Wow. Some of you have really kept me busy with private messages, and I thank you all for your support and concern. I assure you all that just your support, and knowing that there are people out there who still care, does wonders for my ability to cope with things, and is more helpful than any of you could imagine ( Read more... )

My youngest just dragged me to the mall clothes shopping, since school starts tomorrow, and neither she nor her brother have gotten any new clothes yet. I've been having a wicked time trying to buy clothes for my son anywhere. He's now just very close to my size, but not quite. He can still fit into a boys' XL in shirts, but since he's going to be ( Read more... )

It has been called to my attention that I may have misinterpreted some things, blown them out of proportion, made mountains out of molehills, etc. I'm human, I freely admit, and we all make mistakes sometimes ( Read more... )

I believe I have pinpointed the source of the negative sentiment I mentioned in my last open post, although I was quite surprised by it, to say the least. Probably because I obviously don't spend enough time online, let alone here on planet blog. So I evidently missed a lot of alleged sentiment such as caring, or what I can only guess was intended ( Read more... )

For some bizarre reason, I'm getting the overwhelming impression that one or two of you out there are less than supportive of me, and seem to be seeing me as some sort of evil villain who is putting you through almost unimaginable hell by subjecting you to my personal problems ( Read more... )

For awhile now, somewhere in the neighborhood of six months, give or take, he's been on a kick of bringing up "the incident." Something that happened to me almost 30 years ago, before I ever even met him. Those of you who knew me back then know exactly what I'm talking about, but I almost never even mention it to any but a very few, select close ( Read more... )

A good man commands respect, strictly by virtue of being a good man. A whiney little twit demands respect, because he has absolutely nothing with which to command respect ( Read more... )

Poor Oob just got done spending spring break in the hospital, being treated for depression, then she went through a 2-week outpatient program in lieu of school. The whole time she was inpatient, they kept pushing for her to go on meds, but she and I both firmly stuck to our guns on the issue. Yeah, we both realize that there are times when they may ( Read more... )

Nine months. Nine very long, agonizing, torturous months. That's how long it takes to gestate something ( Read more... )

I mean this in a context similar to the restringing of a guitar: you remove the old, worn-out, disgusting strings and put in newer, more aesthetically pleasing strings. Also in the same vein are the recoring of a heater, where you remove and discard the ugly old heater core and replace it with a new shiny one, and the retooling of a machine, where ( Read more... )