BJean

cris35: Bravo! Well said. Good job. I agree with you! If God can forgive a rapist, then he certainly can forgive a woman in anguish who has made the decision, whatever her reasons are, to have an abortion. My question is, who appointed us God here on earth? cris35: I'm wondering, do you believe in capital punishment? Lapdancer: Fetuses cannot vote. They can't breathe outside their mothers' womb. They are little, tiny globs of tissue, with or without a beating heart. Therefore they can't tell you whether or not they want to be brought into this world by a woman who cannot, either physically or mentally, be responsible for them. You assume that all babies would want to be born under any circumstances. That may or may not be true. But it only makes sense that they do not have all the same rights that a fully developed baby has. But all that is beside the point and believing it or not has nothing to do with my belief that it should never be a politically driven question. It should never be possible for the government to make the decision about abortion for women.

When I was a child, we used to go camping a lot. Mom loved to cook out over an open campfire. Her breakfast sounds similar to your mom's. Krispy Kremes should be outlawed! Or at least they should come with a warning, like cigarettes do. I saw all the Tim Hortons and I did notice that they were very popular, but I confess I never partook. I went crazy this morning and had a Starbucks Decaf Tall Latte with a slice of their Zuchinni loaf. Cloud nine time! I imagine the combination straps me with at least 450 - 500 calories or more. I'd be much better off with a couple of poached eggs and a half a piece of nearly burnt toast. As far as I'm concerned they make the best toast in England. It's thin and nearly crisp. I even bought a Dualit toaster so that I can duplicate their toast. Some time ago I read a post that Jack made and he said that he and his wife have one egg each for breakfast. Made me recall memories when one egg was all I ever wanted. Boy how times change!!! High five for Starbucks :clap2:

Nope. No rare chicken fried steak. It is pan fried. Unless you get it in a restaurant. They usually deep fry theirs. Yuk. That's another thing I was shocked about when I lived in Montreal, everyone has a deep fryer in their kitchen. The natives are pretty obsessed with weight and fashion yet they have more donut places and deep fryers than I knew existed.

Love is blind, period! Love the photo of your pets! Is a troll someone who goes around from post to post just trying to stir up trouble? I've been here for a long time, but I am embarrassed to say I am not clear on the definition.

Julie: It's a shame that you and your guy can't be together. Are you actually broken up, or just separated by the miles? There's a difference.

serious: Yup. I'm getting the drift! I know people couldn't understand back then why that guy could push my buttons so quickly. He was always right (in his own mind) and refused to ever take responsibility for his own words. I guess he and Lee probably have a lot in common... even as different as they might seem to be on the surface.

Well chicken fried steak is something you just have to experience. Kentucky Fried Rat (as we call it) is probably the closest thing you have to it. But there is a big difference between commercially prepared fried chicken and home made chicken fried steak. As for those who have grown up on chicken fried steak, many refuse to touch commercially made ones. You can count me in that bunch. I know I'm beating a dead horse here so I'll drop it, especially since the facinating story about your Jewish lineage has become the topic. I thoroughly enjoy hopping around to different subjects on the same thread. I figure soon though we'll be getting back to food... probably a discussion of CHEESE! I used to think it would be unbelievably cool to be a Jew and to be able to know so much about your roots. Naive I know, and growing up I did not know of any Jewish families in our town and only knew of one Synagogue in the neighboring big city. I did not go to school with any African Americans either. I was completely ignorant of the social bias against people of either background, except for what we learned in school. Can you imagine? I grew up thinking that just about everyone in America had Indian blood. Until I lived in one of the Eastern/Southern states, I had no idea that there were people who thought all American Indians lived on reservations and were dirt poor.

I sure don't blame you for not wanting to break up the family. But life spins by so quickly, how can you give up on happiness for yourself for the years you have left? I don't know how old you are but from your children's ages I'd guess you are in your early to mid forties. Are you going to spend the rest of your 40 or so years living a lie? Don't you think you are being a bit of a martyr? A martyr as defined as a person who suffers a great deal of pain for a long time. Do you really think that your family wants you to live without the love of a good mate? Are you planning on nursing this man on his death bed (assuming you out live him, which you probably won't because you'll get sick from having a lousy immune system from living with this pain) after he has treated you with such indifference? Why must you pay with your unhappiness to achieve happiness for your children? I really think you need someone good talk to about this. You need to be able to tell it all and have them play it back to you so that you can understand the futility of your position on this. You know your husband can't change his spots, don't you? I think you said that he is in denial about his "secret" and that no one knows. I don't mean to be mean, but I would be shocked if he really hasn't explored those feelings and been with someone else sexually. How would you feel if you learned for certain that he does have a secret relationship - on the "down low" as they say? Would you be angry? Would it take away some of the guilt you feel? Of course I could be wrong about all this. I only know what you've chosen to tell us. But in my experience I have to tell you that when someone is in as much pain in a marriage as you are, with the conflicted feelings that you have, there is usually a third person involved. I don't want to be right about this, but I would bet that I am.

Kat: good one!

Long yes, but so filled with wonderous content. I had very good friends since college that were best friends of my first husband and I. They were incredibly hot to trot for each other before they were married and for many years afterwards until they started their family. (They had a difficult time getting preggers) Anyway, he confided to me once that he just couldn't bring himself to be interested in her sexually after she became a mother. No matter what. He said it would be like doing his mother or something. Just not happening. We also discovered that he spent many of his lunch hours at the boobie bars. Interestingly and sadly I might add, they stayed together for over 30 years. She finally found her brass ovaries and divorced him. They are both remarried and have very active sex lives with their new mates. She is having sex for the first time in an extremely long time and is absolutely delighted. Her new husband thinks she's the hottest chick he's ever been with. I mean afterall she has enormous hooters - all natural too. I just cannot imagine living with a man that long and not having sex. I'm afraid I'd wind up doing a Lorena Bobbitt. :omg:

kity and kat (like birds of a feather?) I agree with you both. Good post, kity! Did ya'll hear that Lohan got busted again for DUI and had drugs in her car? Although I haven't heard a whole report, just some talk radio thugs making jokes about her. You know the truly embarrassing thing about Dubya is not so much his lousy grammar and his bumbling delivery of a sentence, but it is his arrogance and his aggressive war mongering political decisions! He has some nerve speaking to the families of fallen victims of this war, acting all sympathetic. He should hang his head in shame and beg them for forgiveness over the entire horrible war fiasco. He keeps playing it like our military is saving us from something and that they're "fighting for our freedom" - what a CROCK! I did hear last night that once they finished with his colonoscopy over the weekend, the doctors put his head back where it was. I also heard that besides the 5 polyups they discovered, they found 4 oil barrons' heads up there. Bada-boom.

Lucy: I'm afraid I don't understand your sentence "Please don't conflate clarity with snobbery." I haven't heard conflate used in quite that context before. Bring me up to date, will you? Anyway, I believe you're spot on when you say that spelling and syntax are not what some people were taking issue with when they were attacking Lee. But that is what some people were complaining about. It seems that sometimes when we find a person to be interesting and nice even though their posts are difficult to read, we cut them some slack. But when we disagree with their politics, and their communication reflects poor grammar and syntax, those things are particularly annoying.* I believe that is what Green may have been speaking to. *George Bush for instance is a prime example. He drives up up a farking wall. :tired

Thanks Kat for taking the time to explain. I was not privy to that other thread so I was completey taken by surprise when I accidentally bumped onto this one and saw it get so feisty so fast. I had a big problem with a guy a while back whose spelling was atrocious and punctuation non-existent, but what really made me do a fast burn was how he thought he was the only one who was right - and I DO mean right! All the way right and beyond. He was also very insulting to others. To make matters worse, the people who agreed with him were oblivious to the fact that he used such hateful language toward some of us and they became indignant when some of us took him to task. This sounds like a very similar scenario. That thread went on forever and occasionally a poster would stumble onto the scene and wonder what the heck was going on. It was very entertaining stuff, and there actually was a lot of information exchanged in the process, but it was extremely heated and things got out of hand a time or two. I've been trying to not take things so personally ever since. I do not always succeed, but I do try. Anyway, thanks again for setting the record straight.

Yer dern tootin', Green!

Good point, Green.

When my DS came to visit in Montreal, he was curious and ordered Poutine. We giggled and laughed and shared a cupful. It was very strange but as the cheese curds melted it became quite tasty. It feels just as lethal as the Okie meal mentioned above. I know what Perogies are, but I've never eaten them. They must have that same addictive quality because a friend of mine from Ohio spoke of them with reverence.

White gravy that belongs on chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes is simple. You use some of the pan drippings and make a thick roux (although we never used that term years ago) with flour. Then you use milk for the liquid and lots and lots of pepper. There is a fine line between too thin and too thick. When you wind up with the glob of glop, you've made it too thick. It should be the consistency of... letsee... hmmm, I can't think of a thing like it. Thicker than cream Soup. The stuff definitely goes straight to your arteries. Our chicken fried steak dinner is preferably accompanied by the mashed potatoes (Yukon Gold) and fried okra. A perfect ending is Apple Cobbler (top and bottom crust - lots of cinnamon) and Caramel Ice Cream. The whole meal is death on a platter. But it is quite addictive and I was force fed it as a small child, therefore it is not my fault. :hungry: Nowadays we have gone healthy by substituting chicken for the steak.:heh: Except that since the band, I can't eat chicken. And I do not give in to the addiction more often than about once a year (maybe twice) on my DH's and DD's birthdays.

Uh I really dated myself using the term "climax" didn't I? I should have said "the big O." I used to be very disappointed that the DH masterbated because I knew for sure that it meant he wouldn't be as interested in investing the time and energy into making out with me. He was such an anxious and exciting partner before we both gained weight and got older. Now it seems like it is satisfactory to both of us just to do for ourselves whatever we need without bothering the other one. Honestly I do not like it. I much prefer the begging he used to do regularly. :heh:

karey: As my ole pappy used to say, "Don't take any wooden nickles" (I have no idea what it means) Have a great trip. Here's hoping you come back with more coins than you take!

Marimau: I just notice how well you're doing with the band! Were you banded in September? I'm impressed!

Ahhh, gravy! Want to hear how to make Oklahoma gravy? No, of course you don't! Reminds me of when I dated a young lad in college, a vet-med student. He was from New Orleans and his mother was French. When he came to Oklahoma (for our outstanding verternarian program at the university), he was appalled at what Okies called gravy. He thought gravy was a "reduction" where you might add a little wine and a pat of butter to the meat juices and create a nice little sous for the entree. The first time he said yes to the gravy at a restaurant and got his meat and potatoes topped with a thick glob of gelatinous white glop, he almost fainted. Reminds me of the time I, out of curiosity, ordered "poutine" in Montreal!

Thanks so much! If we encounter a lot of problems, I may ask for your advice. Thanks for explaining what you meant by that last sentence. I understand. And I agree! It makes no sense for them to complain if the system is paying their way.

I heard a discussion years ago about men and myths. Many of them, especially those over 30, would rather just take care of things themselves. Initially I was shocked. I believed all this hype everywhere about how men are horn dogs and want to jump any and every female. Well that is bunk. A lot of men have just as many hangups as some of us women. Their weight and self-esteem are factors too. For many men, taking care of the physical release themselves is relatively easy. Afterall most of them have taken care of business that way since they were young boys. And that takes very little effort compared to what we women expect and need. There's no emotional baggage they have to deal with from us. And if we take a long time to climax, that's another drag for them. All in all, as they age they just are not as motivated as they were when they were in their teens and twenties. And if they're overweight, even less than that. And some men who are wealthy choose to patronize hookers rather than deal with all the emotional baggage and intimacy issues with their wives. They just don't need all that. They're stressed from such competive lives they lead. They just need the physical release. Bada-boom, bada bang. So although this is a very sad state of affairs, I don't think we women should be so hard on ourselves. Sharing our stories with each other sure helps too. Can you believe how many women are telling their stories here and how alike they sound? I'm sure there are even more lurking out there with similar frustrations.

Any of youse seen a Fox Squirrel??? Seriously. They're awesome. Huge fox like tails. In Florida, no less. I'm pretty sure Fox Squirrels eat cheese.

We saw Hairspray over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Most of the audience wasn't ready for it to be over. Only a few people walked out when it was over. We all stayed, hoping there would be outtakes. Everyone does a great job - Michelle Pheifer of course! John Travolta - I kind of even forgot it was him a little. You know Queen Latifah sings her heart out. And John's husband, my mind is slipping, can't think of his name, is awesome as always. I may be getting old (MAY be?) but I actually teared up in a couple of places. Some of it really brought back memories of how bad things used to be. Anyway, don't get me wrong, it's an upper movie and you should see it!