green

Your sister is being mean spirited and a general downer. Family can be weird at times.... Go for the plastic surgery, girl. You won't regret it! When I turned fifty I had a little work done on my jawline even though everyone said that I didn't need it. Afterwards everyone said I looked fabulous and I have never regretted my decision.

So you are saying that we should not judge people for not reading the entire text of the Bible, a sombre, often violent and contradictory book, and yet electing to use this same book in order to judge others? How very illogical.:help:

Good luck, Yoda, and good luck on the shopping, Angel Bear.

Haha, it was like a cat coughing up a furball! I went right back to eating my dinner. The really weird thing was that next day I had no restriction at all and I ate like a horse. I think this kinda disappointed my host who was hoping for more leftovers. Oops! :nervous

I went with the TLBC and have had no complaints at all. None of the women whom I have met there when I have gone back for my fills have been anything other than happy with the care which they have received either. From all that I have read here both groups provide top care for their patients but I suspect that Dr. Coburn may invest more of himself personally in his patients. While Drs. Yau and Joffe are excellent surgeons and seem to be good individuals much of our on-going contact is with other members of their support staff. This is not a drawback. These are all terrific individuals both with respect to their training and the warmth of their personalities. And the location of TLBC works out well for me. I live in the heart of Toronto and can walk home from the TLBC if I am feeling energetic. :girl_hug:

The next day I really didn't want to do anything except be left to drowse in bed with books, the cat, and liquids. I wasn't in pain except from the gas - and that was really bad - but I felt druggy and tired in a nice laid-back stoned sort of a way. I actually had a wonderful time but I certainly didn't want to go for car rides and sight seeing.

I was banded on Thursday, September 7 of this year. I never felt any sense of restriction after my two first fills and my third fill only brought me up to 6cc. For the first couple of weeks I was sure that I was going to need more but the band then began to tighten up a little. As Christmas rolled around it was getting tighter and tighter but I was still having no real problems and I have never, ever PB-ed until last night when I was at my in-laws for Christmas dinner. My mother-in-law is German and Christmas Eve is almost more important than Christmas Day. My plate arrived with all the food already served. There was a lot but I was hungry.:hungry: I took a couple of bites, got a golf ball, belched, took a sip of wine, and thought it would go away.:omg: Then I felt myself beginning to sweat, turning red and then turning white! :present: Thirty seconds later I abruptly got up from the table, went to the downstairs can, the food just bounced out, and I was fine.:heh: What a weird experience! And so easy! :present: Historically I have always had a tough time with puking. Of course they all knew that something was wrong. I had left the table so suddenly. They sent my husband down to investigate.:girl_hug: This was the embarassing part.:embarassed: And that is the story of my Christmas PB. And, oh yah, my -in-laws said that I looked fabulous!!! :clap2:

Yep, I find these quotes awfully scary too. Some of my reasons are personal. My father was a Polish Jew and most of my family on his side perished in the Holocaust. This is to say that my father's people were murdered because they were deemed different from the prevailing majority. My father was sufficiently traumatised by these events that he didn't even tell us kids that he was Jewish until I was 21. He felt that it wasn't a "safe" group to belong to. As far as we knew he was a Pole who had changed his name and never, ever wanted to talk about his childhood. You might be interested to hear that the individual who posted the above address is a European and made the comment that he is glad that he doesn't live in the United States. I suspect, though my information is only anecdotal, that many Europeans are truly disturbed and puzzled by the rise of the fundamentalist right wing movement. You see they still do remember what Hitler and the Nazi movement did to those who didn't belong or chose to dissent. I find these quotes frightening and I find that the kind of thinking behind these kind of quotes to be entirely anti-intellectual and that must be of concern, too. The world is such a complex place and these are individuals who believe that it can be reduced to a handful of simple-minded slogans...mean-spirited and spiteful slogans.

Here's an interesting website that I got from a site that I often frequent. http://web.archive.org/web/20041113084054/www.reandev.com/taliban/

I hate it when my computer freezes too. Have a happy holiday everyone.

Green is wildly amused for she is so very, very blonde - this kid needs maximum sunblock whenever she is going to open her front door - and yet her blood profile is entirely asiatic. The truth is that I would have a hard time finding blood or organs on this side of the Atlantic. I would have a hard time in Europe, too. This is why none of us have the right to be racists, eh.

Thanx, kid.

Very good advice, Woodys. This is what we and some of our friends do when we pay the bill by credit card: we might pay part, if not all, of the tip in cash. It is true that some of the tip might show up on the credit card bill but a separate share may be handed over to the good servers in the form of liquid cash. I am passionate that a fine server not be punished because the kitchen she or he serves is a lousy one. On the other hand I have no generosity towards a kitchen who chooses to harbour an idiot. I eat out a lot and I do work hard to make sure that the incompetents are ejected from the local eateries. I am one of those who bitch. For folks who do eat out a lot in their own neighbourhoods the quality of the kitchen is always important but the personalities of the house servers are always as important. When we are shelling out cash it is important that the food is good and that the service is, too.

*loud snickers from green re the above comment* And I do think that it is very cool that you are part Cherokee. I have noticed that a number of Americans who have "long" roots do have have ancestors who are native American. Are you in touch with this part of your heritage? I would like to learn more. Though I may seem to be hijacking this thread once again, I should like to point out to you all that over here on this side of the world, history, certainly documented history, has a very, very short time line. If we want to visit this business of rising cultures and of the resulting power struggles then we must agree this hemisphere was a non-participant until the Europeans began to look in this direction. The United States was economically flourishing but drifted in the long shadow of Europe until these countries were economically, socially and morally shattered by the Second World War. It was at this point where the United States was thrust into the position of being the official foremost supporter of democracy and of The Western Life Style. This is both an honour and a tough role. With respect to the American taxpayer, this is going to be an expensive business. It is my feeling that Americans are very decent people who have a sterling set of morals. Look at the 20th century: the two most destructive wars were started by the Germans. And certainly the Americans are not rounding up - even now - their entire Muslim population in the style that characterised Hitler's Reich. I guess where I get cranky, and I have mentioned this many, many times before, is Baby Bush and his crew's blindingly dumb reation to the events of 9/11. The choice of the United States to invade Iraq even though all intelligence indicated that al Qaida was centred in Afghanistan and northern Pakistan and that, furthermore, Iraq was a dead end militarily speaking, was nuts.

Omigawd! We have our financial ducks in a row in so far that we are mortgage free and that we have savings both within the framework of tax-sheltered retirement funds and other money. Please note that I haven't used U.S. terms when describing our money situation. This is because we live in Canada and things are a little bit different up here. We employ different letters of the alphabet to cover similar financial stuff with respect to issues of tax issues and tax-sheltered income. This country also has a mandatory employee funded pension plan. It is called the Canadian Pension Plan, familiarly known as the CPP. Working folks have no choice but to pay into this along with contributing into their company pension plans. Where we get to shelter our taxes is by making voluntary contributions into our own personal retirement funds. It is expected that this money will make a difference in the life style between that of the pathetic pensioner and that of the high living old fart. Of course this tax free investment money does get taxed when the pensioner or his inheritor tries to pull it out at the other end. I have all my financial ducks in a row but I drift in a vacant blondish state and I do leave a lot of money in my chequing account through carelessness and the sense that placing cash where it will garner small percents is simply not worth the bother of standing in a line up in order to transfer the stuff. I am lazy and I spent my youth during those times when money earned as much as 19%. Of course I am now worried that my bloated chequing account could be hoovered out by virtue of my own carelessness.

MarySue33 has powerfully good advice for you. You must sever your financial connections with your husband. You must stop living under the same roof: it is unhealthy and by continuing to live under the same roof you are giving your husband and your children mixed messages. This isn't fair to your husband and as for your kids, well, this can do nothing but screw them up. You must stop playing financial martyr with regards to this issue of continuing to pony up your 20% when he has long since skipped out on his side of this contract. It doesn't make any sense and you can't afford it. MarySue has excellent advice re EAP. If your workplace offers this programme then you must definitely take advantage of it for this is a programme that will offer you free advice from experts in a number of fields. Knowledge is always power, is it not? As for you, if you do want this divorce you must stop behaving like a pussy. You must begin to speak openly and honestly with your children about your life, your feelings, and your current situation. Ask them to spend Christmas with you. Explain to them that you would like to have them with you at this time of year and it is only because you love them. Do not guilt trip them. As for this entirely twisted situation concerning the two of you living under the same roof: stop it! You must know that this is both unhealthy and counter-productive. Demand that the matrimonial property be sold and that you as the weaker financial partner get the greater share of the settlement. Buy another place. Move on with your life. Your children are young; they will move on with their lives and they will resent you (or their father for that matter) if you do not do the same thing. You can choose to look at life the way a young person does. You can choose to walk away from these dreadfully destructive behaviours, shed this crap, and walk forward. Stop being a pussy and split.

Apologies to everyone. BJean and I are hijacking the thread but not for long. I just wanted to say with respect to this travel thing that I met a veterinarian at party who was incredibly well travelled and who had never, ever owned a passport! He has done all his travelling in the wild lands of Canada and the States. As for the wide open spaces...I am really, really allergic to bug bites and the little bastards lurv me. I have more health problems after spending time at my in-laws cottage! Sad but true. And my husband never got as sick from any bug abroad as he did from food poisoning in Halifax, Canada last summer. We were there for my nephew's wedding and had left our usual array of travelling drugs at home! It was very, very bad...............!

I am not sure whether you should report this verbal abuse. If your cops are like the cops up here in Canada they are largely ineffective when it comes to physically violent domestic environments. What you had observed was much more subtle. This was in the order of psychological abuse. I am also certain that the girl's mother is content with the status quo. When you report this the cops will find themselves unable to do anything more than to speak to the stepfather who will respond in turn by further punishing and humiliating the girl. He will also seek to isolate her from you, your granddaughter and from her other friends. Her support system and her emotional haven will be smashed. You will be viewed as a meddling neighbour. What I would do if I was you is to have a discussion with your granddaughter and the other girl who observed this debacle. Talk frankly about this man's behaviour towards their friend. Perhaps the two girls can figure out ways - with your help - of emotionally protecting this girl and shoring up her identity.

Re my spelling of foetus, I am Canadian and have been raised on the British way of spelling things. This is been ground into me and is kinda outa my control. Apologies in advance from Green.

I have never liked Trump. I think that this man is ugly inside and out. His mouth looks like a chicken's arse and his bouffant hair-do is just plain ridiculous. He is arrogant and lecherous and he has no class. Of course he can get away with buying beautiful broads because he has money and money will buy you love if you are a man. This should be old news to all of us who post here. Rosie falls into a different category. In many ways she is just as annoying as Trump for she too is loud, opinionated, and seems to lack class. And she, like Trump, can be dumped into that category of those who are considered to be homely. But the way I see it there is a big difference between these two players; Rosie seems to be animated by a strong streak of altruism. She is engaged in discussing larger social issues, something that is always risky business. She has also chosen to formally come out as a Lesbian and to tackle the business of same sex rights in America. Indeed, she did sponsor a same-sex couples cruise for couples who wanted to get married. The boat birthed in Canadian waters where same-sex marriage is legal and Rosie's brood were able to get married. I believe that she and her mate were married up here at the same time. Trump is a worthless creature. He is animated by simple greed, arrogance, and lust. Though Rosie is a strident and and often annoying woman her actions do carry much more moral weight. At the same time I must admit that I can't bring myself to watch either one of them. I find 'em both annoying.

Yippee! :clap2: TOM, you are back :faint: and it is so nice to hear/read your voice again! It has been awhile and a number of us had grown concerned by your continued absence.... Welcome home, eh.

I think that the foetus is the mother's property while still in utero, that is until the child can survive outside the womb: this seems to happen when the foetus is around 6.5 or 7 months old thanks to medical technology. As it was the intent of this woman to have the child her abusive mate did in fact kill her infant by his brutal actions. I would have charged him with manslaughter for this reason. I think that the dude deserves to have the book thrown at him.

Wow, did you get your money back?

Re your question on my travelling habits, BJean: I have always wanted to travel where I will get to experience life that is as different as possible from the one that I live at home. I want to see different geography, architecture, hear different languages and be exposed to different cultures and foods. I am also interested in places that have a long history. This is why I like to travel to the so-called exotic parts of the world. And yes, I do love seeing the old stuff and I like watching people. Wide open spaces tend to make me both nervous and bored if I am in them for a long time. When I was living in France I spent a lot of time travelling inside the country and in the nearby countries. Since coming home to live my trips have been further afield. I have done some more travelling in north Africa. I have also travelled in India, Russia, central Asia, and Turkey. My husband and I also love to go to Mexico. We always pick smaller, more intimate hotels that are in the more Mexican areas. We always have a lot of interesting adventures on our travels and see a lot of amazing sites but it does mean that the pair of us are plain idiot dumb when it comes to North America. (Though thanks to my parents we've often been to Florida.) I have some more foreign travel that I want to do before I am ready to explore this continent. I want to go to Thailand and to Tibet and I would like to travel in South America. I would eventually like to take a long road trip throughout this continent. My parents did this and loved it.

With all due respect it does sound like you are being the pussy here. Your mate has had the kids for the Thanksgiving Weekend and he continues to live in the master bedroom while you camp out in your son's room. Your finances are all messed up and it seems that he is reaping the advantage out of this. Now he proposes to remove the kids from you again at Christmas time; he figures that he will get away with this by keeping them in state. Surely you must know that this state of affairs is entirely unhealthy and is not doing anyone any good at this point. Your children are no longer being sheltered from your marital break-down by this business of your perverse desire to share the house, are they? If anything they are further stressed by all these horrible games. Now is the time to settle up this business. You must speak frankly with your children about this situation and you must arrange to sell your matrimonial property ASAP. You must push for this through your divorce lawyer. Indeed, it strikes me that in your desire to protect your children (and possibly because the issues between your husband and yourself have been so murky) you yourself have been displaying mixed messages to them and possibly to your (nutzy) husband. You are the one who wants the divorce. Talk to your lawyer. Listen to what she says. Follow her advice. She knows what she is talking about. Stop being a pussy.