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Have a blessed fast!

I liked A Mom Like You.

Take him out. Many churches don't even have Sunday School in the summer. It's only 6 weeks til September and a new year starts. (Wait, where has the summer gone?)

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OK, honey, you have to stop watching TNG right now-- it is so dull and irritating. Voyager, now, that is different! The actors are intelligent professionals, the characters are interesting, and the plots are fun. And it's pretty to look at. And the theme song is the first song my son ever sang! For a long time we called the show "Wa-wa" because that is how he sang it.

:iagree: I also wondered if her DH had pressured her to make the call saying that she could not see him anymore, because he did not like seeing him at her office and got jealous. You know, when people are going through difficult things like marriage problems, they may say silly things and feel things emotionally that they don't really mean. It may be that years from now, if your friend is divorced and happily remarried, for example, you may laugh together over this someday and she may say, "i can't believe I said that stupid thing to your DH?! that was so crazy!! but you know what I was going through at the time, I just didn't know what I was feeling or thinking!" I think writing a note to her/them would be nice, but I agree with cooling off the friendship for a long time, until things change.

You can in our school district. The administration is very friendly toward hsers, but I think we have to be ready that not all school secretaries, etc, are aware of this, so the first person you talk to on the phone may not have the correct info.

I did this once... I confronted dear friend's DH about things she had confided in me and I told him to shape up. (This was not a violent situation-- her DH had asked her mother to leave, who had come to help with the baby and stay with them for a while, leaving my friend with no help). Turns out friend was only venting to me in a dark moment. Her mom was behaving in an unbearable way and DH was taking the pressure off my friend by asking her mom to leave. Friend agreed with him eventually though it was a difficult time. I had not known the entire situation. I thought her DH was just being a pig. She expected me to keep what she had said confidential and she felt betrayed by me. I only wanted what was best for her and thought I was doing the right thing. This taught me not to think that the world is on my shoulders. Sometimes you just have to listen and that's your job. Perhaps your friend cares about you but is just clueless about how to manage the situation. I promised my friend that I would always keep whatever she said about anything confidential from then on. We kept on our friendship. We have known each other all our lives so this was just a bump in the road.

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Maybe during peacetime their duties seem light, but what about during wartime? Read the biography of the Queen of England who was Queen during WWII: having to put on a brave front to inspire the nation is not just putting on a smile-- she had to live in Buckingham Palace after it was struck by a bomb, and could not be repaired because the extent of the damage had to be kept secret lest it hurt morale. And there was not much heat or electricity. Visiting London homes/buildings/churches the mornings after they were bombed and comforting the people who had lost relatives-- that does not seem like a piece of cake to me. There's lots of other examples from her life, but it's getting late, so I'll just recommend you read her bio yourselves! Sometimes the royalty really rise to the occasion and behave so nobly, they are great examples to us.

Cereal, and now lasagna! this has been a very interesting thread. It is so interesting how your sense that something was wrong, OP, played out. Thanks for updating.

I'm EO, and to all the above I would just like to add this: it is important for a person who has the slightest tendency toward an eating disorder to be very careful with fasting, or not do it at all. Consult a priest or pastor about this. Also, if you get shaky, weak, and can't do the work you are called on to do safely (whatever it is: taking care of your family, or your job), you are doing too much fasting.

Is it possible to make sure J gets his yearly medical checkup? Maybe some health problem is making him worse, and maybe something that could be treated. I guess it would be hard to get him to go to the Dr, though... I agree with looking for another job. I do have a relative who worked for a low salary for the family company for years (maybe 15 or 20 years?) and was extremely resentful about it. The company did well, but she was very bitter at having to give up her own profession, which she loved. I don't know how it came about that she did this, whether she was guilted into it or what... all I can say is that it did not have a good effect on her. As to, "if I feel used does that mean I blame the person?" Does it have to? Or, can it be, "yes, I feel used, and perhaps the person had mixed motives, but the situation is getting increasingly difficult and I think it is time to call it quits. I forgive him because he clearly has his own issues he is struggling with, and I'll try not to hold it against him, but I need to get out of this situation."

I also found the post unclear-- to me it makes a difference if the people mentioned are family or not, and I can't understand it. Anyway, :grouphug: to Invisible, and kudos to Tibbie for the Dear Tibbie forum!

Orthodoxy might be what you are looking for. :)

Families are all different... yours doesn't have to be like anyone else's, does it? If you spend so many hours together doing school, it's not like you are neglecting them. I would think you must have a strong relationship based on all that time together?

Oh, I do like it very much indeed. (you must imagine I'm saying this in a posh British accent!) Although I'm Christian too, I didn't see anything that would make me dislike it. I don't have to agree with all the decisions that all the characters make in a story. In fact, I think it is kind of old-fashioned in that those characters who make decisions that are immoral or you could say un-Christian, get their comeuppance. Or repent. There is one lady who does something awful to another-- later she is so sorry and devotes herself to that person's welfare. I see it as not just a beautiful production with interesting themes and plots, but it is also asking the question, "Who does England belong to?" Is it the aristocracy? Is it the up-and-coming workers? Will there be hierarchy? Will there be revolution? When Lord Grantham hears about the Titanic, he pities the "poor devils" in the lower levels of the ship, not realizing that he himself is captain of a sort of Titanic too. And, the question the production is asking, in this day and age is, "Is there anyone left in the English-speaking world who wants to see such a program?" Clearly there is, which in itself is somehow reassuring, I don't know why!

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I love this saying!

We lived in a house with one-- the glass top was hard to keep clean-- stuff would build up that would require a LOT of elbow grease with the special soap stuff. It also heated slowly, I think.

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Estimating that I would spend $40 for that, at the Trader Joe's near me.

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