BJean

airwayman: Congratulations! Having gone through those two errors in judgment prepared you to fully appreciate your rockette as much as I'm sure she deserves. I wasn't so fortunate. I married an ego-driven egocentric self-serving self-centered (did I mention that he only thought of himself?) ass, at age 19. I knew immediately what a mistake I'd made, but absolutely couldn't face failure and stuck with him for as long as I could. For the first two years, I worked my butt off to put him through college - school of architecture. The second year we were married, he refused to take the requisite 15 hrs. to keep his college deferment status with the draft, and only took 14. He said the engineering courses were just too hard to take any more hours that term. He got his "greetings" letter and was drafted just after the semester ended. He went to Viet Nam and I stupidly agreed to try to get pregnant just before he left because he begged me, saying that he wouldn't have any legacy if he died in Viet Nam. I bought it hook line and sinker... in my own defense, didn't we all have some heavy emotional stuff about the men going to Viet Nam? Unfortunately, it turned out that he wanted me preggers so I wouldn't leave him. Once he returned from Nam, our boy was a about 3 mos. old, and the same old routine began again. I stayed for almost another year (a total of 4) and finally got the gumption to face up to my two huge mistakes. So, in spite of everything, stupidity notwithstanding, I found the "real" thing 4 years later. Thank God too. First egomanical spouse refused to pay regular child support and he was thousands in arrears (at a whopping $85 per month) by the time I married current DH. He agreed to allow DH to adopt the boy so he wouldn't be required to pay the back child support. (Seriously!) So current DH adopted my son and he's been DS's rock all these years too. I have no doubt though that at 19, if I had met my current DH at the same time I met my first DH, I still would have chosen the suave, debonaire, fabulously good-looking asshole instead of the brilliant, thoughtful, athletic, responsible man who is now my entire family's rock of Gibralter and our all-around hero.

karey- I am so sorry about your kitty. I don't know what I would do if something happened to one of my pups. My heart goes out to you!! I gained 2 lbs while on vacation. Grrrr!!! Sandra- It seems we're going thru something similar. I can't eat much of real food, so I wind up going for the chocolate or something worse (like ice cream.) I am so relieved that my DH is going out of town on business for the next two weeks. I think it will be much easier for me to get back into a decent routine and get all the crap out of the house!! Tami and MimIN: I love reading your posts! lisa- hang in there with me!

Melinda is already a pro. It's just a matter of her getting her professional groove on. I keep wanting them to put her on some kind of rack or stretcher so she can develop a neck. It would sure balance out her somewhat odd figure. It's hard not to be distracted by her physical appearance instead of just her awesome voice and style. Sanjaya-sackajaweea is extremely weird. Poor thing. I mean how does he live through all this and just keep grinning? I guess like that earlier guy who sang "She Bangs" did. Laughing all the way to the bank and all that. But how revoltingly humiliating!! Am I the only one who thinks Howard and Simon are in cahoots?

karey: You're absolutely right about keeping it out of the house. Sort of out of house, out of mind. Right now, the house is full of stuff I have been previously not buying. It really IS a mind game. I bought it because of company and to have snacks in the car for our cross country trip - ostensibly. Truth be known those things were only an excuse for me to have ready access to them. I am so much happier when I am not all bloated from sugar and carbs! I feel so much better physically, plus when I avoid the addictive behavior, I feel good about myself emotionally. Going down a size in clothes is awesome too. I think I've figured out that I am a stress eater. I never seriously took responsibility for that until all the stress lately that has made me turn to food. I found myself thinking about finding something good to eat yesterday when we were having to talk to my MIL about putting her back into a nursing home. I was shocked to have the realization of how my "hunger" was so tied to that stressful situation. Everytime I find myself thinking about my head hunger vs. real hunger, I think about Sharon Osborne and wonder if I should be getting psychological counseling. Believe me, this forum helps a lot! Thanks for taking the time to respond and help me out of this slump! I hope your slower eating is working well for you. It's been my experience with fills that the restriction isn't bad right after the fill, then it gets tighter for a while (couple of weeks or so) and then eases up again. I sure as heck don't want to stretch the pouch! I hope that isn't the reason I've had this experience with fills.

Maybe they'll do some sophisticated transferrence of images and make it look like the judges are there. No big deal though. Was it just me or was Paula bombed on Tuesday night? I do think that Sanjaya would benefit from a serious whipping. I know it would make ME feel better if someone knocked some sense into him. Haley belongs on stage at Disney. Or in the Miss America Pagent. I can just imagine her voice doing God Bless America or The Star Spangled Banner. She could do justice to a coupla star spangled tassels that's for sure. Woo hoo. Country next week? Should be interesting. Maybe Sanjaya will do Johnny Cash's, "A Boy Named Sue." Naaaaah.

Denise and Donna- Thanks so much for your input! Makes me feel better about myself in some ways. I laughed outloud about the chocolate rice cakes! I can identify. :embarassed: My DH just retired and we came back from a vacation where I was a bad girl. I'm thinking I'm going to do better next week when he leaves town for a two-week business trip. :tired I sure hadn't thought of an unfill. I just keep thinking if I am more restricted I will eat less. Maybe you're right - if I weren't so restricted I wouldn't be quite so obsessed about getting FOOD (especially chocolate) all the time.

airwayman: That's a funny joke I heard many moon ago but had forgotten~! Loved your squirrel analogy. Perfect. I've listened to the Likeus (sp) radio show (L.A. based, I believe) from time to time and I'm always shocked by it, but unfortuntely, he's usually spot on about women falling for bad boys. Wheet: I too chose the wrong dudes until marrying the current antithesis of myself. We've been married 33 years. I'm still a little bored with his conservative ways from time to time, but I wouldn't trade my rock of Gibralter for one of those shiftless, no-good squirrels I used to date!

Hi TOM: I have to confess I hardly missed you. I've been out of pocket for the past couple of weeks and no computer. I'm glad nothing too wild and raucous happened while I was gone. Your email, above, made me tired just reading it. If you're taking Lexapro, good luck. I tried taking it twice and both times became more and more exhausted! I wound up prone on the couch until I could crawl into bed. Day after day. The doc sez most people get past the lethargic stage and that it works well with practically zero side effects. Right now I'm on Wellbutrin and I wouldn't trade it for anything! At first it sort of hopped me up (which I desparately needed at the time) but now it just keeps me from being sad and really grumpy with people. Glad you and Tina have enjoyed her time back in Fla. I hope her mom is doing all right, all things considered. We're facing a similar scenario with my MIL. There are no perfect options.

Man. I'm really struggling! I've had a bunch of fills, only small amounts at a time. The last fill I got really has given me noticable restriction. However, because I am so limited at meals, I have found myself eating ice cream and other desserts that are very easy to get down. I'm not losing weight. And in fact, since my last fill, I've gained a little. I don't know why I am not working better WITH my band. I tend to think more like, what all can I eat, instead of what little food I can get by with and not be hungry. Anybody got any helpful pointers?? Anyone having this same problem? I am on hormone replacement but I honestly don't think it is causing my problems. I've been on HRT for years and years because I had a hysterectomy when I was 48. I'm 60 now. Surgery date: 9/11/06 pounds lost: 40

Sorry ya'll, I thought Sanjayasackajaweea was one of the better ones last night. And previously I thought he sucked eggs. Blake and Jordin were really entertaining. Jordin needs a little more self confidence and experience and probably a little more coaching. I hope they leave Blake alone though. He reminds me of a young, inexperienced Sting. And I think Sting is one very talented artist. I'll be extremely surprised if the Indian gets voted off... at least until the very last. It wouldn't surprise me if Howard Stern and Simon Cowell had this thing all planned out before the auditions. What a money-making concept~!

airwayman- Welcome to the club of happily married elder bandsters. I have a sneaking suspicion that we are not really as much in the minority that some might think we are. Great observation kity! Nothing like a poorly thought out bigoted sounding post to bring out the best in folks!!!

I lb. loss for me this week.

Realism is one thing... extremism for the sake of shock value is another. I know that Jesus was beaten and whipped and ridiculed. I do not believe that he would have survived some of the graphic, flesh flying events portrayed in Gibson's film long enough to be nailed to the cross. It is not surprising that Mel Gibson has demons so prevelant in his psyche that they have driven him to drink and exhibit other manic behavior in public. He seems to be a pretty twisted individual.

gadgetlady: That Hillary sticker is interchangable. It can be put on the front bumper if you're a Republican and the back bumper if you're a Democrat.

Don't you think that Mel Gibson knows what sells. He knows all about Christian guilt. A lot of people feel they need to be reminded about their sins and the pain that Jesus suffered for them. This movie was a home run in that department. They like to be shown that it all works out for them. They sin, Jesus died for their sins, they believe that He did, and so even though they are sinners, perhaps even committed some unspeakable sins, they will go to heaven.

Gosh Carlene, I didn't even know his wife and I want to cry for her.

Good Lord Carlene!! I'll bet Mr. P gets exactly what's coming to him. And I'll bet it isn't going to end up pretty. How exactly can his wife have wound up with two broken hips when she had a "caregiver?" When I first read some of this story, I felt sorry for Mr. P because I to thought he might be grieving and coping the only way he could. Now that I hear more of the story, I have no pity for the dude. I can't believe he dissed his wife that way after she died. It's bad enough he'd already taken up with another woman, but the least he could do was respect his wife and the years they were together by giving her a proper funeral and burial. He's a poor lost soul, I'm afraid. His happiness with the new chick is going to last about as long as the money holds out. And if the new chick is as good as it sounds like she is, it won't take long for her to clean him out.

No I can't. I can't imagine my life broadcast on reality TV either. There just ain't enough money in the world for me to do that.

MiMIN: You have every right to do some whining! You sound miserable. I've seen lots of plastic surgery on TV and almost every one of the implant surgeries talk about how much swelling there is post-op. I am sure they're going to get a little smaller. I hope you're doing the massage thing they talk about so much. Sounds painful though. You're wise to go ahead and opt out of work for the rest of the week. Hope you have a decent weekend! Tell the BF you're going to start calling him Big Balls if he doesn't shut the heck up!

I really like Phil's voice, especially on Tuesday night. That was a really nice performance. His knit hats are strange. Like his grandmother made them, too small! I think he is a nice-looking man, but his ears, and bald head and huge eyes are a distraction. Btw, my son shaves his head and has for years. I think shaved heads look great on some guys. Phil's features are just too big to pull it off well. He looks much better in a cool hat - one that fits! And his clothes are like something my son would wear to a movie or something. What's up with that? My SIL has huge ears too. He says he used to get ridiculed in school all the years when he was growing up. Now he's learned to leave his hair longer, especially the section at his temples and just over his ears and now no one even notices that his ears stick out. The hair balances out the ears and he's a really good-looking guy. People are constantly telling that he looks like a young Dan Marino.

Gotta tell you about my older sister, who is a bossy boots. We went to Dollywood together once. I was dying for a Funnel Cake. But of course I'd been on a diet and didn't want anybody knowing I'd eaten something so decadent. My sister whips out her camera and proceeds to take a picture of me while I was in line for the cake. I yelled at her to puleeze, puleeze!!! I beg you...do NOT take my picture with me in line to buy a Funnel Cake. She laughed real big and took it anyway. And of course, she ate some of my Funnel Cake. Not 15 minutes later, she went to the rest room and asked me to hold her stuff. I sat on one of the benches waiting for her and she came around the building with about 3 feet of toilet paper trailing out of her jeans in back. When she looked away, with her camera, I quickly took a picture of her backside, unbeknownst to her. Then I walked up behind her, told her to remove the offending paper from her jeans and hid her from any possible onlookers. A couple of days after we'd returned from the trip I get this furious phone call from my sister, screaming at me and wanting to know why I would have taken a picture of her like that, She spent 3 minutes chewing me out royally for taking a picture of her from behind with toilet paper trailing out of her jeans. She kept asking me why I would do such a thing and when she stopped to take a breath, I asked her if she was finished yelling I would tell her exactly why. She kept quiet for a second and I asked her if there was a photograph in that stack she just had developed, of me in line to buy a Funnel Cake. She stayed real quiet. I reminded her that I had begged her not to take that picture and I reminded her that she'd taken it anyway and that she thought it was real funny. She said, uh oops sorry, and hung up. Paybacks are hell.

So your DH's friend, whose wife is ill, and he's having a thing with her nurse, is still an ongoing mess?

Before I die I'm going to get a tattoo just above my anus that says, NO AUTOPSIES ALLOWED ON MY ANUS! AND DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT MY VAJAYJAY!!

Yep. We called her Man Diesel, just for fun. I don't get all the retro stuff that Lakisha and Melinda do. I mean they sound good, but they need to get down! The closest thing to it last night was when the one gal did the No Doubt, Gwen Stefani song. I liked that Gwen Stefani advised them to stop doing all those runs. To me, too much of that makes me think they can't hold a note for a decent amount of time without going off-key. I know it's really popular (especially with Idol viewers) but too much of that really turns me OFF!

I totally agree with your assessment of Lakisha and Melinda's performances being boring. It isn't that they aren't good singers, they are, but ho-hum. Been there, seen that!