Start the Fire.... http://home.uchicago.edu/~yli5/Flash/Fire.html

My granddaughter (age 11) goes to a multi-ethnic school. One of the children referred to a classmate as a Mexican and received a stern lecture from the teacher. She told the class that was a "racial slur" and they must NOT use the term "Mexican" - ever. Emily went home and asked her mom, "If it's such a bad word, why do we have Mexican restaurants all over the place?" Good point, Emily. Sometimes people have good intentions, but no common sense to go with them.

TOM....I was not advocating a constitutional amendment; I just pointed out that there was no other way to stop undocumented immigrants from accessing US entitlement programs on behalf of their American-born children. The "anchor baby" mentality HAS become a machine for collecting benefits, however. Giving people an incentive to break the law is just adding fuel to the fire.

THINGS I'VE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY... 1. Nothing is the end of the world, except the end of the world. 2. No matter how hard you try, you can't save people from themselves. 3. Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. 4. People will almost always believe what they want. 5. Free love generally isn't. 6. Everything is relative to something. 7. Being correct and being right are two different things. 8. You are only as happy as your saddest child. 9. Love is a many splintered thing. 10. Wearing high heels isn't worth the pain. 11. Just because they don't have a group for it doesn't mean it's not a problem. 12. You have no idea what Jesus would have done, so don't pretend otherwise. 13. Never leave home in your nightclothes. You are inviting disaster. 14. Some things will never die a natural death. One of those things is resentment. 15. Never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.

In many ways, I'm more concerned with the illegal drugs coming out of Mexico than undocumented workers, although I'd like to see something done about both. It is a fact that illegal aliens cost us billions in social services, education, and medical care every year. Most of that is by way of so-called "anchor babies" - children born in the USA to non-citizens. The only way to plug that hole is to change the Constitution. It is also a fact that many of the people who cross the border illegally - risking not only their life-savings, but their very lives, as well - are desperately trying to improve their families' way of life. Not all, certainly, and that has created a huge wave of anti-Mexican sentiment in Texas and other border states. Mexico is the 5th richest oil nation in the world and certainly has the resources to provide as well, or better, for its citizens than the USA does. The problem is that there is incredible corruption in Mexico's state-owned oil industry, coupled with the fact that the government siphons off much of the profits for other services, leaving little to fund better technology, upgrade equipment, etc. (Foreigners, by the way, are prohibited by law from investing in Mexico's oil production.) Mexico's government has not been much help in working toward a solution to the border problem - whether you're talking about drugs or illegal immigrants.